The Herd with Colin Cowherd - All Ball - Team USA Reality Check; Guest - Dan Patrick On His Playing Days, Gunning, Covering 80's/90's College, MJ Finals
Episode Date: September 19, 2019This week, Gottlieb looks at where Team USA goes after an embarrassing 7th place finish at the FIBA World Championships, why winning internationally won't be easy, even with better players. This week,... Doug talks with sports broadcasting legend Dan Patrick about his hoops background as a kid in Southwestern, Ohio, watching the Cincinnati Royals, missing out on his shot to play DI at the University of Dayton, his transition into sports broadcasting, covering peak 80's/90's college basketball, and MJ, Bird Finals. Make sure you download, rate and subscribe here to get the latest All Ball Podcasts! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Hey, welcome in. Doug Gottlieb here.
Welcome in to All Ball, my All Basketball podcast.
By the way, if you didn't have us in your cue,
and you didn't know last week's with Adam Morrison,
we cranked up and had like 6,000 new downloads.
The numbers are crazy for the downloads last week.
But feel free to look back, and it was a great conversation.
This week's guest is none of than Dan Patrick.
To those of you know who know, DP, of course, Dan Patrick's show.
He's done just about everything in the business.
But he was a college basketball player at Eastern Kentucky.
And then I think at Dayton, we'll catch up with him in a moment.
He was a high school basketball star in a small town in southeastern Ohio,
not far outside of Cincinnati.
Dad taught at U.D. at Dayton before he transferred to U.D.
we'll get to all that.
Danny's a good friend.
And we're going to talk all things hoop with Dan Patrick.
I just want to say this about Team USA.
And while I understand we're going to be better when we have better players,
you have Steph Curry, who has already said he wants to play in the Olympics,
which means he's going to play in the Olympics.
You look around the NBA, you're like, we're going to be better with better players.
But we should have had better players than teams that played,
and we still weren't really competitive for a medal.
Serbia beat us.
You know, they split obviously in the lead-up games in Australia.
And some of it, you know, you'd have to point out as a player,
some of it is kind of assimulating a coaching style to a very different sport.
But some of it is what Kobe said, which is the world has improved.
And I thought it was a smart point that Kobe made where he said,
hey, we had to have some things go our way to escape Spain with the redeemed team.
Why are people surprised that these foreign teams are so good?
the world is catching us and the style of officiating the style of play does benefit them more than
our supreme athleticism and it's not a style we play all year long so i'm in agreement i think
we're in for dog fights now we used to be to the point where after maybe the redeemed team we could
have gone back to the college kids and been willing to lose games and say hey we're going to do the real
amateur thing but since we're not doing that and we're going to be USA basketball i i think we'll be
fine in the Olympics, but I think for years to come, it's going to get increasingly difficult
as countries become more and more invested in their basketball programs.
So do I think we're not the superpower we used to be?
No, I think we have the greatest depth of talent this world over.
But I also will tell you that even once we get our top line talent to play in the Olympics,
it still is not going to be easy and it would not be crazy if we lost a metal game.
Wouldn't be crazy at all.
Because the three-point shot is the Oakland Equalizer,
because the style of basketball is so different,
and because, you know, I'm not sure that the way in which we play youth
and collegiate basketball, maybe even NBA basketball,
is conducive to playing team basketball in the physical style,
which you see in Fiba.
Be sure to catch live editions of the Doug Gottlieb show
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All right, let's get to our next guest, who is the incomparable Dan Patrick,
known for the big show, Sports Center, of course, the Dan Patrick show, which he hosts now,
and he broke off, and for 13 years he's hosted, it's now on the audience network.
He's done Super Bowls, he's done NBA drafts, he's done just about everything.
Let's welcome in the one and only Dan Patrick.
Dan, let's begin.
You grew up in, where Mason, Ohio, paint the picture of Mason, Ohio.
You've grown up with a gaggle of brothers.
and sisters? Probably like Mayberry a little bit. It was pretty insulated, pretty isolated. You
keep doors unlocked. My parents didn't worry where I was, and I spent most of the time at the
middle school outside, morning, noon, and night shooting hoops, played baseball. My brothers played
football and family of six.
It was pretty idyllic.
I mean, when you look back on it, you know, we had a lot of freedom.
And, you know, I had nothing to great memories.
Okay, so why, what about, what drew you to basketball?
When did you first start playing?
What was it that made hoop your thing?
I remember reading my name in the paper in fifth grade
amongst the top scores in the fifth grade league.
and I was addicted to it.
I just, I'd stare at the box store.
And it was just in a small, you know, the local paper,
but I remember, I got the sixth grade.
I was like, I want to put up some numbers here.
And then I started playing junior highball,
and it was the same thing.
And I don't know, just something about it.
Like, I became obsessed.
And it wasn't that I was a gunner.
It was just I couldn't score enough.
I could never, ever, ever.
like as soon as you score, I just had this crazy mentality of,
I got to get the ballback score, got to get the ball back.
Now, like I said, I wasn't a gunner because I think I was second,
or led my league in assist, but I also led it in scoring.
I was just, I was fascinated with stats, fascinated with numbers,
and that ability to score, I love the sound of the net.
Nothing better than if you put the net up on the run.
rim and they had to stop play and get the broom out.
So it was just small things that attracted me to it.
But that first time I saw my name in the paper with, you know, 12 points.
And I was like, God, that is awesome.
Yeah.
That's called Hanging the Net, right?
And I don't know if you know this.
I remember me reading Steve Alford's book when I was a kid.
And Steve Alford would end every workout by hanging the net.
Like that was his thing.
And I believe he asked his wife.
to marry him because he
and the way he did it was he hung the net
and then he had the ladder to
go up and have her go up and fix it and the ring
was up there. I think that's
actually... Okay, so southeastern
Ohio, were you a
Kentucky feel? Like, what was your
fandom growing up? Like, who was the
who was the hoop guy you looked up to?
College pro? What was it? Well, it's fortunate
that we had the Cincinnati Royals in town
and nobody went to
see them. We would sneak into those
games and I got to see at the
tail end of Oscar Robertson's career as a royal, and then Nate Archibald came in, and I fell in
love with a five-foot-tene, ten left-hander, who went left every single time, and he was just,
he was fascinating to see him, and I got to see every great team come in from, you know, that,
that Laker team that won 33 in a row. I saw the Knicks, you know, the championship mix. I saw
Earl Monroe. I saw Marovich come in. So I was, I just,
I was very, very lucky to be able to have that.
We also had the big red machine at the time,
and then I followed the University of Dayton basketball
and the University of Cincinnati basketball.
I was a fan of Bo Lamar in southwest Louisiana.
I loved the guy who led the nation in scoring.
There was just something about it.
I followed them.
Bird Averett, Larry Fogle, who was at Southwest Louisiana
with Bo Lamar and went to Canetius.
So once again, it came down to numbers.
I would get the stats after every Cincinnati Royals game from the play-by-play guy,
Dom Valentino, and I just study them.
I just study everything about, you know, how many shots, how many assists, blocks, steals, everything.
And I was very fortunate Cincinnati, Bearcats, Gail Catlett was the head coach.
Miami, Ohio, a guy that I went to basketball camp with Randy Ayers, played at Miami.
you know, so I, Darrell Hedrick was head coach.
So I had basketball surrounding me.
Some of it was really good, and the Royals weren't good, but they were entertaining.
Okay, so you end up having what looks like, you know, again, and this is more from going and reading your background, having a stellar high school career.
How good were you?
How good was your team?
Team started out real good, and we lost in the first round of,
of the tournament.
And I was devastated because I, you know, we were really good and should have been great.
And then I didn't know what I was going to do because I should have gone to a smaller school.
I was 13 All-State, honorable mention all-American, and I just kept waiting.
Like, where are these phone calls?
So I would get letters.
Digger Phelps sent two letters to me, one to save them.
interested in me. Another one said he wasn't interested in me. And, you know, I, I appreciated that.
BYU was another place, Air Force, a Captain. But I kept thinking, I'm going to, somebody's
want, somebody's got to want me. Now, we didn't have the three-point shot. And I think had we had that,
then, you know, it would have been a lot easier for me. And I remember playing against a guy
in my league who went to eastern Kentucky
and he was playing basketball
and I said well I'm better than Jeff Howard
and for some reason
and I still don't know my parents never said anything
about where I should go
my dad didn't want me to go to Air Force
because my dad was a Marine and he said
you're not a fly boy
and so I
walked on at Eastern Kentucky
and to this day I still can't tell you why I did it and why somebody didn't stop me
but I got to play I played junior varsity both years and I had a ball
because I just got to shoot as much as I wanted to and I had a coach who knew I should
have gone some other place or been able to play for the varsity but the coach didn't like me
coach called me golden boy never called me by my name who's the coach and who's the coach
Bob Mokey.
And he just, he would yell at me, you know, during scrimmages.
And by golly, golden boy, get out.
And then he would send me over.
And I just said, I couldn't wait for junior varsity games.
Like we played at Freedom Hall.
We played at Marshall.
We played at a lot of fun places.
And I remember I put up 25 shots one time.
And I was like, this is.
awesome. And I got to shoot whenever I wanted to as much as I wanted to, and I knew that it didn't matter
how good I was. I wasn't going to get called up to the varsity. And it took me a little while.
As soon as the season ended, I called my dad, who was a computer programmer at the University of
Dayton. I said, I think I'm a transfer. And he said, you know, Coach Donner, the legendary
coach Don Donner doesn't take transfers. I said, I don't care. I need to figure out what I'm
going to do with my life. My brother at the time was on the radio at Dayton, WVUD, wonderful
campus radio station. So my dad worked there. Two older brothers went there, and I just went to
Dayton, and I torched people in intermurals. I was an angry, angry guy. I wanted to put up 50
because I wanted Coach Donnerher to notice that I was on campus.
And I'd go against the back court,
Jack Zimmerman and Doug Harris, wonderful players,
and I'd play against them.
And I, you know, John Paxson played against him in Summer League.
Like, I wanted to embarrass these guys.
And, you know, for no other reason then I didn't get to play, and they did.
And I remember that Jim Paxon would, he dunked on me one time.
We joke about it.
He also stole my girlfriend.
Like, I think that he didn't like that I wanted.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Jim Paxson stole your girlfriend?
Yeah.
How'd this happen?
Well, my girlfriend was a cheerleader and was in love with Jim Pacton and, you know,
would tell me that, openly told me that.
And then I don't know if he stole her, he borrowed her.
And, you know, they saw each other and dated.
I don't know what happened.
So, like, you were actually dating her?
And then she said, you found out she was cheating on you?
She dumped you and started dating him?
Like, how did it go to this story I need to know?
She might have dumped me, but, you know, in my mind, you know,
like it took two years to realize I wasn't going to play at Eastern Kentucky.
It takes me a little.
I'm slow, Doug.
It takes me a little time.
And I thought, you know what?
You know, as long as it makes packs a better player, you know, that I'm fine with that.
You know, I'm okay.
There's a lot.
There's other cheerleaders out there.
I mean, there weren't for me, but there were other cheerleaders.
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And it took, my father passed away, and my sister was a cheerleader on the basketball team,
and the entire team came to my dad's funeral, and Don Donoher, pulled me aside later, you know,
after everybody was having beers, and he said, you know, I made a mistake. I should let you play.
And it really meant a lot, you know, granted, it was at my dad's funeral,
but I thought it was kind of pointed that my dad would have liked to have heard that,
and, you know, I knew I could hold my own, but, you know, I was such an asshole.
Like I, you know, I was really, really angry.
I mean, so much so we had a grad league, and I played against the guy who had been on the team,
Tim Pullman, six-eight guy, played, you know, for the state championship,
you know, wonderful guy, wonderful guy.
And he's playing against us for the championship.
And I said, I'm going to, I'm going to put up 40 on Pullman.
and for no other reason then
damn it somebody is going to notice this
and I felt bad
I'm dribbling up the floor Doug
and I yell over to the guys
I said how many I got
and I go 36 I go right
I stuck 40 on Pullman
years later years
this is probably 10 years
ago
I'm in Charlotte
radio convention
I see this guy staring at me
tall guy bald
and I go
I don't know what the story is with this guy.
And it's Tim Pullman.
He walks over and he goes, hey, you put up 40 on me.
And I go, oh, my God, Tim, I'm so sorry.
I was such a jerk to you.
And he goes, no, I get it.
I don't blame him.
I'm thinking, God, I don't know how I didn't get my ass pick back then.
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If you could talk to me a little bit about the process you went through,
and I think it's good to not pat yourself on the back,
but to put it out there so other people can kind of hear what it takes.
I don't know.
I always look at like this.
What do I want?
I wanted to be a WWE superstar.
All right, what does it take to be a WVE superstar?
All right, what does it take to be a WW Superstar?
What are the tools I will need to give me every possible opportunity I can get?
And so I took the tools of acting classes, improv classes, wrestling school, everything I possibly
can to knock on the door of WW.
The people of the, everyone on that real world show would wear my t-shirts, would always ask me to do the MIS.
Like, they were so supportive.
Like, you don't get at that very often.
You really don't.
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So it's interesting.
Like you carry, like my, there's a lot of similarities there, honestly, with my dad.
My dad was a New Yorker, grew up in the Bronx, moved out to Long Island, right?
And walked on at Syracuse, was on the freshman team.
And, again, this is his story was he took a charge in a varsity player and the coach
kicked him off the team.
And so he then transferred to Ohio State, where he was a walk-on and a JV player with Havlchek and Jerry Lucas and Bob Knight.
Larry, Sieg.
Right, right, and that crew.
And what's interesting about it is he would tell me stories.
Like, he was in Las Vegas.
He coached at Death Valley High School.
He played in a league in Las Vegas, like an adult league, and led it in scoring.
and he was like, I don't know if I was a late bloomer
or if I was just angry because I didn't play in college, whatever,
but I just, I tried to take it out on everybody that I played against,
whereas the opposite is kind of true with me where it's not that I don't have a competitive gene,
but it's almost as if, like, I struggle to, I struggle to find a reason to kick somebody's ass sometimes,
you know, even when I could, and other guys come at you a lot, a lot harder.
Okay, so, so let's,
So you get done going to Dayton.
You don't get to play.
Your dad died when you were 25, I'm going to say, right?
So obviously you didn't have hopes of playing.
Did you want to coach?
Did you be around ball?
Why did you get into radio?
I never had a plan B.
I played baseball, played in a semi-pro baseball league in Cincinnati, which was really competitive,
pitching and shortstop, and I actually tore my labrum, and it took me, I just had it, I finally had
surgery three years ago on it. I had blown out my knee when I, when I was 14, I needed to have
knee surgery, but my dad said, can you top it out? Because back then they would open me up,
and I would have been out for a year. I didn't have, I needed knee surgery my entire basketball
career and waited till I was 24.
And, you know, since then, I've had five knee surgeries.
I finally had it replaced.
So I was sort of playing on borrowed time anyway with it, but I just thought I was spinning
records.
I was a DJ, but I only knew sports.
I was going to get into sports somehow, some way.
Wasn't a good student, but I was attracted to numbers.
I would read books.
I would read starting lineups.
I would memorize it.
I never knew if it would come in handy.
I'd go to parties, and you had to stump me with a trivia question to leave the party.
And I took great pride in keeping guys from going home with their girlfriends,
because if I got the question, right, you went to the back of the line.
and I just, that was what I knew.
And I had no idea.
I was so naive, didn't know how to get into the business.
And, you know, thank God my brother was on the radio
because I learned how to be a disc jockey queuing up, you know,
the albums at the time.
And then I got hired to do weekends at the rock and roll station in Dayton.
And then I was still mowing greens at Jack Nicholas Golf Course during the week.
So my weekend job was.
spinning records and, you know, there was an opening in the morning. And I ended up being the news
guy in the morning. And then after that, rented out some TV equipment. I filmed an audition
tape, sent it to Bob Lee at ESPN and Greg Gumble. And I said, here's five minutes of me
had living. Tell me what you think. And Bob Lee sent me a full-page letter back and critiqued
my work and said, you know what? You need to. You need to.
it, you know, find a job, but you have what it takes, and, you know, maybe he believed it or not.
Fast forward to seven, six or seven years later, I'm sitting next to Bob Lee on Sports Center
after getting a job. I lost a job at Channel 2 in Dayton, Ohio.
And everybody knew that, you know, I should get the job, but I wasn't good-looking enough.
The guy who got it was better-looking than me.
And it was, it blew my mind. I'm like, wait, the better-looking guy got the job over the guy who knows
sports. And then I said, I'm not, I'm not cut out for local sports. And then I went down to Atlanta.
I had an old girlfriend down there, went to see her, brought in a tape the last day I was there
to CNN and got hired that day. I'm like, I don't, this business is so crazy. I didn't get a job
in Dayton, Ohio, but I now have a job at CNN. Six months later, I took over for Keith Oberman
in New York as the New York reporter, met my mom.
my then, you know, girlfriend who's now my wife, and went back to Atlanta, anchored for a little while,
and then went to ESPN, where I spent 18 years, and then I left 13 years ago to start, you know, my own show.
So crazy, crazy.
You know, I would tell people, you know, there's so much luck in this, but you better be good when they're ready to call on you.
And that was the case for me.
Okay.
Who is the guy in Dayton who got the job because he's better look?
than you.
Ken Kettering.
And we laugh about it.
But, you know,
it,
he laughed. He was, he's now a limo
driver and he's got six kids.
And, you know, I came to the realization,
Ken's a better looking guy, but he even said
you should have gotten a job.
Thank God I didn't.
I mean, not thank God that I'm not good looking
enough to get the job, but thank
God that I didn't get the job because,
you know, it humbled me.
and I went to Atlanta and got that job.
And I was doing headline sports.
I wasn't even on camera.
So you can imagine the inferiority complex.
I'm not good enough to get the job in Dayton because I'm not good looking enough.
And I go to CNN.
I'm still not on camera.
So I'm like, maybe I got a face for radio.
So you get to Atlanta.
Now you work for CNN.
What was the first big basketball event you covered?
First, the final four.
Do you remember what year it was?
Might have been Denver when Brett Musburger got fired.
So that's Denver was 90, right?
That was, and this is the fun part for basketball guys.
Georgia Tech, Arkansas.
Kenny Anderson.
Yeah, Georgia Tech and Kenney, Aleth Weapon 3, right?
Arkansas, UNOV and Duke, right?
And that's Bobby Hurley was sick, and they got beat by 31.
points whatever. Actually, you know what it was? Danny Manning. I was there for that one.
That was 88?
Danny Manning was the first one.
Okay, so that was Kansas City.
Yeah.
And that was Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma.
Oklahoma.
Wait, wait, wait, who's the fourth team? Hold on. Let's think of it. This is on the fly.
1988, final four was Kansas, Arizona, Oklahoma.
Ooh.
man, you got any idea, or do you want me to look it up?
You have to look it up because whoever can't, that first half of the Oklahoma, Arizona game was as good as any first half I've ever seen in my life.
Duke. Duke was the other one. That was another Duke.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Yeah, but that was, you know, then I got to be around these coaches.
I remember Coach Kay wrote a letter to me saying that a question I had.
for Lude Olson wasn't fair.
And I kept this letter.
And he was probably right, but, you know, I just don't have any page.
I want to know an answer.
And I don't want coach speak.
So even back then, I could see through the bullshit where I'm going,
nah, no, I need an answer.
I remember Coach K wrote me a letter at CNN saying that, you know,
it was not a fair question.
And, you know, if you remember what the question was?
No, I don't remember.
know that, you know, he kind of labeled the unprofessional, which I did, I did tell Coach K
about that.
He said, well, you probably were.
And I said, yeah, maybe so.
My coach K story goes to something like this.
The guy who hired me at ESPN's name is Dan Steer.
I know you know, Dan.
Yeah.
And we were doing half time of the ACC champion semifinals.
And at the time Chris Collins was his lead assistant.
and Chris Collins did the halftime interview,
because you remember Coach Kay, for a long time there,
didn't do halftime interviews.
And it was just two questions.
And they come to us in studio,
and I'm with Tom Brennan and Scott Reese,
and we're in that little studio,
I was Studio D where it's in the new newsroom.
And they come to us, and I said, like,
why can't Coach Kay do the interview?
And you would have thought I farted on set, right?
I mean, like the look on those other two faces,
like, man,
believe you just said and they're like why would you why would you say that I say well like look when
coach coach coach case the coach of team USA he's synonymous with college basketball when he gets when
you get in the locker room nobody listens to the assistant coach they're up there rambling you
listen to head coach so why are we asking questions to the assistant coach why I'm like it's two
questions we're not asking that much and Scott Reese is like we'll find out what else is uh pissing
Doug Gottlie boff coming up next right so I literally we get done with that segment and the phone rings
me and it's Dan Steer.
What the fuck are you doing?
We have a relationship with Duke.
We have an agreement that he doesn't want to do the interview.
We don't ask about it.
I was like, okay, but I mean, don't you think if you're at home, nobody gives a shit.
Anyway, that was my, and Coach, and Coach Kay, actually, I talked to him that summer.
He's like, I don't, I don't, I told him I don't want to do it.
I just, I don't want to do it.
It's nothing personal.
I don't want to do it.
The first time, I covered all of those Big East games.
So, you know, I take that back the first.
I had, you know, Massimino and Villanova cover their victory parade.
Syracuse did features on Chris Mullen and Mark Jackson and Louis Carnaceca,
on Tom, Providence, like the whole Beheim at Syracuse.
So those Big East, I didn't realize at the time that basketball would never be the same.
But I would go over there for the Big East tournament.
We did features all the time.
So that's probably the real introduction to big time college basketball.
And then graduating to cover some final four.
Last night, a blown call changed a game.
This morning, the internet lost its mind.
Highlights are trending.
Opinions are flying.
And nobody's telling you exactly what happened.
That's where Sports Slice comes in.
I'm Timbo.
Every episode, we're cutting through the noise.
Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.
We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves.
locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama,
the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games,
from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions
everybody wants answered. Sportslice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people
who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast,
network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway 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,
or 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 hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway.
hard way and listen now.
What's up guys?
This is Clever Taylor the 4th.
And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show,
I'm bringing you conversations
about all kinds of stuff.
Like being an internet
famous referee.
We're in the middle of a game.
This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me,
he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave
at her.
What?
Time out.
Quarterback on office blue with 42.
A rep.
My mama want you to wave at her.
What?
Where's she at?
Hey, Miss Parker.
Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.
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 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 Hippocrite, 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,
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.
Oh, cream of chicken suit.
A cream.
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 IFart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
After that, so...
It was kind of a magical time, if you think about it.
Oh, my God.
I mean, if you think about it, so my, again, I'm experiencing the same thing only from California, and we had, you know, with Loran Ellis and Mike Hopkins, Scott McCorkel, we had California kids playing, you know, I mean, look, Yukon had a California.
point guard.
And they had several California players, whatever.
And Syracuse, obviously, I just named a couple of them.
It was such a, it was the beginning really of cable television.
And college basketball was where ESPN kind of stuck their flag into the ground because
it was volume programming.
It could be on in the, it was the only thing decent on in the afternoon.
You get home and your California, you turn on.
And then everybody in the East Coast watch because, again, kind of same thing,
but only thing on at night during the week.
And then you had all these incredible players.
You had only eight teams, these small schools that you normally would not pay any attention to.
Like, that was kind of a magical time for the Big East and Big Monday in the 1980s.
Well, you had everybody stay.
You know, Mullen was staying, Ewing.
They're all staying four years.
And so you had star power.
And the coaches were stars.
It was a big deal.
And to go to the Big East back then.
to be, you know, these people, it was, it was wonderful.
I mean, I probably took it for granted, but I don't take it for granted looking back on those memories.
Okay, so now you, then there's the NBA as well, and you're, again, in that, this is becoming the Jordan era, right?
When you start covering the NBA finals, that was like the tail end of magic, and you have the bad boy pistons.
what was it like to cover Jordan
kind of before he
because I think now we look back
in a way in Jordan
and we think of the six championships
I do think people forget
that there was a long time there
where Jordan was
yeah he's the best player
but he hadn't won anything yet
well I got to cover the NBA finals
I was there for birds championships
I was there when Magic hit the hook
shot
so I got to see
go to the garden
and do a lot of things.
You know, even the Knicks back then, but more so with the Celtics.
And then when Jordan came in and I'm doing Sports Center, I'll never forget.
Mark Jones is the first one who was doing the interviews post-game NBA finals
when the Bulls played the Portland Trailblazers.
And I remember sitting there throwing out to him.
And as I'm throwing it out to Mark Jones standing by with my
Michael Jordan, and I said to myself, I will be doing the interviews next year. And I just became
obsessed with it because I just said, for some reason, I knew it was, there was something that
was happening that we would never see again. And I don't know why I thought this. We were seeing
a transcendent player. As much as I love Larry and Magic, they weren't Mike. And I, he was, there was still
a Greta Garbo feel to him. Like, we didn't really know him. We watched him, and we wanted to be like Mike,
but we didn't know it. And I just thought, you know what, I'm going to attack him with questions
the way he attacks people on the floor. And he allowed me to, he'd always say, before every NBA
final that I cover, he would say, I'll talk to you after we win, not if, but after we went,
when we win.
And he would come in sometimes when they would win like game two or something.
But he would always, always, always come in after they won a championship.
And I just remember it was fun volleying with him.
And that's what I wasn't trying to ace him.
I was trying to volley with him.
All I wanted it was was back and forth, have some fun, bring out that personality,
make him smile, let people see, you know, he's a killer on the floor.
But, you know, he became, my goal.
was to humanize Mike in those interviews. And it was a short period of time. You know, you got maybe,
you know, four minutes, five minutes. What can you get out of him? I, I, I, he was willing to play.
And I always appreciated that.
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Your interview style, it's interesting
because I tell people this all the time
that when I put together a radio show
and I started doing it at,
really my first solo shows at ESPN
were early on 2003, 2004,
got my own gig kind of 2006-ish, 2007.
I said, like, look, I like the way certain people do certain things.
You're the best interviewer in the business.
But I feel like the two things you do really, really well is, yes, you'll ask kind of questions that'll tweak some guys, but you ask them in a way in which you actually want to know the answer.
There are other people, I won't say who they are, but they're basically setting up a story that they've already heard.
whereas you're asking a question that you want the answer to.
And then the second part that you do probably the best job of is actually listening
and then either forming a different question or coming back at somebody because of the way in which they answer.
Let's start with the first part.
Where does that come from?
The ability to ask a question, and I feel like that's your style, to ask a question that you don't know the answer to.
Well, even if I know the answer to it, a common mistake we make is you will ask a question.
while answering a question, then ask the question,
and then you can basically get a yes or no answer.
I want you always to tell the story,
because the audience may not know it.
I may know it, but I want you to tell it
instead of me acting like I know, you know,
I don't want to project.
I want you to talk.
If I have you on, you're my guest, you talk,
and I always want to set you up
where I ask you an open-ended question,
how, where, why,
when, who, and then I get you going. And then listening is just, I have three daughters,
and I have to listen. And if you listen, it's amazing what you'll hear. And, you know, I never want
the question to be, people say, oh, you ask great questions. And I always follow up by saying,
but what was the answer? Because a great, if it doesn't elicit a great answer, then is it really a
great question. I think we got caught up in 60 minutes where Mike Wallace would say,
did you kill that person? Well, that's not a good question. Why do people think you killed this
person? I want you talking. And once you talk, it's amazing how much you'll tell me without trying
to not tell me something. So those are my goals with every interview. And if you don't remember
something that was said during my interview, then I didn't do my job. And that is, what did somebody
tell you, not what my question was, what was the answer?
Because I want somebody to say, oh, you know who I heard on Dan Patrick's show, this guy.
And you know what he said?
Boom.
So all I want is word of mouth that you got something that you hadn't heard before.
And, you know, let's face it, athletes are interviewed more than anybody else in the world.
Because they're available every game, before a game, after game, practice.
How can I ask you something that you haven't heard?
How do I ask you in a way that I get a different answer than somebody else?
Those are the challenges.
Was it when you were doing the big show that it changed, that you got the ability?
Because it's not just getting people on your radio show or when you interview people on SportsCenter,
but because of what you and Keith had, you not only could get the interview.
It felt like you had the poetic license to ask the question.
Like, is that when it changed?
Or did you always feel like you had that ability to ask you?
the question?
I thought I had the ability, I thought I had the obligation to ask questions.
It's the ability to be able to be on a level playing field with those who you're interviewing.
Because if you'll notice, Letterman's chair was always higher than his guess.
So he was already saying, hey, you've got to come up to me.
You've got to play on my level.
And they would.
I didn't do that, but in my mind, I wanted to say,
we're going to go into this on a level playing field.
And I think having a little bit of cachet after SportsCenter's success
allowed me to ask some questions to get people to open up.
Last night, a blown call changed a game.
This morning, the internet lost its mind.
Highlights are trending, opinions are flying,
and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.
That's where Sports Slice comes in.
I'm Timbo.
Every episode we're cutting through the noise.
Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.
We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves.
Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.
The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.
From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down,
give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered.
Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live there.
them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.
Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway 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
or 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, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway.
Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.
What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff.
Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to.
wave at her. What?
Come on.
Quarterback on office blue of 42.
Hey, Rhett, mama want you to wave at her.
What?
Hey, Miss Parker.
Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.
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 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 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 of 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.
A little bit more, because I would do the Sunday conversation.
I would travel all over the country,
sit down with these athletes,
and we would do 30 minutes and parrot nests.
down to four-minute Sunday conversation.
So I got the repetition, and then I got the reputation of he does the interviews.
And I had a wonderful seminar with John Swatsky, who people at ESPN were cursing at me under their breath
because I read an article where it called him the king of the interview.
I remember going to John Walsh, my boss, and said, can we get this guy in?
and I read this interview and I was just fascinated.
And I just thought, gosh, everybody could benefit from this.
And really, you can benefit from it, even if you weren't on the air.
It's just the ability to ask people questions to get them to talk.
And John Swatki came in and we did five days, eight hours a day on interviewing.
And I loved it.
Me too.
I could have done two weeks, but people were just grumbling over it.
And I came away fascinated by it.
And I just started to put those tips into play.
And, you know, I would talk to John Swatki all the time and just say, listen to this.
What are you hearing?
What do you?
I wanted him to critique my work.
And, I mean, I was chasing.
Even though I thought I was pretty good, I wanted to be great.
I just, I did, I wanted to leave no doubt.
It kind of goes back to my basketball days.
Like I wanted, I wanted to crush an interview.
I wanted to own it.
And, you know, but you can't get out in front of it.
You can't get in your own way, and you can overthink it.
And I wanted him to tell me, you know what?
You could ask that in a shorter question.
Nothing better than a short question, because then you can't reload.
Right.
You can tell me something, and I'll go, why?
Well, normally we'll go, why would you answer it that way?
Because, you know, I would think you would be like this and not feel that way, but why would you?
So now you get time to reload.
I just go, why?
And we're so insecure.
We don't want somebody to go,
well, you don't even know the answer.
It's not if I know the answer.
It's what answer they give you the audience that I care about.
I don't care about, you know, insecurity.
I want to get a great conversation going.
There's so much good stuff there.
I'm fascinated on a bunch of levels to it.
Let's start with Bird.
You did say, hey, I was there.
Bird's finals, Magic's finals.
I feel like now maybe because, you know, Bird had a reputation,
maybe how we see him in video as unathletic, people don't understand,
even the impact he had on the league, right?
Like, I think they won 29 games year before he got there,
his senior year at Indiana State.
Then they won 60, his rookie year, or 59 is his rookie year.
For somebody who was alive and as a basketball player, how should we contextualize Larry Bird?
Well, I look magic and Larry were very similar.
I mean, magic wasn't the most athletic guy in what we deem athleticism is, can I beat you?
How often can I beat you?
How am I being?
Larry was so athletic, he would tell you how he was going to beat you.
we're so competitive
I think that's more competitive
than athletic
no but he would
oh I think you
would but what is athleticism
is athleticism being able to find
the right bounce past
is it able to
no look past it is able to hit the jump shot
they ran the Celtics back there ran
they had fast breaks back then
I think we look at athleticism
and go okay how high do you jump
what's your vertical
there are guys we've played with
who are unbelievable jumpers
They can't play.
Bird and Magic were very similar because their athleticism, you know,
there was a mental capacity to athleticism, which I think, you know, that's something
that's really hard to, you know, gauge.
Like, I can see you jump.
I can't, you know, your mental acuity, that was something that bird and magic took it
to a different level.
And it's not to say that Mike and Isaiah and, you know, run down the list, weren't smart.
like Tim Duncan had that ability like Bird and Magic, where you just watch the
understand, process a game.
So it wasn't until, you know, recently a couple of years ago that I would have taken
Bird over LeBron.
You know, Bird had a couple of seasons.
You know, we look at LeBron and, you know, Larry put up, you know, 31, 10, and eight,
eight, a half or something.
And if you would have said Larry average a triple double, he would.
would have.
You know, that, the same with magic.
You know, we got drunk with stats, I think, probably starting in the 90s, and everybody
in Bay All Sports.
But, you know, that's not what those guys were about.
It was about, did we win?
Like John Stockton, I don't think he sat there and went, you know, I'd like the average
13 assist the game.
He was like, he couldn't care less how many he had.
He wanted to know, you know, hey, did we win?
So Bird, bird to me was.
you know,
fascinating to watch
because that ability
to be able to do,
you know,
you would tell guys,
I'm going to hit the jumper
right here in front of you.
And then he'd go out and hit the jumper right in front of you.
That seems to be athletic,
maybe not in the,
you know,
context of what,
you know,
we've come to appreciate.
But I would rather watch that kind of player,
that mentality.
And it,
you know,
LeBron has a high basketball IQ as well,
extremely high.
I love watching how somebody
can outthink you and do it in the moment in real time.
So, and now, and I love Bird.
You know, Bill Walton is probably my favorite basketball player of all time,
because when I saw him play at his peak,
he understood the game better than anybody I've ever seen.
And he was, he couldn't sustain it.
Well, he was also a crazy athlete until he had the foot problems.
People forget what an amazing, what an amazing athlete.
But I just love watching.
that. And it's not that O'Bird worked harder.
You know, Jordan worked hard.
Isaiah worked hard. You don't get there without working hard.
It's, we tend to look at athleticism and say, oh, like, you're lucky.
Oh, you don't have to work that hard.
You know, they do.
I mean, Mike worked hard on the floor, worked hard.
And I think sometimes that's lost on people that because you're athletic, we think that,
oh, it's easier for you.
and you know, Vince Carter, wonderful, athletic.
You know, is there a difference between him and Michael Jordan?
Did Mike work harder?
Like, I never know that.
Like, how many guys in the history of the game have been more athletic than Vince Carter?
Not many.
But, you know, he doesn't have the resume to show for it, whereas Michael does.
And, you know, so I'm always fascinated with how does that, like Steve Nash.
I remember meeting him his rookie year.
And I thought,
God, this is a cute story.
You know,
he looks like Tatum O'Neill's boyfriend
in Bad News Bears.
Like, you know, I had kind of,
that's nice, you know.
I remember him at Santa Clara.
And I go, God.
And who is it, Bill Duffy?
He was like, hey, this guy
he's going to start the NBA.
And I went, you know, Bill,
I love you.
But, you know, you just pumped up your client.
And I went, holy shit.
When I watched him play,
and he wasn't even good enough to, you know, get on the floor in Phoenix.
I just remember that ability to think a game through.
You know, Jason Kidd saw him at Kansas at, you know,
when they played them in the field house, and I went, holy shit.
Like, it's a different game for these guys,
and that's why I go when somebody's athletic,
it's a long-winded way of saying the mental part of it to me,
there is athleticism in that.
Because you can have all the talent in the world,
If you can't put it into motion, then really how athletic are, you know, what does it matter how athletic you are?
Hey, everyone, it's Dramos from Life as a Gringo podcast.
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In high school, I never really was like dating around or anything like that.
And then I got into a long-term relationship and was dating someone for a few years.
And then after getting out of that relationship, I think this past year or so or whatever,
whatever, has been like actually living life as a single person, it's very hard.
And I think it's not hard, I should say, but like, it's very different knowing nothing but
long-term relationships.
And then moving into like the single lifestyle that's like, quote, dating around and like feeling
people out.
That's kind of been something interesting to navigate.
Listen to the My Coul Dura podcast network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast.
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What happened with you and David Stern?
Oh, we had a great relationship.
I know you did, but there was some, I was doing the draft on radio.
You were doing the drive.
You're the host of the draft.
You're the face of the network.
And there was something between the two of you that he felt like you tweaked him in a way.
And like he was a, that was just kind of the way he worked.
There had to be something that happened between you two.
Nothing.
No, no, no, no, absolutely.
We went back and forth with each other.
I challenged him, and I was not afraid to challenge him,
but I knew if you challenged him, you better be ready.
And that was just me having fun.
He was supposed to come out for a draft pick.
I was told he was coming out.
So we'd get the heads up.
Commissioners, the pick is in.
Here comes, Commissioner.
And I said, and let's go to the podium.
The commissioner is here with the pick.
And they didn't come out.
So all I did is fill in some time and say,
oh, the commissioner, playing a little hide-and-seek or whatever,
peekaboo.
and then he came out and he talked about pithy comments, but it was, all that was kind of a microcosm
a little peek into our relationship.
If I was around him, we would be the same way.
Absolutely, positively.
Couldn't say enough great things about him.
He championed me.
He knew I loved the game.
He insisted that I do the NBA, because Mike Tariko was doing it before, but he insisted that I, I, I do, I do, he knew that I love the game.
that I loved the game and didn't have any other aspirations, play-by-play, any of that,
to know, no issues whatsoever with David Stern.
Absolutely not.
Obviously, David Stern had a right-hand man as Adam Silver.
Adam Silver is now running the league.
And their styles, at least, out in front of the media, could not be any more different, right?
Like David Stern, though, he championed Jordan and Bird and Magic, and they helped save the league.
it felt much more heavy-handed in his approach
as opposed to Adam Silver
who seems...
Last night, a blown call changed a game.
This morning, the internet lost its mind.
Highlights are trending, opinions are flying,
and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.
That's where Sports Slice comes in.
I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise.
Breaking down the plays, the controversies,
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We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves.
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give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.
Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.
Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
And for more, follow Timbo SlicLife 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.
Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway 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, Kear Gaines,
as 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 hard way and listen now.
What's up, guys?
This is Clever Taylor the 4th.
And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show,
I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff.
Like being an internet famous referee.
We're in the middle of a game.
This linebacker walks up to me.
He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.
What?
Time out.
Quarterback on office blue with 42.
A rep, my mama want you to wave at her.
What?
Hey, Ms. Parker.
Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
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.
We're 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
podcast. Again, outward appearance to be way, way, way more player friendly. Do you believe that
the NBA is in a good place considering how outspoken the players are and how powerful
they are in their business?
Yeah, I think so.
I don't think that the old school that, hey, we drafted you and you have to abide by our rules.
And I like that they're able to kind of decide what they want to do, where they want to do, how they want to do it.
And I don't subscribe to Antonio Brown or Jalen Ramsey, but if Kevin Durant wants to play in Brooklyn, great.
I'm thrilled that he went to the East Coast.
I just want to have rivalries.
I want to have competition.
I want it to be great.
I want it to be where you're not sure what the outcome is going to be.
I think it's the worst thing that a league can have is you go,
now, you know what, there's no reason to watch a regular season or the postseason.
We know how this script ends.
The NBA, you could say that has any sport ever had an offseason like the NBA had?
and a lot of that has to do with, you know, I'm going to play here, you want to play with me.
Now, I know the old school, like, birds going to go, I'd never do that, or Magic would say that, or Isaiah would say that.
I get it, but this is today's athlete, and it's completely different.
I think Adam Silver has a velvet hammer.
I think he's able to do what he needs to do, how he needs to do it, but he does it in a less, you know, intrusive way.
whereas David Stern, he lived up to his name.
Here he comes, and he's going to say what he needs to say, do what he needs to do.
It's just, it's a different approach.
You know, you hire a manager, and then once you're going to fire him,
then you hire a manager who's completely opposite of the manager you just have.
And that kind of the feeling I had with the NBA,
Adam Silver, you know, he governs in a different way.
your favorite player to watch play basketball ever is who
Bill Walton when he was with the Portland Trailblazers
that's as selfless as any team I've ever seen
while being so much fun and Dr. Jack Ramsey
you had guys who wouldn't have started for other teams
but with Cortland you did like Bobby Gross
probably wouldn't have started for many other teams
teams. But he's
guarding Dr. Jay in the NBA finals.
Or Larry Steele, Johnny Davis,
Dave Torgic,
Maurice Lucas,
and then you had Walton. But
Walton was as
selfless as any player I've ever seen
and play at a very high level.
And when they beat the 76ers
after losing the first two.
And I loved Walton at UCLA
because I just loved
the process of
team basketball and moving at
the extra pass, playing offense and defense.
You know, you had a coach who was meticulous.
And I just, so when Walton went to Portland, I went to his first game.
His first pro game was against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at the University of Dayton.
And, you know, Bill was in over his head.
But, you know, you fast forward to that NBA playoffs when Bill went, you know,
running down the lane and he dunked on Jabbar.
And it kind of, you know, signaled a, he's not Kareem, but there's,
a new kid in town, and he played the game differently, but he was one of those guys that I just,
I was always fascinated when he was playing at his peak.
If I put you in charge of college basketball, what changes would you make?
Well, I don't know if it's just college basketball, but it's, it's, it's the big sports,
the revenue producing sports. I just think that the big, you know, Power 5 should just
secede from the union and start their own NCAA, start their own.
governing body and then decide how do we divvy up, you know, this piece of the pie.
You know, how do you pay players? I don't know how to do that. Should you be able to capitalize
on your image and likeness? Absolutely. I mean, if your image and your likeness,
the school doesn't own that and should know that. But I just think we're going to get to the
point where, you know, Texas and, you know, Ohio State and, you know, some of these Alabama are just
going to say, why are we, why are we putting up with this? And then you just let the other schools,
you know, they're going to have to just survive. You know, there's going to be casualties there,
but the NCAA is antiquated. But, you know, when somebody says, oh, how do you pay them?
I don't know. You know, and I always use this parallel. Sam Darnold at USC was worth more
than Josh Allen at Wyoming. They can both be first round picks, but Sam is at USC, which is
generating far more money than Wyoming is.
How do I pay those two?
But doesn't that also signify that the school has the value more than the player has the value, right?
Like, look, I've often pointed this out.
Who goes to and watches these games?
The first thing is we do this one thing where we talk about basketball as if basketball players have so much value.
But as you and I both know, they don't really make the money for the university.
college basketball programs don't make
the college football programs make the money.
We know the college basketball players
because you can see their faces.
College basketball also has the ability.
You don't have to go to college.
You can go to the G League.
And if you want to have your own shoe deal,
you can go play overseas.
You only have to go for a year.
But we act like basketball players
have this value and they really don't.
Whereas football that has the value,
but we don't actually know the players
because we can't see them
and we cheer for the jerseys.
I do think that part of that,
part of that we don't tell the the true story to it.
Well, once again, college reform, I don't have answers to it.
Right. I truly don't. And I always listen. When somebody says, hey, I got an idea.
And a lot of times it boils down to let's give them a stipend.
Or I don't know how that you can distribute evenly, how I can say, well, you're at Ohio,
you're Justin Fields at Ohio State. Well, you're going to be worth the same thing as a quarterback
back at central Florida.
I don't know how we get there
because I still think that
I don't know if we'll ever get there.
And if I give you your, let's say you can capitalize your name and like this.
And I say, we're going to do a meet and greet.
We just, Alabama just beat South Carolina.
And when we go back home, we're going to have a meat and Greek.
And I'm a card dealer.
I can pay you whatever I want to pay you.
Right.
Right.
You can't limit earnings.
They tried to do that with assistant coaches.
They couldn't do it years ago.
They can't do it players, you know?
Yeah, so what's going to stop me?
Nothing.
You know, hey, the boosters at Alabama, they're going to give you a million dollars.
Let's say you're one of their wide receivers, jury, who's going to be a top 10 pick.
All right.
If you come to Alabama, you're going to make a million dollars a year for the first three years.
if you decide to stay, I'm going to give you $3 million.
Whatever it is.
I mean, you can see it's all hypothetical.
Yes.
What's the butt?
No, there is.
I mean, you're going to be able to do that.
Well, there's a couple butts to me, but go ahead.
Give me your butt.
Well, let's say, you know, the Lake T. Boone Pickens.
He wants to build a dynasty at Oklahoma State.
He's got the money to do it.
So why can't he just pay whatever he needs to pay?
Let's say he spends 50 minutes.
million dollars each year on the football program with just bonuses, using your name and
likeness. Now, now every other school is going to be doing that, or there will be schools that
can't do that. But I think that that's, you know, it's not going to get rid of paying athletes.
You'll pay them above table, but I just think it's a dangerous precedent if I'm going to bring
you in and go, I can pay you whatever I want. If I have a high school,
To a tongue of ILO's is worth what right now?
Trevor Lawrence is worth what to Clemson's football program right now.
I don't know.
Can you put a dollar figure on that?
But if I say, hey, don't go to Alabama, Trevor.
Come to Clemson.
We got a booster who's going to pay you $5 million a year.
$10 million, whatever it is.
We're going to pay you $10 million over your career.
I don't know.
But, you know, that way some of the money that might be going to these head coaches
is actually going to go to the play.
players. Yeah, my way I look at it, I just don't think that's what it's supposed to be about. Like, I get that we're all in this, like, look, all college students make money for their university. Like a disproportionate amount of money for the university. That's the way that college works. And when you get done with college, then you get done with college, then you use your time with the university to get you your first job, to get you your second job, to get your fallback jobs, your friendships are. Like, that's what it's about. And I don't, I don't understand how we, and I don't think,
you're there, but so many in the media have gotten to this. Well, it's only about getting money.
Where I don't. I think there's a ton of value just in getting into school, you know, you have
all your gaggle of kids you've had to put through school. Like how hard is it to get your son
into USC? Like that's a, USC used to be a super easy school to get into. Now it's not very, very
difficult. In addition to very expensive. So in addition to the scholarship and to the training and to the
promotion, which is valuable, just getting into the school is valuable.
But more than anything, like, look, that's just not what it's about.
And I understand that people think that life is about making money and when somebody
makes money off of you.
But that's just, that's honestly, colleges make money off their students.
It's no different for a football player as it is for an engineering student.
And yeah, occasionally there are outliers like a Trevor Lawrence who makes money for them
initially, my
come back to even the Trevor Lawrence thing
would be Clemson's never had an empty seat in their house
before Trevor Lawrence was there after he's
there for the rest in perpetuity.
So does he make them some money?
Sure. Sure. Does he make them as much
as people try and make it out
to be? The answer is no. Absolutely not.
The value of Clemson's brand because
they put together a product because of the
university is really what's made
them most of the money.
I'm not here to hand out money.
I'm just looking at this and saying,
and we can sit here on our high horse and go,
oh, how can you, you know, be asking for money,
or shouldn't you just be appreciative of you get the opportunity to play on a big stage?
We're not coming from a lot of places where these kids are coming from.
And if I came from inner city or single parent or whatever it might be,
yeah, I'd have my handout.
I would.
But, you know, I was fortunate to have both my parents,
and my dad made a whopping $21,000 a year.
So we were swimming in money.
But if, you know, these kids are looking at it and say, where's mine?
Because they've never had it.
So I think we can look at this and say, you know, let's be altruistic and go,
boy, just the experience of being in college.
Does it help you?
Yes.
Does it help you with playing professionally?
Absolutely.
But I also have to look at this realistically and say,
what would I feel if I'm a quarterback or running?
back and I'm making this money for them or we're keeping the machine going, I would want
something.
And I played with guys who got things.
And, you know, it was just commonplace.
But I can't sit there and go, because I was never good enough to ask for anything, but I can't
be naive and go, would you be asking for it?
I would be.
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Okay, you were a shooter.
You were a chucker who would pass.
We operate under the auspice that Steph Curry is the greatest shooter we've ever seen.
Are you okay with that?
I don't, I'm not beholden to, you know, my childhood days where I go, oh, you know what,
that guy would have been, he's better.
Jerry West was better.
Pete Marevich was better.
Steph Curry today is there's no rival when it comes to his range.
You know, I look at Byrd doing the 50, 40, 90, and how many guys have done that, no matter what generation, Steve Nash, 50, 40, 90.
Steph, you know, 50, 40, 90, you know, that doesn't, it doesn't take long for roll call.
Now, if you said I'm going to teach the form of shooting, then that's different because,
I would say Clay Thompson over Steph Curry, I would take Ray Allen over those guys.
But as far as shooting, been results, and range, creativity, yeah, I have no problem with Steph Curry.
Your favorite basketball gym you've ever been in?
Larry Bird's high school gym in French lick, Indiana when I went down to do a story on him.
What was it like?
What was it like?
quaint home court advantage.
Bleacher's right there.
I could only imagine
when he's firing jumpers
from the corner
probably falling into the stands
and just, and it was small,
the ceiling was lower than what you would think,
and I got to believe that that was a pretty good
home court advantage for him.
That in Allen Fieldhouse,
I went, I went,
I went, I didn't even work.
I went to Allen Fieldhouse to watch KU play against Cal with Jay Kid, and I went on my own
because I just wanted to experience.
Pauly Pavilion wasn't as magical as I thought of it.
No, it's not, I mean, they've redone it, but it's still not, nothing special.
Yeah, it was a little more antiseptic.
Notre Dame, when I went there, I was, I was surprised at the football stadium was
smaller than I thought because it looks bigger on TV and then the basketball arena the same way.
I really liked the look of that. I'm big on the acoustics. I like hearing it. I like the sound
of the ball. I like the net, everything about that. But Notre Dame, I appreciated that. I didn't like
assembly because I don't like the way it's configured. Syracuse is, you know, it's worth seeing,
but it's not one of my favorites.
Duke was great,
but they put you up all the way in the rafters there,
so you lose a little bit of that ambiance.
But, you know, that was a place that I wanted to go see as well.
I mean, those are just some off the top of my head.
By the way, Springs Valley is the Larry Bird's High School gym.
Yeah.
And kind of permanent seating all around in like a bowl,
and then just a floor, that's it, right?
It's kind of simple, same way it was when Larry Bird was there.
I actually went on a vacation to the French-Lick hotel,
and I took my girlfriend just so because the thought I could see Larry Bird.
I went from Dayton, Ohio, with my girlfriend at the time,
and Betsy had no idea why we were there, but I said, oh, they got these hot springs,
and it's, you know, they got a spa there.
and all I did was spend the day driving over to Larry Bird's house, hoping he would be there.
It's pretty sad.
I mean, I'm not going to, that I can't top that, but I will tell you that my dad and I,
one time we drove from New York to Chicago, and we stopped in Dillanville, Ohio, where he was a high school coach,
and we stayed there for a night.
but we also stayed in Steve Alford's hometown so we could see Chrysler Arena.
I think it was Chrysler Fieldhouse or something like that where he played.
It was Steve Alford's high school gym.
And we met with his dad.
We talked about his – it was Chrysler Arena.
It was the biggest high school gym in the country at the time.
And my dad worked me out on the high school floor just so I could kind of get a sense.
It's Newcastle High School in Indiana.
Yeah.
And it seats like, you know, 9,000 people or something crazy like that.
So it doesn't, I didn't take my girlfriend there, but there are some similarities in that tale.
Oh, I know.
I'm sad with that.
But, you know, I make no apologies.
And birds not that much older than me.
And, you know, here I am, you know, following him around, hoping he might be outside shooting hoops there.
And I never saw him.
It's like that movie searching for Bobby Fisher where they're searching, I'm searching for Larry
bird. I don't know what I was going to do if I saw him because, you know, he's not the most
approachable guy. But I, for some reason, I just, I wanted to, I wanted to shoot hoops with him.
Last thing. You've gone back and done sports center on the 40-year anniversary. You've done
Super Bowls. You've done NBA finals. You've done just about everything you can do in this business.
Like, do you want to go back and do like a play-by-play of a college game, of NBA game? Like, if you were
going to pick some things you want to do.
Like now you have your own college that teaches broadcasters.
Is there anything on the bucket list that you still want to do?
Outside of like personal stuff, right?
Like obviously I know you want to travel with your wife and see the world.
But in terms of sports, you can pick what you want to do.
What do you want to do?
I don't have anything.
I think I wanted to work at Super Bowl because when I worked at ESPN, we were always on the
outside looking in.
We weren't the rights holders.
Right.
and so I
like Greg Norman and Nick Faldo
I was there at Augusta
but I wasn't working
on the in the broadcast
I was just covering it
you know I got to go to Super Bowls
for the mothership but we weren't part of the
broadcast team or I'd go to the World Series
but I wasn't part of Fought
and then to be able to
go and cover a Super Bowl and hand out the Super Bowl
trophy that's probably
the highlight
I mean that's that and the host
the Olympics that I just wanted to be a part of the event itself, not cover, you know,
the event.
It was being in the moment there.
And to be able to do that in a few Olympics and then I handed out Super Bowl trophy, I think
five times.
And, you know, that's where you got a little kid from Mason, Ohio.
And, you know, we weren't even a city or a town.
We were a village when I was growing up.
I never told anybody the first time I did it in Tampa.
I didn't tell anybody in my family I was going to give out the trophy because I wanted them to experience it in real time.
And to do it, and then I walked off that podium, and I remember there was all this confetti, everybody was celebrating, and I walked off as if I won that Super Bowl because I handed out the trophy.
and I remember going into the trailer that we had at NBC,
and I just, I sat there, I sat down, and I started crying.
Because I was like, how did I get here?
My dad's not alive, and you're just, and, you know, then all of a sudden my brothers and sisters
are like, oh my God, your hand out super, I didn't do it for them,
but I'm glad they got to share in that.
And, you know, that's a lot of the moments that you have.
Like, it's emotional now.
But in the moment, yeah, in the moment you don't, yeah.
No, no, you just do it.
But then you start to reflect and you go, how did I get here?
And that's why I always tell people, don't let somebody tell you you can't.
You're going to be the one who decides that you can't.
There were so many times I could have just said, you know, I'm not going to do it.
you know, the hell with it.
I'm not going to get a chance.
And to do it and then just sit there and I'm by myself in a trailer,
and I'm going, how did I get here?
And everybody else, you know, you don't notice that people handing out the Super Bowl
trophy unless something bad happens or whatever.
And, you know, I just did it.
And then you walk off and you go, I never would have thought it, you know.
I never, ever would have dreamed that I'm handing out the Super Bowl trophy.
And you do it.
Yeah, I always want to work the Final Four.
I left ESPN to work the Final Four.
And I signed a contract to work to Final Four for five or six years,
and I only really did it twice,
and I only really sat in that set once.
And it's a hard thing for me to process now,
because my dad was alive.
And yet, because it was my first year,
and really Turner kind of controls that thing,
like I didn't feel like, you know,
I didn't push about getting my wife down there.
there, my kids down there.
Like, my wife was, you know, met me eventually, but I kind of did it all by myself.
My dad didn't come, like, backstage and hang out with Charles because I just figured, like,
I'd be doing this for a long time.
It was like my first year and I had the white man's perspective thing.
So I was kind of walking on eggshells.
And so not having gotten a chance to be back on that set, like I have a really weird,
I always want to do it and I did it and I did a really good job of it.
but because I felt like I didn't get another opportunity to do it
or experience it with the people that I cared about,
I don't know if I have the same positive vibes of it
that you have with the Super Bowl, for example.
I left it.
Like, it's like the Olympics.
Like, I don't long to do it.
Super Bowl, I don't long to do it.
Because I did it and I, you know,
I don't know if I can do it any better than I did it.
you know, to be there with the NBA finals, to be there with Jordan to hand out an NBA championship trophy.
Like those are things that you dream about.
Being on SportsCenter was awesome.
It was, you know, life-changing.
But these are moments that are bigger than SportsCenter.
And it's never lost on me, ever.
Never took it for granted.
Ever.
I'm formulating questions during Ben Ruffalo's first.
orders two-minute drive against Arizona.
You know, Arizona is going to win the Super Bowl.
Who am I going to have up there?
What questions are I going to ask Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald?
Then Ben throws the touchdown pat.
Now I've got to go, okay, what am I going to ask, you know, coach, the ownership there?
Rooney's that.
What I'm asked Ben?
Who's the MVP?
Like, I never, ever, ever took it for granted where you just get up there and you stick
a mic and go, hey, how did that feel?
Never, ever, ever, ever.
And, you know, NBC gave me those opportunities.
ESPN gave me an opportunity.
And as you know, an opportunity is all you want.
And therefore, my professional career was really based on what I didn't get in my athletic career.
I just wanted a chance, and I never got it.
And I always vowed if I ever got a chance in my professional career,
I would make sure that nobody regretted that and that I did it the right way.
So I never, ever stopped that feeling of just give me a chance.
And it served me well.
You know, it's interesting.
Mine's similar.
And my drive to continue to get opportunities and do things comes from, I feel like I got an opportunity,
but I didn't take full advantage of it, right?
Like I had a block where I became afraid to shoot.
And, you know, my last college game at home at Gallagher Eyeb Arena, I hit two threes in the first half.
we had a big lead.
It got tight.
Coach pulled me because he was afraid they were going to foul me.
By the time I got back in the game, we had no momentum.
I came down the court, and I was wide open on a pull-up, jump shot, three-point shot,
something was my shot growing up in high school,
and my brother saw me play one game in Stillwater.
That was that day, and we worked that morning on that shot,
and I chickened out and didn't take the shot and said pass to a teammate who was open,
and he missed.
And because I didn't take advantage of the opportunity,
I've like made a kind of similar but different vow to myself that I'm going to take advantage.
I'm going to shoot every shot.
I'm going to take advantage of every opportunity I can get and keep working to get more opportunities.
So there's a huge kind of similarity there.
Look, I've taken up way too much of your time, but I have one more question, okay?
I do believe that I do believe that you're a Jordan ahead of LeBron guy.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, but not, but not, you know, exponentially ahead of being because there's,
different. Like, I can't, like, what am I, what am I, if you said, who's the better all-round
player, I'd take LeBron. Who do I want game on the line winning if I take Mike? But, like, you know,
Mike didn't win for a long period. You know, LeBron was winning at least going to the NBA final.
So I try not to get caught up in it. I saw something in Mike that I'll never see again.
but LeBron to me is fascinating to watch.
Fascinating.
Is there anything he can do to put himself ahead of Jordan in your mind?
If he wins another title with the Lakers, then I think we have a real conversation here
because Mike did it with the Bulls.
He always had Scotty.
They brought in Cooch coach.
He had a team that, you know, after they took it out of his hands where, you know,
he wanted to bring in players and Jerry Krauss and, you know, Reinsdor,
brought in the right people for him.
But LeBron has picked his spots.
Granted, and he didn't want to stay in Cleveland, but to do it in Cleveland, and then if
he culminates this by doing it with the Lakers, now we have a real conversation of where
is LeBron on that list?
You know, we think Michael hit every game winning shot.
I remember LeBron's afraid, you know, he's afraid.
He's afraid to take.
He's not wired that way.
You know, nobody ever said, oh, does magic doesn't take all.
all the big shots.
I mean, he hit a hook.
He got a runner.
He dribbled the ball out,
dribble the clock out one time in an NBA fun.
Like, we forget all of these things.
It's just social media.
LeBron's the first player who is, you know,
maybe he's benefited from social media,
but I think he's also taken a lot of bullets because of social media.
I can't think of any other athlete with social media has taken more bullets than him.
And he still does it.
He does it.
He's done a lot of things.
the right way. I mean, if you're looking at the, you know, totality of Mike and LeBron, the person
and everything else that goes along with it, LeBron's got, he's done a lot of great things in
his life. And, you know, but I think if he wins one more title, I really think we have
an interesting discussion there. I've never said this to you on air, but I've said it to you
in person. I always appreciate our conversations, but more than anything, the friendship that
you've shown me for no real reason, right? Like, there's nothing I can.
offer you, but every time we get together and have a beer or have a conversation, you always
give me great advice, and I really appreciate joining me on this pod.
Well, I just, and I do it because I think when I see somebody who has talent and maybe doesn't
have all the answers or direction, I always wanted that from me. And if Bob Lee didn't write a letter
back to me, I may not have had the confidence to think I could do this. So it's never lost on me that
If somebody asks, and I hope that I offer, and you know, you're a former athlete, and to be able to do this is sometimes even more difficult because you're an athlete in people's minds.
So I do it because I think it's ingrained in me that that's the right thing to do.
Thanks so much, Dan.
Thank you, bye.
Be sure to catch live editions of the Doug Gottlieb show weekdays at noon Eastern 3 p.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I-Hard Radio.
Radio app.
All right.
Next week we will,
oh man,
I got a bunch of guests
that are lining up
to join us.
Next week,
more great guests,
and we'll start to preview
both the NBA
and the college game.
I appreciate you listening.
Make sure you listen to the Doug Gottlieb show,
which is on daily,
3 to 6 Eastern Time,
12 to 3 Pacific,
on Fox Sports Radio.com,
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That's 3 to 6 Eastern Time,
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Of course, you can also download the daily
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and I'll talk about it on next week's pod.
I'm Doug Gottlieb and this
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What up? It's Dramos.
You may know me from The Recap on LATV.
Now I've got my own podcast,
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We'll be talking real and unapologetic
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Latin culture, and everything in between from someone who's never quite fit in.
Listen to Life as a Gringo on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Last night, a blown call changed a game.
This morning, the internet lost its mind.
And nobody's telling you exactly what happened.
That's where Sports Slice comes in.
I'm Timbo.
And every episode, we're cutting through the noise,
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And we're going straight to the source
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Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app,
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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy,
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Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.
Me and hilarious guests.
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This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day
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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
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What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th.
And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show,
I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff.
Like being an internet famous referee.
We're in the middle of a game.
This linebacker walks up to me, he goes,
hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.
What?
Quarterback on office blue with 42.
Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her.
What?
Hey, Miss Parker.
Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app,
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What's up, Famous?
Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point
Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking
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