The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 07/13/2021 - Best of The Herd

Episode Date: July 13, 2021

Colin discusses the rapid rise of Shohei Ohtani to superstardom before tonight's All-Star game and why he's already better than Babe Ruth. He analyzes USA basketball after suffering another loss as they prepare for the Olympics and why we have fallen behind in international competitions. He also explains what it takes to be an elite QB in the NFL today and why they don't always come from where you'd expect. Plus, Hall of Fame and MLB on FOX analyst John Smoltz joins the show Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me.

84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor it. It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that doesn't.

does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to The Best of HARD podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1, find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHartRadio app by searching Herd.

This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. On a Tuesday, it is great to have you in live in Los Angeles, sits the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1, the baseball all-star game on Fox tonight, a showcase of the global talent, which is exploded, which is amazing. And Joy Taylor is joining me on a Tuesday. Sorry, I missed yesterday, Joy. We've each had an experience where we couldn't show up because planes, trains, automobiles, whatevs.

Great to be back. Good to have you back. Yeah, that happened to me in Miami last year during COVID. There's weren't a lot of flights and flights canceled. Nothing you can do about it. Folks, here's what's happening in America. We have been cooped up for a couple of years. Airports are packed.

Hotels are packed. Restaurants are packed. Rental cars. They're out of cars. That's the world we live in. The national park system. They're closing the doors by 9 in the morning. America wants out.

They want to enjoy their freedom. so it's busy. And if you travel, be warned, it'll be jammed everywhere. I want to start with this. The baseball all-star game tonight. I should be a marketer. Really, I'll be as humble as I can. I am brilliant.

I thought of this this morning. Baseball should have a new campaign. Shohei Otani, better than Babe. Oh, he is, right? You know that, right? He plays for the Angels. I live in L.A. County, which is. north of Orange County, and I've never seen an angel hat here.

So it's the second most popular baseball team, probably the seventh most popular sports franchise in the area of which I live. So he doesn't get a lot of acclaim and a lot of publicity. He's unbelievable. He is simultaneously an ace and the home run king. He's the only player ever to have 20 plus home runs and over 80 strikeouts in a season. Babe Ruth has always been a lot of mythology. sorry, old heads, it's true.

Did you know this about Babe Ruth? Most people don't. He started in Boston with the Red Sox as a pitcher. He was very dominant. Babe Ruth was a dominant pitcher. But in those years with the Red Sox, he had 49 home runs in six years. Eight a year.

He was a pitching story, not a hitting story. Well, it was a dead ball era. Eight home runs a year against that level of competition. It must have been some dead ball. Did it come out of? the coffin. They had to go to a cemetery to get the baseballs. How dead was it? Then he goes to New York and Babe Ruth actually didn't pitch. You didn't know that. No, he only started two games ever as a Yankee. First year in New York, he pitched four innings. The next year, he pitched nine

innings and Babe was done pitching in New York. So in Boston, he was a pitching star with power, but not that much power. Then he goes to New York, he's just a hitter, which is, by the way, a great hitter. Shohei Otani is doing it simultaneously against global talent, against the world's best baseball players, in a sport now that's all about specialists. People don't understand this. First of all, Babe Ruth was 6-2 and a little overweight,

and he looked like a giant. Sho-Haw-Ha-O-Tani is 6-4. On the 40-man Angels roster, I looked up this morning, he's the fifth tallest guy in his own team. Babe looked like he was a foot taller than the entire sport. Babe never faced an elite closer. He never had to face a cutter, global talent, specialists, or four times a night. Shohei Otani will often face four different pitchers, all throwing gas, 95 plus.

Have you watched baseball? Dudes are cranking now. When I was a kid in the 70s, forget Babe. Bruce era. In the 70s, the dominant baseball team was the Cincinnati Reds. They had one guy that threw in the 90s, Don Gullet. He was a high school football star in Kentucky. He went on to be a great pitcher for the Reds, a left-hander number 35. Remember him? Well, my favorite team, my favorite pitcher. Gullet threw 95. Only pitcher on the Reds that threw in the 90s. They had Fred Norman, Jack Billingsley, Clay Carroll. They had off-speed guys. That's the way baseball was.

Baseball now is all guys throwing absolute gas. Otani faces all of them and rolls his eyes and rolls a ball about 490 feet. He's an unbelievable talent, but he plays for the Angels, and I'll be honest, in Los Angeles, and they're just down the road, I used to live 40 minutes from the stadium. You never see an Angels hat. You never see an Angels hat in L.A. County. It's Dodger Cap. It's Rams.

It's Lakers. It's USC. It's UCLA. And the idea of the specialist thing's amazing. Babe didn't face middle relievers and set up men and everything now in life is specialists. Shohei Otani will face a guy that's job is just to set up a closer. He comes in in the seventh in pitches to two batters.

That's his job. Babe Ruth faced plumbers and sandwich makers and drywall fitters if they had drywall back then. That's what he faced. Mechanics. It was your second job. You were exhausted coming to the park. Shohei Otani faces the world's best talent. Their job is to often pitch to two batterers in the seventh inning to set up your closer.

and he is destroying the sport global talent at the same time. Better than Babe. And it's not close. This kid is a remarkable all-time talent. Baseball needs to do a better job marketing him. By the way, you are free to use my campaign. It will offend some of the old heads. Get off my lawn!

Who cares? They're not going anywhere. If you want to get people excited about this kid, watch him tonight. It's just there's nothing like him in my life. Nothing like him. An unbelievable talent. Okay. So everybody's freaking out. Team USA.

You know, they put this team USA together for the Olympics in Tokyo, right? And they're doing some exhibitions in Vegas. And everybody's freaking out because we've lost in Nigeria and Australia. and let's break this down. Let's break this down. So basketball and soccer are very unique. They're the only sports I can think of, team sports I can think of, where you could go to the park and play.

If you had a ball. You could play by yourself in your backyard, kick the ball around. I had a soccer ball as a kid. I just kicked it against the wall at my house. I shot baskets by myself. When I was a kid, I pretended I was Kareem Abdul-Javar, and I would do my skyhook over my friend Mark Fisher, and we would play for hours on end,

or sometimes I would just play by myself. Can't do that with baseball, can't pitch to yourself, can't do it with football, hard to tackle yourself, not going to do it with hockey much, right? But because of that, there is no economic burden for basketball and soccer. If you got a ball or somebody does, if you got a little bit of a backyard, just go to a park and play. And because of that, the talent is global.

In soccer, you'll see a country like Ivory Coast be awesome. In basketball are best players from Slovenia. With skiing, you need a mountain. With golf, you need money in a course. Baseball, you need bats and balls and gloves and teammates. park. The world has a bunch of really good soccer players and a bunch of really good basketball players. And we still produce more of the great ones. But basketball is changing. It pays a lot of money. And kids are always ahead of adults on ways to make money. Ever notice that? They're the

trendsetters with fashion, with music, with style, with TikTok, and with sports. That's why kids in California, there's no more running backs. We have a state of 39 million people. There's about two good running backs in the state a year. Why? Because the kids are all like, I don't want to get hit. I want to be a receiver and quarterback. I want to make all the money. You can find 50 good wide receivers, four-star wide receivers in California.

You can find 12 good quarterbacks. Everybody recruits quarterbacks in Southern Cal. Notre Dame does, Michigan does, USC does, PAC 12 does, Clemson does, Alabama does, LSU does, everybody does. Because the kids are like, I don't play running back and get hit. Kids see the money in soccer. Messy made $650 million. dollars. Kids see the money in basketball. There's no economic burden barrier to entry to get in.

So the quality of basketball is amazing. Think about what we're seeing in America right now. And I'm not saying we shouldn't beat Nigeria and Australia. These are just exhibitions shocking. We didn't get up for Australia and Nigeria in Vegas at an exhibition shocking. But I'm going to tell you what's happening right now in the NBA. Right now, this second. Who's dominating the finals individually? Giannis. He's from Greece. The best young player. I think we'd have to admit it's Luca. He's from Slovenia. The MVP, Nicola Yokic, from Serbia. The runner-up, Joel Ambide from Cameroon. The defensive player of the year is from France, Rudy Gobert. There's no reason to be afraid of it. There's no reason for fear.

winners are you and I in America as consumers. The global talent in basketball is phenomenal. I can remember, I'm old enough to remember in the 80s, you'd get the random European player and the media would try to tell you how great they were. Oh, this guy's great and that guy is great. And you'd be like, they're not as good as our players. Oh, they're as good as our players. In fact, recently they're better.

And they're getting really, really good. And their academy system is remarkable. It's the envy of the world. And that means if we, in an exhibition game, throw a bunch of players off a COVID bubble and a condensed season who are washed and they don't care. And half are free agents. And Jason Tatum's got a new coach. And Bradley Beale's going to have a new teammate. And Dave is going to have a new team.

And they're not really focused. You can lose to Nigeria. You can lose to Australia. And there's nothing to be afraid of. Basketball has never, whether you watch it or not, been more of a global game and more skilled. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman. Human documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way,

this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment,

and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space. For honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than me. I'm an actor.

I'm a comedian, and recently I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff rant and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're,

On your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Cream a chicken suit. Hey, cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrite as part of the Mike Coultera podcast network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend and business. manager. And we've got a new show called the 1021 podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We do not like when people fib to us.

Darrell Morey's a friend of the show, but he said, Ben Simmons is part of our future. And we rolled our eyes and said, you got to say that to get more in a trade. But Ben Simmons isn't going to be in Philadelphia. He doesn't work with Embed. The chemistry is bad. They don't like each other. And frankly, you better move him because his trade value is plummeting since, you know, in a shooter's league he can't shoot.

Well, a story today from Sean Charania, who's great, also a friend of the show, as Ben Simmons is on the trade block. And the Sixers are the ones. ones that are engaging teams, he is on the move. As he should be, this is the right move for Philadelphia, who has a great player in Ambide, a good player in Tobias Harris, and I think can get some draft picks and another good player for Ben Simmons. So the thing about the story that jumped out to me is, according to Shams and the Athletic, is the Sixers won an all-star player in return. Okay, I wouldn't get paralyzed by that.

The team that makes the most sense is Golden State. Golden State could use size, and James Wiseman is not a good fit. He's a weird fit with that roster. You got Steph and Clay in their primes, Draymond on the back end of his prime. You need a guy that can do things now to help you, and Ben Simmons can. He's an elite defender. He's an elite passer. He can finish at the rim, and he is long.

He could be like, you know, Yokic is a point center. He could be your point center at times. Ben could really do that or a point forward. you'd have a great ball handling team between Steph and Clay and Draymond and Simmons. Your top four guys would all be very good in the open floor, all capable two of shooting and two of finishing at the rim. They also have two lottery picks to the Warriors, the seven and 14 picks. 14 is a lottery pick.

They also have Andrew Wiggins to make a trade like this. You have to have a salary that matches in the NBA. You don't in the NFL, you don't in baseball. But in the NBA, when you make a trade, you have to get up to 10% within the contracts. So the Warriors could give the Sixers one of their two lottery picks, probably the better one, like the seven pick and Andrew Wiggins. And you say, well, that's not an all-star player. Wiggins gives you 1819.

He's ready to play today. Andrew Wiggins, Joe L. M. B., Tobias Harris, and a lottery pick in a really, really strong draft, a guy that will play. Maybe the first off the bench, maybe your fifth starter. But you're going to get a really good player in this draft. I would not give the Sixers Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman, and both lottery picks. I would, for the rumor this morning,

that the Warriors want Dame from the Blazers. Now, I would give up two lottery picks and Andrew Wiggins. It's perhaps time for Portland to rebuild. I think Portland needs to think seriously about that. And maybe you get, you know, you get Wiseman, you're big, you can trade your other bigs. it's again it's a scary situation for Portland because then you'd have Steph and Dame potentially Clay you know maybe if you're the Blazers you demand to get we'll trade you Dame we get

Clayton I don't want to face Steph Clay and Dame coming back to the Rose Garden dropping 60 I have no interest maybe 90 so if there may be a deal in the works I would give up almost anything if I was Golden State to get Dame. I wouldn't give up almost anything to get Ben Simmons, but I think Simmons answers a lot of questions. He gives you size, but Wiseman's a weird fit. Ben Simmons, a great ball handler, would get the ball to Clay and Steph. I think he'd be a great fit.

He doesn't work in Philadelphia, but Philadelphia doesn't want to just get a lottery pick because M.B.'s right now ready to win championships. So you've got Andrew Wiggins is going to give you 18 a game. Tobias Harris gives you what he gives you. M.B., a great lottery pick. And maybe, by the way, you can get a. third team involved with Wiseman.

If the warriors would give that up, you don't need Wiseman in Philadelphia. Again, we can talk ourselves into circles on this thing. But I think Philadelphia Golden State is the pairing. It solves some issues. It would make the chemistry better for the Sixers. And Wiggins can hit a three and hit a jumper. So Philadelphia would get what they want. They'd improve the chemistry.

They wouldn't be as good defensively. But Philadelphia is a good defensive team anyway. They got a lot of long wings and a lot of length. And it would give Golden State another ball handler and some size and a great distributor. So Steph doesn't have to have the ball in his hands constantly. If you've ever watched Seth Curry play, the guy is, he's energizer buddy. He's running off screens. It's great.

Steph does not need to have the ball. He's not James Harden. Steph doesn't need the ball to get open. So you could give Ben the ball and let Steph run around the floor and get open. I think it would give Steph. We've seen Phoenix, Chris Paul, only having to play 31 minutes, not dominate the ball the time. It gives him a little bit of a break as he's aged and has injuries. Steff's had injuries.

He's getting older. You could get him off the ball sometimes, sometimes with the ball. So I like it for Golden State. I like it for the Philadelphia 76ers. But now it is being talked about the Sixers, according to Sham Sharanya, who breaks a ton of stories. We bring them on off and on this show. Philly is engaging teams. They want an All-Star.

I would not make that the be-all-end all. In the end, I just want somebody that makes us better. I mean, hell, Rudy Gobert is an all-star. You think, Ben, you think Rudy Gober and Embed work? I don't need an all-star. I need a guy that's a star in his role for the Sixers with a superstar and Joel M.B. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, I'm John Middlecoff, and I host the three-and-out podcast.

Do you like football? Do you like the NFL? Do you like the NFL draft? Quarterbacks, coaches. Well, I talk about it all. On the show. I used to work for Andy Reid as a scout. Now I give you my unfiltered and raw opinions on everything that goes on the NFL.

And you know we're talking college football because of how important the draft is year-round. Listen at the three-and-out podcast with me, John Middlecombe, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say it. Yep, that's me, Clipper Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw,

unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast.

It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming.

The world is becoming lonelier. not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Jared Ardano.

You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. HAL! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than that. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian, and recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike! I'm a comedian! I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff rant and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice. to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary.

Cream a chicken suit. Hey, cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrite as part of the Mike Cultura podcast network available on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So Team USA fell to Australia after losing to Nigeria. As Chris Bruce said it's a weirdly constructed team. You can't just roll out a bunch of guards that can shoot. That's not necessarily a perfect team. And global basketball is better than ever.

Greg Popovich got very, very upset with a reporter yesterday talking about the struggles of Team USA. You know, you asked the same sort of question, the same family of question last time, where you assume things that are not true. when you just mentioned, you know, blowing these teams out, that's never happened. So I don't know where you get that. Could I finish? Can I finish? Are you going to let me finish my statement or not?

So you'll be quiet now while I talk, and then I'll listen to you. When you make statements about in the past just blowing out these other teams, number one, you give no respect to the other teams. And I talked to you last time about the same thing. Well, we did beat Nigeria by 80 a few years ago. So listen, the reality is the world's getting better. Our guys aren't taking this stuff as seriously. And the other thing is, let's be honest about this.

The football culture in America is different than the basketball culture. They used to be more similar, where you both went to high school and had a coach, bark at you and you played in a system. Then you went to college for three or four years and you had a tough coach and we're in a system. And then you went to the NBA and you got coached hard, respectfully but hard. and that's still a football culture in America. So guys come into the NFL. They're 23 years old.

They get married sooner. They put their money away. It's intense. It is focused. Basketball culture is different. There's so much money now in the basketball shoe business and the basketball global business is that basketball culture in America is not building resilient players. It's building talented players, but not resilient guys.

I mean, Adam Silver's like, my players are rich and they're miserable because they're on social media. It's not something that, football players, you just wouldn't say that. They come into the league a little more mature. They've been coached hard in high school. They've been coached hard in college. They're coached harder in the NFL. Basketball culture is different.

You spot the talent at 16, and it is. AAU coach is doing everything he can to get the player. And then the college basketball coach is doing everything he can to get the player for a year. And then the NBA coach gets him and walks on eggshells because the quality of the skill is so great that you need a couple of these great players to win championships. So you get fired. And even if you are successful, I mean, Steve Kerr coaching a dynasty. It was a struggle.

Spolstra coaching a dynasty. I mean, he and LeBron had their issues. Basketball's culture is not necessarily building resilient players. It's building gifted players. And I think some of this is you've got kind of a distracted team. We send them to the Olympics. We throw it together. It's a weird construction.

The world is better. The gaps have closed dramatically. Should we be beating Australia? Yes, badly. Nigeria, yes, we should be beating them. But the basketball culture is different now. And so when you throw the COVID bubble at players,

you throw a condensed season at players, you know, Michael Jordan in the last dance was fighting his general manager and owner. In the current dance, they're fighting Twitter. It's a different culture. I get it. I'm not going to lament it forever. But our guys need to toughen up, deal with it, figure out the chemistry, because they should win these games.

They should be winning these games by double digits. All right, hour two in L.A. next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. A lot of times, Joy and I will talk to a high school class, or we'll go to a college class or a broadcasting school, whatever, and we do a couple of these, one or two a year, and, you know, people ask and you do them, and they're fun, you talk to kids. And a lot of times I'll talk to like the parents of kids.

People come up to me all the time. Oh, my son wants to be a sportscaster. My daughter wants to be a sportscaster. Could you give them advice? And I'm always very reluctant, very reticent to give advice. And here's why. There's no one way to do it. What work for me may not work for you.

I could be sending your daughter's son down a goofy path. I came from a small town. I didn't go to a great broadcasting school. We didn't have a lot of money. I ended up doing baseball play-by-play in Vegas. My car caught on fire. I had no money. I just kept my head down and 30 years later, here I am.

So it's the same in sports. We always think, and, you know, parents out there, if you've got a good, let's say your son's a quarterback, right? And you think to yourself, okay, I've got to send him to this camp. He's got to be this way. He's got to have this coach and he's got to go to this school. well, how many Alabama quarterbacks are rocking in the NFL?

How many Ohio State quarterbacks? Yeah, not many. Here's a list. The NFL executives, coaches, and players voted on the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL, and it's fascinating.

And it proves there is no one path to success. This is the highest paid position in America's most popular sport. Patrick Mahomes. went to Texas Tech and had a losing record in college. Number two is Aaron Rogers. Nobody offered him.

He went to a junior college, then transferred to non-traditional power, Cal. Also dropped in the first round. Tom Brady struggled to start in college six-round pick. Number four is Russell Wilson. He started as a freshman at North Carolina, and as a sophomore and as a junior. And then his coach said, you're not as good as Mike Glennon.

He had to transfer to Wisconsin. Number five is Josh Allen. He was not offered by a single Power 5 school. He went to Wyoming. We'll skip to number seven, Dak Prescott, who does not have an elite throwing motion. His coach, Dan Mullen, came on our show and said, I like the kid.

I hated the way through a football. He went to Mississippi State in the fourth round. Number eight is Lamar Jackson, still has his critics. I'm no longer one of them. He went to a basketball school. Louisville almost dropped out of the first round. Justin Herbert's number nine, he was the third quarterback taken. We called him too stiff to make it in this league. And Kyler Murray initially like baseball, and he had a transfer too. He had a transfer. Only Matt Stafford at number six had a linear path. He was number one high school player near Dallas. He was number one college guy at Georgia.

He went to a big power. And number one pick in the NFL. and has gotten his brains beat in and can't win in the NFL. Hopefully that changes for the Rams. He had the best path, right? The clear path. Great high school program, great college program, goes to the NFL, and he has the second worst winning, well, he actually has the worst winning percentage of all these quarterbacks who have played for more than like two years.

Justin Herbert, Kyler, Murray, you can't really, you know, we're not talking about their winning percentage of their kids. So Matt Stafford, that's what most parents think you have to do. My kid's got to be a great high schooler. He's got to go to a great college. He's got to go number one. Hey, nonsense. There's one guy in the league and he can't win any games.

And hopefully in L.A. he does now because he has support. We have a quarterback in this top 10 that went to a junior college. Two had to transfer. Some are fast. Some aren't. Brady isn't. Lamar is.

Some are tall, Josh Allen. Some are short. Tyler Murray. Patrick Mahomes had a losing record in college. Nobody talked about Patrick Mahomes. love college football and I didn't watch him playing college. I mean, I saw his highlights. I didn't watch Texas Tech games.

It weren't any good. So it's a great example that it doesn't have to be one way. When you ask advice, there is no one way. The quarterback is the highest paid position, the most important position in America's overwhelmingly number one sport. And Aaron Rogers went to a junior college. nobody thought Josh Allen was worth a scholarship even to Oregon State. And Tom Brady couldn't start in college. And Russell Wilson's college coach didn't think he was as good as Mike Glennon.

And Dak Prescott doesn't throw a perfect football. And Dan Mullen admitted, I didn't like the way he threw. I really didn't. But I just like the kid. That's why football is great. It's a story of America. The most important position, Joy and I have said this, half the NFL, half. is undrafted. That is utterly remarkable. Half the NFL is undrafted. There is no one way to success.

If you're a young person watching my show and you're a man and a woman and you don't have a lot of money and you can't afford the good camps and you don't get to private tutors nonsense, it doesn't matter. Head down, work hard, believe in yourself, you will get there. Don't listen to anybody. is no one way to be successful. And I love all these guys on that list. It just jumped out to me. I'm like, good God. Outside of Stafford, they all had goofy pass. There is no one way. I mean, look at that list. Third round guy, six round guy, fourth round guy, junior college guy, two guys had the transfer. 159, 166. I bet if we looked back over the years too, this would be consistent over time as well. I mean, Phil Sims went to a college.

I grew up with Jim Zorn as a Seahawk fan as a kid. I don't know where he went to school. I think it was like Cal's San Luis Obisible. He's a left-hander. There were no left-handed quarterbacks. And then I got Dave Craig, and I think he went to a college that's now defunct. I mean, Terry Bradshaw, Ben Rufflesberger. I mean, we could just continue to go down the list.

There was a time joy that North Carolina State had three starting quarterbacks in the NFL. and Ohio State and Alabama combined had zero. North Carolina State had three. They had Philip Rivers, Russell Wilson, and I think Glennon. They had three quarterbacks at one point starting in the NFL, and all the powers had none. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week,

within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Well, John Smoltz played for 22 years. He was an eight-time all-star. He'll be on the broadcast tonight. Fox Sports has the only. only all-star game that's frankly worth watching in America still. And John joins us from Colorado Live, beautiful Denver. So what was the best part about being an

all-star for you? What did you take from, because you were in so many big games through your career. What made these special? Well, you couldn't wait to get there and represent your team. It was such an honor. And to play with some of the guys that you competed against, you felt like you checked into that extra league. And just rubbing elbows with the likes of those veteran players when I was a rookie and seeing how the whole thing transpires. It's kind of surreal. When you're young, you just can't wait to experience it. And then when you get a chance to do it multiple times, it never gets old. And I enjoyed every one of them. There's only one I couldn't compete in. I was hurt in my shoulder and the one in San Francisco. But just being in the locker room with your

peers and feeling like you've reached a level of, you know, like checking in, right? Even even if the guys that you're in the room with, you feel like you don't measure up with, for that moment, you're kind of on that team and you feel incredible. Shohei Otani is throwing 100 miles an hour and he's going to end up leading baseball, perhaps, in home runs. I'm not sure which he's better at.

I think both are hard to do. I'm trying to think of the most talented baseball players I've ever seen. Dave Winfield, always struck me as an insanely talented guy. Are you kind of blown away? Did you think he would be this good? in the bigs. No, there's no way you could predict this.

As a matter of fact, I thought they kind of rushed both aspects of it. I really felt bad about his arm when he came in. And, of course, he had Tommy John. So now that he's recovered from it, he hasn't gotten the reps on the mound to even give the universe an opportunity to see how good of a pitcher he is. And the hitting aspect is just something phenomenal. If you had told me that he would end up with 33 home runs for the year,

I'd say pencil in MVP. Give him the MVP right now. That's how great of a year he's having. It's only the first half. I know we are in an era where there's a ton of home runs. And proportionally, Babe Ruth hit way more home runs proportionally than the league did as appeared as opposed to Otani. But what Otani is doing, you just can't comprehend.

As a pitcher my whole life, I had to spend the whole week trying to get ready for five days to pitch. He's spending the week sharing energy and trying to do both. It's just not possible to do this. at the level he's doing it. And I tell people all the time, and I know they shake their head at me like I'm crazy. I'm telling you if he never hit again,

and all he concentrated on pitching, he'd be the best pitcher in American League, hands down. And I know that's a big time statement to say, but when you are a pitcher, you need about 90 to 100 starts to figure it out. He's what, roughly a quarter of the way there, and he's having to share the duties with a high-level, by the way,

offensive attack. that he puts on. So this is a talented, as talented as it gives, maybe Bo Jackson, when he played baseball and football, the combination of power and speed. Dion Sanders, again, with the speed and playing two sports. This guy's playing

one sport, but two different positions and making it look like it's no big deal. Yeah, that's really well put. The world we live in now is a specialized world. You have a setup man and a middle guy. He's facing set up people and blowing through him. I mean, he, the

idea, we say this all the time, Michael Jordan tried to play baseball. He couldn't. To do two things well is just unbelievable. By the way, the Mets P. Alonzo, is he, I mean, is he the best pure power hitter? Is he a throwback of what do you make of what he's doing? Yeah, he's one of those guys that when you watch BP, you just can't take your eyes off of him. And I think he understood what he wanted to accomplish. I've never seen anybody more motivated, more locked in, more excited to do something. something that, you know, gives the fans a thrill. He is an absolute strong human being.

And I think in a way, you can make the argument that his claim is accurate because what he did is just incredible. 35 home runs. And he was enjoying every swing. It felt like he could have kept going and hit, you know, well, he hit over 100. So I just loved his attitude. And I think he's got this mindset, not only in the regular season, is he going to hit a bunch of home runs? But I think wants to come here and hold on to this for a while. That's great. By the way, what do you make of the Yankees' first half? Do they turn it around? I think they do. I'm one of maybe the few people that think they do. I know they become one way in their right-handed power batting lineup with not much flexibility and maneuverable.

The lineups just can get eaten up by right-handed relievers and starters. But here's what I think. I think their bullpen's got to get better and healthier. I think their offense is going to be much better than it is. And if they get any health in their rotation, the Yankees are built to slug people. And they're going to slug a little bit more than they have. Now, whether that's enough to catch the teams in front of them, I still think they've got a chance when they come out of the break. They play the Boston Red Sox a bunch of times. They play the race. They got teams in front of them that they can do something about. But there's no doubt offensively, they hide more warts than they do than any other team does. And if they don't hit and slug, then the answer is no.

By the way, National League West is tough. What do you make of the Giants? If you look at the Giants roster, you don't see a bunch of, you know, you don't see a bunch of names you recognize. And yet, here are the Dodgers in a real battle with the Giants. My guess is the Dodgers just have, you know, there's so many games over the course of a season, they would wear you down. Your thoughts about them ending back in the series?

Yeah, I think the Dodgers had the best chance. They've the deepest team. They have obviously the experience. They weren't healthy most of the first. half as far as their lineup construction. Their lineups getting healthier and getting better. Their pitching is second to none. Look, the best story in baseball is the San Francisco

Giants and the Boston Red Sox. I don't think anybody who knew a lot of baseball thought these two teams could compete this late and be this good. And you've got to tip your hat to both organizations for not, you know, giving up on not only, you know, this is not a rebuild for San Francisco. This has been a resurgence. And I love the fact that when

people tell you you're old or you have an old roster based on a computer output. I like the fact that the team has a little chip on their shoulder to show that they can get after a year healthy and they're not too old. So it's going to be a fun NOS. It looks like three teams could possibly go to the playoffs if they can continue. But there's going to be a lot of beating each other up there for at the top. And I still think the Dodgers have what it takes to win the division. But it's more than likely going to be three teams that come out of that division for the playoffs. All right. Fifth consecutive year you're doing the All-Star game.

By the way, we got a minute left. Who was the greatest hitter you ever faced in an All-Star game? Tony Gwynn. I mean, he was the greatest hitter I ever faced, period. And I would not want to face him with runners-on. I just never want, I couldn't strike him out. Like Glaven, myself, and Maddox, we struck him out three times and maybe 180 a bat, something like that.

It just wasn't fair. John's great seeing you, Gema, man. Thanks. My pleasure. Another podcast from some SNL. late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman

help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway

with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor?

It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.