June 22, 2024 • 35 mins
Chris and Rob explain why they have a big problem with Klay Thompson scrubbing the Golden State Warriors from his social media pages as a negotiation tactic and tell us why Kyrie Irving’s postgame tweet following the Dallas Mavericks’ season-ending loss in Game 5 was nothing but a coping mechanism. Plus, former NFL offensive lineman and FOX Sports Radio Weekend host Ephraim Salaam is in for Rob, and he and Chris discuss why the number of Black players in professional baseball continues to dwindle.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Odd Couple podcasts.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
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Speaker 2 (00:23):
You're listening to the Best of the Odd Couple with
Chris Brusha and Ron Harker.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
So Klay Thompson, Rob, we know, all time great player
for the Warriors and a critical part in their four
championships that they've won during this dynastic run. With Steph
Curry and Draymond Green, that's the Big three. But it
looks like it's over. Rob, And remember before this season,
(00:53):
the Warriors offered Klay Thompson a two year, forty eight
million dollar deal, which I think was quite generous. To
be honest, He's thirty four, he's played thirteen years. He's
still a very good player, average eighteen point shot thirty
nine percent from three, So it's not like he's done.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
But he's not what he used to be at Nora.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
They right, so they need to cut some salary and
their negotiations with him are going nowhere, and so Rob.
Over the weekend, Clay unfollowed them and followed Palo Bin
Carroll of the Orlando Magic, who are known to be
interested in Clay, and also the La Laker Austin Reeves
(01:41):
of the Lakers, who Clay is from LA. His dad
played for the Lakers, won championships with the Showtime Lakers,
so that is a natural fit if indeed, you know, Clay.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Wants to go there.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
But Draymond Green Rob talked about it, and here's what
he said.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
I know all of you.
Speaker 5 (02:00):
Are probably looking forward to me talking about Clay unfollowing
the Warriors and deleting some ig posts or something. I
had no idea that happened. I think it's hilarious. Just
so y'all know. I laugh when Jackson I logged on
hair and Jackson's like, Yo, so what about Clay. I'm like, what, Like,
what happened?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
It's like, oh, hey, un followed the Warriors. I think
that's comical.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
I know you all be one like somebody feelings to
be heard of something. It ain't that ain't never going
to be that. That's hilarious. Where are you at on
this route?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
It ain't hilarious. It's pathetic.
Speaker 6 (02:33):
And if I'm the Golden State Warriors, I got a
message for Clay Thompson.
Speaker 7 (02:39):
I would block him on social media? Would I would
block him? It's my Twitter, and I'll block it by
walk to block it, by walk to block it, by
wall too. You would block to if they tried to.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Dish you tell Clay Thompson to go jump in the lake?
Who cares? Well, Clay loves the way right, who cares?
Speaker 7 (03:05):
I'm still heard they've paid him millions and millions of
dollars and he ain't the.
Speaker 8 (03:10):
Dame playing now, and he wants them to give him welfare,
pay me a match contract, give me a lot of
money even though I'm not the dame player.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
And I'm gonna act.
Speaker 8 (03:22):
Like a big baby, and I'm gonna unfollow you, and
I'm gonna go ahead and I'm gonna follow the Orlando Magic.
Speaker 7 (03:29):
Take your light skin, but dow oh, hold on, take
your light skin down to wrong with light.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Skins, to NBA yrism, colorism.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
On the odd couple, that's gotta be racist.
Speaker 7 (03:46):
To NBA Siberia, which is better known as Orlando, go
down there. That's right, Clay, get over it. They have
paid you handsomely. You're not the same player. Okay, we
all aren't the same as we were ten years ago.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
This is over. Speak for yourself, all right. I might
need not like Ali talking about Howard Go. Someone might
need some help once in a while.
Speaker 7 (04:14):
Chris 'menough with this big baby talk, baby talk, baby talk.
It's a wonder you can walk. That's Klay Thompson. Stop it,
my god, Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Rab Harker at his best. My goodness, that was the
best Rob. I'm talking to hell.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I'm not gonna go as far as you are, but
I'm with Draymone in this Rob. It is hilarious, and
that's kind of what you're saying. Yes it is, Mike.
When Kyler Murray unfollows the Arizona Cardinals, Okay, you played
there three years. You're young, your early twenties. You just
got out of the skull has made his Rowley with
(04:54):
the war, right. Antonio Brown unfollows the Raiders. He didn't
even play a game. I'm sorry, Clay.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Rob.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
When when you unfollow somebody, it's like you're trying to
just erase the history.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Right, We're done. I never was here.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
I'm sick of y'all, Like I ain't even no. Clay Thompson,
you are a Warrior, and believe you me, you want
us to think of you as a Warrior's history. Dude,
we're not gonna do you the disservice of erasing your
history with the Warriors.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Like that's the thing, right, He's he's beyond this. You're right.
It's childish.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
And Antonio Brown, we know he's kind of out there,
so he do something like that. Kyler Murray's a young
guy playing video games all the time.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
He might do something like that.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Clay, you're a four time champion with the only franchise
you've ever been with. You're thirty four years old, a veteran,
close to retirement.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Dude, you're better than that.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
That's what it does feel funny, Rob really like we're
not supposed to remember you were with the Warriors.
Speaker 6 (06:03):
And here here's the end too, and the Warriors season
ending lost Chris to the Kings. And this year in
the play in you ready, Klay Thompson over ten shooting
over six from deep, no points, one assist, one turnover
in thirty one minutes. That's the big baby who's now
gonna unfollow the Warriors.
Speaker 7 (06:23):
No, I mean what do you want them to do?
They paid you, Chris what they paid you, and I
would do a nice deal forty eight million dollars for
two years at.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
This stage in your career.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Come on, I will say this. Look, I will say
this on Clay's behalf. I do get While it's not logical, Rob,
I get the emotions he's going through because you're saying,
hold up, you get Steph.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Right with Steph's in a different category. Okay, but hold on.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
You gave dray marn one hundred million dollar extension and
he is not only you know you can argue. I mean,
they're totally different types of players. You if you want
to argue which one is more valuable, they're both. Clay
is probably is better than Draymond. Rob, when you would
you agree with that has been better? But you know,
Draymond's the defender, you know.
Speaker 6 (07:15):
The insoration yeah to the team that that Clay doesn't
even though Clay's a better player, right right, So.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Clay is saying, not only am I better than Draymond?
And I'm not trying make it him against Draymond, but
just in your mind, you're thinking I'm better and.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
This dude is run y'all through the ringer. This dude
has been suspended. He cost us a finals. He you know,
he punched out Jordan.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
But like you're if you're Clay, you're saying, look at
all he's put the franchise through and you're gonna pay
him and not me. So I get it. I get
his feeling drop. I'm still with Look, the Warriors have
to move with. They're not gonna win a chance biship
next year, so I can't, like you said, if I
(08:03):
could get Hey, they offered him twenty four millions.
Speaker 6 (08:07):
Look at it like that, like twenty four million, Chris
uh and the numbers. I just read the last playing
game right in the playoffs, you went scoreless.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
I mean like like, yeah, he's a better player now,
but yeah, I mean twenty four is good. And I
mean they probably didn't want don't want to really offer
you anything just because not because you're not right. They're
doing it out of respect for who you are and
who you've been and Rob you remember it's ironic.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
We were talking about them earlier, but the Bird Celtics
they stayed together too.
Speaker 6 (08:39):
Long, they kept pairs prayed any of those guys chriss
and it wound up hurting them when they all.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Left and retired. They had a long drought.
Speaker 6 (08:48):
What was it, twenty two years, twenty four years that
had a drought.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yep, yep. And you know Reggie Lewis is passing um
for that.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
That didn't help, right, But yeah, they had a drought
and the Warriors are trying to avoid that.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Now they're not gonna be championship caliber, but.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
You know they're gonna start playing some of the young
guys up more and featuring them put Zimski and and
and Jonathan Kaminga and these guys along with Steph. Maybe
they'll try to make another move to get a better player.
But yeah, it's NK. Rob, it's just time. It's a business.
Bob Meyers, the former GM for the Warriors. Rob, he's
on ESPN now because of this. He didn't want to
(09:28):
deal with this. It is hard. Jeff Van Gundy used
to say, the hardest thing is dealing with aging superstars. No,
remember that Nick's traded under his watch, traded Patrick Ewe.
Speaker 6 (09:39):
Nah, you know what, you can't fall in love with
the past, and it's it's a tough thing. And and
I don't always I haven't always agreed with Bill Belichick
and the Patriots and what they've done because they utilize
they gonna they use a lot of people Chris and
didn't pay them, So I don't respect.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
They got rid of guys early, way early.
Speaker 6 (10:01):
But I got what the thinking was, you know what
I mean, you get something out of him and then
you know, you move on, so you don't have to
pay him.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
And I don't think that's fair to the players. But
you can't live.
Speaker 6 (10:12):
In the past and hold on the stuff like that
because you'll be in trouble. And we saw with the
Celtics during that run they kept all those guys they
didn't want to part with that.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yeah, I would like to see Clay like Orlando. Look,
he would help them. He's a veteran. He obviously he
could teach him how to win. There's still not a
championship level team in my view.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
LA.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
I like to see him in LA right, not that
they win a title, but he could help them. You know,
they need a knockdown shooter again. Another veteran of Philadelphia
is another one, Robed like if they could get Paul
George and Clay. But I don't know if he's thinking,
you know, I mean, Orlando is an East coast so
he must be willing to travel.
Speaker 6 (10:55):
And also maybe you know, if Clay's dad takes a
night off on the radio, we.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Could fill in there, you know what I mean? Maybe
because Okay, see enough to you, Rob, that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
They need a veteran, right veteran presence and maybe take
them to the next level.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Odd Couple
with Chris Brussard and Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm
Eastern four pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Hey it's me Rob Parker.
Speaker 6 (11:24):
Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker for
twenty two minutes of piping hot baseball talk, featuring the
biggest names of newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe
in analytics or the I Test, We've got all the
bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, so do yourself
a favor and listen to Inside the Parker with Rob
(11:47):
Parker on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Kyrie Irving, we just talked about it with Ephraim. Really
struggled averaged about twenty eight points a game in Dallas
in the two games, but averaged fourteen to fifteen points
a game in the three games in Boston and just
(12:13):
wasn't himself.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Shot poorly from three, shot poorly.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Overall, and Rob clearly it got to him, which I'm
surprised that are you surprised that it got to him
the way it did?
Speaker 3 (12:27):
And he's been clutched, you know, he's.
Speaker 6 (12:28):
Been in big moments and all that, and I just
can't believe that this is Lucky and this is the
fans in Boston.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
He's a big time performer. Very disappointed.
Speaker 6 (12:39):
I know people are Chris very disappointed that Kyrie wasn't
himself and without him being himself, it derailed the Mavericks.
The Mavericks were never the Nevericks, would never whole.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
And that's the problem. I think Boston was the better team,
oh no doubt, like top to bottom the roster better.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
But I think Kyrie was the most disappointing math There's
no doubt about it, not even close.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Like he just didn't.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
I mean, you Rob, when your second guy is not
even close to him full game and you're and you're
a two man team, I mean essentially like they don't
have a complex offense.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Their offense is Luca or Kyrie create?
Speaker 1 (13:27):
You know, you might get a screen maybe, but you're
basically creating and doing your thing or drawing trap double
teams and stuff and kicking out or kicking it at
the rim to open players for buckets. Most of those
role players can't create their own stuff. But after the
game last night and after he spoke with the media,
(13:49):
Kyrie tweeted something and Rob He's gonna read it.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Well.
Speaker 9 (13:53):
It was actually before he even met with the media.
He had to get this takeoff before he answered the
tough questions about why he had fourteen points per game
and thirty four percent shooting in Boston in the series.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
So here's what Kyrie.
Speaker 9 (14:04):
Tweeted immediately after his team no shows in Game five
to lose the finals. For the one tribe, stay together,
no matter what's a tribe call quest through the ups
and downs, try in hell us He's chief, Hella, success
and failure, keep your head up high. This mission is
bigger than us.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
I love you all, Hella. What do you think? Rok uh?
Speaker 6 (14:29):
Just inappropriate timing And Chris, we all know that they're
bigger fish to fry, right Chris, you have bigger fish
to fry to this radio show. I have bigger fish
to fry than this radio show.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
We all have bigger fish to fry.
Speaker 6 (14:46):
But it doesn't mean after it's all over that you
kind of diminish what has happened in front of you.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
It's disappointing. I get it.
Speaker 6 (14:54):
No one's saying it's the end of the world and
you should go bury yourself in the house for the
next three months and you can't show your face. But
nobody wants to hear that. You know, like, it's disappointing.
It's not what I wanted or I doubt and I
don't know. I can't speak for him. I doubt it
Chris that had they won the championship, you would tweet
out that there's things bigger than this and I'm not
(15:16):
gonna celebrate.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Okay, come on, man, that's a good point. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
I agree fans don't want to hear it. There's no
want to hear out that. And I also agree with you,
Rob that that's not the time to tweet it out.
What I do think is that it's a it's a
it's a coping mechanism when you have a public failure.
(15:43):
I've done this, I mean I turned inward to my family.
You know, I got great things going on, and I
mean it, but these things are more important than my job,
you know. But family, you know, your marriage and all
that stuff. And I think some that's with athletes too,
Like Lebron miss spoke remember after the Dallas series.
Speaker 7 (16:03):
He was like, you guys gotta gob or whatever it was,
and that was.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
That was wrong to say, but in your that helped
him cope. That's the thought process of that. Not putting
everybody else down, but just looking at man, I got
a great life other than this, and I got a family,
I got money, I got every thing. I would say
that you don't need to say it, but my point
is I get why athletes say things like that.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Now you don't need to say it.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
You could just deal with it yourself, but it does
help you cope that Look, this is.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Just one aspect of my life.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
This I am more than this basketball player who just
lost in the finals.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
In fact, who didn't even play well in the finals.
I'm more than that. My that is not my life,
and I look, I'm with I.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Don't think he needs to tweet it, but I will
say this if tweeting it or like last year, Yannis
if yan is saying that there's no failure in sports,
but if that helps you cope, it helps your mental health,
then you do it and the fans will now understand.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
They might get mad at you, but if that helps you,
you gotta do what you gotta do what you got.
Speaker 6 (17:18):
Here's the issue, and I hear what you're saying, but
here's the issue. The issue is that we talk about
all the time. The word fans comes from fanatics, and
a lot of people live and die on this stuff, Chris.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
They care like.
Speaker 6 (17:35):
Like it affects their lives, how they feel the next
day when their team wins or loses. And there's a
lot of stuff that's put in. So all I'm saying
is like to just dismiss it because you lose, doesn't
you know, Like for fans, it's hard for them to
understand that or not.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 6 (17:58):
That's all I'm saying is because they're so invested. They're
spending their disposable income, Chris. They're doing this, They're driving
to the ballpark, you know, they're paying fifty dollars to park,
like like it's still life and death. They're all into
the team. And then as soon as things go bad
to play goals. Oh this doesn't matter to me. I
don't care if we want to lose.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
It just but I do think at the end, I
agree with you.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
And if a player can cope and think about those
things that are more important to him in his life
and he should be able to than putting it out publicly,
I think that's the best way. But I ultimately think
the fans too, were What they want.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Is that player to be at his best.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Like like after game four, Jason Tatum and you you
heard it, right, he said, if we don't win game five,
it's not the end of the world. I mean, I
don't know if it's that direct quote, but it's not
the end of the world. We got we got another
game after that, right, And some people took him to task.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Where's the urgency? I want you coming out? I'm talking
about this is it. We gotta win. We're not even
packing for Dallas.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
But for Jason Tatum, who admitted to being nervous going
into the finals, and his performance in all his Finals games,
the last two trips or the only two trips, you
can see in his performance that it gets to him
a little. And so I think rob for somebody like that.
(19:26):
I think he's like, you know what, I can't make
this game the biggest thing in my life. I have
to minimize it, like, hey, it's just another game. It's
just basketball. It's what I've been doing all my life.
It's Tuesday night in Milwaukee when I'm going to you
know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (19:44):
And I think so he did that. Some people might
have got mad.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
But he ended up playing his best game in probably
in his finals career, and they win the championship.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
So I think ultimately you have to let the athletes
cope within reason.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Obviously you can't just take a week off like Kyrie
used to do because you got mental health or whatever.
But within reason, whatever they need to do to be
able to play their best.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Yeah, I hear you.
Speaker 6 (20:12):
I just don't think that that would have come Chris.
Had they won.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
They wouldn't. But that's coping mechanism, the failure. Yeah, I
just And.
Speaker 6 (20:22):
If I'm a fan, I can understand why some fans
would be upset, but just like this dude, don't even care.
Like I just, I've invested my whole season into this.
I really wanted my team to win, and now he's
making it like it doesn't matter like I.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Do think I agree, I feel you. I'm not, you know,
denying what you're saying, but I right now and I
don't know, rob Gie. Has there been a negative backlash
on that.
Speaker 9 (20:49):
I know because there's no video attached to it. So
people the more latching on to the comments about failure
that he made in the presser than this right.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
Because Kyrie, he's kind of in this renaissance.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
This is a redemption period right now where I think
people are just so glad he hasn't been a distraction
off the court and he's actually been very introspective about
you know, maturing and growing and things he did wrong
in Boston that I think people are really giving him
a pass on a lot of this stuff right now.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Rob Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup
in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports
Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR
to listen live.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
We both have on the Major League Baseball game at
rick wood Field, the oldest stadium baseball stadium in the
United States. Saint Louis up three to zero in the
bottom of the second over San Francisco.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
But even more important.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Than the game is why they're there. They're celebrating the
Negro Leagues. Before the game, they had the surviving or
the remaining Negro League players who are still alive were
on the field. Of course, Willie Mays, who just died
a few days ago, he started his career for that
(22:11):
team and played in that stadium, the Birmingham Black Bearns,
And so it is a special moment and it's wonderful
to see. And Ephraim, I would imagine that most young
(22:32):
maybe even twenty something and younger. I could go probably
higher than that, but I'll say twenty somethings and younger,
particularly teenagers and kids younger than that. They're probably looking
at this baseball and how it's celebrating all these former
African American players and the Negro Leagues and all of that,
(22:56):
and saying baseball baseball today is viewed as a white
sport or obviously you have a lot of players from
the Caribbean, but it is definitely not viewed as an
African American sport anymore. And Efraim, I'm gonna throw some
(23:17):
numbers at you this year. Let me just I don't know,
you may know, did you look at the notes? Yes, Okay,
so you know the numbers. But this year, at the
start of the season opening day twenty twenty four, African
American players represented just six percent of Major League Baseball
(23:40):
rosters six percent. We're fourteen percent of the population in America,
yet only six percent.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
You look at football, which.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Is about seventy percent, basketball, which is about seventy three,
seventy four percent African American. Even side locker now, which
is a bit surprising to me, has more African American
participants than baseball. And so I'm sure a lot of
kids are like, wow, like blacks were into baseball like that, And.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
You know, and I'm older than you.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
When I grew up, I lived in a lot of places,
but I'm thinking Cincinnati, Indianapolis as a kid up until
I was about twelve years old, those towns in the Midwest,
and I played in baseball leagues that were, if not
at least half black, and maybe I would say majority black,
(24:40):
and our coaches were black fathers, and.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
You know, the commissioners of the league and all of that.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
And so when I grew up, we loved baseball just
like we loved basketball and football. And now it is
completely different, and we got a lot you know, to
unpack in regards to this, But what are your thoughts
on why? And you know, I know you have to
believe your son plays baseball, right, yeah, so you coach it,
(25:11):
so you're you're a great person to ask about this,
But why do you think that you know, there really
aren't very many African Americans playing baseball anymore.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Well, just you know, at the little league. We're here,
you know, at Sherman Oaks Little League, which is very
open and welcoming to all. We just run into a
situation where there may be a handful of black coaches
who have kids on teams. My son was the only
(25:42):
African American on his team on our team this year,
and he's been on teams where it's just been you know,
one or two three at the most, even at this age.
And now you know where you live, your demographic things
like that all comes and to play. Like I said,
(26:05):
we're in Sherman Oaks. But the thing about kids and
like so, the two sports that American youth play first
because you can play at the youngest are soccer and baseball.
Those are the sports you can play. You start playing
(26:26):
the youngest.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
My first sport was baseball. Lay you can.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
Five years old, you can go to the PBS right right,
and soccer four years old, you can go out there.
All it is a bunch of kids running around in
the hoother moving the ball. It's the first time parents
to get a chance to have kids really socialized outside
(26:50):
of preschool or you know, daycare or something like that,
and it teaches them how to be a part of
a team. And these are valuable lessons parents want kids
to have as they get older. So as you move forward,
the interest in soccer goes away almost immediately because when
they're old enough to play other sports, parents immediately put
(27:11):
them into other things. So a lot of kids, you know,
play soccer. Then when they get to that age where
they play baseball, they may do one year of soccer
and baseball. Then baseball takes over. When you start getting
up to six seven, now you can start playing basketball.
Right now, you can get into basketball. It's a little
bit more nuanced, a little bit more a coordination that
(27:33):
you need to be able to play basketball because it's
constant moving, it's dribbling and shooting. It's a lot for
someone under the age of six to really get a
handled on.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Yep, yep.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
Then you know you have pop Warner football, right, America
sport most dads, most parents want their kids to play football,
so as soon as they're old enough to go out there,
it's starting with flag football. Now it didn't used to
be flag football, used to just be pop one, and
now it's flag football. So a lot of kids are
playing flag football. The real change happens when you get eleven, twelve,
(28:15):
after twelve, not just for black it's not just for
black players, but for players in general. If you continue
to play baseball after twelve years old, because you're no
longer a lot you're you're you aged out a little
league right after it's over, right, So now it's a
(28:36):
Now it's a whole nother thing. It's a commitment, like
you gotta go somewhere else. You need to be pretty good,
and you gotta be because you got thirteen fourteen year
olds who are unreal. They've bought in, they're all in,
they're going for it. So we see it a lot
A lot of kids age out of baseball because it's,
(28:57):
first of all, it's a game of losing, right, Like
you have to be okay with losing, meaning if you
if you bet three hundred for your career in the majors.
You're going to the Hall of Fame. At thirty percent,
you're riding thirty percent. Times you had to play, you
(29:17):
get a hit.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
You failing. Unless you get you're failing pretty much seventy percent.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
It's a game of failing, and a lot of kids
can't deal with that emotionally.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I will say this from having you know, I played
all three your football, basketball, baseball growing up through high school.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Not good at any but go ahead, Hey, I was
doing my thing.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
But baseball, like you said, you go in slumps. Yes,
I don't care who you are, how great you are,
you're gonna have slumps. And when you're slumping in baseball
it was of the three sports, it was the worst time, worst, right,
because I mean, you don't really slump in football. You
either good or you're not good. Basketball can be some
(30:00):
I mean thing right right, Baseball, when you are not hitting, you.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
You feel terrible.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
And it's hard to deal with that as as a
young player. My son went through one of those slumps
this year and he looked at me and said that
I think this is the last year I'm playing baseball.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Wow, And he was it.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
So this was my last year probably coaching. He is,
he was serious, He's like, I want to focus on basketball.
He's ten years old. He just turned turned ten next Monday. Right.
Well so, but I'll say this when you get older,
when you get to the high school level, what's the
number one currency for a high school kid? Popularity? Yeah,
(30:42):
number one currency. The problem with baseball up compared to
basketball and football is nobody watches a high school baseball game.
When I was in high school, the games were actually
being played while we.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
Were still in school.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
In class. Why I never heard it, Like, I'm talking
about six period. The baseball game is going on, right,
and the only people are out there, parents and coaches.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Like there was no fanfare, there was.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
No rally, no pep rallies for the baseball team. And
in basketball you get the pep rallies, you got the
gym is packed, and you know football Friday night lights everybody.
It's some towns in some cities that shut down to
go watch high school basketball. So when you take dynamic athletes,
African Americans who grow up and they have all this
(31:36):
talent and all that, that currency of popularity outweighs anything
you can do on the baseball field, and so you
turn that athleticism into being one of the best basketball
players one of the football because it's instant gratification, it's
instant acknowledgment. Baseball, you gotta wait till you get drafted
(31:58):
and get into the big You not even college baseball.
Nobody watches college baseball. It is not on anywhere.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Well, that's a great point because little league baseball. When
I played Little league and all the sports, little league
baseball was as big. You know that you have a
simular crowds to football and Pop Warner and.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
Cyo basketball, whatever it was. You're right.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
High school baseball is not even No, it's not. It's
no more people at that game than they're at the
soccer game.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
It's football and basketball.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
And then, like you said, even if you play in college,
you are not a national star.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
No, nobody knows you until you not only get to
the it takes a while to get.
Speaker 4 (32:43):
To the majors too, and that it can take you
forever if you get there.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Right, So look, take this.
Speaker 4 (32:50):
If Lebron James was a phenomenal baseball player, I'm talking
about one of the best in the country. Does Lebron
James get the same type of fanfare he got as
would he be on the cover of Sports Illustrated right
as a kid in high school? Will he be driving
around in a hum like all of these things. Nike
(33:13):
have a Nike hundred million dollar deal. This is what
I'm telling you, a million and and and and baseball
has a problem because they don't know how to market baseball.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Well, look, and we're gonna keep talking. We'll throw it
out to the listeners. But I want to keep talking
about this because this is a good and important sport
and it's an appropriate time to talk about it.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Because I think there are other reasons.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
But you know from obviously we do this show, uh
sports talk radio, we do I do first things first,
which is you know, National Sports Talk Television.
Speaker 4 (33:47):
Still got my invite for that, but.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
We got I'm working on it. I'm working on I.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
I mean, I can fly to New York for a
week with you out there. Say you don't want you know,
you just.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
But whether it's our show or you know, you can
talk about Undisputed, you can talk about speak, you can
talk about the Herd, you can talk about first the
first take on ESPN and get up the national shows
hardly ever talk baseball. I remember I was on First
(34:20):
take Back at ESPN with Skip Bayless and this must
have been I don't know, two thousand and twelve ish, eleven,
twelve ten, somewhere around there, and.
Speaker 3 (34:33):
It was October. So the World Series was, you.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Know, going on the baseball playoffs. I don't know if
it's actually the World Series or just the playoffs, but
I was like, why are we talking baseball?
Speaker 3 (34:47):
In my mind?
Speaker 1 (34:48):
And we were talking football week four or five whatever
it was, right, basketball is about the start, and we're
talking that and hardly any baseball, if any.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
At all, And I was like, what is going on?
Speaker 1 (35:02):
And it was because these study groups showed that when
people talk to baseball, the ratings dropped.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
And you notice these shows, majority of these shows. Now,
ESPN has a little more leeway because they're kind of
the default channel, right and people just naturally put it
on ESPN, so they'll talk a little baseball on these shows,
but they're even like FS one overwhelmingly NFL and NBA.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
And that's a problem for baseball.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
That is a real problem because outside of you know,
the baseball specific shows or Sports Center, they're not having
any the shows aren't talking about them. And that goes
for national radio too. We probably talk more baseball than
any most national shows, if not all. Now locally they'll
talk some baseball, but nationally it's kind of become a
(35:56):
regional sport
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Odd Couple podcasts.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
pm to ten pm Eastern four to seven Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Odd
Couple at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us
live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
You're listening to the Best of the Odd Couple with
Chris Brusha and Ron Harker.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
So Klay Thompson, Rob, we know, all time great player
for the Warriors and a critical part in their four
championships that they've won during this dynastic run. With Steph
Curry and Draymond Green, that's the Big three. But it
looks like it's over. Rob, And remember before this season,
(00:53):
the Warriors offered Klay Thompson a two year, forty eight
million dollar deal, which I think was quite generous. To
be honest, He's thirty four, he's played thirteen years. He's
still a very good player, average eighteen point shot thirty
nine percent from three, So it's not like he's done.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
But he's not what he used to be at Nora.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
They right, so they need to cut some salary and
their negotiations with him are going nowhere, and so Rob.
Over the weekend, Clay unfollowed them and followed Palo Bin
Carroll of the Orlando Magic, who are known to be
interested in Clay, and also the La Laker Austin Reeves
(01:41):
of the Lakers, who Clay is from LA. His dad
played for the Lakers, won championships with the Showtime Lakers,
so that is a natural fit if indeed, you know, Clay.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Wants to go there.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
But Draymond Green Rob talked about it, and here's what
he said.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
I know all of you.
Speaker 5 (02:00):
Are probably looking forward to me talking about Clay unfollowing
the Warriors and deleting some ig posts or something. I
had no idea that happened. I think it's hilarious. Just
so y'all know. I laugh when Jackson I logged on
hair and Jackson's like, Yo, so what about Clay. I'm like, what, Like,
what happened?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
It's like, oh, hey, un followed the Warriors. I think
that's comical.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
I know you all be one like somebody feelings to
be heard of something. It ain't that ain't never going
to be that. That's hilarious. Where are you at on
this route?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
It ain't hilarious. It's pathetic.
Speaker 6 (02:33):
And if I'm the Golden State Warriors, I got a
message for Clay Thompson.
Speaker 7 (02:39):
I would block him on social media? Would I would
block him? It's my Twitter, and I'll block it by
walk to block it, by walk to block it, by
wall too. You would block to if they tried to.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Dish you tell Clay Thompson to go jump in the lake?
Who cares? Well, Clay loves the way right, who cares?
Speaker 7 (03:05):
I'm still heard they've paid him millions and millions of
dollars and he ain't the.
Speaker 8 (03:10):
Dame playing now, and he wants them to give him welfare,
pay me a match contract, give me a lot of
money even though I'm not the dame player.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
And I'm gonna act.
Speaker 8 (03:22):
Like a big baby, and I'm gonna unfollow you, and
I'm gonna go ahead and I'm gonna follow the Orlando Magic.
Speaker 7 (03:29):
Take your light skin, but dow oh, hold on, take
your light skin down to wrong with light.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Skins, to NBA yrism, colorism.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
On the odd couple, that's gotta be racist.
Speaker 7 (03:46):
To NBA Siberia, which is better known as Orlando, go
down there. That's right, Clay, get over it. They have
paid you handsomely. You're not the same player. Okay, we
all aren't the same as we were ten years ago.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
This is over. Speak for yourself, all right. I might
need not like Ali talking about Howard Go. Someone might
need some help once in a while.
Speaker 7 (04:14):
Chris 'menough with this big baby talk, baby talk, baby talk.
It's a wonder you can walk. That's Klay Thompson. Stop it,
my god, Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Rab Harker at his best. My goodness, that was the
best Rob. I'm talking to hell.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I'm not gonna go as far as you are, but
I'm with Draymone in this Rob. It is hilarious, and
that's kind of what you're saying. Yes it is, Mike.
When Kyler Murray unfollows the Arizona Cardinals, Okay, you played
there three years. You're young, your early twenties. You just
got out of the skull has made his Rowley with
(04:54):
the war, right. Antonio Brown unfollows the Raiders. He didn't
even play a game. I'm sorry, Clay.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Rob.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
When when you unfollow somebody, it's like you're trying to
just erase the history.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Right, We're done. I never was here.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
I'm sick of y'all, Like I ain't even no. Clay Thompson,
you are a Warrior, and believe you me, you want
us to think of you as a Warrior's history. Dude,
we're not gonna do you the disservice of erasing your
history with the Warriors.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Like that's the thing, right, He's he's beyond this. You're right.
It's childish.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
And Antonio Brown, we know he's kind of out there,
so he do something like that. Kyler Murray's a young
guy playing video games all the time.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
He might do something like that.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Clay, you're a four time champion with the only franchise
you've ever been with. You're thirty four years old, a veteran,
close to retirement.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Dude, you're better than that.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
That's what it does feel funny, Rob really like we're
not supposed to remember you were with the Warriors.
Speaker 6 (06:03):
And here here's the end too, and the Warriors season
ending lost Chris to the Kings. And this year in
the play in you ready, Klay Thompson over ten shooting
over six from deep, no points, one assist, one turnover
in thirty one minutes. That's the big baby who's now
gonna unfollow the Warriors.
Speaker 7 (06:23):
No, I mean what do you want them to do?
They paid you, Chris what they paid you, and I
would do a nice deal forty eight million dollars for
two years at.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
This stage in your career.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Come on, I will say this. Look, I will say
this on Clay's behalf. I do get While it's not logical, Rob,
I get the emotions he's going through because you're saying,
hold up, you get Steph.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Right with Steph's in a different category. Okay, but hold on.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
You gave dray marn one hundred million dollar extension and
he is not only you know you can argue. I mean,
they're totally different types of players. You if you want
to argue which one is more valuable, they're both. Clay
is probably is better than Draymond. Rob, when you would
you agree with that has been better? But you know,
Draymond's the defender, you know.
Speaker 6 (07:15):
The insoration yeah to the team that that Clay doesn't
even though Clay's a better player, right right, So.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Clay is saying, not only am I better than Draymond?
And I'm not trying make it him against Draymond, but
just in your mind, you're thinking I'm better and.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
This dude is run y'all through the ringer. This dude
has been suspended. He cost us a finals. He you know,
he punched out Jordan.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
But like you're if you're Clay, you're saying, look at
all he's put the franchise through and you're gonna pay
him and not me. So I get it. I get
his feeling drop. I'm still with Look, the Warriors have
to move with. They're not gonna win a chance biship
next year, so I can't, like you said, if I
(08:03):
could get Hey, they offered him twenty four millions.
Speaker 6 (08:07):
Look at it like that, like twenty four million, Chris
uh and the numbers. I just read the last playing
game right in the playoffs, you went scoreless.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
I mean like like, yeah, he's a better player now,
but yeah, I mean twenty four is good. And I
mean they probably didn't want don't want to really offer
you anything just because not because you're not right. They're
doing it out of respect for who you are and
who you've been and Rob you remember it's ironic.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
We were talking about them earlier, but the Bird Celtics
they stayed together too.
Speaker 6 (08:39):
Long, they kept pairs prayed any of those guys chriss
and it wound up hurting them when they all.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Left and retired. They had a long drought.
Speaker 6 (08:48):
What was it, twenty two years, twenty four years that
had a drought.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yep, yep. And you know Reggie Lewis is passing um
for that.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
That didn't help, right, But yeah, they had a drought
and the Warriors are trying to avoid that.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Now they're not gonna be championship caliber, but.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
You know they're gonna start playing some of the young
guys up more and featuring them put Zimski and and
and Jonathan Kaminga and these guys along with Steph. Maybe
they'll try to make another move to get a better player.
But yeah, it's NK. Rob, it's just time. It's a business.
Bob Meyers, the former GM for the Warriors. Rob, he's
on ESPN now because of this. He didn't want to
(09:28):
deal with this. It is hard. Jeff Van Gundy used
to say, the hardest thing is dealing with aging superstars. No,
remember that Nick's traded under his watch, traded Patrick Ewe.
Speaker 6 (09:39):
Nah, you know what, you can't fall in love with
the past, and it's it's a tough thing. And and
I don't always I haven't always agreed with Bill Belichick
and the Patriots and what they've done because they utilize
they gonna they use a lot of people Chris and
didn't pay them, So I don't respect.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
They got rid of guys early, way early.
Speaker 6 (10:01):
But I got what the thinking was, you know what
I mean, you get something out of him and then
you know, you move on, so you don't have to
pay him.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
And I don't think that's fair to the players. But
you can't live.
Speaker 6 (10:12):
In the past and hold on the stuff like that
because you'll be in trouble. And we saw with the
Celtics during that run they kept all those guys they
didn't want to part with that.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yeah, I would like to see Clay like Orlando. Look,
he would help them. He's a veteran. He obviously he
could teach him how to win. There's still not a
championship level team in my view.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
LA.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
I like to see him in LA right, not that
they win a title, but he could help them. You know,
they need a knockdown shooter again. Another veteran of Philadelphia
is another one, Robed like if they could get Paul
George and Clay. But I don't know if he's thinking,
you know, I mean, Orlando is an East coast so
he must be willing to travel.
Speaker 6 (10:55):
And also maybe you know, if Clay's dad takes a
night off on the radio, we.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Could fill in there, you know what I mean? Maybe
because Okay, see enough to you, Rob, that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
They need a veteran, right veteran presence and maybe take
them to the next level.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Odd Couple
with Chris Brussard and Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm
Eastern four pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Hey it's me Rob Parker.
Speaker 6 (11:24):
Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker for
twenty two minutes of piping hot baseball talk, featuring the
biggest names of newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe
in analytics or the I Test, We've got all the
bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, so do yourself
a favor and listen to Inside the Parker with Rob
(11:47):
Parker on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Kyrie Irving, we just talked about it with Ephraim. Really
struggled averaged about twenty eight points a game in Dallas
in the two games, but averaged fourteen to fifteen points
a game in the three games in Boston and just
(12:13):
wasn't himself.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Shot poorly from three, shot poorly.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Overall, and Rob clearly it got to him, which I'm
surprised that are you surprised that it got to him
the way it did?
Speaker 3 (12:27):
And he's been clutched, you know, he's.
Speaker 6 (12:28):
Been in big moments and all that, and I just
can't believe that this is Lucky and this is the
fans in Boston.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
He's a big time performer. Very disappointed.
Speaker 6 (12:39):
I know people are Chris very disappointed that Kyrie wasn't
himself and without him being himself, it derailed the Mavericks.
The Mavericks were never the Nevericks, would never whole.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
And that's the problem. I think Boston was the better team,
oh no doubt, like top to bottom the roster better.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
But I think Kyrie was the most disappointing math There's
no doubt about it, not even close.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Like he just didn't.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
I mean, you Rob, when your second guy is not
even close to him full game and you're and you're
a two man team, I mean essentially like they don't
have a complex offense.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Their offense is Luca or Kyrie create?
Speaker 1 (13:27):
You know, you might get a screen maybe, but you're
basically creating and doing your thing or drawing trap double
teams and stuff and kicking out or kicking it at
the rim to open players for buckets. Most of those
role players can't create their own stuff. But after the
game last night and after he spoke with the media,
(13:49):
Kyrie tweeted something and Rob He's gonna read it.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Well.
Speaker 9 (13:53):
It was actually before he even met with the media.
He had to get this takeoff before he answered the
tough questions about why he had fourteen points per game
and thirty four percent shooting in Boston in the series.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
So here's what Kyrie.
Speaker 9 (14:04):
Tweeted immediately after his team no shows in Game five
to lose the finals. For the one tribe, stay together,
no matter what's a tribe call quest through the ups
and downs, try in hell us He's chief, Hella, success
and failure, keep your head up high. This mission is
bigger than us.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
I love you all, Hella. What do you think? Rok uh?
Speaker 6 (14:29):
Just inappropriate timing And Chris, we all know that they're
bigger fish to fry, right Chris, you have bigger fish
to fry to this radio show. I have bigger fish
to fry than this radio show.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
We all have bigger fish to fry.
Speaker 6 (14:46):
But it doesn't mean after it's all over that you
kind of diminish what has happened in front of you.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
It's disappointing. I get it.
Speaker 6 (14:54):
No one's saying it's the end of the world and
you should go bury yourself in the house for the
next three months and you can't show your face. But
nobody wants to hear that. You know, like, it's disappointing.
It's not what I wanted or I doubt and I
don't know. I can't speak for him. I doubt it
Chris that had they won the championship, you would tweet
out that there's things bigger than this and I'm not
(15:16):
gonna celebrate.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Okay, come on, man, that's a good point. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
I agree fans don't want to hear it. There's no
want to hear out that. And I also agree with you,
Rob that that's not the time to tweet it out.
What I do think is that it's a it's a
it's a coping mechanism when you have a public failure.
(15:43):
I've done this, I mean I turned inward to my family.
You know, I got great things going on, and I
mean it, but these things are more important than my job,
you know. But family, you know, your marriage and all
that stuff. And I think some that's with athletes too,
Like Lebron miss spoke remember after the Dallas series.
Speaker 7 (16:03):
He was like, you guys gotta gob or whatever it was,
and that was.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
That was wrong to say, but in your that helped
him cope. That's the thought process of that. Not putting
everybody else down, but just looking at man, I got
a great life other than this, and I got a family,
I got money, I got every thing. I would say
that you don't need to say it, but my point
is I get why athletes say things like that.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Now you don't need to say it.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
You could just deal with it yourself, but it does
help you cope that Look, this is.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Just one aspect of my life.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
This I am more than this basketball player who just
lost in the finals.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
In fact, who didn't even play well in the finals.
I'm more than that. My that is not my life,
and I look, I'm with I.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Don't think he needs to tweet it, but I will
say this if tweeting it or like last year, Yannis
if yan is saying that there's no failure in sports,
but if that helps you cope, it helps your mental health,
then you do it and the fans will now understand.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
They might get mad at you, but if that helps you,
you gotta do what you gotta do what you got.
Speaker 6 (17:18):
Here's the issue, and I hear what you're saying, but
here's the issue. The issue is that we talk about
all the time. The word fans comes from fanatics, and
a lot of people live and die on this stuff, Chris.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
They care like.
Speaker 6 (17:35):
Like it affects their lives, how they feel the next
day when their team wins or loses. And there's a
lot of stuff that's put in. So all I'm saying
is like to just dismiss it because you lose, doesn't
you know, Like for fans, it's hard for them to
understand that or not.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 6 (17:58):
That's all I'm saying is because they're so invested. They're
spending their disposable income, Chris. They're doing this, They're driving
to the ballpark, you know, they're paying fifty dollars to park,
like like it's still life and death. They're all into
the team. And then as soon as things go bad
to play goals. Oh this doesn't matter to me. I
don't care if we want to lose.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
It just but I do think at the end, I
agree with you.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
And if a player can cope and think about those
things that are more important to him in his life
and he should be able to than putting it out publicly,
I think that's the best way. But I ultimately think
the fans too, were What they want.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Is that player to be at his best.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Like like after game four, Jason Tatum and you you
heard it, right, he said, if we don't win game five,
it's not the end of the world. I mean, I
don't know if it's that direct quote, but it's not
the end of the world. We got we got another
game after that, right, And some people took him to task.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Where's the urgency? I want you coming out? I'm talking
about this is it. We gotta win. We're not even
packing for Dallas.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
But for Jason Tatum, who admitted to being nervous going
into the finals, and his performance in all his Finals games,
the last two trips or the only two trips, you
can see in his performance that it gets to him
a little. And so I think rob for somebody like that.
(19:26):
I think he's like, you know what, I can't make
this game the biggest thing in my life. I have
to minimize it, like, hey, it's just another game. It's
just basketball. It's what I've been doing all my life.
It's Tuesday night in Milwaukee when I'm going to you
know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (19:44):
And I think so he did that. Some people might
have got mad.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
But he ended up playing his best game in probably
in his finals career, and they win the championship.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
So I think ultimately you have to let the athletes
cope within reason.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Obviously you can't just take a week off like Kyrie
used to do because you got mental health or whatever.
But within reason, whatever they need to do to be
able to play their best.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Yeah, I hear you.
Speaker 6 (20:12):
I just don't think that that would have come Chris.
Had they won.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
They wouldn't. But that's coping mechanism, the failure. Yeah, I
just And.
Speaker 6 (20:22):
If I'm a fan, I can understand why some fans
would be upset, but just like this dude, don't even care.
Like I just, I've invested my whole season into this.
I really wanted my team to win, and now he's
making it like it doesn't matter like I.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Do think I agree, I feel you. I'm not, you know,
denying what you're saying, but I right now and I
don't know, rob Gie. Has there been a negative backlash
on that.
Speaker 9 (20:49):
I know because there's no video attached to it. So
people the more latching on to the comments about failure
that he made in the presser than this right.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
Because Kyrie, he's kind of in this renaissance.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
This is a redemption period right now where I think
people are just so glad he hasn't been a distraction
off the court and he's actually been very introspective about
you know, maturing and growing and things he did wrong
in Boston that I think people are really giving him
a pass on a lot of this stuff right now.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Rob Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup
in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports
Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR
to listen live.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
We both have on the Major League Baseball game at
rick wood Field, the oldest stadium baseball stadium in the
United States. Saint Louis up three to zero in the
bottom of the second over San Francisco.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
But even more important.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Than the game is why they're there. They're celebrating the
Negro Leagues. Before the game, they had the surviving or
the remaining Negro League players who are still alive were
on the field. Of course, Willie Mays, who just died
a few days ago, he started his career for that
(22:11):
team and played in that stadium, the Birmingham Black Bearns,
And so it is a special moment and it's wonderful
to see. And Ephraim, I would imagine that most young
(22:32):
maybe even twenty something and younger. I could go probably
higher than that, but I'll say twenty somethings and younger,
particularly teenagers and kids younger than that. They're probably looking
at this baseball and how it's celebrating all these former
African American players and the Negro Leagues and all of that,
(22:56):
and saying baseball baseball today is viewed as a white
sport or obviously you have a lot of players from
the Caribbean, but it is definitely not viewed as an
African American sport anymore. And Efraim, I'm gonna throw some
(23:17):
numbers at you this year. Let me just I don't know,
you may know, did you look at the notes? Yes, Okay,
so you know the numbers. But this year, at the
start of the season opening day twenty twenty four, African
American players represented just six percent of Major League Baseball
(23:40):
rosters six percent. We're fourteen percent of the population in America,
yet only six percent.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
You look at football, which.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Is about seventy percent, basketball, which is about seventy three,
seventy four percent African American. Even side locker now, which
is a bit surprising to me, has more African American
participants than baseball. And so I'm sure a lot of
kids are like, wow, like blacks were into baseball like that, And.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
You know, and I'm older than you.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
When I grew up, I lived in a lot of places,
but I'm thinking Cincinnati, Indianapolis as a kid up until
I was about twelve years old, those towns in the Midwest,
and I played in baseball leagues that were, if not
at least half black, and maybe I would say majority black,
(24:40):
and our coaches were black fathers, and.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
You know, the commissioners of the league and all of that.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
And so when I grew up, we loved baseball just
like we loved basketball and football. And now it is
completely different, and we got a lot you know, to
unpack in regards to this, But what are your thoughts
on why? And you know, I know you have to
believe your son plays baseball, right, yeah, so you coach it,
(25:11):
so you're you're a great person to ask about this,
But why do you think that you know, there really
aren't very many African Americans playing baseball anymore.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Well, just you know, at the little league. We're here,
you know, at Sherman Oaks Little League, which is very
open and welcoming to all. We just run into a
situation where there may be a handful of black coaches
who have kids on teams. My son was the only
(25:42):
African American on his team on our team this year,
and he's been on teams where it's just been you know,
one or two three at the most, even at this age.
And now you know where you live, your demographic things
like that all comes and to play. Like I said,
(26:05):
we're in Sherman Oaks. But the thing about kids and
like so, the two sports that American youth play first
because you can play at the youngest are soccer and baseball.
Those are the sports you can play. You start playing
(26:26):
the youngest.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
My first sport was baseball. Lay you can.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
Five years old, you can go to the PBS right right,
and soccer four years old, you can go out there.
All it is a bunch of kids running around in
the hoother moving the ball. It's the first time parents
to get a chance to have kids really socialized outside
(26:50):
of preschool or you know, daycare or something like that,
and it teaches them how to be a part of
a team. And these are valuable lessons parents want kids
to have as they get older. So as you move forward,
the interest in soccer goes away almost immediately because when
they're old enough to play other sports, parents immediately put
(27:11):
them into other things. So a lot of kids, you know,
play soccer. Then when they get to that age where
they play baseball, they may do one year of soccer
and baseball. Then baseball takes over. When you start getting
up to six seven, now you can start playing basketball.
Right now, you can get into basketball. It's a little
bit more nuanced, a little bit more a coordination that
(27:33):
you need to be able to play basketball because it's
constant moving, it's dribbling and shooting. It's a lot for
someone under the age of six to really get a
handled on.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Yep, yep.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
Then you know you have pop Warner football, right, America
sport most dads, most parents want their kids to play football,
so as soon as they're old enough to go out there,
it's starting with flag football. Now it didn't used to
be flag football, used to just be pop one, and
now it's flag football. So a lot of kids are
playing flag football. The real change happens when you get eleven, twelve,
(28:15):
after twelve, not just for black it's not just for
black players, but for players in general. If you continue
to play baseball after twelve years old, because you're no
longer a lot you're you're you aged out a little
league right after it's over, right, So now it's a
(28:36):
Now it's a whole nother thing. It's a commitment, like
you gotta go somewhere else. You need to be pretty good,
and you gotta be because you got thirteen fourteen year
olds who are unreal. They've bought in, they're all in,
they're going for it. So we see it a lot
A lot of kids age out of baseball because it's,
(28:57):
first of all, it's a game of losing, right, Like
you have to be okay with losing, meaning if you
if you bet three hundred for your career in the majors.
You're going to the Hall of Fame. At thirty percent,
you're riding thirty percent. Times you had to play, you
(29:17):
get a hit.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
You failing. Unless you get you're failing pretty much seventy percent.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
It's a game of failing, and a lot of kids
can't deal with that emotionally.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I will say this from having you know, I played
all three your football, basketball, baseball growing up through high school.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Not good at any but go ahead, Hey, I was
doing my thing.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
But baseball, like you said, you go in slumps. Yes,
I don't care who you are, how great you are,
you're gonna have slumps. And when you're slumping in baseball
it was of the three sports, it was the worst time, worst, right,
because I mean, you don't really slump in football. You
either good or you're not good. Basketball can be some
(30:00):
I mean thing right right, Baseball, when you are not hitting, you.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
You feel terrible.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
And it's hard to deal with that as as a
young player. My son went through one of those slumps
this year and he looked at me and said that
I think this is the last year I'm playing baseball.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Wow, And he was it.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
So this was my last year probably coaching. He is,
he was serious, He's like, I want to focus on basketball.
He's ten years old. He just turned turned ten next Monday. Right.
Well so, but I'll say this when you get older,
when you get to the high school level, what's the
number one currency for a high school kid? Popularity? Yeah,
(30:42):
number one currency. The problem with baseball up compared to
basketball and football is nobody watches a high school baseball game.
When I was in high school, the games were actually
being played while we.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
Were still in school.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
In class. Why I never heard it, Like, I'm talking
about six period. The baseball game is going on, right,
and the only people are out there, parents and coaches.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Like there was no fanfare, there was.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
No rally, no pep rallies for the baseball team. And
in basketball you get the pep rallies, you got the
gym is packed, and you know football Friday night lights everybody.
It's some towns in some cities that shut down to
go watch high school basketball. So when you take dynamic athletes,
African Americans who grow up and they have all this
(31:36):
talent and all that, that currency of popularity outweighs anything
you can do on the baseball field, and so you
turn that athleticism into being one of the best basketball
players one of the football because it's instant gratification, it's
instant acknowledgment. Baseball, you gotta wait till you get drafted
(31:58):
and get into the big You not even college baseball.
Nobody watches college baseball. It is not on anywhere.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Well, that's a great point because little league baseball. When
I played Little league and all the sports, little league
baseball was as big. You know that you have a
simular crowds to football and Pop Warner and.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
Cyo basketball, whatever it was. You're right.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
High school baseball is not even No, it's not. It's
no more people at that game than they're at the
soccer game.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
It's football and basketball.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
And then, like you said, even if you play in college,
you are not a national star.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
No, nobody knows you until you not only get to
the it takes a while to get.
Speaker 4 (32:43):
To the majors too, and that it can take you
forever if you get there.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Right, So look, take this.
Speaker 4 (32:50):
If Lebron James was a phenomenal baseball player, I'm talking
about one of the best in the country. Does Lebron
James get the same type of fanfare he got as
would he be on the cover of Sports Illustrated right
as a kid in high school? Will he be driving
around in a hum like all of these things. Nike
(33:13):
have a Nike hundred million dollar deal. This is what
I'm telling you, a million and and and and baseball
has a problem because they don't know how to market baseball.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Well, look, and we're gonna keep talking. We'll throw it
out to the listeners. But I want to keep talking
about this because this is a good and important sport
and it's an appropriate time to talk about it.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Because I think there are other reasons.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
But you know from obviously we do this show, uh
sports talk radio, we do I do first things first,
which is you know, National Sports Talk Television.
Speaker 4 (33:47):
Still got my invite for that, but.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
We got I'm working on it. I'm working on I.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
I mean, I can fly to New York for a
week with you out there. Say you don't want you know,
you just.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
But whether it's our show or you know, you can
talk about Undisputed, you can talk about speak, you can
talk about the Herd, you can talk about first the
first take on ESPN and get up the national shows
hardly ever talk baseball. I remember I was on First
(34:20):
take Back at ESPN with Skip Bayless and this must
have been I don't know, two thousand and twelve ish, eleven,
twelve ten, somewhere around there, and.
Speaker 3 (34:33):
It was October. So the World Series was, you.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Know, going on the baseball playoffs. I don't know if
it's actually the World Series or just the playoffs, but
I was like, why are we talking baseball?
Speaker 3 (34:47):
In my mind?
Speaker 1 (34:48):
And we were talking football week four or five whatever
it was, right, basketball is about the start, and we're
talking that and hardly any baseball, if any.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
At all, And I was like, what is going on?
Speaker 1 (35:02):
And it was because these study groups showed that when
people talk to baseball, the ratings dropped.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
And you notice these shows, majority of these shows. Now,
ESPN has a little more leeway because they're kind of
the default channel, right and people just naturally put it
on ESPN, so they'll talk a little baseball on these shows,
but they're even like FS one overwhelmingly NFL and NBA.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
And that's a problem for baseball.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
That is a real problem because outside of you know,
the baseball specific shows or Sports Center, they're not having
any the shows aren't talking about them. And that goes
for national radio too. We probably talk more baseball than
any most national shows, if not all. Now locally they'll
talk some baseball, but nationally it's kind of become a
(35:56):
regional sport
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
Rob Parker
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