April 1, 2025 • 42 mins
Colin supports MLB star players using the "torpedo" bat and explains why this continues to build the momentum baseball has had since last season's viewership growth
The President of FIFA Gianni Infantino joins the show to tell Colin what the U.S. needs to do in order to become seriously competitive in the World Cup
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Welcome in. It is a Tuesday, and we got a
show today. I was talking about this yesterday with Jmack.
We're a lucky time right now where everything is working.
Baseball's got torpedo bats, you got the nil is propped
up college basketball where we have the four best teams.
NBA Lakers decided to play defense last night and by
(00:53):
the way, it looks like overtime change in the NFL.
So Jmack, we got a good one today and so
we talked about this yesterday. Our leadoff hitter again today
is baseball. So Ellie Dla Cruz plays for the Cincinnati
Reds and he's one of the great players in baseball
that doesn't play for the Yankees of the mat or
the Dodgers, or the Phillies, or the Atlanta Braves or
(01:14):
the Houston Astros. Ellie Da La Cruz a couple of
home runs, seven RBIs. Last night he used the torpedo bat.
And now listen, the Minnesota Twins used the torpedo bat
this weekend and got swept and scored six runs. So
it's like Harry Potter the wand is choosing the wizard,
all right, but it's another win for baseball. More runs,
(01:34):
more action, more base runners. Ten teams now are averaging
six runs. So last week I had Rob Manford, the
Commissioner of Baseball, and I said, you've got parody. The
only problem is the pitchers are dominating hitters. You have
too many teams hitting two forty, like half the league.
This morning you got seven teams hitting over two ninety.
(01:56):
And it's not slowing the game down. Last night Cincinnati
scored fourteen runs and took two hours and twenty five minutes.
So unlike when pitching dominates and pitching changes and you
go to the bullpen and you bring on the fifth guy,
those games get into three hours and fifteen minutes into
Tuesday Wednesday night. Nobody has that time. Takes you forty
minutes to get to the ballpark, fifty five minutes to
(02:17):
get home. People have lives eighty one home games. You
got a create urgency. So we're now getting more offense,
more hitting, and and again not everybody is using the bats.
And you know, steroids was different. This is like legal HGH.
Steroids would take guys that were non home run hitters
(02:37):
and I don't even need to mention names, and suddenly
they were in the race for the American League MVP.
That would also help guys like Barry Bonds allegedly right
or other guys. But you felt like a lot of
times you were taking like TRIPLEA players and they were
making the big leagues because of HGH. This is totally legal,
and it's amazing when you embrace innovation and don't fight
(02:59):
it as a sport and baseball man, baseball is on
a heater. Increase the size of the basis, you know,
end extra ending games, faster, speed the game up, defensive shift,
torpedo bats, more offense, more guys stealing bases, more action,
and you know, it's like Grandpa got a sports car.
(03:20):
Baseball decided, you know what we're gonna get. We're gonna
join the pilates class and be hip And of all
the sports, baseball now is doing more stuff, right, And again,
Eli Dayala Cruise is great. But if you give Gordon
Ramsey fresher seafood and better ingredients, you get a five
star meal. And that's what you're getting here. So I mean, I,
(03:41):
Aaron Judge and Otawni are not using it yet and
I'm not sure they have to. But this, this is
not creating greatness. That was the illegal stuff. You know that,
this is just kind of enhancing greatness. Eli Dla Cruz
is amazing, like now he's amazing. Plus, and the Yankees
(04:01):
led baseball last year in home runs, and they're gonna
lead it with home runs. Plus they're not making something. Again,
there is clear magic in these bats, but it's helping
Gordon Ramsay more than the guy at Appleby's. It's not
making the Applebee's guy, you know, a Michelin chef. But
it's taking the really good players and they are just
(04:21):
harder to get out. But it's not extending the length
of the game so far. And here's Terry Francona after.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I think he's more of the player than the bat.
I really meant that before the game. I still do.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, yeah, I know it is, but it's for real
and you better embrace it. I don't care if it's
the one and done, the transfer vortal, I don't care
if it's three point shots. Don't get rigid on this stuff.
It works or to the bats.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Now.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
So the Lakers won last night, but it was very unconventional.
So the Lakers don't play defense a lot. Luke is
not good at it. Often Reeves is okay. Lebron picks
and chooses ones he wants to play defense. So the
Lakers last night, they beat Memphis the other night. And
the reason it's a big deal is they just beat
Houston last night a two seed and they beat Memphis
a five seed. And why that's a big deal because
the Lakers really pick and choose one and they want
(05:15):
to play defense. Lebron's old Luke didn't like it, and
Austin Reeves is limited, so they pick and choose when
they play defense. And here comes Houston last night. And
Houston is fast, they're young, they're twitchy, and they're the
kind of team that would give the Lakers fits. And
the Lakers held them under one hundred points. And this
Laker team, when they decide to play defense, is good.
They're ten to one. They just don't play it a lot.
(05:36):
And when you watch this game last night, Dorian Finnie
Smith is on the floor and you only got thirty
six points total from Lebron and Luca. So this was
one of those games where guys, the guys aren't humming
at the top. We gotta play defense. And I will
say this about the Lakers is they need home court advantage.
So the Lakers are twenty nine and nine at home.
(05:56):
They're a very good home team. They're not the best
in the league, but they're very good. They're surprisingly awful
on the road. They're sub five hundred. Generally top six
or seven teams in the NBA can be five hundred
or better on the road. Boston Celtics, by the way,
often played better on the road than at home. That's
when the Warriors were great. Remember when they went into
that final against the Celtics. They played their best game
(06:18):
in Boston, cross country, tired, older players. So the Lakers
are not not a very good road team. I'm not
exactly sure why, but this is the way it's sizing up.
So the Lakers need a few things they need to
be They need to have a home court series in
the playoffs. They're also and they know it. These games
(06:39):
against Houston, like last night in Memphis, are important because
it'll give them a week off with an older roster.
Lebron is an older player. It'll give them a week
off to watch the playing stuff. But when they play defense,
it's a real team they've gotten. And I've been very
critical of the Lakers front office, but right now, offensively
they can match out with anybody in the league. Maybe
(07:00):
except Boston. That's probably about it. Boston is so deep,
so many shooters. But the Lakers have three playmakers. I
think four guys I would trust to take a big shot,
two defensive specialists, and an excellent coach. And last night,
when you watch them play defense, and this is probably
the effort you will get in the playoffs. Pretty good team.
(07:21):
Here's JJ Reddick after.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
I think the competitive spirit and togetherness. We're going to
play really hard tonight to put ourselves in a position
to win the basketball game. You know, we weathered some misshots,
did a good job of taking care of the basketball,
emptied the tank. On the defensive end. It was fantastic.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
For the record, just for fun, we're going to make
some assumptions here, but the playoffs, if they were to
end today, and we're making a couple of playing assumptions
kind of work in the lakers favor. Okay, so there
are teams that match up with the Lakers. Clippers are
actually a pretty good match with They've got a legit
big they've got a great coach. Well, the Clippers would
(08:05):
open up with a thunder that series. That's not gonna
work for them. Also, Lakers would open up with the Grizzlies,
a team that's got kind of a mess right now.
The coaching staff, they just fired their coach. You don't
trust I mean Jahn Morants not having a good year
shooting Memphis right now. You want to peek at the
end of a year. They're a mess at the end
of the year. That's great for the Lakers. Nuggets Warriors.
(08:27):
Nuggets gonna win that series. That's a bad matchup for
the Warriors. But you know what, I wouldn't want to
face Steph and Jimmy Butler either. That would be one
of the few teams the Lakers could face that has
as much playoff experience. The Warriors are gonna get knocked
out by the Nuggets. They cannot stop Jokic. They just
do not match up at all Draymond Green's great. He
acknowledges it. We can't do anything. And then Rockets and
Tea Wolves. I don't know who I would take there.
(08:48):
That's a go either I may take the Tea Wolves.
That's a close one. That's a go either way series
based on health. But it works out. You get the
Clippers out, they've got experience. You get the Warriors out,
they've got experience. Uh, and then it's potentially the young Rockets,
young OKC and a Denver team, which, by the way,
the Lakers have beaten this year. They've always played even
(09:10):
when Denver was clearly better pre Luca, the Lakers always
played Denver close. Now they have the offensive firepower. So
just some assumptions here. But that defensive effort last night
felt a little bit like a playoff game. Dorian Finney
Smith playing a real defense. You know you're not getting
a perfect night from Luke and Lebron, although they gave
(09:31):
you thirty six points. Austin Reeves was good, but you
needed other elements. They were at home, close game, held
a team under one hundred. Very playoff field for the Lakers.
I can't get over the torpedo betch j Mack. I
can't get over it. The whole thing's crazy. It's just
get one on.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Could we get one on set this weekend? You put
a special order in. I'd love to feel it and
swing it.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Just to see what it's like.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Yeah, it's uh, you know, people are I've said this,
if if the Twins or Orioles were using them and
that was it, nobody would care. Some of this is
the Yankees. It's like the tush push. If Jacksonville was
doing the touch push, nobody would really care. It's the Eagles.
They're dominating. Nobody can stop it. We all know this.
Everybody roots against Duke, yet everybody watches Duke. Everybody hates
the touch push. But the ratings for the Super Bowl
(10:13):
set a record. We know how the world works and
sports fans in America work, but it is crazy what
it's doing.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Well, it's weird.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
There is a gambling parallel, you know. Sometimes you'll find
a slight edge in gambling for a little while and
you'll beat the market, and then everybody will piggyback. For instance,
Lakers first QUARTERBTS, well, guess what then the team's adjust
I'm curious how the pitchers will adjust to the torpedo
bats if this keeps up, Like, are there radical adjustments
to be made?
Speaker 4 (10:39):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
All right, next hour at the top of the hour,
you know, I love over and unders in Vegas, so
I'll take the entire NFL. There are three teams that
are going to hit the over and three teams that
are going to hit the ender. This is my favorite part.
I know it's weird. I love the NFL schedule release.
I'm obsessed, though I know who everybody plays next year already.
(11:02):
I loved. I like to see when it's in order
and the over unders. Last year we hit big on Denver,
the Rams, and Washington. Those were the three teams. I
thought those are the overs. So there's a couple obvious overs,
and there's a couple obvious unders. You don't want to
be a sucker and just take the optimism route. There's
a couple of obvious unders as well. That's gonna come
up in fifty minutes.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon Eastern nin am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
So NFL owners on average are pretty well liked by
their players. How do I know that? Because they have
an anonymous NFLPA survey every year, and the grades went
up and up and up, you know, except for four teams.
One of the teams that grated very poorly on virtually
everything was the New York Jets, who got an fin
(11:51):
ownership and his C to a C minus to a
C plus. They were like twenty fourth or worse on
virtually everything. Now, Woody Johnson fired back at the owners meetings.
We're going to Albert Breer in about forty five minutes
from now, and that Woody Johnson said, I love this quote.
He said, you know, there's a bunch of hooey the
whole process. You know, how they collected the information. It's
(12:12):
supposed to be a process where we have representatives. They
have them, so we know what's an honest survey. Here
are the four teams they got really bad grades. Arizona,
Michael Bidwell historically cheap, the Jets, and Woody Johnson, Cleveland,
Jimmy Haslam and Carolina and the very impulsive David Tepper.
I don't know any of the men, but it kind
(12:33):
of checks out right. You know who you used to
be really bad at this Dan Snyder Washington. Yeah, he
got forced out of the league. So and the Jets,
by the way, have the longest drought. This is true
in North American sports, largest longest playoff drought. We're talking
all the sports in North America. Canadian teams, our teams. No,
(12:53):
so the Jets have. Also they're doing a doge on
their front office. They've offered a buy out roughly one
hundred of the two hundred and fifty employees. What does
that tell you? So ask yourself, how did the Washington
Commanders turn around? Immediately They'd run through gms and coaches
and players. They got rid of the owner. And how
(13:14):
do the Clippers go from a laughing stock to viable?
Almost overnight? They got a new owner, the Dodgers, since
they got rid of cheap skate Frank McCord. Two World
Series titles, eleven Division titles. He was an awful owner.
They got rid of him. I think he still owns
the parking lot. Bad owner left, team immediately got better.
(13:36):
The market didn't change, the stadium didn't change. The owner left.
So you see a pretty common thread. I mean, I've
worked in my life, I've worked for six different corporations.
Two Radio Entercom and iHeart. And I've worked for four
different television corporations. One of them smaller sun Belt Fox
(13:57):
Disney below was Texas Bay. I think it's got gobbled up.
So I've worked for six different corporations, and I've worked
for some great ones. I'm in a very good spot
right now, and I've said that multiple times, and I've
worked for some stinkers. And let me tell you, the
difference is not the employees. I've worked with great employees
my entire life. The difference is the ownership. Bad ownership.
(14:19):
You know, what do they say? The fish rots headfirst,
like it's bad ownership, ruins the temperature in the room.
It creates anxiety. So you know, you start looking around,
look at the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban Leaves protests, tradeoff
Luca for just not enough it matters. So Whatoody Johnson
can point fingers on this stuff. But overall, if you
(14:42):
look at all players voting on this stuff, it was
really an encouraging NLF NFLPA survey. Like almost all the
teams went up, you know except for the Jets and
Carolina and Cleveland and Arizona and it's and you start
looking at these individual rankings. It's C plus down. I
(15:04):
mean the only thing that Jets did well was nutritionist.
I mean you would think in New York, La, San Francisco,
some of the hip markets, the nutritionists would be kind
of a guaranteed day. No, I don't even have a nutritionist.
I would give mine a B plus. I don't even
have one, Like you got to be able to get
smoothies right, Sorry, but they did everything poorly, weight room ownership,
(15:27):
how you treat families, meals? Come on, I don't think
it's a lack of honesty because everybody else in the league,
except like four teams, everybody was like, yeah, things are good,
things are better. We had T. J. Hushman Zada on
this show, you know, telling the story that used to
be with like the Cincinnati Bengals. They all through their
jockstraps in the middle of the room and washed them.
(15:50):
Linebacker has it one day, slot corner has it the next.
I mean, come on, J. Mack with the news.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
No, no, turn on the news. This is the herd
line news.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Shockstrapped.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
You got to get that.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
In the first stadium, he told some story about good
it just not clean, not good. Remember they for years
and years, like they had water, they couldn't get gatorade.
And then he went from Cincinnati to Baltimore. He's like, whoa,
this is the National Football League. So everybody thinks all
these owners they're rich, they treat players, well, No, they don't.
(16:25):
Like it's interesting. The Dodgers have a very old stadium,
the third oldest in baseball behind Wrigley and Fenway, but
they're constantly updating. I mean they just put four hundred
and fifty million to it this year. They're constantly up
If you go to a Dodger game and you want
to spend big money and you want to go and
get some good food options, it's unbelievable how good the
food is. So you can have an old stadium but
(16:47):
put money into.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
Them, Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
And speaking of old and getting stale, that's Deshaun Watson Collin.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
His contract the worst in sports.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Yeah, and Brown's owner Jimmy Haslam spoke this week admitting
that the signing was terrible. Here's his exact quote to
the media. We took a big swing and miss with Deshaun.
We thought we had the quarterback, we didn't, and we
gave up a lot of draft picks to get him.
So we've got to dig ourselves out of that hole.
A rare admission from an owner that Watson has been
(17:18):
a failure. Now, Colin, I spoke with somebody yesterday that
is kind of sort of plugged in, and I'm saying, well,
based on this Watson stuff, doesn't that mean shad Door
is a lot to go. Second, when they said keep
an eye on Kirk Cousins, it sounds like when Miles
Garrett took the podium, I didn't notice this. Apparently Miles
Garrett was like, yeah, I know the Game Planet quarterback.
(17:39):
The Browns had to lure him back. Remember Garrett's like,
get me out of here. Apparently the Browns had to
lure him back and tell him their plans. And it
seems like people are starting to think that those plans
are Kirk Cousins as opposed to Shador Sanders.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Well, you know, Cleveland put itself in this situation. Here's
two teams that draft, well, the Rams and the Eagles.
Go look at the size of their scouting departments on
both johnnyel and Deshaun Watson. They just didn't do their homework.
I made one or two calls on Johnny Manziel and
was told stay away. Skip Bayless came on the air
(18:11):
at one point and said, Hey, I'm hearing things. I
was hearing the same stuff and we didn't have the
same sources, I imagine. So, but Deshaun Watson, I mean,
you had the civil case that was out there, like,
well he wasn't yet stay away. You don't guarantee stuff.
So like in both the Johnny Manziel and the Deshaun
Watson situation, two different issues. Warning signs make a few
(18:34):
phone calls. I'd be interested at the depth of their
scouting department. How many people do they have, because it
just seems to me that teams that draft well, like
Green Bay consistently drafts well. They do their homework. The
Rams was Stan Cronkey's ownership. They do their homework. The
Eagles do their homework. I've said to you about the
New York Giants on some of their Dave Gettlman and
(18:55):
Joe Shane like, I'm not sure they're doing all their homework.
I'm not sure the size of their scouting department. But
Cleveland's issues are self created.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Yeah, there, they're a mess.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
They got to figure out how to move on for
Watson his career with the Browns if he never plays
another game. He went nine to ten colin and maybe
two hundred and thirty million dollars for nine wins.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Can you imagine if the Browns had signed him, and
you and I came out and said he'll play less
than twenty games. It's a disaster. Every Cleveland fan would
have said, hot take, stuff happens in sports. I didn't
like when this move happened. I wouldn't have made it.
I thought it was ridiculous. I didn't think it would
be this. So much bad has happened for Watson. We
(19:37):
forget how good he was with the Texans Colin. I mean,
he led that team to the playoffs every year. He
was incredible at Clemson.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
I've never I can't think of an athlete who's fallen
this far without like getting arrested and really being like incarcerated, Like.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
This is a calamitous fall for him.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Yep, it's over.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Next up, con let's talk about everybody's favorite podcaster, labron
Ja James. His Mind the Game podcast relaunched, this time
with Steve Nash as the co host, and here's Luca
talking about his new BFF. Sorry Lebron talking about his
new BFF, Luka Doncic.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I've always loved the players that breathe so much confidence
into his teammates, that make them believe that they're actually
better that they really are. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I think Lebron's done that his entire career. And by
the way, coaches have that gift too. Steve Kerr, Phil
Jackson have that gift. Almost everybody had their best years
with Phil Jackson. Like like if you if you played
well and you had a three or four year run
with Phil Jackson, that's the best you ever played. Coaches
can do that and players can do that.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
So there are you know this.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
As a leader, there are ways to galvanize the squad.
Lebron has mostly been positive. Luca, as he says right here,
brings confidence. Is this a subtle jab at Michael Jordan,
who famously would be rate his teammates, punch them in practice,
you're rid.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Of them like garbage.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
I had to put that out there.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
I don't think that's what it was. I think Lebron
is really happy because they're with Anthony Davis. As much
as he loved him, Lebron still had to carry the
team offensively every night. You could never trust eighty offensively.
Although I think Ad is an unbelievable player, there are
going to be nights in the playoffs where Luca's going
(21:26):
to drop forty one and Lebron can be like, dude,
I played thirty minutes. We were ahead by thirteen in
the second quarter. And I also think Austin reeves. I
thought when Anthony Davis left, I'm like, oh, Austin's not
going to touch the ball as much. It's the opposite.
It's at the pace of the Lakers now. Now they're
not as consistently good defensively. They're not When Ad was
(21:49):
on his game, they were an excellent defensive team. He
and Jared Vanderbilt RUI they had size. But Austin now
is flourishing because the tempo's faster. And I think Luca,
and this is not a selfish thing by Lebron, but
as he ages, he's looking for players that can give
him possessions off and he doesn't have to carry the
(22:12):
offense with a d It was still always Lebron's offense always,
so I think Luca's just given him a little bit
of a hall pass on possessions. Did you see last night,
late in the game. So Lou i'm in Thompson is
a very good defender, that kid is freakish man, and
Dylan Brooks is still a pest and irritant. They were
kind of focused on Luca and Lebron.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Lebron would just defer to Austin Reeves who's cooking, Fred
van Vlider whoever. And Austin Reeves got to the bucket,
made a lot of good plays. That's a good point
that he's their third option, but he's also facing a
weak defender.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
That's right.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
Whereas they want to put their best that we got
to stop Lebron.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Luca has force teams. Austin does not face the same
level of defender or attention that he did. I mean
it used to be. I mean if Lebron was off
the floor with a d Austin was getting the first
or second defender, he was getting the best wing defender. Well,
your best wing defender now is not only on Luca,
but probably his second choice is Lebron. So Austin Reeves
(23:09):
is getting great looks. He has been unbelievable. You know,
we always say this when you bring in a second
good receiver. So the Rams bringing Devontae Adams to Puka.
Oh yeah, well that's gonna help the third receiver and
the tight ends. So because nobody in the NFL, the
Jets had two good tight ends, now they lost one.
Nobody's got three earth corners. Nobody has three good corners
(23:30):
in the NFL. You can't find them. If you have two,
you're the Jets. Like that's it. So it's yeah. I mean,
Austin Reeves has been a huge beneficiary of the Luka aquisition.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Not to look too far ahead to the Thunder, but
I'm just telling you right now, they will not be
able to match up with the Lakers playing two bigs.
They're gonna have to play Caruso down the stretch, and
he's he's not a great shooter. I know, Thunder fans
don't want to hear it. The Lakers are.
Speaker 4 (23:52):
A brutal matchup for Okase. It's just not very good
for the Thunder.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Final story, Colin is the NFL coaches meetings are happening
right now. We're getting a lot of rule changes. One
big one that passed is regular season overtime will be
like playoff overtime ten minutes in length.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Still, but both.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Teams will get a chance to possess the ball. Your
thoughts as opposed with sudden depth now out the windows.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Well, what if I do a ten minute drive and
I score with no time on the clock? Do you
get the ball?
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Michael?
Speaker 1 (24:22):
When I saw that, my question, because you want overtime
to be as fast as possible, you do, because remember
it's like skiing. When do you have your accidents on
your last run? Right, You're tired, you're fatigue. You do
not want overtime. You guys are all worried about fairness.
Get it over fast. You do not want sixteen more
plays for your defensive backs.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
That is the flaws over to the next week too.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Yes, it does. So it's like I just don't understand.
Like regular season, don't worry about it. If you have
a tie, oh, I think you're what you don't want
as an NFL fan are injuries. That's what you don't want.
You can take a tire a loss, right, Kansas City
lost several games before the Super Bowl. Losses are not
(25:05):
I mean Washington lost several before they made a run.
You get to overtime and your defense on the field
for another twelve play drive. That's when players start falling.
Jay Mack with the news, Well that's the news, and
thanks for stopping by. The watches of the Celtics beat
(25:26):
Memphis last night, and again, Memphis is a bit of
a mess, but the Celtics are really taking I think
the Celtics are gonna win and I think Cleveland will
push back a little. But I just think they're too
deep and too good. But it's very much a Golden
State warrior path. They've been building this thing with Danny
Ainge and Brad Stevens. They have been constructing this roster
for seven years and it's a dribble, pass, shoot roster.
(25:47):
If you can't dribble, pass and shoot, you're done. Not
everybody's a great defender, but they got five, six different
guys I would trust in a big shot shooting a three.
And this is it's it's it's not just about the culture.
It is the roster instructure. And they're they're not just
collecting talent. They have Like you watch college basketball and
you'll see some teams Michigan State doesn't have one elite shooter.
(26:11):
Celtics have six. Al Horford can hit a jumper. So
and you'll also watch college basketball and a good college
basketball team like Florida or Auburn will have five minutes
of wasted possessions, like they don't run their offense. Boston
has been building this roster and so now they can.
They can put in and Drew Holliday and move off
of Marcus Smart and it's it's all good, but when
(26:34):
you watch them play, it's not something you can duplicate.
For years and years, Golden State's been running that kind
of uh, pass and react, cash and react offense. Young
players struggle with it, like D'Angelo Russell did not work,
James Wiseman didn't work. They've got a style in Golden
State and and the Celtics have not only copied it
(26:55):
because they didn't you know, they don't have a KD
Staph combo yet. Brown, Jason Tatum are good. They're not
Katie and Steph in their prime, but they're really good.
But this offense is pass, dribble and shoot. They'd prefer
you defend, but that's really the key, and most of
their best players do defend. But they also, I was
reading this morning, they average the fewest turnovers, yet their
(27:18):
paces fast, so they they're very intentional when they come
down college basketball. You've seen it for the last three weeks.
You just get wasted possession after wasted possession from good
teams like you, just like we just didn't get a
good shot. You almost never see the Celtics get a
wasted possession. Somebody's getting a good look at three point.
Last night. They shot how many three pointers they shoot
(27:40):
last night? Sixty two And again they didn't shoot a
great percentage, but they're mostly good looks. And so there
was no really copying the Warriors. Remember they started small ball,
and everybody's like, ah, well, let's get smaller. It didn't
work for anybody else, And I don't think there's really
any being the Celtics. They're a roster full of switchable defenders.
(28:05):
Everybody can pass, dribble and hit a three, and there's
just I mean, it's there was Joe Mizzoula last night.
They are ready for the playoffs.
Speaker 6 (28:15):
I would venturers say there, our guys are good everywhere.
It's more about just playing consistant basketball. But I think
each year you develop different kind of strengths, especially with
the same team, and this year it just happened to
be just kind of.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Our road metality.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
The other thing about them. They always say this about
having a great defense in football, it travels well. Like
an offense doesn't necessarily always travel well. If you're throwing
the ball downfield like the Miami Dolphins, and you go
into a windy, cold environment, the offense doesn't travel. So
you always want a good solid defense. Defense is good
regardless of the temperature. The Celtics are a great road team.
(28:49):
Why past ribbles shoot travels well. It's young in their prime,
switchable defenders, deep roster, passed ribbleshoot and Warriors were a
great road team in their prime. Celtics are a great
road team. So you know, I'm you start watching this
team play as they're ready. I know everybody loves Cleveland
(29:12):
and Oka. See I don't see it. I don't see
anybody beating this team. All right, we have good stuff
coming up. We have the FIFA President. No, not this summer,
but the following summer. The World Cup comes to the
United States. This summer in the US, We've got the
Club World Cup, which is you know, Real Madrid Barcelona
(29:33):
coming to the United States. So this is going to
be centerpiece for soccer globally for the next year and
a half. And the FIFA president joins us next live
in La It's the Hurt.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon eastern non am Pacific.
Speaker 7 (29:49):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together We're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern, two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (30:01):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 7 (30:03):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world. We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of
sports and pop culture, stories that well, other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together. I mean that says something, right. So
check us out. We like to get you involved too,
(30:23):
take your phone calls, chop it up. As they say,
I'd say, the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
maybe the.
Speaker 8 (30:29):
Most interactive show on planetar.
Speaker 7 (30:31):
Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific and if you
miss any of the live show, just search Covino and
Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and of course on
social media.
Speaker 8 (30:43):
That's Covino and Rich.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Well, the next year and a half in the United States,
we are going to be the centerpiece of the world's
greatest soccer. Gianna Infantino is the president since twenty sixteen
of FIFA, not only a global citizen, seven different languages,
world traveler. I am jealous, I will admit, and you
are joining us. So now it's called the Club World Cup.
(31:06):
So not this summer. The following summer is the World Cup.
We know about that. Harry Kane, then Bape our best players.
The Club World Cup is on our soil. We're lucky enough.
Explain who will be involved in that? Do I get
the best of the best?
Speaker 9 (31:20):
You get the best of the best? Well, Harrycane and
Bappe will be there as well, so Leo Messi and
many many others. The thirty two best club teams club
in the world.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Now, what's at stake? What kind of money we talking about?
Speaker 9 (31:33):
Well, first of all, what doesn't saying is this incredible
trophy here, which is beautiful, But the money we're talking
about is one billion US dollar prize money, which is
there for grab for the winning team. First time we
organize an event like that, first time there will be
a club truly crowned World champion by FIFA.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
So we are seeing in Major League Baseball, and we've
seen it over the course of my life. Latin America
has furnished us with great players. Now Asian players coming over.
The Dodgers have a pipeline to it, and it's absolutely
helped the game. Oh, Tawny's our biggest star. How is
the United States viewed globally in soccer? Because I always
(32:15):
felt I remember the Kyle wrote Junior Days in the seventies.
My mom was British. I went over there when Netherlands
in England in the seventies were dominating Johann Crouth and
the great British teams, and you know, we were kind
of clunky and our players weren't as aesthetically pleasing. How
are we viewed now in the States?
Speaker 9 (32:34):
Well, I think what is seen from outside of the
United States, he said. Of course in America, other sports
are more important than soccer, which is the most important
sport all over the world, in every other country.
Speaker 5 (32:48):
Right.
Speaker 9 (32:50):
However, I think that the two World Cups, the one
this summer or the team of the clubs and the
next one of the countries next year, which changes fund mentally.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
See you have been the president, what do the numbers
say about the growth in the country, Because generally when
a World Cup is hosted by US, even if it's not,
but if it is, there tends to be exponential growth.
So if you've seen growth in your run as if
a president United States.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Oh definitely.
Speaker 9 (33:17):
We basically double the revenues when it comes to FIFA
and the World Cup by organizing it here. But what
is important is that what happens here in America has
an impact all over the world. So the growth figures
cannot just be measured in the United States, but all
over the world. And when it comes to most women's
(33:38):
football actually a men's football, whenever we do something here,
it has such an important global impact that you know,
is just incredible for the game.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
When you look right now, I think I've said this before.
I think this is the most talented group of players
we've ever had. Now we're young. When we got beat
by Netherlands, clearly they had older, more senior players we
weren't at that level that was almost aspirational a goal.
I look at our team, it's kind of a golden
age of soccer, the academy system, we have many players
(34:11):
over in Europe. Are we viewed in the world now
as a serious soccer country.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Well, definitely. I think that.
Speaker 9 (34:21):
The work that has been done with the MLS in
the United States, in Canada, the work with the academies
that has been put forward is really impressive. You have
a good team, you have good players, have a great
coach as well, Mauricio, who was really fantastic, and these
players they play now, you know, for the best teams
(34:43):
in the world or in Europe if you want, and
the world can see that. Combine this with the fact
of playing a World Cup at home, well, it's quite
an explosive combination, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Is it harder? I mean because of security reasons among
others and technology. Is it harder to put on a
World Cup than it was eight years ago?
Speaker 9 (35:10):
Well, to put on a World Cup is obviously always
quite a challenge. Especially the next World Cup will be
forty eight countries participating instead of thirty two. Yes, so
we increase the number by fifty percent. We'll have you know,
ten million people coming to the US. It's these are
incredible fans. We'll have six billion people watching it all
(35:30):
over the world. This requires a lot of organization and
we're here for that and we team up with you
for that as well.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Yeah, that hadn't hurt. Where is soccer now? It's growing.
I looked at a number this morning which was amazing.
According to Forbes, the number of United States people who
have been soccer fans for five years or fewer, so
this is our newest fans has gone up fifty seven
percent year to year and over and the number of
(36:00):
first time fans is a four hundred percent year over year,
So over five years at fifty seven percent. So something
has happened in the last year where there's been an
explosion in the United States. So when I think of soccer,
I think of a Spain, and I think of Germany,
and I think of the Netherlands, and I think of
Italy and France, and I do think of the United
States selfishly, Where is this game growing? That would surprise me?
(36:25):
Is it growing everywhere?
Speaker 2 (36:27):
It is growing everywhere.
Speaker 9 (36:28):
It's growing in the Middle East, It's growing in this Ya,
in East Asia. But I think the big surprise will
be the growth here in North America. When you see
every child, girl or boy now plays soccer. What happens
then is that the most talented players they go to
other American sports, right because they maybe don't see a
path to glory through soccer, but they will see it now.
(36:52):
This year with the Club Will Cup with the best
teams in the world, next year with the World Cup
with the best countries in the world, they will see
that there is a pass to glory, pass to something incredible.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
And this will make a big difference.
Speaker 9 (37:06):
When the US organized the ninety four World Cup, eighty
five percent of the Americans a couple of months before.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Didn't know that the World Cup was happening.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Today it's the other way around.
Speaker 9 (37:17):
Eighty five percent of Americans they know that the World
Cup is coming already one year ahead. So these are
signs that things are changing. Plus one more thing, if
I may, sure you know you are the United States
of America, right, the greatest country in the world. You
are number one in kind of everything you do. You
cannot be satisfied to be number twenty in the number
(37:40):
one sport in right. You want to be number one
in the number one sport, so let's go for it.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Yeah no, you're you're listen, You're you're preaching a choir here,
believe me. But I grew up in the Pacific Northwest.
My mom was British, so when I was a kid,
I went to England. At the time, the English team
was battling for the World Cup, like nineteen seventy two,
seventy three, and again Netherlands was great. So when I
was a kid, I was introduced to it, and I
moved to the Pacific Northwest, which Seattle and Portland are
great soccer market, so I think I got an advantage.
(38:06):
My Seattle Sounders made the NASL Championship game against the
New York Cosmos. Of all the great players you've dealt
with over your not just at FIFA, but you're a
global citizen. There is something special about soccer players. There
is there I like the global field to it. There's
a graciousness and a gratitude for what soccer presents. It's
(38:29):
the happiest sport and nothing against football players and baseball guys,
but that it is is that something you within FIFA
that you talk about that it's the world's game, and
it's very welcoming.
Speaker 9 (38:42):
It is You're absolutely right. It is the world's game.
It brings happiness. I mean, look at this what we
brought for you. You can see this. This is yours shift.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
Can I, yeah, gift? Can I give it to you?
Speaker 1 (38:53):
Absolutely? By the way he hears, a little small ownership
and a small soccer team name.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Look at that.
Speaker 9 (39:00):
Well, now this is the official match ball of the
FIFA Club World Cup.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Now look at your face. You're smiling.
Speaker 9 (39:06):
You see why because his ball is a magic object.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
There's much more than just a ball. It is magic.
Speaker 9 (39:14):
It brings smiles to faces of children of girls all
over the world. It's a very simple sport. It's the
world number one sport for that. And that's why we
are investing all over the world. The revenues we generate,
we invest them in Africa, in Asia, in Americas, everywhere
in the world to make sure that the game came.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
If American soccer, if you could say, and Jenny Infantino
is joining us to president of FIFA, he has been
since twenty sixteen. If you could, if I may, I'll
put you on the hot seat. If you could make
one change to US soccer and just nudge them to
do something. There is there anything that you're frustrated a
little with USA Soccer?
Speaker 9 (39:52):
Yes, okay they should listen to me. Yes, and then
they become number one league in the world.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
But anything in particular that you would posh they are
a little bit too How should.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
I say two communists? Can I say that word? Yeah?
Speaker 9 (40:11):
Yeah, exactly, Yeah, too much regulation, too much limits. You know,
be America, open up, bring the best invest money, and
the returnum investment will be just incredible.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
Because it's interesting. Our other pro leagues are global and
spend nothing but money. But you think we could open
up the pocketbook a little bit.
Speaker 9 (40:33):
More one percent and and the impact will be global
because your other leagues. I mean, look at the Super Bowl,
which is fantastic, right it has on one hundred and
twenty hundred and thirty million viewers.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
Right. The World Cup has six billion viewers.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
Crazy.
Speaker 9 (40:49):
So a World Cup is one hundred and four Super
Bowls in one month. It's three Super Bowls a day,
is and this can have this happens from here, and
this can happen every week.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
If you have the best league in the world, you
know you travel, you travel the globe. Give me something
about America that you really love. You you live in
Switzerland and Italy. If I could choose two places that
would be close to it, World Office is in Zurich.
You have on Miami office now, so obviously United States
(41:21):
soccer is growing. You now have a Miami office. What's
something when you travel the globe that you love about America?
Speaker 9 (41:28):
Can I say Burger? Yes, you could say no, but
I would say Burger definitely. But what I think as
well here and this is really is not too flatter anyone,
but it is really the land of opportunity. I mean,
there are so many opportunities here for so many people,
(41:50):
which is why I still don't understand why soccer has
not become the number one here.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
Four hundred percent year to year of new soccer fans.
Gianni Infantino apply here. Thank you so much. Over to
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 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Welcome in. It is a Tuesday, and we got a
show today. I was talking about this yesterday with Jmack.
We're a lucky time right now where everything is working.
Baseball's got torpedo bats, you got the nil is propped
up college basketball where we have the four best teams.
NBA Lakers decided to play defense last night and by
(00:53):
the way, it looks like overtime change in the NFL.
So Jmack, we got a good one today and so
we talked about this yesterday. Our leadoff hitter again today
is baseball. So Ellie Dla Cruz plays for the Cincinnati
Reds and he's one of the great players in baseball
that doesn't play for the Yankees of the mat or
the Dodgers, or the Phillies, or the Atlanta Braves or
(01:14):
the Houston Astros. Ellie Da La Cruz a couple of
home runs, seven RBIs. Last night he used the torpedo bat.
And now listen, the Minnesota Twins used the torpedo bat
this weekend and got swept and scored six runs. So
it's like Harry Potter the wand is choosing the wizard,
all right, but it's another win for baseball. More runs,
(01:34):
more action, more base runners. Ten teams now are averaging
six runs. So last week I had Rob Manford, the
Commissioner of Baseball, and I said, you've got parody. The
only problem is the pitchers are dominating hitters. You have
too many teams hitting two forty, like half the league.
This morning you got seven teams hitting over two ninety.
(01:56):
And it's not slowing the game down. Last night Cincinnati
scored fourteen runs and took two hours and twenty five minutes.
So unlike when pitching dominates and pitching changes and you
go to the bullpen and you bring on the fifth guy,
those games get into three hours and fifteen minutes into
Tuesday Wednesday night. Nobody has that time. Takes you forty
minutes to get to the ballpark, fifty five minutes to
(02:17):
get home. People have lives eighty one home games. You
got a create urgency. So we're now getting more offense,
more hitting, and and again not everybody is using the bats.
And you know, steroids was different. This is like legal HGH.
Steroids would take guys that were non home run hitters
(02:37):
and I don't even need to mention names, and suddenly
they were in the race for the American League MVP.
That would also help guys like Barry Bonds allegedly right
or other guys. But you felt like a lot of
times you were taking like TRIPLEA players and they were
making the big leagues because of HGH. This is totally legal,
and it's amazing when you embrace innovation and don't fight
(02:59):
it as a sport and baseball man, baseball is on
a heater. Increase the size of the basis, you know,
end extra ending games, faster, speed the game up, defensive shift,
torpedo bats, more offense, more guys stealing bases, more action,
and you know, it's like Grandpa got a sports car.
(03:20):
Baseball decided, you know what we're gonna get. We're gonna
join the pilates class and be hip And of all
the sports, baseball now is doing more stuff, right, And again,
Eli Dayala Cruise is great. But if you give Gordon
Ramsey fresher seafood and better ingredients, you get a five
star meal. And that's what you're getting here. So I mean, I,
(03:41):
Aaron Judge and Otawni are not using it yet and
I'm not sure they have to. But this, this is
not creating greatness. That was the illegal stuff. You know that,
this is just kind of enhancing greatness. Eli Dla Cruz
is amazing, like now he's amazing. Plus, and the Yankees
(04:01):
led baseball last year in home runs, and they're gonna
lead it with home runs. Plus they're not making something. Again,
there is clear magic in these bats, but it's helping
Gordon Ramsay more than the guy at Appleby's. It's not
making the Applebee's guy, you know, a Michelin chef. But
it's taking the really good players and they are just
(04:21):
harder to get out. But it's not extending the length
of the game so far. And here's Terry Francona after.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I think he's more of the player than the bat.
I really meant that before the game. I still do.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, yeah, I know it is, but it's for real
and you better embrace it. I don't care if it's
the one and done, the transfer vortal, I don't care
if it's three point shots. Don't get rigid on this stuff.
It works or to the bats.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Now.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
So the Lakers won last night, but it was very unconventional.
So the Lakers don't play defense a lot. Luke is
not good at it. Often Reeves is okay. Lebron picks
and chooses ones he wants to play defense. So the
Lakers last night, they beat Memphis the other night. And
the reason it's a big deal is they just beat
Houston last night a two seed and they beat Memphis
a five seed. And why that's a big deal because
the Lakers really pick and choose one and they want
(05:15):
to play defense. Lebron's old Luke didn't like it, and
Austin Reeves is limited, so they pick and choose when
they play defense. And here comes Houston last night. And
Houston is fast, they're young, they're twitchy, and they're the
kind of team that would give the Lakers fits. And
the Lakers held them under one hundred points. And this
Laker team, when they decide to play defense, is good.
They're ten to one. They just don't play it a lot.
(05:36):
And when you watch this game last night, Dorian Finnie
Smith is on the floor and you only got thirty
six points total from Lebron and Luca. So this was
one of those games where guys, the guys aren't humming
at the top. We gotta play defense. And I will
say this about the Lakers is they need home court advantage.
So the Lakers are twenty nine and nine at home.
(05:56):
They're a very good home team. They're not the best
in the league, but they're very good. They're surprisingly awful
on the road. They're sub five hundred. Generally top six
or seven teams in the NBA can be five hundred
or better on the road. Boston Celtics, by the way,
often played better on the road than at home. That's
when the Warriors were great. Remember when they went into
that final against the Celtics. They played their best game
(06:18):
in Boston, cross country, tired, older players. So the Lakers
are not not a very good road team. I'm not
exactly sure why, but this is the way it's sizing up.
So the Lakers need a few things they need to
be They need to have a home court series in
the playoffs. They're also and they know it. These games
(06:39):
against Houston, like last night in Memphis, are important because
it'll give them a week off with an older roster.
Lebron is an older player. It'll give them a week
off to watch the playing stuff. But when they play defense,
it's a real team they've gotten. And I've been very
critical of the Lakers front office, but right now, offensively
they can match out with anybody in the league. Maybe
(07:00):
except Boston. That's probably about it. Boston is so deep,
so many shooters. But the Lakers have three playmakers. I
think four guys I would trust to take a big shot,
two defensive specialists, and an excellent coach. And last night,
when you watch them play defense, and this is probably
the effort you will get in the playoffs. Pretty good team.
(07:21):
Here's JJ Reddick after.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
I think the competitive spirit and togetherness. We're going to
play really hard tonight to put ourselves in a position
to win the basketball game. You know, we weathered some misshots,
did a good job of taking care of the basketball,
emptied the tank. On the defensive end. It was fantastic.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
For the record, just for fun, we're going to make
some assumptions here, but the playoffs, if they were to
end today, and we're making a couple of playing assumptions
kind of work in the lakers favor. Okay, so there
are teams that match up with the Lakers. Clippers are
actually a pretty good match with They've got a legit
big they've got a great coach. Well, the Clippers would
(08:05):
open up with a thunder that series. That's not gonna
work for them. Also, Lakers would open up with the Grizzlies,
a team that's got kind of a mess right now.
The coaching staff, they just fired their coach. You don't
trust I mean Jahn Morants not having a good year
shooting Memphis right now. You want to peek at the
end of a year. They're a mess at the end
of the year. That's great for the Lakers. Nuggets Warriors.
(08:27):
Nuggets gonna win that series. That's a bad matchup for
the Warriors. But you know what, I wouldn't want to
face Steph and Jimmy Butler either. That would be one
of the few teams the Lakers could face that has
as much playoff experience. The Warriors are gonna get knocked
out by the Nuggets. They cannot stop Jokic. They just
do not match up at all Draymond Green's great. He
acknowledges it. We can't do anything. And then Rockets and
Tea Wolves. I don't know who I would take there.
(08:48):
That's a go either I may take the Tea Wolves.
That's a close one. That's a go either way series
based on health. But it works out. You get the
Clippers out, they've got experience. You get the Warriors out,
they've got experience. Uh, and then it's potentially the young Rockets,
young OKC and a Denver team, which, by the way,
the Lakers have beaten this year. They've always played even
(09:10):
when Denver was clearly better pre Luca, the Lakers always
played Denver close. Now they have the offensive firepower. So
just some assumptions here. But that defensive effort last night
felt a little bit like a playoff game. Dorian Finney
Smith playing a real defense. You know you're not getting
a perfect night from Luke and Lebron, although they gave
(09:31):
you thirty six points. Austin Reeves was good, but you
needed other elements. They were at home, close game, held
a team under one hundred. Very playoff field for the Lakers.
I can't get over the torpedo betch j Mack. I
can't get over it. The whole thing's crazy. It's just
get one on.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Could we get one on set this weekend? You put
a special order in. I'd love to feel it and
swing it.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Just to see what it's like.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Yeah, it's uh, you know, people are I've said this,
if if the Twins or Orioles were using them and
that was it, nobody would care. Some of this is
the Yankees. It's like the tush push. If Jacksonville was
doing the touch push, nobody would really care. It's the Eagles.
They're dominating. Nobody can stop it. We all know this.
Everybody roots against Duke, yet everybody watches Duke. Everybody hates
the touch push. But the ratings for the Super Bowl
(10:13):
set a record. We know how the world works and
sports fans in America work, but it is crazy what
it's doing.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Well, it's weird.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
There is a gambling parallel, you know. Sometimes you'll find
a slight edge in gambling for a little while and
you'll beat the market, and then everybody will piggyback. For instance,
Lakers first QUARTERBTS, well, guess what then the team's adjust
I'm curious how the pitchers will adjust to the torpedo
bats if this keeps up, Like, are there radical adjustments
to be made?
Speaker 4 (10:39):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
All right, next hour at the top of the hour,
you know, I love over and unders in Vegas, so
I'll take the entire NFL. There are three teams that
are going to hit the over and three teams that
are going to hit the ender. This is my favorite part.
I know it's weird. I love the NFL schedule release.
I'm obsessed, though I know who everybody plays next year already.
(11:02):
I loved. I like to see when it's in order
and the over unders. Last year we hit big on Denver,
the Rams, and Washington. Those were the three teams. I
thought those are the overs. So there's a couple obvious overs,
and there's a couple obvious unders. You don't want to
be a sucker and just take the optimism route. There's
a couple of obvious unders as well. That's gonna come
up in fifty minutes.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon Eastern nin am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
So NFL owners on average are pretty well liked by
their players. How do I know that? Because they have
an anonymous NFLPA survey every year, and the grades went
up and up and up, you know, except for four teams.
One of the teams that grated very poorly on virtually
everything was the New York Jets, who got an fin
(11:51):
ownership and his C to a C minus to a
C plus. They were like twenty fourth or worse on
virtually everything. Now, Woody Johnson fired back at the owners meetings.
We're going to Albert Breer in about forty five minutes
from now, and that Woody Johnson said, I love this quote.
He said, you know, there's a bunch of hooey the
whole process. You know, how they collected the information. It's
(12:12):
supposed to be a process where we have representatives. They
have them, so we know what's an honest survey. Here
are the four teams they got really bad grades. Arizona,
Michael Bidwell historically cheap, the Jets, and Woody Johnson, Cleveland,
Jimmy Haslam and Carolina and the very impulsive David Tepper.
I don't know any of the men, but it kind
(12:33):
of checks out right. You know who you used to
be really bad at this Dan Snyder Washington. Yeah, he
got forced out of the league. So and the Jets,
by the way, have the longest drought. This is true
in North American sports, largest longest playoff drought. We're talking
all the sports in North America. Canadian teams, our teams. No,
(12:53):
so the Jets have. Also they're doing a doge on
their front office. They've offered a buy out roughly one
hundred of the two hundred and fifty employees. What does
that tell you? So ask yourself, how did the Washington
Commanders turn around? Immediately They'd run through gms and coaches
and players. They got rid of the owner. And how
(13:14):
do the Clippers go from a laughing stock to viable?
Almost overnight? They got a new owner, the Dodgers, since
they got rid of cheap skate Frank McCord. Two World
Series titles, eleven Division titles. He was an awful owner.
They got rid of him. I think he still owns
the parking lot. Bad owner left, team immediately got better.
(13:36):
The market didn't change, the stadium didn't change. The owner left.
So you see a pretty common thread. I mean, I've
worked in my life, I've worked for six different corporations.
Two Radio Entercom and iHeart. And I've worked for four
different television corporations. One of them smaller sun Belt Fox
(13:57):
Disney below was Texas Bay. I think it's got gobbled up.
So I've worked for six different corporations, and I've worked
for some great ones. I'm in a very good spot
right now, and I've said that multiple times, and I've
worked for some stinkers. And let me tell you, the
difference is not the employees. I've worked with great employees
my entire life. The difference is the ownership. Bad ownership.
(14:19):
You know, what do they say? The fish rots headfirst,
like it's bad ownership, ruins the temperature in the room.
It creates anxiety. So you know, you start looking around,
look at the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban Leaves protests, tradeoff
Luca for just not enough it matters. So Whatoody Johnson
can point fingers on this stuff. But overall, if you
(14:42):
look at all players voting on this stuff, it was
really an encouraging NLF NFLPA survey. Like almost all the
teams went up, you know except for the Jets and
Carolina and Cleveland and Arizona and it's and you start
looking at these individual rankings. It's C plus down. I
(15:04):
mean the only thing that Jets did well was nutritionist.
I mean you would think in New York, La, San Francisco,
some of the hip markets, the nutritionists would be kind
of a guaranteed day. No, I don't even have a nutritionist.
I would give mine a B plus. I don't even
have one, Like you got to be able to get
smoothies right, Sorry, but they did everything poorly, weight room ownership,
(15:27):
how you treat families, meals? Come on, I don't think
it's a lack of honesty because everybody else in the league,
except like four teams, everybody was like, yeah, things are good,
things are better. We had T. J. Hushman Zada on
this show, you know, telling the story that used to
be with like the Cincinnati Bengals. They all through their
jockstraps in the middle of the room and washed them.
(15:50):
Linebacker has it one day, slot corner has it the next.
I mean, come on, J. Mack with the news.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
No, no, turn on the news. This is the herd
line news.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Shockstrapped.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
You got to get that.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
In the first stadium, he told some story about good
it just not clean, not good. Remember they for years
and years, like they had water, they couldn't get gatorade.
And then he went from Cincinnati to Baltimore. He's like, whoa,
this is the National Football League. So everybody thinks all
these owners they're rich, they treat players, well, No, they don't.
(16:25):
Like it's interesting. The Dodgers have a very old stadium,
the third oldest in baseball behind Wrigley and Fenway, but
they're constantly updating. I mean they just put four hundred
and fifty million to it this year. They're constantly up
If you go to a Dodger game and you want
to spend big money and you want to go and
get some good food options, it's unbelievable how good the
food is. So you can have an old stadium but
(16:47):
put money into.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
Them, Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
And speaking of old and getting stale, that's Deshaun Watson Collin.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
His contract the worst in sports.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Yeah, and Brown's owner Jimmy Haslam spoke this week admitting
that the signing was terrible. Here's his exact quote to
the media. We took a big swing and miss with Deshaun.
We thought we had the quarterback, we didn't, and we
gave up a lot of draft picks to get him.
So we've got to dig ourselves out of that hole.
A rare admission from an owner that Watson has been
(17:18):
a failure. Now, Colin, I spoke with somebody yesterday that
is kind of sort of plugged in, and I'm saying, well,
based on this Watson stuff, doesn't that mean shad Door
is a lot to go. Second, when they said keep
an eye on Kirk Cousins, it sounds like when Miles
Garrett took the podium, I didn't notice this. Apparently Miles
Garrett was like, yeah, I know the Game Planet quarterback.
(17:39):
The Browns had to lure him back. Remember Garrett's like,
get me out of here. Apparently the Browns had to
lure him back and tell him their plans. And it
seems like people are starting to think that those plans
are Kirk Cousins as opposed to Shador Sanders.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Well, you know, Cleveland put itself in this situation. Here's
two teams that draft, well, the Rams and the Eagles.
Go look at the size of their scouting departments on
both johnnyel and Deshaun Watson. They just didn't do their homework.
I made one or two calls on Johnny Manziel and
was told stay away. Skip Bayless came on the air
(18:11):
at one point and said, Hey, I'm hearing things. I
was hearing the same stuff and we didn't have the
same sources, I imagine. So, but Deshaun Watson, I mean,
you had the civil case that was out there, like,
well he wasn't yet stay away. You don't guarantee stuff.
So like in both the Johnny Manziel and the Deshaun
Watson situation, two different issues. Warning signs make a few
(18:34):
phone calls. I'd be interested at the depth of their
scouting department. How many people do they have, because it
just seems to me that teams that draft well, like
Green Bay consistently drafts well. They do their homework. The
Rams was Stan Cronkey's ownership. They do their homework. The
Eagles do their homework. I've said to you about the
New York Giants on some of their Dave Gettlman and
(18:55):
Joe Shane like, I'm not sure they're doing all their homework.
I'm not sure the size of their scouting department. But
Cleveland's issues are self created.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Yeah, there, they're a mess.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
They got to figure out how to move on for
Watson his career with the Browns if he never plays
another game. He went nine to ten colin and maybe
two hundred and thirty million dollars for nine wins.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Can you imagine if the Browns had signed him, and
you and I came out and said he'll play less
than twenty games. It's a disaster. Every Cleveland fan would
have said, hot take, stuff happens in sports. I didn't
like when this move happened. I wouldn't have made it.
I thought it was ridiculous. I didn't think it would
be this. So much bad has happened for Watson. We
(19:37):
forget how good he was with the Texans Colin. I mean,
he led that team to the playoffs every year. He
was incredible at Clemson.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
I've never I can't think of an athlete who's fallen
this far without like getting arrested and really being like incarcerated, Like.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
This is a calamitous fall for him.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Yep, it's over.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Next up, con let's talk about everybody's favorite podcaster, labron
Ja James. His Mind the Game podcast relaunched, this time
with Steve Nash as the co host, and here's Luca
talking about his new BFF. Sorry Lebron talking about his
new BFF, Luka Doncic.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I've always loved the players that breathe so much confidence
into his teammates, that make them believe that they're actually
better that they really are. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I think Lebron's done that his entire career. And by
the way, coaches have that gift too. Steve Kerr, Phil
Jackson have that gift. Almost everybody had their best years
with Phil Jackson. Like like if you if you played
well and you had a three or four year run
with Phil Jackson, that's the best you ever played. Coaches
can do that and players can do that.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
So there are you know this.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
As a leader, there are ways to galvanize the squad.
Lebron has mostly been positive. Luca, as he says right here,
brings confidence. Is this a subtle jab at Michael Jordan,
who famously would be rate his teammates, punch them in practice,
you're rid.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Of them like garbage.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
I had to put that out there.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
I don't think that's what it was. I think Lebron
is really happy because they're with Anthony Davis. As much
as he loved him, Lebron still had to carry the
team offensively every night. You could never trust eighty offensively.
Although I think Ad is an unbelievable player, there are
going to be nights in the playoffs where Luca's going
(21:26):
to drop forty one and Lebron can be like, dude,
I played thirty minutes. We were ahead by thirteen in
the second quarter. And I also think Austin reeves. I
thought when Anthony Davis left, I'm like, oh, Austin's not
going to touch the ball as much. It's the opposite.
It's at the pace of the Lakers now. Now they're
not as consistently good defensively. They're not When Ad was
(21:49):
on his game, they were an excellent defensive team. He
and Jared Vanderbilt RUI they had size. But Austin now
is flourishing because the tempo's faster. And I think Luca,
and this is not a selfish thing by Lebron, but
as he ages, he's looking for players that can give
him possessions off and he doesn't have to carry the
(22:12):
offense with a d It was still always Lebron's offense always,
so I think Luca's just given him a little bit
of a hall pass on possessions. Did you see last night,
late in the game. So Lou i'm in Thompson is
a very good defender, that kid is freakish man, and
Dylan Brooks is still a pest and irritant. They were
kind of focused on Luca and Lebron.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Lebron would just defer to Austin Reeves who's cooking, Fred
van Vlider whoever. And Austin Reeves got to the bucket,
made a lot of good plays. That's a good point
that he's their third option, but he's also facing a
weak defender.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
That's right.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
Whereas they want to put their best that we got
to stop Lebron.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Luca has force teams. Austin does not face the same
level of defender or attention that he did. I mean
it used to be. I mean if Lebron was off
the floor with a d Austin was getting the first
or second defender, he was getting the best wing defender. Well,
your best wing defender now is not only on Luca,
but probably his second choice is Lebron. So Austin Reeves
(23:09):
is getting great looks. He has been unbelievable. You know,
we always say this when you bring in a second
good receiver. So the Rams bringing Devontae Adams to Puka.
Oh yeah, well that's gonna help the third receiver and
the tight ends. So because nobody in the NFL, the
Jets had two good tight ends, now they lost one.
Nobody's got three earth corners. Nobody has three good corners
(23:30):
in the NFL. You can't find them. If you have two,
you're the Jets. Like that's it. So it's yeah. I mean,
Austin Reeves has been a huge beneficiary of the Luka aquisition.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Not to look too far ahead to the Thunder, but
I'm just telling you right now, they will not be
able to match up with the Lakers playing two bigs.
They're gonna have to play Caruso down the stretch, and
he's he's not a great shooter. I know, Thunder fans
don't want to hear it. The Lakers are.
Speaker 4 (23:52):
A brutal matchup for Okase. It's just not very good
for the Thunder.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Final story, Colin is the NFL coaches meetings are happening
right now. We're getting a lot of rule changes. One
big one that passed is regular season overtime will be
like playoff overtime ten minutes in length.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Still, but both.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Teams will get a chance to possess the ball. Your
thoughts as opposed with sudden depth now out the windows.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Well, what if I do a ten minute drive and
I score with no time on the clock? Do you
get the ball?
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Michael?
Speaker 1 (24:22):
When I saw that, my question, because you want overtime
to be as fast as possible, you do, because remember
it's like skiing. When do you have your accidents on
your last run? Right, You're tired, you're fatigue. You do
not want overtime. You guys are all worried about fairness.
Get it over fast. You do not want sixteen more
plays for your defensive backs.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
That is the flaws over to the next week too.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Yes, it does. So it's like I just don't understand.
Like regular season, don't worry about it. If you have
a tie, oh, I think you're what you don't want
as an NFL fan are injuries. That's what you don't want.
You can take a tire a loss, right, Kansas City
lost several games before the Super Bowl. Losses are not
(25:05):
I mean Washington lost several before they made a run.
You get to overtime and your defense on the field
for another twelve play drive. That's when players start falling.
Jay Mack with the news, Well that's the news, and
thanks for stopping by. The watches of the Celtics beat
(25:26):
Memphis last night, and again, Memphis is a bit of
a mess, but the Celtics are really taking I think
the Celtics are gonna win and I think Cleveland will
push back a little. But I just think they're too
deep and too good. But it's very much a Golden
State warrior path. They've been building this thing with Danny
Ainge and Brad Stevens. They have been constructing this roster
for seven years and it's a dribble, pass, shoot roster.
(25:47):
If you can't dribble, pass and shoot, you're done. Not
everybody's a great defender, but they got five, six different
guys I would trust in a big shot shooting a three.
And this is it's it's it's not just about the culture.
It is the roster instructure. And they're they're not just
collecting talent. They have Like you watch college basketball and
you'll see some teams Michigan State doesn't have one elite shooter.
(26:11):
Celtics have six. Al Horford can hit a jumper. So
and you'll also watch college basketball and a good college
basketball team like Florida or Auburn will have five minutes
of wasted possessions, like they don't run their offense. Boston
has been building this roster and so now they can.
They can put in and Drew Holliday and move off
of Marcus Smart and it's it's all good, but when
(26:34):
you watch them play, it's not something you can duplicate.
For years and years, Golden State's been running that kind
of uh, pass and react, cash and react offense. Young
players struggle with it, like D'Angelo Russell did not work,
James Wiseman didn't work. They've got a style in Golden
State and and the Celtics have not only copied it
(26:55):
because they didn't you know, they don't have a KD
Staph combo yet. Brown, Jason Tatum are good. They're not
Katie and Steph in their prime, but they're really good.
But this offense is pass, dribble and shoot. They'd prefer
you defend, but that's really the key, and most of
their best players do defend. But they also, I was
reading this morning, they average the fewest turnovers, yet their
(27:18):
paces fast, so they they're very intentional when they come
down college basketball. You've seen it for the last three weeks.
You just get wasted possession after wasted possession from good
teams like you, just like we just didn't get a
good shot. You almost never see the Celtics get a
wasted possession. Somebody's getting a good look at three point.
Last night. They shot how many three pointers they shoot
(27:40):
last night? Sixty two And again they didn't shoot a
great percentage, but they're mostly good looks. And so there
was no really copying the Warriors. Remember they started small ball,
and everybody's like, ah, well, let's get smaller. It didn't
work for anybody else, And I don't think there's really
any being the Celtics. They're a roster full of switchable defenders.
(28:05):
Everybody can pass, dribble and hit a three, and there's
just I mean, it's there was Joe Mizzoula last night.
They are ready for the playoffs.
Speaker 6 (28:15):
I would venturers say there, our guys are good everywhere.
It's more about just playing consistant basketball. But I think
each year you develop different kind of strengths, especially with
the same team, and this year it just happened to
be just kind of.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Our road metality.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
The other thing about them. They always say this about
having a great defense in football, it travels well. Like
an offense doesn't necessarily always travel well. If you're throwing
the ball downfield like the Miami Dolphins, and you go
into a windy, cold environment, the offense doesn't travel. So
you always want a good solid defense. Defense is good
regardless of the temperature. The Celtics are a great road team.
(28:49):
Why past ribbles shoot travels well. It's young in their prime,
switchable defenders, deep roster, passed ribbleshoot and Warriors were a
great road team in their prime. Celtics are a great
road team. So you know, I'm you start watching this
team play as they're ready. I know everybody loves Cleveland
(29:12):
and Oka. See I don't see it. I don't see
anybody beating this team. All right, we have good stuff
coming up. We have the FIFA President. No, not this summer,
but the following summer. The World Cup comes to the
United States. This summer in the US, We've got the
Club World Cup, which is you know, Real Madrid Barcelona
(29:33):
coming to the United States. So this is going to
be centerpiece for soccer globally for the next year and
a half. And the FIFA president joins us next live
in La It's the Hurt.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon eastern non am Pacific.
Speaker 7 (29:49):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together We're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern, two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (30:01):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 7 (30:03):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world. We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of
sports and pop culture, stories that well, other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together. I mean that says something, right. So
check us out. We like to get you involved too,
(30:23):
take your phone calls, chop it up. As they say,
I'd say, the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
maybe the.
Speaker 8 (30:29):
Most interactive show on planetar.
Speaker 7 (30:31):
Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific and if you
miss any of the live show, just search Covino and
Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and of course on
social media.
Speaker 8 (30:43):
That's Covino and Rich.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Well, the next year and a half in the United States,
we are going to be the centerpiece of the world's
greatest soccer. Gianna Infantino is the president since twenty sixteen
of FIFA, not only a global citizen, seven different languages,
world traveler. I am jealous, I will admit, and you
are joining us. So now it's called the Club World Cup.
(31:06):
So not this summer. The following summer is the World Cup.
We know about that. Harry Kane, then Bape our best players.
The Club World Cup is on our soil. We're lucky enough.
Explain who will be involved in that? Do I get
the best of the best?
Speaker 9 (31:20):
You get the best of the best? Well, Harrycane and
Bappe will be there as well, so Leo Messi and
many many others. The thirty two best club teams club
in the world.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Now, what's at stake? What kind of money we talking about?
Speaker 9 (31:33):
Well, first of all, what doesn't saying is this incredible
trophy here, which is beautiful, But the money we're talking
about is one billion US dollar prize money, which is
there for grab for the winning team. First time we
organize an event like that, first time there will be
a club truly crowned World champion by FIFA.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
So we are seeing in Major League Baseball, and we've
seen it over the course of my life. Latin America
has furnished us with great players. Now Asian players coming over.
The Dodgers have a pipeline to it, and it's absolutely
helped the game. Oh, Tawny's our biggest star. How is
the United States viewed globally in soccer? Because I always
(32:15):
felt I remember the Kyle wrote Junior Days in the seventies.
My mom was British. I went over there when Netherlands
in England in the seventies were dominating Johann Crouth and
the great British teams, and you know, we were kind
of clunky and our players weren't as aesthetically pleasing. How
are we viewed now in the States?
Speaker 9 (32:34):
Well, I think what is seen from outside of the
United States, he said. Of course in America, other sports
are more important than soccer, which is the most important
sport all over the world, in every other country.
Speaker 5 (32:48):
Right.
Speaker 9 (32:50):
However, I think that the two World Cups, the one
this summer or the team of the clubs and the
next one of the countries next year, which changes fund mentally.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
See you have been the president, what do the numbers
say about the growth in the country, Because generally when
a World Cup is hosted by US, even if it's not,
but if it is, there tends to be exponential growth.
So if you've seen growth in your run as if
a president United States.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Oh definitely.
Speaker 9 (33:17):
We basically double the revenues when it comes to FIFA
and the World Cup by organizing it here. But what
is important is that what happens here in America has
an impact all over the world. So the growth figures
cannot just be measured in the United States, but all
over the world. And when it comes to most women's
(33:38):
football actually a men's football, whenever we do something here,
it has such an important global impact that you know,
is just incredible for the game.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
When you look right now, I think I've said this before.
I think this is the most talented group of players
we've ever had. Now we're young. When we got beat
by Netherlands, clearly they had older, more senior players we
weren't at that level that was almost aspirational a goal.
I look at our team, it's kind of a golden
age of soccer, the academy system, we have many players
(34:11):
over in Europe. Are we viewed in the world now
as a serious soccer country.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Well, definitely. I think that.
Speaker 9 (34:21):
The work that has been done with the MLS in
the United States, in Canada, the work with the academies
that has been put forward is really impressive. You have
a good team, you have good players, have a great
coach as well, Mauricio, who was really fantastic, and these
players they play now, you know, for the best teams
(34:43):
in the world or in Europe if you want, and
the world can see that. Combine this with the fact
of playing a World Cup at home, well, it's quite
an explosive combination, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Is it harder? I mean because of security reasons among
others and technology. Is it harder to put on a
World Cup than it was eight years ago?
Speaker 9 (35:10):
Well, to put on a World Cup is obviously always
quite a challenge. Especially the next World Cup will be
forty eight countries participating instead of thirty two. Yes, so
we increase the number by fifty percent. We'll have you know,
ten million people coming to the US. It's these are
incredible fans. We'll have six billion people watching it all
(35:30):
over the world. This requires a lot of organization and
we're here for that and we team up with you
for that as well.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Yeah, that hadn't hurt. Where is soccer now? It's growing.
I looked at a number this morning which was amazing.
According to Forbes, the number of United States people who
have been soccer fans for five years or fewer, so
this is our newest fans has gone up fifty seven
percent year to year and over and the number of
(36:00):
first time fans is a four hundred percent year over year,
So over five years at fifty seven percent. So something
has happened in the last year where there's been an
explosion in the United States. So when I think of soccer,
I think of a Spain, and I think of Germany,
and I think of the Netherlands, and I think of
Italy and France, and I do think of the United
States selfishly, Where is this game growing? That would surprise me?
(36:25):
Is it growing everywhere?
Speaker 2 (36:27):
It is growing everywhere.
Speaker 9 (36:28):
It's growing in the Middle East, It's growing in this Ya,
in East Asia. But I think the big surprise will
be the growth here in North America. When you see
every child, girl or boy now plays soccer. What happens
then is that the most talented players they go to
other American sports, right because they maybe don't see a
path to glory through soccer, but they will see it now.
(36:52):
This year with the Club Will Cup with the best
teams in the world, next year with the World Cup
with the best countries in the world, they will see
that there is a pass to glory, pass to something incredible.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
And this will make a big difference.
Speaker 9 (37:06):
When the US organized the ninety four World Cup, eighty
five percent of the Americans a couple of months before.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Didn't know that the World Cup was happening.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Today it's the other way around.
Speaker 9 (37:17):
Eighty five percent of Americans they know that the World
Cup is coming already one year ahead. So these are
signs that things are changing. Plus one more thing, if
I may, sure you know you are the United States
of America, right, the greatest country in the world. You
are number one in kind of everything you do. You
cannot be satisfied to be number twenty in the number
(37:40):
one sport in right. You want to be number one
in the number one sport, so let's go for it.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Yeah no, you're you're listen, You're you're preaching a choir here,
believe me. But I grew up in the Pacific Northwest.
My mom was British, so when I was a kid,
I went to England. At the time, the English team
was battling for the World Cup, like nineteen seventy two,
seventy three, and again Netherlands was great. So when I
was a kid, I was introduced to it, and I
moved to the Pacific Northwest, which Seattle and Portland are
great soccer market, so I think I got an advantage.
(38:06):
My Seattle Sounders made the NASL Championship game against the
New York Cosmos. Of all the great players you've dealt
with over your not just at FIFA, but you're a
global citizen. There is something special about soccer players. There
is there I like the global field to it. There's
a graciousness and a gratitude for what soccer presents. It's
(38:29):
the happiest sport and nothing against football players and baseball guys,
but that it is is that something you within FIFA
that you talk about that it's the world's game, and
it's very welcoming.
Speaker 9 (38:42):
It is You're absolutely right. It is the world's game.
It brings happiness. I mean, look at this what we
brought for you. You can see this. This is yours shift.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
Can I, yeah, gift? Can I give it to you?
Speaker 1 (38:53):
Absolutely? By the way he hears, a little small ownership
and a small soccer team name.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Look at that.
Speaker 9 (39:00):
Well, now this is the official match ball of the
FIFA Club World Cup.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Now look at your face. You're smiling.
Speaker 9 (39:06):
You see why because his ball is a magic object.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
There's much more than just a ball. It is magic.
Speaker 9 (39:14):
It brings smiles to faces of children of girls all
over the world. It's a very simple sport. It's the
world number one sport for that. And that's why we
are investing all over the world. The revenues we generate,
we invest them in Africa, in Asia, in Americas, everywhere
in the world to make sure that the game came.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
If American soccer, if you could say, and Jenny Infantino
is joining us to president of FIFA, he has been
since twenty sixteen. If you could, if I may, I'll
put you on the hot seat. If you could make
one change to US soccer and just nudge them to
do something. There is there anything that you're frustrated a
little with USA Soccer?
Speaker 9 (39:52):
Yes, okay they should listen to me. Yes, and then
they become number one league in the world.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
But anything in particular that you would posh they are
a little bit too How should.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
I say two communists? Can I say that word? Yeah?
Speaker 9 (40:11):
Yeah, exactly, Yeah, too much regulation, too much limits. You know,
be America, open up, bring the best invest money, and
the returnum investment will be just incredible.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
Because it's interesting. Our other pro leagues are global and
spend nothing but money. But you think we could open
up the pocketbook a little bit.
Speaker 9 (40:33):
More one percent and and the impact will be global
because your other leagues. I mean, look at the Super Bowl,
which is fantastic, right it has on one hundred and
twenty hundred and thirty million viewers.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
Right. The World Cup has six billion viewers.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
Crazy.
Speaker 9 (40:49):
So a World Cup is one hundred and four Super
Bowls in one month. It's three Super Bowls a day,
is and this can have this happens from here, and
this can happen every week.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
If you have the best league in the world, you
know you travel, you travel the globe. Give me something
about America that you really love. You you live in
Switzerland and Italy. If I could choose two places that
would be close to it, World Office is in Zurich.
You have on Miami office now, so obviously United States
(41:21):
soccer is growing. You now have a Miami office. What's
something when you travel the globe that you love about America?
Speaker 9 (41:28):
Can I say Burger? Yes, you could say no, but
I would say Burger definitely. But what I think as
well here and this is really is not too flatter anyone,
but it is really the land of opportunity. I mean,
there are so many opportunities here for so many people,
(41:50):
which is why I still don't understand why soccer has
not become the number one here.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
Four hundred percent year to year of new soccer fans.
Gianni Infantino apply here. Thank you so much. Over to
next
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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