LA’s Homelessness Audit, SF to LA Overnight Luxury Train & the Women’s NCAA Basketball Dominance

ICYMI: Hour One of ‘Later, with Mo’Kelly’ Presents – Thoughts on California’s failure to failure to accurately track the billions spent on homelessness programs throughout the state AND the dream of launching the ‘Dreamstar’ overnight luxury train from San Francisco to Los Angeles is taking a step closer to becoming a reality…PLUS – A look at the Women’s NCAA championship ratings dominance - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app

Episode Transcript

(00:22):
KF. I am six forty.It is later with Mo Kelly. We're
live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.Back in twenty eleven, I was working
various karaoke spots. I was workingat Gable House Bowl, which no longer
exists, karaoke hosts Friday nights andSaturday nights. I was working at Katie

(00:44):
B down on Pine Street, LongBeach, that place no longer exists.
What I was making about maybe onehundred, one hundred fifty dollars a night,
trying to keep this radio dream alive. And then I got a call
real condensed version of the story fromMike Schaeffer, who used to be the
operations manager here, and they said, Mo, you know, I saw

(01:07):
your resume. I don't know ifwe have something for you for your level
of experience, because I had workedin radio for a good ten years or
so at that point, with JimRome, Ryan Seacrest, Tavis Smiley.
But all they could offer me wasthe opportunity to interview for a part time
producer position here at KFI. AndI said, no, no, no,
shoot, absolutely, just whatever.I'll do whatever you need. I

(01:32):
don't care if it's minimum wage.And I think it was a tick above
minimum wage back then. And Istarted producing with KFI and I was doing
what they call the tour shows tohelp produce for Phil Hendry, Wayne Resnick,
Bill Handle, John cannont one point, all the shows. That's how
all the producers are taught around here. And then one time I went out

(01:53):
to lunch with Robin Berlucci and Iwas also at that time helping produce for
KTOKI eleven fifty, which is apartner station here at iHeart right down the
hall and sound KiB and Rob andI sat down for lunch and she said,
well, Mo, you know,I hope you're enjoying working at iHeart.
Is there anything that you want todo bigger picture? And I looked

(02:15):
her in the eye. I said, I want to be able to forward
my own radio vision. I wantto have a chance to do my own
show. And she said okay,and we'll work to making sure that happens.
And so then I started doing somebit hosting on ktlk AM eleven fifty.
We had this show called Diverse La. We'd have different hosts each day

(02:38):
and I help co host that andthat went on for a few weeks and
I had a chance to host bymyself, and then after a while I
was hosting three days a week,and then five days a week, and
at along those lines. At somepoint to Waller Sharp had joined me in
producing Diverse La. Then the opportunitycame to host on KFI AM six forty

(03:00):
Saturday night from six to eight pm. The first time I opened up the
mic on KFI was April ninth,twenty twelve, twelve years ago, on
this day, twelve years ago,and I remember all of the hate man

(03:22):
I got that night. After thefirst segment, I was called everything in
the world with the exception of achild of God, if you can think
of it, I was called itthat night. Oscar Ramirez was producing and
it was a completely different experience.Katolk was lightly regarded, did not have

(03:44):
the type of size, reached thehistorical significance as KFI, But I knew
it was a big deal to beable to sit in this chair and be
heard by hundreds of thousands of peopleup and down the host of California,
and on the weekends, especially atnight, when you have fifty thousand watts.

(04:04):
You may not know this, butother stations they have to turn down
the transmitters, so CAFIVE reaches evenfurther. Some fourteen states and even in
New Mexico can here. And Iwas living the dream. I was living
in the dream back on April ninth, twenty twelve, and I'm still living
the dream on April ninth, twentytwenty four. And I say that I

(04:29):
have the best job in the world, and I still do because I get
to talk to you, I getto grow with you, I get to
go through this thing we called lifetogether. I've had any number of life
experiences in that time. I've gottenmarried, my father has passed, I've
had all types of personal trials andtribulations, but the constant has been you

(04:56):
going through this thing with you.And I love being able to hear from
you because any times you're going throughsome of the same things. Got this
very nice note yesterday and I can'tfind it to give correct attribution, but
also from a young lady who wassaying, MO, I appreciate it when
you brought on your dentists because Iwas scared to go back to the dentist,
and because I heard you and tellingyou telling your story and hearing from

(05:19):
your dentists, I've now gone backto my dentists. I had a couple
of cavities and some other work,but you know, I'm better for it.
And it reminded me of the importanceof respecting the mic. Not the
importance of what I do, butthe importance of respecting the mic that you
touch a lot of people. AndI just wanted to say thank you for
writing with me twelve years later.In this business, I tell people all

(05:42):
the time, if you haven't beenfired in radio, then you haven't worked
in radio. I've lost I wantto say, at least three jobs in
radio. Twallow, how about you. I know you've lost at least three,
at least four, yeah, five, yeah. And that's just the
thing. There's not a lot oflongevity in this business, much less one
station, much less in the numbertwo market, much less on the number

(06:04):
one news talk station in America,much less on the number one stream station
on iHeartRadio. I say all thatto say I was having great fun then
I'm having even more fun now.Thank you to Nil sav Adria. Thank
you to Tim Combway Junior he cameout to our very first remote. Thank
you to Bill Handle, who gaveme a lot of sage advice along the

(06:27):
way when you hear me right now, there are a lot of people who
were helping and hoping and pushing inthe background that you never never see.
And that's why I'm always very carefuland always very gracious about being able to
have this opportunity. So it's twelveyears here on KFI. Now, I
just want to get that out ofthe way, and I said my thank

(06:48):
yous and all that. Now let'sget into how horrible LA is. Right
now, California has spent twenty fourbillion dollars to tackle homelessness the past five
years. I didn't know it wastwenty four billion dollars. Twenty four billion
dollars, but did you know thisCalifornia didn't consistently track the twenty four billion

(07:10):
dollars in whether it actually improved thesituation of homelessness. And that'stimated. One
hundred and seventy one thousand people arehomeless right now in California, the state
of California, one hundred and seventyone thousand. I think thirty five of
them live outside my door. Onehundred and seventy one thousand, And that
amounts to about thirty percent of allthe homeless people in the country right here

(07:30):
in California. But despite the twentyfour billion dollars that we have been using
over the past five years, justthe past five years, California doesn't have
reliable data needed to fully understand whythe problem has not improved. This is
according to the state auditor's report andas reported in the La Times quote.
This report concludes that the state mustdo more to assess the cost effectiveness of

(07:54):
its homelessness programs. Under the threepoint six billion dollar program that converts hotel
and motel rooms, which is abig part of Newsome's homelessness plan, the
average cost of a room is atleast two point five times cheaper than building
a new home. That's according tothe audit. The housing assistance program,
which has received seven hundred and sixtymillion dollars over the past five years,

(08:15):
gives an average of twelve to twentytwo thousand, depending on which county,
to help a low income family stayin their house. That's a fraction of
the roughly fifty thousand the state spendson a person once they become homeless.
Remember I was talking about it's onething to help someone get back in their
house or get into some sort ofpermanent dwelling. But we don't know what
happens to the people who are newlyhomeless. We don't necessarily know whether we're

(08:37):
actually making a net positive impact.Remember we talked about the eye test.
I talked about it with Stefan goodevening, Stephan. I said, you
know, I can't speak for you, Steffan, but I know eyeball test.
It doesn't look like it's getting anybetter. Now we know thanks to
the state auditor's report, it's notgetting better. And worse than that,
not only is it not getting better, we can't even actually assess where all

(09:00):
all the money is gone and whetherit's actually helped in any significant, meaningful
way whatsoever. California gotta love it. It's later with mo Kelly can if.
I am six forty. We're liveeverywhere on the iHeartRadio app. And
before we go to break, Iwant to say hello and thank you to
to Walla Sharp, producer of theshow twelve years in and he and I
talked about this dream a long timeago. You don't know, you're just

(09:22):
seeing it come to fruition now,but we had talked about what we were
trying to do right here, rightnow on the show tonight in a general
sense and a grand sense. Wetalked about it at least eleven years ago,
So it's really good to be ableto live this dream with him right
here and right now, and goodevening. Mark Ronner. You are newer
to the team, but you andmy brother from another mother, I know

(09:43):
we fight on the air. Peoplethink we seriously don't like each other.
Could not be further from the truth. It's all k fabe. Yes it
is, Yes, it is Stephan. I don't like his ass at all,
that's for real. Twelve is theSilk Anniversary. So what have you
got some panties on? What doyou got? Why could it be pajamas?

(10:03):
Had to be patties, not pajamas, not even boxers. I'm just
asking. It's the Silk Anniversary numbertwelve. Yeah, boxers are sufficient.
They probably chasing. Nobody wears silkboxers, do they? No? I
wears silk panties. Well, Iwas thinking about Edward Junior, who wore
that stuff under his marine uniform whenhe was in the service, and I

(10:24):
look like Edward not so much,thank you, but you might have some
things in common. That's why I'masking. No, no, no,
no, no, not that,okay, So it's a no on the
silk. Thank you, good evening, Glad to be aboard. You're listening
to Later with Moe Kelly on demandfrom KFI AM six forty. I'm big
on education and I'm always pro teacher, Okay, I know I am not

(10:46):
reasonable when it comes to discussing educationand teachers. I'm on the side of
teachers all day, every day,all the time, all the reasons.
It does not matter. I'm nottrying to have a discussion about it.
I'm siding with teachers because one,I'm the son of two teachers, and

(11:07):
I know what teachers have gone throughhistorically for the past fifty years in a
professional sense, and how they've alwaysbeen devalued, undervalued, the stuff that
they have to put up with.Let's just say you don't like Los Angeles
County, well, imagine dealing withthe worst of Los Angeles County and often
in many instances, in the schoolsevery single day. It used to be

(11:31):
fifteen twenty years ago where if therewas a problem in the classroom, you
would go to the student's parents andyou would say little Johnny, Ricky,
little Lisa whomever they were acting upin class. They're acting like a complete
ass. They need to be reprimandedor something. I had to sit them
to the teacher, to the principal'soffice, and the parents would side with
the teachers because they understood that theteacher had the child's best interest at heart.

(11:56):
Now it's a complete one eighty andit's always assumed, what did you
do to my child? What isit that you did wrong? Because there's
no way my child, who isan age could have done anything wrong.
It is completely upside down. SoI say all that to say I side
with teachers no matter what. Theyare underappreciated and undervalued. So when I
read that La County is offering freeschooling and on the job training to increase

(12:20):
the number of teachers available to teachyour badass children, I am all for
it. Right now, there areseven hundred and twenty five thousand students under
the age of five under the ageof five, and they are not enough
teachers for that. We always talkabout classroom size, whether they're getting adequate

(12:43):
attention from their teachers. Well,numerically, mathematically they are not. And
in hopes of enticing and recruiting moreearly childhood educators, you know, get
them while they're young. LA Countyis providing ninety interested individuals with free schooling
and training so they can start debtfree careers as teachers. If you don't
know, it's not inexpensive to becomea teacher. Usually there is an undergraduate

(13:09):
degree, there's a graduate degree,there's teaching credential and all this other stuff.
It's not free. We talk aboutthe larger conversation of debt coming out
of school, Well, it's thesame for teachers as well. But on
the flip side, it's not likebeing a doctor or a lawyer. It's
not like you're going to come outand possibly make six figures anything close to

(13:31):
six figures. You're probably going tomake I don't know, forty five fifty
thousand at most in California, andyou may have hundreds of thousands of dollars
in debt. It's not necessarily oneof those careers right now monetarily or even
professionally, which is going to bein high demand. It's not like you

(13:54):
go to college and become a teacherbecause you want to become wealthy. No,
you do it because you care aboutstudents and you want to positively impact
young people. Usually for altruistic reasonsyou become a teacher. But it's not
like there's no there's no pot ofgold at the end of the rainbow.
So this is why I think thiscould be very positive. Officials say ninety

(14:16):
Los Angeles County residents will have theopportunity to receive free community college education and
on the job training that will ultimatelyresult in California state issued child development permits.
Those accepted into the apprenticeship will receiveone hundred and eighty hours of classroom
training at local colleges and two thousandhours paid site based experiential learning, and

(14:43):
it'll be subsidized in part by DEO. Okay, I don't know if there's
anything controversial about that. I forgoteducation is controversial in twenty twenty four.
You know, don't teach my childthis, don't teach my child that.
Well, damn at least you haveto at least participate in your child's learning

(15:03):
and development, because last I checked, these kids are coming out of school
and they're acting like little a holesare actually big a holes. They're actually
really really big a holes. AndI don't know about you, Mark Runner.
When I was growing up, Igrew up in a physical disciplinarian environment.
I was more afraid of my fatherthan I was the police or anyone

(15:28):
else. I was afraid of facinghis wrath, and so I didn't really
act up much in class because Iknew that there were consequences which had to
be paid. Oh, I experiencedthose consequences. I didn't have the same
kind of home situation that you did. I had no father, But boy
did I get paddled and spanked andlifted off the ground by my hair.

(15:50):
In school, I hear all thetime about how you shouldn't hit your kids.
Corporal punishment. Spanking is just wrong. It's child abuse. Look here,
look here, look a here.I don't care what you do.
Just make sure your kids don't growup and break into my house. So
that means pattering their ass, dothat. If that means spanking them,

(16:14):
then do that. If that meanssomehow putting the fear of God into them,
then do that. We could dowork. As much as we complain
about how bad La County is rightnow, was smash and grabbing all that
a little more discipline would be okay, I'll say this. There's a lot
of talk about arming teachers right nowI can tell you with one hundred percent
certainty, I owe my continued lifetoday to the fact that none of my

(16:37):
teachers were armed. Oh yeah,my teachers would have shot me in a
heartbeat, and for a variety ofreasons. I'm not going to get into
on there, but they definitely wouldhave shot me. And also, I've
said this before, it bears mentioningagain my kindergarten teacher, Miss Parchment.
I would not want her to havea gun. March prim Yes, well
that's a great name. I'm feelingthat she's elderly. Even when I was

(16:57):
in kindergarten, I don't know ifshe had the physical dexterity to handle a
gun. The kick probably would havemade the gun fly out of her hand.
I don't care if it was thetwenty two she was. You know
people even back then. First gradewas missus Thompson. Miss Thompson, she
was mean and ornery. I don'twant her to have a gun, even
even though she's dead now, sheshouldn't have a gun. No, no,

(17:19):
don't arm him. Second grade MissusCochrane, she was cool. She
was said test him as in testMarris O Kelly. He should be in
at so I can't say anything meanabout her. I don't know she's still
alive. What's at advanced placement theycall a gate? Now? Third grade
was missus Pittyton. Nah, shemight be able to handle a gun.

(17:40):
She at the time, she waslike in her thirties or something. She
was physically fit. She was progressive, small p In other words, she
gave students a little more freedom.She let us talk a little bit more.
She liked to reason with us.She wasn't a stifling Because most of
the teachers I had were very verytraditional, formal. You know, children

(18:04):
are seen not heard. Miss Penningtonwas less like that. This was talking
about the nineteen seventy, so itwas a different time. Fourth grade was
mister Crumley. He was one ofmy favorite teachers. He would he really
pushed us and challenged us. Hehad a gun. I'm sure he was
from Oklahoma, grew up in Oklahoma, grew up hunting all that. I'm
quite sure he had four or fivefourteen guns at his house packing during school.

(18:26):
Suspicious bulge under the arm. Look, I wouldn't be surprised. I
wouldn't have known first hand if misterCrumley had a gun because Again, we
didn't have to deal with school shooting. So it may not have been in
the classroom, but damn it,he probably had one in the car.
Yeah, something's definitely changed on thatfront. We didn't have to worry about
shootings when we were kids. Yeah, I can't put my finger on it.
Fifth grade was Missus Trevor, andshe would go around talking about corporal

(18:49):
punishment. She would wrap your knuckleswith a ruler if you were writing cursif
incorrectly, if you were holding yourpencil incorrectly, she would rap your knuckles.
That's a nun tactic. Yeah,well it's true. I mean,
of course you can't do that anymore. You can't even look at someone's weird,
you know, No, not now. But I had friends who went

(19:10):
to Catholic school, and that waswhat they said the nuns did to them,
among other things. The nuns werebrutal. Yeah. I don't know
if she was a nun, butshe was none adjacent that scene in The
Blues Brothers where the nuns abuses pollutionand kicks him in his desk down the
stairs. That's a documentary right there. I'm pro teacher. Sorry, you
know, I'm not gonna apologize forit. You know, I'm even pro
the teacher that kicked Twala out ofclass or for trying to cheat on that

(19:33):
test and take that pencil from Larkvorhees. Oh, I got to hear
this. What is look at thetime, we got to go to break
this Later with mo Kelly, can'tI am six forty live everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app And when we come back, I'll let Tuala tell the story.
I'll let him tell his side whyhe deserved to get kicked out of class,
and then we'll tell you about theovernight luxury train from San Francisco to
La which is almost here. It'salmost a reality. You're listening to Later

(19:56):
with Moe Kelly on demand from KFIAM and just a moment, we're going
to tell you about Dreaming star Lines, the Newport Beach based transit startup which
came into agreement with one of thenation's most important freight companies and they're taking
major steps to making this overnight servicebetween San Francisco and LA a reality.

(20:17):
An overnight train trip from San Franciscoto La It's almost here. It's not
high speed rail, but it's aluxury thing for people who just want to
spend a night on the train.I know, kind of weird. We'll
tell you about it just a second. But I have to give Tula the
chance to defend himself because I ampro teacher and he was a miscreant who

(20:37):
deservedly so got kicked out of class. Who he was acting up? He
had no business acting up in class, and so the teacher rightfully put him
out of the class. Look,that is a mischaracterization of events. There
was no cheating. Unfortunately, Iwas ill prepared for a scantron test.

(21:00):
Needed to borrow a pencil, andthe young lady who sat in front of
me, I tapped on her shoulder. I thought, hey, we're cool.
You're not supposed to touch people.No, you touched everyone back in
the day everyone was gay. That'sjust what was going on. You were
getting touched. I said, hey, Lark, can I borrow a pencil?
Lark as in lark voorhees. Yes, I'm saved by the bell.

(21:21):
Yes, eventually, later on,eventually, eventually she wouldn't saving the bell
back then? No, Uh yes, I said, hey, Mark,
can I borrow a pencil? Don'tdweller you get that? Borrow a pencil.
You're not supposed to be talking classroom, you know, during the test,
you're not supposed to. But stillI needed a pencil, and she

(21:41):
she, you know, turned inher seat to make sure I knew I
wasn't getting the pencil. No,I'm not giving you a pencil. You
may not give it back. Andthat's when I got upset. Why did
you talk about was the number twopencil? And miss Elman? Uh?
Resting wherever it is she is,don't she? You know, whatever is

(22:03):
she's doing right up or down?Up or down, you know, be
it a worm fest. Uh?Maybe they spread her ashes or ashes,
you know, maybe she's in thesea. Who knows. All I know
is she took it upon herself tocall me up to the front of the
class to reprimand me and I didnot take kindly to being reprimanded. But

(22:26):
you were the child, not theteacher. You act as if you have
not come to a disagreement with ateacher in your time. Oh. I
have told off some teachers in mytime, okay, And I was wrong
every single time. I was right, but I was wrong. Look,
I was right, may be wrongas well. For that I was summarily

(22:48):
dismissed. I think I was thevictim. Oh my goodness. All I'm
saying is your pro teacher stands iswell intentioned. I hope these teach this
program brings in some new teams.Okay, what is the shirt you're wearing
right now? Look? Look,look, look, what is the shirt
you're wearing right now? I hopethat this this let reflect what shirt you

(23:15):
are you wearing right now? Iam wearing a shirt from the school that
I want to do. You workin a school right now, and you're
talking about me and my pro teacherstaff. How dumb. I applaud what
this program is doing. I haveseveral young individuals who are applying to become
teachers now, so I'm hoping thatthis program kicks in for more individuals like

(23:37):
this who may want to enter,especially into the special needs field of teaching.
I'm happy about this. I justwant to know what was the strike
supposed to do. I thought thatwas supposed to already get more funding and
money and get more teachers in.Why are you bringing up old stuff?
Okay, now you know that thatwasn't going to mean anything. That wasn't
gonna change anything, you know,But I'm still pro teacher. But anyhow,

(24:00):
let's talk about this San Francisco toLa overnight train. Well. A
company from Newport Beach plans to launcha nightly first class passenger train service between
Los Angeles and San Francisco. Accordingto sf Gate, Dream Star Lines Incorporated
says it would use the same routeas Amtrak's Coast Starlight trip, would allow
travelers to sleep in private rooms asthe train leaves at ten pm and then
arrives at eight thirty AM. Fareswould range from three hundred dollars up to

(24:22):
one thousand dollars. Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa whoa whoa whoa,
whoa whoa. As the train leavesat ten pm and then arrives at eight
thirty AM, fares would range fromthree hundred dollars up to one thousand dollars.
Companies work, Okay, I don'tknow if I can pay one thousand
dollars to go from here to thereto basically sleep because it's overnight. I

(24:44):
understand you want the option to sleep, but I'm not paying one thousand dollars
to sleep. I would rather pay, I don't know, two hundred and
forty dollars be home in an hourand then sleep in my own bed.
I don't know see what this isa special over night luxury train. This
is for people who want to date. Hey, let's go let's go to
San francisc Let's go to the Bay, right, you know, wine and

(25:07):
dine. This this is this isreally you know, she she fu food.
The last thing I want to dois just say, go on a
date in San Francisco. I gota lot of friends who love to go
to San Francisco for the weekend.Whatever. I get that. But if
you're gonna have a good time inSan Francisco and you're gonna spend one thousand
dollars, might as well be ona hotel, you know, a five
star hotel. No, no,this is a turnaround. This is a

(25:32):
quick turnaround. Or even if you'regoing up to Wine Country, you're taking
the overnight train. It's it's goingdown on the train because they're sleeping cars.
It's very very But I could getmy freak on with no motion in
the hotel. What do I gottaget on the love train? No?
If the love train, what areyou talking about? Do you want it

(25:53):
on the love train? Absolutely?Whatever tunnels, hills you can get it
in in you're getting it in man. Man, have you ever been on
a train in one of those sleepingcars? They are very small? Yes,
no I have What do you need? I like to be able to
stretch out a bit? Okay,you got the calistetics first. Yes,
look, I like to put oneleg over here, the other leg over

(26:14):
there? Whose leg? Does itmatter? Okay? Okay? Need that
this train is actually designed for thisdesign, for optimal luxury, not you
know, sleeping cramped quarter car luxury. I look, if I'm going to
spend one thousand dollars, I needmore than just a bed in a little
sleeping car on a train. No, it's not that it couldn't afford it.

(26:37):
It's the principle amount. I'm talkingabout, principalace. No, there's
more than it comes with. It'sa luxury. Oh yeah, okay,
it comes with a bed. Yes, no bed, Keep looking all the
amenities. What hello, there's gottabe some wine and crackers. What are
you talking about here? The problemis you didn't you ever see from Russia
with Love or by Northwest? Iknow they don't. Are you better than

(26:59):
Carry Grant and Sean Connery? Theygot it on on trains. No,
I'm not saying that I wouldn't getit on on a train. I'm saying
for the money that they're asking,I need, I need a much more
comfortable environment. No, no,you don't, what like a big round
bed or what. Let me putit this away. I'm not gonna spend
one thousand dollars to join the milehigh Club. And no I'm not a

(27:19):
member. No. Look, dude, the upscale trains in sweet showers.
Uh oh, they got a shower, internet, food, beverage service.
They got all that in the hoteland I can still be home in the
seven hours. You what happened toyour romantic bone? Romance is not on
the train. Careful, careful,I look careful. Okay, Romantic street

(27:45):
street. Yes, you're a radicstreak. Okay, make sure you keep
the streak alive. The silver streakhas gotta flow. What is happening?
I mean, let's just go tobreak. Let's just go to break.
Okay, you've ruined it for everyone. Tula, Okay, you went too
far. You went way too far. I'm talking about low Okay, you

(28:07):
went way too far. I wastalking about a train ride, and you
talked about something else. Your romanticbone. HMMFIM six forty. We're live
everywhere on the iHeartRadio app until weget put off the air. You're listening
to Later with Mo Kelly on demandfrom KFI AM six forty. Have you

(28:30):
been listening to Later with Mo Kelly? You have been following the evolution and
growth of women's college basketball. Wehave been talking about it for months and
telling you it was heading in thisdirection, and now we have the numbers
to prove it. The women's ncTOOA Championship had more viewers than the men's
for the first time in history.The women's championship garnered nearly eighteen point nine

(28:56):
million viewers and it topped out attwenty four million at one point, compared
to fourteen point eight million for themen's final. And I said, on
any number of occasions, it's notjust the style of play I think which
is more attractive in the sense ofwomen play more fundamental basketball. There's more

(29:17):
passing. Also, you get tosee storylines emerge. You've been able to
hear about Caitlin Clark, for example, for the past two years. You
got to hear about Angel Reese andothers. For the past two years.
You got to know the storyline ofSouth Carolina. How they were undefeated last
year and lost in the semi finalslast year, and how they were unde

(29:38):
undefeated this year and won in thefinals and avenge that loss to Iowa last
year. Those are storylines. Thoseare reasons for you and me to tune
in. We cared more because weknew more. How that differs from men's
basketball, Well, most of thetop talent in men's college basketball, they're
what they're called one and done,so they play one year college as required

(30:02):
to make it to the NBA.You have to be removed from high school
one year. You don't have toplay college ball. You can go overseas
and play if you want, orjust set out a year. But most
of the top talent coming out ofhigh school will play college basketball for one
year and then they will declare forthe draft and move on to the NBA
or some level of professional basketball.So you don't get to know the players.

(30:25):
They don't develop a history. Therivalry between schools doesn't mean the same
thing because you don't have any realhistory at all with the players. Whereas
with women's college basketball, we knewmost of the best players in the game.
We knew the histories of the bestprograms in the game. We developed

(30:47):
a routine interest. Over the courseof multiple seasons. We got to see
Caitlin Clark for multiple seasons, AngelRees multiple seasons. We got better acquainted
with Don's and the coach of SouthCarolina and her personal and professional journey.
And so when don Staley starts cryingas the buzzer sounded and she could barely

(31:11):
compose herself in the post game championshipinterview, you understood why. You knew
what happened last year. You knewwhat she was going through this year.
You knew how her last team shelost all five starters to the WNBA,
and she started over with the newstarting five and still managed to go undefeated.

(31:33):
The storyline, why is professional wrestlingso popular? Storylines? We have
people to root for, We havepeople to root against. Why are soap
operas even now still popular? Peopleto root for, people to root against.

(31:55):
Men's college basketball doesn't really have individualsto root for or against. You're
rooting for just teams the brand.I don't like Duke basketball, so I'll
root against Duke. But I can'ttell you the name of not one player,
not one. Yukon won the championshipfor the men last night. I

(32:15):
can't tell you the name of oneplayer. And I followed college basketball and
Yukon is in the same conference asmy album mater, Georgetown University that both
in the Big East. Still can'ttell you. I can tell you the
name of the coach, Dan Hurley. That's it, Bobby Hurley's brother.

(32:35):
Yukon back to back champions. Can'ttell you the name of any players.
You don't have the same type ofconnection to it because you don't know the
key players. It should not surpriseyou or me. The women's college basketball
the national championship had more than fourmillion people in excess of what the men's

(32:57):
college championship had. It's not afluke. It is not some aberration.
And if you saw the trends ofthe past two years, it was trending
in this direction. It wasn't aperfect storm. It was a gradually building
storm over the past two years.All the things that men's college basketball suffered

(33:19):
from women's college basketball, I shouldsay thrived because and it was a great
game for the women. I didn'tsee much of the game for the men,
and I am hopeful that what wesaw in women's college basketball this year
will translate to the WNBA, becausewhy we know who the players are.

(33:42):
The storyline still continue when they getto the league. It's just up to
the WNBA to effectively promote it inthe way that college basketball was able to
promote it. Heretofore, WNBA hasdone a piss poor job of promoting its
own sport because it's very difficult towatch any of the games unless you have
like a league pass or you havesome sort of cable package which features it,

(34:07):
as opposed to the ESPN, whichis featuring women's college basketball is much
more easy to find. But that'swhy you shouldn't be surprised, but it
should be celebrated. Women's NC twoachampionship game drew more than four million more
than the men for the National Championship. Bravo. It's later with Mokeli caf

(34:28):
I AM six forty. We're liveeverywhere on the iHeartRadio app. There's a
lot of misinformation out there, man, none of it is allowed here.
KI and the kost HD two LosAngeles live everywhere on the radio