Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / OneLegUpAlex Media Talks World Cup and Skubal to L.A. With Michael Duarte of California Post Sports (recorded 7-30-26)

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OneLegUpAlex Media Talks World Cup and Skubal to L.A. With Michael Duarte of California Post Sports (recorded 7-30-26) · OneLegUpAlex Media

0:02
Speaker 1: Here's your host, Alex Garrett. All right, well, you heard
0:09
Speaker 1: me talk with guys like Mike Viccara of the New
0:12
Speaker 1: York Post. Now we're going to the other coast, the
0:15
Speaker 1: California Post. I'm Michael de Werte, who is the I
0:18
Speaker 1: believe the senior sports editor out there. Is that right, Michael,
0:21
Speaker 1: senior sports reporter.
0:22
Speaker 2: But yeah, don't put me on a desk yet.
0:26
Speaker 3: Hey, you never know.
0:27
Speaker 1: But I saw this article in the New York Post
0:30
Speaker 1: right in here in New York City about the winners
0:32
Speaker 1: and losers you felt of the World Cup. And I
0:35
Speaker 1: really haven't done a deep dive recap with many, so
0:39
Speaker 1: I want to jump with you on this conversation.
0:41
Speaker 3: So, firstly, is the United States winning?
0:44
Speaker 1: And this is very interesting because you know, a lot
0:47
Speaker 1: would say being exited by Belgium was a disappointment, but
0:51
Speaker 1: you say they were still a winner, and I agree
0:52
Speaker 1: with you because they did something hadn't done twenty four years.
0:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, so pulling up now, just so you know,
1:01
Speaker 2: pulling it up the story. So the first thing I
1:04
Speaker 2: said to go up the point was not the United
1:08
Speaker 2: States men's national team, even though I think we could
1:12
Speaker 2: make the argument they are winners from this as well,
1:15
Speaker 2: because what I've been getting now that the World Cup
1:18
Speaker 2: is over, alex is what was your favorite moment? Right?
1:22
Speaker 2: What was like the coolest atmosphere to be at the
1:25
Speaker 2: coolest game? Right? The only game that gave me fomo
1:27
Speaker 2: that I wasn't at when I was actually in Seattle
1:30
Speaker 2: before that Belgium game where they got bounced out, was
1:33
Speaker 2: watching Mexico England at the Zteca. That was one of
1:36
Speaker 2: those matches in the rain, and it was three to
1:39
Speaker 2: two and England had ten men and just Mexico was
1:43
Speaker 2: absolutely on the attack and it was just wave after
1:46
Speaker 2: wave and England was holding on and you have all
1:48
Speaker 2: this tension and drama going back sixty years and forty years.
1:52
Speaker 2: That was one of those games where I was like, oh,
1:54
Speaker 2: I wish I was inside that building, the best environment.
1:57
Speaker 2: I know, that's not the question you asked. Watching our
2:00
Speaker 2: Argentina England again, two countries that hate each other, the
2:03
Speaker 2: Battle of the Falkland Islands. You saw the protest sign
2:08
Speaker 2: they put on the field after and left it. I
2:10
Speaker 2: used to live in Buenos Aires. My mom is from London,
2:13
Speaker 2: from Surrey, so like I felt that rivalry and the
2:16
Speaker 2: hatred those two countries have for each other. But being
2:19
Speaker 2: inside Atlanta Stadium where the fans are singing, Hey Jude
2:23
Speaker 2: every time Jude Bellium touches the ball, and watching Messi
2:27
Speaker 2: orchestrate this amazing comeback and the fans go crazy, and
2:30
Speaker 2: the singing and the songs, and then during the national
2:32
Speaker 2: anthem they were singing an anti English song.
2:34
Speaker 1: It was even if you were even if you weren't
2:37
Speaker 1: an avid soccer fan, I didn't two minutes of Argentina England.
2:41
Speaker 1: We'll go down on the record books because Messi's assists,
2:44
Speaker 1: the way they held off you know, England, and for
2:47
Speaker 1: me personally as someone born America and all that, you
2:51
Speaker 1: know what to see England went on our soil two
2:52
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty years after we declared independent from them.
2:55
Speaker 2: I mean, come on, you nailed it. You nailed it
2:57
Speaker 2: one hundred percent. So that was all part of it too.
2:59
Speaker 2: I also think Argentina was the most watched team during
3:03
Speaker 2: the tournament. I just found out from FIFA outside in
3:05
Speaker 2: the outside of the US and then here in the
3:07
Speaker 2: US they were second to the United States. But anyway,
3:10
Speaker 2: that was my first you agree with me? Second though,
3:14
Speaker 2: was that opener here in Los Angeles at SOFI Stadium
3:17
Speaker 2: USA Paraguay. And this long winded answer that you asked,
3:20
Speaker 2: which was watching them come out and score three goals
3:24
Speaker 2: in the first half and just absolutely dominate a very
3:27
Speaker 2: very good team from South America that beat Brazil and
3:30
Speaker 2: Argentina in qualifiers. I had never seen a US men's
3:34
Speaker 2: team play like that before. We are always like, we'll
3:37
Speaker 2: be back on our heels, you know, we'll look for
3:39
Speaker 2: a counter attack moment, you know, we'll try to beat
3:42
Speaker 2: defensively sound. Never have I seen a US men's national
3:45
Speaker 2: soccer team at the World Cup press the way they
3:48
Speaker 2: did attack, the way they did pass, the way they
3:51
Speaker 2: did just absolutely dominate a team that many thought would
3:55
Speaker 2: beat us in the opening round and put a scare
3:57
Speaker 2: in US. And so just that match alone, I can
4:00
Speaker 2: I think you can say we're winners. Never before had we,
4:03
Speaker 2: you know, won the group, you know after two matches.
4:07
Speaker 2: You know, never before had we been in a situation
4:10
Speaker 2: where we could have made a deep run one a
4:12
Speaker 2: knockout stage game against Bosnia. That's only the second knockout
4:15
Speaker 2: game we've ever won. Now, obviously expanded tournament, different rounds,
4:19
Speaker 2: different competition, but only the second time that happened. So
4:22
Speaker 2: you can argue it. But my point overall in that
4:24
Speaker 2: that article that you talked about the winners and losers,
4:27
Speaker 2: was our country as a whole was the winner. And
4:31
Speaker 2: I say that because I had to write in the
4:34
Speaker 2: weeks and months leading up to the World Cup everything
4:37
Speaker 2: that was going on, the ticket price gouging, Right, no
4:40
Speaker 2: one's going to show up, No one's gonna buy tickets.
4:42
Speaker 3: These thousands of dollars for these.
4:45
Speaker 2: Have empty stadiums. Uh. Security is not going to be
4:49
Speaker 2: able to handle it. Some of these stadiums they don't
4:51
Speaker 2: even know what they're in for. They're not going to
4:54
Speaker 2: be able to stop the fans. It's going to be chaos.
4:56
Speaker 2: There's gonna be uh we're in we're at war with Iran.
5:00
Speaker 2: There's gonna be terrorist plots and attacks. And I just
5:03
Speaker 2: kept hearing how this was going to be a disaster
5:05
Speaker 2: of a World Cup, how the US having a chance
5:08
Speaker 2: to host, was just going to absolutely drop the ball
5:11
Speaker 2: and fumble the ball on the global stage. And instead,
5:13
Speaker 2: I think we knocked it out of the park. There
5:16
Speaker 2: was no incidents, you know, no crazy deaths, attacks, nothing
5:20
Speaker 2: like that. Zero high security incidents and Instead, what I
5:24
Speaker 2: watched was forty seven countries travel to the United States
5:28
Speaker 2: from all over the world and absolutely fall in love
5:31
Speaker 2: with the United States. And what I kept hearing from
5:33
Speaker 2: those fans again and again is when they watch the
5:35
Speaker 2: news back home in their countries, they hear how it's unsafe,
5:39
Speaker 2: how Ice is killing people in the streets, how you know,
5:43
Speaker 2: people are killing each other and attacking each other, and
5:47
Speaker 2: it's just absolute chaos here. And you know, he correct
5:53
Speaker 2: and they say, everybody's welcoming, the food is great. So yeah,
5:57
Speaker 2: so that was why I think America in this case
5:59
Speaker 2: one I'm.
6:00
Speaker 1: Looking to see, did Norway make a winner here, because
6:04
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, the row, you know, Varlin, all of
6:08
Speaker 1: it just incredible with that team.
6:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I didn't specifically give Norway as a winner.
6:15
Speaker 2: They should have been earling. Holland got winner, and I
6:19
Speaker 2: grouped him in with the Norway. The reason why I
6:21
Speaker 2: separated Holland more than anyone else because without him, Norway
6:26
Speaker 2: isn't where they're at. Right. He scored a goal every
6:29
Speaker 2: single game he was up in the leading boot contention.
6:32
Speaker 2: He scored the two goals to knock out Brazil alone,
6:35
Speaker 2: which nobody saw happening, and the other thing on top
6:38
Speaker 2: of it. I don't think Norway had been in the
6:40
Speaker 2: World Cup in over sixteen years. I've been watching Man
6:43
Speaker 2: City and watching what Holland can do for years. I'm
6:46
Speaker 2: sure maybe you have too. I see you in that kit.
6:49
Speaker 2: The world all got to see and here in the
6:51
Speaker 2: US we all got to see Arling Holland and the
6:54
Speaker 2: absolute finisher he is in and around the box. But
6:57
Speaker 2: not only that. He knew this was his chance and
7:01
Speaker 2: opportunity to show his personality and his kind of star
7:07
Speaker 2: status to the United States, and so he had a
7:10
Speaker 2: YouTube crew for his YouTube channel filming him the entire time.
7:14
Speaker 2: So you got to watch these clips that we all
7:15
Speaker 2: saw on social media of him walking around North Carolina
7:20
Speaker 2: and meeting with fans and them going are you a
7:22
Speaker 2: famous soccer player? And he's like no, no, and you know,
7:25
Speaker 2: dragging it off. You saw his in comments on Instagram
7:28
Speaker 2: for girls that do their hair like him or look
7:30
Speaker 2: like him. He was in all these comments. He's buying
7:33
Speaker 2: the taxidermy, He's wearing the cowboy boots and the cowboy hat.
7:36
Speaker 2: I think he absolutely ingratiates.
7:38
Speaker 1: He sort of assimilated in a sense into this culturt
7:40
Speaker 1: isn't he correct?
7:42
Speaker 2: And that was part of the also America being the winner,
7:45
Speaker 2: in addition to everybody coming to our country and seeing
7:52
Speaker 2: our food and trying barbecue and ranch dressing, and you know,
7:56
Speaker 2: they're trying waffle house for the first time in Chick
7:59
Speaker 2: fil A and Taco Bell and they're just absolutely loving
8:02
Speaker 2: what we're about. We got to have a sleepover with
8:05
Speaker 2: the rest of the world, right, We got to have
8:08
Speaker 2: a slumber party, and we got to see the Viking Row.
8:10
Speaker 2: We got to see the Tartan Army take over Boston
8:13
Speaker 2: and drink the town out of beer. We got to
8:15
Speaker 2: see the Netherlands and the Dutch do their famous bounce jump,
8:21
Speaker 2: and we got to see the Japanese clean the stadium.
8:23
Speaker 2: We got to dance with kurisl and Cape Verde and
8:26
Speaker 2: so that was the other part of it, and where
8:28
Speaker 2: the Norway Viking Row comes in, as we as one
8:31
Speaker 2: of the other best moments. I did a secondary story
8:34
Speaker 2: on like the viral moments that went big, and one
8:36
Speaker 2: of them was the row on the subway there in
8:38
Speaker 2: Times Square in New York City.
8:39
Speaker 1: Well, how about that Times Square which is always the
8:42
Speaker 1: crossers of the world.
8:43
Speaker 3: Fun fact, A few years ago in Argentina. You know,
8:46
Speaker 3: I think it wanted four years ago or something.
8:49
Speaker 2: No.
8:49
Speaker 1: I saw a whole crowd of Argentinians and then that
8:51
Speaker 1: Saturday night before the match, they shoot off fireworks and
8:54
Speaker 1: times square. But it was clol to see all the
8:56
Speaker 1: different cultures in the crossroads right there. And I think
9:00
Speaker 1: you've did it right to put it here in New York,
9:01
Speaker 1: New Jersey. I mean, I really do.
9:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree with you. I was making a case
9:07
Speaker 2: because I was traveling to all the stadiums. You could
9:09
Speaker 2: have done a semi final in La, at semi final
9:13
Speaker 2: in New York, and then put it in the middle
9:16
Speaker 2: at AT and T Stadium in Dallas. I liked that
9:18
Speaker 2: it was in New York. I had a great time
9:20
Speaker 2: for that final, and so I agree with you. But
9:22
Speaker 2: you could have been like one is on the West coast,
9:24
Speaker 2: one is on the East coast, and we'll meet in
9:25
Speaker 2: the middle for the final. That could have been interesting geographically.
9:28
Speaker 2: But New York about LA.
9:30
Speaker 3: Because La.
9:31
Speaker 1: This is sort of a test run, isn't it for
9:33
Speaker 1: what's happening in twenty eight.
9:34
Speaker 2: You nailed it, Yes, sir, I'm already getting emails about
9:39
Speaker 2: do I want tickets for the Olympics, for the soccer
9:41
Speaker 2: final that's going to be here in La for twenty
9:44
Speaker 2: twenty eight and two years. You're right for us in
9:46
Speaker 2: La ton A point right. We only had one venue
9:49
Speaker 2: here and it was Sofi Stadium. Where Sofi Stadium will
9:52
Speaker 2: be the swimming venue, believe it or not, not for
9:55
Speaker 2: any sporting event on a grass field. I would be
9:58
Speaker 2: using the entire city and even parts of the rest
10:00
Speaker 2: of the country for for what's going on at the
10:02
Speaker 2: twenty twenty Olympics. But what I another thing that was
10:04
Speaker 2: impressed about in why America was a winner on my list, Well,
10:09
Speaker 2: millions of millions of fans who traveled to the US
10:11
Speaker 2: got to see our NFL stadiums. I don't know about you, Alex,
10:15
Speaker 2: but I've traveled to some of the bigger stadiums in
10:17
Speaker 2: the world. I've been to the Olympica and the Bambadero
10:20
Speaker 2: and Buenos Aires, like we talked about where Boca and
10:23
Speaker 2: River play. I've been to the Bernabau in Barcelona. I've
10:28
Speaker 2: been to the stadiums in Madrid. I've been there. In Germany,
10:30
Speaker 2: I've been to he excuse me, the uh, what's the
10:34
Speaker 2: big one in London.
10:36
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I'm oh where the NFL plays too, right.
10:41
Speaker 2: Well, they sometimes play at Tottenham's New Stadium where the
10:43
Speaker 2: Tottenham Hospitals are. But the big one is uh, I
10:46
Speaker 2: don't I can't even think right now. I'm trying to
10:47
Speaker 2: think of the airport. But that's not it. But the
10:48
Speaker 2: big bat.
10:50
Speaker 3: Earlier, so I'm sure you're a little, a little, a little.
10:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, second one, but and that was a baseball one.
10:56
Speaker 2: But the point was, like I've been to all these enormous,
10:59
Speaker 2: huge staate across the world. I just went to the
11:01
Speaker 2: Tokyo Dome for the Dodgers last year, and as great
11:05
Speaker 2: as they are, as historic as they are, they're nothing
11:08
Speaker 2: compared to the seven billion dollar stadiums we've built here
11:13
Speaker 2: in the US, some the AT and T Stadium, Mercedes
11:16
Speaker 2: Benz in Atlanta, and then the Crown Jewel in my
11:19
Speaker 2: opinion across the globe is Sofi Stadium. The land that
11:23
Speaker 2: it's built on, we have this giant river, there's like
11:25
Speaker 2: a whole complex, a residential area, movie theaters, food like
11:33
Speaker 2: it's amazing, and so everyone who came out and visited,
11:36
Speaker 2: including the players and the teams who played inside Sofi
11:39
Speaker 2: Stadium here in Los Angeles said, that's the greatest time
11:41
Speaker 2: I've ever seen to or ever been to in my life.
11:43
Speaker 2: And these bet guys have played all over the world,
11:46
Speaker 2: So I really think LA as a host city and
11:49
Speaker 2: then as a look at our seven billion dollar stadium
11:51
Speaker 2: that Stan Kronky built was another one of those like
11:54
Speaker 2: awe moments for the rest of the world to come see.
11:57
Speaker 1: We know the California Post and the New York Post
12:00
Speaker 1: very political, but there didn't feel like to be okay,
12:03
Speaker 1: the Balligan red card is different, but there wasn't a
12:06
Speaker 1: lot of political interjections here. Did you feel that at all?
12:14
Speaker 2: I think Iran was the biggest political interjection that I saw,
12:18
Speaker 2: and a lot of it. Okay. Look, and I wrote
12:21
Speaker 2: about them in the article as well. They were one
12:23
Speaker 2: of my losers, and I didn't mean it like to
12:26
Speaker 2: say forthwith that, like Iran was a loser as a
12:31
Speaker 2: team because I thought what they had to go through
12:33
Speaker 2: to endure to go undefeated, they didn't lose any of
12:36
Speaker 2: their group play matches, and I thought they got screwed.
12:38
Speaker 2: I don't know if I can say that on your show, but.
12:40
Speaker 1: I can't Mexico right and all.
12:42
Speaker 2: That, Yeah, I thought they absolutely got screwed in their
12:45
Speaker 2: final game because they had enough to get through with
12:47
Speaker 2: three points. And then you had it was Austria Algeria,
12:52
Speaker 2: and all they had to do was play to a
12:54
Speaker 2: tie and the loser. If there was a winner and loser,
12:57
Speaker 2: the winner would advance with Iran. The loser would not go.
13:00
Speaker 2: So those two teams played what I saw was one
13:03
Speaker 2: of the worst soccer matches of the entire World Cup tournament,
13:07
Speaker 2: just playing Lackaday's ago, no offense, no defense for like
13:09
Speaker 2: twenty thirty minutes at the end, and then Algeria scored
13:12
Speaker 2: and then they said, oh no, you're not allowed to score,
13:15
Speaker 2: so they just let Austria go march down the field
13:17
Speaker 2: and score right back so that they could both go
13:19
Speaker 2: through and absolutely.
13:20
Speaker 3: Screw the off sides bother you.
13:21
Speaker 1: I was on with my buddy Loutananella was a frequent
13:24
Speaker 1: guest here, and he also said the off sides were,
13:28
Speaker 1: you know, way out of line. And look, I've done
13:30
Speaker 1: college soccer, I've seen it, I've announced it. Sometimes the
13:33
Speaker 1: off side.
13:34
Speaker 3: Call is very very biased call.
13:37
Speaker 1: I would say, would you agree or something, There's something to.
13:39
Speaker 2: That A million percent. I think it's the most archaic,
13:43
Speaker 2: stupidest rule in all of sports, and soccer purists are
13:46
Speaker 2: gonna hate me for it, and look, I'm not saying
13:49
Speaker 2: to get rid of it at all. But like the
13:51
Speaker 2: only other off sides we really have outside of football,
13:53
Speaker 2: which is the line of scrimmage, are American football and hockey,
13:58
Speaker 2: which is when you're crossing over into different zones. Right,
14:01
Speaker 2: there's no off sides right in front of the net.
14:03
Speaker 2: Could you imagine that, right?
14:05
Speaker 1: And do you know the ninety four Stanley Cup run
14:08
Speaker 1: was kind of defined by that. No, there was some
14:11
Speaker 1: call with no offside on messy it, there was something
14:13
Speaker 1: there and correct.
14:14
Speaker 2: In ninety four there was no var there was no
14:16
Speaker 2: you could slow it down and watch it in ten
14:18
Speaker 2: different angles in slow motion. It was all a referee judgment.
14:20
Speaker 2: And keep in mind that's something that hasn't changed. There's
14:22
Speaker 2: one referee on the field, you know, in the playoffs
14:26
Speaker 2: for NFL or Major League Baseball. We get as many
14:28
Speaker 2: referees as many eyes out there to get the call
14:30
Speaker 2: right as you can. And so as much as like
14:34
Speaker 2: I am four technology improving all of sports, I might
14:38
Speaker 2: say to making sure we get the call right at
14:40
Speaker 2: the bottom line. Soccer international soccer football internationally is one
14:45
Speaker 2: of those. I don't think we still have gotten it
14:49
Speaker 2: right yet, and I think there needs to just be
14:52
Speaker 2: more referees on the screen, and there needs to be
14:54
Speaker 2: more gray areas in deciding these rules. You brought up
14:58
Speaker 2: the Balllygan red card suspension. What happened was in that
15:02
Speaker 2: play and people forget about it. The referee did not
15:04
Speaker 2: even call a foul on the field. He was then
15:07
Speaker 2: buzzed down from the barroom to say, go look at
15:10
Speaker 2: it because it could be a red card. When he
15:12
Speaker 2: goes to the monitor, he can only make two calls,
15:16
Speaker 2: red card or nothing, because that was the call he
15:19
Speaker 2: made on the field nothing. We all saw it and
15:22
Speaker 2: realized that should be a yellow card, but that wasn't
15:25
Speaker 2: an option based on the rules. And so what I
15:27
Speaker 2: bring that up is, let's look at the NBA right
15:29
Speaker 2: where if someone says, hey, we're gonna review this for
15:31
Speaker 2: a flagrant foul, it can be flagrant one, flagrant two,
15:35
Speaker 2: common foul, or nothing. They can call any of those.
15:38
Speaker 2: That's the gray idea.
15:39
Speaker 1: We learned that about it in in the NBA Finals
15:41
Speaker 1: because everybody was like, wait, what do you mean flag?
15:44
Speaker 3: I think it was a Wemby, wasn't it.
15:45
Speaker 2: There was a Wemby's elbow in the yeah in the
15:47
Speaker 2: Western Conference finals and that that was correctly ruled a
15:50
Speaker 2: flagrant too, and they kicked him out, but maybe it
15:52
Speaker 2: would have just been a flagrant one. But the point was,
15:54
Speaker 2: in the case of the Valligan card, it could only
15:56
Speaker 2: be red or nothing, and that's because of the way
16:00
Speaker 2: the FIFA rules were set up, and they absolutely got
16:02
Speaker 2: that wrong. There were so many moments of that. So yeah,
16:04
Speaker 2: var overall was a loser in this cup. Argentina being
16:09
Speaker 2: nicknamed Vargentina should not be something that comes about because
16:13
Speaker 2: all these replay reviews go in their favor. We should
16:17
Speaker 2: be able to look at a replay review of something
16:20
Speaker 2: and make what we're seeing on the screen not this
16:24
Speaker 2: extreme or that extreme or whatever the rules say. We
16:26
Speaker 2: should just use the eyes and make the right call
16:28
Speaker 2: in that moment and also know what was going on
16:31
Speaker 2: in the game to be able to decide, you know,
16:33
Speaker 2: is this something that's going to determine the outcome of
16:35
Speaker 2: the game. Is it blatant? Isn't clear? And we can
16:38
Speaker 2: do things like that because what I would argue is
16:41
Speaker 2: you can review every second of a ninety minute soccer
16:44
Speaker 2: match and find something going on that can change that.
16:47
Speaker 2: And I think we're really doing the game of disservice
16:50
Speaker 2: by doing that. And then the other thing I would
16:52
Speaker 2: do is to your point, is I would remove any
16:55
Speaker 2: offsides in the penalty box if you want to leave
16:58
Speaker 2: it to outside the box beyond sure, because you want
17:01
Speaker 2: to stop cherry picking. You want to stop, you know,
17:03
Speaker 2: if the defense is moving up high up and pressing
17:06
Speaker 2: up someone from getting behind him and cherry picking and
17:09
Speaker 2: just having a one on one with the goalie, because
17:10
Speaker 2: that's not what we want to see. But when you're
17:13
Speaker 2: talking about Iran's toe being off side in the box,
17:17
Speaker 2: or someone's hair being off side in the box, or
17:19
Speaker 2: an elbow inside of the penalty box when you're six
17:23
Speaker 2: to eight yards out, which really has nothing to do
17:25
Speaker 2: with whether it would have been a goal or not,
17:27
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. And we're losing sight of
17:29
Speaker 2: the whole point of sports and bowls.
17:32
Speaker 3: Are so hard to come by it correct.
17:34
Speaker 1: It kind of ruins it because like, oh, they may
17:38
Speaker 1: not get a change the threats of the way type
17:39
Speaker 1: of thing.
17:40
Speaker 2: You know, so a million percent and Jane Luigi Buffon
17:43
Speaker 2: from Italy, you know, he's won a World Cup himself.
17:45
Speaker 2: He's now retired, he's forty eight years old, but he's
17:48
Speaker 2: he's still in Europe and he's part of these decisions.
17:50
Speaker 2: He said he would expand the goals by a foot
17:53
Speaker 2: every direction, one foot to the left, one foot to
17:56
Speaker 2: the right, and a foot up, because it would allow
17:58
Speaker 2: more goals and it would stop. What we're seeing is
18:02
Speaker 2: teams like Belgium, for example, with courtois putting a almost
18:06
Speaker 2: seven foot guy in the net, where if he his
18:09
Speaker 2: whole wingspan might be enough to stop any goal in there.
18:12
Speaker 2: If you expanded it, you wouldn't be able to do that.
18:14
Speaker 2: We see some more goals, more offensive.
18:17
Speaker 1: I'm just saying that I competed in the Fanatics Games
18:20
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago with the Javits, and you
18:22
Speaker 1: got a goalkeeper there, and I made one of five
18:26
Speaker 1: because that was challenging, you know, but at least I
18:29
Speaker 1: got one. But that's not an easy net to get into,
18:31
Speaker 1: especially you know, just stop.
18:33
Speaker 3: But I don't know if expanding the net's the answer.
18:35
Speaker 3: Maybe it is, I don't know. I feel like that's
18:37
Speaker 3: part of the challenge, isn't it.
18:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, But we're talking about it if we want to
18:41
Speaker 2: see more goals, if we want the game to be
18:43
Speaker 2: a little more exciting. You know what I mean. We
18:45
Speaker 2: had some exciting high scoring matches. Is we also saw
18:48
Speaker 2: some zero zero games. Right if you.
18:50
Speaker 1: Ere seeing six to four in that in that Saturday game,
18:53
Speaker 1: I mean yes, but I don't.
18:55
Speaker 2: I mean, I know, for entertainment purposes they love that.
18:58
Speaker 2: But as a as a soccer coverers of passion, passion
19:02
Speaker 2: about it played it. There was no defense played in
19:05
Speaker 2: that game. That was the room. That was an NBA
19:06
Speaker 2: All Star game.
19:07
Speaker 1: What did you play?
19:08
Speaker 2: I played all the way up through high school and
19:10
Speaker 2: then stopped right in high school and switched to American
19:12
Speaker 2: football and track and field and basketball. But all the
19:16
Speaker 2: way up until high school, I was playing here and
19:19
Speaker 2: here in the LA area.
19:21
Speaker 3: Do you think?
19:21
Speaker 2: And I played a left winger, was the answer to
19:24
Speaker 2: Probably your question was where.
19:25
Speaker 1: Speaing of speaking of the youth every so saying well, okay,
19:30
Speaker 1: why has it soccer clicked on yet? And there were
19:34
Speaker 1: parts of it where you could tell why it hasn't
19:35
Speaker 1: really sunk in here yet. However, this could be a
19:38
Speaker 1: great opportunity for American soccer to have, like a real
19:42
Speaker 1: sign ups type of thing, you know, where the youth
19:45
Speaker 1: signs up for the sport.
19:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's the million dollar question. One hundred million
19:50
Speaker 2: dollar question or one hundred billion dollar if you ask
19:52
Speaker 2: FIFA right now trying to sell private equity investments in it.
19:57
Speaker 2: I think soccer has caught on. I think, as you said,
20:00
Speaker 2: off from this World Cup, as you see from MLS
20:02
Speaker 2: ratings and the ticket sales and how crazy we go
20:05
Speaker 2: over MESSI here and what the Korean fans do here
20:09
Speaker 2: in La for Sung Hung Min and you know, now
20:11
Speaker 2: Lewandowski's in Chicago, and you know, I've seen soccer grow
20:15
Speaker 2: exponentially since we hosted here in nineteen ninety four. We
20:18
Speaker 2: are becoming that. But how do we get how do
20:23
Speaker 2: we change the youth system to your point, and how
20:25
Speaker 2: do we get to where we're on a more level
20:27
Speaker 2: playing field with the top ten teams in the world,
20:29
Speaker 2: so that you know, we get a chance to play
20:31
Speaker 2: in semi final matches and finals or something in the
20:34
Speaker 2: World Cup from time to time.
20:36
Speaker 3: It starts with coaching. As far as the US. I mean,
20:38
Speaker 3: we saw how bad it was.
20:39
Speaker 1: With Klingsdorf, and I kept beating that drug to get
20:41
Speaker 1: him out of there, and sure enough they did. And
20:44
Speaker 1: this new coach might be getting in a different direction.
20:46
Speaker 2: Here, definitely different playing style, but he still needs the talent.
20:50
Speaker 2: And I never thought we would beat Belgium. I know
20:52
Speaker 2: a lot of people were high on the US and
20:54
Speaker 2: the chances we had, and I looked at it and
20:56
Speaker 2: look like, look like I said, I follow international soccer.
21:00
Speaker 2: I follow the Premier League, I go over there to
21:02
Speaker 2: watch matches. I follow La Liga and League One and
21:07
Speaker 2: even the Italian leagues. I knew that Belgium's players, individually
21:12
Speaker 2: player like let's just say, for example, if this was
21:15
Speaker 2: FIFA right, and you know they're individual rankings, that every
21:18
Speaker 2: single player on Belgium was higher rank than our players
21:21
Speaker 2: at the same position. I think the only I think.
21:23
Speaker 3: There were ninth overall, weren't they or something.
21:25
Speaker 2: Like that, they were ninth. Yeah. The only player that could,
21:29
Speaker 2: in my opinion, that starts on the US that could
21:31
Speaker 2: maybe start on Belgium is Christian Policice. As far as
21:34
Speaker 2: just individual talent alone, the problem is he also plays
21:38
Speaker 2: a left winger, and you have Jeremy Doku, who might
21:40
Speaker 2: be the best left winger in the world who plays
21:42
Speaker 2: for Belgium. So even at his own position, he might
21:45
Speaker 2: not be able to start. They'd have to move policage
21:47
Speaker 2: somewhere else on the field. So we need to raise
21:50
Speaker 2: the talent level of America to be on with the
21:53
Speaker 2: same part of these other countries. To me, it's not
21:56
Speaker 2: a we don't like soccer, we're not passionate about soccer thing.
22:00
Speaker 2: To me, it is a if you are, let's look
22:03
Speaker 2: at you and I did you play soccer growing up
22:05
Speaker 2: as a kid.
22:05
Speaker 3: I really could not. I mean I was borrowing one
22:07
Speaker 3: legs or to play.
22:09
Speaker 2: True, you're right, but I did. I did. Did your friends?
22:12
Speaker 2: What did your friends play? Yeah?
22:14
Speaker 1: No?
22:14
Speaker 3: And I watched them growing up?
22:16
Speaker 2: And when did they stop?
22:18
Speaker 3: Look, my friend graduated college. I said, what are you
22:20
Speaker 3: going to do next? We ended up just becoming a coach.
22:23
Speaker 1: So some of these guys stop right after college and
22:26
Speaker 1: don't go further.
22:26
Speaker 2: You know what I witnessed and maybe you saw differently,
22:30
Speaker 2: is you know, we played like five years old, and
22:32
Speaker 2: then probably by the time I got to like ten
22:34
Speaker 2: or twelve, and I kept going a little bit longer,
22:36
Speaker 2: they stopped playing and they started focusing on in American
22:39
Speaker 2: football or basketball or a track. For some even I
22:44
Speaker 2: left to go do those other sports. You Swimming is
22:47
Speaker 2: another sports it's big here, Golf, tennis. I mean, I
22:51
Speaker 2: can just go on and on and on. We have
22:54
Speaker 2: growing up here in the United States, and it's a
22:55
Speaker 2: luxury the ability to play so many sports and the
23:00
Speaker 2: financial backing from families and everything's to be able to
23:04
Speaker 2: go do those you know, even hockey, you know where
23:07
Speaker 2: I laugh at this because let's look at hockey, right,
23:11
Speaker 2: a Canadian sport. Who just won the gold medal? And
23:13
Speaker 2: what would be the equivalent of the Gold Cup the
23:16
Speaker 2: USA did? Right? Who wins basketball at the equivalent of
23:20
Speaker 2: the World Cup? In the summer team? It was a
23:22
Speaker 2: dominant for god knows how long. If American football had
23:26
Speaker 2: a World Cup, who would win that as a country?
23:29
Speaker 2: Who he would by? It would even be close? Right,
23:31
Speaker 2: We're dominating in flag football, for for God's sake, and
23:34
Speaker 2: that's not even the same kind of sport. Uh So
23:37
Speaker 2: when it comes to the other baseball, I know we
23:40
Speaker 2: don't really have it, but and we didn't win in
23:43
Speaker 2: the WBC. But also it's during home it's also during brings,
23:49
Speaker 2: it's also during spring training, and the best of the
23:51
Speaker 2: best don't pitch trek Schouble pitched one game and then
23:53
Speaker 2: he left, right, Like, we don't if we.
23:55
Speaker 3: Pitched running for tar Rika.
23:57
Speaker 2: Now, that's exactly we are. That's what I was just
23:59
Speaker 2: doing the last podcast about. But I mean, I think
24:02
Speaker 2: if we could throw the Miz Tarrek Scooble, Paul Skeins,
24:07
Speaker 2: you know, the best American pitchers, I don't think we
24:10
Speaker 2: would lose in a Baseball World Cup either if it
24:12
Speaker 2: was best at the best, right, I really don't think
24:14
Speaker 2: we could. We could.
24:15
Speaker 3: Women's baseball they're in the final two. I mean, it's just.
24:17
Speaker 2: Correct, and women's soccer we dominate. So really it's not
24:21
Speaker 2: that we don't love it or we can't do it. It's
24:25
Speaker 2: all of the talented athletes we have in this country
24:28
Speaker 2: really at a young age start to go play other sports.
24:31
Speaker 2: And what we need to do is make it so
24:33
Speaker 2: that these young kids they stick with soccer for the
24:38
Speaker 2: duration of their life, and they get taught at a
24:40
Speaker 2: young age to your point, good coaching, They learn the fundamentals.
24:44
Speaker 2: The problem they say with you soccer is it's the
24:46
Speaker 2: pay to play. We're always worried about traveling teams and
24:49
Speaker 2: getting all the money from parents and winning all these tournaments.
24:51
Speaker 2: And trophies and stuff, and we're not teaching them the
24:53
Speaker 2: fundamentals of the game for them to grow up to
24:55
Speaker 2: become the next Messis and stuff. I think it's that
24:58
Speaker 2: it's also a big of like they go off and
25:00
Speaker 2: do other sports too. And I really think if the
25:03
Speaker 2: talent stayed, we would have incredible soccer players, because we
25:08
Speaker 2: just have unbelievable athletes in all other sports in this country.
25:11
Speaker 2: And I bet if you took the best players in basketball,
25:14
Speaker 2: and the best players in American football, and the best
25:16
Speaker 2: hockey players and the best baseball players, and they've talked
25:19
Speaker 2: about this, and you put a ball at their feet
25:21
Speaker 2: at two years old, a soccer ball, and they grew
25:23
Speaker 2: up with it, we would be unbeatable. And what ye're
25:27
Speaker 2: go ahead, No.
25:28
Speaker 1: I also feel like what you're talking about is something
25:31
Speaker 1: I've harped on, which is let kids play more than
25:34
Speaker 1: one sport, like they'll grow up and be baseball and
25:37
Speaker 1: only focus on baseball because that's what the advice they're getting.
25:40
Speaker 1: I don't like that advice. These kids would be able
25:42
Speaker 1: to play every sport they want.
25:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, and if they love soccer, stick to soccer and
25:47
Speaker 2: put them in the right environment to foster and grow
25:50
Speaker 2: them and turn them into the best soccer players we're
25:52
Speaker 2: going to see because we have the talent, we have
25:55
Speaker 2: the population what Spain and Argentina and these countries have,
26:00
Speaker 2: and I've traveled all over them. Those kids grow up
26:02
Speaker 2: just playing soccer from day one, you know what I mean.
26:05
Speaker 2: There's no I'm gonna play American football, or I'm gonna
26:08
Speaker 2: play golf, or I'm gonna play hockey or you know
26:10
Speaker 2: what I mean. They just grow up playing soccer, and
26:13
Speaker 2: they do that. Everyone plays soccer. One more last thing
26:17
Speaker 2: I'd point to in that is that gap that was
26:20
Speaker 2: created in nineteen ninety two with the Dream Team in
26:23
Speaker 2: the NBA and basketball and the Olympics to now has shrunk. Right.
26:29
Speaker 2: France almost beat the US in that gold medal game.
26:31
Speaker 2: It took a crazy effort by Steph Curry. Serbia with
26:35
Speaker 2: Nikola Jokic almost beat US, you know his semi finals
26:38
Speaker 2: leading up to it. Spain has had some great teams
26:41
Speaker 2: when the Gasol brothers were there. The rest of the
26:44
Speaker 2: world is catching up in basketball because people who saw
26:47
Speaker 2: the Dream Team in ninety two are now growing up
26:50
Speaker 2: wanting to play basketball. And these other countries are good
26:53
Speaker 2: that's actually gonna hurt them in soccer because some of
26:55
Speaker 2: their best athletes are gonna go play basketball.
26:58
Speaker 1: And I'm like the MLS all the the NBA specifically
27:01
Speaker 1: really has an international footprint.
27:03
Speaker 3: I mean, they really have expanded beyonds America.
27:06
Speaker 1: They have the g leagues, they have all this other
27:07
Speaker 1: stuff where kids from America can.
27:09
Speaker 2: Go compete US correct and American football. We're now we're
27:13
Speaker 2: playing I'm going to be going to Australia for the
27:15
Speaker 2: Rams Niners opening hey of the NFL game. We're trying
27:18
Speaker 2: to expand globally too. That's only going to lead to
27:20
Speaker 2: more kids globally growing up being able to play other sports,
27:25
Speaker 2: and then they won't just be playing soccer. And so
27:28
Speaker 2: I think what will happen along over a long period
27:30
Speaker 2: of time decades is the talented athletes who play soccer
27:35
Speaker 2: in these other countries will end up playing some other sports,
27:38
Speaker 2: so their soccer teams might not be as dominant as
27:40
Speaker 2: good as they are now. And hopefully this World Cup
27:43
Speaker 2: here on home soil will read and lead to more
27:46
Speaker 2: guys like Christian Polisic, who I got to interview and
27:48
Speaker 2: talk to for this entire World Cup, and he told
27:50
Speaker 2: me when I watched Landon Donovan in two thousand and
27:53
Speaker 2: two score the goal and go on, he wanted to
27:56
Speaker 2: be a soccer player. We need more kids who watched
27:58
Speaker 2: this World Cup and watch what he did and what
28:01
Speaker 2: Freeman did and what Baligan did and say I want
28:04
Speaker 2: to go be a soccer player and I'm not going
28:06
Speaker 2: to go play basketball and I'm not going to go
28:07
Speaker 2: play American football and I'm going to do that. And
28:10
Speaker 2: you know, some people say we don't have enough, like
28:14
Speaker 2: Messies as an example, like people who come from the streets,
28:17
Speaker 2: who don't come from money, who grow up and they
28:19
Speaker 2: don't play soccer because it is the pay to play
28:21
Speaker 2: system I talked about. I don't agree with that. I
28:24
Speaker 2: just think those kids from poverty or who don't have
28:27
Speaker 2: the money are growing up playing basketball or going into
28:30
Speaker 2: American football to change their families' lives, or even in
28:33
Speaker 2: other countries baseball like in the Dominican Republic or Cuba,
28:37
Speaker 2: not soccer. We can definitely find those players here. We
28:40
Speaker 2: just need them to stick to soccer when we find them.
28:43
Speaker 1: In I saw my college win its first ECC East
28:47
Speaker 1: Coast Conference title, Queen's College, back in twenty three and
28:51
Speaker 1: that was so special, you know, and I've known the
28:53
Speaker 1: hell out of that because it deserves to be shout
28:55
Speaker 1: out and Queen's is a great soccer program. So I
28:57
Speaker 1: just I don't want to have had that, all right, Michael,
28:59
Speaker 1: I got say, we haven't touched on the winner of
29:01
Speaker 1: the whole thing. How did Spain beat Argentina. I mean,
29:06
Speaker 1: to be very frank with you, the first half was
29:08
Speaker 1: quite boring.
29:09
Speaker 3: Okay, it just did not have the.
29:11
Speaker 1: Energy I thought it would have because of the build
29:13
Speaker 1: up of the World Cup final. Oh my god, it's
29:15
Speaker 1: a New York, New Jersey. That's gonna be incredible. Trump's there.
29:19
Speaker 1: Look at the halftime show, Shakira's gonna be But then
29:22
Speaker 1: the first half just fell flat. I don't know. Did
29:24
Speaker 1: you see that.
29:24
Speaker 2: Too, No, but I'm looking at it maybe from a
29:28
Speaker 2: different prism. Look, if we wanted it to be more exciting,
29:33
Speaker 2: from like a equal footing, maybe we needed France Argentina
29:38
Speaker 2: in the final, right, because I think no matter who
29:41
Speaker 2: would have been in that final against Spain, they would
29:42
Speaker 2: have been absolutely dominated. And that's exactly what you saw.
29:46
Speaker 2: So we saw zero zero first forty five minutes. To
29:50
Speaker 2: your point, in the first half, but what I saw
29:52
Speaker 2: was Spain get up like I think eleven shots and
29:58
Speaker 2: Deboo Emmy Martinez have to all the saves to do it.
30:02
Speaker 2: Spain could have been up five to nothing. I'm not
30:04
Speaker 2: even joking you. It could have been that bad if
30:06
Speaker 2: Debu was having an off day or he couldn't see
30:09
Speaker 2: the ball or something. Spain had so many chances to
30:12
Speaker 2: score goals early in that match, so you might have
30:14
Speaker 2: been like, well, this is zero zero, it's a boring game.
30:16
Speaker 2: But if those shots go in, You're like, this is
30:19
Speaker 2: a round, this is exciting. This is five nothing right, true.
30:22
Speaker 2: I mean Argentina to even get a single shot off
30:25
Speaker 2: until one hundred and seventeenth minute, and it was messy
30:27
Speaker 2: and it wasn't even close to the net. They got
30:29
Speaker 2: zero shots on target, Uni Simone who ended up.
30:32
Speaker 3: With like a perfect game in soccer, zero shots on
30:34
Speaker 3: goals exactly.
30:35
Speaker 2: It was absolute domination and they basically did the same
30:39
Speaker 2: thing to France. And that was my pick to win
30:41
Speaker 2: the entire World Cup. So instead of I mean, yes,
30:44
Speaker 2: it wasn't the exciting game we wanted. It wasn't what
30:46
Speaker 2: England and France put on with no defense the day before,
30:49
Speaker 2: which you know fans loved because they got to see
30:51
Speaker 2: all these goals ten goals, but really you got to
30:53
Speaker 2: see absolutely no actual competition on the defensive side of
30:57
Speaker 2: the ball. Instead, what you saw was an amazing defensive
31:00
Speaker 2: display from Argentina to just not concede because it could
31:03
Speaker 2: have been a route, and then Spain just puts on
31:06
Speaker 2: a clinic doing what they do best, and that is
31:08
Speaker 2: absolutely remember the what was the game, smear the queer?
31:12
Speaker 2: Was that the game we used to play as kids.
31:13
Speaker 2: We probably shouldn't say that, it's not politically correct anymore,
31:16
Speaker 2: but that was the game. If you had the ball,
31:17
Speaker 2: you had to go get it right, and that was
31:20
Speaker 2: what Spain was doing. They had the ball at all times,
31:22
Speaker 2: and Argentina is trying to get it and they can't
31:25
Speaker 2: because Spain is just so dominant in the midfield. They
31:27
Speaker 2: do that what they call the tiki taki passes short
31:29
Speaker 2: little pass, so that's exactly what they did. They just like,
31:34
Speaker 2: we're gonna keep the ball the whole time. You're not
31:35
Speaker 2: gonna be able to get it from us because we're
31:37
Speaker 2: that much better than you in the midfield, and then
31:39
Speaker 2: we're just gonna wait until we get opportunities to score
31:42
Speaker 2: and you won't even have a chance to shoot because
31:44
Speaker 2: you will never have the ball, and that does not
31:47
Speaker 2: lead to the most exciting game that like you just mentioned,
31:49
Speaker 2: it's not the best product to watch on TV, But
31:52
Speaker 2: from a soccer perspective, you're like, that is just such domination.
31:56
Speaker 2: I thought France and Argentina would somehow do more to
31:59
Speaker 2: get them to give the ball up and try to
32:01
Speaker 2: create a turnover and try to create opportunities. But nobody
32:03
Speaker 2: could figure out or unlock that puzzle that was Spain's midfield.
32:08
Speaker 2: They just couldn't figure out.
32:10
Speaker 1: All of New York exploded, like you just hear cheers
32:13
Speaker 1: from every block.
32:13
Speaker 2: It was pretty cool, and that's what I was getting
32:16
Speaker 2: at because it was exciting for me as a fan
32:17
Speaker 2: because it's like, this is gonna happen eventually, right, Spain
32:20
Speaker 2: has to score. They've got twenty shots. So when it
32:23
Speaker 2: finally came, it was like, oh, it's just eruption, like
32:26
Speaker 2: you said, and not for the Argentina fans, who I
32:30
Speaker 2: think out were more loud than the Spain fans in
32:33
Speaker 2: the stadium there at MetLife, but it was definitely one
32:36
Speaker 2: of those you knew it was coming and then for me,
32:40
Speaker 2: I don't know about you, but watching it from that perspective,
32:45
Speaker 2: you could clearly tell Spain was the better team by
32:48
Speaker 2: a lot, Like it wasn't as close, and we felt
32:50
Speaker 2: so bad for Messi and them because they just couldn't
32:52
Speaker 2: get the ball. But we're, you know, in that one
32:54
Speaker 2: hundred and sevent we're getting to the point where we're like,
32:56
Speaker 2: they're ten minutes away. If they could just hold on
32:59
Speaker 2: for ten more minutes, where now that goes to PKS
33:01
Speaker 2: and anything can happen, right, Yeah, So I kind of
33:03
Speaker 2: was like, come on, guys, you're beginning your ass kicked
33:06
Speaker 2: for one hundred and ten minutes, but ten more minutes
33:10
Speaker 2: and you can just get to PKS and then of
33:12
Speaker 2: course the goal goes in and another goal and then
33:14
Speaker 2: the floodgates opened.
33:15
Speaker 1: But why is it that after regulation time the shots
33:18
Speaker 1: just keep increasing. Everybody said that that after regulation time
33:22
Speaker 1: and the extra time, that's when all the shots started
33:25
Speaker 1: going off on over every game basically.
33:49
Speaker 2: Rocks to seven miles. I'd be pretty tired at the
33:52
Speaker 2: end of it. And so what happens is you get
33:54
Speaker 2: to regulation at the end of the ninety minutes and
33:57
Speaker 2: then you have five subs, and usually if a team
34:00
Speaker 2: has done this right, there's no fluke, injuries or anything early,
34:04
Speaker 2: they will bring on five fresh bodies to start that regulation.
34:08
Speaker 2: And these guys are fresh legs, they're sprinting, they're able
34:12
Speaker 2: to go down. And suddenly, if you've ran seven miles
34:14
Speaker 2: already and these guys have run zero and they're fresh,
34:18
Speaker 2: you're like, oh my god, they're blowing right by you.
34:20
Speaker 2: And so suddenly you see those opportunities you didn't see earlier,
34:23
Speaker 2: where they're going to get more opportunities, more chances to score.
34:26
Speaker 2: And that's what you saw in that match as well.
34:30
Speaker 1: All right, I want to stick with two other LA
34:32
Speaker 1: stories because you are the California Sports senior reporter and
34:35
Speaker 1: all that is Showey's injury.
34:38
Speaker 3: Like a big deal or is it just under the
34:40
Speaker 3: like what's going on with this, because I'm.
34:42
Speaker 2: Curious now he had a knee injury about I'm trying
34:46
Speaker 2: to remember which year it was when he was with
34:47
Speaker 2: the Angels, and so this is now that flaring back
34:51
Speaker 2: up on him again. It looks like something that he's
34:55
Speaker 2: going to have to manage, not just for the rest
35:00
Speaker 2: to this season, maybe for the rest of his career.
35:02
Speaker 2: Unless there's you know, they're gonna do surgery or something
35:04
Speaker 2: to fix it. So from what I've seen, as you
35:07
Speaker 2: saw he hit a home run two nights ago, he
35:09
Speaker 2: hit a double. I don't think it's affecting him at
35:12
Speaker 2: the plate. What is concerning now is when he went
35:16
Speaker 2: to throw a bullpen and come back. He's obviously a
35:18
Speaker 2: righty when he pitches, not when he hits. He has
35:21
Speaker 2: a biceps injury. Usually if you are feeling something in
35:26
Speaker 2: the bicep, it is connected to the elbow. Right. You
35:30
Speaker 2: can see here on my arm, not shoulder. That's usually
35:33
Speaker 2: a different place. But this muscle runs all the way down,
35:37
Speaker 2: similar to you know, if you have a calf injury
35:39
Speaker 2: or a calf strain, you're worried about the achilles because
35:42
Speaker 2: that muscle goes all the way down. So that's where
35:46
Speaker 2: the concern lies is. Yes, he might be feeling it here,
35:49
Speaker 2: but it could be something going on here.
35:51
Speaker 1: And if the picture you're with him, he seems to
35:53
Speaker 1: use he uses that part of his you know that correct.
35:56
Speaker 2: And he's already two elbow surgeries basically to Tommy Johns,
36:01
Speaker 2: although one was a different procedure. So when you hear that,
36:06
Speaker 2: that's concerning, and they immediately shut him down. So do
36:10
Speaker 2: I think this is going to affect him at the plate? No,
36:13
Speaker 2: especially because a lot of it's coming from your lower body.
36:15
Speaker 2: That's not a big deal unless he gets hit or something.
36:18
Speaker 2: So is it a concern offensively, No, But I think
36:22
Speaker 2: it is absolutely concern on the pitching side. I think
36:25
Speaker 2: you can absolutely kiss his dream of winning the nl
36:28
Speaker 2: Cy Young away. At this point. I don't think there's
36:31
Speaker 2: any chance that's happening now. And if the Dodgers are
36:34
Speaker 2: able to trade for and acquire Trek Schoogle and at
36:37
Speaker 2: this point, I don't see who's going to be able
36:40
Speaker 2: to have a better package to offer the Tigers. And
36:42
Speaker 2: if I'm the Tigers, you have to trade him. You
36:44
Speaker 2: screwed up. You know, you fumbled the season away. You
36:47
Speaker 2: had a chance to piggyback off the last two years
36:50
Speaker 2: and actually maybe get over the hump and get to
36:52
Speaker 2: an ALCS or a World Series this time. You absolutely
36:55
Speaker 2: fumble that away. Your bullpen has been atrocious and you
36:59
Speaker 2: just under achieved all seasons.
37:01
Speaker 1: Not to McGonagall, but they focused all their energy on
37:04
Speaker 1: signing that kid instead of Schooble.
37:05
Speaker 2: It seems like I agree and I don't think look
37:08
Speaker 2: Schooble is a Scott Boris client. So whenever you hear that,
37:12
Speaker 2: you know two things are gonna happen. You're one hundred
37:14
Speaker 2: percent going to test free agency. There's no way to
37:16
Speaker 2: sign an extension before that. And two he's going to
37:19
Speaker 2: go to the highest bidder who can offer the most
37:21
Speaker 2: money in the most years. So Tigers are out of that.
37:24
Speaker 2: So that's why you know, when you know it's Scott Boris,
37:27
Speaker 2: that's what you got. And so they're looking at the
37:30
Speaker 2: future and the young pictures and stuff, and you have
37:33
Speaker 2: to do that. You're still in a position, in my
37:34
Speaker 2: opinion if you're the Tigers where you know, even if
37:37
Speaker 2: this year is a lost year, you can reload. You
37:40
Speaker 2: don't have to rebuild, but you can reload and still
37:42
Speaker 2: be in the picture next year in the picture, excuse me,
37:45
Speaker 2: the playoff picture. So if I'm them, I know people
37:49
Speaker 2: are saying, Emmitt Sheehan, Robleski and those guys, those would
37:51
Speaker 2: be great. I would I might go after and say, hey,
37:53
Speaker 2: would give me Tyler Glass now and some prospects for
37:57
Speaker 2: a school, because Tyler Glassnew could instantly be your ace
38:00
Speaker 2: on that staff and he's not Schooble, but he's a
38:02
Speaker 2: very good pitcher when he's hot. He's pitching the American
38:04
Speaker 2: League before so and the Dodgers would absolutely the.
38:08
Speaker 1: Former Ray for those who don't remember.
38:11
Speaker 2: Correct, Yeah, he's and he's. The Dodgers are so loaded,
38:15
Speaker 2: this is the rich getting richer that they could afford
38:17
Speaker 2: to lose a glass Now or a Blake Snell to
38:19
Speaker 2: get a Schooble back. But my ultimate point was you
38:23
Speaker 2: are concerned about Otani the pitcher, not Otani the hitter.
38:26
Speaker 2: So if you can get Schooble, I think that would
38:29
Speaker 2: mean just let shoe hey Otani shut down as a pitcher,
38:33
Speaker 2: not worry about it, let him go back to being
38:36
Speaker 2: a hitter for the rest of the year so he
38:37
Speaker 2: doesn't injure himself even further, and then you lose his bat.
38:40
Speaker 1: In the word, do you think the Dodgers have been
38:42
Speaker 1: trying to like women is pitching but he wants to pitch?
38:45
Speaker 1: Is that the energy I'm feeling or what's the deal there?
38:48
Speaker 2: That is one hundred percent correct. The Dodgers are so
38:51
Speaker 2: loaded and pitching that they don't need Otani the pitcher,
38:55
Speaker 2: as you saw when they won the World Series in
38:56
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four when Otani went fifty to fifty, the
38:59
Speaker 2: only member the fifty to fifty club. He is extremely
39:02
Speaker 2: valuable as a hitter, and they don't necessarily need him
39:04
Speaker 2: as a pitcher to win the World Series. But show hey,
39:06
Speaker 2: Otani is very adamant that he wants to be the
39:08
Speaker 2: best player this game has ever seen. He wants to
39:11
Speaker 2: pitch at a high level, he wants to hit it
39:13
Speaker 2: a high level, and all of that is the Dodgers
39:17
Speaker 2: acquiescing to him. They would be fine saying, you just
39:20
Speaker 2: be the best hitter on the planet and at the
39:22
Speaker 2: front of our lineup as the leadoff hitter, and just
39:24
Speaker 2: let us go get a bunch of aces to pitch.
39:26
Speaker 2: Don't worry about it, right, So, yes, to your point,
39:30
Speaker 2: that is correct. Otani's the one forcing, you know, him
39:33
Speaker 2: wanting to pitch and do all that, and the Dodgers,
39:35
Speaker 2: to their extent, see how great he is, and as
39:38
Speaker 2: long as he can be healthy for the postseason, I
39:39
Speaker 2: think they would let that happen, as we saw last year.
39:42
Speaker 2: But if you can go get Scooble and you have Scooble, Yamamoto, Snell, Rebleski,
39:49
Speaker 2: for example, still have she hand and stuff. Otani becomes
39:52
Speaker 2: Otani the pitcher becomes a luxury. And if it does,
39:56
Speaker 2: indeed they keep Glass now for example, and he's able
39:59
Speaker 2: to come back, well, then you definitely don't need o
40:01
Speaker 2: Tony the pitcher because now you have Snell Glass, now
40:04
Speaker 2: Yamamoto Schooble, and that's the best rotation in baseball in
40:09
Speaker 2: the postseason, and Otani can go back to just hitting.
40:12
Speaker 1: All right. I got to credit my friend Jay Julian
40:14
Speaker 1: Gelardi in his podcast for this next reference.
40:17
Speaker 3: The Dalton Oh show Hey saga. I mean, is Dalton
40:21
Speaker 3: a cancer in the clubhouse?
40:23
Speaker 1: What's the deal with him?
40:24
Speaker 2: I don't think he's a cancer in the clubhouse. He's
40:27
Speaker 2: a young kid. He's vocal. We know guys like Dalton
40:31
Speaker 2: Rushing in sports. We've played with them, right, These are
40:34
Speaker 2: the guys that you know, uh, cup check you all
40:37
Speaker 2: the time and we'll like punch you in you're not
40:39
Speaker 2: looking stuff. They're kind of like big kids, right. They
40:42
Speaker 2: curse a lot. That's Dalton Rushing. The Dalton Show hay
40:45
Speaker 2: thing is a byproduct of the fact pretty much that
40:49
Speaker 2: Will Smith has become show Hey, Otani's only catcher for
40:53
Speaker 2: the better part of the last two seasons, and Dalton
40:57
Speaker 2: Rushing wasn't even with the team when show Hay was
40:59
Speaker 2: making his pitching comeback. Maybe he catches him in spring
41:02
Speaker 2: training a little bit, but those those those sessions were
41:06
Speaker 2: few and far between. Well, then when Will Smith goes
41:08
Speaker 2: down with this neck injury and he's out and the
41:10
Speaker 2: only person who can catch you now is Dalton, and
41:13
Speaker 2: show Hey likes to call his own game, he calls
41:15
Speaker 2: his own pitches. You're gonna run into some of this,
41:18
Speaker 2: you know, back and forth that we saw in that
41:20
Speaker 2: one game. Obviously, what exasperated even more was there was
41:24
Speaker 2: a cross up even further Dalton. Dalton did not want
41:30
Speaker 2: to challenge some pitches that that shoe Hey wanted to
41:33
Speaker 2: challenge with the new ABS system, and Dalton was proven wrong.
41:36
Speaker 2: So now that's even worse. But there's no there's no
41:38
Speaker 2: issue there between him. Just as much as you know
41:41
Speaker 2: people are now talking about Alex call jumping over the
41:44
Speaker 2: the dugout railing and accidentally clipping him in his elbow
41:47
Speaker 2: with his cleat. You know, these these things happen, it's
41:49
Speaker 2: not an issue. But Dalton is a fiery, passionate player.
41:53
Speaker 2: He's a young player, and uh, that's what you see.
41:56
Speaker 2: I don't think there's any issue or him being at cancer.
41:58
Speaker 2: I can tell you I've been covering the Dodgers for
42:01
Speaker 2: twelve years. There have been some locker room cancer, some
42:04
Speaker 2: clubhouse cancers that have come through in that time. Dalton's
42:08
Speaker 2: definitely not one of them.
42:10
Speaker 1: Interesting, Well, I know that they're up eleven and a
42:12
Speaker 1: half games already in the NL West.
42:14
Speaker 2: Or something like that, correct, I mean, can I say
42:17
Speaker 2: record in baseball despite having what half their pitching staff.
42:20
Speaker 1: Out as on July thirtieth Eastern and Pacific time, that
42:25
Speaker 1: he is still they are still a viable possibility for
42:28
Speaker 1: a threepeat?
42:29
Speaker 3: I mean, I feel like that's still very strong, right.
42:32
Speaker 2: But let's put it this way. Instead of like a
42:34
Speaker 2: viable possibility, what percentage would you put on their chances
42:38
Speaker 2: of three peating because I'd say it's probably like forty
42:43
Speaker 2: percent right now, maybe higher? Right? That's crazy?
42:47
Speaker 1: Well, I think the Phillies would be their only challenge
42:49
Speaker 1: right now. That's that's what I'm looking at. Maybe the
42:52
Speaker 1: Braves too, But I.
42:53
Speaker 2: Mean, look, this is the funny thing is like I
42:55
Speaker 2: almost feel like I'm living in like a deja vu
42:57
Speaker 2: alternate reality right now. I mean, look, if Atlanta got
43:00
Speaker 2: Trek school ball with Chris Sale and that staff, that
43:03
Speaker 2: would be a huge threat to them. I'm sure the
43:05
Speaker 2: Dodgers would have nightmares about going against the Miz in
43:08
Speaker 2: schoolbl in Milwaukee if that was the case. But you know,
43:12
Speaker 2: the Brewers had the best record in baseball last year,
43:14
Speaker 2: they had home field advantage. Everyone was like, this is
43:18
Speaker 2: the team and the Dodgers to do.
43:21
Speaker 1: Was wear it. All he had to do was wear
43:22
Speaker 1: that pitch.
43:23
Speaker 2: Correct and and but even then, like you win one
43:27
Speaker 2: of the games, right, you go out in five. I
43:29
Speaker 2: was at every single those games. It did not feel
43:31
Speaker 2: like those two teams were on equal footing. I thought
43:33
Speaker 2: the best team the Dodgers faced in twenty twenty four
43:36
Speaker 2: two years ago was the Padres. That series went five,
43:39
Speaker 2: they went on, Dodgers won the whole thing. I thought
43:41
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty five last year, the best team they
43:43
Speaker 2: played was the Phillies. That was another one of those
43:46
Speaker 2: I could have seen that series. If it was a
43:47
Speaker 2: seven game series going seven, it probably should have gone five.
43:50
Speaker 2: And then you know they implode in Game four, they
43:52
Speaker 2: can't field the ball, and.
43:54
Speaker 3: We got a lot of grief from everybody under the sun.
43:57
Speaker 2: Correct you, No, you're right. I could see the Phillies
43:59
Speaker 2: giving them, you know, a run this year, but they're
44:01
Speaker 2: even better this year than they weren't last year. If
44:04
Speaker 2: they got schoobled, just like, you know, go ahead and
44:07
Speaker 2: uh no, don't have to play it out at that point.
44:11
Speaker 1: One last thing, well a couple last things, but one
44:14
Speaker 1: last thing, mainly.
44:16
Speaker 3: Is the city of La.
44:17
Speaker 1: Still morning King James going to Philly leaving La? Or
44:21
Speaker 1: are they kind of over it? Like what's the energy
44:23
Speaker 1: on that, the vibe on.
44:24
Speaker 2: That this is this is going to be a weird take.
44:29
Speaker 2: There are some Lebron fans here in LA that will
44:33
Speaker 2: be always Lebron fans, right, they will follow him from
44:37
Speaker 2: Cleveland to Miami to LA and now to Philly that
44:40
Speaker 2: are sad about that one hundred percent. I just so.
44:43
Speaker 2: One of those guys is Puka Nakua, a friend of mine,
44:46
Speaker 2: the wide receiver for the RAMS. I just spoke to
44:48
Speaker 2: him yesterday. I asked him that specifically, and he was
44:50
Speaker 2: so sad. He was like, look, if I had a
44:52
Speaker 2: private jet or the ability to relocate my body and
44:57
Speaker 2: move wherever I want teleportation, I we would go watch
45:00
Speaker 2: him every night in Philly. But he's still a basketball
45:03
Speaker 2: fan even though he's a Lebron Stan. He's got a
45:06
Speaker 2: Luka Doncic jersey. He's still going to come out to
45:08
Speaker 2: Laker games and now support Luca, but he was. He's
45:10
Speaker 2: a Lebron guy. That's his favorite player of all time.
45:13
Speaker 3: The dagger to the ending y Lebron's.
45:16
Speaker 2: Era there, Yes, well, I would say the dagger was
45:19
Speaker 2: when Lebron made him trade for Russell Westbrook instead of
45:22
Speaker 2: what they wanted to do, and that was the beginning
45:23
Speaker 2: of the end. But yeah, the dagger was probably the
45:25
Speaker 2: Luca trade. So those stands are mourning Lebron being gone.
45:30
Speaker 2: But most of la who grew up with Magic and
45:34
Speaker 2: Kareem and then Kobe and Shaq and then we got
45:37
Speaker 2: Lebron and Ad and now we're Luca, I think most
45:40
Speaker 2: of them are glad he's gone because we now can
45:43
Speaker 2: move forward with the organization under new ownership, a new
45:47
Speaker 2: superstar leading the team, building around him and seeing what
45:51
Speaker 2: the team looks like with Luca as the centerpiece, he's
45:54
Speaker 2: the superstar. He's who you follow. There's great pieces around him.
45:57
Speaker 2: You can build the team the way Dallas built it.
45:59
Speaker 2: When they made that run to the finals in twenty
46:01
Speaker 2: twenty four. So they're more I think happy that this
46:05
Speaker 2: kind of I don't know, is it Lebron's team as
46:07
Speaker 2: a Lucas team and how do they co exist? That
46:09
Speaker 2: part's finally gone, the whole like get in bed with
46:11
Speaker 2: Clutch sports and Rich Paul and you know, that's finally gone.
46:15
Speaker 2: And so I think they're just really happy to see
46:17
Speaker 2: what this next chapter of Lakers basketball looks like.
46:20
Speaker 3: Well, it'll be interesting to see.
46:21
Speaker 1: And you know, here in the East, it's going to
46:24
Speaker 1: be a hell of a time with James down in Philly.
46:26
Speaker 1: We'll have to see how it goes.
46:27
Speaker 2: All right, Philly fans are all already about how you
46:30
Speaker 2: how you worked your way up the what'd you say?
46:33
Speaker 3: How you worked your way up in me?
46:35
Speaker 1: How you worked your way up in the California Post
46:37
Speaker 1: And what's it like that this guy from writing in
46:40
Speaker 1: California has read in New York? Is that cool to you?
46:43
Speaker 1: Or what.
46:45
Speaker 2: Say the last part? Again? What's it like this guy
46:47
Speaker 2: in California went.
46:49
Speaker 3: As some of them from California and all that being
46:52
Speaker 3: read in New York? What does that mean to you?
46:54
Speaker 1: Oh?
46:54
Speaker 2: Okay, yes, there you go. So so to answer your
46:57
Speaker 2: question and your story, the California Post didn't exist. Where
47:00
Speaker 2: are we right now, July? Yeah, we basically didn't exist
47:05
Speaker 2: seven months ago, six seven months ago, right. So I
47:10
Speaker 2: built up myself up. I started in New York. I
47:13
Speaker 2: started with Newsweek. I was living in Tribeca, right there
47:15
Speaker 2: on Dwayne and Greenwich. I was just there for the
47:17
Speaker 2: World Cup Finals. So I drove past my old studio.
47:20
Speaker 2: That was my stomping ground. I used to go to
47:23
Speaker 2: Wall and Water Street where my office was, and that's
47:25
Speaker 2: where I worked and built my name up and stuff
47:27
Speaker 2: and really got my foothold in this visit. That was
47:29
Speaker 2: where I covered the very first World Cup of my
47:31
Speaker 2: career in twenty fourteen in Brazil. And then I moved
47:34
Speaker 2: out West got a job with NBC here in Los Angeles.
47:38
Speaker 2: Originally it was like Dodgers and maybe Clippers. They had
47:41
Speaker 2: a Lakers person, they had this. Then the Rams moved
47:44
Speaker 2: to LA, then the Chargers moved to LA and suddenly
47:47
Speaker 2: I got to be covering a lot more than just
47:50
Speaker 2: Dodgers and Clippers. And then our Lakers guy quit and
47:53
Speaker 2: I was like, give me the Lakers because I loved
47:55
Speaker 2: the Lakers, you know. And so suddenly I really got
47:58
Speaker 2: this opportunity to grow a name for myself, win awards,
48:02
Speaker 2: do all these things here in Los Angeles with these teams.
48:06
Speaker 2: And when some friends at the New York Post were
48:08
Speaker 2: telling me, hey, the New York Post is going out west.
48:11
Speaker 2: They're going to open an office in the West Coast
48:13
Speaker 2: and now we're gonna spread out to both coasts right now,
48:16
Speaker 2: and they're going to print a paper there as well
48:18
Speaker 2: as the paper here. That was a really exciting opportunity. Uh,
48:22
Speaker 2: they were interested in it and in me and it
48:25
Speaker 2: you know, if it made sense for my life, my
48:28
Speaker 2: family and the money that was involved, then absolutely I
48:31
Speaker 2: was going to jump on this new opportunity. And the
48:34
Speaker 2: coolest thing for me now is exactly what you said.
48:37
Speaker 2: I went from like local here in Los Angeles, where
48:41
Speaker 2: people knew who I was, and they knew my coverage,
48:43
Speaker 2: and you know, they followed me when it came to
48:45
Speaker 2: certain teams. So suddenly now I'm in the New York
48:48
Speaker 2: Post pages every day and people are reading me there.
48:51
Speaker 2: You're one example of that, right opening the paper and
48:53
Speaker 2: reading it.
48:54
Speaker 3: As a podcast.
48:55
Speaker 2: We're having you on my show, correct exactly, and and
48:59
Speaker 2: you know when I was out there, I don't they're
49:00
Speaker 2: actually on my desk. But when I was out there,
49:03
Speaker 2: you know, I bought all the New York Posts with
49:05
Speaker 2: my picture and page there in the back, you know
49:07
Speaker 2: what I mean. And I'm like, this is really cool
49:08
Speaker 2: because I grew up loving the New York Post headlines
49:11
Speaker 2: and reading it when I was living.
49:13
Speaker 3: You grew up here in New York.
49:14
Speaker 2: I didn't know that I grew up out west, but
49:16
Speaker 2: I lived in New York two different times for two
49:19
Speaker 2: years two thousand and five to two thousand and seven
49:21
Speaker 2: and then twenty ten to twenty twelve.
49:23
Speaker 3: Well, knowing that you were around the sports team for
49:26
Speaker 3: a long time. Any fun Vin Scully story I have
49:29
Speaker 3: to ask.
49:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, I got so many fun Vin Scully stories, but
49:35
Speaker 2: I'm gonna give you the best one I guess I got.
49:36
Speaker 2: But anyway, the long story to answer last question is
49:39
Speaker 2: now I get to be read on a national scale,
49:43
Speaker 2: both coasts. You know, I get to be a part
49:45
Speaker 2: of it. It's super super exciting for me. And look, NBC,
49:51
Speaker 2: even though we had the Telemundo Spanish language rights to
49:53
Speaker 2: the World Cup, I maybe would have been able to
49:55
Speaker 2: cover the games here in Los Angeles. At my old job,
49:58
Speaker 2: I would have never been able to go to eleven
50:01
Speaker 2: different cities, sixteen different matches all over the country. That's
50:05
Speaker 2: because the New York Post has the poll that they have.
50:08
Speaker 2: They're a huge, huge machine as far as media is concerned.
50:12
Speaker 2: So that was a really cool opportunity that I would
50:14
Speaker 2: have never had in my old position at NBC. Now,
50:17
Speaker 2: the Vin Scully story, I don't know if you remember.
50:21
Speaker 2: It's used to be saved on my Twitter timeline or whatever,
50:23
Speaker 2: but there was a kid during the twenty twenty one
50:27
Speaker 2: NBA All Star Game, sorry, Major League Baseball All Star
50:30
Speaker 2: Game at Dodger Stadium. Kershaw started that game. I don't
50:33
Speaker 2: know if you remember. Otani was still on the Angels
50:34
Speaker 2: and he pitched against him. And after the game, this
50:38
Speaker 2: like eight year old kid was in the press conference
50:43
Speaker 2: and he walked up after all the media talked to
50:45
Speaker 2: Kershaw and he went up to Kershaw and I'm filming it.
50:47
Speaker 2: So that's why it's on all my social media channels,
50:50
Speaker 2: TikTok and Instagram and all that. And he says, Clayton,
50:54
Speaker 2: you know, I'm a big fan of yours, but my
50:56
Speaker 2: grandfather was a huge fan of yours. My grand father
51:00
Speaker 2: just died of cancer, and his dying wishes was he
51:04
Speaker 2: wanted to meet you, and he wanted to meet Vin Scully.
51:07
Speaker 2: And so I'm here on behalf of my grandfather and
51:09
Speaker 2: I'm wanting to meet you, and Clayton's like emotional. The
51:13
Speaker 2: kid's crying, and I'm filming the whole thing, and Clayton
51:16
Speaker 2: gives him a big hug and takes a photo and says, like,
51:19
Speaker 2: this is for your grandfather. So I approached that kid
51:22
Speaker 2: after that there outside of the press conference room, and
51:26
Speaker 2: I said, and I said, so you got half of
51:30
Speaker 2: your grandfather's dream. You got to meet Clayton Kershaw. I said,
51:36
Speaker 2: but what if I can help you to meet the
51:38
Speaker 2: second part of your dream? Right? Because I had Vin
51:43
Speaker 2: Scully's phone number WOW in my phone. He lived in
51:47
Speaker 2: Hidden Hills and I lived in Calabasas, so we were
51:50
Speaker 2: about five minutes from each other. We've had lunch before.
51:52
Speaker 2: I used to see him at restaurants all around town.
51:56
Speaker 2: So I sat there and I gave him a call,
51:58
Speaker 2: and I got his voicemail and I said, Michael, give
52:00
Speaker 2: me a call back when you get this message. Obviously
52:02
Speaker 2: he'd been retired now for many years, and you know,
52:05
Speaker 2: was enjoying it. He had just lost his wife and
52:08
Speaker 2: his health was failing him a bit. But I left
52:10
Speaker 2: him a message because I wanted to be the conduit
52:14
Speaker 2: that allowed this kid to complete his grandfather's wish in
52:17
Speaker 2: meeting Vin Scully right, because he got to meet Kershaw too.
52:21
Speaker 2: So I would say. Two days later, I'm on the
52:25
Speaker 2: red carpet at the SP's in Los Angeles and all
52:29
Speaker 2: of a sudden my phone's ringing. In it says it
52:32
Speaker 2: actually said block number, like an unknown number, but of
52:36
Speaker 2: course I figured i'd answer it, so I answer. I say, hey,
52:39
Speaker 2: it's Michael, and he goes, Margole, what a very pleasant
52:44
Speaker 2: evening to you. It's Vin Scully, you know, with his
52:47
Speaker 2: baritone voice. And I'm like, oh, it's Vin Scully. And
52:52
Speaker 2: he says, I got your message about this kid. And
52:55
Speaker 2: he says, I'm not doing too well health wise, but
53:00
Speaker 2: I'm willing to do a zoom call meet him like that.
53:03
Speaker 2: Can you give me his number, I'll call him and
53:05
Speaker 2: we can set something up where i'll zoom call with him.
53:09
Speaker 2: And then I just said how you doing and he
53:11
Speaker 2: was like, I'm doing okay. And we chatted for about
53:14
Speaker 2: ten minutes and he's just amazing. I think, I don't
53:18
Speaker 2: know when. I think he passed away within a week
53:20
Speaker 2: or two later, and I you know, knowing that I
53:27
Speaker 2: was one of the last people that got to speak
53:29
Speaker 2: to him, that I got an opportunity to talk to
53:30
Speaker 2: him again and tell him how much we missed him
53:32
Speaker 2: out at the Bald Park and how much he meant
53:34
Speaker 2: to me in my career. And getting to talk to
53:37
Speaker 2: him one last time and just hearing his voice and
53:40
Speaker 2: interacting with him, that was so cool for me. That
53:42
Speaker 2: was something that I'll never forget. It's one of those stories.
53:44
Speaker 2: I mean, we have tons of stories where he'll come
53:47
Speaker 2: down and sit in the press box and talk to you,
53:49
Speaker 2: or I used to see him at his restaurant in
53:51
Speaker 2: Calabasas that I would go to and you know, we
53:53
Speaker 2: would sit and talk and over a bite to eat.
53:56
Speaker 2: But getting to talk to him within a week before
53:59
Speaker 2: he died, that was probably very special for me.
54:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, that sounds extremely special and a moment you'll never forget. Well,
54:08
Speaker 1: this has been a special hour for sure with you,
54:10
Speaker 1: and I want to him back on because you never know,
54:14
Speaker 1: it could be yangs Dodgers again somehow, someway.
54:17
Speaker 3: I don't know yet, but I.
54:19
Speaker 1: Love the same touch and be in your sphere and
54:21
Speaker 1: then keep you in mind sphere because I think we
54:23
Speaker 1: can have a good connection here.
54:25
Speaker 2: I love it. I think so too, Alex. And I
54:26
Speaker 2: wish I wish you'd reached out to me when I
54:28
Speaker 2: was in New York because we could have gone out
54:29
Speaker 2: for a drink or bite. That would be so fun.
54:31
Speaker 2: But we'll do that next time. I'm out there. I'm
54:32
Speaker 2: out there all the well.
54:33
Speaker 1: I'm sure you will find a way back out here
54:35
Speaker 1: and we'll see. And one last thing, because I'm just
54:38
Speaker 1: thinking about this. The Rams winning on home turf right
54:41
Speaker 1: in twenty Did you see that?
54:43
Speaker 3: Were you there for that?
54:44
Speaker 2: Yeah? I was there in twenty twenty two, and you know,
54:46
Speaker 2: maybe five years later it happens again.
54:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, very special.
54:50
Speaker 2: I mean it was crazy because like we never thought
54:52
Speaker 2: that would happen, and then it happens in back to
54:54
Speaker 2: back years, right, Tampa does it, and then the Rams
54:58
Speaker 2: do it the exact next year, and you know what,
55:00
Speaker 2: but don't be shocked if the Chargers have a shot
55:02
Speaker 2: at it too. I know people say that's crazy, and
55:04
Speaker 2: obviously the Rams have the team in their stack. But like,
55:07
Speaker 2: I just came from Chargers camp earlier today, been at
55:09
Speaker 2: Rams camp all week. But Chargers got a really good
55:12
Speaker 2: thing going. Mike McDaniel, the new offensive coordinator, Herbert's now engaged.
55:16
Speaker 2: You know, all these guys get engaged and then they like,
55:19
Speaker 2: you know, have the best year of their careers. So
55:20
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be surprised. True, the Chargers have a shot
55:23
Speaker 2: at winning on the home turf too, Michael.
55:25
Speaker 1: Can you believe after the summer we've had the Knicks
55:27
Speaker 1: winning here in New York, We're already a training camp
55:30
Speaker 1: and I'm excited because I'm a giant guy.
55:32
Speaker 3: Harbaugh. Come on, and you got Harbor out there Harbaugh today.
55:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you get the other Harbaugh, you get John
55:41
Speaker 2: on both coasts. It's so cool. And I was at
55:43
Speaker 2: the Harbolt also when the Ravens were there in like
55:46
Speaker 2: twenty twelve, I think it was. That was another amazing.
55:49
Speaker 1: I'll take super So we had the blackout and at
55:52
Speaker 1: the time, I was interning with dog Global Sports Westwood
55:56
Speaker 1: one Sports.
55:58
Speaker 3: So I'm listening to.
56:02
Speaker 1: Arming Tae and there's something on the screen relaying all
56:04
Speaker 1: the information. Yeah, Arminge, and I'm relaying into the boardop
56:08
Speaker 1: who's telling Kevin.
56:09
Speaker 2: Harland what to say on the air, Like, oh my god.
56:12
Speaker 3: I was feeding the info during that blackout.
56:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, blackout Kevin.
56:16
Speaker 2: I was in the stadium when it happened. I was like,
56:18
Speaker 2: what is going on? And then I went to get
56:19
Speaker 2: a drink because I'm like, what are we supposed to do?
56:20
Speaker 2: The game is stopped, and they were like, all the
56:22
Speaker 2: WiFi is out. We can't even charge you. So they
56:24
Speaker 2: just gave us free alcohol. No way, Yeah, in the stadium.
56:28
Speaker 1: But Harlan, Kevin, Harlan's on the field on the phone,
56:32
Speaker 1: I'm just relaying information. Well two years later, I kind
56:35
Speaker 1: of get to tell that story because I met him
56:37
Speaker 1: in twenty fourteen when he was here in New York.
56:40
Speaker 1: So that was really cool.
56:41
Speaker 3: So mean, he's a small world, Michael.
56:44
Speaker 1: You know.
56:46
Speaker 2: The knixt one. I'm so happy for you guys. That's unbelievable.
56:50
Speaker 2: Must what happened? I didn't. I mean, look, I went
56:54
Speaker 2: to so many Knicks games when I lived in New York.
56:55
Speaker 2: Both times. It was one of like the cool privileges
56:58
Speaker 2: of my job and life at the time. So I
57:02
Speaker 2: can only imagine if I was still living in New
57:04
Speaker 2: York or in Tribeca and I wanted to actually move
57:07
Speaker 2: to Soho. And then when I lost out on my place,
57:09
Speaker 2: that's when I moved back west and got the job
57:11
Speaker 2: with NBC. But man, when that when they finally won
57:14
Speaker 2: it in game five, Oh my god, Like I can't
57:16
Speaker 2: imagine what the streets were like, did you open your window?
57:19
Speaker 1: And I just I say it in my room because
57:22
Speaker 1: I'm like, you know what, I'm not dying tonight.
57:24
Speaker 3: I think it's gonna be too crazy. So I stayed
57:26
Speaker 3: in my room in Queens.
57:27
Speaker 1: I did play by play the last five a few
57:29
Speaker 1: minutes of it, and like I did my own call
57:32
Speaker 1: because I wanted to.
57:33
Speaker 3: And uh.
57:34
Speaker 1: And then I got to the parade on on that Thursday,
57:36
Speaker 1: which is really special, and.
57:38
Speaker 3: I just I just make cat two weeks ago.
57:41
Speaker 2: Thought, oh my god, it's amazing.
57:42
Speaker 3: Okay, so I get around a little bit of this city.
57:45
Speaker 3: But once you're in here, let me know, I'd love
57:47
Speaker 3: to connect with you.
57:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, and do it again. Italian food, so definitely.
57:52
Speaker 1: Well, it's been Michael the birthday of the California Post.
57:56
Speaker 1: I've been dealing with the New York's post sports scene
57:58
Speaker 1: for a long time, and all fair, I'll show you
58:01
Speaker 1: some stories. I was in the post here in New
58:03
Speaker 1: York when I was a little kid, So I'll show
58:05
Speaker 1: you some of those.
58:05
Speaker 2: More show me that clip, Yeah, I want to see that.
58:07
Speaker 1: I'll definitely show you. But Michael, thanks for joining me here.
58:10
Speaker 1: The one that got Alex media.
58:11
Speaker 2: Thanks so Alex appreciate you.