The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd for Mar 12, 2020

Episode Date: March 12, 2020

 The NBA suspending the season was a correct and obvious decision to makeThe NCAA should cancel their tournamentThe NFL got lucky with the timing of this pandemic Guests: Shams Charania, Lead NBA Reporter for The Athletic & StadiumNick Wright, Host of FS1's First Things First Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go on a Thursday live in Sherman Oaks, somewhere in Los Angeles. This is the herd. Wherever you may be, and however, you may be listening, we're on IHeart Radio, and we're on Fox Sports Radio, and you'll catch our podcast today. We are not on FS1. We get knocked off by, I think NASCAR today. I'm never quite sure what we get knocked off by.

Oh, the Big East Tournament. My bad. I never quite sure. When I'm not on, I don't watch, right? Because I'm on radio. Good to have you. Enjoy Taylor's joining me. Crazy last 24 hours? It's been a crazy 2020, Colin. I was literally just sitting here thinking, like, I've done the craziest amount of shows, like unprecedented shows probably this year than ever in my career. It's crazy. So the NBA season suspended, hiatus, they're calling it, kind of a sabbatical. My first thought when it happened was back in the mid-90s, 1994, the Montreal Expos, no longer a team, had this great baseball team. And they were the number one seed in the National League, and they did one like 75 games, and 74 and 40,

and they were going to end up home field advantage in the playoffs. And the season goes on strike. And it blows up their season. And I thought to myself, the Clippers finally have it. They finally have the best team in the NBA, the L.A. Clippers, years of being, you know, the stepchild of the Lakers, they finally have their team and the NBA season potentially gets canceled. April 15th, about five weeks from now, is the end of the NBA regular season.

There will be no regular season. Regular season is done. This is not a one or a two-week thing. This is a spring and summer thing. Let me just say this. I was last Friday, I took it off. And I was in Utah. I was skiing in a place called Deer Valley.

Pretty boogie. A lot of CEOs and business people where I'm. Matt, there were two CEOs I ended up talking to during lunch, one from Seattle, one from New York, and then another guy from Atlanta who was way up the information food chain in his business. And they all predicted this. They said, we're going to have massive cancellations starting next week. There's going to be a lot of panic in the media. Nobody knows where we're going on this.

It is not a one or a two-week story here. It is a four or five-month story, and I don't have any answers for you. but my gut feeling today is the regular season for the NBA is over. The standings are what they are. If the playoffs do restart, they'll be based on these seedings. My gut feeling, it's a 50-50 if we have the playoffs. If we do, my belief is they'll be pushed back, maybe three or four weeks even, and you'll have a shortened, you'll have opportunities to test some things out in the playoffs

that you've never done before. But when I talk to those CEOs, all of them said, we're going to have to have. you know, a hospital bed shortage in America. We're going to have a credit default situation. We are now, the bull market's over. We're going to be in a recession. They were telling me about five days ago what we were going to see. In fact, I told them both. My wife had a Ireland trip starting tomorrow. They said cancel it. So Sunday night, we canceled it. Monday morning, we canceled two European trips over the next five, six weeks. My family was taking. I wasn't part of one of those. So, you know, sometimes I've tried to lean on last night.

I made two calls, one to Atlanta, one to Seattle, people in the, you know, Wall Street that I've known for years. One of them was a college roommate. And, you know, there's a lot of disinformation out there. Sadly, it almost feels political where conservatives are saying, this is no big deal. Liberals are saying it's the end of the world. It almost feels political to me.

I'm a moderate. I'm a centrist. I don't think it's the end of the world. But I think the NBA did the right thing. this morning, the Big Ten, the Big 12, the SEC is canceled. All of them have canceled their basketball tournaments. I think it's the right thing to do. I also think basketball is a very unique sport in a very unique situation.

First of all, let's talk NBA. One of their stars got sick. You know, this is a sport in which you don't have heavy pads and equipment and helmets. You touch each other all the time. You sweat on each other. Coronavirus is very contagious. People can say, what about hockey? Same arenas.

Well, you have a glass separating fans from players. In the NBA, the fans are on the players. In hockey, you have helmets, and you have lots and lots and layers and layers of equipment. You rarely get skin on skin, hand on hand. You have gloves. The CEOs told me last Friday, and this is information that they were really hot on. They said, listen, social distancing is going to become very important. And I think a lot of these CEOs are canceling work, canceling events.

You see Cachele, you see the NBA season. I think it's all smart. I think this is what we should be doing. I have no idea what we're in for. I trust people that are much more informed than I am and much smarter than I am. I don't think there's any value in saying it's just the flu. As I said on Twitter last Friday, after talking to the CEOs, I posted on Twitter. It is not the flu.

You don't have a stock market crash with the flu. You don't cancel seasons and events due to the flu. Is it possible there could be some panic? Yes, certainly. I mean, the media drives a lot of things, but there's a thing called the World O meter that keeps you updated on coronaviruses, every individual country,

what's declining, what's rising. I sent everybody to that. We've had multiple instances in America, just talked domestically, of canceled seasons. World War II, 15 years ago, 16 years ago, the 2004 NHL season, yet a full-season lockout. out. Major league baseball, mid-90s, 94, season started. Shut down with a strike. Again, I think the NBA regular season's over. The seating is the seating. I'm 50-50

on whether we have the playoffs. My gut feeling is they will be delayed. You start them instead of April 15th, May 15th. It should be noted, China stopped its basketball season for 10 weeks. Reportedly, they're restarting it soon. MLS has now canceled its regular season for the time being. NBA has. I think XFL, baseball, NHL, March Madness are all going to have chain reactions here. I think it's the smart thing to do.

Better safe than sorry. There's no reason for panic, but there's a difference between panic and concern. There is a reason in my life we've had books written and movies made about viruses and outbreaks. You know, this is stuff that we've dealt with 11, I think, of these,

you know, these international viruses. We had, if people forget maybe H1N1, There was, I could be wrong on this. I think there were 15,000 deaths in America. We had SARS, which was very, very deadly, not nearly as contagious, perhaps, as this. Post 9-11, the world changed. You've got to be nimble. This is why I'm concerned our current president.

It's not a political left or a right issue. I don't think he's built for these crises. I think he's attached himself to the stock market. That's his be-all end-all. It is now crashing. we are in a, the bull market's over. We're in a recession. The travel industry is going to go through some really, really tough times. And, you know, the days of 3.5% unemployment, those are over. Okay, this was not going to, this was not going to last forever. This is not a panic. This is what

we deal with post-World War II. Every six years, we've had a recession. We were in an incredible 11-year period of no recession. Now, this economy wasn't good for everybody, but it was good for a lot of people. 3.5% unemployment, stock market at 29,000 illustrates that. But, you know, now it's going to be tough. It's going to be, you know, things are going to change, and we will be okay. We're a smart country with very effective people in important positions. In terms of the NBA, it is, I swear to God, it's the strangest year ever. 2020 will be the strangest year. You had multiple stars hurt. The dynasty ended overnight, Kobe's tragic death, David Stern passes away, the NBA China controversy, and now the cancellation slash hiatus of the NBA regular season.

It is just, if I'm Adam Silver, though, and I think this is just, you know, my wife says this, she said, you know, you tend to be optimistic, like you're protecting yourself. Like, you just don't want bad news. And I said, well, I grew up with some chaos as a kid, perhaps, you know, I've gone through enough therapy. It's a protective mechanism. But I see opportunities like this economically. I'm like, I called my broker last night.

I said if it goes 2,000 points down, let's buy. I see opportunities. I look at Adam Silver this morning in the NBA, and I think to myself, there's some opportunities here. Let's think about this. He has been a pretty progressive commissioner in terms of gambling. He talked about shortening the season. He talked about a mid-season tournament.

I think if I'm Adam Silver, I try to make the playoffs happen. But this morning, I say, let's push them to May 15th. All you need is about six or seven, eight. You know, you need practice. These are the world's best basketball players. They don't have much of a preseason anyway. I mean, they have like seven warm-up games and they go right into the season. Maybe you go from seven games to three games in the first round.

Perhaps you eliminate teams. Only the top 12 teams get in. The nets, the magic, the grizzlies, the Mavs, don't get in. You know, Mark Cuban wouldn't be happy. But, you know, I've been hoping forever for shortened seasons in baseball. I think hockey's too long. I think the NBA is too long. Maybe it's time to experiment.

I think anytime you have a crisis like this, I lean on smart people. You seize opportunities. Be safe, be smart, find a new way to do business. You've got an entire summer here if you're the NBA. No time for panic. It's time for read everything you can get your hands on. Be mindful. I do think if you are compromised physically, you know, you're 50.

You've got diabetes. you've got some physical issues, overweight, heavy smoker. I watched some tapes yesterday on this. Your best not to travel. Social gatherings, stay out of that for six to eight weeks. I don't know enough about it to have strong opinions on it other than leaning on people who on Friday told me

exactly this was going to happen. So I'm leaning on information people. I'll disseminate what I can get from it, give it to you. And, you know, hopefully you see me as somebody that's pretty measured on this. I don't have any answers. You know, I've heard some people say, you know, there's a lot of panic. Of course there is. There's panic all the time. Post 9-11, there was panic. People are human. People get, people are fearful. We're mostly creatures of habit. When new stuff, Joy and I talked about this yesterday, when new stuff arrives, and you talk about

viruses and deaths, and we all have, you know, many of us have kids and businesses are closing and the economy is shrinking. Of course. This is a time where we all need to be reflective and let's take deep breaths. Let's work together. Let's be mindful. Let's not try to win arguments on the internet. Who gives a rip? Let's get it right. Let's not try to be right on this. And I think canceling games, social distancing is the way to go. 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. 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 athletes 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.

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I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Cliver 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 with 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the I-Heart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what.

He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows, without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, He has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

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This is The Herd. Joy Taylor joining me in a couple of minutes. Shom Sharanya, who broke the news last night that Rudy Gobert tested positive and the league was suspending operations. By the way, Donovan Mitchell, the editor star on that team, is also tested positive. Now, the good news is those were the only players or staff out of the 59 to test positive. There's a couple little glimmers of positive news, and I do think there's a responsibility to share some of that. One of these is the percentage of the number of the percentage of the number of the number of

of people who are testing and testing positive is actually low. Of the people, Utah is a great example. The jazz tested 59 people, two were positive. That's becoming kind of a trend. Secondly, nobody has an explanation for this. Kids are uniquely safe with this. They're not with the flu. This is not the flu.

The flu can be very dangerous to children. For some reason, children are perhaps carriers, but it is not quite as dangerous for kids thus far. those are positives. The rest of us, here's what I would do. It's been a bad college basketball season ever. Duke Carolina just played lowest rating for those two in nine years. There is no star in the sport.

Last year we had two magnificent players, good storylines. I would cancel March Madness. The ACC, for the record, just canceled their tournament. So the Big Ten, the Big 12, the SEC, and the ACC of all canceled their tournaments. March Madness is a very unique sport in America. you ask hundreds of thousands of people to travel across the country to attend events. I'd say right now that's not a great idea. We don't do that in the NFL.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans don't travel every week. I mean, the Steelers don't have a lot of empty seats. But March Madness, it's a bunch of empty arenas all over the country. Please fly in and fill them. This is not the time to have that kind of event. I also believe this, is that the NBA. has just 450 players. Two of them, two of their stars,

have the virus. You don't think with 4,200 college basketball players, starting with these tournaments until potentially the end of March madness, 4,200 just Division I players, just Division I, are going to be out there. Nobody's going to catch it. And by the way, let's say a kid or a team got it,

you know what the national narrative would be. Oh, exploiting the kids. Make money. Not protecting the kids. That's the story. If you run the NCAA and your Mark Emmert, just try to. It's called second line thinking. This is what the Warren Buffett's and the Bill Gates use.

It's called second line thinking. See beyond the initial problem. See two or three steps ahead. Not hard to figure out. Kids get it during the tournament. And the story is, oh, Mark Emmert, exploiting kids. You don't pay them. anyway, cancel the tournament.

And I think March Madness, without the madness, is a buzz kill anyway. It is, these are not professionals. It's not like there's a player's association to negotiate with. You don't have a union to deal with here. Protect the kids. That's what adults are supposed to do. Protect kids. I think college football spring practice, cancel it.

March Madness, tournaments, cancel it. You had 4,200 players. You don't think anybody's going to get this? Come on. What are the odds no player gets Corona? How about we start with there are no odds? You bet against that. Somebody would get it.

I mean, just look at the reaction last night when Fred Hoyberg, the coach in Nebraska, got sick. The internet exploded. He just got sick. People were like, oh, my God. Now, he tested negative. It was just a flu. But you have to remember, there's going to be some panic. This is the reality of these kind of national or international.

international crises. I think college basketball, March Madness, is the easiest thing to cancel. First of all, it's amateur athletes. Let's protect amateur athletes. Number two is timing affects everything. This is absolutely brutal timing for college basketball. And like the NFL or the Olympics, see the Olympics are in July. You could, you know, just kind of sit around for a month and figure things out.

If you're the NFL, you take your scouts off the road for the draft. But the NFL season really starts in earnest. You could cancel the preseason. It starts after Labor Day. The Olympics are in July. College basketball is about a four-week sport. We've got a national and international crisis the next four weeks. The timing's horrible.

You've got an easy out. These are amateur athletes. The timing is just, listen, timing in life is everything, right? We all know that. it just landed at the wrong spot and the wrong time for college basketball. Some sports are getting a little bit of a timing break. I would say the Olympics. This is a year with no World Cup.

I mean, this, you know, soccer gets. Now, MLS has so far canceled games. But internationally, the World Cup is a zillion dollar. It's a multi-billion dollar tournament. This is a year with no World Cup. Get a little bit of a break. Olympics is in July. Now, although basketball players are a big part of the Olympic experience,

and may not be part of it if the NBA got pushed back to the playoffs. But college basketball to me, this is an easy one. Amateur athletes, timing stinks. Let's just be smart. Let's be safe. Let's just stop it now. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Well, he broke the news last night that Rudy Gobert tested positive and the league was

suspending operations. He ordered rights for the athletic and stadium. It's a terrific job. I was kind of about a year and a half ago, I said, who's this Sean Sharania guy? He's really good. And now he joins us on the show. First of all, it's, we have said this morning,

Joy and I Shams, that we think it's the right thing to do. The NBA tends to be a very progressive league, smart on this stuff. Adam Silver's a bright guy. I think it's the right thing to do. What was your initial reaction to it? Yeah, Colin, great joining you. You know, the league was prepared to start playing games, either today or tomorrow without fans.

That was their plan. But I think everyone around the league, there's always this fear that the first player that got it, you know, become this mass hysteria, be a mass panic, you know, for the right reasons. You know, the last thing you want is for this to start spreading among your players and becoming a league-wide issue, really on the surface level. And so I knew the moment, you know, that I got wind of Rudy Gobert testing positive last night. I mean, that's a story that, you know, you have to treat with a lot of care. Yes.

And, you know, it took me about 40 minutes to get to the point that I'm, I'm, I'm a lot of. I'm like, this is 100. I'm putting it out. And so I knew the moment that I put that out that the league was going to indefinitely suspend the season. That's just where this was going. And, you know, I think four or five minutes later they announced it. So there was not really a surprise around the league that it became indefinite suspension. I think everyone knew where this was headed the moment one player in the league of 400, 500 players tested positive.

Now, again, this is a day without a ton of good news. Rudy Gobert test positive. Donovan Mitchell test positive. Now, from what I'm reading, they're the, 59 people were tested, 52, 58, two were positive. Is there a sense amongst the NBA and the jazz that the good news here is, even though Rudy Gober and Donovan Mitchell probably talked, discussed, touched, shared space with people, these are the only two that tested positive and that that's a good sign, perhaps, right? Yeah, I mean, listen, the jazz are likely going to have secondary testing in the next few days just to make sure on a lot of fun.

But there's no question that, you know, it's the only positive thing you can take out of this. And, you know, like I reported, 58 tests were administered only Donovan Mitchell, so one of 58 last night, ended up coming up as a positive result for coronavirus. So, you know, all the other players, personnel, staff, execs. They all tested negative. And so, yeah, you're right. That's the only positive you can take. Now, those guys, I'm told, you know, Donovan Mitchell, you know,

has not shown any symptoms of the flu of a real significant illness. And so, you know, for him, this is he's living his daily life. He's feeling himself. But the expectation is that Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, these guys are going to now become quarantined, self-quarantined and start to really, you know, self-isolate until this passes, whether it takes a week and a half, two weeks, et cetera. You know, Adam had suggested a shortened season before the season started. He was very pro-gambling.

He talked about a kind of a European-style mid-season tournament. And I wonder if this doesn't create opportunities for Adam Silver to say, okay, we're going to have a shortened season. And I think I can remember when, Shams, I'm sure you remember this, when we had a few years ago the shortened season, the media, the fans, the players, it was largely celebrated. It created incredible urgency. we look back at that season. We call it the strike shortened season. But a lot of players said, you know, there were fewer injuries. The fans in the media were into it.

The games meant more. I wonder if Adam Silver doesn't look at this and say, you know what, this is a different year. I'm going to experiment with stuff. I'm going to shorten some series. Our television partners are going to have to deal with this because we can either have no games or at least some but fewer. Is it possible that Adam Silver is going to have an opportunity here to do a little experimenting for safety reasons? and it just presents an opportunity. You know, I think the league is going to look at everything at this point,

and the question is going to come now is, do you resume the season with a playoff? Do you have, like, a shortened season? Do you have five games and then playoffs? I think these ofteners are going through execs and owners' minds. You know, the owners and executives I've talked to believe that, you know, they don't think anything is going to come back and resume action for another month. And so you're already going to have to probably shorten things at that point. I don't think the league has any mindset as far as like how this is going to impact short and season moving forward.

But, you know, it is a food for thought, I guess if you want to call it that. Shams, Sean, you're joining us, the Athletic and Stadium. Were there any players, executives, anybody that reached out to you that did believe that this is an overreaction and it's just too much. We could have played without fans. There's no reason to cancel the season. anybody, you know, privately DM text you and share those thoughts or concerns? Listen, I've heard from, you know, whether it's team people or players that are thinking that all of this is a panic situation. But once one player got it and it was confirmed that Rudy Gobert tested positive,

I think everyone understood that the only right thing to do now is indefinitely suspend the season. So I don't think there's any gripe with that. I think just the overall panic and hysteria over the situation, I think is the one thing that serves like, this might be a little bit overblown. Like I said, you know, from everything I've been told, Rudy Gobert is strong, he's good, and in his mind, he could have even played last night.

And Donald Mitchell has yet to show real symptoms of a flu. And so, you know, these guys are going to need to be quarantined. And the big thing now is making sure that they don't spread this virus. What do you do personally for the next couple of months now? You just, you kind of bounce around the league, talk to execs. How does your job change? Yeah, you know, I've been home really for the last couple weeks. I haven't been traveling.

Just seeing teams come through Chicago and Milwaukee. I'm based in Chicago. And now, you know, I don't think I'm just going to pick it up and start traveling around. I think it's going to be pretty, you know, if these teams are telling their employees and the league is telling employees to self-quarantine and players are being told to self-quarantine, I don't think I'm going to be getting on a flight here anytime soon. but we'll see. All right.

Sharmes, Sharanya, broke the story last night in Rudy Gobert, testing positive, and also broke the story in the league, suspending operations. You do a terrific job. We appreciate you in a busy day coming by our show, Shams. Thank you so much. Thanks, Colin. I appreciate you.

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. I don't think the NFL. The NFL is announced. They're not changing their season. They shouldn't. That's Labor Day. They could easily cancel the preseason if they had to.

There's no reason. Again, I'm a strong believer, and this is from people smarter than me, that deal directly with medical companies, the government. This is not going to be a two-to-three-week story. It's going to be a two-to-three-month minimum story. The cases are going to double. There will be signs and opportunities of positive news. is a little scary today.

But in terms of the NFL, they got a little bit of a break here. They can take all their scouts off the road. You're seeing the teams now taking scouts off the road. In terms of the NFL free agency, you can do this over the phone. Players know who the good teams are, who the bad teams are.

Players have agents. It's an agent's job to do homework for the players. That's why you pay them 5 to 10%. Players know that Tampa Bay is not as well run as New England or the Steelers. or the Packers or the Ravens or, you know, players know where they're needed, where they can get their money.

You can do all this over the phone. In terms of the NFL draft, I would cancel Vegas probably at this point. Wait a couple days on this. But if your scouting department doesn't know about a third round wide receiver you're interested in, then fire your scouting department. Well, also, luckily, the combine is over as well.

It's over. This is all phone business. I'll give you an example. So it was just a strange coincidence. Monday I was off and I had a scheduled meeting, but I was a little dizzy, but I did it anyway because it was across the street from my house. It was a place called Nix in Manhattan Beach. And I went there and it was just a young kid and he's got a business idea and I want to hear him.

He's a college football player. And he went to high school with Andrew Thomas, who is the great left tackle for Georgia. He could be the first second or third or fourth left tackle taken, terrific player. And I asked him about Andrew. He went to high school with him. He knew his family, told me his whole background. So I took the information, and I texted a buddy of mine who runs an NFL football team. And I said, hey, I know you're in line, perhaps for a tackle. I'm just going to give you some intel on Andrew Thomas. I wrote a paragraph. All like details, family, parents, kind of kid he is. The NFL GM says, yep, within 10 seconds. Hey, thanks. You sound like an area of

Scout, good job. Yeah, this is all what we had. We're a month out. They have their information. It is now just watching more film. You can do that by yourself in a room. If your scouting department doesn't have the available information and needs a pro day, get a new scout. It's paralysis by analysis. You could do the draft tomorrow. You could do it over the phone like they did in the 80s before we all knew what Mel Kuiper looked like. This is certainly a phone business time where you can get 90% of it done. Also, the NFL has cut back on practice time and camps over the last CBA. The next mandatory NFL camp is June 11th.

There's no reason to cancel that. I mean, God, we're at March, April, May. That's three months away. I have a trip I had planned in mid-April to go to England. I haven't canceled it yet. My wife canceled the Ireland trip. I'll probably cancel that today or tomorrow. but there's no reason if you have plans in June to cancel them yet.

Now, March Madness, it's done. It's done. NBA, next month, I think baseball is going to follow suit here. You know, and I feel bad because, you know, opening day in baseball is a big deal. Could you do spring training games without the fans instead of canceling them? I think that's possible. but you know

we were sitting down as a staff or as a team this morning and we were just saying you know the NFL has sort of owns its own it's got it's in its own hemisphere, its own galaxy in a weird way they benefit here because most of their business for the next four months is phone business

certainly for the next two to three months and with the NBA, the MLS and baseball potentially being cancelled we've got a draft coming up in free agency it is going to own the news cycle. So, you know, the NFL is not in the precarious situation that others are. The Olympics July, take a deep breath.

Let's wait it out. NFL camps in June 11th, 10th, 11th, let's wait it out. But these are all, you know, these are all discussions grown-ups have. I do believe, the one thing I do believe is we are going to have for the next, you know, eight to 10 weeks, 12 weeks. It's going to be precarious. The bull market's over. the travel industry is going to be in a real peril here.

A lot of jobs lost. You're seeing CEOs at airlines already. Like Friday, salaries cut. You know, it's going to be really tight, really ugly, and it stinks. California, by the way, has ordered gatherings of 250-plus people that could affect major league baseball games. California tends to be pretty smart on this stuff, pretty progressive. They're already saying, done. Can't, you know, Coachella, a stage coach been canceled yet.

It has music festivals, concerts, sporting events, tournaments in California, non-starter. Those are done. And I think they should be. You know, in situations like this, what's the downside to being cautious? We know what the downside to being reckless is. Right. But the downside to being cautious is short term, you cancel some events. That's what smart people do.

That's what I'm hearing from the smartest people I know. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. 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 Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast. 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.

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Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free. iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way and listen now what's up guys this is clivert taylor the fourth and on my podcast the clivert 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 you know these kids

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 rep my mama want you to wave at her what Where's he at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reed. I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series

because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing.

That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball like, after you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Search her to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Nick Wright, my buddy, first thing's first co-host. I'm told they didn't have a show today because I'm not sure if it's college basketball related or not, but Nick Wright is joining us. So you're in the heart of New York City. In California, Nick, it's been pretty low key and chill.

But in New York, do you sense less traffic, less people, social distancing? What do you sense right now? Yeah, definitely less traffic. The show, we didn't do the show today. It wasn't college basketball related. It was what I would call an abundance of caution related because of what's going on right now. And I would just implore people, Colin, you're an expert in a lot of things. This ain't one of them.

I'm an expert in maybe a couple things. This ain't one of them. But thanks to the Internet, we can hear what, like, the doctors and biologists and the true experts are saying. And it seems to me like they are almost unanimous that especially the young and healthy have a moral obligation to try to slow the spread of this thing. so our medical centers don't get overwhelmed. And so I think that's part of the reason we were off the air today and we'll be off the air tomorrow because there's no real way to move around New York City without using mass transportation. L.A. is obviously different.

But I'm really curious what's going to happen to New York over the next 10 days because I don't think the city functions without the subway. And I think the subway appears to be a really good incubator for this thing. Yeah. And I also think, I mean, Italy had it basically just shut down everything. You know, I don't think it's crazy to suggest. Just keep your eyes open for the next month. We're canceling all events now. California basically said yesterday, 250 people plus events.

Uh-uh, can't have them. I mean, that is largely shutting down. That's social distancing abruptly happening in a state that has a lot of gatherings. So I wouldn't be shocked at the subway system in New York shuts down. My takeaway on the NBA yesterday was, yeah, this is smart. I mean, this is what you do, right? Colin, it's the only thing they can do. Now, if the whole league comes back negative, you know, obviously Gober and Donovan Mitchell

have come back positive. Can you hold the games in empty arenas? I think you probably could. But the single worst thing, again, this isn't according to me. It's according to the experts are not only large gatherings of kids. people. But what do people do at sporting events? They drink and they high five. So large gatherings of people potentially coughing or cheering or yelling and then high-fiving people, especially when it's gatherings like the NCAA tournament where people come in from one location,

leave to a different location, and this thing sprawls. It's all about, like, it does not see, You had a really smart tweet earlier, Colin, which I don't know if was yesterday or today, which is this isn't going to be a three or four week story. This is a multiple month thing we are now going to have to deal with. And what all the doctors are saying is, listen, we've got 100,000 ICU beds in the whole country. At any given time, 65% of them are full. So this isn't about limiting the total number of people who ultimately get this. because that might not be possible.

This is about elongating the timeline in which people get this. So when people do get it, if they need real medical care, you don't show up to the hospital and say, we're all full. So I thought it would have been wildly irresponsible for the NBA to let fans continue going to games. I didn't think they were going to take the step of suspending the season, but I also didn't think Rudy Gobert was going to that's positive. And Rudy

Gobert, I mean, him making a joke of this whole thing and rubbing his hands on those reporters' microphones is going to be an image that lives on for a very, very long time, at least for me. Yeah, you know, it's interesting.

I was saying today, I hope we all realize it's not about being right, it's getting it right. I watch, you know, this is one of the things where the media just turns me off. Folks, unless you're a doctor, and even if you are, let's not worry about being right on Twitter.

Let's, let's like elevate the discussion, right? Like, I watch Twitter and I'm like, oh, good hell, people. And here's the thing. If we take super aggressive steps right now and hopefully can mitigate this thing as much as possible, there will be an arm of people who are right now saying, this is nothing. Everyone's overreacting that if we mitigate the damage, we'll then wave their flag and say, see, told you it was nothing. But you can't worry about that right now. The only thing to worry about right now is, can you, I did tweet this. Look, I'm the son of a fireman, but unless you're a fireman,

policeman, first responder in the medical field, the odds are you'll never actually be able to help save another person's life. Like, it's just not what our calling is. Right now, we actually do all collectively have the ability to help potentially save a stranger's life. And the logic of, well, it only affects really the sick and the old. I don't know about you, guys. But God willing, one day I hope to be a super old person. I hope to be laughably old, frighteningly old, where my eyebrows all connect and my hair comes out my ears. I hope that if and when that day happens, if there is something like this that the young, healthy people value taking care of me. Like that, like, hey, that life matters too.

And so that's where we, and if you only look at it from, if you can only see your own, own perspective. And you're like, nope, this thing ain't going, ain't going to get me. And even if it gets me, I'll be fine. None of us are immune to staff infections, pneumonia, a car accident, needing random hospitalization. And if when that happens, the hospitals are full, then even the young and healthy could be screwed. Like, this is a really easy one for me. And I, and I'm glad that may, even though we might be a few weeks behind, it looks like people are starting to take it more Seriously. Yeah, I mean, I was in a hospital Sunday night at three in the morning. I had a stomach virus, did not eat, stood up in the bathroom, collapsed, and I have seven stitches in my forehead. And I had six. So that's what happened to you? Yeah, yeah. I thought you hopped in that hot tub. You took a picture of the guy clocked you. I didn't know. No. So, I mean, and I, and by the way, when I walked into that hospital, you know, on a gurney, it was a bunch of young people and old people. Hospitals are filled with all. sorts of people. So there was a young kid sick. It was old, young. There was a 10-year-old kid in there

with his grandparents. And the grandparents were fine and the kid wasn't. By the way, I buy car insurance. I've been in one wreck in my life and it was minor. So being right, I buy it to get it right. I know that when I buy insurance, it never really pays me off. But I'm not trying to win with insurance. I'm trying. Yeah. Right. And let me say, I won't say one other thing on this.

And this wasn't my point. This was a very smart doctor who I follow on Twitter made this point. This woman, her husband, unfortunately a few years ago, got a brain tumor and passed away. And she made the point that if we just change the way we are conceptualizing this, where if there was, if all of a sudden we found out, listen, guys, If you moderately adjust your own behavior, then someone won't get cancer. You'd be like, oh, well, then I'll do it. Like, if going to a Knicks game can all of a sudden make it drastically more likely

someone were to get a brain tumor, you'd be like, well, even if I haven't met them, I won't go to the game because it's the right thing to do. That same line of logic follows. And this is where we do. And I don't mean to sound corny or cheesy or self-righteous or any of these things. But this is where it is, you remember the big debate a few months ago? 30 seconds. 30 seconds.

The reclining your seat on the airplane. Yeah. And it's like, well, you have the right to, but we are in a society. Like, we all do got to kind of work together on something like this. And I hope people do. Sorry, I ran to. No, good stuff. Nick Wright, love you, brother.

As usual, smart perspectives. Nick Wright, first things first. 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 Slic Life 12 in 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 homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert. Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Clivert Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office blue 42. A rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas.

And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was funny. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow.

Then after that game seven, Marquis come. until he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.