Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / The Black Experience Within Sports Journalism (PST Episode 570)

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The Black Experience Within Sports Journalism (PST Episode 570) · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

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Hey there, everybody gets Jeff, I wanted to let you know we recorded
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this podcast episode on two separate days. The first part of the show with
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Lennon I we recorded on Tuesday, June eleventh, twenty twenty four. We
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recorded this week's interview on Wednesday, June twelfth, twenty twenty four. By
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the time you hear this, some things may have changed here or there,
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but we hope you enjoyed the show. All right, everybody, you're listening
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to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast
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show in the world, eleven years strong. We got a great show for
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you this week. We're gonna get in some Flyers talk. We got some
0:56
NBA Finals talk to get into as well. What's going on with this philid
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A Union team. I'll tell you right now, they got a tough schedule
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coming up major League Baseball. We've got some Billies talk as well, and
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a little bit of Eagles talk before we get into what we're throwing down on
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the table this week. We got a good friend, OJ Spivey from the
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Philadelphia Tribune. He's going to join us for a very interesting discussion about the
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black experience being a sports reporter, some of the challenges, some issues that
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are present for OJ in the press box in Philadelphia and beyond. So we
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got a great show for you. I'm Jeff Warren and I'm here with my
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buddy Lenhunsicker. Len, buddy, Man, it's good to talk to you.
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Glad to have you on the show this week. Man. Yeah.
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Yeah, it's been a couple of weeks, right, A couple of weeks.
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Yeah, a couple of weeks. Yeah, since we last talk.
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I mean, philis have you know, continue doing what they're doing. So
1:51
that's, you know, amazing to see. And I'm ten games up on
1:57
the Braves at this point with winning tonight and the Braves losing, so yeah,
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I mean they're they're they're hot. I feel like the Nationals could overtake
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the Braves at this point. The Braves have just been imploding. It's incredible
2:10
to watch. And I know they have injuries, key guys on their team,
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just have you know, they've been out of the lineup, you know,
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But boy, man, I did not think they were gonna fold like
2:19
a freaking cheap accordion here. Lynn. Yeah, I mean you kind of
2:23
assume that they you know, always have young guys coming up. I know
2:28
there's always like a you know, waves of guys coming, but you know
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that doesn't last forever in any organization. But I mean, you got to
2:35
look at some of the guys they lost. I mean, the guy that
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was probably presumptive pick to win the cy Young Award in Spencer Stryder, and
2:42
the guy that was the MVP last year in Acunya. I mean, yeah,
2:45
you lose those two guys. And I know that they lost Sean Murphy
2:51
early in the season. I actually think it was against Phillies for an extended
2:54
period of time. I think he's back now. But so, I mean,
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they've they've been hit with the injury. But you know, as we're
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going to talk about in a second here, so have the Phillies. You
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know, so Trey Turner and now and Brandon Marsh and now real Mudo is
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going to be out for some amount of time. Absolutely, we're gonna get
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into that for sure, But before we get into the Flyers talk. To
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start us off, Lend, I do have to say it was really cool
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watching the social posts from Phillies fans over in London and just how the Phillies
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social media and marketing department, the type of job that they did with regard
3:31
to the Phillies being over in London. I thought it was a fantastic job.
3:35
I genuinely felt like I was part of it in a certain way.
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I thought they did a fantastic job. I mean, what an incredible experience,
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not only for the fans and for the team, but I think for
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the fan base in general, even those that were those of us that weren't
3:51
able to go over to England. I still kind of felt like I was
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there in some ways. Yeah. No, they definitely, I mean did
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a great job of just putting that whole thing together and just making it seem
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like like a like a Phillies trip altogether. I mean, they're they're playing
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the Mets, They're playing a New York team, and I didn't really hear
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and I know the Mets are having it down here, but you know,
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you didn't really hear that much about the Mets, even though they're a New
4:15
York team, and you just assume that, you know, a New York
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team is always going to get a substantial amount of media attention. But it
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was felt like it was a Phillies barnstorming tour, you know. Yeah,
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absolutely, Hey, first, why why don't you tell Luna back there to
4:30
keep it down? How about that? I don't know what she's doing.
4:32
Why don't you keep it down? Luna? You're my favorite dog in our
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group of friends. But but but keep it down for the recording, for
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God's sake. I don't even know what the hell she's barking in all the
4:43
wind, Like all the doors are closed, so she doesn't have access to
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any windows or anything like that. So well, like sometimes I just bark
4:50
during the course of the day for absolutely no reason, so like a dog,
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exactly. Yes, all right, well, let's get into this show
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here. And I want to start off with some Flyers talk here because we
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had a great conversation. I had a great conversation with Kelly Hinkle from Broadstreet
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Hockey dot Com this past week. Just kind of wanted to piggyback off of
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that conversation. Go back and listen to it in the feed if you would
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like to. We're just talking about this Flyers off season, Len and they're
5:19
just I think you know that conversation with Kelly and I had. There remains
5:23
an optimistic atmosphere surrounding the organization the team where they're gonna be going what this
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rebuild has been like, and the fact that the NHL Draft is right around
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the corner here. Just wanted to get into the vibes with this team during
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this offseason. Yeah, nothing's really happening, And like Kelly and I said,
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probably not a lot is going to happen in free agency given the cap
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limitations. You know, they're gonna be offloading some contracts. Probably they still
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gotta pay a lot of players who aren't even playing for this team here at
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this point. But I think there's optimism. Whether it's Matve Mitchikoff and him
5:57
possibly coming over early, we don't know that, but just the fact of
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the matter that it could happen. Danny Brier and the front office brass basically
6:05
saying, you know what, regardless of what happens with mitchkov we're gonna stick
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to our plan. We have a plan of action, We're going to stick
6:13
to it. It's it's really a breath of fresh air from what we've been
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used to. You know, that hard nosed, uh stubbornness from the previous
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regime. That's not what Flyers Nation is witnessing right now. Len. It's
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there's more of an optimistic feel right now surrounding this team an organization. I
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think it's I think it's really great. It's just a great feel coming into
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this this season later this fall. Yeah, I mean, I am optimistic.
6:39
There's gonna be some things that, you know, I mean, the
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Mitch cough thing is the biggie. I mean, if he comes over,
6:45
and I mean I want to caution Flyers fans like, if he comes over,
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you know still, you know, it takes more than one guy to
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win a Stanley Cups at all, you know, you know, you get
6:55
excited about him obviously, but they got to surround him with some talent.
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That's really funny. You said that because Kelly and I were talking and she's
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she was like, we're both were saying, you know, if he doesn't
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score ten goals within like the first twenty games, that just calm down Flyers
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Nation, you know. And I was like, if he doesn't, like,
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if he doesn't score like a ton of goals within the first three games
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or something, people are going to go crazy. It's like, temper expectations,
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folks, You got a temper them. Yeah, Like, he's not
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going to come in and score ninety points his first year. In the league.
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I mean, it's it's not going to happen. So you know,
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just you know, if he scores fifty, if it is fifty points his
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first you know, his first year in the league, that's okay, that's
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a decent that's pretty good point, especially given, like I said, the
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fact that they're you know, look, I know that they overachieved and they
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were in the playoff you know, playoff fut until the very end, there's
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still and you look and I know, you know you mentioned about being excited,
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and I am too. I think that decent optimistic. Yeah, there's
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only a decent management team place here, but at the same time, there's
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so much they have to get and it's not going to happen in one off
8:05
season. I think this is probably the last year of the cap kind of
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being you know, not really moving from year to year. I think after
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I think next off season is when you're finally going to see, you know,
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post COVID this cap start to like jump again and teams, you know,
8:22
not just the Flyers, but every team start to have some maneuverability because
8:24
right now, I mean, I just feel like there's there's not much they
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can do. If if Brier can find a way to you know, trade
8:31
a caterier and get that you know, that contract off the books for the
8:37
next however many years. Yep, that'd be awesome. But you know,
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I don't know how he's going to be able to do that without taking some
8:43
you know, major assets back that are also going to be costly. So
8:46
it'll be interesting to see what Brier can do. I mean, I do
8:50
have some faith in him, but it just, man, it just seems
8:54
like there's not starting out from a position to strength. Yeah, you're absolutely
8:58
correct, and I think that there was a I think that run that they
9:05
had this year Len really put into folks' minds that there's something special here with
9:11
a core, a core that we don't necessarily know yet who those individuals are
9:16
gonna be. We've got a pretty good sense of who is going to be
9:18
helping to lay the foundation for the future. But you're right, they need
9:22
more pieces. They need a lot more pieces, frankly, But the fact
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that they're in a pretty good position in terms of a rebuild, and what
9:31
a rebuild is Danny Brier, I think is being responsible in terms of acquisitions.
9:37
We're gonna see some more moves, probably within the next couple month or
9:39
two here, of course, especially after the draft. I'm just excited about
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the draft too. And Kelly and I were talking about the fact that whoever
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they take, folks, let's enjoy the draft. Let's enjoy the draft.
9:54
We're probably not gonna see whoever that is planning for the Flyers for at least
9:56
another three years, so let's enjoy the draft and kind of just take it
10:01
all in, evaluate who the players are, who they who they pick,
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and you know, we kind of go from there. It's just I think
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it's a fun time. Yeah, No, definitely, it's a chance for
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them. I mean, I don't know if at twelve, if you're going
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to get a guy that's like, you know, oh, this guy is
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going to be an the lead player, and you can get those guys,
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you know, it can happen, but you know, it's got to be
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one of those guys that you know, you look back in five years and
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you know, all these teams in front of the Flyers are like, oh
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man, how the hell do we miss on that guy? Right, it's
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going to take a number of teams to miss because you know, a twelve
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look, the top prospects aren't there at twelve, so they'll still be able
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to be able to get a good player. This draft is maybe thirteen or
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fourteen deep with like, you know, quality prospects, so the Flyers will
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be able to get one of those. So yeah, I think they'll be
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able to get a good player. Do I think it's going to be a
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first line you know, forward or first pair of defenseman, No, I
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don't, but you know, if you can get like a two C out
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of it, you know, that'd be nice. So yeah, I mean
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that's you need those two even though you really want the one C someday that
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you don't know where that's going to come from, but you know, at
11:13
least get pieces in there, at least build some depth where it's not just
11:16
like, Okay, these guys are all we've got, you know, three
11:20
lines of fourth line players on our team. You know, let's get let's
11:24
up the talent level a little bit. And I think they have a chance
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to do that here. I think so too. And they could absolutely luck
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into somebody too. They're really how many teams luck into teams? Do it?
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They do? Kucharov was not you know, Brad Marshander. I don't
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think it was a high draft pick. I mean you can. You can
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go and find a number of players throughout the league that are considered probably top
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twenty five players in the league that you know, weren't necessarily drafted super high.
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It can happen. Yep, absolutely well, a good discussion there about
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the Philadelphia Flyers. Really quick lynd before we get into some Philadelphia Union talk,
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wanted to just give some quick thoughts about the NBA Finals. Who we
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think is gonna end up being champion and why at this point, you know,
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going into this, I should say, I'll start off by saying,
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I thought the Celtics were gonna win this series in seven games. I thought
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it was gonna be four to three Celtics, but my gosh, they're up
12:20
to zero at this point. Tatum has just I mean, dude, he's
12:24
the catalyst for everything. His footwork, his shot making is just on another
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level. Again. He's been the catalyst all season for the Celtics team,
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but particularly particularly in the postseason. He leads a team in points twenty six
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points, ten point four rebounds, five point nine assists per game, and
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Brown is basically a notch behind him statistically, averaging twenty five points per game.
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And six point one rebounds per game. It's amazing as much as I
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hate him, because I hate him, And we had an opposition Territory podcast
12:58
last week to our good friend Jack Simone from Celtics blog dot com about this
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Celtics team. I mean, he was high on him, you know,
13:05
after what they did out in Indiana, and it's just I think they're gonna
13:09
win this. I wonder if they actually might sweep them. To be honest
13:13
with you, I thought it was gonna be a seven game series with the
13:15
Celtics winning. I don't know, man, I I don't know. MAVs
13:18
don't seem to have too much, too many answers out there. Yeah,
13:22
they haven't really looked too good at all so far. The only thing that
13:28
might, you know, maybe help them a little bit is if you know,
13:30
I know, Porzengis has kind of banged up, so if he can
13:33
you know, if he's not able to go in Game three, yeah,
13:37
maybe that gives them a little bit of, you know, more of a
13:39
shot. But I mean, it looks like it's gonna be a cake walk
13:43
at this point. It really does, man, I honestly, it could
13:46
be a sweep. How boring of A Finals. Would that be? My
13:50
gosh? Can I be honest, like, once the Sixers were knocked out,
13:56
were you just like tapped out? I kind of just owned it out.
14:00
Yeah. But NBA playoffs, I don't, you know, I don't
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know. I I like basketball, but I just, you know, I
14:07
don't know. I kind of had a feeling it was going to be the
14:09
Celtics, and I was just like, I don't know, if I don't
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really watch. Yeah, so I haven't been. I've been paying attention to
14:16
the hockey probably a lot more than I had the basketball at this point.
14:20
Yeah. No, I hear you, I hear you. I mean seriously,
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the the the Panthers and Oilers and the Stanley Cup Finals have been have
14:26
been fascinating to watch. Uh. That's a series where I thought the Panthers,
14:31
you know, I tell told Kelly Hankle this past week on Table Talk
14:35
that I thought it was gonna be four two, four to two series,
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and they're just they're just kicking. Their defense is so freaking swarming. The
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Panthers. They are an amazing hockey team. Yeah, yep, I mean
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I watched Game two the other night. It's just like Jesus, I mean
14:50
these, I mean they're Game one was I mean, the Oilers had more
14:54
shots on goal in Game one. I mean they they It wasn't like a
14:58
bad game by the Oilers in Game one, and they just didn't get,
15:01
you know, the pucks a bounce the way they need them to. But
15:03
Game two is another story. They just they were blown out of the water
15:07
in Game two. So they got a hope that maybe maybe the Sheer series
15:11
shifting back to Edmonton kind of maybe moves things a little bit and you know,
15:16
they get that home proud advantage there in Edmonton. Maybe that'll do something.
15:20
But yeah, it's it's looking a little icy right now for Edmonton.
15:24
It is. I do have to say, getting back though, to the
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NBA Finals, and I should say the playoffs in general, you've got the
15:31
one seed in Boston against the five seed in Dallas. The one thing I
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really did like was the fact that you had the Pacers actually getting to the
15:41
Eastern Conference Finals, and I knew they weren't gonna win. I mean,
15:46
they got swept by the Celtics, of course, but they kept certain games
15:50
close and it was nice to see a six seed actually get that far.
15:54
Consequently, I would say it's nice to see the five seed getting as far
16:00
as they have in the Western Conference in the Dallas Mavericks. So I don't
16:03
know, it kind of goes to show that conventional wisdom at times doesn't always
16:10
hold up with just you know, the number one or number two seed going
16:12
to be getting to the finals or getting to the Eastern Conference finals or Western
16:17
Conference finals. I think I don't know, I thought it was a I
16:19
think it's been a very interesting postseason in that regard. Yeah, you don't
16:22
ever want it to be chalk like, Okay, one seed versus one seed
16:26
every time, right, that gets boring real quick. But I mean yeah,
16:30
so in that regard, it definitely has been you know, coming into
16:34
the playoffs, if you gave me three guesses as to who would have come
16:37
out of the West, I don't know if I would have had Dallas on
16:41
any of those three guesses, right, So yeah, yeah, I mean,
16:45
good for them for making it that far. And you know, Doncic
16:48
is a great player. He's fun to watch. Kyrie Irving say what you
16:52
want about him, but he's still you know, probably got the best handles
16:56
in the entire league. Yep. So I mean yeah, I mean two
16:59
really good players. But I just I don't think they're gonna have enough for
17:02
the Celtics in this series. I think you're absolutely correct. I just don't
17:07
think it's gonna work out for him. And I gotta tell you, as
17:10
we're pivoting here and shifting to our next topic, a week ago, the
17:14
Philadelphia Union had a draw against Montreal len The last time we talked, if
17:19
my recollection is serving me correctly, the last time we talked about the Philadelphia
17:23
Union, they were in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Today, as
17:29
we're recording this on Tuesday, January eleventh, they are still eighth place in
17:33
the Eastern Conference. The record is four eight and four at this point.
17:40
They still haven't lost on the road, though, correct. I believe you
17:45
are correct. I don't think they have. Yeah, No, I don't
17:48
think they have. They just can't seem to be either exactly. Well,
17:52
I gotta tell you they're gonna they're gonna have a tough next three matches.
17:56
They've got interer Miami coming up was number one in the conference. They got
18:00
Cincinnati who's number two, and Charlotte who's number five in the conference. I
18:03
think they're going to be losing one of those games, at least the road
18:07
game Inner Miami's down in Inner Miami or down in Miami. I think,
18:10
rett, I think it is. And I just can't see them. No,
18:15
I think that's I think that might be a home mess. Oh is
18:18
it? Yeah? I think it is, but it kind of I don't
18:22
know if it's really gonna matter. It's just a nice season really here at
18:27
this point for the Philadelphia Union. It is I mean, like four wins,
18:33
eight draws, four losses. So just like I mean, I feel
18:37
like every time I watch a game where I check on a score, it's
18:41
it's a draw. And I know they beat you know, New England on
18:45
the road, you know, a couple of weeks ago. But I just
18:49
this is this is not the same well, you know what it is too
18:55
much of the same team. Maybe it is the same that that went to
18:57
the MLS Cup flying a couple of years ago. And that's the problem.
19:02
And you haven't shuffled the deck enough and gotten you know, new blood in
19:06
there. You haven't spent the money, which is a common, very common
19:10
criticism of the Philadelphia Union. They just they rely on the academy. They
19:17
allow on the guys they bring in, they try to find guys in the
19:19
margins, but they don't go out and spend money, and that is starting
19:25
to bite them in the rear end. It begs the question, Len,
19:30
because what you just said it amazes me. In the sports world, and
19:34
specifically with owners who don't want to spend that money. We make fun of
19:38
our good friend Jay being a Pittsburgh Pirates fan specifically about how about how good
19:47
old Bob out there he doesn't like to spend money on getting that team to
19:51
the next level. I just look, I know these guys, they just
19:53
want to make money. And yes, there are fans that come into the
19:56
stadiums, they are fans that are buying murch and Dice, so they are
20:00
making money. But I would think an owner would want to get to that
20:04
next level, get to the next level of playoffs and then what the playoffs
20:08
may produce, and and and postseason play what it may produce, and getting
20:15
to that championship level. I just can't understand sometimes how how owners you have
20:22
the billions of dollars, you know, why don't you spend a list?
20:26
And I know there's salary cap issues and things here and there, but why
20:30
don't you spend some money here on making the team better. It just it
20:33
kind of baffles me a little bit. Yeah, Like and that's it's it's
20:40
it's just a weird thing. Like I get that the primary thing for a
20:44
lot of these owners is to make money. It is a business, and
20:48
you're trying to make money. And I get that. At the same time,
20:52
Like, okay, so you talked about the cap somebody like we're going
20:55
to say the Pirates, for example, are are nowhere close to the cap?
20:59
You know, since you mentioned Bob Nutting is an example, Like,
21:02
I mean, isn't the point of this to to have fun? You know?
21:04
I, yes, you want to make money, don't you want to
21:07
have fun and win? Like do you what's the point of I don't know,
21:11
Like what's the point of anything? If you have to if you have
21:15
to walk around town, you know, hiding yourself because everybody's going to rag
21:18
on you if they if they realize, oh, you're the owner of that
21:22
team that hasn't won in forever, that hasn't tried in forever. You know,
21:26
you as as as a sports organization, you are part of the You're
21:30
you're a big part of the identity of your city, Yes, And I
21:36
don't understand why you would want to invite that level of scorn by not even
21:41
trying and not giving you know, the people of your city something to enjoy
21:45
and be proud of. Like, I don't why would you even bother like
21:49
you? You can make money in any number of you know, industries,
21:53
Absolutely, why pick this one? I don't know. And you know you
21:57
would think, you know, okay, some of these guys. You know,
22:00
you can be competitive in many aspects of life. You can be competitive
22:04
athletically, you can be competitive in you know, your your business dealings.
22:10
So don't you want to compete against these other owners? Don't you want to
22:15
show that you're you know, I don't know, Like, don't you want
22:17
to compete on that level too? I just I'll never understand owners that don't
22:23
want to compete. I just don't get for the life of me. And
22:27
you know, I know we're talking you know pirates here as an example,
22:32
but Jay Sugarman and you know, the Philadelphia Union ownership is another example of
22:37
that. This guy doesn't want to compete. I just I wonder if the
22:42
conversation needs to start when it comes to the Philadelphia Union about where the real
22:48
test is going to be, I mean, the real test of how much
22:51
this ownership will care. And I think that's going to come perhaps this summer.
22:56
The Union likely stands to lose Julian Caronza. You know, will they
23:00
finally open up the checkbook to possibly make a big splash. I mean,
23:06
Union fans will likely even have to accept some you know, reliable depth moves
23:11
probably. I mean it's I think it's a defining year and I think we're
23:15
seeing that right now. Again, how much is the ownership going to care?
23:19
Are they going to open up the checkbook this summer, you know,
23:22
whether they decide to grow in terms of what they have built over the past
23:27
five years or just let it dwindle due to a lack of caring and reinvestment
23:33
to the fans. I think that is the actual storyline of this season right
23:38
here in mid June as we're recording this len where does the ownership go Do
23:42
they actually care? And then consequently will the fans care well? And that's
23:48
the thing, like I mean, if if this is like a new ownership
23:52
that's been there, you know, like a small handful of years, it's
23:55
one thing, but they've never shown a willingness to spend money like this has
24:00
been going on for a while now. There's enough of a track record here
24:03
of them not spending money that, you know, why should we believe you
24:07
until you do it? Why should we believe you? Right? And you
24:12
know you see it in games when you watch games. I mean that stadium
24:17
is not full. I mean it's not not like it was a couple of
24:21
years ago. Yeah, it's not. It's not what it could be.
24:23
Yeah, absolutely, all right, Well, we are going to take a
24:26
quick break here to pay some bills. But if you're liking what you're hearing,
24:32
subscribe on whatever podcast platform you're on if you have not already, we'd
24:36
appreciate a rate and review in Apple Podcasts as well. And if anything happens
24:40
to your podcast feed, folks, you can head on over to Philadelphia Sports
24:42
Table dot com. We've got all of our shows over there, and we'd
24:45
love to hear from you. Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot com. We'd
24:48
love to read your email here on the show and respond to it. We
24:52
are on the social media's as well. Follow Lent on Twitter, slash acts
24:57
at Len Hunsicker. You can follow me at your underscore Warren in the show
25:00
at Philadelphia PST. I'm on threads at mister Jeff Warren and the show is
25:07
on threads as well at Philadelphia Sports Table. Check us out on Instagram as
25:10
well, search us out over there. We got to take that break right
25:12
now. We'll be back in just a bit. All right, we are
25:17
back. Let's get into some Phillies talks, some major League baseball talk as
25:21
well, with a specific storyline concerning the twenty twenty eight Olympics. But first
25:26
and foremost news came out today that JT. Real Muto, Phillies catcher is
25:30
gonna be undergoing some knee surgery. Return timeline is probably in about a month,
25:37
although some folks have said recovery period for this sort of meniscus surgery is
25:42
actually about six to eight weeks. However, Dave Dombrowski said the team expects
25:48
real Muto to miss about a month. It was quote about a month whatever
25:52
that means here. So that means that in his absence they have recalled catcher
25:57
and first baseman rafi El march On from Triple A. Garrett Stubbs is obviously
26:03
going to be doing a lot of catching as well during real Muto's absence here,
26:07
Len, So, I think there's a big loss quite frankly, I
26:11
really do with with marsh with his injury, we're not one hundred percent sure
26:15
when he's going to be coming back. Trey Turner still not back in the
26:19
lineup, probably going to be back sooner rather than later. The injury bug
26:22
has certainly hit the Phillies. But with JT. Real Muto, given his
26:26
season thus far and what he's been doing specifically in the batter's box, I
26:30
mean this is a big loss, man. Yeah, I mean I think
26:34
he was hitting like two sixty one seven home runs, which is pretty decent
26:38
for a catcher. I think, you know, Stubbs is he's a good
26:42
clubhouse guy. He's he's the vibes guy. He's you know, he's got
26:47
his role on the team. He likes overalls. He does well, so
26:52
do you. But I think you're about to see the difference between a starting
26:59
cat and a backup playing every day. It's a great point. I think
27:03
you're going to notice it pretty quickly. I wouldn't mind seeing a little bit
27:08
of march on here and there, just to see what he's got. I
27:14
mean, I know he's probably not ready yet, but I mean, I
27:17
wouldn't mind seeing it here and there, but yeah, I think they are
27:21
going to miss real mudo quite a bit. Yeah, absolutely. All right,
27:23
Well, the major storyline that we wanted to get into this week,
27:27
I don't know how major it necessarily is, but it's an interesting storyline to
27:30
talk about. With regard to the twenty twenty eight Olympics and the sport of
27:37
baseball, Major League Baseball is split on what to actually do here, because
27:41
the game of baseball certainly is going to be played at the Olympics, but
27:45
it's going to be, of course, in the middle of the Major League
27:47
Baseball season. Some folks are saying that the league should just adjust its schedule
27:52
to allow the stars within the league to participate in the Olympics. Some have
27:56
actually suggested just getting rid of the All Star Game that year and go that
28:00
direction, which I think is pretty interesting as well, given the All Star
28:04
Game. You know, it's uh, it's the All Star Game. You
28:07
know, it's fun to watch every now and again, but it's the All
28:11
Star Game. Wanted to get your thoughts here, lent on this because,
28:14
like I think, as we continue to progress and evolve in the sports world
28:18
in general, I know, from my standpoint, something should be done.
28:21
Major League Baseball, I believe, needs to do something to ensure that it's
28:25
top stars and talent that actually want to go to the Olympics and play for
28:29
their country have the opportunity to do so, and to do so in a
28:33
way that doesn't put strain on teams, doesn't put strain on them as as
28:38
as players. That's why I mean them players. I think Major League Baseball
28:41
needs to work with the players in order for this to happen, because for
28:45
some of these guys it's once in lifetime opportunity to go to the Olympics.
28:48
I don't know, I think Major League Baseball needs to work on this.
28:51
Well. So here's the thing, though, I'm just to get the I
28:56
guess what I consider the low hanging through in this argument right away is the
29:02
All Star break is typically three days maybe four days of travel for the Olympics,
29:07
You're gonna need a minimum of two weeks so that All Star thing.
29:12
I mean, if you want to get rid of it, fine, but
29:15
I think you need to get rid of it and maybe pair down the schedule
29:19
from one sixty two to like maybe one fifty or one fifty four, I
29:26
think you kind of need to do something like that. If you're going to
29:30
commit to doing the Olympics, you have to read the contracts at that point.
29:34
I don't know, I don't I don't know. I don't know how
29:37
any of that works. I mean, that's a way bigger conversation. But
29:41
I'm just trying to think logistically. Yeah, I mean, unless you're going
29:44
to have the you know, unless you're gonna have the World Series, like
29:48
coming up on Thanksgiving or something, which I don't think anybody wants. So,
29:52
you know, I just to me, I think if you're if you're
29:57
gonna do the Olympics, I think you're going have to that particular season,
30:02
pair down the uh, you know, make a commitment across the league.
30:04
Okay, here's what we're gonna do. It's gonna be one sixty two every
30:07
year, and then for those you know, for that year that that the
30:12
Olympics has happened, we're gonna pare it down to you know, whatever that
30:17
number is. Yeah, Bryce Harper wants I mean Bryce Harper has gone on
30:22
record saying he wants major League Baseball players in the Olympics come twenty twenty eight,
30:27
like he is one of the most powerful guys in the sport. He
30:32
says, he says major League Baseball Baseball should actually pause the season here because
30:37
he said he's actually said quote it's something you dream about. And you know,
30:41
look, I know he's got he is playing his he's he is playing
30:45
out his dream right now as one of the best in the sport playing for
30:49
the Philadelphia Phillies on that amazing contract that he does have. So I mean,
30:53
yeah, he he is living out a dream in a lot of different
30:56
ways. No, no if sands or butts about that. But I don't
31:00
know when somebody like Bryce Harper is really speaking up about this too, I
31:03
would think major League Baseball is probably going to listen. Well, you know,
31:07
listen, Bryce Harper is a big name, he's a powerful player.
31:11
But until he actually has the ability to manipulate time, I don't think because
31:18
you know, you can talk about what you want all you want, but
31:22
you know, the calendar is the calendar, right right. You know,
31:25
there's only twelve months in a year. There's only thirty days in a month
31:29
on average, like you know, and you have X number of games a
31:33
year, You're going to have to make some hard decisions on those particular years
31:37
in which the Olympics fall. If they if they all want to do it.
31:40
I mean, if that's the players want, that's fine. I've got
31:42
no problem with it. Putting the season on Pauls for two three weeks whatever
31:47
it is, Yeah, and doing it. But that's got to be something
31:52
that they all decide, because listen, you know you can do whatever you
31:56
want, but you know you're you're limited in your your time that you have
32:00
in the year in order to get all this stuff in. So that's you
32:05
can make as much money as you want and be as big a voice in
32:07
the league as you want, but I don't you know, there's only so
32:13
much you can do. Very true, very true, interesting conversation. We'd
32:15
love to hear from you out there. We gave me email before, but
32:19
just in case, Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot com, and we'd love
32:22
to hear from you about this and read your email on the show and respond
32:25
to it. I'd len before I let you go, buddy, Just some
32:29
Eagles talk. I know, over the years we've kind of gotten out of
32:32
really talking about OTA's mini camp things like that, because at the end of
32:36
the day, it's like, you know what what's really going on. But
32:39
with regard to the Eagles and their defense, there are a lot of dynamics
32:44
I think that we even saw during their mini camps that may end up being
32:46
storylines heading right into training camp. And it's two players in particular that I'm
32:52
thinking about after reading some of the articles as of late, and it's Nakobe
32:57
Dean in the middle of the field, James Bradbury on the court owners.
33:00
You know, they had apparently an underwhelming spring camp, you know for both
33:07
guys. I mean, James Bradberry came into one of the camps the first
33:12
day and he was in the tent and he wasn't practicing and participating after that.
33:16
Na Kobe Dean, I mean still still nursing that that foot injury that
33:22
he had before. And on the second team, Devin White and Zach Bond
33:28
they received first team line first team linebacker reps, while uh while Nakobe Dean
33:32
got work with the with with the second team. There. I think these
33:37
are two guys that really could potentially be casualties as we're looking toward training camp.
33:42
I mean, Bradbury may be gone even before training camp starts, but
33:45
it's just it's disappointing to see how certain careers go in the NFL. And
33:51
look, these guys may be able to turn it around. Who knows,
33:53
But at this point in time, from all the reporting that we've heard,
33:57
Lhen, I don't know, it's a underwhelming spring camps here really lead us
34:02
to believe that they're probably not going to be in the long term plans for
34:07
this Philadelphia Phillies defense. Especially Vic Fangio coming in. He's got things he
34:12
wants to done a certain way. Doesn't seem like these two guys are really
34:15
going to be around too much longer. Well, you probably know more about
34:20
this, and I do teams make those decisions that early, Like would they
34:22
get rid of a guy before regular training camp? Well, I mean they
34:25
might with James Bradbury just because of his huge contract that he signed last spring
34:30
of twenty twenty three. I mean they may release him. They may have
34:35
to pay him some money, of course, But to happen is the league
34:38
calendar and a financial calendar. Yes, if they don't make a decision on
34:42
him by this date, he gets this money. I mean, I know
34:45
that's that happens in all sports, but you know, I didn't know if
34:49
that was something that was coming up with him or not. Yeah, well,
34:52
look he skipped OTAs, which probably wasn't the best look after last year's
34:55
performance. Definitely not again. He attended mandatory mini camp. However, during
35:02
playing like safety, he was, yes, he was playing safety, he
35:06
was getting work with the safeties. But then during individual drills in the first
35:09
day of mini camp, he was making his way to the medical tent with
35:13
a trainer and he was there for a couple of minutes before heading back out
35:16
onto the field without his helmet and he was basically a spectator for the rest
35:21
of mini camp. So it'd be I, you know, it would be
35:24
surprising I think if James Bradbury is on the team week one when yeah,
35:30
no, based on everything you know you're saying here, you know, and
35:32
they they looked they certainly went and did their best to fortify the position in
35:37
the offseason. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, they've they've prepared for
35:40
this eventuality. They've got a lot of depth at cornerback. Remember the remember
35:45
the days of like Carrie Williams, when cornerback depth was like oh boy,
35:50
oh yeah, definitely, oh my gosh, all right, buddy, Well,
35:52
I'm gonna let you head out here. We're gonna take a break before
35:54
we get to what we're thrown down on the table this week. Any last
35:59
depart harding thoughts buddy, before let you go here? Uh get well soon
36:04
JT. Yes, we need absolutely gonna be interesting to see what happens again,
36:08
Like Lenn was saying, folks, let's let's see what Garrett Stubbs is
36:13
able to do. I think we're really gonna see what a major league caliber
36:15
uh major I should say major league Baseball caliber catcher really operates. Lenn,
36:21
I thought that was a good point, Buddy. Yeah, No, I
36:23
mean I think we've kind of maybe taken real moodo for granted a little bit.
36:29
Uh, And I think we're about to reality's about to hit us in
36:32
the face a little bit there. All right, Well, we are gonna
36:35
take a break. I'm gonna let leanng go and then we've got a really
36:37
good discussion come in your way. Yes, we're gonna we're gonna get into
36:42
some social based discussions. But we like to do that here at the PST
36:45
Podcast Show every now and again. We're gonna take a quick break. We'll
36:49
be back in just a bit. All right, We are back and we've
36:52
got our interview this week our good friend of the show, OJ Spivey from
36:57
the Philadelphia Tribune. He's gonna be joining us now to get into a discussion,
37:00
a very interesting discussion about the black experience being a sports reporter in the
37:07
city of Philadelphia, what it's like in the press box, some of the
37:12
issues and challenges that Oj and some other folks have faced during their tenure as
37:17
a black sports reporter. Let's get to that now. It's what we're thrown
37:22
down on the table, and now on the table this week, we wanted
37:28
to do a little something different in terms of what we were throwing down on
37:31
the table this week. We wanted to get into a social based issue here
37:36
at the PST podcast show that quite frankly, we have not talked about in
37:39
the eleven years that we have been doing this show, specifically from this particular
37:45
angle. Now, you know that we've had a number of social based discussions
37:49
over the years here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, and frankly,
37:52
it's probably why her numbers dropped off a little bit when the Colin Kaepernick story
37:57
was at the forefront of the national media landscape. We didn't care, but
38:00
We're gonna keep talking about social based issues here. We like to talk about
38:05
these type of issues that face different sectors of our community and quite frankly,
38:08
that do touch the sports world. Yes, we are a sports podcasts And
38:13
for all you folks out there that like to say every now and again,
38:15
I don't know if we have any listeners anymore, that we'll say this,
38:19
but stick to sports. Now, We're not just gonna stick to sports.
38:21
We're gonna stick to other issues as well that surround the realm of sports too.
38:27
And that's why we have Oj Spivey from the Philadelphia Tribune joining us this
38:31
week. He's been a journalist there for quite some time, does amazing work,
38:36
and we really wanted to dive into the black experience of being a sports
38:40
journalist and journalist in general in this realm. Oj, buddy, it is
38:45
great to be able to talk to you about this. Thanks so much for
38:49
joining us this week. Well, thank you, Jeff, And I just
38:52
want to commend you just beforehand for just digging into these topics and also choosing
38:58
me and being brave enough to do so. That that says a lot about
39:00
you and I truly appreciate that. Well, I thank you for that.
39:05
I think more folks need to do this. And where this come from or
39:08
where this comes from in terms of me in the inner parts of myself is
39:14
and I no, Jay, I know I've spoken to you about this before,
39:16
and I think our listeners know I work. My full time job is
39:21
working for a nonprofit that helps foster youth. And whether it's our DEI director
39:25
at our agency, or whether it's you know, the history of race training
39:30
that we've all been through within our office, whether it's an understanding of inclusivity,
39:36
a greater understanding of diversity, it's something that I specifically have learned a
39:40
lot about over the years because of what I do in terms of my professional
39:45
life and who we serve as part of our nonprofit program. And I wanted
39:51
to dive a little bit more into this subject matter within this podcast show.
39:54
And again, I really appreciate you taking the time here to really expect Lane
40:00
and try to help educate other folks out there as well. So as we're
40:04
getting into the discussion here, I think that when we talk about the black
40:09
experience within the sports world sports journalism as well, I really want to hammer
40:16
home the point that meeting people where they are at, in my opinion,
40:21
is a very crucial part in understanding how we can better understand folks outside of
40:24
our general you know, quote comfort zone. At least that's what I've been
40:29
learning again in the line of work that I continue to do outside of this
40:32
podcast. I think where people come from, who they are, and what
40:37
actually made them is an important aspect of these kinds of conversations and discussions.
40:42
OJ So, to kind of get us started here, can you tell us
40:45
a little bit about where and how you were raised and what eventually led you
40:49
to wanting to become a journalist and a reporter. Well, just you know,
40:58
I'm a native Philadelphian, West Philly born and raised. Excuse the reference,
41:04
but yes, but yes, I'm from where guys like you know,
41:08
Will Smith are from or if you watch I a elementary Quentin Brunson, you
41:15
know we're all West Philly folks. And I mean not half as famous,
41:17
right, But you're almost there. You're almost there, my friend, Thank
41:22
you, thank you. But I grew up with my mother, enjoying with
41:27
my grandparents and West Philly, and you know, I've always had a love
41:30
for sports. I never thought about being a journalist at that age more so
41:36
just thought about being you know, like a host or something with entertainment.
41:40
You know, I love like Don Cornelius with soul trade. I loved Dick
41:45
Clark, you know, I wanted to be one of those guys and everything.
41:49
But I grew up as a shy kid, so it never like really
41:52
fluctuated into that. But you know, I always had a love, always
41:58
had a love for sports. I always had a love for history and one
42:01
thing case in point. You know, I would learn sports from my maternal
42:07
grandfather. I've learned sports from my dad. My dad would cuiz me on
42:10
different things, different rules of the game and different things like that. But
42:15
if it was one thing, you know, I had. I didn't become
42:17
a journalist until later in my life. But one of the things that I
42:22
can pinpoint to on my childhood loving sports. Since I was four years old,
42:25
what I would do every April is I would get the NFL. I
42:30
would get the newspaper. And in those days, growing up in the eighties,
42:35
we still relied on newspapers. So what I would do is when the
42:37
NFL schedule came out, I had a notebook. You know, we weren't
42:42
able to get it on our phone, they weren't able to download it,
42:45
and you know, use it as a screen saver and everything. I would
42:47
have a notebook and I would sit down and I would write the NFL schedule
42:53
from week one to week sixty, the whole schedule, not just the whole
42:58
schedule, but I would just I would just write it because you know,
43:00
I couldn't get ten dollars to get Street and Smith's or you know something like
43:05
that where they would have the whole schedule. You know, as I got
43:07
older became a team, I did that. But that was my probably my
43:12
foundation of journalism. And as I got older, as I became a team
43:15
in my early twenties, that added a age of sports talk. When sports
43:20
talk got big in the early nineties and everything. You know, you can
43:23
think Philadelphia, WIP, New York, w f A n you know those
43:29
guys, and I would hear them, and you know, also the contrasts
43:35
where you know, this is when you know diversity started being a big thing.
43:38
And you know, the NFL was always during the NBA. Major League
43:43
Baseball had had a great number of black players in those days. But then
43:46
you would see the people talking about it. You would see the people commentating
43:52
about it. It wasn't people that looked like me. They on the field,
43:54
but they weren't in the booth where they weren't on the sideline, except
43:58
for maybe like the Gumble Brothers or you know, a couple of guys like
44:01
that, you know, watching those guys. That was it. And then
44:06
when I would hear guys of sports talk, and you know, I was
44:09
a you know, I was a student of history with sports and everything.
44:15
You know, I re memorize the Super Bowls, I rememberized the World Series
44:19
for like the past thirty years and everything like that. And then they would
44:22
make predictions, and you know, oftentimes they would be wrong, and I
44:25
would sit here and listen Jeff, and I said, I could be as
44:29
wrong as these guys that aren't even better. Yeah, so you know some
44:31
of the clubs are still wrong, right, Why are people that look like
44:36
me on the air. You know, I could be just as wrong as
44:37
they are, you know. And there was a there was a book on
44:42
business a few years ago. He since passed away, Reginald Lewis. He
44:45
was a big entrepreneur, black guy, and his the title of the book
44:51
was why do white guys have all the fun? Yeah? And that was
44:53
my approach with sports talk. That's kind of how I wanted to pursue growing
44:59
up and everything. But my foundation was with you know, my grandfather,
45:01
my father, and even my aunt. You know, we talk about women's
45:06
sports now. My aunt still today, in her late seventies, she still
45:12
knows more about sports than she'd forgotten, more about sports than a lot a
45:15
lot of men. I know. Yeah, So I think it's a I
45:17
think it's a great story and foundation of where you came from. And I
45:22
think it's important to realize that the word opportunity is an important word within the
45:28
realm of this discussion we're having here, because you were looking at the at
45:34
the guys who are talking about the sports not looking like you, And the
45:37
fact of the matter is that not everyone among us has the same opportunities as
45:42
other and perhaps those guys that didn't look like you perhaps had other opportunities and
45:46
greater opportunities than you and perhaps other black individuals at that particular time. And
45:53
look, folks, that's just a fact that the fact that not everyone among
45:58
us has the same opportunities. So I'm wondering, what was the first opportunity,
46:01
Ojay that you were actually given to pursue that career that you wanted in
46:07
journalism. Was there kind of that either a light switch moment or what opportunities
46:12
really came to you, or that you had to really really work for.
46:15
Yeah, it's the latter, Jeff. And you know, as far as
46:20
journalism is concerned, I didn't want to necessarily be a journals I didn't want
46:22
to be a writer. As I mentioned, I wanted to be sports talk
46:25
right right. I wanted I wanted to be one of those guys who could,
46:30
you know, call out the numbers and everything. And then when I
46:35
went to broadcast school in my early thirties, like as you mentioned, opportunity,
46:38
there was an opportunity. You know, I learned the tricks of the
46:43
trade. I learned, you know, how to do radio, how to
46:45
produce, how to do different things behind the scenes, how to be on
46:49
the air, how to be off the ear. And there just wasn an
46:52
opportunity for me. But thankfully we got into the age and with technology and
46:59
all online radio what we call podcasts now of course, the great thing you
47:04
have now. And a friend of mine who did comedy on internet radio as
47:10
we called it in those days, and he told me. He knew my
47:14
knowledge of sports, he knew how much I wanted to break into the business.
47:17
He said, you know what, why don't you just try this internet
47:20
radio thing. And it was successful and I had a co host, good
47:25
friend of mine. Her name was Dee. And the thing is, it
47:30
opens up so many opportunities because you can be on a show. You can
47:34
have me on the show. We're different, We're in totally different cities,
47:37
yes, And you can have guests. You can even be in different countries.
47:40
My co host was in Atlanta. I'm in Philadelphia. But we had
47:44
a great chemistry and everything. And one thing led to another. One of
47:50
the guests that I had, she was a beat writer for the Memphis Grizzlies
47:54
for one of the local papers down there, and she had since went to
47:59
ESPN and became a became an editor. I'm at ESPN uh for their for
48:06
their online for their online content, and she needed a She called me up
48:12
one day and she needed a writer h for a story for Malcolm Jenkins.
48:17
And Malcolm Jenkins was at Temple University at the time on the panel and it
48:22
was at the time with the whole Black Lives Matter thing. I came and
48:25
came in to play the movement, I should say, and you know I
48:30
went down there a scaredy cat and everything didn't know I was doing. That's
48:34
so sure, I'll do it. I was even asking other journals that I
48:37
knew to take the job. But then something hit me in my head,
48:39
this is my opportunity, it is, so I took it. I ran
48:43
with it. Ended up writing UH quite uh several stories for UH. It's
48:49
called Handscape now, but it started as Undefeated. That was the black culture
48:52
wing of ESPN dot com and it's still around today. And then that led
48:58
me to the to the Tribune, where I'm writing local stories, local sports
49:02
stories. You know, I'm covering the teams that I grew up watching.
49:07
You know, my idol was Doctor J. I ended up I ended up
49:09
interviewing him. Yes, I can't be going to tell you how surreal that
49:14
was. You just anybody you just think of your your idol black, black,
49:20
white, however, I mean my buddy Eric on the show, I
49:23
mean Doctor J is his is his guy. I'm sitting in his face.
49:29
Yes, his son's middle name is Julius. I'm not kidding. It's awesome
49:35
and I'm just sitting there face to face and said, you know, I
49:37
grew up watch him dump on everybody, and now I'm scared to death to
49:42
interview. But he's still the coolest guy in the room. Yes. But
49:45
to make a long story short, that's how I got my opportunity, and
49:49
I did really have to grind for it because, like I said, when
49:52
I came out of broadcast school, the opportunities weren't there. And what I'll
49:55
say, Jeff, these radio stations, these news, these outlets, they
50:01
say equal opportunity employer, but they really don't live up to it. It's
50:06
almost like they put it on their applications because they're obligated to yes, because
50:10
they all yeah, absolutely yes. I think it's a I think that's a
50:16
good segue into as we start, you know, wanting to dive into what
50:21
the black experience is within the world of journalism. Where you are at right
50:25
now, and again, like I said earlier, Ojay, you know,
50:30
I think where you when you meet people, where they are at. It's
50:32
a crucial part of understanding how we can just better understand folks outside of our
50:37
general comfort zones. And you know, specifically with the sports reporting that you
50:42
have done for quite some time, I'd like to get into some of those
50:45
experiences here, and I'm wondering, in what manner do you see the bias
50:52
coming into play as you're doing your job in the press box down at the
50:55
Link? You know where you can take a step back and say, hey,
51:00
wait, wait a minute, you know what's going on here? Was
51:02
were there moments in time where there are specific experiences? And I want to
51:07
say too, this is in no way meant to talk about how the Link
51:10
is doing anything, or the Philadelphia Eagles are doing anything, or any sports
51:14
organization or anything out there. The fact of the matter is, again,
51:17
there is bias within just about every single culture, every single job experience,
51:23
every single moment of our lives that sometimes we've as white folks, don't really
51:29
understand. So that's why I wanted to preface it by saying specifically saying that
51:32
when we're talking about your experiences within the sports reporting world here, so have
51:38
you how have you kind of seen that that bias coming into plays you're trying
51:42
to do your job in the press box and even you know, outside of
51:45
the press box too. Well, that's a wonderful question, Jeff, and
51:50
I just want to preface it by saying that the times I've covered the Eagles,
51:54
all the auto local philophy teams, the Eagles, the Phillies, six
52:00
Serious, and even the Flyers, who I have a wonderful relationship with their
52:04
I want to say their ownership, but you know, their their management and
52:07
their pr and everything. They've been outstanding to me. And it's a lot
52:12
of it is all about privilege, and it's also getting your opportunity. You
52:16
know. Of course, they just don't want anybody in there, you know,
52:21
anybody in the door and everything, because people were killed to be at
52:23
the link, to be in the press spots, and people have told me
52:27
that. But again, it hasn't been anything from the teams, uh so
52:34
to speak. They've been wonderful to me, and you know they a lot
52:37
of them knew I was trying to break down, you know, getting near
52:40
doors for a long time, you know, working for a newspaper certainly helps.
52:46
And you know, even my predecessors, I've had a great mentor,
52:52
and Donald Hunt, Chris Murray, even some of the other black writers that
52:58
you see you can kind of count kind of council on one hand. I'll
53:00
get to that second. But it hasn't really been the bias that I get
53:07
is just actually walking into the press box and some of the looks that I
53:09
get really after years, Yeah, because there's a there's there's a there's a
53:15
privilege. There's sort of like an or of privilege when you walk into the
53:19
when you walk into a press box, because it's again, it's not many
53:23
people who look like me, you can count on one hand. It's really
53:27
a handful of us still. And there's literally no women in the press boxes
53:32
either, very few. If there are women in the press box, they're
53:37
coming from television. But you know, it's getting a little better. You
53:40
know, you have a couple of beat writers who are who are female,
53:45
who cover the Eagles, now cover cover the Sixers, and no women of
53:50
color, really no women of color. So that's a problem too that I
53:53
want to advocate for. But it's just kind of like the looks is like,
53:57
Okay, what is he doing here? What does he know about sports?
54:00
And it's always overcoming the stigma that you cannot talk about sports unless you
54:07
were on the field. If you're black, you cannot. You're not taken
54:09
seriously unless you were on the field. You know, you played for the
54:14
Eels or you know you play for the sixers or somebody that that's like your
54:19
pedigree, that's like your qualifications. Not to mention. You know, I
54:23
know many black journalists who not only have bachelor's degrees, they have master's degrees
54:29
and communication and journalism and everything, some of the best in the business.
54:32
But the opportunities aren't there because they default too. Okay, well, he
54:38
played football, he must have went to college, so he mustn't know.
54:42
But that doesn't necessarily translate to journalism, and all athletes, black or white,
54:47
don't make great journalists exactly, or broadcasters too, or broad there.
54:53
I think it's really interesting how you mentioned there's just this atmosphere, this aura
54:59
kind of of you know, where that bias is at within the press box,
55:04
Like what why is why is this gentleman here? Why is he here?
55:07
You know, simply because of the colors he get in here? More
55:10
so you know, yeah, like just like yeah, how did he get
55:13
in here? That really does amaze me. I shouldn't say it amazes me,
55:16
I mean it does, you know in my host I understand, but
55:20
like it just like the work that you've been doing for so many years,
55:23
the great work you've been doing, and you're at the Philadelphia Tribune, which
55:28
is a very respected outlet in the city of Philadelphia. We've been around more
55:32
than some newspapers in the country, exactly exactly. It's like, how how
55:37
did he get in here? It really is astonishing that that is still continuing
55:42
to happen in this day and age, in my opinion, and I find
55:45
it absolutely remarkable that. And I was actually going to ask you it wasn't
55:51
in the topics, but if there were any black women, and of course
55:54
not. Of course, of course not. I'm throwing my hands up right
55:58
now, folks. Of course not. And we definitely certainly not covering the
56:01
Eagles, certainly not covering six Listen, and again, the Phillies have been
56:07
wonderful form to me. Whenever I, you know, ask to you know,
56:12
cover certain games and everything. You know, I go into the Phillies
56:16
press box, I'm the only black person in there. Unlet's you know,
56:20
someone from television. Yeah, so that that's a that's a problem. I
56:23
mean, we wonder why it's only six percent of black players in Major League
56:28
Baseball, you know, yeah, yep. Journalism, you know, it
56:32
has to be reflective, it has to be more reflective of what we see,
56:37
and then we wonder why players don't trust journalists or because they often may
56:43
not see people that they can identify exactly. And we're going to get to
56:45
that in just a second. Two. I wanted to also mention that there's
56:49
just over fifty three percent of players within the NFL are black players. Fifty
56:53
three percent, and I believe there are three black reporters in the press box
56:58
at the link. That that's that's an issue in my opinion, that's an
57:02
issue. Yeah, every you know, every every week. It could be
57:06
as many as six, okay, but as far as beat writers, is
57:09
only really three and I can name that, can name them for you.
57:12
So there's something like, what is there like thirty? Is there like thirty
57:15
some beat reporters in that press box? There might be more, it could
57:20
be. It's it's probably more so forty or forty or fifty, Okay,
57:23
all right. I just wanted to give the listeners some time to talk about
57:25
the whole region. You know, where you live, where you know,
57:30
of course, Philly is big, yep, you know, we're talking about
57:31
the whole tri state area, Pennsylvania, South Jersey, Delaware, and don't
57:37
let it be a playoff game. Yeah, the whole country Cubs. You
57:42
know. Well, as we're moving along with the conversation here, Oj,
57:45
I'm wondering, like, how do you see bias from actual players that you're
57:50
covering. You kind of just touched on this a minute ago. I mean,
57:52
of course, you don't have to name names. Of course I don't
57:54
want you to do that, but I would imagine that there have been moments
57:58
where you saw bias coming of certain players, either in the locker room,
58:01
behind the scenes because you were a black reporter in the room. What moments
58:07
have actually really stood out for you? And again, don't have to name
58:09
names at all, but I think it'd be interesting for folks to hear some
58:13
of those stories. Well. To be honest, Jeff, with my experience,
58:19
I haven't had any bias from players. You know, most most times
58:22
I've been in the Eagles locker room six is to a point, not really
58:27
yet with the Phillies and the Flyers. But you know, whenever I talk
58:31
to and I'll say names because they've just been so so great to me and
58:37
just so great to report this period. You're Jason Kelsey's Dallas Goddard, one
58:43
of my favorite players of the interview. Is landon Dickerson all pro guard,
58:46
pro bo guard with the Eagles. I mean, he's he's a country guy.
58:51
People may see him as a country bumpkin, but I mean he's very
58:53
smart, very intelligent for someone, I don't want to say someone to be
58:58
in a deep South. You know, we have our we have our thoughts
59:00
about how people are in the South, whether you're black or white or whatever.
59:05
You know, twang or you know, just coming off of your pickup
59:07
truck and everything. Well, I mean, he was excited about his lawnmower,
59:12
right exactly. But he is really really a bright dude, a funny
59:16
dude. And I mean, you know, he won't talk to reporters.
59:20
Let's you say good morning back to in trading cam, you know what I
59:22
mean. You probably see some of those so those videos, but they've really
59:27
they've really been awesome. And if there's any bias there, you know,
59:30
I don't see it. Maybe they understand their job and everything. But whenever
59:34
I've talked to those three guys in particular that I can name off the top
59:37
of my head, they've just been wonderful. And that's they see me as
59:42
they see everybody else. And you know, maybe they just understand that everybody
59:45
does needs to do their job. But you know, all those guys have
59:49
been awesome to me. Yeah, that's great. That is great to know.
59:52
Well, the last topic to get into here before I let you go,
59:54
Ojay, you know, due to my day job that I was talking
59:58
about before, you know, working for that nonprofit that helps foster youth.
1:00:01
You know, there are so many times when I ask myself, you know,
1:00:04
how can we get better when it comes to racial bias in our communities
1:00:07
and in our world in general. And as someone who is consistently on the
1:00:13
opposite side of the equation from where I'm at, frankly many of our listeners
1:00:17
too, what are your thoughts on how he can just get better as a
1:00:22
society in this regard. I remember one of one of my favorite books that
1:00:30
I've read is a book on the Lategil Russell. You know, of course
1:00:34
he won eleven championships with the Boss of Celtics, and it's called Russell Wolves
1:00:37
and one of his chapters and it's very simple, but very important, very
1:00:45
crucial. It's called listening is never casual. If we just start to listen,
1:00:50
if people just start to listen, yeah, and just be open.
1:00:54
You know, a lot of us here and you don't listen, and you
1:00:57
know, you may say something and you need to ask a parent or whatever.
1:01:00
You know, we hear a child speakple that like I hear you,
1:01:02
I hear you. You know that's that's kind of standoffish in my opinion.
1:01:07
But we just sit and listen and we be willing to understand what people are
1:01:13
going through where they're from. You might just get some truth from it.
1:01:17
And you know that that's a big part of it. And also to one
1:01:23
of the things where you know, I'm in press conferences and everything. A
1:01:28
lot of reporters still don't know what they ask athletes still don't know what they
1:01:31
asked black athletes other than most of the time just trying to trip them up.
1:01:37
You know, it takes understanding to know where Jalen Hurst is from.
1:01:43
Yes, okay, it takes understanding to know where Joe and Beat is from.
1:01:46
Yes. Yes. You have to understand the humanity about it, and
1:01:52
some guys get it. You know, there's guys I can name you all
1:01:54
here who who I really respect as far as journalism is concerned and every thing.
1:02:00
And you know I'm talking white guys, right, But but yeah,
1:02:05
but you know, and and I've had guys who've been in a press box
1:02:07
and they've been very friendly to me, very open to me and everything,
1:02:10
will joke around during a game or something like that. But you know,
1:02:15
you have to understand where uh Advance Smith comes from. Where. You know,
1:02:20
he's a young black kid from a smart town in Louisiana. You know
1:02:23
that that matters. Yes, And you know, we're so used to being
1:02:27
in the Northeast and everything. Every time we talk about the South, we
1:02:30
even talk about, you know, something along the lines of God to be
1:02:37
a confederacy or something like that. Most black people live in the South,
1:02:40
just right, yep, so we can imagine what their experience all and a
1:02:45
lot of football players, a lot of athletes are from the South. So
1:02:47
you have to understand what their experiences. And that's really the Black American experience
1:02:52
because most of it comes from the South and from a cultural standpoint, that
1:02:59
standpoint, right. I'm glad you said that, Joe. Yeah, so
1:03:00
I failed to say that. So it's all about culture. Understanding it,
1:03:05
understanding that you're not about you're not from that culture, but you have to
1:03:09
understand other cultures as well. So once you get adjusted that and you listen
1:03:15
to it, you listen to where they're from. I mean, I had
1:03:17
somebody tell me that Jayleen Hursts, you know, people are trying to still
1:03:21
figure him out, but I had somebody tell me quietly that, you know,
1:03:25
he's basically a low key country boy from Houston. So yeah, yeah,
1:03:30
exactly. So there you go. You know, you have to dig
1:03:34
into that and wonder why you know what I mean? So absolutely, absolutely,
1:03:37
and I hope everybody enjoyed listening to this discussion. I hope everybody enjoyed
1:03:43
listening to this conversation at oj Philly on the Twitter slash x. He's over
1:03:49
on threads as well, and you can catch them on Instagram at oj Philly
1:03:52
as well. Great great content that you're consistently putting up online with the Philadelphia
1:03:58
Tribune. I hope you win some more awards in the future, buddy,
1:04:00
because you certainly deserve it, my friend, And it was great talking with
1:04:04
you about this particular subject now as we're moving forward, I'd love to talk
1:04:10
more Eagles sixers with you down the road, my friend. It'd be great
1:04:13
to have you back on the show and anytime you need me. Jeff and
1:04:16
again, I commend you for digging into these topics and choosing me to speak
1:04:21
about it because it's long overdue in our industry, and you have the outlet.
1:04:29
You know, people like you had the power to do so and the
1:04:32
power to be brave to do so. Well. I appreciate those kind words,
1:04:36
and I hope everybody who listened to this got a little something out of
1:04:39
it as well. So you take care of my friend. We'll talk down
1:04:42
the road. Okay, Thank you, Jeff, And that's going to do
1:04:45
it for us this week. Make sure to share the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast
1:04:49
show with your friends and family members who may be Philly sports fans. You
1:04:53
can always head on over to Philadelphia Sports Table dot com to access all of
1:04:57
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1:05:01
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1:05:05
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1:05:11
and have a great week, and we'll catch you next time.