5-15-24 Hour 1

Knicks blow out the Pacers... how did that happen?
Levack gives an update on the AFL and Jeff Fisher
New York Giants on "Hard Knocks"

Episode Transcript

(00:04):
We got some big news last night, and there's going to be a lot
of conversation on this Friday morning aboutthe story that's on the front page of
the Times Union. As you getup this morning and you see the paper,
you're going to read soccer stadium franchiseproposed for Albany. They're talking about
an eight thousand seat stadium. Butthis proposal is much more than just a

(00:27):
soccer stadium. And I have alreadyhad conversations with people who go, uh
uh, Albany can't do this,and I'm like, are you out of
your minds? Albany has to dothis well. One of the people that
has been involved behind the scenes andis pushing this project, big time Assemblyman
John McDonald. He joined us onthe listener line right now to discuss this
project. John. Welcome, goodmorning, Good morning, Doug. How

(00:49):
are you? I am really reallyexcited about this. Others have said,
We've done this with the river Rats, We've done this with the Albany calling
the Yankees. We've had we hadteams come, we've had teams go,
and we can't sustain this sort ofthing. Are these the conversations that are
going on behind the scenes here?Absolutely not, not whatsoever. The conversations

(01:12):
are realistic, they're positive. It'sa can do and to be honest with
you, as a person who's livesin the Capitol region for sixty two years
now, it's a must. SoI think it's I think there's there's a
different dynamic at play here. Ithink, first of all, the sport

(01:34):
soccer is the world sport. Anybodycan play soccer, the pair of shoes
in a ball, it's not ahigh barrier to enter. And I've always
been you know, all three ofmy children that played soccer. I've always
loved to go watch people play soccer. And what's always interesting, as opposed
to the NBA right now is we'rewatching the Knicks, where you're looking at

(01:56):
ninety to one hundred points a game. To get one or two goals,
you think it was big deal.The reality is there's something about the sport
that people are mesmerized with they loveto go watch it. I just think
there's a lot of pieces here thatare a little bit different than some of
the other aspects in the past.And I think the other excitement, well,
I was gonna say, let's talkabout their proposal itself first, because

(02:20):
First of all, if you lookon the pictures of the Times Union ad
that parcel of land where you're talkingabout putting it that that parcel's barely being
used. It's a parking lot.Basically, it's not bringing anybody into Albany.
It's not bringing vitality, energy,freshness, anything like that. This
would do that. And then someI mean to me, it's just it's

(02:40):
not such a no brainer. Butit's not just the soccer stadium. You
guys have a much bigger vision here. Absolutely, and I am painfully familiar
with this site. You know,in my assembly district in the last decade
I represented that area. We guessit's called the parking Lot district. It

(03:00):
was the original site for the originalconvention Center and that property, those properties,
excuse me, have been mired inyears and years of litigation to get
control of it, and the cityhas worked diligently to finally have gotten control
of these parcels now the same token. You're right, it's not just about
a major league soccer program, whichis exciting in itself, and the stadium

(03:24):
itself can serve. It's going tobe multifunction. It's not just soccer,
although that will be the priority.There is a whole plan to bring in
a large amount of housing that meetsthe needs of all of the Capital Region,
not just one community or the other. And also with that comes economic

(03:45):
development opportunities, and like you wouldexpect when you go to other metropolitan areas
throughout the state, there is theappropriate and necessary green space to really give
that setting that extra left. AndI had to tell you this started burbing
along about six months ago, andinitially I said, to be honest with

(04:08):
you, the world sport is probablythe most unifying. This is something that
even the naysayers and the Capital regionwho tend to enjoy being naysayers, I
hate to say this, these arethe ones that if you step back and
look at this, look at thesport, look at the diversity here in
the Capital Region which really embraces thatsport, and the fact that everybody wants

(04:30):
to be proud of the capital city, this is something we should all get
behind. And I don't even representAllbity anymore, but I still care deeply
about the city of all but becausethe reality is this, it is our
state capital. Whether you live inCahos or Niskuiyuna or Glenville, or escrembush.
You would need to make sure yourcapital city is strong, because when

(04:53):
it's strong, the region is strongas well. Amenda that now this came
out of nowhere. For me,I saw a tweet about At first I
was like, is this even real? And then I started looking at him.
I like, oh man, sowhat I mean or where I'm going
with this is there's had to bea lot of behind the scenes maneuvering here,
and there had to be a lotof people with a vision that other

(05:14):
people didn't even know about for along time. Who are the people behind
this that deserve the credit for gettingthis to this point? Well, to
start with Ed lisamits him who asmany people, if they don't know are
extraordinarily successful in their business world,that they've been just as successful in their
business they developed that's a non forprofit called Business for Good. They are

(05:39):
the ones who are putting their moneywhere their mouth is. They are the
ones who see this vision. JeffBuell, who is been a developer who's
taken on some of the most uniqueand creative developments throughout the capital regions,
not just Tall and he's worked inTroy, He's worked in Schonected's the whole
nine yards. Jeff is a verybig visionary in many aspects, and there

(06:03):
are other investors as well involved.They get it, they see it.
What they've done, which unfortunately sometimespeople, particularly naysayers, don't get the
opportunity to do. Is they lovethe Capital region, but they've also gone
outside the Capital region and saw whatgood happens in other communities, and they've

(06:23):
studied what it takes. Yes,it takes personal resources, It needs some
government support, and I firmly believethis is an opportunity that the state can't
pass by, but it needs thecommunity to get behind it. And I
really do think you know when Iyou know, I work regularly not only
with the mayor, with the countyexecutive, my colleague Pat Fay and Senator

(06:44):
Breslan and of course the governor.When you look at all layers of government,
and quite frankly, when I talkedto my colleagues an elected office throughout
the region, we all should begetting behind us, John, you and
I let this opportunity pass. Asimonman John McDonald joins this Live W Mornings.
You and I don't always see eyeto eye on politics and on issues
like this. I am one ofthose naysayers. People say to me all

(07:06):
the time, you sound negative allthe time. Listen, at some point,
you do got to support something.This is it for me. I'll
give you an example. So,when they were trying to revitalize the Central
Warehouse, the Big Ugly as Icall it, I never was behind any
of those proposals because I'm like,you're trying to hold on to something that's
gone now and you're trying to somehowuse something that's not useful anymore. You

(07:30):
need to start over. That's whyI never got on board with any of
the different versions of what they wantedto do there. This is entirely different
what you're talking about here. Thisis an area that isn't being used to
its full effect. That would bringnew business and industry to this area,
and it would give people a reason. We all remember Rebecca Lobo saying,

(07:51):
good luck finding something to do inAlbany. This would be something to do
in Albany all year round. I'mhere for it. I'm with you,
brother, I'm with it, andI'll tell you this. You know a
lot of times when these stadium conceptscome up, and you know there's one
on the other end of the statein Buffalo, and there's many others.
We follow this as elect officials,we follow what goes on in other states.

(08:15):
I'm part of the National Consol StateLegislatives. I meet with legislators throughout
the country. This isn't no disrespectto the suburbs, because they are a
critical part of our community. Butthis isn't being put on some prime acreage
out in the suburbs. This isbeing put in one of the most neglected
parts of the capital city of Albany. And it's going to have not only

(08:37):
impacts in regards to not only image, not only regards to housing, now
in regards to activity for people whovisit the capital state or the capital of
the state. But the same token, it's going to have a major impact
for opportunity for the individuals live inthe city in the surrounding communities. It's
interesting the next Gen League, whichis what Major League Soccer is looking and

(08:58):
when you can talk about Albany beingpart of the next expansion along with San
Diego, that's kind of cool.And from my perspective, I think it's
great. I think it's fantastic.And at the same token, we talk
up that they when we met withMLL Soccer, and they have been extremely
interested. They're not running away,They're running at this full speed when we

(09:22):
talk to them. They talk aboutthe opportunity league for the next final level
for these players whom up there.And you know, listen to people involved
with this, they've played the game, they've played at the major league level.
They see this as an excellent exampleof a major league facility. But
I also look at it from anelected officials perspective. It's an opportunity for

(09:43):
individuals, an opportunity for individuals notonly for jobs, but it's also an
opportunity to really engage in the sport. Like I said, one thing,
I've always admired about soccer and itgoes back when I was mayor a long
time ago. Only needs a pairof shoes in the ball, that's it,
and anybody can play. I seesoccer to be one of the few
sports that truly I mean, fortunatelywomen's basketball has finally gotten to where it

(10:07):
is, but soccer has the samelevel excitement with men's soccer as it does
with women's soccer's it's equal in manyaspects, and I think this is just
going to be a great great.Oh. I would love to get a
professional women's soccer game or team inthis stadium too. It's just great.
Listen, John, we're at time. But do I see boondoggle potentially?

(10:28):
Or of course I do. DoI see we tried something good and it
fell apart? Of course I couldsee that happening. Do I see?
Actually, you know what, wetried to do something different and it worked
out. God bless it. Isee that too. And this is a
chance you got to take. Ilove this and I'm all in on it.
Also. We haven't talked since,and we'll talk again another time about
it. But just kudos to youand the work you did helping to make

(10:52):
the Burnett Birthing Center stick around.A good job by you. Thank you,
thank you, And I don't wantsome time on one final message,
if you mind to all the naysayerswhen you get up in the morning,
put on a different set of glasses, look at it in the positive light.
It's going to be great. Listen. People say to me all the
time, all butoy can't have goodthings, especially when that's a self fulfilling

(11:13):
prophecy. Like at some point,we got to try it, We got
to do something different and we gotto think outside the box. This is
it. Assemblyman John McDonald, appreciatethe time this morning. Thank you have
good things. By the way,I'm here for call me out in six
months, a year from now,keep the receipts. If this crumbles and
falls apart, you can go tome say I told you you were stupid,

(11:35):
you were naive. I'll be herefor it. But if this actually
works, I'll do the same withyou. Let's find out. I am
one hundred percent on board with thisproject. I'm all in. It's Doug,
you're listening to you morning. Sonews out of the Capitol yesterday not

(11:58):
good, and news out of theCapitol today is going to be equally not
good. Our legislators are doing thingsthat are not making us safer here in
New York, and they're not helpinglaw enforcement in any way. Here to
help us break down what is goingon and what's gonna go on is the
president of the New York State Sheriff'sAssociation, Craig Dumont. He joins us

(12:20):
live right now on WGY Mornings.Sheriff Demon, Good morning, Good morning,
Doug. It's a pleasure to behere with you. This morning.
Yeah, we were scheduled to chatand will chat about what's gonna happen today
here at the Capitol. But sincelast we spoke, we found out downstate
in New York City that these migrantsthat allegedly we've all seen the video,

(12:43):
but allegedly assaulted the two cops backin January, they've been offered plea deals
of a year or less, andin one case, one of the guys
that allegedly took part in the compassaultanwas on bail for that, subsequently committed
petty larceny alleged and the judge says, I'm so furious right now, I'm

(13:03):
tempted to put you in jail.But then he doesn't, of course,
because welcome to New York Justice,I guess, sheriff. Yeah, it's
truly a shame. Again. We'relooking for the state legislature, as we've
talked about before, to to reallytake notice of what's going on in this
state and do something about it.The situation regarding the sale Bill reformed policies
that has been enacted by our statelegislature is much worse than what we as

(13:28):
sheriffs even three or four years agopredicted. They were going to be I
just you know, I tweeted aboutthis this morning, as in New York
is broken. I mean we theguy is in the country illegally. Not
only does he commit a crime allegedly, it's it's an assault on a police
officer. The police officer is gettingkicked while he's on the ground while the

(13:50):
guy gets bail. And think abouthow hard it is to get bail in
New York these days. This guygets it while he's out on bail.
He allegedly commits anough other crime inNew York. Not only doesn't put him
in jail right then, they can'teven alert the beds Ice because, as

(14:11):
we found out yesterday and Albany,the Laken's Law bill that they were debating
got shelved, and so nobody's gonnabe alerting anybody to anything. No.
It really it's really stunning, Doug, and it really makes no sense.
It defies common sense, basic logic. And you know, it's time that
really the public got involved in thisin this campaign, because you know,

(14:33):
if people are are are feeling comfortable, and obviously you know we have people
that have broken the law by enteringthe country illegally in the first place,
and then continue to commit crimes andthere's no accountability. What is the normal
human reaction gonna be to that?Or is the situation going to get better
or is the situation going to getworse. I think you could probably ask

(14:54):
any middle school or that question andthey would tell you that the situation's going
to get worse. It's fortunate thatour state legislature doesn't have the basic common
sense to take this situation and makeit better and make New York State a
safer place for all New Yorkers.Listen, Sheriff, we talked not too
long ago, because you were atthe Capitol after a couple of officers had

(15:18):
been one two cases out your wayhad been killed, and you said,
listen, we got to start protectinglaw enforcement. We've got to start understanding
that the good guys are not thebad guys. The bad guys are the
bad guys. And I remember talkingto you at that time and saying,
do you think anybody's going to listento you? And it appears they didn't
because they're not changing anything. No, they simply don't plan to change anything.

(15:41):
And that's why you know we're ona campaign now to get the public
involved in this because that's the onlything that's ever changed anything in this state
or in this country is a groupof people that are very passionate and upset
about an issue in leaning on theirlegislators to do something about it. You
know that what we have going on, it's just an absolute travel See.
You know, we have this otherSenate bill that they're considering now that's really

(16:03):
nothing short of prison break legislation.They'll they'll the people that we are do
we do have in prison right now, some of our worst criminals in New
York State, you know, includingcop killers, rapists, people that have
murdered multiple times. They're creating legislationthat's going to usurp the parole board in

(16:26):
making decisions on whether these people shouldbe granted parole and just automatically grant them
parole once they behave themselves in prisonfor a short period of time. You
know, you take a look atSon of Sam killer, David Berkowitz,
you take a look at Mark DavidChapman, John Lennon's killer. I'm sure
they're going to get immediate traction inpursuit of their parole. And this doesn't

(16:48):
even go to the sickening the behaviorsof cop killers that would again, you
know, stript the parole board oftheir flexibility and to basically give the commissioners
a parole rubber stamp for the Albanyprogressive politicians. And it's a shame,
and it's a slap in the face, a direct slap in the face to

(17:08):
the direct to the crime victims thathave been affected by these these criminals,
career criminals and their families. Youknow, we're we're celebrating National Police Week
this week and where today's Police MemorialDay. And really, what a slap
in the face to bring this legislationforward, uh, to our to our

(17:29):
families who have been recently, mostrecently affected by all these police killings that
have been happening. Uh, it'sit's amazing that, you know, the
legislature is just tone deaf to allof this. Uh. You know,
that's well said. And what I'venoticed is that whenever we talk about discretion,
it's always to be removed for thebenefit of the criminal. It's not

(17:52):
for the victims, it's not forlaw enforcement. It's for those guys.
We're gonna be sealing records, we'regonna put aids limits on what Kennon can't
be done. We're not going tolet judges have any discretion when it comes
to bail. Now, we're notgoing to let the parole board have any
discretion when it comes to whether ornot they're going to grab parole. And
everything is always for the bad guys, not for us. It defies logic

(18:18):
again of Doug. It's just itboggles your mind. They seem infatuated with
criminals in so called criminal rights.There's no regard to the victims, there's
no regard to the safety of thepublic. It's really again, it's stunning.
You know, you look at someof these cases and we've been asking
let judges be judges again, letthem make the determinations that people elect the

(18:41):
judges to do. And in thesecases where people have been convicted of these
heinous crimes, judges have heard theevidence. In all these cases, juries
have heard the evidence and they determinedthat the punishment should fit the crime.
You know, a lot of thesejudges, unfortunately no longer with us or
are deceased at this point. I'msure they're rolling over in their grace,

(19:02):
just stunned thinking about how things havechanged so much in New York for the
worst and not for the better.Well, you know, we've talked and
I talked to Sheriff Craig Apple aboutthis, we talked to Sheriff Rich Giardino
a little bit earlier. But raisethe age is one that comes up quite
often, and it doesn't matter howloudly and how often you guys in law

(19:23):
enforcement talk about how raised the ageneeds to be fixed and needs to be
dealt with. Albany is steadfastly refusingto do anything about it, and they're
in complete denial that there's any sortof problem. And we have a complete
disconnect at this point. Sure,and if you go if you look at
places like our urban centers in NewYork State, across New York State,

(19:45):
New York City, and some ofour larger cities Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo,
the street gangs, of the youthstreet gangs have completely taken over and
they're using these kids to commit thesecrimes because they know there's no accountability.
Out in Western New York is ahuge problem with motor vehicle steffs and and

(20:06):
drugs across the state. New YorkCity. Uh, you know, with
the with the problems we're having withyouth games down there. It's it's it's
ready to step over and it's timeto do something about this. And and
as New York State Sheriffs, we'revery we're very concerned about this, and
we're speaking on behalf of the entirelaw enforcement community. We want the public
to help us to to really reachout and hold our legislators accountable and make

(20:32):
them recognize the problem that most NewYorkers have to experience every day. Yeah,
you're in your account. You knowwhat I want to say, with
my tongue firmly planted in my cheek, what do you and your fellow sheriffs
know about it? These are peoplein Albany, Okay. They have all
the answers. It is unfortunate thatmany of them do think that way.

(20:53):
Doug. You know we've said that. You know, they collectively, you
have several hundreds of years of experiencethat the legislature can tap from in our
law enforcement organizations, the New YorkState Sheriffs, the New York State Chiefs,
then the District Attorneys Association, andit's just it's really just unfortunate and
sad that as they're considering some ofthese legislations that affect public safety, that

(21:18):
we're not even consulted. We're notgiven a seat at the table, We're
not given an opportunity for them totap into our experience and actually make some
informed decisions when it comes to thesethings. If Lacoln's Law and the bill
that they shelved yesterday, if thatwas on the ballot in November, your
guess is the whether that would pass, because my guess is it would be
at least seventy thirty A. Yeah, I would guess that it would pass

(21:42):
with a healthy with a healthy rate, just as you indicated, and boy,
it would be something if we couldget that done. Huh. Well,
my question then becomes, whatever happenedto representative democracy. They're not representing
the will of the people. I'mpretty sure the bill that they're going to
pass today that takes discretion away fromthe pro board, I'm pretty sure seventy

(22:03):
percent of New Yorkers would be infavor of keeping the discretion. But they're
taking that away too, because again, they're smarter than us, Sheriff,
I guess that's the thing we keepforgetting. They're smarter than us, and
they have all the answers I guessthat's why things are going so great in
New York, especially in New YorkCity right now. And you're one hundred

(22:23):
and ten percent right about that.It really just boggles our minds. We've
tried to figure out what they're youknow, why they why such an infatuation
with criminals, and why such acomplete lack of disregard for the victims that
these criminals create and for the publicsafety in general. And we haven't come
up with the answer yet, Doug. But that doesn't mean we don't we

(22:45):
you know, we we just walkaway after getting knocked down, you know,
ten, twelve, fifteen times overthe course of the last several years
with Bell Reform. The one thingI can promise you is the New York
State Sheriffs are going to continue tostand and hold the line and and make
these issues be known to the public. We won't give up on the public
and we won't give up on publicsafety. We're with you, and we

(23:07):
appreciated. New York Sheriff's Association PresidentCraig Dumont always appreciate the time. Keep
fighting the good fight. Thank you, sir, it was a pleasure to
be with you this morning. Iwish it was under better circumstances. That
I greatly appreciate the opportunity to beon your show and get this message out
to you. I appreciate it aswell. We say it every time,
wish was under better circumstances. Itnever is. Here in New York Sheriff's

(23:30):
Association President Craig Dumont live right hereon WGY Mornings because he listens. So
yeah. Interesting. The press releaseis ten team league, Jeff Fisher is
the interim and it's the AFL.It's just everything changed, everything changed,
and I have to tell you thatthe vibe I'm getting from my counterparts around

(23:53):
the league is one of contenders.They think this is a very good move
for everybody. I feel like it'sas simple as this. I'm a little
confused. I think some others mightbe. So let me get this straight.
Are you confused that everybody's saying I'msmart right now? But a year
ago they were calling me a fatidiot? No, No, he confuses

(24:14):
me. What I was more confusedabout is that. So it's as simple
as this is what happened, ifI'm understanding this. According to reports,
there was a vote with owners.Ten owners now because now there's ten teams
in the league court. In thispress release, ten owners voted. There
was a unanimous decision that Lee Hutton, now the ex commissioner, is gone.

(24:37):
His wife, whatever her association wasas a team owner gone Minnesota.
Thank you owner of Minnesota. They'rejust gone. And Jeff Fisher's the commissioner.
But Jeff Fisher would have to acceptthat role. So then he said,
you know what I want to takethis on. Is it as simple
as am I missing something? BecauseI asked that naively, because I don't
know an example of sports where someonegot voted out. This feels like British
Parliament. This feels like someone itup with wigs and you guys were like

(25:00):
slamming gabbles across the country to zoomcall and said he is out. We
have signed. Pepaa Peg is thenew probably Minister of henrena foot. Isn't
as simple as that as what justhappened, and other people aren't gavels.
I'm gonna be ticked. I wishI had a gable. Pepa is not
involved. Jeff Fisher is the interimcommissioner League. This look this, this

(25:22):
is the here's my take right thisis just my take. This isn't even
my take as a team president.I guess for the experienced part of it
is to have the strength, tohave the wherewithal and to have the courage
to go forward. The way thisgroup did tells me that things are gonna

(25:47):
be are gonna be good. Youknow, Like I've seen teams fold for
strong leagues and it causes so manyquestions for the league that even though they're
still strongly they only lost like oneteam, the league suffers because of it.
To have this group speak together inone voice, get this thing together,

(26:08):
get everything you know, get itdone in the speed in which they
did. Where you know, herein Albany we lost one game, and
we we actually didn't lose a gamebecause it was supposed to be home game.
So like the fact that it turnedaround so fast is amazing. It's

(26:29):
impressive. And again, you neededa guy like Jeff Fisher to be there,
to be willing to get involved,because that adds a lot of validity
to you. I mean this,like I know the joke eight the Lea's
about to go eight and eight.The League's about to do this. It's
gonna be fifty five hundred league thatdude was a head coach in the NFL

(26:51):
forever, and he knows what he'stalking about, and he's got compassion for
it, he wants to do it. So he's he's the guy. He's
gonna help get us to that nextlevel. And because of how quick I
already moved, because of you know, how willing they were to fight the
good fight, We're not losing anything. We're getting a game this Sunday.

(27:12):
It was supposed to be the PhiladelphiaSoul. They they went on. They
weren't. I guess they suspended operationor I don't know whatever. Now we's
got Southwest Kansas Store. So likethis is and this is a team that
just went went to war with youknow, I think he just lost forty
four to forty two. They putpoints on the board. It's gonna be
a fun game. I want tomake sure I asked this correctly because this

(27:33):
is gonna sound mean spirited, andthat is not the intention of this question.
I really is not the intention ofthis question. Okay, So the
Jeff Fisher assignment, the voting ofJeff Fisher to become the commissioner of the
Arena Football, what it sounds like, what you just said, and I
don't want to twist your words.That's why I'm clarifying here. Jeff Fisher
is not a twenty year veteran inarena football. He's the NFL. He's

(27:55):
coached the Super Bowl. It almostseems as if the assignment of Jeff Fisher
is the commissioner of the Arena FootballLeague. The reason as to that happened
intern Okay, Okay, that commissionthank you. That's very important. Okay,
because publicly, nationally, the perceptionis that the thing teams are folded

(28:15):
in front office Sports wants to runan article in CBS and NBC, but
all of a sudden, Jeff Fisher'sWHOA. Okay, we know Jeff Fisher,
we know what he's about, weknow his pedigree, we know what
he's done in football. With nodisrespect to Jeff Fisher, he's never been
a commission of the league before tomy knowledge, so he doesn't have experience
being a commissioner, but he's hisexperience as an NFL head coach. So
to what I've just understood there,there was two big factors that helped in

(28:38):
the Jeff Fisher interim commissioner role.Won his name into his professional football experience,
less about who could be the commissionIn hell, you just said interim.
He could be the commission in twentytwenty five. He could be the
commission for the rest of the season. Some of the factor in which Jeff
Fisher was assigned can be party tohis pedigree, his resume, some of

(28:59):
it, but also the the initialthe first people I heard talk about him
being the interim commissioner mission any anycapacity, weren't. It wasn't Nashville,
it was like Billings. So JeffFisher's been on the calls, He's been
in the meetings he comes to.He came to Albany as part of the
national Cats team, So like tosay that he's never done arena football.

(29:25):
Like, let's let's be honest.Anybody can read a rule book. Anybody
can read it well with the biggestdifference obviously several I mean indoors, outdoors,
whatever. But how you score kickinggame, that's different. How you
substitute ironman football, that's different.But these are all None of these things

(29:48):
are like foreign terms. It's notlike it's not like, okay, well
you forgot about slime time? Waitwhat yeah, third quarter? Everybody gets
lined like, no, wait,I don't want to do right. That's
awesome, But I'm saying, likeNate Burleson, there's no there's no there's
no verbide that he had to learnwhere he was like, you know,
wait, that's not football, likea mac and a jack linebacker stuff like

(30:11):
that. I'm sure he had to, But your commissioner doesn't need to Kishier
doesn't need to be able to calla jack out of the box penalty.
Your commissioner needs to get the ownerson the same page. Your commissioner needs
to be able to rule in favoror against maybe negotiate on behalf of the
league, you know. So theseare all things he can do. And
and again when you have teams,this is if none of this happened,

(30:36):
and the powers that were in placewere still in place, like two or
three teams all chimed in wanting Fisherat that point. So again, I
think the most impressive point is itwasn't even Nashville that started it. It
was I think I believe it wasBillings. Hang on, hang on,
hang on. Now you've confused mebecause I didn't want to undcut Jeff Fishers.

(31:00):
And it is a huge deal thathe's not the pressure. But that
part does confuse me because Okay,you're the team president of the Albany Firebirds.
Yes, Jeff Fisher's role was teampresident of the Nashville Cats. Yeah,
that's the understanding of that. Okay, he was the president of football
operations. That is a big dealthat you clarified that, Okay, And
that's why he's not he's not payingbills like I was. Okay, so

(31:21):
you understand it's not cutting checks.You understand where my next question is going
to be that like if Nashville isone of the teams that we're viewing as
one of the teams that's doing itright, and they say, hey,
uh sorry, Nashville, we're pluckingyour team president out of your franchise figured
out by look, you're still competitivepeople. The nine owners ten owners,
but nine in that vote would havesaid, hey, Nashville's doing it really
good, and we think they mightbe our biggest competition. Let's dump their

(31:44):
vice or let's dump their president outof there. And then now you're the
commissioner, Hey, I don't wantto do this what I'm doing because like,
seriously, Levac, you are thepresident of the Albany Firebirds. If
they looked around the league and said, okay, the owners have to stay
put because they're independently owned in theseareas. Uh, Jeff Fish, you
could have been in the mix forthis because if they're looking for team presidents
to take on their commissioner role,and that's the role Fisher was doing in

(32:06):
Nashville, and they again, VPof football operations is different than team president.
If it was all team presidents,our guy Levac could have been in
the mix here for the vote.Seriously. Three reasons that that is not
me? Okay, three reasons.One, hell no, I already have
three owners that yell at me everytime something goes wrong. And there's some

(32:29):
of the people I love the moston the planet, Mike Cord, Andy
Keelcher, which he says that I'mnot going to have ten more. Sorry,
I ain't doing that now, thankyou. That's what Two. Listen,
it's an overall view of football.Do I know as much about football
as Jeff Fisher? Hell no,no, I do not. Jeff Fisher

(32:52):
knows Jeff Fisher his he can blowhis nose right now. What's in that?
Kleenux probably knows more about football thanI know about Paul comparatively like he
is. He is, He's livedthis life, He's coached multiple different leagues,
he's done, He's done a lot, so that that's true. Three
And I would say this is probablymost importantly at this moment. That name

(33:14):
is a lightning rod. That name. There are people right now who whether
it's you know, the ten teamsthat are here right So you got the
Omni Firebirds, Billings Outlaws, NationalCats, Orlando Predators, Rapid City Marshalls,
Salina Liberty, Southwest Kansas, Storm, Washington wolf Pack, West Texas
Desert Hawks, and the Wishtar Regulators. So there are people who are fans

(33:36):
of those teams or in those marketswho have given up because they saw the
craziness that was going on just luWago. Now all of a sudden they
see ipress LEAs comes out says JeffFisher's in charge. Well they're back in.
They know him, they know heknows football, they know he's a
no nonsense dude. That's what weneed it. So I think that that
name my name across thing Google search. Oh fat guy, I went to

(34:00):
war with Antonio Brown a year ago. Like, what's it doesn't it doesn't
work you know what I mean,I haven't, oh Executive of the Year
in a league that he almost destroyedwith help of Antonio Brown. That's what
people will say. So like,this was a move that that that galvanizes
the entire thing. I gotta givesome love to your guy, Ben Nelson.

(34:22):
That was an awesome graphic they putup on social media gradually and Jeff,
yes, I say they as ifsomeone else was involved. Ben well
done. That was he looked likea badass in that photo he did.
I was like, well, that'spretty cool. Ben's amazing. Ben Ray
Like if I told you, Imean, I will tell you people who
are great at social media will cometo me and go, who does your

(34:45):
graphics? Who does your social Deliawho who's one of our favorite people here
in the building. She told methat she's trying to learn more about social
media. She's she's trying to learnto do what she sees on the Firebirds
social media. Ben's great Ben BenKick says he's taking that next step.
He's trying to become more of aso a media guy. So there's a
social media guy, but but socialmedia, he's amazing people. People try

(35:07):
to steal them all the time likeyou, Yeah, I'll fight you.
Don't let him out to you.No, but this is iHeart wants him.
I heart can't afford Please, can'tafford him. Heart can't afford me.
Now they can breaking bad? Whois actually talented? What are you
thinking? No? This is thiswas the right move. This is and
and again I don't This is abovemy this is above my pay grade.

(35:29):
Right So, like I was herekeeping everything in place, making sure that
we were ready to go for whoevershowed up on Sunday. That's that's what
I was here doing. These decisionsare being made on a bigger level,
and it's it's impressive. I getthis league is strong right now? Is

(35:51):
there a chance this is for Ramfans and Titan fans in the Camplot region.
There is a bar in Sarah Toogan. I'm blanket on the name of
it right now. I should know. Not off time I had the bartender
hands the Titan logo on his arm. Oh I think it starts with the
letter S. Gosh, I'm somad. I'm forgetting the name of that
bar right now too. Uh?Is Coach Fisher ever going to be here
in Albany? He was here,he was just here right, But now

(36:13):
he's the commissioner, like I assumehe's going to go to other markets we
host the championship probably or the playoffs, because and that's the that's something that
came out this too, is myunderstanding. There's no more of this neutral
site Coca High Seed host. Let'sgo. So we have a reputation to
maintain here in the old five oneeight, throw a hell of a championship

(36:36):
party. Let's let's make sure wedo that again. Let's get all right,
let's get there. A lot ofpeople earlier today the party zone I
think sold out, no way forsome fantastic stuff. Yeah, so we're
this Sunday. We got to getyour seats. This is going to be
our guys are chopping at the bidto play football. I'm so mad.

(36:59):
So yesterday morning we got to tellour guys, hey, you're gonna play
Sunday against Southwest Kansas. You're gonnaplay twenty fourth against West Texas. The
rest of the schedule will be outas soon as the league approves it.
Boom boom, and so Mike Quartergoes, I'm gonna do it at eight

(37:21):
over at the practice facility. I'mlike, oh, awesome. I'll be
there because I don't want you tolose out your beauty sleep. So I
was like, bleep, you allbe there. I walked in at eight
oh one because of stuff he hadme doing. He'd alreadyne the announcement.
I didn't even see it, butthe guys were pumped. The guys are
pumped thinking. These guys cannot waitto play Sunday, cannot wait. They
are fired up. They're gonna beat Flock University tonight one tank grill they

(37:45):
are. They are ready to takeout two weeks of practice on Southwest Kansas.
There's a storm rolling in. Itmight limp out. We got a
packed weekend coming up in the Capitolregion and sports Tomorrow. We're out live
in Mohawk Sheverlet Friday will be anMVP arena high up the fire Wolves and
Firebirds back in studio Monday than MohawkHonda speaking about Mohawkanda Evec. Let's talk

(38:07):
about Mohawk Conda, Moha. Iwould love to Mohawk Conda. I'm just
meeting with my guy Cam ac ckennaon Friday morning, excited about that,
bumping into Cam, talking about allthe great things going on in the two
thousand and twenty four vehicles that God. I love my Pilot though I think
Gods and Pilot have gone so wellto get over the past few years.
But who knows. Did you seethe new HRV? I have not seen.

(38:29):
That's that's on me right now.I have not seen. There's the
I always like them because they're little, they're economical, they're good, but
they're still like roomy. The newones they're stylist bro. I'll ask him
about it on Friday morning. Ifyou're looking for a new vehicle, stop
over to Mohawkana. People can trustduring the Carbon Experience. Here Greg Johnson
cross Fox Sports Now talking about theEV prologue and more. Get yourself a

(38:51):
new new ride today. Shout toLindsay harrod In and everybody texting our guy
Nate today getting ready for some funsocial media stuff coming up on the way
as well. People you can trustduring the Carbon exp and don't forget next
Tuesday, less than a week away. Levac and I will be back in
Mohawk Knda Chevy tomorrow. But onto next week. Mohawk Kanda, where
they always go out of their wayto please you. They bring you the
top Foard four, but that's notcoming up next about fifteen minutes away from

(39:13):
the top Forard four instead of Lovac. You've got another New York story,
back to back to back New York. This one's blown up all over the
internet, something that's never happened inthe history of the sports show involving a
New York team. Can we justdo it right now? How we can't?
Hey, if you're listening to meright now, I have one thing

(39:36):
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(43:30):
come together, we can ensure thatevery mother really does count. It's Lovak
and gaze on the voice of theCapitol Regions, Sports Fan, Fox Sports
ninety five to nine and nine eighty, every one was in a while.
I just wonder if production crews justgo hallave this year for later. Do

(43:52):
you hear who's on Hard Knocks?Huh? Kind of? I don't know
if the presentation what you're telling meis correct though. The New York Football
Giants. Are they on Hard Knocks? Yeah? Okay, because when I
think about Hard Knocks, I thinkabout training camp, training camp, training
camp with the Baltimore Ravens, trainingcamp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Ah

(44:17):
yeah, And then I think inseason we've seen the Colts, We've seen
the Cardinals back. Ah. Soyes, That's why I asked that in
a facetious manner of is it hardKnocks? Because as levact to see,
is there it is the first timein the history of the HBO series that
an NFL team will be covered inthe off season off season hard Knocks with

(44:39):
the New York Giants. You're gonnasee everything that happened, I believe from
January until now following. I believethey've been taping the whole time. Hopefully
our guy Paul Camarata is listening,right now I'm a text him, tell
him all about maybe he's been workingon in the product guilder in high school.
Maybe we'll get him on the showlater this week. We'll see.
Uh but Levec, do you findthis is interesting in as training camp or

(45:02):
in season? Yeah? Yeah,so are you telling me there's gonna be
a training camp one too? Likethis is yeah, so the Giants,
we're not gonna see the Giants oftraining camp. We just see their off
season correct, So we see dudesturn off the lights where they lost leave
and then just like Dable scratch himselfwalking around the offices trying to figure out

(45:23):
how to fix Dale Jones. Thenget ready for the draft, do the
draft off season workouts. I thoughtit was honestly, read it wrong,
read it wrong. This was real. I thought it was like just like
the Jets. I was like soexcited to see Daniel Jones, see the
drama that is Dale Jones and trainingcamp. According to the press release and

(45:47):
now posted on giants dot com,camera crews will chronicle the team's every move
as general manager Joe Shane and othermembers of the team's run office in staff
navigate the critical off season period fromJanuary to July twenty twenty four, the
NFL Scouting Combine to Free and sythe NFL Draft in de mini camps this
season. Hard Knocks off season withthe New York Giants, debuts on Tuesday,

(46:09):
July second. Mm hmm, okay, this makes so much more sense
than me because I saw Colin Cowhardretweet it and it said Hard Knocks more
like Hard Watch, and I waslike, I was like, you're not
You're not into this? Like Ioh, I was like, man,
the Giants be a fun host,like I feel like Dables. I feel

(46:32):
like Dables probably TV Gold. Hejust do. You don't expect it.
But he's like walking around smoking hisgarb. You're like, coach Daily,
can't smoke down here? What areyou to arrest me? I do what
I want? Who else is gonnafix Daniel Jones? You blow a smoke
ring right in his face. That'swhat she's thinking of, right? Yeah?
Yeah, Well, ever since hegot like in a fight with Wig

(46:55):
Martindale over pizza, I thought Iassume that he's he's like Archie Bunk Crew,
just bald and new. I don'twant to derail us here quickly.
I've admit that the pizza story hasgone so far that I actually forgot what
the argument was. You know,just be like, oh, you know,
somebody argue about somebody for it.They argue about the topp being on
the pizza. Do we remember?No. I think it was like the
last Who's gonna eat the last light? That's what That's what I recall it.

(47:22):
Two big old like big elephant seals, just fighting over a pizza.
So the top I'm in. Iwant to see it. I want to
be there for it, you knowwhat. Now I want to help fight
for the pizza I had. Ihad little interest in this of the whole
thing, but now I wish thepizza thing was true. I don't know.
I guess it is true, butI don't know if it was,

(47:44):
it would be before these these pictures, these videos. I know they joked
around about it November. I don'tknow if it actually I don't know.
All right, I'll check it out. I'm gonna give it a chance.
Obviously, it's football, you knowme, any football is good football.
But I didn't realize so I thoughtlike the off season meant they were in
go straight through training camp. No, I didn't. I don't believe so
I think it's five episodes is onlyfun. Here's why I think it is

(48:07):
gonna be a thing, because HBOMax is having a full push. There's
rumors out today that HBO Max,Netflix, Gosh, and somebody else.
I'm blanking. I want to sayit's Amazon. There's a bunch of these
streaming services are all gonna combine.Now. There's a lot of stuff going
on in the streaming world that HBOMax is just looking for constant content.

(48:27):
It's gotten so bad they're doing KevinSpacey docs now, good gosh, man,
I was like seven years ago.What is anyways, HBO Max.
Someone probably pitched this to them andsaid, hey, we're gonna do just
another season of Hard Knocks. It'sthe NFL. We're gonna pick a New
York team. Here's great, throwit up. There more content for HBO
A goat. It's probably gonna dobetter than whatever else is on HBO Max.
Again, they're running Kevin Spacey docsand how many things about creeps can

(48:52):
they put on HBO Max. Soit's probably gonna do well. I won't
watch it. No, I takethat back. I will watch it,
but I don't think i'll be asinterested as the only converence. Of course,
we have to so three teams canbe forced to do hard knocks the
training camp series this season. Theyare the Chicago Bears, the Denver Broncos,

(49:15):
the New Orleans Saints. Those arethe three that could be forced to
do it. Sean Payton would stomphis feet because he hates the media and
Denver and probably despite no no,you know, I was gonna say he
stops. But he treats the nationalmedia different than local media. So if
I of those three, I wouldpick the Broncos. I find them.
Caleb Williams the coaching staff could beon their way out. Caleb Williams is

(49:39):
taking enough criticism for being a numberone pick and how he dresses and how
he acts. I don't know ifChicago wants to open up more, I
got I get to force you.I get to force it. Do what
I won't. Broncos will be outthere. New Orleans sounds boring, like
you just watch Derek Carr pray.I love Derek Carter. We were He's
one of my favorite quarterbacks. Hewas like, now, I bet he

(50:00):
has a rebound this year. Ithink he's gonna have a rebound this year.
How's that there's a little there's alittle dark horse horse position for it?
In what way that he plays playsgood quarterback? The check down to
the other team. You used tojust check down. Now he checks down
to the other team. Man kindof paused me out. I was I
thought the giants were hard. Iwas like, this is great. You

(50:22):
do hard knocks in Jersey. Theydo hard knocks in Jersey. It's perfect.
I love this. No, notso much. Wow, you ruined
my day. Guys, I didn'teven do. I hope you're happy.
So let me live in denial aslong as I can. Let's talk about
denial. Are you trying to notget married? Are you trying to not
set up a wedding? Are younot trying to propose to your girlfriend?
Stop literally, and David fie Juliusis here to help you stop in and

(50:44):
grab the ring today. If you'vebeen dating your girlfriend, like for instance,
I dated my girlfriend now wife forI don't know, eight years before
I finally pop in glorious years,Lily and David Fine Jewalius won't judge you
about how long you've been dating someonebefore you propose. They will help you
find the ringing guys, I willadmit this. The longer and longer you
wait, the nicer and nicer thering needs to be. Just understand,

(51:07):
higher you have a better job,bringing home more money, do it while
you're broke. I mean, I'mthinking about when I bought my ring.
That's they found an affordable ring forme that I still get compliments on to
this day. That's right. Mywife does and I do as well.
That's how nice the ring is.But maybe you're looking to celebrate you anniversary.
Maybe you've got one of those Mayweddings coming up, maybe a June
wedding, the wedding planning too forone, wedding band sales, celebrating five

(51:28):
years, ten years, whatever itmight be. Or you've got a baby
on the way like me boy numberthree on the way this November. A
push gift. Do you know whata push gift is? If you had
a bunch of kids before and nevergotten your wife a push gift surpriser with
one this time you'd find all thosethings that the family owned and operated business
that is Lilli and David Fine Jueler'sshops at Wilton. And when you stop
in tell her her about my story. Goss the story, Fox Sports ninety

(51:51):
five, nine to nine eighty.Tell Me you love the first hour of
the show. You listen on demand, Apple, Spotify and the Iron app.
Yeah. Speaking of getting married,Will Ferrell has a movie coming out
called You're Cordially Invited later this year. It looks hysterical. Top four forst
next, Fox Sports ninety five,nine to nine eighty. A little bit
of volume on the westbound side ofAlternate seven coming into Route nine.