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OneLegUpAlex Media Welcomes Dallas Mavericks' Architect FRANK ZACCANELLI 7-24-26 · OneLegUpAlex Media

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Here's your host, Alex Dearren.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm very honored to have on my line right
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: now at the one look up Alex Media, Frank Zach
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: and Nelly, the former GM of the Dallas Mavericks. And
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: he's got such an extensive background in Dallas, starting with
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Roger Staubach and then teaming up with Ross Perrot and
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Ross Pero Junior to bring on to buy the Mavericks,
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: and then being part of the foundation that helped lead
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: the Mavericks to a championship. And he's on my line
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: right now to talk about really that, I would say,
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: the dangers of how much betting has been going on
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: in the world of Lebron James, who signed today for
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: two years with Philadelphia. First of all, Frank, thanks for
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: joining me today.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Great to be with you, Alex, thank you.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: Well, let's start with the signing. I mean, are you
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: surprised firstly he chose Philly.
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: No, No, I'm not the biggest issue in Philadelphia right
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: now is they have to keep their center Joel Embiid upright.
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: If they can keep their center upright, they're an NBA
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: contender because they've got really good talent and they got
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: really good young talent and Lebron will be the last piece.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: And they're well coached.
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: So the biggest issue is is Joel Embiid has to
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: be healthy.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: If he's healthy and he can play you know, eighty
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: two games, if he.
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: Could play sixty five to seventy games, they could be
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: a real.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Factor of words. They just added what Jalen Brown this
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: offseason as well, so they've got a bit of a
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: force here.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Well.
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  Speaker 3: No, I mean they've got a team right now, Edge Coke.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: They just have a really good squad and I believe
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: that when you go to the betting markets, you know,
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: for them, they'll be one of the favorites basically to
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: win the NBA Championship. Now, I mean they've got a
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: really good stacked deck, but it's all about health of
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: their center because without mb they can't win.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: All right, Well, you want to remark on all the
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: betting markets that were leading up to this decision and
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: how explosive it got that so many were betting on
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: even where Lebron went talk about that.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Well, I had my people check last night.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: Two hundred and forty five million dollars was bet on
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: this between Calshi Polymarket and all the prediction markets, which
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: we're going to be plugging into. This is one that
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: I'm not in favor of, and I'll tell you why.
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: If the prediction markets are going to be fantastic in sports,
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: it's going to be a mini Wall Street. The problem
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: that I have with this one is it's controlled by
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: four or five people that have all the information. Unlike,
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: you know, who's going to win the Super Bowl, who's
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: going to win the NBA Championship, how many games are
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: the Cowboys going to win? You know, that's not controlled
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: by you know, four or five people. You know, Paul
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: and his agency and all all the people that represent
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: Lebron outside of his family members. They knew he was
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: going to Philadelphia probably three, four, five days ago. And
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: to have these markets now that are involved on this
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: type of issue, this.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Type of deal.
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: I'm all for the prediction markets, I'm all for everything
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: they're doing, and we're gonna plug in big, but this
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: one is a bit different from the standpoint that it's
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: being controlled by a handful of people that could easily have.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Made a lot of money on this.
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: I'm not saying they did, but this is the thing
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: that I think the NBA is worried about.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: And when you say we, you're talking about Post the Wire,
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: talk about joining them in that partnership.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Past the Wire, Pastdwire dot Com, Past the Wire TV.
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  Speaker 3: It's an existing entity that I bought into John Stanton,
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: who is as good as anybody in the prediction markets.
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  Speaker 3: He's the number one handicapper in the world for horse racing,
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: and I developed a plan to now turn Past the
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: Wire in the Past the Wire Sports And we're going
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: to make a major announcement.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: On Monday about the vehicles now that we're going to have.
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  Speaker 3: We're expanding the platform by twenty fold, and we'll be
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: announcing that on Monday in a national announcement. And then
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  Speaker 3: we're going to be in a situation where we're going
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: to be tying into the gambling platforms as an affiliate,
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  Speaker 3: driving traffic to them, both on the prediction side and
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: also on the you know, on the sports wagering side.
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  Speaker 3: So it's exciting. I think, like anything, Alex, it has
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  Speaker 3: to be it has to absolutely be governed. And again,
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: you know, Lebron's the biggest issue now of the day
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  Speaker 3: in sports, maybe even in business. The bottom line is
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: things like that have to be governed. You know, there's
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: a discrepancy between that and like I said, who's going
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: to win the end Championship.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: I got to ask you this because you've had NBA
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: experience obviously as GM, and then of course talking Don
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: Nelson out of retirement, which is what was really a
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: game changer for the MAVs as well. When you look
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: at all these leagues though, the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: partnering with these outlets, doesn't it bother you.
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: It's just a way of life now, you know. I'll
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: tell you a story, Alex. When I was the minority
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: owner president GM and the Mavericks back in nineteen ninety six,
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: ninety seven, ninety eight, you couldn't walk into a sportsbook.
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  Speaker 3: It was completely prohibited. And that's thirty years ago. You
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: take a look at the changes now. You know, every
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  Speaker 3: major sports platform in the world, not just in the
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: United States, is promoting gambling. And so, you know, I
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: don't believe that it's it's the largest form of gambling
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: in the United States. I believe the stock and day
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: trading and I've got all kinds of statistics on that
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: and Bitcoin, that's gambling, right. I think when you take
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: a look at the sports world. I think the leagues,
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: all of them decided that this was a big business
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: and they needed to be a part of it. Now,
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: the biggest issue is they have to govern it and
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: control it. That's going to be the big issue. But
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: the biggest gambling operation in the world of the day
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  Speaker 3: traders on the stock market, which is thirty three billion
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: dollars a day versus one point three billion dollars a day,
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: and online gambling, it's minuscule compared to what's going on
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: on Wall Street?
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: Does it bother you that a player who's found out
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: gambling on a game gets suspending And what I mean
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: by that is it's like, well, the league sort of
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: is asking for that, aren't they.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: Well, but I mean, look at Wall Street.
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: You got insider trading claims, you know, almost every month,
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: every every week maybe, and so you know, whenever there's
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: money involved, that has to be governance. Does it bother
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: me that these players prop bets should be taken completely out? Okay,
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: because they're manipulative. They can be manipulated, Like how.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Many games the Dallas Cowboys are going to win cannot
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: be manipulated?
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: You know that's going to be if their defense works,
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: if their offense works, who's going to win the Super
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: Bowl or the NBA Championship is not manipulated. So I
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: think that there are different levels of this, and you know,
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: I think that it has to be governed, and I
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: think that certain things. I know, the NBA would like
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: to get rid of the prop bets because they can
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: be manipulated by players, and you see that several of
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: them have been indicted now over it, and that's not
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: a good thing.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: All right. I want to ask you this, because you're
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: from Syracuse originally, how did a kid from Syracuse end
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: up working with I don't know, legendary Hall of Fame
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: quarterback Rogers tallback and then just really making his roots
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: in Dallas and then going on too the Mavericks. How
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: did that transpire?
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  Speaker 3: Well, you know, I was I got out of college
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: in seventy eight, which is before you were born, Alex probably,
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: and yeah, and I have decided when I was in
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: upstate New York that two things were not really going
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: to be palatable for me there. And I had a
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: great family, I had a great upbringing. I loved my
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: neighborhood and growing up the way I did. The weather
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: is terrible, and you know, I hated the winners. And
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: the second thing is the market was really small and
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: I had bigger ideas that I wanted to try to pursue.
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: So a friend of mine had a brother that lived
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: in Texas, and I packed a bag of clothes in
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  Speaker 3: three hundred dollars and headed down to Texas. And one
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: of the things that opened up so many doors from me.
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: I played college basketball, and I was a decent player.
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: And one day I walked into a place called the
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: Aerobic Center in Dallas and Roger Staubach was there and
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: he was playing basketball. He played basketball during the off
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: season to stay in shape, you know, when he was playing,
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: and then after he retired, he played basketball to stay
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: in shape. So I went out there and started playing
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: in these games, and he asked me, you know where
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  Speaker 3: you're from, what are you doing?
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: You know?
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: And then then he invited me over to his house
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  Speaker 3: to play on Saturday. And that was really the biggest
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: break that ever had. It was like going to the
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: coliseum in Rome. If Julius Caesar invited you to go.
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  Speaker 2: Well that is big. And then you became his real
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: estate salesman. So what does that mean? Does he do
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: you run a company or how did that? What was that?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, he ran a big company and he ended up
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: selling the company for a lot of money. I was
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: his twelfth employee, and I think at the end when
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: he sold it, he had like.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Two thousand employees.
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  Speaker 3: So I was there in the beginning and by Roger
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: introduced me to mister Pearro Rossborough Senior. So that was
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: the connection that kind of you know, uh, you know,
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  Speaker 3: extended my career, you know, moving forward, you know, with
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: the Paro family, who are the best people on the planet.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: And then you get into presidential and you were even
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: we're involved in the knaf TO talk. I mean you
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: have a diverse ground of rank.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, NAFTA was a big part of the campaign
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: in ninety two.
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: We ran for president nineteen ninety two and Ross got
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: more votes. You got twenty million votes, more than any
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: other independent candidate either you know, before or after, no
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: one's ever come close to twenty million votes.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: You know, he won the debates. He was an incredibly
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: brilliant guy.
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: And his son has taken over for him, Ross Junior,
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: and he's he's equally as brilliant.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: And they have a great series of businesses. And companies.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: But you know, ross Borough called NAFTA the giant sucking sound.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: That was his big thing, that it was going.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: To suck all the jobs out of North America and
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: send them down to Mexico, which eventually happened. And of course,
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: thank god that you know, we've got ridden after now
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: and some of the labor things that we're working on
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: now could still be improved. But NAFTA was not a
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: good idea.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: So did you did they have an underlying love of
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: sports while running for publics and out of the MAVs
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: comes about get to get the MAVs.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: No, they didn't know much about sports.
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: That was me, and you know I started out talking
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: to the gentleman that owned the hockey team here, the
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: Dallas Stars, and it morphed into the discussions with the
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: Mavericks and then in May first of nineteen ninety six
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: we bought the team, and in two thousand we sold
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: it to Cuban, so we only owned it for four years.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: I got to ask you about those four years. Drafting Dirk,
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: I mean you played a role in that, and then
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: getting Steve Nash, I mean you you helped lay the
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: groundwork for what would be a championship run.
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I was very proud of what we did. We
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: were one of the worst teams in the league. One
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: of the most important things I did was hire Don Nelson.
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: I talked him out of retirement. I went out to
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: Maui and talked him out of retirement. He was by
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: far the smartest basketball person that I ever sat down
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: and talked to throughout all my years in the NBA,
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: And so, you know, we helped orchestrate with him, you know,
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: exactly what we were trying to do with the team.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: And in nineteen ninety eight.
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: We were lucky enough to be able to draft Dirk
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: and trade for Steve in the same draft. So in
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: nineteen ninety eight we had really the nucleus with Michael
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: Finley now of a really, really good team.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: And in two thousand and I didn't want to sell the.
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: Team because we were getting ready to get good, but
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: you know, Ross decided he thought that was the best thing.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: So that's what we did.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: Was Cuban as eccentric in the negotiations as he was
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: on the court for all the years he owned him.
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: You know, I would just say that probably you know,
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: I don't want to say anything bad about Mark Cuban.
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: He and I, you know, don't speak or you know,
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: probably don't get along that well. You know, whatever he did,
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: he did, and you know again he his identity was
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: tied up in the Mavericks. If Ross and I didn't
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: sell him the team, this is a fact, he would
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: have been another billionaire walking around that nobody knew about.
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: When you buy an NBA team, you know, you become
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: on the front page of a.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: Lot of you know, a lot of things.
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: So he was able to work that and put it
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: to use, probably better than anyone I've ever seen by.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: A sports team.
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: It really became his identity, and from there he took
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: it to some other heights.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: All Right, I don't want to put you on this bot,
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: or maybe I do because I've got you on the line.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: Would you have traded dunk Kitch or was that one
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: of the dumbest moves you've ever seen?
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: It's the dumbest move in the history of dumb It's
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: the worst trade in sports history, in major sports history.
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: Go back one hundred years, however, fire we go back.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: It's the worst trade in the history of sport.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: You think that set the Mavericks back a little bit
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: since winning the championship. I feel like that's a bit
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: of a setback here.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: Well, but they win the championship in twenty eleven.
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: They did this, you know, a couple of years ago,
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: and you know, Patrick Dumont, who owns the team now,
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: has really learned.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: From that and he's going to be a great owner.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: He really is going to be a great owner. You know, they're.
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: Involved with the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. Maryon Addleston is
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: his mother in law, and she's worth you know, fifty
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: five billion dollars.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: I mean, they had built that empire.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: So I think Patrick, you know, sometimes in life, Alex,
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: we learned the hard way. And I would say that
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: Patrick Dumont now will never turn over any major, major
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: decision to somebody who's not named Patrick Dumont.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: Not eleven run was so special. I remember that, and
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: you know Nash getting ring, I mean, and all these
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: guys getting their ring. But for you to see it
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: from the foundation onward must have felt very rewarding.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: It did.
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: We didn't really have a good relationship with Cuban at
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: that time, but it did because I was really happy
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: for Dirk and I was happy for you know, the
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: coaching staff, and I was happy for the fans when
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: you really take a look, you know, when you win
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: an NBA championship. You got to remember, though, Alex in
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: two thousand and six, they had the lead in the
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: finals against Miami and basically blew the series, and you know,
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: they couldn't close out a couple of games and they
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: ended up losing to Wade and Shack and that two
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: thousand I believe it was six Miami team, but they
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: came back in twenty eleven and beat him, so you know,
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: it was I'm sure it was very gratifying for everybody
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: because of the two thousand and six series.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: And what Dirk had been in the league for quite
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: a while at that point.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: He been in the league about thirteen years.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, look you're part of that, and obviously Dune Nelson.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: It's a lot of credit. But I'm sure a lot.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: Bill came calling to you after they won saying what
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: was that like?
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, and it was, you know, it was extremely gratifying,
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: again for the sponsors, for the fans, and for the city.
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: I live in an NFL, NBA hockey city, Dallas is
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: a huge sports down. There's an unbelievable gratification. When you
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: win a title, you know, it has a tendency to permeate,
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: you know, all the way through.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Everything that you're doing.
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: It really is uplifting, you know, for a city to
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: win a major sports title.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: All Right, I ask you this because sometimes you think
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: of Dallas as Jerry's world. Have you ever interacted with
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: Jerry Jones being part of that front office of the Mavericks?
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: Have you ever had interactions with other owners down there?
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: Yes, I'm I'm I'm very friendly with Jerry's son, Steven,
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: who is going to be the heir apparent. He's a
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: great guy. I've met Jerry several times. You know, they
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: have had a tough go over the last twenty five years,
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: from the standpoint that everything that possible we could go
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: wrong has gone wrong, injuries and all kinds of other
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: stuff this year. And I'm not I'm not by by
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: nature a Cowboy fan. I'm a New York Football Giant fan.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: I grew up.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but the Cowboys, I think now are trending in
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: a direction where they're going to make some noise this year.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: And I've never said that I'm not one of these diehard.
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: If you talk to people in Dallas, they're going to
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: win the title every year, every time. Who I am,
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: I'm a New York Football Giants fan. My father used
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: to have the Giants jacket. We watch the games together.
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: You know, it was the whole thing. But I think
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: that I think the Dallas is UH has got a
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: chance to make some noise. And obviously we're in the
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: prediction business and everything else, so you know, I think
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: the Dallas is UH is going to win more games
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: than what Las Vegas thinks.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: All right, then let me ask you this, because you're
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: a Giant fan, I'm sure you follow what Joe Shane
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: does as GM. I mean, uh, he got Jim Harborough.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: That was the biggest thing right now for this team.
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: But when we grumble here in New York, Oh, they
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: just resigned Joe Shane, is it? Is it, you know,
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: an overreaction or do you do you follow what gms
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: are doing because you were in that position even in
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: the NBA.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: Well, you can't make everybody happy, that's for sure. And
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: the people that are happy don't speak up. It's the
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: only the unhappy group. I think Shane's done a nice job.
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: Harbaugh is going to bring a winning culture. You've got
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: a really good quarterback that you have to continue to
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: explain in Dart that you're not in the sec anymore.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: You can't run out of the pocket and try to
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: run against these linebackers in these safeties. You're going to
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: get your head taken off. Scata Boom, I call them
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: Scata Boom. I'm a big Arizona State. I sent two
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: kids through Arizona State. Scata Boom has got to understand
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: don't do backflips, don't get hurt, you know, try to
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: you know, watch.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: Your body a little bit.
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: Sure, But defensively, the Giants are getting really good and
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: if they can keep Dart in the right spot, get
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: your wide receiver back who was great and got hurt.
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: I think the Giants. The Giants over under is seven
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: and a half games.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: Now. They play in a.
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: Very tough division because Philadelphia, Washington and Dallas are going
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: to beat the hell out of each other. But I
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: think that the Giants can win more than seven and
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: a half games as well.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: You're also in a baseball town. The Rangers. I mean,
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: they are sort of a little in flux, but will
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: you see in past the wire and all these other markets.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: Is the MLB trade deadline going to blow up the
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: markets a little bit here or do they not focus
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: on that.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: No, I'll tell you the thing that really is the
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: biggest issue with baseball. They got to get their labor
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: thing worked out. They cannot if they have a strike.
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: I think it's next year. That will hurt the sport
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: for five years after that. That's the thing that I'm
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: in fear of. They got to be able to get
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: this labor agreement done. And you know, from that standpoint,
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: I don't know how far or how close they are,
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: but I know a lot has been reported about the
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: fact that a strike may loom and if it does,
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: nothing can hurt a sport worse than a strike like that.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: So that would be the biggest thing in baseball in
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: terms of baseball. We got to see what happens at
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: the trade deadline, and then we'll be able to understand
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: a little bit more about who's really moving in the
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: right direction.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: You know, are the Yankees going to win the East?
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: You know, do they have enough pitching to do it?
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: You know, as judge healthy, you know, there's a lot
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: of issues that come around. So, but baseball, the biggest
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: fear that I have for them is that they strike
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: next year.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: That would be not good for the sport.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: All right, I cannot let you go without asking about
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: being praised by a former president, George H. W. Bush.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: And in the nineties there, I mean, the Bushes were
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: the heart of the Texas Rangers. So do you get
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: to know George W. While he owned the Rangers during
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: that time, I.
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: Knew him well, and I knew him pretty well, and
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: he's a great guy. And I knew him from back
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: in nineteen eighty four and of course about then about
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: the Rangers. Then he ran for governor, then he ran
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: for president. I've been a big supporter of his. I
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: think as president he didn't get the best counseling from
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: his vice president nor his secretary of Defense. That's a
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: whole nother you know, five shows.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: But George W. Is a great guy.
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: I see him occasionally at restaurants in different places here
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: in Dallas, you know, the Bush Libraries here at SMU's campus,
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: and so he I'm very fond of him and what
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: he's done.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: You know, what's interesting is that the Rangers and the
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: Stars are sort of on the up and up as well.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: And I'm sure being in Dallas, you see the excitement
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: every year in twenty three when the Rangers won it,
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: and the Stars in contention every season. I mean, it's
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: an exciting time to be in Dallas, isn't it.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: The Rangers, though, are really a anomaly for me. You know,
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: they want it, and after they won it, it seems
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: like things felt things fell apart again. And you know,
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: they're definitely in Dallas a stepchild.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: They're located in Arlington, you know, which is.
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: A suburb, but they're a stepchild to the other three
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: sport in terms of their you know, you have very
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: loyal fans in baseball, but the Rangers have been bad
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: for so long that in twenty twenty three they win
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: it all, which was fantastic, But since then they haven't
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: been able to piece anything together. They probably didn't spend
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: their money very wisely, and so that's been that's been
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: an issue for him. But you know, I root for
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: him because again, you know, you'd like to see you know,
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: you'd like to see your local teams do well. Like
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: I said, it permeates throughout the whole culture of the city.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: One of the big stars in Dallas, I cannot not
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: as about was Jason Kidd. Did you get to interact
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: with him over the years at all?
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: Or I traded him in nineteen ninety six, that's right, yeah,
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: I traded him. So as a young player, he was
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: a bit temperamental and he had a bad agent. When
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: he came back for the twenty eleven run, he was
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: much more mature and did a good job. You know,
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: he just got fired, you know by the new general
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: manager that Patrick dumotis brought in. So we're going to
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: have to see the Mavericks are not going to be
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: very good for the next two or three years. They've
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: got a young talent in the kid out of Duke
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: you know, he's uh, you know, I guess he was
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: on the All Rookie team. He's a good player. But
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: they got to put some people around. And the biggest
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: issue for the Mavericks now is Kyrie Irving.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: Are they going to keep them? Are they going to
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: trade them?
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: If I was running this thing, I would trade him
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: for some picks and younger players, because you know, you
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: don't need a veteran point guard with now the mix
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: that you have after the Luca thing. The Luca thing
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: has set him back about four or five years, so
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: we have to see kind of what happens.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: As someone who obviously is still invested in the team
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: even if they're not, if you're not there on the daily.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: Did that trade sting you in a way, like, oh
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: my god, this is my organization that I helped create
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: doing the dumbest thing ever. Did that sting you?
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: Well?
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: Of course, I mean, you know, when I got done
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: pukin in the bathroom, I came back out.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: I didn't puke in the bathroom. But no, it was
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: almost on the level alex of being.
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: I didn't believe it when I was reading it because
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: in sports today, with AI and some of the other
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: things going on, you don't know what's real and what's not.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: I didn't believe it for about five hours, and then
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: finally I talked to my son and I said, did
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: this really happen?
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: And he said, yes, it happened. So it took a
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: while to digest.
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: But again, do you wish Nico just consulted you a
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: little bit?
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean, you know, the Cuban contends that he
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: was dealt out too, so you know, who knows the
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: real story?
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: You know?
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: Jason Kidd said, I didn't have anything to do with it. See,
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: when something goes bad Alex, everybody runs.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: For the hills.
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: It starts to be a you know, a blame contest.
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: But Nico Harrison should have never had that kind of
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: authority or control. He comes out of Nike, he wasn't
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: really a businessman, and the fact that a matter is
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: you know, he's been unfortunately run out of town.
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: Well maybe that's a good thing from Mavericks fan because
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: I know they got really tired of them, and the
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: excuses he would make for that trade just kept adding up. Well,
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: let me ask you this. You joined Past the Wire,
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: and I think obviously you're trying to create a different
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: culture in the betting space. That's why you joined them.
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: Right, Yes, And what we've done is we've redefined Past
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: the Wire, which was purely horse racing and thoroughbred racing entity,
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: into Pass the Wire Sports now where we're crossing over
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: into every sport. We're going to have a show every day.
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: Like I said, there's going to be a big announcement,
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: so everybody pay attention. There's gonna be a big announcement
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: on Monday on the new platform that we're going on,
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: which we're excited about and we're going to expand it
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: from there, and then in a couple of months we'll
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: be making some announcements about being an affiliate to some
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: of the bigger gambling sites like you know the major ones,
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: you know, Bet three, sixty, MGM, Draft Kings, all those
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: We're going to have a marketing affiliate relationship with them
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: that I think is going to be really exciting.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: And it's actually where everything's going.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: The new stock market in the world is going to
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: be calcy and poly markets, which we're also going to
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: get both arms, both legs in.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: As I mentioned to you, most of it is good.
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: The lebron thing with two hundred and forty five million
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: being wagered where every you know, five people know where
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: he's going, that's not the best example of what I
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: think that the prediction markets need to be.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: All right. Is the summer of the Knicks here in
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: New York, as you probably are aware because they won
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: the championship. Any interaction over the years of Leon Rose,
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: I mean, the guy's on an incredible job as president
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: basically GM of this team. I mean he brought this
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: whole team together. What are your thoughts on the Knicks run.
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I was happy as I could be because growing
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: up in New York, you know, I always read it
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: for the Knicks back in the wal Fraser m and
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: wrote Willis reed days.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: You know, when I was a kid, I met Dolan
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: multiple times. Seems like, you know, nice guy.
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: I don't know the GM, but I'm happy that they
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: put together what they put together. Now with Lebron going
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: to Philadelphia, this is going to be really interesting.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: That's going to become a gigantic rivalry.
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: And you know Boston is also going to be very competitive.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: So the Eastern Conference in the NBA is going to
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: really become a really exciting thing to watch. And I
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: will tell you that Jalen Brunson put the team on
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: his back in the fourth quarter against San Antonio. Almost
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: every game. I mean, he had a remarkable playoff rount
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: and he deserves every accolade that he gets.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: And he also got saved by umbrellas by irregular fans yesterday.
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: So even even today, the fans are just in a
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: euphoria basically of what Jalen Alex New York.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: He played. He played in Dallas Alex, he was here
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: for at two three.
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: We drafted him. They offered him. They offered him four
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: year contract to fifty five million, and he turned it down.
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: He's going to make fifty five million a year by
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: the time.
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: He's done well. And look at what he I mean,
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: at the time, it's like, who is Jalen Brunson?
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: Right?
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: And look at him now?
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: Well, you know, I want to say he was the
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: first pick of the second round, you know, coming out
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: of Villanova and they had won the championship, and you know,
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: he just had he just had a way about him.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: He was a winner.
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: And you know he now got the knicks cobbled together
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: the right team, the right mix. Sometimes the team with
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: the most talent Alex doesn't win. It's a team that
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: jels together and plays together because it's a five on
• 28:39
  Speaker 3: five game, it's not a one on one game.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: And look, he had almost a Willis Reed type of
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: scenario the whole series, especially that final clinching game. I
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: mean to put the team mos back like that and
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: what unbelievable, unbelievable game five there?
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, he uh.
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: He was a difference in the fourth quarter. Every game
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: was close. He was a difference in the fourth quarter.
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: And he deserved to be the MVP. And I'll tell you,
• 29:09
  Speaker 3: I think he's gonna have a gigantic career now. I
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: think that the Knicks just have to make sure that
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: they continue to supplement the team to put players around
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: him that are going to be able to keep up.
• 29:19
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't think the Knicks fans are very happy that
• 29:22
  Speaker 3: Lebron's going to Philadelphia.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: No, I think we're a little nervous here, all right.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: I gotta ask you one more thing, because as GM,
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: you were drafting for the now clearly and of course
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: a bit of the futurehere you were drafting and helping
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: draft for the now. Does the term rebuild piss you off?
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: I mean, does that term drive you crazy?
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: Well? Sometimes though it's reality, Do I like it?
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: No?
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: Don Nelson told me one time, he said, you gotta
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: get bad to get really good, And that really stuck
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: with me that if you're bad, you gotta build the
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: team from a new gas of younger players and grow it.
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: You know, what happens is that win now mentality which
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: everybody has because their jobs are on the line. Sometimes
• 30:09
  Speaker 3: it's not the best you know example, and here's here's
• 30:13
  Speaker 3: a great example.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: A team that makes the playoffs every year at seventh
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: or eighth place, and doesn't have draft picks, doesn't have capital,
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: doesn't have anything. They're going to be stuck there, you.
• 30:24
  Speaker 3: Know, the Mavericks, just to use them as an example,
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: and I believe Patrick Mott is going to be on
• 30:28
  Speaker 3: the right wavelength on this.
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: Now.
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: They're going to start building something that's going to have
• 30:34
  Speaker 3: relevance three or four years from now. And the fans
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: of Dallas are still all upset about the Luca thing.
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: There's nothing you're going to do about it. But I
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: think the good stewards of a franchise are going to
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: understand that the win now mentality is prevalent when you've
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: got the pieces, Like the Knicks.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: Going into this year.
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: Last year they had a win now mentality because they
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: had the piece, you know. For the Mavericks, they don't
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: have the pieces yet.
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: I do think the Knicks that was their prime with
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: the five they had starting five, And so I'm just
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: I'm thankfully we did it fifty three years later. But
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: this was the time. This is the time, and I think,
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: as GM you probably know and probably twenty eleven you
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: kind of figured as well, watching from a bit of
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: a far this was the time for the Mavericks.
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: Sure, and you know something, I'm really happy again for
• 31:26
  Speaker 3: New Yorkers and the Knicks.
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: You know, I love New York.
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: And you can sold Chris Jury next because he needs
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: a little help with the Rangers in hockey.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: Well that's a whole nother animal.
• 31:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a whole nother thing. Yes, he does need
• 31:40
  Speaker 3: some help. You know, I'm not a hockey guy, but
• 31:43
  Speaker 3: I could tell him some basic formulas about it. But
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: it all is governed by the sole MSG, right, you know,
• 31:49
  Speaker 3: the MSG people he works for. He works for Dolan, right,
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: So ultimately they've got to be able to make those determinations.
• 31:57
  Speaker 3: And yes, but the Rangers, they need some help.
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: Well, thank you for helping us here understand it all
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: quite a lot better than yesterday. Right, So, Frank zach
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: and Elli, thank you for joining me here at one
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: look of alex Media. And when we hit the fall,
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: I'd love to talk NIO with you and how we're
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: going to see that effect college once again, because I
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: feel like you got a pulse there too.
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: Well, that needs a governance.
• 32:19
  Speaker 3: And if I was running the NCAAA, I would go
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: pay Nick Saban whatever I had to do to make
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: him the cizarre of college sports, Nick Saban, he'd be
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: the perfect guy.
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: So we'll leave it right there. We'll have you back
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: on in the fall, if you don't mind. I'd love
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: to have you back on.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: I loved it. I had a great time today, Alex.
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you. Frank Zack and Ellie the former
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: GM of the Mavericks and you know, just a very
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: established man down in Dallas working with Roger Staubach and
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: helping build the MAVs and all that and getting them
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: the championship run in twenty eleven. I mean greatness right here.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: One look of Alex Media.
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining me, Frank, thank you for having me.
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: Alex