The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd for Jul 02, 2020

Episode Date: July 2, 2020

Doug Gottlieb filling in for ColinCam Newton is betting on himself and it might not workThe NBA playoffs are almost here, everyone should want to playRob Manfred is getting a bad rap.Guest: NBA TNT commentator Kenny Smith Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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radio app by searching Heard. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. What up? Welcome in. This is The Herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be making us part of your day. Live from Los Angeles, I'm Doug Gottlie, filling in for Colin Cowherd. We have what I think is an outstanding show for you. Really good.

Kenny Smith, the Jet, two-time NBA champion. and of course NBA on TNT analyst will join us in 30 minutes. And we'll talk about the bubble, which I want to get to in a second. In one hour, in one hour, I will tell you why Rob Manfred is being skewered by some of my brethren in the media and many on social media. And all of them look like complete and total idiots because of them. of what he actually said and allowed us inside into baseball's negotiation. In one hour, I will skewer the skewer-ers. I will cook the cooks, if you will.

Does that make any sense? I'm excited about Fourth July weekend. That because I am a grill master. I had a little run at some beef ribs last night. Mixed results. I felt good about it. But on the device in which I was cooking with, I'm not sure I had the space considering the size of the multiple racks of ribs.

I got a lot to get into with ribs upcoming. Brandon Whedon's going to join us, former starting quarterback with the Browns, the Cowboys, and the Texans. And T.J. Hushmanzado will join us. We'll ask them about Cam Newton. Contract details have come out, and they're alarming to some. They're very telling to most of us. We'll get to that.

But let's start with the NBA bubble. where we're, if you're online, you can go to the NBA's Twitter page or their website, and you can see that they're laying down the practice floors in ballrooms in Orlando. It is a go. It's going to cost the league $150 million to put on this COVID-19 post-quarantine bubble. And while the rest of the world starts to shut down, the NBA does seem to appear to be a little bit ahead of the curve. Right? I was under the impression. I've continued to be under the impression, hey, the rest of the world has opened up. Why won't the NBA open up and have it at practice

facilities and have it in home sites? I think when we're seeing some of these numbers forecast what the end of July and August could in fact look like. But what I don't understand, what I will not accept is star players, or at most any player, deciding they don't want to go play in Orlando. That's right. I'm saying what most of you are thinking. Yeah, it's really hard to tell somebody to get their butts back to work, but that's what I'm telling you.

Specifically to a guy like a Brad Beale or a Dwight Howard or an Avery Bradley. Okay, let's start with the COVID-19 concerns. Okay, I am not Clay Travis, who's denying that any of this should have any sort of effect. on our lives from this point forward. Not, I'm not, I like Clay, we work at the same company. I vehemently disagree. Not because I know what I'm talking about, but I actually believe that scientists, doctors,

and oh yeah, by the way, even some, when the state of Texas is like, hey man, we got a problem. Right? Hey, man. We got a problem. Like when Texas starts shutting things down, Texas, which is the, I'm actually wearing a Texas,

hat right now that says come and take it. Come and take it. It was a mantra from when from the Texas War of Independence from Mexico. Texas is the lone star state. Hey, Governor Abbott stuck out his chest and we're opening up before everybody else. Now they're closing up because they see the numbers are not trending in the right direction. But here's the problem. Okay. Let's say you're Brad Beale. Let's say your Avery Badley. Let's say that you're Dwight Howard. And you're saying, I got concerns over the quarantine bubble.

Okay. I will allow that to be your excuse. If and only if you have done the following, self-quarantine this entire time. I'm only going to either cook my own food, which I shop for myself. and when I shop for it, I have gloves on, I have a mask on, or when I order it out, I have all the different precautions because, hey, even though fewer people, you come in contact with fewer people, the Uber driver or the DoorDash guy, he comes in contact with lots of people.

You can't control that. Plus the cooks, plus whoever handled it from the cook to putting it in the packaging. Like, if you're blacklighting all that stuff and finding the germs and operating as if you're still in self-quarantine and self-isolation, I'm good. But the truth is, most of these guys have been out and about, and if they haven't been out and about, people around them have. The world is open under varying levels of phases of quarantine. So you mean to tell me you think you're safer at home than you are in the quarantine bubble,

where you'll have doctors and medical personnel, the best of the absolute best and a limit to who can come in and who can come out where there's no limitations outside of it? Yeah, I'm not buying that. That is not a in the real world, that's a BS excuse. We all know it. We're just not willing to say it because people throw out my kids. I can't see my kids or and we talk about family, which is reasonable. I'm a parent.

I've never liked it when some people act as if they're the only ones. who when they go to work for their job have to leave their kids at home. That's called work. That's what you have to do. That's why the Take Your Kids to Work Day is once a year. Because for the most part, you can't take your kids to work. What, did you just become aware that basketball was a job that was going to take you away from home? And oh yeah, by the way, for the guys that aren't going to make the playoffs, like a Brad Beal, like, dude, we're talking about a month.

You go down there, you train for a couple weeks, you play eight games, then you go home. They're not making the playoffs. It's not happening. So really, it's more the Dwight Howard who's reconnected with a kid from a previous relationship or LeBron James, who's got his family. And no one has said those kids can't come if they want to come. After a certain amount of time, they can come. The problem is that they have to be in quarantine for four days once they get there. But yeah, you potentially could not see your kids and your wife or your significant other for three months,

but you've gotten three months where you could only see them. And oh yeah, by the way, here's the biggest thing. I may sound like a callous jerk. I may sound like somebody who lacks empathy and understanding. Or maybe I'm just telling you the reality of it. This is not about the Washington Wizards per se. This is not about the Lakers. Yeah, if I'm, if I'm LeBron, I'm pissed off at Avery Braddon.

We wanted you on this team. We signed you on this team. We put forth that we have one goal that's to win a championship, an NBA championship. You go down in immortality, maybe even more so now for this year than you would any other year because you're going to be one of the only things on. There's not going to be fans. It's a very unique environment. But for LeBron James, I wanted you on this team to win a championship. And now all you got to do is go and stay in a luxury hotel for a couple months and play ball and you don't want to do it.

Come on. Please don't give me the lack of ability to be part of the social justice movement. The NBA has a limit. Look, ma'am, we're going to put Black Lives Matter on the court. You can make statements on the back of your jersey. And oh, yeah, by the way, every time you're interviewed, you can, you still have social media. You can still post whatever you would like. No one has stopped you from being part of the movement.

no one. That's a BS excuse as well. So what are we left with? Look, look, the industry that you work for. And I'm not saying that basketball is perfect, but they're just about as good a contracts as you could ever get. They are guaranteed dollar for dollar. Your leg could fall off. Brad Beale's leg could fall off. I don't want it to. I think Brad Biel's a great, not good, great player. He is as underrated a player nationally as there is. But his leg could fall off.

He signed a two-year extension with a two-year player option that could be worth up to $144 million. He's already made $107 million in a short NBA career of which he's probably got 10 more years. At least.

I mean, he's going to clear $300 million just on basketball alone, not any other stuff, whether he wins, loses anything because he's good at it. That industry needs you. Like, I'm not even talking about the public and how we do need a distraction from everything else, and that's what sports provides or an entertainment value. And maybe to some that signifies that it'll be a distraction from social justice change. I whatever your industry the one that has created this platform for you the one that that will make not just your kids or your grandkids or your grandkids grandkids well to do that industry that sport needs you and you're like yeah I don't know I'm not feeling

like sports and success in sports has always been about sacrifice I just saw LeBron James post early bird gets the worm he's the first one in the Lakers facility today he's there by himself self. Sports and your success of it is about sacrifice. So I'm sorry, guys. You tell me that I don't want to go just because I don't know, social justice, COVID family. I speak for most of the American public. The reality is you have a very well-paying job. You're one of 450 humans on earth that are better at your job than anybody else. You're great. you're paid to be great.

We're not asking a lot of you, and frankly, we're not asking of you. Your industry needs you at this very moment. And the selfishness and self-centeredness of so many guys who look at themselves and say, of course you don't want to do it. But how you got here was, did you want to go to the gym every morning to get shots up,

to work on your body? Of course you didn't. You didn't because you wanted that ultimate pay. day. You wanted the respect of your peers. You wanted to be one of the chosen few. You've gotten here. And now you've forgotten all of that. Those sacrifices daily you won't make for a month to three months. Because why? Don't give me the COVID-19. That's BS. We all know it. You can tell me social justice. That's fine. The truth is we're talking about a month for Brad B.O. Three months for every Bradley. And you'll have a platform. And you'll have your social media if you want to promote change.

and oh yeah by the way all the money that you make and that you generate you can donate to the causes that need those resources to be successful family they can join you or they cannot join you but the truth is you weren't toting them all around the country when you're playing ball to begin with right and you just spent three months with that i'm not actually outraged kind of embarrassed as an athlete as a guy who uh i used a a slightly above average college career to make it for myself, my own industry. Like, look, we're struggling in the media. Right. It's hard to ask people to sponsor radio and TV shows when they're laying people off or furlough on people. We're laying people off and furlowing people. But you show up every day at work because that industry needs you during the times

when they are toughest. Anybody can show up. Anybody can show up when times are good. It takes nothing to show up for a home game when the place is packed and the Lakers are coming to town. This to me, and this is the Dwight Howard's, the Avery Bradley's and the Bradbills. This strikes as the exact opposite of how most every athlete sees this opportunity and sees their sport, their industry needing them and what you should properly do. and I can't understand it, take it, or tell you that I think it's the right thing to do. Everyone throws out their family, their family, their family.

We all have families. We all have families. And while there is a sacrifice and it does suck, nobody said you can't take your family ultimately with you after a certain period of time if they want to go through the quarantine or they can stay home. because you are with them for the last three months. You can tell me I'm callous that I lack empathy or some sort of feeling. I'm telling you what everybody thinks.

Or a very, very strong high percentage. Not the social media outrage over Gottlieb doesn't care. That's not true. But every sort of fear that you may have has been eliminated. Damian Lillard has doubts about the NBA bubble. My confidence ain't great. My confidence ain't great because you're telling me, that you're going to have 22 teams full of players following the rules.

When we have 100% freedom, everybody don't follow the rules. I don't have much confidence, but hopefully it'll be handled to the point where we're not putting everybody at risk or in a dangerous position. Again, I love Damien Lillard. I love watching him. I love his story. I love the fact that my brother was a Cal. He was right down the street.

And I think my brother's a great evaluator of basketball talent. And he was like, look, he was a six-foot two guard. And we just, you know, he went a place where he got a chance. to be a point guard. He's way better than anyone ever thought he could be. Like, I love guys that prove everybody wrong. That's who Damien Lillard is. But like, dude,

okay, there are rules to quarantine and to the bubble. Understood. But at least there are rules and there are doctors and even if people break those rules and allow others into the bubble, what do you think you have at home? You're not coming

from a bubble to another. bubble. You're not coming from self-isolation into the bubble. You're coming from the real world where everybody is out and about and apparently spreading this thing into the bubble. Pack your stuff. We'll see you in Orlando. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS1 and the IHeard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed the 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,

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

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

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. 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. I want you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Agency. The ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast, cultivating her. space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard.

I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30. You shouldn't have to share one with anybody. Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and Make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food.

Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas. They're practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Doug Adleaving for calling this is The Herd. Kenny Smith will join us in moments. And you see where USC reverse course announces its undergrads will primarily take online classes this fall. Everybody's talking about college football.

Just imagine yourself being a parent who was willing to sacrifice, I don't know, 70,000 post-tax, 70,000 a year, send your kids to USC. They actually increased tuition during the quarantine. And they're like, hey, your kids probably get to. be limited home. So, yeah. Do I get some of the money back? No, no, actually. Same fees.

Just, you actually have to take the classes on mine. Yeah. There you go. There you go. I'm going to explain why Cam's contract more easily tells us exactly the level of investment and faith and belief the Patriots have in Camdo. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. One of the things I really enjoy about Kenny the Jet Smith is not just inside the NBA, which is far and away the best basketball show on TV.

It's that that's a guy that really likes ball, right? Like he coaches A.U teams. He works for kids. You know, he'll, if you say like, hey, I'm doing a clinic in Orange County and he's up in the valley. Like, all right, tell me where. I'll be there. He's all around the country. So, and he's got this Jet Academy thing, which we're going to talk about. It's a streaming service that you can get monthly and you can see these workouts. But Kenny the Jet Smith is more than NBA champion.

He's a dude who, and now a great broadcaster. He loves ball. He joins us now in the herd on Fox Sports Radio. Kenny, how are you? Man, I'm doing great, brother. How are you? I'm good. So, okay, tell me about the Jet Academy because now you can't work with kids in person.

And so it's like online streaming with you and some of the greats in both men's and women's basketball, right? Yeah, without question. You know, I'm sitting around here, you know, the social distancing, the pandemic, you know, now I'm going to be spiking. And, you know, I have a 12-year-old son can't go to basketball camps or any camps. My daughter can't go to camps. I couldn't put on mine, Doug. And I was like, you know, there's got to be a way where their development just doesn't stop if they love the game. You know, even if they want to make their junior high school team.

So I was like I created the first streaming service with the best WNBA players, Rihanna Stewart, Brittany Griner, Sue Byrd, and with the best NBA players, All-Stars, Kimball Walker, Trey Young, and Victor DePo, and Victor DePo. And we're basically, we're your personal trainers for two hours a day. So you're coming to our academy. You come into the academy, two hours a day. You get to work out with them. And you work side by side.

it works on any device, you know, long as you have cell service or Wi-Fi, it works. And I just thought that it was a needed thing. Because you know, Doug, like when we were growing up, we could pop in a Billy Blanks, updating myself tape, and put it in and go. Today's kids, they consume information.

It has to be live. That's what they separate our camp in our academy. It's a live. It's not a tape thing. It's live. You can ask questions right there. You can upload your, videos. It's a live experience that's the way that our kids are consuming information now.

That's awesome stuff. I started the show with, look, I respect the idea that you could opt out of this, but I don't feel like the excuses or reasons really hold up. Like, look, the bubble, if guys were isolating and self-quarantining at home and were concerned about their health, if that's one thing. But the society being back out and open, I feel like you're safer in the bubble. And then more than anything, like the sport that has given you everything,

look, all these guys have worked incredibly hard to get there. But I feel like the sport needs them and the industry of the NBA needs them. What are your thoughts on Brad Beale, Avery Bradley? We don't know yet on a couple others in terms of whether or not they opt out. on some of these guys opting out of playing in the bubble? Well, I'm optimistic that, you know, obviously the NBA was the first sport that,

that, and, you know, the industry is to stop. Now it looks like we'll be the first to come back, biggest industry to come back. So I'm optimistic about, you know, that they're going to have their right precautions. But I'm also cautious because the information, I'm, think is still so unknown. So I can understand the fear of some place. I could understand that. I could say, well, you know, every day we get new information.

And from the time when the pandemic first started to where it is now, the information is changing. Then all of a sudden you're like, okay, it's good. And then now you're spiking again in the area, especially in the area that we're supposed to be going. And if I had, you know, I don't know who lives with their parents, the elderly parents might live with them or they have young kids that are newborns. I could understand their concerns.

23-year-old Kenny Doug, I'd have been like, yo, I'm gone. Let's go. I had no responsibilities. I wasn't married, no kids. I lived by myself in Sacramento. My parents lived in New York. Let's go who? 30-year-old Kenny, I would like, just a second, I might pause because I was married.

I got kids. I got, you know, my mom and dad moved in the area. Like now I have more responsibility. So that's, I think, what you're hearing more than anything about from some guys. Yeah, but do you have, and this is an honest question, don't you have a responsibility to your job and to your sport? Yeah, you do. And your job has a responsibility to you to make sure all those measures are correct. And I'm like, that's, that's, it's like, if you work in a, if you work on a construction site and you don't provide the, the hard hat helmets, then I'm not going to work.

You know what I mean? So you have to provide the environment and make me comfortable, you know. And the biggest thing is, though, they don't know what the environment is going to look like until they get there. If there was like a mock of what it was going to be, you know what I mean? I think that you wouldn't have any player questioning anything. But because this is unheard of, we've never done it before. I do give them a pass because of that. So have you provided the heart?

it's okay to ask that question, you know, and because they don't know about certain things about the virus. And they're getting so much misinformation through the internet and everywhere else, everyone, all over the place. You know, Doug, you and I are not like looking at the same sites that these guys are looking at. Sure. No, I got, and look, and in, and respectfully, like, it's for everybody, it's hard, right? Because depending on, who you listen to, you could get a very different depiction of what's going on, you know, whether it's with social justice or with, you know, or with COVID-19. Like, it's really confused.

I just want somebody, give it, give it to me straight. Tell me what the real deal is. And that's what, you know, that's what, you know, the thing that I thought, you know, initially was going to come out from, you know, from our government and everyone was like, okay, we're closing down. And when we hit these numbers, we're going to, we're all. open back up. But if we don't hit these numbers, we're not opening back up. Then in terms

of a leadership thought process, I would have been like, okay, well, we hit these numbers now. I could go to the restaurant, but no one said it. I don't know where you're doing your show from. But we're doing our show from not the normal places, you know? So everyone, it's not like the NBA is asking you to go do something normal.

And then this is why I side with the players a little bit on this, Doug. They're asking them to do it. But then they're going to go, oh, but the NBA offices are not open or, like, you can't do that. Well, you go, okay, well, you think it's cool for us. Create a bubble for your workers at work. Like, do that. I think that's where the disparity and the confusion comes from because no one else is doing

anything normal, except for us. Kenny Smith, joining us here in the herd, Doug Ghalybin, for Colin. Avery Bradley had his best month by far as a Laker in February, right? The Lakers were rolling, and he was a big reason why, right? His three-point percentage in the month was shot 48% from three, right? He was averaging 11 a game as opposed to previous to that. He was average about eight and a half a game. He was playing efficient basketball.

Now, he's decided to opt out. How big a loss? They add JR, but JR hasn't played in like two years in an NBA game. How big a loss is it for the Lakers to go into this thing without Avery Bradley? I think, you know, continuity and familiarity. That's why they brought in JR because they are like, well, at least let's bring in a guy that, you know, a couple of us know. You know what I mean? Like, you know, and so we're all familiar with, you know, in terms of a training staff, you know, some of the coaches have coached them already.

You know, LeBron knows him. Let's bring it because Avery had made, he made himself very familiar. So I think that it might help if J.R's in great back. basketball shape because, you know, what he does is now is the great shooter. He's not the defender that he once was, but he's still a great shooter offensively and he's faces the floor, even if he's been off. So him being in great shape, if he kept himself in great shape, that will really help. But Avery Bradley, in terms of continuity, he was in the rotation, understood what was going

on and was playing great. Okay, so now that we have a pretty good. We don't know about Dwight Howard yet, but we have my senses he probably ends up being there. But okay, so give me your thoughts. Lakers Clippers are going to be the first game out of the shoot. I don't know how much they show. Then there's eight games. Then you got the playoffs.

The Bucks were a dominant team in the east. What's your sense of what it will look like once they get some games going in terms of who do you think the actual favorites are? I say if you take the average weight of everybody, and see who's in shape. I like three months off, Doug, that's like, you know, as a basketball player, if I told you I'm going to give you three months off to get ready, that's the real, that's the summer. So you think about guys who are freshmen or rookies coming back to college

or rookies coming back their second year, how much they change in four months, you know, that now you know the league a little bit, you know what to work on. You can have a different confidence. Your bodies can change dramatically in that time. So I just think that all bets are off on who's the favorite when this thing stopped. Because the transformation of certain guys without playing in front of and also not playing in front of fans where the release of some of the stress and anxiety or some of the less skilled guys, man, this could be a different champion than anything we ever expected.

You think, really? Okay, so who, okay, take Lakers, Clippers, Bucks. Give me the team that you would be least surprised. It'd still be a surprise, and as you said, it could be anybody. Who's the team that you think, you know what, this is one you got to watch for? You know, you know what I think, Doug, the teams that are going to really do well are the young experienced teams. like the Bucks, the Celtics, Nuggets,

because when you train to play in the league when you're young, you train at a high level. So that's why a lot of those young teams start off fast in the season and then they kind of falter. This is like you're just thrown in and you need to be ready fast.

Like LeBron and even the guy, you know, Anthony Davis, they don't train the same way to get ready for a season as, you know, Jamal Murray. Like, because they're younger in the league, they're still finding themselves out. So they're doing more.

So for me, I think that this could be interesting because of that, you know, because of that, you look at his history, they start slow. You can't afford to start slow right now. So I would just throw everything out. I don't think this is like the continuation of the season. This is a new season that will have a champion.

It should be a lot of fun. She can check them out on TNT as their coverage gets underway end of the month. And go to Jet Academycamp.com. That's Jet Academycamp.com. You can work with Campbell Walker, Brittany Griner, Victor Oladipo, Trey Young, and others. Jet, thanks so much for joining us, man. Stay safe and can't wait to see you on TV very, very soon. Appreciate you. Thanks a lot, brother.

All right, that's the one and only Kenny the Jet Smith, who is a ball guy. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. 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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsClyce 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do a little kill? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know.

I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Then you're finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. 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 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30. You shouldn't have to share room with anybody. Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health.

These are real honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food. Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas.

Their practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. We were never going to have Fourth of July baseball. Look, I know many of you are still dealing with the fact that there's not going to be Fourth July fireworks in many of your towns and cities, which honestly makes complete sense. I mean, look, Fourth of July fireworks, while the finale is pretty cool, you always wonder,

like, couldn't we just do the finale and then call it a day? I mean, do we really need the, okay, we're getting ready, one firework, two, fireworks, three, five, like, I just give me the finale. But, you know, with businesses being shut down and municipalities probably lacking a ton of the normal tax income, it ain't the worst thing in the world to save a little cash on the fireworks this year. In addition to the idea of, you know, we don't exactly social distance when we pile our lawn chairs together and start sipping on something that warms the belly before, well, the kids run around. and we watch the fireworks go up.

So while you're still adjusting to the idea of there not being fireworks on the 4th July, many, like myself, look, I thought it was crazy that baseball, like, hey, baseball, July is your month. Why aren't you back playing? Well, we have our answer now, and honestly, I feel so much better having heard the realistic answer. Rob Manfred is the commissioner of baseball. Now, on one other media outlet, one other radio platform, there is a fairly sizable show that a friend of mine, Trey Wingo, is on. Wingo used part of this cut and made it seem like the owners did not negotiate in good faith.

But the truth is that what you're about to hear from Rob Manfred is reality. And it's the biggest problem we have with our reaction to many of the stories in news and in sports. I'll explain why in a second. This is Rob Manfred yesterday on the Dan Patrick show on Fox Sports Radio. The reality is we weren't going to play more. than 60 games, no matter how the negotiation with the players went or any other factor, 60 games is the outside of the envelope given the realities of the virus. It's the calendar. We're playing 60 games in 63 days right now. I don't see given how the reality of the health situation

over the past few weeks, how we were going to get going any faster than the calendar we're on right now, no matter what the state of those negotiations were. Now, look, there's a longer portion of that cut, which I don't want to bore you with, which he just said, like, look, we couldn't get into facilities before July 1st. Do you know who else couldn't get in their facilities before July 1st? The NBA.

You know who else? The NFL. Like, we're not told everything. Okay. Because for a lot of reasons. One, we don't actually, they didn't want to increase fear and panic, but it's like,

I just saw a quote from the governor of South Carolina saying they're not going to have fans at high school football games and probably don't have them at college football games, right? Governors, presidents, commissioners, business owners, they're told more than the public is. And what they were told was, you can't really, we can't get into the facilities until the 1st of July at earliest. And seeing as you can't get in the facilities the 1st July, you can't start baseball right when you can't. get in, you need a ramp up time. A little less than a month. Additionally, baseball makes most of its money in the postseason. And as Rob Manfred went on to say, they're told by all medical experts that the strongest risk for a second wave is the deeper you get into the fall into the winter months. So they want to be done by September 22nd. You can't be in the facility until July 1st. You

want to be done by the end of September. All the other stuff you heard was nonsense because they were negotiating terms when they knew they were going to settle on 60 games. Now, if you listen to other radio shows, if you read comments in the media and social media, they'll act like Rob Menfred opened himself up for a grievance from the Players Association. The owners didn't negotiate in good faith. Okay, so Rob Manfred's background is as a labor lawyer.

He's good enough at what he did to get the job as commissioner of Major League Baseball. So do you really think he would go Rudy Giuliani and say something he shouldn't have said on national TV and on radio? Of course not. Of course not. He's just telling you the reality of it. people struggle to understand the reality of rules and things that they don't actually know. It honestly isn't all that different from some of what has happened in the desire for police reform. Why aren't these officers fired right now?

Well, because there's actually a process, a review process that you have to go through. There's an investigation that has to take place. there's a union that protects all their officers, even when they have been alleged to commit a crime, then there has to be an investigation. Then there has to be charges. Then there has to be all the different things the discovery, the preach out hearing, et cetera, et cetera,

before we ever get to it. Like, we're still a long way off from all of these questions, but that's just reality. That's the way in which the system works. I didn't say it's perfect. That's the same thing we're dealing with here with Major League Baseball. I was screaming at Mountain Tops.

Major League Baseball. Fourth July, Americana, this is your chance. And Rob Manfred's like, look, I'm just telling you we couldn't get in until July 1st. We could have wanted to. We could have pushed for it. We could have come to an agreement. We couldn't get into our facilities for July 1st.

That's what we were told by all the powers that be. And if you can't get until July 1st, you can't play baseball to the end of July. And if you want to be done before October 1st, then you only have really a window for 60 games. That's not negotiating in bad faith. This is, I'm sure, like, we can argue, you can throw out there whatever you want in public or put it down in print and act like you're mad. But this is the legit number of games that we want, that we can do. And now we're going to do it in such a confined, such a compressed amount. of time that, you know, you get one of these hurricanes which come up and break apart in the fall.

You know, the hurricanes that become a tropical storm and they wreck havoc. Like you run the risk of having rainouts and having one some teams play 52, 53 games. Rob Manfred is being skewered for doing the one thing we desire politicians and leaders to be, which is honest, forthcoming. Give me a true perspective. Like, you know, we do this in sports.

Well, Cam Newton. How can Cam Newton not get more money? Well, like the reality of it is, he didn't have any leverage. There were no other offers out there. And, oh, yeah, by the way, even if the Patriots want to pay him more money,

they couldn't because they're in cap hell because they got a dead cap number of $13.5 million for Tom Brady. That's just the reality of it. People struggle with reality. They want to create some utopian society where you can just start fresh, start new, pay everybody, whatever, play as many games, whatever. And you're starting at infinity and that's where you begin the negotiating process. That's not how the world works. It's not how it works. And here's Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball,

whose background is as a labor lawyer telling you, look, man, is just the calendar? We'll start at the end of July, we'll end at the end of September. You tell me how we can play more games. It's not possible. So let's start with what's possible and then try and make the best of a bad situation. I will tell you, as somebody who was critical of baseball

for not getting their stuff together and getting on the field, I was wrong. I did not know that this was the case. I did not know they could not get into the facilities. I operated under the belief that because the spring training facilities were in Arizona and in Florida, and those states were more open than other states, we could get it going again.

I was wrong. I didn't know. 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 SportsSlice 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 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement home. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

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

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