November 26, 2025 • 38 mins
Injuries in the NBA are up + Ben Bolch talks about UCLA Football's move + strange pets.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:16):
All right, we continue on Fred Rogan Rodney Pete on
a five seventy LA Sports. If you are headed out
of town, drive safely. If you are headed to the airport,
good luck, because it is one of the busiest travel
days of the year.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
In general, it is one of the busiest travel days
of the year. But given you know what we've been through,
it's even worse right now, So give yourself plenty, plenty
of time. You know, my wife's coming back from ironically
coming back from Toronto today, and Jesus said that this
(00:51):
morning early on, it was so so much traffic, so
many delays, and so many flights that are already canceled,
and and she's just lucky enough to be to make
it on one of those planes back home. But yeah,
be safe out there. It's crazy.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
You know the rules.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
She's flying into Lax obviously, she's coming from Toronto. She's
not flying private on this one. She's going to Lax, right,
so you know the rules. Here are the rules. If
you flying to Burbank, I will pick you up. If
you flying a Burbank airport, I will pick you up. Yes,
if you flying to Lax, you are on your own.
(01:29):
You are on your own What about Long Beach.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
No, too far, you're left Ontario. No, if you flying a.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Burbank, even Santa Monica is too far.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah, you'll see my smileing face. You'll see me thumbs
up waiting for you. You fly to Lax, you got
your own problems. Now, there's no way I'm going near Lax.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Why isn't there like most cities, at least around the world, cities,
the transit that we've been building on this for forever,
there isn't just like a straight shot from Lax to
the valley. It just drops you off in what Sherman Oaks,
right at the galleria.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Right, I mean, nobody goes to the gallery anymore anyway.
I'll give them something to do there.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Give you something to do there, just right there in
the middle. All that work we've done over the years,
and the four five Armageddon, Karmageddon, whatever you want to
call it, gedding we've had. They're doing it again, I
think at the top of the year, doing some more
work on it. But just a rail train station that
just goes straight from Lax to the valley.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Sherman Oaks is a great colch right in the middle,
right in the middle, right in the middle, right off
the four O five. Just get off. That is, get on,
get off. You don't have to go.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
There's a find a parking lot there uber to the
station at Sherman Oaks. Get on, get there to the airport,
no worry, no hassle.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
No, it's great. I think it's a great idea. That's
why they'll never do it.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, because is it like the Gondolin idea.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
The great gondola.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Yeah, yeah, and that goes about what a half a
mile a mile We've been talking about something from the
airport to the valley, which makes more sense. Just easy,
it'd be simple. That's why we're not gonna do it.
We're gonna spend money on other things, by the way,
and the money we spend on other things are never
gonna get done anyway.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, we're gonna build, yeah, parking lots so you can't
get close to the airport anymore. And if you're driving yourself,
you're not gonna be able to get up in there.
You gotta park and associate somebody else and ride or whatever.
It's just gonna be crazy.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I'm trying to think we're they gonna build a train
from like Fresno.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
To La It was yeah, I remember that, but it.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Was like Fresno.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Yeah, why Fresno.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Right, let's think. Let's think of a place where nobody
wants to go Fresno. Okay, that's where we'll start the train.
This is I got a great idea.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
At the valley forget bypassing all the spots that you
need to get to Lax. It's going to go for
go Fresno.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
It's going Fresno to Hemmett.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
All aboard, everybody, jump on board.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
There's five people on the hyper loop speed train.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
God, the way they do things in this state. All right,
the Saltia is back. We just touched briefly in the
first hour. By the way, if you missed the Saltia
and his meltdown about the Clippers, well you can go
back and podcast.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Oh whoa, whoa, Well you didn't really have a meltdown,
but it was. It was good. We stopped you when
we did. Our pets heads are falling off, all right,
that's fine, it was going to stop you where we did.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
But the injuries going on, I mean, I look at
the NBA this year and it's like me watching Major
League Baseball pitchers getting hurt. What is going on in
the NBA.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
I think it's a great parallel you're making there, Fred.
I think guys are getting too strong and too explosive
for their own good. Now, what the hell do I know?
I used to do a show with the doctor on
this station a while back, but that's about his f
I can get with this. Plus a kinesiology major, Okay,
that was just four years of college, doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
An You're a beast in a gym. Don't let anybody
tell you different you are.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
And I'm starting to break down too. I can't go
as hard as I used to. But I think it's
a combination of that, guys overtraining if you look at
the data, and then also doing it at such a
young age.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Guys.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
There's an article back from twenty nineteen that I bring
up all the time that nobody want to look at.
And this was before this became a huge talking point
and all the injuries have now added up, even more
so in professional sports the last few years. It's titled
these kids are ticking time bombs. The threat of youth basketball,
and it goes through doctors and trainers like Gary Vedy
(05:44):
and how the game has has changed and how much
kids are playing on their way up through AAU and
club basketball. And it's kind of heartbreaking because you get
close from Kobe Bryant talking about, you know, the ultimate competitor,
talking about having a whole g from playing more because
he played, he didn't play as many games overseas growing
(06:06):
up till he came to the States and he was
asked about, was you have a twenty year career in
today's game? And Kobe wasn't sure about that because kids
are brought up with more wear and tear on them
because they're going through all the AAU circuits and they're
playing much more basketball at a young age, specialized sports.
And I think it's the same thing with pitching now.
(06:28):
It's like Tommy John is a rite of passage. You
might get it at fourteen or fifteen years old. It's
just what you do at some point if you're going
to become a major league pitcher. It's crazy. So guys
are throwing faster, but there's a downside. There's a trade
off there. Eventually they're getting injured. Fred you say it
all the time, but it's like you're rotating pictures in
(06:50):
and out every other year with the Dodgers, which guys
had to get surgery the year before now they're out yep.
And which guys are available whoever turned from surgery. In basketball,
we're seeing more calf injuries, more achilles tears out there,
more explosive movements in the half court. Guys are running
about a mile and a half more per game than
they were I think just ten years ago, and that
(07:12):
adds up over a season in over a years, over years,
it compounds. So people want to say, oh, it's it's
less physical. It's like, you know what, you know, what's
more physical? Running more and in the half court. You
look at sets in the nineties compared to now and
the amount of movement that is happening out there on
the floor. It's just you can't compare the eras. It's
(07:33):
just so different with how guys play the game and
how much of the court has to be guarded now
because of the three point shooting, so guys are having
to get out further and having to close out on
these three point shooters, so they're running more there and
specifically the deceleration stuff. Like Luka Doncic, people think of
him as, you know, a subpar athlete, but The truth
(07:57):
is he's been measured with his start stop and how
he can stop on a dime and snatch the basketball
back and cross you up that way for his little
fadeaways and step back jumpers and three pointers. That's what
makes him so tough to guard, and they've measured that deceleration.
But it's tough on the body. He's had a lot
of calf injuries, he's had a lot of lower body injuries.
(08:18):
Other guys doing the same thing. So while they're more
effective and harder to stop offensively maybe than ever, the
trade off is guys are getting hurt more out there.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah. I mean, it's what we talked about with all sports,
right and especially baseball because you play year round. Is
no more you know, playing three sports. As we were
growing up, and at least I was growing up, it
was encouraged that you played, you know, what was in season,
and if you finished football, you went to basketball, and
then you went to baseball or track if that was
(08:50):
your choice. And now it's like the other coaches getting
mad at you if you play a different sport and
it's year round, so you never give those specific even
know you're training and you're working out and you're playing
a different sport. You're not giving those muscles that you
utilize on a regular basis playing football or basketball or baseball.
(09:11):
You're never giving them a time to relax a reset
because you're continuously doing the same thing, Whereas it's a
different muscle memory when you go from football to basketball
or baseball to football, or basketball to baseball. And so
their kids are not allowed to do that, And you're right,
it's become a rite of passage for Tommy john in baseball.
(09:33):
But you're seeing, like you said, more soft tissue issues
in basketball now.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
Well, and then I mentioned this article specifically about basketball
and trainers for Jordan and trainers with the Lakers, like
Gary Veti are saying, you know, when the season ended,
these guys stopped playing like they weren't training year round
the way they do now. They specifically talked about Michael
Jordan and how he wouldn't pick up a basketball again
until September. So guys are now over training once they
(10:00):
get to the NBA too, to try to keep up
with everybody. Steph Curry's called it the skilled era or whatever,
because guys are advancing and we're seeing it this season.
They're playing at the fastest pace since the seventies. But
they're also doing it with more explosive movements, with how
athletic guys are. With just all this training has led
to so many more explosive movements in the half court
(10:21):
than what we saw before. And I think it's leading
to guys just getting worn out and tearing soft tissue
injuries like we're seeing it all the time right now.
And so the NBA, obviously they're invested in having their
superstars out there. It's a star driven a league. So
how do you figure this out? Well, I've been saying
for a while, take away the back to backs and
(10:44):
extend the season into.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
No mid July. No, no, here and Fred and I
have had this debate.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Yeah, we've talked about no, no, it's way too much.
Let me ask you this, Should they and they can't
because of the money, But in the perfect world, should
they just play fewer games? Do not extend the season?
By the time here's the problem with that, Adam, and
we have discussed this. By the time you get to
(11:11):
the NBA finals, do you realize nobody really cares except
the two cities playing. You've moved on. There's got to
be a point of urgency where boom, it's exciting. The
season is over and you know, well that's not true, Fred, Well,
it kind of is. Look at television ratings. So they
got to make it shorter, not longer. They cannot extend
(11:33):
this thing.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Oh look, they're competing with maybe the Stanley Cup Finals,
but you can find your way around that and the
dog days of midsommer baseball and maybe the All Star Game.
That's what you're competing against if you extend it out
a little bit further.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Yeah, but you're also competing against summer. People's mindset is different.
You cannot start something in October, okay, and run. I
mean baseball is too long to Don't get me wrong,
it's too long. You can't start in October and end
at July. Does seasons change? People are in a different
place mentally. I'm telling you they need to make it shorter.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Well, we know it's not gonna happen for reasons you
mentioned with the television deals. They're not going to drop
down from eighty two games to sixty five and start
in December or anything like that. In the perfect world, yes,
that would be better, but we can't make perfect. The
enemy of good or better in this way. And I
still think the priority for the NBA, more so than anything,
is to having your stars available as much as possible
(12:34):
for putting butts in the seats and for putting eyeballs
on the television. And the best way to get more
stars playing is to reduce the back to backs. That's it.
It's not perfect. I agree with you. During the summer,
people are on vacation, but will it be better than
what we're seeing right now with all the injuries, and
if this is going to continue to get worse, because
there also is something to look I don't buy into
(12:56):
the old man shakes his fist at the clouds and
say everybody was tougher back in my day. I don't.
But we know more about the human body. Guys are
more cognizant of the science and what this could lead
to later on in life because they have seen the
older players and how they walk around. Like the late
great Bill Walton. I couldn't believe the way he was
(13:16):
moving as a broadcaster, just watching him get to his seat. Now,
I know that's kind of unique because of all the
injuries he had, but you know, there's a reason guys
had shorter careers too. Back then, guys are trying to
prolong their careers. They're trying to make as much money
as possible, and they're also trying to make sure they
can have a life and their quality of life is
(13:38):
good enough post career. So there's more information, there's more
knowledge out there, and I understand why the NBA has
changed and why sports has changed the way.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
There a chance to adjust the schedule to the point where, okay,
take away the back to backs, but if there's a
road trip, be more efficient on these road trips, more
efficient when you travel or when you got home games
supposed to go to back to back. I mean, okay,
it's not back to back, but but man, every other day,
(14:10):
you got it. You have a prolonged, maybe a long,
longer road trip that allows you to get back and
and and play these games. Because short of cutting eighty
two games down, Adam, I don't I don't know what
you do, because I'm with Fred. I think you got
to cut the games. But that's a money issue and
that's not going to happen.
Speaker 4 (14:30):
As a non starter for them. No, it's a great point, Rodney.
One thing they have done the last couple of years
and they're not doing it enough. Still, they might lean
into this more. They have a baseball series where you
play a team two games in a row, so you
stay in that city over the weekend or whatever. Right,
that's one little adjustment to make for a little bit
less travel out there. I feel like they should do
(14:52):
more of that, and that actually leads to some pretty
competitive basketball because you get to see adjustments game to
game and coaches have sat up. I've heard from coach
lou multiple times. It's not a playoff series, but it
has a little bit of that feel to have just
seen the same team over and over again. There's something
to work with there. But I know the NBA is
(15:13):
more concerned than ever and they're trying to look into this.
But I think the bottom line is they adjusted the
schedule for COVID, They've adjusted it for lockouts. They've done
all this before. They don't want to push back the draft.
They like having the same schedule every year. But I'm
sorry they've had to adjust and figured it out before,
and there has to be more of a level of
(15:34):
urgency now because of the injuries that are piling up.
You need your superstars out there. That is the biggest
concern with this new media deal. I mean, the reason
they put in that player participation policy was because they're
negotiating at that time with Amazon with NBC and they're saying, like, well,
look at the ratings, and the problem with the ratings
(15:56):
is you don't know who's going to be available each
and every night, So the NBA wants to get guys
out there. If you want to get guys out there,
then don't have as many back to backs. I'm not
saying it's gonna fix everything, but it certainly would help.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
What do you think of the new media rights? Have
you watched games on all the networks?
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (16:11):
I like NBC and what they're doing because they're actually
really romanticizing the game a little bit without making it
back in my day type of conversations. They still have
look every game, and I think their Sunday through Tuesday
games are on NBC. Like last night the Clippers Lakers
game was on there. They are doing the old school NBC,
(16:33):
not just the round Ball Rock intro, but they're having
a narrorage, a narrated bit for about a minute and
a half and they're telling you where these teams are
at the history of these franchises and they're really building
up the game and hyping it up. Even though it's
a one of eighty two regular season game. They're making
it seem much bigger than that. And that's what you
need to do to celebrate the game a little bit more,
(16:54):
because I think it's pushed back to what we saw
for so many years on TNT because those guys is entertaining.
They are and they're great, Like they became more of
the star of the show than the actual game with
the way they rip into it and you're wondering what
Charles Barkley is going to say next? But does that
have an overall negative effect sometimes because people feel like, oh,
(17:14):
the game isn't as good as it used to be
because they're telling me, the analysts are telling me it's
not as good as it used to be. Well, the
analysts on NBC are not doing that, and the analysts
on Amazon aren't doing that. If you've seen an Amazon
Prime in their coverage, they have this crazy court where
it's like virtual reality, augmented reality, where they have all
these graphics out there while they're explaining plays and sets
(17:37):
and really giving you more tools to understand what's happening
during a basketball game instead of just going to you know,
the lazy NBA narratives and just arguing about who's the goat.
I like that, and I think a lot of people
have been waiting for this and they're giving it to
us now. So that's a positive for the league. We'll
see how the ratings go, though, because there's still an
(17:57):
issue everybody, and this isn't just you know, this isn't unique.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
To the NBA.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Everybody is tired of having to go to different places
streaming wise to find where the game is. Everybody's tired
of that. And with it being on NBC and ESPN
and Prime and ABC, it still feels like games are scattered.
What's the schedule? That's a that's a frustration point for
the fan base.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yeah, but that's not going to change, No, probably not.
All right, Adam, thanks again, appreciate it all right, love
you Romancing the Rose Bowl. That will be next.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Let's go, that's right.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Tap on in Rodney Pete Fred Rogan on a hump
Day Wednesday. I hope you're getting ready for a beautiful, happy, quiet, peaceful,
enjoyable Thanksgiving. Be safe, don't get too crazy.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Okay now, an ode to the Rose Ball, romanticizing not
the Stone but the Ball.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
We welcome on, Ben Boltsch of the.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
La Timesiz Stone. Hello, Ben, Hello, all right, look I
want to stand Benny Ben Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
You wrote an open letter now to the chancellor of
the school, right right, Okay, Ben, I have to ask
you again because you know we've had John before talking
about this, this Rose Bull. I mean, you're not going
to let this go. You want him to stay at
the Rose Bull, right.
Speaker 5 (19:53):
I think it's it's you say, football's identity. Obviously some
people say, hey, well, their identity once was playing at
the Coliseum, and I understand that. But with the Rose BOWLDS,
in my view, you've got the most iconic stadium in
college football. It's the place every it's the place everyone
wants to be. It's the reason that fifteen thousand Nebraska
fans come out. That's because they want to see the
(20:16):
Rose Bowl and have their team playing the Rose Bowl.
And that is and can continue to be UCLA's home stadium.
And I think it's an advantage they have that they
shouldn't give up.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
So you think the fifteen thousand Nebraska fans came out
for the Rose Bowl, and not for sunny southern California,
even though it was a little cloudy, lad Well, they
wouldn't come to so far to see a game.
Speaker 5 (20:41):
I don't think they'd be as excited or driven or
motivated to do so. Now I'm not saying there would
be zero Nebraska fans. Obviously they travel well wherever they go.
But I think that there is a special motivation for
these Big ten fan bases to come to the Rose
Bowl because it's such a special play. It's associated with
(21:02):
you know, January first in the Rose Bowl game, and
now you know in the CFP rotation. So uh, it's
just it's just such a special place and and and
as I've already said, I just think that it's if
you have that in your toolkit, I don't know why
you'd want to give it away.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
All right, So Ben, realistically, where is this thing? Where
where is it? We know what, uh, the school wants
to do. We understand went to court. You were in
there tweeting, Uh, where where does this thing stand?
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Right now?
Speaker 5 (21:33):
It's in the courts, you know. You steally fought a
couple of emotions at the very end of last week,
one of which was basically to kind of put a
pause on proceedings until a judge can compel them to
move this to arbitration and out of the public view
of the court system. And you know, uh, that's something
that the Rose Bowl doesn't want. They want this to
(21:54):
be out in public view. They think this is a
public matter that should be out in the open. And
so we're going to see, We're going to see how
that plays out. I think that's scheduled as of now
to be determined on January twenty second. Could be moved up,
could be additional filings to change that timeline, but as
of right now, that's where we are.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Where do you get the sense that the fans been
the fans and we're talking about the student body, Obviously
they don't. They don't have a nostalgia in the history
that the Rose Bowl carries when it comes to playing there.
But from the student standpoint, from the fan base standpoint,
are they as adamant of staying at the Rose Bowl
(22:36):
as you are?
Speaker 5 (22:38):
Well, you know, I did a poll in my newsletter
a couple of weeks ago, and the breakdown was clear
as day to me. It was I believe seventy nine
point five and This wasn't just a handful of people responding.
This was over a thousand people who participate in this poll,
and it was seventy nine I think seventy nine point
five percent stay at the Rose Bowl. Now, I do
(22:59):
think that, you know, there's some clear lines there. I
think the younger you are, the more inclined the fans
want to go to so Far because they haven't built
up the tradition and the history of chailgating at the
Rose Bowl and making it part of kind of their
fabric of their Saturday college football experience. But I think
by and large from from the people I've talked to
(23:21):
and heard from and read about their significant interests in
staying at the Rose Bowl. And I think that UCLA,
because they wanted to do this quietly, has not really
done their due diligence and doesn't really know what the
potential fallout is from a ticket standpoint season ticket holders. Obviously,
(23:42):
they're going to try to get some sweet revenue if
they move to so Far, But you know, I'm not confident.
I don't know that they know the impact of this
move and how many tickets they'll be able to sell
if they do make the move.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Well, that's the question here, And you know you could
only guess that this point. But do you really think
your people are going to go to the games?
Speaker 3 (24:04):
That's so fine? Or do you think more people would go?
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I mean, and I know which way you lean, but realistic, Yeah,
what do you think?
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Well?
Speaker 5 (24:13):
Yeah, I think they definitely probably would get a novelty
bump maybe the first season or two. I think even
the people dug in on the Rose Bowl side of
this argument would say, Hey, I'm gonna go check it
out and see what it's all about, and maybe they
would be sold and say I'm gonna I love this.
They made it the right move, I'm gonna stay with it.
But you know, it's just such a wild card right
(24:34):
now that you know, UCLA is approaching this as if
they're ready to do it now, and they have the
numbers that they feel confident in, and I just don't
know how you can feel confident that with so much uncertainty.
And certainly, as I've already mentioned, the courts can can
intervene here, and if they don't compel them to stay,
they could levy a huge dollar amount on UCLA that
(24:56):
could make this not a viable move. So so so
many wild cards in play right now. It's just, uh,
it's just so uncertain on so many fronts.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Yeah, speaking of uncertainty, and certainly with the actual program,
I mean it feels like they got bigger fish to
fry and trying to make a program, you know, get
back to a status where they can compete on a
regular basis, and all of this is coming into the mix.
I mean, what is what is the actual priority?
Speaker 5 (25:28):
Well, I think it's I think it's all in concert, right.
I Mean my understanding was they you know, if they
had had their way, they would have been able to
announce a new coach, a new stadium, and then a
new NIL leadership structure kind of bang bang bang right
in a row that they were kind of hoping for.
And obviously, when when the Rose bulls spilled the beans
(25:49):
and uh you know that this was going on and
put this in the courts, that kind of threw that
part in a wrench. But you know, I think front
and center. What's going to move front and center here
next week and a half is the coaching search. I
think they're gonna have their you know, make an announcement
hire somebody very very soon here. And that's gonna you know,
(26:10):
if they if they do it right and get get
you know, a really good hire that could kind of
swing the public relations side of this back in their
favor at least temporarily.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
And who's that hier going to be?
Speaker 5 (26:22):
Ben Well, you know, if you read my newsletter, you
know who I'm hoping for, right It's Bob Chesney at
James Madison. I think he is somebody who I see
is a very driven, promising up and comer. Comes from
James Madison, James Madison where everybody knows Kurt Signetti came
from as well, everybody knows what he's done in Indiana,
(26:44):
and uh, you know, uh, Bob Chesney doesn't have as
much experience, but he has wonted every level. He's risen
through the ranks. If you I'm gone and listened to
multiple of his uh you know, press conferences, introductory place conferences, interviews, podcasts,
He's very very impressive. I think he's the kind of
(27:06):
person who has a charisma, passion and the drive and
the football smarts to really galvanize this donor base, this
fan base and get recruits. And I just think he'd
be a home run higher.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
And yeah, obviously there's there's some really good coaches out
there that could be a great hire. I'm sure he is.
What can they do in terms of the the NIL
collective to make them competitive with some of the other
schools around the country and even the schools within the
Big Ten conference? That makes them competitive on a football level?
(27:40):
I mean, because you can, you can bring in the
best coach in the world, but if they're not competing
on a skill set level, then they've got no chance.
Speaker 5 (27:49):
Yeah, it's a great point, you say, I does have
a plan on that front. I know some things I
can't divulge publicly, but I know that they do have
a plan, and they're gonna make an announcement here in
the near future, and that they feel optimistic that they
can put the resources in place to support this new
coach uh and and and win at a high level
(28:11):
in the Big Ten. So it's not going to be,
you know, the same old kind of middling NIL program
that they've had since the start of in il. They
they I think they understanding knowledge they need to make
leaps and bounds here. But my message to them was, well,
you need the coach that's really going to put this
over the top and get people excited, uh to to
(28:34):
to get that money that you need. So there's there's
no underselling how important getting this higher right is for UCLA.
I think that their whole entire athletic department. And this
is not I'm not, you know, understating this. Their future
(28:54):
hangs on getting this higher right. So they need to
do this. They need to get it out and get
it going and make it right hard.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Outstanding, Ben have a terrific Thanksgiving. We appreciate you coming.
Speaker 5 (29:06):
On always for you gentlemen, same to you.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Nothing sweeter for the holidays and getting your kids a
new pet, got an idea.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Come on, we keep it moving on a hopday on Wednesday,
Rodney Pete, Fred Rogan, come on, tell me. Tell me
about your pets. Fred, tell me about your exotic pets
that you got.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Oh, this is really special, really special. You know, this
is the time of year where families get together and
oftentimes the kids say, mommy, Daddy, give me a puppy
for Christmas. Oh yeah, you've heard that, Rodney.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
And by the way, if you do that, go to
a shelter. I'm that serious. If you're gonna rescue for sure, Yeah,
rescue rescue of a friend.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
It will be the loyalist pet you ever have. You
you don't understand when you get a rescue fred you
know this, Yep, you've done it. When you rescue a
dog or an animal, it just the loyalty that you
receive will be tenfold from whatever you thought you were
going to get. It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
They're only there for one reason, by the way, to
love you unconditionally. Yeah, that's the only reason. They're there
to love you unconditionally, and all they ask in return
is that you do the right thing for them. It's
really that simple, all right. So some people might want
to get a dog, you know, maybe some families will
ask for a cat. Right, it's just kind of the pet.
(30:58):
You want a bird, a turtle. Fish, don't get fish.
Fish don't live. Don't get fish. Fish is a bad call.
Don't get fish.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
Don't get fish.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Well, you know you don't want to get goldfish, right,
you're saying goldfish because they last what six months?
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (31:12):
If that, it's terrible. We got them when the kids
were young. One would die. They were at school. I go,
oh my god, I go out get another one replace it.
They'd come in and go that's not the same fish.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
You know.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
It's like those hamsters or guinea pigs or things like
that that lasts a year tops. And for whatever reason,
the guinea pigs or the hamsters don't last. I don't
know why. That doesn't get that doesn't trickle down the
generation spread because kids. I think I heard some kids today,
Oh my pet, hamster, P hamster. Why do you want
(31:41):
a pet hamster? They don't live very long. They don't
and it's just tragedy waiting to happen.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
When our kids were little, they wanted a hamster, and
I said, I will get you a hamster, because that's
kind of that I am. I go to the store,
I get the hamster. I bring the hamster home. They
look at the hamster. The hamster starts running around. The
kids starts screaming and say take the hamster back. We
don't want the hamster. That happened, true. But anyway, look,
(32:14):
look if you're looking for a pet, and you could
surprise your kids with this, because apparently, yeah, this is
pretty big deal. You know what is being domesticated. Now
you know what you could have as a.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Pet, don't you dare say it?
Speaker 3 (32:30):
Well, not a possum. Those are like giant rats. Don't
do that.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
You didn't say that. That is that gives me the
heb gbs if you know what the hebgb's are.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Okay, well is this going to give you the heb gmis.
You don't know? Hot pet is raccoons? Oh raccoons. No, yeah, raccoons.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
That's second on the list.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
Uh huh mm hmm. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
They're becoming domesticated. Oh yeah, no, yeah, and their revolving
is cute and cuddly, cute and cuddling.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
Uh huh no. So how do you domesticate a raccoon? First?
Why would you?
Speaker 1 (33:09):
But if you chose to because you thought that was
your thing, you got to bring them in your house,
you got to keep them away from all the things
they would do, and you just have to train them.
And there are people that think there are people that
think you can train a raccoon to be as cute
and cuddly as a dog.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Oh yeah, that's so bad.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
You can't. You can't. There's an innate thing about animals.
They are animals, and they will revert back to their instincts. Instincts.
It's a real thing, you know, And certain animals are
born to be outside. They're born to be scavengers. They
(33:55):
they have survival instincts that are far out of the
realm of our you know, possibilities or imagination that we
could think of. Oh, he should think this way because
I fed him three meals a day and I gave
him some puppy food, and I've been feeding him real
good stuff. So why is he why is he still
(34:17):
digging through the trash? Why that can never happen?
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Well, raccoon, Yeah, see here, you don't know researchers. You
gotta go with researchers. You know what they say. The
problem is all raccoons are exposed to is trash. They
picked through trash to eat. As you point it out,
the researchers saying, just don't put them here the trash.
Start them in the house when they're little, domesticate them,
(34:45):
just bring them in, little baby raccoon in the house.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
So you got to get a baby raccoon out of
mama's belly right away in order for this to work right.
You can't take a raccoon from like, there's not a
raccoon shelter that you go, Hey, I'm go get a
two year old raccoon and bring it into the house.
That can't work.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
No, No, you gotta get a baby raccoon. Bring the
raccoon into the house and it'll be set. Kind of
like when the guy saved the raccoon's life that fell
into the dumpster of moonshine and gave it mouth to
mouth and saved its life. Yeah, yeah, that that raccoon
would be perfect for this. It would be appreciative, it
(35:24):
would know you saved its life. I personally would never
do this. I think this is insane. Never, It's like,
remember I've told the story the guy that talked to bears.
Remember that guy. There was a guy who talked to bears.
He communicated with bears, and he would video tape himself
communicating with bears, and he would go out into the wild.
He'd see a bear and he would speak like a
(35:46):
bear and whatever he would do. Adam, I find I'm
not having I'm not having a seizure. I'm not having
a seizure.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
Well, I'm pulling the himlick on you or anything here, Freddy. So, yeah,
are you talking about Timothy Treadwell from the Grizzly Man documentary?
Speaker 3 (36:04):
Was that the guy that he went to Alaska.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
With his wife out there is that the guy his
girlfriend okay, ended up getting killed.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
All right, so anyway, right, it's yeah, Adam, not when
you heard Fred do those noises, did you think? Did
you think bear right away? Or no? No?
Speaker 3 (36:19):
I thought, old manunt.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
No, that's not true. And I don't smell Adham, I
don't have that. Anyway, We're not going to talk about that.
I'll be talking about at Thanksgiving tables across. What do
you smell like, Grandpa?
Speaker 2 (36:33):
No?
Speaker 1 (36:33):
So, anyway, the guy would go out and you'd communicate
with the bears and he would grunt, he'd grunt. I
don't know what the sound he would make, and anyway,
he thought he was doing it, and then his girlfriend,
I guess, was recording it. And there is video of
this guy going up to the bear, kind of moving
up and communicating in bear talk language, and he thought
the bears understood. Oh, the bear understood just fine. One
(36:54):
swipe of his paw and his head came off. Then
the bear killed the girlfriend.
Speaker 4 (36:57):
Okay, okay, Fred, he didn't have to be so graphic
with Thanksgiving tomorrow. Look to be fair, he made it
like a good five years going to the grizzly Maze
up in Alaska and doing all this video and he
called it instructional video like he's doing Animal Planet stuff.
But eventually, yes, the wild animal got to him that
was hungry.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
So my point is with the raccoon bear right, And
so you don't think a raccoon's gonna go raccoon?
Speaker 4 (37:24):
Yes, careful, fred, one swipe, he's gonna cut your head
clean off.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
I'm telling you another thing.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
I mean, we talk about claws, We make fun of
bear claws, We eat them because they're good donuts. Right,
bear claws are dangerous. One swipe is absolutely right, and
take your head off with the with the paws and
the and the claws that they have. Same thing with
the raccoon. You know, raccoon's got thumbs. Yes, they can
grab things and they're they're they're they're sharp. Then the
(37:49):
nails are sharp. Come on, I know they have thumbs.
I know a raccoon that became a proctologist.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
Excuse me, okay, now that's a trash panda right there.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
Go ahead, Ronnie, h.
Speaker 2 (38:08):
M hm wowr is he in business?
Speaker 3 (38:11):
Very long?
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Coming up later on this hour, we'll get you caught
up on everything. That's happened with it's lit
All right, we continue on Fred Rogan Rodney Pete on
a five seventy LA Sports. If you are headed out
of town, drive safely. If you are headed to the airport,
good luck, because it is one of the busiest travel
days of the year.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
In general, it is one of the busiest travel days
of the year. But given you know what we've been through,
it's even worse right now, So give yourself plenty, plenty
of time. You know, my wife's coming back from ironically
coming back from Toronto today, and Jesus said that this
(00:51):
morning early on, it was so so much traffic, so
many delays, and so many flights that are already canceled,
and and she's just lucky enough to be to make
it on one of those planes back home. But yeah,
be safe out there. It's crazy.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
You know the rules.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
She's flying into Lax obviously, she's coming from Toronto. She's
not flying private on this one. She's going to Lax, right,
so you know the rules. Here are the rules. If
you flying to Burbank, I will pick you up. If
you flying a Burbank airport, I will pick you up. Yes,
if you flying to Lax, you are on your own.
(01:29):
You are on your own What about Long Beach.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
No, too far, you're left Ontario. No, if you flying a.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Burbank, even Santa Monica is too far.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah, you'll see my smileing face. You'll see me thumbs
up waiting for you. You fly to Lax, you got
your own problems. Now, there's no way I'm going near Lax.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Why isn't there like most cities, at least around the world, cities,
the transit that we've been building on this for forever,
there isn't just like a straight shot from Lax to
the valley. It just drops you off in what Sherman Oaks,
right at the galleria.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Right, I mean, nobody goes to the gallery anymore anyway.
I'll give them something to do there.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Give you something to do there, just right there in
the middle. All that work we've done over the years,
and the four five Armageddon, Karmageddon, whatever you want to
call it, gedding we've had. They're doing it again, I
think at the top of the year, doing some more
work on it. But just a rail train station that
just goes straight from Lax to the valley.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Sherman Oaks is a great colch right in the middle,
right in the middle, right in the middle, right off
the four O five. Just get off. That is, get on,
get off. You don't have to go.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
There's a find a parking lot there uber to the
station at Sherman Oaks. Get on, get there to the airport,
no worry, no hassle.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
No, it's great. I think it's a great idea. That's
why they'll never do it.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, because is it like the Gondolin idea.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
The great gondola.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Yeah, yeah, and that goes about what a half a
mile a mile We've been talking about something from the
airport to the valley, which makes more sense. Just easy,
it'd be simple. That's why we're not gonna do it.
We're gonna spend money on other things, by the way,
and the money we spend on other things are never
gonna get done anyway.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, we're gonna build, yeah, parking lots so you can't
get close to the airport anymore. And if you're driving yourself,
you're not gonna be able to get up in there.
You gotta park and associate somebody else and ride or whatever.
It's just gonna be crazy.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I'm trying to think we're they gonna build a train
from like Fresno.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
To La It was yeah, I remember that, but it.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Was like Fresno.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Yeah, why Fresno.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Right, let's think. Let's think of a place where nobody
wants to go Fresno. Okay, that's where we'll start the train.
This is I got a great idea.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
At the valley forget bypassing all the spots that you
need to get to Lax. It's going to go for
go Fresno.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
It's going Fresno to Hemmett.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
All aboard, everybody, jump on board.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
There's five people on the hyper loop speed train.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
God, the way they do things in this state. All right,
the Saltia is back. We just touched briefly in the
first hour. By the way, if you missed the Saltia
and his meltdown about the Clippers, well you can go
back and podcast.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Oh whoa, whoa, Well you didn't really have a meltdown,
but it was. It was good. We stopped you when
we did. Our pets heads are falling off, all right,
that's fine, it was going to stop you where we did.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
But the injuries going on, I mean, I look at
the NBA this year and it's like me watching Major
League Baseball pitchers getting hurt. What is going on in
the NBA.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
I think it's a great parallel you're making there, Fred.
I think guys are getting too strong and too explosive
for their own good. Now, what the hell do I know?
I used to do a show with the doctor on
this station a while back, but that's about his f
I can get with this. Plus a kinesiology major, Okay,
that was just four years of college, doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
An You're a beast in a gym. Don't let anybody
tell you different you are.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
And I'm starting to break down too. I can't go
as hard as I used to. But I think it's
a combination of that, guys overtraining if you look at
the data, and then also doing it at such a
young age.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Guys.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
There's an article back from twenty nineteen that I bring
up all the time that nobody want to look at.
And this was before this became a huge talking point
and all the injuries have now added up, even more
so in professional sports the last few years. It's titled
these kids are ticking time bombs. The threat of youth basketball,
and it goes through doctors and trainers like Gary Vedy
(05:44):
and how the game has has changed and how much
kids are playing on their way up through AAU and
club basketball. And it's kind of heartbreaking because you get
close from Kobe Bryant talking about, you know, the ultimate competitor,
talking about having a whole g from playing more because
he played, he didn't play as many games overseas growing
(06:06):
up till he came to the States and he was
asked about, was you have a twenty year career in
today's game? And Kobe wasn't sure about that because kids
are brought up with more wear and tear on them
because they're going through all the AAU circuits and they're
playing much more basketball at a young age, specialized sports.
And I think it's the same thing with pitching now.
(06:28):
It's like Tommy John is a rite of passage. You
might get it at fourteen or fifteen years old. It's
just what you do at some point if you're going
to become a major league pitcher. It's crazy. So guys
are throwing faster, but there's a downside. There's a trade
off there. Eventually they're getting injured. Fred you say it
all the time, but it's like you're rotating pictures in
(06:50):
and out every other year with the Dodgers, which guys
had to get surgery the year before now they're out yep.
And which guys are available whoever turned from surgery. In basketball,
we're seeing more calf injuries, more achilles tears out there,
more explosive movements in the half court. Guys are running
about a mile and a half more per game than
they were I think just ten years ago, and that
(07:12):
adds up over a season in over a years, over years,
it compounds. So people want to say, oh, it's it's
less physical. It's like, you know what, you know, what's
more physical? Running more and in the half court. You
look at sets in the nineties compared to now and
the amount of movement that is happening out there on
the floor. It's just you can't compare the eras. It's
(07:33):
just so different with how guys play the game and
how much of the court has to be guarded now
because of the three point shooting, so guys are having
to get out further and having to close out on
these three point shooters, so they're running more there and
specifically the deceleration stuff. Like Luka Doncic, people think of
him as, you know, a subpar athlete, but The truth
(07:57):
is he's been measured with his start stop and how
he can stop on a dime and snatch the basketball
back and cross you up that way for his little
fadeaways and step back jumpers and three pointers. That's what
makes him so tough to guard, and they've measured that deceleration.
But it's tough on the body. He's had a lot
of calf injuries, he's had a lot of lower body injuries.
(08:18):
Other guys doing the same thing. So while they're more
effective and harder to stop offensively maybe than ever, the
trade off is guys are getting hurt more out there.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah. I mean, it's what we talked about with all sports,
right and especially baseball because you play year round. Is
no more you know, playing three sports. As we were
growing up, and at least I was growing up, it
was encouraged that you played, you know, what was in season,
and if you finished football, you went to basketball, and
then you went to baseball or track if that was
(08:50):
your choice. And now it's like the other coaches getting
mad at you if you play a different sport and
it's year round, so you never give those specific even
know you're training and you're working out and you're playing
a different sport. You're not giving those muscles that you
utilize on a regular basis playing football or basketball or baseball.
(09:11):
You're never giving them a time to relax a reset
because you're continuously doing the same thing, Whereas it's a
different muscle memory when you go from football to basketball
or baseball to football, or basketball to baseball. And so
their kids are not allowed to do that, And you're right,
it's become a rite of passage for Tommy john in baseball.
(09:33):
But you're seeing, like you said, more soft tissue issues
in basketball now.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
Well, and then I mentioned this article specifically about basketball
and trainers for Jordan and trainers with the Lakers, like
Gary Veti are saying, you know, when the season ended,
these guys stopped playing like they weren't training year round
the way they do now. They specifically talked about Michael
Jordan and how he wouldn't pick up a basketball again
until September. So guys are now over training once they
(10:00):
get to the NBA too, to try to keep up
with everybody. Steph Curry's called it the skilled era or whatever,
because guys are advancing and we're seeing it this season.
They're playing at the fastest pace since the seventies. But
they're also doing it with more explosive movements, with how
athletic guys are. With just all this training has led
to so many more explosive movements in the half court
(10:21):
than what we saw before. And I think it's leading
to guys just getting worn out and tearing soft tissue
injuries like we're seeing it all the time right now.
And so the NBA, obviously they're invested in having their
superstars out there. It's a star driven a league. So
how do you figure this out? Well, I've been saying
for a while, take away the back to backs and
(10:44):
extend the season into.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
No mid July. No, no, here and Fred and I
have had this debate.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Yeah, we've talked about no, no, it's way too much.
Let me ask you this, Should they and they can't
because of the money, But in the perfect world, should
they just play fewer games? Do not extend the season?
By the time here's the problem with that, Adam, and
we have discussed this. By the time you get to
(11:11):
the NBA finals, do you realize nobody really cares except
the two cities playing. You've moved on. There's got to
be a point of urgency where boom, it's exciting. The
season is over and you know, well that's not true, Fred, Well,
it kind of is. Look at television ratings. So they
got to make it shorter, not longer. They cannot extend
(11:33):
this thing.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Oh look, they're competing with maybe the Stanley Cup Finals,
but you can find your way around that and the
dog days of midsommer baseball and maybe the All Star Game.
That's what you're competing against if you extend it out
a little bit further.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Yeah, but you're also competing against summer. People's mindset is different.
You cannot start something in October, okay, and run. I
mean baseball is too long to Don't get me wrong,
it's too long. You can't start in October and end
at July. Does seasons change? People are in a different
place mentally. I'm telling you they need to make it shorter.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Well, we know it's not gonna happen for reasons you
mentioned with the television deals. They're not going to drop
down from eighty two games to sixty five and start
in December or anything like that. In the perfect world, yes,
that would be better, but we can't make perfect. The
enemy of good or better in this way. And I
still think the priority for the NBA, more so than anything,
is to having your stars available as much as possible
(12:34):
for putting butts in the seats and for putting eyeballs
on the television. And the best way to get more
stars playing is to reduce the back to backs. That's it.
It's not perfect. I agree with you. During the summer,
people are on vacation, but will it be better than
what we're seeing right now with all the injuries, and
if this is going to continue to get worse, because
there also is something to look I don't buy into
(12:56):
the old man shakes his fist at the clouds and
say everybody was tougher back in my day. I don't.
But we know more about the human body. Guys are
more cognizant of the science and what this could lead
to later on in life because they have seen the
older players and how they walk around. Like the late
great Bill Walton. I couldn't believe the way he was
(13:16):
moving as a broadcaster, just watching him get to his seat. Now,
I know that's kind of unique because of all the
injuries he had, but you know, there's a reason guys
had shorter careers too. Back then, guys are trying to
prolong their careers. They're trying to make as much money
as possible, and they're also trying to make sure they
can have a life and their quality of life is
(13:38):
good enough post career. So there's more information, there's more
knowledge out there, and I understand why the NBA has
changed and why sports has changed the way.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
There a chance to adjust the schedule to the point where, okay,
take away the back to backs, but if there's a
road trip, be more efficient on these road trips, more
efficient when you travel or when you got home games
supposed to go to back to back. I mean, okay,
it's not back to back, but but man, every other day,
(14:10):
you got it. You have a prolonged, maybe a long,
longer road trip that allows you to get back and
and and play these games. Because short of cutting eighty
two games down, Adam, I don't I don't know what
you do, because I'm with Fred. I think you got
to cut the games. But that's a money issue and
that's not going to happen.
Speaker 4 (14:30):
As a non starter for them. No, it's a great point, Rodney.
One thing they have done the last couple of years
and they're not doing it enough. Still, they might lean
into this more. They have a baseball series where you
play a team two games in a row, so you
stay in that city over the weekend or whatever. Right,
that's one little adjustment to make for a little bit
less travel out there. I feel like they should do
(14:52):
more of that, and that actually leads to some pretty
competitive basketball because you get to see adjustments game to
game and coaches have sat up. I've heard from coach
lou multiple times. It's not a playoff series, but it
has a little bit of that feel to have just
seen the same team over and over again. There's something
to work with there. But I know the NBA is
(15:13):
more concerned than ever and they're trying to look into this.
But I think the bottom line is they adjusted the
schedule for COVID, They've adjusted it for lockouts. They've done
all this before. They don't want to push back the draft.
They like having the same schedule every year. But I'm
sorry they've had to adjust and figured it out before,
and there has to be more of a level of
(15:34):
urgency now because of the injuries that are piling up.
You need your superstars out there. That is the biggest
concern with this new media deal. I mean, the reason
they put in that player participation policy was because they're
negotiating at that time with Amazon with NBC and they're saying, like, well,
look at the ratings, and the problem with the ratings
(15:56):
is you don't know who's going to be available each
and every night, So the NBA wants to get guys
out there. If you want to get guys out there,
then don't have as many back to backs. I'm not
saying it's gonna fix everything, but it certainly would help.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
What do you think of the new media rights? Have
you watched games on all the networks?
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (16:11):
I like NBC and what they're doing because they're actually
really romanticizing the game a little bit without making it
back in my day type of conversations. They still have
look every game, and I think their Sunday through Tuesday
games are on NBC. Like last night the Clippers Lakers
game was on there. They are doing the old school NBC,
(16:33):
not just the round Ball Rock intro, but they're having
a narrorage, a narrated bit for about a minute and
a half and they're telling you where these teams are
at the history of these franchises and they're really building
up the game and hyping it up. Even though it's
a one of eighty two regular season game. They're making
it seem much bigger than that. And that's what you
need to do to celebrate the game a little bit more,
(16:54):
because I think it's pushed back to what we saw
for so many years on TNT because those guys is entertaining.
They are and they're great, Like they became more of
the star of the show than the actual game with
the way they rip into it and you're wondering what
Charles Barkley is going to say next? But does that
have an overall negative effect sometimes because people feel like, oh,
(17:14):
the game isn't as good as it used to be
because they're telling me, the analysts are telling me it's
not as good as it used to be. Well, the
analysts on NBC are not doing that, and the analysts
on Amazon aren't doing that. If you've seen an Amazon
Prime in their coverage, they have this crazy court where
it's like virtual reality, augmented reality, where they have all
these graphics out there while they're explaining plays and sets
(17:37):
and really giving you more tools to understand what's happening
during a basketball game instead of just going to you know,
the lazy NBA narratives and just arguing about who's the goat.
I like that, and I think a lot of people
have been waiting for this and they're giving it to
us now. So that's a positive for the league. We'll
see how the ratings go, though, because there's still an
(17:57):
issue everybody, and this isn't just you know, this isn't unique.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
To the NBA.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Everybody is tired of having to go to different places
streaming wise to find where the game is. Everybody's tired
of that. And with it being on NBC and ESPN
and Prime and ABC, it still feels like games are scattered.
What's the schedule? That's a that's a frustration point for
the fan base.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yeah, but that's not going to change, No, probably not.
All right, Adam, thanks again, appreciate it all right, love
you Romancing the Rose Bowl. That will be next.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Let's go, that's right.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Tap on in Rodney Pete Fred Rogan on a hump
Day Wednesday. I hope you're getting ready for a beautiful, happy, quiet, peaceful,
enjoyable Thanksgiving. Be safe, don't get too crazy.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Okay now, an ode to the Rose Ball, romanticizing not
the Stone but the Ball.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
We welcome on, Ben Boltsch of the.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
La Timesiz Stone. Hello, Ben, Hello, all right, look I
want to stand Benny Ben Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
You wrote an open letter now to the chancellor of
the school, right right, Okay, Ben, I have to ask
you again because you know we've had John before talking
about this, this Rose Bull. I mean, you're not going
to let this go. You want him to stay at
the Rose Bull, right.
Speaker 5 (19:53):
I think it's it's you say, football's identity. Obviously some
people say, hey, well, their identity once was playing at
the Coliseum, and I understand that. But with the Rose BOWLDS,
in my view, you've got the most iconic stadium in
college football. It's the place every it's the place everyone
wants to be. It's the reason that fifteen thousand Nebraska
fans come out. That's because they want to see the
(20:16):
Rose Bowl and have their team playing the Rose Bowl.
And that is and can continue to be UCLA's home stadium.
And I think it's an advantage they have that they
shouldn't give up.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
So you think the fifteen thousand Nebraska fans came out
for the Rose Bowl, and not for sunny southern California,
even though it was a little cloudy, lad Well, they
wouldn't come to so far to see a game.
Speaker 5 (20:41):
I don't think they'd be as excited or driven or
motivated to do so. Now I'm not saying there would
be zero Nebraska fans. Obviously they travel well wherever they go.
But I think that there is a special motivation for
these Big ten fan bases to come to the Rose
Bowl because it's such a special play. It's associated with
(21:02):
you know, January first in the Rose Bowl game, and
now you know in the CFP rotation. So uh, it's
just it's just such a special place and and and
as I've already said, I just think that it's if
you have that in your toolkit, I don't know why
you'd want to give it away.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
All right, So Ben, realistically, where is this thing? Where
where is it? We know what, uh, the school wants
to do. We understand went to court. You were in
there tweeting, Uh, where where does this thing stand?
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Right now?
Speaker 5 (21:33):
It's in the courts, you know. You steally fought a
couple of emotions at the very end of last week,
one of which was basically to kind of put a
pause on proceedings until a judge can compel them to
move this to arbitration and out of the public view
of the court system. And you know, uh, that's something
that the Rose Bowl doesn't want. They want this to
(21:54):
be out in public view. They think this is a
public matter that should be out in the open. And
so we're going to see, We're going to see how
that plays out. I think that's scheduled as of now
to be determined on January twenty second. Could be moved up,
could be additional filings to change that timeline, but as
of right now, that's where we are.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Where do you get the sense that the fans been
the fans and we're talking about the student body, Obviously
they don't. They don't have a nostalgia in the history
that the Rose Bowl carries when it comes to playing there.
But from the student standpoint, from the fan base standpoint,
are they as adamant of staying at the Rose Bowl
(22:36):
as you are?
Speaker 5 (22:38):
Well, you know, I did a poll in my newsletter
a couple of weeks ago, and the breakdown was clear
as day to me. It was I believe seventy nine
point five and This wasn't just a handful of people responding.
This was over a thousand people who participate in this poll,
and it was seventy nine I think seventy nine point
five percent stay at the Rose Bowl. Now, I do
(22:59):
think that, you know, there's some clear lines there. I
think the younger you are, the more inclined the fans
want to go to so Far because they haven't built
up the tradition and the history of chailgating at the
Rose Bowl and making it part of kind of their
fabric of their Saturday college football experience. But I think
by and large from from the people I've talked to
(23:21):
and heard from and read about their significant interests in
staying at the Rose Bowl. And I think that UCLA,
because they wanted to do this quietly, has not really
done their due diligence and doesn't really know what the
potential fallout is from a ticket standpoint season ticket holders. Obviously,
(23:42):
they're going to try to get some sweet revenue if
they move to so Far, But you know, I'm not confident.
I don't know that they know the impact of this
move and how many tickets they'll be able to sell
if they do make the move.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Well, that's the question here, And you know you could
only guess that this point. But do you really think
your people are going to go to the games?
Speaker 3 (24:04):
That's so fine? Or do you think more people would go?
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I mean, and I know which way you lean, but realistic, Yeah,
what do you think?
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Well?
Speaker 5 (24:13):
Yeah, I think they definitely probably would get a novelty
bump maybe the first season or two. I think even
the people dug in on the Rose Bowl side of
this argument would say, Hey, I'm gonna go check it
out and see what it's all about, and maybe they
would be sold and say I'm gonna I love this.
They made it the right move, I'm gonna stay with it.
But you know, it's just such a wild card right
(24:34):
now that you know, UCLA is approaching this as if
they're ready to do it now, and they have the
numbers that they feel confident in, and I just don't
know how you can feel confident that with so much uncertainty.
And certainly, as I've already mentioned, the courts can can
intervene here, and if they don't compel them to stay,
they could levy a huge dollar amount on UCLA that
(24:56):
could make this not a viable move. So so so
many wild cards in play right now. It's just, uh,
it's just so uncertain on so many fronts.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Yeah, speaking of uncertainty, and certainly with the actual program,
I mean it feels like they got bigger fish to
fry and trying to make a program, you know, get
back to a status where they can compete on a
regular basis, and all of this is coming into the mix.
I mean, what is what is the actual priority?
Speaker 5 (25:28):
Well, I think it's I think it's all in concert, right.
I Mean my understanding was they you know, if they
had had their way, they would have been able to
announce a new coach, a new stadium, and then a
new NIL leadership structure kind of bang bang bang right
in a row that they were kind of hoping for.
And obviously, when when the Rose bulls spilled the beans
(25:49):
and uh you know that this was going on and
put this in the courts, that kind of threw that
part in a wrench. But you know, I think front
and center. What's going to move front and center here
next week and a half is the coaching search. I
think they're gonna have their you know, make an announcement
hire somebody very very soon here. And that's gonna you know,
(26:10):
if they if they do it right and get get
you know, a really good hire that could kind of
swing the public relations side of this back in their
favor at least temporarily.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
And who's that hier going to be?
Speaker 5 (26:22):
Ben Well, you know, if you read my newsletter, you
know who I'm hoping for, right It's Bob Chesney at
James Madison. I think he is somebody who I see
is a very driven, promising up and comer. Comes from
James Madison, James Madison where everybody knows Kurt Signetti came
from as well, everybody knows what he's done in Indiana,
(26:44):
and uh, you know, uh, Bob Chesney doesn't have as
much experience, but he has wonted every level. He's risen
through the ranks. If you I'm gone and listened to
multiple of his uh you know, press conferences, introductory place conferences, interviews, podcasts,
He's very very impressive. I think he's the kind of
(27:06):
person who has a charisma, passion and the drive and
the football smarts to really galvanize this donor base, this
fan base and get recruits. And I just think he'd
be a home run higher.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
And yeah, obviously there's there's some really good coaches out
there that could be a great hire. I'm sure he is.
What can they do in terms of the the NIL
collective to make them competitive with some of the other
schools around the country and even the schools within the
Big Ten conference? That makes them competitive on a football level?
(27:40):
I mean, because you can, you can bring in the
best coach in the world, but if they're not competing
on a skill set level, then they've got no chance.
Speaker 5 (27:49):
Yeah, it's a great point, you say, I does have
a plan on that front. I know some things I
can't divulge publicly, but I know that they do have
a plan, and they're gonna make an announcement here in
the near future, and that they feel optimistic that they
can put the resources in place to support this new
coach uh and and and win at a high level
(28:11):
in the Big Ten. So it's not going to be,
you know, the same old kind of middling NIL program
that they've had since the start of in il. They
they I think they understanding knowledge they need to make
leaps and bounds here. But my message to them was, well,
you need the coach that's really going to put this
over the top and get people excited, uh to to
(28:34):
to get that money that you need. So there's there's
no underselling how important getting this higher right is for UCLA.
I think that their whole entire athletic department. And this
is not I'm not, you know, understating this. Their future
(28:54):
hangs on getting this higher right. So they need to
do this. They need to get it out and get
it going and make it right hard.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Outstanding, Ben have a terrific Thanksgiving. We appreciate you coming.
Speaker 5 (29:06):
On always for you gentlemen, same to you.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Nothing sweeter for the holidays and getting your kids a
new pet, got an idea.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Come on, we keep it moving on a hopday on Wednesday,
Rodney Pete, Fred Rogan, come on, tell me. Tell me
about your pets. Fred, tell me about your exotic pets
that you got.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Oh, this is really special, really special. You know, this
is the time of year where families get together and
oftentimes the kids say, mommy, Daddy, give me a puppy
for Christmas. Oh yeah, you've heard that, Rodney.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
And by the way, if you do that, go to
a shelter. I'm that serious. If you're gonna rescue for sure, Yeah,
rescue rescue of a friend.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
It will be the loyalist pet you ever have. You
you don't understand when you get a rescue fred you
know this, Yep, you've done it. When you rescue a
dog or an animal, it just the loyalty that you
receive will be tenfold from whatever you thought you were
going to get. It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
They're only there for one reason, by the way, to
love you unconditionally. Yeah, that's the only reason. They're there
to love you unconditionally, and all they ask in return
is that you do the right thing for them. It's
really that simple, all right. So some people might want
to get a dog, you know, maybe some families will
ask for a cat. Right, it's just kind of the pet.
(30:58):
You want a bird, a turtle. Fish, don't get fish.
Fish don't live. Don't get fish. Fish is a bad call.
Don't get fish.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
Don't get fish.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Well, you know you don't want to get goldfish, right,
you're saying goldfish because they last what six months?
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (31:12):
If that, it's terrible. We got them when the kids
were young. One would die. They were at school. I go,
oh my god, I go out get another one replace it.
They'd come in and go that's not the same fish.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
You know.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
It's like those hamsters or guinea pigs or things like
that that lasts a year tops. And for whatever reason,
the guinea pigs or the hamsters don't last. I don't
know why. That doesn't get that doesn't trickle down the
generation spread because kids. I think I heard some kids today,
Oh my pet, hamster, P hamster. Why do you want
(31:41):
a pet hamster? They don't live very long. They don't
and it's just tragedy waiting to happen.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
When our kids were little, they wanted a hamster, and
I said, I will get you a hamster, because that's
kind of that I am. I go to the store,
I get the hamster. I bring the hamster home. They
look at the hamster. The hamster starts running around. The
kids starts screaming and say take the hamster back. We
don't want the hamster. That happened, true. But anyway, look,
(32:14):
look if you're looking for a pet, and you could
surprise your kids with this, because apparently, yeah, this is
pretty big deal. You know what is being domesticated. Now
you know what you could have as a.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Pet, don't you dare say it?
Speaker 3 (32:30):
Well, not a possum. Those are like giant rats. Don't
do that.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
You didn't say that. That is that gives me the
heb gbs if you know what the hebgb's are.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Okay, well is this going to give you the heb gmis.
You don't know? Hot pet is raccoons? Oh raccoons. No, yeah, raccoons.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
That's second on the list.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
Uh huh mm hmm. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
They're becoming domesticated. Oh yeah, no, yeah, and their revolving
is cute and cuddly, cute and cuddling.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
Uh huh no. So how do you domesticate a raccoon? First?
Why would you?
Speaker 1 (33:09):
But if you chose to because you thought that was
your thing, you got to bring them in your house,
you got to keep them away from all the things
they would do, and you just have to train them.
And there are people that think there are people that
think you can train a raccoon to be as cute
and cuddly as a dog.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Oh yeah, that's so bad.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
You can't. You can't. There's an innate thing about animals.
They are animals, and they will revert back to their instincts. Instincts.
It's a real thing, you know, And certain animals are
born to be outside. They're born to be scavengers. They
(33:55):
they have survival instincts that are far out of the
realm of our you know, possibilities or imagination that we
could think of. Oh, he should think this way because
I fed him three meals a day and I gave
him some puppy food, and I've been feeding him real
good stuff. So why is he why is he still
(34:17):
digging through the trash? Why that can never happen?
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Well, raccoon, Yeah, see here, you don't know researchers. You
gotta go with researchers. You know what they say. The
problem is all raccoons are exposed to is trash. They
picked through trash to eat. As you point it out,
the researchers saying, just don't put them here the trash.
Start them in the house when they're little, domesticate them,
(34:45):
just bring them in, little baby raccoon in the house.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
So you got to get a baby raccoon out of
mama's belly right away in order for this to work right.
You can't take a raccoon from like, there's not a
raccoon shelter that you go, Hey, I'm go get a
two year old raccoon and bring it into the house.
That can't work.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
No, No, you gotta get a baby raccoon. Bring the
raccoon into the house and it'll be set. Kind of
like when the guy saved the raccoon's life that fell
into the dumpster of moonshine and gave it mouth to
mouth and saved its life. Yeah, yeah, that that raccoon
would be perfect for this. It would be appreciative, it
(35:24):
would know you saved its life. I personally would never
do this. I think this is insane. Never, It's like,
remember I've told the story the guy that talked to bears.
Remember that guy. There was a guy who talked to bears.
He communicated with bears, and he would video tape himself
communicating with bears, and he would go out into the wild.
He'd see a bear and he would speak like a
(35:46):
bear and whatever he would do. Adam, I find I'm
not having I'm not having a seizure. I'm not having
a seizure.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
Well, I'm pulling the himlick on you or anything here, Freddy. So, yeah,
are you talking about Timothy Treadwell from the Grizzly Man documentary?
Speaker 3 (36:04):
Was that the guy that he went to Alaska.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
With his wife out there is that the guy his
girlfriend okay, ended up getting killed.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
All right, so anyway, right, it's yeah, Adam, not when
you heard Fred do those noises, did you think? Did
you think bear right away? Or no? No?
Speaker 3 (36:19):
I thought, old manunt.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
No, that's not true. And I don't smell Adham, I
don't have that. Anyway, We're not going to talk about that.
I'll be talking about at Thanksgiving tables across. What do
you smell like, Grandpa?
Speaker 2 (36:33):
No?
Speaker 1 (36:33):
So, anyway, the guy would go out and you'd communicate
with the bears and he would grunt, he'd grunt. I
don't know what the sound he would make, and anyway,
he thought he was doing it, and then his girlfriend,
I guess, was recording it. And there is video of
this guy going up to the bear, kind of moving
up and communicating in bear talk language, and he thought
the bears understood. Oh, the bear understood just fine. One
(36:54):
swipe of his paw and his head came off. Then
the bear killed the girlfriend.
Speaker 4 (36:57):
Okay, okay, Fred, he didn't have to be so graphic
with Thanksgiving tomorrow. Look to be fair, he made it
like a good five years going to the grizzly Maze
up in Alaska and doing all this video and he
called it instructional video like he's doing Animal Planet stuff.
But eventually, yes, the wild animal got to him that
was hungry.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
So my point is with the raccoon bear right, And
so you don't think a raccoon's gonna go raccoon?
Speaker 4 (37:24):
Yes, careful, fred, one swipe, he's gonna cut your head
clean off.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
I'm telling you another thing.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
I mean, we talk about claws, We make fun of
bear claws, We eat them because they're good donuts. Right,
bear claws are dangerous. One swipe is absolutely right, and
take your head off with the with the paws and
the and the claws that they have. Same thing with
the raccoon. You know, raccoon's got thumbs. Yes, they can
grab things and they're they're they're they're sharp. Then the
(37:49):
nails are sharp. Come on, I know they have thumbs.
I know a raccoon that became a proctologist.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
Excuse me, okay, now that's a trash panda right there.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
Go ahead, Ronnie, h.
Speaker 2 (38:08):
M hm wowr is he in business?
Speaker 3 (38:11):
Very long?
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Coming up later on this hour, we'll get you caught
up on everything. That's happened with it's lit
Roggin And Rodney News
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