September 16, 2020 • 38 mins
Clay Travis takes calls from around the country regarding his NFL ratings topic. Outkick's MLB insider Jon Morosi is in the house to explain yesterday's big announcement about the baseball playoffs and World Series bubble plan. Plus, Clay finishes the hour with one of the best panic-hang ups ever!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'll kick the coverage with Clay Travis live every weekday
morning from six to nine a m. E Stone three
to six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your
local station for OutKick the coverage at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream US live every morning on the
I Heart Radio app by searching fs are you're listening
(00:23):
to Fox Sports Radio The Clippers choke if you're just
waking up with US below a three one series lead.
That is the third time Doc Rivers has done at
Paul George coming in for it. The Battle of l
a that everyone anticipated, certainly including me back in July
when Kauai decided to sign with the Clippers didn't end
(00:44):
up happening. Now the Lakers have a pretty I would
think you would think easy path to the NBA Championship
into the NBA Finals. Will anyone care? That's a different
story with the Celtics and the Heat on the other side. UM,
I think this is uh, this is going to be
pretty intriguing to follow out. So I just kind of
(01:07):
gave you a rundown. All of the numbers are now
in as we start off this Wednesday morning. In the NFL.
What do I mean by that? Everybody has watched either
the Thursday night kickoff game. Tomorrow we come in for
NFL week too, and the numbers tanked. A lot of
people in the media aren't going to talk about it
because they they carry water for the league's They don't
(01:31):
want to any any time say anything that is that
is negative. I try to be as honest with you
guys every day, and I'm curious to hear from my
audience if you didn't watch. Okay, here's the actual data.
This was written by Bobby Barack at OutKick dot com.
Encourage you to go read out kick if you want
the truth. We try to do a good job giving
(01:51):
it to you every single day. Got a couple of
new hires, by the way, uh that we continue to make.
We now are up to ten different writers at out
dot com. Uh, we're gonna have over ten million readers.
I mean, this thing is blown up in a really
big way. So we thank you for supporting everything that
we are doing on a day to day, weekly and
monthly basis. All right, here are the actual numbers. NBC's
(02:15):
kickoff game down right at seven point two percent the
CBS early window games. That's like the one Eastern kickoff
games down nearly twelve percent over last This is all
compared to last year. Uh. Fox was up and a
big reason why they were up was a lot of
interest in the Saints game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
(02:38):
Tom Brady still moves the needle in a big way.
So Fox was up. NBC was down just shy of
fifteen percent. Monday Night Football on ESPN. The first part
game down nearly eighteen percent, the second game down nearly
thirty percent. Okay, so double digit declines. The biggest declines
(03:01):
happened in the biggest games, the kickoff game, the Monday
night games, and the Sunday night football game. If you
didn't watch, why didn't you watch? Did you watch something instead?
I watched. Look, I'm not pretending that I don't I
watch everything. Okay, So people out there like, oh, you
share the ratings, Like, no, my job is to see everything, right,
(03:22):
I'm like your mom back in the day. Now, your
mom knew everything and my kids deal with it now, Like,
how did you know that I'm a mom? Moms know everything.
That's what my mom used to say. All right, I'm
like your TV mom. I see pretty much everything in
the world of sports. I'm gonna try to keep my
eyes on it because I might need to talk about it.
So I'm gonna need to have an opinion. Uh, and
(03:44):
so just so you know that's what's going on with me.
I'm not boycotting anything. I'm not changing any of my behavior.
I'm gonna watch sports. We're gonna talk about sports here.
But there are lots of different reasons why ratings can
be collapsing. I don't think it's a coincidence people want
to are you against me? I don't think it's a
coincidence that the woker the sport, the more the ratings
(04:06):
have collapsed since sports returned. Let me explain, nobody cares
about the p g A politics right. Golf has done
pretty well since golf came back. Major League Baseball had
a super woke opening game. Since then, virtually no political talk.
Your local regional Major League Baseball team has done fabulously
(04:28):
well in the ratings. Okay, the NFL a lot like
the n b A. In the first week, it wasn't
as woke as I feared it might be, but it
was still pretty woke. People turned off they didn't watch.
The NBA ratings have tanked and they're gonna get worse
now because they're actually having to compete with something general rule.
The woker you are, the more your ratings have collapsed
(04:51):
in By the way, Hockey not very woke, although they
also decided not to play, which was stupid in the
wake of that Jacob Blake thing before they realized that
he was armed and he had did a sexual assault
allegedly and his victim had called nine on one and
that's why the police were there. And then everybody just
stopped talking about it with Jacob Blake, remember how that
story just disappeared. So I am curious for everybody out
(05:12):
there in my audience as someone drops off, when we
will take your call eight seven seven six three six
nine and we start in Louisiana on the OutKick v
i P. You can go sign up and become an
OutKick v i P, get an autograph copy of my book,
You get the access to the OutKick v i P line.
Go to OutKick dot com today. UH that is helping
to fuel our growth in a big way thanks to
(05:32):
the thousands and thousands of you who are signing up
UH as OutKick v i P s Who's up first
on the v I p line Danny G. James in Louisiana. James,
are you watching less? If so? Why? Uh? No, Clay,
I got a couple of points. I'll try to work
through them as quick as possible here. But no, I
did not watch a single second of the NFL this weekend.
Hadn't watched the NBA since they came back in the bubble,
(05:54):
and for me in Louisiana started back with the Drew
Breese statement on the national anthem. So he he cowtailed
and patronized people that really aren't his true fans anyway
while doing the ad, he ostracized his true fans. Yeah.
Then on then on top of that, the Saints decided
to put the James Jacob Blake thing on their helmet.
Really just drove the nail when the call for me.
So Sunday I went to church mode the yard, watched
(06:18):
a little women's major golf, and then watched the five
set US Open Men's final in tennis. Is what I'd
been on Sunday. Would you have ever watched the US
Open tennis over the NFL before? Uh? No, not before.
I mean I'll watch it, but no, I probably wouldn't
have shows it over the NFL, and you're a Saints fans,
so and I do think that was an unbelievable move
(06:39):
by the Saints. They put Jacob Blake's name on their
helmet for practice. This is a guy who was wanted
for sexual assault, and it's it's like, I mean, it's
unbelievable to me that that didn't get more attention. But
it did get a lot of attention. And I think
your points a good one about Drew Brees. One thing
I always think about is I don't tiptoe up to
(07:00):
my opinion. And the reason I don't tiptoe up to
my opinion is I tell you exactly what I think
every single day, and if you agree, that's great. If
you disagree, that's great. I don't ever apologize because what
you just said I think is true. As soon as
Drew Brees apologized for saying he stood for the anthem
and why he stood and he thought it was disrespectful
(07:21):
to Neil, then he lost everybody. Thanks for the call,
by the way, and thanks for being a v I P.
When you apologize for something that you believe, you lose
everybody that's otherwise gonna support you. It's like, I don't
know what you out there think about abortion right or
gun rights or anything else that's controversial. But if I
(07:42):
came on and I was like, one day, hey, I'm
a big Second Amendment guy. Right. If I came on
and I said that, and then somebody said something about
it and everybody was mad at me on the Internet,
and I came back the next is next day and
I was like, actually, I don't think the Second Amendment
should exist. I apologize for things in the Second Amendments
should have ever been a right in America. Then everybody
(08:04):
that liked me for saying I was a Second Amendment
guy would hate me now, and the people that I
had apologized to wouldn't respect me anymore either, because I
would be totally a limp noodle out there. I would
be trying to just, you know, be a blowing in
the breeze whichever direction. I'm gonna lick my finger and
hold it up in the air, and I'll tell you
(08:24):
whatever I think you want me to tell you. Now,
I'm gonna tell you exactly what I believe. And I
think what happens so often in this country today is
people say what they think. And I think Drew Brees
means it. I think he believes it's disrespectful to kneel
for the national anthem. That's okay, that's his opinion. He
shouldn't have to apologize for it. He shouldn't put out
(08:47):
these hostage videos where he's pretending that he doesn't believe that.
And he certainly shouldn't be practicing football with an alleged
sexual assaulter's name who resisted arrest from police and was
armed with the weapon and the reason why police were
there was because his victim called nine one one. He
shouldn't have Jacob Blake's name on his helmet like he's
(09:08):
honoring it. It's freaking crazy. Another v I P. Who's
up next? Danny G Austin and Indy? Austin and Indy
did you watch? And if not? Why not? I just
never looked at athletes is the best place to get
um politics advice and how to vote and all that.
(09:30):
But what really stuck out to me was seeing the
the two police and Los Angeles murdered and then uh,
seeing the Black Lives Matter channing over him. We hope
you die, we hope you die. Like that wasn't a
great look. So thanks for that. Yeah, not a great
(09:52):
look for people who claim to care a great deal
about lives to be chanting we hope you die when
to l A police are shot and they did absolutely
nothing and they were ambushed. And by the way, we
have spoken out on that at out Kick, even though
all these athletes that want to be super woke and
speak out every time a viral video comes out. We're
(10:12):
donating ten thousand dollars. I know we have a lot
of l A Police listeners uh in that area, and
I appreciate all of you for the work that you do.
We're donating ten thousand dollars for the capture too. As
a reward if that culprit, the person who shot in
cold blood ambush those two l A police, we are
offering ten thousand dollars to that reward for the capture
(10:35):
of that individual. It's telling that Lebron James hasn't tweeted
or said a single word in support of police. Almost
no NBA player at all has stepped out. Almost no
NFL player has stepped out. Almost no athlete, no team,
no league, nobody's come out and said, hey, maybe shooting
(10:56):
police is the wrong thing to do. We support police officers.
It's craze e. But I am one of the only
people the Dodgers did. Good for the Dodgers. What did
the Dodgers say, Let me call that up for you.
I saved it. Yesterday they put out a statement saying,
let's see it's right here. Violence has no place in
our society. The l A Dodgers condemn the recent senseless
(11:17):
acts of violence and stand with all Angelino's in pursuit
of a safe community. Our thoughts are with the sheriff's
deputy is injured in the horrific incident this past weekend,
as well as their families and colleagues, and we wish
them a speedy recovery. Good for the Dodgers now, if
only they would put our cardboard to cut out somewhere visible, uh,
And then then then I would be all about the
(11:38):
Dodgers as we get ready for the NBA and the
Major League Baseball postseason. By the way, John Morosi joining
us next to talk about the Major League Baseball latest
on the season and their decision to move into a
bubble and get ready for the postseason, where there will
be sixteen teams, eight from the n L, eight from
the a L. All right, we got a ton of
people who want to weigh in. I'm gonna ask you
to be fast, dub. We're gonna pop them all up.
(11:59):
Who's up for We got Gary in Utah. Gary, did
you watch? If not, why not? I did not watch
any of them. I attempted to watch the Green Bay games,
but as soon as they stayed in the locker room,
shut it off and I went out. And you ordinarily
would watch the NFL. But as soon as the Packers
I'm assuming they're your team, didn't come out for the game,
you're like, screw it, and you went to gike right,
(12:21):
I'm done. I canceled my n package and everything. Yeah,
thanks for the call. I mean again, you're gonna hear
a lot of people, I think, tell you the reason
why they didn't watch. If you pay attention to the media,
they're gonna be like, oh, these people aren't real. That's
one of the things when the narrative questions, when people
are like oh, people like to say, oh, nobody's actually
turning off the NFL. I think you're gonna hear a
(12:43):
lot of listeners to OutKick call in this morning and
say directly I'm turning off the NFL. The mainstream media
will claim that you don't exist. Who's up next? We
got Charlie and Memphis. Charlie and Memphis. Did you watch?
If not? Why not? About not? So? Absolutely all right?
I appreciate Charlie calling in, but it sounds like he
(13:05):
has been captured by a sounds like he's calling in
with one of those voice alteration software's. Uh that was
it just me? Or did you guys? Also? Was he
totally breaking up? Yeah? It was totally awful, totally couldn't
hear Charlie Memphis if he wants to call back in
a better line? Eight seven seven nine six three six
nine dubbed next Lewis and Phoenix Lewis and Phoenix. Did
(13:26):
you watch? If not? Why not? No? It's pretty simple
for me. I'm a I'm a vet, you know, so
I hate what they're doing with the anthem and I'm
not even buying any any uh uh any items off
the NFL anymore. So who were you? Who were you
a fan of? H? First of all, thanks for the service.
Who were you a fan of? Uh? Ordinarily? And so
(13:50):
you didn't even you didn't even watch to see how
Cam was gonna do. You're like screw it. I'm just
not gonna watch. No, no, I'm not even interested no more.
That's disgusting. Thanks to what they're doing with the anthem
is pitiful. Thanks for the call um and look, I
think there are a lot of people like Lewis who
just called in, and the numbers reflect that it is occurring,
(14:13):
and people want to claim that it's not. And again
the numbers are down massively, and the two factors that
are moving in their favor are most stadiums don't have fans,
So that means there's a million more people sitting at
home who theoretically could watch the NFL that are the
biggest possible NFL fans, the people who otherwise have season
tickets or buy tickets to a game, and they're now
(14:35):
getting to count out of home viewing. So if that
wasn't going on, you're talking about NFL ratings being down
like in other words, they're getting a benefit from all
of this. Who's up next? We got Eddie in Seattle. Eddie,
did you watch if not? Why not? Yes? I watched,
uh and I enjoyed it. I Uh. I think when
(14:57):
the far like when the NBA for started with the
with the Black Lives Matter and so forth. I think
it was really hard to like to take in. But
over time, I uh, I congratulate them, uh for uh
standing over all. Right, So I mean, thanks, thanks for
(15:18):
your calling. Let me ask you this, are you watch?
So my one of my interesting questions that I have
purely from a business perspective. Would you watch so you're
watching the same amount? You would say, as you ordinarily
would Eddie, Yes, And I don't think they care if
people watch. I think they'll start their own league. They
won't be multi millions, but they'll still be millionaire. Yeah,
(15:40):
thanks to have a nice life. Yeah, well they do
have a nice life. Thanks for ico. I think there's
a zero percent chance they start their own league. I
think there's a zero percent chance. And I actually disagree
with Eddie. I think if you came to me and
you said, Clay Travis, your audience is down. Nobody is
downloading your podcast, uh, and it's because people don't like
(16:03):
your show, I would have to say, well, let me
maybe reconsider the way I'm doing the show, because ultimately,
if you're in the business of entertainment, and we are,
I'm in the business of entertainment, I am competing with
everybody in audio every single day. So I thank all
of you for listening. We had a million more people
(16:24):
listening in August than listen to us in July. And
if if you told me that our audience on the
website and our audience on audio and our audience on
video was tanking and I had lost thirty or forty
of my audience, I would care and I'd be like, man,
I must be doing something wrong because other people are
(16:45):
kicking my ass in competition. Why is that? And I
would actually look into it and I would be trying
to figure out what exactly is going on? Um, all right,
who is who is up next? We got another v
I P caller? We do Andrew in Florida. Andrew and Florida.
Are you watching less? If so, why zero sports across
(17:06):
the board? Turned my cable package off because I'm tired
of being called a racist and I've reconnected with my family.
No more waste of time looking over fantasy lineups or
research in this research and that just found books again,
found podcasts, living life. Thanks for the calling, Thanks for
being an out kick v I P. It's fascinating to me.
(17:27):
I do think that one of the challenges sports have
is when they shut down in March, a lot of
people found other hobbies. That's one challenge that I think
is out there. You got so used to watching sports,
and then when you didn't have sports, you had to
find something new to do. And I think a lot
of people found something else to do, and now sports
(17:51):
have to fight their way back into a habit. It's
hard to get people to set habits. It's also hard
to break habits. A lot of you start it off
your morning, and I thank you every single day by
listening to me. That's why I was here in March
and April and May when there were no sports going on,
because a lot of you listen to my voice. And
(18:12):
if I had said, screw it, I'm gonna take a
couple of months off there's no sports going on, a
lot of you would have found another way to spend
your mornings. And so I thank all of you. But habits,
once they're formed, stick. That's why a lot of you,
as we're in our fifth year now without kick, a
lot of you, if I keep doing this show for
the next fifteen years, a lot of you were gonna
keep showing up and listening every morning because you've gotten
(18:34):
used to it and you'll like us and you're like
hanging out with us. But if I suddenly took a
year off, a lot of you would find something else
to do. If I took months off, you might find
something else to do. Who's up next? Ub? We got
Bob in Nashville. Bob, what did you do? Why did
you stop watching? UH? The hypocrisy UM the first in
(18:55):
the NBA and in the NFL where the NBA comes
insides with China and UH against so when they're supporting
these Marxist organizations. That he was a perfect example. We
said when the when he first started playing BLM up theory,
he didn't comfortable with it, but he grew into it. Well,
that's the way communism works. These people standing for the NFL,
(19:17):
they should be standing for and with police, not against authority,
but they should be standing with a police for authority.
There's no by these sports professionals. They don't recognize the authority.
Thanks for the calling people. I look, the media would
tell you that the people calling in right now don't
(19:37):
exist because they'll come up with all these different theories
other than people want their sports to just be entertainment.
They'll tell you, because this has been my thesis. This
has been my thesis that if you alienate your viewer,
they choose to spend their time doing something else. The
NFL is down big, the NBA is down even bigger,
(20:00):
and I believe that reason is because most people look
to sports to have an escape. And so all these
people calling in right now eight seven, seven, six, three
six nine are directly telling you that they're not watching.
The media will tell you, mainstream media that these people
don't exist. Who's up next? Up? We got Mike in
South Carolina. Mike, What's what are you watching? If not,
(20:21):
what are you doing instead? What's what's going on? Clay?
How are you? Man? I'm doing actually appreciate that. I mean,
here's here's the deal, man. You know, I've never stopped
watching the NFL, you know, I mean there's a lot
of politics and all this. You know, people you know saying,
you know, teams are saying, well, we're gonna kneel, We're
(20:42):
not gonna kneel, We're we're gonna stand, We're not gonna stand.
I mean, you know, the deal is. I mean, I
don't feel like politics should be in sports at all,
you know, So, I mean I'm a I'm a sports guy,
so I'm gonna watch it, you know. I mean, you know,
I served in the Marine Corps, and you know, I
don't really get in of the whole you know, you
know that they're standing not standing thing. I mean, everybody
(21:05):
has their opinion and it is what it is. I mean,
you know, I'm not gonna stop my life and what
i want to do because somebody has an opinion. I mean,
everybody's entitled to their own opinion, and some people don't
like it, and it's what it is. But at the
end of the day, you know, I mean, you know,
I mean, I I enjoy watching football, you know. I mean,
I'm a you know, NBA. I'm I'm a Celtics fan.
(21:25):
So when you know, when they're in, you know, I'll
watch it. When they're not, I'm not gonna watch it,
you know. But I mean baseball has kind of turned
me off just because it's it's become you know, stagnant morning.
But at the end of the day, I've I've watched
the p g A get Major League Baseball football, you
know at all. So I mean, everybody's entitled to their opinion.
But you know, like I said, I just think you know,
(21:46):
don't think you should stop doing what you want to do,
you know, because of everybody's opinion. Thanks for the call,
Thanks for the service. I do think it's an interesting
question because many people feel powerless when they feel like
they're being lectured too about politics, and so if everybody's
entitled to their opinion, I understand the response of, hey,
(22:08):
if you're gonna slap me in the face, eventually I'm
gonna slap you back in the face. And that is
I think why many fans are not watching. They feel
like they're getting slapped in the face. And yeah, you
could be like, well, I still like what happens after
I get slapped in the face, so I'm still gonna watch.
I think other people are like, screw you, you're gonna
(22:30):
slap me in the face. I'm gonna slap you in
the face. Boom, I'm turning the television off. And everybody
has a different response. Some people are gonna turn on
the game ten minutes after it starts because they're like,
I'll just pretend that there wasn't all that going on.
And by the way, I think that's what NBCCBS, FOX
and ESPN are gonna do. They saw these numbers. They're panicking.
They're gonna be like, we're not covering any more protests.
(22:52):
The audience is making it pretty clear they don't want it.
I think when you watch Week two, there ain't gonna
be a lot of social justice talk. They are business,
and a business is about making as much money as possible.
They make money putting on the NFL games based on advertisers.
If less people watch, they make way less money. They
lost hundreds of millions of dollars during the Colin Kaepernick
(23:12):
protest because people turned it off. Who's up next? Up?
We've got James and Cincinnati. James, what you got for me?
Hold on, let me get speaker here. Yeah, I own
a little aged white guy in Cincinnati, and whody do brill?
It's great? Yeah, he did pretty great, by the way,
not a good pass interference call. I didn't think. Yeah,
you never right on the head. People are sick all
(23:34):
the politics. They don't want to deal with it. They
don't only want to see it. They're throwing all the
political commercials out here now that are just off the
freaking charts. Man, do they really believe they're gonna deepend?
The police and the cities are all gonna burn at
Joe Biden gets elected. I mean, come on, man, everybody,
are you gonna watch on Thursday? You got the Battle
of Ohio going on between the Bengals and the Browns.
(23:56):
But I'll probably put it on right as you're kicking off. Yeah,
I mean, hey, I'm off. Uh. Social justice and what
happens to you know some of these these folks is terrible.
It is terrible. It shouldn't be happening in today's society
at all. And I'm and I'm a veteran, and I
believe that if you want tonel for a national anthem,
that's you're right. That's the right I fight for because
(24:20):
you defend the Constitution in the United States, not the
song or the president of the political party. If people
need to realize that it's just a song, it's what
it represents. And I want to tell you at one
more thing before I go, um, does the NFL realize
how stupid they look? Because wait a minute, you blackball
(24:43):
called Kirkpatrick for kneeling, which I was all for. I
was about to nil at the game just to show
support for him. But then you turn around a back
track and go, oh, wait, we were wrong. We were
wrong and now they're just overblowing it so they look
like idiot. Thank you for the call, Colin Kirkpatrick. I mean,
(25:05):
that is a guy that deserves a chance in this league.
I know he meant Kaepernick, but Dolphins. Yeah. Um, it
is true. Though. There is an element of what the
NFL is doing now that is like Drew Brees, right,
Drew Brees said he thought it was disrespectful to kneel
for the anthem. That's what he believes, and then people
were mad about what he believed, and so he changed
(25:25):
his opinion, and then the people who agreed with him
were angry at him for changing his opinion, and the
people who he changed his opinion for are like, yeah,
he doesn't really believe that. He's just saying that because
he got criticized. That's kind of where the NFL is now. Look,
if you stand for nothing, then you will fall for everything.
And it seems to me that there are a lot
(25:47):
of corporations out there in the world of sports that
are standing for nothing and falling for everything. And I
think people can see through the hypocrisy, and I think
that's why they're turning it off. When we come back
major League Baseball has been rolling through the season. Believe
it or not, they've actually been able to Corona brows
are upset. They've had hardly any positive tests recently. They
now are getting close to the postseason. What is the
(26:08):
postseason gonna look like in Major League Baseball? Who's gonna
be there? We're gonna talk about it with John Morosy. Next.
Be sure to catch live editions about kicked the coverage
with Clay Travis week days at six am Eastern, three
am Pacific. Welcome back and joined now by John Morosy.
You can find him on Twitter at John Morosi j
O N M O R O S. I all right,
I think I got that right, John, Thanks for getting
(26:29):
up early with us. Uh. You may actually end up
with Big ten football in the story that never ends.
Maybe I'll ask you that at the end. But UH,
for Major League Baseball fans, what was significant about the
announcement for what the postseason will look like? And for
a lot of people who haven't even heard, what will
it look like? And uh? Is it good for baseball?
(26:50):
I do think it's good for baseball. And here are
the details. Will begin with a best of three series.
You've got eight teams in each league, making the playoff
the largest playoff field in the history of Major League Baseball.
And those first round series, they will be eight of them,
of course, Uh, they'll be played at the home sites,
so you'll have your own ballpark for the top four
(27:13):
seeds will be hosting those best of three series, and
that's the best. Sorry to cut you off, but that's
the best of three, which is a super fast series
that I don't know a lot of people have recognized
yet exactly. So, so best of three all at one site,
and then clay, they're gonna take a little longer break
than usual, several days off in between the that best
of three series and the usual best of five division
(27:35):
series because that will be played in the bubble. There'll
be two bubbles, uh, the n L based between Arlington,
Texas and Houston, and then the American League in between
San Diego and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. And and
so those those bubbles will be active beginning with the
division series that they want to allocate several days to
make sure that people can travel there, be tested and
(27:58):
ensure that there's uh good health there of course, and
in fact, even the last rounders the last week or
so of the regular season. UH, teams are encouraged to
be in a modified bubble, or basically, even the teams
that our home are staying at a hotel, separating from
family and making sure that everybody arrives at the postseason
and as good at health as possible, and then of
(28:19):
course that you'll play those UH. Those bubbles will be
active for the balance of the postseason, including the World
Series happening in Arlington. So the end of the a
L champion will fly from California to meet the n
L champion at the conclusion of the ALCS in San Diego.
Will there be fans present for any of these games?
So great question, Clay. This is what the commissioner, Rob
Manfred said recently at an online event at Hofstra. He
(28:42):
said that he is hopeful I'm quoting here from an
Evandralic story at the Athletic quote. I'm hopeful that the
World Series and the LCS we will have limited fan capacity.
I think it's important for us to start back down
that road. UH. He continues to say, we'll probably use
that theory similar to the NFL game, but I do
think it's important as we look forward to one to
(29:03):
get back to the idea that live sports, they are
generally outdoors at least our games, and it's something that
we can get back to doing. So he's referring to
largely now. Interestingly, the Uh, the the stadium in Arlington
has has a roof, so that's that's unique. But UH,
from that standpoint play the commissioner talking about overall, from
a business standpoint, Baseball looks at one as being optimistic
(29:24):
to have fans in the stands next season, and that
doing so in the LCS in the World Series this
year with a lot of different modeling and social distancing,
as we saw for example Notre Dame last weekend, where
there was a lot of thought put into the seating
charts and and where people could sit. That if Baseball
does that, that perhaps that we could see fans of
the LCS in the World Series. All right, let's go
(29:45):
into the actual playoff races themselves. What do you think
is the most intriguing as we come down with about
ten games to play? Uh, there seems to be a
lot of teams that we know, right, I mean, and
and the reason why I'm running through Uh, it feels
like Tampa Bay the Yankees, the the Blue Jays, they're
all in. The White Sox, and the Twins seem like
(30:06):
they're all in the Cleveland Indians as well, and then
Oakland and Houston seemed like they're all in. Like there's
not a lot of suspense in the American League at all. Right,
the way I just ran through it, we basically have
a pretty good sense what the eight teams are going
to be in the a L. Right unless unless the
Mariners make a push against the Astros. I think you're
(30:27):
right that, and that would be for the second seed
of the a L West. I agree that there are
gonna be three teams coming out of the a L East,
three teams coming out of the Central. But that second
spot in every division, even if you're below five hundred,
is a guaranteed spot. And so the Houston Astros even
have a two game lead on the Mariners for that
second and final likely wildcard spot or or or playoff
(30:50):
spot in the American League West. So the marriage, of course,
they're the game was canceled or postponed yesterday. Do the
air quality in Seattle, so they have to start making
up some games there. But in general, as long as
the Mariners do not mount a stirring comeback against the Astros.
The eight teams that you mentioned, Clay, will be the
playoff field in the American League, all right, and then
the NL you got about seven teams that you feel
(31:12):
pretty good about. I mean, obviously there's still a lot
that can happen, but there seems like there's gonna be
a battle for that eighth spot between if I've got
this correct, the Reds, the Brewers, and the San Francisco Giants.
Who do you think Do you agree with me in
general that it seems like we're in pretty good shape
to have seven teams make it, and then that eighth
battle in the n L could get pretty interesting over
(31:34):
the next ten days or so, I agree, And really,
in fact, Clay, you could say that that the six
teams are pretty well said, or at least you have
a decent idea as to where where that's going to be.
But then there's a lot more competition even for the
last two spots, I would say. And one storyline that
I think is really emerging in recent days has been
the resurgence of the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds right now
(31:55):
of one four and a row, they are a half
game back of the Cardinals for second in the National
League Central. I think for me, right now, it's a
very crowded picture in the NL Central with the Cardinals
below five hundred but in second place right now, the
Reds is a half game behind them, and the Brewers
is a half game behind the Reds. That is a
really competitive race. I don't think that we'll see all
(32:19):
three of those teams make it. I do think we'll
see two of those three teams make it, and then
out West, the Giants seven pretty good chance to make it,
even though they're below five hundred right now. That to
me is is what I see as being a real
likely situation. I think we'll see both the Phillies and
the Marlins make of the Marlins, what a story they
have become Clay of course early on in the season,
nearly when you think about what happened with them in
(32:42):
their situation with COVID in the first four days of
the year, um just a disastrous start of the season,
but they have bounced back a young team, they're above
five hundred right now, they're in second place, and they're
on their way to making the playoffs for the first
time since winning the World Series in two thousand three.
So the Marlins a great story. I expect the Phillies
to make it as well. And your son's favorite team,
the Braves, right now looks like they're gonna be on
(33:02):
their way to win the National League East. Yeah, no
doubt at all. Uh. Last question for you, a lot
of questions about the Cardinals and how many games they're
gonna get in. What are you hearing they're sitting at
forty three complete other teams forty nine in the n L.
How many are the Cardinals gonna end up with. Well,
that's a great point, in Clay, and they will probably
schedule to get into forty or fifty eight games rather
(33:24):
so they'll be too shy when the season is over.
Right now, they're in a stretch of playing eighteen games
in fourteen days. Eighteen games in fourteen days. That's an
incredible stretch. I'm not sure if we've ever seen any
team play that many double headers in that narrow of
a time span. And so what's gonna happen is Clay,
from my understanding, if they get to the end of
the season and they have fifty eight games played in
(33:46):
those last two games would matter from the standpoint of
who makes the playoffs. MLB is going to try to
make those two games up in St. Louis, likely against
the Tigers on that last Monday in the season. Because
remember this is an important point, there are no the
usual tiebreaker games that you would see the game one
sixty three. We don't have those this year because everything
else has done mathematically for tiebreakers. So that's the only
(34:09):
scenario in which we would have baseball on that Monday
after the season is over, would be if those two
games are required to decide who's in the playoffs. Can't
wait to watch it. Appreciate you by the way. You
optimistic about the Wolverines playing quickly as we go out,
I am it sure sounds like letters a momentum building,
and it would be a welcome sight indeed to see
football back, no doubt. Fox Sports Radio has the best
(34:31):
sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our
shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and within the
I Heart Radio app search f s R to listen live.
A couple more people want to weigh in on the phones.
Dub who we got, Yeah, we got John in New York, John,
what's you got for me? Okay? Ty did Did John
(34:57):
misidentify the host of the show and then hang up
on him? Didn't punch him? Did you hang up on him?
Dub No. I think John may have paniced there. Did
John just totally panicked? Didn't? I mean he waited a while?
What do we have Do we have audio of John's debut?
I mean that was the equivalent of like he was
looking over the line, he saw the mic linebacker coming
and he just he bailed. He got He threw it
(35:19):
right in the third row of the seats. That might
be the fastest self self hang up of all time.
That was like Jimmy G in the pocket this week?
And oh yeah, that looked like Jimmy J. That Jimmy G.
I I have been for people who listen, I am
not a Jimmy G guy. I I look, I think
he's a twenty best, sixteenth best quarterback in the NFL.
Whatever else. Uh been a lot of praise at Jimmy G.
(35:40):
Do we have the audio of that quick bail? Yeah?
I just got it ready right now? All right? Here
here is where was that We went to New York
and here was the open. Yeah, we got John in
New York. John, what's gout? For me, okay, And I
mean we didn't hang up on him. He was like,
this isn't going well. He just went ahead and pulled
(36:01):
the rip cord. Who's up next? Ub? All right, let's
see have Fred and West Virginia can do any better? Fred,
Hopefully you'll last longer than than we are. Guy in
New York, I just don't ask my wife. Um, that's
a hell of it opening. I think you just hang
up now. Yeah, I don't know that you're gonna top
that line, all right, what you go for. I've been
(36:23):
working around throughout this whole pandemic. I've been working my
rear end off, all right. So my kids are so
much more active, and we've been doing a whole lot
more things. I've got my twelve year old daughter plays
travel basketball. I've got my one in high school play softball.
And we're busy, honestly. And with the with the extra
excitement around fantasy football, that's where my interest is. Like
(36:45):
I'm I'm I'm not for all the protesting and all
the political stuff that's going on within politics, but dude,
I love I mean, we love sports, you know. I Mean,
that's that's kind of where I'm at with it. Um
so man, I said, I play all the fantasy stuff.
I'm really involved with all that. I'll catch a little
bit of a game here and there a bit. Man,
we're traveling were I mean, we live here in West Virginia,
(37:06):
hike in, hitting some doing all kinds of activities. Um,
just staying busy. I mean, it's really kind of the
quarantine is really kind of focused the family time, you know,
and we we really focused around that kind of stuff.
So I don't have to sit in front of a
TV for four or five hours. Thanks for the call.
You know. It's interesting. My nine year old who turned
ten year old Monday, right like literally he turned ten
(37:29):
during the Titans UH Denver Bronco game. He said the
other day that the quarantine is his favorite time ever.
He didn't have to go to school. Mom and Dad
were around home all the time. We're watching movies together,
We're hanging out even more than we had in the past.
And I do think that. You know, look, there are
(37:51):
a lot of always negative stories associated with UH and
will be written for decades and hundreds of years probably
about any but one positive if you're looking for something
positive is I have heard a lot of people say
that it brought them closer to their family and uh
(38:11):
and and you know, I think there are a lot
of young kids out there that maybe their parents work
a lot, maybe their parents are busy, they're out of
the house, they're spending hours going to and from work,
and suddenly they were home and they were all around
and it was like times slowed down. And for young kids,
I think many of them are gonna look back on
it and be like, Hey, that's the best time I
(38:33):
ever got to spend with my mom and dad. All right,
more of your calls eight seven seven nine six six
three six nine open phone lines right now. The NFL
ratings have tanked. Have you been watching? If not, why not?
This is outkicked the coverage with Clay Travis
I'll kick the coverage with Clay Travis live every weekday
morning from six to nine a m. E Stone three
to six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your
local station for OutKick the coverage at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream US live every morning on the
I Heart Radio app by searching fs are you're listening
(00:23):
to Fox Sports Radio The Clippers choke if you're just
waking up with US below a three one series lead.
That is the third time Doc Rivers has done at
Paul George coming in for it. The Battle of l
a that everyone anticipated, certainly including me back in July
when Kauai decided to sign with the Clippers didn't end
(00:44):
up happening. Now the Lakers have a pretty I would
think you would think easy path to the NBA Championship
into the NBA Finals. Will anyone care? That's a different
story with the Celtics and the Heat on the other side. UM,
I think this is uh, this is going to be
pretty intriguing to follow out. So I just kind of
(01:07):
gave you a rundown. All of the numbers are now
in as we start off this Wednesday morning. In the NFL.
What do I mean by that? Everybody has watched either
the Thursday night kickoff game. Tomorrow we come in for
NFL week too, and the numbers tanked. A lot of
people in the media aren't going to talk about it
because they they carry water for the league's They don't
(01:31):
want to any any time say anything that is that
is negative. I try to be as honest with you
guys every day, and I'm curious to hear from my
audience if you didn't watch. Okay, here's the actual data.
This was written by Bobby Barack at OutKick dot com.
Encourage you to go read out kick if you want
the truth. We try to do a good job giving
(01:51):
it to you every single day. Got a couple of
new hires, by the way, uh that we continue to make.
We now are up to ten different writers at out
dot com. Uh, we're gonna have over ten million readers.
I mean, this thing is blown up in a really
big way. So we thank you for supporting everything that
we are doing on a day to day, weekly and
monthly basis. All right, here are the actual numbers. NBC's
(02:15):
kickoff game down right at seven point two percent the
CBS early window games. That's like the one Eastern kickoff
games down nearly twelve percent over last This is all
compared to last year. Uh. Fox was up and a
big reason why they were up was a lot of
interest in the Saints game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
(02:38):
Tom Brady still moves the needle in a big way.
So Fox was up. NBC was down just shy of
fifteen percent. Monday Night Football on ESPN. The first part
game down nearly eighteen percent, the second game down nearly
thirty percent. Okay, so double digit declines. The biggest declines
(03:01):
happened in the biggest games, the kickoff game, the Monday
night games, and the Sunday night football game. If you
didn't watch, why didn't you watch? Did you watch something instead?
I watched. Look, I'm not pretending that I don't I
watch everything. Okay, So people out there like, oh, you
share the ratings, Like, no, my job is to see everything, right,
(03:22):
I'm like your mom back in the day. Now, your
mom knew everything and my kids deal with it now, Like,
how did you know that I'm a mom? Moms know everything.
That's what my mom used to say. All right, I'm
like your TV mom. I see pretty much everything in
the world of sports. I'm gonna try to keep my
eyes on it because I might need to talk about it.
So I'm gonna need to have an opinion. Uh, and
(03:44):
so just so you know that's what's going on with me.
I'm not boycotting anything. I'm not changing any of my behavior.
I'm gonna watch sports. We're gonna talk about sports here.
But there are lots of different reasons why ratings can
be collapsing. I don't think it's a coincidence people want
to are you against me? I don't think it's a
coincidence that the woker the sport, the more the ratings
(04:06):
have collapsed since sports returned. Let me explain, nobody cares
about the p g A politics right. Golf has done
pretty well since golf came back. Major League Baseball had
a super woke opening game. Since then, virtually no political talk.
Your local regional Major League Baseball team has done fabulously
(04:28):
well in the ratings. Okay, the NFL a lot like
the n b A. In the first week, it wasn't
as woke as I feared it might be, but it
was still pretty woke. People turned off they didn't watch.
The NBA ratings have tanked and they're gonna get worse
now because they're actually having to compete with something general rule.
The woker you are, the more your ratings have collapsed
(04:51):
in By the way, Hockey not very woke, although they
also decided not to play, which was stupid in the
wake of that Jacob Blake thing before they realized that
he was armed and he had did a sexual assault
allegedly and his victim had called nine on one and
that's why the police were there. And then everybody just
stopped talking about it with Jacob Blake, remember how that
story just disappeared. So I am curious for everybody out
(05:12):
there in my audience as someone drops off, when we
will take your call eight seven seven six three six
nine and we start in Louisiana on the OutKick v
i P. You can go sign up and become an
OutKick v i P, get an autograph copy of my book,
You get the access to the OutKick v i P line.
Go to OutKick dot com today. UH that is helping
to fuel our growth in a big way thanks to
(05:32):
the thousands and thousands of you who are signing up
UH as OutKick v i P s Who's up first
on the v I p line Danny G. James in Louisiana. James,
are you watching less? If so? Why? Uh? No, Clay,
I got a couple of points. I'll try to work
through them as quick as possible here. But no, I
did not watch a single second of the NFL this weekend.
Hadn't watched the NBA since they came back in the bubble,
(05:54):
and for me in Louisiana started back with the Drew
Breese statement on the national anthem. So he he cowtailed
and patronized people that really aren't his true fans anyway
while doing the ad, he ostracized his true fans. Yeah.
Then on then on top of that, the Saints decided
to put the James Jacob Blake thing on their helmet.
Really just drove the nail when the call for me.
So Sunday I went to church mode the yard, watched
(06:18):
a little women's major golf, and then watched the five
set US Open Men's final in tennis. Is what I'd
been on Sunday. Would you have ever watched the US
Open tennis over the NFL before? Uh? No, not before.
I mean I'll watch it, but no, I probably wouldn't
have shows it over the NFL, and you're a Saints fans,
so and I do think that was an unbelievable move
(06:39):
by the Saints. They put Jacob Blake's name on their
helmet for practice. This is a guy who was wanted
for sexual assault, and it's it's like, I mean, it's
unbelievable to me that that didn't get more attention. But
it did get a lot of attention. And I think
your points a good one about Drew Brees. One thing
I always think about is I don't tiptoe up to
(07:00):
my opinion. And the reason I don't tiptoe up to
my opinion is I tell you exactly what I think
every single day, and if you agree, that's great. If
you disagree, that's great. I don't ever apologize because what
you just said I think is true. As soon as
Drew Brees apologized for saying he stood for the anthem
and why he stood and he thought it was disrespectful
(07:21):
to Neil, then he lost everybody. Thanks for the call,
by the way, and thanks for being a v I P.
When you apologize for something that you believe, you lose
everybody that's otherwise gonna support you. It's like, I don't
know what you out there think about abortion right or
gun rights or anything else that's controversial. But if I
(07:42):
came on and I was like, one day, hey, I'm
a big Second Amendment guy. Right. If I came on
and I said that, and then somebody said something about
it and everybody was mad at me on the Internet,
and I came back the next is next day and
I was like, actually, I don't think the Second Amendment
should exist. I apologize for things in the Second Amendments
should have ever been a right in America. Then everybody
(08:04):
that liked me for saying I was a Second Amendment
guy would hate me now, and the people that I
had apologized to wouldn't respect me anymore either, because I
would be totally a limp noodle out there. I would
be trying to just, you know, be a blowing in
the breeze whichever direction. I'm gonna lick my finger and
hold it up in the air, and I'll tell you
(08:24):
whatever I think you want me to tell you. Now,
I'm gonna tell you exactly what I believe. And I
think what happens so often in this country today is
people say what they think. And I think Drew Brees
means it. I think he believes it's disrespectful to kneel
for the national anthem. That's okay, that's his opinion. He
shouldn't have to apologize for it. He shouldn't put out
(08:47):
these hostage videos where he's pretending that he doesn't believe that.
And he certainly shouldn't be practicing football with an alleged
sexual assaulter's name who resisted arrest from police and was
armed with the weapon and the reason why police were
there was because his victim called nine one one. He
shouldn't have Jacob Blake's name on his helmet like he's
(09:08):
honoring it. It's freaking crazy. Another v I P. Who's
up next? Danny G Austin and Indy? Austin and Indy
did you watch? And if not? Why not? I just
never looked at athletes is the best place to get
um politics advice and how to vote and all that.
(09:30):
But what really stuck out to me was seeing the
the two police and Los Angeles murdered and then uh,
seeing the Black Lives Matter channing over him. We hope
you die, we hope you die. Like that wasn't a
great look. So thanks for that. Yeah, not a great
(09:52):
look for people who claim to care a great deal
about lives to be chanting we hope you die when
to l A police are shot and they did absolutely
nothing and they were ambushed. And by the way, we
have spoken out on that at out Kick, even though
all these athletes that want to be super woke and
speak out every time a viral video comes out. We're
(10:12):
donating ten thousand dollars. I know we have a lot
of l A Police listeners uh in that area, and
I appreciate all of you for the work that you do.
We're donating ten thousand dollars for the capture too. As
a reward if that culprit, the person who shot in
cold blood ambush those two l A police, we are
offering ten thousand dollars to that reward for the capture
(10:35):
of that individual. It's telling that Lebron James hasn't tweeted
or said a single word in support of police. Almost
no NBA player at all has stepped out. Almost no
NFL player has stepped out. Almost no athlete, no team,
no league, nobody's come out and said, hey, maybe shooting
(10:56):
police is the wrong thing to do. We support police officers.
It's craze e. But I am one of the only
people the Dodgers did. Good for the Dodgers. What did
the Dodgers say, Let me call that up for you.
I saved it. Yesterday they put out a statement saying,
let's see it's right here. Violence has no place in
our society. The l A Dodgers condemn the recent senseless
(11:17):
acts of violence and stand with all Angelino's in pursuit
of a safe community. Our thoughts are with the sheriff's
deputy is injured in the horrific incident this past weekend,
as well as their families and colleagues, and we wish
them a speedy recovery. Good for the Dodgers now, if
only they would put our cardboard to cut out somewhere visible, uh,
And then then then I would be all about the
(11:38):
Dodgers as we get ready for the NBA and the
Major League Baseball postseason. By the way, John Morosi joining
us next to talk about the Major League Baseball latest
on the season and their decision to move into a
bubble and get ready for the postseason, where there will
be sixteen teams, eight from the n L, eight from
the a L. All right, we got a ton of
people who want to weigh in. I'm gonna ask you
to be fast, dub. We're gonna pop them all up.
(11:59):
Who's up for We got Gary in Utah. Gary, did
you watch? If not, why not? I did not watch
any of them. I attempted to watch the Green Bay games,
but as soon as they stayed in the locker room,
shut it off and I went out. And you ordinarily
would watch the NFL. But as soon as the Packers
I'm assuming they're your team, didn't come out for the game,
you're like, screw it, and you went to gike right,
(12:21):
I'm done. I canceled my n package and everything. Yeah,
thanks for the call. I mean again, you're gonna hear
a lot of people, I think, tell you the reason
why they didn't watch. If you pay attention to the media,
they're gonna be like, oh, these people aren't real. That's
one of the things when the narrative questions, when people
are like oh, people like to say, oh, nobody's actually
turning off the NFL. I think you're gonna hear a
(12:43):
lot of listeners to OutKick call in this morning and
say directly I'm turning off the NFL. The mainstream media
will claim that you don't exist. Who's up next? We
got Charlie and Memphis. Charlie and Memphis. Did you watch?
If not? Why not? About not? So? Absolutely all right?
I appreciate Charlie calling in, but it sounds like he
(13:05):
has been captured by a sounds like he's calling in
with one of those voice alteration software's. Uh that was
it just me? Or did you guys? Also? Was he
totally breaking up? Yeah? It was totally awful, totally couldn't
hear Charlie Memphis if he wants to call back in
a better line? Eight seven seven nine six three six
nine dubbed next Lewis and Phoenix Lewis and Phoenix. Did
(13:26):
you watch? If not? Why not? No? It's pretty simple
for me. I'm a I'm a vet, you know, so
I hate what they're doing with the anthem and I'm
not even buying any any uh uh any items off
the NFL anymore. So who were you? Who were you
a fan of? H? First of all, thanks for the service.
Who were you a fan of? Uh? Ordinarily? And so
(13:50):
you didn't even you didn't even watch to see how
Cam was gonna do. You're like screw it. I'm just
not gonna watch. No, no, I'm not even interested no more.
That's disgusting. Thanks to what they're doing with the anthem
is pitiful. Thanks for the call um and look, I
think there are a lot of people like Lewis who
just called in, and the numbers reflect that it is occurring,
(14:13):
and people want to claim that it's not. And again
the numbers are down massively, and the two factors that
are moving in their favor are most stadiums don't have fans,
So that means there's a million more people sitting at
home who theoretically could watch the NFL that are the
biggest possible NFL fans, the people who otherwise have season
tickets or buy tickets to a game, and they're now
(14:35):
getting to count out of home viewing. So if that
wasn't going on, you're talking about NFL ratings being down
like in other words, they're getting a benefit from all
of this. Who's up next? We got Eddie in Seattle. Eddie,
did you watch if not? Why not? Yes? I watched,
uh and I enjoyed it. I Uh. I think when
(14:57):
the far like when the NBA for started with the
with the Black Lives Matter and so forth. I think
it was really hard to like to take in. But
over time, I uh, I congratulate them, uh for uh
standing over all. Right, So I mean, thanks, thanks for
(15:18):
your calling. Let me ask you this, are you watch?
So my one of my interesting questions that I have
purely from a business perspective. Would you watch so you're
watching the same amount? You would say, as you ordinarily
would Eddie, Yes, And I don't think they care if
people watch. I think they'll start their own league. They
won't be multi millions, but they'll still be millionaire. Yeah,
(15:40):
thanks to have a nice life. Yeah, well they do
have a nice life. Thanks for ico. I think there's
a zero percent chance they start their own league. I
think there's a zero percent chance. And I actually disagree
with Eddie. I think if you came to me and
you said, Clay Travis, your audience is down. Nobody is
downloading your podcast, uh, and it's because people don't like
(16:03):
your show, I would have to say, well, let me
maybe reconsider the way I'm doing the show, because ultimately,
if you're in the business of entertainment, and we are,
I'm in the business of entertainment, I am competing with
everybody in audio every single day. So I thank all
of you for listening. We had a million more people
(16:24):
listening in August than listen to us in July. And
if if you told me that our audience on the
website and our audience on audio and our audience on
video was tanking and I had lost thirty or forty
of my audience, I would care and I'd be like, man,
I must be doing something wrong because other people are
(16:45):
kicking my ass in competition. Why is that? And I
would actually look into it and I would be trying
to figure out what exactly is going on? Um, all right,
who is who is up next? We got another v
I P caller? We do Andrew in Florida. Andrew and Florida.
Are you watching less? If so, why zero sports across
(17:06):
the board? Turned my cable package off because I'm tired
of being called a racist and I've reconnected with my family.
No more waste of time looking over fantasy lineups or
research in this research and that just found books again,
found podcasts, living life. Thanks for the calling, Thanks for
being an out kick v I P. It's fascinating to me.
(17:27):
I do think that one of the challenges sports have
is when they shut down in March, a lot of
people found other hobbies. That's one challenge that I think
is out there. You got so used to watching sports,
and then when you didn't have sports, you had to
find something new to do. And I think a lot
of people found something else to do, and now sports
(17:51):
have to fight their way back into a habit. It's
hard to get people to set habits. It's also hard
to break habits. A lot of you start it off
your morning, and I thank you every single day by
listening to me. That's why I was here in March
and April and May when there were no sports going on,
because a lot of you listen to my voice. And
(18:12):
if I had said, screw it, I'm gonna take a
couple of months off there's no sports going on, a
lot of you would have found another way to spend
your mornings. And so I thank all of you. But habits,
once they're formed, stick. That's why a lot of you,
as we're in our fifth year now without kick, a
lot of you, if I keep doing this show for
the next fifteen years, a lot of you were gonna
keep showing up and listening every morning because you've gotten
(18:34):
used to it and you'll like us and you're like
hanging out with us. But if I suddenly took a
year off, a lot of you would find something else
to do. If I took months off, you might find
something else to do. Who's up next? Ub? We got
Bob in Nashville. Bob, what did you do? Why did
you stop watching? UH? The hypocrisy UM the first in
(18:55):
the NBA and in the NFL where the NBA comes
insides with China and UH against so when they're supporting
these Marxist organizations. That he was a perfect example. We
said when the when he first started playing BLM up theory,
he didn't comfortable with it, but he grew into it. Well,
that's the way communism works. These people standing for the NFL,
(19:17):
they should be standing for and with police, not against authority,
but they should be standing with a police for authority.
There's no by these sports professionals. They don't recognize the authority.
Thanks for the calling people. I look, the media would
tell you that the people calling in right now don't
(19:37):
exist because they'll come up with all these different theories
other than people want their sports to just be entertainment.
They'll tell you, because this has been my thesis. This
has been my thesis that if you alienate your viewer,
they choose to spend their time doing something else. The
NFL is down big, the NBA is down even bigger,
(20:00):
and I believe that reason is because most people look
to sports to have an escape. And so all these
people calling in right now eight seven, seven, six, three
six nine are directly telling you that they're not watching.
The media will tell you, mainstream media that these people
don't exist. Who's up next? Up? We got Mike in
South Carolina. Mike, What's what are you watching? If not,
(20:21):
what are you doing instead? What's what's going on? Clay?
How are you? Man? I'm doing actually appreciate that. I mean,
here's here's the deal, man. You know, I've never stopped
watching the NFL, you know, I mean there's a lot
of politics and all this. You know, people you know saying,
you know, teams are saying, well, we're gonna kneel, We're
(20:42):
not gonna kneel, We're we're gonna stand, We're not gonna stand.
I mean, you know, the deal is. I mean, I
don't feel like politics should be in sports at all,
you know, So, I mean I'm a I'm a sports guy,
so I'm gonna watch it, you know. I mean, you know,
I served in the Marine Corps, and you know, I
don't really get in of the whole you know, you
know that they're standing not standing thing. I mean, everybody
(21:05):
has their opinion and it is what it is. I mean,
you know, I'm not gonna stop my life and what
i want to do because somebody has an opinion. I mean,
everybody's entitled to their own opinion, and some people don't
like it, and it's what it is. But at the
end of the day, you know, I mean, you know,
I mean, I I enjoy watching football, you know. I mean,
I'm a you know, NBA. I'm I'm a Celtics fan.
(21:25):
So when you know, when they're in, you know, I'll
watch it. When they're not, I'm not gonna watch it,
you know. But I mean baseball has kind of turned
me off just because it's it's become you know, stagnant morning.
But at the end of the day, I've I've watched
the p g A get Major League Baseball football, you
know at all. So I mean, everybody's entitled to their opinion.
But you know, like I said, I just think you know,
(21:46):
don't think you should stop doing what you want to do,
you know, because of everybody's opinion. Thanks for the call,
Thanks for the service. I do think it's an interesting
question because many people feel powerless when they feel like
they're being lectured too about politics, and so if everybody's
entitled to their opinion, I understand the response of, hey,
(22:08):
if you're gonna slap me in the face, eventually I'm
gonna slap you back in the face. And that is
I think why many fans are not watching. They feel
like they're getting slapped in the face. And yeah, you
could be like, well, I still like what happens after
I get slapped in the face, so I'm still gonna watch.
I think other people are like, screw you, you're gonna
(22:30):
slap me in the face. I'm gonna slap you in
the face. Boom, I'm turning the television off. And everybody
has a different response. Some people are gonna turn on
the game ten minutes after it starts because they're like,
I'll just pretend that there wasn't all that going on.
And by the way, I think that's what NBCCBS, FOX
and ESPN are gonna do. They saw these numbers. They're panicking.
They're gonna be like, we're not covering any more protests.
(22:52):
The audience is making it pretty clear they don't want it.
I think when you watch Week two, there ain't gonna
be a lot of social justice talk. They are business,
and a business is about making as much money as possible.
They make money putting on the NFL games based on advertisers.
If less people watch, they make way less money. They
lost hundreds of millions of dollars during the Colin Kaepernick
(23:12):
protest because people turned it off. Who's up next? Up?
We've got James and Cincinnati. James, what you got for me?
Hold on, let me get speaker here. Yeah, I own
a little aged white guy in Cincinnati, and whody do brill?
It's great? Yeah, he did pretty great, by the way,
not a good pass interference call. I didn't think. Yeah,
you never right on the head. People are sick all
(23:34):
the politics. They don't want to deal with it. They
don't only want to see it. They're throwing all the
political commercials out here now that are just off the
freaking charts. Man, do they really believe they're gonna deepend?
The police and the cities are all gonna burn at
Joe Biden gets elected. I mean, come on, man, everybody,
are you gonna watch on Thursday? You got the Battle
of Ohio going on between the Bengals and the Browns.
(23:56):
But I'll probably put it on right as you're kicking off. Yeah,
I mean, hey, I'm off. Uh. Social justice and what
happens to you know some of these these folks is terrible.
It is terrible. It shouldn't be happening in today's society
at all. And I'm and I'm a veteran, and I
believe that if you want tonel for a national anthem,
that's you're right. That's the right I fight for because
(24:20):
you defend the Constitution in the United States, not the
song or the president of the political party. If people
need to realize that it's just a song, it's what
it represents. And I want to tell you at one
more thing before I go, um, does the NFL realize
how stupid they look? Because wait a minute, you blackball
(24:43):
called Kirkpatrick for kneeling, which I was all for. I
was about to nil at the game just to show
support for him. But then you turn around a back
track and go, oh, wait, we were wrong. We were
wrong and now they're just overblowing it so they look
like idiot. Thank you for the call, Colin Kirkpatrick. I mean,
(25:05):
that is a guy that deserves a chance in this league.
I know he meant Kaepernick, but Dolphins. Yeah. Um, it
is true. Though. There is an element of what the
NFL is doing now that is like Drew Brees, right,
Drew Brees said he thought it was disrespectful to kneel
for the anthem. That's what he believes, and then people
were mad about what he believed, and so he changed
(25:25):
his opinion, and then the people who agreed with him
were angry at him for changing his opinion, and the
people who he changed his opinion for are like, yeah,
he doesn't really believe that. He's just saying that because
he got criticized. That's kind of where the NFL is now. Look,
if you stand for nothing, then you will fall for everything.
And it seems to me that there are a lot
(25:47):
of corporations out there in the world of sports that
are standing for nothing and falling for everything. And I
think people can see through the hypocrisy, and I think
that's why they're turning it off. When we come back
major League Baseball has been rolling through the season. Believe
it or not, they've actually been able to Corona brows
are upset. They've had hardly any positive tests recently. They
now are getting close to the postseason. What is the
(26:08):
postseason gonna look like in Major League Baseball? Who's gonna
be there? We're gonna talk about it with John Morosy. Next.
Be sure to catch live editions about kicked the coverage
with Clay Travis week days at six am Eastern, three
am Pacific. Welcome back and joined now by John Morosy.
You can find him on Twitter at John Morosi j
O N M O R O S. I all right,
I think I got that right, John, Thanks for getting
(26:29):
up early with us. Uh. You may actually end up
with Big ten football in the story that never ends.
Maybe I'll ask you that at the end. But UH,
for Major League Baseball fans, what was significant about the
announcement for what the postseason will look like? And for
a lot of people who haven't even heard, what will
it look like? And uh? Is it good for baseball?
(26:50):
I do think it's good for baseball. And here are
the details. Will begin with a best of three series.
You've got eight teams in each league, making the playoff
the largest playoff field in the history of Major League Baseball.
And those first round series, they will be eight of them,
of course, Uh, they'll be played at the home sites,
so you'll have your own ballpark for the top four
(27:13):
seeds will be hosting those best of three series, and
that's the best. Sorry to cut you off, but that's
the best of three, which is a super fast series
that I don't know a lot of people have recognized
yet exactly. So, so best of three all at one site,
and then clay, they're gonna take a little longer break
than usual, several days off in between the that best
of three series and the usual best of five division
(27:35):
series because that will be played in the bubble. There'll
be two bubbles, uh, the n L based between Arlington,
Texas and Houston, and then the American League in between
San Diego and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. And and
so those those bubbles will be active beginning with the
division series that they want to allocate several days to
make sure that people can travel there, be tested and
(27:58):
ensure that there's uh good health there of course, and
in fact, even the last rounders the last week or
so of the regular season. UH, teams are encouraged to
be in a modified bubble, or basically, even the teams
that our home are staying at a hotel, separating from
family and making sure that everybody arrives at the postseason
and as good at health as possible, and then of
(28:19):
course that you'll play those UH. Those bubbles will be
active for the balance of the postseason, including the World
Series happening in Arlington. So the end of the a
L champion will fly from California to meet the n
L champion at the conclusion of the ALCS in San Diego.
Will there be fans present for any of these games?
So great question, Clay. This is what the commissioner, Rob
Manfred said recently at an online event at Hofstra. He
(28:42):
said that he is hopeful I'm quoting here from an
Evandralic story at the Athletic quote. I'm hopeful that the
World Series and the LCS we will have limited fan capacity.
I think it's important for us to start back down
that road. UH. He continues to say, we'll probably use
that theory similar to the NFL game, but I do
think it's important as we look forward to one to
(29:03):
get back to the idea that live sports, they are
generally outdoors at least our games, and it's something that
we can get back to doing. So he's referring to
largely now. Interestingly, the Uh, the the stadium in Arlington
has has a roof, so that's that's unique. But UH,
from that standpoint play the commissioner talking about overall, from
a business standpoint, Baseball looks at one as being optimistic
(29:24):
to have fans in the stands next season, and that
doing so in the LCS in the World Series this
year with a lot of different modeling and social distancing,
as we saw for example Notre Dame last weekend, where
there was a lot of thought put into the seating
charts and and where people could sit. That if Baseball
does that, that perhaps that we could see fans of
the LCS in the World Series. All right, let's go
(29:45):
into the actual playoff races themselves. What do you think
is the most intriguing as we come down with about
ten games to play? Uh, there seems to be a
lot of teams that we know, right, I mean, and
and the reason why I'm running through Uh, it feels
like Tampa Bay the Yankees, the the Blue Jays, they're
all in. The White Sox, and the Twins seem like
(30:06):
they're all in the Cleveland Indians as well, and then
Oakland and Houston seemed like they're all in. Like there's
not a lot of suspense in the American League at all. Right,
the way I just ran through it, we basically have
a pretty good sense what the eight teams are going
to be in the a L. Right unless unless the
Mariners make a push against the Astros. I think you're
(30:27):
right that, and that would be for the second seed
of the a L West. I agree that there are
gonna be three teams coming out of the a L East,
three teams coming out of the Central. But that second
spot in every division, even if you're below five hundred,
is a guaranteed spot. And so the Houston Astros even
have a two game lead on the Mariners for that
second and final likely wildcard spot or or or playoff
(30:50):
spot in the American League West. So the marriage, of course,
they're the game was canceled or postponed yesterday. Do the
air quality in Seattle, so they have to start making
up some games there. But in general, as long as
the Mariners do not mount a stirring comeback against the Astros.
The eight teams that you mentioned, Clay, will be the
playoff field in the American League, all right, and then
the NL you got about seven teams that you feel
(31:12):
pretty good about. I mean, obviously there's still a lot
that can happen, but there seems like there's gonna be
a battle for that eighth spot between if I've got
this correct, the Reds, the Brewers, and the San Francisco Giants.
Who do you think Do you agree with me in
general that it seems like we're in pretty good shape
to have seven teams make it, and then that eighth
battle in the n L could get pretty interesting over
(31:34):
the next ten days or so, I agree, And really,
in fact, Clay, you could say that that the six
teams are pretty well said, or at least you have
a decent idea as to where where that's going to be.
But then there's a lot more competition even for the
last two spots, I would say. And one storyline that
I think is really emerging in recent days has been
the resurgence of the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds right now
(31:55):
of one four and a row, they are a half
game back of the Cardinals for second in the National
League Central. I think for me, right now, it's a
very crowded picture in the NL Central with the Cardinals
below five hundred but in second place right now, the
Reds is a half game behind them, and the Brewers
is a half game behind the Reds. That is a
really competitive race. I don't think that we'll see all
(32:19):
three of those teams make it. I do think we'll
see two of those three teams make it, and then
out West, the Giants seven pretty good chance to make it,
even though they're below five hundred right now. That to
me is is what I see as being a real
likely situation. I think we'll see both the Phillies and
the Marlins make of the Marlins, what a story they
have become Clay of course early on in the season,
nearly when you think about what happened with them in
(32:42):
their situation with COVID in the first four days of
the year, um just a disastrous start of the season,
but they have bounced back a young team, they're above
five hundred right now, they're in second place, and they're
on their way to making the playoffs for the first
time since winning the World Series in two thousand three.
So the Marlins a great story. I expect the Phillies
to make it as well. And your son's favorite team,
the Braves, right now looks like they're gonna be on
(33:02):
their way to win the National League East. Yeah, no
doubt at all. Uh. Last question for you, a lot
of questions about the Cardinals and how many games they're
gonna get in. What are you hearing they're sitting at
forty three complete other teams forty nine in the n L.
How many are the Cardinals gonna end up with. Well,
that's a great point, in Clay, and they will probably
schedule to get into forty or fifty eight games rather
(33:24):
so they'll be too shy when the season is over.
Right now, they're in a stretch of playing eighteen games
in fourteen days. Eighteen games in fourteen days. That's an
incredible stretch. I'm not sure if we've ever seen any
team play that many double headers in that narrow of
a time span. And so what's gonna happen is Clay,
from my understanding, if they get to the end of
the season and they have fifty eight games played in
(33:46):
those last two games would matter from the standpoint of
who makes the playoffs. MLB is going to try to
make those two games up in St. Louis, likely against
the Tigers on that last Monday in the season. Because
remember this is an important point, there are no the
usual tiebreaker games that you would see the game one
sixty three. We don't have those this year because everything
else has done mathematically for tiebreakers. So that's the only
(34:09):
scenario in which we would have baseball on that Monday
after the season is over, would be if those two
games are required to decide who's in the playoffs. Can't
wait to watch it. Appreciate you by the way. You
optimistic about the Wolverines playing quickly as we go out,
I am it sure sounds like letters a momentum building,
and it would be a welcome sight indeed to see
football back, no doubt. Fox Sports Radio has the best
(34:31):
sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our
shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and within the
I Heart Radio app search f s R to listen live.
A couple more people want to weigh in on the phones.
Dub who we got, Yeah, we got John in New York, John,
what's you got for me? Okay? Ty did Did John
(34:57):
misidentify the host of the show and then hang up
on him? Didn't punch him? Did you hang up on him?
Dub No. I think John may have paniced there. Did
John just totally panicked? Didn't? I mean he waited a while?
What do we have Do we have audio of John's debut?
I mean that was the equivalent of like he was
looking over the line, he saw the mic linebacker coming
and he just he bailed. He got He threw it
(35:19):
right in the third row of the seats. That might
be the fastest self self hang up of all time.
That was like Jimmy G in the pocket this week?
And oh yeah, that looked like Jimmy J. That Jimmy G.
I I have been for people who listen, I am
not a Jimmy G guy. I I look, I think
he's a twenty best, sixteenth best quarterback in the NFL.
Whatever else. Uh been a lot of praise at Jimmy G.
(35:40):
Do we have the audio of that quick bail? Yeah?
I just got it ready right now? All right? Here
here is where was that We went to New York
and here was the open. Yeah, we got John in
New York. John, what's gout? For me, okay, And I
mean we didn't hang up on him. He was like,
this isn't going well. He just went ahead and pulled
(36:01):
the rip cord. Who's up next? Ub? All right, let's
see have Fred and West Virginia can do any better? Fred,
Hopefully you'll last longer than than we are. Guy in
New York, I just don't ask my wife. Um, that's
a hell of it opening. I think you just hang
up now. Yeah, I don't know that you're gonna top
that line, all right, what you go for. I've been
(36:23):
working around throughout this whole pandemic. I've been working my
rear end off, all right. So my kids are so
much more active, and we've been doing a whole lot
more things. I've got my twelve year old daughter plays
travel basketball. I've got my one in high school play softball.
And we're busy, honestly. And with the with the extra
excitement around fantasy football, that's where my interest is. Like
(36:45):
I'm I'm I'm not for all the protesting and all
the political stuff that's going on within politics, but dude,
I love I mean, we love sports, you know. I Mean,
that's that's kind of where I'm at with it. Um
so man, I said, I play all the fantasy stuff.
I'm really involved with all that. I'll catch a little
bit of a game here and there a bit. Man,
we're traveling were I mean, we live here in West Virginia,
(37:06):
hike in, hitting some doing all kinds of activities. Um,
just staying busy. I mean, it's really kind of the
quarantine is really kind of focused the family time, you know,
and we we really focused around that kind of stuff.
So I don't have to sit in front of a
TV for four or five hours. Thanks for the call.
You know. It's interesting. My nine year old who turned
ten year old Monday, right like literally he turned ten
(37:29):
during the Titans UH Denver Bronco game. He said the
other day that the quarantine is his favorite time ever.
He didn't have to go to school. Mom and Dad
were around home all the time. We're watching movies together,
We're hanging out even more than we had in the past.
And I do think that. You know, look, there are
(37:51):
a lot of always negative stories associated with UH and
will be written for decades and hundreds of years probably
about any but one positive if you're looking for something
positive is I have heard a lot of people say
that it brought them closer to their family and uh
(38:11):
and and you know, I think there are a lot
of young kids out there that maybe their parents work
a lot, maybe their parents are busy, they're out of
the house, they're spending hours going to and from work,
and suddenly they were home and they were all around
and it was like times slowed down. And for young kids,
I think many of them are gonna look back on
it and be like, Hey, that's the best time I
(38:33):
ever got to spend with my mom and dad. All right,
more of your calls eight seven seven nine six six
three six nine open phone lines right now. The NFL
ratings have tanked. Have you been watching? If not, why not?
This is outkicked the coverage with Clay Travis
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