The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 11/26/2020 - HOUR 1 - Buehler, McConaughey, Acho

Episode Date: November 26, 2020

Best of The Herd Thanksgiving specialGuests: Walker Buehler, Matthew McConaughey, Emmanuel Acho 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 IHeart 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, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard,

but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard 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. Thanks for listening to The Heard 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 Heard at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeart radio app by searching Heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

The one young pitcher that you kept hearing about years and years ago was Walker Bueller. He's now been a Dodger for several years, but now the nation's finally catching up to him. He has had minimum five starts the highest strikeout ratio in the history of playoff baseball. That counts like Babe Ruth and stuff. He can throw really hard. He is one of the great young Dodgers in that 25, 26, 27-year-old range. He was also great at Vanderbilt a few years ago on a championship there. I remember watching that on TV, and Walker Bueller of the World Champion Dodgers now joining us live, the All-Star.

So it's interesting. They always talk about analytics, and I like analytics. But I always say I also like analytics, which is in big postseason games, I'm not going to walk up to Blake Snell or Walker Bueller and say, yeah, my data book says I've got to get rid of you. Were you even a little surprised? Because Blake, everybody knows Blake is just a monster. throws filthy stuff. Were you surprised Tampa took him out? Yeah, I mean, I think there's probably a little bit of surprise.

You know, the guy was rolling pretty good, and our offense was having kind of a tough time with him there for a while. And, you know, it is what it is. You know, they thought that was the best decision for their team, and that's fine. And, you know, whoever they brought in after that, we got lucky in scores and runs and won the game. So obviously he's a fun guy to watch,

but we weren't too upset that he got out of there. By the way, Walker, if you were rolling and the sixth inning Dave Roberts came up, and you gave up a double, and he said, young man, you got to go. Have you ever pushed back at least and said, no, no, no, no, I feel good. It was he had it off the hands. If you ever argued with a manager who comes up and says, I got to take you out? I for sure have. I think maybe to have fallen a little bit at times.

But, you know, I think we're all competitive, and you probably wouldn't be there without that. So, no, you want to stay in every game and throw as long as you can. But, you know, at the end of the day, the organization usually has your best interest in mind and the best interest of the team. But, yeah, you definitely can get a little anger when they try and take the ball from you. You guys have been a really good team for a year. Seven straight division titles, I think. But Mookie Betts, it wasn't like you couldn't get to a World Series without him. It's not like you couldn't win a division without him.

But when they brought Mookie over, when was the first game or two that you saw, Mookiee Batson went, okay, this is like he's, he is juice. I mean, like, when did it really pop for you that wow, he just add something we don't have? Yeah, you know, he's a guy, obviously we had some familiarity with playing Boston in the World Series a couple years ago. And, you know, he's just a special baseball player. I think the biggest thing for us, or the first thing I can kind of remember was we played in Arizona and early in the year and there was a ball kind of in the corner like the one he just hit on there. he caught it and threw the guy out at third and we're like, oh, like, this is, this is kind of

different, you know, but we've, uh, we had Cody make his MVP run and made a lot of plays like that last year. So to watch those two guys now, you know, last year was Cody and this year was Mookie that was doing stuff every day that we just didn't really comprehend at the time, but we're glad to have them on our side. Listen, when you were coming up in the Dodgers organization, you, I'm sure, watch Clayton Kershaw, who is really this generation Sandy Kofax. He's just a classy guy, kind of a team leader. When they won the other night and you watched Clayton Kershaw and he pointed to the sky,

I mean, we were on the set here. It's emotional. I mean, was there a sense for you, Walker, that you were not just pitching for the Dodgers, but you were pitching for Clayton. The organization felt like we got to win this thing. Like we've got one of the great players in league history. Did you sense that at all? Yeah, you know, I think the biggest thing is obviously whatever's been written

and said about him in the playoffs. Kirsh has been unbelievable in this game for a long time. So, you know, I think it's hard to sit there and watch a guy put in the time and effort like we all know he does. And then people kind of say things like that about him all the time. And, you know, he was unbelievable for us. It has been for a long time, but especially in this playoffs. So, you know, we're definitely thrilled that he was a huge part of this and to kind of get it done for him. Yeah, you can see it there.

But, no, it was a really cool deal for us. when you it's so interesting to watch all you professional athletes and you're playing in no fans and it thinks to my i'm like oh my god the dodgers finally win it and the dodger fans aren't there was it is it easier to pitch because no fans no distraction uh you didn't have to travel every third night get on a plane i could make an argument if i'm a pitcher i love the idea of waking up in the same city every night and not having to travel were there any advantages to playing at the same place? Yeah, you know, I think we, I think we were pretty fortunate to start in Dallas and stay there the whole time. I think we did a good job of making that place kind of our home for a little while, and that's all well and good. But at the same time, you know, we didn't have, we had 11,000 fans during the playoffs.

So that was the, you know, the biggest games of the year is the first time you saw a fan in the stands, which was kind of different. But, you know, it was nice. I think you could feel kind of a little bit more energy and things. like that that we hadn't had all year. So, you know, we enjoyed that new ballpark, but we're glad to be done there and bring the trophy home and start playing at our place again.

It's a very young baseball team. There's no reason this team can't win for seven years. But when you win championships, Walker Bueller joining us, it's very common that, you know, you win a championship. You don't quite have that push, that drive. How do the Dodgers maintain the edge now that you've won? the ring. Now that you are champs, now everywhere you go in town, everybody knows who Walker, Bueller and Corey Seeger. Is that a little bit of a challenge?

You know, I think normally, I think that is an understandable thing. Obviously, you go through a season and then you play longer than anyone. So you're offseason and shorter than everyone else, except for one other team, right? But, you know, I think for us doing it in a season like we did, where it's 60 games, I don't think was quite as taxing as maybe 162 games would be. Obviously, this playoff stuff is about as tough as it gets regardless of how many games you've played, just mentally more than anything. But, you know, I think all of us want to keep winning and we want to keep doing well. So, you know, I'm not too worried about it.

Also, I think the thing that people don't talk about is there's a lot of guys that are with us that weren't on a roster that are going to make an impact for us next year that want to be in it in a different way. So, you know, I think everybody's going to take a little while and kind of take a breather, but then get back at it. Hey, listen, I know this is a tough question for you, but Justin Turner is a great player. Everybody loves Justin. He kind of defines the whole Dodger thing. You know, you find out COVID. He comes on the field. There's not a mask. People freak out. People are angry at him. Is there any clarity here? Are Dodger players upset with him? Where does that stand today? No, you know, I think obviously this stuff's kind of above my pay grade. We're just out there to try and win. But, you know, we saw him come off the field. You kind of hear what happens. And he's been such a big. part of our culture and our team for so long.

I think it's hard to say, you know, you can't come out on the field and take a picture with the trophy with his wife and his teammates and things like that. So, you know, I know he's symptom-free and feeling good, and I think that's the biggest, most important thing. And, you know, we're all all through the country kind of dealing with this thing. And it just so happens that it happened to us during game six of the World Series. But, you know, we held up the trophy and we'll deal with the rest after that. By the way, a pitcher, when you throw all the innings you do, this is kind of a dorky sports guy question.

Do you not pick up a baseball for two months? How much your arm, when you go for a long run in the postseason, I know it was a shorter season, but will you just not pick up a baseball for five weeks? Typically, I take about a month off. I think this year I'll probably take a little bit less just because I'm traditionally kind of a slow starter. So kind of give myself a little more time. But, yeah, I think most guys, it's two weeks to a month. And, you know, I've kind of abused that month in the past. But, yeah, we'll probably shorten it up a little bit this year.

Could not be happier for you. An amazing organization. They built it the right way, folks. It's farm system. They're patient. They develop their stars. They dabble in free agency, but it's built the right way. Walker, you're going to have already an amazing career.

Congrats, happy for you. And go get another ring. Thanks, man. This is the herd bester. Coming up next. Actor Matthew McConaughey. 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 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'm saying. 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84's big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really?

Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross.

Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions. bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. I have a friend who did that. Trace Gallagher is my buddy at Fox News, and I've known Trace for 30 years, and he kept a journal and still does. And I've always been jealous of him.

I try to keep a journal, yeah. But you have to be very disqual. disciplines. Well, of course you do. Yes. And Trace is. And I'm not. Some ways I am, you know, I eat right and I work out. Matthew McConaughey, Academy Award winning actor is now joining us live. And it's called Green Lights, by the way. So I will tell you right now of all the things I'm jealous of, it's not the Academy Award and all that stuff. It's that you had the discipline to write a journal. And it's not a typical journal. It's not sad, although there's moments. so far of what I've seen, you talk about happiness. And it's not an advice book. This is not what it is. Give people a sense of what this memoir is about because it took a lot of discipline, and I love the way you attacked it to write about it. Well, it's a lot about attack.

It's about approach, really, to life. My personal approach approaches that I think everybody can understand in their own lives. You know, green lights, we love green lights. in life. They say yes, their freedom. They affirm our way. They say, go, out of boy, more please, continue. We don't like yellow and red lights in life. They slow us down or make us stop. And though we don't like red and yellow lights, I've found that a lot of my red and yellow lights in life, those hardships and crises actually gave me what I needed or later on revealed their greenlight assets of lessons I learned from those hard times. So, you know, we can, we can engineer our own

green lights and life by choices we make today through responsibility and accountability and accountability and delayed gratification. Also, sometimes green lights just land in our lap with good fortune. So what do we do with them when they do? And then other times, it's just about perspective. I can look at a situation differently than you. I may see this as a red light. You may see this as a green light. It's how do we see it? Sometimes a red light crisis doesn't exist if we just don't even give the damn thing credit. So eventually in the rearview mirror, I do believe that all red and yellow lights do turn green. It's an approach book. You know, it's interesting because In Hollywood, you are rare.

You are not cynical. You don't lean all the way left. You're kind of relatable. You love your sports. Your dad was drafted by the Packers. You're kind of a regular guy. In fact, I had years ago, I had a friend that got on a Delta flight with you flying to Austin. He goes, you won't believe who was on my flight tonight.

I said, who? He sat next to me. Matthew McConaughey. I said, really? He said, oh, he's just talkative, nice guy. He didn't try to hide. It was a late-night flight. And that, by the way, and he spoke very highly of you.

And it is interesting. You mentioned recently that you, you know, you feel sometimes you get pushback. And it's funny because you've really embraced who you are, your sports, your love for Texas. And that's sometimes you feel like an outsider, but yet you're very much an insider. And as I'm kind of rambling here, have you ever sensed that a little bit? You're in the club, but kind of out of the club. Yeah, maybe somewhat. But you know what?

Every time I feel like I'm out of the club, I've got to be honest with you, Colin, every time I feel like maybe I'm a little bit out of the club, when I go back there, that community and my peers embrace me wholeheartedly. I mean, the one great thing about Hollywood is that you can go out there and be whoever you want to be. The really tough thing about Hollywood is you can go out there and be whoever the hell you want to be.

And too many options can make tyrants of anybody. But that whole industry has overall been great to me. And, you know, I have a lot of, good friends out there. I've met some of the most creative and extraordinary people in my life out there. Now that comes with, you know, some people that have extremely views on to one side of the other that do not agree. I think what I said the other day that you were alluding to when I've talked about my faith, you know, I've seen people, everyone's just out there, there's a game to play. There's a game in Hollywood. Do we do our business in the Hollywood game? I've tried to do

my business in the Hollywood game. I've also tried to play my own game in the business of Hollywood. But overall, that industry's been very kind and embracing of me, even though, you know, I know not everyone agrees with some of the things that I believe in. I've done a pretty, I've kept a pretty doggone good relationship with them and they have with me. Yeah. You know, we were talking about this, the movies you've done. I loved contact with Jody Foster. Love it. Oh, God, I loved it. I have seen a UFO, although I still don't believe in them, but I saw one. Not going to get into it.

You know, whatever. Another show? Okay. Yeah, no, but I've, you know, Grayland, Washington, I've talked about it ad nauseum. Okay, wedding planner, Lincoln Lawyer. You love Lincoln Lawyer, by the way, Dallas Buyers Club, Wolfel Wall Street, Interstellar, which is my daughter's favorite movie. But here's what's interesting.

So it's very easy now as an actor to do Netflix and Amazon Prime. It's very easy now because it's lucrative and it's very good. But you had just won the Academy Award six, six, seven years ago. and you're like, you know what? I'm going to go to a true detective. It wasn't as fashionable then. It was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Movie stars don't do that.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, that's what you do. Did your agent... They don't go to the small screen. That's right. And I thought, did your agent go, hey, Matthew, I want you to take the weekend off, go fly fishing, come back, think about it. Because people seven years ago, Matthew, they were not doing that. No, they weren't.

You bring up a really good point. So at that time, look, I was... I was rolling. I was doing creative work back to back to back and I was ferocious about it. And I was consistent. I was choosing character and story. F the bucks, I don't care.

I'm going for the experience. I want to choose a role that's going to make me sweating my boots in a story that I'm like, can't wait to turn the page. And that's what Rustin Cole and True Detective offered. So I remember considering exactly what you said. Now, wait a minute. No one's, you know, I love the script. My agent loved the script.

But we said, this is moving to the small screen. and you're succeeding on the big screen at the highest level. That's not what actors do. You're exactly right. But I remember saying, well, the story's there. The character's there. I don't give it damn what screen it's on. And my agent, we talked about it for about eight seconds.

So there was no weekend of fly fishing. I needed no reset. He agreed. I agreed. We plowed forward. And, you know, that show that we did that Nick Palit Pizzolato created, Carrie Fukinaga directed, myself and Woody did. It is part.

it was part of the beginning of the avalanche of so many actors now going to the small screen and how you actually find your best dramas, arguably, on the small screen and limited series now. The other thing that's fascinating, Matthew McCona is joining us, is Dallas Buyers Club is a remarkable performance. It's an absolutely incredible movie. It's one of those where you're watching it and you're like, oh, he's going to win the Oscar for this. But it's funny. I've seen De Niro put on weight.

I've seen Christian Bale put on weight. And you're a guy that takes him. takes care of your body, in your mind, your soul. That's who you are. Okay? And then you made a decision, yeah, I'm going to lose like 60 pounds and be totally unhealthy. And I thought to myself, you know, everybody just thinks, oh, it's a role.

You do it. But you're not your typical actor. And I remember watching that thinking, well, that's going to take him two years to get back to where you. You can't just eat cheeseburgers and put 50 pounds on. That's totally unhealthy. No. So when you made that decision, that was not just an emotional decision. it was a physical decision you made.

Did you have some, before you made it, did you sit down and think, man, this is going to take three years of my life. I'm going to have to change three years of my life to do this movie. No, all initially thought was, hey, how can I lose all this weight in the most healthy fashion? Meaning, instead of trying to do it in six weeks, I gave myself five months.

And I got on a diet where I was losing 2.5 pounds a week like clockwork. Forget the exercise, 2.5 pounds a week. like clockwork, got down to 134. Oh, Lord. Now, it was only after that that I considered the way back. And I remember hearing stories and talking to a couple of doctors and saying, you can't just go out and start eating your cheeseburgers and rush back because you will grow back and put on the weight in more of a deformed way.

You have to really walk the dog here. So it did take. Now, mind you, I came out of that. True Detective, I hung out about 165, which was. was a great sort of younger, sort of light fighting weight for me, and I felt really good. Then I slowly moved up to the 175 to 180. And then after that, just as I got back to my fighting weight, which is 188, I went and did this film called Gold where I got up to 221, which was a hell of a lot more fun than losing

all the weight, I'd tell you. But maybe that's the one I haven't quite recovered from, because I got these little things back here on the back right and the back left to me that kind of can hold a little water from leaning back a little bit, you know? Yeah, no, I get it. It's much easier to bang out cheeseburgers and milkshakes. That's the easy stuff, right? Oh, yeah. Hang it out with your kids doing that stuff. Matthew McCona, he's joining us. So you have an interesting saying, and you have said, years ago I thought about writing a screenplay, and I read a book called Save the Cat by Blake Snyder.

And he says, name the film before you start writing it. Because everybody that writes a film has a great open. and a great close. But those story arcs in the middle, you're going to get lost. So go back to what the name of it is. You have an idea. You say, I want to see the movie poster. Yes. So explain your thinking on that.

Here we go. And it's a lot of the theme through this book. Okay. I have, you know, sometimes, and I've been decent at it at times my life, you go off the cliff and you figure out how to fly on the way down. Not me. I like to be, I call it conservative, early liberal. late and those are not political terms. What I mean by what are the rules? Where are we going?

What's our direction? Let's pick our general direction we're going. Let's write the headline first, then write our story to get to it. Before a film, I'll sit down with the producers and directors and go, what's the poster look like? Well, if I'm the lead and it's a silhouette of my face taking up the whole poster, I'm like, oh, this is going to be like a really character-driven. The director's going to, he wants a character-driven story here. Well, if it's a big wide shot, And there's me and an army of silhouettes coming up over the mountain. Well, this is going to be more of an epic story-driven picture. But what is that poster?

Just to give us a little bit of a North Star ahead to. Now, you write that headline. You put that goal in front of you in life and you say, this is where I see myself. Then you write the story to get there. Then you make the movie to get there. The poster changes. The headline changes. But it's usually similar in the similar vernacular to what you were aiming at.

And that's what I mean by, I want to see the poster first. I want to write the headline first sometimes and then write the story to get to the headline. And it gives me just a magic marker out there, a North Star where we can all agree, this is the album we're making. Meaning like if you and I go to play music, or we need to at least say, are we making a rock album here, jazz album or a country album? You know what I mean? Let's have an idea. Yeah. Matthew McConaughey. The memoir is called Green Lights.

I just started a couple of nights ago. Many of you may not know. You know of his work, obviously. I just name any of the great movies. His dad, Jim McConaughey, was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 1953 NFL draft. And I think both of you, you have an appreciation for soccer, which I do. I tried to buy into an MLS team 10 years ago, and I couldn't afford it.

You have bought into the Austin team, which is fantastic. Again, there's another thing I'm jealous of. You kept a journal and you bought a soccer team. Austin FC, which, by the way, I think the MLS is a growing fledgling league. I know owners in it. It's a fantastic. I think they do a tremendous sport. tremendous job. But I want to ask you, you have athletics in your family. And when you take on

roles, you can clearly be physical. Has sports, I'm sure it's helped you in your career. But it's thinking like an actor and an athlete. Has it ever hindered you? Have you ever thought to yourself, I wish I wasn't such a jock. I wasn't such an athlete? No. I've tried to play, you know, use different parts of my athletic ability. I'll say this. I think about athletics all the time in the work that I do, meaning preparation. I will out-prepared people. I will out-prepared my competition and have many times.

That's where the work comes in. You know this. You did your work before this show. You're not working right now. We're playing. When you're live, when you're in the game, you can play only if you've done the work. So you learn the heady stuff is early. It's like if a team gets a new defensive coordinator,

and they're probably not going to be that good if the defense is that complicated the next year because they're thinking about it on the field. And if you've got to think about it, you're a half a step slow and that receiver gets by you touchdown. I don't want to be thinking on the day. I want to be working through my instinct.

So I do all my work pregame so I can show up and say, I've got four versions of the truth in this scene. I can call an audible on the go. Don't even yell. Cut. We're live. let's go throw at me whatever you want. I'm in the game. I read the context. I know the time on the clock. I know what scene I'm in. I know where I am in this story. I know where I came from. I know where I'm going. Give me whatever you got. Let's play. Press record. You are currently the, and will be, the Minister of Culture for the Longhorns Basketball and Entertainment Facility. You're a huge Longhorn fan. I saw you on the sidelines. Years ago didn't want to bother you, USC, Texas, which remains the greatest football game I have ever seen live in my life. Me too.

Best game I've ever seen. One of the best dramatic events ever on planet Earth. Hollywood could not have written that script. So I went to that game and I said, give me, I want a ticket. I don't want to sit in the press box. So I said, I want a ticket to the game. And I'm kind of a USC honk out here, but I always like Texas. I was right in the middle of Texas fans.

And I've said this before on the air. It was the coolest group of people. They knew they knew they were at Ollie Frazier. Everybody's sitting at that game new. Okay. This is last. I've never been to a game where everybody, Texas is like, oh, you're the last team we wanted to play.

And the USC behind him, he's like, I don't want to face Vince Young. This is no good. And so you are a Texas fan before that, but it is, can Texas get back to it? Why can't Texas get back? Why are they not there yet? Why are we not there yet? This is a great question. We could do a whole show on this.

look, it's many different components. I mean, look, everyone goes through cycles, and we're going through a cycle of rebuilding right now. You know, what Tom's come in, and a lot of what he has done that we need to continue to do, is this alignment of what we expect. And look, you come to Texas, you know what's expected. If you compete for championships, that's the excellence, that's the bar.

You were handed the keys to the Ferrari. Here you go. Drive it. And players and coaches don't need to understand that. When you get there, that's the expectation. Now, you're going to win a championship every year? Hell, no, you're not. A lot of things go into a season.

Balls have to bounce your way, et cetera. What do we got to get back? I think this. I think we have to, and this is not just a particular problem in Texas, but I do think it is particular Texas. We got to quit playing in the third person. We have so much media on us. We look at our proverbial jumbotron,

because with social media today of who do we who are we what do we think we are what's expected oh we won what's the pressure when we lose no forget it we need to throw all that out and say F all of that put it down we got let's put our head down do the work stick to the process look up and and be objective about what we're doing when the season's over and if we put our head down in the process and quit we're quick thinking about hey how are we perceived um I think we get more wins I think we're back to that place now that you have to have to have the right people in place to do that. I understand that. But we, we, we, we have the personnel. We can get the personnel. We have the players and we can get the players. I think in Texas, part of it is we need to understand, hey, you are under the microscope here more than any else, anywhere else in the nation. Now, do we look at that and go, oh, geez, or do we go, exactly. That's why I'm here. Now let's go. You press record world. Watch us go. We'll look up when the season's over, and I bet you we got a whole lot more Dougia's. By the way, of all the stuff you've done, green lights, you write a memoir, and it's very personal because it's your journal.

Was there any point, you know, because this is why I'm jealous of you, because I cry a lot. Kids, you know, just stuff. I'm a dad. Like, did it take you back to places? Sometimes I look at my phone, because I want to cry. I want to go look at my kids when they were five. Did it take, Did it take you back to places and you were like, oh, my God, I totally forgot him. And it took you these wonderfully emotional places. You know, I tell a lot of my dad's essential character in this. And, you know, the book is actually two. In the beginning it says this book is two.

The only thing I ever knew I wanted to be and family. And the only thing I ever knew I wanted to be was a father. And a lot's based on because of who my dad was to me. You know, my father moved on in 93. And I've done a decent job of keeping his spirit alive and me and continuing conversations with him through my life and trying to share things with him spiritually. But I went back and retold some of the early stories and looked at the diaries of things I was writing as a kid when he was still alive. And sometimes we had. And so going in and remembering some of the details of the way he loved me, the way he loved my mother, the way he loved our family, the values that he tried.

instilled in us the way where sometimes where I maybe thought it was unfair, but in retrospect, looked at and go, oh, no, he was really trying. You go back, you know, and we lose a loved one and our father, and you see that there's some, there's a gap between the message and the messenger. Right. And you go, but, and I remember being angry about that gap and going, wait a minute, you didn't really do that, but that's what you taught me. And then I noticed through the diaries that, oh, then I forgave him for that. And then I also said, well, just because maybe he didn't, the messenger didn't act out on the messages he was giving you, Matthew, doesn't mean that the message wasn't good. So you can still double down that. He wanted you to be a little bit better, a little more

evolved, a little bit better of a man, and maybe even a better father. So when I went back in those places, I shed quite a few tears seeing my dad how he loved me, my brothers, our family, and his wife, my mother, and saw how it was hard sometimes. And saw where maybe he didn't live up to what he was teaching, but he damns sure minute. And I appreciate it in a different way when I went back and looked at it. By the way, I have to ask you about this, because my daughter, Olivia, watched Interstellar about a month ago. And she told me it's the best movie she's ever seen. And I said, Olivia, it's very complicated. And during the break, before I had you on, I told you. And what did you say about how complicated it was? I said, I'm going to give you my number. Olivia, call me so you

can explain it to me. It's a very complex movie. She literally talked to me, she called me four times about it. Dad, you just can't believe this thing. It's so great. And I'm like, okay, I'll get to it. I've watched like seven of his movies. Just give me time on Interstellar.

Matthew, it's been an absolute pleasure. The memoir is called Green Lights. I hope to see you at a Texas football game because I love the program. I love what it stands for. And I'm really rooting for Tom Herman. You're a busy, busy man. Put that book up one more time. Matthew, thank you so much for coming on our show.

today. Colin, thank you. Look forward to seeing next time in person. Hook them this Saturday. This is the herd best of. Coming up next. Emmanuel Lachio. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. 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 game. 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? where you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table.

right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field. and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it.

And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different.

intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free, our Heart Radio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. Three NFL seasons, brother played as well. He was a first team all big 12 linebacker at Texas. The book is Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, Emmanuel Ocho. And so I watched your conversations with Roger Goodell and Matthew McConaughey. And we were saying something during the break. It's, I think John Lewis, the late John Lewis said this.

It's a great line. And I've thought about this before. In life, it's not what you say. It's how it's heard. Exactly. And so when I watched your conversations, it wasn't what you always said, but as a white 55-year-old guy, it was how it landed for me. You weren't judgmental. I don't know if you wanted it to land that way, but I thought, oh, this stuff lands right.

He's not preaching. He's not lecturing. He's telling me, hey, man, this is the way. And so my first thing is a compliment into you have a way of making stuff land that is uncomfortable, yet I was never uncomfortable listening to it. That was the irony. I was like, oh, this is really, I'm a curious guy. So when you wrote the book, did you think you'd get, it's been wholly embrace.

Did you think you'd get pushback? You're always cognizant of potentially getting pushed back, and that's why I'm very cognizant of every word I say in putting the right emphasis on the right syllable, right? Because you have to know exactly what you're saying and how you're saying it. You've said, and this is the second time I've heard it, Oprah, actually, Colin, was the first person to say it,

saying that I have a way of delivering hard information, but it doesn't come off as hard. Softly. I don't really know how I'm doing what I'm doing. I'm just trying to deliver truth with grace and with love, because I think that's what we need more of in this world is hard truths, but they have to be embodied and packaged with grace. Otherwise, they're too harsh for somebody to receive.

You've used the line, guilt doesn't cause somebody to change. Love does. So being, you know, I tell my liberal friends this. Your message, your messaging's bad. You're being condescending. You can get along with conservatives. Don't always tell us how smart you are. So in your book, you never come across as preach.

It's like, listen, I'm going to tell you my life experience. and I want to talk about Oprah because people often ask me in my life who's your role model and I've said Oprah they're like not sports guys I'm like no Howard Stern and Oprah own their own brand that's the goal to control it is Oprah obviously smart

but after talking to Oprah what's your takeaway on her vision and her it's funny because we did a Zoom call for an hour maybe it was two days ago and the thing that sticks out with me most is the first question she asked me I hop on a face time after the first episode I did. Uncomfortable conversations with a black man. It gets 25 million views

in four days. And I got a call from Oprah's assistant. She says, hey, Oprah wants to talk to you. The first question Oprah asked me, Colin, what is your intention? She said, what's your intention? Because your intention, it guides your direction. Right. And so when she asked me what my intention was, I said my intention is to

change the world, to be a bridge for racial reconciliation and I think I can do that. The biggest thing when I talk to Oprah, which guides my direction of all my conversations, is, Emmanuel, what's your intention and state true to your intention. Don't worry about clicks. Don't worry about likes. Don't worry about follows. Don't worry about shares. Stay true to your intention and stay true to the messaging. I think that's what she does best. Yes. And that's what I borrow most from her. Are you hopeful?

That's a great question. Colin, I got a email from a 70-year-old woman named Lynn. It was after the first episode of uncomfortable conversations with a black man. She's a white woman, grew up in rural Alabama in the 1940s or 50s. She said, Emmanuel, I grew up. I didn't go to school with any quote. I unquote, Negroes. I grew up in rural Alabama, and I was very prejudiced, she says, in so many words. She said, but after watching your episode, I realized I can still change. Please don't give up on me yet. I love you, my son, and my brother.

Almost brought tears to my eyes, but it's nearly impossible not to be hopeful when you see something like that. What I realize, Colin, is there's great intentions. Black people and white people, we want to get along, but there's a fracture on how. There's a communication barrier, Colin. a communication, color, and culture disconnect. And that's the real problem at hand. Culture's fascinating because when I was growing up, there wasn't a black middle class. I think Bill Clinton's presidency was the first time I remember reading about a black middle

class because of some legislative changes. And yet your life, from what I've read, you probably feel fortunate. I went through eight divorces as a kid, but I feel fortunate, right? Because I had a loving mother and a smart father. I want to talk about culturally. Yeah. Are we this dissimilar? You want to be love and loved.

You want to be successful. You want to realize your dreams. How dissimilar are we? You and me, black and white, are we really that dissimilar? There are cultural realizations, right? I would say it like this. if you were to walk into the grocery store and you were to walk down the produce aisle, you would see a bunch of fruits. And they are all fruit.

So they have that in common. But they have different shapes, different sizes, different tastes, different textures. And so while at our core, we all have our humanity in common. That's what I'm talking about. I understand the difference between being white and black. I want to state that. I get that. But at our core.

And our core were the same. But if the core is expressed differently, then we can never get it. to the core. You know what I mean? Like, Colin, that's part of the problem, is if we can never get to the core because of the exterior, the psychological differences, then we'll never get to the shared humanity. So when I ask that, I sound like

a stupid old guy, when I say, what are our differences? What I'm talking about is today, 2020, November, what is the day, 8th, 10th, 11th. I've always had this theory is that people, and I know the country's past, but mostly, Joy and I root for the same thing. We last. We last

at the same thing. We cry at the same stuff. And I think sometimes we do such a poor job, our media does a poor job, our politicians, that we're all, we're so powerful when we're unified. And we're so rarely unified. It's frustrating to me. Politics makes me angry. I don't like being angry. I think you get more, I see it, and it's just not a Trump thing. It's just a political thing, is that I think I get off my phone sometimes. I am angry at our public figures using our divisiveness. Because, you know, we see it. Does it frustrate you?

It does, but this is a sports show, so let's talk sports. Why aren't we unified? In a locker room, people have different races, people have different religions, people have different orientations, but they're all unified, Colin, because they have the same common enemy. Therefore, they have the same common goal. Dallas Cowboys, Common Enemy, Philadelphia Eagles, let's go out there and win that game. The problem in our society, Colin, is we don't all have the same common enemy.

See, people think that it's black versus white. It's man versus woman when it's really oppressed versus oppressor. It's really hate versus evil. It's really good versus evil, love versus hate. So when I think about the cause, when I think about the effect, Colin, I'm really looking at the cause. And what's the cause is we're not on the same page of what the common. an enemy is. So rather than you and I working together to defeat the enemy, you and I

are bickering. And we can't defeat the enemy if we're bickering inside the locker room. Yeah. I know this is heady stuff and it's not real sportsy, but it's the stuff in this book that fascinates me. It's why I'm going to read it when I fly to Vegas today. This is the... Listen, I talk sports all day. I don't get smart people that don't want to talk sports. Like so when I get somebody, this is

what's it. All the questions I was supposed to ask you at the end, I just moved up. Because that's all the stuff That's all the stuff that interests me. Nothing against the Colts Titans, okay? We can talk about that all day long. It was kind of boring. I don't get your time because we're both busy, right?

And on COVID, we can't be around each other. So this is all the stuff that interests me. This is the stuff Joy and I talk about in the makeup room. We never talk sports. We talk about life and stuff, and this stuff to me is... Well, here's what I'll say. I think your book makes me think about race, and I don't get defensive. I don't get angry, and I don't think many people deliver it like you.

And that's why I think it's so important. I think it's so important your message. Your message is obviously important. But the way you delivered is very unique. And that's why I like you and I like your stuff because you're striving for that. And I don't want to sound like Oprah, but that's what you're striving for. A lot of people aren't honesty brokers in that space. That's all I'll say.

Because some people can't just listen to the message and not the tone. So rather than making the reader do more work call, and I said, let me try to package the message in a softer tone as well. And that's what I did in uncomfortable conversations with a black man. And that's what I did in the book along with the show. Because the people are at the table, Colin, ready to be delivered a meal. I just happened to be delivering the meal. I happen to be the chef of this, one of the chefs towards racial reconciliation, not the only.

By the way, when you first did this, the genesis of this. The day, the moment, the epiphany, when you're like, okay, I'm going to do it and I'm going to call it this, where were you? What was at a drive, you wake up, you dream about it. Like, where did this all start? That is a question. After the murder of George Floyd, I said, man, I have to do something. I said, I'm a sports analyst.

But before I'm a sports analyst, Colin, I'm a black man. But before the world even saw me as a black man, I'm a human being. So it's my job to positively contribute to society, leave the world better than when I got here. Colin, I originally was going to call it questions white people have. True story. I was going to call it questions white people have. I was going to get three black people at a table, three white people at a table. We'll sit at this round table, Colin.

The white people will reach into the fishbowl, pull out a question. They will ask it. The black people will answer. But we're in the middle of COVID, so I couldn't get anybody together. And so I said, uh-oh, I got to change this up. I said, timing is of the essence. You know that it's sports. Everything is of the essence.

I said, okay, I'll change the name to uncomfortable conversations with a black man. I'll do it myself. The first episode I was supposed to do it with the friend. She had a change of heart. So I was never supposed to do the first. episode by myself. First episode calling him in an all-white room staring into the lens of a camera. It was supposed to be uncomfortable conversations with a black man, not uncomfortable monologue with a black man. So why am I sitting there by myself? I never wanted to be. And that's just how

it came. I say there's a difference between your career and your calling. Career is what you're paid for. Calling is what you're made for. This I found out is my calling. It called me. I just happened to pick up. That's really well said. This is great. You know, sports is okay. This is way better. So the book is Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Black Man Emanuel Acho. It's a great picture on the back. Hey, congrats on your success. Thank you, much,

thank you so much for taking time for us. Pleasure of mine. This is the Herd Basta. Coming up next. Justin Herbert, Terry Bradshaw, comedian Bill Byrne. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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, reader 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 I-Heart 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. bedded 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 I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement. to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilts of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that

not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard 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. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.