June 19, 2024 • 41 mins
Colin discusses the difference between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics, how the Celtics have made championship basketball work in a city without the sizzle and glamor of other places. Caitlin Clark is having a profound financial impact on the WNBA in a way no other athlete has had. Plus, memories from his youth in England and discussing soccer with the European Championship going on.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:22):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Here we go. It is a Wednesday, Tom Brady later
in the show, Wednesday Live in Los Angeles. It's The Herd.
Wherever you may be and however you may be listening.
Thanks for making us part of your day. The coffee
tastes a little better today. That's what happens when you
watch Stanley Cup final action. I'm telling you Jmax Connor,
(00:47):
McDavid hold me in last night, not saying I'm leading
with it, but it was riveting hockey action.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
I don't know the blue line from the Blue Man group.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I mean I think hockey Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah, I commit. You got to commit to the art
form that's the American sports. So there's a lot of
different things to talk about today. You know, people kind
of poke fun at Magic Johnson's Twitter account because he's
really good at stating the obvious as if it's a revelation.
But whatever. He did have a tweet yesterday the former
(01:24):
Laker Great, and he said, I hate that the Celtics
officially have more championships than us. Now, well, actually a
lot more. The Boston Celtics have eighteen and the Los
Angeles Lakers have only twelve. But what really makes it
most impressive is that the Lakers have twelve. I'm not
(01:45):
going to count the five in Minneapolis. You know, I
don't count George Miken. Okay, the Lakers have had three
of the top four or five centers of her Wilt
Kareem Shack. The Lakers have had the best point guard ever,
Magic Johnson, a revelation six to eight and a half
point guard. They had past his prime or late prime,
(02:07):
Lebron James arguably the greatest player. Not to mention the logo,
Kobe Bryant, you know, James Worthy, Anthony Davis. They've had
ten twelve all time great players, Elgin Baylor, warm winter weather.
In a sport that's always been about culture and entertainment too.
(02:29):
They're in Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of North America.
They have a destination advantage over Boston and it's a
star driven city, and the NBA has always been star
driven and player driven. Now the Celtics have had Bill
Russell and John Havelchek, Bob Coosey, I'm not doubting, Larry Bird,
Paul Pierce, kg Kevin McHale. They've had some stars to THEO,
(02:53):
not Lakers stars. But there's not a lot to do
when it's twenty one degrees in the winter in Boston.
It's a provincial town more than a big city. It's
mostly famous for stuff in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds,
if you want to be honest about their history. And
yet there is no reason the Celtics should be this good.
(03:16):
I mean really why. It's not like players in the
Winner say, get me to one of the coldest cities,
one of the most geographically isolated cities. No, not really,
And yet brain power, red Arbach, the Danny Ainge trades
and now Brad Stevens has been the difference. That's been
(03:36):
the difference. In fact, if you were to guess there
was an Eastern city that should be great, it should
be the New York Knicks. Madison Square Garden is called
the basketball mecca. Again, a star fame Broadway driven town.
It's a bigger, cooler, richer city, Rucker Park, basketball history tremendous.
(04:00):
But yet it's the Celtics, I mean Los Angeles. Even
the coaches are stars here, Harbaugh, McVeigh, Lincoln Riley stars
like LA Stars Seek La, Matt Stafford, Lebron James. They
had a lot of options, sho Hao Tawny had a
(04:23):
lot of options. They choose Los Angeles, and they have
usually chosen the Lakers over the Celtics if they're a
free agent. But the difference between eighteen championships and twelve
is even greater because it looks like Boston because of
the way they're built. They still maintain most of their
(04:43):
top picks. Next five years has eighteen and you would
not be surprised if they rattled off with this group
two or three more in the next five or six years.
And the Lakers appear to be miles away from winning
another one, proving that in sports, even in the artistic, stylistic,
(05:05):
flashy NBA smart Trump's Sizzle, the Celtics have been, on average,
a much smarter basketball operation. Now Jerry West, pat Riley,
Phil Jackson were involved. It didn't feel that way, but
like the Dallas Cowboys. Those guys all leave the parcels.
(05:31):
Jimmy Johnson leaves, and they are as we've found in
Los Angeles with the Lakers, very very hard to replace.
As the Lakers will be announcing a new basketball coach
this week, what is that the seventh in thirteen years?
Smart wins So I saw this this morning Sportiko published
(05:59):
wn team evaluations. How much your WNBA team's worth? Not much?
If you want to see the Caitlin Clark effect here,
It is bad team, small market and they are worth
more the Indiana Fever, than the Los Angeles Sparks, the Dallas, Atlanta,
(06:23):
Washington teams, and almost equal to a team in Chicago.
This is a bad team in a small market. I
feel like I'm watching a little bit like when Tiger
Woods a little bit came to the PGA tour. Suddenly
within a year two or three, all the purses, all
the golf purses started to explode. It lifted all boats.
(06:47):
But the difference is Bryce Harper to baseball, Tiger Woods
to golf. Let's say Conor McGregor to the UFC. They
did not save those sports. Wolf was making money. Baseball's
always made a ton of money. Dana White and UFC
were making money. It did, however, illuminate those sports to
(07:09):
a greater level. More people watched, more people were interested.
But the WNBA, since its inception in nineteen ninety six,
I think ninety seven was the first year they played,
they've lost big money every year. The losses aren't as
sizable last year in the previous seven or eight years,
but they were like ten million dollars losing money. In fact,
(07:32):
so much so that in twenty eighteen teams moved to
smaller arenas. In a city of ten million people, New York,
the Liberty were averaging seventeen hundred people a game. The
WNBA Finals this past year got seven hundred thousand viewers,
(07:52):
about half of what the newly formed UFL Championship game got.
Caitlin Clark, to some degree, is saving the WNBA. This
is not Connor McGregor. The UFC was ascending and profitable.
This is not Bryce Harper. To baseball. Teams in baseball
(08:14):
are and remain flush with cash. This wasn't exactly tiger Woods.
To golf, you still had legendary tournaments like the US Open,
the British Open, the Masters that people watch and coveted.
That's not so with the WNBA. It is an incredibly
(08:35):
harsh truth. This league was in some trouble. They weren't
making money, they were downsized and arenas nobody's watching the
final and it has been totally subsidized, not sort of,
kind of remotely, totally subsidized by the NBA. But that's okay,
that is okay. Lots of businesses have to be subsidized.
(09:00):
Lots of businesses need a catalyst to take them from
nonprofit to big profit. But never forget this. This is
the Caitlyn Clark effect. She may not be good enough
to be on the Olympic team, but she is easily
the greatest player without even playing half a season. She
(09:23):
is the greatest player for business in the history of
the league. And it's not close. These valuations all throw
it out there, will be worth three times this much. Okay,
so right now, the Indian Fever's worth ninety million and
they've been around for years. These will triple, These will triple.
(09:49):
Within twenty four months, the evaluations of these teams will triple.
The Las Vegas as Is will be worse. Somewhere in
the three hundred million. Think I'm crazy. It's amazing what
Beckham and Messy did to the MLS. They got that
big Apple TV contract. It's amazing what a star can do.
(10:12):
It's okay that it was subsidized by the WNB. It's
okay that it wasn't a big profit center. A lot
of companies need a catalyst. Well, let's not kid ourselves here.
Caitlin Clark is easily the greatest player in that league's
history in terms of business. And the only reason these
lights are on in this studio is not sports, it's business.
(10:35):
J Mac, we have quite a show today. Tom Brady
will be stopping by in a couple of hours. Did
you see the story where Justin Fields is struggling a
little in Pittsburgh?
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Oh yeah, so terrible to see that Justin Fields struggling
in a defensive situation in Pittsburgh with Mike Tomlin as
the head coach. We'll see no quarterbacks have been able
to succeed there since Big Ben.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Well even Big Ben in his latter years. It was
choppy to say it wasn't as good as you know.
They didn't have any big wins as last several years
against no big playoff wins, no it's better rough go. Well,
it's a defensive Culture's why Green Bay dos quarterbacks? Well,
it could be Mike Hongren, Mike McCarthy, Matt Lafleur. It's
an offensive culture. Packer fans don't like that their defense
(11:18):
usually underachieves, but they're on the right side of the
ball going forward.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Yeah. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd
weekdays and Noone Eastern nin a em Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Hey it's me Rob Parker.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker for
twenty two minutes of piping hot baseball talk featuring the
biggest names and newsmakers in the sport.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Whether you believe in analytics or.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
The Ie test, We've got all the bases covers. New
episodes drop every Thursday, So do yourself a favor and
listen to Inside the Parker with Rob Parker on the
iHeartRadio app or wherever you go at your podcast.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
So I thought this was interesting, and we'll go to
Pittsburgh less than one hour from now. Talk to Mark Coboli,
who wrote this story this morning that justin Fields, the
former electric often dynamic quarterback for the Chicago Bears, who
was moved for only a six round pick to be
the backup in Pittsburgh, has struggled early and Russell Wilson,
(12:24):
as we predicted, has completely separated first quarterback first team
QB one snaps has been accurate. It's according to Koboli,
and we'll go to him live in an hour. It's
not terribly close. That's what we thought. And here's the
thing with Justin Fields, it's a cautionary tale. Got to
learn from your mistakes right in life. Is that you
(12:47):
can see him peel off a forty yard run once
a game or make a big time throw down the field.
You see the gifts. But quarterback is the only position
in American sport that much of the greatness you can't see.
Brady Breeze, Peyton Manning, pre snap movement, audibling in the
(13:09):
yards and out of trouble. That accounts for about thirty
to forty percent of this game. The ability for a
quarterback to feel the game and see the game. This
has been my knock on Justin Fields and Trevor Wilson,
both athletic, both move well, both good arms. I don't
think they can see the field. I think people are open.
(13:32):
Highlights and tape have shown it and they can't see it.
By the way, not a huge Brock Purty fan, but
both Kyle Shanahan and Sam Dartle when he was a Niner,
both had publicly said Brock Purdy at the line of scrimmage,
pre snap and post snap, really sees the field, really
(13:55):
gets himself in the yards and out of trouble. That
is a big chunk of this league. So athleticable ability
can really be fools go because you can see it
all and Justin Fields is an unbelievable athlete. Yet he
was over the last three seasons the most sacked quarterback
(14:16):
in the NFL. He couldn't audible out of sacks. And
you say, oh, it's the offensive line. Did you know
last year by the end of the year, PFF ranked
the Bears offensive line above the Niners. I watched the games.
It was better, and it was in the same class
as the Kansas City Chiefs. The difference is Patrick Mahomes
(14:38):
and brought Purty audible out of sacks. This is what
I've said with Justin Fields and Zach Wilson. I can
see the talent, you can see why They're drafted high
first round, both have live arms, both moved really well.
I mean even the report this week in Denver, Zach
Wilson has the best arm, not bow Nicks, Zack Wilson
(14:58):
easily the liveliest arm. But so much of playing quarterback
is what you don't see. And that's where Russell is
going to have an advantage over Justin Fields. J Mack
with the News.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Turn on the news. This is the herd Line News.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
All right, let's stick with quarterbacks.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
And we saw that Trevor Lawrence got paid last week,
Tua is on deck, Dak Prescott.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
But let's let's put Matthew Stafford's name out there. Colin.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
He's tubled down the list of highest paid quarterbacks and
reportedly wants a reworked contract. Ian Rappaport of NFL Network
indicates that while Stafford won't hold out from camp, he
wants more guaranteed money. Now we talked about on the
show last year and that the Rams approached Stafford to
rework his deal.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
He's like, no, thanks, I'm good.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
And now Stafford is saying, oh, all these other guys
are getting paid, I'm not even on the list of
one of the highest paid quarterbacks anymore?
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Yo, can you guys hook me up? I think the
rayvill play hardball with him. I don't think he's going
to get anything this summer.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Well, what the Rams are doing, and it's really smart.
They're the only team in the league I can think
of that has paid big money for two guards and
they drafted a guard they've moved to center. So what
they've done, they're going to have an excellent guard center
guard combination. That is what Tom Brady had in Tampa.
(16:23):
So as a quarterback gets older, they can easily step up.
But right if somebody comes on the edge, they can
step up. But what the Rams have done through money
in draft picks has fortified the interior line for Stafford.
They want Stafford. They don't want a young, lively quarterback.
That wouldn't be nearly as big a deal if you
(16:44):
had a young guy that's running around. They want Stafford
in town. They are trying to keep him upright for
two years. So they have totally committed the last two
years to They've made trades, they've spent money, They've drafted
it to the offensive line, especially the interior line. Next year,
I've been My strong belief is they'll go left tackle
(17:06):
or right tackle in their first pick in next year's draft.
So what they're doing is the smart thing to do.
They are committing to the O line, not necessarily wide receiver.
They only pay Cooper Cup not necessarily. There's a lot
of other places they're not spending money. They're very young defensively.
They want to keep Stafford and what they're trying to
do is just extend this career as long as they
(17:29):
can because the misrate is so you know, it's fifty
sixty percent on quarterback. So they love Stafford. It's been
a little uncomfortable with the money talk last couple of years,
but Stafford here has the leverage because if you're going
to be in a division, you know with San Francisco,
you can't ham an egadic quarterback.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Well, they I think they thought Stetson Benner. Remember they
drafted him.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
He was a fourth round pick, I know, but still
they thought, like he could be something we get work
with McVeigh. He wasn't even with the team last year
to do to some personal stuff. So now Stafford is
set to make thirty one million this season, has no
guaranteed money after this year, So is there a world
where they convince him, hey man, we'll give you the
bump now, but you've got to give us a hometown
discount next year because there's no quarterback in the pipeline
(18:12):
after him.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Yeah, and I think if you watch Stafford play, he
always gets you know, he bangs his hand on a helmet.
It's not stuff that that generally knocks him out for
a season. I think the Rams are viewing it as
a two year proposition. This year and next year, can
we have Matt. I believe they will make a move
next year in the draft for a quarterback, left tackle
and a quarterback. They've they've drafted heavy defense the last
(18:36):
two years. First second, third round picks been all defense.
The Rams are gonna pivot next year in the draft
to offense. They're gonna go tackle, quarterback, wide receiver. They're
gonna they're gonna pivot as a franchised offense.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
The weird part about this whole quarterbacks getting paid stuff.
You and I agree, Stafford is one hundred top ten quarterback.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
In the league. No, he's at top five on the law.
I mean, when he's healthy, he's a great player.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
And he's not paid that way.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
And yet you look at the top of the list,
and there's a bunch of guys in they're getting paid
because when their deal was up that aren't top five,
maybe not top ten.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Yes, So Stafford's got two things going for him, leverage, talent,
and the richest owner in the NFL. So they'll You know,
this got bumpier than the Rams wanted to admit last year.
Remember they pushed back on narratives and then Stafford acknowledged
the narratives that we had talked about and reported on
were true. Yeah, this this this whole thing there. They
(19:33):
love him, he loves them. But what Stafford can really
threaten is retirement, that's his What he can really threaten
is I'm not going to another team. I'm just gonna
wrap it up.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
Yeah, I mean, look at this list. Kirk Cousins, Kyler, Murray,
Deshaan Watson. I mean, they're not in the same galaxy as.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Stafford, and they're getting paid.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
It's it's weird, it's it's clunky. But we know Stafford
wants to be out here. No, you and I know
he bought it, bought a place. Both sides totally into
each other. But I would say Stafford has the leverage
because he could retire.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Now, yeah, he could just walk away.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
They got nobody in the pipeline, all right.
Speaker 4 (20:08):
Next up, we've heard from a lot of players about
Jim Harbaugh's impact on the Chargers already. Well, LA recently
gave a little more insight into Hardball's time in mini camp.
They had him miked up and hear some of his
best quotes at Chargers camp.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Put that work in.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
You feel like you got better. You go to sleep
at night, you know your head hit the pillow. Body's
a little sore, it's aches, you sweated on your mind,
it's concentrated. You hit that hit pillow and you're out.
You're out. That's how you know. That's how you know
you had a good day.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Every every day. I want to just come up and
get some what you got?
Speaker 2 (20:44):
What do you got?
Speaker 6 (20:45):
Give me some of that. I just feed up of
guys like you. Der I feed up a guys like you,
and it's in all you can eat buffet great day
to day. You got a staff one stacking stack and
stack and plays stacking days.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
I love Hardball, I love him. I can't wait. You
know what they're gonna do. It's so obvious they're going
to become. You know, the last four years with two
different coaches, they've been like twenty eight, twenty ninth, thirtieth
rushing per game, rushing yards in attempt. They've been a
terrible run team with Austin Eckler. So that is going
to change because even when he had Andrew Luck at
(21:19):
Stanford one year Andrew Luck was ninth in the PAC
twelve and pass attempts with Andrew Luck, Harbaugh, this is
going to be a run first, physical team. The league
is zigging hill zag. I can't wait to watch it.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Hey, it's great for the league because you remember there
were a bunch of Mondays where we would have been
texting on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Boy, Brandon Stateley, he's so bad. Yeah, did you see?
Speaker 1 (21:42):
This is the best. This is the best kind of
job to take over. Like you and I would know.
You never want to replace, like Howard Stern on FM radio,
it's hard to replace, you know Andy Reid in Kansas
City someday that's that's not what.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
You want to do.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
What you want to replace is a team like the
Chargers where you've got your left tackle, your pass rusher,
your star quarterback, and you're replacing a coach who was
a little over his skeis. This is not a rebuild. Now,
they're gonna be a little light in perimeter speed. But
if you look at what wins in the NFL, head coach, quarterback,
(22:18):
left tackle, edge rusher, those four boxes they check. They're
okay at corner, they're not great. They miss weapons. But
you know, here's the thing. You and I talked about this.
You can criticize them, but their whole take was Keenan
Allen's getting old, Mike Williams can't stay healthy. Let's just
go into the draft and find it. And for the record,
that's what the Houston Texans did and it worked. You
(22:39):
can find the second round pick. They got the kid
out of Georgia. They're pretty good at tight end, and
they went and got some second tier running backs. But
receivers are not winning Super bowls. Coaches, quarterbacks, pass rushers
are winning super Bowls. So I think they'll be fine.
I think you and I both believe they're one of
the better over bets on the board.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
I think you've got to be a little careful with
that n A half division, the AFC stack.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
I like them. Initially I didn't. It's it's listened.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
It's not gonna be an easy season for them because
remember there are one or two injuries away as usual.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
You and I did this one day. Have you looked
at their schedule.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
I haven't looked at it.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
It's softer than you'd think. Remember Kansas City's won back
to back Super Bowls. They still have a week receiving corps.
They're hoping a late tiny first round receiver hits for
Shane Rises, a noisy, weird offseason. Travis Kelsey's not getting younger,
it is, so look at their schedule.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
That's a wink.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
When Raiders, Carolina and Steelers to open, those are incredibly
winnable games.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
I think you're favored and I think they'll probably be
favored in definitely.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
The first one in the first Chiefs games at home,
and then they get a bye like the early buy. No,
I mean look at this. Ask yourself this weeks one
through ten in the find me a weaker schedule, Raiders, Carolina, Steelers,
Chiefs is tough buy, but two weeks to prepare for
(24:10):
rival Denver, Arizona, Saints, Cleveland, and Tennessee.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
Yeah, they're favorite in I'm guessing seven or eight of
those games, it'll probably be dark.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
That is now now, and I think the league did
it on purpose. I think the league wanted to give
Harbaugh and the Chargers a lot of sunlight. Now it
gets tough, then it's Sincy and Baltimore, Kirk Cousins, Mahomes.
You know, then it gets But if you look at
those first ten weeks, you would not be surprised if
they're seven and three.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Well at the season's bookended against the trash Raiders team.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I mean, I think that is a SNEA. I said
this about USC this year, Harball f Michigan, No, Oregon
and Ohio State. USC's schedule in the Big Ten and
LSU is not rolling defensively, it's a rebuild. Jayden Daniels
is gone. USC's Big Ten schedule is sneaky soft. The
Chargers schedule is a lot of young quarterbacks, average quarterbacks,
(25:02):
and new coaching staffs. In the first nine ten weeks.
It is for an AFC team in Mahomes's division that
there's a lot of do ws on that bolle.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
Final story to Major League Baseball, the league lost a
legend yesterday after Willie Mays passed away at the age
of ninety three. Mays was considered one of the all
time greatest players in the sport, ranking sixth all time
with six hundred and sixty home runs, won twelve Gold
gloves in center field, made a famous there it is
catch over the shoulder, just amazing. He was the first
(25:35):
ballot Hall of Famer, two time NLMV.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Twenty four time Allso that doesn't even sound right.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
Yeah, twelve time Gold Glove winner Willie Mays, the legend
passes away at ninety three.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
A lot of people, you know, Babe Ruth is a
more iconic name, but a lot of people feel Willie
Mays was the greatest athlete in the history of baseball.
Willie Mays passes at ninety three. Saw this story this
morning Adrian Wojanowski, who covers the NBA. The Detroit Pistons
(26:09):
after one year have moved on from Monty Williams. So
that means they have to pay off five years sixty
five million. That is that is that is nuts. So
it made me think about this. So the Sixers tanked,
trust the process, haven't had a lot of playoff success.
(26:31):
The Pistons tanked. They're awful. Portland tanked and they were
a bit of a mess this year, worst record in
the Western Conference. Washington tanked. When have they ever been good?
And you know who refused to tank? Okay, see in
(26:52):
the Celtics, one just won a championship and the other
is really close. Is this whole tanking thing it it's
I don't think it works, and I'll tell you why.
Even if you have the worst record the Pistons, the
way the lottery works in the NBA, you only have
about fifteen percent chance to get the number one pick.
(27:15):
That's it, right. Tanking does not guarantee the number one pick. Secondly,
this is not the NFL draft. You get a nineteen
year old. So there's two things about a nineteen year old.
First of all, they're not close to ready to carry
you in the playoffs. Secondly, you're kind of guessing on
(27:39):
what they become as people. Forget basketball players. I mean,
I've got six kids, biological or step. The gap between
seventeen eighteen and twenty three is significant, not at what
they do professionally, but personally so. In the NFL, many
(28:01):
players have redshirted in football and then played three or
four years. You get an often married, twenty three year
old with a degree who's been in a college campus,
experienced many different kinds of people, classes, cultures. They're mature.
They come in ready to play. Football players also know
(28:22):
because of the level of regulated violence, careers don't last
as long. They come in serious, they come in focused,
they are not distracted. They come in briefcase, ready to produce.
NBA players come in as kids. I mean a brain
doesn't fully develop till what twenty three, twenty four years old?
(28:42):
Their kids. Their games aren't refined. They aren't refined, can't
drink in the hotel bar. And so there's some guessing
going on on what you're going to get as a person.
Here's what works in the NBA. The best teams have
the best front offices right now, Oklahoma City great front office,
(29:05):
Boston Celtics great front office. That's what works. I do
not buy in tanking. Not only that, but number one
picks surprisingly do not lead the titles from the original
team that drafts them. You have to go back to
nineteen ninety eight. It's twenty six years ago that a
(29:29):
number one pick won a title for his team. It's
Kyrie Irving, and before Lebron got there, they were over him.
Nobody liked him and he couldn't stay healthy like he
was a He was a marginal bust in some eyes, talented,
but couldn't stay healthy, couldn't stay healthy at duke, fragile player,
(29:50):
and he only wins when Lebron arrives. He's great briefly,
and then he goes to Boston and the whole thing unravels.
So you're not guaranteed when you tank the number one pick.
Number one picks don't win titles for their original teams,
and you get an unrefined, not only player, but kid. Yes,
of course you can get a Wemby or you can
(30:12):
get a Luca. But what you're finding in basketball, and
I've noticed this I don't remember as I was growing
up and watching NBA and NBA drafts, there used to
be seven rounds. By the way, it's down to two
years and years and years and years ago. But it's
become more of a guessing draft because you know, the
(30:36):
Villanova guys are the outlier, like they go to college
for like four years. There's a reason Villanova guys don't
bust as much because you know what you're getting. You're
getting a mature adult who's been hard coached at Villanova,
A willing defender, a good teammate, and he spent three
or four years in college. He's an adult. Doesn't feel
like the Villanova guys bust much. I mean, we have
(30:56):
a term Villanova guys in the NBA. I mean there's
Kentucky guys, but there's been a lot of high, low,
miss hit Villanova guys. You know what you get. They're older,
they come in, you know, they they've gone through the
tunnel of college basketball for several years. So this whole
tanking thing at I look at Detroit and I'm like,
(31:18):
they're a mess. It hasn't worked. About every third draft
in the NBA is a bad one. This is a
bad draft.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
You know.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
It's just to show you how much guessing there semi
guessing there is the best player in the league. Jokich
went in the second round. Kawhi went fifteenth, Giannis went fifteenth,
Sga went eleventh, Devin Booker thirteenth, Jalen Brunson the first
Big Time Star winning player in New York in forever
second round. That's not because the gms are incapable. It's
(31:49):
not because the executives are dummies. How much tape do
you have? What do you have. I mean, you've got
European guys playing against all older men, and you've got
college kids with one year where it's a coach dominated offense.
In the NFL, New England for the last six seven
(32:10):
years with Belichick running the draft drafted poorly. That's on Belichick.
You got more than enough tape. You got three and
four years of college tape. There is no excuse to
have a bad draft with seven picks. The good gms
in this league, the Bill Paulians, they didn't miss on
first and second round picks. They didn't miss on a
lot of picks. There's no excuse for missing on several
(32:30):
picks having a terrible like the Jets several years ago
pre Joe Douglass had a draft where they had like
nine picks eight seven eight couldn't play. They had no
excuse for that. But in the NBA there is kind
of an excuse. They just don't have much tape. You're
doing a little bit of guessing. That's why so many
of the great players, I mean the best player, Jokic, second,
best player, arguably Yannis second or third. You know, one
(32:54):
guy's second round, one guy's mid first. Tom Brady's gonna
be showing up today. Love to have Tommy on the show.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern non am Pacific.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
Tomorrow, the Summer of Stars rolls on as the tournament
favorite England faces Deadmark at noon on FS one and
over on Fox.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
It's the biggest game of the group.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
Stage at Spain takes on Italy at three pm Eastern,
then our Gentina squares off against Canada at eight pm
on FS one.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
That's the quality of this these tournaments. We've got Copa
coming on. Yeah, we've got the Euros. You're somebody that
owns part of a soccer team. I have tried. I've
said this before. I have tried on two occasions to
buy into the MLS. It's like a you know, a
passive you know, second, third, fourth, fifth, owner, and it's
I can't afford it. So you went overseas to get
(33:50):
involved Mexico. Yeah we uh yeah, good offseason for our team.
The arrow pointing up.
Speaker 4 (33:55):
But I was just on a text threat with Buddies
debating the Brazil Copa America squore. They left off a
couple of superstars, Brazil's loaded Neymars hurt like, there's so
much juice here with soccer right now, Cople America's I
can remember.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
It's funny about soccer. I can remember. So I grew
up in the Pacific Northwest, so long story. So when
I was a kid, my mom was British. We went
over to England in the sixties, so it was I'm
guessing here, I was probably sixty nine to seventy. We
went over to England, and I remember the Netherlands. Johann
(34:30):
Krouf was the big star in soccer, and so England
was great and the Netherlands were great. And my family,
my mom's family, her twin brother and a lot of family,
they were big soccer fans. In fact, my mom bought
me a little soccer game and on this window ledge
I was playing soccer. So it was my first indoctrination
(34:50):
to soccer. It was in the late sixties. I was
like six seven years old. I remember. I remember the
soccer game and I can remember and they had the
TV and was an orange team in England. They talked
a lot of soccer. We also ate a lot of potatoes.
I remember that the family didn't have it. We didn't
have much money. And then you know. I'm from the
Pacific Northwest, so I grew up in the Seattle Sounders.
(35:13):
Tony Chersky was this great goalie, so more than the
average American sports fan. I had a British mother. I
went to England as a kid. It was during a
World Cup. Then I had the Seattle Sounders, the Portland Timbers,
and then I worked in Portland and a Clive Charles
was a legendary collegiate soccer coach, and the University of
(35:33):
Portland had a legendary college soccer program. So what people
think for years and years, like Colin you talk soccer
because Fox had it. Now I've tried to buy MLS twice.
I because of where I was raised and what I
was a raised. I grew up with a lot of soccer.
Saw it as a kid, sixty seven Seattle Sounders. But
people forget there used to be something called the NASL.
(35:55):
That was the first that I can recall, the first
big American league, and it had the Minnesota care San
Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders. It was a thing so I
grew up was now it was predated, way predated by
thirty forty years, I think the MLS. But it was
a viable league. I remember New York Cosmos, Yeah, New
York Cosmos, and they had a great star. Off the
(36:18):
top of my head, I forget it, but it was
a great international star. One of the great stars in
the league was in the New York Cosmos. So I
watched that as a kid. So I have always been
and as i've aged and I think moved out of
watching a lot of regular season baseball. I've always been
an NFL college football. I like a fighter, a UFC
fight er, a boxing match. I like that. But some
(36:38):
of my sports has changed. Like some of my sports,
I grew up loving baseball, I don't watch as much.
I loved college basketball. I don't watch as much, and
soccer I'm more into. So these Euros, it's really high
end soccer. These are some of the best teams in
the world. And then you get COPA, which is crucial
(36:58):
to America this year because we have international talent. For
the first time in my life, we have like multiple
international players, our guys playing internationally, and there's a lot
of pressure on Burholder because USA runs through coaches. We
just run through coaches, So it's whenever I, oh, you
like it, no, no, I really, I have no problem.
(37:20):
Last night I watched the Stanley Cup, you know, Edmonton
for hour and a half. This European soccer stuff and
this Copa stuff. It's a big deal, this Copa tournament.
For those of you who don't follow soccer but kind
of followed the United States men's national team, we have
real talent. These guys are playing overseas and summer flourishing.
We would have an occasional Landon Donovan or you know,
(37:42):
we always had a goalie that could go overseas. I mean,
goalie is one of the weaker spots I would argue
on our team, which has never been the case. Matt Turner,
We're not exactly sure.
Speaker 4 (37:50):
We got a shot here in Copa. I wouldn't rule
out us making a run to the final. It'll be
difficult obviously Brazil, Argentina.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Or But it's different now. This is not just me
selling soccer. No, no, no no. We've got really really
good players, like really now, and most of them are
just moving into their prime. So we were insanely young,
yet got out of the group stage, got a draw
with England. We were insanely young. I think we were
(38:18):
the first or second youngest team in the last World
we got we're still on the young side. In a
couple of years, this is we're still on the young side.
But now it's here. There's pressure. You have to get
out of the group stage and you know, you you
That's why that that that day they draw for the
groups is fascinating because sometimes American teams who have been
(38:41):
meet week getting a favorable draw. This time we have
a team that can you know, we can, we can score.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
As a host country, you would hope we get a.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Favorable You would hope we get a favorable draw. But
it's this isn't me hyping at this the the Euros.
This is high level stuff. And and Bope broke his nose.
So we don't know the future of that right now.
But the Kopa thing is huge because i am a
Burhalter believer, but I'm in the minority. If we throw
(39:12):
a stinker up at COPA.
Speaker 4 (39:16):
Hey, don't lose to Bolivia in the opener, nobody, let's
just not lose Bolivia.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
No, it will be chaos in American victory. Jurgen Klinsman
had some support and then they had that disaster against
was it Trinidad Tobago. They went in. The field was
all wet and and like it hadn't been. It was
a bad It looked like the Bears field in the NFL,
(39:43):
like that's not maintained at a high level. And they
low and it was over. So it's funny about American soccer.
It can literally be a match because the expectations are
always a little unrealistic about our guys. This is the
first time in my life that I'm on the hype
train that I actually think we can compete with Brazil.
(40:04):
I think we can compete with Argentina. And I've never
I never. I always felt like whenever we played those teams,
we had to play hyper defensive soccer. We had to
be very careful, attack briefly and then retreat or we'll
get burned. I do not feel like that anymore. And
I think I'm a realist. Every Ethan, Liam and Josh
and Beckett and Holden thinks you know we're gonna win
(40:24):
the Cup. I've always laughed and rolled my eyes and said,
it ain't coaching, it's players. I think we can compete
in space with the ball. We have elite players.
Speaker 4 (40:34):
Beckett, Huh, Ethan is funny, I beck It's just a
random first name. I've never known anyone named Beckett.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Oh, well, you don't know soccer fans, there's Beckett at
every turn. Mark Cavoli's going to be joining us on
the Pittsburgh Steelers. By the way, Jason Tatum's expected to
sign a record breaking contract. Does that bother you?
Speaker 4 (40:52):
Three years, three hundred or sorry, five years, three hundred
and fifteen.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
Mil Well, why would it bothered me?
Speaker 3 (40:56):
I know, I.
Speaker 4 (40:58):
Want all these guys to get paid. Yeah, everybody shove
all the money into the pocket.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
And Tatum's the kind of guy that you'll pay him.
You don't worry about it, no, I mean there are
players in the NBA like Zion. You worry about his weight,
We worried about his discipline. You know, there have been
players in the NBA. You're like, I don't know. There's
a lot of money. You cross your fingers. Like Tatum
he's good, Yeah, he's he is. By the way, the
two times I watched the Celtics live this year, he
was the first guy on the floor working on his craft.
(41:24):
First guy on the floor, hour two, next
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Here we go. It is a Wednesday, Tom Brady later
in the show, Wednesday Live in Los Angeles. It's The Herd.
Wherever you may be and however you may be listening.
Thanks for making us part of your day. The coffee
tastes a little better today. That's what happens when you
watch Stanley Cup final action. I'm telling you Jmax Connor,
(00:47):
McDavid hold me in last night, not saying I'm leading
with it, but it was riveting hockey action.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
I don't know the blue line from the Blue Man group.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I mean I think hockey Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah, I commit. You got to commit to the art
form that's the American sports. So there's a lot of
different things to talk about today. You know, people kind
of poke fun at Magic Johnson's Twitter account because he's
really good at stating the obvious as if it's a revelation.
But whatever. He did have a tweet yesterday the former
(01:24):
Laker Great, and he said, I hate that the Celtics
officially have more championships than us. Now, well, actually a
lot more. The Boston Celtics have eighteen and the Los
Angeles Lakers have only twelve. But what really makes it
most impressive is that the Lakers have twelve. I'm not
(01:45):
going to count the five in Minneapolis. You know, I
don't count George Miken. Okay, the Lakers have had three
of the top four or five centers of her Wilt
Kareem Shack. The Lakers have had the best point guard ever,
Magic Johnson, a revelation six to eight and a half
point guard. They had past his prime or late prime,
(02:07):
Lebron James arguably the greatest player. Not to mention the logo,
Kobe Bryant, you know, James Worthy, Anthony Davis. They've had
ten twelve all time great players, Elgin Baylor, warm winter weather.
In a sport that's always been about culture and entertainment too.
(02:29):
They're in Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of North America.
They have a destination advantage over Boston and it's a
star driven city, and the NBA has always been star
driven and player driven. Now the Celtics have had Bill
Russell and John Havelchek, Bob Coosey, I'm not doubting, Larry Bird,
Paul Pierce, kg Kevin McHale. They've had some stars to THEO,
(02:53):
not Lakers stars. But there's not a lot to do
when it's twenty one degrees in the winter in Boston.
It's a provincial town more than a big city. It's
mostly famous for stuff in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds,
if you want to be honest about their history. And
yet there is no reason the Celtics should be this good.
(03:16):
I mean really why. It's not like players in the
Winner say, get me to one of the coldest cities,
one of the most geographically isolated cities. No, not really,
And yet brain power, red Arbach, the Danny Ainge trades
and now Brad Stevens has been the difference. That's been
(03:36):
the difference. In fact, if you were to guess there
was an Eastern city that should be great, it should
be the New York Knicks. Madison Square Garden is called
the basketball mecca. Again, a star fame Broadway driven town.
It's a bigger, cooler, richer city, Rucker Park, basketball history tremendous.
(04:00):
But yet it's the Celtics, I mean Los Angeles. Even
the coaches are stars here, Harbaugh, McVeigh, Lincoln Riley stars
like LA Stars Seek La, Matt Stafford, Lebron James. They
had a lot of options, sho Hao Tawny had a
(04:23):
lot of options. They choose Los Angeles, and they have
usually chosen the Lakers over the Celtics if they're a
free agent. But the difference between eighteen championships and twelve
is even greater because it looks like Boston because of
the way they're built. They still maintain most of their
(04:43):
top picks. Next five years has eighteen and you would
not be surprised if they rattled off with this group
two or three more in the next five or six years.
And the Lakers appear to be miles away from winning
another one, proving that in sports, even in the artistic, stylistic,
(05:05):
flashy NBA smart Trump's Sizzle, the Celtics have been, on average,
a much smarter basketball operation. Now Jerry West, pat Riley,
Phil Jackson were involved. It didn't feel that way, but
like the Dallas Cowboys. Those guys all leave the parcels.
(05:31):
Jimmy Johnson leaves, and they are as we've found in
Los Angeles with the Lakers, very very hard to replace.
As the Lakers will be announcing a new basketball coach
this week, what is that the seventh in thirteen years?
Smart wins So I saw this this morning Sportiko published
(05:59):
wn team evaluations. How much your WNBA team's worth? Not much?
If you want to see the Caitlin Clark effect here,
It is bad team, small market and they are worth
more the Indiana Fever, than the Los Angeles Sparks, the Dallas, Atlanta,
(06:23):
Washington teams, and almost equal to a team in Chicago.
This is a bad team in a small market. I
feel like I'm watching a little bit like when Tiger
Woods a little bit came to the PGA tour. Suddenly
within a year two or three, all the purses, all
the golf purses started to explode. It lifted all boats.
(06:47):
But the difference is Bryce Harper to baseball, Tiger Woods
to golf. Let's say Conor McGregor to the UFC. They
did not save those sports. Wolf was making money. Baseball's
always made a ton of money. Dana White and UFC
were making money. It did, however, illuminate those sports to
(07:09):
a greater level. More people watched, more people were interested.
But the WNBA, since its inception in nineteen ninety six,
I think ninety seven was the first year they played,
they've lost big money every year. The losses aren't as
sizable last year in the previous seven or eight years,
but they were like ten million dollars losing money. In fact,
(07:32):
so much so that in twenty eighteen teams moved to
smaller arenas. In a city of ten million people, New York,
the Liberty were averaging seventeen hundred people a game. The
WNBA Finals this past year got seven hundred thousand viewers,
(07:52):
about half of what the newly formed UFL Championship game got.
Caitlin Clark, to some degree, is saving the WNBA. This
is not Connor McGregor. The UFC was ascending and profitable.
This is not Bryce Harper. To baseball. Teams in baseball
(08:14):
are and remain flush with cash. This wasn't exactly tiger Woods.
To golf, you still had legendary tournaments like the US Open,
the British Open, the Masters that people watch and coveted.
That's not so with the WNBA. It is an incredibly
(08:35):
harsh truth. This league was in some trouble. They weren't
making money, they were downsized and arenas nobody's watching the
final and it has been totally subsidized, not sort of,
kind of remotely, totally subsidized by the NBA. But that's okay,
that is okay. Lots of businesses have to be subsidized.
(09:00):
Lots of businesses need a catalyst to take them from
nonprofit to big profit. But never forget this. This is
the Caitlyn Clark effect. She may not be good enough
to be on the Olympic team, but she is easily
the greatest player without even playing half a season. She
(09:23):
is the greatest player for business in the history of
the league. And it's not close. These valuations all throw
it out there, will be worth three times this much. Okay,
so right now, the Indian Fever's worth ninety million and
they've been around for years. These will triple, These will triple.
(09:49):
Within twenty four months, the evaluations of these teams will triple.
The Las Vegas as Is will be worse. Somewhere in
the three hundred million. Think I'm crazy. It's amazing what
Beckham and Messy did to the MLS. They got that
big Apple TV contract. It's amazing what a star can do.
(10:12):
It's okay that it was subsidized by the WNB. It's
okay that it wasn't a big profit center. A lot
of companies need a catalyst. Well, let's not kid ourselves here.
Caitlin Clark is easily the greatest player in that league's
history in terms of business. And the only reason these
lights are on in this studio is not sports, it's business.
(10:35):
J Mac, we have quite a show today. Tom Brady
will be stopping by in a couple of hours. Did
you see the story where Justin Fields is struggling a
little in Pittsburgh?
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Oh yeah, so terrible to see that Justin Fields struggling
in a defensive situation in Pittsburgh with Mike Tomlin as
the head coach. We'll see no quarterbacks have been able
to succeed there since Big Ben.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Well even Big Ben in his latter years. It was
choppy to say it wasn't as good as you know.
They didn't have any big wins as last several years
against no big playoff wins, no it's better rough go. Well,
it's a defensive Culture's why Green Bay dos quarterbacks? Well,
it could be Mike Hongren, Mike McCarthy, Matt Lafleur. It's
an offensive culture. Packer fans don't like that their defense
(11:18):
usually underachieves, but they're on the right side of the
ball going forward.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Yeah. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd
weekdays and Noone Eastern nin a em Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Hey it's me Rob Parker.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker for
twenty two minutes of piping hot baseball talk featuring the
biggest names and newsmakers in the sport.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Whether you believe in analytics or.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
The Ie test, We've got all the bases covers. New
episodes drop every Thursday, So do yourself a favor and
listen to Inside the Parker with Rob Parker on the
iHeartRadio app or wherever you go at your podcast.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
So I thought this was interesting, and we'll go to
Pittsburgh less than one hour from now. Talk to Mark Coboli,
who wrote this story this morning that justin Fields, the
former electric often dynamic quarterback for the Chicago Bears, who
was moved for only a six round pick to be
the backup in Pittsburgh, has struggled early and Russell Wilson,
(12:24):
as we predicted, has completely separated first quarterback first team
QB one snaps has been accurate. It's according to Koboli,
and we'll go to him live in an hour. It's
not terribly close. That's what we thought. And here's the
thing with Justin Fields, it's a cautionary tale. Got to
learn from your mistakes right in life. Is that you
(12:47):
can see him peel off a forty yard run once
a game or make a big time throw down the field.
You see the gifts. But quarterback is the only position
in American sport that much of the greatness you can't see.
Brady Breeze, Peyton Manning, pre snap movement, audibling in the
(13:09):
yards and out of trouble. That accounts for about thirty
to forty percent of this game. The ability for a
quarterback to feel the game and see the game. This
has been my knock on Justin Fields and Trevor Wilson,
both athletic, both move well, both good arms. I don't
think they can see the field. I think people are open.
(13:32):
Highlights and tape have shown it and they can't see it.
By the way, not a huge Brock Purty fan, but
both Kyle Shanahan and Sam Dartle when he was a Niner,
both had publicly said Brock Purdy at the line of scrimmage,
pre snap and post snap, really sees the field, really
(13:55):
gets himself in the yards and out of trouble. That
is a big chunk of this league. So athleticable ability
can really be fools go because you can see it
all and Justin Fields is an unbelievable athlete. Yet he
was over the last three seasons the most sacked quarterback
(14:16):
in the NFL. He couldn't audible out of sacks. And
you say, oh, it's the offensive line. Did you know
last year by the end of the year, PFF ranked
the Bears offensive line above the Niners. I watched the games.
It was better, and it was in the same class
as the Kansas City Chiefs. The difference is Patrick Mahomes
(14:38):
and brought Purty audible out of sacks. This is what
I've said with Justin Fields and Zach Wilson. I can
see the talent, you can see why They're drafted high
first round, both have live arms, both moved really well.
I mean even the report this week in Denver, Zach
Wilson has the best arm, not bow Nicks, Zack Wilson
(14:58):
easily the liveliest arm. But so much of playing quarterback
is what you don't see. And that's where Russell is
going to have an advantage over Justin Fields. J Mack
with the News.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Turn on the news. This is the herd Line News.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
All right, let's stick with quarterbacks.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
And we saw that Trevor Lawrence got paid last week,
Tua is on deck, Dak Prescott.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
But let's let's put Matthew Stafford's name out there. Colin.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
He's tubled down the list of highest paid quarterbacks and
reportedly wants a reworked contract. Ian Rappaport of NFL Network
indicates that while Stafford won't hold out from camp, he
wants more guaranteed money. Now we talked about on the
show last year and that the Rams approached Stafford to
rework his deal.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
He's like, no, thanks, I'm good.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
And now Stafford is saying, oh, all these other guys
are getting paid, I'm not even on the list of
one of the highest paid quarterbacks anymore?
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Yo, can you guys hook me up? I think the
rayvill play hardball with him. I don't think he's going
to get anything this summer.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Well, what the Rams are doing, and it's really smart.
They're the only team in the league I can think
of that has paid big money for two guards and
they drafted a guard they've moved to center. So what
they've done, they're going to have an excellent guard center
guard combination. That is what Tom Brady had in Tampa.
(16:23):
So as a quarterback gets older, they can easily step up.
But right if somebody comes on the edge, they can
step up. But what the Rams have done through money
in draft picks has fortified the interior line for Stafford.
They want Stafford. They don't want a young, lively quarterback.
That wouldn't be nearly as big a deal if you
(16:44):
had a young guy that's running around. They want Stafford
in town. They are trying to keep him upright for
two years. So they have totally committed the last two
years to They've made trades, they've spent money, They've drafted
it to the offensive line, especially the interior line. Next year,
I've been My strong belief is they'll go left tackle
(17:06):
or right tackle in their first pick in next year's draft.
So what they're doing is the smart thing to do.
They are committing to the O line, not necessarily wide receiver.
They only pay Cooper Cup not necessarily. There's a lot
of other places they're not spending money. They're very young defensively.
They want to keep Stafford and what they're trying to
do is just extend this career as long as they
(17:29):
can because the misrate is so you know, it's fifty
sixty percent on quarterback. So they love Stafford. It's been
a little uncomfortable with the money talk last couple of years,
but Stafford here has the leverage because if you're going
to be in a division, you know with San Francisco,
you can't ham an egadic quarterback.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Well, they I think they thought Stetson Benner. Remember they
drafted him.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
He was a fourth round pick, I know, but still
they thought, like he could be something we get work
with McVeigh. He wasn't even with the team last year
to do to some personal stuff. So now Stafford is
set to make thirty one million this season, has no
guaranteed money after this year, So is there a world
where they convince him, hey man, we'll give you the
bump now, but you've got to give us a hometown
discount next year because there's no quarterback in the pipeline
(18:12):
after him.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Yeah, and I think if you watch Stafford play, he
always gets you know, he bangs his hand on a helmet.
It's not stuff that that generally knocks him out for
a season. I think the Rams are viewing it as
a two year proposition. This year and next year, can
we have Matt. I believe they will make a move
next year in the draft for a quarterback, left tackle
and a quarterback. They've they've drafted heavy defense the last
(18:36):
two years. First second, third round picks been all defense.
The Rams are gonna pivot next year in the draft
to offense. They're gonna go tackle, quarterback, wide receiver. They're
gonna they're gonna pivot as a franchised offense.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
The weird part about this whole quarterbacks getting paid stuff.
You and I agree, Stafford is one hundred top ten quarterback.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
In the league. No, he's at top five on the law.
I mean, when he's healthy, he's a great player.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
And he's not paid that way.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
And yet you look at the top of the list,
and there's a bunch of guys in they're getting paid
because when their deal was up that aren't top five,
maybe not top ten.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Yes, So Stafford's got two things going for him, leverage, talent,
and the richest owner in the NFL. So they'll You know,
this got bumpier than the Rams wanted to admit last year.
Remember they pushed back on narratives and then Stafford acknowledged
the narratives that we had talked about and reported on
were true. Yeah, this this this whole thing there. They
(19:33):
love him, he loves them. But what Stafford can really
threaten is retirement, that's his What he can really threaten
is I'm not going to another team. I'm just gonna
wrap it up.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
Yeah, I mean, look at this list. Kirk Cousins, Kyler, Murray,
Deshaan Watson. I mean, they're not in the same galaxy as.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Stafford, and they're getting paid.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
It's it's weird, it's it's clunky. But we know Stafford
wants to be out here. No, you and I know
he bought it, bought a place. Both sides totally into
each other. But I would say Stafford has the leverage
because he could retire.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Now, yeah, he could just walk away.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
They got nobody in the pipeline, all right.
Speaker 4 (20:08):
Next up, we've heard from a lot of players about
Jim Harbaugh's impact on the Chargers already. Well, LA recently
gave a little more insight into Hardball's time in mini camp.
They had him miked up and hear some of his
best quotes at Chargers camp.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Put that work in.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
You feel like you got better. You go to sleep
at night, you know your head hit the pillow. Body's
a little sore, it's aches, you sweated on your mind,
it's concentrated. You hit that hit pillow and you're out.
You're out. That's how you know. That's how you know
you had a good day.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Every every day. I want to just come up and
get some what you got?
Speaker 2 (20:44):
What do you got?
Speaker 6 (20:45):
Give me some of that. I just feed up of
guys like you. Der I feed up a guys like you,
and it's in all you can eat buffet great day
to day. You got a staff one stacking stack and
stack and plays stacking days.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
I love Hardball, I love him. I can't wait. You
know what they're gonna do. It's so obvious they're going
to become. You know, the last four years with two
different coaches, they've been like twenty eight, twenty ninth, thirtieth
rushing per game, rushing yards in attempt. They've been a
terrible run team with Austin Eckler. So that is going
to change because even when he had Andrew Luck at
(21:19):
Stanford one year Andrew Luck was ninth in the PAC
twelve and pass attempts with Andrew Luck, Harbaugh, this is
going to be a run first, physical team. The league
is zigging hill zag. I can't wait to watch it.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Hey, it's great for the league because you remember there
were a bunch of Mondays where we would have been
texting on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Boy, Brandon Stateley, he's so bad. Yeah, did you see?
Speaker 1 (21:42):
This is the best. This is the best kind of
job to take over. Like you and I would know.
You never want to replace, like Howard Stern on FM radio,
it's hard to replace, you know Andy Reid in Kansas
City someday that's that's not what.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
You want to do.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
What you want to replace is a team like the
Chargers where you've got your left tackle, your pass rusher,
your star quarterback, and you're replacing a coach who was
a little over his skeis. This is not a rebuild. Now,
they're gonna be a little light in perimeter speed. But
if you look at what wins in the NFL, head coach, quarterback,
(22:18):
left tackle, edge rusher, those four boxes they check. They're
okay at corner, they're not great. They miss weapons. But
you know, here's the thing. You and I talked about this.
You can criticize them, but their whole take was Keenan
Allen's getting old, Mike Williams can't stay healthy. Let's just
go into the draft and find it. And for the record,
that's what the Houston Texans did and it worked. You
(22:39):
can find the second round pick. They got the kid
out of Georgia. They're pretty good at tight end, and
they went and got some second tier running backs. But
receivers are not winning Super bowls. Coaches, quarterbacks, pass rushers
are winning super Bowls. So I think they'll be fine.
I think you and I both believe they're one of
the better over bets on the board.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
I think you've got to be a little careful with
that n A half division, the AFC stack.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
I like them. Initially I didn't. It's it's listened.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
It's not gonna be an easy season for them because
remember there are one or two injuries away as usual.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
You and I did this one day. Have you looked
at their schedule.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
I haven't looked at it.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
It's softer than you'd think. Remember Kansas City's won back
to back Super Bowls. They still have a week receiving corps.
They're hoping a late tiny first round receiver hits for
Shane Rises, a noisy, weird offseason. Travis Kelsey's not getting younger,
it is, so look at their schedule.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
That's a wink.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
When Raiders, Carolina and Steelers to open, those are incredibly
winnable games.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
I think you're favored and I think they'll probably be
favored in definitely.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
The first one in the first Chiefs games at home,
and then they get a bye like the early buy. No,
I mean look at this. Ask yourself this weeks one
through ten in the find me a weaker schedule, Raiders, Carolina, Steelers,
Chiefs is tough buy, but two weeks to prepare for
(24:10):
rival Denver, Arizona, Saints, Cleveland, and Tennessee.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
Yeah, they're favorite in I'm guessing seven or eight of
those games, it'll probably be dark.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
That is now now, and I think the league did
it on purpose. I think the league wanted to give
Harbaugh and the Chargers a lot of sunlight. Now it
gets tough, then it's Sincy and Baltimore, Kirk Cousins, Mahomes.
You know, then it gets But if you look at
those first ten weeks, you would not be surprised if
they're seven and three.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Well at the season's bookended against the trash Raiders team.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I mean, I think that is a SNEA. I said
this about USC this year, Harball f Michigan, No, Oregon
and Ohio State. USC's schedule in the Big Ten and
LSU is not rolling defensively, it's a rebuild. Jayden Daniels
is gone. USC's Big Ten schedule is sneaky soft. The
Chargers schedule is a lot of young quarterbacks, average quarterbacks,
(25:02):
and new coaching staffs. In the first nine ten weeks.
It is for an AFC team in Mahomes's division that
there's a lot of do ws on that bolle.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
Final story to Major League Baseball, the league lost a
legend yesterday after Willie Mays passed away at the age
of ninety three. Mays was considered one of the all
time greatest players in the sport, ranking sixth all time
with six hundred and sixty home runs, won twelve Gold
gloves in center field, made a famous there it is
catch over the shoulder, just amazing. He was the first
(25:35):
ballot Hall of Famer, two time NLMV.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Twenty four time Allso that doesn't even sound right.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
Yeah, twelve time Gold Glove winner Willie Mays, the legend
passes away at ninety three.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
A lot of people, you know, Babe Ruth is a
more iconic name, but a lot of people feel Willie
Mays was the greatest athlete in the history of baseball.
Willie Mays passes at ninety three. Saw this story this
morning Adrian Wojanowski, who covers the NBA. The Detroit Pistons
(26:09):
after one year have moved on from Monty Williams. So
that means they have to pay off five years sixty
five million. That is that is that is nuts. So
it made me think about this. So the Sixers tanked,
trust the process, haven't had a lot of playoff success.
(26:31):
The Pistons tanked. They're awful. Portland tanked and they were
a bit of a mess this year, worst record in
the Western Conference. Washington tanked. When have they ever been good?
And you know who refused to tank? Okay, see in
(26:52):
the Celtics, one just won a championship and the other
is really close. Is this whole tanking thing it it's
I don't think it works, and I'll tell you why.
Even if you have the worst record the Pistons, the
way the lottery works in the NBA, you only have
about fifteen percent chance to get the number one pick.
(27:15):
That's it, right. Tanking does not guarantee the number one pick. Secondly,
this is not the NFL draft. You get a nineteen
year old. So there's two things about a nineteen year old.
First of all, they're not close to ready to carry
you in the playoffs. Secondly, you're kind of guessing on
(27:39):
what they become as people. Forget basketball players. I mean,
I've got six kids, biological or step. The gap between
seventeen eighteen and twenty three is significant, not at what
they do professionally, but personally so. In the NFL, many
(28:01):
players have redshirted in football and then played three or
four years. You get an often married, twenty three year
old with a degree who's been in a college campus,
experienced many different kinds of people, classes, cultures. They're mature.
They come in ready to play. Football players also know
(28:22):
because of the level of regulated violence, careers don't last
as long. They come in serious, they come in focused,
they are not distracted. They come in briefcase, ready to produce.
NBA players come in as kids. I mean a brain
doesn't fully develop till what twenty three, twenty four years old?
(28:42):
Their kids. Their games aren't refined. They aren't refined, can't
drink in the hotel bar. And so there's some guessing
going on on what you're going to get as a person.
Here's what works in the NBA. The best teams have
the best front offices right now, Oklahoma City great front office,
(29:05):
Boston Celtics great front office. That's what works. I do
not buy in tanking. Not only that, but number one
picks surprisingly do not lead the titles from the original
team that drafts them. You have to go back to
nineteen ninety eight. It's twenty six years ago that a
(29:29):
number one pick won a title for his team. It's
Kyrie Irving, and before Lebron got there, they were over him.
Nobody liked him and he couldn't stay healthy like he
was a He was a marginal bust in some eyes, talented,
but couldn't stay healthy, couldn't stay healthy at duke, fragile player,
(29:50):
and he only wins when Lebron arrives. He's great briefly,
and then he goes to Boston and the whole thing unravels.
So you're not guaranteed when you tank the number one pick.
Number one picks don't win titles for their original teams,
and you get an unrefined, not only player, but kid. Yes,
of course you can get a Wemby or you can
(30:12):
get a Luca. But what you're finding in basketball, and
I've noticed this I don't remember as I was growing
up and watching NBA and NBA drafts, there used to
be seven rounds. By the way, it's down to two
years and years and years and years ago. But it's
become more of a guessing draft because you know, the
(30:36):
Villanova guys are the outlier, like they go to college
for like four years. There's a reason Villanova guys don't
bust as much because you know what you're getting. You're
getting a mature adult who's been hard coached at Villanova,
A willing defender, a good teammate, and he spent three
or four years in college. He's an adult. Doesn't feel
like the Villanova guys bust much. I mean, we have
(30:56):
a term Villanova guys in the NBA. I mean there's
Kentucky guys, but there's been a lot of high, low,
miss hit Villanova guys. You know what you get. They're older,
they come in, you know, they they've gone through the
tunnel of college basketball for several years. So this whole
tanking thing at I look at Detroit and I'm like,
(31:18):
they're a mess. It hasn't worked. About every third draft
in the NBA is a bad one. This is a
bad draft.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
You know.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
It's just to show you how much guessing there semi
guessing there is the best player in the league. Jokich
went in the second round. Kawhi went fifteenth, Giannis went fifteenth,
Sga went eleventh, Devin Booker thirteenth, Jalen Brunson the first
Big Time Star winning player in New York in forever
second round. That's not because the gms are incapable. It's
(31:49):
not because the executives are dummies. How much tape do
you have? What do you have. I mean, you've got
European guys playing against all older men, and you've got
college kids with one year where it's a coach dominated offense.
In the NFL, New England for the last six seven
(32:10):
years with Belichick running the draft drafted poorly. That's on Belichick.
You got more than enough tape. You got three and
four years of college tape. There is no excuse to
have a bad draft with seven picks. The good gms
in this league, the Bill Paulians, they didn't miss on
first and second round picks. They didn't miss on a
lot of picks. There's no excuse for missing on several
(32:30):
picks having a terrible like the Jets several years ago
pre Joe Douglass had a draft where they had like
nine picks eight seven eight couldn't play. They had no
excuse for that. But in the NBA there is kind
of an excuse. They just don't have much tape. You're
doing a little bit of guessing. That's why so many
of the great players, I mean the best player, Jokic, second,
best player, arguably Yannis second or third. You know, one
(32:54):
guy's second round, one guy's mid first. Tom Brady's gonna
be showing up today. Love to have Tommy on the show.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern non am Pacific.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
Tomorrow, the Summer of Stars rolls on as the tournament
favorite England faces Deadmark at noon on FS one and
over on Fox.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
It's the biggest game of the group.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
Stage at Spain takes on Italy at three pm Eastern,
then our Gentina squares off against Canada at eight pm
on FS one.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
That's the quality of this these tournaments. We've got Copa
coming on. Yeah, we've got the Euros. You're somebody that
owns part of a soccer team. I have tried. I've
said this before. I have tried on two occasions to
buy into the MLS. It's like a you know, a
passive you know, second, third, fourth, fifth, owner, and it's
I can't afford it. So you went overseas to get
(33:50):
involved Mexico. Yeah we uh yeah, good offseason for our team.
The arrow pointing up.
Speaker 4 (33:55):
But I was just on a text threat with Buddies
debating the Brazil Copa America squore. They left off a
couple of superstars, Brazil's loaded Neymars hurt like, there's so
much juice here with soccer right now, Cople America's I
can remember.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
It's funny about soccer. I can remember. So I grew
up in the Pacific Northwest, so long story. So when
I was a kid, my mom was British. We went
over to England in the sixties, so it was I'm
guessing here, I was probably sixty nine to seventy. We
went over to England, and I remember the Netherlands. Johann
(34:30):
Krouf was the big star in soccer, and so England
was great and the Netherlands were great. And my family,
my mom's family, her twin brother and a lot of family,
they were big soccer fans. In fact, my mom bought
me a little soccer game and on this window ledge
I was playing soccer. So it was my first indoctrination
(34:50):
to soccer. It was in the late sixties. I was
like six seven years old. I remember. I remember the
soccer game and I can remember and they had the
TV and was an orange team in England. They talked
a lot of soccer. We also ate a lot of potatoes.
I remember that the family didn't have it. We didn't
have much money. And then you know. I'm from the
Pacific Northwest, so I grew up in the Seattle Sounders.
(35:13):
Tony Chersky was this great goalie, so more than the
average American sports fan. I had a British mother. I
went to England as a kid. It was during a
World Cup. Then I had the Seattle Sounders, the Portland Timbers,
and then I worked in Portland and a Clive Charles
was a legendary collegiate soccer coach, and the University of
(35:33):
Portland had a legendary college soccer program. So what people
think for years and years, like Colin you talk soccer
because Fox had it. Now I've tried to buy MLS twice.
I because of where I was raised and what I
was a raised. I grew up with a lot of soccer.
Saw it as a kid, sixty seven Seattle Sounders. But
people forget there used to be something called the NASL.
(35:55):
That was the first that I can recall, the first
big American league, and it had the Minnesota care San
Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders. It was a thing so I
grew up was now it was predated, way predated by
thirty forty years, I think the MLS. But it was
a viable league. I remember New York Cosmos, Yeah, New
York Cosmos, and they had a great star. Off the
(36:18):
top of my head, I forget it, but it was
a great international star. One of the great stars in
the league was in the New York Cosmos. So I
watched that as a kid. So I have always been
and as i've aged and I think moved out of
watching a lot of regular season baseball. I've always been
an NFL college football. I like a fighter, a UFC
fight er, a boxing match. I like that. But some
(36:38):
of my sports has changed. Like some of my sports,
I grew up loving baseball, I don't watch as much.
I loved college basketball. I don't watch as much, and
soccer I'm more into. So these Euros, it's really high
end soccer. These are some of the best teams in
the world. And then you get COPA, which is crucial
(36:58):
to America this year because we have international talent. For
the first time in my life, we have like multiple
international players, our guys playing internationally, and there's a lot
of pressure on Burholder because USA runs through coaches. We
just run through coaches, So it's whenever I, oh, you
like it, no, no, I really, I have no problem.
(37:20):
Last night I watched the Stanley Cup, you know, Edmonton
for hour and a half. This European soccer stuff and
this Copa stuff. It's a big deal, this Copa tournament.
For those of you who don't follow soccer but kind
of followed the United States men's national team, we have
real talent. These guys are playing overseas and summer flourishing.
We would have an occasional Landon Donovan or you know,
(37:42):
we always had a goalie that could go overseas. I mean,
goalie is one of the weaker spots I would argue
on our team, which has never been the case. Matt Turner,
We're not exactly sure.
Speaker 4 (37:50):
We got a shot here in Copa. I wouldn't rule
out us making a run to the final. It'll be
difficult obviously Brazil, Argentina.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Or But it's different now. This is not just me
selling soccer. No, no, no no. We've got really really
good players, like really now, and most of them are
just moving into their prime. So we were insanely young,
yet got out of the group stage, got a draw
with England. We were insanely young. I think we were
(38:18):
the first or second youngest team in the last World
we got we're still on the young side. In a
couple of years, this is we're still on the young side.
But now it's here. There's pressure. You have to get
out of the group stage and you know, you you
That's why that that that day they draw for the
groups is fascinating because sometimes American teams who have been
(38:41):
meet week getting a favorable draw. This time we have
a team that can you know, we can, we can score.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
As a host country, you would hope we get a.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Favorable You would hope we get a favorable draw. But
it's this isn't me hyping at this the the Euros.
This is high level stuff. And and Bope broke his nose.
So we don't know the future of that right now.
But the Kopa thing is huge because i am a
Burhalter believer, but I'm in the minority. If we throw
(39:12):
a stinker up at COPA.
Speaker 4 (39:16):
Hey, don't lose to Bolivia in the opener, nobody, let's
just not lose Bolivia.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
No, it will be chaos in American victory. Jurgen Klinsman
had some support and then they had that disaster against
was it Trinidad Tobago. They went in. The field was
all wet and and like it hadn't been. It was
a bad It looked like the Bears field in the NFL,
(39:43):
like that's not maintained at a high level. And they
low and it was over. So it's funny about American soccer.
It can literally be a match because the expectations are
always a little unrealistic about our guys. This is the
first time in my life that I'm on the hype
train that I actually think we can compete with Brazil.
(40:04):
I think we can compete with Argentina. And I've never
I never. I always felt like whenever we played those teams,
we had to play hyper defensive soccer. We had to
be very careful, attack briefly and then retreat or we'll
get burned. I do not feel like that anymore. And
I think I'm a realist. Every Ethan, Liam and Josh
and Beckett and Holden thinks you know we're gonna win
(40:24):
the Cup. I've always laughed and rolled my eyes and said,
it ain't coaching, it's players. I think we can compete
in space with the ball. We have elite players.
Speaker 4 (40:34):
Beckett, Huh, Ethan is funny, I beck It's just a
random first name. I've never known anyone named Beckett.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Oh, well, you don't know soccer fans, there's Beckett at
every turn. Mark Cavoli's going to be joining us on
the Pittsburgh Steelers. By the way, Jason Tatum's expected to
sign a record breaking contract. Does that bother you?
Speaker 4 (40:52):
Three years, three hundred or sorry, five years, three hundred
and fifteen.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
Mil Well, why would it bothered me?
Speaker 3 (40:56):
I know, I.
Speaker 4 (40:58):
Want all these guys to get paid. Yeah, everybody shove
all the money into the pocket.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
And Tatum's the kind of guy that you'll pay him.
You don't worry about it, no, I mean there are
players in the NBA like Zion. You worry about his weight,
We worried about his discipline. You know, there have been
players in the NBA. You're like, I don't know. There's
a lot of money. You cross your fingers. Like Tatum
he's good, Yeah, he's he is. By the way, the
two times I watched the Celtics live this year, he
was the first guy on the floor working on his craft.
(41:24):
First guy on the floor, hour two, next
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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