July 13, 2026 • 42 mins
Another edition of where Colin was right and where he was wrong
Alexi Lalas stops by The Herd to talk about the final teams left in the World Cup, the controversial call in the Argentina-Switzerland game that lead to Breel Embolo being sent off, Christian Pulisic poor performance, and more.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Here we go. It's our two and a Monday.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
It is an absolute pleasure to have you in a
lot of choices out there.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
We got a great week. We got a great week.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Alexi Lawless in five minutes, Derek Jeter stopping by home
run derby tonight, all Star festivities in the All Star.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Game tomorrow, so much fun.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Well we'll ask Mbolo of Switzerland and flopped, Jamax says,
just ignore it, let him play. It had been a
point of emphasis for the referees of the World Cup,
the flopping thing, hurrying up play. They've been you know,
those kind of dead ball situations. They've been doing a
very good job of that. So it's just an interesting
(01:06):
I understand both sides, but like you know, they've been
saying no flopping.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
We're gonna be tough on flopping. It just was not
the great Is.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
It on the athlete to be smarter than that in
that moment? Now we talk about it all the time.
In the NBA during the finals, they don't call anything.
You get to a Super Bowl. They don't want to
call a big pass interference to the fourth quarter. They
just get out of the way. Let the players win.
There's certainly that argument. Alexi Lallas. In five minutes, I'll
have that Colin right, Colin wrong on a Monday, and
here we.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Go where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I've said for years, March madness doesn't matter. People love favorites.
The World Cup. The top four rank FEFIT teams are
still alive and the ratings are once again illustrating. America
loves favorites and America loves brands and stars. Cape Verde
was a wonderful story, and even better story is France
(01:57):
and England and Spain and Argentina is still around underdogs
tug at our heart, maybe because most of us are
underdogs in life. But in the end, the big brands
and the big stars are why this is smashing previous World.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Cup records where Colin was raw.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Listen, I've been a huge supporter of Christian Polisic, I
think as our most skilled player in the history of
the United States soccer. I have said I think he's
internationally special, but he's got one goal in two World Cups,
and in the nine World Cup games he could be
a part of four of them, he has missed entirely
or left early with an injury. Availability is part of greatness.
(02:38):
You've got to be available. Messi is small, He's seemingly
never misses games, certainly at the World Cup. And I
think it also looked like against Belgium that politic was timid.
Stars at the World Cup have to be the opposite
of that. Where Colin was right, NFL executives came out
with a top ten quarterback ranking based on executives, scouts, coaches,
(03:03):
all this stuff. Mahomes was number two to Josh Allen.
This is what we've been on for two years. Mahomes
has the better infrastructure, the better owner, had, the better coach,
very good general manager. Allen's the better talent, his force,
his mobility, his strength, his durability. Josh Allen is the
(03:25):
best football player and the best quarterback.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
In the NFL.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Where Colin was raw, I thought we could beat and
be highly competitive against Belgium, and we were not. Our
goalkeeping always a concern, plus our back line was inferior.
Two minutes into this contest. Two minutes into this match,
it was very clear we could not maintain possession. We
(03:51):
were cautious. It was humbling and I got to take
a gigantic l on that. Where Colin was right. Been
saying for years. Tomlin's a good coach, but he's part
of the problem. And a study came out last week
done in Pittsburgh, seventy eight percent of Steeler fans said,
Mike Tomlin and the lack of a quarterback plan is
(04:15):
the issue. I gotta give Steeler fans credit for this
because we've been saying this for years. And you can
never tell from the Internet or people that respond to
something you say, but it's always you're too tough on
the Steelers. Now when you asked real Steeler fans, anonymous study,
what's the problem. And I like Mike Tomlin, but even
pat Riley said years ago, you got about ten years
(04:37):
for a team or a franchise, you become noise.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
People tune you out. Tomlin was part of.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
The issue where Colin was wrong.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
I love the number five five pick in the NBA draft,
Keaton Bagler of Illinois. Wagler is an interesting guard, kind
of a late bloomer. I thought he was the steal
of the first ten picks.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
He struggled.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Second game, he thought, shot thirty seven percent against Utah,
first game, minus twenty three against Sacramento. Worse for the team.
Now now it's summer league. I think he still needs
to fill out. You know, he was not a five
star AJ debonsa Darren Peterson recruit.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
He wasn't.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
He was like a three star guy that was completely overlooked.
So he just physically needs to get stronger and get
into an NBA weight room for two or three years.
But I thought he was one of the steals of
the draft at five and first couple of games not
pretty at all for the.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Clips where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Back to that NFL top ten quarterback list. You know
who's not on it, little Jalen Hurts, an injury prone
brock perty Jason.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Are you watching? First?
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Of all, size matters at the position. Russell Wilson convinced
a lot of people it doesn't because he was great
for a decade.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Is a small quarterback and the other thing.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Is to be healthy. Perty's hurt too much. You gotta
be available. And finally, where Colin was right, Oh.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
We're at the All Star break in baseball. This is interesting.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Oh the Rays lead a division, the Brewers' small market,
small payroll leading division, the small payroll Chicago White Sox
lead a division. The Mets stink biggest payroll of the
top ten payrolls. Only two teams lead their division. Again,
nobody is denying that the Dodgers have pulled away from
(06:38):
the sport.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
But that's not just payroll.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
That's the brilliance of their front office and ownership to
defer payments. And it should be noted, even with that
all Star team in LA, they were pushed to a
game seven against the Blue Jays and needed about six
miracles to happen to beat Toronto. Money matters. There's probably
a baseline of payroll that matters. Cleveland, though, is succeeding Tampa's,
(07:04):
succeeding Milwaukee's, succeeding White Sox payrolls tiny. They're crushing this year.
Colin Wright, Colin wrong On a Monday. This segment is
brought to you by haileyon official partner of US Soccer
and the maker of Censidime, Tom's voltairean Advillain CenTra, the
brands behind your everyday wellness wins because every goal starts
(07:28):
with an assist on and off the field. Learn more
at Hailey unassist dot com. Slash iHeart Okay, I got
to bring in a Lexi Lowless. He's been sensational, irritating
the masses. He's joining us Okay embolo braill mbolo for Switzerland.
He takes a dive, he takes a flop, So let's.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Just start with that.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And there's two schools of thought. The stage is too
big to get him out.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Of a game.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
The other school of thought is these referees have made
this a point of emphasis at the World Cup and
this was a dive. What side are you on? What
is your take on that? Because it does affect outcomes.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
It does affect outcomes, and you are punishing this player
in the biggest moment of his career, and not just
punishing the player, but obviously punishing the team. And you know,
there's an argument to be made that Argentina was on
the ropes at that moment and switch of them may
have come and beaten Argentina Having said all.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Of that, you broke the law. You broke the law.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
And by the way, this is something that for years,
especially here in the United States, people have criticized and
lamented when it comes to the game relative to the
diving and the flopping and the embellishment. So in this moment,
the letter of the law was applied. It was a dive.
Everybody can see it as a dive.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
He was already on a yellow card.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
So I put the onus on this player in that
moment to recognize that even if you are a diver,
you can't be doing it in that moment and risking
what happens. So I have very little sympathy for the
player in that moment. He knew exactly what he was
doing and he paid the price.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Yeah, you've come out. I disagree with this take, but
it's a take and I appreciate it. Mauricio Pochettino. I
think going into this World Cup, we knew we had
our worst goalkeeping situation in a long time, maybe ever.
At the World Cup. We knew our back line was old,
and I honestly think we need some size. I think
that you watch against Belgium, it's like, guys, we need
some size. Our technical skill and excellence has improved. We're small,
(09:28):
we're fast, we're athletic, but we're small. But you're putting
it on Pochettino. Why Pochettino. Marisa Pochettino.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
Over the last two years, I think has done some
wonderful things, not the least of which is to, you know,
kind of harness and embrace and respect the American mentality
and spirit and inject that into the team. And I
think that that translated even in this in this tournament.
But let's be honest. The guy's being paid six million
dollars a year to do the things that we haven't
(09:58):
seen before we have been to a round of sixteen.
It was to win this particular game, and in that moment,
his team chose the worst possible moment to play the
worst possible game.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
It doesn't negate what he has done before, but.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Ultimately, he was a coach that didn't have to go
through qualifying and in this moment he couldn't get it done.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
And that's, you know, that is a problem. That's a
problem for him.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
He's the first person to understand that there are very
very fine margins when it comes to a World Cup
there are managers.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
I've lost kind of how many managers have now moved
on or been fired after this World Cup. So it's
a completely logical type of thing to do.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Now.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
If US Soccer continues with him, I do think that
we will be fine and we will continue on. But
it's really difficult to have multiple cycles. It gets old
very very quickly. And I know this was half a
cycle for him. He's going to have plenty of offers there.
But I just think it's difficult because there's this finite moment,
this is bookend that comes at the end of a cycle.
It's very difficult, I think to pick up where you
(10:57):
left off and continue on from there.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Alexi Lawas joining us it was interesting. I have been
a Pulisic supporter. I was greatly disappointed. I thought he
was timid against Belgium, and I said, listen, soccer media,
it's every four years. Your star can't know show okay,
he can't. We crush quarterbacks, young kids twenty two years old.
(11:22):
We crushed them on a Monday. During the NFL season,
Caleb Williams was remarkable. About half the weekends were like, well,
not good enough. What happened in the first quarter. That's
part of our American sports media landscape. We're tough on
football players. We tend to be a little player friendly,
in my opinion, in the NBA college athletes, because they're younger.
I think we've got it right. We criticize, but we
(11:43):
walk gently with college criticism. But with soccer, it's like, guys,
this is international.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
It's every four years.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
We're spending four hundred million dollars on this thing. And
I thought Polisic, I think he got a and I'm
not going to ever judge injuries, but be on that,
I thought he was timid in a big space. I
am not bothered by the criticism and I love him.
You're pretty pointed on your criticism. What did you make
of the deflection and the pushback on anybody that criticize Polisic, Well.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
Colin, you are not only a good looking man, but
you're also an intelligent man, and I completely agree with
you when it comes to this assessment. I actually think
one of the wonderful byproducts of this World Cup is
that so many people have come into the tent, and
so there's so much discourse, and you know, there's criticism
that goes on, and to your point, if American soccer
ever wants to be treated like the rest of the sports,
(12:38):
then we have to have this. Christian Pilistic is going
to be fine. He was put out there and put
himself out there as.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
The face of this national team.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
I think he is still well on his way to
becoming possibly the best American male.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
Soccer player ever. But the reality is is that in the.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
Most important moment, not just in a World Cup, but
in a home World Cup, he didn't show up up
And so this, you know, this challenge and this criticism
that's going on in.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
This debate about what he is.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
For a lot of people, it affirmed or confirmed what
they feel is that he is at times week and
we can body, we can mind, and that manifested during
this during this World Cup. And you know, for any star,
you cover them in all different sports. This comes with
the territory. Christian Polistic is going to be fine. He
(13:28):
can he can push back, he can he can say no,
you're wrong, or I don't, I don't agree with you
out there, as sometimes stars do. But this is what
a big boy or a big girl type of situation.
This is what we do when it comes to sports,
and it's not just it's not just sport of criticizing.
I think there is absolutely fair and valid criticism of
(13:49):
your major star not showing up at the most important time.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
It was in Seattle, it's home soil, it's a big moment,
and we didn't. We played cautiously and timidly, and I
think the criticism is.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Just all right.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
So, you know, Argentina is interesting. I think France is
the best team. I think England second. A lot of
people are saying, well, FIFA, Argentina appears to be getting
a friendly as we call it here in the State
selectioning a friendly whistle. Now, I will tell you that
(14:22):
var review against Egypt was a bunch of boloney.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
That was nonsense. This one you can make an argument.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
What about the contention that Argentina has gotten a friendly
FIFA whistle?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
I mean they have.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
Gotten an easier pathway on that side of the bracket,
all right. Now, is that by design or is that
the soccer gods or FIFA?
Speaker 4 (14:45):
Look, you know the.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
Tinfoil that's coming out right now when it comes to
how they are looking at it, you know this is
still this is still Argentina. They have Look, they have
gone to the well now on a number of games
and they have either you know, bailed themselves out, or
Messi's bailed them out, or in this case, the referees
bailed themselves out.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
And for a defending.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
Champion, obviously that does that doesn't look good.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
I don't buy.
Speaker 5 (15:11):
Into any of the conspiracy theories out there, but the
reality is that this upcoming game against England will probably
be their first real challenge against a team that is
on their level, and so we're really going to find
out what they are and if they if that well
still has any water left in it. You know, Messi
didn't do much in the last game, and we know
he doesn't run around a whole lot, so he's going
(15:33):
to be rested. You wonder if he's just keeping some
powder dry for England.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
By the way, my favorite quote I want to play
Thomas Tookele, the manager for Inglands. I thought my take
was it was one hundred and seven on the pitch for.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Norway and England.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
I've been to England a lot.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
It doesn't get to one hundred and seven regularly in England. Okay,
even though it's sunny today, I think twenty twenty five
was the sunniest.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Year in England in a long time.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
They don't have Miami weather, so they win. They're a
little sloppy and here is their manager after.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
The commitment is there. But we made life very very
difficult for us in the way we played. How we
played sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough,
not repetitive enough. We were lucky today. There's no mentality problem.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
This is pure mentality.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
This is pure mentality. You can bottle it up and
sell it.
Speaker 6 (16:34):
This is yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
So why is the prime for mentality? It's equality of
our games. That's it.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Okay, And Jude Bellingham, Jude Bellingham did not like this response.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Here's Jude Bellingham his style.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
One of those.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Said he was disappointed with a performance. There could have
been more in many different ways.
Speaker 7 (16:54):
Oh whatever, whatever, I think he he.
Speaker 5 (16:57):
Obviously believes that could be more from its Yeah.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
Yeah, it's difficult, it's difficult, it's a tough shift. Maybe
he doesn't know what it's like to play in those
kind of conditions against that in Harland O of god
News soil Off. You know that's not an easy team
to play against. So you know, I think we've tried
to create a positive environment. We should continue that going
into the final four.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Can't be highly enough for the last.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
All right, do we have a little bit of a
fissure with England?
Speaker 5 (17:26):
Oh my god, I inject this in my veins. This
is this is awesome, this is wonderful. Okay. So if
you're looking at this England team, let's put it in
like musical terms, right, so you have let's say that
you know, Harry Kane is Paul McCartney, Jude Bellingham is
John Lennon, and I guess who would be like George
(17:48):
Martin in terms of producing and trying to get the
most out of this team and recognizing that they can
do better. I think it was strategic in the way
that he answered the question. It was, you know, keep
in mind, for those that don't know, he's a German
and so it was a very German type of answer.
But again, I think what he was doing is making
(18:12):
sure that this team and the fan base for that matter,
recognize that it's not the same thing that has happened
in the past. Whereas in the past they might have
all celebrated and sing while you're winning and everything. In
this moment he.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Said, no, it's not good enough, because if.
Speaker 5 (18:28):
This is truly happening where they're going to win the
World Cup in the first sixty for the first time
in sixty years.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
They have got to be much better.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
And I think it was a healthy dose of reality
for the players. And I don't mind what Jude Belleham
said either. I love that there's that friction back and forth.
That's what makes him a great player, and maybe that's
what makes this the particular England team that's able to
do something for the first time in sixty years.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
And as you know, Aleklee, they've lost the European Championship.
They finished second place what is it three times? So
England's been this group is been good, England's been on
a heater, but they've been finishing second. So the truth
is this manager isn't trying to make them good. He's
trying to get them over the top and make them
(19:11):
the world's greatest. So they've finished second multiple times.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
Yeah, yeah, And Thomas Tookle recognizes that his job is
this much and if you're just listening, it's just it's
just a small little amount that he needs to but
it's comes sometimes the hardest amount to gain, and so
he recognizes in order to do that, they have got
to they have got to play well and play better.
I will say this, you know, I love poking England,
(19:36):
and look, I think that there are plenty of people
like myself that at times will hate watch England. This
is a likable England team. I don't know what they're doing,
but they're much more likable than other teams in the way.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
That they're going.
Speaker 5 (19:49):
I was talking with my brother the other day and
he said something interesting. He said, England in this tournament,
this version of England is what we wanted the US
team to be. That is it the best possible collection
of players, maybe the best possible collection of players.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
Is it the best talent out there?
Speaker 5 (20:06):
Maybe not, But they're coming together in a way I
can't even believe it. I'm saying that I might, I
might actually root for England. But you mentioned Argentina earlier.
I think the hate watchers have now kind of looked
to Argentina a whole lot.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
More than in England.
Speaker 5 (20:22):
Don't worry, I'm an old school England hate watchers, so
I'll keep doing it. But they're really trying to make
me like them and they're doing a good job at
different times.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah, well that went it as techa. I mean, you can't.
You have to respect it. Everybody in soccer, everybody in
the world knows that's a nightmare place to play in
that environment. And they had the two best players and
pulled away and it was glorious. And it's great seeing you,
my friend as Olas.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
You're the best.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Thanks Alexei Lawless. Yeah, it's.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
That manager just reminds me of Popovich and Saban and
Is and Belichick, and I mean that we've always had
these guys like you got to keep your.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Foot on the gas.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
And England has finished second in the European Championships multiple times,
so it's like they've been very good multiple times and
that's not good enough.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
That is not good.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
There's a buffalo Bills feel to them. You're like, okay,
we're very good. We know that we've got stars, we
know that.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
So so much fun.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
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Speaker 6 (21:39):
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(22:01):
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Speaker 1 (22:09):
Derek Jeter Final Hour All Star Game coming up on
Fox Home Run Derby tonight.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
That's interesting.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Alexi Lawless with a pretty bottom line opinion on the
flopping is rules or rules law is law.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
I'm one of those.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
I'm an American sports fan, so I've seen so many
NFL and NBA officials like Barry the whistle when you
get to these massive stages. But you know, I kind
of lead into Alexi on that one. In his take
is it's a point of emphasis. You made the mistake.
It's on the player, it's not on the official. Get
it right, don't worry about being right. And I can't
disagree with that. J Mack with the news.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
This is the third line News. Let's start with England too.
Speaker 8 (22:59):
Norway one a great game on Saturday, Colin. Remember we
came on here before the World Cup. I predicted England
would win it all. There are two wins away thanks
to Jude Bellingham's heroics. Here's that first goal. Just a
dynamite goal. Bellingham is a freaking superstar.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
I what a legend.
Speaker 8 (23:16):
Now, Harry Kane did not score. He had a great match.
And by the way, I can't believe for an hour
and a half and we haven't talked about Earling Holland pulling.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Himself out of the game.
Speaker 8 (23:25):
Yeah, in the second extra time sat out the last
fifteen minutes, Like what. Harry Kane, who's way? I think
he's thirty four years old, played the entire match. By
the way, Harry Kane afterward talking about his manager taket
some shots at the team.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Here's Harry.
Speaker 5 (23:41):
What it surprised you to know the manager wasn't happy
with the performance, as he told you that.
Speaker 9 (23:46):
Yeah, he just said there in a change of obviously, wow,
massive congratulations and we should enjoy it and celebrate. He
still feels like there's a part of him that knows
we can do better, which in a way is a
good thing. If we're in a semi final, woke up
knowing we can still improved, still find another level, then yeah,
we've got to take that as a positive.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Yeah, I think it I Alexi to me is spot on,
Like this is part of what grit makes the World
Cup amazing. Is there is so much volatility, so much intensity,
sudden death soccer. We're yelling about the replays and the
refs and Earling Holland and this is why it is
absolutely so built for us in America. It matters so much,
(24:29):
people care so deeply, and we're not dominant at it
because it's really hard to be dominant at it.
Speaker 8 (24:36):
And well, I don't know that we try to be dominant.
England has been dominant forever, but like you keep saying,
they got one World Cup title. Now, if you remember
our England Argentina in nineteen eighty six, that's the game
where Diego Maradona scored the hand of God goal.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
That was Argentina England.
Speaker 8 (24:52):
England has been still ticked off about that to this day,
rightfully so.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
And they won revenge.
Speaker 8 (24:58):
Colin and I do think Lawless was a little soft
pedaling it. I started to dig into some of the numbers.
Messi is wearing down. Okay, he's had six matches now,
he's thirty nine years old, the old too. He had
his least effective game in the World Cup against Switzerland.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Also, let's keep an eye on that.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
If you look at their starters, there's guys in the thirties.
This is a veteran team.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
We talked about Belgium aging out Argentina. It's going to
look different next World Cup.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
I think the announcer had it right.
Speaker 8 (25:27):
They started the oldest team in the last like sixty
years in the.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
World Cup in the quarterfinals. They've got an old roster.
Speaker 8 (25:33):
Now some of that, you know, it doesn't really matter
because their goalie is amazing and they have Messi I.
You know, I really want to take England here, Colin.
I can't wait for this. Honestly, I'm so fired up.
Harry Kane and Bellingham listen. I did go online to
try to get a Bellingham jersey. I was going to
get one for you too, because I know you love
to wear jerseys in public. But unfortunately, you know the
(25:56):
delay time, you're not going to get one for weeks.
I don't need it weeks from now. I needed to
week all right, Colin, let's move on to next story. Now,
this is this is interesting. NFL and analytics. We talked
about it. Soccer analytics is massive, Okay, basketball huge, baseball,
it's everything.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
What about the NFL?
Speaker 8 (26:12):
So Mike McDonald, the great coach of the Seahawks, was
on with Dan Patrick recently and he was talking about
analytics versus you know, gut feel. This is fascinating. Take
a listen to McDonald.
Speaker 10 (26:26):
Why wouldn't we use the best information out there? You don't,
you don't have to do it, But why would you
be scared about things that are going to possibly help you?
Speaker 4 (26:33):
So whyouldn't you just lean into it?
Speaker 10 (26:34):
Sometimes I turn into Vince Vaughn and wedding crashers, like
am I interested?
Speaker 4 (26:38):
Now?
Speaker 3 (26:38):
I'm not interested?
Speaker 10 (26:39):
Maybe I'm interested, she's interested, you know. So that's what's
going on in my mind probably twenty four to seven.
I don't think analytics drives our decisions. I think I
think they support our decisions. And really it's a starting
point on a lot of things. But you have to
go off the tape and you have to understand, like
how teams operate and you have to have a great
feel for your team.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Yeah, I have analytics always had holes. I'm like, would
Jalen Brown? Analytics hate him? But Jalen Brown's also willing
every night to go guard the best teams offensive player. Like,
does analytics track how much defensive effort he puts in?
And he's willing to guard you know, better players consistently,
and that wears down players. That's not to say that
(27:19):
the analytics on Jalen Brown are wrong, but I mean,
when you watch an NFL game, you kind of know
strengths and weaknesses of players. Also, you know where baseball
players goes down and plays in the minors, and an
NBA player, you know, comes from college and he's younger.
(27:39):
You know, analytics can help because there are things you
don't know. A college football player plays against the NFL
bodies in the Big Ten for three to four years.
You draft a guy, you got a lot of tape
on what he is. I know what he is and
what he can and can't do. And I think that's
why draftings a little easier in pro football. And I
don't know, I think analytics are fine, but I also
(28:01):
think they're built for basketball. And baseball more than football.
Speaker 8 (28:06):
So you see some Seahawks numbers on the screen there,
I will point out that was under Kubiak. Okay, offensively
the defensive numbers McDonald, but the offense will lose Kubiak.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
So colin your point about analytics.
Speaker 8 (28:17):
So baseball's one v one pitcher versus matter, right, pretty easy.
Analytics matter basketball five v five, soccer eleven or eleven.
Football's eleven on offense and then eleven on defense and
then special teams. So it's a little harder, right to
integrate all of that. I will say, I think McDonald
is probably, you know, being a little cagy here. They
(28:38):
don't drive our decisions, they support them.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
What does that even mean.
Speaker 8 (28:43):
I don't think he comes in this is what we're
gonna do, guys. No, he's looking at the numbers and
saying this is what works defense all the time.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
I would say this, sometimes in every business you have
an instinct.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
I mean there have been times on this show I think, oh,
this is going to be a really interesting lead, and
I'm wrong. The audience doesn't like it. The audience isn't interested.
I've done that before. It's kind of fascinating. You never
really master our business.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Right.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
What you think is popular isn't always popular. There's always
surprises with stuff. I mean the WNBA got totally caught
off guard by Caitlin Clark's popularity. It is like, oh
my god, the public loves her. I mean, we knew
in college she was popular. I did anybody guess she
would become that big? I mean, Taylor Swift was always popular.
Did anybody think she would just sell out Sofi Stadium
eight nights in a row? It's five years earlier. I
(29:28):
mean there are things in a business where you have
an instinct. Same in politics. I mean I think politics
every four years, Jason are fascinating. You're like, Wow, the
public really cares about this?
Speaker 2 (29:39):
I always say learn, But.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
I mean sometimes the public cares about something much more
than maybe people in the Beltway, people in Washington, DC.
They don't relate to it, and there are movements all
the time. So I do think what analytics does as
a football coach is you have tape, You have a
gut feeling.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
What does the data say?
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Because you don't want to get caught with con information
bias or recency bias, and the tape may say listen,
this guy's great performance is a bit of an outlier.
He's facing weaker teams. So I just like more information.
And I do think there's a certain arrogance that if
you don't look at data, you're trusting your instincts as
a politician or a coach way too much.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Yeah, one hundred percent agree.
Speaker 8 (30:21):
Now you mentioned on this show, you know analytics matter.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
People know J Mack.
Speaker 8 (30:25):
Why do you guys talk about the Cowboys? Can you
tell Cowherd to do less Cowboys? Well, you know, the
numbers show that people kind of care about Dallas when
they get when they're on in the primetime slots in Fox,
they drive huge numbers. I found this out early on
my podcast. I had got Caitlin Clark guest on. It
went through the roof massive, huge numbers.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
I'm like, what is this about?
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yeah, and you start.
Speaker 8 (30:44):
Doing a lot of Kaitlyn Clark. World Cup has been
a boon you write about World Cup online or do
a podcast.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
The numbers are big.
Speaker 8 (30:51):
So I'll just say this one analytics small thing from
I've seen in the NFL right now, you want to
throw on first down to get a shorter second down.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
That's obvious. That is something.
Speaker 8 (31:00):
This whole like run the ball to soften up. Now
that does does that's not necessarily it. You want to
throw to gain yards, so second down is shorter.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Like these are.
Speaker 8 (31:08):
Basic things that we didn't have twenty years ago.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Well also, and sometimes it goes to the absurd, but
you want to go forward on fourth down. And I
think that's developed over the last decade with analytics.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
That as the first analytic move in.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Football, at least in my you know, non data driven mind.
I mean, the first thing I noticed with analytics that
was changing was Andy Reid in Philadelphia started throwing on
third and three and it was very successful, and I'm like, oh,
he's And then it was Belichick went to the middle
of the field when he had Aaron Hernandez and Gronk,
(31:43):
he started forgetting the sidelines and really attacking the middle
of the field. Something there's some data that said that
was the unused space. We've also seen in the NFL,
safeties are now a much bigger deal. Safeties are having
a bit of a renaissance. Receiver appears to be a
little bit of a bubble. Is that analytics is that statistical?
(32:05):
So I think something over the last seven to ten
years is like going forward on fourth down is almost
like a given, Like if you get to the forty
five forty seven yards line and you have a reasonable
trust in your defense, you just go for it.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
I think that's a bit of analytics.
Speaker 8 (32:20):
And then, by the way, you're talking about Sam Darnold
earlier about why is it.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
He top ten?
Speaker 8 (32:24):
I hate to break it to you, analytics don't love him.
I'm not talking about passer rating and touchdowns in that
nonsense talk about the advanced sets.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
They don't say he's a top ten quarterback.
Speaker 8 (32:33):
Hurts is interesting though, Perty's very interesting because the analytics
love him, but the talking heads don't because he doesn't
look the part and he hasn't.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Won a Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
You know, talking head? I diagree, talking head.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Let's talk about the band, of course. All right, final story, Let's.
Speaker 8 (32:52):
Go back to the World Cup and listen. FIFA is
looking toward expansion. FIFA President Giohnny Infantino confirmed they will
examine a potential World Cup expansion to sixty four teams
in twenty thirty. I don't think this is that big
of a deal. I think it's great now. Of course
they did expand in this tournament, it was still a great.
(33:13):
The group stage was outstanding. There were some upsets. I
just don't want to hear in twenty thirty that Argentina
gets to play Madagascar, you know, and Zimbabwe gets a
cupcake course because Lio Messi is gonna be forty three.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Well, let's try to balance it out a little bit.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Yeah, I mean there's a little money grab to it.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Yes, same with the NCAA expanding March Madness, which absolutely
nobody asked for.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
It's a money grab. We all got it. J Mack
with a news.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Well, that's the news, and thanks for stopping by The.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Herd line new the NBA is becoming more like the NFL,
and the players in the NBA aren't quite ready for it.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
That's next heard.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (34:00):
Baseball's biggest stars are headed to Philly for the All
Star Game.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Your Don Alvarez, Juan Soto.
Speaker 8 (34:06):
And the game's best takes center stage in a mid
summer classic unlike any other Tomorrow at six point thirty
Eastern only on Fox.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Something to remember in twenty twenty six, you do not
own your salary. Fifty percent of it goes to taxes.
You own your brand. For most of a pro athlete's life,
salary was everything. Now it's really about brand. The smart money.
(34:38):
You can look this up and there's dumb money. Dumb
money now among rich people is the W two is
the salary? There's ways around that. And Victor wemban Yama
signed a new contract with the Spurs.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
He gets it.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
He's taken fifty one million less in this deal, fifty
one million less. This is very Tom Brady, Jalen Brunson.
What is Michael Jordan's brand, Winning Magic's brand, Winning Brady's brand,
winning tour billionaires. Brady probably gets there. Winning is the brand.
(35:20):
The brand is bigger than the W two. Brunson, Villanova,
super smart, got it.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Mello is minted in New York. But only one of them.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Brunson is a made man and Melo has more talent.
Melo's going to score all time more points. One of
them is a made man in New York. The NFL
has a hard cap and the NBA does that second
apron stuff is tricky. I mean, we looked at Oklahoma
City two years ago and we're like they're champions and
(35:55):
they've got a war chest, and then a year later
we're going, I don't know, Sam Presty's got to make
some moves here. Wemby gets it. Wemby understands Stefan Castle,
Dylan Harper if he hogs all the money.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
Jalen Brunson got this.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
The brand of winning is bigger than the W two.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
Mello never got that.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
I remember when Carmelo Anthony was in Denver and wanted
to go to New York. He basically trapped the Knicks.
Everybody in the world knew he was only going to
New York. So the Knicks had to give up complimentary pieces,
right like if you're gonna if you're gonna leave, do
what Al Sinder did in Milwaukee, don't tell anybody. If
you're gonna leave, keep it, you know, under wraps. So
(36:43):
your organization has power. And I look at right now,
I look at what is happening in sports, and there
is corporations love winners, Television networks love winners, play the
long game, build your brand. There are so many platforms.
Speaker 4 (37:04):
Now.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
When I was growing up, I did radio. Then you
could do a simulcast.
Speaker 4 (37:09):
That was it.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
There was no TikTok or IG or X or Spotify
or it was none of that. Now you can have
eight revenue streams, nine different places to build your brand
and drive revenue. But if you look at guys like Rinaldo,
they can make more money now on IG and build
(37:30):
their brand faster with young people on IG than they
can a TV network.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
So Wimby gets it.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
This is the new way to monetize at the highest level.
Take a little less now, build winning as your brand.
Never forget MJ and Magic are viewed as winners. They
had terrible contracts for years. They've more than made up
for it on the back end. Tom Brady only made
huge money in Tampa. He never met it in New England.
(38:00):
The minute he was on the market. You can look
up what Fox paid him. That was not just it
was winning. He was the winning quarterback. So I think
Wemby's really smart here Elon musk Space x Space salary
fifty four thousand dollars stuck, it's winning, it's taking some
(38:23):
of those profits, hiring better management. I really like what
Wemby did. I think he's watching. I think Wemby understands
when you true have true confidence, not inner scoreboard stuff.
You know, you see a lot of this inner scoreboard,
outer scoreboard, the outer scoreboard, what I say to my friends,
how I broadcast what I say. And then there's inner scoreboard,
(38:46):
which is real confidence. Real confidence is Brady and Jalen
Brunson and Wemby saying I'm gonna take a little less
because I want to be surrounded by more and I
want to win championships multiple If the Knicks go on
to win another championship, and they certainly could, it's a
veteran smart team. They've got their coach, they've got their
fourth quarter closer, they've got the Villanova guys, they've got depth,
(39:09):
they've got side.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
They have a good enough bench.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
What if Jalen Brunson wins another title. The money is
not going to be the problem for Jalen Brunson. For
Knick stars, it's always been winnings the problem. Money's a
lot of guys made money, all right. So I got
to tell you the England manager coming out and clobbering
(39:36):
his team and getting into a very kind of feisty
argument with the interviewer, and I thought England Norway Arling
Holland looked exhausted, it's one hundred and seven degrees.
Speaker 3 (39:47):
It's in Miami.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
If you're outside for five minutes in Miami in July,
if you've ever been there, I mean, good gud.
Speaker 3 (39:53):
That's like nothing in the United States.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
I mean there are certain humidities and temperatures New Orleans, Tampa, Miami,
you know, part of the South Midwest it's really hot.
Pacific Northwest hot is.
Speaker 3 (40:06):
Not Miami hot.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Oh hell.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
And I thought England, you know, England, Norway, it was exhausting.
So it almost led you were not going to have
an epic battle as much as you were. It was attrition.
It was survival. And so the British manager after comes
out and says, we're sloppy, We're bad, we didn't look good.
I thought it was very much weather created. Here was
Alexi Lawless on the England manager being critical of his
(40:32):
team after a win.
Speaker 5 (40:34):
I love poking England, and look, I think that there
are plenty of people like myself that at times will
hate watch England. This is a likable England team. I
don't know what they're doing. This version of England is
what we wanted the US team to beat in that
is it the best possible collection of players, maybe the
best possible collection of players. Is it the best talent
(40:56):
out there? Maybe not, but they're coming together in a way.
I can't even believe that I'm saying that I might.
I might actually root for England.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
J Mack.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
I want to circle back on the Wemby thing. I
think Jalen Brunson really did now with a hard cap.
You're seeing all these really good teams having to move
off players, and I think Wemby has the classic inner
scoreboard confidence, which is, I'm going to be around here
for fifteen years. I want titles. He just lost and
got bullied by the Knicks. And one of the reasons
he got bullied by the Knicks because their roster's so.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Darned deep O G.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
Mitchell Robinson, Karl Anthony Towns, Josh Hart. They just kept
throwing body and body, and he's like, I got a
backup center. When I am literally off the floor our
backup center. We're not the same basketball team. He wants
help in the post, he wants help on the bench.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
You think the Players Association likes it or not?
Speaker 3 (41:45):
No, they don't want it, of course not.
Speaker 8 (41:47):
Yeah, I love it personally, man A right for the
NBA number three, Derek Jeter, Fox Sports baseball analy
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Here we go. It's our two and a Monday.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
It is an absolute pleasure to have you in a
lot of choices out there.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
We got a great week. We got a great week.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Alexi Lawless in five minutes, Derek Jeter stopping by home
run derby tonight, all Star festivities in the All Star.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Game tomorrow, so much fun.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Well we'll ask Mbolo of Switzerland and flopped, Jamax says,
just ignore it, let him play. It had been a
point of emphasis for the referees of the World Cup,
the flopping thing, hurrying up play. They've been you know,
those kind of dead ball situations. They've been doing a
very good job of that. So it's just an interesting
(01:06):
I understand both sides, but like you know, they've been
saying no flopping.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
We're gonna be tough on flopping. It just was not
the great Is.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
It on the athlete to be smarter than that in
that moment? Now we talk about it all the time.
In the NBA during the finals, they don't call anything.
You get to a Super Bowl. They don't want to
call a big pass interference to the fourth quarter. They
just get out of the way. Let the players win.
There's certainly that argument. Alexi Lallas. In five minutes, I'll
have that Colin right, Colin wrong on a Monday, and
here we.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Go where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I've said for years, March madness doesn't matter. People love favorites.
The World Cup. The top four rank FEFIT teams are
still alive and the ratings are once again illustrating. America
loves favorites and America loves brands and stars. Cape Verde
was a wonderful story, and even better story is France
(01:57):
and England and Spain and Argentina is still around underdogs
tug at our heart, maybe because most of us are
underdogs in life. But in the end, the big brands
and the big stars are why this is smashing previous World.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Cup records where Colin was raw.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Listen, I've been a huge supporter of Christian Polisic, I
think as our most skilled player in the history of
the United States soccer. I have said I think he's
internationally special, but he's got one goal in two World Cups,
and in the nine World Cup games he could be
a part of four of them, he has missed entirely
or left early with an injury. Availability is part of greatness.
(02:38):
You've got to be available. Messi is small, He's seemingly
never misses games, certainly at the World Cup. And I
think it also looked like against Belgium that politic was timid.
Stars at the World Cup have to be the opposite
of that. Where Colin was right, NFL executives came out
with a top ten quarterback ranking based on executives, scouts, coaches,
(03:03):
all this stuff. Mahomes was number two to Josh Allen.
This is what we've been on for two years. Mahomes
has the better infrastructure, the better owner, had, the better coach,
very good general manager. Allen's the better talent, his force,
his mobility, his strength, his durability. Josh Allen is the
(03:25):
best football player and the best quarterback.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
In the NFL.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Where Colin was raw, I thought we could beat and
be highly competitive against Belgium, and we were not. Our
goalkeeping always a concern, plus our back line was inferior.
Two minutes into this contest. Two minutes into this match,
it was very clear we could not maintain possession. We
(03:51):
were cautious. It was humbling and I got to take
a gigantic l on that. Where Colin was right. Been
saying for years. Tomlin's a good coach, but he's part
of the problem. And a study came out last week
done in Pittsburgh, seventy eight percent of Steeler fans said,
Mike Tomlin and the lack of a quarterback plan is
(04:15):
the issue. I gotta give Steeler fans credit for this
because we've been saying this for years. And you can
never tell from the Internet or people that respond to
something you say, but it's always you're too tough on
the Steelers. Now when you asked real Steeler fans, anonymous study,
what's the problem. And I like Mike Tomlin, but even
pat Riley said years ago, you got about ten years
(04:37):
for a team or a franchise, you become noise.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
People tune you out. Tomlin was part of.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
The issue where Colin was wrong.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
I love the number five five pick in the NBA draft,
Keaton Bagler of Illinois. Wagler is an interesting guard, kind
of a late bloomer. I thought he was the steal
of the first ten picks.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
He struggled.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Second game, he thought, shot thirty seven percent against Utah,
first game, minus twenty three against Sacramento. Worse for the team.
Now now it's summer league. I think he still needs
to fill out. You know, he was not a five
star AJ debonsa Darren Peterson recruit.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
He wasn't.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
He was like a three star guy that was completely overlooked.
So he just physically needs to get stronger and get
into an NBA weight room for two or three years.
But I thought he was one of the steals of
the draft at five and first couple of games not
pretty at all for the.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Clips where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Back to that NFL top ten quarterback list. You know
who's not on it, little Jalen Hurts, an injury prone
brock perty Jason.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Are you watching? First?
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Of all, size matters at the position. Russell Wilson convinced
a lot of people it doesn't because he was great
for a decade.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Is a small quarterback and the other thing.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Is to be healthy. Perty's hurt too much. You gotta
be available. And finally, where Colin was right, Oh.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
We're at the All Star break in baseball. This is interesting.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Oh the Rays lead a division, the Brewers' small market,
small payroll leading division, the small payroll Chicago White Sox
lead a division. The Mets stink biggest payroll of the
top ten payrolls. Only two teams lead their division. Again,
nobody is denying that the Dodgers have pulled away from
(06:38):
the sport.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
But that's not just payroll.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
That's the brilliance of their front office and ownership to
defer payments. And it should be noted, even with that
all Star team in LA, they were pushed to a
game seven against the Blue Jays and needed about six
miracles to happen to beat Toronto. Money matters. There's probably
a baseline of payroll that matters. Cleveland, though, is succeeding Tampa's,
(07:04):
succeeding Milwaukee's, succeeding White Sox payrolls tiny. They're crushing this year.
Colin Wright, Colin wrong On a Monday. This segment is
brought to you by haileyon official partner of US Soccer
and the maker of Censidime, Tom's voltairean Advillain CenTra, the
brands behind your everyday wellness wins because every goal starts
(07:28):
with an assist on and off the field. Learn more
at Hailey unassist dot com. Slash iHeart Okay, I got
to bring in a Lexi Lowless. He's been sensational, irritating
the masses. He's joining us Okay embolo braill mbolo for Switzerland.
He takes a dive, he takes a flop, So let's.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Just start with that.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And there's two schools of thought. The stage is too
big to get him out.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Of a game.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
The other school of thought is these referees have made
this a point of emphasis at the World Cup and
this was a dive. What side are you on? What
is your take on that? Because it does affect outcomes.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
It does affect outcomes, and you are punishing this player
in the biggest moment of his career, and not just
punishing the player, but obviously punishing the team. And you know,
there's an argument to be made that Argentina was on
the ropes at that moment and switch of them may
have come and beaten Argentina Having said all.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Of that, you broke the law. You broke the law.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
And by the way, this is something that for years,
especially here in the United States, people have criticized and
lamented when it comes to the game relative to the
diving and the flopping and the embellishment. So in this moment,
the letter of the law was applied. It was a dive.
Everybody can see it as a dive.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
He was already on a yellow card.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
So I put the onus on this player in that
moment to recognize that even if you are a diver,
you can't be doing it in that moment and risking
what happens. So I have very little sympathy for the
player in that moment. He knew exactly what he was
doing and he paid the price.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Yeah, you've come out. I disagree with this take, but
it's a take and I appreciate it. Mauricio Pochettino. I
think going into this World Cup, we knew we had
our worst goalkeeping situation in a long time, maybe ever.
At the World Cup. We knew our back line was old,
and I honestly think we need some size. I think
that you watch against Belgium, it's like, guys, we need
some size. Our technical skill and excellence has improved. We're small,
(09:28):
we're fast, we're athletic, but we're small. But you're putting
it on Pochettino. Why Pochettino. Marisa Pochettino.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
Over the last two years, I think has done some
wonderful things, not the least of which is to, you know,
kind of harness and embrace and respect the American mentality
and spirit and inject that into the team. And I
think that that translated even in this in this tournament.
But let's be honest. The guy's being paid six million
dollars a year to do the things that we haven't
(09:58):
seen before we have been to a round of sixteen.
It was to win this particular game, and in that moment,
his team chose the worst possible moment to play the
worst possible game.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
It doesn't negate what he has done before, but.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Ultimately, he was a coach that didn't have to go
through qualifying and in this moment he couldn't get it done.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
And that's, you know, that is a problem. That's a
problem for him.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
He's the first person to understand that there are very
very fine margins when it comes to a World Cup
there are managers.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
I've lost kind of how many managers have now moved
on or been fired after this World Cup. So it's
a completely logical type of thing to do.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Now.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
If US Soccer continues with him, I do think that
we will be fine and we will continue on. But
it's really difficult to have multiple cycles. It gets old
very very quickly. And I know this was half a
cycle for him. He's going to have plenty of offers there.
But I just think it's difficult because there's this finite moment,
this is bookend that comes at the end of a cycle.
It's very difficult, I think to pick up where you
(10:57):
left off and continue on from there.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Alexi Lawas joining us it was interesting. I have been
a Pulisic supporter. I was greatly disappointed. I thought he
was timid against Belgium, and I said, listen, soccer media,
it's every four years. Your star can't know show okay,
he can't. We crush quarterbacks, young kids twenty two years old.
(11:22):
We crushed them on a Monday. During the NFL season,
Caleb Williams was remarkable. About half the weekends were like, well,
not good enough. What happened in the first quarter. That's
part of our American sports media landscape. We're tough on
football players. We tend to be a little player friendly,
in my opinion, in the NBA college athletes, because they're younger.
I think we've got it right. We criticize, but we
(11:43):
walk gently with college criticism. But with soccer, it's like, guys,
this is international.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
It's every four years.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
We're spending four hundred million dollars on this thing. And
I thought Polisic, I think he got a and I'm
not going to ever judge injuries, but be on that,
I thought he was timid in a big space. I
am not bothered by the criticism and I love him.
You're pretty pointed on your criticism. What did you make
of the deflection and the pushback on anybody that criticize Polisic, Well.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
Colin, you are not only a good looking man, but
you're also an intelligent man, and I completely agree with
you when it comes to this assessment. I actually think
one of the wonderful byproducts of this World Cup is
that so many people have come into the tent, and
so there's so much discourse, and you know, there's criticism
that goes on, and to your point, if American soccer
ever wants to be treated like the rest of the sports,
(12:38):
then we have to have this. Christian Pilistic is going
to be fine. He was put out there and put
himself out there as.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
The face of this national team.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
I think he is still well on his way to
becoming possibly the best American male.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
Soccer player ever. But the reality is is that in the.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
Most important moment, not just in a World Cup, but
in a home World Cup, he didn't show up up
And so this, you know, this challenge and this criticism
that's going on in.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
This debate about what he is.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
For a lot of people, it affirmed or confirmed what
they feel is that he is at times week and
we can body, we can mind, and that manifested during
this during this World Cup. And you know, for any star,
you cover them in all different sports. This comes with
the territory. Christian Polistic is going to be fine. He
(13:28):
can he can push back, he can he can say no,
you're wrong, or I don't, I don't agree with you
out there, as sometimes stars do. But this is what
a big boy or a big girl type of situation.
This is what we do when it comes to sports,
and it's not just it's not just sport of criticizing.
I think there is absolutely fair and valid criticism of
(13:49):
your major star not showing up at the most important time.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
It was in Seattle, it's home soil, it's a big moment,
and we didn't. We played cautiously and timidly, and I
think the criticism is.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Just all right.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
So, you know, Argentina is interesting. I think France is
the best team. I think England second. A lot of
people are saying, well, FIFA, Argentina appears to be getting
a friendly as we call it here in the State
selectioning a friendly whistle. Now, I will tell you that
(14:22):
var review against Egypt was a bunch of boloney.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
That was nonsense. This one you can make an argument.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
What about the contention that Argentina has gotten a friendly
FIFA whistle?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
I mean they have.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
Gotten an easier pathway on that side of the bracket,
all right. Now, is that by design or is that
the soccer gods or FIFA?
Speaker 4 (14:45):
Look, you know the.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
Tinfoil that's coming out right now when it comes to
how they are looking at it, you know this is
still this is still Argentina. They have Look, they have
gone to the well now on a number of games
and they have either you know, bailed themselves out, or
Messi's bailed them out, or in this case, the referees
bailed themselves out.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
And for a defending.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
Champion, obviously that does that doesn't look good.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
I don't buy.
Speaker 5 (15:11):
Into any of the conspiracy theories out there, but the
reality is that this upcoming game against England will probably
be their first real challenge against a team that is
on their level, and so we're really going to find
out what they are and if they if that well
still has any water left in it. You know, Messi
didn't do much in the last game, and we know
he doesn't run around a whole lot, so he's going
(15:33):
to be rested. You wonder if he's just keeping some
powder dry for England.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
By the way, my favorite quote I want to play
Thomas Tookele, the manager for Inglands. I thought my take
was it was one hundred and seven on the pitch for.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Norway and England.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
I've been to England a lot.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
It doesn't get to one hundred and seven regularly in England. Okay,
even though it's sunny today, I think twenty twenty five
was the sunniest.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Year in England in a long time.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
They don't have Miami weather, so they win. They're a
little sloppy and here is their manager after.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
The commitment is there. But we made life very very
difficult for us in the way we played. How we
played sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough,
not repetitive enough. We were lucky today. There's no mentality problem.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
This is pure mentality.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
This is pure mentality. You can bottle it up and
sell it.
Speaker 6 (16:34):
This is yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
So why is the prime for mentality? It's equality of
our games. That's it.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Okay, And Jude Bellingham, Jude Bellingham did not like this response.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Here's Jude Bellingham his style.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
One of those.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Said he was disappointed with a performance. There could have
been more in many different ways.
Speaker 7 (16:54):
Oh whatever, whatever, I think he he.
Speaker 5 (16:57):
Obviously believes that could be more from its Yeah.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
Yeah, it's difficult, it's difficult, it's a tough shift. Maybe
he doesn't know what it's like to play in those
kind of conditions against that in Harland O of god
News soil Off. You know that's not an easy team
to play against. So you know, I think we've tried
to create a positive environment. We should continue that going
into the final four.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Can't be highly enough for the last.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
All right, do we have a little bit of a
fissure with England?
Speaker 5 (17:26):
Oh my god, I inject this in my veins. This
is this is awesome, this is wonderful. Okay. So if
you're looking at this England team, let's put it in
like musical terms, right, so you have let's say that
you know, Harry Kane is Paul McCartney, Jude Bellingham is
John Lennon, and I guess who would be like George
(17:48):
Martin in terms of producing and trying to get the
most out of this team and recognizing that they can
do better. I think it was strategic in the way
that he answered the question. It was, you know, keep
in mind, for those that don't know, he's a German
and so it was a very German type of answer.
But again, I think what he was doing is making
(18:12):
sure that this team and the fan base for that matter,
recognize that it's not the same thing that has happened
in the past. Whereas in the past they might have
all celebrated and sing while you're winning and everything. In
this moment he.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Said, no, it's not good enough, because if.
Speaker 5 (18:28):
This is truly happening where they're going to win the
World Cup in the first sixty for the first time
in sixty years.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
They have got to be much better.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
And I think it was a healthy dose of reality
for the players. And I don't mind what Jude Belleham
said either. I love that there's that friction back and forth.
That's what makes him a great player, and maybe that's
what makes this the particular England team that's able to
do something for the first time in sixty years.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
And as you know, Aleklee, they've lost the European Championship.
They finished second place what is it three times? So
England's been this group is been good, England's been on
a heater, but they've been finishing second. So the truth
is this manager isn't trying to make them good. He's
trying to get them over the top and make them
(19:11):
the world's greatest. So they've finished second multiple times.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
Yeah, yeah, And Thomas Tookle recognizes that his job is
this much and if you're just listening, it's just it's
just a small little amount that he needs to but
it's comes sometimes the hardest amount to gain, and so
he recognizes in order to do that, they have got
to they have got to play well and play better.
I will say this, you know, I love poking England,
(19:36):
and look, I think that there are plenty of people
like myself that at times will hate watch England. This
is a likable England team. I don't know what they're doing,
but they're much more likable than other teams in the way.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
That they're going.
Speaker 5 (19:49):
I was talking with my brother the other day and
he said something interesting. He said, England in this tournament,
this version of England is what we wanted the US
team to be. That is it the best possible collection
of players, maybe the best possible collection of players.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
Is it the best talent out there?
Speaker 5 (20:06):
Maybe not, But they're coming together in a way I
can't even believe it. I'm saying that I might, I
might actually root for England. But you mentioned Argentina earlier.
I think the hate watchers have now kind of looked
to Argentina a whole lot.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
More than in England.
Speaker 5 (20:22):
Don't worry, I'm an old school England hate watchers, so
I'll keep doing it. But they're really trying to make
me like them and they're doing a good job at
different times.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah, well that went it as techa. I mean, you can't.
You have to respect it. Everybody in soccer, everybody in
the world knows that's a nightmare place to play in
that environment. And they had the two best players and
pulled away and it was glorious. And it's great seeing you,
my friend as Olas.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
You're the best.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Thanks Alexei Lawless. Yeah, it's.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
That manager just reminds me of Popovich and Saban and
Is and Belichick, and I mean that we've always had
these guys like you got to keep your.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Foot on the gas.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
And England has finished second in the European Championships multiple times,
so it's like they've been very good multiple times and
that's not good enough.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
That is not good.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
There's a buffalo Bills feel to them. You're like, okay,
we're very good. We know that we've got stars, we
know that.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
So so much fun.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
One More Heard. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day,
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Speaker 6 (21:39):
Hey, it's Ben, host of the Fifth Hour with Ben
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(22:01):
facts about human nature and more. Listen to the Fifth
Hour with Ben Mather on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast
or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Derek Jeter Final Hour All Star Game coming up on
Fox Home Run Derby tonight.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
That's interesting.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Alexi Lawless with a pretty bottom line opinion on the
flopping is rules or rules law is law.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
I'm one of those.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
I'm an American sports fan, so I've seen so many
NFL and NBA officials like Barry the whistle when you
get to these massive stages. But you know, I kind
of lead into Alexi on that one. In his take
is it's a point of emphasis. You made the mistake.
It's on the player, it's not on the official. Get
it right, don't worry about being right. And I can't
disagree with that. J Mack with the news.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
This is the third line News. Let's start with England too.
Speaker 8 (22:59):
Norway one a great game on Saturday, Colin. Remember we
came on here before the World Cup. I predicted England
would win it all. There are two wins away thanks
to Jude Bellingham's heroics. Here's that first goal. Just a
dynamite goal. Bellingham is a freaking superstar.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
I what a legend.
Speaker 8 (23:16):
Now, Harry Kane did not score. He had a great match.
And by the way, I can't believe for an hour
and a half and we haven't talked about Earling Holland pulling.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Himself out of the game.
Speaker 8 (23:25):
Yeah, in the second extra time sat out the last
fifteen minutes, Like what. Harry Kane, who's way? I think
he's thirty four years old, played the entire match. By
the way, Harry Kane afterward talking about his manager taket
some shots at the team.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Here's Harry.
Speaker 5 (23:41):
What it surprised you to know the manager wasn't happy
with the performance, as he told you that.
Speaker 9 (23:46):
Yeah, he just said there in a change of obviously, wow,
massive congratulations and we should enjoy it and celebrate. He
still feels like there's a part of him that knows
we can do better, which in a way is a
good thing. If we're in a semi final, woke up
knowing we can still improved, still find another level, then yeah,
we've got to take that as a positive.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Yeah, I think it I Alexi to me is spot on,
Like this is part of what grit makes the World
Cup amazing. Is there is so much volatility, so much intensity,
sudden death soccer. We're yelling about the replays and the
refs and Earling Holland and this is why it is
absolutely so built for us in America. It matters so much,
(24:29):
people care so deeply, and we're not dominant at it
because it's really hard to be dominant at it.
Speaker 8 (24:36):
And well, I don't know that we try to be dominant.
England has been dominant forever, but like you keep saying,
they got one World Cup title. Now, if you remember
our England Argentina in nineteen eighty six, that's the game
where Diego Maradona scored the hand of God goal.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
That was Argentina England.
Speaker 8 (24:52):
England has been still ticked off about that to this day,
rightfully so.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
And they won revenge.
Speaker 8 (24:58):
Colin and I do think Lawless was a little soft
pedaling it. I started to dig into some of the numbers.
Messi is wearing down. Okay, he's had six matches now,
he's thirty nine years old, the old too. He had
his least effective game in the World Cup against Switzerland.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Also, let's keep an eye on that.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
If you look at their starters, there's guys in the thirties.
This is a veteran team.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
We talked about Belgium aging out Argentina. It's going to
look different next World Cup.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
I think the announcer had it right.
Speaker 8 (25:27):
They started the oldest team in the last like sixty
years in the.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
World Cup in the quarterfinals. They've got an old roster.
Speaker 8 (25:33):
Now some of that, you know, it doesn't really matter
because their goalie is amazing and they have Messi I.
You know, I really want to take England here, Colin.
I can't wait for this. Honestly, I'm so fired up.
Harry Kane and Bellingham listen. I did go online to
try to get a Bellingham jersey. I was going to
get one for you too, because I know you love
to wear jerseys in public. But unfortunately, you know the
(25:56):
delay time, you're not going to get one for weeks.
I don't need it weeks from now. I needed to
week all right, Colin, let's move on to next story. Now,
this is this is interesting. NFL and analytics. We talked
about it. Soccer analytics is massive, Okay, basketball huge, baseball,
it's everything.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
What about the NFL?
Speaker 8 (26:12):
So Mike McDonald, the great coach of the Seahawks, was
on with Dan Patrick recently and he was talking about
analytics versus you know, gut feel. This is fascinating. Take
a listen to McDonald.
Speaker 10 (26:26):
Why wouldn't we use the best information out there? You don't,
you don't have to do it, But why would you
be scared about things that are going to possibly help you?
Speaker 4 (26:33):
So whyouldn't you just lean into it?
Speaker 10 (26:34):
Sometimes I turn into Vince Vaughn and wedding crashers, like
am I interested?
Speaker 4 (26:38):
Now?
Speaker 3 (26:38):
I'm not interested?
Speaker 10 (26:39):
Maybe I'm interested, she's interested, you know. So that's what's
going on in my mind probably twenty four to seven.
I don't think analytics drives our decisions. I think I
think they support our decisions. And really it's a starting
point on a lot of things. But you have to
go off the tape and you have to understand, like
how teams operate and you have to have a great
feel for your team.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Yeah, I have analytics always had holes. I'm like, would
Jalen Brown? Analytics hate him? But Jalen Brown's also willing
every night to go guard the best teams offensive player. Like,
does analytics track how much defensive effort he puts in?
And he's willing to guard you know, better players consistently,
and that wears down players. That's not to say that
(27:19):
the analytics on Jalen Brown are wrong, but I mean,
when you watch an NFL game, you kind of know
strengths and weaknesses of players. Also, you know where baseball
players goes down and plays in the minors, and an
NBA player, you know, comes from college and he's younger.
(27:39):
You know, analytics can help because there are things you
don't know. A college football player plays against the NFL
bodies in the Big Ten for three to four years.
You draft a guy, you got a lot of tape
on what he is. I know what he is and
what he can and can't do. And I think that's
why draftings a little easier in pro football. And I
don't know, I think analytics are fine, but I also
(28:01):
think they're built for basketball. And baseball more than football.
Speaker 8 (28:06):
So you see some Seahawks numbers on the screen there,
I will point out that was under Kubiak. Okay, offensively
the defensive numbers McDonald, but the offense will lose Kubiak.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
So colin your point about analytics.
Speaker 8 (28:17):
So baseball's one v one pitcher versus matter, right, pretty easy.
Analytics matter basketball five v five, soccer eleven or eleven.
Football's eleven on offense and then eleven on defense and
then special teams. So it's a little harder, right to
integrate all of that. I will say, I think McDonald
is probably, you know, being a little cagy here. They
(28:38):
don't drive our decisions, they support them.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
What does that even mean.
Speaker 8 (28:43):
I don't think he comes in this is what we're
gonna do, guys. No, he's looking at the numbers and
saying this is what works defense all the time.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
I would say this, sometimes in every business you have
an instinct.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
I mean there have been times on this show I think, oh,
this is going to be a really interesting lead, and
I'm wrong. The audience doesn't like it. The audience isn't interested.
I've done that before. It's kind of fascinating. You never
really master our business.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Right.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
What you think is popular isn't always popular. There's always
surprises with stuff. I mean the WNBA got totally caught
off guard by Caitlin Clark's popularity. It is like, oh
my god, the public loves her. I mean, we knew
in college she was popular. I did anybody guess she
would become that big? I mean, Taylor Swift was always popular.
Did anybody think she would just sell out Sofi Stadium
eight nights in a row? It's five years earlier. I
(29:28):
mean there are things in a business where you have
an instinct. Same in politics. I mean I think politics
every four years, Jason are fascinating. You're like, Wow, the
public really cares about this?
Speaker 2 (29:39):
I always say learn, But.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
I mean sometimes the public cares about something much more
than maybe people in the Beltway, people in Washington, DC.
They don't relate to it, and there are movements all
the time. So I do think what analytics does as
a football coach is you have tape, You have a
gut feeling.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
What does the data say?
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Because you don't want to get caught with con information
bias or recency bias, and the tape may say listen,
this guy's great performance is a bit of an outlier.
He's facing weaker teams. So I just like more information.
And I do think there's a certain arrogance that if
you don't look at data, you're trusting your instincts as
a politician or a coach way too much.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Yeah, one hundred percent agree.
Speaker 8 (30:21):
Now you mentioned on this show, you know analytics matter.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
People know J Mack.
Speaker 8 (30:25):
Why do you guys talk about the Cowboys? Can you
tell Cowherd to do less Cowboys? Well, you know, the
numbers show that people kind of care about Dallas when
they get when they're on in the primetime slots in Fox,
they drive huge numbers. I found this out early on
my podcast. I had got Caitlin Clark guest on. It
went through the roof massive, huge numbers.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
I'm like, what is this about?
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yeah, and you start.
Speaker 8 (30:44):
Doing a lot of Kaitlyn Clark. World Cup has been
a boon you write about World Cup online or do
a podcast.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
The numbers are big.
Speaker 8 (30:51):
So I'll just say this one analytics small thing from
I've seen in the NFL right now, you want to
throw on first down to get a shorter second down.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
That's obvious. That is something.
Speaker 8 (31:00):
This whole like run the ball to soften up. Now
that does does that's not necessarily it. You want to
throw to gain yards, so second down is shorter.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Like these are.
Speaker 8 (31:08):
Basic things that we didn't have twenty years ago.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Well also, and sometimes it goes to the absurd, but
you want to go forward on fourth down. And I
think that's developed over the last decade with analytics.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
That as the first analytic move in.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Football, at least in my you know, non data driven mind.
I mean, the first thing I noticed with analytics that
was changing was Andy Reid in Philadelphia started throwing on
third and three and it was very successful, and I'm like, oh,
he's And then it was Belichick went to the middle
of the field when he had Aaron Hernandez and Gronk,
(31:43):
he started forgetting the sidelines and really attacking the middle
of the field. Something there's some data that said that
was the unused space. We've also seen in the NFL,
safeties are now a much bigger deal. Safeties are having
a bit of a renaissance. Receiver appears to be a
little bit of a bubble. Is that analytics is that statistical?
(32:05):
So I think something over the last seven to ten
years is like going forward on fourth down is almost
like a given, Like if you get to the forty
five forty seven yards line and you have a reasonable
trust in your defense, you just go for it.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
I think that's a bit of analytics.
Speaker 8 (32:20):
And then, by the way, you're talking about Sam Darnold
earlier about why is it.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
He top ten?
Speaker 8 (32:24):
I hate to break it to you, analytics don't love him.
I'm not talking about passer rating and touchdowns in that
nonsense talk about the advanced sets.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
They don't say he's a top ten quarterback.
Speaker 8 (32:33):
Hurts is interesting though, Perty's very interesting because the analytics
love him, but the talking heads don't because he doesn't
look the part and he hasn't.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Won a Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
You know, talking head? I diagree, talking head.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Let's talk about the band, of course. All right, final story, Let's.
Speaker 8 (32:52):
Go back to the World Cup and listen. FIFA is
looking toward expansion. FIFA President Giohnny Infantino confirmed they will
examine a potential World Cup expansion to sixty four teams
in twenty thirty. I don't think this is that big
of a deal. I think it's great now. Of course
they did expand in this tournament, it was still a great.
(33:13):
The group stage was outstanding. There were some upsets. I
just don't want to hear in twenty thirty that Argentina
gets to play Madagascar, you know, and Zimbabwe gets a
cupcake course because Lio Messi is gonna be forty three.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Well, let's try to balance it out a little bit.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Yeah, I mean there's a little money grab to it.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Yes, same with the NCAA expanding March Madness, which absolutely
nobody asked for.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
It's a money grab. We all got it. J Mack
with a news.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Well, that's the news, and thanks for stopping by The.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Herd line new the NBA is becoming more like the NFL,
and the players in the NBA aren't quite ready for it.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
That's next heard.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (34:00):
Baseball's biggest stars are headed to Philly for the All
Star Game.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Your Don Alvarez, Juan Soto.
Speaker 8 (34:06):
And the game's best takes center stage in a mid
summer classic unlike any other Tomorrow at six point thirty
Eastern only on Fox.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Something to remember in twenty twenty six, you do not
own your salary. Fifty percent of it goes to taxes.
You own your brand. For most of a pro athlete's life,
salary was everything. Now it's really about brand. The smart money.
(34:38):
You can look this up and there's dumb money. Dumb
money now among rich people is the W two is
the salary? There's ways around that. And Victor wemban Yama
signed a new contract with the Spurs.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
He gets it.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
He's taken fifty one million less in this deal, fifty
one million less. This is very Tom Brady, Jalen Brunson.
What is Michael Jordan's brand, Winning Magic's brand, Winning Brady's brand,
winning tour billionaires. Brady probably gets there. Winning is the brand.
(35:20):
The brand is bigger than the W two. Brunson, Villanova,
super smart, got it.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Mello is minted in New York. But only one of them.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Brunson is a made man and Melo has more talent.
Melo's going to score all time more points. One of
them is a made man in New York. The NFL
has a hard cap and the NBA does that second
apron stuff is tricky. I mean, we looked at Oklahoma
City two years ago and we're like they're champions and
(35:55):
they've got a war chest, and then a year later
we're going, I don't know, Sam Presty's got to make
some moves here. Wemby gets it. Wemby understands Stefan Castle,
Dylan Harper if he hogs all the money.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
Jalen Brunson got this.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
The brand of winning is bigger than the W two.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
Mello never got that.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
I remember when Carmelo Anthony was in Denver and wanted
to go to New York. He basically trapped the Knicks.
Everybody in the world knew he was only going to
New York. So the Knicks had to give up complimentary pieces,
right like if you're gonna if you're gonna leave, do
what Al Sinder did in Milwaukee, don't tell anybody. If
you're gonna leave, keep it, you know, under wraps. So
(36:43):
your organization has power. And I look at right now,
I look at what is happening in sports, and there
is corporations love winners, Television networks love winners, play the
long game, build your brand. There are so many platforms.
Speaker 4 (37:04):
Now.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
When I was growing up, I did radio. Then you
could do a simulcast.
Speaker 4 (37:09):
That was it.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
There was no TikTok or IG or X or Spotify
or it was none of that. Now you can have
eight revenue streams, nine different places to build your brand
and drive revenue. But if you look at guys like Rinaldo,
they can make more money now on IG and build
(37:30):
their brand faster with young people on IG than they
can a TV network.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
So Wimby gets it.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
This is the new way to monetize at the highest level.
Take a little less now, build winning as your brand.
Never forget MJ and Magic are viewed as winners. They
had terrible contracts for years. They've more than made up
for it on the back end. Tom Brady only made
huge money in Tampa. He never met it in New England.
(38:00):
The minute he was on the market. You can look
up what Fox paid him. That was not just it
was winning. He was the winning quarterback. So I think
Wemby's really smart here Elon musk Space x Space salary
fifty four thousand dollars stuck, it's winning, it's taking some
(38:23):
of those profits, hiring better management. I really like what
Wemby did. I think he's watching. I think Wemby understands
when you true have true confidence, not inner scoreboard stuff.
You know, you see a lot of this inner scoreboard,
outer scoreboard, the outer scoreboard, what I say to my friends,
how I broadcast what I say. And then there's inner scoreboard,
(38:46):
which is real confidence. Real confidence is Brady and Jalen
Brunson and Wemby saying I'm gonna take a little less
because I want to be surrounded by more and I
want to win championships multiple If the Knicks go on
to win another championship, and they certainly could, it's a
veteran smart team. They've got their coach, they've got their
fourth quarter closer, they've got the Villanova guys, they've got depth,
(39:09):
they've got side.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
They have a good enough bench.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
What if Jalen Brunson wins another title. The money is
not going to be the problem for Jalen Brunson. For
Knick stars, it's always been winnings the problem. Money's a
lot of guys made money, all right. So I got
to tell you the England manager coming out and clobbering
(39:36):
his team and getting into a very kind of feisty
argument with the interviewer, and I thought England Norway Arling
Holland looked exhausted, it's one hundred and seven degrees.
Speaker 3 (39:47):
It's in Miami.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
If you're outside for five minutes in Miami in July,
if you've ever been there, I mean, good gud.
Speaker 3 (39:53):
That's like nothing in the United States.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
I mean there are certain humidities and temperatures New Orleans, Tampa, Miami,
you know, part of the South Midwest it's really hot.
Pacific Northwest hot is.
Speaker 3 (40:06):
Not Miami hot.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Oh hell.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
And I thought England, you know, England, Norway, it was exhausting.
So it almost led you were not going to have
an epic battle as much as you were. It was attrition.
It was survival. And so the British manager after comes
out and says, we're sloppy, We're bad, we didn't look good.
I thought it was very much weather created. Here was
Alexi Lawless on the England manager being critical of his
(40:32):
team after a win.
Speaker 5 (40:34):
I love poking England, and look, I think that there
are plenty of people like myself that at times will
hate watch England. This is a likable England team. I
don't know what they're doing. This version of England is
what we wanted the US team to beat in that
is it the best possible collection of players, maybe the
best possible collection of players. Is it the best talent
(40:56):
out there? Maybe not, but they're coming together in a way.
I can't even believe that I'm saying that I might.
I might actually root for England.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
J Mack.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
I want to circle back on the Wemby thing. I
think Jalen Brunson really did now with a hard cap.
You're seeing all these really good teams having to move
off players, and I think Wemby has the classic inner
scoreboard confidence, which is, I'm going to be around here
for fifteen years. I want titles. He just lost and
got bullied by the Knicks. And one of the reasons
he got bullied by the Knicks because their roster's so.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Darned deep O G.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
Mitchell Robinson, Karl Anthony Towns, Josh Hart. They just kept
throwing body and body, and he's like, I got a
backup center. When I am literally off the floor our
backup center. We're not the same basketball team. He wants
help in the post, he wants help on the bench.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
You think the Players Association likes it or not?
Speaker 3 (41:45):
No, they don't want it, of course not.
Speaker 8 (41:47):
Yeah, I love it personally, man A right for the
NBA number three, Derek Jeter, Fox Sports baseball analy
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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