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CNN Live At Daybreak

Talking Sports with Chris Cotter

Aired October 14, 2002 - 06:41   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.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn our -- let's turn our attention now to sports, speaking of turning. Joining us to talk about a huge weekend in College Football and of course the latest in baseball playoffs, which is what we were just talking about, is Chris Cotter with 790 The Zone here in Atlanta.
Thanks for having -- thanks for being with us today, yes.

CHRIS COTTER, 790 THE ZONE: Always a pleasure -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: We were talking about baseball during the break because I am so impressed with Adam Kennedy hitting three home runs this weekend.

COTTER: Right.

CALLAWAY: What a night he had. I mean he's good, but he was great that day, wasn't he?

COTTER: Well that's what's so great about Anaheim is the fact that they've got all these players that have kind of come out of nowhere and have been hitting the ball great all year, the Ecksteins of the world, the Erstads of the world, Troy Glaus. And here it is Adam Kennedy, three home runs in one game. And I tell you, I was watching this game and I knew he had two home runs. And he came up to bat late in the game and I said you know what,...

CALLAWAY: There's no...

COTTER: ... he's not...

CALLAWAY: There's no way.

COTTER: ... going to hit his third run here.

CALLAWAY: Yes.

COTTER: Let me go make myself a hoagie in the kitchen. And by the time I came back in, Anaheim had this big lead and they win the game and they go to the World Series. And good for them because back in 1986, they had a lead against Boston in the top of the ninth inning. All they had to do was win. I think -- I think they were one strike away and Boston hit a home run. Boston ended up going to the World Series and not Anaheim, as they were back then the California Angels. So congratulations to Anaheim for going to the big dance.

CALLAWAY: Yes, big dance for them. COTTER: Big time.

CALLAWAY: They've been how many years, like 41 years they haven't gone?

COTTER: A -- their entire history.

CALLAWAY: Yes, amazing.

COTTER: First time in their entire history they've been to the World Series.

CALLAWAY: Wally Joyner days is when they needed him.

OK, Oklahoma-Texas and College Football, Texas won.

COTTER: Yes. No, Texas -- Oklahoma won.

CALLAWAY: Oklahoma won. I meant Texas lost.

COTTER: Texas lost.

CALLAWAY: I'm sorry.

COTTER: We should be used to Texas losing...

CALLAWAY: Yes, I know.

COTTER: ... and saying that...

CALLAWAY: Yes, I know, but I hate that.

COTTER: ... because they lose every single year to Oklahoma. Mack Brown and his team, every year. Chris Simms now expected -- this was the year. This was going to be the big year for Texas. All the talent in the world, they're finally going to get over the hump and they don't do it. The Longhorns just cannot win the big game under Mack Brown, and it's going to be a problem for them. They could go 10 and 2 every single year but it doesn't matter if you can't beat Oklahoma and your biggest rivalry and you can't play for a national championship, which is what Texas has to do. Oklahoma wins again.

CALLAWAY: That is such a big game, too.

COTTER: Now they position their self for a national championship run and Texas has an uphill climb.

CALLAWAY: Do you think they're going to do it?

COTTER: I think Oklahoma has a really good shot because they have such a great defense.

CALLAWAY: So strong. Me too (ph).

COTTER: A great defense.

CALLAWAY: And Florida now out of the top 25.

COTTER: Florida is out of the top 25...

CALLAWAY: What happened?

COTTER: ... for the first time since Steve Spurrier got there in the early '90s.

CALLAWAY: Yes.

COTTER: And now this is a big deal because Ron Zook's their new head coach this year taking over for a legend in Steve Spurrier. And he had so much pressure on him to begin with, and not only do they lose on Saturday, they get embarrassed on Saturday. LSU embarrasses them in their own field, in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, The Swamp. I mean this is just stuff that doesn't happen at Florida.

CALLAWAY: No.

COTTER: And now the pressure is really going to be on their head coach to make something happen.

CALLAWAY: Let's talk about Georgia. Big -- everywhere you looked here there were Georgia and Tennessee fans driving up to Athens. Big game up there and Georgia wins.

COTTER: Georgia just seems to...

CALLAWAY: That was a huge win.

COTTER: They just seem to keep winning, you know. They beat Alabama last week; they beat Tennessee this week. And you know they're not winning big, but they're beating good teams and they're just doing what they had to do.

CALLAWAY: Yes.

COTTER: They're still undefeated, they're No. 1 in the SEC East and they've got a couple of more tests now before the year ends. But there just seems -- they seam to be passing these tests one step at a time and one week at a time.

CALLAWAY: Right.

COTTER: And edging closer to an SEC Championship. And if you get to the SEC Championship, you can get to the National Championship.

CALLAWAY: Yes, flying under radar but doing well, right?

COTTER: Doing everything they've got to do, you know, and that's what it takes.

CALLAWAY: All right. Well it's great having you here -- Chris.

COTTER: As always, fun.

CALLAWAY: Yes.

COTTER: I love it.

CALLAWAY: Have a good day. Tell everybody in The Zone...

COTTER: You too.

CALLAWAY: ... we said hello.

COTTER: I'll tell them. Pass it on.

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 14, 2002 - 06:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn our -- let's turn our attention now to sports, speaking of turning. Joining us to talk about a huge weekend in College Football and of course the latest in baseball playoffs, which is what we were just talking about, is Chris Cotter with 790 The Zone here in Atlanta.
Thanks for having -- thanks for being with us today, yes.

CHRIS COTTER, 790 THE ZONE: Always a pleasure -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: We were talking about baseball during the break because I am so impressed with Adam Kennedy hitting three home runs this weekend.

COTTER: Right.

CALLAWAY: What a night he had. I mean he's good, but he was great that day, wasn't he?

COTTER: Well that's what's so great about Anaheim is the fact that they've got all these players that have kind of come out of nowhere and have been hitting the ball great all year, the Ecksteins of the world, the Erstads of the world, Troy Glaus. And here it is Adam Kennedy, three home runs in one game. And I tell you, I was watching this game and I knew he had two home runs. And he came up to bat late in the game and I said you know what,...

CALLAWAY: There's no...

COTTER: ... he's not...

CALLAWAY: There's no way.

COTTER: ... going to hit his third run here.

CALLAWAY: Yes.

COTTER: Let me go make myself a hoagie in the kitchen. And by the time I came back in, Anaheim had this big lead and they win the game and they go to the World Series. And good for them because back in 1986, they had a lead against Boston in the top of the ninth inning. All they had to do was win. I think -- I think they were one strike away and Boston hit a home run. Boston ended up going to the World Series and not Anaheim, as they were back then the California Angels. So congratulations to Anaheim for going to the big dance.

CALLAWAY: Yes, big dance for them. COTTER: Big time.

CALLAWAY: They've been how many years, like 41 years they haven't gone?

COTTER: A -- their entire history.

CALLAWAY: Yes, amazing.

COTTER: First time in their entire history they've been to the World Series.

CALLAWAY: Wally Joyner days is when they needed him.

OK, Oklahoma-Texas and College Football, Texas won.

COTTER: Yes. No, Texas -- Oklahoma won.

CALLAWAY: Oklahoma won. I meant Texas lost.

COTTER: Texas lost.

CALLAWAY: I'm sorry.

COTTER: We should be used to Texas losing...

CALLAWAY: Yes, I know.

COTTER: ... and saying that...

CALLAWAY: Yes, I know, but I hate that.

COTTER: ... because they lose every single year to Oklahoma. Mack Brown and his team, every year. Chris Simms now expected -- this was the year. This was going to be the big year for Texas. All the talent in the world, they're finally going to get over the hump and they don't do it. The Longhorns just cannot win the big game under Mack Brown, and it's going to be a problem for them. They could go 10 and 2 every single year but it doesn't matter if you can't beat Oklahoma and your biggest rivalry and you can't play for a national championship, which is what Texas has to do. Oklahoma wins again.

CALLAWAY: That is such a big game, too.

COTTER: Now they position their self for a national championship run and Texas has an uphill climb.

CALLAWAY: Do you think they're going to do it?

COTTER: I think Oklahoma has a really good shot because they have such a great defense.

CALLAWAY: So strong. Me too (ph).

COTTER: A great defense.

CALLAWAY: And Florida now out of the top 25.

COTTER: Florida is out of the top 25...

CALLAWAY: What happened?

COTTER: ... for the first time since Steve Spurrier got there in the early '90s.

CALLAWAY: Yes.

COTTER: And now this is a big deal because Ron Zook's their new head coach this year taking over for a legend in Steve Spurrier. And he had so much pressure on him to begin with, and not only do they lose on Saturday, they get embarrassed on Saturday. LSU embarrasses them in their own field, in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, The Swamp. I mean this is just stuff that doesn't happen at Florida.

CALLAWAY: No.

COTTER: And now the pressure is really going to be on their head coach to make something happen.

CALLAWAY: Let's talk about Georgia. Big -- everywhere you looked here there were Georgia and Tennessee fans driving up to Athens. Big game up there and Georgia wins.

COTTER: Georgia just seems to...

CALLAWAY: That was a huge win.

COTTER: They just seem to keep winning, you know. They beat Alabama last week; they beat Tennessee this week. And you know they're not winning big, but they're beating good teams and they're just doing what they had to do.

CALLAWAY: Yes.

COTTER: They're still undefeated, they're No. 1 in the SEC East and they've got a couple of more tests now before the year ends. But there just seems -- they seam to be passing these tests one step at a time and one week at a time.

CALLAWAY: Right.

COTTER: And edging closer to an SEC Championship. And if you get to the SEC Championship, you can get to the National Championship.

CALLAWAY: Yes, flying under radar but doing well, right?

COTTER: Doing everything they've got to do, you know, and that's what it takes.

CALLAWAY: All right. Well it's great having you here -- Chris.

COTTER: As always, fun.

CALLAWAY: Yes.

COTTER: I love it.

CALLAWAY: Have a good day. Tell everybody in The Zone...

COTTER: You too.

CALLAWAY: ... we said hello.

COTTER: I'll tell them. Pass it on.

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