November 15, 2022 • 37 mins
EPISODE 76: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: New leak to Washington Post clearly confesses Trump stole documents, but insists he didn't do it for evil reasons, he did it for EGO. He's not a TRAITOR! He's just a hoarder! He's not a foreign spy who might face the death penalty. He's just a collector! He's like YOU: YOU'D keep a White House cocktail napkin wouldn't you? So HE kept a White House Ultra-Classified Document (or 200 of them) (3:28) This transparent attempt to minimize the charge and the sentence again suggests it's not only unbelievably bad for Trump but it's far worse than we could possibly imagine. (6:30) "He seemed motivated by a more basic desire not to give up what he believed was his property," the Post writes, and suddenly I'm watching Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck breaking into the den of the 40 Thieves and Daffy sees all the diamonds and gold and screams "IT'S MINE! DOWN, DOWN, DOWN! GO, GO, GO! MINE, MINE, MINE!" He's not Julius Rosenberg! He's Daffy Duck! (9:35) The Guardian also reports evidence secret documents were mixed with post-presidential letters in Trump's desk drawer. What collector doesn't do THAT? (10:15) Trump still scheduled to formalize his 2024 candidacy today, even as a London paper reports Murdoch called him personally to withdraw support.
B-Block (16:08) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Spaghetti, again (16:58) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Not only did Katie Hobbs win, but she was right about not debating Lake. And we need to worry about the phenomenon of not just TV types, but TV newscasters, seeking office. Plus Jay Leno is recovering and he's nicer than you know, and NBC suspended the reporter who ran the fake Pelosi conspiracy theory (21:31) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Virginia's hypocritical lieutenant governor takes on Elon "Bloatware" Musk and Herschel Walker attacking how Senator Warnock is raising his kids, for the dishonors.
C-Block (25:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Not one but two of my ex-ESPN colleagues entered the media wing of hockey's Hall of Fame last night. One saved my scoop about the retirement of Mario Lemieux, and the other was in the booth the night New York player Sergio Momesso was called "Sergio Mimosa."
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of I Heart Radio.
Trump is not a trader. The leak to the Washington
(00:25):
Post claims, he's just a hoarder. The leak to the
Post asserts that Trump stole the classified documents to satisfy
his ego and his compulsion to own everything, not to
sell them, not to sell the country out, not to
blackmail this country, not to blackmail another country, not to
wreak revenge against people in this country, not to start
(00:48):
a nuclear war, just to keep them. Like anybody would,
you'd keep a white House cocktail napkin, so he'd keep
a White House classified document listening, we're all of our
spies live. And another document detailing what kinds of nuclear
weapons and other country has and doesn't have, And another
(01:10):
document about how we spy on China, and another document
about the Iranian missile program. And boxes and boxes and
boxes and boxes and boxes of other classified documents, the
mere possession of one of which would get you or
I a lengthy prison term. He's just an average guy
who needs something tangible to remind him that he was
(01:34):
actually once president. They're just souvenirs, just because they are
so secret that after you get the highest security clearance
in this country, you have to get another level of
clearance just to know these souvenirs exist, and you have
to go to a special secure room that has armed
(01:54):
guards in it just to look at these souvenirs. Why
that's just coincidence. He's not a trader, He's a hoarder.
The story in the Washington Post suggests once again it
is not only unbelievably bad for Donald Trump, but far
worse than we could ever imagine. Because you do not
(02:17):
leak to the Washington Post what the semi innocent motives
are for a president who steals classified documents. Unless everybody
in the Department of Justice and everybody on Trump's defense
team all agree Trump stole classified documents, there is no
stunning sudden confession in the Post story, no doubt resolved,
(02:41):
Also no conditioned conclusions, like if the documents were still
only because the premise of this is Trump is guilty.
Somebody has just tried to mitigate how much time he
does based on motive. He's not a foreign spy who
might face the death penalty. He's a collector. It is possible,
(03:08):
it is maybe even plausible, that the report in the
Washington Post that reignites the Marilago nuclear kleptomanias saga originates
with a source in law enforcement, maybe a source in
the Justice Department. There are plenty of people in law
enforcements still loyal to Trump, and many in the Justice
Department who think this is still three And it would
(03:30):
be uncouth for the greatest country in the world to
actually prosecute a former president. Oh, he confessed, Well, it
would be uncouth to actually prosecute a former president for espionage.
So let's see if we can manipulate this story so
we only have to prosecute him for destruction of government records?
Is something, because he's not guilty of espionage, He's guilty
(03:54):
of just loving these wonderful documents, not wisely but too well,
who do you know at the Post we can leak
this do but bluntly, the odds are about ninety three
out of one hundred that this is directly from the
Trump team because they are trying to avoid getting their
client hanged or whatever it is we do to nuclear
(04:16):
espionage thieves and traders nowadays, and thus we get a
Washington Post headline. Investigators see ego not money, as Trump's
motive on classified papers. He's not a mercenary who would
sell this country out. He's just a pack rat. A
review by agents and prosecutors found no discernible business interest
(04:37):
in the Mari Lago documents. People familiar with the matters
that people familiar familiar people, people who are familiar with
the fact that Donald Trump is not loyal to some
other country. He's just loyal to the credo of the
average buyer on eBay. Quote. FBI interviews with witnesses so far,
(04:58):
they said, also do not point to any nefarious effort
by Trump to leverage, sell, or use the government's secrets. Instead,
the former president seemed motivated by a more basic desire
not to give up what he believed was his property. Unquote.
I am suddenly transported back to my youth, and I
(05:18):
am watching on the floor my little TV. And there's
Daffy Duck in bugs Bunnies Ali Baba Bunny, and Daffy
Duck is pushing bugs money back into their tunnel, and
he's looking at all the gold and jewels and emeralds,
and he's shouting, it's mine, you understand mine, all mine.
(05:39):
Get back in there. Down down, down, go go go mind, mind,
mind wa We segue back from mel Blank to Josh
Daucy of the Washington Post quote several Trump advisers said
that each time he was asked to give documents or
materials back, his stance hardened, down, down, down, go co.
(06:01):
Trump repeatedly said the materials were his, not the governments,
often in profane terms. Two of these people said, well,
at least we know Trump advisors were among the leakers
of this story, and their short game is trying to
get Trump not indicted for espionage or treason. The long
game is trying to soften up public opinion and maybe
(06:23):
even a jury pool. Counting the headline, there are in
the first eight Washington Post paragraphs eight different versions of
this basic argument. He's not Julius Rosenberg, He's Daffy Duck.
It is paragraph seven before we get to the confession.
(06:43):
Quoting again, The analysis of Trump's likely motive in allegedly
keeping the documents is not, strictly speaking, an element of
determining whether he or anyone around him committed a crime
or should be charged with one. Thank you, yes, exactly,
end of story. I'm just waiting for a however or
(07:04):
a B. But as a practical matter. Motive is an
important part of how prosecutors assess cases and decide whether
to file criminal charges. Unquote. There was a less impressive
leaked story to CNN that touches on this kind of Tangentially.
Trump Quote argued in a newly public court filing that
(07:25):
a president gets to decide whether records from his White
House are personal documents, and that he had decided that
all the records he took to mari Lago were in
fact his personal property. These two stories, the Washington Posts
in particular, verge on somebody saying, yes, of course he
stabbed all those people, but not so they die. He's
(07:48):
just a knife lover. He collects knives. This isn't murder,
it's ego Ohen Trump collects these documents like I collect
baseball cards, a little out of control, and you know,
some of the rare nineteenth century ones mixed in with
(08:08):
some of the two tops Hugo Lowell and Brittain's. The
Guardian wrote yesterday, trump Quote kept in the desk drawer
of his office at Marilago property, one document marked secret
and one market confidential, alongside three communications from a book author,
a religious leader and a Polster dated after he departed
(08:30):
the White House. This is the third or fourth report
of such co mingling of evidence that Trump took classified
stuff from January one or before, looked at it, then
put it in a drawer or a box with old schedules,
old passports, old newspaper clippings, old letters. What collector doesn't
do that? And all of this comes as Trump is
(08:55):
still scheduled to formally launch his third bid to take
power in this country, and to launch it today despite
apparently everybody on the planet telling him not to trying to.
As Politico quoted yet another Trump advisor, frame his announcement
to feel more like two thousand sixteen, less like two
thousan Yeah, more escalators and ethnic insults, fewer overthrow the
(09:18):
government by violency and steely the nation's secret e things
e And apparently that lack of support from Rupert Murdoch
seene first and unmistakably in the New York Post and
now emigrating stealthily towards Fox News and the Wall Street
Journal is no pose. The London newspaper The Eye yesterday
reported Rupert Murdoch told Trump personally he will not back
(09:41):
another Trump presidential candidacy, It quotes a senior News Corps source.
We have been clear with Donald. There have been conversations
between them during which Rupert made it clear to Donald
that we cannot back another run for the White House unquote,
and that they might even back a Democrat against him
if necessary, and that Lachland Murdoch is trying to get
(10:02):
to Santists to kiss the family ring. And none of
this is personal, of course. Quote. The poor showing from
the Republican candidates Trump back during the U S midterm
elections last week has put an end to his political career,
and if that is somehow not clear enough, the Texas
Republican Party has posted another poll it bought to assess
(10:24):
GOP moods towards a two thousand four primary among that
state's members. On October twenty three, it had Trump fort
Santis twenty nine, Abbot four in Texas. As of November
same poll, it's to Santis forty three, Trump thirty two,
Pence five. Although I am a little suspicious about the
(10:46):
whole pole since they misspelled Greg Abbott's name, the conventional
political thinking of the moment remarkably remains that this is
a passing thing. And they will all line up behind
Trump when the time comes, in spite of, or perhaps
because of, his ease. The psychologists saying that if the
(11:07):
Republicans don't line up behind him, quote, Donald will burn
everything down if he feels like he is going down. Why,
he's just a collector, He's just a hoarder. He's just
a pack rat. Down down down, go go go mind mind, mind,
(11:45):
Daffy Trump, if we can make that stick Still ahead,
herschel Walker attacks Raphael Warnock over how Warnock raises his children.
What is this a volume thing? Reverend Warnock doesn't have
enough kids? Herschel Walker talk about a hoarder? How many
kids you got? Hersh plus or minus five? The latest
(12:07):
on Jay Leno's accident, and in things I promised not
to tell. There are two new Hockey Hall of Fame
media members today, and I have wild stories about both
of them, including about the ESPN NHL telecast on which
somebody called Sergio Momesso of the New York Rangers, Sergio Mimosa.
(12:29):
That's next, drink him if you got him. This is countdown.
This is countdown with Keith Olberman, my crazy friend, like
you should talk Still Ahead on Countdown. Katie Hobbs is
Governor elect, and I owe her an apology. Jay Leno
(12:52):
is burned by one of his own classic cars, and
you need to know something great he did once and
two more my ex colleagues make the Hockey Hall of Fame,
including the guy who pointed out that is broadcast partner
just called Sergio Momesso. Sergio Mimosa drinks for the House
ahead first. In each edition of Countdown, we feature a
(13:15):
dog in need you can help. Every dog has its
day first. Every time I've repeated last week, I asked
you to help out. Spaghetti, a big, handsome bulldog pit
mix tan and white, found on Staten Island in New York,
almost dehydrated, almost starved. Now he has lost the ability
to walk. They're hoping it is restorable, but they'll need
(13:35):
more donations near and far. Animal Foundation has gotten him
and launched a fundraiser for Spaghetti on Cuddly Any donational help.
You can find Spaghetti there or he'll be my pinned
tweet at tom Jumbo Grumbo with a link to donate.
If you can't donate, a retweet can be almost as valuable.
I thank you, and Spaghetti thanks you. Postscripts to the news,
(14:07):
some headlines, some updates, some snarks, some predictions. State line Phoenix,
Katie Hobbs will be the next governor of Arizona looks
like a margin of around twenty thousand. I'm going to
apologize to the governor elect. I said here not debating
Carry Lake was going to cost her the election. Not
only was I wrong, but the more I had thought
about it, the more I thought, No, it's a genius move.
(14:31):
We are now so used to them that we don't
think twice about candidates being drawn from the world of television.
Would mement Oz even have had a remote chance at
the Pennsylvania Senate but for TV Donald Trump? But Carry
Lake was not just a TV person. She was a
local TV newscaster on two different Phoenix stations. She was
(14:53):
on the Fox affiliate for twenty two years. What is
it debate now? It is, in essence, a live TV
reality show where you try to remember, rehearse lines. Who
would be better in that format, the government bureaucrat or
the TV anchor who can fake smile and add lib
her way out of any dilemma? Congratulations Governor electops, of course,
(15:15):
take it from me. Most local TV newscasters still are morons.
Last night, Liz Cheney revealed a thank you letter for
a donation in kind to her campaign from Carry Lake.
It is snotty and condescending, and most of all, it
assumes Lake is writing on October as if she had
already won premature jocularity. Cheney's tweet back last night, You're
(15:39):
welcome Carry Lake, the TV newscaster as candidate thing is
a terrifying thing to contemplate. Hell and l A. We
used to have a guy named Baxter Ward. Baxter Ward
was a TV newscaster, then he ran for mayor in
nineteen sixty nine, Then he went back to TV news.
Then he got elected to the county Board of Supervisors
in ninety two. Then he lost in nine eighty, so
(16:02):
he went back to TV news again, and then he
ran for mayor again. You don't want to live in
a world like that. Dateline, Los Angeles. Jay Leno is
in stable condition after one of his classic cars burst
into flames while he was working on it. He had
to cancel some appearances. He says, I got some serious
burns from castlen fire on his face in his hands,
(16:23):
but I am okay, just need a week or two
to get back on my feet. Jay Leno earned a
less than happy reputation after the Conan O'Brien fiasco. And no,
I'm not sure i'd totally trust him professionally, but I
guessed it on all the late night shows. And I'll
always love Dave Letterman, but appearing on Leno's tonight show
(16:44):
was the best. He not only doated on his guests
to the point of sometimes having to be pulled out
of conversations with them in advance of the show so
he would go to make up in time. But I
will never forget that. A week after our father died,
I was sitting in my apartment with my sister and
the phone rang and it was Jay checking to see
(17:05):
how I was doing, asking if he could help in
any way. Without revealing who was on the phone, I said,
you know what, I'm pretty good, but my sister is
here and I bet she would value your thoughts right
about now. They spoke for at least five minutes. Complicated man,
extraordinarily ambitious, but at heart all heart good luck Jack
(17:25):
Dateline thirty Rock. The Daily Beast reports NBC News has
suspended the reporter who aired the false report about Paul
Pelosi's attacker a week after the attack. Miguel al mcgare
standard line from the standard NBC Press Office liar quote,
we don't comment on personnel matters. How about the death
of journalistic standards at NBC News and MSNBC You comment
(17:46):
on that, fella and dateline Washington no opposition. On day
one of the Republican Leadership Conference, Marjorie Trailer park Green
of all people supporting Kevin McCarthy for speaker, Matt Gates
comes back with quote, At the first opportunity, he will
zap her aster than you can say Jewish space laser. Well,
(18:09):
Matt is their expert on zapping women, isn't he next
up for the Republican Leadership Conference? Trying to find any leadership?
I had all there. It is proof that you can
survive working with me. If you can do that, the
(18:30):
world could be yours to ex colleagues of mine are
named to the Media Wayne of Hockey's Hall of Fame.
Some inside stories about them. First, the daily roundup of
the miscreants, morons and Dunning Kruger effects specimens who constitute
today's worst persons in the world. Le Bronze Virginia's Lieutenant
Governor Winsome Sears. After the nightmare shooting deaths of three
(18:55):
University of Virginia football players on campus, she tweeted quote
praying for those at uv A. Her campaign ad for
the office she now holds was opped with a red
banner reading conservative marine veteran semper five and advised she's
against red flag laws and pro Second Amendment. Showed a
(19:17):
photo of her and a jacket and skirt carrying a
gun bigger than she is, Madam Lieutenant Governor. Shove your
prayers the bronze Elon Musk more from his daily suicide
mission at Twitter, which is so bad now that it
prompted an n y U professor to predict the site
will fold by next week. Download those photos now. Musk
(19:39):
announced he would be turning off the micro services bloat
where apparently one of the micro services was the two
party authentication system, which is how you protect your pass
codes and all the rest of this computer e stuff.
So lots of those who used two party were locked
(20:02):
out of their Twitter accounts, at least for a time.
The latest advertiser to leave Twitter Chrippotle, joining United Airlines
GM and the people who bring you oreos, but our winner,
hers shaw Walker, what did he choose to attack Rafael
Warnock for yesterday? Well for following campaign laws and legally
(20:23):
taking sixty one thou dollars out to reimburse himself for
the cost of babysitting and childcare while he was not
home to look out for his kids, and herschel Walker
mocked Rafael Warnock for hit This is better with captions,
of course, although by now I guess most of us
can comprehend most of herschel is a moron words salad.
(20:46):
Did he you've paid himself a child care? Oh? That
stuff all? He keeps his own keys. It's all. I
have nobody to keep you a kid, You keep it keys.
Somebody keep my own even though he laughed about me.
It's okay. It's okay because he trying to get Joe vote.
Trick you trying to get Joe vote. Why doesn't doesn't
he keep his own kids? Herschel Walker asks, why doesn't
(21:08):
he keep his own kids? Which proves my old adage. Yeah,
you know, maybe you go down in flames, but if
you do, at least it's warm, herschel I keep my
own kids. Other than that one and that one over there,
and the two abortion ones, I'm famous Walker, two Day's
(21:29):
worst Parson now the world to the number one story
on the Countdown, and things I promised not to tell
in my favorite topic. Me and I had no idea
(21:49):
until yesterday that the writer and broadcaster who went into
the Hockey Hall of Fame last night, we're almore Ganty,
winner of the Elmer Ferguson Award and Bill Clement, winner
of the Foster Hewitt Award. And I understand this is
as niche as it gets, even considering you are listening
to this podcast. But Al and Bill make it nine
(22:10):
award recipients. I have actually worked with, I mean on
the same show with I worked with each of them
at ESPN, and I have a good story about working
with Al more Ganty and a great story about working
with Bill Clement, and they fit in perfectly here. So
in l A, I had a source who was the
Zelig of sports source stories, particularly hockey ones. I have
(22:30):
mentioned him before. He was the last of the viewers
who called me up on in August Monday in nineteen
eighty eight and said, you don't know me, but I
can tell you. Bruce mcnal just traded the farm for
Wayne Gretzky. And not only was he right, but he
got his ex wife on the phone. And his ex
wife was the one who signed the check that the
Kings gave to the owner of Gretzky's old team, the
(22:53):
Edmonton Oilers. So six years later, the phone rings, not
now in l a but at my desk in ESPN
and Bristol, Connecticut. It's him again. And I know him,
and he's tipped me on many small stories, and we've
had dinner. But something sounds wrong with him on the phone.
He's out of breath, and I say, Clyde, we'll call him, Clyde. Clyde,
what's wrong? Why are you out of breath? And he says,
(23:15):
I'm I'm at the gym. I just got off the
StairMaster to to come back here to call you. You'll
never leave this. Mariomu is retiring for at least a year.
Mario Lemieux is just about Gretzky level. Famous in hockey
if you don't know, and particularly then in and moreover,
(23:37):
he had just come back from not merely a devastating
back injury, but also Hodgkins lymphoma. And while he got
twenty two radiation treatments in one month for Hodgkins lymphoma,
and the last one was on March sec at seven
thirty in the morning in Pittsburgh, and the son of
a gun immediately got on a plane for Philadelphia and
(23:57):
played for the Pittsburgh Penguins that night, and the Philly fans, who,
as the cliche goes, once booed Santa. The Philly fans
gave him a standing ovation and he scores a goal
the same day as the last of twenty two radiation
treatments in a month. He's retiring, I asked Clyde in disbelieve,
how do you know. So Clyde says, he's at the gym.
(24:18):
He's on the StairMaster. He's wearing an l A King's
T shirt. And the guy next to him on the
next StairMaster says, you hockey guy, and Clyde says yes,
and the guy blurts out, my dad is Mario Lemieuse agent,
and he just told me Mario is going to retire
for at least a year because of the cancer. And
my heart sinks, and it's like Clyde, here's my heart sinking.
(24:40):
He says, no, no, no, that's what I thought. He
doesn't have the Hodgkins again. He's just so worn out
from the radiation and the playing and the back injury
and the rehab and the exercise and the workouts and
the travel. He's going to sit out the season. And
I mean, this is solid. This is the agent son.
This is Tom Rich's son. I said, I didn't believe him.
Clyde tells me, so he showed me his jim I
(25:01):
D card. It's Tom Rich's son. All right. This is
why Clyde, and we will call him Clyde, is really zillig.
This happens to him like once a year, somebody just
walks up and gives him a story. I will want.
I say, well, thanks, let me get confirmation on it.
Clyde is offended, rightfully so, and he says, the agent
(25:21):
telling his son who is also an agent, is not confirmation.
And I explained the ESPN rules. And this is ninety four.
Remember if this worked today, in the time I will
now take to explain to you the rules, they would
have had me tweet Mario Lemieux retiring sources and then
gone on Sports Center and then written something up for
the website. Get it done. In the next minute. But
(25:44):
in nineteen nine four, journalism rules still prevailed with this
stuff unless it was first person, meaning unless Mario Lemieux
called me himself and said, hey, Keith, I'm retiring and
you can report it, but you can't tell him I
told you, and he's willing to confirm that he called
me to one of my bosses. Unless it's first person,
(26:05):
I still have to get a second source, and the
second source cannot be connected to the first source. So
if the first source is Mario Lemieuse agent's son who
is also an agent, I can't get confirmation from Mario
Lemieuse real agent his dad. I can't get it from
Lemieuse publicist. It's got to be from the team or
(26:26):
a doctor or or I don't know from whom. So
I go to the show producer and I say, this
is kind of important, and this is also from the
guy who gave me the Gretzky trade. And he says,
that's great, but you know the rules, And I say,
I know what, we'll get beaten on this. You know
that we're not on till eleven o'clock. And he says, well,
go to one of the executives and That's when it
(26:47):
hits me. That weekend, the executives are having a management retreat,
unlike Martha's Vineyard, all of them, every person who could
waive the second source rule is on Martha's Vineyard, and
they're all wearing identical shirts and chanting. And once I'm
mention it to one of them, they will all know
about it, and they will all talk to each other
(27:08):
about it, and they will all want to talk to
me about it. And if I wanted that kind of treatment,
I would anchor the six o'clock Sports Center, not the
eleven o'clock Sports Center. Who wants to work all day
with all the managers around. So I'm trying to get
a second source, and I'm trying to talk to as
many of them as I can on Martha's Vineyard. And
I still have to write the Sunday Sports Center script.
It's about five pm. We are on at eleven. So
(27:30):
I call, and I call, and I call, and I
call the hockey people I know, and our hockey maven
our reporter who breaks news for ESPN in is al
more Ganty, hall of famer who went into the Hall
of Fame last night, And I call him and he says, wow,
let me jump on this. And the producers call all
the hockey people they know, but this is summer and
(27:50):
they are out doing non ice things and there's no email.
It's there are facts is and you don't want to
put this in writing anyway. You don't even put it
in writing in the ESPN computer. You call people alcohol's background. Seven.
He says, I got through to a guy who I
know connected to Lamu's team, the Penguins, and he says
(28:10):
I heard something about him considering this, but that's all
I know. So now I try all the executives with that,
and they say not good enough. And every five minutes
I'm checking the Associated Press news wire to see if
they have scooped us. And I'm trying to write the
highlights for some tennis tournament rotter Dam, and the clock
is going tick tick tick tick tick. It's ten. There's
(28:32):
a script already and written and highlights edited of Mario
Lemieux and the whole thing for money came back after radiation,
and almore, Ganty has gone to a studio and recorded
a what does this mean for the Penguins and what
does this mean for the NHL? Sound bite for US
that we can run, but we still don't have the
second source. And we are on in fifteen minutes, and
(28:53):
I'm ready to punch walls and the phone rings in
the main Sports Center writing area where I am standing
because I haven't been able to sit down in half
an hour. And the production assistant shouts, Al more Ganty
for you, and I pick it up and he says,
I got it. I got it. I got hold of
Rick Tocket. Rick Tocett now does the studio show for
Turner Hockey, but he was a very good, very tough
(29:14):
player in the nineties, and he had just been traded
by Lemieu's team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, And I say, well, great, Al,
but what on earth does Rick Tocett have to do
with this? And more Ganny says, Tackett told me when
they traded him. He asked why. He said, I thought
you liked what I did here, and they told him
we did, but we had to get you in this
(29:34):
deal to l A because l A wouldn't give up
Luke Roboti. And we have to get Luke Roboti because
guess what, Mario was too exhausted to play this year
and we need Roboti to score the goals that Mario
can't and you can't either confirmation. So we it's now
ten fifty. We're on in ten minutes. The studio is
a five minute run from the newsroom, and I conference
(29:56):
al and we call the managers at the retreat at
Martha's Vineyard. And I call and they are in a
meditation session or or it's a trust exercise. Are there
building a human pyramid? I always thought the human pyramid
one was the likeliest, or it's a vow of silence.
And I start screaming and telling them what to do
with their trust exercise, and finally they get one of
(30:18):
them to get on the phone and more Ganty tells
them what Takeet told him, and the guy goes, okay,
you can go with it, and I run to the studio.
I could still run in, and I'm thinking, when I
read this story, I'm gonna sound like Clyde did when
he got off the freaking treadmill to call me with
this story. And we break the news and people are
astonished by this, and six minutes later the Associated Press
(30:40):
puts out the story with the exact same details. And
today all I can think about is we had to
get a second source. It took six hours. We had
six hours, and we almost lost the scoop because they
were building a human pyramid out of ESPN executives on
Martha's vineyard. So that's the al more Ganty story. The
(31:03):
Bill Clement story, also Hall of Famer, is shorter and funnier.
He and Gary Thorne were the a team when ESPN
had virtually all of the national telecasts of hockey in
the nineteen nineties. And Gary is great at baseball, but
he was born for hockey. There is not a moment
of a hockey game, as described by Gary Thorne that
has about a thrill unparalleled. And he has a voice
(31:26):
like the public address system at Grand Central Station in
New York, only it's louder and more reliable and inexhaustible.
Dary Thorne, and he's doing a New York Rangers game
on ESPN with Bill Clement at Madison Square Garden, and
the Rangers at this point have a player named Sergio Momesso.
(31:47):
Sergio Momesso is now a broadcaster on the radio for
the Montreal Canadians, and in this game, the puck hits
Sergio Momesso and bounces off of him into the stands
and they whistle play dead, and it's a TV time out.
Sure enough, we're gonna go to commercial, and Gary says,
and the shot goes into the stands after hitting Sergio Mimosa.
We'll take a break. Mimosa, he called him Mimosa. We
(32:11):
all heard it. A roar of laughter broke open in
the Sports Center area. Well, it happens. I've done it.
Maybe not Mimosa from me Messo, but close enough. And
they play the theme music and just before the break
you here on the air before they go to the commercial,
Bill Clement says, and that butter smooth voice of his, Well,
(32:33):
I think we could all use a drink after that,
play Gary, And right then they go to the break.
So what the audience here's is on the shot goes
into the stands after hitting Sergio Mosa, We'll take a break.
I think we could all use a drink after that,
play Gary. That's what the audience here is. But in
the Sports Center studios, we are watching the game, not
(32:54):
as it appears to the viewer, but on a direct
feed from Madison Square Garden and our little booth there,
and the mics are still open even though they're in
commercial and Gary thorn right. He says, thanks a lot, Bill,
that's a teammate covering for me, like you never screwed
up a name. And then there's this weird sound like
a grunt, but like a grunt getting quieter, and the
(33:16):
mics are still open, and we hear Bill Clement say
truck attention in the truck. Yeah, Gary will need a
new headset. He has thrown his into the stands. I
hear this, and I take off for the highlight room
where they record everything, because I want this tape. The
(33:37):
highlight room known as screening we're screaming, depending on how
busy it is, is beyond the studio. So if, like
I mentioned, the studio is a five minute run from
where I am, the highlight room is a six minute run.
And I go as fast as I can, and I
get there, and I know the production assistant who was
recording the game and selecting the highlights, and he looks
at me and he says, I'm sorry. I knew you'd
(33:58):
come down here for this. They already made me burn back.
Burned back, of course, means erasing. They erased this interchange,
including j Gary saying Mimosa on the air never mind
what happened in the commercial. And they've done this, of course,
so little devils like me can't get the recording of
(34:20):
Gary Thorne calling Sergio Momesso, Sergio Mimosa and Bill Colemant
goofing on him, and Gary ripping Bill in response, and
Gary throwing his headset out of the booth, and Bill
mentioning that Gary will need a new one. So, to
my knowledge, the tape of this does not exist anymore.
Two postscripts, Gary Thorne should get the hue At Award. Two,
(34:42):
he should be in the Hall of Fame. And if
you're listening, Gary, since I told that story about you,
let me tell the parallel one about me. When I
met Jeff Daniels after he started in Aaron Sorkin's newsroom
and had spent much of the publicity tour for newsroom
explaining to people that he was not portraying me. Jeff
Daniels was very solicitous about it, just as nice as
(35:04):
would hope he would be. And he said, listen, I
knew it was you, but I didn't want people to
know that it was you because I knew, but they
didn't know, and you didn't know that Like an episode
four I picked up my BlackBerry and threw it at
the camera. And I didn't want anybody to think you
picked up your BlackBerry and threw it at the camera.
And I looked at him in confusion and surprise, and
(35:26):
I must confess probably not a little sense of hurt.
But Jeff I said, of course, I picked up my
BlackBerry and threw it at the camera. Where do you
think Sarkin got that idea? Okay, to be fair, there
(35:55):
was nobody operating the camera. I threw the BlackBerry at
but there were swear words. I've done all the damage
I can do here and without throwing a BlackBerry. Thanks
for listening. Follow the podcast. If you can tell a friend,
Tell a stranger. Here are the credits. Most of the music,
including our theme here from Beethoven's Ninth, was arranged, produced
and performed by Brian Ray and John Philip Chanelle. They
(36:15):
are the Countdown musical directors. All orchestration and keyboards by
John Philip s Chanelle. Guitars, bass and drums by Brian Ray.
Produced by t KO Brothers Our Beethoven. Selections of other
kinds have been arranged and performed by the group No
Horns Allowed. The sports music is the Olberman theme from
ESPN two. It was written by Mitch Warren Davis Fear's
(36:36):
courtesy of ESPN Inc. She's a really still upset that
tape doesn't exist anymore anyway. Musical comments by Nancy Faust.
The best baseball stadium organist ever at our announcer today
was Tony Kornheiser. Everything else was pretty much my fault.
Let's countdown for this the six and seventy ninth day
since Donald Trump's first attempted coup against the democratically elected
(36:59):
government of the United States. Arrest him now while we
still can a new episode tomorrow. Until then, I'm Sergio Mimosa.
Good morning, good afternoon, good night, and good luck. Countdown
with Keith old Woman is a production of I heart Radio.
For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i
(37:21):
heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of I Heart Radio.
Trump is not a trader. The leak to the Washington
(00:25):
Post claims, he's just a hoarder. The leak to the
Post asserts that Trump stole the classified documents to satisfy
his ego and his compulsion to own everything, not to
sell them, not to sell the country out, not to
blackmail this country, not to blackmail another country, not to
wreak revenge against people in this country, not to start
(00:48):
a nuclear war, just to keep them. Like anybody would,
you'd keep a white House cocktail napkin, so he'd keep
a White House classified document listening, we're all of our
spies live. And another document detailing what kinds of nuclear
weapons and other country has and doesn't have, And another
(01:10):
document about how we spy on China, and another document
about the Iranian missile program. And boxes and boxes and
boxes and boxes and boxes of other classified documents, the
mere possession of one of which would get you or
I a lengthy prison term. He's just an average guy
who needs something tangible to remind him that he was
(01:34):
actually once president. They're just souvenirs, just because they are
so secret that after you get the highest security clearance
in this country, you have to get another level of
clearance just to know these souvenirs exist, and you have
to go to a special secure room that has armed
(01:54):
guards in it just to look at these souvenirs. Why
that's just coincidence. He's not a trader, He's a hoarder.
The story in the Washington Post suggests once again it
is not only unbelievably bad for Donald Trump, but far
worse than we could ever imagine. Because you do not
(02:17):
leak to the Washington Post what the semi innocent motives
are for a president who steals classified documents. Unless everybody
in the Department of Justice and everybody on Trump's defense
team all agree Trump stole classified documents, there is no
stunning sudden confession in the Post story, no doubt resolved,
(02:41):
Also no conditioned conclusions, like if the documents were still
only because the premise of this is Trump is guilty.
Somebody has just tried to mitigate how much time he
does based on motive. He's not a foreign spy who
might face the death penalty. He's a collector. It is possible,
(03:08):
it is maybe even plausible, that the report in the
Washington Post that reignites the Marilago nuclear kleptomanias saga originates
with a source in law enforcement, maybe a source in
the Justice Department. There are plenty of people in law
enforcements still loyal to Trump, and many in the Justice
Department who think this is still three And it would
(03:30):
be uncouth for the greatest country in the world to
actually prosecute a former president. Oh, he confessed, Well, it
would be uncouth to actually prosecute a former president for espionage.
So let's see if we can manipulate this story so
we only have to prosecute him for destruction of government records?
Is something, because he's not guilty of espionage, He's guilty
(03:54):
of just loving these wonderful documents, not wisely but too well,
who do you know at the Post we can leak
this do but bluntly, the odds are about ninety three
out of one hundred that this is directly from the
Trump team because they are trying to avoid getting their
client hanged or whatever it is we do to nuclear
(04:16):
espionage thieves and traders nowadays, and thus we get a
Washington Post headline. Investigators see ego not money, as Trump's
motive on classified papers. He's not a mercenary who would
sell this country out. He's just a pack rat. A
review by agents and prosecutors found no discernible business interest
(04:37):
in the Mari Lago documents. People familiar with the matters
that people familiar familiar people, people who are familiar with
the fact that Donald Trump is not loyal to some
other country. He's just loyal to the credo of the
average buyer on eBay. Quote. FBI interviews with witnesses so far,
(04:58):
they said, also do not point to any nefarious effort
by Trump to leverage, sell, or use the government's secrets. Instead,
the former president seemed motivated by a more basic desire
not to give up what he believed was his property. Unquote.
I am suddenly transported back to my youth, and I
(05:18):
am watching on the floor my little TV. And there's
Daffy Duck in bugs Bunnies Ali Baba Bunny, and Daffy
Duck is pushing bugs money back into their tunnel, and
he's looking at all the gold and jewels and emeralds,
and he's shouting, it's mine, you understand mine, all mine.
(05:39):
Get back in there. Down down, down, go go go mind, mind,
mind wa We segue back from mel Blank to Josh
Daucy of the Washington Post quote several Trump advisers said
that each time he was asked to give documents or
materials back, his stance hardened, down, down, down, go co.
(06:01):
Trump repeatedly said the materials were his, not the governments,
often in profane terms. Two of these people said, well,
at least we know Trump advisors were among the leakers
of this story, and their short game is trying to
get Trump not indicted for espionage or treason. The long
game is trying to soften up public opinion and maybe
(06:23):
even a jury pool. Counting the headline, there are in
the first eight Washington Post paragraphs eight different versions of
this basic argument. He's not Julius Rosenberg, He's Daffy Duck.
It is paragraph seven before we get to the confession.
(06:43):
Quoting again, The analysis of Trump's likely motive in allegedly
keeping the documents is not, strictly speaking, an element of
determining whether he or anyone around him committed a crime
or should be charged with one. Thank you, yes, exactly,
end of story. I'm just waiting for a however or
(07:04):
a B. But as a practical matter. Motive is an
important part of how prosecutors assess cases and decide whether
to file criminal charges. Unquote. There was a less impressive
leaked story to CNN that touches on this kind of Tangentially.
Trump Quote argued in a newly public court filing that
(07:25):
a president gets to decide whether records from his White
House are personal documents, and that he had decided that
all the records he took to mari Lago were in
fact his personal property. These two stories, the Washington Posts
in particular, verge on somebody saying, yes, of course he
stabbed all those people, but not so they die. He's
(07:48):
just a knife lover. He collects knives. This isn't murder,
it's ego Ohen Trump collects these documents like I collect
baseball cards, a little out of control, and you know,
some of the rare nineteenth century ones mixed in with
(08:08):
some of the two tops Hugo Lowell and Brittain's. The
Guardian wrote yesterday, trump Quote kept in the desk drawer
of his office at Marilago property, one document marked secret
and one market confidential, alongside three communications from a book author,
a religious leader and a Polster dated after he departed
(08:30):
the White House. This is the third or fourth report
of such co mingling of evidence that Trump took classified
stuff from January one or before, looked at it, then
put it in a drawer or a box with old schedules,
old passports, old newspaper clippings, old letters. What collector doesn't
do that? And all of this comes as Trump is
(08:55):
still scheduled to formally launch his third bid to take
power in this country, and to launch it today despite
apparently everybody on the planet telling him not to trying to.
As Politico quoted yet another Trump advisor, frame his announcement
to feel more like two thousand sixteen, less like two
thousan Yeah, more escalators and ethnic insults, fewer overthrow the
(09:18):
government by violency and steely the nation's secret e things
e And apparently that lack of support from Rupert Murdoch
seene first and unmistakably in the New York Post and
now emigrating stealthily towards Fox News and the Wall Street
Journal is no pose. The London newspaper The Eye yesterday
reported Rupert Murdoch told Trump personally he will not back
(09:41):
another Trump presidential candidacy, It quotes a senior News Corps source.
We have been clear with Donald. There have been conversations
between them during which Rupert made it clear to Donald
that we cannot back another run for the White House unquote,
and that they might even back a Democrat against him
if necessary, and that Lachland Murdoch is trying to get
(10:02):
to Santists to kiss the family ring. And none of
this is personal, of course. Quote. The poor showing from
the Republican candidates Trump back during the U S midterm
elections last week has put an end to his political career,
and if that is somehow not clear enough, the Texas
Republican Party has posted another poll it bought to assess
(10:24):
GOP moods towards a two thousand four primary among that
state's members. On October twenty three, it had Trump fort
Santis twenty nine, Abbot four in Texas. As of November
same poll, it's to Santis forty three, Trump thirty two,
Pence five. Although I am a little suspicious about the
(10:46):
whole pole since they misspelled Greg Abbott's name, the conventional
political thinking of the moment remarkably remains that this is
a passing thing. And they will all line up behind
Trump when the time comes, in spite of, or perhaps
because of, his ease. The psychologists saying that if the
(11:07):
Republicans don't line up behind him, quote, Donald will burn
everything down if he feels like he is going down. Why,
he's just a collector, He's just a hoarder. He's just
a pack rat. Down down down, go go go mind mind, mind,
(11:45):
Daffy Trump, if we can make that stick Still ahead,
herschel Walker attacks Raphael Warnock over how Warnock raises his children.
What is this a volume thing? Reverend Warnock doesn't have
enough kids? Herschel Walker talk about a hoarder? How many
kids you got? Hersh plus or minus five? The latest
(12:07):
on Jay Leno's accident, and in things I promised not
to tell. There are two new Hockey Hall of Fame
media members today, and I have wild stories about both
of them, including about the ESPN NHL telecast on which
somebody called Sergio Momesso of the New York Rangers, Sergio Mimosa.
(12:29):
That's next, drink him if you got him. This is countdown.
This is countdown with Keith Olberman, my crazy friend, like
you should talk Still Ahead on Countdown. Katie Hobbs is
Governor elect, and I owe her an apology. Jay Leno
(12:52):
is burned by one of his own classic cars, and
you need to know something great he did once and
two more my ex colleagues make the Hockey Hall of Fame,
including the guy who pointed out that is broadcast partner
just called Sergio Momesso. Sergio Mimosa drinks for the House
ahead first. In each edition of Countdown, we feature a
(13:15):
dog in need you can help. Every dog has its
day first. Every time I've repeated last week, I asked
you to help out. Spaghetti, a big, handsome bulldog pit
mix tan and white, found on Staten Island in New York,
almost dehydrated, almost starved. Now he has lost the ability
to walk. They're hoping it is restorable, but they'll need
(13:35):
more donations near and far. Animal Foundation has gotten him
and launched a fundraiser for Spaghetti on Cuddly Any donational help.
You can find Spaghetti there or he'll be my pinned
tweet at tom Jumbo Grumbo with a link to donate.
If you can't donate, a retweet can be almost as valuable.
I thank you, and Spaghetti thanks you. Postscripts to the news,
(14:07):
some headlines, some updates, some snarks, some predictions. State line Phoenix,
Katie Hobbs will be the next governor of Arizona looks
like a margin of around twenty thousand. I'm going to
apologize to the governor elect. I said here not debating
Carry Lake was going to cost her the election. Not
only was I wrong, but the more I had thought
about it, the more I thought, No, it's a genius move.
(14:31):
We are now so used to them that we don't
think twice about candidates being drawn from the world of television.
Would mement Oz even have had a remote chance at
the Pennsylvania Senate but for TV Donald Trump? But Carry
Lake was not just a TV person. She was a
local TV newscaster on two different Phoenix stations. She was
(14:53):
on the Fox affiliate for twenty two years. What is
it debate now? It is, in essence, a live TV
reality show where you try to remember, rehearse lines. Who
would be better in that format, the government bureaucrat or
the TV anchor who can fake smile and add lib
her way out of any dilemma? Congratulations Governor electops, of course,
(15:15):
take it from me. Most local TV newscasters still are morons.
Last night, Liz Cheney revealed a thank you letter for
a donation in kind to her campaign from Carry Lake.
It is snotty and condescending, and most of all, it
assumes Lake is writing on October as if she had
already won premature jocularity. Cheney's tweet back last night, You're
(15:39):
welcome Carry Lake, the TV newscaster as candidate thing is
a terrifying thing to contemplate. Hell and l A. We
used to have a guy named Baxter Ward. Baxter Ward
was a TV newscaster, then he ran for mayor in
nineteen sixty nine, Then he went back to TV news.
Then he got elected to the county Board of Supervisors
in ninety two. Then he lost in nine eighty, so
(16:02):
he went back to TV news again, and then he
ran for mayor again. You don't want to live in
a world like that. Dateline, Los Angeles. Jay Leno is
in stable condition after one of his classic cars burst
into flames while he was working on it. He had
to cancel some appearances. He says, I got some serious
burns from castlen fire on his face in his hands,
(16:23):
but I am okay, just need a week or two
to get back on my feet. Jay Leno earned a
less than happy reputation after the Conan O'Brien fiasco. And no,
I'm not sure i'd totally trust him professionally, but I
guessed it on all the late night shows. And I'll
always love Dave Letterman, but appearing on Leno's tonight show
(16:44):
was the best. He not only doated on his guests
to the point of sometimes having to be pulled out
of conversations with them in advance of the show so
he would go to make up in time. But I
will never forget that. A week after our father died,
I was sitting in my apartment with my sister and
the phone rang and it was Jay checking to see
(17:05):
how I was doing, asking if he could help in
any way. Without revealing who was on the phone, I said,
you know what, I'm pretty good, but my sister is
here and I bet she would value your thoughts right
about now. They spoke for at least five minutes. Complicated man,
extraordinarily ambitious, but at heart all heart good luck Jack
(17:25):
Dateline thirty Rock. The Daily Beast reports NBC News has
suspended the reporter who aired the false report about Paul
Pelosi's attacker a week after the attack. Miguel al mcgare
standard line from the standard NBC Press Office liar quote,
we don't comment on personnel matters. How about the death
of journalistic standards at NBC News and MSNBC You comment
(17:46):
on that, fella and dateline Washington no opposition. On day
one of the Republican Leadership Conference, Marjorie Trailer park Green
of all people supporting Kevin McCarthy for speaker, Matt Gates
comes back with quote, At the first opportunity, he will
zap her aster than you can say Jewish space laser. Well,
(18:09):
Matt is their expert on zapping women, isn't he next
up for the Republican Leadership Conference? Trying to find any leadership?
I had all there. It is proof that you can
survive working with me. If you can do that, the
(18:30):
world could be yours to ex colleagues of mine are
named to the Media Wayne of Hockey's Hall of Fame.
Some inside stories about them. First, the daily roundup of
the miscreants, morons and Dunning Kruger effects specimens who constitute
today's worst persons in the world. Le Bronze Virginia's Lieutenant
Governor Winsome Sears. After the nightmare shooting deaths of three
(18:55):
University of Virginia football players on campus, she tweeted quote
praying for those at uv A. Her campaign ad for
the office she now holds was opped with a red
banner reading conservative marine veteran semper five and advised she's
against red flag laws and pro Second Amendment. Showed a
(19:17):
photo of her and a jacket and skirt carrying a
gun bigger than she is, Madam Lieutenant Governor. Shove your
prayers the bronze Elon Musk more from his daily suicide
mission at Twitter, which is so bad now that it
prompted an n y U professor to predict the site
will fold by next week. Download those photos now. Musk
(19:39):
announced he would be turning off the micro services bloat
where apparently one of the micro services was the two
party authentication system, which is how you protect your pass
codes and all the rest of this computer e stuff.
So lots of those who used two party were locked
(20:02):
out of their Twitter accounts, at least for a time.
The latest advertiser to leave Twitter Chrippotle, joining United Airlines
GM and the people who bring you oreos, but our winner,
hers shaw Walker, what did he choose to attack Rafael
Warnock for yesterday? Well for following campaign laws and legally
(20:23):
taking sixty one thou dollars out to reimburse himself for
the cost of babysitting and childcare while he was not
home to look out for his kids, and herschel Walker
mocked Rafael Warnock for hit This is better with captions,
of course, although by now I guess most of us
can comprehend most of herschel is a moron words salad.
(20:46):
Did he you've paid himself a child care? Oh? That
stuff all? He keeps his own keys. It's all. I
have nobody to keep you a kid, You keep it keys.
Somebody keep my own even though he laughed about me.
It's okay. It's okay because he trying to get Joe vote.
Trick you trying to get Joe vote. Why doesn't doesn't
he keep his own kids? Herschel Walker asks, why doesn't
(21:08):
he keep his own kids? Which proves my old adage. Yeah,
you know, maybe you go down in flames, but if
you do, at least it's warm, herschel I keep my
own kids. Other than that one and that one over there,
and the two abortion ones, I'm famous Walker, two Day's
(21:29):
worst Parson now the world to the number one story
on the Countdown, and things I promised not to tell
in my favorite topic. Me and I had no idea
(21:49):
until yesterday that the writer and broadcaster who went into
the Hockey Hall of Fame last night, we're almore Ganty,
winner of the Elmer Ferguson Award and Bill Clement, winner
of the Foster Hewitt Award. And I understand this is
as niche as it gets, even considering you are listening
to this podcast. But Al and Bill make it nine
(22:10):
award recipients. I have actually worked with, I mean on
the same show with I worked with each of them
at ESPN, and I have a good story about working
with Al more Ganty and a great story about working
with Bill Clement, and they fit in perfectly here. So
in l A, I had a source who was the
Zelig of sports source stories, particularly hockey ones. I have
(22:30):
mentioned him before. He was the last of the viewers
who called me up on in August Monday in nineteen
eighty eight and said, you don't know me, but I
can tell you. Bruce mcnal just traded the farm for
Wayne Gretzky. And not only was he right, but he
got his ex wife on the phone. And his ex
wife was the one who signed the check that the
Kings gave to the owner of Gretzky's old team, the
(22:53):
Edmonton Oilers. So six years later, the phone rings, not
now in l a but at my desk in ESPN
and Bristol, Connecticut. It's him again. And I know him,
and he's tipped me on many small stories, and we've
had dinner. But something sounds wrong with him on the phone.
He's out of breath, and I say, Clyde, we'll call him, Clyde. Clyde,
what's wrong? Why are you out of breath? And he says,
(23:15):
I'm I'm at the gym. I just got off the
StairMaster to to come back here to call you. You'll
never leave this. Mariomu is retiring for at least a year.
Mario Lemieux is just about Gretzky level. Famous in hockey
if you don't know, and particularly then in and moreover,
(23:37):
he had just come back from not merely a devastating
back injury, but also Hodgkins lymphoma. And while he got
twenty two radiation treatments in one month for Hodgkins lymphoma,
and the last one was on March sec at seven
thirty in the morning in Pittsburgh, and the son of
a gun immediately got on a plane for Philadelphia and
(23:57):
played for the Pittsburgh Penguins that night, and the Philly fans, who,
as the cliche goes, once booed Santa. The Philly fans
gave him a standing ovation and he scores a goal
the same day as the last of twenty two radiation
treatments in a month. He's retiring, I asked Clyde in disbelieve,
how do you know. So Clyde says, he's at the gym.
(24:18):
He's on the StairMaster. He's wearing an l A King's
T shirt. And the guy next to him on the
next StairMaster says, you hockey guy, and Clyde says yes,
and the guy blurts out, my dad is Mario Lemieuse agent,
and he just told me Mario is going to retire
for at least a year because of the cancer. And
my heart sinks, and it's like Clyde, here's my heart sinking.
(24:40):
He says, no, no, no, that's what I thought. He
doesn't have the Hodgkins again. He's just so worn out
from the radiation and the playing and the back injury
and the rehab and the exercise and the workouts and
the travel. He's going to sit out the season. And
I mean, this is solid. This is the agent son.
This is Tom Rich's son. I said, I didn't believe him.
Clyde tells me, so he showed me his jim I
(25:01):
D card. It's Tom Rich's son. All right. This is
why Clyde, and we will call him Clyde, is really zillig.
This happens to him like once a year, somebody just
walks up and gives him a story. I will want.
I say, well, thanks, let me get confirmation on it.
Clyde is offended, rightfully so, and he says, the agent
(25:21):
telling his son who is also an agent, is not confirmation.
And I explained the ESPN rules. And this is ninety four.
Remember if this worked today, in the time I will
now take to explain to you the rules, they would
have had me tweet Mario Lemieux retiring sources and then
gone on Sports Center and then written something up for
the website. Get it done. In the next minute. But
(25:44):
in nineteen nine four, journalism rules still prevailed with this
stuff unless it was first person, meaning unless Mario Lemieux
called me himself and said, hey, Keith, I'm retiring and
you can report it, but you can't tell him I
told you, and he's willing to confirm that he called
me to one of my bosses. Unless it's first person,
(26:05):
I still have to get a second source, and the
second source cannot be connected to the first source. So
if the first source is Mario Lemieuse agent's son who
is also an agent, I can't get confirmation from Mario
Lemieuse real agent his dad. I can't get it from
Lemieuse publicist. It's got to be from the team or
(26:26):
a doctor or or I don't know from whom. So
I go to the show producer and I say, this
is kind of important, and this is also from the
guy who gave me the Gretzky trade. And he says,
that's great, but you know the rules, And I say,
I know what, we'll get beaten on this. You know
that we're not on till eleven o'clock. And he says, well,
go to one of the executives and That's when it
(26:47):
hits me. That weekend, the executives are having a management retreat,
unlike Martha's Vineyard, all of them, every person who could
waive the second source rule is on Martha's Vineyard, and
they're all wearing identical shirts and chanting. And once I'm
mention it to one of them, they will all know
about it, and they will all talk to each other
(27:08):
about it, and they will all want to talk to
me about it. And if I wanted that kind of treatment,
I would anchor the six o'clock Sports Center, not the
eleven o'clock Sports Center. Who wants to work all day
with all the managers around. So I'm trying to get
a second source, and I'm trying to talk to as
many of them as I can on Martha's Vineyard. And
I still have to write the Sunday Sports Center script.
It's about five pm. We are on at eleven. So
(27:30):
I call, and I call, and I call, and I
call the hockey people I know, and our hockey maven
our reporter who breaks news for ESPN in is al
more Ganty, hall of famer who went into the Hall
of Fame last night, And I call him and he says, wow,
let me jump on this. And the producers call all
the hockey people they know, but this is summer and
(27:50):
they are out doing non ice things and there's no email.
It's there are facts is and you don't want to
put this in writing anyway. You don't even put it
in writing in the ESPN computer. You call people alcohol's background. Seven.
He says, I got through to a guy who I
know connected to Lamu's team, the Penguins, and he says
(28:10):
I heard something about him considering this, but that's all
I know. So now I try all the executives with that,
and they say not good enough. And every five minutes
I'm checking the Associated Press news wire to see if
they have scooped us. And I'm trying to write the
highlights for some tennis tournament rotter Dam, and the clock
is going tick tick tick tick tick. It's ten. There's
(28:32):
a script already and written and highlights edited of Mario
Lemieux and the whole thing for money came back after radiation,
and almore, Ganty has gone to a studio and recorded
a what does this mean for the Penguins and what
does this mean for the NHL? Sound bite for US
that we can run, but we still don't have the
second source. And we are on in fifteen minutes, and
(28:53):
I'm ready to punch walls and the phone rings in
the main Sports Center writing area where I am standing
because I haven't been able to sit down in half
an hour. And the production assistant shouts, Al more Ganty
for you, and I pick it up and he says,
I got it. I got it. I got hold of
Rick Tocket. Rick Tocett now does the studio show for
Turner Hockey, but he was a very good, very tough
(29:14):
player in the nineties, and he had just been traded
by Lemieu's team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, And I say, well, great, Al,
but what on earth does Rick Tocett have to do
with this? And more Ganny says, Tackett told me when
they traded him. He asked why. He said, I thought
you liked what I did here, and they told him
we did, but we had to get you in this
(29:34):
deal to l A because l A wouldn't give up
Luke Roboti. And we have to get Luke Roboti because
guess what, Mario was too exhausted to play this year
and we need Roboti to score the goals that Mario
can't and you can't either confirmation. So we it's now
ten fifty. We're on in ten minutes. The studio is
a five minute run from the newsroom, and I conference
(29:56):
al and we call the managers at the retreat at
Martha's Vineyard. And I call and they are in a
meditation session or or it's a trust exercise. Are there
building a human pyramid? I always thought the human pyramid
one was the likeliest, or it's a vow of silence.
And I start screaming and telling them what to do
with their trust exercise, and finally they get one of
(30:18):
them to get on the phone and more Ganty tells
them what Takeet told him, and the guy goes, okay,
you can go with it, and I run to the studio.
I could still run in, and I'm thinking, when I
read this story, I'm gonna sound like Clyde did when
he got off the freaking treadmill to call me with
this story. And we break the news and people are
astonished by this, and six minutes later the Associated Press
(30:40):
puts out the story with the exact same details. And
today all I can think about is we had to
get a second source. It took six hours. We had
six hours, and we almost lost the scoop because they
were building a human pyramid out of ESPN executives on
Martha's vineyard. So that's the al more Ganty story. The
(31:03):
Bill Clement story, also Hall of Famer, is shorter and funnier.
He and Gary Thorne were the a team when ESPN
had virtually all of the national telecasts of hockey in
the nineteen nineties. And Gary is great at baseball, but
he was born for hockey. There is not a moment
of a hockey game, as described by Gary Thorne that
has about a thrill unparalleled. And he has a voice
(31:26):
like the public address system at Grand Central Station in
New York, only it's louder and more reliable and inexhaustible.
Dary Thorne, and he's doing a New York Rangers game
on ESPN with Bill Clement at Madison Square Garden, and
the Rangers at this point have a player named Sergio Momesso.
(31:47):
Sergio Momesso is now a broadcaster on the radio for
the Montreal Canadians, and in this game, the puck hits
Sergio Momesso and bounces off of him into the stands
and they whistle play dead, and it's a TV time out.
Sure enough, we're gonna go to commercial, and Gary says,
and the shot goes into the stands after hitting Sergio Mimosa.
We'll take a break. Mimosa, he called him Mimosa. We
(32:11):
all heard it. A roar of laughter broke open in
the Sports Center area. Well, it happens. I've done it.
Maybe not Mimosa from me Messo, but close enough. And
they play the theme music and just before the break
you here on the air before they go to the commercial,
Bill Clement says, and that butter smooth voice of his, Well,
(32:33):
I think we could all use a drink after that,
play Gary, And right then they go to the break.
So what the audience here's is on the shot goes
into the stands after hitting Sergio Mosa, We'll take a break.
I think we could all use a drink after that,
play Gary. That's what the audience here is. But in
the Sports Center studios, we are watching the game, not
(32:54):
as it appears to the viewer, but on a direct
feed from Madison Square Garden and our little booth there,
and the mics are still open even though they're in
commercial and Gary thorn right. He says, thanks a lot, Bill,
that's a teammate covering for me, like you never screwed
up a name. And then there's this weird sound like
a grunt, but like a grunt getting quieter, and the
(33:16):
mics are still open, and we hear Bill Clement say
truck attention in the truck. Yeah, Gary will need a
new headset. He has thrown his into the stands. I
hear this, and I take off for the highlight room
where they record everything, because I want this tape. The
(33:37):
highlight room known as screening we're screaming, depending on how
busy it is, is beyond the studio. So if, like
I mentioned, the studio is a five minute run from
where I am, the highlight room is a six minute run.
And I go as fast as I can, and I
get there, and I know the production assistant who was
recording the game and selecting the highlights, and he looks
at me and he says, I'm sorry. I knew you'd
(33:58):
come down here for this. They already made me burn back.
Burned back, of course, means erasing. They erased this interchange,
including j Gary saying Mimosa on the air never mind
what happened in the commercial. And they've done this, of course,
so little devils like me can't get the recording of
(34:20):
Gary Thorne calling Sergio Momesso, Sergio Mimosa and Bill Colemant
goofing on him, and Gary ripping Bill in response, and
Gary throwing his headset out of the booth, and Bill
mentioning that Gary will need a new one. So, to
my knowledge, the tape of this does not exist anymore.
Two postscripts, Gary Thorne should get the hue At Award. Two,
(34:42):
he should be in the Hall of Fame. And if
you're listening, Gary, since I told that story about you,
let me tell the parallel one about me. When I
met Jeff Daniels after he started in Aaron Sorkin's newsroom
and had spent much of the publicity tour for newsroom
explaining to people that he was not portraying me. Jeff
Daniels was very solicitous about it, just as nice as
(35:04):
would hope he would be. And he said, listen, I
knew it was you, but I didn't want people to
know that it was you because I knew, but they
didn't know, and you didn't know that Like an episode
four I picked up my BlackBerry and threw it at
the camera. And I didn't want anybody to think you
picked up your BlackBerry and threw it at the camera.
And I looked at him in confusion and surprise, and
(35:26):
I must confess probably not a little sense of hurt.
But Jeff I said, of course, I picked up my
BlackBerry and threw it at the camera. Where do you
think Sarkin got that idea? Okay, to be fair, there
(35:55):
was nobody operating the camera. I threw the BlackBerry at
but there were swear words. I've done all the damage
I can do here and without throwing a BlackBerry. Thanks
for listening. Follow the podcast. If you can tell a friend,
Tell a stranger. Here are the credits. Most of the music,
including our theme here from Beethoven's Ninth, was arranged, produced
and performed by Brian Ray and John Philip Chanelle. They
(36:15):
are the Countdown musical directors. All orchestration and keyboards by
John Philip s Chanelle. Guitars, bass and drums by Brian Ray.
Produced by t KO Brothers Our Beethoven. Selections of other
kinds have been arranged and performed by the group No
Horns Allowed. The sports music is the Olberman theme from
ESPN two. It was written by Mitch Warren Davis Fear's
(36:36):
courtesy of ESPN Inc. She's a really still upset that
tape doesn't exist anymore anyway. Musical comments by Nancy Faust.
The best baseball stadium organist ever at our announcer today
was Tony Kornheiser. Everything else was pretty much my fault.
Let's countdown for this the six and seventy ninth day
since Donald Trump's first attempted coup against the democratically elected
(36:59):
government of the United States. Arrest him now while we
still can a new episode tomorrow. Until then, I'm Sergio Mimosa.
Good morning, good afternoon, good night, and good luck. Countdown
with Keith old Woman is a production of I heart Radio.
For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i
(37:21):
heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Keith Olbermann
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