Latest / The Favorites Sports Betting Podcast / All-Time City Sports Trios with ESPN's Ramona Shelburne & J.A. Adande

Transcript

All-Time City Sports Trios with ESPN's Ramona Shelburne & J.A. Adande · The Favorites Sports Betting Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Favorites the podcast from the Action Network.
0:12
Speaker 1: I am Chad Mellman, and today on the pod a
0:16
Speaker 1: very important topic inspired by the Last Dance and who
0:22
Speaker 1: better to have in the pod than ESPN Basketball reporter
0:26
Speaker 1: extraordinaire and the most intense l A native you will
0:31
Speaker 1: ever meet, Ramona Shelburne. Ramona, how you doing? What's up? Chad?
0:36
Speaker 1: I'm so glad to talk to you. I could chat
0:38
Speaker 1: about the Last Dance stuff all day and we were
0:40
Speaker 1: sharing some pretty good stories about Last Dance coming in.
0:43
Speaker 1: I have loved every second of this series, and for you,
0:48
Speaker 1: especially like knowing the players, knowing Pips so well, Scottie Pittpen,
0:51
Speaker 1: knowing Fhilk Jackson so well. What are some of your
0:54
Speaker 1: like high level takeaways from what you've been seeing so far? Well,
0:57
Speaker 1: the first thing is, it's been nice for me to
1:00
Speaker 1: see Phil Jackson sort of in all his glory again
1:04
Speaker 1: and like what Phil Jackson was because I came of
1:07
Speaker 1: age as a reporter in l A covering Phil Jackson's Lakers, right,
1:10
Speaker 1: and you know, I got to know Phil the way
1:12
Speaker 1: he was, um, but I never knew Phil in Chicago,
1:16
Speaker 1: So even this is even a better version of Phil
1:18
Speaker 1: than we got to know, because so much of what
1:21
Speaker 1: Phil did in l A was just like managing Shack
1:23
Speaker 1: and Kobe and you know, somehow running the Triangle or
1:26
Speaker 1: whatever they ran back in those days wasn't really the
1:28
Speaker 1: Triangle most of the time. Um. But I always kind
1:31
Speaker 1: of like heard about what it was like in Chicago.
1:33
Speaker 1: I watched it as a fan. I was like in
1:35
Speaker 1: high school and college during those during those great Bulls teams. Um.
1:39
Speaker 1: So to like see the original Phil is awesome to me.
1:42
Speaker 1: And like previously, I mean I read Sacred Hoops when
1:45
Speaker 1: I was in college, I read all of his you know,
1:48
Speaker 1: his his books. Like I definitely knew of him, but
1:51
Speaker 1: like to see how he interacted with that team and
1:54
Speaker 1: kept them all together, it has been great. Um But
1:57
Speaker 1: you know, partly because like Phil Jackson kind of had
2:00
Speaker 1: this weird detour where he went to New York and
2:02
Speaker 1: was a failed executive and like everybody that that's always
2:05
Speaker 1: what happens to people when they go to New York, Right,
2:07
Speaker 1: It's like the sirens call of the Garden and everybody
2:10
Speaker 1: thinks they can go in there, and really they just
2:12
Speaker 1: crash up against the rocks to to to make a
2:15
Speaker 1: Greek mythology analogy for you, um, because nobody can win
2:19
Speaker 1: there um, And it's nice to see this is what
2:21
Speaker 1: Phil does best. This is why Phil was so um
2:25
Speaker 1: different as a coach. It's why he has eleven rings.
2:28
Speaker 1: And also like, just can you imagine going into a
2:31
Speaker 1: season where they've already decided they're going to replace you
2:34
Speaker 1: and like everybody on the team and still keeping it
2:36
Speaker 1: together and winning a championship like just no, Like Doc
2:40
Speaker 1: Rivers and I were talking about it and he goes,
2:41
Speaker 1: I can't imagine that where he's at it. You could
2:43
Speaker 1: go eight to and oh, you're still gonna get fired
2:45
Speaker 1: at the end of the year. It's that is what's
2:47
Speaker 1: That is what's most stunning to me, Like they went
2:52
Speaker 1: into that last year and by the way, this is
2:53
Speaker 1: not what the podcast is about for people. There's a
2:55
Speaker 1: very specific topic I want to get to with Ramona.
2:58
Speaker 1: But because you've a relationship to all these people, Um,
3:01
Speaker 1: the fact that he went into that last year and
3:05
Speaker 1: knew he wasn't gonna be coming back, and the frame
3:08
Speaker 1: everything the way he did for everybody and keep them
3:11
Speaker 1: from being bitter with each other and so bitter at
3:15
Speaker 1: the organization that they just decided to say screw you
3:17
Speaker 1: to everybody and go out and as they can be.
3:20
Speaker 1: That's a testament to how good a coach he was.
3:22
Speaker 1: It really is. And and and also another high level
3:25
Speaker 1: takeawayich had like Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan were totally aligned.
3:29
Speaker 1: Like a couple of those episodes, you can just see
3:31
Speaker 1: how much they worked together, especially in managing Rodman. And
3:36
Speaker 1: and you know when Phil says to you know, my
3:38
Speaker 1: like Michael says, you know, Dennis wants a vacation and
3:40
Speaker 1: He's like, what right, So do I right? But like
3:44
Speaker 1: they were on the same page with things, like they
3:46
Speaker 1: understood things like you know, Michael as competitive, as amazing
3:49
Speaker 1: as he he was, Like he understood that Dennis needed
3:53
Speaker 1: a little extra space and you had to treat him differently. Um,
3:56
Speaker 1: and there's just not many coaches who would go for
3:59
Speaker 1: that or players. That's also like the fact he was
4:04
Speaker 1: willing to let Dennis rob they just go away for
4:06
Speaker 1: three days. Like that is a level of intensity when
4:10
Speaker 1: think about all the people that yeah, like remember the
4:15
Speaker 1: round of Rousi stories that you had to do, Like
4:19
Speaker 1: think about the people you have profiled in your life
4:21
Speaker 1: and mask their level of intensity with what you've seen
4:24
Speaker 1: from people like Robin or Michael or even Pip in
4:27
Speaker 1: total in that moment, who who can sort of let
4:30
Speaker 1: level up to that? So here's here's what I'm gonna
4:33
Speaker 1: point out that I've just in watching this this documentary unfold.
4:38
Speaker 1: They're all kind of the same though, Like they all
4:41
Speaker 1: when they get super intense, right when they have this
4:43
Speaker 1: intense run, they both they all, like Phil, Michael, Dennis,
4:48
Speaker 1: anybody who want to name on that team, they all
4:50
Speaker 1: need to escape. They don't deal with it by like
4:53
Speaker 1: ratcheting up, like they find different ways of escaping that
4:57
Speaker 1: pressure somehow. So for Michael, it's gambling and it's golfing,
5:01
Speaker 1: right that those are his two vices that he does. Um.
5:04
Speaker 1: For Rod Minutes, I need to go party. I need
5:06
Speaker 1: to escape, like I think you know at some point
5:08
Speaker 1: where he's going to go be in wrestle media in
5:10
Speaker 1: the middle of the finals, remember that coming up. Um,
5:14
Speaker 1: you know a lot of some of it is that,
5:15
Speaker 1: like this need to escape. For Phil, it's every summer
5:18
Speaker 1: he used to just drive off to Montana and no
5:20
Speaker 1: one would hear from him all summer. He had to
5:23
Speaker 1: just be in his cabin and be away. And it's
5:25
Speaker 1: like they because they're so intense and because everything they're
5:27
Speaker 1: managing and dealing with internally is so um so heavy,
5:31
Speaker 1: it's like they have to They all find their ways
5:33
Speaker 1: of detoxing. Like they're very different ways, but I think
5:37
Speaker 1: that's why they all understood each other. And for you,
5:39
Speaker 1: it's disappearing into a hotel room for three days to
5:41
Speaker 1: write a story. Yeah, like a block away from your house,
5:45
Speaker 1: a block away from my house. Yeah, I just I can't.
5:47
Speaker 1: It's the only way I can really truly focus. So
5:50
Speaker 1: I have something where especially when you're doing long form
5:52
Speaker 1: and you like you're you have you know, hours and
5:54
Speaker 1: hours and hours and hours of interviews and scenes and
5:58
Speaker 1: things that you're trying to process and like really compartmentalized.
6:00
Speaker 1: Like you know, there's this level of like I got
6:03
Speaker 1: it something, Okay, can I turn off my phone? And
6:05
Speaker 1: can I do this? And now I will say I
6:08
Speaker 1: have not done it as much since I had a child.
6:10
Speaker 1: I just kind of had to learn how to compartmentalize,
6:12
Speaker 1: even though I was like really bad at it. But
6:14
Speaker 1: I used to like go to hotels for like a
6:16
Speaker 1: couple of nights, and I would like become noctocernel because
6:21
Speaker 1: that's when my phone would stop ringing. So I would
6:23
Speaker 1: just like work at night and like right until like
6:26
Speaker 1: six seven in the morning, and then I would like
6:27
Speaker 1: sleep until noon and then try to get back into
6:31
Speaker 1: it again. But I just always even at the hotel,
6:32
Speaker 1: it was like you could do some during the day,
6:34
Speaker 1: but I mostly wrote at night. Writing of any kind.
6:38
Speaker 1: If you're trying to do anything during the day, it
6:39
Speaker 1: feels almost impossible. It's like, yeah, you need the darkness
6:42
Speaker 1: and you need the solitude to really be all encompassing
6:46
Speaker 1: to get anything of any value done. Yeah, And it's
6:49
Speaker 1: like it's like this intense level of focus that you
6:52
Speaker 1: need to like somehow get to. I used to like
6:54
Speaker 1: pick up. I used to do a soundtrack for each story,
6:58
Speaker 1: and it was like I was like kind of how
6:59
Speaker 1: I would get into like whatever tone or feel of
7:02
Speaker 1: a story that I wanted to be in. So like
7:05
Speaker 1: it was like a badass story, I would have, you know,
7:07
Speaker 1: like just pump up music if it was like a
7:09
Speaker 1: sad story, if it was a long but you know,
7:11
Speaker 1: like I just had And oftentimes even within that soundtrack,
7:14
Speaker 1: I would just hit the same songs on UM over
7:17
Speaker 1: and over. So I remember, like some Rhonda Rousey saw
7:19
Speaker 1: like soundtracks were always like Lucinda Williams and maybe his staples.
7:23
Speaker 1: It was always like that. That's so funny. I've been
7:26
Speaker 1: in a massive woman of like country music ride during Corona. Yeah,
7:32
Speaker 1: that works. It's keeping me going. A very special guest
7:36
Speaker 1: calling in from Chicago, where he is running the sports
7:40
Speaker 1: journalism program in Northwestern He also had been a long
7:44
Speaker 1: time writer for The l A Times for the Chicago
7:46
Speaker 1: Sun Times contributor now at ESPN, but also a long
7:49
Speaker 1: time contributor across all fronts at ESPN. Another l A native,
7:54
Speaker 1: j A Dande, How are you, Buddy good? Sorry? And
7:57
Speaker 1: some technically but here we are. That's Les Zoom. You have,
8:02
Speaker 1: you have me, you have Ramona. And there's a very
8:04
Speaker 1: specific reason I wanted both of you on for this
8:06
Speaker 1: podcast because Jay, you're obviously all over the last dance
8:11
Speaker 1: and Ramona and I were just talking a little bit
8:13
Speaker 1: about that, and it's amazing. But it reminded me that
8:15
Speaker 1: as a kid growing up in Chicago in the eighties,
8:17
Speaker 1: growing up in Highland Park, not far from where you
8:20
Speaker 1: are you're you're teaching, I had Michael Jordan's at the
8:24
Speaker 1: peak of his powers. I had Walter Payton at the
8:27
Speaker 1: peak of his powers, and I had Ryan Sandberg at
8:29
Speaker 1: the peak of his power. So I had three players
8:32
Speaker 1: who are considered the greatest of all time, if not
8:36
Speaker 1: at their position, but maybe in their sport. So I
8:39
Speaker 1: asked on Twitter, like, give me your trios, three people
8:44
Speaker 1: separate sports, same city at the same time, And the
8:49
Speaker 1: responses I got were insane. From Baltimore, from Pittsburgh, from Detroit,
8:53
Speaker 1: from San Francisco, from Houston, from Seattle, remote awaiting with
8:58
Speaker 1: l A. Because I was having a hard time with
9:00
Speaker 1: l A. And so I wanted, I'm having a hard
9:03
Speaker 1: time with l A. Did you mean having a hard time?
9:05
Speaker 1: Narrowing it down from exactly exactly do we go with
9:08
Speaker 1: Magic Johnson or Kareem right, do we go with Fernando
9:13
Speaker 1: or Kirk Gibson or Oral Hershiser, like we have a
9:16
Speaker 1: lot to choose from during the during the early to
9:19
Speaker 1: mid eighties and and late eighties, like the whole that's
9:21
Speaker 1: my childhood. I was born in seventy nine. I kind
9:24
Speaker 1: of grew up on the Showtime Lakers and Tommulas orders Dodgers,
9:27
Speaker 1: who were pretty darn good in the eighties. Well, I agree,
9:30
Speaker 1: like the eighties, like you guys helped me narrow it down.
9:33
Speaker 1: But I will say for a while people were weighing
9:35
Speaker 1: in with Kirk Gibson, and to me, a combination of
9:38
Speaker 1: Kirk Gibson, Magic and Wayne Gretzky did not rise to
9:43
Speaker 1: the level of Michael Jordan's, Walter Payton and Ryan Samberg.
9:48
Speaker 1: Then you waited lordal Hrshiser, and I think Hershreiser to
9:52
Speaker 1: me does come to the level of Ryan Sambrook. So Ramona,
9:55
Speaker 1: make your case right now, and then Jay you can
9:57
Speaker 1: follow up. Jay, You've got Chicago, like going back to
10:01
Speaker 1: the sometimes and now being there, you can weigh in
10:03
Speaker 1: specifically on some of these things. Okay, So I'm gonna
10:06
Speaker 1: just point to the rings. So look, I feel like
10:08
Speaker 1: our basketball basketball choices almost like cancel each other out
10:13
Speaker 1: because we have the Showtime Lakers and then Jordan's Bulls.
10:16
Speaker 1: I guess you could give a slight edge to Jordan
10:18
Speaker 1: and the Bulls, right because they have six rings and
10:20
Speaker 1: the Showtime Lakers got five. So that's a slight edge there.
10:23
Speaker 1: But then we also have Magic and Kareem, so I
10:27
Speaker 1: don't know, you just have Jordan's Like I don't know
10:28
Speaker 1: if you want to put Vivien in there. But but
10:31
Speaker 1: like it's I feel like like that's a push on basketball. Okay,
10:34
Speaker 1: with l A in the eighties versus Chicago in the nineties,
10:37
Speaker 1: do we agree with basketball canceled each other out? Look?
10:40
Speaker 1: I feel like if you have Michael Jordan, you have
10:42
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan, and that is above and beyond anything. And
10:44
Speaker 1: if you have you got Magic. I can even toss
10:50
Speaker 1: in James Worthy if you want to talk about all
10:52
Speaker 1: time grades, but like James Worthy himself an episode one
10:55
Speaker 1: of the Last Dance that Michael was only better than
10:57
Speaker 1: him for twenty minutes. How many ten parts see has
11:00
Speaker 1: been done about Karee? How many ten parts series have
11:03
Speaker 1: been done about Magic Johnson? Well, Magic Johnson's about to
11:06
Speaker 1: be in an HBO scripted series done by There wasn't
11:10
Speaker 1: about Michael Jordan's Broadway play about Magic and Burt lived
11:15
Speaker 1: but still Broadway. They played on Broadway. We're talking about Ramoni,
11:20
Speaker 1: talking about Adam McKay, who's doing Jeff. Yeah, that's gonna
11:23
Speaker 1: be an HBO series coming up. Still, I know, Okay,
11:28
Speaker 1: let's just say that's the push, Okay, But when we
11:30
Speaker 1: talk about baseball, the Dodgers won. Your Cubbies didn't win
11:34
Speaker 1: during that time, and Oral horse Eizer started breaking some
11:37
Speaker 1: all time records, Like Oral horsh Eyes, you're going on
11:40
Speaker 1: the scoreless inning streak and winning those games in the playoffs.
11:43
Speaker 1: Like the guy's name is Oral, and he had a
11:46
Speaker 1: career like that, like and he looks on man to
11:49
Speaker 1: have a career like that with a name like Oral,
11:52
Speaker 1: with looking like like he's an accountant. I mean, doesn't
11:55
Speaker 1: look like an accountant, you know. And he just went
11:57
Speaker 1: out there and all time scoreless inning streak took the
12:00
Speaker 1: Dodger to the to the World World Series at eight.
12:03
Speaker 1: That's like an unbelievable, magical run. And like people give
12:07
Speaker 1: Gibson all the credit for, you know, that home run
12:09
Speaker 1: of Game one because it's this big moment and Bevin
12:11
Speaker 1: Scully has an amazing call. But Oral Hirstives is the
12:14
Speaker 1: reason they were there. I mean, that guy, they just
12:16
Speaker 1: rode him. Now, that didn't happen as much back then,
12:20
Speaker 1: but like now we've seen pictures get on a hot
12:22
Speaker 1: streak like that, right, Like Madison bomb Gardner got on
12:24
Speaker 1: a hot streak like that later for the Giants when
12:26
Speaker 1: they would win. But the Dodgers with the World Series eight.
12:29
Speaker 1: Like Ryan tamber as great as he is, you don't
12:32
Speaker 1: have that team success to go with it. Kay, I
12:35
Speaker 1: feel like you can be much more impartial on this kid. Yeah,
12:38
Speaker 1: I'm not impartial at all. I'm still doing my Gibson
12:40
Speaker 1: my fist pump after the home run. I'm just doing it.
12:43
Speaker 1: He's his Storio. He's like a sports historian. You know,
12:48
Speaker 1: he's got a lot of credibility here. First you have
12:51
Speaker 1: the wrong trio for Chicago, and then if you're gonna
12:54
Speaker 1: go to the Chicago trio, you'd have to do the
12:55
Speaker 1: one that was immortalized on the poster, which was labeled
12:58
Speaker 1: class for All Seasons, and that was Jordan Peyton, Andre Dawson.
13:03
Speaker 1: A picture of them all wearing tuxedos, um looking very classy. Um.
13:08
Speaker 1: You know they all won Most Valuable Player Awards. Um.
13:12
Speaker 1: I think Peyton won an MVP. If not, he should have.
13:14
Speaker 1: They did. No, Uh, yeah they did. I mean Dawson
13:17
Speaker 1: certainly did. So. So there's three m v ps. Um.
13:21
Speaker 1: You know they're all in Chicago at this time. Um.
13:25
Speaker 1: So I'd say that's the trio, and then to counter,
13:29
Speaker 1: I'd say the peak in a lot of ways was
13:34
Speaker 1: magic Gretzky, bo Jackson, and Bo Jackson certainly doesn't have
13:40
Speaker 1: the numbers, you know, the Hall of Fame numbers in
13:42
Speaker 1: either sport that he was in, but he played football
13:45
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles for the Raiders and certainly racked up,
13:48
Speaker 1: you know, a disproportionate share of highlights and was exciting.
13:52
Speaker 1: And the fact was that there was a time where
13:55
Speaker 1: you could see all three in a home uniform in
13:59
Speaker 1: the same weekend in l a. And that was a
14:01
Speaker 1: very unique aspect. And I actually caught two of them
14:04
Speaker 1: the same day. There there was a direk from college
14:07
Speaker 1: and I went to a Raider game in the afternoon
14:09
Speaker 1: and went to a Laker game night Sunday. Obviously, um,
14:12
Speaker 1: I could have caught the Kings, and I wish I had.
14:15
Speaker 1: The Kings were home so I could have done it.
14:18
Speaker 1: So the thing is it was possible to see all
14:20
Speaker 1: three of those guys, who were, maybe, if not the
14:24
Speaker 1: greatest to watch, the greatest to play their sports. Gretzky
14:28
Speaker 1: probably has the best argument for that, But who better
14:31
Speaker 1: to watch? You know, can you name three better people
14:34
Speaker 1: to watch play their sports than those three? All were
14:37
Speaker 1: available to see in a home uniform simultaneously, so I
14:42
Speaker 1: agree take on bo Jackson, and a lot of people
14:45
Speaker 1: on Twitter submitted a Gretzky magic bo Jackson combo. Before
14:51
Speaker 1: we get to that, I do want to say I
14:53
Speaker 1: thought a lot about Andre Dawson in Chicago, and ultimately
14:57
Speaker 1: I decided on Ryan Samberg. And you probably know you
15:00
Speaker 1: guys both probably know uh. Mark Silverman, who's known as
15:04
Speaker 1: Sylvie for Waddle and Silver in Chicago back me and
15:07
Speaker 1: said he would put Andre Dawson in this trio instead
15:09
Speaker 1: of Ryan Samberg. I I settled on Ryan Samberg because
15:12
Speaker 1: of what he did to transform a franchise that had
15:15
Speaker 1: not won anything, and his year in nineteen eighty four
15:18
Speaker 1: was so much more transcendent. While Andre Dawson had a
15:21
Speaker 1: great year I think it was a seven eighty eight
15:24
Speaker 1: and like won an m VP that year for a
15:25
Speaker 1: last place team. A lot of people had done what
15:28
Speaker 1: Andre Dawson had done. No one had done what Ryan
15:31
Speaker 1: Samberg had done. And Ryan Samberg probably goes down as
15:34
Speaker 1: a top five second basement of all time. Andre Dawson's
15:37
Speaker 1: go down as a top five outfielder of all time.
15:39
Speaker 1: That's why I decided to go with Ryan Samberg. The
15:42
Speaker 1: reason why I like Oral better than bo Jackson is
15:45
Speaker 1: because ultimately, like Oral, Hirsheiser did it over a longer
15:48
Speaker 1: period of time and also he won the World Series title.
15:51
Speaker 1: I think saying the best to watch, if you say
15:55
Speaker 1: one year greatest of all time, I think you do
15:58
Speaker 1: go with bo Jackson, and you do go with Gretzky,
16:00
Speaker 1: and you do go with Magic. But if you're talking
16:02
Speaker 1: about a career greatest of all time, then I think
16:04
Speaker 1: you have to go with the wild harsh eyes. But
16:06
Speaker 1: are you talking about a moment, Because if you're talking
16:08
Speaker 1: Samberg eighty four, that means you're only getting the first
16:11
Speaker 1: couple of months of Jordan's career. Um, yeah, no, but
16:14
Speaker 1: I'm talking I'm talking about like Samberg was as good
16:17
Speaker 1: as he was from eighty four to eighty nine, right
16:20
Speaker 1: like he was a top flight Hall of Fame player
16:23
Speaker 1: the Cubs went to the place and eighty four, he
16:25
Speaker 1: was an integral part of the Cubs going to the
16:26
Speaker 1: playoffs in eighty nine. Jordans obviously from eighty four to
16:30
Speaker 1: eighty nine. By eighty eight, he was winning m VP
16:32
Speaker 1: and you know, winning the All Star Game m VP
16:34
Speaker 1: and winning Defensive Player of the Year etcetera, etcetera. Um,
16:37
Speaker 1: so that's why, that's why I sort of have that
16:40
Speaker 1: window of say eighty four to eight. So here's what's interesting.
16:45
Speaker 1: There's almost this like debate here within debate within the
16:49
Speaker 1: debate of are you gonna pick somebody who was like
16:52
Speaker 1: the all time great in their in their prime or
16:56
Speaker 1: how much does winning count? Right? Like, to me, the
17:00
Speaker 1: biggest moment of my childhood was the Dodgers winning the
17:03
Speaker 1: World Series of Media. I mean I was I grew up,
17:06
Speaker 1: I was playing t ball. No, by that, I would
17:08
Speaker 1: have not been in t ball. I would have been
17:09
Speaker 1: like in real softball by then. But like I was
17:12
Speaker 1: watching that, like I was watching Kirk Gibson hit that
17:15
Speaker 1: home run, and like it's still forever in my memory
17:18
Speaker 1: of the greatest sports memory. Right. And then right up
17:21
Speaker 1: there are the Lakers showtime Lakers, right, because that's right
17:24
Speaker 1: in right in their wheelhouse too. And Wayne Gretzky when
17:28
Speaker 1: he came to l A, Like, I mean, we looked
17:30
Speaker 1: at hockey before that is like whatever, but like he
17:33
Speaker 1: had the charisma he got everybody into the Kings. Like,
17:37
Speaker 1: I mean I had no interest in hockey before that,
17:40
Speaker 1: and I used to watch the Kings all the time,
17:41
Speaker 1: just because of Wayne Gretzky. And then we all got
17:43
Speaker 1: into Luke Robotie and they had Barrett Melrose their coach.
17:46
Speaker 1: I mean, it was like the Kings were a thing,
17:48
Speaker 1: right J. I mean you were working here at that time.
17:50
Speaker 1: They were left for left college that year. Gretzky got
17:57
Speaker 1: there right as I was leaving the head to Northwestern.
17:59
Speaker 1: So it was it was a little disappointed that I
18:01
Speaker 1: didn't really get to experience that in l A. That phenomenon.
18:04
Speaker 1: But you know, in and I caught the first half
18:08
Speaker 1: of the year. In eight, you know, Lakers win the championship,
18:11
Speaker 1: their Dodgers win that championship, Rescue come in to l A. UM.
18:15
Speaker 1: But but is that even the best year to be
18:18
Speaker 1: a sports fan in l A. Because in four, the
18:21
Speaker 1: Raiders are still there, They win the Super Bowl, Marcus
18:24
Speaker 1: Allen's Super Bowl m v P. You have the Olympics
18:27
Speaker 1: come to town, which was amazing. You know that the
18:30
Speaker 1: Dodgers are still good. You know, it feels like the
18:32
Speaker 1: Dodgers were good throughout. They were good. Yeah, they they
18:36
Speaker 1: win in eight. Um, you know, but it's hard to
18:41
Speaker 1: imagine them. I don't really remember them having any down period. Um,
18:45
Speaker 1: you know, eighty four is a little bitter for me
18:46
Speaker 1: because that's year the Lakers lost to the Celtics in
18:48
Speaker 1: the finals. So that that that sort of cast a
18:51
Speaker 1: pall over the next month at least. And and that's
18:53
Speaker 1: kind of what kept it from being the perfect year.
18:55
Speaker 1: But the fact is they were still in the midst
18:58
Speaker 1: of I think four straight finals appearances, y um, and
19:02
Speaker 1: and you know, they played in the finals and they
19:03
Speaker 1: won the championship the next year. So yeah, is a
19:08
Speaker 1: great stretch to be in. And the and the thing
19:10
Speaker 1: about it is that, like I'm a Raider fan, I said,
19:13
Speaker 1: will always be a Raider fan. I don't like that
19:14
Speaker 1: they're in Vegas, but whatever, you know, I feel like
19:17
Speaker 1: it's l A or Oakland. But when the Raiders are
19:20
Speaker 1: when the Raiders are rolling, man, l A is a
19:22
Speaker 1: Raider talk. And so, like you're right about bow Jackson.
19:24
Speaker 1: He was just the most amazing star because he was
19:27
Speaker 1: he was so unique and he was so electrifying, Like
19:30
Speaker 1: he was definitely peak of his abilities in eight. The
19:33
Speaker 1: thing is they didn't win then, so like it's kind
19:35
Speaker 1: of hard for me to to like jump on that
19:38
Speaker 1: Raider bandwagon in that year Um, I know the Kings
19:41
Speaker 1: didn't win a title that year, but like they did
19:43
Speaker 1: well and Gretzky was you know, it was so revolutionary,
19:47
Speaker 1: you know for all thet an MVP that year, didn't
19:50
Speaker 1: he Yeah, but they didn't win a Stanley Cup for
19:53
Speaker 1: many years later. But but but still like he made
19:56
Speaker 1: them relevant and he was like the star of stars
19:58
Speaker 1: and I think that like, Um, I don't know, I
20:01
Speaker 1: think you just gotta give it to him because he's
20:03
Speaker 1: like they're his hockey player. Ever, um to me, like,
20:07
Speaker 1: I'll take I'll take the Dodgers winning the title over
20:11
Speaker 1: over bo Jackson even though that was really exciting, It
20:14
Speaker 1: just they didn't win. True story. I did not see
20:17
Speaker 1: the Kirk Gibson home run because I was at a
20:22
Speaker 1: Bennigans in north Brook and I could not see it
20:26
Speaker 1: because a rookie for the Chicago Bulls named Will Purdue
20:31
Speaker 1: with are I was behind him the Kirk Gibson home run.
20:41
Speaker 1: That's sad, if it makes you feel any better, I
20:44
Speaker 1: got stuck behind Taco Fall with the dunk contest this year.
20:47
Speaker 1: I couldn't really see anything either. By the way, By
20:51
Speaker 1: the way Ramona I was, I was at All Star
20:53
Speaker 1: with my younger son, and he noticed you walking the
20:57
Speaker 1: sidelines star talking to everybody. He's like, I'm pretty sure
21:01
Speaker 1: that's Ramona sh I'm like, yeah, that's right. Yeah. Well,
21:04
Speaker 1: the the sideline radio gig at the All Star Game
21:07
Speaker 1: Jay is like the best gig because everybody's relaxed. Like,
21:11
Speaker 1: you know, normally when you're a sideline reporter, you're kind
21:14
Speaker 1: of sneaking into huddles that they don't really want you
21:16
Speaker 1: a part of, right, Like You're like you're kind of
21:18
Speaker 1: like an eavesdropper, you know, and you kind of sneak
21:21
Speaker 1: in there, and everybody's intense and stuff, and it's hard
21:24
Speaker 1: to get on the sideline because there's there's not really
21:25
Speaker 1: a big pathway, right, Like there's fans sitting right up
21:29
Speaker 1: on the ice and you're just like stepping over people.
21:31
Speaker 1: You're chasing down injuries for All Star Man, everybody's chill,
21:35
Speaker 1: like you could just walk right up to them on
21:36
Speaker 1: the bench and start talking them in the middle of
21:38
Speaker 1: the game. It's kind of fun, right, so like and
21:41
Speaker 1: and also there's no other media down there, so like
21:43
Speaker 1: you're like the only person there. The sideline radio and
21:46
Speaker 1: Sideline TV. It's great as sort of sports experts. Let
21:49
Speaker 1: me give you some other things that people sent in
21:51
Speaker 1: and get your takes because also this was a surprisingly
21:55
Speaker 1: good one that came in from Seattle, and it also
21:57
Speaker 1: has last stats relevance. Gary pay, Cortez Kennedy, and Ken
22:02
Speaker 1: Griffy Jr. Got three. But people like I wouldn't be
22:06
Speaker 1: excited to see Cortez Kennedy. Yeah, into a game to
22:10
Speaker 1: see Cortez Kennedy and he was great. And that's a
22:12
Speaker 1: seriously the name I haven't thought of in probably fifteen years.
22:16
Speaker 1: So h I feel bad for Seattle because Ken Griffy
22:20
Speaker 1: Junior League, like everyone left right and then the Seattle SuperSonics,
22:24
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. We but l A didn't
22:27
Speaker 1: feel that bad off for not having the NFL, like
22:30
Speaker 1: people don't get it that people are you don't have
22:32
Speaker 1: the NFL like we had so much else going on.
22:36
Speaker 1: We didn't miss it that much. But Seattle, when the
22:38
Speaker 1: Sonics left, it just felt like a piece of that
22:41
Speaker 1: town was was ripped away from them and they still
22:44
Speaker 1: haven't recovered. The NFL wasn't here for like decades, and
22:47
Speaker 1: but we still had the Lakers and they were winning.
22:48
Speaker 1: We had the Dodgers like they had some down years,
22:51
Speaker 1: but they were even during the worst four years USC football,
22:54
Speaker 1: like there was a there was enough. We didn't really
22:56
Speaker 1: miss the NFL, like you could just watch whoever you
22:59
Speaker 1: wanted everything to day. It's fine, all right, here's another
23:03
Speaker 1: here's another one for you and I We have not
23:05
Speaker 1: settled l A because I think Jay's making really good
23:09
Speaker 1: points about bo Jackson, but Ramona is also making good
23:12
Speaker 1: points about Oral, her size her. It's gonna come down
23:14
Speaker 1: to bow and and oral. What about the Detroit Sneaky
23:19
Speaker 1: Detroit Barry Sanders, Isaiah Thomas, Steve Eiserman. That's not a
23:24
Speaker 1: bad list. They're all winners. I mean, well Barry Sanders
23:26
Speaker 1: didn't want a title, but he was like a like
23:30
Speaker 1: apply the criteria that a Dande is talking about. Those
23:33
Speaker 1: are three players who were great to watch and also
23:37
Speaker 1: like all timers like Isiserman's you look at it, he's
23:41
Speaker 1: a top five hockey player of all time. Isaiah obviously
23:44
Speaker 1: again you know, sort of revitalized during the last Dance,
23:47
Speaker 1: but he was a wicked, awesome basketball player, arguably the
23:51
Speaker 1: second greatest point guard in NBA history. Yeah, even Jordan's center.
23:55
Speaker 1: Even George said the show like after Magic arguably the
23:57
Speaker 1: second best ever, a Chicago kid who broke my heart
24:01
Speaker 1: that I had to hit him because of the Pistons
24:03
Speaker 1: and Barry Sanders. Come on, how good was you to watch? Yeah,
24:06
Speaker 1: Barry Sandon, I would watch him any day, you know,
24:09
Speaker 1: Like like I'd take Peyton overs over Barry Sanders, and
24:12
Speaker 1: I'd take um, obviously Jordan over Isaiah. So it's Chicago
24:16
Speaker 1: wins that one, Um, and then I take Magic over
24:19
Speaker 1: Isaiah and Gretzky over Issoren even even l A. Okay,
24:26
Speaker 1: when you're talking Gratzky, you're really talking Edmonton Gretzky. But
24:29
Speaker 1: i'd I'd say even l A Gretzky, you know that
24:32
Speaker 1: early years and he did get to a Stanley Cup
24:36
Speaker 1: final in ninety three, I believe, right, So um, I
24:42
Speaker 1: still take l A over that just accomplishments. All right,
24:45
Speaker 1: This is my last one because I agree with you,
24:47
Speaker 1: and like the reason I wanted you guys on is
24:49
Speaker 1: because of the l A perspective, And to me, this
24:52
Speaker 1: l A trio is the only one that could push
24:54
Speaker 1: Jordan's and Peyton and Sandberg the last one. Dwight Gooden,
25:00
Speaker 1: Atrick Ewing, Lawrence Taylor, Nah, can't put you there, but
25:07
Speaker 1: you do Rookie year Ewing was a phenomenon, right, Yeah,
25:13
Speaker 1: White Gooden in eighties six. Yeah, I can go back
25:17
Speaker 1: and watch one pitching season even orals and eight as
25:20
Speaker 1: as great and as historic as Oral and eight. Dwight
25:23
Speaker 1: Gooden in eight six was a phenomenon. I remember watching
25:26
Speaker 1: on w O superstation and catch Dwight good and that
25:31
Speaker 1: that was a phenomenon. And Patrick was super fun to watch.
25:34
Speaker 1: I mean he restored the knicks and made them relevant. Again,
25:37
Speaker 1: that's a pretty good trios. Guys, you didn't even mention
25:41
Speaker 1: LT when the m v P eight six n LT
25:44
Speaker 1: was just a phenomenon. U just dominant changed the game, right,
25:50
Speaker 1: I mean it's many. You go back and you read
25:52
Speaker 1: the blind Side and it talks about the rise of
25:55
Speaker 1: the left tackle, which was all because of LT. Right right,
26:00
Speaker 1: that's exactly Doc good gets. I mean, like you and
26:04
Speaker 1: you can't know, I mean as good as he was,
26:06
Speaker 1: Like they didn't win, I don't know that he's considered
26:10
Speaker 1: like he's not Kareem, he's not Shack, He's not right
26:13
Speaker 1: is he even a top five center of all time?
26:15
Speaker 1: If we just go down the list World Chamberlain, Like
26:17
Speaker 1: I mean I don't know Russell. Yeah, I don't think
26:26
Speaker 1: that one's gonna cut it, all right, So York is out,
26:28
Speaker 1: all right, But one year to watch six, six, especially
26:34
Speaker 1: the good I mean that that that was just one
26:36
Speaker 1: of my favorite phenomenons. His curveball. Oh man, that watching
26:43
Speaker 1: six was Strawberry, right. I mean you could easily put Strawberry,
26:49
Speaker 1: you and LT in that conversation too. I think I
26:51
Speaker 1: put Good in a head of Strawberry, but it's still irrelevant.
26:55
Speaker 1: He's irrelevant option all right, it's coming back down, mad
27:00
Speaker 1: Jick Gretzky, Bow or Oral. I mean, you know, I
27:04
Speaker 1: vote Oral, like I didn't think like I think eight
27:08
Speaker 1: season plus the championship Tom, I just remember, but like
27:12
Speaker 1: Bow was more fun to watch. So you know that
27:15
Speaker 1: that was the three that I gave you when you
27:17
Speaker 1: asked for my submission, you know. Or Oral was was fantastic,
27:22
Speaker 1: historic was its sixty consecutive scoreless innings. Mhmm, World Series,
27:27
Speaker 1: MVP Sportsman of the Year. That's the thing. Of all
27:30
Speaker 1: the people we named, he was a Sportsman of the
27:32
Speaker 1: Year out of everybody in sports that year. I just
27:38
Speaker 1: go with with Bow just because that's who I was
27:40
Speaker 1: checking for it you know. He was his name is Oral, mean,
27:46
Speaker 1: you know, like like Tommy and sort of told me
27:47
Speaker 1: this great story. And I don't know, every Tommy story
27:50
Speaker 1: is a little you never know if it's totally true. Right,
27:53
Speaker 1: There's this story where he goes, listen, your name isn't
27:56
Speaker 1: Oral Hersheiser, bulldog your bulldog? And he just had to
28:00
Speaker 1: call it a bulldog. And I mean the guy he
28:02
Speaker 1: literally looks like an accountant. I mean, how's this guy
28:04
Speaker 1: striking everybody out scorelessening streaks like this? I think I
28:08
Speaker 1: have nine. Yeah, I love a Dande's argument about Bo Jackson,
28:11
Speaker 1: who is attended athlete, but I have to go with
28:14
Speaker 1: the Orld hirsh Eiser, Magic and Gretzky, And I think
28:17
Speaker 1: it actually beats Peyton Jordan's and Sandburn because and I
28:22
Speaker 1: think it's because the way I originally considered the argument, like,
28:26
Speaker 1: I can't do my trio if I go with with
28:29
Speaker 1: the Dande's argument, because I don't know, you know, So
28:32
Speaker 1: I have to go with Dawson, Magic, Gretzky and Oral
28:36
Speaker 1: hirsh Eizer as the number one trio for one city
28:40
Speaker 1: at one time across three sports man it's a hot
28:48
Speaker 1: time in the city man, I was nine. How old
28:52
Speaker 1: are you day? You were? Like high school age? I graduate.
28:56
Speaker 1: I went to Game seven against the Pistons, So that's
28:59
Speaker 1: the one I was in person, and that was like
29:02
Speaker 1: the culmination of my childhood. Like I remember, it was
29:05
Speaker 1: so simbolic. And the day of Game seven, I drove,
29:10
Speaker 1: I went back to my elementary school. I probably stopped
29:12
Speaker 1: at my junior high. I was just wrapping up my childhood.
29:15
Speaker 1: I knew I was getting ready to go away to
29:17
Speaker 1: college that that that fall, and I needed them to
29:21
Speaker 1: win that championship. The last the eighties were everything to me.
29:25
Speaker 1: And remember nobody had one back to back in the
29:28
Speaker 1: NBA since like Russell's Celtics in the sixty and so
29:32
Speaker 1: it was such a big deal to be going from
29:33
Speaker 1: back to back. But I just needed that to to
29:36
Speaker 1: finish off my adolescence and then go to college. And
29:40
Speaker 1: I spent a hundred twenty five dollars on the ticket
29:43
Speaker 1: at a time when I had fifty in my bank
29:45
Speaker 1: account to get a ticket to Game seven, and um man,
29:52
Speaker 1: that just meant so much to me. Well, Chad, the
29:54
Speaker 1: other thing too, if this makes you this tops this off. Okay,
29:58
Speaker 1: we didn't just have three all time grades in their prime.
30:01
Speaker 1: In the same year, two of those three one championships
30:04
Speaker 1: and all of their game were called by arguably the
30:08
Speaker 1: greatest broadcasters in their sports ever. Okay, Finn Scully, Bevin
30:13
Speaker 1: Scully is calling orld Harshiser, Chick Heard is calling the
30:17
Speaker 1: Laker games, and Bob Miller is calling the games. For
30:19
Speaker 1: wedding for Win Gretzky of the Kings. I mean, that's
30:22
Speaker 1: pretty good. But Mona, I have a picture with all three.
30:25
Speaker 1: That's my person poster with with Dawson, Jordan and Yeah.
30:30
Speaker 1: So it's one of the few times they're all in
30:33
Speaker 1: the same room together. The local sports outlet to the
30:36
Speaker 1: round table. This is after Bob Miller gets into the
30:38
Speaker 1: Hockey Hall of Fame, and so they had him, Chick
30:42
Speaker 1: and Um and Ben come in and just share stories
30:45
Speaker 1: and it was amazing. And I was in there and
30:47
Speaker 1: Larry Stewart, who was the l a Times Sports TV critic,
30:50
Speaker 1: was in there, and I got a picture with everybody.
30:53
Speaker 1: Very few people have a photo with Bob Miller Chicker
30:59
Speaker 1: because because of the Jewels, they were so rarely in
31:01
Speaker 1: the same room together. It only happened maybe two or
31:03
Speaker 1: three times, and very you know, and very few, if
31:08
Speaker 1: any city has got to grow up hearing their sports
31:11
Speaker 1: broadcast to them by three people at the very top
31:15
Speaker 1: of their profession, among the very very best to ever
31:18
Speaker 1: do it. So, yeah, great point, Ramona. Not only did
31:21
Speaker 1: we get to see these players when we couldn't see them,
31:24
Speaker 1: we got to hear their exploits described to us by
31:27
Speaker 1: the best you could ask for. Yeah great. So now
31:30
Speaker 1: you guys are just laying it on a little thing.
31:33
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, we really were spoiled, Like, honestly,
31:36
Speaker 1: why are we all sports fans because we grew up
31:38
Speaker 1: in l A in the eighties with these three guys
31:40
Speaker 1: on the call. Awesome? But I do think you look,
31:43
Speaker 1: you make a really good point, Ramona, and that is
31:45
Speaker 1: this is the kind of game that that people end
31:48
Speaker 1: up loving because it reminds them of why they fell
31:50
Speaker 1: in love with sports to begin with. You know, it's
31:53
Speaker 1: like I am loving the Last Dance because me so
31:56
Speaker 1: much about when I was twelve years old and going
31:59
Speaker 1: to Bulls game in three before Jordan arrived, and my
32:03
Speaker 1: dad was buying ten tickets for you know, a dollar
32:06
Speaker 1: each for my birthday and we'd go see Orlando Wolridge,
32:10
Speaker 1: Reggie theis artists called David Greenwood. Yeah, to me, that
32:15
Speaker 1: was like the end all be all of existence, Like
32:19
Speaker 1: that's why all of this is so much fun. The
32:23
Speaker 1: bulls in the stadium, you know, just getting there my
32:26
Speaker 1: first couple of years of college, getting tickets, and one
32:28
Speaker 1: time we literally had a seat in the last row
32:31
Speaker 1: of the second balcony Chicago Stadium. But that building, the
32:35
Speaker 1: way it was set up, you're still out over the court,
32:38
Speaker 1: so you're not very far from the court because the
32:41
Speaker 1: balconies are hanging out over and like you could stand.
32:44
Speaker 1: If you're down on the floor, you could look up
32:46
Speaker 1: and if your friend was sitting in the second balcony,
32:48
Speaker 1: you could recognize their face. That that's how close it was. Um,
32:51
Speaker 1: the energy in that building. I still get goose bumps
32:55
Speaker 1: every time I see the serious intros, you know, and
32:59
Speaker 1: and and now, oh yeah, man, I hear that Alan
33:03
Speaker 1: Parsons project chills. Imagine seeing that every night, like it's
33:08
Speaker 1: a random Wednesday, and it's before a T n T,
33:11
Speaker 1: before T and T at National Games and you're watching
33:13
Speaker 1: it on w g N with Jim Durham and Johnny
33:15
Speaker 1: Redcirt Like that was every single night, all right, Ramona
33:19
Speaker 1: Shelburn j Adande. Thank you, guys, l a native sports
33:23
Speaker 1: historian extraordinaire. As you guys got lucky. You grew up
33:26
Speaker 1: with very good players in your era. Thanks for coming
33:29
Speaker 1: on the Favorites. We win to admit something, but you
33:39
Speaker 1: gotta admit that was pretty damn I was convincing with
33:42
Speaker 1: that bulldog story, Wasn't I all right up with you guys.
33:45
Speaker 1: I'll talk to you later. Alright, this has been the Favorites.
33:50
Speaker 1: The podcast from the Action Network I Am Chad Mowman.
33:53
Speaker 1: Download from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast,
33:59
Speaker 1: rate reviews right until next time, Love you, muh