July 5, 2024 • 40 mins
In today's Doug Gottlieb Show, guest hosts Jason Fitz and Kevin Figgers take the helm. The duo kicks off the hour by discussing whether Major League Baseball still holds a special place on the 4th of July or if its allure has diminished. They then delve into the MLB Home Run Derby, reacting to Shohei Ohtani's announcement that he will not be participating. Finally, the crew establishes the very first Holiday Ranking Committee. All this and more in Hour 1!
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Thanks for listening to The Doug Gotlieb Show podcast. Be
sure to catch us live every weekday three to five,
twelve two Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local
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Speaker 2 (00:17):
App pas call.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
How many of you right now are sitting at work thinking, Man,
I gotta work on fourth of July weekend? How many
of you right now are sitting there saying, God, I
just want something exciting. I want some sporting event that
I can get into. And you're looking around the landscape
and you're thinking this should be an epic time. But
really this feels like the dog days, the lost opportunity,
(00:41):
because right now, when sports like baseball should be cutting
through and getting all of our attention, they just can't
get it done. It's a Doug Gottlieb Show. I'm Jason
Fitz hanging out with Kevin Figures. We are coming at
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Speaker 2 (01:07):
Happy fifth of July to everybody.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
And I'm sitting here spending the next four hours with
my buddy Kevin Figgers.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
You can usually hear us as part of.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
The Fellas Saturday morning on Fox Sports Radio, and FIGI,
I'm excited to hang out with you today because brother,
I know you love baseball and you know and I've
been honest about the fact that I am a casual
like I sit back and I say, yeah, I'll get
into it. But I'm sitting here watching yesterday on the
fourth of July, and everybody's talking about fireworks, and everybody's
talking about America, and everybody's talking about family and cookouts
(01:37):
and all of these great things.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
And as it's all going down, I look up at
the TV and I'm thinking, huh, the Orioles are playing
the Mariners. Who knew? That's the sort of response. I
felt like a who knew?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
And I'm sitting here saying, how is it possible that
America's sport baseball, hot Dog, apple Pie and chevrole We
all know it.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
It just it should be winning. It should be dominating
fourth of July.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
It should be dominating our consciousness this weekend, and Figgie,
it's just a reminder that it just doesn't find a
way to transcend.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Just tells me how Unamerican you are, Jason, That's what
it tells me, how much of a patriot you are?
Not ask you not enjoy some hot dogs and some
cold ones and watch some Major League baseball? Are you
telling me that you weren't riveted by that Nationals Mets
one nothing game? The day game we had the national
TV displayed by itself, the standalone game yesterday afternoon? Is
that what you're telling me right now? That didn't rivet
(02:27):
you warm the cockles of your heart?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Come on, look, okay, So first and foremost, if you
guys have listened to us at all over the course
of the last couple of months, you know I'm on
this like crazy diet right now. Right, So I actually
took a bit of a splurge day you would be proud.
On the fourth of July, I'd let loose. I did
have a hot dog, and by the way, it's far
better than the girled chicken and rice I'd been eaten
for the last two months, So you know it was great.
(02:49):
And I gave myself the luxury of an unsweetened iced tea.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
You know, so I let loose. Things are getting weird.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Use otherwise usually you know, it's like the like the
in the club video with Fitty Sin and he's in
the lab, you know, with the eminem and Doctor Dre.
That's basically what fits has been the last couple of months.
These being a well chiseled machine right now. And ladies,
trust me, you guys are gonna want to see this
guy when the fall rolls around.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
It's gonna be dangerous.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Yeah. Oh so summer, I'm gonna be out. I'm gonna
be dangerous in the streets.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
I'm just telling you're like, look, I've had the same
five meals at the same time since May fifteenth, every
day until yesterday, and I've had there's only water to
drink during that entire duration.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
So let me tell you.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
First thing, I took a bite of a hot dog.
First thing, I thought, Figgy, this hot dog tastes better
than grilled chicken.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
And Rice does, right. And then I'm looking at the
TV though, and I'm thinking about it.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
I'm like, man, look we've been sitting here just we're
as a country right now, we are so ready for
something in sports to grab us. And I'm sitting here,
I'm looking at baseball. I'm looking at the US men's
national team and their absolute epic failure over the course
of their tournament.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
I'm looking at which is being polite to call.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
It an epic failure, Hookie, even at the Olympics a
few weeks out, and I feel like, right now everybody's
just got a so what mentality about it. Nothing is
cutting through, Figgie.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
And I don't really understand why. Look for the years
baseball until you talked about it. It's America's pastime. It
was more of a local sport, more of a regional
sport now than the national for whatever reason, although the
TV ratings nationally were up for the postseason last year.
But to your point, for whatever reason, people seem to
be more riveted by who was or was not competing
in a hot dog getting contest yesterday than anything that
(04:30):
was happening in Major League Baseball now. One thing that
probably works against it, And I've said this about baseball
and really sports in general, as it continues to expand.
The more and more you start expanding postseasons, the less
and less important the regular season becomes and so we're
starting to enter into the quote unquote dog days of
summer for even from Major League Baseball. But the problem
is there are so many teams that are in the
(04:50):
playoff race, which yes, generates some level of interest to
a certain degree, but also back in the day when
all you had to do was when your division, all
of these games mattered. Now, all of a sudden, if
you're of the doldrums, if you're the Dodgers and you've
been struggling, and you lose a couple of games against Arizona,
it's like, well, no bigging, We're still ten games up
in the division and we're gonna be there at the end.
What difference doesn't make. It's just has a different field
(05:12):
to it nowadays, and even it did.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
Twenty twenty five years ago.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
These games at this point in time in mid July
late July just have less of a meaning. And I
do think that, as much as anything, is a big
reason why Major League Baseball doesn't really cut through this
time of year like it used to.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Well, to that end, you know, we've talked repeatedly on
our show about the fact that, look at the math, essentially,
I'm gonna cheapen the math here. But you know, ten
straight wins by the Yankees over the Red Sox is
the equivalent of one win by the Raiders over the Chiefs. Like,
that's just that's math on one hundred and sixty two
versus seventeen. We're close enough on that to your point.
(05:46):
Part of it is just the way that everybody consumes
and talks about it. We've talked repeatedly about the NBA
and some of the problems that they have with the NBA.
Part of the issues the NBA has, I believe, is
the way it's covered. So if you don't win a championship,
every buddy just suddenly you suck. There is no in between,
There is no really good year. It's like, well you
want it, you couldn't win a chip, so you're trash.
(06:07):
They were trying to blow up the Celtics for years
until it finally works, right, Like, that's just the way
we cover it. Well, that cheapens the playoffs, which also
cheapens the regular season by the very nature of the
fact that one of the things that makes Major League
Baseball so great is we will say in August in September, well,
remember playoff baseball is far different than regular season baseball.
And because you run with shorter rotations, you need pitchers,
(06:29):
you need less pitching in the playoffs, and you can
go in and suddenly have a hot team get hot
at the right time. It does feel like all of this,
what is the value? What is the value of suspense?
Like if the value of entertainment is I just want
to sit in the ballpark, I want to have a beer.
I want to have a hot dog that's never going anywhere.
But in today's world, where you have more choices than ever,
more opportunity for your eyeballs than ever, people have the
(06:51):
option to just watch whatever.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
They want, whenever they want.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
You have to have some level of captivating drama to
keep people sucked in. And I don't know how you
create drama out of a matchup in Major League Baseball
on the fourth of July.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
You really can't, to be honest with you, even if
it's a MARKI matchup between two great franchise that look.
Yankees Dodgers played each other the last couple of seasons
in June, and those have been some of the highest
rated games in years. And I'm glad that the Major
League Baseball is do them over around robin format as
opposed to teams only seeing each other every couple of seasons.
The problem is you only get a handful of those.
We got Yankees, Red Sox, you know, starting this weekend.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Now.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
Granted, the Red Sox are fairly average at this point
in time.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
The Yankees are great, but even those don't have to
say sort of bite like they used to, even when
one of those franchises were struggling.
Speaker 5 (07:35):
The immediacy.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
I do think the idea that games have to have
some sort of meaning to your point in time, they
have to mean something at this point for a lot
of people at this point in time, it just that's
all that resonates. And if we're not gonna sit here
and watch meaningless gas anymore.
Speaker 5 (07:49):
To your point, there's too many entertainment options.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
So I'm not gonna sit there on July fourth and
watch two average baseball teams play each other. I'd rather
sit there and fire up a streaming service and find
a show that I want to watch, or watch a
classic game for that matter.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
I mean, he's.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Kevin figures up Jason fitz Wren on the Doug Gottlieb
Show on Fox Sports Radio and as we continue to
break this down.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
I keep thinking about hot.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Dog getting you know, in fairness, I know it sounds weird,
but I was a sideline reporter on that for three
years for ESPN.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
I look at that.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
I love my Yeah, my opportunity to be only a
foot from Joey Chestnut is he set the world record
is something I'll never forget.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
And I love the vibe and the energy around it.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
Do you feel his presence?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
You heard it? I mean just the dunkin of the buns.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
Oh, it's smell, the mustard oozing out of his pores.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
There's there is a funk smell to all of that
that is like, I'm not gonna lie to you, but
I watched a little of it. You know, I miss
I miss being a part of that event because I
love so many of the people that were very gracious
to me and allowing me.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
To cover it.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Right.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
So I'm watching part of it and I'm thinking, man,
are we really watching a bunch of people not name
Joey Chestnut? Like I understand there's a different conversation when
you have a superstar, but when you are not talking
about Joey Chestnut, when you're trying to sort of anoint
the next superstar and Joey Chestnut not participating because of
a contract issue.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
All of a sudden, you can't.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Even anoint by taking down the big guy, so whatever
you do is going to be slided. I saw the
posts least hot dogs eating by a winner in the
next amount of years, and I'm like, man, this is
what we do.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
So even in that moment, people.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Were more anxious to watch soaked buns just shove down
somebody's throat than an actual baseball game. And that just
speaks to where we've gotten, Like there is a part
of the world that I think one of the most
important things you can do, FIGI is genuinely you can
just step back and accept who you are and what
the world is and where your placing that lies. And
(09:44):
I do believe at some level that we live in
a society now where Netflix shows are sent back to
be re edited because they don't account for the fact
enough that people are on their phones. They want them
to be dumber so that people can listen while they're
on their phones. Like, that's real to the way we
consume entertainment. There's not a way to do that around
Major League Baseball or around soccer or around the Olympics,
(10:07):
say you were going to have to have absolute, utter,
incredible rivalry, drama, people that hate each other, and incredible results.
That's the only way you capture anybody's attention now, and
that just isn't It doesn't exist and it won't exist
anytime soon.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Well the only way that it can exist. And talking
about the hot dog getting contest and what it is,
it's it's a gimmick. It's a oh my guide, do
you believe these guys are actually doing this to their bodies.
It's like, I couldn't do that. It's so it's almost
a novelty. So what Baseball would probably need to do
to your point, stack your biggest rivalries on July fourth weekend,
have your Field of Dreams game on July fourth weekend,
(10:43):
have some sort of novelty built in to that weekend
in particular. Just say, now, granted there's an element that
you say you shouldn't have to do that is July fourth.
It's the only major sport most of the time, barring
Olympic years, euro all that stuff going on, you know,
the only major sport going on at that point in time.
But there should and there's this reality at this point,
and the reality is, to your point, most people just
aren't paying attention to it. So in order to do that,
(11:05):
you have to add a level of novelty to it.
So if I are Major League Baseball and this is
the day that you're supposed to be dominating and you're
not doing it, you got to find some way to
change it. And the best way to change it is
have your best matchups, have your novelty matchups, find some
way to gimmick it up to get more interest, because
there's no reason why baseball shouldn't be dominating on the
weekend of July fourth, with the majority of the time,
there's really nothing else of substance going on in the
(11:27):
sports world.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
I mean, isn't that, in fact what the NBA is
going to have to figure out now with Christmas Day,
Now that the NFL has made it clear that the
NFL is going to plant the NFL flag, let's hold
the NFL to a different standard, because frankly, y'all, we're
all part of the problem here. The preseason football is
going to get eyeball. It's like, whatever the NFL decides
they want to do, we are all going to consume
so I'm not talking about the NFL or even college.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Football here for everybody else.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
When you own a day, you got to own that day,
and that means you got to put more thought than
ever to it. And it feels in some ways like Baseball, Basketball,
all of them, WNBA right now oportunity. I think if
you look at all of them, you've got to genuinely
think of things the way big box.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Retailers think of it.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
It used to be that you could just have a
sale on Black Friday and that was enough to get
people to line up outside your building. But now we're
in an online shopping era where people have choices, they
can make their own decisions, and that means that if
you're a big box retailer, man, you got to figure
out another way. Right That's where I think baseball is.
That's where I think at this point, for Baseball to
own the fourth of July the way the NFL is Thanksgiving,
(12:26):
the way the NBA wants to own Christmas Day, figure
they're going to have to come up with real solutions
and make that day feel like something that even if
you're just barely a baseball fan, you can't turn away
from it.
Speaker 5 (12:37):
I mean, maybe do something.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
The NCAA did this years ago when they would have
their kickoff weekend for the NCAA for basketball for the
regular season, and they had like twenty four straight hours
or eighteen straight hours of basketball and you had games
tipping off at two am.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
I'm not saying you have to be that extreme.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
How about a quadrupleheader of marquee matchups in Major League
Baseball spread across multiple networks.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
I mean, it doesn't take a lot.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
You don't have to do.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
I'm not asking to have, like, you know, have games
be determined by a home run door but at the
end of the game or something like that, or have
some sort of fireworks display built into the to the matchup.
I'm not saying doing anything crazy like that, but there's
a way to stagger your TV games, stagger your matchups.
Stack them on a daylight July fourth, which is to
make them a little bit more intriguing. So I'm not
stuck watching the Tigers and Twins. No offense to our
friends in Minnesota, but you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
He's Kevin Figures, I'm Jason Fitz We're just getting starters.
We got a ton to break down today, including the Olympics,
the Lakers. We're gonna break down holiday rankings, all coming
at you for the next several hours.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
But coming up next, there.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Is one landmark event that Major League Baseball could rely on,
should rely on, and would rely and the question is
can it live up to the hype. We'll answer that
question coming up next. He's Kevin Figures. I'm Jason Fitz.
We're in for Doug Gottlieb on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 6 (13:46):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
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Speaker 7 (13:56):
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Speaker 3 (14:26):
It's a Doug Gottlieb show on Fox Sports Radio. I'm
Jason Fitz hanging out with Kevin Figures. We're gonna be
with you for the next several hours. Shae doing God's
work producing the show. We were just talking about the
fact that major League Baseball has lost its grip on
the fourth of July. There's just no two ways about
it that you can look at it and say, hey,
for all the conversation we were having on the fourth
(14:48):
about fireworks, about America, about family, about hot dog eating,
nobody was talking about baseball. It just wasn't happening. And
that leads me, obviously to what can happen. And one
thing that we all know is a landmark destination event
from Major League Baseball every year is the Home Run Derby.
But Figgi, it hits me every time we talk about
(15:10):
this when I say landmark destination event, is it like
is the Home Run Derby? Because in my mind, as
we get is we look at the Home Run Derby
and we look at the fact that as of right now,
people are not expecting Aaron Judge or show Hey Otani
to participate in this year this year's home Run Derby,
and I want to be up in arms about it,
but I also kind of look at it and say, Okay,
(15:31):
if they put the home run Derby on the fourth
of July, does it still resonate in a way where
you think the world would flock on America to celebrate
while eating their apple pie watching the home run Derby?
Speaker 5 (15:43):
It depends. I think it depends on who's participating.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
If you're telling me that Aaron Judge and show Yo Tani,
two guys who are chasing history, are going to be
a participants in this, absolutely, I do think people are
dropping what they're doing and putting eyeballs on something like that,
because again, that's a gimmick, that's a novelty for Major
League Baseball outside of another Hohohm game out of one
sixty two.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Now you're giving me something.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
But to my point, it has to be the superstar
players who are involved. It's similar to the NBA Slam
Dunk Contest, you know. I mean the Dunk Contest has
lost so much of its luster over the last decade
because the superstar players just have decided, for whatever reason,
whether they don't want to be embarrassed for looking terrible
or whatever it is. I just don't want to participate
in it, and ultimately that ends up hurting what it's
supposed to be the mark one of the marquee weekends
(16:23):
for the sport. For the NBA, it's All Star weekend,
and for Major League Baseball it's All Star weekend.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
I think that will be the only thing.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
That would get people that would draw on eyeballs if
you were to put the home run derby on July fourth.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
By the way, I think you're right about some of that.
And you mentioned college basketball doing a great time. I
remember a few years ago early in this season when
they did a game that was on a battleship and
I was like, Okay, yeah, I gotta watch a past
a basketball game on a battleship. I'm gonna watch right
Like so, I do think that there are cheeky ways
to get people involved in it where it becomes hard
(16:55):
for me on it is.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yes, if Aaron Judge and Shohe or.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
TONI are involved, I personally and more likely to watch
it because it has the big stars that we know
can hit, and that's what everybody really wants to see.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
We all know that.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
But I also understand a bit of where guys are
coming from from, maybe not wanting to do it. Like
I'll go back to a music reference here, but there's
a world famous, one of the best violinists that's ever
lived in all of history, and years ago I was
in what they call a masterclass where these violinists are
sort of teaching the younger generation, and somebody asked him
why he never competed in this one particular, very famous
(17:29):
violin competition, and his answer, without hesitation, was I have
nothing to win and everything to lose. If I go
in and I don't win, then I've hurt the way
people perceive me as a violinist. If I go in
and I win, all I've done is exactly what I
was supposed to do. So there's really no win for me.
Where guys are trapped, whether we're talking about the dunk
contest or the home run Derby, is that if you
(17:51):
are the home run King and you go in and
you're Aaron Judge, no matter what you do, if it
isn't enough, people are gonna roll your eyes and then
all of a sudden you were just.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Trying to participate, and well, there we go.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Now this has happened right, Like, so there's so little
win for the individual athletes doing it other than the
fun of hanging out with their buddies and hitting the ball,
which frankly, they could do a batting practice if they
really wanted to.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Yeah, I mean, if anything, at this point in time,
I feel like players are using something specifically like the
home run derby to put themselves on the map. Like
last year, a lot of people were a couple of
years ago, didn't know who Wholio Ariguez was. One of
the great young faces in baseball, was having a great year.
But he's tacked up. He's, you know, tucked away in
the Pacific Northwest. All of a sudden, this guy shows
up and is in forty home runs in the All
Star in the home run Derby, and you'll say.
Speaker 5 (18:31):
Oh, who is this guy?
Speaker 4 (18:32):
That he's making great catches at the All Star Game
of Dodgers state. He goes like, oh, now I have
to pay attention all of a sudden. To your point,
a lot of these guys have nothing to gain. And
I extrapolate that out to the NBA All Star weekend
as well. You know, if you're Lebron James or Dwayne
Wade back in the day, who for years they were
banging down their doors to participate in the dunk contest,
is like, why would I do that? Because if I
go out there and I end up losing to some
(18:53):
guy at the end of the Utah Jazz Bench used
to be in every single year in the Dunk Contest
but never actually played, if I lose to him, I'm
gonna be ridiculed. Especially in today's day and age and
social media, that stuff is never going to be lived down.
That's going to be a highlight or a low light
that's going to be replayed and retweeted, especially if you're
a divisive figure like someone like the Lebron James Is.
I didn't even bring that part of it up. So
if you're going to be someone like that who already
(19:14):
takes incoming from a lot of and gets a lot
of criticism, anything and everything that you do that can
invite more of it, you try to avoid it, like
the plague. So I understand why they don't do it.
It just ends up hurting the sport and the exposure
for what is supposed to be a marquee day and
weekend for the sport.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
By the fact, by virtual of the fact that they're
not doing it.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
He's Kevin Figures.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I'm Jason fitzercomnat to you live from the tiraq dot
com studios on the Doug Gottlieb Show, And I guess
my only retort to that Figi is that where's the line.
Is it Major League Baseball's responsibility to market their sport
and their players, or is it the athlete's responsibility to
market the sport that they're a part of. Like, if
I just want to go out and do my job,
I say to people all the time, Look, I'd like
(19:55):
to think that people enjoy listening to my work. But
at the end of the day, the reason that I
love working for a place like Fox Sports Radio or
Yeah Who Sports is that they capture the audience. It's
my job to keep the audience but at the end,
and my job to promote what I'm doing. I certainly
do those things, but I do think that there's a difference.
Is there a real responsibility for Aaron Judge to figure
(20:16):
out how to market baseball when baseball hasn't figured out
how to market Aaron Judge.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
Aaron Judge's job to be the best baseball player he
can and to help the New York Yankees win games.
That is literally his only responsibility. And this really takes
me back, Jason to a debate some years ago. This
is when Mike Trout was in his prime, winning multiple
MVPs with the Angels back in the day, and he,
for all intents and purposes, was the face of baseball.
And now the problem is, if Mike Trout started talking,
if we play a clip right now, nobody will be
(20:39):
able to tell you that it was him. They have
no idea what he sounds like. You obviously know what
he looks like. He's a phenomenal player. And Rob Manfred,
I think, took a bit of a pot shot publicly
of Mike Trout, basically saying, this guy is the best
player in baseball. If we need him to help us
market the sport, be more available to do ads and
do a bunch of campaigns for us. Mike Trout, I
don't think I ever said anything explicitly, but the noise coming
out of his camp was It's not my job. My
(21:00):
job is to be the best player I can be
for the Los Angeles Angels. Win baseball games, hit home
run steel bases, do my thing, and then sneak off
into the background.
Speaker 5 (21:08):
He's not a dynamic personality.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
Now look, I think in a perfect world you would
have someone in Major League Baseball who was a dynamic
personality that wants to be the face of baseball, out
of the front of the cameras doing all that stuff.
But unfortunately for Major League Baseball, they just have not
had that sort of player with that sort of charisma
be their best player for whatever reason. I don't think
the responsibility the burden of responsibility necessarily falls.
Speaker 5 (21:30):
On the player, though I do think it would help.
It's up to the league to do that.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Did Michael Jordan proactively go out and promote himself to
a certain degree, Yeah, he had Gatorade, he had Nike,
all that, But I mean the there was a machine
built behind him for that, David Stern, with Larry Burden
and Maggie Johnson. The NBA final games were on tape
delay before he really revolutionized and put those guys out
on Front Street. That was on majorly. That wasn't the NBA,
(21:54):
that wasn't on them. So I think that burdon really
falls on the sport more than it falls on the
individual player one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
And the problem is if you're a player, you get
frustrated because you work your whole life just to get
to the spot where Okay, now I can be the
best at what I do. I can I can go
be this guy and then the questions or girl. But
then the question is how do you suddenly market that
and how does somebody take advantage of that? Well, I
don't think there's an easy answer to that in today's society.
I think it takes, you know, lightning in a bottle.
(22:22):
And they talk about this all the time for influencers
and social media creators that you know, you make a
bunch of content and you hope at some point that
one piece of it hits. At some point, you got
to be lucky, and you also have to have greatness.
I look at what's happened with the WNBA and the
amount of conversation now happening around Caitlyn Clark and Angel
Reese and this level of stars that have come in,
and this is incredible. Caitlyn clarkough had blown up and
(22:45):
Angel Reese had blown up in their whole rivalry had
blown up as they walked into the WNBA. So by
default of their greatness, it is promoting their sport. But
that doesn't mean that it's their job to sit down
every day and say, Okay, what am I doing to
promote the w It's their job to sit down and
every day every day and be great. It's you know,
in that situation, it's Kathy Engelbert's job, the commissioner of
the WNBA to say, we have these big stars, how
(23:07):
do we market around them? Like that's that's the fine line.
So if guys don't want to participate in the home
run derby, man, it's a long season. If they just
want to break Figgie, I want them to get it,
Like I just we put all this pressure on guys
to do what we think they should.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Do because they're just playing a game. But right for them,
it's not a game. It's a business.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
I mean one thing I'll say too, to a little
bit of a different degree, Major League Baseball doesn't help itself.
I feel like they're always the last professional sport to
be drug drag kicking and screaming into everything, whether it
was replay review or whatever else. So a big thing
and a lot of people won't know this, but a
lot of times you see clips circulating on social media
all the time NFL highlights, NBA highlights especially. You know,
(23:44):
I thought the NBA was super smart when they did this. Yes,
there's copyright infringements, and there's videos you shouldn't be sending
out and all that, but you know what, the NBA
does nothing because what they see if some fan guy
takes some video off Steth Curry hitting a game winning shot,
they let it filter out there because the way they
look that it is it's free marketing for the sport.
They're not gonna send a cease and assist and threaten
to get you banned from Instagram or TikTok.
Speaker 5 (24:07):
They just let it play out.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
Major League Baseball is so rigid with this, say it
has to be on our mob page on YouTube. If
it's out there for somewhere else, we're sending a cease
and assist. Nobody's going to be able to see this
unless it's our page. How many followers does Major League
Baseball have in comparison to the NBA. It's minuscule, absolutely minuscule.
Not to be too inside baseball, but like there, I mean,
you can't play baseball highlights until baseball games are over.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
How archaic is that?
Speaker 4 (24:30):
Like baseball doesn't help itself when it comes to these
and even little things like that is what works against
the sport when it comes to popularity.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
There is no easy answer to how to take better
advantage of the fourth of July. What if I told
you though, maybe the problem isn't baseball. Maybe the problem
is the holiday itself. Hot Fourth of July take coming
up next, But first FIGI getsus caught up on all
of the news and notes from around the world of sports.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Right now.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
Well, if it's I think a game that probably has
a lot of eyeballs on it right now, is this
quarterfinal in Earl twenty four between Portugal and France. You
want star power? How about Christiano Ronaldo and Killian Imbape.
Still scoreless right now in the thirty second minute, but
a back and forth action so far. We'll see where
this thing goes. They the winner of this matchup, will
end up taking on Spain, who had a phenomenal extra
inning extra innings I got baseball on the mind in
(25:17):
their fits extra time victory over Germany earlier today two
to one. Later tonight on FS one, Canada will take
on Venezuela in a quarterfinal of the copol America Tournament.
Again you can see that game on FS. Want some
NBA news. According to Sham Charania of the Athletic and
Stadium Ford, Franz Wagner has agreed to a five year,
two hundred and seventy million dollar contract extension with the
(25:40):
Orlando Magic. Third round action at Wimbledon. On the men's side,
top seed at Janick Center just took the first set
of this third round matchup. Earlier in the day, Corlos
Alcaraz defeated Francis Tiafo in five sets, while Tommy Paul
advanced with a straight set victory as well, although women's side,
Cocoa Golf and Madison Keys both.
Speaker 5 (25:56):
Won their third round matchups in straight set.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
And in Major League Baseball, top of the fifth inning
in Chicago, the Cubs with a three to nothing lead
over the Angel Saya Suzuki a two run home run
there in the first Back to the Doug Gottlieb Show.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
It is a Doug Gotlieb Show. He's Kevin Figures. I'm
Jason Fitz. We are in for Doug here on Fox
Sports Radio. We're coming at you live from the Tirak
dot Com studio. Don't forget right after the show, a
podcast goes up. If you missed any of today's show,
you can check out the pod. Just search Fox Sports
Radio wherever you get your podcasts, and be sure to
also follow, rate and review the pod. Again, just search
Fox Sports Radio wherever you get your podcast you'll see
(26:33):
this show posted right after we get off the air. Now,
it takes a committee to make this show happen. This
isn't just myself, Jason Fitz. It's not just Kevin Figures.
It also takes Shay, it also takes Sam and I'm
bringing that whole committee into this conversation because the committee
is going to vote. I like to bring the College
Football Committee into different aspects of life. Sometimes it's about
deciding which NFL teams actually belonging the playoffs. Sometimes it's
(26:55):
about deciding which animated characters from the eighties were the best.
Sometimes it's about holidays, gentlemen, and I think it is
high time that we figure out how these holidays rank
in the world. Because I'm telling you there are people
out there I'm not gonna say who that may or
may not think the fourth of July could be overrated.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
So, gentlemen, here are the rules.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
We are gonna start with the number one team, and
we're gonna go get and get our way down. We're
gonna see if we can vote as a consensus. That
means we got to get enough of a vote.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
That we actually can put this up.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Then we'll put it on a pole, we'll get it
out on social media, and we'll see how people review
the what is now the Fox Sports Radio Holiday Playoff Committee?
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Gentlemen, does everyone everyone in on the rules? Figure? You
good with this?
Speaker 5 (27:37):
Yes? Absolutely, I love this. Let's go.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Okay, Shay ready, Sam, Sam, Sam ready to chime into Okay, Okay.
So it's gonna take all four of us and we'll
start with the top of the list. And if the
top of the list isn't Christmas, then we are going
to have a big argument because I'm just coming in
right now, right away, saying the number one holiday has
to be Christmas. Right, Like I don't even have kids,
it still has to be Christmas.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Right.
Speaker 5 (27:59):
Best food? Someone argue best weather.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
I'm not much of a cold weather guy, but being
in Los Angeles the majority of the time, that really
doesn't change. It's all the same for me. Great music,
great food, gifts. How can you beat that? So Christmas
easily tops the list for me too, Shay.
Speaker 8 (28:14):
Any disagreement Christmas, Yeah, it's because it's the whole month.
It's not just the like the one days. It's a season. Yeah,
I completely agree. I know you're going to disagree, and
I already know what you're gonna say, FITZI, but I'll
let you say yourself.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
No, no, no.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
But by the way, Sam, Sam is playing holiday for us,
which is really well done. That is inside right there,
that is that is a chef's kiss. Sam, you gotta
vote on this one too. Are we good with the
Christmas at number one? Are you unanimous?
Speaker 9 (28:40):
Yeah, because I'm thinking of anything else that could top Christmas.
And listen, I kind of get like how they start.
I get a little irritated with starting Christmas or you
know Christmas commercials, like right after Halloween or even before Halloween.
Last year, I noticed I get kind of at tired
of the material driven, you know, messaging. But I will
still put at number one. It is overall a great time,
(29:03):
a good time with family.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
So okay, So we have unanimously decided as a committee
that the number one holiday is Christmas.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
That's the easy one.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Now we get a little bit complicated, Kevin figures, I'll
let you go first, as you can nominate here who
you think should be number two.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
Now, as a person who has broken a scale and
taco to chair or two in his life, I like
to eat, so I'm gonna go not too far off
of the reservation when it comes to Christmas and go
to Thanksgiving.
Speaker 5 (29:30):
Now, some people might hate their families. I tend to
love mine.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
So it's one of the time of year where you
can gather around with all your family, maybe some close
friends as well, and don't have a friends Giving and
a Thanksgiving at the same time or a couple of
days apart, because that just means more good eating. So
for me, there's not a lot of gifts, but it's
a lot of great time with a lot of great
friends and great family and great food.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Yet again, so this is probably going off of the reservation.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
I don't know if anybody's gonna agree with me, but
I'm going with Thanksgiving as the second best holiday that
we have.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Look I I cannot say this loud enough.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
I don't know that there's a more overrated holiday on
the American calendar than Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Turkey is trash.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
Nobody if it was really that good, you'd need it
and during the course of the rest of the year.
Speaker 9 (30:12):
Sandwiches, it's a different form I do. It's been processed.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Yeah, like if slather and mayo, then like then you're
eating it on a male also disgusting. Come on, so
turkey turkey, I'm out on turkey. I'm out like and
and admittedly I don't have a lot of families, you
guys know, but even when I did have a lot
of family, man, the last thing I need is my
problematic cousin saying something you know, like I don't need
(30:38):
like Grandpa making the whole room uncomfortable. Like even when
I go to friends houses, like every year at Thanksgiving,
like just so people know I'm not a terrible human being,
I usually try and find a local shelter and try
and feed people. And even to that, like you get
a little you get a little nervous that many people
around the table, somebody's gonna say something about their political
beliefs one way or the other. And all of a sudden,
Thanksgiving is rude, Like it's the sides are overrated, Like
(31:01):
mashed potatoes are fine, but they're not like and by
the way, anything you eat it Thanksgiving, you can technically
also eat it at Christmas, and so, like, you know,
you could just eat the food that I'm out on
the Thanksgiving wouldn't even make my top five.
Speaker 8 (31:15):
That's crazy. You make it sound like a chore. You
make this sound like a chore.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
It is. It is a chore. I mean it can be.
Speaker 9 (31:23):
For some people who have to cook and you know,
hap people over and they're stressed out.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
But yeah, never hosts, Sam, That's well, yeah, I've never hosted.
I'll come to your house. I'll bring I'll bring some sides,
I'll but no.
Speaker 9 (31:32):
Yeah, if they make it a communal thing, a potla
kind of thing, that yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
But so uhimous.
Speaker 5 (31:40):
You're saying these have.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
To be unanimous.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
But we've got to come to a decision, like we
got to come to a committee decision.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Like, so I'm out on Thanksgiving.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
I would propose personally, and I know that I'm the
outlier in this, I would.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Put Halloween second. Guess. Yeah, everybody knows I love Halloween.
Speaker 9 (31:54):
Number two.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
It's a it's a party for the parents, it's a
party for everybody if you do it right, like big
Halloween guy.
Speaker 9 (32:01):
Yeah, it's the it's autumn it's fall. It's it's leading
up to Halloween. You know, the spookiness and the candles, you.
Speaker 5 (32:09):
Love scaring children. Just say it, Sam, that's what that's
what it is.
Speaker 9 (32:13):
You know. That's the time when I think there is.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
No doubt about that.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
For years, we did, like uh at my front lawn
always did scenes from movie different reenacted scenes with movies
and annequins and animatronics, and then on Halloween night you
just have your friends come over and replace the mannequins.
So all the little kids that have gone through the
lawn and seen all of the moving things, now that's
real people chasing them. Oh yeah, Like I'm all in
on the whole Halloween experience. I would put Halloween number two.
(32:37):
But yeah, I also I know that makes me an outlier.
So Sam or you or Shay either one.
Speaker 9 (32:42):
I'm Halloween number two. Sam, here Halloween.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
We got to both for Halloween number two. Shaye, what's
you gonna do? Shay? What you go? Football?
Speaker 8 (32:54):
I'm a big I'm a Thanksgiving guy because like I
have the whole like Thanksgiving football game, like I play
with all my high school friends and then you watch
football together and again like the stuffing and all that like, yeah,
you can eat it on Christmas, but stuffing isn't stuffing
on Christmas, you know what I mean? Like, I feel
like it's a different kind of like feeling and vibe
(33:15):
when it's November and you get to eat it. But
like I just can't. I can't agree with you guys here,
So maybe we'll have to us.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Okay, okay, So this becomes what would your number three
be my number three?
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Would Halloween be in your top three?
Speaker 9 (33:30):
Or Halloween would go to my number three?
Speaker 5 (33:33):
I actually don't disagree. Halloween will be number.
Speaker 8 (33:35):
Three as well, one hundred percent number three.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
This is and so this is where see because Thanksgiving
wouldn't make my top five. So it's just saying that
point that means that Thanksgiving loses a point here Halloween
now goes to number two. I think that's how this
works in this committee. I mean, I understand, ye get that.
What's sad at this point? Where do you have that Thanksgiving?
If you were to have Halloween at three too?
Speaker 5 (33:56):
Well?
Speaker 9 (33:56):
I don't, I mean aren't we aren't we going around
the room on number three? So maybe Thanksgivings not my
not not there giving doesn't crack yourself? I think I'm
gonna play So are we doing number three now or
I mean not?
Speaker 3 (34:08):
Okay, here's what Here's what we're gonna do, Here's what
we're gonna do. This is so riveting that we're not
going to force you to do. We're gonna make people
find out how this plays out. All right, we are
doing a committee ranking of the holidays. We've only gotten
through number one. Number one is Christmas. We are in
an absolute dead heat on number two. Whether or not
it will be Thanksgiving or Halloween, it is tied. When
(34:29):
we come back on the Doug gott Leap Show, we
will figure that out. We will also be able to
get through the rest of the top four, I promise,
and then you'll be able to chime in on social media.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
We have not lost our mind.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
You could tweet us, by the way at k FIG
one that's k F I G G one at F
S r SHA that's how you get to the guys,
and I'm at Jason Fitz. We'll figure out how these
power rankings for holidays work when we make it back
on the gud lott Try that again on the Doug
gott Leap Show.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Jason Fitz Kevin figures filling it.
Speaker 6 (34:54):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
Gottlieb Show week days at three pm Easter noon Pacific.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
There are certain unenviable spots in sports places that we
think are easy to be and then you actually try
the exercise and you realize it's nearly impossible. The college
football Playoff Committee is one of those spots, and we're
learning it right now simply trying to rank holidays. It's
the Doug Gottlieb Show. He's Kevin Figures. I'm Jason fitz
(35:21):
where in for Doug. Will be here for the next
several hours. We're coming at you live from the ti
raq dot com studios. And I created this exercise honestly
when I was back at ESPN, because I thought it
was funny that everybody thinks that a committee sitting down
and deciding who the top teams in the country is
is particularly easy to that. I would say, tell you what,
get thirteen of your closest friends, put them around a table,
(35:43):
and then decide you're going to rank the top six
pizza places local to you. You will find a heated
argument that never ends. And I have found over the
course of the years that the process of trying to
make a committee decide the best of anything is always volatile.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
We got through one one.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
The number over one holiday in our committee rankings is Christmas.
We figured that out. Then it got heated because Shay
and Figgy, Kevin Figures and Shape producer Shordinaire have both
given Thanksgiving. Their vote is number two. However, Sam, who's
working on the show myself, we have both given Halloween
number two, and because the two of us have Thanksgiving
ranks substantially lower, that means Halloween goes in as number
(36:22):
two on this committee, which also is difficult because now
Figgy is gonna have to defend a committee for the
rest of the day on social media that he doesn't
even like because his guy didn't get number two.
Speaker 4 (36:32):
Figgy, it's unbelievable. My head is my mind is spinning
just based off of that statement you just made. And
how am I supposed to be able to do that?
Speaker 5 (36:38):
I don't know. I'll figure it out.
Speaker 4 (36:39):
You know, as someone who sat in those mock committee
rooms back in the day, you know exactly what this
experience is like.
Speaker 5 (36:44):
Their fits. Is it as chaotic as that last segment
just was.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
Yeah, I will never forget my buddy Cole Kuberlick standing
up in a room and we were mock committeeing an
old year in college football, and Cole was pounding his
fist on the desk repeatedly about the average weight of
the offensive line of a team that from like ten
years before and why they had to be higher than
another two It was. It was a wildly contentious experience,
(37:07):
and I walked out of that saying, I don't know
how they agree with anything. So that's where we are here,
all right. So the number three holiday, I think at
this point we know that Shay and Figgie are both
going to say Thanksgiving belongs at number three, and that's
a heck of a power ranking. I personally did not
have it at number three. Sam, you were about to
reveal what you have at number three before I say
(37:28):
what I had? What did you have at number three?
Speaker 9 (37:30):
At number three? I have the day that just passed,
the fourth of July. I'm taking putting that at number three.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Okay, the fourth of July didn't even make my list either.
I have Saint Patrick's Day. Oh yeah, Saint Patrick's Day.
Like I forgot about its bad Saint Patrick's Day. Right,
there's always a parade with whiskey.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
That is also nobody ever said, really glad I took
that last shot like that's a praise that's never been echoed.
I had Saint Patti's Day at number three. I think
because Thanksgiving has such a high rating from the guys,
does that mean we have to put Thanksgiving at number three?
I think I think that's where we are. And you know,
I don't. I don't love this, but I think, Figgy,
(38:10):
that feels like the right thing to do.
Speaker 5 (38:11):
That is the move.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Yes, is the shay. It's just chiming and trying to
defend himself. Okay, okay.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
That means we are at number one, Christmas number two,
Halloween number three, Thanksgiving. I don't know how we got there.
None of us feel good about it. This feels very
committee like. And that means number four. So we already
know that the highest ranked non represented holidays so far
for Sam is obviously fourth of July.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
Mine is Saint Patrick's Day. So, Figgi, who did you
have next?
Speaker 4 (38:39):
I'm actually gonna agree with Iowa, Sam. I'm going with
the fourth of July for many of the same reasons.
It's food related. You get barbecues and on top of that,
not much into fireworks these days, but I still enjoy
a good fireworks show.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
It got fireworks got so overrated, and you.
Speaker 4 (38:51):
Know what, as I've gotten older, I agree with you.
But it's still pretty cool to see. And if you
have kids in your life, they're ood and odd by it.
So and I have a child at this point in
time when he's up to appreciate it. In a couple
of years, hopefully I will be able to live through
him in his excitement for those fireworks.
Speaker 5 (39:05):
So I'm gonna put the fourth for July.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
Sam.
Speaker 9 (39:06):
Let me just add on the rise of the drone
show gonna be drouken shows are getting.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
The drones show took over last night in Nashville, which
is like this huge fireworks party, and my buddy Chris
showing shout out to Chris played a hell of a
show last night downtown Nashville. The drones last night, we're
all Star Wars and they kept putting Star Wars up,
and I'm like, can somebody explain to me why we
got Star Wars drones in the middle of a fireworks
display for the Fourth of July for Nashville, Like this
(39:34):
city has nothing to I don't know.
Speaker 9 (39:35):
Wait, so that the drones, like you're saying, they're making
designs of like Yoda or I don't know, drones in
a movie which I think they coined the term drone
like or they they used it way back when with
those strikes back the drone.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
The drones were creating the shapes. So we had Darth
Vader and Luke Skywalker a lightsaber battle in the middle
of the sky, and.
Speaker 5 (39:57):
I'm like, why too much?
Speaker 2 (39:59):
It's nash feel like they don't really have a connection everyone.
We're in Cowboy.
Speaker 4 (40:03):
Also, nothing screams America Independent is more than Obi wan Kanobi.
Speaker 5 (40:06):
So that's makes it's like the.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Millennium falcon going up above the spot.
Speaker 3 (40:10):
All right, Shaye, what did you have as your your
highest non represented holiday so far?
Speaker 8 (40:14):
I was gonna put New Year's right here, just because
I always have a good time on New Year's Day.
Everyone's very excited. It's it's always a special thing. But
it seems like New Year's won't take it because we
do have two people agreeing on this one.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
So wait, wait, wait, you could talk me into New Year's.
I had New Year's at four, I had years.
Speaker 8 (40:30):
It's just different in terms of just enjoying yourself seeing
the people you haven't seen you're usually back home. But yeah,
we'll have to talk about this in a little bit.
Speaker 3 (40:38):
Okay, And what we've come to a conclusion on is
absolutely nothing. But I can't conclude one thing that we're
not paying enough attention to. The question is why the Olympics.
Will break it down for you next Doug Gottlieb show.
We're filling in for
Thanks for listening to The Doug Gotlieb Show podcast. Be
sure to catch us live every weekday three to five,
twelve two Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local
station for The Doug Gottlieb Show at Foxsports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app
by searching.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
App pas call.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
How many of you right now are sitting at work thinking, Man,
I gotta work on fourth of July weekend? How many
of you right now are sitting there saying, God, I
just want something exciting. I want some sporting event that
I can get into. And you're looking around the landscape
and you're thinking this should be an epic time. But
really this feels like the dog days, the lost opportunity,
(00:41):
because right now, when sports like baseball should be cutting
through and getting all of our attention, they just can't
get it done. It's a Doug Gottlieb Show. I'm Jason
Fitz hanging out with Kevin Figures. We are coming at
you live from the Tirack dot Com studio. Tirac dot
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(01:04):
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Speaker 2 (01:07):
Happy fifth of July to everybody.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
And I'm sitting here spending the next four hours with
my buddy Kevin Figgers.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
You can usually hear us as part of.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
The Fellas Saturday morning on Fox Sports Radio, and FIGI,
I'm excited to hang out with you today because brother,
I know you love baseball and you know and I've
been honest about the fact that I am a casual
like I sit back and I say, yeah, I'll get
into it. But I'm sitting here watching yesterday on the
fourth of July, and everybody's talking about fireworks, and everybody's
talking about America, and everybody's talking about family and cookouts
(01:37):
and all of these great things.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
And as it's all going down, I look up at
the TV and I'm thinking, huh, the Orioles are playing
the Mariners. Who knew? That's the sort of response. I
felt like a who knew?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
And I'm sitting here saying, how is it possible that
America's sport baseball, hot Dog, apple Pie and chevrole We
all know it.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
It just it should be winning. It should be dominating
fourth of July.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
It should be dominating our consciousness this weekend, and Figgie,
it's just a reminder that it just doesn't find a
way to transcend.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Just tells me how Unamerican you are, Jason, That's what
it tells me, how much of a patriot you are?
Not ask you not enjoy some hot dogs and some
cold ones and watch some Major League baseball? Are you
telling me that you weren't riveted by that Nationals Mets
one nothing game? The day game we had the national
TV displayed by itself, the standalone game yesterday afternoon? Is
that what you're telling me right now? That didn't rivet
(02:27):
you warm the cockles of your heart?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Come on, look, okay, So first and foremost, if you
guys have listened to us at all over the course
of the last couple of months, you know I'm on
this like crazy diet right now. Right, So I actually
took a bit of a splurge day you would be proud.
On the fourth of July, I'd let loose. I did
have a hot dog, and by the way, it's far
better than the girled chicken and rice I'd been eaten
for the last two months, So you know it was great.
(02:49):
And I gave myself the luxury of an unsweetened iced tea.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
You know, so I let loose. Things are getting weird.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Use otherwise usually you know, it's like the like the
in the club video with Fitty Sin and he's in
the lab, you know, with the eminem and Doctor Dre.
That's basically what fits has been the last couple of months.
These being a well chiseled machine right now. And ladies,
trust me, you guys are gonna want to see this
guy when the fall rolls around.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
It's gonna be dangerous.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Yeah. Oh so summer, I'm gonna be out. I'm gonna
be dangerous in the streets.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
I'm just telling you're like, look, I've had the same
five meals at the same time since May fifteenth, every
day until yesterday, and I've had there's only water to
drink during that entire duration.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
So let me tell you.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
First thing, I took a bite of a hot dog.
First thing, I thought, Figgy, this hot dog tastes better
than grilled chicken.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
And Rice does, right. And then I'm looking at the
TV though, and I'm thinking about it.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
I'm like, man, look we've been sitting here just we're
as a country right now, we are so ready for
something in sports to grab us. And I'm sitting here,
I'm looking at baseball. I'm looking at the US men's
national team and their absolute epic failure over the course
of their tournament.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
I'm looking at which is being polite to call.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
It an epic failure, Hookie, even at the Olympics a
few weeks out, and I feel like, right now everybody's
just got a so what mentality about it. Nothing is
cutting through, Figgie.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
And I don't really understand why. Look for the years
baseball until you talked about it. It's America's pastime. It
was more of a local sport, more of a regional
sport now than the national for whatever reason, although the
TV ratings nationally were up for the postseason last year.
But to your point, for whatever reason, people seem to
be more riveted by who was or was not competing
in a hot dog getting contest yesterday than anything that
(04:30):
was happening in Major League Baseball now. One thing that
probably works against it, And I've said this about baseball
and really sports in general, as it continues to expand.
The more and more you start expanding postseasons, the less
and less important the regular season becomes and so we're
starting to enter into the quote unquote dog days of
summer for even from Major League Baseball. But the problem
is there are so many teams that are in the
(04:50):
playoff race, which yes, generates some level of interest to
a certain degree, but also back in the day when
all you had to do was when your division, all
of these games mattered. Now, all of a sudden, if
you're of the doldrums, if you're the Dodgers and you've
been struggling, and you lose a couple of games against Arizona,
it's like, well, no bigging, We're still ten games up
in the division and we're gonna be there at the end.
What difference doesn't make. It's just has a different field
(05:12):
to it nowadays, and even it did.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
Twenty twenty five years ago.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
These games at this point in time in mid July
late July just have less of a meaning. And I
do think that, as much as anything, is a big
reason why Major League Baseball doesn't really cut through this
time of year like it used to.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Well, to that end, you know, we've talked repeatedly on
our show about the fact that, look at the math, essentially,
I'm gonna cheapen the math here. But you know, ten
straight wins by the Yankees over the Red Sox is
the equivalent of one win by the Raiders over the Chiefs. Like,
that's just that's math on one hundred and sixty two
versus seventeen. We're close enough on that to your point.
(05:46):
Part of it is just the way that everybody consumes
and talks about it. We've talked repeatedly about the NBA
and some of the problems that they have with the NBA.
Part of the issues the NBA has, I believe, is
the way it's covered. So if you don't win a championship,
every buddy just suddenly you suck. There is no in between,
There is no really good year. It's like, well you
want it, you couldn't win a chip, so you're trash.
(06:07):
They were trying to blow up the Celtics for years
until it finally works, right, Like, that's just the way
we cover it. Well, that cheapens the playoffs, which also
cheapens the regular season by the very nature of the
fact that one of the things that makes Major League
Baseball so great is we will say in August in September, well,
remember playoff baseball is far different than regular season baseball.
And because you run with shorter rotations, you need pitchers,
(06:29):
you need less pitching in the playoffs, and you can
go in and suddenly have a hot team get hot
at the right time. It does feel like all of this,
what is the value? What is the value of suspense?
Like if the value of entertainment is I just want
to sit in the ballpark, I want to have a beer.
I want to have a hot dog that's never going anywhere.
But in today's world, where you have more choices than ever,
more opportunity for your eyeballs than ever, people have the
(06:51):
option to just watch whatever.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
They want, whenever they want.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
You have to have some level of captivating drama to
keep people sucked in. And I don't know how you
create drama out of a matchup in Major League Baseball
on the fourth of July.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
You really can't, to be honest with you, even if
it's a MARKI matchup between two great franchise that look.
Yankees Dodgers played each other the last couple of seasons
in June, and those have been some of the highest
rated games in years. And I'm glad that the Major
League Baseball is do them over around robin format as
opposed to teams only seeing each other every couple of seasons.
The problem is you only get a handful of those.
We got Yankees, Red Sox, you know, starting this weekend.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Now.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
Granted, the Red Sox are fairly average at this point
in time.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
The Yankees are great, but even those don't have to
say sort of bite like they used to, even when
one of those franchises were struggling.
Speaker 5 (07:35):
The immediacy.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
I do think the idea that games have to have
some sort of meaning to your point in time, they
have to mean something at this point for a lot
of people at this point in time, it just that's
all that resonates. And if we're not gonna sit here
and watch meaningless gas anymore.
Speaker 5 (07:49):
To your point, there's too many entertainment options.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
So I'm not gonna sit there on July fourth and
watch two average baseball teams play each other. I'd rather
sit there and fire up a streaming service and find
a show that I want to watch, or watch a
classic game for that matter.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
I mean, he's.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Kevin figures up Jason fitz Wren on the Doug Gottlieb
Show on Fox Sports Radio and as we continue to
break this down.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
I keep thinking about hot.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Dog getting you know, in fairness, I know it sounds weird,
but I was a sideline reporter on that for three
years for ESPN.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
I look at that.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
I love my Yeah, my opportunity to be only a
foot from Joey Chestnut is he set the world record
is something I'll never forget.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
And I love the vibe and the energy around it.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
Do you feel his presence?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
You heard it? I mean just the dunkin of the buns.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
Oh, it's smell, the mustard oozing out of his pores.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
There's there is a funk smell to all of that
that is like, I'm not gonna lie to you, but
I watched a little of it. You know, I miss
I miss being a part of that event because I
love so many of the people that were very gracious
to me and allowing me.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
To cover it.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Right.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
So I'm watching part of it and I'm thinking, man,
are we really watching a bunch of people not name
Joey Chestnut? Like I understand there's a different conversation when
you have a superstar, but when you are not talking
about Joey Chestnut, when you're trying to sort of anoint
the next superstar and Joey Chestnut not participating because of
a contract issue.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
All of a sudden, you can't.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Even anoint by taking down the big guy, so whatever
you do is going to be slided. I saw the
posts least hot dogs eating by a winner in the
next amount of years, and I'm like, man, this is
what we do.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
So even in that moment, people.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Were more anxious to watch soaked buns just shove down
somebody's throat than an actual baseball game. And that just
speaks to where we've gotten, Like there is a part
of the world that I think one of the most
important things you can do, FIGI is genuinely you can
just step back and accept who you are and what
the world is and where your placing that lies. And
(09:44):
I do believe at some level that we live in
a society now where Netflix shows are sent back to
be re edited because they don't account for the fact
enough that people are on their phones. They want them
to be dumber so that people can listen while they're
on their phones. Like, that's real to the way we
consume entertainment. There's not a way to do that around
Major League Baseball or around soccer or around the Olympics,
(10:07):
say you were going to have to have absolute, utter,
incredible rivalry, drama, people that hate each other, and incredible results.
That's the only way you capture anybody's attention now, and
that just isn't It doesn't exist and it won't exist
anytime soon.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Well the only way that it can exist. And talking
about the hot dog getting contest and what it is,
it's it's a gimmick. It's a oh my guide, do
you believe these guys are actually doing this to their bodies.
It's like, I couldn't do that. It's so it's almost
a novelty. So what Baseball would probably need to do
to your point, stack your biggest rivalries on July fourth weekend,
have your Field of Dreams game on July fourth weekend,
(10:43):
have some sort of novelty built in to that weekend
in particular. Just say, now, granted there's an element that
you say you shouldn't have to do that is July fourth.
It's the only major sport most of the time, barring
Olympic years, euro all that stuff going on, you know,
the only major sport going on at that point in time.
But there should and there's this reality at this point,
and the reality is, to your point, most people just
aren't paying attention to it. So in order to do that,
(11:05):
you have to add a level of novelty to it.
So if I are Major League Baseball and this is
the day that you're supposed to be dominating and you're
not doing it, you got to find some way to
change it. And the best way to change it is
have your best matchups, have your novelty matchups, find some
way to gimmick it up to get more interest, because
there's no reason why baseball shouldn't be dominating on the
weekend of July fourth, with the majority of the time,
there's really nothing else of substance going on in the
(11:27):
sports world.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
I mean, isn't that, in fact what the NBA is
going to have to figure out now with Christmas Day,
Now that the NFL has made it clear that the
NFL is going to plant the NFL flag, let's hold
the NFL to a different standard, because frankly, y'all, we're
all part of the problem here. The preseason football is
going to get eyeball. It's like, whatever the NFL decides
they want to do, we are all going to consume
so I'm not talking about the NFL or even college.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Football here for everybody else.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
When you own a day, you got to own that day,
and that means you got to put more thought than
ever to it. And it feels in some ways like Baseball, Basketball,
all of them, WNBA right now oportunity. I think if
you look at all of them, you've got to genuinely
think of things the way big box.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Retailers think of it.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
It used to be that you could just have a
sale on Black Friday and that was enough to get
people to line up outside your building. But now we're
in an online shopping era where people have choices, they
can make their own decisions, and that means that if
you're a big box retailer, man, you got to figure
out another way. Right That's where I think baseball is.
That's where I think at this point, for Baseball to
own the fourth of July the way the NFL is Thanksgiving,
(12:26):
the way the NBA wants to own Christmas Day, figure
they're going to have to come up with real solutions
and make that day feel like something that even if
you're just barely a baseball fan, you can't turn away
from it.
Speaker 5 (12:37):
I mean, maybe do something.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
The NCAA did this years ago when they would have
their kickoff weekend for the NCAA for basketball for the
regular season, and they had like twenty four straight hours
or eighteen straight hours of basketball and you had games
tipping off at two am.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
I'm not saying you have to be that extreme.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
How about a quadrupleheader of marquee matchups in Major League
Baseball spread across multiple networks.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
I mean, it doesn't take a lot.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
You don't have to do.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
I'm not asking to have, like, you know, have games
be determined by a home run door but at the
end of the game or something like that, or have
some sort of fireworks display built into the to the matchup.
I'm not saying doing anything crazy like that, but there's
a way to stagger your TV games, stagger your matchups.
Stack them on a daylight July fourth, which is to
make them a little bit more intriguing. So I'm not
stuck watching the Tigers and Twins. No offense to our
friends in Minnesota, but you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
He's Kevin Figures, I'm Jason Fitz We're just getting starters.
We got a ton to break down today, including the Olympics,
the Lakers. We're gonna break down holiday rankings, all coming
at you for the next several hours.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
But coming up next, there.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Is one landmark event that Major League Baseball could rely on,
should rely on, and would rely and the question is
can it live up to the hype. We'll answer that
question coming up next. He's Kevin Figures. I'm Jason Fitz.
We're in for Doug Gottlieb on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 6 (13:46):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
Gottlieb Show week days at three pm Eastern noon Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio in the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (13:56):
Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller,
with me and a lot to have you join us
on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's
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Speaker 2 (14:10):
Why should you listen?
Speaker 5 (14:11):
Picture if you will a world will.
Speaker 7 (14:12):
We chat with captains of industry in media, sports, and
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Listen to the Fifth Hour with Ben Maler on the
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Speaker 3 (14:26):
It's a Doug Gottlieb show on Fox Sports Radio. I'm
Jason Fitz hanging out with Kevin Figures. We're gonna be
with you for the next several hours. Shae doing God's
work producing the show. We were just talking about the
fact that major League Baseball has lost its grip on
the fourth of July. There's just no two ways about
it that you can look at it and say, hey,
for all the conversation we were having on the fourth
(14:48):
about fireworks, about America, about family, about hot dog eating,
nobody was talking about baseball. It just wasn't happening. And
that leads me, obviously to what can happen. And one
thing that we all know is a landmark destination event
from Major League Baseball every year is the Home Run Derby.
But Figgi, it hits me every time we talk about
(15:10):
this when I say landmark destination event, is it like
is the Home Run Derby? Because in my mind, as
we get is we look at the Home Run Derby
and we look at the fact that as of right now,
people are not expecting Aaron Judge or show Hey Otani
to participate in this year this year's home Run Derby,
and I want to be up in arms about it,
but I also kind of look at it and say, Okay,
(15:31):
if they put the home run Derby on the fourth
of July, does it still resonate in a way where
you think the world would flock on America to celebrate
while eating their apple pie watching the home run Derby?
Speaker 5 (15:43):
It depends. I think it depends on who's participating.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
If you're telling me that Aaron Judge and show Yo Tani,
two guys who are chasing history, are going to be
a participants in this, absolutely, I do think people are
dropping what they're doing and putting eyeballs on something like that,
because again, that's a gimmick, that's a novelty for Major
League Baseball outside of another Hohohm game out of one
sixty two.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Now you're giving me something.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
But to my point, it has to be the superstar
players who are involved. It's similar to the NBA Slam
Dunk Contest, you know. I mean the Dunk Contest has
lost so much of its luster over the last decade
because the superstar players just have decided, for whatever reason,
whether they don't want to be embarrassed for looking terrible
or whatever it is. I just don't want to participate
in it, and ultimately that ends up hurting what it's
supposed to be the mark one of the marquee weekends
(16:23):
for the sport. For the NBA, it's All Star weekend,
and for Major League Baseball it's All Star weekend.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
I think that will be the only thing.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
That would get people that would draw on eyeballs if
you were to put the home run derby on July fourth.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
By the way, I think you're right about some of that.
And you mentioned college basketball doing a great time. I
remember a few years ago early in this season when
they did a game that was on a battleship and
I was like, Okay, yeah, I gotta watch a past
a basketball game on a battleship. I'm gonna watch right
Like so, I do think that there are cheeky ways
to get people involved in it where it becomes hard
(16:55):
for me on it is.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yes, if Aaron Judge and Shohe or.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
TONI are involved, I personally and more likely to watch
it because it has the big stars that we know
can hit, and that's what everybody really wants to see.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
We all know that.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
But I also understand a bit of where guys are
coming from from, maybe not wanting to do it. Like
I'll go back to a music reference here, but there's
a world famous, one of the best violinists that's ever
lived in all of history, and years ago I was
in what they call a masterclass where these violinists are
sort of teaching the younger generation, and somebody asked him
why he never competed in this one particular, very famous
(17:29):
violin competition, and his answer, without hesitation, was I have
nothing to win and everything to lose. If I go
in and I don't win, then I've hurt the way
people perceive me as a violinist. If I go in
and I win, all I've done is exactly what I
was supposed to do. So there's really no win for me.
Where guys are trapped, whether we're talking about the dunk
contest or the home run Derby, is that if you
(17:51):
are the home run King and you go in and
you're Aaron Judge, no matter what you do, if it
isn't enough, people are gonna roll your eyes and then
all of a sudden you were just.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Trying to participate, and well, there we go.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Now this has happened right, Like, so there's so little
win for the individual athletes doing it other than the
fun of hanging out with their buddies and hitting the ball,
which frankly, they could do a batting practice if they
really wanted to.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Yeah, I mean, if anything, at this point in time,
I feel like players are using something specifically like the
home run derby to put themselves on the map. Like
last year, a lot of people were a couple of
years ago, didn't know who Wholio Ariguez was. One of
the great young faces in baseball, was having a great year.
But he's tacked up. He's, you know, tucked away in
the Pacific Northwest. All of a sudden, this guy shows
up and is in forty home runs in the All
Star in the home run Derby, and you'll say.
Speaker 5 (18:31):
Oh, who is this guy?
Speaker 4 (18:32):
That he's making great catches at the All Star Game
of Dodgers state. He goes like, oh, now I have
to pay attention all of a sudden. To your point,
a lot of these guys have nothing to gain. And
I extrapolate that out to the NBA All Star weekend
as well. You know, if you're Lebron James or Dwayne
Wade back in the day, who for years they were
banging down their doors to participate in the dunk contest,
is like, why would I do that? Because if I
go out there and I end up losing to some
(18:53):
guy at the end of the Utah Jazz Bench used
to be in every single year in the Dunk Contest
but never actually played, if I lose to him, I'm
gonna be ridiculed. Especially in today's day and age and
social media, that stuff is never going to be lived down.
That's going to be a highlight or a low light
that's going to be replayed and retweeted, especially if you're
a divisive figure like someone like the Lebron James Is.
I didn't even bring that part of it up. So
if you're going to be someone like that who already
(19:14):
takes incoming from a lot of and gets a lot
of criticism, anything and everything that you do that can
invite more of it, you try to avoid it, like
the plague. So I understand why they don't do it.
It just ends up hurting the sport and the exposure
for what is supposed to be a marquee day and
weekend for the sport.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
By the fact, by virtual of the fact that they're
not doing it.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
He's Kevin Figures.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I'm Jason fitzercomnat to you live from the tiraq dot
com studios on the Doug Gottlieb Show, And I guess
my only retort to that Figi is that where's the line.
Is it Major League Baseball's responsibility to market their sport
and their players, or is it the athlete's responsibility to
market the sport that they're a part of. Like, if
I just want to go out and do my job,
I say to people all the time, Look, I'd like
(19:55):
to think that people enjoy listening to my work. But
at the end of the day, the reason that I
love working for a place like Fox Sports Radio or
Yeah Who Sports is that they capture the audience. It's
my job to keep the audience but at the end,
and my job to promote what I'm doing. I certainly
do those things, but I do think that there's a difference.
Is there a real responsibility for Aaron Judge to figure
(20:16):
out how to market baseball when baseball hasn't figured out
how to market Aaron Judge.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
Aaron Judge's job to be the best baseball player he
can and to help the New York Yankees win games.
That is literally his only responsibility. And this really takes
me back, Jason to a debate some years ago. This
is when Mike Trout was in his prime, winning multiple
MVPs with the Angels back in the day, and he,
for all intents and purposes, was the face of baseball.
And now the problem is, if Mike Trout started talking,
if we play a clip right now, nobody will be
(20:39):
able to tell you that it was him. They have
no idea what he sounds like. You obviously know what
he looks like. He's a phenomenal player. And Rob Manfred,
I think, took a bit of a pot shot publicly
of Mike Trout, basically saying, this guy is the best
player in baseball. If we need him to help us
market the sport, be more available to do ads and
do a bunch of campaigns for us. Mike Trout, I
don't think I ever said anything explicitly, but the noise coming
out of his camp was It's not my job. My
(21:00):
job is to be the best player I can be
for the Los Angeles Angels. Win baseball games, hit home
run steel bases, do my thing, and then sneak off
into the background.
Speaker 5 (21:08):
He's not a dynamic personality.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
Now look, I think in a perfect world you would
have someone in Major League Baseball who was a dynamic
personality that wants to be the face of baseball, out
of the front of the cameras doing all that stuff.
But unfortunately for Major League Baseball, they just have not
had that sort of player with that sort of charisma
be their best player for whatever reason. I don't think
the responsibility the burden of responsibility necessarily falls.
Speaker 5 (21:30):
On the player, though I do think it would help.
It's up to the league to do that.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Did Michael Jordan proactively go out and promote himself to
a certain degree, Yeah, he had Gatorade, he had Nike,
all that, But I mean the there was a machine
built behind him for that, David Stern, with Larry Burden
and Maggie Johnson. The NBA final games were on tape
delay before he really revolutionized and put those guys out
on Front Street. That was on majorly. That wasn't the NBA,
(21:54):
that wasn't on them. So I think that burdon really
falls on the sport more than it falls on the
individual player one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
And the problem is if you're a player, you get
frustrated because you work your whole life just to get
to the spot where Okay, now I can be the
best at what I do. I can I can go
be this guy and then the questions or girl. But
then the question is how do you suddenly market that
and how does somebody take advantage of that? Well, I
don't think there's an easy answer to that in today's society.
I think it takes, you know, lightning in a bottle.
(22:22):
And they talk about this all the time for influencers
and social media creators that you know, you make a
bunch of content and you hope at some point that
one piece of it hits. At some point, you got
to be lucky, and you also have to have greatness.
I look at what's happened with the WNBA and the
amount of conversation now happening around Caitlyn Clark and Angel
Reese and this level of stars that have come in,
and this is incredible. Caitlyn clarkough had blown up and
(22:45):
Angel Reese had blown up in their whole rivalry had
blown up as they walked into the WNBA. So by
default of their greatness, it is promoting their sport. But
that doesn't mean that it's their job to sit down
every day and say, Okay, what am I doing to
promote the w It's their job to sit down and
every day every day and be great. It's you know,
in that situation, it's Kathy Engelbert's job, the commissioner of
the WNBA to say, we have these big stars, how
(23:07):
do we market around them? Like that's that's the fine line.
So if guys don't want to participate in the home
run derby, man, it's a long season. If they just
want to break Figgie, I want them to get it,
Like I just we put all this pressure on guys
to do what we think they should.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Do because they're just playing a game. But right for them,
it's not a game. It's a business.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
I mean one thing I'll say too, to a little
bit of a different degree, Major League Baseball doesn't help itself.
I feel like they're always the last professional sport to
be drug drag kicking and screaming into everything, whether it
was replay review or whatever else. So a big thing
and a lot of people won't know this, but a
lot of times you see clips circulating on social media
all the time NFL highlights, NBA highlights especially. You know,
(23:44):
I thought the NBA was super smart when they did this. Yes,
there's copyright infringements, and there's videos you shouldn't be sending
out and all that, but you know what, the NBA
does nothing because what they see if some fan guy
takes some video off Steth Curry hitting a game winning shot,
they let it filter out there because the way they
look that it is it's free marketing for the sport.
They're not gonna send a cease and assist and threaten
to get you banned from Instagram or TikTok.
Speaker 5 (24:07):
They just let it play out.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
Major League Baseball is so rigid with this, say it
has to be on our mob page on YouTube. If
it's out there for somewhere else, we're sending a cease
and assist. Nobody's going to be able to see this
unless it's our page. How many followers does Major League
Baseball have in comparison to the NBA. It's minuscule, absolutely minuscule.
Not to be too inside baseball, but like there, I mean,
you can't play baseball highlights until baseball games are over.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
How archaic is that?
Speaker 4 (24:30):
Like baseball doesn't help itself when it comes to these
and even little things like that is what works against
the sport when it comes to popularity.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
There is no easy answer to how to take better
advantage of the fourth of July. What if I told
you though, maybe the problem isn't baseball. Maybe the problem
is the holiday itself. Hot Fourth of July take coming
up next, But first FIGI getsus caught up on all
of the news and notes from around the world of sports.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Right now.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
Well, if it's I think a game that probably has
a lot of eyeballs on it right now, is this
quarterfinal in Earl twenty four between Portugal and France. You
want star power? How about Christiano Ronaldo and Killian Imbape.
Still scoreless right now in the thirty second minute, but
a back and forth action so far. We'll see where
this thing goes. They the winner of this matchup, will
end up taking on Spain, who had a phenomenal extra
inning extra innings I got baseball on the mind in
(25:17):
their fits extra time victory over Germany earlier today two
to one. Later tonight on FS one, Canada will take
on Venezuela in a quarterfinal of the copol America Tournament.
Again you can see that game on FS. Want some
NBA news. According to Sham Charania of the Athletic and
Stadium Ford, Franz Wagner has agreed to a five year,
two hundred and seventy million dollar contract extension with the
(25:40):
Orlando Magic. Third round action at Wimbledon. On the men's side,
top seed at Janick Center just took the first set
of this third round matchup. Earlier in the day, Corlos
Alcaraz defeated Francis Tiafo in five sets, while Tommy Paul
advanced with a straight set victory as well, although women's side,
Cocoa Golf and Madison Keys both.
Speaker 5 (25:56):
Won their third round matchups in straight set.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
And in Major League Baseball, top of the fifth inning
in Chicago, the Cubs with a three to nothing lead
over the Angel Saya Suzuki a two run home run
there in the first Back to the Doug Gottlieb Show.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
It is a Doug Gotlieb Show. He's Kevin Figures. I'm
Jason Fitz. We are in for Doug here on Fox
Sports Radio. We're coming at you live from the Tirak
dot Com studio. Don't forget right after the show, a
podcast goes up. If you missed any of today's show,
you can check out the pod. Just search Fox Sports
Radio wherever you get your podcasts, and be sure to
also follow, rate and review the pod. Again, just search
Fox Sports Radio wherever you get your podcast you'll see
(26:33):
this show posted right after we get off the air. Now,
it takes a committee to make this show happen. This
isn't just myself, Jason Fitz. It's not just Kevin Figures.
It also takes Shay, it also takes Sam and I'm
bringing that whole committee into this conversation because the committee
is going to vote. I like to bring the College
Football Committee into different aspects of life. Sometimes it's about
deciding which NFL teams actually belonging the playoffs. Sometimes it's
(26:55):
about deciding which animated characters from the eighties were the best.
Sometimes it's about holidays, gentlemen, and I think it is
high time that we figure out how these holidays rank
in the world. Because I'm telling you there are people
out there I'm not gonna say who that may or
may not think the fourth of July could be overrated.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
So, gentlemen, here are the rules.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
We are gonna start with the number one team, and
we're gonna go get and get our way down. We're
gonna see if we can vote as a consensus. That
means we got to get enough of a vote.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
That we actually can put this up.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Then we'll put it on a pole, we'll get it
out on social media, and we'll see how people review
the what is now the Fox Sports Radio Holiday Playoff Committee?
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Gentlemen, does everyone everyone in on the rules? Figure? You
good with this?
Speaker 5 (27:37):
Yes? Absolutely, I love this. Let's go.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Okay, Shay ready, Sam, Sam, Sam ready to chime into Okay, Okay.
So it's gonna take all four of us and we'll
start with the top of the list. And if the
top of the list isn't Christmas, then we are going
to have a big argument because I'm just coming in
right now, right away, saying the number one holiday has
to be Christmas. Right, Like I don't even have kids,
it still has to be Christmas.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Right.
Speaker 5 (27:59):
Best food? Someone argue best weather.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
I'm not much of a cold weather guy, but being
in Los Angeles the majority of the time, that really
doesn't change. It's all the same for me. Great music,
great food, gifts. How can you beat that? So Christmas
easily tops the list for me too, Shay.
Speaker 8 (28:14):
Any disagreement Christmas, Yeah, it's because it's the whole month.
It's not just the like the one days. It's a season. Yeah,
I completely agree. I know you're going to disagree, and
I already know what you're gonna say, FITZI, but I'll
let you say yourself.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
No, no, no.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
But by the way, Sam, Sam is playing holiday for us,
which is really well done. That is inside right there,
that is that is a chef's kiss. Sam, you gotta
vote on this one too. Are we good with the
Christmas at number one? Are you unanimous?
Speaker 9 (28:40):
Yeah, because I'm thinking of anything else that could top Christmas.
And listen, I kind of get like how they start.
I get a little irritated with starting Christmas or you
know Christmas commercials, like right after Halloween or even before Halloween.
Last year, I noticed I get kind of at tired
of the material driven, you know, messaging. But I will
still put at number one. It is overall a great time,
(29:03):
a good time with family.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
So okay, So we have unanimously decided as a committee
that the number one holiday is Christmas.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
That's the easy one.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Now we get a little bit complicated, Kevin figures, I'll
let you go first, as you can nominate here who
you think should be number two.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
Now, as a person who has broken a scale and
taco to chair or two in his life, I like
to eat, so I'm gonna go not too far off
of the reservation when it comes to Christmas and go
to Thanksgiving.
Speaker 5 (29:30):
Now, some people might hate their families. I tend to
love mine.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
So it's one of the time of year where you
can gather around with all your family, maybe some close
friends as well, and don't have a friends Giving and
a Thanksgiving at the same time or a couple of
days apart, because that just means more good eating. So
for me, there's not a lot of gifts, but it's
a lot of great time with a lot of great
friends and great family and great food.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Yet again, so this is probably going off of the reservation.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
I don't know if anybody's gonna agree with me, but
I'm going with Thanksgiving as the second best holiday that
we have.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Look I I cannot say this loud enough.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
I don't know that there's a more overrated holiday on
the American calendar than Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Turkey is trash.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
Nobody if it was really that good, you'd need it
and during the course of the rest of the year.
Speaker 9 (30:12):
Sandwiches, it's a different form I do. It's been processed.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Yeah, like if slather and mayo, then like then you're
eating it on a male also disgusting. Come on, so
turkey turkey, I'm out on turkey. I'm out like and
and admittedly I don't have a lot of families, you
guys know, but even when I did have a lot
of family, man, the last thing I need is my
problematic cousin saying something you know, like I don't need
(30:38):
like Grandpa making the whole room uncomfortable. Like even when
I go to friends houses, like every year at Thanksgiving,
like just so people know I'm not a terrible human being,
I usually try and find a local shelter and try
and feed people. And even to that, like you get
a little you get a little nervous that many people
around the table, somebody's gonna say something about their political
beliefs one way or the other. And all of a sudden,
Thanksgiving is rude, Like it's the sides are overrated, Like
(31:01):
mashed potatoes are fine, but they're not like and by
the way, anything you eat it Thanksgiving, you can technically
also eat it at Christmas, and so, like, you know,
you could just eat the food that I'm out on
the Thanksgiving wouldn't even make my top five.
Speaker 8 (31:15):
That's crazy. You make it sound like a chore. You
make this sound like a chore.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
It is. It is a chore. I mean it can be.
Speaker 9 (31:23):
For some people who have to cook and you know,
hap people over and they're stressed out.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
But yeah, never hosts, Sam, That's well, yeah, I've never hosted.
I'll come to your house. I'll bring I'll bring some sides,
I'll but no.
Speaker 9 (31:32):
Yeah, if they make it a communal thing, a potla
kind of thing, that yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
But so uhimous.
Speaker 5 (31:40):
You're saying these have.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
To be unanimous.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
But we've got to come to a decision, like we
got to come to a committee decision.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Like, so I'm out on Thanksgiving.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
I would propose personally, and I know that I'm the
outlier in this, I would.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Put Halloween second. Guess. Yeah, everybody knows I love Halloween.
Speaker 9 (31:54):
Number two.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
It's a it's a party for the parents, it's a
party for everybody if you do it right, like big
Halloween guy.
Speaker 9 (32:01):
Yeah, it's the it's autumn it's fall. It's it's leading
up to Halloween. You know, the spookiness and the candles, you.
Speaker 5 (32:09):
Love scaring children. Just say it, Sam, that's what that's
what it is.
Speaker 9 (32:13):
You know. That's the time when I think there is.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
No doubt about that.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
For years, we did, like uh at my front lawn
always did scenes from movie different reenacted scenes with movies
and annequins and animatronics, and then on Halloween night you
just have your friends come over and replace the mannequins.
So all the little kids that have gone through the
lawn and seen all of the moving things, now that's
real people chasing them. Oh yeah, Like I'm all in
on the whole Halloween experience. I would put Halloween number two.
(32:37):
But yeah, I also I know that makes me an outlier.
So Sam or you or Shay either one.
Speaker 9 (32:42):
I'm Halloween number two. Sam, here Halloween.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
We got to both for Halloween number two. Shaye, what's
you gonna do? Shay? What you go? Football?
Speaker 8 (32:54):
I'm a big I'm a Thanksgiving guy because like I
have the whole like Thanksgiving football game, like I play
with all my high school friends and then you watch
football together and again like the stuffing and all that like, yeah,
you can eat it on Christmas, but stuffing isn't stuffing
on Christmas, you know what I mean? Like, I feel
like it's a different kind of like feeling and vibe
(33:15):
when it's November and you get to eat it. But
like I just can't. I can't agree with you guys here,
So maybe we'll have to us.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Okay, okay, So this becomes what would your number three
be my number three?
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Would Halloween be in your top three?
Speaker 9 (33:30):
Or Halloween would go to my number three?
Speaker 5 (33:33):
I actually don't disagree. Halloween will be number.
Speaker 8 (33:35):
Three as well, one hundred percent number three.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
This is and so this is where see because Thanksgiving
wouldn't make my top five. So it's just saying that
point that means that Thanksgiving loses a point here Halloween
now goes to number two. I think that's how this
works in this committee. I mean, I understand, ye get that.
What's sad at this point? Where do you have that Thanksgiving?
If you were to have Halloween at three too?
Speaker 5 (33:56):
Well?
Speaker 9 (33:56):
I don't, I mean aren't we aren't we going around
the room on number three? So maybe Thanksgivings not my
not not there giving doesn't crack yourself? I think I'm
gonna play So are we doing number three now or
I mean not?
Speaker 3 (34:08):
Okay, here's what Here's what we're gonna do, Here's what
we're gonna do. This is so riveting that we're not
going to force you to do. We're gonna make people
find out how this plays out. All right, we are
doing a committee ranking of the holidays. We've only gotten
through number one. Number one is Christmas. We are in
an absolute dead heat on number two. Whether or not
it will be Thanksgiving or Halloween, it is tied. When
(34:29):
we come back on the Doug gott Leap Show, we
will figure that out. We will also be able to
get through the rest of the top four, I promise,
and then you'll be able to chime in on social media.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
We have not lost our mind.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
You could tweet us, by the way at k FIG
one that's k F I G G one at F
S r SHA that's how you get to the guys,
and I'm at Jason Fitz. We'll figure out how these
power rankings for holidays work when we make it back
on the gud lott Try that again on the Doug
gott Leap Show.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Jason Fitz Kevin figures filling it.
Speaker 6 (34:54):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
Gottlieb Show week days at three pm Easter noon Pacific.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
There are certain unenviable spots in sports places that we
think are easy to be and then you actually try
the exercise and you realize it's nearly impossible. The college
football Playoff Committee is one of those spots, and we're
learning it right now simply trying to rank holidays. It's
the Doug Gottlieb Show. He's Kevin Figures. I'm Jason fitz
(35:21):
where in for Doug. Will be here for the next
several hours. We're coming at you live from the ti
raq dot com studios. And I created this exercise honestly
when I was back at ESPN, because I thought it
was funny that everybody thinks that a committee sitting down
and deciding who the top teams in the country is
is particularly easy to that. I would say, tell you what,
get thirteen of your closest friends, put them around a table,
(35:43):
and then decide you're going to rank the top six
pizza places local to you. You will find a heated
argument that never ends. And I have found over the
course of the years that the process of trying to
make a committee decide the best of anything is always volatile.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
We got through one one.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
The number over one holiday in our committee rankings is Christmas.
We figured that out. Then it got heated because Shay
and Figgy, Kevin Figures and Shape producer Shordinaire have both
given Thanksgiving. Their vote is number two. However, Sam, who's
working on the show myself, we have both given Halloween
number two, and because the two of us have Thanksgiving
ranks substantially lower, that means Halloween goes in as number
(36:22):
two on this committee, which also is difficult because now
Figgy is gonna have to defend a committee for the
rest of the day on social media that he doesn't
even like because his guy didn't get number two.
Speaker 4 (36:32):
Figgy, it's unbelievable. My head is my mind is spinning
just based off of that statement you just made. And
how am I supposed to be able to do that?
Speaker 5 (36:38):
I don't know. I'll figure it out.
Speaker 4 (36:39):
You know, as someone who sat in those mock committee
rooms back in the day, you know exactly what this
experience is like.
Speaker 5 (36:44):
Their fits. Is it as chaotic as that last segment
just was.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
Yeah, I will never forget my buddy Cole Kuberlick standing
up in a room and we were mock committeeing an
old year in college football, and Cole was pounding his
fist on the desk repeatedly about the average weight of
the offensive line of a team that from like ten
years before and why they had to be higher than
another two It was. It was a wildly contentious experience,
(37:07):
and I walked out of that saying, I don't know
how they agree with anything. So that's where we are here,
all right. So the number three holiday, I think at
this point we know that Shay and Figgie are both
going to say Thanksgiving belongs at number three, and that's
a heck of a power ranking. I personally did not
have it at number three. Sam, you were about to
reveal what you have at number three before I say
(37:28):
what I had? What did you have at number three?
Speaker 9 (37:30):
At number three? I have the day that just passed,
the fourth of July. I'm taking putting that at number three.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Okay, the fourth of July didn't even make my list either.
I have Saint Patrick's Day. Oh yeah, Saint Patrick's Day.
Like I forgot about its bad Saint Patrick's Day. Right,
there's always a parade with whiskey.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
That is also nobody ever said, really glad I took
that last shot like that's a praise that's never been echoed.
I had Saint Patti's Day at number three. I think
because Thanksgiving has such a high rating from the guys,
does that mean we have to put Thanksgiving at number three?
I think I think that's where we are. And you know,
I don't. I don't love this, but I think, Figgy,
(38:10):
that feels like the right thing to do.
Speaker 5 (38:11):
That is the move.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Yes, is the shay. It's just chiming and trying to
defend himself. Okay, okay.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
That means we are at number one, Christmas number two,
Halloween number three, Thanksgiving. I don't know how we got there.
None of us feel good about it. This feels very
committee like. And that means number four. So we already
know that the highest ranked non represented holidays so far
for Sam is obviously fourth of July.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
Mine is Saint Patrick's Day. So, Figgi, who did you
have next?
Speaker 4 (38:39):
I'm actually gonna agree with Iowa, Sam. I'm going with
the fourth of July for many of the same reasons.
It's food related. You get barbecues and on top of that,
not much into fireworks these days, but I still enjoy
a good fireworks show.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
It got fireworks got so overrated, and you.
Speaker 4 (38:51):
Know what, as I've gotten older, I agree with you.
But it's still pretty cool to see. And if you
have kids in your life, they're ood and odd by it.
So and I have a child at this point in
time when he's up to appreciate it. In a couple
of years, hopefully I will be able to live through
him in his excitement for those fireworks.
Speaker 5 (39:05):
So I'm gonna put the fourth for July.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
Sam.
Speaker 9 (39:06):
Let me just add on the rise of the drone
show gonna be drouken shows are getting.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
The drones show took over last night in Nashville, which
is like this huge fireworks party, and my buddy Chris
showing shout out to Chris played a hell of a
show last night downtown Nashville. The drones last night, we're
all Star Wars and they kept putting Star Wars up,
and I'm like, can somebody explain to me why we
got Star Wars drones in the middle of a fireworks
display for the Fourth of July for Nashville, Like this
(39:34):
city has nothing to I don't know.
Speaker 9 (39:35):
Wait, so that the drones, like you're saying, they're making
designs of like Yoda or I don't know, drones in
a movie which I think they coined the term drone
like or they they used it way back when with
those strikes back the drone.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
The drones were creating the shapes. So we had Darth
Vader and Luke Skywalker a lightsaber battle in the middle
of the sky, and.
Speaker 5 (39:57):
I'm like, why too much?
Speaker 2 (39:59):
It's nash feel like they don't really have a connection everyone.
We're in Cowboy.
Speaker 4 (40:03):
Also, nothing screams America Independent is more than Obi wan Kanobi.
Speaker 5 (40:06):
So that's makes it's like the.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Millennium falcon going up above the spot.
Speaker 3 (40:10):
All right, Shaye, what did you have as your your
highest non represented holiday so far?
Speaker 8 (40:14):
I was gonna put New Year's right here, just because
I always have a good time on New Year's Day.
Everyone's very excited. It's it's always a special thing. But
it seems like New Year's won't take it because we
do have two people agreeing on this one.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
So wait, wait, wait, you could talk me into New Year's.
I had New Year's at four, I had years.
Speaker 8 (40:30):
It's just different in terms of just enjoying yourself seeing
the people you haven't seen you're usually back home. But yeah,
we'll have to talk about this in a little bit.
Speaker 3 (40:38):
Okay, And what we've come to a conclusion on is
absolutely nothing. But I can't conclude one thing that we're
not paying enough attention to. The question is why the Olympics.
Will break it down for you next Doug Gottlieb show.
We're filling in for
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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