Nightcap - Nightcap - Hour 2: Michael Johnson joins the show

Episode Date: August 8, 2024

Former 400-meter World Record holder Michael Johnson joins Shannon Sharpe and Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson to react to Noah Lyles' 100-meter victory and Gabby Thomas' 200-meter gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. They also discuss Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's chances to break her own world record in the 400-meter hurdles, Lyles' chances to become the first sprint double champion since Usain Bolt, and Johnson's upcoming Grand Slam Track league02:49 - Michael Johnson Intv41:31 - Q and Ayyyyy(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.)#Volume #ClubSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Guys, as Ocho and I, we told you earlier, we had a great conversation with the legendary Michael Johnson. And here's our interview with Michael. We hope you enjoy it. Oh, Joe, I told you we're going to try to make this thing the real Olympics. We're going to have people that anticipated it in the Paris Olympics, and we're going to get, I'm going to have former greats.

The guy that's going to talk with us for about 45 minutes today is a former two-time world champion to 200 meters. today is a former two-time world champion uh 200 meters he's a former four-time champion to 400 meters he was a former world world record holder at 200 meters at 300 meters at 400 meters he's still the current american record holder at 300 meters and 400 meters and he ran the anchor leg on the world breaking world

championship 400 meter relay team of 2 minutes 54 29 Mike and he's a two time Olympic gold medal in 400 meters he's a one time Olympic champ at 200 meters he's

the only man to successfully defend his 400-meter crown in back-to-back Olympics in 96 and 2000. And he's the only man currently to win the 400 and the 200 in the same Olympics. One of the greatest sprinters in the history of sprinting. Arguably

the greatest sprinter in American history. Michael Johnson. What's going on, guys? Good to see you both, man. Good to see you. I haven't talked to both of you guys in a while. I appreciate that, man. Mike, when you hear the accolades, you know, four-time world champion,

400 meters, two-time world champion, 200 meters, a two-time Olympic champion, four, Olympic champion, two, back-to-back, nobody in the history. The game's been going on since 1896. And we see some young guys come in and they win the 400 early in their career at 18 i mean 19 20 years of age and can't replicate that you did it later in your career why has it been so hard for men and women to repeat i mean it's more common than women, but why has it been so hard for men to

repeat the 400? It's a difficult event, man. It's difficult for people to get consistent in that event. Like, you will see somebody come out, run 43 seconds, become a 43-second 400-meter runner, but then you'll see them in some races

running 44 high, 44 mid, not consistently under 43 seconds. The 400 meters is one of those races where you need to be consistent in order to deliver that type of performance when it counts at the Olympic Games. And what happens is, is you have somebody run the Olympics, they get it right then. And then if you see them in those races outside of the championships being very inconsistent, running 44 highs and that sort of thing, then there's a likely chance that when they get back to that next championship, they're going to run worse, not better. It's just the way that it goes. You have to try to get consistent with that event. It's a really difficult event to run because it's such a long sprint.

There's a lot of room for error. There's a lot of ways to make mistakes in that race. It's hard to get it right, easy to get it wrong. When I think about the 400 race, obviously from the start, you exert so much energy. I would say from zero to 50, and then you have another phase that you kick into where it's kind of not a transition phase where you slow down, but where you build up enough energy where you're moving as fast as you can. We're not allowing that lactic acid to build up where you're not able to finish and kick towards the end. And the first thing you said was about being consistent. How difficult is it to be consistent when the field of competitive change is consistently each time you race and some people push you, some people don't. So how do you find that happy medium where you can

always run your race, but still have a chance to always win? Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it looks like when you look at track, it looks like you just going out there and you hear most people talk about just executing their own race. Cause you're in your own lane and other people are in their lane, but you have to know your competitors. You have to know they are what they're capable of so like if i'm in a 400 meter race for example and that part you talked about ocho where you know you come out 60 first 60 meters or so you want to run as hard as you can get up to your pace not slow down but just hold that pace it's like in your car if you push your foot all the way down on the accelerator, you're using a lot of gas. But if you let it up for a little bit, now you're not slowing down.

You're just maintaining that speed. Right, right. Don't keep mashing on the gas is the thing, the key down the backstretch. But in that position, when I'm going down that backstretch, if I see one of my competitors who typically doesn't get out hard, but today they're getting out hard, and now they're getting a little bit of distance too far away from me, I have to make a decision right then. Okay, do I make an adjustment in

my race based on what they're doing? But I have to know them. If I know that he's not going to be able to hold that, then I might decide I'm going to let him go. But you have to be able to make those decisions so you have to know your competitor, you have to be able to execute your own him go right you have to be able to make those decisions so you have to know your competitor you have to be able to execute your own race but you have to be really good at making decisions in the moment in the race in real time you got to make those decisions quickly because you can't just kind of think about it because the race is going to be

over Mike when I look at you and I go back in the story of your career and you look at the runner say I have to make split-second decisions of what I'm going to do you look at you and I go back and let's start your career and you look at the runners, say I have to make split second decisions on what I'm going to do. You look at some of the runners. You ran against Steve Lewis. You ran against Quincy Watts. You ran against Antoine Maybanks. You ran against Anton Pedigree, Alvin and Calvin Harrison, got Washington, Danny Everett. There was such a vast range of 400 meters and all these guys could go sub 44.

And when you're racing these guys you go into your mind says okay obviously steve lewis is an olympic champ quincy watts was an olympic champ a lot of these guys you ran on the relay with so when you when you're trying to break down when you and coach hart your coach when you guys were breaking down a race say it's a world championship olympic trials the olympics or so forth and so on how different – I'm going to turn it over to you, Ocho. How different is running a 400 as a two? Because we understand two is half the distance of four. But what's the difference?

Because you were able – you kind of started like at a 200. You won the first world championship at 200 meters, a 91 if I'm not mistaken, and then built up, and then you got the courage to say, I can do both. I can, in the Olympics, boy, do you know what kind of brass or who do you got to have to say, I can be the world's best at four and two in the same? Yeah.

It's probably never going to be done again on the men's side, Mike. Yeah, so a couple of people have tried since I did it. Nobody even tried before I did it. You couldn't even, the schedule wouldn't even allow for it, so I had to get them to, get them to change the schedule, but yeah, I started as a 200 meter runner, but when I was at Baylor, I was on the 4x4, and I was always splitting 43, so I knew I could run 400, but like in college, you always, you can't really go back and forth between the two and the four very much, because you're always preparing for, got to qualify for nation nationals you got to get ready for conference you know indoor and then the same thing outdoor and both of those seasons are pretty short but i knew i could run the 400 then when i when i started

my professional career i was primarily 200 but i was running 400s at at meets on the grand prix circuit and i was running low 42s ranked number number one in the world. But the first couple of championships, like that 91 championship, like you talked about, Shannon. So I chose the 200, made the team in the 200, won the world championship in the 200. But I'm sitting there in the stands and I'm seeing Antonio Pettigrew win the 400 meters. I'm like, I've been beating him all season.

I should be the world champion in the 400, but I can't run the 400. Now somebody else is world champion. So I was telling my coach then, like, you know, I want to run both. And, and he was in coaches like, yeah, we can do both. We just got to get them to, you know, work out the schedule for us. So over time that became, you know, my thing, I'm going to go to the championships. I'm going to run the boat to two and the four. Nobody had done that before.

The races are very different. The 200 meters is all out sprint for most people. There's, you know, some of the guys that's 100-meter runners that's not really, don't have that type of speed endurance to be able to hold it, they can't run the whole thing. But if you come from,

like me, having a 400 background as well, I can run the whole thing. So the difference is there's less room for margin or margin for error in the 200. You may be able to make one adjustment in that race because it's so short, 19 seconds.

Whereas in the 400, you can make all kinds of adjustments. The problem is there's more room for error in the 400. You can make a lot of mistakes and you probably will. Whereas the 200 is much more technical. I think one of the most interesting things about this and everything you've accomplished, the accolades, the four Olympic gold medals, the eight world championships, I think with people that are going to watch the show, like what initially, let's go back to the beginning because we know the finished product.

We know what you've done. We know what you've accomplished. But what initially drew you to track and field and how do you discover your passion for sprinting? And let's go back and take us where it all started so we get a better understanding on how everything came to fruition to where you are now yeah i just always loved running man i played all sports growing up in dallas played soccer football basketball baseball we were always outside playing right and i always i was always fast i was always faster than everybody else. So, of course, growing up in Texas, you know, got to play football.

And so all my friends, you know, and I did not like football. I love watching football. Hated playing football. Hated it. Did not like it. Did not like football. Didn't like getting hit.

Didn't want to get hit. Didn't like contact. And so they wanted me to play receiver. This was in middle school. They wanted me to play receiver. This was in middle school. They wanted me to play receiver. I was like, that's not happening. Nope, not happening. Now I want to get hit.

And so then they wanted me to play running back. Like, same difference. You know? You're going to get hit more. So I ended up being free. I played safety. I played free safety. So I'm roaming.

And I was like, Dion, I was like, I'm going for interceptions. I'm going gonna catch an interception but i ain't gonna hit nobody right and um and then so i played football just because all my friends was out there i liked it and and then i remember i had one game where i have great game two interceptions ran one back for a touchdown and uh and we lost and i remember we on the bus going back home after the game, like everybody's sad. And I'm like, shit, why am I sad? I should have, you know, if I have a good day, I want to win. That's how I knew individual sports is the path for me.

Team sports, I'm too selfish. But, yeah, so, you know, so high school just tracked. And then I started getting scholarship offers, chose Baylor, went to Baylor. And I didn't realize until I got to Baylor that I could even have a professional career in track. Right. And so, yeah. So so that was it for me, man. And then once I got to Baylor, started running times that I got real coaching for the first time in my life. Real training. I realized that I had the potential to be world class because I was running some of the same times that the guys that was running in the Olympic Games

and running professionally were running. Mike, when I go back and study, you're only about a year older than I am. And so I was a track and field guy too. But I noticed, but you weren't taught. In Texas, when you talk about runners, Roy Martin, Roy Martin from Dallas, I was learning to get some every weekend, Shannon. I didn't learn to get some every weekend on the four by four and the 200.

Crazy. My, my, he was a year older than me. You're older than me. Yeah. My junior year. No, my sophomore year, sophomore year, 1984, he was the alternate in the 240 Olympic team in L.A. We in high school. Yep.

And I'm having a really good time. You were moving like that? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, what he won? He ran like 20.18, right, Mike? He set the high school world record and then also in the 100. He ran 10- oh something yeah yeah

yeah a lot so i didn't get out of district so you got you got finished top two to get out of district to advance to regionals then top two out of regionals go to state i didn't get out of state till my senior year because of ryan those guys and And in my school, we didn't really, we didn't have, we didn't take sports seriously. You know, it was an academically focused school that you had to apply to get in and everything. I got in and sports was just like an afterthought. We were in the hardest district in the country for track.

I mean, the kids in our district, 10-5-8 in Dallas, Texas was the hardest district. And we in there, it was crazy. So, yeah. And then I got out of district my first time as a senior, won it one region, got to state, got second, behind

Derek Florence, who broke Roy Martin's high school record in the 200. So, yeah, that's what I was up against as a high schooler. Right. Mike, when did you realize, because I'm looking at your career, and like I said, I love track and field, and I know a lot about the 200 meters. I was at the trials in Atlanta when you broke Pietre Manino's record.

He ran 1972, I think, in 72 and you ran 1966. When did you know that you could break the world record in the 200 and the 400? Yeah, you were close. It was 1979. He broke it in 1972 in Mexico City at Altitude.

That record stood for a long time because that was 1996, right? Yeah, so 1996 when I broke it he broke it in 1970 uh 1970 um 79 79 79 okay so yeah um i knew when i was in in um in college i knew when i was in college my sophomore year of college i ran 20.08 i mean 20.08 and um and i remember that race that was the first time i really dropped the time and i remember all the mistakes me and my coach was just talking about all of the things that we could improve in that race and he said then he's like like you can break the world record i was like i i know

and that's what we did and we just kept we just kept working on it from there but i had a lot of injuries in college that kind of helped me from reaching my potential and I had to you know overcome that I didn't like it was my fault I was getting injured because I didn't like stretching didn't like lifting weights I just wanted to go out and practice run every day and do it

so I wasn't strong you know and then I realized you know I got it I really my coach had been really telling me you know and I was just you know hard-headed kid thinking I'm going to do it my way. Don't really like weights. I'm fast. I can just be fast. But the fundamentals are the fundamentals.

It takes what it takes. You know, there's not a lot of choices when you want to be successful. And I had to realize that. And once I did, committed myself to the weights and the strength training program, that's when I started seeing the results. I love it. You had some battles, man.

You and Butch. When Butch said, Butch said broke the world record. He broke Lee Evans' world record. Yeah, 1988. In 1988, he ran, what, 43-29. And so you and him had battles. You, him, Steve Lewis, Danny Everett, Quincy Watts.

Guys, you guys were going back and forth because all of you guys could sub 44 seconds. He breaks that record in 88. And you ended up breaking the record, Mike. You didn't break the record until 1999. So that was 11 years later. And I think if I'm not mistaken, mistaken mike you're in your 30s that's unheard of for a guy your age to keep pr and pushing the record how were you able like you said you had some injuries early and maybe that what saved you is that you didn't burn your legs

out early and you had some juice still in the tank late so what was the process of going through and breaking that world record because you knew you were gonna have still in the tank late. So what was the process of going through and breaking that world record? Because you knew you were going to have to have the perfect race, the perfect conditions, and the perfect people in the race to push you to that world. Yeah, so my first year as a pro, 1990, I ran 43, I was running 43.2

every time I stepped on the track. But that was my first year running the 400. I had never run a 400. You mean 44.2? 44. I had never, I had never really been running the 400. And at that point I was really a 200 meter runner. So the first six years of my career, I was focused on mostly the 200 primarily, even though in 96, I ran both in 95, I won world championships in both 93 I won the world championship in the 400 I would run I would probably run my races every year I'd probably be like 75 percent of my races are 200 25 percent of my races are 400 so I wasn't running a lot of 400s so I probably would have broken that 400 meter world record a lot sooner had I been focused on that race but I

was focused on trying to break the 200 meter world record first and so i did that once i did that in 96 then i shifted my focus and started started running 75 of my races were 400 25 of my races were 200 because then once i had the world record in the 200 then i started focusing on breaking the world record in the 400 so it was like 1996 i ran 43 39 which was a tenth of a second off the world record which was 43 29 it took me the next three years and finally in 99 i got it because it was like you just got to try to find those little areas in the race where you can make up some time the 10th yeah that was that was in seville perfect conditions uh trans you you transition let me ask you this in 90 in in 93 I figured that was the time that you guys broke the world record at the world at the world championship in the two in the four in the four by four uh Andrew

Bowman led it off I think he ran split 44-5 uh he passed to Quincy Watts I think Quincy ran sub 43-5 he passed it to Butch Reynolds. And then with you with nothing to prove, Mike, you got it. You guys have got this. You already got a 30-meter lead. They hand you the baton. You go.

What's going through your mind? Because that was the first time in the history that somebody has subbed 43 split into 400 meters you stepped on the gas i think you ran 42.9 what's going through your mind as you're going around the track and you got nothing you got a 30 minute 30 meter lead mike what possessed you to do this is a story this is crazy so we broke the world record the year before 1992 right we just broke it by a little bit 1992 olympics i'm the i i ran the 200 i didn't run the 400 at the trials i

make the team in the 200 there's a debate about whether or not i should be on the 4x400 meter. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Whoa. Because I'm going to tell you, go back the year before that, 1991, my first world championship in the 200. U.S. lost the 4x400 meter relay to Great Britain because they didn't put me on that relay. Yeah. The hurdler. The hurdler ran down Pettigrew.

The hurdler ran it down. That you're exactly right. Chris Akabusi ran down Pettigrew. The team coach that year didn't like me, so he said, The ran down pedigree. That you exactly right. Chris Akabusi ran down pedigree. The team coach that year didn't like me. So he said, hey, we don't need Michael Johnson on our 400 meter relay. He didn't run the 400 meters at the trials. We don't need to put him on.

We can win it without him. I'm ranked number one in the world, undefeated for two years, right? He does not put me on the four by four. They lose. The next year in 1992, I'm on the 4x4. I got food poisoning right before the Olympics. You remember this, Shannon. We talked about this.

I do. Back then, what happened was I got food poisoning, didn't make the final in the 200. We still need you on the 4x4. I'm like, man, I'm not even. I'm a shell of myself i can't even run that fast right now they're like a 75 michael johnson is better than anybody else so let's go he joined the street like okay so my split in 92 when we broke the world record i was

the weak leg on that relay i was still remember i was i lost weight i'm still feeling. I think I split like 44, 9, or even maybe even 45 flat. It was horrible. But we still broke the world record. So fast forward to what you're talking about, 93. I had just won the 400. Beat all of those guys. Now we're coming together in the 4x4. Yeah.

At that point, it's like I'm going to make up for last year. And then also, if we broke the world record last year with me at 45 flat if i can put it down like what i'm normally used to doing we're gonna put this world record to a point where ain't nobody gonna break it for 30 years and that's where we are today nobody has still broke that record because those guys ran faster and i ran 42.9 on the anchor mike do you realize that the record that y'all originally broke was the nineteen sixty eighteen? Yeah.

Matthews, Freeman, James, Lee Evans. Do you realize outside the Americans, nobody else has ever run a time like they ran in nineteen sixty. That's that two fifty

Lee Evans, Larry James, those guys. Crazy. That's also where Lee broke the the 400-meter world record. 4386, I believe it was. 4386. Larry James was set. I think they might have swept the podium, right?

Yeah. Yeah. But we've been dominant in the 400 meters. If you go back from 1984, from 1984 to 2008, we, we dominated. And then it, it was,

it was sad to see what happened, Mike. What happened? I don't know, man, you know, it does go in waves sometimes, but that shouldn't happen.

We just had some, like this cat, Quincy Hall, right? Quincy Hall. We always just talk about, you look at his profile, he has a dog on there, like a face of a dog,

because he's literally that, he's a dog, right? He is that, you know, the young kids say, oh, yeah, he a dog, man. We didn't have that for a while. We did not have that for a while. I saw it and was like, no, we didn't have that for a while. I mean, so right after me, it was Jeremy, Warner, Baylor, you know, Jeremy was a dog. He's like, I don me, it was Jeremy, Warner, Taylor,

you know, Jeremy was a dog. He's like, I don't care, you know, I don't care. Because he had that, I don't, if I lose, I lose. You know, if I lose, I lose, and I deal with that then. But the guys that come into an event, come into a race, thinking about, well, what happens if I lose before the race? You already lost. Right. You already lost.

And we had some of them. We had a few of them for a while I think it's I think it's it's coming back now coming back yeah it is you know that would that that transitions me right into your next question because I would get ready to ask you what are your thoughts on the current state of track and field right now and how do you see it evolving based on where we are now because you did just say it comes in waves it goes in wave do you think we are right on the on the on the right track to kind of dominate in the sport again and maybe the the one the two and obviously the four yeah that's a good question uh ocho so look the jamaicans been taking it to us for the last you know i mean you got to give them credit i mean this is a nation of less than three million

people and they go toe to toe and sometimes like i said for the last 15 years they've been handing it to a nation of 300 million people that's crazy where else does that it's amazing that's why the jamaican brand from a sprint standpoint is so significant. They were known around the world as the sprint capital. They got great coaches. They got a lot of talent. And it used to be back when I was in college, all of the Jamaican athletes would come to the U.S. For better training and facilities.

Right. Around 2006, seven, they stopped. They started, they got some great coaches down there and they started saying, Hey, just stay at home.

We'll train you here. And that's when you saw that explosion. Right. So, you know, and, and it's just been, it's been,

it's been amazing. But, you know, for us as the U S we saw what happened here in Paris, you know, Noah, Fred, you know, those guys. I mean,

it's not... And look, the Jamaicans have found some new talent. Shane Thompson, Saviko... Savile Oblique. Savile. Those guys, they got some talent. You know, they had a little bit of a void after Bo left, but now they got some more talent. But the U.S. got some, too. On the men's side.

On the women's side, the Jamaicans have been, it's been ridiculous. I've never seen a situation where they had two of the greatest sprinters of all time and then found another one on top of that with Sharika and converted her from a 400 meter to a 100, 200 meter sprinter. And then now you got another one. It was just, it's been crazy. That doesn't happen all of the time.

So now what we're seeing is, okay, those, you know, Elaine is pretty much done. Her body's just not going to be able to, her former coach even said that her body's just not going to be able to do that anymore. So she's probably on her way out and probably going to retire here soon.

Shelly Ann is done. She's the greatest of all time. She's done enough. She's retiring after this year. And so this is the first time, like in this Women's 200 last night, the other day, I mean, She's retiring after this year. And so this is her first time. Like in this Women's 200 last night, the other day, I mean, where Gabby won, there was no woman, Jamaican woman in that final. And a Jamaican woman has, I saw this stat the other day, a Jamaican woman has medaled in the 200 every year, every Olympic year since 1976.

So it goes in stages and goes in waves. I think the U.S. is at a position where, I mean, we're always at the top of the medal table, but the events you talked about, Ocho, the sprints, I said it would afford for us the last few years, but I think it's, yeah, it's coming back. It's coming back. Yeah, we've been having to share the table. You talked about Gabby Thomas.

She ran a blister in 2182. If you go back and look at this before the Olympics her pre-race trial she ran on the Diamond League and she faced Julian Alford and she faced Dina Asher Smith and she let them get out and she came back in the last 20 meters she was in third and within with 20 meters to go she shot the first she did not make that mistake yesterday Mike she came when she came out that bin she was not bull jiling with Julian Alford she was not bull jiling with Dina Asher Smith

she said I am going to drop the hammer I'm going to leave no doubt in your mind that this race is over and when she stepped out of the corner when she stepped out of that bin when she came on that curve when she came on that curve, when she came on that curve, by that 150, that 140, whatever it may be, man, that was a wrap.

She's a very unique athlete. She's got range from 100 to 400. She's world-class in all of them. She's a 10-9, 100-meter runner. She's a sub-50 second, 49 low, 400 low 400 meter runners she could improve on both of those so she has that perfect combination she got long stride um in 200 yeah like allison felix and um yeah and you know she was bronze gabby was bronze in 2021 at the last olympics and and this was a redemption and so yeah it was it was it was great to. It's good to see her win it. It's good to see her come back to the U.S. on the 200, too.

Mike, would you like to see her, even though she hasn't run? I would like to see her on the 400. I think she should run a leg on the 400-meter relay team. Kind of like Allison Felix. We know Allison and Abby Simon. She's run on that 4x1 before. She ran on the 4x1. No, 4x4.

She's run on both. Yeah, she's run on the four by one. No, she's run on both. Yeah. She's run on both. And she's always in the relay pool for both. so last year, Budapest world championships, I think she was on that four by one and four by four. I know in 2022, she was on both relays.

Yeah. So she's on, she's, she's put herself like an Alison Felix in the, because she runs the open races. So she ran, uh, 100 meters, 400 meters. She's run open 400s and 100s against world-class competition

early in the season to put her name in it. So you got like, like Noah is talking about, you know, coming into these Olympics, like he wanted to be on the 4x4. It's like, no, you can't run any 400s against nobody.

Nobody's going to put you on the 4x400 if you haven't gone out there and run against people world-class in the 400. I'm Michael Kassin, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures, and your guide on Good Company, the podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next. In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of Tubi, for a conversation that's anything but ordinary. We dive into the competitive world of streaming, how she's turning so-called niche into mainstream gold, connecting

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and shaking things up a bit in the most crowded of markets. Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In the fall of 1986, Ronald Reagan found himself at the center of a massive scandal that looked like it might bring down his presidency. Did you make a mistake in sending arms to Tehran, sir? No. It became known as the Iran-Contra affair. And I'm not taking any more questions in just a second. I'm going to ask Attorney General. I'm Leon Nafok, co-creator of Slow Burn.

In my podcast, Fiasco, Iran Contra, you'll hear all the unbelievable details of a scandal that captivated the nation nearly 40 years ago, but which few of us still remember today. The things that happened were so bizarre and insane,

I can't begin to tell you. Please do. To hear the whole story, listen to Fiasco, Iran Contra on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see. Muhammad Ali was never afraid to express himself loudly and boldly and stays true to form in Ali and Me, an eight-part Audible original. Guided by his own words,

this series explores Ali's life and legacy through never-before-heard audio recordings and discussions with those who knew him best. Muhammad had this real sense of his own personal values and principles, things he believed in, his own sense of conviction. Those convictions never wavered. Hosted by Muhammad's wife, Lani Ali, and his close friend, award-winning broadcaster, John Ramsey, Ali and Me goes beyond the boxing ring

to delve deeply into Ali's extraordinary life through conversations with Billy Crystal, Mike Tyson, Rosie Perez, Common, Will Smith, and Bob Costas. It created a North Star for me of how I want to be in the world, you know. As a child, as a young person, he gave credence to my audacity. There's no debate that this is the greatest

global sports figure of our lifetime. Listen to Ali and Me, now on Audible. What about Noah? I mean, everybody was talking about Kashane, and rightfully so. He jumped out there. He ran 9.77 at his trials, and the only thing that I had concerns about, I've never seen him

run like this on a global stage. Running like this at your trials are one thing, and we've seen guys, Mike, guys and men and women run great at their trials, run great, but when they get to that global stage, they don't perform because the heaviest thing you can carry as an individual athlete is expectations. The expectations, what he had following Usain Bolt, what he's done the world fastest time this year. And Noah Lyles says sometimes you got to pop out of your head.

And that's exactly what he did. I think he needed to just get out with him. His reaction time was very close to Shane Thompson. And I felt if he could make him run because nobody had made him run 100 meters. Everybody was out of the race at 80 meters and he could drop off the gas. Noah Liles and Fred Curley made him run a full 100 meters. And we saw that. You're exactly right.

So what happened was, and Kishane is massive talent. I mean, huge talent. He is going to be a force to be reckoned with just because he's still very young. This was his first championship ever of any kind. He'd never been in a world championship or any kind of Olympic games. None of that. Never done that. So that was my only concern with him as well.

I saw the 9-7-7. I saw his other races. They were very impressive. Very impressive. So on paper, yeah, it looked like, yeah, he should win it or he could win. But like you said, Shannon, you got to come in here and you got to actually do it. The issue for him, I don't think it was so much the expectation or the pressure from the Jamaicans, which can be heavy, but the Jamaican athletes typically handle pressure well. Their coaches do a really good job of bringing them up as young athletes, as juniors, and helping them to understand how to at the end of the race.

This race he was, but it wasn't by Noah. Cause Noah was way over on the other side of the track. What he could see was big Fred Curley and Fred is big, like, like Kishane. They both big dudes. Right. And that looming figure besides you right there with you can possibly make you talk to him and he's like, I'm not going to both big dudes. Right. And that looming figure besides you right there with you can possibly make you tighten up.

Yeah, he was, he was, he had a Connie Sambini from South Africa on his other side and Connie had been running really, really well also at 90 meters, 80 meters. Both of those guys are right there. So for the first time in his life, he finds himself, Kashane, in a race. It's not about now.

It's not about, it's not about execution of your own race and all that. You find yourself in a race. So what do you do in that moment? At that point at 80 meters, you are already running as fast as you possibly can run. The only way you can get yourself to that finish line quicker, that last 20 meters is to focus on maintaining form and what's going to be is going to be. That's a hard thing to do because your instinct is run faster and hunker down. As soon as you do that,

your body just tightens up. Tightens up, yeah. It tightens up. And that's exactly what happened with him. You watch his 9-7-7, blew it the whole way. You watch that race the other night, last 20 meters,

he's here, you know, like a boxer, and he's not just doing this thing. And meanwhile, you got Noah over there just doing his thing. Relax. Relax and running through the finish line and there you go. It was kind of like Sha'Carri. If you remember in the World Championship, Sha'Carri was in lane seven

and then you had all those, you had the Jamaicans, you had everybody bunched and Sharika couldn't see Sha'Carri way outside of lane 7 and the next thing she knows, she looks up like, where did you come from? She was way over in nine because the thing what happened was

she ended up getting an atrocious start in that semifinal in Budapest last year in the World Championships didn't get a great start but her frequency was so, but what happened was, I'm going to tell you the truth, right? In that race, that semifinal,

she didn't get a great start, didn't, and Sha'Carri at that point had not proven herself to be a real championship racer, to be able to do what Noah did. She had shown herself to be more like what we saw in Kashain, to tighten up a little bit at the end when under pressure, right?

In that semifinal, she tightened up and ended up having to qualify on time. She wasn't an automatic qualifier until the final. She was the last person to get in, and they took, there was three semifinals, they took the top two. She was third. So she ends up having to wait for the other semifinals, they take the top two. She was third. So she ends up having to wait for the other semifinals to finish and finds out, okay,

I had one of the fastest two losing times, which means I get in. She gets in the final. Because she had the slow time in that semifinal and finished third, she ends up way over in lane nine and not in the heat. That benefited her. Because she's over there able to run her own race.

Not coming under any pressure. When's the world championship? We all know Sha'Carri's fast. We all know she's been fast. We all know that she's got massive talent. Coming into this Olympics, running fast times against a lot of the Americans and everybody else. Get here. This is what happened.

I'm just telling you the truth. People can love Sha'Carri, hate Sha'Carri. You can call me a hater for saying that, but I'm just telling you the truth. People can love Sha'Carri, hate Sha'Carri. You can call me a hater for saying that, but I'm just telling you the truth of what is happening here. What happened was, in that race, she's now under pressure. She didn't get a great start. She never gets a great start. And that's fine if you can then come through at the end.

But she got one of her worst starts. One of the worst starts. Last, just left in the blocks. And now you're back in the race. You got one of her worst starts. One of the worst starts. Last just left in the blocks. And now you're back in the race. You got to get back in it. But now you're under pressure because Julian is gone. Gone. Yes. Right? But that never

was able to get back in it. But that race was over before it starts. If you look at Sha'Carri and it was so surprising even to me. You look at her coming out before that race started and she looked scared. She did not look confident. She did not look like I'm in champion

mindset. I'm about to go out here and take Westmont and she just didn't look like that. That race was over. Mike, Ocho and I talked about it. I said it. That's what I said. I said she didn't seem like herself. Now, what role did the warm-up,

because it was being reported that the athletes got, that didn't ride the bus from the Olympic Village and had to go into a separate entrance. She had that situation arise. Shelly Ann Frazier-Price had that issue. So how much,

how big of a difference did the warm-up, did she properly warm up? From what I understand, they, what happened was they have been going through, they weren't staying at the village, right? So there's some athletes that don't stay at the village. I never stayed at the village. So you have your own transportation. You're not riding the team bus. You have your own car driving, all of that. I would always have to go to the U.S. team and say, okay, I'm not staying in the village. I have my own car. I have my own driver. I have my own stuff. I need a pass to get through. So they would give it to me or they would say, okay, well, if we can't give you a pass, you have to meet us

and then jump on the bus. But you can come from your place, come to the village or whatever, we'll meet you and you get on and jump on. They were getting through that gate for the first couple of days, no problem. And then the next day, I guess they clamped down and said, no, this is not supposed to be happening. You can't come through this. I've heard two different stories. I've heard that consistently is there was another gate that wasn't that far down that they did have to walk but it was just on the other side of the warm-up area and they had to walk down there and get in so and and i've heard from very reliable

sources that they had all of the time they needed to warm up that's what i've heard so i don't nothing official has come out yet uh but that's what has been been reported so i don't think that that was an issue. The Jamaican camp has reported that Shelly Ann Fraser-Price did not drop out of that semifinal because of that. She dropped out because she had been

dealing with an injury and it flared back up. And she had been dealing with injuries earlier this season. What about Sharika? Why did Sharika drop out? Has she been dealing with injuries? Because it seemed like

a lot of the Jamaican women, she hadn't run really great this year. So has she been dealing with injuries? Yeah, seemed like a lot of the Jamaican women, she hadn't run really great this year. So has she been dealing with injuries? Yeah, she got injured actually in a track meet and stopped on the track about three weeks before the game. So it was always questionable coming into this whether she was even, it was just a matter of how serious that injury was.

And so first she gets here, they were being very, and a lot of the Jamaican fans are sort of upset right now because the coaches and the team were being very, you know, sort of clandestine about, you know, well, how serious is an injury? They want to know.

These are our athletes. We support them. They want to know, you know, what's going to happen. What can we, you know, don't get us getting our hopes built up if the athlete is injured. They never really said, you know,

and then so she pulls out at 100, out of the 200, the day before the 100, she pulled out of the 100 and said I'm just going to run 200. I'm just going to run the 200. She never said why. And then, so we all knew why. And then, then the day before the 200, she pulls out of that as well.

Hmm. Right. Mike, handicap. Handicap this 200 meters. You got Noah Lyles, who's the American record holder. You got Kung Fu Kenny, who's run sub 10, 9, 19, 6. You have Arian Knighton, who's run a blistering turn. You have a Tobogo, the Botswanan, who's run unbelievable. Handicap this. Can we sweep the podium? Will we sweep the podium? What do you think is going to happen between Noah and Kitty Bonet? Yeah, I think it's going to be... Look, let's talk about silver and bronze. Because gold is gone. I mean, Noah is a three-time world champion. I mean, as far as the 100, yeah.

He proved himself right. And that's the good thing about Noah. You know, Noah doesn't have to prove anybody wrong. He don't care about what everybody else thinks. He's not going to prove that he's right. And that's what he did in the 100, where there was some doubts. I even had my doubts at some points. But the 200 meters, there is no doubt.

Anybody saying that Noah's not going to win the 200 meters is an absolute certified hater. And they just don't want him to win. but they're still not going to get their way right nobody in their right mind doing true analytical analysis of and handicapping of this race is going to say that no it's not going to win he's a three-time world champion he hasn't lost him forever um so he's going to win it i think behind him there's going to be a battle with Kenny Bednarik, Arian Knight, and you can, I mean, Letzo Tobogo, who was

was he bronze? He broke the world record in the 300 meters. And ran 44 low in the 400 meters. That kid, unbelievable. He did. Unbelievable. Silver medalist in the 100 meters last year, silver, and bronze in the 200 last year. Silver. And bronze in the 200 last year. So he's an

unbelievable kid. But he lost his mom just four months ago. Not even back in May. So really sad. Young kid, though. Great talent. He'll be in there. He was disappointed in his 100 meters where he finished, I believe fifth.

But he'll be in there. And then, yeah, you got Kenny, Arian. Yeah, those guys are going to be battling for bronze and silver. And the one person that, you know, just because Andre DeGrasse from Canada, this cat always finds

his way in finals. He didn't for the first time he didn't make his way in that 100 meter final, but he always finds his way. So, for good measure, put him in there. If somebody falls, he first time, he didn't make his way in that 100-meter final, but he always finds his way. So just for good measure, put him in there. If somebody falls, he might actually sneak up and get a medal too. Let's handicap this. I mean, this is what everybody's talking about. The 400-meter hurdles.

You got Alison Dos Santos, you got Karsten Warhol, you got Rob Benjamin, and on the women's side, it's a two-woman race it's fem cabal and sydney mclaughlin let's take the men first rise been running exceptional karsten uh he hadn't been at the top like he normally is dos santos we know he can go sub 47 all these guys what do you think the winning time is going to be are we on world record alert in the 400 men in the men's

400-meter hurdle? I would never say never. I'm going to say this track is ridiculous. It's even faster than the Tokyo track. This track is really fast. Really? Yeah, it's a new type of circuit. It's Mondo, yeah, but it's fast. All the

athletes have been talking about it, and they did some different stuff. Anyway, so it's possible. It's absolutely possible because those three guys are the best ever and they are all coming right at the right time. Karsten is having a good season,

but he's just not raced as much. But he trains in such a unique way that he trains to be able to run the 400-meter hurdles all out, which is just crazy. That's the way they train. Just so strong, and it's all about strength. So he's going to go from the gun and all that,

and he only knows one speed and only one way to run, and that's all out. And that's why he's doing a record all-time. You can't ship if you can. Rye is a sub-20-second 200-meter runner, a sub-10-second 100-meter runner, a sub 10 second 100 meter runner, and a 44 low 400 meter runner. So he's got speed like nobody else in that race.

He's got way more speed than Carsten or Allison. But he hasn't in the years past been able to struggle with a few injuries and then hasn't been able to figure out how to use that speed in the hurdles to be able to stay with Carsten. But I think he has now. So it's going to be a battle. That's going to be a very interesting race. I think it could come down

to the wire with all three of those guys. Dos Santos. All three of those guys aren't afraid to lose. They all go out there and put it on the line. So yeah, that's going to be a good one. On the women's side? On the women's side? Look, man.

The thing about that is it is a rivalry because the very definition of a rivalry is people competing against each other. They all want the same thing and only one can win. And that is this case.

But it's not a back and forth rivalry. Femke's never beaten Sydney. She won the world championship last year, fair and square. And she's an amazing athlete, but she hasn't beaten Sydney. Sydney wasn't there. She's never beaten Sydney. This year, Femke's having the season of her life. 400 meter indoor world record.

She's run some amazing times. You saw her run that blistering leg on the 4x4, mixed 4x4 on the second day of these Olympics. And that was impressive. But you have to then look at Sydney. Sydney broke the world record again. Just a couple of months ago. She ran...

Coming into the Olympic trials, even after the Olympic trials, she had the second fastest time in the world in the 200. 200. Black. You know? I mean, so I don't see Sydney losing this unless she

underperforms some kind of way, which she typically just doesn't do. I think Femke's the nearest challenger. That's why we talk about do. I think Femke is the nearest challenger. That's why we talk about Sydney versus Femke, because she is the nearest challenger. I think it'll be Sydney. And I think that Femke, the gap may be closer this year than it's been in the past, but I think it's still going to be a gap. And then you're going to have everybody else battling for third.

But look, that's why we have the races. You know, Akabenga Brinson was supposed to win the 1500 meters. And no, that did not happen. He ended up out of the medals, and you got Cole Hawker as the Olympic champion in the 1500. Right.

When you mentioned, Ry, the foot speed that he has, and it seems like he's changed a little bit that he's not afraid now to drop the hammer, to go out. It's like, okay, catch me instead of,

and because, because he has that kind of hundred meter speed, because he has that kind of sub a 200 meter speeds and the open four, like you said, he's faster than all these guys at all three disciplines. If you lined them up in a hundred meters or 200 meters and an open four, Rob Benjamin will outrun both guys, Carsten Warhol and

Dos Santos. Now, if you watch him now, Mike, he's running that race a little different than what he has. Yeah, because Ry is smart enough to know that you can't just use that speed any kind of way you want when you got 10 hurdles to clear. That could be a detriment

to you if you use it the wrong way. And he's that could be a detriment to you if you did the wrong way. And he's been trying to figure out how to use it in the right way. And I think he's, I think my, my sense is that he's figured it out. Now, you know, his coach is Quincy Watts. And Quincy was telling me a couple of months ago that, you know, it's a new ride. It's like, look, this guy, he's, he's, he's, what he's been seeing in practice indicates to him that rye is going to be running some some some some special times this year

um mike we're gonna get you out on this you established a new league grand slam track the league is set to revolutionize the track world with like tennis golf schedule four major championships slams each year slams will take place in four global cities two domestic in the u.s two international starting in spring of 2025 um 48 of the fastest racers in the world would be signed to compete in all four slams and the other half field will be filled by challengers looking to prove oh i'm racing a racer what made what's what was the concept behind this and what made you decide to come up with your own track? Yeah, you know, like, what we're talking about and the excitement that both you guys, we both

talked about track before, we all talk, we both talk about track all the time. I talked to both you guys over the years about track, and y'all are excited about it. You want to see, right? You want to see track. You see it during the Olympics, you get excited. And then the Olympics are over, and it's like, I want to see some more track.

You can't find it. It's out there, but it's fractured. It's not organized at scale. The athletes aren't organized at scale. The meets don't pay the athletes enough so they don't really want to compete in those meets because it's not worth their while, right? They don't want to travel all the way to the other side of the world. And hey, if I win, you're going to pay me $10,000.

These athletes, the best athletes in the world do make good money. They just don't make the type of money they should be making because this sport doesn't have enough visibility in those times in between the Olympic Games. So that's what Grand Slam track is about. So if you think about tennis, every four years, you know you got your four Grand Slams. Wimbledon, US Open, Australian Open, French Open. You know you got your four grand slams wimbledon u.s open australian

open french open you know you got your four golf majors every year and those are the ones that that the best athletes want to be at and they want to compete there it's big prize money it's best of the best fans get into that they know those athletes are going to be there that's what we're doing with track so the best of the best athletes the best racers we're not we're not doing field events we don't we need to we want to focus on just the racing we want to focus on just the fastest people and where we can storytell around that get people to understand who these athletes are like UFC like WWE like Formula One like golf like tennis these athletes are the best so when we organize them and next April when we start,

you will be able to see the same sort of stories, the same sort of, all of this stuff we're talking about, handicapping this race. Hey, what's going to happen in that race? That doesn't happen in track and field outside of the Olympics,

but starting next year when we launch Grand Slam track, it will. Ooh, that's live. We're excited for you. I can't wait. Hopefully we can be a part of it. Anything that we can do as far as talking about it on Nightcap, we'd love to.

We got to get you guys to the meet and then we will have a celebrity race too, so I need to see you. I know Ocho. Ocho be challenging me to races, man. Hey, Mike, whenever you're ready, baby. One foot in front of the other. I'm going artificial hips. Hey, Mike, whenever you're ready, baby,

one foot in front of the other, I'm going to win. I got two artificial hips, so both of y'all are going to run past me, so I'm good. Mike handicapped this to 400 meters. We got Karani James. He ran the fastest time. He ran 43.78, his fastest time since 2016. Matthew Hudson Smith, who has the world's fastest time this year. You mentioned Quincy Hall. You mentioned Michael Norman,

who underperformed in Tokyo, and he's put together some races. He's run 43.4, but for whatever reason on the global stage, he has been unable to put it together. So if you had to handicap this men's 400 meters, who you like? It's tough, man, because if everybody ran their best, Michael Norman wins that race. He's faster than everybody else. Sub 10, sub 22, 100, 200. But like you said, you look at his history, he underperforms more often than he reaches his potential. And he didn't look good in that semifinal. He left it late.

He did. He looked better in the qualifying. He looked better going for the round. So he just goes like blank sometimes. Quincy is also his coach. And I've talked to Quincy about it. And Quincy tries to work with him. And it's just Michael's got to be able to focus in the race.

So it would be hard for me to say that he's going to win it. He shouldn't metal. He should win it. But, but I'd say metal. I'd say right now I would go Matthew Hudson Smith or Quincy Hall. Quincy Hall is a dog. And he just,

man, he just, and he's new to it. Techniques a little bit unorthodox, but I had unorthodox technique, you know, it's like, and I don't,

he, he can clean it up a little bit at the end, but right had unorthodox technique. He can clean it up a little bit at the end, but right now it's working. Just keep doing what you're doing. I wouldn't try to change his technique in the middle. If I was going to go out on a limb, I'd say those two are going to be battling, but Karani looks good

and he got so much experience. He already has, in the Olympics, 400-meter finals. He's got a goal, a silver, and a bronze. Goal. So he's going to get another. I think he's going to get another one of them in this Olympics. So I think he's on the podium.

But I think it's going to be a really good race. And that's what gets me excited. You don't want to have these races where there's one clear person way ahead, and you know that they're going to win, and nobody's going to touch them. I mean, Noah's race, the 200 is going to be interesting enough because there's Noah and he makes it interesting, but we already know who's going to win that race. That's not

as fun as this race where it's like if you race this race four or five times, you might get four or five different outcomes. Right. One last question, Mike. Could you see a scenario where Sidney wins wins the olympic 400 meter the 400 meter hurdles and bobby says okay that's enough of that we're gonna focus on taking down that

35 40 year old record of moderna coke 4760 could you see a situation where they focus and she goes from the 400 meter hurdles to the open 400. I'm telling you that that is the situation. That is the situation. Sydney, the only reason Sydney's running the 400 meter hurdles this year at the Olympics is because she wants to put that world record so far out there. She knows that if she leaves that world record too soft, it's not soft. It's unbelievable. But she knows that Femke could possibly come and break. And then she'd have to come back into the event to try to get back.

So her position is, I'm going to try to put it out there so far that then I can leave it and it's safe with me. Femke's not going to be able to go get it. Now I'll go over here and now I'll go over here and focus on this Open 400. Because remember last year, she didn't run the World Championships.

Last year, she decided, I'm going to focus on the 400. That's what she did at the beginning of the season, but then decided to just shut it down for the season. So, yeah. So I'm telling you, yeah, I do see that scenario. I think that's exactly what's going to happen. You know, she's the first person we signed to sign the Grand Slam track.

We already signed her. She was the first person we signed. And Josh Kerr. Could you see her going sub 50 in the four and the hurdles? I think that's her goal. I think that's what she wants to do. This track is fast. You know,

now it's just a matter of whether or not she can go out there and put it together. But I think that in her mind, yeah, she thinks that that's where she can, she can take this event. Well, if she put that thing sub 40,

I saw, so she goes sub 50 and the 400 hurdles for the women. Ain't nobody touching that anytime soon. I agree. I agree. Mike, appreciate that, bro. Hey, I really appreciate you taking time out of your day, man. Like I said, Mike and I, we go back a long, long way.

I used to see him all the time here. My boy Ray Crockett, a best friend. And so he used to be at all the game and talking. And so it's great to catch up with you, Mike. We really appreciate Nightcap. The fans are going to love this interview, man. Thank you for your time. Enjoy the rest of the Olympics.

And we'll see you in April at one of these meetings. Perfect. All right. Thanks, man. Appreciate you, Shannon. Appreciate you, Ocho. Yes, sir. All right, man.

I'm Michael Kassin, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on good company. The podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next. In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of Tubi, for a conversation that's anything but ordinary. We dive into the competitive world of streaming, how she's turning so-called niche into mainstream gold, connecting audiences with stories that truly make them feel seen. What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core. It's this idea that there are so many stories out there, and if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content, the term that we always hear from our audience is that they feel seen. Get a front row seat to where media,

marketing, technology, entertainment, and sports collide and hear how leaders like Anjali are carving out space and shaking things up a bit in the most crowded of markets. Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In the fall of 1986, Ronald Reagan found himself at the center of a massive scandal that looked like it might bring down his presidency. Did you make a mistake in sending arms to Tehran, sir? No. It became known as the Iran-Contra affair.

And I'm not taking any more questions in just a second. I'm going to ask... I'm Leon Nafok, co-creator of Slow Burn. In my podcast, Fiasco, Iran-Contra, you'll hear all the unbelievable details of a scandal that captivated the nation nearly 40 years ago, but which few of us still remember today. The things that happened were so bizarre and insane, I can't begin to tell you. Please do.

To hear the whole story, listen to Fiasco, Iran Contra on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see. Muhammad Ali was never afraid to express himself loudly and boldly and stays true to form in Ali and Me, an eight-part Audible original. Guided by his own words, this series explores Ali's life and legacy through never-before-heard audio recordings and discussions with those who knew him best. Muhammad had this real sense of his own personal values and principles, things he believed in, his own sense of conviction. Those convictions never wavered. Hosted by Muhammad's wife, Lani Ali, and his close friend, award-winning broadcaster,

John Ramsey, Ali and Me goes beyond the boxing ring to delve deeply into Ali's extraordinary life through conversations with Billy Crystal, Mike Tyson, Rosie Perez, Common, Will Smith, and Bob Costas. It created a North Star for me of how I want to be in the world, you know. As a child, as a young person, he gave credence to my audacity. There's no debate that this is the greatest global sports figure of our lifetime. Listen to Ali and Me me now on Audible. Guys, we really hope you enjoyed that interview.

That was Michael Johnson. Yes, that interview was pre-recorded. You have to realize there's a nine hour time difference between myself and Mike. There's a six hour time difference between Ocho and Mike. So we had to pre-record that early in the morning he's kind he was obligated he's a a bbc for him to take time out of his schedule to give us some insight and handicap some of these races and offer some insight because you're talking about one of the greatest sprinters of

all time uh he is the greatest 400 meter sprinter in the history and it's not even close um he held the world record at three different disciplines the 200 meters 300 meters to 400 he still has the american record at uh 300 meters and 400 meters and so for him to take time to give it with us we greatly appreciate your time and patience and we had a great time talking with mike like i said i've known mike 30 years uh and uh we're glad we got some other uh olympians that's going to be joining the show um tomorrow and i think friday so we got a couple more olympian uh people that actually competed you're not gonna tell them you're not gonna tell no i'm not gonna tell them they're gonna have to wait they gotta wait and see okay okay okay yeah so oh y'all we're gonna get right into it tonight but like i said hopefully you guys enjoyed uh uh in that interview and again ocho and i uh we're gonna have i think

tomorrow and friday we will have people that actually participated in the olympics so give you their forgive you their experience, what it was like, the electricity and the atmosphere of them winning. So thank you guys. So without any further ado, Ocho, we're going to get right into our last segment of the night, and it's called Q&A.

Q&A. Q&A. Ocho, stand uh ocho stan oh stan ask the question oh would you put noah on the four by four for the four gold medals no because he can't outrun anybody that's in the metal pool he didn't run any 400s as my you heard michael say right gabby has run 400s sydney has run 400s so they put their name into the pool rye has run 400 he hasn't so who on that relay team is he gonna out run rye is he got run gonna outrun chris bailey is he gonna outrun quincy hall is he out gonna run bernie norwood is he gonna outrun deadman no no we're notrun Vernon Norwood? Is he going to outrun Deadman? No. No, it's not. No, you don't get gifts here. If he wanted to be

considered taking serious for the 400 meter relay, he should have run some 400 Ocho to get those up under his belt so he could have been entered into the pool. Right. That's how it works. That's how Allison Felix did it. That's how Abby Steiner did it. So, yeah, that's how it works. That's how Allison Felix did it. That's how Abby Steiner did it.

So, yeah, that's how it works. But, no, I don't think he should, and I don't think he will. D. Love said, in track and field, are those staggered starting positions the 200, 400, 800? I mean, are they really the same distance for each runner you do realize like yes but the thing is with the 800 meters while you start out you only and the 400 and the 200 you have to stay in your lane all the way around yeah in the 800 meter you start those staggered and then you get at a certain point you get to

cross over and then everybody's in the first two lanes, basically. So, yes, but they are. If you have to stay in those all the way around, they absolutely are the same distance. Yeah. Because you don't have, I mean, the bend. It's hard to win from lane one, though, to win the 200. Because if you remember, the Americans, the women, what was that? Was that Rio?

It might have been Rio was it real it might have been real joe we won the four by one the women from lane one remember they they ended up the uh ladies knocked the baton out of allison felix and the exchange partner they picked it up finished protested they had to run by themselves. They qualified. They got lane one and ended up running and winning the gold medal from lane one. That was real 2016? Yeah. They got out, boy.

Yeah, yeah. Kemper Norwood Jr. said, do you think I could beat Ocho in a 100-meter dash? Yeah. Man, stop playing, man. Stop. Ocho, you made the pull of Yeah. Man, stop playing, man. Ocho, you ain't done pulling the muscles. Let me tell you something. Pull them.

I still train like I'm playing. I ain't pulling nothing. You just told the people yesterday, Ocho, nothing gets you ready to play football but playing football. What you training for? Soccer. For next season.

Matter of fact, listen. Half of the people competing in Paris can't even beat me running right now. Honestly. Who? Who? If you go who, you can hear. You must be talking about the people that checking on making sure their hands are behind the line. Those are the only people

that can't outrun you. Hey, we'll see. Watch what happens when Quincy comes down here. Let's Talk Sports 3000 said, is it hard talking about the same subject in different environments and have you ever slipped

up? Hmm. What do you mean, slipped up? I guess say ninja oh yeah i mean look i change completely from from how i am on here the inside nfl i'd be a completely different person talk different yeah the Yeah. The accent is gone. Yeah. I think.

Yeah, but sure. Like, you know, I'm, I got ESPN Shannon. I got nightcap Shannon. Nightcap Shannon is totally different than anything that's on television.

For sure. That's 1000%. And he's totally different from club. Shay. Shay. Shannon is an entity. Like he, this nightcap Shannon is only for nightcap that's it hey he gets

hung up in the closet until it's time for him to come out again tomorrow that's it so yeah but it's look if you on TV long enough you're going to have a mishap you're going to say ish or you're going to say ass or you gonna say something

you I said F I said F I've said F on on Undisputed before yeah so so this me this is a combination of like

kind of like nightcap but this is a combination of like, kind of like nightcap, but this is more like in the locker room, in Savannah State, in Denver, in Baltimore, in the barbershop when I'm with my boys. If you were like with Privy, I mean, all the guys like Rodith and all the guys that i played with in different like he's like this every day i mean everything that you hear him say he's we've said that now i just get i just get paid i just get paid to you know i had a job with undisputed they pay me for all the little the quick win and um first take now pays me for, but yeah, this is a, I'm a totally different.

This person that you see that's talking to you right now, he don't come out only on that cap. Yeah. You're a vampire. Oh, so you only come out at night. That's it. Derek Lincoln said, Shannon, just to let you know, shade by the poor GA is top tier. Best cognac out there.

Had a bottle last week. Amazing. Just letting you know, Derek, I appreciateortier is top tier. Best cognac out there. Had a bottle last week. Amazing. Just letting you know. Derek, I appreciate the support, bro. Thank you very much. I really, really appreciate that. Ron DeVos, it really brings back some PTSD here. And Ocho mentioned CL final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.

Sergio Ramos and his dirty plays are the only reason Madrid won it all. Ocho, what you say about that? I mean, he's probably right. He's probably right. Real Madrid has some type of voodoo that they always have and find towards the end of games. Almost similar to give you better context, like throwing a Hail Mary with two seconds

on the clock. Yeah. And they scoring at the last minute when it matters most. Every time. Jerome, they scoring at the last minute when it matters most every time uh jerome kamani love the show today it's my birthday me and my girlfriend are watching we'll we'll also be seeing you hope in atlanta hopefully you guys still going to magic city i don't know where you going i'm gonna be there i'm trying to see what going. I'm going to be there. I'm trying to see what these wings, I'm trying to see what these wings

hitting on. Yeah, I'm trying to see. I'm going to keep on tipping and sipping and see what we can do. Okay. 20 for the top, 20 for the bottom is all to get those, you know, things to fall.

You know what I'm saying? Yes, sir. One time. Yeah. Put your hands down. You ain't going nowhere. Ask somebody. Yeah.

Hey, you know, listen. Didn't even wait for me to invite her. Oh, yeah. Oh, y'all going on tour? Okay, I'm coming too. What? I ain't even invite you yet. Talk about, oh, yeah, I'm going.

I know you're trying to go to Magic City. I'll be there. Wait a minute. Like, how you know Unc ain't want to show me around? You trying to be my chaperone. No, no, no, no, no, no. A rare bait. You know what I'm saying?

Nah, nah, nah. We don't need no bait in there. We don't need no bait. Hey, Unc, we've been fishing for 30 years. We don't need no bait. No, no, no, no, no, no. See? Rare, rare, rare, rare the baby.

Rare the cute little, you know you know when you walk you got a little cute little plush doll they're like oh she's so cute can i pay they all they all but they they don't nah see when they see rail they said who is that that's my uncle man i'm the matchmaker man i got you no no no no no no everybody need a ring woman. You got a ring man. I got a wing woman. Nah. She's going to have you with the wrong people, man. Her decision making ain't nah. Hey, Rhea, let's play

shot uncle and niece. That's my uncle. That's a good one. That's a good one. That's my uncle. He's shy good one that's my uncle he's shy though you know you know he ain't really been out he ain't been on a date in a long time but he's really shy he's harmless though that's a good one

uh Nicky Grant said today is my birthday and as a gift can Chaffer tell me tell the truth for one whole day and Shannon no notes, change nothing. Love y'all. No. No what?

She wants for her birthday, her gift is that you tell the truth the whole day. Well, hell, I don't lie. Anything I talk about on Nightcap is about personal experience through my lifetime. You have to understand. I've been doing this 56 years. I've done everything that we've talked about that's what that's what people fail to realize I've done and experienced everything I've traveled the world I've been through all type of all type of different things that people don't even know you know I've done trades and done all type of stuff so it's good for me to have this platform to kind of share

with y'all because you only see me as a former football player not realizing i've lived i've lived two three lives already so nothing i've ever i might exaggerate a little bit but i might exaggerate a little bit but everything i talk about i've done yeah yeah that's what we do so nik Nikki, happy birthday. Um, happy birthday. And hopefully you, you, uh, enjoy today. Um,

did something special, had a lot to eat. Um, got some good food, hung out with some family, friends and loved ones. And so, um,

thank you for Nikki for always, uh, you've been great. Nikki was probably, probably one of our first five. She had to be like, I don't know if she was first, but she had to be top five.

For sure. And you want us to go ahead? Nikki, you want them to know? Nikki is now an official member at Shea Shea Media. We just hired Nikki. Hey, congratulations. So, Nikki is officially on the payroll.

Damn! How much I gotta pay now? How much I owe these? How much I owe? How much is my bill? It went up some more? Damn! I'm probably out by $350,000 now, huh? $325,000?

Damn. All right, y'all better hurry up. I ain't paying no more than $500,000. I got $500,000. Y'all better try to break a world record after $500,000. You out of gas. That's it. That's it.

Yeah, man. We've had a couple of people on me now. Adrian, he runs Shannon Sharp Burner account. He works for us. That Burner account funny, boy. They be having some good shit

on that boy. he works for us and now Nikki so Nikki's been great like I said she's been great Adrian has been great he was my Burner account and so you never know guys you never know I like I like you know

helping people I like people that want to see Shay Shay Media grow I like people that have a vested interest and that's going to work hard. We understand. We do one thing here. We work. There ain't no way around it. We work here. Congratulations, Mickey. Well-deserved,

well-earned. I appreciate all your support that you've given us. Thank you guys for tuning in. Hopefully you enjoyed the Michael Johnson interview. Mike was great. Like I said, I've known him for so many years. And what better way? You talk about one of the most distinguished sprinters in all in history. Oh, yeah.

The greatest 400 meter runner in the history. And it's not even close. So thank you, Mike. I really appreciate that. We got a special guest for you tomorrow. Make sure you tune in tomorrow. Thank you guys for joining us for another episode of Nightcap.

I am your favorite on Shannon Sharp. He's your favorite number 85, the rock runner extraordinaire, the bingo ring of fame, the pro bowler, the all pro, Liberty City's own. That's Chad Ochocinco Johnson. Please make sure y'all hit that like button.

Please make sure you hit that subscribe button and go tell family, friends, and loved ones, man. Y'all really should subscribe to a nightcap. And Ocho, man, they be on one all the time. Guys, please make sure you go subscribe to the nightcap podcast feed. Wherever you get your podcast from we value all subscribers every subscriber counts so thank you for helping us get to

the top of the chart hopefully we'll continue to stay there by bringing you great content please make sure you check out my shade by Laporte we have it in stock so we'll be able to get that to you promptly please make sure you go follow my media company page on all platforms Shade Sh you go follow my media company page on all platforms, Shea Shea

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two weeks. Again, thank you, Mike, for joining us. Hopefully, you enjoyed the conversation. I'm up. He's Ocho. We're back tomorrow. We're out. I'm Michael Kasson, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on good company, the podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next. In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of Tubi. We dive into the competitive world of streaming. What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core.

There are so many stories out there. And if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content, the term that we always hear from our audience is that they feel seen. Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In the fall of 1986, Ronald Reagan found himself at the center of a massive scandal that looked like it might bring down his presidency. It became known as the Iran-Contra affair. The things that happened were so bizarre and insane, I can't begin to tell you. Please do.

To hear the whole story, listen to Fiasco, Iran-Contra on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.