JON ROOT - Caitlin Clark Assault: Inside the WNBA's War Against Their Own Superstar - The Will Spencer Podcast

Episode Transcript
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(00:21):
Foreign.

(00:41):
Hello and welcome to the WillSpencer Podcast.
This is a weekly interviewshow where I sit down and talk with
thought authors, thoughtleaders and influencers who help
us understand our changing world.
New episodes release every Friday.
My guest this week is John Root.
John built his career insports and entertainment through
his personality, work ethicand sports knowledge.
In 2016, he became one of theyoungest hosts in major professional

(01:03):
sports as the San Jose Sharksand Santa Cruz warriors in arena.
Host and digital reporter,becoming a Bay Area fan favorite.
He also produced Off Days, themost viewed video series in Sharks
history.
Due to the over politicizationof sports, John joined Turning Point
USA as a contributor hostingBreakaway, which is non woke sports

(01:24):
talk, and TPUSA Live, which isdaily political news and entertainment.
A strong conservative groundedin Christian faith, he creates an
outlet for conversations notseen elsewhere in sports media.
John believes sports bringspeople together and views his career
as a blessing while continuingto work with major brands, teams
and networks.
John Root, welcome to the WillSpencer Podcast.

(01:46):
Thanks so much for having me.
Appreciate you, man.
I've really been lookingforward to this conversation.
I've enjoyed since I've gottento know you and follow you, your
outspoken stance on manyissues related to sports and also
faith as well.
And there's a lot going onright now for us to talk about, which
is, which is perfect timing inmany ways.
Yeah, yeah, it's definitely acrazy time.

(02:08):
And a little bit morebackground on me too is, I mean,
I worked in sports because itwas an outlet away from politics
and it used to be a lot of funand not as polarizing and divisive.
And then I eventually got canceled.
So my, you know, path to tryto work for a major network was gone.
Then I worked for TurningPoint and in the conservative circles,

(02:31):
you know, they have a certainthought about how much is it worth
talking about sports.
And then you see the women'ssports issue that we can chat about
too, that like, you know,sports are a cultural driver and
there's a lot of people thatare actually pretty bold about their
Christian faith in sports andit seems like, you know, maybe we
can call it a revival that'shappening in sports, so to speak.

(02:53):
And now I get to talk aboutall this stuff independently.
I can't cancel myself and I, Imean I love being as bold as I am
and God's given me an amazingplatform and then I get to meet people
like you.
I mean it's, it's awesome whatI get to do.
Well, I, I, I appreciate youbeing outspoken on these things because
I've never been a giant sportsfan myself.

(03:14):
Like, I enjoy watching sportswhen it comes up.
But one of the things that Ithink all of us have noticed is the
increasing politicization ofsports, whether it be on the field
or off the field.
And it seems like we can'tjust enjoy a good sporting competition
anymore without it being, youknow, being something to push political
values through us.
Woke political values.

(03:35):
And it's, it's incrediblyfrustrating because where are we
supposed to turn to get awayfrom the crazy?
Well, and then even right now,just look at what's.
What Pride Nights have turned into.
Yeah, Pride Nights.
I feel like in general, I'venever as a Christian, supported Pride
Night.
But I also, when I worked forsome of these teams, they respected
the fact that anytime as an inarena host, as a personality for

(03:59):
the team, I said, I'm notgoing to be involved in any ad reads,
any sort of promotion of this.
I'm not going to wear the gear.
I'm not going to promote that stuff.
And it was respectful.
But now it's gotten to a placewhere you have to wear that jersey
player.
And if you don't wear thatjersey or put Pride tape on your
stick or, you know, become anally of the community, you're a hateful,

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bigoted, homophobe,transphobe, blah, blah, blah, blah.
But it start Pride Nightstarted out as a, let's just say,
celebration of marriage equality.
Now you're seeing drag queensthat are just flaunted in front of
kids at games.
The New York Mets, they justcelebrated their Pride Night.

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And during the nationalanthem, they got a cutaway on the
big screen of the Pride flag.
And then they got two dudesmaking out that they're showing on
the jumbotron.
It's become just debauchery.
And obviously we can talkabout the race, like the race war
that's going on that's just so nonsensical.
DEI is infused in sports wherecertain teams can actually get compensation

(05:10):
for hiring a minority coach.
You know, like, this is crazystuff that's going on in sports.
And for me, I feel God's givenme a platform to speak against these
things because sports has theability to bring us together maybe
unlike any other outlet out there.
And I mean, just Even look at9 11.
I know this is a long littlespeech I have right here about sports

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Will, but please, people lookto sports to unify.
They want to go to a gameafter something like 911 and be like,
wow, I might not have votedfor George Bush or care about the
guy or, like, Republicans orpolitics in general, but him throwing
that first pitch, just anabsolute dart right down the middle.

(05:58):
Everybody can be like, I feltpatriotic that day.
I felt like I could cometogether with my fellow Americans
and enjoy a baseball game.
I could enjoy a football game.
And I feel like that's what weneed to get back to.
But media isn't helping.
A lot of these woke athleteslike Steph Curry, woke coaches like
Greg Popovich and Steve Kerr,LeBron James.

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The list goes on.
And Simone Biles.
I know a lot of people arefamiliar with that situation recently.
I mean, sports has becomereally polarizing.
But at the same time, maybefor the first time in a long time,
maybe within.
Maybe within the last decade,we've seen the most pushback and
conversation around thesethings when leftist media was trying

(06:43):
to squash it for a long time.
So it's tough, but maybe we'reseeing a turning of the tide.
Well, let's.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthat pushback, because I remember
there was the.
Was it the Los Angeles Dodgersplayer who was forced to wear the
Pride hat, but put the Genesisverse on it?
And I saw that.
I'm like, fantastic.
I'm glad he did that.

(07:03):
And then I got to thinkingabout, like, wow, he must have gotten
some major pushback, you know,from maybe from the administration,
you know, the baseballadministration, like MLB as well,
from his own teammates.
Like, is that.
Is some of that percolating inthe background?
So what we've now gotten to,what I brought up earlier, is basically,

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Christians are put between arock and a hard place, and Pride
nights in general.
I don't think anybody shouldbe forced to wear LGBTQ Pride gear
at all.
And if you refuse to it, thatdoesn't make you a bad person.
I mean, I don't think it's asgood for sports.
I don't think it's good for kids.

(07:45):
I don't think it's good forsociety in general.
But let's even go back yearsprior, there were multiple players
on the Tampa Bay Rays thatdecided they weren't going to wear
Pride gear at all, and theygot annihilated.
And this was during Biden's presidency.
And I think that was actually,you know, maybe set a standard for

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what Christian athletes should do.
And then other Christianathletes, like James Reimer, the
backup goalie for the San JoseSharks a few years ago, ended up
saying, I'm not going to wear it.
And then, you know, just,respectfully, I don't hate anybody.
And then let's fast forward toClayton Kershaw.
This is about a couple yearsafter the Dodgers celebrated the

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Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
So people are, you know, thatmaybe rings a bell.
If it doesn't, they are aradical, blasphemous group that does
a, like, Jesus drag show atEaster in San Francisco, and they
were getting a communityservice award.

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They were being honored,honored by the Dodgers.
And there was a big protest.
And for me, during that time,I was saying, okay, the.
Dave Roberts, the manager ofthe Dodgers, calls himself a Christian.
He didn't say a word, nothing.
And he didn't like.
And he wore all the pride gear.
And actually, Clayton Kershaw,who I'm very thankful and I think
should definitely be supportedfor what he wrote on his pride hat

(09:13):
this year, actually wore thepride gear that season.
And I'm glad to see, you know,courage begets courage.
You understand that, Will.
I understand that.
Anybody watching and listening.
So I don't mean to be doggingon Clayton, but, you know, there
was a time where I think hecould have made an amazing stand

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in a really tumultuous time,and he decided to cower.
But there was another pitcher,Blake Trinen.
But in general, I know this isa lot of backstory with this stuff,
but it seems like it's nowcoming to a place where it's like,
yes, Clayton Kershaw, this iswhat we've been asking for you to
do.
This is what the Bible callsyou to do.
And in general, there might bethe people that say, you know, he

(09:56):
shouldn't have wore the pridehat at all.
It's like, yeah, I can.
You know, I can definitelyagree with that.
But the fact that he was ableto point people to Scripture to say,
hey, we're not, like,reclaiming the rainbow.
You know, God didn't give thissymbol up.
He didn't give up this symbolof his covenant that he'll never
flood the earth again.
The rainbow has always beenabout God, and it's been designed

(10:20):
by God.
And marriage is designed byGod and made by God, and we need
to respect his perfect order.
And luckily, we're starting tosee athletes, you know, point people
back to Christ.
And even simple gestures likethat, I think, are really important.
And though Clayton Kershaw hasseemingly kind of been a cowardice
in years prior, I'm really,really thankful that he stood up

(10:45):
for what the rainbow actually represents.
And I've noticed that therehave been a number of other athletes
who, when they winchampionships or win big games, particularly
championships, they're notafraid to get on the microphone and
say, I.
I give thanks to my Lord andsavior Jesus Christ.
They say that, and they reallyseem to mean it.
And what a statement that isfor a world that hates Christ to

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begin with.
But also in the politicalenvironment where we're in, where
people are being forced towear pride flags like, no, I'm going
to stand up, and in thismoment, when everyone's watching,
I'm going to make a professionof faith.
It's incredibly inspiring tosee that.
And I think it gets the wheelsturning for a lot of people that
are like, wow, you've beenwaiting your whole life to win a

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Stanley cup, to win a Superbowl, to win a World Series, to win
a college football national championship.
And your first thought isgiving praise, honor and glory to
your Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.
That gets people thinkinglike, wow.
Like, you're doing this formore than just yourself, more than

(11:50):
just your team and your familyin your community and your state
and the previous players.
You're doing this for theperson that deserves all the glory.
And it's so, so cool.
It fires me up anytime I hearthat stuff.
I gotta pause the tv, rewindif I can't rip it offline.

(12:13):
And I'm telling, like, my wifeand I are watching the game or with
buddies.
It's like, I gotta record thisand I gotta put it out there.
And that stuff goes viralbecause people are resonating with
that.
They're like, this is awesome.
These are the people I want topoint my kids to and say, hey, win
or lose, this is who I want tosee you be like.
And then obviously we can getin the conversation.

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There's the naysayers that arelike, well, I guess God liked this
team so much more.
And it's like.
But that actually does lead toan interesting conversation that
it's like, no, actually.
Here's a ton of other clips ofplayers and coaches giving God the
glory and the honor hedeserves in defeat, in really tough

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defeat.
And I.
I love seeing it.
And then even shout out to mybuddy, Spencer Danielson.
He's the head coach for BoiseState football who had an unbelievable
run to the College FootballPlayoff last year.
They had Ashton Genty, who gotrunner up for the Heisman.
I thought he deserved the Heisman.
No offense to Travis Hunter,but Spencer Danielson, I mean, he

(13:19):
was talking about Jesus everysingle interview.
And then when they won theMountain west championship, it's
like this stuff.
And obviously you can.
You can understand how excitedI am because I'm Excited right now.
I love is so, so amazing tosee athletes who have these amazing
platforms point people to Christ.

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And that aspect of sports Ithink is something worth, you know,
fighting for.
And I hope the people outthere that are like, I'm sick and
tired of the wokeness of sports.
So am I.
I feel like that's why we needto amplify these voices and the people
that we don't like are theface of the NBA, the NHL, mlb, you

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know, maybe start amplifyingsome of these other voices and, you
know, have these people go viral.
It's, it's really cool to seeand I, it fires me up.
You mentioned something that Iwanted to just divert into it for
a moment because I think it'sa great question.
It's something that theatheists and secularists always say,
like, you know, both sides arepraying to God to win.

(14:23):
Like, does God pick favorites?
You know, does God really carewho wins versus the, versus the Browns
versus the Bears?
Like, and let's, let's addressthat because it's, I mean, I think
the question has a goofy,silly aspect to it, but I think that
there's actual some, some realpotential for theological depth in
there as well of what'sactually going on.
And as Christians, we'resupposed to do everything to the

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glory of God.
Everything.
Yep.
And it gets down to this placewhere it's like, well, does God play
favorites?
And in general, now we'reseeing both in victory and defeat,
players and coaches saying, Ithank God for the opportunity.
I thank God for giving me abody that's able to compete at the

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highest level.
You know, when people aretalking about professional sports
or an incredibly high level,when they're talking about college
sports, and it gets people'swheels turning to be like, oh, okay,
like, so you're saying youridentity is not in being a football
player, your identity is in Christ.
And that no matter what, Goddoes deserve the glory.

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And that God is not punishinga team because they're not as close
to him, they're not praying asmuch or they're not as moral as the
other team.
We start to get out of thataspect and I think hopefully pointing
people to what Paul is saying.
What is faith?

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It's a race.
And we're supposed to run thatrace to win.
And we are supposed to, like,not everybody is going to be running
the race of faith and have thesame abilities, opportunities as
others, but you are going toput in your full effort and you're
going to do everything to theglory of God.

(16:11):
A lot of us that have playedsports even just work out in general,
we will see other people thathave better bodies than us, better
metabolism than us, but wedefinitely know the people that,
though they might have somehiccups, you know, physically, biologically,
they're working their butt offand they're.

(16:33):
They're doing everything theycan to the best of their ability.
And hopefully that startspointing people to faith where it's
like, oh, that starts to make sense.
Like, no matter what, I'm notsaying that, oh, God must not love
me because we didn't win thisgame, or God doesn't love me because
I wasn't able to hit that big shot.
And those kind ofconversations, obviously, you know,

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sometimes social media isn'tthe best place to have those, but
there have been a few of thosewhere they're like, oh, now that
I've.
I've tried to, like, troll youto say, oh, no athletes, you know,
thanking God after they lose,now I'm seeing multiple videos and
now my wheels are turning.
Now I'm maybe interested inthis Jesus thing.
Maybe I am, as Brandon Lakewould say, the bubba out there that's

(17:18):
going to go to church, buthopefully that church is not going
to dumb down their worship foryou, you know, and it gets people
interested in, like, oh, I gota Christian friend or family member
and maybe I should look intothat athlete's faith and everything.
So it does lead to a lot ofreally good discussions.
And hopefully people start torealize that these athletes are doing
this for more than a paycheck,more than the accolades.

(17:40):
They're doing it for Jesus.
Yeah.
There's something very realabout physical gifts.
I think it's difficult forpeople who are not athletes to conceive
of not just the amount of workthat athletes put into, say, become
a professional, but the amountof just gifts that the average person
doesn't have.
Like, I think about.
I think it's at the NFLcombine where they have this overlay

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where they show the average.
They show a running back doingthe 40.
And.
And then they overlay it withthe image of like an average person
doing the 40.
So you can see how an even.
An average fit person.
And it's like literally nightand day, like, they're almost superhuman
in their ability.
And when you hear someone likethat talking about their faith, even
in defeat, you know, like, Iused my gifts, I practiced my faith,

(18:28):
I was very sincere.
And we didn't win todaybecause that was God's choice.
But the willing submission tothat and to recognize that God is
sovereign and he has hisreasons, I think truly inspires faith
in people who don't justassociate faith with victory because
you can lose in faith as well.
And that's part of it.
Well, and that gets into thegospel aspect of, you know, what

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are Christ followers Promise, hardship.
Like, it's.
It's going to be hard.
And I love the.
If anybody's seen the Babylonbe where they had, like, basically
this is what atheists thoughtthe disciples would be doing.
It's like, no, we should do iswe should steal the body and then
we should fake all this.
And then everybody's like,yeah, so we become, like, rich and

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famous.
No, we're going to die brutal deaths.
And it's like, it's so good.
Because the gospel aspect of,you know, we're going to be persecuted,
we're going to suffer and, youknow, but we do that for the sake
of Christ.
Like, we don't go out thereand, you know, try to preach some
sort of, like, poverty gospelor just, you know, look to get persecuted

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and, you know, whipped in thestreets, so to speak, and online.
But, you know, we are going togo through hard times if we're truly
following Christ and standingup for his word and, and our Lord
and Savior.
And hopefully people start torealize that too, where, you know,
what there is the ultimatevictory you might not see.

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As, you know, obviously, yougot plenty of prosperity gospels
out there that say, like, youknow, if you pray enough or you give
enough, you're going toreceive tenfold.
And you got the Paul whitesout there that say that, and Joel
Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, getpeople out of that theology to be
like, no, like, ultimately,we're doing this for Christ.
And though we might not seethe materialism that would essentially

(20:20):
make things more comfortableliving the American dream, we're
fighting for eternity, andthat is in perfect relationship with
Jesus Christ in our heavenly bodies.
No more pain, no more suffering.
And hopefully people start torealize that.
And that's why I think there'seven times where, you know, I don't.
I don't have, you know,physical ailments myself.

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But there is times where, youknow, some athletes and people we
know that might not even beathletes, there's some of the most
joyous, humble, giving people,and they can't even walk or they
can't even run like they usedto, and they're still like, you know
what?
This is what was meant to happen.

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And I can't wait to be in myheavenly body, but I'm going to make
the most out of the body thatGod's given me.
And I'm not going to moanabout all this stuff, and I'm going
to make the best out of it.
And I think that's why, youknow, there's even people like my
friend Justin Peters.
I was just on his podcast and,you know, I was talking about my
time at Turning Point USA and everything.

(21:27):
And he's got a great testimony.
Like, he's.
He's got a major physical ailment.
And he got to the point wherehe realized God's not going to heal
me, and that's a part of my testimony.
I think that stuff isbeautiful, and it can almost make
even more of an impact thansomeone that is totally physically
intact.
But when we have athletes thatare the upper echelon, like you talked

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about, even some of theseoffensive linemen are faster than
the average individual.
And these guys weigh like 340pounds and they're 6 6.
But they realize that it's ablessing to have the body they have
and be able to play a kid'sgame for a living.
And they give glory to God for it.
And I think it means a lot.

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I think that's ultimately oneof the reasons why many people enjoy
sports is that they.
They recognize something thatis objectively clear that they cannot
do.
That doesn't necessarily initself have a moral value.
Like, sports is physicalperformance, right?
And it's not.
It's not immoral, it's notnecessarily amoral.
But I can watch someone throwa shot put or whatever, and, like,

(22:34):
I can just appreciate it forwhat it is without having to assign
it some cosmic kind of valuein the same way that art or something
like that does.
And there's this greatleveling that we can all appreciate
that and look at someone who'scapable of doing something by God's
grace, by his gifts to themthat we just are.
That we admire, and we canlook at God's glory in that.

(22:57):
And to hear more athletes,especially in such a challenging
political environment, standup and say, no, this is the truth.
This is who I am.
This is what I believe.
And to start to bring thosevalues back into this conversation,
I think is so necessarybecause there's just.
People just let that go for along time, and they let pride flags

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show up, and they let DEI showup, and they let, you know, equity
and all these different otherthings show up.
It's like, no, no, I'm goingto stand with my gifts for these
values in front of everybodyon the biggest stage.
And I think that shouldinspire all of us to do it in our
own ways.
And then that's where we canget to even comparing to the Simone

(23:38):
Biles versus Riley Gaines situation.
You know, am I able to like,are you gonna put this on YouTube?
Can I use certain words or isthat gonna demonetize you?
Is that I, I, I, I usually putit on YouTube, so I don't know what,
I know what the words are.
So, like, I think in general,like, I try to be careful too, with,
if you're throwing this stuffon YouTube, I don't want, like, obviously
what it comes down to isthere's unfair competition in women's

(24:01):
sports.
Oh, that's what we're seeing.
And we know that what ishappening from a foundational level,
it is anti God.
And people like Simone Biles,they're talking about competitive
equity.
Sports are not aboutdiversity, equity and inclusion.

(24:21):
You know, like, even from ayoung age, you know, boys and girls
sports is still unfair.
But when we definitely get tothat higher competition, it is wildly
unfair, and it will always be unfair.
And if you have one of thebiggest female athletes in the history
of sports, in the history ofthe world is saying she's fighting

(24:45):
for competitive equity.
Competition is not about equity.
Sports are about meritocracy.
The best athlete wins thegoal, the best team wins the gold.
The best athlete is going toget that roster spot.
The best coach should begetting the coaching position.

(25:08):
And when we get down to, likeI was mentioning earlier, there's
something called the RooneyRule in the NFL.
They implemented this rulewhere every single NFL team needs
to not hire, but interview.
At least, I'm pretty sure it'sat least one minority, whether that

(25:30):
is an ethnic minority or a female.
And they can get compensationjust like the New England Patriots
did for hiring Gerard Mayobecause he's black.
I can't think of anything moredemoralizing than thinking, am I
just getting invited to thisinterview because of an immutable

(25:51):
characteristic?
That is so stupid.
That's not what sports are for.
Sports are about meritocracy.
And what do kids learn?
And we all learn when we play sports?
Sportsmanship, teamwork,foundational aspects of life.
That for a long time,employers are like, you know what?

(26:14):
You played high level sports.
I actually want you to be apart of my team.
I want you to be a part ofthis company because you know what
it's like to be selfless.
You know what it's like to beon a football team.
I played D2 football.
Nothing to write home.
About, you know, nothing amazing.
I played it Azusa Pacific, butI loved it.
And I understood what it waslike to sacrifice for a team that

(26:37):
the 11 guys on offense anddefense are only as good as their
weakest link.
You can have 10 guys ondefense play unbelievable.
But if that cornerback isasleep, that guy just ran a streak
down the sideline and caughtthat 50 yard touchdown pass.
Everybody else did their job,but you were the weak link and now
it makes the whole defenselook bad.

(26:58):
So hopefully people start tounderstand that sports need to get
back to that.
And then even from just aviewership perspective, we are so
sick and tired of hearing, youknow, stuff like what we're seeing
in the wnba, like the raceconversation and pettiness and jealousy
that we're seeing in thatleague is absolutely insane.

(27:21):
I've never seen a leaguetrying to sabotage the ability to
be profitable for the firsttime in the history of the wnba.
I've never seen a company ororganization try to sabotage their,
you know, basically theirmoney bag.
Caitlin Clark.
It is absolutely insane whatwe're seeing, but it does.

(27:44):
Again, as much as I hate it,hopefully it leads to an inflection
point that maybe all this racetalk is stupid.
Maybe there is.
All this talk about whiteprivilege is a load of nonsense.
Maybe sports are about meritocracy.
Maybe people like CaitlinClark because she's done stuff that

(28:06):
people have never seen in theWNBA and people have never seen in
women's college basketball.
That's what it's about.
And that's why, obviously,like, I'm still appreciative that
God's given me a platform tospeak out against this stuff because
hopefully during this time, wewon't look back years from now and
be like, wow, I really wish Iwould have said something.

(28:27):
And if I would have saidsomething and pushed back against
the talking heads at espn,maybe we wouldn't be, you know, watching
another broadcast where, youknow, it's.
Everything is just so raciallyinfused and everything, and especially
to.
To another degree is thewomen's sports thing where, you know,

(28:47):
there's a lot of peoplepushing back.
Riley Gaines is a good friendof mine and congratulations to them.
They're pregnant with a, Witha baby on the way.
That's so exciting.
But there's a lot of peopleworking really hard to fight against
the, the racial nonsensethat's being talked about, the inequality
in sports when it comes to menand women in sports.

(29:09):
You know, there's.
There's a lot of crazinessgoing on and it's A.
It's a crazy time.
Well, I'm glad you mentionedCaitlin Clark, because there's a
video going around right now.
I'm going to try and share myscreen and.
And we can.
We can watch it.
Dave Rubin posted this, andthis is a pretty.
This is a pretty shocking video.
He said.
Dave Rubin says the WNBA hastheir Michael Jordan and they're

(29:32):
kicking the S out of her.
These, quote, ladies should bebooted from the league today.
So we'll just watch this real quick.
There's not going to be anysound, but maybe you can.
We'll.
We'll take a look at this clipand then you can walk us through
what's going on.
So she takes a shot.
Push, bang.
Wild.
Absolutely.

(29:52):
Absolutely wild.
We'll just watch it one more time.
Just.
Oh, craziness, craziness.
So maybe, maybe, John, youcan, you know, as a.
As a professional sportsannouncer, maybe you can.
You can walk us through, youknow, what.
What you saw there, what'shappening in that clip.
It's just.

(30:13):
I've got a lot that I couldsay, and maybe I will, but I wanted
to get your take first.
So first and foremost, peopleneed to understand that for the first
time ever, the WNBA is beingtalked about.
And the only reason the WNBAis being talked about by the masses,
we're not talking about justlike the.
The small, dedicated fans thatthey've had, you know, for.

(30:35):
For their decades of existence.
The only reason it's beingtalked about is because of Caitlin
Clark.
Caitlin Clark set the recordfor most points scored in college
basketball, men or women.
Really?
She was shooting?
Yeah, she was shooting.
And I know one guy, PistolPete, was up there for a long time.

(30:56):
That's one of my favoritebasketball players of all time.
Was definitely not alive tosee him play.
But she was hitting threesfrom the logo.
I know she was cliffs.
She was shooting deeper threesand still does, but deeper threes
than Steph Curry.
And Steph Curry is the mostamazing shooter I have ever seen,

(31:16):
and I think maybe the worldwill ever see in basketball.
She is like the Steph Curry ofwomen's basketball.
And also at the same time,Dave Rubin's correct.
She is the Michael Jordan.
There are more people watchingsome of those games like you just
watched.
The Indiana Fever is whatCaitlin Clark plays for.

(31:37):
And the Connecticut sun, whichis, I think, bottom three teams,
maybe the worst team in the wnba.
Some people are watching thatmore than they're watching the NBA
Finals.
Oh, yeah.
She like.
She's like, they're movinggames from WNBA Arenas to NBA arenas.
It's.

(31:57):
It's crazy.
Like the.
What she's doing from evenjust a economic and financial standpoint,
Everybody think of Tiger woods.
Twenty years ago on the PGATour, Tiger woods brought so many
people to golf.
And not just brought people togolf because he was just like an

(32:19):
interesting personality.
He dominated.
You know, Caitlin Clark isdoing stuff you haven't seen.
And then now this comes down to.
And I know this is anotherlong background.
She has received more vitrioland hatred than I have ever seen
someone receive in sports.
And if people are out thereand are like, whoa, you know, she

(32:40):
got the rookie treatment lastyear and you know she's going to
get, you know, roughed up.
There was, you know, WNBAlegends like Dan and Taurasi that
are just like, yeah, you know,she's in for a rude awakening.
You know, they're going to getbeat up a little bit, like that's
going to happen from the veterans.
But now what we're seeing isthis stuff stems from jealousy.
Yeah.
And some of it, I do believe,stems from hatred.

(33:03):
Some of it actually is racial.
What is going on in the racialconversation is insane.
But now what you just watchedis when she was originally guarded
at the beginning of that.
That clip was someone sheplayed against in college.
She gets poked in the eye.
Then she gets bumped by thatsame player that poked her in the

(33:23):
eye.
Caitlin Clark shoves her away,Nothing crazy.
And the Marina Mabry comes inand Dexter, yeah, this is your cash
cow.
And know what happened.
The chick that decked her didnot get ejected from the game.
It shows incompetence from thehighest level of the wnba, not protecting

(33:48):
their greatest asset they willever have and maybe sports will ever
have.
You know, once LeBron James, I'm.
I think Colin Cowherd said this.
If people are familiar withhim from Fox Sports, I think.
I'm pretty sure he said it.
When LeBron James and StephCurry retire, Caitlin Clark will

(34:09):
be the biggest athlete and themost famous basketball player in
all of basketball.
She will sell more jerseys,she will sell more shoes, and she
will create more conversationand have more of an economic impact
than any other basketball player.
And I think a lot of peoplewere like, that's.
That's true.

(34:30):
And then Caitlin Clark, she's got.
She got cheap shotted last season.
She got blindsided by a chickthat was playing on Angel Reese's
team.
She got poked in the eye froma chick named D.J.
carrington who had some extralong nails and poked her in the eye

(34:51):
last year.
Like, so this isn't just likea one off situation.
She's actually getting beat up.
And we're now at a place wherethe WNBA needs to address it.
But the WNBA is terrified thatthey'll come to the defense of a

(35:11):
white athlete while she is ina black league.
That's where all this raceconversation comes in.
And it is so sad.
And I wish there was betterpeople in Caitlin Clark's corner
because what she ended updoing during the off season is she
talked to Time magazine andshe admitted she had even a little
bit of white privilege and shebowed down.

(35:34):
She bowed down to the mob and,you know, did the whole like, thankful
for the black women that camebefore me and everything.
It was, it was stupid.
It was really dumb.
And I think Caitlin Clark doesa good job of taking the high road,
but I think she starts to,needs to start to realize that she
doesn't need to be a culture warrior.
And I think maybe if she goesthe Michael Jordan route, where Michael

(35:56):
Jordan was famous for saying,republicans buy sneakers too.
If anybody watches the MichaelJordan documentary on Netflix, there
was a lot of people that wereangry at him that he wasn't endorsing
specific political candidates.
I think people like Spike Leewere really mad with, at him.
And I, I could be wrong onthis, but even people like Al Sharpton,

(36:16):
if Caitlin Clark goes thatroute, she might need to speak to
some things like, you know,men and women's sports that I think
would be her voice.
If she brought that up, itwould be way more impactful than
any other athlete speaking up.
And, and I wish she would becourageous with that.
But I, I think we're startingto realize that there's a major culture,

(36:36):
cultural significance behindwhat's going on with Caitlyn Clark
and not just how amazing she is.
Setting records.
Rookie of the year last year.
And the last thing for you,again, I know these are long things.
People watching might be like,I, they're like, I have never heard
somebody talk about the WNBAthis long in my entire life.
The last thing, last thing Ihave for you is you still, sports

(37:02):
media in general is, the vastmajority is crazy liberal.
And last season, Caitlin Clarkhad one of the most amazing rookie
seasons in the history of sports.
This is not me overhyping this.
Look at the stats, look at the impact.
She was not the unanimousrookie of the year because one person,

(37:25):
one person decided to vote forAngel Reese.
And that's where it comes downto is just, they need to give their
flowers to the black athlete.
They need to give Theirflowers to the chick that actually
won a national championship.
And hopefully we start gettingto this place where the WNBA starts

(37:47):
figuring things out.
The refs actually startcontrolling the situation, because
the conversation happeningonline is only going to push more
people to Caleb Clark side andaway from supporting the WNBA as
a whole or really any of itsother players.
Yeah, I took a look at that clip.
I was aware that.
That I guess it was in the offseason that Kaitan Clark, who I've

(38:09):
only seen highlight reels of,and I've watched them like, that's
like she's.
She's drilling it from the log.
Like, that's.
That is a thing.
I remember Steph Curry back inthe day.
You know, people say he gotcheat codes.
Right.
So she got the same codes.
Yeah.
And.
And I remember hearing thatshe had said, you know, that she
has some amount of.
Of white privilege.
And I was like, okay, I guessI understand why you said that, but

(38:30):
I wish you hadn't.
But then I look at somethinglike that, and I was.
I was going to post this, butI wasn't sure of my facts.
But if we were to see thatsame kind of play in the NBA, men
and women are the same.
Right?
We're equal.
If we were to see the samekind of play where, like, strip race
out of it and just make it allmen, they can be purple for all I
care.
Right.
And you had a star player getpoked in the eye, shoved, and then

(38:54):
decked.
What would happen to the.
To the male player who deckedthe other male player?
What would happen to that guyif he just sh.
Hard shove onto the.
Onto the floor?
They get fined.
They'd get ejected.
They'd probably get suspended.
Right.
For just.
For doing that.
But I watched that clip, andno one seemed particularly troubled
by this 1000% unsportsmanlikeconduct to an elite star player.

(39:19):
Like, it was just like we justwent on.
Like you said, she didn't evenget ejected.
I did see it.
Maybe she got fined orsomething like that.
But if men and women are thesame, why aren't we equally applying
the rules here?
That's a flagrant violation ofsportsmanlike conduct.
But we're supposed to overlook it.
Why?
Like, do we really believethat men and women are the same?
Of course, we don't actuallybelieve that.

(39:40):
Of course we have to protect,you know, the DEI and all that, but
it just, It.
It was such astoundinghypocrisy laid bare right there because
they would never tolerate thatin the NBA.
Never, ever tolerate that.
Even for average players.
And what you'd see in the NBA,too, is you would see a just scuffle.
Maybe even more than that.

(40:01):
Yeah.
And then that's where.
That's what you see in sports as.
As men.
Like, I've been in plenty of scuffles.
And then afterwards, like,really after the game, you're dapping
each other up, showing themgood game, and you leave it on the
field, and that's it.
Like, I mean, you had some,like, really crazy sports moments.

(40:21):
I have.
And other people where it'sjust like, that's just sports.
But with the women here, whatwe're seeing, again, it comes down
to pettiness and jealousy.
That's it.
And then the craziest part wasCaitlin Clark got a technical.
No, she didn't.
They actually gave her atechnical foul for what happened

(40:43):
there.
And, like, you can't explain that.
But at the same time, too,Marina Mabry, that decked Caitlin
Clark, wasn't kicked out ofthe game, you know, and that those
are kind of things if.
And I mean, this is maybe astretch, but for people to understand
from a political perspective.
I'm from California.
I now live in Phoenix, Arizona.

(41:03):
But I see a place like SanFrancisco that has allowed so much
crime and debauchery to justgo unchecked.
And that's what happens fromeven a political standpoint and a
crime standpoint is you arenow telling people you can steal
as long as it's, you know,less than, you know, 500 bucks or

(41:26):
800 bucks, whatever it is, inSan Francisco.
Yeah.
And then now and again, I knowthis isn't apples and oranges.
You're probably gonna be like,john, you're making, like, too much
of a political point for this.
I think it's similar in thesense of, you know, this is undisciplined
children.
So if Mabry is able to do thisto Caitlin Clark, and people have

(41:47):
been doing this since sheentered the league, other.
Other players.
Who's to say another playerscould be like, well, you know, if
I can get away with a cheapshot again against this chick that
I can't stand is actuallygetting the limelight, even though
she's the only reason I'm onthe chartered flight to Indiana when
I had to take.
When I had to take, you know,coach for the last, you know, decade

(42:10):
playing in the wnba, they'llbe like, yeah, I'll.
I can get away with it, and I will.
What's the WNBA going to dowhen Caitlin Clark actually gets
injured?
Yeah, because she was injured.
For about two weeks, she hurt,and that was not because of somebody
cheap shotting her.
You know, some of it's justlike, sports are tough.
It's physical.
But if she actually gets hurt,the WNBA is screwed.

(42:34):
They're done.
She's.
She's the only reason thatpeople watch games.
She's the only reason thatpeople are interested in seeing.
The only reason they'reinterested in seeing these other
players is when Caitlin Clarkis playing them, whether they're
actually buying tickets to goto the game or watching on tv.
And that's it.
And they just have to own upto it.

(42:55):
And still, at the same time,we can celebrate athleticism and
athletic feats, but people aredrawn to the WNBA because of Caitlin
Clark, and that's what it is.
And I just recognize it.
Who cares if she's white,black, purple, whatever.
Like, people.
We didn't have thisconversation with Tiger Woods.

(43:18):
People weren't saying, like,yeah, you know, I just, I.
I really feel like supportingTiger woods just because he's black.
It was interesting that ablack guy was, you know, really taking,
you know, half black, halfJapanese, I think, and Filipino.
But in general, it's like hewas just transformative to the sport.

(43:39):
He was so fun to watch.
And that's what.
Hopefully people seeingCaitlin Clark, that what she's doing
is transcending race,transcending just athleticism and
financials, everything.
I mean, it's.
It's really cool to see.
And hopefully people startgetting out of their racial, racial

(44:00):
idolatry and just startaccepting, maybe I should just enjoy
watching this chick play basketball.
That's.
Yeah, that's the thing thatstrikes me about that clip is that
there's something about thatthat feels personal.
It's not just like stuffhappens on the field.
Men's tempers get heated andwe get some conflict.
But it's not personal.

(44:21):
That clip, looking at thatfeels personal.
And that's.
That's ugly.
And I don't like that when Isee that in men's sports.
I don't like.
I like it even less when I seeit in women's sports.
But that's not what it'ssupposed to be.
You know, again, like, you canwatch Bait, like every, every baseball
season, there's always onebench clearing brawl.
You know what I mean?
But, like, hopefully it, itdoesn't start some vendetta between

(44:41):
the two players.
Although that has happened inthe past.
But it never really feels personal.
It feels like something thathappened just on the field that day,
and then they go on aboutTheir lives that felt personal.
And I appreciate this becauseI hadn't realized that I can't think
of a single figure in anyprofessional sport right now whose
name I've heard as much asCaitlin Clark.

(45:03):
Now, I don't follow sports.
Like, I just see what kind of surfaces.
But you're right, I hearCaitlin Clark's name mentioned positively.
And if you were to ask meabout pro football or basketball
or like, okay, but Rory, Roryis one of the golfers.
Like, I don't mean to show my ignorance.
That's right.
Didn't he.
He just won the Masters.
And I saw that clip and thatwas pretty powerful.

(45:24):
As he's walking off the 18thhole, like, fighting back tears,
I'm like, yeah, that, that,like, so I know his name.
But there are so few storiesof elite athletes these, these days,
it feels like it absolutelygets drowned out by the political
conversation, by the drama.
And so here, now we have anathlete who's actually achieving
at the highest level and doingincredible things.

(45:46):
And what surrounds her is justtrying to drag her down like in the
crab bucket.
And it's baffling to me.

(49:36):
And it must be extra hard foryou as a man who's worked in professional
sports, as a sports fan, justto see, is it low caliber of play?
Is it, you know, coaches andteams being distracted, like, what
is it?
There must still be good players.
But no one's really doing theMichael Jordan or Larry Bird thing
anymore or the, you know, arod thing.
I don't, I don't see that asoften anymore, but maybe that's just

(49:58):
me.
I think people have to realizethat politics has been a major detriment
to sports, especially whathappened in 2020.
There's a lot of people that,I mean, we were.
Everybody was home and we werelooking for an outlet away from the
craziness of life.

(50:18):
All the COVID conversationand, you know, crazy politics and,
you know, you know, friendsand family are getting sick and we
don't know what's going on.
And then we turn on the TV andthe WNBA is doing a boycott for Jacob
Blake.
The NBA is canceling games andpromoting Marxist Black Lives Matter.

(50:44):
You know, the NFL is pushingsome of that same nonsense too, where
it's like anti police rhetoric.
And people are like, this justfeels like another politics news
outlet.
I want to watch PatrickMahomes do Patrick Mahomes things.
I want to watch, you know,Steph Curry, even though I can't

(51:07):
stand his politics.
I just want to see him shootthe lights out from three all game.
And what we got was a lot ofnetworks, athletes, coaches and organizations
preaching to us nonsense.
And people were like, I can'tdo it anymore.
I can't see guys kneeling forthe anthem anymore.

(51:28):
They don't even seem proud tobe Americans.
They're just a bunch ofspoiled brats that are making millions
of dollars and trying topreach at me and tell me about what
it means to be a good personand that I need to, you know, hate
America, you know, forever orat least for a time.
Like it was a weird time.
And I think now we've gottento a place where the NBA brand took

(51:50):
a major hit.
And the, the NBA brand is, isvery liberal.
And then the most liberal leftwing sports organization or sports
league is the wnba.
I mean, I mean you have someof the craziest, wonkiest people,
especially in their fan base.
I mean, it's just a ton oflesbians and a ton of left wing activists.

(52:15):
And then the NFL, it'll alwaysbe the cash cow for Americans.
Americans are willing to givethe NFL more of a longer leash.
And Major League Baseball,it'll be a full different conversation
that would bore you and your audience.
Talking about how the MLB justdoes not know how to market itself

(52:36):
and they haven't given theopportunity for people to watch their
product.
And they've had broadcastingrights issues.
And you know, for a timebefore Shohei Ohtani, like, do you
know who Shohei Otani is?
Have you heard that name?
Japanese pitcher.
Yes, Japanese pitcher and DHfor the Dodgers.
But if I asked people a coupleyears ago who Shohei Ohtani was,

(52:59):
like, people that just likemaybe dabble in sports, they'd be
like, yeah, probably kind ofheard of him, he's the Babe Ruth
of our era.
Like he is like what he's doing.
He just hit 50 home runs, 50plus home runs and stole 50 plus
bases last season.
No one's ever done it, youknow, but.
And that's where there's a lotof great athletes.

(53:20):
But another thing too is Ithink sports, I think especially
American sports are strugglingbecause how many American born sports
stars are there?
There's not a lot really.
I think that's something toothat like people sure bring in the
race conversation, but ingeneral, people like, look at what

(53:43):
happened with the Four nationshockey Tournament.
People like cheering for theircountry and it brought a lot of people
together that might not evencare about hockey.
And it was great animosity and competition.
But a lot of these leagues,the NBA, you know, who are some of
the biggest stars Luka Doncic,Shay Gilkers Alexander, who's on

(54:05):
the cusp of winning the NBAFinals and just won the mvp.
You got, yeah.
Nicole Jokic, Luka Doncic,sga, You know, and then Major League
Baseball, there's a lot offoreign stars and I think that's
where leagues are kind ofstruggling a little bit right now.
And that's why I think morepeople are kind of drawn to the NFL.

(54:27):
It's like you got thatAmerican born star and you know,
I think that might not be thebiggest aspect of it, but I think
it's another factor that playsin as well as politics that have
really turned people out.
And not saying that peopledon't want to watch international
stars, but you know, there isa little bit of a disconnect with

(54:50):
the international starsplaying in an American sport.
Again, it's not the biggestthing, but I think it's an interesting
factor.
I never would have, I neverwould have considered that.
But it makes sense.
Like American football is justnot popular around the world.
It's kind of like it doesn'tmake sense to many people around
the world.
Like you kind of got to be anAmerican to get it.
And you're, you're right.
Super bowl is like a holiday.

(55:11):
It's like a holiday here.
And like around the worldpeople are like, ah, like whatever.
Like more people watch PremierLeague, they just.
That's right.
But I, I can care less.
And there's a lot of people inAmerica that do like the Premier
League, but in general, likethe Super Bowl's always going to
be way bigger.
And that's what's always interesting.
It's like we're in thatspecific ecosystem and American sports

(55:32):
thrive in certain ways thatother sports won't.
And you know, it's, I thinkit's an interesting aspect that's
not talked about enough.
No, I think you're rightbecause there, I mean there is a
big conversation happeningright now around immigration, although
the conversation is more aboutillegal immigration.
There is something to be saidabout, you know, of course I fully
appreciate and respectathletes around the world who achieve

(55:54):
at the highest level on earth.
Nothing to take away from that.
But I can certainly understandhow there's something very different
about like, hey, we areAmericans and there is something
about being American that is unique.
And while we are, well, happyto invite people to come over and
compete, who are we and can,in a way, can we have something for
ourselves?
And that's, that's acontroversial idea.

(56:15):
I know, but I mean itshouldn't be And I can understand
how it would be impactingprobably baseball first, because
baseball has always been veryinternational with Puerto Rico especially
and Japan lately, and thenbasketball with Eastern Europe.
But American football, like,that's, that's our thing.
And, but, you know, part ofthat is no one's going to grow up

(56:36):
around the world playingAmerican football.
Like, you're not going to getto an elite level playing American
football because who are yougoing to compete against to race
to that level.
Exactly.
And that's where people canhopefully start to understand this
conversation more through thelens of.
Let's go back to Shohei Ohtani.
Like, I still, to this day Iwish there was people in his corner

(56:57):
and people, you know, mightget upset at me for this.
But like, you need to learn English.
You need.
If he learned English andactually took the proper time to
learn English, he wouldconnect with fan bases here in America
so much more because he's, hestill has an interpreter.
Like, he's been in the leaguefor, he's been in the league for

(57:19):
a decade, I'm pretty sure.
Or actually, no, not quite adecade because I think he was 2018.
So like, but pretty close to it.
And it's like, I wish therewould be people in his corner.
And it's tough learning English.
It's tough learning another language.
But I think even ChristianPulisic, he's our, the captain of
our U.S.

(57:40):
men's National Soccer team, heplays over in Europe and I'm pretty
sure he plays for a German team.
I.
And like, I'm not a soccer guyor a football guy, however you want
to say it.
I'm pretty sure he did part ofhis post game presser maybe a couple
months ago in the nativelanguage, praise God.

(58:00):
And I think that stuff, Ithink that stuff goes a really, really
long way.
And if we're just going tokind of switch, like Shohei and Christian
Pulisic, how a fan base can belike, oh, you know, I appreciate
that effort and I feel like Ican connect more with this person
because they're integratinginto the society that this sport

(58:21):
is in.
And again, this isn't like thebiggest issue, but I feel like that
helps with marketability.
And I think maybe as we see ashift in culture, not just in politics,
but in the workforce, but insports, to be like, all right, maybe
this DEI stuff and talkingabout race all the time and having

(58:44):
people like LeBron James,Steph Curry, Gregg Popovich, Steve
Kerr, they're not helpful.
And once these guys age outand retire, that's Maybe going to
be beneficial to the sportbecause people are going to be like,
you know what I'm watching,you know, Anthony Edwards.

(59:05):
And I really don't know wherehe's at politically.
Like, it's like, I'm sure he'slike, he's not a Christian and I.
I don't agree with him morally.
And he's done some, you know,you know, kind of wonky stuff and
even some evil stuff when itcomes to coercing some chick to get
that he knocked up to get an abortion.

(59:25):
Can people get past that andjust celebrate them as a basketball
player?
I mean, there's times wherestill, you know, we need to speak
up about things and speak up,you know, courageously.
But there's going to be otherathletes to be like, I don't know
what their politics are, and Ikind of appreciate that.
And I'm just watching them andenjoying them.

(59:46):
And I'm able to separate theart from the politics if they do
bring up any aspect of politics.
But people are sick and tiredof the LeBron James's.
They can't stand it.
Like, this guy thinks he is somorally superior than everybody else
and thinks he's doingsomething unbelievably courageous

(01:00:06):
and people can't stand it.
There is a reason that he hasmillions of haters.
There's a reason that peoplecan't stand LeBron James and they
look forward to, as they didthis year when he got knocked out
in the first round, eventhough he was able to, you know,
slyly get Luka Doncic on histeam in one of the most lopsided

(01:00:28):
trades in the history of theNational Basketball Association.
People like that he got bootedin the first round and they enjoyed
watching the NBA playoffs from there.
Okay, so.
So I heard about this, but Ididn't follow it.
Maybe can you give me a littlebit of background of what happened
there?
I just remember that the tradehappened to Doncic and.
And everyone was all up inarms about it, but I didn't really

(01:00:49):
dig into what was going on andwhat people were upset about.
But I did managed to pick upfrom the tenor of the conversation
that something shady hadhappened that it shouldn't have happened.
But I couldn't figure out why.
Like, I was like, what's.
I could.
I didn't dig in to figure outwhat the angle was.
Do you want to.
We can just keep it between us.
Do you want to tell me, like,what happened there from your perspective?
Basically, in layman's terms,Luka Doncic is the Most exciting

(01:01:14):
and yeah, he's the mostexciting and probably the best biggest
young superstar in the NBA.
He just took his team or hisformer team, the Dallas Mavericks
to the NBA Finals last year.
And then the Dallas Mavericksdecided that, you know, he's like

(01:01:37):
kind of overweight and we'renot willing to pay him, even though
he just took our team to theNBA Finals.
And someone like that would beor should be in an absolute blockbuster
trade.
He is an unbelievable player.
And sure, maybe he's like his,his weight was a little bit of a

(01:01:59):
problem, but it's like, lookat or Nikola Jokic has definitely
got a weight issue, but he's balling.
No one's bringing up like,what's going on with him weight wise.
But Luka Doncic didn't getshopped around.
Usually that's what happenswith these superstar players is multiple
teams are interested.

(01:02:19):
And then we found out that noother teams other than the Lakers
knew that Luka Johnson wasgoing to get traded.
It just happened between them.
That doesn't happen.
And then LeBron James triedsaying that he didn't know about
it.
And the worst part is notjust, oh, that he got traded.

(01:02:40):
He got traded for nothing.
He got traded for AnthonyDavis, who's an aging superstar who
is like a China doll andconstantly gets hurt.
And you would expect likemaybe like three or four first round
picks.
Like if people want to look upthat Desmond Bain, who's never made
an all star team, he just gottraded for another player.

(01:03:03):
And four first round pickslike Luka Doncic should get maybe
one of the biggest trade hallsthat we've seen in NBA history.
But it was like for nothing.
It was almost like they'relike, he doesn't mean anything to
us.
Just, just take him.
It just seemed like some ofthe most shady stuff I've ever seen

(01:03:24):
in the league.
And I think 100%, I'll put thetinfoil hat on.
LeBron James is going toretire at some point.
They also would love the, Ithink the, the big dogs at the NBA
would love to see LeBronsomehow get another ring.
And LeBron seems to alwaysteam up with some of the best players
in the NBA.
But once LeBron retires, youknow, they want the Lakers to still

(01:03:47):
be on the map.
And who's going to keep themon the map?
The biggest young superstar inthe NBA, Luka Doncic.
It was just, I couldn'tbelieve what I was seeing.
And especially as we see othertrades happening in the NBA.
It was so lopsided.
It Just.
And for no teams to hear aboutit, it's a really shady.
And I think that's anotherthing that actually hurts the reputation

(01:04:10):
of the National Basketballassociation is people saying, is
this an inside job?
Like, they're like, I'm not aconspiracy theorist.
I'm not like some big likeconservative conspiracy theorists
like Alex Jonesy, NBA fan, youknow, like.
But this is weird.
And I think that's what itcame down to.
And then actually the DallasMavericks, I think they had like

(01:04:33):
maybe less than a tenth of apercent to get the first overall
pick in the NBA draft.
Guess who got the firstoverall pick?
Dallas Mavericks.
Oh, wow.
Like, it starts, it starts tobecome too much of a coincidence
and it's weird stuff.
And I think that's anotherthing that, that hurts the credibility
of a league like the NBA.

(01:04:53):
It's weird.
So the NBA facilitated a lowball trade for a superstar to go
to a brand name team to sortof take up the mantle of LeBron James
and.
But this wouldn't have, itsounds like it wouldn't have happened
without the NBA league, youknow, meddling to facilitate it.

(01:05:14):
The Mavericks wanted tooffload their star player and then
they just, they pulled somestrings and made it happen.
Yeah, I mean, honestly,there's a lot of people out there
that have been covering theNBA for a long time and they have
the inside scoop on stuff andthey'll try to discredit, you know,
basically the way that you andI have described it, But I think

(01:05:34):
100% that's happened.
I mean, it's just, I thinkit's definitely an inside job.
And it is, I, it'sunprecedented what we saw and it's,
I think it was just 100%thievery what, what we just saw.
And I think that's where theNBA is, is scared right now that
a lot of people aren'twatching the NBA Finals, though.

(01:05:56):
I've, I've enjoyed theplayoffs this year, actually maybe
more than, you know, anythingover the last, you know, five years
or so.
Even being a Warriors fan, youknow, I've had a lot of great years
watching my team.
I think they want these bigmarket teams to do really well because
they think that's actuallygoing to be, you know, what's best
for business and get people towatch, to watch again.

(01:06:18):
But at the same time, I thinkit hurts their credibility.
And I think what happened wasan inside job with that trade.
You know, I grew up during theera of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird,
Magic Johnson, Steve Nash,Charles Barkley, like that was my,
that was my childhood.
Jose Canseco and Mark McGuire.
You know, Bash Brothers.

(01:06:38):
And the Bash Brothers.
Yeah.
Actually, actually, hold onjust a second.
I want to show you somethingthat I, that I haven't, I haven't
gotten this out on the podcastyet before, but I'll show you.
Hold on.
Let's see it.
This, this is a Nolan Ryanrookie card.
This is.
No way that's a real dealNolan Ryan rookie card.
You can see I've gotten inInch Thick Fletc.

(01:07:00):
It's just.
Are you gonna get a Graydon?
I.
No, I suppose I could, butfunny story about this card.
So I was like, I don't know,maybe 812 years old, something like
that, and my uncle had a bigbox of old baseball cards, and he's
like, you can pick any, like,three or five cards out of this.

(01:07:21):
And so I, I, I happened tolike Nolan Ryan at the time, and
so I just, I saw that card andI picked it.
At the time, the card wasworth like a hundred bucks, something
like that.
With my, with my, with mybaseball card.
Was it Beckett?
Beckett Baseball Card Value Magazine?
Yeah.
And then after that, he gothis 300th win and his 5,000 strikeout,

(01:07:42):
and this card went, went crazyin terms of its value.
And so my, my uncle has neverforgiven me for that.
But, like, but this is, it's,it's super cool.
I just have it back herechilling in my studio.
It's the real deal.
Even the.
I don't know if you could seewell, but I, I mean, I collect cards.
I even show you there.
Like, I have a, a bunch of mycard collection here.

(01:08:06):
I've been collecting cartcollecting cards ever since I was
a kid.
And I got back into it overthis last year and, you know, I kind
of got back to the childhood love.
And it's a big business,sports cards.
And, you know, there's,there's a lot of people that, if
anybody's unaware, like, nowthere's like, big products that come

(01:08:28):
out that drop, and thenthere's people that actually do,
like, box breaks, and peoplebuy into that, and they're like,
there's a rookie that I wantto, you know, get on this team.
And it's kind of like, youknow, you're gambling essentially
because you don't know what'sin the box.
And you can potentially get abig card if you're like, I'm gonna

(01:08:48):
buy the Houston Texans forthis amount of money.
And than, you know, a lot of, like.
And then in general, like,there's a ton of big business behind
sports cards.
And it's been superfascinating learning more about that.
And I mean, two, I don't know,I'd look up for you to see, you know,

(01:09:09):
if it's in really goodcondition, you know, if you get it
graded by, by psa, you know,that can.
That obviously just onlyskyrockets in value, you know, based
off the grade that it's goingto get.
But I think it's like, sportscards are fun.
That's another thing that Ithink gets kids, like, really into
sports again.
And, you know, there'sobviously big business behind it,

(01:09:30):
but at the same time, there's,you know, a lot of fun for kids that
are just like, they just wantto rip open pack, open a pack like
we were when we were kids.
And we have no idea how muchthese things are worth.
And they're maybe not evenworth anything, but it's like, oh,
I got my favorite player.
And you know, I have, I havesome cards like that, you know, when
I was a kid, but cards are a blast.

(01:09:52):
They are.
I mean, they were a huge dealwhen I was a kid.
Like when I was, you know,when I.
People loved them, kids loved them.
And then the market kind ofblew up and then it crashed really
hard as all these differentmanufacturers came in.
But it sounds to me likebaseball cards, sports cards are
coming back now, which I was.
I mean, I've seen.
I saw something on Twitterabout it, but I didn't pay much attention.

(01:10:12):
But it's actually, it'sactually kind of cool to hear, so.
Yeah, it's cool.
Go ahead.
It's like, it's a piece of.
It's a piece of art and it's.
Yeah, it's a piece of history.
And that's where people canstart to look.
They're like, you know,there's obviously was a time where
there was so much overprintingand now you have, you know, variations
of cards.

(01:10:33):
You got autograph cards andyou know, those things that become,
you know, basically lifechanging for people.
Like, I know for me, Iactually ended up, you know, buying
a Caitlin Clark card and, youknow, got it graded and it's a 10.
And you know, it's like youbuy that card for.
Which sounds crazy, a couplehundred bucks and now it's worth,

(01:10:54):
you know, with a 10 grade overa thousand and amazing.
And if Caitlin Clark keepsplaying well and she wins an MVP
or a championship, just likeNolan Ryan, you know, you have some
of those accolades, you know,those, those blow up and some of
These can actually be waybetter investments than the stock
market.
Obviously you're, you'restill, you know, gambling with, you

(01:11:16):
know, how well these guys go.
But it is kind of crazy to seehow like Shohei Otani cards have
blown up, Aaron Judge even andsome of these other players.
It's like, yeah, you hold onto them, you know, you're going to
see a bigger, bigger return oninvestment than you would with like
going with Apple or, orsomething like that.
Obviously don't take all myfinancial advice but you know, the

(01:11:39):
numbers, the numbers are thenumbers where you can kind of see
like hey, over the last yearthere's been a bigger, you know,
price increase for these cardsand certain cards and certain players.
It's pretty cool to, towitness and, and look into.
Yeah.
And I, I think thinking backto, I'm, I'm.
That's super awesome to hear.

(01:12:00):
And I think back to mychildhood watching sports and it
seemed that back then andmaybe, maybe this is true, maybe
it's a nostalgia thing but Ijust look back on, on older games
and there was a, it wasn'tthat the games weren't excellent
or the players weren't amazing.
But I think there's a way thatsports today has become way more
sophisticated and savvy that it.
And self conscious than itused to be.

(01:12:22):
Like I go back and I watch oldNFL games and the guys are rugged
and they're playing in thesnow and it's just like a really,
it's a, it's a really grittykind of game.
You watch the NBA and it just,there seemed, there was like a, an
endearing lack of selfawareness to sports that sports today
now has.
Like athletes are far moreconscious it seems of being superstars
and image management and likeyou know, the fashion show walk as

(01:12:44):
they walk into games and Idon't, I don't think that's a good,
I don't think that's a good development.
Egos are always going to be aproblem at elite level sports.
But this kind of like TravisKelce's fashion show before the super
bowl or something like that,like you know Tom Brady as well and
like there's a way in whichthat can kind of be cheeky or fun
but there's a way in which itjust seems to have lost some of its

(01:13:06):
youthful innocence.
I think that makes it hard toengage with and maybe that's why
people aren't watching the NBAbecause it's like this isn't just,
this isn't just a fun kids game.
Anymore.
This is big business.
Billions of dollars, egos,images on the line.
And that takes something awayfrom the purity of it.
If every play you're thinkingabout, oh, is this going to get me

(01:13:26):
on the highlight reel versus,like, I need to win for my team?
Yeah.
Cause I think that's multifaceted.
There's times where, you know,I think I've really enjoyed athletes
being able to show theirpersonality, you know, maybe through
their style.
And then there's other timeswhere it's like, that style is stupid.
People need to look up Kyle Kuzma.

(01:13:47):
Look up Kyle Kuzma.
He's worn some of thewonkiest, weirdest stuff I have ever
seen.
But at times, it's like, youknow, what?
I can kind of appreciate, youknow, in a sense, that this has become
a fashion show.
But it does get to that placewhere it's like, you know, this.
This is fairly egocentric, andthere's a lot of individualism in
sports.
And then we can go into thestyle of play, which is another thing

(01:14:11):
that's really hurt the NBA.
That's things that's actuallyhurt every single sports league.
The NBA.
Now it's like, well, what's a travel?
You know, what's a foul?
Because, like, guys areflopping around as much as.
As much as I made, like, LukaDoncic, he flops.
You know, LeBron James is theking of the flop.

(01:14:32):
That guy is a physicalspecimen, and he flops around like
he's a European soccer player.
It's crazy.
But at the same time, too,it's just like SGA that plays for
the OKC Thunder.
You know, he.
He gets called a free throwmerchant because he seems to draw
a lot of fouls that just don'treally seem to be fouls.

(01:14:55):
And, you know, the nittygritty and physical aspect of the
game, you know, seems to belong gone.
And then you go to the NFL, itseems like you even put a fingernail
on a quarterback.
Again, as much as I likePatrick Mahomes, and as much as I,
you know, maybe I didn't likeTom Brady because of what he did

(01:15:15):
to my Falcons in the superbowl, but I always respected him.
You know, you put a fingernailon those guys, and it is an unsportsmanlike
penalty.
It's roughing the passer, andpeople get really upset that it seems
like, you know, the aspect ofthe game that really drew us, you
know, from a physicalitystandpoint and a style of play standpoint,

(01:15:37):
it's kind of ruining the game.
And it's ruining the experience.
But at the same time, we havethe most talented athletic physical
specimens we've ever seen in sports.
So that's where people arelike, come on.
Like, we see these feats ofathleticism that are crazy.
Like, if you had people thatare able to rise from the dead that

(01:15:58):
played in the ABA and theycould see how these guys are playing
in the NBA now, they'd belike, what?
Like, it's crazy.
It's crazy stuff.
But there is an aspect ofhyper individualism that does lead
to things like load management.
Load management is a termthat's used for players, specifically

(01:16:21):
in the NBA, that just kind ofdecide, you know what?
I just want to take the day off.
You know, like, it's a long season.
Just, like, I'm not hurt.
I just kind of just feel liketaking a day off.
And then, once again, I can'tbelieve I'm doing.
Two mentions of Colin Cowherdon the podcast here, but he had another

(01:16:41):
interesting point where hesaid the NBA and NBA athletes are
losing the everyday American,similar to the Democrats.
Because you guys are tellingthese people where there's a father
that has worked overtime forthe last month or two just to afford
to have his family of four orfive just even get into the arena,

(01:17:04):
and then he needs to buy themfood and drinks, and then he finds
out that his kid's favoriteplayer just decided, I'm just going
to sit out.
Just don't feel like playing.
Oh, this season's 82 games,it's so long.
And we're seeing that.
Like, that's a majordisconnect from the everyday American,

(01:17:24):
just like the Democrat partyis seeing a disconnect from the everyday
American in the way that theyrun things in not only their policies,
but their campaigns.
And that, I think, comes froma lot of selfishness.
Like we talked earlier about.
What are some of the amazingthings that you learn, foundational

(01:17:45):
aspects of life that you learnin sports?
One of it.
One of them should beselflessness, because the vast majority
of us have either been aroundteam sports or played team sports
ourselves.
And we can understand that howyou practice and how you play, you
know, is more than just about yourself.

(01:18:07):
Obviously, we eventually wantathletes to get to the point where
they're doing it for Christ,whether you're a young athlete or
a pro athlete.
But this individualism andselfishness is definitely hurting
sports.
And I think they're seeing amajor disconnect between fans and
players, especially sinceplayers are only going to continue

(01:18:30):
to make more money and Itotally understand.
And final word on this one isthat these are valuable assets.
You don't want to just go seePatrick Mahomes get beat up.
Your franchise player, youknow, maybe the second greatest quarterback
in the history of football,you know, get hurt unnecessarily.

(01:18:51):
But there is times where it'slike, you play a tough sport, quarterback
should be able to be hit.
Basketball players, you stillplay a physical sport.
You shouldn't be floppingaround like this and do a better
job of being an actor than youare being a basketball player.
And that's hopefully wherepeople are starting to realize that

(01:19:14):
you need to hold these leaguesto account and say, like, what we're
seeing here, we don't connect with.
And we are the ones that areactually, you know, paying big money
to go to these games, buythese subscription packages so we
could watch the games.
And then that leads to anhopefully more selflessness.

(01:19:36):
But still, at the same time,these guys are big brands, so I wouldn't
expect much change, buthopefully we start to see a little
bit of a cultural shift whenit comes to the style play and those
kind of things.
I'm glad that you mentionedthe selflessness, because what an
incredible blessing from God.
Not just to have such physicalgifts and the opportunity to cultivate

(01:19:58):
them and the health to enjoythem, but also to have thousands
or even millions of people whojust want to watch you play a game.
And the mindset, I mean, Iunderstand the pressures that are
on every professional at anelite level.
I get it.
You know what I mean?
Like, I understand just what atoll pro sports takes on the body
of even someone who playswho's healthy throughout their entire

(01:20:20):
career.
Like, it's.
It's a.
You expend your body for thelove of a thing, but to just to have
the attitude where it's like,you know what?
I feel like taking a day offwhen it's like there are people that
want to see you play.
Like, you've been given anincredible gift to have the opportunity
to have the kind of career andmake the kind of money that, like,
only a small fraction ofpeople will ever get.

(01:20:42):
And you only get it for ashort time.
Like, you're at 35, 40, like,you're probably not going to be Tom
Brady playing until you're 42or 43, right?
So, like, and so the idea thatsomeone would say or that players
would consistently say, yeah,I'm just going to take a night off
tonight, it seems to be kindof like squandering a gift of people's

(01:21:03):
attention and their loyaltyand their enthusiasm and their fandom.
It just again, I like that youcalled out the selfishness because
there's a lot of that to it.
While acknowledging thechallenges of the profession.
Like, you get to play a gamefor a living, like, bring your all,
bring it, show up.
And yeah, I mean, I see allthese things as maybe connected in
a way.

(01:21:24):
Yeah.
And people might be thinkinglike, well, is this actually like
good for their body?
Because John, if you'rebringing up that they are very valuable
financial assets, you know,this and this help protect their
body.
I haven't seen and nothing'sbeen presented that shows that this
is actually healthier forspecifically, we're even talking

(01:21:45):
about NBA players that loadmanagement helps them.
I think we're seeing moreinjuries than we ever have before.
Obviously that can get intotraining and, you know, aspects.
But specifically correlated tolike even look it up, load management
is not leading to healthier players.
It's leading to a lot ofinjuries and it's leading to then

(01:22:08):
these players actually being adisservice to not only their pocketbook,
but the fan base andimportantly their team because they
decided to make a selfishdecision and just sit out and like,
hopefully leagues are going tostart cracking down because this

(01:22:31):
also comes into an aspect of.
We're in an era of player empowerment.
They have players have morepower and more say than they've ever
had.
And there's a good aspect to that.
And then there's also theaspect where they can be like, I
just don't feel like it today,coach, and you can't tell me to play

(01:22:52):
and I've built up enough sweatequity and have a big enough fan
base to where I can get awaywith this.
And I know there was eventimes where I've said there again,
like a disconnect witheveryday Americans.
There are people out theregrinding and they could never take
a day off.

(01:23:14):
They could never say to theirboss, just don't feel like it today,
boss man.
It's just, I don't know, justdoesn't feel like one of those days
they probably get fired.
They get fired.
It's load management today,boss man.
Like, sorry, like, you know, Ijust, I need a personal day.
I mean, you can maybe get awaywith that if you're a liberal and

(01:23:35):
you're like, yeah, I'm justreally going through a lot of Trump
derangement syndrome today andI need to take a break.
They could probably give youthat day off, but if you're going
to be like an athlete and belike, yeah, just nah, nah, I can't
do that.
Like, all right, great.
We'll find somebody that wantsto be here all the time.
Good luck.
And then you can't provide foryour family.
Like, those are thedisconnects that we're talking about.

(01:23:58):
And these guys are not playingenough games to where it's like,
all right, maybe that kind ofmakes sense.
You know, they're getting,they're getting.
There's some tough stretchesand you know, even anybody that is,
you know, you know, you'vedone plenty of traveling, Will.
And like, yeah, so they mightbe in chartered flights, you know,

(01:24:19):
private flights, and it's kush.
But, you know, it still gets tiring.
But at the same time, like,these guys aren't playing games 82,
82 days in a row.
You know, like, these guyshave plenty of time to recover.
They have some of the bestdoctors and physicians in the world
around them.
So, yeah, this whole idea of Ijust want to take a day off, it's

(01:24:42):
not working for the health ofthe player, and it's definitely not
helping with the connection tothe fan base.
It doesn't work.
So where do you see, bearingin mind everything we've talked about,
whether it be woke politics,load management, player empowerment,
selfishness, all thesedifferent patterns.
Where do you see all this going?

(01:25:02):
Because I, I look at this andI'm like, this is not sustainable.
Like, I can't see this runningout 5, 10 years and sports having
the same place in Americansociety that they once did.
It's.
It just seems to be a losingkind of battle where, yeah, people
will always watch, but theenjoyment won't be there.
I especially appreciate howyou brought up how expensive, expensive

(01:25:25):
it is to go to games now.
Not only the tickets areexpensive, but parking and food and
beverages.
It's.
It's quite endeavor and like,so I might as well watch it on TV
and then be bombarded withwoke advertising.
Like, where does, where doesall of this go?
Or I have.
I have no idea.
And even too, it's expensiveto watch sports on TV.

(01:25:49):
Like YouTube TV seems to raisetheir prices every single year.
And then if you're out ofmarket, you gotta buy.
You know, it's not.
There's like NBA league passand then there's, yeah, Sunday ticket
for the NFL.
And then you need to get primeto watch Thursday games.

(01:26:10):
You'll need to get peacock attimes to watch some games.
Like, it gets really expensive.
But I think what leagues needto realize is I'm not asking for
leagues to Become like aboutlike super conservative.
That's we're not looking forthe pendulum to swing where it's
like talk about a bunch ofconservative cultural issues, right?

(01:26:32):
We just want sports to be a asapolitical as possible.
We do not need to talk aboutsexual identity DEI and race relations
at nauseam, like stop it, itdoesn't work.
And I believe, I truly believepeople on the left, right and center

(01:26:57):
are saying, you know what, Imight agree with some of these politics
at times, but I just watchsports as an escape and I don't want
to be lectured to.
And if I wanted politics, Iwill go to msnbc, cnn, Fox News,
Newsmax, News Nation, whatever.
I don't go to sports to getthis nonsense.

(01:27:19):
I don't need it and I don'twant it.
And hopefully what we'rerealizing too is with as much of
a crazy place as X is, it is abastion for free speech to where
people can push back againstthe nonsense that we're seeing from
specifically sports leaguesand players and even networks, places

(01:27:43):
like ESPN have so many crazyliberals running around and trying
to make everything about race,people are over it.
That's why ESPN is failing the NBA.
Like we talked before, it'shurt, it's hurt its brand.
So they need to realize thatpolitics, all this politics infused

(01:28:04):
and we're talking about leftwing politics, it doesn't work.
People, people are over it.
And hopefully we're going tosee more maybe middle the road politically.
Media members find their wayinto press conferences and working

(01:28:25):
for teams and outlets to wherethey can actually just report on
the game and maybe notgaslight us through politics at times.
And I think at the same timetoo Christian athletes have an amazing
opportunity to shift theculture in sports.

(01:28:45):
There's a bunch of athletes,look them up.
There's an amazing brandcalled, I think it's called Jesus
One apparel W O N and thenthey have team specific Jesus One
shirts and there's a lot ofplayers, like a bunch of players
from Ohio State's footballteam that won the national championship.

(01:29:06):
We're wearing those.
A lot of guys in the mlb, likeone of the guys, one of the pitchers
and probably the best pitcher,the San Francisco Giants, you know,
obviously a crazy liberal area.
He did a appearance on LobNetwork and immortal Jesus One, you
know, kind of in the SanFrancisco Giants lettering, T shirt

(01:29:28):
on the broadcast, you know,these kind of things.
We need to elevate thoseChristian athletes.
We need to say, you know whatGod is in every aspect of society.
And it seems like There's alot of bold Christians in sports.
Elevate the CJ Strouds, theBrock Purdy's, Jonathan Isaac.

(01:29:49):
And as much as I may disagreewith my, my buddy Harrison Butker
on religion, when it comes to,you know, me being a Protestant and
him being a Roman Cathol, heis an awesome guy that stands up
for a lot of truth and is areally good dude preaching a ton
of good stuff, you know, And Ithink he's an athlete that, you know,

(01:30:11):
I would love to see elevated more.
And hopefully, you know,leagues and teams and outlets and
brands realize that the wokemob is not powerful.
Last thing I'll say is even ifwe go back to Caitlin Clark, when
Nike decides to grow a pairand finally come out with a pair

(01:30:36):
of Caitlin Clark shoes, thosewill sell better than any shoes since
Michael Jordan.
But they are afraid right nowto upset athletes like Aja Wilson,
who is a black athlete thattalks so much about black empowerment
stuff.

(01:30:57):
But when companies realize,you know what, forget it.
Caitlin Clark is the biggestsports star in the world right now.
The biggest sports star we'veseen maybe in a generation, maybe
since LeBron James, that weneed to come out with a pair of shoes.

(01:31:19):
This is about what theconsumer wants.
Leave the politics to the side.
Let people enjoy it and stopallowing the woke mob to dictate
how you run your business.
And I think from there we'llhopefully see a shift.
And hopefully anybody that waswatching this, I hope it was interesting

(01:31:42):
because I know there's plentyof times where I can go off on sports.
And will you and other peoplemight be like, what language is this
guy talking right now?
I have no idea who thesepeople are, what he's talking about.
But I love sports and I wouldvery least hope that sports is a
place where people can feellike is a really good outlet away

(01:32:05):
from politics and thecraziness of life.
Or you could go to a baseballgame and be like, I don't feel like
I should worry about bringingmy kids here.
Like, they're pushing some nonsense.
I'm here to watch some amazingathletes drink a beer, have a hot
dog, enjoy time with myfriends and family, and that's it.
Like, I hope that's where wecan get sports back to as much as

(01:32:28):
possible.
Amen, brother.
I'm right there with you.
And certainly I've greatlyappreciated this.
I appreciate everything thatyou talk about because you open the
door for me to have a greaterappreciation of sports through your
passion and your enthusiasm.
And so, like, I love watching sports.
I Enjoy it.
It's never been something thatI've been as enthusiastic about it
as you are, but yourenthusiasm is infectious, and you're.

(01:32:51):
You talk about sports the wayI want to hear them talked about.
You see things the way that Isee them.
And so for that, you provide adoorway into enjoying sports that
I don't find anywhere else.
So I appreciate you, and Iappreciate everything that you have
to say.
I appreciate it.
Yeah.
Again, God's given me anamazing platform and.
And, you know, it's.

(01:33:11):
It's crazy with his sovereign plan.
You know, I would have neverexpected being where I am and, you
know, being able to speakabout these things, you know, without
getting canceled again.
You know, like, I have theability to make a living to talk
about things that I reallyenjoy and, you know, connect with
great people like you, and it's.
I really, really enjoy it.

(01:33:31):
And I hope that people willjoin the fight for sports, you know,
even from the level of, youknow, women's sports, what's going
on there?
Like, even simply, you know,sharing something to your Instagram
story can spark a good conversation.
Obviously it's, you know, aheavy political time where things
can get crazy, but, you know,these are things we should fight
for, especially for the next generation.

(01:33:53):
I think sports, again, can bea major cultural driver and again,
always on my platform, I amwilling and able to promote Christ
being glorified in sports, andI think it'll continue to resonate.
With millions of people, and Iagree with that, and I see that every

(01:34:13):
day from you, and I appreciate it.
So maybe we'll just close onthis for people listening.
What can.
What can they do?
What can they do in the sportsthat they watch?
The things that they say,like, how can they participate in
bringing sports more in thedirection of what we've been talking
about or bringing it back tosomething that it was in a previous
era.
I think people need torealize, like, for example, if you're

(01:34:36):
living in the San FranciscoBay area, that's where I was born
again.
That's where I was livingbefore I moved out here.
I moved out here to Phoenix,Arizona, in 2020.
They're having a thing calleda fellowship night.
Teams have, like, Faith andFamily night.
So it's basically theirChristian night, but it's not a stadium

(01:34:58):
wide, celebrated thing.
All the athletes don't need towear crosses on their jerseys like
they do for pride.
But there's times where youcan actually reach out, you know,
maybe even as a season ticketholder and a fan and be like, why
can't we just call thisChristian night?
Like, why can't we just callthis Christian night?
It's not a big deal to havelike a stadium wide thing, but I'd

(01:35:21):
appreciate, you know, theability for the Christian athletes
on the team to be able toboldly say, like, hey, Christian
night is coming up.
Not just like fellowship nightand using, you know, vague language
with these things, but again,like you as a sports fan out there
listening and watching, youhave a lot of power.

(01:35:42):
Teams and organizations andleagues are shifting what they're
doing because they'rerealizing that what they're doing
isn't working.
And it's not like every singleteam needs to have a crisis king
night, you know, or like, youknow, put that, put that in their
bio that it needs to get to apoint where it's like, hey, let's
get back sport to sports.

(01:36:03):
They're an outlet away frompolitics and the craziness of life.
It's a unifying outlet and Iwant to get back to that place.
And there is a lot of power there.
And I would say too, you havethe ability to make a huge influence
online.
Even if you were just like amicro influencer, some of the conversations

(01:36:25):
you have with just your couplehundred followers can actually make
more of an impact thansometimes like Will and I can have.
You know, sometimes I justdon't have the personal relationship.
Like, I might have a goodamount of people that follow me,
but I just can't have thatpersonal relationship that you guys
do.
And at the same time too,please do everything you can to amplify

(01:36:47):
Christian athletes, leagues,teams, organizations and networks
will continue to take notethat, you know, this is cool.
Like, this is actuallysomething that resonates with fans
and the other stuff that we'repushing, it doesn't.
So I hope people know that,you know, they don't just need to

(01:37:08):
sit back and hope that thingsget better.
There's actually some actionsyou can, you can take and you know,
for anybody that follows me, Ialways appreciate the support.
You know, it means a lot.
I make a living on, on social media.
So like, anytime peopleinteract with my stuff, share, follow,
like, it, it means a lot to meand my family as I continue to move

(01:37:30):
forward and try to figure out,you know, this crazy life of an independent
content creator.
So it's a blessing.
And I hope more than anything,sports can be a place where you can
go to a game and say, I had agreat time with Joe over here, I
met Susan over here, theyinteracted with my family.
I couldn't tell you what theirsocioeconomic background is, no idea

(01:37:53):
how they voted, don't knowwhere their sexual identity is, but
they were rooting for the A'sand they were rooting for the Diamondbacks,
and I had a great time.
That's what sports should be about.
And I hope we can get back toa place like that where we can really
lock arms as Americans andhave a great time watching sports
and digesting sports andinteracting with sports.

(01:38:16):
Amen, brother.
What a beautiful vision.
Wonderful.
So where can people find outmore about you and what you do and
how can they, how can theysupport you?
You guys can follow me on Xand Instagram and TikTok.
Those are where I post a lotabout sports, faith and cultural
topics.
And it's onnyroot.

(01:38:39):
If you want to find out moreabout me and, you know, what I've
done throughout my career,some other content and conversations
that I've had, you guys can goto johnrootlive.com wonderful.
Thank you so much, Sean.
This has been excellent andvery inspiring doing Manuel.
Thank you.

(01:39:21):
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JON ROOT - Caitlin Clark Assault: Inside the WNBA's War Against Their Own Superstar

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}JON ROOT - Caitlin Clark Assault: Inside the WNBA's War Against Their Own Superstar