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The Big O Podcast - Episode #11: Pete almost worked where? · The Big O Podcast

• speaker-0: Well here we go with the big old podcast, another episode with the great Pete Shepherd. Hello, Petey. How are you, buddy? speaker-1: Well, I and I wrote it down here a couple of weeks ago. Beacon of light. Someone referred to you as beacon of light. Yeah, I'm not sure. You're stuck with me, yes. That's yeah. speaker-0: How am I a beacon of life? Though you know you know, I I I think I'm bringing together Dennis, Callahan, and Minahan. So you gotta look at it this way, Pete. Maybe I'm bringing peace to the world. Maybe I'm connecting people finally. Because I certainly separated people through most of my country. They went in a different direction. speaker-1: But now all the separated people want to be part of this podcast now. Yes, they do. speaker-0: which is which is terrific. It is it's great. And by the way, I've got to say this because I get chastised with this all the time. You need to subscribe. If you don't subscribe, then appar apparently the algorithms think that you don't really like us. That you're maybe just hitting the button every once in a while. It's speaker-1: That's the thing. speaker-0: free free. This is all free. Subscribe and like. And it's free. Now there are no commercials right now, but Trust me, there will be some commercials down the road, but it won't be like radio. We won't do eight nine minute breaks. We're not gonna do that shit, I can tell you. speaker-1: Just you think about that back then. What in in the prime of the big show from my God. I'm telling you, we were even on the air for thirty five minutes, an hour. It was like brutal. speaker-0: No. And it seemed like that way. We would sit around and say, Okay, what do we do next? And it was there was real downtime. I think Fan in New York might have had up to twenty or twenty two minutes of commercials with Mike and the Mad Dog and people stayed with that show. speaker-1: I used to get out of I used to get out of my my second job in radio in nineteen eighty eight. It was right before I moved to Massachusetts, the WKRI flagship for the Pawtucket Red Sox back then, by the way. Gary Cohen was doing the games back then. Good job. Before he took the job before he took the job for the Mets. Yeah, I remember I I'd get out of work at I think it's ten past six or something like that, and I'd catch Pete Franklin at the time was doing afternoon drive. Mike and the Mad Dom. He was crazy. Come on, G. But I but he wasn't, it would take me about 40 minutes to get home at the time. And I'm like, and I swear to God, half the it was 20 minutes of commercials. He'd come back and do a like literally like 90 seconds and then go to another like seven minute break with traffic back then they did. You know? So I know all about the Holland Tunnel and Jersey Turnpike and all that stuff. speaker-0: Yeah Pete Franklin was crazy. He was a Cleveland talk show. And when fan went on the air, they convinced him to come to New York and he was big in in Cleveland, but he was never big in New York. speaker-1: No, he didn't take it didn't take then he used to and he was he get called out a lot in a lot of stuff. speaker-0: yeah, you get a lot of stuff wrong. speaker-1: Yeah. And speaker-0: But you could get away with it in those days, Pete. We talked about Eddie Andleman. Eddie really didn't and he followed sports, but he followed it as more of a fan. He didn't follow it as a journalist or reporter or somebody that's gonna watch and visualize everything. And so there were a lot of cracks in what he was saying. But you could get away with it in those days because we didn't have the internet. Nobody could go and fact check you by going to Espn.com. So he was able to get away with it. These days, you can't do that. There's these fans are so well informed because they're watching and seeing the exact same stuff that you are. speaker-1: Yeah, and it's easy it's it's easy click of information. And not just Eddie, but other guys I think had a real problem. When you started saying stuff like, and not just him, but there were a lot of other people. Such and such is batting, you know, 322 and and that and then you'd look and you just look it up real quick. And Dale was a master at it. And and back then, even on internet, we did not have the best internet over there, remember. Terrible. It was we had one little computer and really that was when ESPN two would do the scroll. That's how a lot of information came across. But but you could look it up and it's like, no, he's not hitting three twenty two, he's hitting two forty one. And against lefties it's even worse. And not just him but others could not handle it when you threw the real numbers back in their face. speaker-0: Well, that's the funny thing about the internet, the early days of the internet, and you're right. So we're a radio station. We need it because we need the computers constantly going. And if too many people on our floor were using the internet and the salespeople all had laptops in front of them, they were in the other room and they were constantly on the internet. Once that happened, we were shut out. Internet went down. We couldn't do and I remember use in so many days. speaker-1: Well you were so speaker-0: pissed off, you were throwing shit against the wall. You sitting there going, I can't get anything on the fucking internet. speaker-1: And I'm supposed to do updates during the show as well as chime in. speaker-0: He made it out. speaker-1: We had well, no, I didn't want to keep re I'm like, I I gotta get this information. You had there was one in the in the production studio where you where you where the big sh the main studio was, and Andy and Brett would be there. There was one main computer. All right, it was slow as shit. Back where I was across from you, the other room, there was another one outside that hardly ever worked. And I'm sitting there and then I had another one. in my studio, but it was UPI. It was like nobody used that anymore. And the only thing that one was good for in the studio once in a while is if we had afternoon scores, though those would pop up pretty significantly. But if I if there was something that was breaking, it was we had no idea. Sometimes you know this. How many times did callers call in and say, even to Andy and Brett and say, Hey, you might want to look into this. Something happen and they were usually right. Cause we couldn't get on the internet. We couldn't they there was it was so slow and it was it and and thank God we always had enough topics to talk about. I used to get upset because we never had any preview sound. Whoever was in the locker room at the time, whether it was Luis Cornetta back then or whomever was in the locker room for us, never got preview sound. And we were supposed to use sound at the top of the hour flashes back in the day. And our stuff was so old and antiquated by the time I got on. Because initially we were three to six, then we went to two to six. Right. When I was with you. But that was that was a kind of a frustrating thing for me. And then Jason one day says, Well, you don't have to use sound at the top of the hour. And I'm like, that's not what I was told, but that's okay. That makes it a little easier because I'm playing stuff from, you know, a day ago, a day and a half ago, from Pedro Martinez, and and I'm trying to find something that's remotely current. And without it being national because you know, nobody gave a shit about you know, the Cleveland Indians what they were doing. So speaking of that, speaker-0: Name for yeah, another name from the past, Louise Cornetta, who l later became the program director for ESPN radio. speaker-1: She's not she is she is great down here. She's here in Southwest Florida in Naples. speaker-0: What is she doing now? speaker-1: She's acting a lot. And if you go on her Facebook page, and I've got to get down to see her. She's been performing a lot in all these off Broadway shows and getting great reviews, doing a great job. She got married, and I haven't talked to her in a while, but you know, we keep it touched on Facebook here and there and stuff. Yeah, she's doing terrific. speaker-0: Yeah, she was terrific. She was a hard worker and we really liked her and I'm not surprised that she went on to bigger and and better things. So maybe we'll have to contact her, reconnect with Brunetta. speaker-1: I'll she'd be talking about if she's willing to talk about some inside stuff because she was right in the middle of a lot of crap, you know. Yeah. speaker-0: Yeah. She would she would know she would know a few stories. Now I don't know if she's gonna be willing to tell some of those stories because it could be legal issues, but we we couldn't, you know. We could try. Do you remember how excited we got when we the internet was constantly going down? And they brought in what they thought was like cutting edge technology. It was a a light bar that they put up on the studio wall and it was a crawl and it had scores. But the problem was If you weren't looking at it or you weren't quick enough to get it, what was the Cub score? Well it would it would sail speaker-1: You know they have those light flash warnings on video games and stuff, you know, about epilepsy, might have a seizure. That's what speaker-0: Yeah it was. But we were all excited when they first got it. And think of it now. It's embarrassing when you think of the technology we have today. But at the time it was cutting edge. And we were so excited. But I can tell you, after a few days of trying to operate on it, we kept on saying, Is there any way we can stop the crawl? Is there any way we can pause it? There was no way speaker-1: It was just going. speaker-0: across and you would and there would be stories like breaking news that would go on there. And you would see somebody broke his leg or something like that. Who? Yeah. Who broke his leg? We speaker-1: Missed the name. Yeah, you gotta wait ten minutes for it to come back again. Yeah, it was just crazy. And and then at the end then I love the the red light, yellow light, green light. You know, when you're ready to go to break. Sorry, go yellow, then green, and then go to go. speaker-0: Traffic light. It was a traffic light. Traffic speaker-1: It's like Mr. Rogers. speaker-0: light in Missouri with a red, yellow, and green light. Go ahead. speaker-1: I was waiting for the train to come by. It was like Mr. Rogers. We have the traffic light in in the studio and speaker-0: So the reason they put that in there and I think it was because of me. Okay. speaker-1: I mean you just stooped the word it was because of you. speaker-0: It was. That's what I I I suspected that over the years, Pete. Now you have verified it many years later. They put it in because I didn't like going to the commercial breaks on time. Because if we were on a roll, my feeling was, and Stern was doing this. Not that I'm trying to compare myself with Stern, but Stern was going forty-five minutes without a commercial break. And it was working because you didn't leave his show for forty five minutes. Now, maybe we couldn't hold an audience for forty-five minutes like who he could, but we could hold it for twenty-five or thirty, I'm thinking. And why am I going to take a break when we're in a heated debate right now? Everybody's going at it. McAdam is calling Felgrim is the baseball, and I'm sitting there. And now we interrupt the program because we have to take a commercial break. It drove me batshit. And so what the program director ended up doing is they brought a traffic light, literally a fucking traffic light. into the studio and the producer, when we were going to break, would start giving me the yellow light then the blinking yellow light. speaker-1: yeah. It was Mr. Rogers. speaker-0: Yes, and then it would turn red and that meant Ordway needs to go to a break. Screw it, you need to take a break. And then we'd come back and I'd get the green light. And I used to shit on it. Wasn't it nice to they're giving me a green light, Pete? They're giving me a green light. I'm only gonna get it for about six or eight minutes and then they're gonna flash me away with the yellow light. But they did it to try to train me to fucking seal at at at a speaker-1: The the only re the only 'cause I agree with you completely and I'm sorry about that. You okay? Yeah. But speaker-0: A little fur ball, huh? speaker-1: Yeah. I don't know. The you were great and I I agree with you not going to break when we had to. The only thing though is sometimes we're supposed to be off the air at six and it's six twenty. Six twenty five. I think our record was six thirty five. You know And that used to drive Andy and Brett back shit. They used to go crazy. Let's go while we're all the all the all the all the hurry up because if the because if we took the last break at five or six and hadn't done the wander line yet, it was a six thirty night. speaker-0: Okay. Can I explain why I did that? I'll explain why it speaker-1: I know what you're gonna say, but you're right. speaker-0: Okay, back then the rating books were different. We were now doing a two to six show, but the rating books did it in shifts. They didn't do it in hours in those days. So the shift was three to seven. So the six to seven hour was doing nowhere close to what we were doing. So I said, screw it. I'm willing to work longer hours so that those ratings look better. So if we can take it to six fifteen, six twenty, six. twenty eight or whatever, we get an extra two quarter hours. Everything in radio was done in quarter hours. That's and they still do that. They rate everything in quarter hours. Four quarter hours. And if I could occupy two more of them, we get two more quarter hours. And guess what? It was working. Our numbers were going up. And so I said, Screw it. We're going to continue to do this. But you're right. These poor producers who were not making the money that I was or you were making. They're sitting there going, What are we doing here? You know, I like I gotta get to the club, I think. speaker-1: But we also proposed the idea at one point where I would take over and do six to seven. Actually it was more like six to six it was more like six to six thirty five forties during baseball season. Red Sox used to come on at six thirty five, I think. At six thirty five. You're really only doing that we talked about kind of like what Maz is doing now, who does that baseball show that it does a great job with from six to seven. It was proposed that I I might do it, but then they just poo pooed it. for whatever reason. But speaker-0: Yeah, well, they poo-pooed a lot of stuff over over over the years. All right, let's get into the football game over the weekend. The Patriots beat the J E T S Jets. What is that nineteen of the last twenty two or twenty one or or something that? So I'll I'll start I'll start with you. W what was your biggest takeaway from yet another Patriots win over the Jets? speaker-1: Well, I think the confidence level of Drake made number one, but let's be let's be frank here. Think this game should have they could have had forty points if AJ Brown just caught the ball. And I'm not gonna shit all over him. It's his first game back. The the there were timing issues, but he took he dropped it he did the trifecta, dropped a touchdown pass, dropped several trying to run trying to run before catching it, and then almost fucked us on the on the on sides. He's the hands guy. speaker-0: Yeah. That was bad. speaker-1: Not a thumbs guy, a hands guy. But you know what? I'm not gonna it's his first game back. I I think we're gonna see, and they're gonna need him on Thursday night against against the Bears. He can't be dropping balls like that. Balls at other receivers like Chisholm, who didn't see a lot of action yesterday, you know, are making these great spectacular catches. AJ Brown is a tremendous talent. He's just got you gotta he'll get there. He'll he'll absolutely get there. He cannot have a game like that though on Thursday night. And in case though, I look I I was very happy overall. Game went about what I expected. I never thought it was in doubt, never thought it was going to be an issue. But when you look at how the mash unit is this week, what it could be Thursday night, you could be without no fullback. Wide receiver two, wide receiver three, left guard, right guard, right tackle, backup right guard, third string right guard, and and second string cornerback. I didn't either. speaker-0: You recognize the names of the guys that were in there in the fourth quarter on the offensive line. speaker-1: No, and everybody who says they did you're crazy. You're crazy. so overall, yeah, but you talk now it's like next man up over next man up and we'll we'll see. We'll see what happens. That's gonna be a tough, tough game Thursday night in Chicago. speaker-0: Really tough, especially with that offense. The defense is really going to have to play well. But I I agree with you with the confidence level of Drake May. I thought there were maybe only two passes that I would question on the on the whole afternoon. I thought he was very, very good in that in that game. Not perfect, but very good. I would say that you're absolutely right. I'm not going to get on A.J. Brown because I'm I'd be a hypocrite because a couple of weeks ago I said If anybody thinks he's only going to be out for four weeks or five weeks, you're crazy. It's going to take a lot longer than that for him to be a hundred percent. I thought we got fooled early on because I didn't see any speed issues. I didn't see any running issues. Athletically, he looked fine, except that you're right, it was all thumbs. And the the first one was right there. It was a great pass. The second one, you know, what's the guy's name? Stuart did a terrific job defending him. but still you gotta make that catch. And then my God, the onside kick, it was right there. And thank God Pop Douglas was able to get speaker-1: Right there. speaker-0: on top of it, or that could have been a serious problem. I'm with you. I thought they would win the game. The one thing I will say is I thought it was gonna be a close game, Pete. I think people got fooled last week because the offense put all those points up on the board. The Raiders defense with the exception Of Max Crosby, that defense was really poor. And speaker-1: Same as speaker-0: you saw Buffalo put a lot of points against that defense this weekend as well. So the the Jets defense is pretty good. That kid David Bailey off the edge is going to be a player. Excellent. He's going to be a player. Excellent. So they've got some talent on the defensive side of the ball. You know, offensively, they've got Garrett Wilson. You know, you're dealing with a a mediocre quarterback. This is a journeyman, okay? He's not gonna win a lot of games for you. He's probably not gonna lose a lot of games. I think that was his first interception of the season. Yes, but you're gonna he's not gonna be flashy or so I I I thought matter of fact, I liked taking the Jets with a seven and a half. I thought that was a pretty good bet. I thought it was a three, four, five point game. But I coming out of it, and Brabel was you could tell by his post game press conference, and I heard his stuff Monday morning as well. He was not happy with the performance of the team. He called it a lucky win. So he's trying to get into their head now. Now what he might be doing, he's he he's realizing we get this quick turnaround. And we're if you thought that going against that quarterback was a little bit difficult for us, what do you think it's gonna be like with Caleb Williams, who's back right now and can take a broken play and turn it into a forty yard gain? We got a real Tough task on our hands. But I will say this about Vrabel. He was wrong when at the beginning of the season he said he had to play all of these guys deep on the roster because we don't have a deep roster. He's got a much deeper roster than I thought he had, and maybe he thought he had, because that offensive line did a pretty damn good job. That's a good Jets front defense, okay? He they did a really good job, no matter who was in And I didn't even know the names. And when they lost Moses, I'm sitting there going, speaker-1: I know again. speaker-0: they're really screwed. But I gotta give it to him, Pete. They kept Drake May clean. And that was one reason I think Drake May looked so confident in that game because he had so much time back there. He could go through all of his progressions, all of the reads. He had so much time to be able to think it all out. So that surprised me. Now, all bets are off. for Thursday night on whether that offensive line, depleted the way it is, is going to be able to hold up. Though I don't think the the Bears defense is that good. Their offense is very good. speaker-1: I think it's a high scoring game. It's just it's it's gonna be it could be a special team game and it's it's cliche, but whoever makes the fewest mistakes, it's it's gonna be competitive. I'm not saying the Patriots have no shot to win or anything like that. Every time you think they're not gonna show up for a game or but on a short week like this, and if that mash unit is is stays that way and all those guys cannot play, that's gonna that is really gonna be tough. That's speaker-0: I don't think there's any way the four guys that went down are going to play. And Dobbs, I I'm not sure you're gonna get Dobbs back on on Thursday night either. Because when he came down when that was a great catch, but when he came down, he hit that shoulder hard. So you know, maybe if it was a Sunday game, maybe he can play, but he's not gonna play on a Thursday game. But I'll t get back to next man up and where I think Vrabel missed this. So you're getting nothing out of Stevenson, you're getting You know, then suddenly you you get the fumble with Henderson and you're sitting there saying, we're screwed now with the running game because you had to establish that running game. Yep. And Corey Kiner comes into the game and not only did he was a major factor in that game, Pete, he helped them close out that game so that the Jets couldn't get the ball back because he kept on moving the chains. speaker-1: He was huge, absolutely the second year man out of Cincinnati, I believe. speaker-0: So I saw a lot of Corey Kiner with Arizona L I shouldn't say I saw a lot of him. He played. He was on the roster and he would come in in garbage time at the end. But he looked like a pretty polished runner in that game yesterday, Pete. And again, that's the strength of the Jets. It's it's hard to run against that defensive front. So maybe they've maybe they've got something now, but another fumble by one of their running backs, which is not a good sign. And Stevenson really didn't do much in the time he was out there. speaker-1: No, and if if you remember when this kid the first time that that kind of came in was against the Steelers and he fumbled, remember the game was out already the Patriots hand, but he fumbled and I like, no, not another one. And then since that fumble he's been terrific. He's been absolutely terrific. speaker-0: So is it possible because we a lot of people were bitching early on that they didn't play May during the preseason. They didn't play any of their regulars. And so these guys were not ramped up for the regular season. Is it possible that playing all of the guys deep into the roster exclusively in the preseason has made them more ready for the regular season? Because I I I thought that depth was going to be a major issue with this team. Now it might eventually be that way because through attrition, they're losing so many bodies right now every single week. But so far, to this point through six games, their depth has really been a savior for them. speaker-1: Yeah, no question. I understand the point you're making, my Mike, and it's a good point. My counter to it is okay, they've looked the backups have looked good, but they've looked good in the preseason now, mind you, in the preseason, but they've looked good against mostly other backups. But I agree with you technique wise, I mean speaker-0: Against regulars now. speaker-1: no, I'm saying I'm talking about we're talking about the preseason. Had had their play because they played so much in the preseason, yeah, I think technique wise allows you to develop. but it as we always talk about, it's hard to know or figure out until now how good those backup second and third stringers really are because they're going up against second and third stringers in the preseason. But it's a great point you just made. And clearly, clearly, I I th I I think if Rabel were be honest, he'd have to say, like you said, he's he's surprised I he'd have to be pleasantly surprised about the next man up, especially on the offensive line, how how Pretty good it has been, despite all the losses and speaker-0: Yeah, no, I've I've been impressed with them and as I said to you, yeah, I'm sitting here going through the depth chart trying to figure out and look at the numbers, try to figure out who the hell these guys are coming in at the end. A guy that came in at the end that played left guard or whatever actually did a pretty decent job of it. speaker-1: Elijah Viera Tucker. speaker-0: No, he's the one that got hurt. speaker-1: no, the Walter Walter Rowski he got speaker-0: That's him, yeah? Who the hell is this guy? speaker-1: I don't know who Walter Rouse is. Matt Fryer, another the punter the another guy that was from Arizona. there's some people on this team, I swear that that you just don't speaker-0: They did a pretty decent job. The one thing I was a little disappointed with, 'cause no Brees Hall in the game, so you figure the Jets are gonna have trouble running the football and they really need to run the football so they can open up Wilson and and open up their receivers. And what's the tight end's name? The tight end as well. But Yeah. But speaker-1: yeah, yeah. speaker-0: anyway, now suddenly Allen is running at will in their first three possessions against the defensive front. That was a little scary. Yeah. speaker-1: But he finished with seventy he had one long of sixteen, he finished with seventy eight yards and seventeen carries. So they were much again. speaker-0: Better in the second half it stops that that speaker-1: This was a seventeen three game that should have been thirty to three had AJ Brown caught a couple of passes and then it really would have got out of hand. But if Butts wins, maybe that's the NFL. Again, you look at the rest of the league and tell me you can try to figure some of the speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: and then poor Jalen hurts and you find out today in case people don't know. Now we was initially reported about the blood clot being in his calf, it's been in his lungs and I believe the story that came out today, he played last week with blood clots in his lungs. speaker-0: only that, Pete, he they wouldn't let him sleep because that's the last thing you want to do if you've got blood clots in your system. He didn't sleep for 36 hours. Now, I know there have been a few days, a few weekends over the years where you have not slept for 36 hours, maybe probably having a cocktail or two along the way, right? But imagine an athlete, a professional football player, thirty-six hours no sleep. And they did this because he had the blood clots in his leg and was feeling, you know, that pain that you you feel with blood clots in your leg. How the hell did they play him? And I think that's going to be the question that the NFL has got to look into right now. And, you know, that medical staff that they're constantly concerned about concussions. Well, was anybody concerned about Jalen Hurts going out there with no sleep in in over two days? And you're putting him out there with blood clots in his system? speaker-1: He could've immediately passed he could have died. He could have died on the speaker-0: Of course, Pete. They fly to England, to London. They tell you if you've got blood clots in your system and I've had relatives that have had them before, first thing you can't do, can't fly. my God, what are they thinking? speaker-1: I don't know, but he's after everything I have heard from you last night and today, he's lucky he's alive. I'm sir I'm s being dead serious. I'm bad pun there, but I mean speaker-0: Lo I'm loading up I'm loading up on on on lawyers right now, you know. If I'm him. I mean, it sounds to me like there were some real poor decisions. Now I know the Eagles the Eagles are in desperate mode right now. Okay, they lost again this weekend. They are in desperate mode. But I'm sorry when you have an athlete that has an an internal situation like that, I go back to the Reggie Lewis days. And if you remember, he had his own guy, Dr. Mudge, and Mudge said he could play, and the Celtics doctors said and they were using this dream team of doctors. They were bringing in specialists. They said he can't play. As much as we want Reggie out on the court, we are not putting Reggie out there because there's too much that could go wrong. Well, where were the Eagles doctors in dealing with this? If the information we're getting right now is correct, didn't sleep for 36 hours. Had blood clots, maybe not in his lung. It was detected in London, in the lungs, but he had it in the in the legs. How the hell did they continue and fly him to London? my god. speaker-1: I don't understand it. They've they tried a concussion protocol and they're so cautious. This is ten times worse as far as that goes. I don't understand it. I don't that medical staff has a lot to answer for. And the fac even if he had a blood clot in his leg and they still allowed him to fly, that's a again a no no. You can't do it. I somebody really screwed up in that organization. And and and l let's see if Gutless Goodell does something about it. I'm really, really interested to see what he does because Y you you're risking the man's life. And that's what they did. The Eagles risked his life. speaker-0: There has to be an investigation. Now, maybe the communication, maybe what we're seeing, and I've every Schefter was all over it. TMZ is now all over it. So now you're getting a lot of the gossip stuff that's jumping in. Maybe we're missing some of the communication. But the what has been reported so far is frightening if true. And if that's the case, then Goodell has to. If you're sitting there telling me that we're stopping games and we're taking players out because somebody's sitting up on the third deck. monitors and thinks a guy got up and he's a little, you know, dozy when he dizzy when he got up, that we're taking him out of a game and we're forcing him into a protocol right now to find out if he can go back in the game. If we're gonna do that to the to that extent, then you better investigate this 'cause this to me could be far worse. speaker-1: I think you I think you have to. And I'm a surprise I haven't heard we haven't heard anything yet out of the NFL today, as far as I know, early this afternoon. I have not heard anything. speaker-0: They've they've got their own issues because they've got a game in in Paris this weekend and there are like, you know, riots and protests going on in the streets, and they're probably concerned that a lot of those people that are out there protesting and lighting shit up on fire are are gonna look at an NFL game and say, Boy, if we could do this to the stadium or around the stadium and cause commotion, we could get a lot more public. speaker-1: Let me let me be maybe pull my Stephen A. Let me be very clear about this. These are not protesters. These are fucking criminals. They should be jailed. All of them. speaker-0: they're they're looting they're looting. speaker-1: One big butterfly net and scoop them all up and put them on an island somewhere away, that's fine with me. These are not protesters. These are fucking criminals that belong to a jail. That's good. There's a big difference. Disgusting. speaker-0: Yeah, when you when you tell me when you tell me you're protesting and then the next thing you do is, you know, loot a high end clothing store and steal everything you possibly can and walk out of there as we're looking at the video with their arms full with with clothing, you're right. Those are those are those are criminals. But apparently the government's not doing anything. But if I'm Goodell, he's over there, by the way. He's already over there. So I would be very concerned about this weekend because there is an element when we talk about the the the crimes that are being committed, there is a political element that you're dealing with. And so they may be looking at an NFL game this week and say, We can really get in everybody's face by doing some damage to this NFL game. And I would say they have to be very, very cautious about this. I wonder what the players are thinking as they're going over there and Many of them may be going over there with their families. Usually when they do those overseas trip, they the teams will take separate planes and allow the families to go over there with them 'cause they're usually there for, you know, four or five days. speaker-1: Yeah. I I agree. It's I wouldn't want to go. I've been to Europe before, but I I I don't want to I wouldn't go. I would be now today the game was still out because they're cut, but can you imagine the security? We know how bad it how big security is at Super Bowls. This has got to be just as big. I wonder if they're gonna want the fans to get there like at the Super Bowl, like get there four or five hours early. And you have to go through a massive security check. Usually that's not the case for regular season games, only at the Super Bowl, but I think they're gonna have to do it. I'd be at least I would be fearful bringing my family over there, wouldn't you? speaker-0: Yes. And I don't know how you feel about this, but my feeling with these games in Europe and we've seen in in London and now Paris and we've seen in Germany. We've seen in in Brazil. We've seen them in Mexico City. I don't know, but your feeling and again, I did watch yesterday's game from London. I was up in my time frame at six thirty in the morning to be able to watch that game. And Jacksonville, I think that's their second home anyway. They play in London all the time. To me, I'm bored with these London games. It was kind of cute the first time out, Pete, because to watch all of the fans wearing different teams garb and whatever, and then the chanting and they were doing weird stuff. They're doing the same shit that people do in America. They're doing the wave. You know, they're doing Sweet Caroline. They're doing all of the same shit. speaker-1: Country Road by John Denver. speaker-0: Exactly. And to me, it's kind of boring, and yet we know what the league is doing it for. They're doing it for this. They're doing it for money. But I I'm not looking forward to having, and Goodell, your best buddy Roger Goodell, keeps on teasing this about having a division over there in Europe. And I know people are going to say, well, it's no different than going five or six hours from the East Coast to the West Coast to go over to Europe. I don't want to see that. I just I don't have the appetite for that. Have their own league over there and maybe we'll play a a super, super, super bull. speaker-1: No, no, they tried that. They tried NFL Europe. It failed. speaker-0: It did fail. It w but it was a breeding ground. You you you were able to i if anything, it was like a minor league system. There were players that came out of that. That ended up playing in the in the NFL. The Patriots had one, the German kid, right? speaker-1: Well, what's his name? Bicknell was coaching over there too. Jack Bicknell back in the day. Yeah, my former partner Craig, you know, down here, he he was a broadcaster for it said, you know, he had to go from Germany to England to, you know, was in Amsterdam was great. It w was speaker-0: Don't you think the thrill is is gone now with those those games? It was cute at the beginning. speaker-1: I hated it. I hate it now. And I I tell you why. I hate it because of you're taking a home game away from whatever team it is, whether it's Jacksonville or whatever. You're taking a game away speaker-0: They could give up home games because they weren't filling the place up. And now they now they probably could 'cause they're good, but they've got the whole top deck of the stadium is being renovated. speaker-1: Yeah, but I'm what I'm saying is and y you're taking away, they're so concerned about economics. Well, you're taking away a lot of these professional teams, not all of them, but some rely on that those eight home games a year. That is a stimulus for hotels and restaurants, and everybody benefits from it. Now you take it away. For what for what? More money that you don't need. I mean, how much is enough? I mean, come on. When is enough enough? You know? I mean, what you're gonna have one hundred million and two dollars. Is that what are we talking about? A couple of people have Patriots jerseys on and Jets jerseys on in France or Germany or Brazil. Who cares? Is that really gonna does that really make the NFL feel good? Is that really gonna enhance? I think it takes away the economics from the cities that, you know, have rely on eight games a year to to stimulate their economy and it it's it's I I think it's they're getting robbed. I I agree with I just don't I don't feel anything for these games in Europe. I I I don't like I don't like nine thirty starts. I don't like it. speaker-0: Six six thirty for us out of the country. But I'm a I'm an idiot. I I love watching NFL football, and so I'm up there. speaker-1: I watched it. speaker-0: Nine A.M. college Saturday. You know, I'm watching at nine A. in the morning. And I actually told you I think that's a benefit of living on the western part of the country is that you're gonna see far more games. Now I'm gonna get a Celtics game at twelve noon on a Tuesday afternoon, which sounds really bizarre. But speaker-1: Well again, yeah. I don't get it. I really don't get it. Three o'clock tomorrow, Eastern time on A and B C and Peacock. I I don't understand what the NBA is thinking. What who's gonna be watching that outside of Celtics fans? speaker-0: Well that that'll be the problem. So and it's really disrespect to the Celtics and by the way to the Pistons who won over sixty games if I remember correctly last year. Yeah, but it yeah. They and that I still think they're they're gonna have some issues there as well, Detroit is. But it's disrespectful to the to the Celtics, but you're right. Celtics fans are going to watch it because they care about their team. The rest of the country is not going to be they're busy. They're working. They're doing things. And it it's because they have this package with NBC that they're opening up the season with a triple edder. Well, they should have backed it up this weekend and opened it up. And they're afraid to go up against college football. They're afraid to go up against the NFL, so they don't want to do it on the weekend. But a Tuesday afternoon? I mean speaker-1: The song is better than the NBA. Rolling Stones Tuesday afternoon. speaker-0: But I wanna say one more thing about the NFL and then we'll move on about NFL playing in Europe. Yeah. They're trying desperately to get fans that are mostly soccer fans or football fans over there interested into American football. Okay? And you know, can still do that without actually taking all of the games over there. It's almost as if the experiment that has been done for years of trying to bring Europe soccer into the United States was going to be a big attraction. And it hasn't been. And it's I've seen this now for 50 years. Now, World Cup, bet your ass, because that's the best you're gonna find out there with soccer. And Americans will tune in on TV. Yeah. And they get the games they got the games this past year. Okay. You do that sporadically, once every 25, 26 years. You can't do that on a regular basis. It won't work, Pete. I don't think it it will work. speaker-1: No, I don't either. The World Cup weren't I'm not a soccer guy at all, but I love the World Cup. Every four years that's fine. I get into it. speaker-0: Event. It's the greatest players in that sport in the world, and they're playing for all the marbles. They're playing for everything. So yeah, but regular games every week, you know, they've got this MLS league, and apparently those players I don't watch a lot of MLS, but apparently, you know, they'll pick up a player here or there that's got some marquee name value who's, you know, thirty-eight years old, but the league itself is nowhere close to the Premier League. speaker-1: Messi was playing for Leno Messi Messi was playing for Miami. Yeah. Great. But he was speaker-0: You won't be messy once in your lifetime, right? speaker-1: Yeah, but but but he also produced. He was older, but he was still produced. He still scored one, two, three goals a year. speaker-0: David Beckham was doing the same thing for a while. speaker-1: With the But it's not it's it's it's big down here in Miami. I know it's big in Seattle, I know it's big in Portland, and to a degree, Foxboro does a pretty good job with the revolution. I think they have a better than average attendance there for their soccer games. They always have twenty nah close to twenty, I think. But even if it's fourteen, that's better. I don't I don't know I know Seattle does well, I know Portland does well, Miami does well. The rest of I don't I don't know. I don't care enough about it. It's like it's like does anybody know the W NBA finals are going on? all you hear about is how they don't come out for the national anthem both. It just even though it says it that they have to be out there. speaker-0: Yeah, they did not come out, did they, for game one? The finals. Wow. speaker-1: I don't know. I can't watch it. I I I I can't watch it and you know. Give me the best data. speaker-0: really that's really listen, you you can feel certain ways. Nothing is perfect. and you can feel certain ways, but you live in this country. The least you can do is go out there and be somewhat supportive. I'm not saying that you have to go out of your way and most of them don't even put their hand to their heart, but don't go back to the locker room. And the league shouldn't allow that to happen. Because all they did was they open up a controversy. That's what they do. But I'm like you, I don't watch it an awful lot. I've seen Caitlin Clark a few times. I've watched Veronica Burton only because I'm friends with her father. Steven. And I you know, I'm interested in seeing what she's doing and she's developed into a hell of a player. She's really good. But no, I I can't I can't do that. the one speaker-1: No no one's sitting there at the water cooler saying, Hey, does anybody even know? And I w in a lot of ways around the country, you talk about the WNBA, forget that. How many people are gonna tune into Tampa Bay and Cleveland tonight? I'll I'm working, but it'll be on and all the TVs in the casino and all that stuff. So I'll be able to watch it here and there. But it's gonna be I think it's gonna be a Tampa Bay Milwaukee World Series. I freaking love it. Yeah, love it. speaker-0: Yep. And so it's going to cause all sorts of problems and more friction with the collective bargaining agreement and the negotiations that are go going to go in the offseason because the major league owners are adamant about having a cap. Well, they just proved with these small market teams doing so well, maybe you don't need that cap because it's very competitive and these small market teams with sixty five million dollar payroll. are getting to the World Series. So it's g I think it's gonna make it worse, Pete. I think Major League Baseball is in for a major long stoppage. I I don't think this is gonna be a quick thing. I I wouldn't be surprised at all if we get no baseball up to the all-star break and they finally give in for the second half of the season and say we'll do a condensed season. By the way, they've done that before. We've seen that before. But I think this is gonna make it worse For those negotiations. But I'm I'm with you. I want Tampa Bay to win this thing. I think it would be great. You know, they have been the best. If you're looking at organizations, take the money out of the out of the game. If we're looking at pure baseball personnel evaluation and and strategy, they have been the best organization in baseball over the last twenty, thirty years by far. Right? And notice all of their general managers or the assistant general managers. All end up with the Dodgers, with the Red So they end up with other gigs because everybody in the game knows that they're the best at this at the speaker-1: Well, they're certainly the best at developing homegrown talent. There's no doubt about that. And it's just look, I think what was it the numbers for the payroll? Cleveland's, I think, was 30th and Tampa Bay was twenty-eighth, or Milwaukee was twenty-eighth and third. But up we're talking about twenty. But now Tom Ferducci somewhat disagrees. I heard him say, 'cause I agree with you, Glenn, about the overall point about he doesn't think because it's not the Dodgers and Yankees in the World Series, he thinks that they would have been d that this is going to happen, a long term stallout, as we say. Regardless of who was in the World Series. I'm not sure I totally agree with him there. But certainly this to me it's not gonna help. I mean Tampa Bay and Milwaukee, which I I love that, if if they're in it, even if it's Cleveland Milwaukee, but I think Tampa's gonna win tonight. We'll s it it's if they're playing by the all star break line, I'll be shocked. I'll be shocked. speaker-0: No, I Verducci might be might be correct, please. I I've I've never seen a negotiation where you have such a disparity on the two sides. And the Major League Baseball Players Association, the union, have been the strongest of all of these unions in sports over the years. They are not going to suddenly give in because they're looking at it saying, You're you're trying to curb how much money our stars can make at the top end. And even though you're bringing up the floor, it still is suppressing the the money from from the top. So they're not going to give in. And major league baseball owners have finally, because they haven't really been able to beat this. They've been trying, I think, since ninety four to try to get a salary cap in, and they've never been able to do it. And I think they're looking at the financial spreadsheets now and saying we can't continue to to do this. What is the Dodgers payroll? Four hundred and something million dollars, Pete? And and they they get swept. speaker-1: They get swept. They get swept. speaker-0: Yeah, they got swept. So it it's gonna be very was that hold on. I had a I had a timer on. Yeah, it's it might it's speaker-1: Got a red light, yellow light, green light thing. speaker-0: it's I don't know what it's telling me. It's a timer for something. You've gotta do something. That's it. I set timers and then they go off and I say why is that timer going on? speaker-1: I walk the dog, pick up my laundry. speaker-0: supposed to do. You know, I I I have no idea. I I gotta tell a great story here today with with Pete because Pete came very close to actually working for Barstool Sports. He yes, working for for David Portnoy. And so you've got to tell the story because it's fascinating when you see how big Barstool sports is right now and when they were in their infancy or just starting to make that move up the ladder. You almost had that opportunity. speaker-1: Yeah, I was in the super agent Kim's office and it was myself, David contacted he won and this is when either my second last contract with the EI it was you know, it was nice having some other entity to fight for you. And they were EI was being a little stubborn on some of the negotiations. So I said, Well let me just speaker-0: What a surprise. They were stubborn on some negotiations. speaker-1: Anyway, so I if I Dave anyway after we we set up a meeting in Kim's office, myself, he wanted myself Dave wanted me and Lyndon Byers LB, the great LB, to do a show together. So Dave was on the conference call. Dave wasn't at in the studio with or in the office in Kim's office, he was on the speaker phone, and we just talked about it for about 20, 25 minutes in the studio at the time. This is before they got, you know, pretty big. But this was going to be one of his first attempts, if I'm not mistaken, to do a podcast radio type show. He had he told me he had the studios. I think that they were d they were right next to the garden. Cool place. It seemed like it. And it was pretty much a done deal until it wasn't. The last second, Budweiser pulled out. And that was going to be the big sponsor that was going to pay for us and all that stuff. And they pulled out. So it never it never it never came to fruition. But it was it was fairly close back then. That and who knows what would have happened and speaker-0: I think it would have been interesting because both of you are a little bit crazy. I would say LB was crazier than you. Okay. He was speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: crazier than you. If we're looking at the crazy scale, you were probably six and a half, and he was a nine point eight to use the Port Noise scale. it it the funny thing about it is that Pete was actually in Rhode Island at the casino one night, and there was an old down yeah, we were all there. speaker-1: Twin River. We're Freddie and Steve Steakhouses. speaker-0: Correct. And we were all down there for an event and a young Dave Portnoy at the time had his little microphone and he was out doing man on the the speaker-1: In a kilt. speaker-0: in he was in a kilt. Yeah. And he's doing man on the street stuff and he actually said, my God, that's Pete Shepherd. He walked up to Pete and this is what happened. speaker-1: Well it was a question line between hate and dislike. Now I you know what? It's about Jeff Brown, let's be honest. It's about some shit kicking hick from out of town who came up here thinking he knows everything about everything, doesn't know Jack shit. That's what it comes down to. I don't know who Jeff Brown is, but I hate him just on that display. He's a general manager who's a fucking tool that everybody knows about. Everybody knows about it. How long has he been there for? too long. Too long. What do you think is gonna happen? I they're in the toilet right now. Here's what think will happen. Think about this. Think about ESPN FM radio in about a year and maybe one local show left. That's what's gonna happen. Do you get satisfaction like when the new ratings come out and you see them in the toilet? I don't get satisfaction because it's so obvious what was gonna happen. Everybody who's in this business, if they if they say they didn't see it coming, they're just lying about it or trying to do the politically correct thing. I've been in this business since 1987 on the air. I don't need to bullshit anybody anymore. I'm happy where I am at 1510 NBC SportsRadio.com. We're doing some really good things, there's some bigger things on the horizon here. I don't give two shit what the EI does. It's sinking ship.com. I still have a lot of brands in all aspects of the business over there. I respect and wish them well very much. Very much. I feel badly for them that they're stuck in with a shit kick and hick GM who has no idea about how parochial the market is, doesn't understand his audience, doesn't understand the listeners, doesn't understand look at the advertisers they lost. Millions of dollars. And by the way, when Red Sox season ends, they're about to lose 14 or 15 more million. The whole thing's a fucking joke. Everybody knows it. Everybody in the business knows it. Because Jeff, how the thing is, how David Field, the CEO of Enterprise. How he allows it to happen. That's the biggest travesty on the planet. There it is, what was once one of the greatest radio stages of all time. Sinking into a toilet. Why? Because of incompetent management. A guy who has no idea what he's doing, who won't listen to his staff, he won't listen to his salespeople, he won't listen to their listeners more importantly. More importantly. So they get exactly what they deserve. You know, and Jason's just a yes man, unfortunately. Best interview of the night. We and and I say that we already interviewed Screech and and Willis and you beat both into the ground. So take that. Take that. speaker-0: They're hugging! Look at this! Look at the love in the room! speaker-1: the what else she's talking about is the late great Todd Bridges from the different strokes. There was a late Yeah, speaker-0: that's who he was talking about. Well speaker-1: that's the Todd Bridges screacher's also dead. speaker-0: A lot of those kid actors and young actors are no longer they didn't last long, did they? speaker-1: Bobcat go away. It was there there were a few other comedians there that I forget what the whole thing was. It was a charity event, I think. speaker-0: Yeah, it was a charity event for something, I forget. had food stations everywhere. But he had a suit on up top, but he had a kilt down below. Okay. I mean, obviously he was trying to get a little bit of attention out there. And obviously he's got a lot of attention over the years. It's worth like half a billion dollars now. speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the Jeff Brown thing, you've talked about it, which every e every single podcast you've done with somebody has talked about Jeff Brown. Yeah. speaker-0: Callahan did it last week. He was speaker-1: And that's and he ended up he ended up he ended up firing Jason like I I knew was gonna happen. It happened right before I believe the Jimmy Fund radio telethon, one of the worst times that could ever happen. That's how classes that boob was. As we talked about, he gets in a fight with somebody who just gave him a whole bunch of money in a check because he was a drunken fool. It almost, you know. Then he went to cumulus, he screwed that up, he got fired. I remember calling the secretary of cumulus. I called when I found out he was getting hired there. I said, Hey, what do you think with this Jeff Brown guy? And she says, and I quote, He's only been here a day and he's not making a lot of friends. I go, Wow. He's not gonna make a lot of friends. I said, and off the record and I told him who her her who I was, I said, Tell everybody there to be careful. Wow. And he got fired from there too, eventually. So speaker-0: know what he's doing now. I have no care. Yeah, I don't care either. speaker-1: He's making somebody miserable. speaker-0: Yeah. But that was the period of time in which Pete almost was hired by Barstool Sports and then had that great rant right there with speaker-1: And and then EI rehired me. They did. speaker-0: They did rehire you. speaker-1: They did rehire me. And a lot of that I I will have to and that's when Kevin Graham was there. And I I always will have a lot of accolades for Kirk Menahan because he he came and did my podcast when I was up at ESPN New Hampshire. And then I went on his podcast. And he he was he was the big olive branch right there. He got me back in. Despite Kevin Graham a couple weeks earlier thinking you were me. You know, I started trying to brought that. speaker-0: Unbelievable. You come into a market, you better know the personnel. And he wasn't a bad guy. I I after that, after he realized who I was and what I was, I had no real issues with him. But how do you come out of the gate and you don't do you know due diligence and find out who people are out there if you're gonna hire or you don't want to hire somebody? But he had no clue. And of course he remembered your rant when you you left or whatever. I didn't you were he thought you were a Quote, a shock jock. I'm sitting there going, I speaker-1: Shocked you. speaker-0: I don't I don't I wouldn't classify to be so crazy, but you know, shock jocks speaker-1: The other organization, if I remember correctly, Glenn, that had a hard time identifying everybody on our station at its peak were people at Nesson. Right? There were some executives there. I think you remembered you telling me a story that they didn't know who any of us were. Yeah. Meanwhile, on the other side, meanwhile, we're all doing TV two or three times a week. You're hosting the show on sports channel New Wing, whatever it was called. Comcast. speaker-0: Things Comcast Fox sports w it was different things over the years. speaker-1: They try I did a lesson. The nesting that was was terrible outside of Red Sox and Bruins coverage. It didn't do a lot. speaker-0: Now what Nesson did is Nesson was very insulated and they were doing their own thing. And of course they had the Bruins and they had you know the Red Sox. And they were very insulated in what they were doing. But I will say this about Nesson. Nesson had a knack for going out and finding the next ESPN female superstar. Okay. They did. L Duncan, who's now at Netflix and, you know, talking an awful lot out there. speaker-1: She's terrible. She was terrible at Nesson. She got worse at E. S. P. N. And watch it. but others have done very well. Debbie Roboleschi done well. speaker-0: But Nesson was great at that, at scouting out these female potential superstars at a sports network. They were good at it. speaker-1: No, they they were. And Catherine Tappen, another one, is doing great with in the NHL. She's speaker-0: And she speaker-1: she's on my show a lot. She's she is terrific, doing college football well as now sideline. She was terrific. But I speaker-0: Well give her credit. She interviewed me on her first day in the job. She they sent her well, Nesson was doing the Jimmy Fun radio telethon with us. So she was out on the floor doing sideline interviews with everybody. And so she actually interviewed I'm not sure she knew who the hell I was, but she interviewed me. And of course, over the years, we've had her many times on the show and she's a friend and but you're right. She was very talented and she's done a terrific job, especially in the in the hockey world. So I want to close it out with two quick things. Bruins just began their season a few weeks ago. They've already had two West Coast trips. And I did not I I buy the NBA package. I buy the Major League Baseball, obviously. I buy the Sunday ticket for the NFL. I did not buy the NHL package this year, and I'll tell you why, because I have YouTube TV and I keep on turning it on. And they have this new thing called ESPN unlimited or ESPN plus, which they've had the plus before, but it's an unlimited thing now. And I'm getting all these Bruins games every night. speaker-1: every NHL game. Every NHL game. speaker-0: I was getting all the NHL games. But I've been watching specifically the Bruins and I like what the kids are doing so far. Now I know they're in this youth movement and who knows what the hell it's gonna translate in when we get into the into the postseason if they get there. But they've been fun to watch so far. They have been. speaker-1: Abs absolutely. All of them. Pastronak is he had his 289th goal the other night in LA. That tied, think about this, tied Phil Esposito for the third most in Bruins history. That's unbelievable. And speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: but getting back to the to the YouTube thing, I I they never tell us anything, you know, except when the bill is due. But like I and I I pay the same thing as you did. And I pay the extra ten dollars and ninety-nine cents a month for the sports package. But I didn't know I when I first saw these ESPN plus thing, and I'm talking about Everything on the ESPN plat's walked in Providence and Union the other night in a hockey game. speaker-0: They have Pete, they have twenty volleyball, college volleyball games on. speaker-1: Yeah, but it's I did not know that this was part of the package, which is pretty cool. So you know, I'll t I'll take speaker-0: I'll give you the other one. The other thing they've added because I had major problems with the NBA package last year. Suddenly I'm in Arizona and the Celtics games are being blacked out for me. And I had no idea why. And apparently it was all because of Peacock. So if it the games go into Peacock, then even though I'm not in the Boston area, I get blacked out. But I didn't have Peacock. Well, next thing that happened is They added three different NBC sports tiers onto onto the YouTube T V. Yes. And now I get all the Peacock games, the NBA games. Yeah. They all show up. And I buy the NBA package as well. So speaker-1: You get Scalabrini and forget the other guys doing play by play. True card. So you get the you get them a lot. If they're or if they're in Philadelphia, you get the Philadelphia one out there. So it's I'm I'm happy about I'm I'm I'm very happy about it, but I'm not happy about speaker-0: I'm with you. I'm with you. We've we've we've run out of time, unfortunately, Pete. We could sit here and do four hours again, like the old days. But they're not paying us for four hours, so we ain't doing no four hours. We're not doing it. Pete, you have a good week. I'll see you next week, buddy. All right. Make sure you subscribe. Make sure you like the podcast. And we'll catch you with more being dropped here in the next couple of days. We're out of here.