The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 04/15/2019

Episode Date: April 15, 2019

Colin gives thanks to Tiger Woods for not only bringing us all together but also becoming part of our family by going through humbling experiences. Russell Wilson is trying to force Seattle’s hand into signing him to a long term deal. And, he says the Toronto Raptors lack the championship ingredients necessary to win while the Boston Celtics have all of them.  Plus a Monday edition of: "Where Colin was right and where Colin was wrong!"  Presented by Perky Jerky. 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. 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,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. 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 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

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 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. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire, world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner

of IHeart women's sports. Thanks for listening to the best of 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 herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeartRadio app by searching Herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a loaded Monday. This is The Herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, on FS1, one hour from now every Monday, and a good one this week.

Colin was right, Colin was wrong, plenty of both, as Joy Taylor is joining me, almost a much more attractive master's green you're wearing today. Well, appropriately so, huh? What a weekend. What an absolute weekend. I have so many thoughts about Tiger Woods winning his first major in over 10 years. I'm going to ask you a question, and I'm not going to give you a lot of time to think about it, but here's the question. What is it about Tiger that moves us?

Okay, your time's up. He shouldn't move us like this. There's lots of reason. not to like him. He got very popular and very rich early. People resent that. He threatened a beloved legend. Jack. We don't like that. Ask LeBron about the Michael Jordan thing. He never treated his fans warmly or particularly well. And he did some really bad things to his family. And yet most of America sat on their couch crying yesterday. Only two athletes in my life have had this power, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. And they have certain things in common. Michael Jordan's first three titles, I was in awe of him. Never really felt connected, almost worshipped him, looked up at him.

And then his father was murdered. He went and played baseball, struggled badly, came back. and now Jordan was more like family. The decade that Tiger Woods dominated golf, I was hypnotized by him, in awe of him, pumped my fist with him, but then he fell apart physically and emotionally. And yesterday, for the first time in my life,

I rooted against other golfers. Yesterday, I'm not proud to admit this. I was hoping Francisco Molinari got run over by a golf cart for most of the afternoon. We shouldn't love Tiger this much, right? 90% of us don't play golf. Several books written, not complimentary of his choices. But yesterday was the greatest comeback in the history of American sports, in my opinion. Tiger had no business even being there.

In a six-year period after his dominance, he tore an ACL, had a neck injury, sprained as MCL, tore his Achilles, three back surgeries, one a back fusion. Hell, that sounds like an autopsy. Tiger admitted two years ago he wasn't sure if he'd ever play golf again. His back was in such pain. He said, I can't even coach the president's cup. Riding in a golf cart bouncing up and down hurts too much. I got some pushback yesterday. Colin, you said a few years ago he's a former golfer.

Of course I did. Tiger admitted he wasn't sure if he'd ever play golf again. What we saw yesterday is why we loved MJ. MJ was awe-inspiring the first run and then he suffered things that no person should have to deal with. He was humbled. Being great is really important, but being humbled is the difference between Michael Jordan and Tiger. Tiger's win didn't just say a lot about Tiger. It actually said a lot about us.

We love you even more. If you deal with the crap we do. If you deal with the family issues, we do. If your life is imperfect. And as you're at the top of the throne, you come off it, you cry, it's sad, you struggle emotionally and physically. Yesterday, Tiger delivered so many things. Our favorite golfer won.

We got a redemption slash comeback story. That's what Hollywood writes every day. Do we love those? It restoked the goat conversation. Personally, I love that. That's good for my business. And the Tiger in Red Sunday thing is the best thing to happen on Sundays since the surprise.

And let me just add this. And I'm not blaming anybody for what I'm about to say. I'm not. I'm not taking sides here. But this country is more divided than it has ever been. Uncomfortably so. And I'm in my 50s. I've lived through a lot of life.

But don't ever let anybody marginalize sports in your family to you. Sports shapes us. it heals us, it empowers us, it connects us. It does what government so often promises but doesn't deliver. It turns poor into rich and broken into healed. Yesterday sports did something else, and I can't remember, seriously, I drove in this morning and I thought about this. I can't remember the last time in America, we were all pulling for the same thing. humbled, fallen, emotionally, physically at the very bottom.

What a story. Spoke as much about us as it did about Tiger. And never forget that sports does so many great things. Yesterday, finally, it connected us. Thanks, Tiger. We owe you one. The great Armin Katan, who wrote the book on Tiger will be joining us in about 25 minutes.

Let me shift briefly to this. About five weeks ago, I came out with a story, and you people called me crazy. I'm not going to lie, it was hurtful. You people called me Zaney. I'm not going to lie. I didn't sleep that night. I came out and I reported Russell Wilson may be leaving Seattle, not now, but eventually. Well, this morning, it appears to be all over the internet from reputable sources.

Pro football talk, Peter King. Russell Wilson and his agent, by the way, his agent Mark Rogers is a baseball agent. One football client, Russell Wilson. They are saying today, according to sources, and I trust Peter King, Russell Wilson and his agent told the Seahawks, long-term deal today or we'll never sign one. It will be a series of one-year deals. This is what I've been hearing for a month.

And let me wholeheartedly support Russell Wilson here. Russell Wilson took Pete Carroll's career and saved it. Pete had been fired twice in the NFL and was 7 and 9 and 7 and 9 in his first two years in Seattle and was looking at Matt Flynn to save his career. Russell Wilson arrived. it was never the same. Then Pete bailed, John Snyder bailed on one of the best centers in football, Max Unger, and Russell Wilson's offensive line deteriorated, and for the next several years,

he was running for his life and health. Seattle's brand over the last seven, eight years, has been the Legion of Boom, the 12th man, Pete Carroll. And Russell's tired of it and should be. I got Russell Wilson's back on this. And I know saying that that huge quarterback deals make your team less nimble, less flexible, and less viable. But Russell Wilson's the most underrated player of my life.

He saved the franchise. He put it on the map. And he's never been given the credit he deserves. He hasn't. We give Bree's credit. We gave Peyton credit. We give Brady credit. We give Mahomes credit.

We gave Eli credit. We gave Ben credit. We don't give Russell any credit because he does it differently. Little smaller, little faster, little unique. This is about respect. In Seattle, the fans, 12th man, get more credit than Russell. The defense, the architect, the ownership. This is Russell Wilson's franchise.

It has been for years. Finally, he's going to make them pay money. for it. This is about respect. He deserves more of it and has for years. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd

to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. 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, 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 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, Kier 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 Hardway.

Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president,

of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met, Levin, this went to a billion-dollar fraud. But with two kings

from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life.

Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout, Kate Martin, and rising hockey star, Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't.

Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile,

that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world, Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I want to talk about this. A lot of playoff games over the weekend. It was actually a great weekend of NBA playoffs. A lot of upsets. A lot of fun. A lot of interesting series with the favorites losing at home in game one. to me the NBA playoffs, and I've said for years, I'm surprised how many smart NBA people get fooled by this.

There's the regular season, then there's the playoffs. And to me, it's all about with your team ingredients. I don't care what you're doing in the regular season. Do you have what I would call championship ingredients? It's like a restaurant. I don't care if there's drama in the kitchen. If you've got an A-plus chef and fresh ingredients, you can be a Zaget rated restaurant. You can't do it with second-rate produce and a second-rate chef.

Okay, Toronto does not have championship ingredients. Okay, championship ingredients are a top head coach, playoff experience, winning playoff experience, and two stars, one has to be a great closer. Celtics have that. Celtics look great this weekend. They got Brad Stevens, they've won long playoff series, they've got two really good players, maybe three,

and one, Kyrie Irving's the best closer I would ours. you outside of Kevin Durant in the NBA. Toronto doesn't have ingredients to be a champion. Their second best player is Kyle Lowry. He scored nothing. DJ Augustine had 25. Kyle Lowry's never proven to be a step-up playoff guy. And the head coach is young and unproven.

That's not a championship team in Toronto. It's a team that can win a bunch of regular season games. It's a team that plays really, really hard. It's a team that can win games. That's not a championship team. Denver doesn't have the ingredients to be a championship team. They've got a young, unproven playoff coach, and they don't have even one A player. Nicola Yokic is a B-plus NBA player.

That's what he is. Second best player is Jamal Murray. That's not championship material. Boston has the ingredients. They got the chef and Brad Stevens. They've got a great young player, Jason Tatum, who's also shown in the playoffs you can rely on him. Kyrie Irving's arguably the best closer in the game. He's won a championship.

To me, there's only three teams in the NBA with championship ingredients. Golden State, Houston, and Boston. Now, I think Philadelphia is talented but lacks chemistry and playoff mojo. And I think Milwaukee's really, really close, but I have no proof that Chris Middleton can step up and be big in a game six or a game seven repeatedly in the playoffs. Don't get caught up in the regular season. The regular season, teams are not equally rested. You get into town at three in Denver, six hours asleep, shoot around, then play the nuggets

who've been sitting there for three days, and you get sandblasted. Everybody in the playoffs is similarly rested, mostly similarly healthy, the travel all evens out, and you don't have that advantage you have in the regular season where some teams like Toronto and Denver good without a title play hard. everybody in the playoff plays hard. So that advantage goes away. The Celtics, I'll say it again. May not win it, but they've got the ingredients to win it.

Toronto and Denver do not. 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. Luke Walton's now coaching the Sacramento Kings. And I read Twitter, it's this angry bird where people scream and yell at each other. And oh, Luke Walton got fired. Oh, I mean, they ran him out of town. Okay. Don't kid yourself.

Luke Walton had a year left with LeBron James. And he chose Sacramento. You don't leave the Dallas Cowboys to coach the Buffalo Bills and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This shows you the dysfunction. This was a 50-50 split. He wanted out of the Lakers. This has been in the works for two to three weeks. Okay.

LeBron's not into him. Luke knows it. And Luke didn't, to his credit, want to be another victim in LeBron's line of bailing on coaches. This thing was in the work for weeks. LeBron's not into Luke. Magic wasn't into Luke. And Luke Walton is no dummy. Don't think this is helpless Luke swimming, looking for the shore. He had this puppy planned because he's a smart dude.

And he saw the riding on the wall. And I don't think he's Brad Stevens. I don't think he's, you know, Quinn Snyder at Utah or Mike Dan Tony, but I don't think he's a terrible coach. I think he's fine. And I think he's young and young people get better. And he'll get better. Five years from now, he'll look back and go, oh, God, I wasn't very good at that.

It's okay, folks. Not everybody improves at the same pace. Not everybody's a genius. A lot of people are late developers. He's becoming a very good coach. But just look at who the Lakers now have as potential coaches. Tailu, LeBron's guy. Joanne Howard played with LeBron and Monty Williams, who by the way coached Anthony Davis, who is represented by clutch sports, and that's LeBron's dudes.

There's a fork in the road. We talked about this a couple days ago, and the Lakers have chosen the LeBron path. I get it. I understand it. That's the path I would choose. Now, it should be noted for the last 15 years of LeBron's career, I have always been a just hand the franchise to LeBron. That was my brand for 15 years. I am less willing and more reluctant to do it now, although I think the Lakers are trapped.

Age, injuries, and I've told LeBron's representatives, he's heavy now. He's weighty. There's a lot of stuff around him. Everybody's walking on eggshells. Now, it should be, I'm not ripping on LeBron. People think I've turned on LeBron. I think he's going to have a great year next year. I am not today a hand the franchise to Tom Brady guy.

I think Tom needs to take pay cuts. He is. I don't think Tom Brady should worry about who's coaching him. He doesn't. And I think Tom Brady now needs to make concessions because he's getting older. Okay. That's what I believe LeBron needs to do. I think he needs to worry less about the coach, not try to squeeze every dollar out of every situation.

He's made almost 300 million in hoops alone, another 200 million in shoes, and those things aren't stopping any time soon. like Tom, you want better players around you? You want to be viable because you're not getting younger. You got an injury. If you get a second, it's going to be ugly. And like Brady's done really well over the last couple years, LeBron needs to, how can I say this?

Get over himself a little. Laughing himself a little. Be one of the dudes a little? I'm not asking you to give up your G4, bro. Just kind of be one of the dudes. But this, don't turn Luke Walton into some victim who was flailed off the side of the boat and was able to just barely grab the Kings. Kings have a better roster this morning.

May not after free agency. This morning they do. Deeran Fox is better and healthier than Lanzo Ball. Buddy healed's a better shooter, pure shooter than anybody on the Lakers. And Marvin Bagley is going to be really, really, really, really good. He needs about another 50, 60 games. And you're going to go, oh, Marvin Bagley, get that jumper in a little bit, get me really good.

So that's where we stand on that. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. 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 them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in 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 Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of us. the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this went to a billion dollar fraud.

But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the Aihar Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Life throws hurdles big and small.

The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WMBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain.

It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeki. The ability to show gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything.

Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. So we do it every Monday, joy at this time. I'm wrong a lot. Sometimes we hit it.

Right wrong, here we go. Where Colin was right. Russell Wilson, you mocked, you rolled your eyes when I said a month ago. I think he's interested, potentially in New York. Well, what do you know? Peter King writes in Football Morning in America, Seattle either signs him long-term deal today or he's never signing a long-term deal,

and it will be a series of short one-year deals. And legitimate sources pro football talk with heavy speculation that Seattle believes Russell would like to play elsewhere. He's just not going to say it publicly. By the way, Tehran Matthew, former LSU star Arizona, went on his Twitter account and said,

Russ wants New York. Jane heard that from T. This is the story we talked about a month ago. It's what my source told me that Russell Wilson feels like everybody, Pete Carroll, 12th man, the defense has gotten their share of the credit, and he essentially saved the franchise,

which for the record is a Seattle kid, he did. We were right on that one. where Colin was wrong. I never thought Tiger would win another major. I said it a couple years ago. He was hooked on drugs emotionally. He couldn't give you three straight rounds.

He was quitting tournaments. He acknowledged a couple years ago he couldn't coach the President's Cup because it was too painful riding in a golf cart. I was wrong on that. Yesterday his iron play was unbelievable. It was the old tiger. His putting wasn't quite as good as the old tiger, but it was really good.

I have no problem acknowledging. I said a couple years ago, he feels like a former golfer to me. Is that emotionally, physically, it's over. Especially after, I don't know, the third back surgery. Where Colin was right? Well, we said Luke Walton was going to go to Sacramento. I had no idea it would happen 12 hours later. I had gone to dinner Thursday night and had a couple sources tell me that he was going to take the king's job, fired or not.

Now, I had no idea it was going to happen within 12 hours. But Luke knew he had no support from Matt. and no support from LeBron and very little support from Rob Polinka. So the idea that Luke was flailing, as we said on Thursday's show before it happened on Friday, or we said it on Friday show before it happened on Friday afternoon, he's going to take the Sacramento King's job. And I think it's actually, for the next four or five years, I think it's a really interesting job. They have a couple of unbelievable young players, so we called that one.

Where Colin was wrong. Ben Simmons has been the league's biggest disappointment. First of all, I don't think anybody likes him on the team. He has shown no leadership abilities. And, oh yeah, outside of seven feet, he can't shoot. The man upstairs, I'm not overly religious, but the guy upstairs gave him some really great gifts. Size, length, quickness, vision, and he's done nothing with him. I mean, I'm sorry, this team is so talented.

Joe L.M.B., Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris is their fourth best player. Some people thought he was going to get maxed by the Clippers. Ben Simmons, any franchise a couple years ago, Ben Simmons was thought of as the best one-and-done player for a decade until Zion. I really thought this guy was going to become not Magic Johnson, but the closest thing to him, an absurdly large guard with unbelievable vision. Magic was not a great shooter his first couple years in the league. Either was Jason Kidd.

But I don't like what I see in the leadership department. I don't think players like him. I've heard that from people I trust, and I was wrong on him. Where Colin was right? Well, we've said all year, be very careful with Toronto and Denver. A lot of teams that are young, maybe have one elite player, but don't have the championship ingredients. They play their butt off in the regular season. But that advantage of playing hard goes away because everybody in the playoff goes and plays hard.

So that big advantage Denver and Toronto had, they just outplayed people most of the year because they don't have titles they're young they've got a young coach we're going to listen Toronto's better than Denver I think and Toronto's going to win their series I'm not sure with Denver but never never forget NBA basketball is not about your record when it comes to winning championships it's about a handful of key ingredients and I don't think Toronto and I know Denver doesn't have them where Colin was raw I was slow to embrace Janice. I mean, he was in Milwaukee. He's a big in a league where it's all guards and wings. He doesn't handle the ball that much. I got to be honest with you. I find the kid incredibly likable,

totally focused, not into Hollywood. Inside of 8 to 10 feet, lights out. And he actually has become what I really like. You know in football where I call my favorite quarterbacks the bore for? He's become that. He's focused. He's boring. He's a grown-up. He loves basketball. He loves his teammates. I don't get any drama. I didn't, you know, he didn't play American college basketball, so I didn't watch him. Didn't really know who he was until end of his second year, beginning of his third year in the NBA. I mean, I heard of him, but I didn't really buy him. But I sit and watch this kid, and I just, everything about him, I love.

I love his focus. I love his length. I love his personality. I love his giving manner. I love his lack of drama. And I like the fact he wants to stay with one team. Even though I'm pro-mobility, the Damien Lillardz and Janus, that were worked for me too. Where Colin was right? Listen, Russell Westbrook, I'm not going to rip

O'KC losing. And I'm not going to rip it because Russell Westbrook had a bad night shooting. Russell Westbrook's not a great shooter. But come on, man, emotionally, you got to be galvanized. After the game, I just don't see Magic LeBron or Michael Jordan acting like this. Since he left you, but could you tell he had a little extra in his step tonight trying to play against his old pals? Next question. Russ, did you think getting down 3821, 17 point deficit to come back and make it a game down the stretch? Is that a good sign for the rest of the playoffs?

Thanks, question. It looked like you tweaked your ankle a little bit in the fourth quarter. How's that feeling? It's okay. Sorry. You expected to have any impact going forward? You see? I mean, come on.

Oklahoma City, you've just enabled this for years. Oh, I hear he's got an issue with one of the writers in Oklahoma City. Oh, Lord, let's move on. You're the face of the franchise. Let's show stability. People are leaning on you. I'm not going to beat up on him for having a bad shooting night. He's not a great shooter.

He's relentless. He's great energy. He can absolutely put a team on his shoulders. I know that. So I'm not banging on him, but this is what I worried about. I said all year. Is he going to unravel in the playoffs? And apparently somebody's already in his head.

By the way, be very careful about taunting Damien Lillardt. Damien Lillard's really, really good. And he was the better guard on the floor yesterday, Russell. So be very careful. You can't give him that much space to shoot because he's going to shoot. Wow. Where Colin was wrong. I'm one of the eight people in America that does not watch Game of Thrones.

And so therefore I'm on the wrong side of popular. Yes, last night was the Super Bowl of Sorcerers, Dragons, and Ice Zombies. Apparently, I didn't watch any of it. I'm not into Escapism TV. I watched golf. I watched NBA playoffs. and UFC all weekend. I did not watch Wolf People.

I did not watch Wizards. I've heard of John Snow. I thought he was a middle reliever for the Milwaukee Brewers. I'm sorry, but it has won 715 award nominations. And so that tells me it's one of the great shows, if not the greatest show of all time. And I've not seen an episode. And by the way, I'm so far gone on this thing. Well, you can't catch up now.

I can't. I wouldn't even I mean one day if you like have literally nothing to do One day, one year No I mean like when you retire When you're like 87 or something Then you can maybe pick it up

Because it's eight seasons And they're you know Each episode's an hour I watched last night though Everybody did Yeah except for you Yeah Me and like some guy in Sheboigan

Didn't watch Where Colin was right Finally Blake Griffin No show for the Pistons game One of the playoffs Collin he was hurt He's always hurt He was hurt in a playoff series

against the jazz and the blazers and the grizzlies. I've always said about Blake. He's a super talent, but I can't build around him. Some guys are not dependable emotionally. Some guys are not dependable physically. I always said he was the best volleyball player in NBA history. He's great at the net. He's great at spiking.

I can't trust him in late games to hit a free throw. I don't want the ball in his hands. Late game to hit a shot. Physically, he plays hard, gets hurt. He's not there for game one. There's been two great players in the NBA, maybe three, that I just never bought into. Carmelo, John Wall, and Blake Griffin. And I'm sitting there thinking, why didn't you

take the last four, five, six, seven games off? You got to be there for game one of the playoffs. I mean, come on. You're the face of the franchise. They're paying you a zillion dollars. You've got to be there. Calling right, calling wrong. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. A friend, an 11-time national sports writer of the year, 23 years at Sports Illustrated, but back in 2014, final column as a sports writer. He's in the Hall of Fame, by the way, a sportscaster. Not as a sports writer, but a sportscaster? No. Sports writer.

Okay. I said sportscaster. And why am I down here and like you're a pharmacist up there? What is this? I'm in the person's office. You and Michael Lewis, I don't build the sets. I'm not a carpenter. I'm a sportscaster. Well, it's very fancy. At least I get joy now. Right out. You used to be over in the corner. Yeah. I'm up on the stage now. Oh, you get to be up too. Okay. I'm also up above you as well. You can just lecture me. So my first takeaway this morning is you were one of the first sports. writers. I think Charles Pierce was another one that you came out and said, you know, Tiger could be a

little nicer to people. You were never a fanboy. You're not paid to be a fan boy. You got a lot of pushback, I imagine, during that. But yesterday, and again, you've watched him with a critical eye. You never denied he's unbelievable. But yesterday, how did it psychologically land to you? Different? You know, I've known him since college, since he was in college. And I always felt he was too famous, too young and he never could show his true emotions. And I think that's why he kept such a distance from everybody. Right. Like the four or five guys in his inner circle love him, right? But he just keeps everybody in an arm distance. And that was true with his emotions. Yesterday was the first time since he was a sophomore in college that I saw him really let us see what he was feeling. And it was

incredible. And I stood there in 97 when he hugged his dad. Yeah. And he's so close with his dad. And I know he's so close to his son. And so to have that, oh, I'm getting chills just talking about it. Just to have that moment, like, I cried. And, and, you know, you know Jim Nance. I've known him for years. That's the first time I've ever seen him. He started to tear up in the interview. Jim Nance. That's how big the moment was. And I don't care what you say. That was a really boring round of golf he played. He hit one signature shot. Yeah. On 16. He made an incredible up and down on 10. Very smart golf. But he was all smart. And for a guy that's made so many mistakes. You're a tennis player. A lot of what killed Tiger through this stretch was

unforced errors. You know, you had a beautiful wife. You had 14 affairs. You wanted to be a Navy SEAL, so you hurt your knee. You got addicted to pills. You got arrested. These are all very human mistakes. And yet this whole week, he hardly made any mistakes. And that's what brought him back. And I just, the golf itself was just very smart. He just outlasted everybody. But that moment, when he won, I'll never forget it. No, no, one of the broadcasters said that this is the greatest moment in golf history. And again, there's these iconic, idyllic moments with Jack and throwing the clubs and Mickelson at the Masters.

But I felt it was different. And again, I see it from afar. I mean, I'm sitting there on the couch and I could not move for five hours. It can't be the greatest moment in golf history. Who said that? That makes no sense. Well, the guy that was on with Nance. Let me ask you this.

Let me ask you this. Jack Nicholas was 46 years old. five shots back with nine to play, caddying with his son, he hadn't broken an egg in four years, hardly made a cut. But he never got addicted to anything. He didn't see the bottom.

So his mistakes make his comeback better than, say, Ben Hogan, who got hit by a bus? No, no, no. Yes, because Michael Jordan's, what makes Tiger and Michael different than every athlete in my life is they bottomed out. I mean, your dad gets taken from you. You decide to quit the sport,

your best in the world, you play baseball, you're not good at it. and then all of a sudden we're like, oh, now it's a comeback story, now it's Hollywood. I think Tiger's flaws is why I'm sitting on a couch. Yeah, I mean, I get that, but I mean, this whole blockbuster video where you go in Blockbuster and there's no movies before 1980 in the old days, remember Blockbush? Well, that's what everyone's doing now. You forget what 97 was like, Tiger Woods.

We hadn't even hardly had a black member at Augusta. Right. And he won it by 12 shots. And then you forget 2000 conveniently. where he had all four major trophies sitting on his coffee table. He went 560 and oh, beat every guy, every guy that rises up, the Bob Mays, you know, those kind of Orville Moody guys, beat all them, beat all the best players, four straight times.

That, to me, is the greatest moment in golf history, maybe sports, to have all four majors. So this was great, but I don't see how people are going, this is the greatest golf moment of all time. But you're a golf encyclopedia. Most of us aren't. So we skim the surface, and this was the most emotionally important wind form. This connected with the guys like me.

Oh, it was emotional, man. I was sitting there crying my eyes out. Let me ask you this. That when he's holding his son, and then he takes them all because he didn't used to be available at all for us to see his emotions. Never let you do that. And then suddenly he was just going crazy. And I don't know, something about it. I'm still getting chills about it.

When you were critical of Tiger, did he shut you out? How was your... Because for people that don't know this, you've been a golfer for a long time. You make fun of tennis players because, as you always say, well, what do you get out of tennis? Every court looks the same. I don't care if you're in Singapore or Recita. It's the same.

Don't you want something different? I mean, we've got hot rocks and streams and you're just, oh, it looks like another tennis. It's a very good point. But anyway. But when you were critical of him, how did he treat you? Because you're at every major. Oh, no, he shut me out long before that. He shut me out.

He shut everybody out because Charles Pierce came in and wrote all the stuff. Because Tiger loves dirty jokes. Yeah. So he was telling dirty jokes, and the limo driver told Pierce. And he told him. And Pierce, you know, it really wasn't a goal. He didn't care what happened to the rest of us. And, man, he and his dad just showed us out.

And I was pretty close with the dad and him through the first couple years. And then it was over. He was so closed in. That's why what mattered yesterday? was so amazing to see him do that and just embrace that family. And he didn't used to be like that. Do you think it's a one-off? I mean, you've had back fusion, three surgeries, torniquilles, he's older.

Do we get a string of these now? No, this guy was not an underdog. He almost won the last two. He was leading Sunday at Carnusti before the Italian guy. And then he was right in the hunt in St. Louis, set that whole town upside down. He almost won except Bruce, I mean, Brooks Kepka suddenly became Superman. So he's been right in it. I think he's now ranked sixth in the world.

Oh, is he? He led the whole tournament in Greens and Regulation. He's one of the top ten players in the world. And now you've got to think he won at Beth Page. We go there next in May. He's greatest tournament of all time. You said this one was actually when he won by 15 at Pebble Beach in the 2000 U.S. That was great.

Now he's going to Pebble Beach again. so he's got a real chance to win another one. I have $50 bets with 10 of my friends that he'll still pass Jack. I made those bets in 2007, and I've never paid him off because I think he's still going to do it. You know, it's interesting. When Tiger dominated golf, and this is very natural. When Michael Jordan left the NBA, we're like, okay, who's the next Michael? Instead of going, oh, yeah, we're not going to see another Michael.

So Tiger leaves because of all his personal stuff and his physical stuff. And then Rory McElroy is good, but not special. Dustin's good, but not. And Justin Rose. And there's about 19 guys, and they all win one. And they don't win three and four. And then now comes Brooks, the bomber. And everybody's like, oh, he's the next guy.

And I'm sitting there watching yesterday, and I'm like, you know, there's a lot of money in golf now. But he did almost win four of the last seven majors, right? So you think if he makes that put on 18, he's in a hunt. He's in the playoffs. So you don't think Tiger's just going to elevate beyond these guys now? No, I think he'll try to. He's 43, Colin. What do you want from the guy?

He's 43 years old. He's doing great. This is not going to go on forever, but he has a chance now to pass Jack. But you know, you said something earlier. People just don't get how close he was to quitting, but he never quit. Jordan quit.

Tiger never quit through all the shame. And he had the chip dips. He couldn't even chip it over a bunker. Listen, he couldn't get on a cart. He said it hurt too much. on a cart. Bruce Kepka got up. He got up for his 920 tea time yesterday, Eastern. He said he's going to get about 6.30. 7. Tiger got up at 3.45. He has to stretch for three hours just to get that body going. So what we're seeing, man, savor this, because this is crazy. It is nuts. Are he and

Mickelson closer now? Yeah. He's better with everybody now. Except me, I think. By the way, you have a new book out Commander and Cheat, how golf explains Trump. I know tigers played with Trump, because Trump plays with famous people. There's got to be a tiger Trump story. Trump loves to play with celebrities. Yes. Yeah, that's what he wants to play with. And, you know, in this book, people think it's a political book. It's just a fun book about how much Trump cheats, not just in his golf game, but when he builds courses, how he pays people, the political trouble he gets into that started in golf. But he's also really fun. And then he never takes your money. But he always has to win.

Trump never takes your money. Never takes your money. And then he buys the orders 20 cheeseburgers in the corner of the grill with Diet Coke and fries. And then anyone can come up and have lunch with him. And it's great if you're a spy because you can be miced up. So he's playing with Tiger and Dustin Johnson and Brad Faxon. And it's Dustin and Tiger against Faxon and Trump. They're playing the back T's.

Trump and Faxon from the white T's. Yeah. Trump's getting eight shots. They hit it way left. he and faxen are way right Trump hits his second shot Fats it into the water splash he says to Faxon

throw me another one they didn't see that And Faxon's like excuse me Throw me another one throws him another one Fats that in the water Oh boy Drives up in his super fast golf cart Hits that on the green

Meanwhile Tiger hits it like this For kick in birdie And Tiger gets up there Says so what do you punt for Mr. President And he says four He's putting for seven But he said presidents get like three strokes a hole. Absolutely, but then you don't get to say you're that.

He said he's won 20 club championships. No, that's a bit much. A bit much. He's a stretcher. I tried for a year to prove any of them were real. Do you know how he does it? Well, how? His first, whenever he opens a new course, he has 15 courses.

He plays the first round by himself and then declares that the club championship. I love that, actually. It is kind of ingenious. You got to kind of give it to the guy. That's pretty smart. Rick Riley, 11-time national sports writer of the year. So now you don't write sports anymore and you're in, you write movies and you're in Italy. Will you, however, will this get you back to majors and following golf a little more?

Absolutely not. I'm going back to Italy. Okay. I'm playing my piano. I'm playing paddleboard. I'm meditating. All right. What he was saying about what a golf champion he was just got me so mad because I knew it was a lie because I've played with him.

He says he's a three and he's a three. and he's a 10 and he says he's this champion. Well, you guys are all, you golf guys are all about rules. But I'm talking Tiger. Will Tiger's great? If Tiger runs off three straight majors, don't you want to write about golf? Yeah. Yeah, you're right.

You can't not write about it. You're right. This is the great comeback in American sports history. Modern. I would love to write about it, but I don't have a job. I don't want a job. So I don't know how the hell we're going to do this. Maybe you can make a call.

I don't have any power anywhere. You know the big winner yesterday? I just thought about this besides. Tiger in America? Who has the U.S. open? Pow, we do. Pebble Beach, Fox. Yeah. You know what Fox does

great? What? You guys do great? The sound. Yeah, I like the sound. They're the only network that lays out when the caddy's talking to the player because that's what we want to hear. Oh, I love caddy talk. If you could hear what, if there was a guy standing next to Tom Brady at the line, and you could hear that, wouldn't you want to hear? Oh, absolutely.

But these other networks talk over that. Like, that's as, that's as intimate as you can get in golf, and Fox does a great job of that, and also the ball going into the cup. I love that sound. Good seeing you, buddy. Thank you. Rick Riley. 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, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves.

their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite.

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