March 13, 2025 • 33 mins
Ned Colletti hops on to talk about international travel for MLB teams and more as the Dodgers have landed in Tokyo. As Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on the cusp of winning the NBA MVP award, we Monday morning QB the decision to trade him for Paul George.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
E W.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
We continue on Jonas Knox in today for Rodney on
a five to seventy LA Sports. The Dodgers are situated
in Japan, getting ready for their games next week against
the Cubs, some exhibition games before that, and now let's
bring on the man Jonas who sits in the big chair,
our good friend Ned Coletti and Ned, Happy Thursday to.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
You, Happy Thursday to you, and Baseball's almost here. Can't wait,
all right?
Speaker 4 (00:26):
Ned?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So I want to start with something that I think
is foremost on the minds of most people, and long flights.
What do you do on the flight? Ned? What would
you watch? What would you download? How would you kill
the time?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I probably watched The Godfather seven or eight times times three,
although you don't really need to watch the third one,
you know, Yeah, No, you know what, I would probably
try and take my mind off of everything that's been
on my mind for the last six weeks twenty four
to seven. You know, you're you're getting ready, and I
(01:04):
think you need to take a breath once in a while,
and on a flight like that, you're not going to
be on the phone, You're not going to be interrupted.
So whatever you need to do that you don't want
to be interrupted doing it's a good time to do it. Plus,
you know, watch a movie or on take a nap
visit with some people because sometimes you know, that is
also an opportunity to have some conversations that in a
(01:27):
hustle and bustle of spring training, you don't have to
call somebody into your office or things like that. You
can just kind of run into them on a flight
like that. So but it's an opportunity to get away
from the phone, if nothing else, it gives you that chance.
Although it is it is a little bit longer than
flying a couple hours.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Hey, not in a flight like that. I mean, just
be honest. You would drink heavily, wouldn't you.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
If we lost two in a row on the way
back without without question, so some of it would be
now now, you know what, I don't think we had
I don't think we had alcohol in the flights at
some point either though I think that I think we
outlawed that or or decided that it was safe for
not doing it. You know, we had different rules as
(02:15):
time went on. You know, I started when there was prohibition,
so you know we had different rules then too. But
you know, I think that we probably skirted that more
of that more often than we didn't.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
What was the longest flight you were on?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Well, I took the club to Australia from Phoenix in
twenty or fourteen to open up against the Diamondbacks. But
that one as long as that flight is, I think
the flight from Orlando, Florida to Beijing, China was longer.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, could you had to come back this way?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Well? That I mean we went to Seattle because you're
going to go up over the northern part of the
globe and then come all the way back down. You know,
that was that was a very very long flight. And
then we'll come back from that camp we ended up going.
That was our last days in Vero Beach too, by
the way, because when we came back, instead of taking
the team all the way back from Beijing to Verro,
(03:17):
I made the decision, Hey, let's let's find a team
that can host us for a week or so in
Arizona so we can get a little bit more custom
to plane in the Cactus League, which I had done
for for twenty some years before before coming to LA
and you know, be far closer you wanted to, you know,
the transit continental flight back and forth, because once you
(03:38):
get to Vero, you're gon have to come back from Vero.
So we did go from Vero to Seattle, up to
down to the Beijing and then Beijing back to Phoenix.
That was the one of Beijing was probably longer than
the one of Sydney.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
So how do you guys, because I've heard different thoughts
on this that some people say, like, you know, if
there's a like if somebody's going to be fighting, or
if they travel, you know, across the globe or whatever
to go, you know, to a sporting event, the first
thing they'll do to try and not have to deal
with jet lag is they'll go get a workout in.
How did you guys handle it? I'm assuming you were
(04:14):
able to sleep a little bit, but was there a
strategy or a plan once you landed you try and
get accustomed to the time zone as soon as possible.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Well, yeah, absolutely, they've they've probably adjusted it more in
the last in the last few years than the last
time that I had to do that for a baseball team.
But you know, we had sleeve specialists come in and
talk to us about Okay, so how do we do this?
So that we are, we get to the right time,
we get our body clock getting in the right the
(04:44):
right place at the right time, because it's imperative. We
had a couple of days in Sydney before we opened
the season. The Beijing Games we had a couple of
days too, but that was exhibition games, so it wasn't
quite as as you know, important or little to your season.
But we had sleep experts come in, and I think
that it's always They always will tell you about resting
(05:07):
on the plane and being comfortable on the plane and
wearing clothes that you can sleep in, and that your
sleep is going to be valuable. But then when you
get to your destination that you should start. You should
start to stay awake until the normal time you would
go to sleep, even if you're up for twenty four
hours to do it, that you can sleep for seven
(05:28):
or eight hours. If you go to sleep at midnight,
you stay up until midnight in Tokyo, and then you
wake up in seven or eight hours, and that'll help
get you on that schedule. The toughest time I ever had,
I didn't have much trouble going there and getting adjusted
to it. I remember coming back from Sydney and we
(05:48):
had about a week a week before our season started
and before the Freeway Series. But I'd be getting up
at two in the morning every day and usually the
bullpen's collapsing for me to get up at two in
the morning. But you know, it was it was. It
was weird because you know, you couldn't talk yourself into
sleeping for eight hours. You would if you went to
(06:09):
bed at one o'clock, you get up at two or
three o'clock. It was like, it was bizarre. Only time
I really had a difficult time with it. But there's
so many experts now and so much study that's done.
There's teams that travel would sleep people all the time,
so even if you're going west coast to east coast
or east coast to west coast, So it's far more
scientific and far more data I'm sure than when the
(06:30):
less time I did it. But even at that point
in time, we had experts come in and give us,
give us some GPS. How do you get through this,
and how do you how you at your best? What
do you need to play?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, I've always believed this. When you travel, whatever time
it is, that's what time it is for you. Just
like you said, yes, So you got to Tokyo, let's
say at three d afternoon. It's three d afternoon, no matter
what time it is back here. Then you just got
it out until it's time to go to sleep when
you normally would, and then I think you acclimate much faster.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Absolutely absolutely, I mean that's that's how I've always done it.
You know, it's it worked. I can't remember ever being
in a in a difficult spot to day that you
get there like the next morning if you've done that,
whether you're going east to Europe and the lyrics are
going west to Asia and Australia, it's you know, it's
(07:26):
a key thing because you don't want to feel like
you're in the middle of the night if it's two
o'clock in the afternoon, so you got to get on
that time.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Hey, Now, when the team travels, I've wondered this. I
actually talked to Kevin about it this morning, and I'm
just curious the clubhouse guys, all of the equipment, the uniforms,
what is their life like, I mean on a trip
like this because they're taking more, but also just during
the regular season when a team travels, do they work
twenty four hours a.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Day pretty close. I mean they will most most guys
had to do that. They they end up sleeping in
a lot of clubhouses because their work takes them, especially
on a trip like this. By the time they they've
arrived and now they're going to unload all the equipment
and get it set up and in the place that
(08:15):
they're going to play or places they're going to play.
You know, many times, you know, they just they find
a place to take a nap and in the middle
of the night and and you'll see them, you know,
when you get there in the morning. That's that's very common.
Without them, you have no chance. And the Dodgers have
some of the best I've ever been around, And you know,
(08:35):
that's that's part of the gig. But it's yeah, it
you you only look at your clock so that you're
not laid for something. You don't look at it because
you're tired or you've been there too long. You look
at it because you don't want to be late for anything.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Now, as far as this series coming up in Tokyo,
obviously it's a unique setup much like last year was,
where they're going to be there, then they come back
then the you know, the other you know, in the
States regular season you know opens up and all that.
What are you hoping to see from them? Obviously we
want to see them win, But outside of that, what
(09:09):
are you hoping to see from this team in Tokyo
to kind of kick this whole thing off.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Well, it's a different beginning because you start and then
you stop again, and we you know, we did that
a few times. And you know, you're hoping that people
really approach it, and I'm sure they will, as you
know the season starting. This is not an ext edition game,
and you're going to have the I guess i'll call
it opportunity to have massive distraction if you let it happen.
(09:38):
So you can't let the magnitude of the series, which
is huge, and I know people are you know, on
the clubs. I also know people in Major League Baseball.
This particular series may have as much international coverage and
allure to it as anything Major League Baseball's ever done.
(10:00):
And you've got obviously the Dodgers, the World Series champions,
the West Coast team and their roster and who's on it,
So you're gonna have distraction. But this team has also
played through distraction for a long time now. So you
hope that the distractions are to minimum as far as
what you get distracted by. You have to look at that.
(10:20):
You have to look at your health. Of course, you know,
I think you know, we had a couple of players
in Australia by starting early that weren't quite ready but
didn't really admit to it or know it, And so
you know, you do run a little risk of injury
if you are not ready. And the two fourteen Dodger
team did not play as long as for the two
(10:42):
thirteen Dodger team did not play as long as the
twenty twenty fourteen so the off season for this team
was shorter than the off season for the team I
took in twenty fourteen. So you've got to think about that.
But these are all things that people have been thinking
about since the end of last season. How to prepare
everybody and the players too have thought about how do
(11:03):
I prepare for a short winter to begin with, and
then yet a shorter spring than typical because of the
travel and the trip. So you look at you think
about your health, you think about your Christmas crispness of play,
and you think about eliminating distraction. It's going to be
such a big deal, but you can't let that enter
(11:24):
into how you go about the field. And you're playing.
You know, you're playing a National League team that that's
a good team, a better team than they were, So
you have to you have to go at it then
the business like, and then you come back and then
you have to readjust I think there's there's less as
big as this is and as much room for distraction
as there could be. I think the tougher thing is
(11:47):
coming back and then having another week or whatever the
day the daytiming is of games that are just kind
of warm up games again before you start up against Detroit,
and so you've got to stop in the start of
the season. That to me, the restart can be the
bigger problem versus doing what they're doing right now. There's
(12:09):
no doubt they're fired up about this and excited about
this for a million reasons. But when you when you
when you go and you stop and then you got
to come right back, you know, that can be a
little bit different. But you also got World Series rings,
you know, being distributed on the on the second day
of the regular season here, so you got a lot
of excitement to keep your focused.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
I mean, I know why they're doing it. I know
why Major League Baseball is doing this. You're, you know,
you're looking to grow the game globally. It's a great
opportunity all the Japanese players between both clubs. I get
all that, but it just seems less than ideal to
start off your year like it just doesn't seem like
the most you know, pleasant way. It's I'm sure it's
a great experience, it's a great, you know, chance to
(12:50):
get out there and see all that, But to your point,
the having to stop again then ramp back up for
the regular season, it just feels like, I don't know
if there's a better way to do this.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
Maybe this is just the.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Only way, but I can't imagine there's a lot of
people that are thrilled with just sort of the setup
to start out the year. The second straight year in
a row.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Well yeah, I mean that's another fact, is a second
straight year in a row, which is unique. But then again,
you've got a unique franchise in a unique position. It
has it got some you know, some challenges to it,
there's no doubt, but you also think about about the
game and your respect for the sport itself and you say,
(13:30):
you know what they want us to do this, let's
go do it. We'll figure it out. We'll have to
adjust some things, but that's how the game gets to
be a global game. You know, baseball lags behind in
my opinion, the NBA is a global sport, but this
is this is one way that it starts to become
more and more important. I think I think last year
(13:52):
in the postseason, I think, you know, the playoffs of
the World Series, there were seven games on obviously MAT
broadcast in Japan that outdrew the audience in America. So
you know, that's not bad. That's not a bad thing.
And I think that in the audience in America is here,
(14:13):
so you know, that is what people look for. They
look to grow the game, to grow the revenues, to
grow the interests that have more players from more countries
start to participate. I'm in a gm T midday in
the WBC, and you know my goal is and I'll
be long gone by the time this would happen, But
my goal isn't ten fifteen years from now, that team
(14:34):
middaling becomes a destination, that that team USA is or
Team Korea, or the Japanese team or the Venezuelan team,
or a Dominican team or the Mexican team. But without
without doing this this, that has no chance of happening.
But if we love the sport we're involved in, we
want more people to recognize the beauty of it, the
(14:56):
greatness of it, the coolness of it. And you can
only do that if you can. I mean, you can
do it other ways, I guess, but the best way
to do it is to take it to them and
to show them what it looks like, and then you
get more players with this. I'll ask you a question,
does this series, with this series have less less meaning?
If if the Dodgers didn't have sho Hey and the
(15:18):
Amamoto and Sasaki and the Cubs didn't have their Japanese players,
probably have less less meaning to it because they do.
Look how huge it is. I mean, I've seen things
tickets going for two thousand dollars, so you know there
(15:40):
is some allure to it. Is it inconvenient? Well, you
know inconvenient I guess is that you can find that
a bunch of different ways. Is it great for the game.
I don't think there's any doubt it's great for the game.
I think It's phenomenal for the game. And I know
people at MLB International this is this is their super Bowl,
so to speak. This type of thing when you're thinking
about running a company of business that you want to
(16:03):
grow globally, this is how you do it. Tough to
do it just watching it on television or watching it
on the screaming device. It's not like being there.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
So Ned, I think it's safe to save the Dodgers
because of the work they've done, the investments they've made,
and the plans they've laid. I have an embarrassment of riches. Now,
when you were in the chair at any point any club,
did you ever have a team this loaded starting season?
Speaker 3 (16:33):
No, I've been on your show one hundred times. It
may be the easiest question of all time. Absolutely, not
not even close, not even close. It's you know, I
may have said this the last time I was on.
You know, most most fan bases will look at a
(16:54):
team and say, the ownership doesn't care. They don't do this,
they don't do that. You know, we needed this, we
needed that. Didn't go out and get this player. You know,
we hear that in almost every franchise of North America.
You don't hear it about this one because the ownership.
You have a fan base of four million people who
paid to come to the ballpark at home, and another
(17:14):
three and a half four million on the road, and
everybody who watches it and reads about it and cares
about it coast to coast and across the globe. The
ownership is more rampant for victory than any any ownership
I've ever seen, and probably is as rampant, if not
more than a fan base. So you know, you've got
that equation and they go for it, you know, I mean,
(17:36):
I think that there are probably some people in the
organization that were surprised that they kept adding to it.
Adding to the bullpen. Gi Sasaki was a huge move.
That's another generation a great starting pitching, as is Yamamoto.
You know, they they don't draft in a high end
of draft because theyre always winning one hundred games. What
they've got is like they got two number one one
(17:58):
sitting right there.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
They've got a half dozen, like potentially a half dozen
Hall of famers on the same roster.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
Oh yeah, it's unheard of.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
It's crazy.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Yeah, you know, and I wasn't you know, I'm older
at the stage you know, I didn't see the Yankees
from like forty nine to fifty four, those those clubs,
but it's almost as I think back to it, or
the Yankees from the nineteen twenties and thirties, which I
really wasn't around for, but those were the types of
teams that had three or four or five guys. Maybe
the Cincinnati Reds with the Big Red Machine had four
(18:34):
or five guys that were Hall of famers and you can,
you know, count Pete bros Or you can't count them,
but the performance was Hall of Fame quality. So but
it's rare that you see this, and it's it should
never be taken for granted. It's uncommon, and it's really
the dedication of so many people, starting with the ownership
(18:54):
and dancasting and Magic and the front office with Andrew
and his crew. You know, it's it's as fine tuned
as you can get. That said, you still got to
play the season, you still got to stay healthy, and
you've still got to be the only you know, the
best team also carries that expectation with them, and that's
one of the best things I think about the organization
(19:16):
is they've done pretty good. Not always, but you know,
for the most part, really good with the expectation of
there's only one thing that's going to make our season successful.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
All right, net thanks for coming on, really appreciate it.
Glad you don't have to be on those long flights
and drink anymore, because I know that was concerning.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Yeah, well, you know, if I'm going to Italy is
a little bit different story. But maybe one day we'll
have baseball in Italy like this.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Huh?
Speaker 3 (19:44):
All right, Ned, has we go for a month as
a scouting tour. I'll see you guys later.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
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(20:11):
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dot com. Okay, Lakers back at it tonight, no Lebron.
So let's set the scene. I'm gonna throw it back Thursday.
Jotas Knox is sitting in for Rodney. Hey, don't forget.
(20:34):
Make sure you have the iHeartRadio app. You can stream
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up the minute we get off the air. So the
(20:57):
Lakers back at it tonight. They're in Milwaukee. Let the
game begin. The Nightmare road trip. It's going to get tight,
it's gonna get dicey. They're not going to have Lebron.
So two things come to mind. A, you know, is
Luca going to really step up tonight? Is this team
now going to start forming around Luca? And B you know,
(21:19):
let's say they really just bite it on the road trip.
Does it matter?
Speaker 1 (21:25):
I mean matter for people in the media or matter
for the Lakers in general, because if they bite it
on the road trip. For the Lakers in general, it's like, well,
the whole you're just hoping Lebron gets back healthy. You're
hoping that, you know, you have a decent draw. But
I think what we've seen in that sample size on
the run that they went on, they're gonna be fine,
(21:45):
assuming this is not going to linger on and turn
into what it did a couple of years ago when
he had the groin issue. But you know, there are
people in the media that really need this team to
be good and to win games, and to do it
with or without, so they're hoping for the best. But
to me, big picture, it's about the postseason and it's
(22:06):
about getting Lebron back. So it's Gron doesn't fall off.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Yeah, I would agree. Yeah to me, that's all it
matters anyway. Now, how many times have I said it
with Anthony Davis they weren't going anywhere. Now at least
they have a shot. Geez, well they weren't. They weren't
going anywhere. They were what they were.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
Can't you just let the guy just be.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Like, I'm not blaming Anthony oh no, no, no, no,
don't mistake I'm not blaming Anthony Davis. Again. It's not
the players. It's the construction of the team always, and
in that configuration, they weren't going to win. They were
not going to win the title. They just weren't. And
now with Luca, you think, well, at least they've got
a shot here to make a run. But I think
(22:47):
a problem is. I actually watched Okacy in Denver over
the weekend. I watched the whole game, and after watching that,
Lebron and Luca together, I don't think they beat Okaycy
in the seven game series. I don't know. They're too
fast or too athletic. I think now in one game, yeah,
they could beat them. Seven game series, I just don't
see it. Jonas, So in a seven game series, you know,
(23:11):
how deep can the Lakers make a run here in
the playoffs?
Speaker 1 (23:14):
I mean it would be kind of hilarious. Well, I
mean in a seven game series. I mean they are
a Western Conference Finals team. I could see that like
there'd be but I yeah, I'm with you, especially if
you watch what okay Se did to Boston last night,
like it looks like you know, and I don't want to,
you know, bring up you know, old stuff. But man,
(23:36):
Sga is pretty good Fred, you know, he's a pretty
good player. Like he feels like, you know, he's a
runaway favorite to win MVP. And I just I feel
like I've heard that name somewhere before locally here, almost
like like he was a member of like one of
the teams here and they got traded traded away.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
So I don't know, see, I think it's unfair or
Clipper fans obviously, I think it's on for them to go, Man,
we should have never traded him. I think that's unfair. First,
remember when they selected him, who found him? Jerry West?
Jerry West found Shay Gilgess. Alexander said that's our guy,
(24:14):
and people are who is that guy? He knew who
that guy was because Jerry had a really good eye.
But when the Lakers made I mean when the Clippers
made that move, Look, I give Steve Balmer and the
franchise a lot of credit because they went for it.
They went for it, and you've got to give somebody
credit for that. Did it work? No, Remember they were
gonna the big free agent was Kawhi, and Kawhi said,
(24:38):
you don't have enough for me to sign with you.
It's going to take more. I'm not talking about money
or years. I mean a roster. And here are some
of the guys. If you got one of them that
I would come and play with, and they got one
of them, Paul George. Now it cost him, cost him
an awful lot. But remember the excitement that generated and
(25:00):
when you really looked at it on paper, that was
going to be a pretty damn good team.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
COVID happened, Mike that.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
I mean, that's a really we can sit there and say, well,
you know, the like the way that it was panning out,
the way that it was playing out that year is
the Clippers had beaten the Lakers, if my memory serves
me correctly, a couple of times. And then the weekend
before COVID shut down the country, the Lakers beat him
in a really really good game, and the talk was, man,
(25:31):
that would be a really fun matchup in the playoffs
or like the Western Conference finals. Like and there's also
not a team in the NBA at that time that
wouldn't have also done that deal. Like, there's not a
team that Kawhi Leonard had just won an NBA finals
Paul George was still thought to be, you know, somebody,
if you could get him, he's one of the top
players in the league, any team, and especially the way
(25:54):
the NBA was thought of back then, which was you've
got to build your big two or your big three.
You've got to if it means trading way assets like Lebron,
you know, was part of trading away a lot of
good young players to try and acquire bigger, more well
known names. So yeah, it's it did not. History is
going to look back on it, and we're going to say, man,
upon further review, sure does feel like Oklahoma City got
(26:18):
the better of that deal. But I don't know that
there's anybody in the NBA.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
That wouldn't have also done that deal.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
He had to do it, yeah, I mean, you had
no choice, and you know, you can't rewrite what happened,
but who knows what would have happen if both of
them wouldn't have kept getting hurt.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
Yeah, and that's what got him.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
I mean, you knew Kawhi had injury problems, and you
knew Paul George could get dinged up, and I mean
this it just didn't work. And it was really unfortunate
because you had to give the Clippers credit. Steve Baumer
wants to win more than anybody. He really wants to win,
and he has built an incredible organization. But they can't win.
(27:00):
What they should have done I've said it a million times.
I'll say it again. When they moved into the Intuit,
don't they should have changed their name, New Arena, new Start.
We're still in LA. But whatever they are, they are
now and not the Clippers. I think they should change
their name. I really do. Okay, I don't sound stupid,
(27:20):
but I think they should have All.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Right, it's great to throw out what the problems are.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
Do you have any solutions as milion trees names? Okay?
So the Los Angeles palm trees?
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Right, Los Angeles Palm Trees?
Speaker 4 (27:30):
Okay, I mean we've already.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Had the La Surf. I don't think that name is
being used anymore. I don't know if it's still in force.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
We could use the what about the traffic people have
suggested that?
Speaker 4 (27:43):
Oh? I know one? What about the bombs.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Bums? Or how about the LA people living under the
one oh one on More Park and Studio City?
Speaker 4 (27:55):
Okay? Well, I mean I don't think we have to
point out that group.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Well that's what you basically say.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Well, no, I mean, why didn't have to get all
the attention?
Speaker 1 (28:02):
You need to tell me there's not somebody, you know,
somewhere else who's got something going on.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
I mean, Jonas might have something here. So remember the
Dodgers when they were in Brooklyn. Their nickname was the Bums. Yeah,
and their mascot was basically this homeless clown. The Clippers
could just adopt that.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
Hey, you know, Kevin, they were they were really ahead
of their time.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
I'm just saying, hey, you know, homelessness. If I'm lying,
let me know, I swear there's like it's like it's
a homeless, like disheveled looking clown. I don't know if
he was the official mascot, but he was a guy
that was associated with the team a lot.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Or he just showed up because he had nowhere else
to go.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
Maybe, right, you guys, you guys mind, Oh man, what.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
It's like the guy that played for usc Remember that.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
Guy, oh yeah, walked in the facility.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Yeah, the homeless guy that just showed up. You know what,
you should have never put on that eighties jersey. Everybody
knew that guy was an eighties number, and he shouldn't
run out there to catch punts. That's what got him.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah what what would have been a number for him
that would have been less more discreet, would you say, Fred, Like,
what would be Uh.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
I'd have gone maybe thirties, just kind of get lost
in there.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Yeah, something in the seventies. Maybe you know, it kind
of be uh you know, but you put your back
there fielding punts to your points. You gotta have something
that you know, kind of blends in a little bit.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Yeah, you can't do that. But I mean he had
it figured out. He lived at the coliseum, he ated
the training table with the football team. I mean, he
was in there in the cold bath. He's getting stretched out.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
I mean, do you think what do you think when
he got back, there were a few were like, hey,
what was it like? Oh yeah, it's like the part
on Bull Durham where they're asking and Kevin Coftner, Hey,
what's it like to hit in the major leagues?
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Oh yeah, absolutely, he's.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
Oh yeah, we warm up and it's you know, actual
baseballs and not like the practice balls getting the miners
and the like, Oh man, they're sitting on the.
Speaker 4 (30:02):
Back of the bus. The guy's got stories to tell forever.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Yeah, well, I'm sure that guy does.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
I'd love to get You'd like to have him on
the air well first of camp.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
I don't know if he has a phone yet. I
mean he's living at the college. Team and if Kevin
just set a picture, yeah it was a clown.
Speaker 5 (30:20):
I was sending you another one. There's a picture of
branch Rickey with this clown guy.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Like, but he doesn't looked like a bum.
Speaker 5 (30:27):
Well, I mean he does it. Look at his clothser
all this show. I'm gonna send it to you right now.
There's another one. The picture of branch Rickey holding a
baseball and this guy is holding it looks like a bag.
Yet the homeless clown.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
So what's the point of the team name? Was he
dodging a job?
Speaker 5 (30:40):
There are a trolley dodgers. So you had the trolley
system back then in Brooklyn, and so they were they
were called the trolley dodgers. And you know, homeless people
would sleep where they could and if a trolley's in
the way, like, oh gotta jump off that one.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Come to the next one, right, he looks like he
was a hobo. That's what he wants. Yeah, yeah, is
one of the most phallic symbols I've ever seen. It's
about four feet long. And what is branch Ricky doing there?
Speaker 5 (31:09):
I thought it was a baseball. I don't know what
he's holding. I don't know what that is. It might
be an apple or something.
Speaker 4 (31:13):
If there was another, if there was another one, it
is an apple.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
It's an apple ken. There you go. So here's branch Rickey,
who owned the Dodgers, taunking a hobo with food the gym.
Speaker 4 (31:24):
Maybe it's for the gm GE. Maybe it's a to
symbolize the big apple.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
There you go.
Speaker 4 (31:30):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
What was that?
Speaker 5 (31:32):
What's the bag? Yet have to do with anything?
Speaker 4 (31:34):
Yeah? For me, I should be asking you, Kevin.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Okay, questions that we will ponder for the rest of
the day.
Speaker 4 (31:44):
Coverage of the Bucks and the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
And the Erics three Charity Flag Football Tournament is your
chance to watch tot of your favorite football stars and action.
Top NFL quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers, Carson Palmer, Sam Darnold,
celebrities like Randall and Cooper to Jean gathered this Saturday,
March fifteenth, settle Back Stadium and Mission Via Hope. They'll
compete for a good cause. Get your tickets today at
our X three foundation dot com. At a programming note,
(32:13):
we will not be here tomorrow. We won't be on
the air. No, we haven't been fired. We'll have UCLA
in the Big Ten Tournament and then that'll be followed
up by Clippers basketball in Atlanta, and I think Jonas
and Petros will hang out for about an hour and
kill time between the two.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
That say, you know what, I'm not gonna let you try,
and you know, disrespect the great show that we've got
on deck coming up tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
Patrick, do you have tomorrow?
Speaker 2 (32:39):
What do you have?
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Was it surprise?
Speaker 2 (32:42):
You know? I know you're always working days ahead. That's
just how you operate. So what can we look forward
to tomorrow on the show?
Speaker 1 (32:47):
I mean, we can look forward to hopefully a positive
outcome when it when it turns out to UCLA. Even
though Mick Cronin just basically said, yeah, you know, this
tournament doesn't really mean anything. It's all about the NCAA tournament.
We're hoping for good things for UCLA. Going to talk
more about these outrageous prices to go to the Dodgers
(33:07):
game in Tokyo.
Speaker 4 (33:09):
Game one.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
I did see yesterday I was looking at it. Just
under nineteen hundred dollars for a nosebleazed ticket to go
to Dodgers Cubs there in Tokyo.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Yeah, I was reading that just to get in basically
standing room.
Speaker 4 (33:22):
That's wild.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
You know why they're charging that much? Why is that
because they can get it?
Speaker 4 (33:28):
Oh yeah, it'll be a sellout people. Yeah, of course
people will pay.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Oh yeah, it's going to be quite the event. Ronnie,
thank you, Thank you so very much. Keven, good job today,
and Jonas, thanks for.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Hanging Hey, Fred, thanks for having me. You have a wonderful,
splendid weekend you too,
E W.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
We continue on Jonas Knox in today for Rodney on
a five to seventy LA Sports. The Dodgers are situated
in Japan, getting ready for their games next week against
the Cubs, some exhibition games before that, and now let's
bring on the man Jonas who sits in the big chair,
our good friend Ned Coletti and Ned, Happy Thursday to.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
You, Happy Thursday to you, and Baseball's almost here. Can't wait,
all right?
Speaker 4 (00:26):
Ned?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So I want to start with something that I think
is foremost on the minds of most people, and long flights.
What do you do on the flight? Ned? What would
you watch? What would you download? How would you kill
the time?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I probably watched The Godfather seven or eight times times three,
although you don't really need to watch the third one,
you know, Yeah, No, you know what, I would probably
try and take my mind off of everything that's been
on my mind for the last six weeks twenty four
to seven. You know, you're you're getting ready, and I
(01:04):
think you need to take a breath once in a while,
and on a flight like that, you're not going to
be on the phone, You're not going to be interrupted.
So whatever you need to do that you don't want
to be interrupted doing it's a good time to do it. Plus,
you know, watch a movie or on take a nap
visit with some people because sometimes you know, that is
also an opportunity to have some conversations that in a
(01:27):
hustle and bustle of spring training, you don't have to
call somebody into your office or things like that. You
can just kind of run into them on a flight
like that. So but it's an opportunity to get away
from the phone, if nothing else, it gives you that chance.
Although it is it is a little bit longer than
flying a couple hours.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Hey, not in a flight like that. I mean, just
be honest. You would drink heavily, wouldn't you.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
If we lost two in a row on the way
back without without question, so some of it would be
now now, you know what, I don't think we had
I don't think we had alcohol in the flights at
some point either though I think that I think we
outlawed that or or decided that it was safe for
not doing it. You know, we had different rules as
(02:15):
time went on. You know, I started when there was prohibition,
so you know we had different rules then too. But
you know, I think that we probably skirted that more
of that more often than we didn't.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
What was the longest flight you were on?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Well, I took the club to Australia from Phoenix in
twenty or fourteen to open up against the Diamondbacks. But
that one as long as that flight is, I think
the flight from Orlando, Florida to Beijing, China was longer.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, could you had to come back this way?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Well? That I mean we went to Seattle because you're
going to go up over the northern part of the
globe and then come all the way back down. You know,
that was that was a very very long flight. And
then we'll come back from that camp we ended up going.
That was our last days in Vero Beach too, by
the way, because when we came back, instead of taking
the team all the way back from Beijing to Verro,
(03:17):
I made the decision, Hey, let's let's find a team
that can host us for a week or so in
Arizona so we can get a little bit more custom
to plane in the Cactus League, which I had done
for for twenty some years before before coming to LA
and you know, be far closer you wanted to, you know,
the transit continental flight back and forth, because once you
(03:38):
get to Vero, you're gon have to come back from Vero.
So we did go from Vero to Seattle, up to
down to the Beijing and then Beijing back to Phoenix.
That was the one of Beijing was probably longer than
the one of Sydney.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
So how do you guys, because I've heard different thoughts
on this that some people say, like, you know, if
there's a like if somebody's going to be fighting, or
if they travel, you know, across the globe or whatever
to go, you know, to a sporting event, the first
thing they'll do to try and not have to deal
with jet lag is they'll go get a workout in.
How did you guys handle it? I'm assuming you were
(04:14):
able to sleep a little bit, but was there a
strategy or a plan once you landed you try and
get accustomed to the time zone as soon as possible.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Well, yeah, absolutely, they've they've probably adjusted it more in
the last in the last few years than the last
time that I had to do that for a baseball team.
But you know, we had sleeve specialists come in and
talk to us about Okay, so how do we do this?
So that we are, we get to the right time,
we get our body clock getting in the right the
(04:44):
right place at the right time, because it's imperative. We
had a couple of days in Sydney before we opened
the season. The Beijing Games we had a couple of
days too, but that was exhibition games, so it wasn't
quite as as you know, important or little to your season.
But we had sleep experts come in, and I think
that it's always They always will tell you about resting
(05:07):
on the plane and being comfortable on the plane and
wearing clothes that you can sleep in, and that your
sleep is going to be valuable. But then when you
get to your destination that you should start. You should
start to stay awake until the normal time you would
go to sleep, even if you're up for twenty four
hours to do it, that you can sleep for seven
(05:28):
or eight hours. If you go to sleep at midnight,
you stay up until midnight in Tokyo, and then you
wake up in seven or eight hours, and that'll help
get you on that schedule. The toughest time I ever had,
I didn't have much trouble going there and getting adjusted
to it. I remember coming back from Sydney and we
(05:48):
had about a week a week before our season started
and before the Freeway Series. But I'd be getting up
at two in the morning every day and usually the
bullpen's collapsing for me to get up at two in
the morning. But you know, it was it was. It
was weird because you know, you couldn't talk yourself into
sleeping for eight hours. You would if you went to
(06:09):
bed at one o'clock, you get up at two or
three o'clock. It was like, it was bizarre. Only time
I really had a difficult time with it. But there's
so many experts now and so much study that's done.
There's teams that travel would sleep people all the time,
so even if you're going west coast to east coast
or east coast to west coast, So it's far more
scientific and far more data I'm sure than when the
(06:30):
less time I did it. But even at that point
in time, we had experts come in and give us,
give us some GPS. How do you get through this,
and how do you how you at your best? What
do you need to play?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, I've always believed this. When you travel, whatever time
it is, that's what time it is for you. Just
like you said, yes, So you got to Tokyo, let's
say at three d afternoon. It's three d afternoon, no matter
what time it is back here. Then you just got
it out until it's time to go to sleep when
you normally would, and then I think you acclimate much faster.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Absolutely absolutely, I mean that's that's how I've always done it.
You know, it's it worked. I can't remember ever being
in a in a difficult spot to day that you
get there like the next morning if you've done that,
whether you're going east to Europe and the lyrics are
going west to Asia and Australia, it's you know, it's
(07:26):
a key thing because you don't want to feel like
you're in the middle of the night if it's two
o'clock in the afternoon, so you got to get on
that time.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Hey, Now, when the team travels, I've wondered this. I
actually talked to Kevin about it this morning, and I'm
just curious the clubhouse guys, all of the equipment, the uniforms,
what is their life like, I mean on a trip
like this because they're taking more, but also just during
the regular season when a team travels, do they work
twenty four hours a.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Day pretty close. I mean they will most most guys
had to do that. They they end up sleeping in
a lot of clubhouses because their work takes them, especially
on a trip like this. By the time they they've
arrived and now they're going to unload all the equipment
and get it set up and in the place that
(08:15):
they're going to play or places they're going to play.
You know, many times, you know, they just they find
a place to take a nap and in the middle
of the night and and you'll see them, you know,
when you get there in the morning. That's that's very common.
Without them, you have no chance. And the Dodgers have
some of the best I've ever been around, And you know,
(08:35):
that's that's part of the gig. But it's yeah, it
you you only look at your clock so that you're
not laid for something. You don't look at it because
you're tired or you've been there too long. You look
at it because you don't want to be late for anything.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Now, as far as this series coming up in Tokyo,
obviously it's a unique setup much like last year was,
where they're going to be there, then they come back
then the you know, the other you know, in the
States regular season you know opens up and all that.
What are you hoping to see from them? Obviously we
want to see them win, But outside of that, what
(09:09):
are you hoping to see from this team in Tokyo
to kind of kick this whole thing off.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Well, it's a different beginning because you start and then
you stop again, and we you know, we did that
a few times. And you know, you're hoping that people
really approach it, and I'm sure they will, as you
know the season starting. This is not an ext edition game,
and you're going to have the I guess i'll call
it opportunity to have massive distraction if you let it happen.
(09:38):
So you can't let the magnitude of the series, which
is huge, and I know people are you know, on
the clubs. I also know people in Major League Baseball.
This particular series may have as much international coverage and
allure to it as anything Major League Baseball's ever done.
(10:00):
And you've got obviously the Dodgers, the World Series champions,
the West Coast team and their roster and who's on it,
So you're gonna have distraction. But this team has also
played through distraction for a long time now. So you
hope that the distractions are to minimum as far as
what you get distracted by. You have to look at that.
(10:20):
You have to look at your health. Of course, you know,
I think you know, we had a couple of players
in Australia by starting early that weren't quite ready but
didn't really admit to it or know it, And so
you know, you do run a little risk of injury
if you are not ready. And the two fourteen Dodger
team did not play as long as for the two
(10:42):
thirteen Dodger team did not play as long as the
twenty twenty fourteen so the off season for this team
was shorter than the off season for the team I
took in twenty fourteen. So you've got to think about that.
But these are all things that people have been thinking
about since the end of last season. How to prepare
everybody and the players too have thought about how do
(11:03):
I prepare for a short winter to begin with, and
then yet a shorter spring than typical because of the
travel and the trip. So you look at you think
about your health, you think about your Christmas crispness of play,
and you think about eliminating distraction. It's going to be
such a big deal, but you can't let that enter
(11:24):
into how you go about the field. And you're playing.
You know, you're playing a National League team that that's
a good team, a better team than they were, So
you have to you have to go at it then
the business like, and then you come back and then
you have to readjust I think there's there's less as
big as this is and as much room for distraction
as there could be. I think the tougher thing is
(11:47):
coming back and then having another week or whatever the
day the daytiming is of games that are just kind
of warm up games again before you start up against Detroit,
and so you've got to stop in the start of
the season. That to me, the restart can be the
bigger problem versus doing what they're doing right now. There's
(12:09):
no doubt they're fired up about this and excited about
this for a million reasons. But when you when you
when you go and you stop and then you got
to come right back, you know, that can be a
little bit different. But you also got World Series rings,
you know, being distributed on the on the second day
of the regular season here, so you got a lot
of excitement to keep your focused.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
I mean, I know why they're doing it. I know
why Major League Baseball is doing this. You're, you know,
you're looking to grow the game globally. It's a great
opportunity all the Japanese players between both clubs. I get
all that, but it just seems less than ideal to
start off your year like it just doesn't seem like
the most you know, pleasant way. It's I'm sure it's
a great experience, it's a great, you know, chance to
(12:50):
get out there and see all that, But to your point,
the having to stop again then ramp back up for
the regular season, it just feels like, I don't know
if there's a better way to do this.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
Maybe this is just the.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Only way, but I can't imagine there's a lot of
people that are thrilled with just sort of the setup
to start out the year. The second straight year in
a row.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Well yeah, I mean that's another fact, is a second
straight year in a row, which is unique. But then again,
you've got a unique franchise in a unique position. It
has it got some you know, some challenges to it,
there's no doubt, but you also think about about the
game and your respect for the sport itself and you say,
(13:30):
you know what they want us to do this, let's
go do it. We'll figure it out. We'll have to
adjust some things, but that's how the game gets to
be a global game. You know, baseball lags behind in
my opinion, the NBA is a global sport, but this
is this is one way that it starts to become
more and more important. I think I think last year
(13:52):
in the postseason, I think, you know, the playoffs of
the World Series, there were seven games on obviously MAT
broadcast in Japan that outdrew the audience in America. So
you know, that's not bad. That's not a bad thing.
And I think that in the audience in America is here,
(14:13):
so you know, that is what people look for. They
look to grow the game, to grow the revenues, to
grow the interests that have more players from more countries
start to participate. I'm in a gm T midday in
the WBC, and you know my goal is and I'll
be long gone by the time this would happen, But
my goal isn't ten fifteen years from now, that team
(14:34):
middaling becomes a destination, that that team USA is or
Team Korea, or the Japanese team or the Venezuelan team,
or a Dominican team or the Mexican team. But without
without doing this this, that has no chance of happening.
But if we love the sport we're involved in, we
want more people to recognize the beauty of it, the
(14:56):
greatness of it, the coolness of it. And you can
only do that if you can. I mean, you can
do it other ways, I guess, but the best way
to do it is to take it to them and
to show them what it looks like, and then you
get more players with this. I'll ask you a question,
does this series, with this series have less less meaning?
If if the Dodgers didn't have sho Hey and the
(15:18):
Amamoto and Sasaki and the Cubs didn't have their Japanese players,
probably have less less meaning to it because they do.
Look how huge it is. I mean, I've seen things
tickets going for two thousand dollars, so you know there
(15:40):
is some allure to it. Is it inconvenient? Well, you
know inconvenient I guess is that you can find that
a bunch of different ways. Is it great for the game.
I don't think there's any doubt it's great for the game.
I think It's phenomenal for the game. And I know
people at MLB International this is this is their super Bowl,
so to speak. This type of thing when you're thinking
about running a company of business that you want to
(16:03):
grow globally, this is how you do it. Tough to
do it just watching it on television or watching it
on the screaming device. It's not like being there.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
So Ned, I think it's safe to save the Dodgers
because of the work they've done, the investments they've made,
and the plans they've laid. I have an embarrassment of riches. Now,
when you were in the chair at any point any club,
did you ever have a team this loaded starting season?
Speaker 3 (16:33):
No, I've been on your show one hundred times. It
may be the easiest question of all time. Absolutely, not
not even close, not even close. It's you know, I
may have said this the last time I was on.
You know, most most fan bases will look at a
(16:54):
team and say, the ownership doesn't care. They don't do this,
they don't do that. You know, we needed this, we
needed that. Didn't go out and get this player. You know,
we hear that in almost every franchise of North America.
You don't hear it about this one because the ownership.
You have a fan base of four million people who
paid to come to the ballpark at home, and another
(17:14):
three and a half four million on the road, and
everybody who watches it and reads about it and cares
about it coast to coast and across the globe. The
ownership is more rampant for victory than any any ownership
I've ever seen, and probably is as rampant, if not
more than a fan base. So you know, you've got
that equation and they go for it, you know, I mean,
(17:36):
I think that there are probably some people in the
organization that were surprised that they kept adding to it.
Adding to the bullpen. Gi Sasaki was a huge move.
That's another generation a great starting pitching, as is Yamamoto.
You know, they they don't draft in a high end
of draft because theyre always winning one hundred games. What
they've got is like they got two number one one
(17:58):
sitting right there.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
They've got a half dozen, like potentially a half dozen
Hall of famers on the same roster.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
Oh yeah, it's unheard of.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
It's crazy.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Yeah, you know, and I wasn't you know, I'm older
at the stage you know, I didn't see the Yankees
from like forty nine to fifty four, those those clubs,
but it's almost as I think back to it, or
the Yankees from the nineteen twenties and thirties, which I
really wasn't around for, but those were the types of
teams that had three or four or five guys. Maybe
the Cincinnati Reds with the Big Red Machine had four
(18:34):
or five guys that were Hall of famers and you can,
you know, count Pete bros Or you can't count them,
but the performance was Hall of Fame quality. So but
it's rare that you see this, and it's it should
never be taken for granted. It's uncommon, and it's really
the dedication of so many people, starting with the ownership
(18:54):
and dancasting and Magic and the front office with Andrew
and his crew. You know, it's it's as fine tuned
as you can get. That said, you still got to
play the season, you still got to stay healthy, and
you've still got to be the only you know, the
best team also carries that expectation with them, and that's
one of the best things I think about the organization
(19:16):
is they've done pretty good. Not always, but you know,
for the most part, really good with the expectation of
there's only one thing that's going to make our season successful.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
All right, net thanks for coming on, really appreciate it.
Glad you don't have to be on those long flights
and drink anymore, because I know that was concerning.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Yeah, well, you know, if I'm going to Italy is
a little bit different story. But maybe one day we'll
have baseball in Italy like this.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Huh?
Speaker 3 (19:44):
All right, Ned, has we go for a month as
a scouting tour. I'll see you guys later.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Fernando, Michael and Arsalon. CONGRATU want a pair of tickets
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(20:11):
new dates added due to popular demand, only at the
Cinevida next to Sofi Stadium. It ends April sixth. Get
your tickets now, go to Cinevida dot com. That's Cineveda
dot com. Okay, Lakers back at it tonight, no Lebron.
So let's set the scene. I'm gonna throw it back Thursday.
Jotas Knox is sitting in for Rodney. Hey, don't forget.
(20:34):
Make sure you have the iHeartRadio app. You can stream
the show twenty four hours a day. Well we're not
on twenty four hours a day, but you can certainly
stream the radio station twenty four hours a day. You
can take the show wherever you go and listen live.
More and more people listen on the app every day.
And if you have the app, you miss any of
the show you want to go back and listen to it,
then check out the podcast because Kevin will put it
up the minute we get off the air. So the
(20:57):
Lakers back at it tonight. They're in Milwaukee. Let the
game begin. The Nightmare road trip. It's going to get tight,
it's gonna get dicey. They're not going to have Lebron.
So two things come to mind. A, you know, is
Luca going to really step up tonight? Is this team
now going to start forming around Luca? And B you know,
(21:19):
let's say they really just bite it on the road trip.
Does it matter?
Speaker 1 (21:25):
I mean matter for people in the media or matter
for the Lakers in general, because if they bite it
on the road trip. For the Lakers in general, it's like, well,
the whole you're just hoping Lebron gets back healthy. You're
hoping that, you know, you have a decent draw. But
I think what we've seen in that sample size on
the run that they went on, they're gonna be fine,
(21:45):
assuming this is not going to linger on and turn
into what it did a couple of years ago when
he had the groin issue. But you know, there are
people in the media that really need this team to
be good and to win games, and to do it
with or without, so they're hoping for the best. But
to me, big picture, it's about the postseason and it's
(22:06):
about getting Lebron back. So it's Gron doesn't fall off.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Yeah, I would agree. Yeah to me, that's all it
matters anyway. Now, how many times have I said it
with Anthony Davis they weren't going anywhere. Now at least
they have a shot. Geez, well they weren't. They weren't
going anywhere. They were what they were.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
Can't you just let the guy just be.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Like, I'm not blaming Anthony oh no, no, no, no,
don't mistake I'm not blaming Anthony Davis. Again. It's not
the players. It's the construction of the team always, and
in that configuration, they weren't going to win. They were
not going to win the title. They just weren't. And
now with Luca, you think, well, at least they've got
a shot here to make a run. But I think
(22:47):
a problem is. I actually watched Okacy in Denver over
the weekend. I watched the whole game, and after watching that,
Lebron and Luca together, I don't think they beat Okaycy
in the seven game series. I don't know. They're too
fast or too athletic. I think now in one game, yeah,
they could beat them. Seven game series, I just don't
see it. Jonas, So in a seven game series, you know,
(23:11):
how deep can the Lakers make a run here in
the playoffs?
Speaker 1 (23:14):
I mean it would be kind of hilarious. Well, I
mean in a seven game series. I mean they are
a Western Conference Finals team. I could see that like
there'd be but I yeah, I'm with you, especially if
you watch what okay Se did to Boston last night,
like it looks like you know, and I don't want to,
you know, bring up you know, old stuff. But man,
(23:36):
Sga is pretty good Fred, you know, he's a pretty
good player. Like he feels like, you know, he's a
runaway favorite to win MVP. And I just I feel
like I've heard that name somewhere before locally here, almost
like like he was a member of like one of
the teams here and they got traded traded away.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
So I don't know, see, I think it's unfair or
Clipper fans obviously, I think it's on for them to go, Man,
we should have never traded him. I think that's unfair. First,
remember when they selected him, who found him? Jerry West?
Jerry West found Shay Gilgess. Alexander said that's our guy,
(24:14):
and people are who is that guy? He knew who
that guy was because Jerry had a really good eye.
But when the Lakers made I mean when the Clippers
made that move, Look, I give Steve Balmer and the
franchise a lot of credit because they went for it.
They went for it, and you've got to give somebody
credit for that. Did it work? No, Remember they were
gonna the big free agent was Kawhi, and Kawhi said,
(24:38):
you don't have enough for me to sign with you.
It's going to take more. I'm not talking about money
or years. I mean a roster. And here are some
of the guys. If you got one of them that
I would come and play with, and they got one
of them, Paul George. Now it cost him, cost him
an awful lot. But remember the excitement that generated and
(25:00):
when you really looked at it on paper, that was
going to be a pretty damn good team.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
COVID happened, Mike that.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
I mean, that's a really we can sit there and say, well,
you know, the like the way that it was panning out,
the way that it was playing out that year is
the Clippers had beaten the Lakers, if my memory serves
me correctly, a couple of times. And then the weekend
before COVID shut down the country, the Lakers beat him
in a really really good game, and the talk was, man,
(25:31):
that would be a really fun matchup in the playoffs
or like the Western Conference finals. Like and there's also
not a team in the NBA at that time that
wouldn't have also done that deal. Like, there's not a
team that Kawhi Leonard had just won an NBA finals
Paul George was still thought to be, you know, somebody,
if you could get him, he's one of the top
players in the league, any team, and especially the way
(25:54):
the NBA was thought of back then, which was you've
got to build your big two or your big three.
You've got to if it means trading way assets like Lebron,
you know, was part of trading away a lot of
good young players to try and acquire bigger, more well
known names. So yeah, it's it did not. History is
going to look back on it, and we're going to say, man,
upon further review, sure does feel like Oklahoma City got
(26:18):
the better of that deal. But I don't know that
there's anybody in the NBA.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
That wouldn't have also done that deal.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
He had to do it, yeah, I mean, you had
no choice, and you know, you can't rewrite what happened,
but who knows what would have happen if both of
them wouldn't have kept getting hurt.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
Yeah, and that's what got him.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
I mean, you knew Kawhi had injury problems, and you
knew Paul George could get dinged up, and I mean
this it just didn't work. And it was really unfortunate
because you had to give the Clippers credit. Steve Baumer
wants to win more than anybody. He really wants to win,
and he has built an incredible organization. But they can't win.
(27:00):
What they should have done I've said it a million times.
I'll say it again. When they moved into the Intuit,
don't they should have changed their name, New Arena, new Start.
We're still in LA. But whatever they are, they are
now and not the Clippers. I think they should change
their name. I really do. Okay, I don't sound stupid,
(27:20):
but I think they should have All.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Right, it's great to throw out what the problems are.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
Do you have any solutions as milion trees names? Okay?
So the Los Angeles palm trees?
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Right, Los Angeles Palm Trees?
Speaker 4 (27:30):
Okay, I mean we've already.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Had the La Surf. I don't think that name is
being used anymore. I don't know if it's still in force.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
We could use the what about the traffic people have
suggested that?
Speaker 4 (27:43):
Oh? I know one? What about the bombs.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Bums? Or how about the LA people living under the
one oh one on More Park and Studio City?
Speaker 4 (27:55):
Okay? Well, I mean I don't think we have to
point out that group.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Well that's what you basically say.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Well, no, I mean, why didn't have to get all
the attention?
Speaker 1 (28:02):
You need to tell me there's not somebody, you know,
somewhere else who's got something going on.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
I mean, Jonas might have something here. So remember the
Dodgers when they were in Brooklyn. Their nickname was the Bums. Yeah,
and their mascot was basically this homeless clown. The Clippers
could just adopt that.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
Hey, you know, Kevin, they were they were really ahead
of their time.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
I'm just saying, hey, you know, homelessness. If I'm lying,
let me know, I swear there's like it's like it's
a homeless, like disheveled looking clown. I don't know if
he was the official mascot, but he was a guy
that was associated with the team a lot.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Or he just showed up because he had nowhere else
to go.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
Maybe, right, you guys, you guys mind, Oh man, what.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
It's like the guy that played for usc Remember that.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
Guy, oh yeah, walked in the facility.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Yeah, the homeless guy that just showed up. You know what,
you should have never put on that eighties jersey. Everybody
knew that guy was an eighties number, and he shouldn't
run out there to catch punts. That's what got him.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah what what would have been a number for him
that would have been less more discreet, would you say, Fred, Like,
what would be Uh.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
I'd have gone maybe thirties, just kind of get lost
in there.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Yeah, something in the seventies. Maybe you know, it kind
of be uh you know, but you put your back
there fielding punts to your points. You gotta have something
that you know, kind of blends in a little bit.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Yeah, you can't do that. But I mean he had
it figured out. He lived at the coliseum, he ated
the training table with the football team. I mean, he
was in there in the cold bath. He's getting stretched out.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
I mean, do you think what do you think when
he got back, there were a few were like, hey,
what was it like? Oh yeah, it's like the part
on Bull Durham where they're asking and Kevin Coftner, Hey,
what's it like to hit in the major leagues?
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Oh yeah, absolutely, he's.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
Oh yeah, we warm up and it's you know, actual
baseballs and not like the practice balls getting the miners
and the like, Oh man, they're sitting on the.
Speaker 4 (30:02):
Back of the bus. The guy's got stories to tell forever.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Yeah, well, I'm sure that guy does.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
I'd love to get You'd like to have him on
the air well first of camp.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
I don't know if he has a phone yet. I
mean he's living at the college. Team and if Kevin
just set a picture, yeah it was a clown.
Speaker 5 (30:20):
I was sending you another one. There's a picture of
branch Rickey with this clown guy.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Like, but he doesn't looked like a bum.
Speaker 5 (30:27):
Well, I mean he does it. Look at his clothser
all this show. I'm gonna send it to you right now.
There's another one. The picture of branch Rickey holding a
baseball and this guy is holding it looks like a bag.
Yet the homeless clown.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
So what's the point of the team name? Was he
dodging a job?
Speaker 5 (30:40):
There are a trolley dodgers. So you had the trolley
system back then in Brooklyn, and so they were they
were called the trolley dodgers. And you know, homeless people
would sleep where they could and if a trolley's in
the way, like, oh gotta jump off that one.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Come to the next one, right, he looks like he
was a hobo. That's what he wants. Yeah, yeah, is
one of the most phallic symbols I've ever seen. It's
about four feet long. And what is branch Ricky doing there?
Speaker 5 (31:09):
I thought it was a baseball. I don't know what
he's holding. I don't know what that is. It might
be an apple or something.
Speaker 4 (31:13):
If there was another, if there was another one, it
is an apple.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
It's an apple ken. There you go. So here's branch Rickey,
who owned the Dodgers, taunking a hobo with food the gym.
Speaker 4 (31:24):
Maybe it's for the gm GE. Maybe it's a to
symbolize the big apple.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
There you go.
Speaker 4 (31:30):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
What was that?
Speaker 5 (31:32):
What's the bag? Yet have to do with anything?
Speaker 4 (31:34):
Yeah? For me, I should be asking you, Kevin.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Okay, questions that we will ponder for the rest of
the day.
Speaker 4 (31:44):
Coverage of the Bucks and the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
And the Erics three Charity Flag Football Tournament is your
chance to watch tot of your favorite football stars and action.
Top NFL quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers, Carson Palmer, Sam Darnold,
celebrities like Randall and Cooper to Jean gathered this Saturday,
March fifteenth, settle Back Stadium and Mission Via Hope. They'll
compete for a good cause. Get your tickets today at
our X three foundation dot com. At a programming note,
(32:13):
we will not be here tomorrow. We won't be on
the air. No, we haven't been fired. We'll have UCLA
in the Big Ten Tournament and then that'll be followed
up by Clippers basketball in Atlanta, and I think Jonas
and Petros will hang out for about an hour and
kill time between the two.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
That say, you know what, I'm not gonna let you try,
and you know, disrespect the great show that we've got
on deck coming up tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
Patrick, do you have tomorrow?
Speaker 2 (32:39):
What do you have?
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Was it surprise?
Speaker 2 (32:42):
You know? I know you're always working days ahead. That's
just how you operate. So what can we look forward
to tomorrow on the show?
Speaker 1 (32:47):
I mean, we can look forward to hopefully a positive
outcome when it when it turns out to UCLA. Even
though Mick Cronin just basically said, yeah, you know, this
tournament doesn't really mean anything. It's all about the NCAA tournament.
We're hoping for good things for UCLA. Going to talk
more about these outrageous prices to go to the Dodgers
(33:07):
game in Tokyo.
Speaker 4 (33:09):
Game one.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
I did see yesterday I was looking at it. Just
under nineteen hundred dollars for a nosebleazed ticket to go
to Dodgers Cubs there in Tokyo.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Yeah, I was reading that just to get in basically
standing room.
Speaker 4 (33:22):
That's wild.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
You know why they're charging that much? Why is that
because they can get it?
Speaker 4 (33:28):
Oh yeah, it'll be a sellout people. Yeah, of course
people will pay.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Oh yeah, it's going to be quite the event. Ronnie,
thank you, Thank you so very much. Keven, good job today,
and Jonas, thanks for.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Hanging Hey, Fred, thanks for having me. You have a wonderful,
splendid weekend you too,
Roggin And Rodney News
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