August 21, 2020 • 35 mins
It's The Best Of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and Rob Parker! Los Angeles radio host Fred Roggin is in for Chris, and the guys explain why they weren't overly impressed with the Lakers blowout win over the Blazers in Game 2 and tell us why LeBron James is wrong to even suggest that Anthony Davis is the best teammate he's ever had, debate whether or not the Big Ten is out of bounds for refusing to even consider playing football in the Fall, and wonder aloud the real reason why NBA Ratings are down.
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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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(00:22):
You're listening to the best of the Odd Coup of
with Chris Brusso and Rod Harker. Let's get cracking on
the NBA and last night, the Lakers had a game
that I think, uh, you know, people hate to use
the must win kind of situation, but had they lost
obviously Portland one game one, had they lost, they would
(00:45):
be in trouble from this standpoint that they would be
down OZ two and would have to win four out
of five to basically, you know, move on to the
next round. But they got it done. They just came
out jumped on Portland, let them know it wasn't going
to be there night. And even before Damian Lillard went
out with that index finger injury, the Lakers already had
(01:07):
a thirty point lead. Lebron didn't play, Gray didn't shoot well.
Anthony Davis was big for them. What was your takeaway?
Because some people are looking at it as maybe the
Lakers righted the ship because they had played poorly in
the bubble for the most part during those nine games,
eight regular season and the first playoff game. But Fred,
(01:28):
did they write the ship? Where are you on the
your panic meter? Are you cool with the Lakers now?
Are still not sure? Rob? Let me give you this
right off the bat. Some people say some must win
and it's not. Last night was huge. It was a
giant win for the Lakers. They had to win that game.
They looked terrible in the bubble, and if you follow
the team, you realize that they struggled. They played no
(01:49):
perimeter defense, they couldn't hit the three and the key
with the Lakers nationally, as you watch them, you have
a d and you have Lebron James. Somebody else needs
to show up, and it was as if nobody else
was getting on the bus to go to the bubble.
They stayed back in quarantine in the hotel. So you'd
have Lebron playing well, you'd have ad playing well, and
then it was a crapshoot. Whoever was available that actually
(02:12):
showed up to play might play well. So We created
a panic meter for the Lakers. Red with severe panic,
Orange was moderate panic, and green was all good. I
put the Lakers before the game last night in orange,
trending toward red. Now I have moved them still an
orange trending toward yellow. Last night was big. Anthony Davis
(02:35):
had to assert himself, an ad who had been in
the witness protection program for years in New Orleans, never
has been on the giant stage. He's a great player,
but never played on the giant stage. This is the
biggest stage under the brightest lights for him in his career.
And let's be honest, in the fourth quarter, he's been
vacant getting shown up. How surprising is that to you, Fred,
(02:58):
for a guy of that talent, you know what I
mean to Really, he's bigger than everybody. He can shoot,
he can do everything, and yet we've seen him time
and time again deliver two points or no points or
you know it's pretty amazing. Well, it's simple. Fourth quarter.
(03:19):
They're gonna double him, they're gonna throw bodies at him,
and the pressure is greater pressure he has never faced before. Also,
I think there was a learning curve to adjusting to
playing with Lebron James and it's not gonna happen overnight.
Remember the season was basically postponed. Then they had eight
games to fire it back up and the playoffs, people
(03:40):
are a lot tighter on defense. So Anthony Davis has
struggled in the fourth quarter. Lebron James has played well,
but Anthony Davis has struggled, and the Lakers need more
than two guys to beat you. Last night, Anthony Davis
came out and that's why this was so important and
basically put it on Portland. The Lakers succeed because of
their length. They're probably the tallest team in the league.
(04:03):
In critical positions. They succeed because of their length, and
they physically punish the Blazers. Now that doesn't mean they're
out of the woods, because they're not. Damian Lillard's injury
that's a problem, and it's his left hand, not his
shooting hand, and it's a dislocated finger, which you can
pop back in. But we don't know how effective he's
(04:23):
going to be. Well, we did get word that he
will play Game three, and you're right, Fred, if it
was on his shooting hand, that would be totally different
and they could wrap that bad boy up and you
know he can still because X rays were negative. He
could still get there. But if that game three, obviously
is a huge game, and if he's not as effective
(04:47):
or you know, looks like he's injured or whatever, or
just can't get it together, they might fold up the tents,
you know what I mean. The rest of the trail
Blazon realize we can't win without our god. Well, they
can't win without him, I mean, if he couldn't go
or he's not as effective. And another problem Portland had
last night, Rob, they you live by the three, you
(05:07):
die by the three, and it was a death for
them by the three last night because they weren't falling.
So if Damian Lillard can't go or is not as effective,
they should just save the per diem, just go to
the airport, get on the plane and fly back to Portland.
There's no reason to pay for the rooms, and there's
no reason to pay the perdem for guys to eat,
because if he's not really effective, it's over for them anyway,
(05:32):
All right now, Fred, This was what was interesting too.
After the game, we have Lebron James talking about the
importance of a d and he dropped this nugget on us.
I've had some great teammates in my career. Eighty is
one of those unicorns, and he does things that some
of my other great teammates are not capable of doing.
But in the same sense, I'll play with Dwyane Wade
(05:55):
and he could do some things that you know is
not capable of doing. And also played with Kyrie Irvin.
He can do some things that d Wade and Ad
is not capable of doing. So I've had the luxury
of playing with some great players, and that's just that's
just three of them. So first of all, he called
him a unicorn. Did he mean Uni Brown or what
(06:16):
was that? Fred? Little unicorn? Unrown? Thanks Kyrie, I mean unicorn. Okay,
I got an issue with this. I think it's premature.
And when you talk about the greatest, you know, the
best player or the greatest player you played with, and
(06:36):
you've played with guys who helped you win championships, I
think I understand how talented ID is. So I'm not
trying to poo poo is talent, Fred, I'm not. He's
a talented guy. But really, like Dwayne Wade, not only
did he win a couple of championships with you down
in Miami. He also won a championship. Before you got
(06:58):
to Miami, Anthony Davis hadn't done anything but get to
the second round one time in New Orleans. Kyrie was
a part of a team that, for the first time
in NBA history, Fred came back from a three to
one deficit. Who made the biggest shot and one of
(07:19):
the biggest shots in NBA playoff history, it was Kyrie, right,
a three pointer that win the game and go back
and look, everybody raves about the Warriors. Kyrie average twenty
eight points against the Warriors in the finals. He wasn't
just on the bus. He was driving the bus, helped
driving the bus with Lebron. So I think this is
(07:41):
premature speak by Lebron. I think when that's because if
Anthony Davis comes up small Fred in these posts in
the playoffs at some point gives you a goose egg
in the fourth quarter, gives you two points, disappears or whatever,
and they lose his mans, you'll call Lebron, of course,
(08:01):
the goat still and they'll call a d the escapegoat.
So I don't know how you could already say the
great one of the greatest players that he's played with,
considering he won with the other guys. Rob, you can
write this down in ink, so please do, because I
don't want you to lose it. Talk about premature and
you talk about the celebration in life. There's nothing more
(08:24):
embarrassing or a man than premature celebration. Yeah. Absolutely, you
don't want that. You don't want to claim that, and
you don't want that to happen. And really that's what's
going on. I mean, can we really be honest. There's
no way you can sit here and say he's one
of the greatest players, the greatest player I've played with. Right,
that's not true. It's simply not true. You know what,
(08:45):
It looks good on Instagram, fantastic, put it on Twitter,
everybody buys it. No, we're not buying what you're selling
here because it's way too soon to make that determination.
And you pointed something out that is abundantly clear. What
if he has two points in the fourth quarters? Right, Yeah,
I'll give you your wing bet. I mean people I
may not know. At one point you beat me for
(09:06):
six hundred wings? Did you say that? Say that again? Fred,
for people to hear. I want them to hear all
the way back to the East Coast, liking you know
in Atlantic City. Can you say how many wings I
beat you? Yeah? Six hundred wings and I paid you
two I take off those six hundred wings, and you
know what I did with the wings. I'm not a
selfish guy. Fred did I not feed the guys at
(09:28):
AM five seventy LA Sports and the other half went
to Fox Sports Radio for the crew at Fox and
a smattering of applause for that, Yes, the appreciation. I
will bet you wings right now throughout the rest of
the playoffs. Eight D is going to vanish in a
couple of fourth quarters. I will I'll take that bet
(09:50):
right now. Not by choice that he wants to, but
he's going to. It's going to happen, even if they
get by Portland and you get to the next round
and the next round, he is going to vanish in
the fourth quarter, because that has been the history. He
was good yesterday. It looked like giants against Liliputians, big
(10:10):
tall guys against guys that seemed really weak and small
and tired and tired, physically tired without their leader in
the final quarter. So I don't think that he is
going to be lights out the rest of the way
in the fourth quarter, and that's something to keep an
eye on. Rob. Yesterday it worked. Lebron didn't have his
best scoring game. No, no, no, So yesterday it worked.
(10:33):
But as this continues down the road, it's a bit
early to say he's one of the greatest players, so
the greatest player I've ever played with. Be sure to
catch live editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard
and Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern four pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app. Let's
get to college football, and I think we can both
(10:54):
agree that the NCAA has done a very poor job
of trying to keep things together. They have for years,
and this college football situation in the pandemic has made
it even worse. We know the Big Ten and Pact
twelve are not going to play. We know the Big twelve,
the ACC and the SEC are going to play. And
today Big ten families have had enough. They've had enough.
(11:17):
They think it's unjust and unfair that their kids will
not play in the Big Ten and other kids will
play around the country. So they've had it. And by
the way, the Big Ten. Rob did come out and say,
we understand that you've started a petition. We know you
are protesting, but we're sticking by our guns. So today
all bets were off. They had a protest. How many
(11:39):
people must have been thousands? What an outrage? Let me
see Division two and three footballs canceled, but there must
have been millions of people out there in front of
the Big ten office right up with picket signs and
protesting and telling Kevin Warren to go to you know where,
the Big ten commissioner and all that, and telling those chancellors,
(12:02):
how dare you just deprived my children, my kid of
playing football when everybody else is playing? Right? Is that
what they said? Yes? Rob? And they had throngs of people.
You know, they did not have to call security, They
did not have to block off areas. I mean they
had at least twenty five people, twenty five people. At
(12:23):
least Lebron had three thousand when they were given out
three pizzas in La. Do you remember that? Yeah? And
Lebron never showed Rob. Oh yeah, and neither did the
mass hysteria for not having college football on a Division
one level during a pandemic. Friend, look I get it,
(12:44):
by the way. I get the outrage of the Big ten.
I get the outrage of families in the Pac twelve.
In full disclosure, I have a son that's a college
basketball player. Now he plays Division three college basketball, but
he did play it. He was playing that where he
was playing at Redlands and he's transferred to Chapman. But
he was a Division one guy who was at Arizona State, right,
I was gonna say, so, he sat on the bench
(13:07):
and looked watch Bobby Hurley, yellowy. That's okay. He was
on the team. He was on the team absolutely, and
now he plays it. He's pretty good. So he is
dealing with this kind of thing. I get robbed. The
outrage of parents, I get the outrage of kids. And
I get it because other conferences are playing it doesn't
(13:27):
make any sense they're playing we're not. It's unfair to us.
I absolutely get that. But what you're seeing in college
football right now, it's a crapshoot. Let's say we're in Vegas,
we're socially distanced, we have our gloves and our masks. Ye,
we're playing craps. Okay, here's what we've got. I've got
(13:51):
the dice and I'm gonna throw it. And I'm the
I'm the PAC twelve and Big ten and I got
the dice and I'm gonna throw it. What's going to happen?
I gonna hit the point and win? Or am I
gonna crap out? I'm gonna crap out? If those other
three conferences actually play, I'm gonna crap out. I'm gonna
look bad. Am I gonna win? Here's how I'm gonna win.
(14:15):
The other three either don't play or stop in the middle.
If that happens, then the PAC twelve and the Big
ten win. But if they power through it, if the
SEC says we are going for it, because in Alabama
and Louisiana, no virus is going to get us, We're
(14:36):
going right through it. If they power through, the Big
ten and Pac twelve crapped out, and those kids have
a reason to be upset, Rob, I could not disagree
with you more from the standpoint they stopped the NCAA
basketball tournament. Fred, all the sports have been canceled all
(14:56):
over the Olympics have been canceled. I could go on
and on and on about all the sports that have
been canceled. The Big Ten and the Pac twelve will
be on the right side of history. And God forbid,
I'm not wishing for anything bad to happen to these
other conferences. But we just saw what happened at North Carolina.
(15:17):
They invited all the students back. We're having classes on campus. Fred.
Where are they now after five days? Where the kids? Fred?
And they on campus? Or did they send them home?
They send them home? Why they send them home because
there was an outbreak? Right you know why? Rob? Because
they're kids and kids aren't going to listen. There you go,
(15:38):
but there you go. You just said it. Yeah, but
wait a minute, Rob. If you're an SEC school or
a Big twelve school and my other side, Josh goes
to Kansas State, Okay, so they're playing those those players
could be put into a bubble. They could be isolated.
Now granted you can say where they're not really gonna
(15:58):
be kids in college because on the week and they're
not going out and they're not partying and they're not
hanging out. Okay, but they're there to learn and play
football as well. They can be isolated. They can be
in a bubble. And those schools, do we have the
money to test them? I would argue to you, I wouldn't.
I wouldn't trust tests administered by the schools FRED who
(16:20):
have money. I'm not. I'm telling you to have money
because we've already seen some players FRED who have tweeted
out that they tested positive and it wasn't reported by
the schools. So I haven't seen that Rob g who
was who was the player? Rob will find it and
tell them he went against the school and said that
(16:42):
he tested positive and some other guys had and they
didn't report it. And from my only point is Florida
State FRED. And when there's money involved, that's scary. When
people are starting to fudge the numbers because they don't
want to be proven wrong. They don't want people to
know why. And I'm just saying, and anything where you
ask kids to sign waivers and whatnot and and and
(17:05):
drop the schools from liability tells you that it's not
safe and that they can't keep you safe. It's just
like when when kids get a concussion and the doctor
tells you you can't go back in and they take
your helmet from your FRED because you're a kid and
you don't want to look like a woosie and you
want to get back in there, and you don't want
(17:26):
to get knocked out of the game, and they gotta
make you not play right because they're looking out for
your well being. The Big Ten and the Pac twelve.
No matter what happens, Fred will wind up on the
right side of history that they didn't compromise the kids
health to make about a buck to turn a buck,
(17:46):
because that's really what it is. You can't tell me
it's the right decision. When the when when we didn't
hear peep out of any parents or anybody when Division
two and three was canceled? When when if you remember
the Big Ten, the Biggie Basketball tournament was going on,
they canceled a game at halftime. Fred, do you remember that? Yes,
but that was different than ROB because you just found
(18:07):
out about it. And the reason you're not hearing a
peep out of a Division two or a Division three
and my son goes to Division three. I don't know
why I can peeple all on Want. Nobody cares. I
can peep all on want Division two. I daddy had
a lot of sympathy because it's about money. Well, it's
also ROB about giving kids an opportunity. Look, every kid
(18:28):
that plays college football. Every kid that plays, what percentage
of those kids are going to go to the NFL two?
So that means ninety nine percent of the kids aren't
playing because they want to play football, because playing at
the college level means something. If you wait and you
played college football, that's a pretty cool thing. Or college
(18:49):
basketball if you're a college A yeah. But but we're
all going through this, we're all. Everybody's been altered. People
went four years to some prestigious school, didn't have a graduation, Fred,
everybody's been affected by it. People work very hard to
get to the Olympics. Are they going to the Olympics
this year? No? You think all that work and energy
(19:11):
put in and to try to represent your country, washed down,
washed away by the pandemic, washed away by the coronavirus.
Those college football players are no different. They don't have
a birthright that they have to play football this season.
When everybody else's had this sacrifice and had their lives altered,
(19:32):
who are they? Fred? Right? I hate to tell you.
People want to return to some sort of normalcy. You're
tired of sitting in your condo and staring at the walls.
The walls are now staring back at you. You want
some normalcy, people want it. The NBA bubble works. Major
(19:55):
League Baseball is working as effectively as it can, but
it is working. The National Hockey League bubble works, the
NLS works. But you're the only problem. But you're sitting
here and telling me that the Pac twelve and the
Big Ten be on the right side of history. You
might be right, but what I'm saying is this, they
(20:16):
may be on the wrong side of history if those
other three conferences play. Listen, rob If those other three
conferences play, that's gonna be college football. So these kids
in the Pac twelve and the Big Ten, if they're
going to play in the spring, It's like, what are
you doing? But Fred is those schools those schools no
matter what. And once they once this is over and
(20:37):
we get back to it, Michigan's not gonna miss a beat.
Nobody is. And this is the other part on why
college players need to unionize and have representation. They're not
amateur athletes, they're employees of the school. Fred, how can
you have schools these schools where nobody, no kids are
on campus at North Carolina except the football team that
(21:00):
you're a part of the student body if no students
are allowed on campus, then the football team shouldn't be
on campus. What doesn't make any sense to me. It's
a contradiction of terms. Are they members of the student
body or not? Are they They're supposed to be right,
So how in the world could you still have them
on campus. I teach at USC, no classes on campus,
(21:24):
no football, if that makes sense to me, So USC
ain't doing anything that where I would scratch my head
down the road and say, oh, I can't believe you
didn't have football this year. None of the kids went
to school, but I can't believe you didn't have football.
How How can you have football when the kids can't
go to college? So they should not play football. At
Kansas State, where Josh goes, the kids are on campus.
(21:45):
They should not play football there. The kids are on campus.
I'm talking about the schools where they don't, where they don't.
I think that's a contradiction. If you want to put
people on I'm just telling you the only reason. The
only reason is because of the television money, Fred, and
that is it. They don't care about the kids long
(22:07):
term health. We had a kid already, a quarterback from
Georgia was a Georgia State robg who's who already has
some heart condition from the coronavirus. The thing that it's
only been around for what six months or half a year,
and he's already got He already has a long term
(22:30):
issue already, and they say it's from the coronavirus. That's
all I'm saying. To expose all these kids, Where will
they be, Fred will Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh and
Ryan Day. Will those guys be around when these kids
down the road when they're sick. Fox Sports Radio has
the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all
(22:51):
of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and
within the iHeartRadio app. Search f SR to listen live.
One thing that's out there that Fred, I want to
dive into, and I really want to get your opinion
on something. And I have a text from someone, a
someone who played in the NBA who gave me their opinion,
(23:16):
somebody I respect and value their opinion when it comes
to the league, who played in the league, who gave
me some points and thoughts on why the NBA TV
ratings are down. And Fred, you must admit it's it's
pretty shocking some of the numbers because when you think
(23:39):
of the pandemic, people wanting sports back so desperately. You
thought people would flock right to watch live games and
the NBA, you know, going to the bubble, the playing
game and the idea that it's the playoffs. But before
the pandemic hit, the ratings were down and they've stayed
(24:03):
down even after the return of basketball after that very
first game with the Lakers and Clippers and Fred. Here's
the other part and the number that was shocking when
I read since twenty eleven twenty twelve, the ratings on ABC.
(24:24):
We're talking about free TV, right, Yeah, everybody can get it,
so it ain't about streaming. It ain't about like, oh,
they're looking at it on their phones or what you
could watch the game on ABC. The ratings have dropped
on ABC since twenty eleven twenty twelve, forty five percent
(24:46):
in the last eight years, which is mind boggling. And
people are trying to come up with all kinds of ideas.
You know, the kids the streaming, so they don't count
in the ratings. Kids have cut the chord of cable. Fred,
they're not watching. People's TV patterns are different. The only
(25:11):
thing about after the you know, in the bubble and
the NBA ratings still being down. And I granted Fred,
they are playing more day games, right, Which games that
are coming on at ten in the morning on the
West coast here? Right? Yeah, so there's some day games
they're on NBA TV. Maybe everybody doesn't get NBA TV.
Is a couple of things there. What's your initial thought
(25:33):
and then I'll give you I'd like to share this
text from this former NBA player. My initial thought is,
first of all, younger people are more apt to see
things on social media, and also as generations change. When
we were growing up, Rob, you're rooted for a team
(25:55):
in the NBA more so than any league because of
social media and brand you root for players. Fred, You're one, right,
And here's part of it. When we were kids, you
couldn't to see a national game or see other players, Fred,
you just didn't see them, right, And now every game
(26:16):
is on. So if I like a player and I
get the NBA package, I can watch every one of
his games. It's not like before where there were times
where games weren't on and you had to follow a
local team. Fred, those are the only games that were on, right,
So what you have are people more associating themselves with
players and teams. That's going to knock down national ratings
(26:38):
because if your guy isn't playing in the national game,
why are you gonna watch it? You're not rooting for
the teams. I think another thing, and I think it
applies to all sports, is we live in a world
today of urgency. You can be on multiple devices at once.
I'm talking to you, I'm checking our rundown on an iPad,
(27:01):
and I'm getting texts on my phone all at the
same time. We multitask, and that means we want things fast,
and we want things now, and most importantly, we want
things that matter. And NBA games, when you get to
the playoffs, they matter during the regular season, and sometimes
(27:23):
they do sometimes they don't. Well well. Also, because more
than half the league, sixteen of the thirty teams FRED
make the playoffs, right, there's no sense of urgency. Why
do you think March Madness does so well? Why do
you think it does so well on Turner and CBS
Because it's one and done. People are really excited about that.
(27:44):
And you know what, you could miss it if you
if you don't watch right, they could get knocked out
or your team could win, definitely. It's the it's the format.
It's not college basketball. Single elimination. Fred. If you had
a single elimination in the NBA for the playoffs, right,
one loss in, you're out. Can you imagine what kind
of basketball you would see? Oh? Be incredible. But people
(28:07):
would say that's unfair because we've spent all of this
money building these teams, and right right, it's not a
fair representation if you don't go seven games, right of course.
So I think that is an issue. I think you
have young people more focused on players than teams, and
I believe that there's no sense of urgency. So that
leads to this, rob. Numbers are down now for the
(28:28):
playoff games, and why is anybody? That's the shock? That's
the shock you you would you didn't have basketball for
three or four months, Fred. Now it's playoff time and
the numbers still haven't bounced back, right, And I don't
buy this. I don't buy well. I mean games are
starting early, they run all day. Who's going to be
(28:50):
interested in that? I don't buy that one bit. I
buy this. I think during the pandemic, people looked at
their lives and the way they live, and they realize
things about themselves and their interests, and I think what
they realized is maybe some things aren't as important to
me as they used to be. Therefore, if I lived
(29:13):
or died by the NBA or the teams, or was
that invested in it. Now I realize there are other
things to worry about in life, or there are other
things that I've learned about that occupy my time. And
I think that is something that is going to affect
all sports, at least for a while. The NBA happens
to be in the playoffs and you expect ratings to skyrocket.
(29:35):
They haven't. I just think people said, oh, I decide
out of mind, and that's not something I expected at all.
And I know you didn't either, No way, not at all.
I really didn't see that. I thought people would gobble
it up. I know people have started going back to
work fred some, but I still thought that people would,
(29:55):
you know, because we were starved of it, that people
would would want to And what do you make of
the um the ABC ratings over the last eight years
forty five percent drop off. Yeah. Years on broadcast TV
where everybody can see the game, everybody has that right
(30:18):
if you have an antennas. You can't make that excuse.
If you have an antenna, Fred, you could get the game. Yeah.
I attribute that too. Again, it's more player based than
team based. So if your team, if there's a team
playing on ABC, but your guy's not playing, you're not
as interested. Right. Let me ask you this. I don't
know what the answer is, but what is he But
(30:41):
does this have anything, at least at this time to
do with it the movement, the messaging? Do you? And
I would think there would be a segment of the audience. Well,
that's President Trump's claim that. Yeah, I mean people are
mad about the Well, I mean, I don't know how
(31:01):
you could that that they that was the case. You
remember with the NFL. Uh, that's what they were were
saying that it was hurting the product. But those numbers rebounded. Yeah,
and it'll be interesting to see this year, Fred. Will
you know they'll be kneeling again right during the national
anthem or whatever. Uh. The NBA has done it, Baseball had,
(31:22):
but Baseball has done it. Uh. There have been players
who have kneeled and the Black Lives Matter movement. FRED
and Baseball's numbers have been good and went up big time.
I think that. Remember the first game back that Yankees
the opening day was like one of the greatest baseball
games or the number in twenty years or something. I mean,
(31:44):
it was what you would expect, right that after not
having sports, people were going to be glued. And for
whatever reason, it doesn't seem to be the same. All right,
I want to share this with you. Uh, somebody I
respect in the NBA played in the NBA and and
I just holds the question, Uh, you know, what were
the issues in his mind? Okay? And he said, young
(32:08):
people have more options than just sports to entertain them.
I'm gonna read them all and then we'll go number two.
People aren't sitting around for two and three hours anymore
just watching sports. The new NBA is all about one
style of play now. So you remember Fred in the
(32:29):
old days, Uh, you didn't have the same kind of players,
so you would play a slow down, possession kind of game.
They would run because they had the athletes to run.
You remember, the Lakers had showed times the Knicks were
bumping and and and and hit you you know what
I mean. And the Pistons would play a different kind
(32:49):
of basketball. You would give your team towards the type
of players you had. Now everybody plays the same style.
Number four, who can shoot the most threes. Number five.
Defense is almost frowned upon, so you don't have the
defense anymore. Like aspect number six, no more rivalries. Everybody
(33:13):
is friendly. So it's lost the intensity that you used.
You used to see it in the NBA. And you
remember Fred Celtics hated the Lakers. Lakers hated the Celtics right,
no question, not just just no matter what hated him.
And there was the Pistons, and there were the Bulls,
and we could go to Knicks and the Miami Heat,
(33:35):
and we could go on and on and on. There
were just so many teams. What do you think of those?
And and and and you know his idea, I buy
young people really don't want to sit for two hours
and watch. I definitely buy that. UM I also buy
Oh no, I don't buy this. I don't buy this, Robin.
(33:56):
And when you said it, I cannot a little bit
many trees. The style is still the same. Understand that
baseball's trying to do it. The NFL is trying to
do it. I don't hockey is trying to do it.
There's one thing people want action and fast, and they
want scoring. They don't want defense. Nobody wants to see defense.
Everybody wants to see points on the board, goals in
(34:17):
the net, touchdowns, home runs, lots of runs. They want offense.
That's the mentality today. It's got to be fast, it's
got to be now, it's got to be happening, everything
going on at once. I want to see a lot
of actions. So I don't buy that. I don't buy
we're shooting too many threes. I don't buy. It's a
style issue where back in the day, one team would
(34:38):
be rough, one team would be this, one team would
be that. I don't buy that either. I think it's overload.
I think, as I said earlier, young people without the
attention span, they are multi purposing at all times on
multiple devices. They root for players instead of teams, and
(35:00):
I think there's an overall lack of urgency. What will
be interesting is we continue in the playoffs, will the
numbers go up
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 fs R.
(00:22):
You're listening to the best of the Odd Coup of
with Chris Brusso and Rod Harker. Let's get cracking on
the NBA and last night, the Lakers had a game
that I think, uh, you know, people hate to use
the must win kind of situation, but had they lost
obviously Portland one game one, had they lost, they would
(00:45):
be in trouble from this standpoint that they would be
down OZ two and would have to win four out
of five to basically, you know, move on to the
next round. But they got it done. They just came
out jumped on Portland, let them know it wasn't going
to be there night. And even before Damian Lillard went
out with that index finger injury, the Lakers already had
(01:07):
a thirty point lead. Lebron didn't play, Gray didn't shoot well.
Anthony Davis was big for them. What was your takeaway?
Because some people are looking at it as maybe the
Lakers righted the ship because they had played poorly in
the bubble for the most part during those nine games,
eight regular season and the first playoff game. But Fred,
(01:28):
did they write the ship? Where are you on the
your panic meter? Are you cool with the Lakers now?
Are still not sure? Rob? Let me give you this
right off the bat. Some people say some must win
and it's not. Last night was huge. It was a
giant win for the Lakers. They had to win that game.
They looked terrible in the bubble, and if you follow
the team, you realize that they struggled. They played no
(01:49):
perimeter defense, they couldn't hit the three and the key
with the Lakers nationally, as you watch them, you have
a d and you have Lebron James. Somebody else needs
to show up, and it was as if nobody else
was getting on the bus to go to the bubble.
They stayed back in quarantine in the hotel. So you'd
have Lebron playing well, you'd have ad playing well, and
then it was a crapshoot. Whoever was available that actually
(02:12):
showed up to play might play well. So We created
a panic meter for the Lakers. Red with severe panic,
Orange was moderate panic, and green was all good. I
put the Lakers before the game last night in orange,
trending toward red. Now I have moved them still an
orange trending toward yellow. Last night was big. Anthony Davis
(02:35):
had to assert himself, an ad who had been in
the witness protection program for years in New Orleans, never
has been on the giant stage. He's a great player,
but never played on the giant stage. This is the
biggest stage under the brightest lights for him in his career.
And let's be honest, in the fourth quarter, he's been
vacant getting shown up. How surprising is that to you, Fred,
(02:58):
for a guy of that talent, you know what I
mean to Really, he's bigger than everybody. He can shoot,
he can do everything, and yet we've seen him time
and time again deliver two points or no points or
you know it's pretty amazing. Well, it's simple. Fourth quarter.
(03:19):
They're gonna double him, they're gonna throw bodies at him,
and the pressure is greater pressure he has never faced before. Also,
I think there was a learning curve to adjusting to
playing with Lebron James and it's not gonna happen overnight.
Remember the season was basically postponed. Then they had eight
games to fire it back up and the playoffs, people
(03:40):
are a lot tighter on defense. So Anthony Davis has
struggled in the fourth quarter. Lebron James has played well,
but Anthony Davis has struggled, and the Lakers need more
than two guys to beat you. Last night, Anthony Davis
came out and that's why this was so important and
basically put it on Portland. The Lakers succeed because of
their length. They're probably the tallest team in the league.
(04:03):
In critical positions. They succeed because of their length, and
they physically punish the Blazers. Now that doesn't mean they're
out of the woods, because they're not. Damian Lillard's injury
that's a problem, and it's his left hand, not his
shooting hand, and it's a dislocated finger, which you can
pop back in. But we don't know how effective he's
(04:23):
going to be. Well, we did get word that he
will play Game three, and you're right, Fred, if it
was on his shooting hand, that would be totally different
and they could wrap that bad boy up and you
know he can still because X rays were negative. He
could still get there. But if that game three, obviously
is a huge game, and if he's not as effective
(04:47):
or you know, looks like he's injured or whatever, or
just can't get it together, they might fold up the tents,
you know what I mean. The rest of the trail
Blazon realize we can't win without our god. Well, they
can't win without him, I mean, if he couldn't go
or he's not as effective. And another problem Portland had
last night, Rob, they you live by the three, you
(05:07):
die by the three, and it was a death for
them by the three last night because they weren't falling.
So if Damian Lillard can't go or is not as effective,
they should just save the per diem, just go to
the airport, get on the plane and fly back to Portland.
There's no reason to pay for the rooms, and there's
no reason to pay the perdem for guys to eat,
because if he's not really effective, it's over for them anyway,
(05:32):
All right now, Fred, This was what was interesting too.
After the game, we have Lebron James talking about the
importance of a d and he dropped this nugget on us.
I've had some great teammates in my career. Eighty is
one of those unicorns, and he does things that some
of my other great teammates are not capable of doing.
But in the same sense, I'll play with Dwyane Wade
(05:55):
and he could do some things that you know is
not capable of doing. And also played with Kyrie Irvin.
He can do some things that d Wade and Ad
is not capable of doing. So I've had the luxury
of playing with some great players, and that's just that's
just three of them. So first of all, he called
him a unicorn. Did he mean Uni Brown or what
(06:16):
was that? Fred? Little unicorn? Unrown? Thanks Kyrie, I mean unicorn. Okay,
I got an issue with this. I think it's premature.
And when you talk about the greatest, you know, the
best player or the greatest player you played with, and
(06:36):
you've played with guys who helped you win championships, I
think I understand how talented ID is. So I'm not
trying to poo poo is talent, Fred, I'm not. He's
a talented guy. But really, like Dwayne Wade, not only
did he win a couple of championships with you down
in Miami. He also won a championship. Before you got
(06:58):
to Miami, Anthony Davis hadn't done anything but get to
the second round one time in New Orleans. Kyrie was
a part of a team that, for the first time
in NBA history, Fred came back from a three to
one deficit. Who made the biggest shot and one of
(07:19):
the biggest shots in NBA playoff history, it was Kyrie, right,
a three pointer that win the game and go back
and look, everybody raves about the Warriors. Kyrie average twenty
eight points against the Warriors in the finals. He wasn't
just on the bus. He was driving the bus, helped
driving the bus with Lebron. So I think this is
(07:41):
premature speak by Lebron. I think when that's because if
Anthony Davis comes up small Fred in these posts in
the playoffs at some point gives you a goose egg
in the fourth quarter, gives you two points, disappears or whatever,
and they lose his mans, you'll call Lebron, of course,
(08:01):
the goat still and they'll call a d the escapegoat.
So I don't know how you could already say the
great one of the greatest players that he's played with,
considering he won with the other guys. Rob, you can
write this down in ink, so please do, because I
don't want you to lose it. Talk about premature and
you talk about the celebration in life. There's nothing more
(08:24):
embarrassing or a man than premature celebration. Yeah. Absolutely, you
don't want that. You don't want to claim that, and
you don't want that to happen. And really that's what's
going on. I mean, can we really be honest. There's
no way you can sit here and say he's one
of the greatest players, the greatest player I've played with. Right,
that's not true. It's simply not true. You know what,
(08:45):
It looks good on Instagram, fantastic, put it on Twitter,
everybody buys it. No, we're not buying what you're selling
here because it's way too soon to make that determination.
And you pointed something out that is abundantly clear. What
if he has two points in the fourth quarters? Right, Yeah,
I'll give you your wing bet. I mean people I
may not know. At one point you beat me for
(09:06):
six hundred wings? Did you say that? Say that again? Fred,
for people to hear. I want them to hear all
the way back to the East Coast, liking you know
in Atlantic City. Can you say how many wings I
beat you? Yeah? Six hundred wings and I paid you
two I take off those six hundred wings, and you
know what I did with the wings. I'm not a
selfish guy. Fred did I not feed the guys at
(09:28):
AM five seventy LA Sports and the other half went
to Fox Sports Radio for the crew at Fox and
a smattering of applause for that, Yes, the appreciation. I
will bet you wings right now throughout the rest of
the playoffs. Eight D is going to vanish in a
couple of fourth quarters. I will I'll take that bet
(09:50):
right now. Not by choice that he wants to, but
he's going to. It's going to happen, even if they
get by Portland and you get to the next round
and the next round, he is going to vanish in
the fourth quarter, because that has been the history. He
was good yesterday. It looked like giants against Liliputians, big
(10:10):
tall guys against guys that seemed really weak and small
and tired and tired, physically tired without their leader in
the final quarter. So I don't think that he is
going to be lights out the rest of the way
in the fourth quarter, and that's something to keep an
eye on. Rob. Yesterday it worked. Lebron didn't have his
best scoring game. No, no, no, So yesterday it worked.
(10:33):
But as this continues down the road, it's a bit
early to say he's one of the greatest players, so
the greatest player I've ever played with. Be sure to
catch live editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard
and Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern four pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app. Let's
get to college football, and I think we can both
(10:54):
agree that the NCAA has done a very poor job
of trying to keep things together. They have for years,
and this college football situation in the pandemic has made
it even worse. We know the Big Ten and Pact
twelve are not going to play. We know the Big twelve,
the ACC and the SEC are going to play. And
today Big ten families have had enough. They've had enough.
(11:17):
They think it's unjust and unfair that their kids will
not play in the Big Ten and other kids will
play around the country. So they've had it. And by
the way, the Big Ten. Rob did come out and say,
we understand that you've started a petition. We know you
are protesting, but we're sticking by our guns. So today
all bets were off. They had a protest. How many
(11:39):
people must have been thousands? What an outrage? Let me
see Division two and three footballs canceled, but there must
have been millions of people out there in front of
the Big ten office right up with picket signs and
protesting and telling Kevin Warren to go to you know where,
the Big ten commissioner and all that, and telling those chancellors,
(12:02):
how dare you just deprived my children, my kid of
playing football when everybody else is playing? Right? Is that
what they said? Yes? Rob? And they had throngs of people.
You know, they did not have to call security, They
did not have to block off areas. I mean they
had at least twenty five people, twenty five people. At
(12:23):
least Lebron had three thousand when they were given out
three pizzas in La. Do you remember that? Yeah? And
Lebron never showed Rob. Oh yeah, and neither did the
mass hysteria for not having college football on a Division
one level during a pandemic. Friend, look I get it,
(12:44):
by the way. I get the outrage of the Big ten.
I get the outrage of families in the Pac twelve.
In full disclosure, I have a son that's a college
basketball player. Now he plays Division three college basketball, but
he did play it. He was playing that where he
was playing at Redlands and he's transferred to Chapman. But
he was a Division one guy who was at Arizona State, right,
I was gonna say, so, he sat on the bench
(13:07):
and looked watch Bobby Hurley, yellowy. That's okay. He was
on the team. He was on the team absolutely, and
now he plays it. He's pretty good. So he is
dealing with this kind of thing. I get robbed. The
outrage of parents, I get the outrage of kids. And
I get it because other conferences are playing it doesn't
(13:27):
make any sense they're playing we're not. It's unfair to us.
I absolutely get that. But what you're seeing in college
football right now, it's a crapshoot. Let's say we're in Vegas,
we're socially distanced, we have our gloves and our masks. Ye,
we're playing craps. Okay, here's what we've got. I've got
(13:51):
the dice and I'm gonna throw it. And I'm the
I'm the PAC twelve and Big ten and I got
the dice and I'm gonna throw it. What's going to happen?
I gonna hit the point and win? Or am I
gonna crap out? I'm gonna crap out? If those other
three conferences actually play, I'm gonna crap out. I'm gonna
look bad. Am I gonna win? Here's how I'm gonna win.
(14:15):
The other three either don't play or stop in the middle.
If that happens, then the PAC twelve and the Big
ten win. But if they power through it, if the
SEC says we are going for it, because in Alabama
and Louisiana, no virus is going to get us, We're
(14:36):
going right through it. If they power through, the Big
ten and Pac twelve crapped out, and those kids have
a reason to be upset, Rob, I could not disagree
with you more from the standpoint they stopped the NCAA
basketball tournament. Fred, all the sports have been canceled all
(14:56):
over the Olympics have been canceled. I could go on
and on and on about all the sports that have
been canceled. The Big Ten and the Pac twelve will
be on the right side of history. And God forbid,
I'm not wishing for anything bad to happen to these
other conferences. But we just saw what happened at North Carolina.
(15:17):
They invited all the students back. We're having classes on campus. Fred.
Where are they now after five days? Where the kids? Fred?
And they on campus? Or did they send them home?
They send them home? Why they send them home because
there was an outbreak? Right you know why? Rob? Because
they're kids and kids aren't going to listen. There you go,
(15:38):
but there you go. You just said it. Yeah, but
wait a minute, Rob. If you're an SEC school or
a Big twelve school and my other side, Josh goes
to Kansas State, Okay, so they're playing those those players
could be put into a bubble. They could be isolated.
Now granted you can say where they're not really gonna
(15:58):
be kids in college because on the week and they're
not going out and they're not partying and they're not
hanging out. Okay, but they're there to learn and play
football as well. They can be isolated. They can be
in a bubble. And those schools, do we have the
money to test them? I would argue to you, I wouldn't.
I wouldn't trust tests administered by the schools FRED who
(16:20):
have money. I'm not. I'm telling you to have money
because we've already seen some players FRED who have tweeted
out that they tested positive and it wasn't reported by
the schools. So I haven't seen that Rob g who
was who was the player? Rob will find it and
tell them he went against the school and said that
(16:42):
he tested positive and some other guys had and they
didn't report it. And from my only point is Florida
State FRED. And when there's money involved, that's scary. When
people are starting to fudge the numbers because they don't
want to be proven wrong. They don't want people to
know why. And I'm just saying, and anything where you
ask kids to sign waivers and whatnot and and and
(17:05):
drop the schools from liability tells you that it's not
safe and that they can't keep you safe. It's just
like when when kids get a concussion and the doctor
tells you you can't go back in and they take
your helmet from your FRED because you're a kid and
you don't want to look like a woosie and you
want to get back in there, and you don't want
(17:26):
to get knocked out of the game, and they gotta
make you not play right because they're looking out for
your well being. The Big Ten and the Pac twelve.
No matter what happens, Fred will wind up on the
right side of history that they didn't compromise the kids
health to make about a buck to turn a buck,
(17:46):
because that's really what it is. You can't tell me
it's the right decision. When the when when we didn't
hear peep out of any parents or anybody when Division
two and three was canceled? When when if you remember
the Big Ten, the Biggie Basketball tournament was going on,
they canceled a game at halftime. Fred, do you remember that? Yes,
but that was different than ROB because you just found
(18:07):
out about it. And the reason you're not hearing a
peep out of a Division two or a Division three
and my son goes to Division three. I don't know
why I can peeple all on Want. Nobody cares. I
can peep all on want Division two. I daddy had
a lot of sympathy because it's about money. Well, it's
also ROB about giving kids an opportunity. Look, every kid
(18:28):
that plays college football. Every kid that plays, what percentage
of those kids are going to go to the NFL two?
So that means ninety nine percent of the kids aren't
playing because they want to play football, because playing at
the college level means something. If you wait and you
played college football, that's a pretty cool thing. Or college
(18:49):
basketball if you're a college A yeah. But but we're
all going through this, we're all. Everybody's been altered. People
went four years to some prestigious school, didn't have a graduation, Fred,
everybody's been affected by it. People work very hard to
get to the Olympics. Are they going to the Olympics
this year? No? You think all that work and energy
(19:11):
put in and to try to represent your country, washed down,
washed away by the pandemic, washed away by the coronavirus.
Those college football players are no different. They don't have
a birthright that they have to play football this season.
When everybody else's had this sacrifice and had their lives altered,
(19:32):
who are they? Fred? Right? I hate to tell you.
People want to return to some sort of normalcy. You're
tired of sitting in your condo and staring at the walls.
The walls are now staring back at you. You want
some normalcy, people want it. The NBA bubble works. Major
(19:55):
League Baseball is working as effectively as it can, but
it is working. The National Hockey League bubble works, the
NLS works. But you're the only problem. But you're sitting
here and telling me that the Pac twelve and the
Big Ten be on the right side of history. You
might be right, but what I'm saying is this, they
(20:16):
may be on the wrong side of history if those
other three conferences play. Listen, rob If those other three
conferences play, that's gonna be college football. So these kids
in the Pac twelve and the Big Ten, if they're
going to play in the spring, It's like, what are
you doing? But Fred is those schools those schools no
matter what. And once they once this is over and
(20:37):
we get back to it, Michigan's not gonna miss a beat.
Nobody is. And this is the other part on why
college players need to unionize and have representation. They're not
amateur athletes, they're employees of the school. Fred, how can
you have schools these schools where nobody, no kids are
on campus at North Carolina except the football team that
(21:00):
you're a part of the student body if no students
are allowed on campus, then the football team shouldn't be
on campus. What doesn't make any sense to me. It's
a contradiction of terms. Are they members of the student
body or not? Are they They're supposed to be right,
So how in the world could you still have them
on campus. I teach at USC, no classes on campus,
(21:24):
no football, if that makes sense to me, So USC
ain't doing anything that where I would scratch my head
down the road and say, oh, I can't believe you
didn't have football this year. None of the kids went
to school, but I can't believe you didn't have football.
How How can you have football when the kids can't
go to college? So they should not play football. At
Kansas State, where Josh goes, the kids are on campus.
(21:45):
They should not play football there. The kids are on campus.
I'm talking about the schools where they don't, where they don't.
I think that's a contradiction. If you want to put
people on I'm just telling you the only reason. The
only reason is because of the television money, Fred, and
that is it. They don't care about the kids long
(22:07):
term health. We had a kid already, a quarterback from
Georgia was a Georgia State robg who's who already has
some heart condition from the coronavirus. The thing that it's
only been around for what six months or half a year,
and he's already got He already has a long term
(22:30):
issue already, and they say it's from the coronavirus. That's
all I'm saying. To expose all these kids, Where will
they be, Fred will Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh and
Ryan Day. Will those guys be around when these kids
down the road when they're sick. Fox Sports Radio has
the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all
(22:51):
of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and
within the iHeartRadio app. Search f SR to listen live.
One thing that's out there that Fred, I want to
dive into, and I really want to get your opinion
on something. And I have a text from someone, a
someone who played in the NBA who gave me their opinion,
(23:16):
somebody I respect and value their opinion when it comes
to the league, who played in the league, who gave
me some points and thoughts on why the NBA TV
ratings are down. And Fred, you must admit it's it's
pretty shocking some of the numbers because when you think
(23:39):
of the pandemic, people wanting sports back so desperately. You
thought people would flock right to watch live games and
the NBA, you know, going to the bubble, the playing
game and the idea that it's the playoffs. But before
the pandemic hit, the ratings were down and they've stayed
(24:03):
down even after the return of basketball after that very
first game with the Lakers and Clippers and Fred. Here's
the other part and the number that was shocking when
I read since twenty eleven twenty twelve, the ratings on ABC.
(24:24):
We're talking about free TV, right, Yeah, everybody can get it,
so it ain't about streaming. It ain't about like, oh,
they're looking at it on their phones or what you
could watch the game on ABC. The ratings have dropped
on ABC since twenty eleven twenty twelve, forty five percent
(24:46):
in the last eight years, which is mind boggling. And
people are trying to come up with all kinds of ideas.
You know, the kids the streaming, so they don't count
in the ratings. Kids have cut the chord of cable. Fred,
they're not watching. People's TV patterns are different. The only
(25:11):
thing about after the you know, in the bubble and
the NBA ratings still being down. And I granted Fred,
they are playing more day games, right, Which games that
are coming on at ten in the morning on the
West coast here? Right? Yeah, so there's some day games
they're on NBA TV. Maybe everybody doesn't get NBA TV.
Is a couple of things there. What's your initial thought
(25:33):
and then I'll give you I'd like to share this
text from this former NBA player. My initial thought is,
first of all, younger people are more apt to see
things on social media, and also as generations change. When
we were growing up, Rob, you're rooted for a team
(25:55):
in the NBA more so than any league because of
social media and brand you root for players. Fred, You're one, right,
And here's part of it. When we were kids, you
couldn't to see a national game or see other players, Fred,
you just didn't see them, right, And now every game
(26:16):
is on. So if I like a player and I
get the NBA package, I can watch every one of
his games. It's not like before where there were times
where games weren't on and you had to follow a
local team. Fred, those are the only games that were on, right,
So what you have are people more associating themselves with
players and teams. That's going to knock down national ratings
(26:38):
because if your guy isn't playing in the national game,
why are you gonna watch it? You're not rooting for
the teams. I think another thing, and I think it
applies to all sports, is we live in a world
today of urgency. You can be on multiple devices at once.
I'm talking to you, I'm checking our rundown on an iPad,
(27:01):
and I'm getting texts on my phone all at the
same time. We multitask, and that means we want things fast,
and we want things now, and most importantly, we want
things that matter. And NBA games, when you get to
the playoffs, they matter during the regular season, and sometimes
(27:23):
they do sometimes they don't. Well well. Also, because more
than half the league, sixteen of the thirty teams FRED
make the playoffs, right, there's no sense of urgency. Why
do you think March Madness does so well? Why do
you think it does so well on Turner and CBS
Because it's one and done. People are really excited about that.
(27:44):
And you know what, you could miss it if you
if you don't watch right, they could get knocked out
or your team could win, definitely. It's the it's the format.
It's not college basketball. Single elimination. Fred. If you had
a single elimination in the NBA for the playoffs, right,
one loss in, you're out. Can you imagine what kind
of basketball you would see? Oh? Be incredible. But people
(28:07):
would say that's unfair because we've spent all of this
money building these teams, and right right, it's not a
fair representation if you don't go seven games, right of course.
So I think that is an issue. I think you
have young people more focused on players than teams, and
I believe that there's no sense of urgency. So that
leads to this, rob. Numbers are down now for the
(28:28):
playoff games, and why is anybody? That's the shock? That's
the shock you you would you didn't have basketball for
three or four months, Fred. Now it's playoff time and
the numbers still haven't bounced back, right, And I don't
buy this. I don't buy well. I mean games are
starting early, they run all day. Who's going to be
(28:50):
interested in that? I don't buy that one bit. I
buy this. I think during the pandemic, people looked at
their lives and the way they live, and they realize
things about themselves and their interests, and I think what
they realized is maybe some things aren't as important to
me as they used to be. Therefore, if I lived
(29:13):
or died by the NBA or the teams, or was
that invested in it. Now I realize there are other
things to worry about in life, or there are other
things that I've learned about that occupy my time. And
I think that is something that is going to affect
all sports, at least for a while. The NBA happens
to be in the playoffs and you expect ratings to skyrocket.
(29:35):
They haven't. I just think people said, oh, I decide
out of mind, and that's not something I expected at all.
And I know you didn't either, No way, not at all.
I really didn't see that. I thought people would gobble
it up. I know people have started going back to
work fred some, but I still thought that people would,
(29:55):
you know, because we were starved of it, that people
would would want to And what do you make of
the um the ABC ratings over the last eight years
forty five percent drop off. Yeah. Years on broadcast TV
where everybody can see the game, everybody has that right
(30:18):
if you have an antennas. You can't make that excuse.
If you have an antenna, Fred, you could get the game. Yeah.
I attribute that too. Again, it's more player based than
team based. So if your team, if there's a team
playing on ABC, but your guy's not playing, you're not
as interested. Right. Let me ask you this. I don't
know what the answer is, but what is he But
(30:41):
does this have anything, at least at this time to
do with it the movement, the messaging? Do you? And
I would think there would be a segment of the audience. Well,
that's President Trump's claim that. Yeah, I mean people are
mad about the Well, I mean, I don't know how
(31:01):
you could that that they that was the case. You
remember with the NFL. Uh, that's what they were were
saying that it was hurting the product. But those numbers rebounded. Yeah,
and it'll be interesting to see this year, Fred. Will
you know they'll be kneeling again right during the national
anthem or whatever. Uh. The NBA has done it, Baseball had,
(31:22):
but Baseball has done it. Uh. There have been players
who have kneeled and the Black Lives Matter movement. FRED
and Baseball's numbers have been good and went up big time.
I think that. Remember the first game back that Yankees
the opening day was like one of the greatest baseball
games or the number in twenty years or something. I mean,
(31:44):
it was what you would expect, right that after not
having sports, people were going to be glued. And for
whatever reason, it doesn't seem to be the same. All right,
I want to share this with you. Uh, somebody I
respect in the NBA played in the NBA and and
I just holds the question, Uh, you know, what were
the issues in his mind? Okay? And he said, young
(32:08):
people have more options than just sports to entertain them.
I'm gonna read them all and then we'll go number two.
People aren't sitting around for two and three hours anymore
just watching sports. The new NBA is all about one
style of play now. So you remember Fred in the
(32:29):
old days, Uh, you didn't have the same kind of players,
so you would play a slow down, possession kind of game.
They would run because they had the athletes to run.
You remember, the Lakers had showed times the Knicks were
bumping and and and and hit you you know what
I mean. And the Pistons would play a different kind
(32:49):
of basketball. You would give your team towards the type
of players you had. Now everybody plays the same style.
Number four, who can shoot the most threes. Number five.
Defense is almost frowned upon, so you don't have the
defense anymore. Like aspect number six, no more rivalries. Everybody
(33:13):
is friendly. So it's lost the intensity that you used.
You used to see it in the NBA. And you
remember Fred Celtics hated the Lakers. Lakers hated the Celtics right,
no question, not just just no matter what hated him.
And there was the Pistons, and there were the Bulls,
and we could go to Knicks and the Miami Heat,
(33:35):
and we could go on and on and on. There
were just so many teams. What do you think of those?
And and and and you know his idea, I buy
young people really don't want to sit for two hours
and watch. I definitely buy that. UM I also buy
Oh no, I don't buy this. I don't buy this, Robin.
(33:56):
And when you said it, I cannot a little bit
many trees. The style is still the same. Understand that
baseball's trying to do it. The NFL is trying to
do it. I don't hockey is trying to do it.
There's one thing people want action and fast, and they
want scoring. They don't want defense. Nobody wants to see defense.
Everybody wants to see points on the board, goals in
(34:17):
the net, touchdowns, home runs, lots of runs. They want offense.
That's the mentality today. It's got to be fast, it's
got to be now, it's got to be happening, everything
going on at once. I want to see a lot
of actions. So I don't buy that. I don't buy
we're shooting too many threes. I don't buy. It's a
style issue where back in the day, one team would
(34:38):
be rough, one team would be this, one team would
be that. I don't buy that either. I think it's overload.
I think, as I said earlier, young people without the
attention span, they are multi purposing at all times on
multiple devices. They root for players instead of teams, and
(35:00):
I think there's an overall lack of urgency. What will
be interesting is we continue in the playoffs, will the
numbers go up
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
Rob Parker
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