The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Matt Mosley on Cowboys Draft Pushback, Lincoln Riley Critics

Episode Date: May 5, 2022

First, it’s Fake Questions, Real Answers, (3:00) including if Colin agrees with JJ Reddick’s rebuke of ‘Mad Dog’ Russo for saying Draymond Green should just ‘shut up and play’, what’s behind the ratings spike of the LeBron-less Playoffs, if Ryan Tannehill should mentor Malik Willis, if Colin is responsible for keeping Lincoln Riley in the headlines, and what lesson NBA could learn from MLB about player rest.  Then, longtime Cowboys columnist - and host of The Doomsday Podcast - Matt Mosley and Colin discuss if Lincoln Riley deserves the blowback over Biletnikoff winner Jordan Addison potentially transferring to USC (18:00), if the Cowboys over drafted their 1st round pick OT Tyler Smith (24:00), why the Mavericks can’t land top line free agents (32:00), how the media has evolved into athletes controlling their own narrative like Draymond (43:00), and what’s behind the NBA playoffs ratings spike (52:00). Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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If you are new, just download the Fandul Sportsbook app. Get started now. Sign up promo code Colin so they know we and I sent you. The Colin Coward podcast presented by the Fandul's Sportsbook. Hi, everybody, and welcome in to our. Thursday morning podcast, Matt Mosley, got some thoughts on Luca, Dallas Cowboys Draft, one of my favorite funny guys, Matt Mosley stops by. First, though, fake questions, real answers. There's a lot I want to talk about, but don't want to wait for you to ask me the question. Dear Colin, what did you make of basketballer J.J. Reddick telling radio host Chris Russo that he's outdated to say players should keep quiet and play?

All right, I don't know Chris Russo, but I've heard him on radio and did for years when I lived in Connecticut. He was a big New York radio personality. There's two types of sports radio hosts. Old school guys, that's Russo, and new school guys. New school guys, I would qualify for that. I tend to focus on where things are headed instead of where they've been. I talk soccer and UFC and a lot of basketball, pro basketball, NFL and gambling. that's what young consumers like.

Rousseau tends to be old school. He takes calls. He loves talking about baseball like it's the 60s, dead people, authors, and there's certainly an audience for that. But that kind of host, and I've noticed this for years, tends to have disdain for the current NBA and often modern athletes. I don't know why. I think we've had social changes, and athletes have a bigger say and more personality.

I do think if you gave Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe Instagram in the 70s, they'd be outspoken too. But there are broadcasters in my profession that tend to lean into the past. They cling to it. They like it. They're comfortable in it. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Rousseau is a good guy, I've been told, but he's an old school broadcaster. They often talk about the good old days of the NBA.

like the Knicks and the Pacers free throw shooting contests were fascinating. NBA players today are overwhelmingly more skilled, stronger, better ball handlers, better shooters. I like today's NBA. And Draymond Green is a big part of that. Wildly respected by players in the association, JJ Reddick rightly defended him. And let me say this about JJ Reddick. I've been told he's not a fan of mine. That's fine.

He doesn't have to be. He's a hell of a broadcaster. Reddick does something that very few ESPN hosts are willing to do. Be confrontational. Go after people if he disagrees. He's smart. He does his homework, super knowledgeable. And I like his ability to disagree with a smile,

be able to land a punch and take one. Whether he likes me or not, J.J. Reddick is a hell of a broadcaster. Dear Colin, what do you make of NBA ratings that are actually way up, despite the fact that LeBron's not in the playoffs? Well, I think two things are true. Number one is, LeBron can be political, and there's a subset of people in America who want their sports here and their politics and social issues over there. It doesn't matter to me if they're occasionally mixed, and in the history of the NBA, players

have often been popular and outspoken on political and social issues. But it does bother some people. And LeBron, more than any star in perhaps my life in pro basketball, is willing to discuss those. It does turn some people off. But I think the larger point I would make is, dynasties and superstars are probably best served for about 10 years. I think people have Tom Brady and LeBron. Fatigue, especially LeBron fatigue.

Listen, he made eight straight finals. He dominated an entire conference. He's all over social media. He's got TV shows. LeBron's everywhere and has been for 15 years. And frankly, the NBA has always been really good at introducing us to exciting new players, like Zion or John Morant or Luca. And I think I speak for a lot of people.

I love this Warriors Grizzly series. Old school, new school. I love some of the young players in the NBA. Like Luca and again, John Morant. I don't think LeBron's a bad guy, but I think everybody has fatigue after a while. You can watch television shows, series. They run their course.

I think the Lakers, LeBron, people are just looking for something new. More than the politics, that's why the ratings are up. The league was over LeBron, mostly. Colin, I know you've already addressed Ryan Tannihill saying he's not going to help develop Malik Willis, who was drafted in the third round by the Titans. Anything else you'd like to add? Why, thank you for asking yes.

Sometimes there's harsh truths in society, and we don't like to talk about him. It makes us think less of people. But sometimes you've got to be selfish. I know, I know it's terrible because our moms weren't. And it sounds bad when you say it. But Tom Brady wanted to get Jimmy Garoppolo out of Foxborough. And Aaron Rogers was deeply offended that the Packers would consider drafting another quarterback why he was declining. The truth is, if you look at great athletes, Michael Jordan front and center, could often be very selfish.

I don't care if it's entertainment, acting, football, basketball, whatever it is, academics. Ryan Tannahill, for survival, needs to be a little selfish. Into Ryan Tannahill. He's a sneaky 34 years old. They just got rid of his star receiver.

He lost a playoff game off a buy as a number one seat at home, out dueled by young Joe Burrow. his career is wobbling and careening, and here comes Malik Willis. I don't want to develop my era parent either. In this instance, and this season, Ryan Tannehill needs to do what's best for Ryan Tannahill in his career. Nobody wants to hear this, but sometimes you've got to take care of yourself first. Dear Colin, a lot of people think you are obsessed.

about Lincoln Riley, USC's football coach. What would you say to that? Lincoln Riley has trended on the internet at least once a week for almost six straight months. He left Oklahoma in late November since then, trended at least once a week, every week until today. He is not trending because of me. He is trending because Oklahoma fans in mass are constantly jam. grabbing him and ripping him and discussing him. You know what USC fans never do?

Talk about Brent Venables, Oklahoma's coach. They're not threatened by him. They don't feel burned by him or spurned by him. Los Angeles is busy. We have two NFL teams, two NBA teams. We have two major league teams. We have 15 to 20 to 25 superstars or stars in our market. We don't care about Oklahoma football or Brent Venables.

Oklahoma is showing you. When somebody dumps you, it hurts. You're in pain and you lash out. I'm not obsessed about Lincoln Riley. He keeps trending week after week because Oklahoma fans are going to the internet and poking and jabbing and taking swings at him. Brent Venables never trends. Nobody cares about him. Oklahoma is still obsessed.

about Lincoln Riley. The greatest compliment anybody can give you is still talking about you six months later when you're out of their life. You mattered a lot. Dear Colin,

is there a trend in sports that's a little irritating? Yes, and I'm seeing it again, the NBA is spacing out its playoff games, giving multiple days of rest in between games. Forget about me.

Forget about the fans. I don't think it's good for the athletes. You talk to baseball players. If they play in a Sunday afternoon, a playoff game, even if they travel, they want to play by Tuesday. They like the batting cage. They like the rhythm.

They like to get their workouts in. NBA players, let me ask you, Boston players go to Milwaukee. What are you going to do for 72 hours in Milwaukee? I mean, there's autograph hounds, iPhones everywhere, the minute you go down to the hotel lobby, players are just trapped in their rooms. I don't think it's good for sports. I see this in baseball.

Guys playing in the summer every day, you get to the playoffs, the weather gets cold, and they take three and four days off in between games. I don't think it's good for the sport. I don't think it's good for the athletes. and as a fan, keep me engaged. I have all these streaming services now. You take three or four days off. You may lose me. The biggest horse race of the year is quickly approaching,

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Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball. basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

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Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. All right, co-host of the Doomsday podcast with Ed Werder. He is part of the volume as well. He is a regular contributor. We have so many things to discuss. He's my friend Matt Mosley. So we'll get to the Cowboys draft in a second.

You live in Big 12 country. So you really understand the pulse of that conference. And you understand Sooner fans and Longhorn fans. And you have an encyclopedic knowledge of all things, Lubbock, which I value greatly. So I said this in my rant to start this podcast. I said, there's a reason Lincoln Riley has trended at least once a week every week since he left. Because when people are hurt, they lash out. You know who hasn't trended one time since that?

Brent Venables. And that, because nobody here gives a shit about Oklahoma football in California. And I think a lot of people think I'm obsess. with Lincoln Riley. I'm obsessed with those who are obsessed. Californians are a little self-absorbed. We have Mediterranean weather, the fifth biggest economy in the world. We don't really care about anybody else but ourselves. We really don't care about the Big 12 or Oklahoma football. And I know that comes off as obnoxious. But you know, you're from Texas. You guys, you know, you have your own culture. You feel you're very important to.

And so this whole Lincoln Riley thing, why can't Sooner fans? My takeaway is they're pissed. They were dumped. They're hurt. And they're lashing out. Isn't that it? Yeah. I do think they are hurt.

I also think that Lincoln is, you know, one thing, one misstep he's made. And I know in your mind, it seems like there are no missteps. But I think the. Players Tribune thing was a misstep. It's kind of like in Texas A&M, you know, Jimbo, did you hear him when they got the best recruiting class in the country? He got real defensive. You have to lean into these things. Yes, yes.

If Texas and people in this part of the country where I am, I'm in Dallas, the people in Oklahoma and everywhere, if they are truly going to think of this guy as the villain, he sort of needs to. embrace that. And I think what what he's dealing with part of him wants to embrace it. And part of him wants to keep a friendship with Bob Stoops. And he, and he, and he, and he, and he thinks he kind of let people down. And, and so he's trying to play it both ways. And I, and you can't, you can't, you can't win doing that. Like, he's got to own it. And if this pit kid, I mean, that, That became a huge story, not because the country. Think about that. This kid won the Bulletnikoff Award.

And I bet two or three weeks ago, most of the country didn't know who this guy was or knew just a little bit about him. And now he's a huge story because his coach thinks Lincoln's been tampering and everything. And Lincoln's got to either own it or, or, you know, not. But if he keeps trying to play sort of both sides of this, I think it's going to, it won't be good for him. But I get what, I get the reason why everybody out there is excited about him because it's been so long since like, it's been a while since USC's just sort of had this. We have what we think is the best coach and everything's, we're going to run this conference again. and there's a feeling at Oklahoma. That's interesting what you said about Venables.

I think they love him. But again, it's Venables get you back to stoop's and get you back to Switzerland and get you back. These programs, you see it a lot with college basketball. They can't function. It's this incestuous relationship. Like, dude can't hire outside.

UNC can't hire outside. And so Oklahoma, had this, I mean, Stoops was outside, by the way, but Stoops became a huge member of the family. So there's a lot going on, but in, and I think Lincoln can win this thing if he just kind of does his own thing. But when he acknowledges and tries to fix it with the Players Tribune stories, I, I think it, I think it takes away from what he could be doing, which is kind of what you're doing, is just, embracing all this and embracing the hate. I like it. I think it's funny. Yeah. And you've been at a perch, you've been at a place enough where you can handle it. And you would think Lincoln could.

I mean, he's been at a huge blue blood program, but I think there's still some muleshoe, Texas in him that he's having trouble embracing being hated. And I mean, I, you know, You love it. Oh, I love it. Oh, God, I love it. There is nothing more fun than annoying trolls. Ignoring or acknowledging them and poking them in the ribs. It's the best part of my business outside of creating new fresh fun content is poking your haters in the ribs.

It's the very best thing. I love it. Well, the best thing for you is that some of the people who supposedly your haters still can't quite. get over you and in in from that baker and some other people and they kind of yeah like they they can't learn what kind of lincoln needs to learn which is to you just got to kind of ignore it and move on but they they they can't they can't quite do it because they they still somehow want to maybe either change your mind or change the people who love your show's mind and yeah that's that's hard to do very astute so you know

I've never felt the cowboys are poorly run. But this draft was interesting. I always felt they were a little odd and insular. But they had K. Von Thibodeau as their best player in the draft. That is fine. Jerry showed his draft card. But I thought that move was kind of desperate and weird. And one of the things I've always respected about New York media, L.A. media, and

Dallas media and Chicago, Big City Media, you're willing to hammer on local teams and local personalities. Dale Hansen was known for that for years, is that I heard multiple clips from Dallas Media, Matt, hammering that first pick. So take me, take me to the ground floor of this thing. It looked weird. They were the most penalized offensive line. They drafted the most penalized offensive lineman, it felt like from an outside perspective, they got they got kicked in the butt a little bit by the locals. Yeah, I think that did happen. And what's happened in the local media and it happened to those other places you mentioned too

is, and it's a little ridiculous. We now have these armchair scouts and they watch tons of film. And I mean, I think you and I have the same thought. It's like have, you know, CoSell or have somebody sort of do that for you. Let's not try to pretend that we know all this. What's happened, at least in Dallas, maybe some other cities too. I'm sure it's happening everywhere is that everybody's become an expert. And interestingly, with this player, suddenly all these people that watch all this film and sort of claim now to be amateur scouts had this guy with like a third round grade.

And what happens is the listeners and everybody sort of buy into that. Oh my gosh. this guy I listen to all the time or listen to his podcast or read, had him as a third round grade. The one thing I'll say on the Cowboys behalf, I mean, it is kind of funny. I'm willing to beat up Jerry for a lot of things. But we sort of like give Belichick and a lot of it's because of what he's done. We always give him the benefit of the doubt. It's like, well, yeah, he picked that guy two rounds earlier than everybody thought or he picked this guy way earlier.

I mean, the first two picks for the Patriots came about two rounds earlier than everybody thought. But Belichick sort of, but one of those was a Baylor guy, my alma mater. Number 50 in the draft was Tyquan Thornton. But it's fascinating. But when the Cowboys, of course, have conviction about a player. Now, here's what I've gathered, though, from talking to other things that at least a little bit pushback against everybody hammering on his pick. The Cowboys were not alone. And maybe the Cowboys were not alone in overvaluing this guy.

but I didn't sometimes I go around the league and talk to some scouts and everything and they'll immediately like make fun of the Cowboys. This guy's an injury and it's funny how much these guys know. Some of these scouts, they'll go. Years ago, Cowboys took a third round pick. It was their first pick of the draft. It was a guy named Brewster from Ball State. Some guys said he'll get hurt immediately.

And I said, well, he never missed a game in college. What do you mean? This guy's office dangle. He's never missed a game. he'll get hurt immediately. And he went in the weight room and popped a peck. And he never played it down for the Cowboys. He was their first round pick that year.

It's remarkable. The medicals they know and what they figure out. What the Cowboys have decided, and I sort of halfway applaud them for this, they think this is Tyron Smith's replacement and that he could be a great tackle, even though he's not a great. replacement at left guard right now, which is what they need. They need somebody to replace Connor Williams.

And they're getting a guy that is heavily penalized like Connor Williams. But their vision of this guy is a longtime left tackle who has rare trait for his size can do things in bending and getting in past. You know, pass blocking can do like remarkable things. Like they think that's what he's going to become. So they're basically saying, we'll bite the bullet for a year or two because we think this guy could be a great left tackle. You know, I see something, though, the last three years, the Jones family has had some personal drama. The cowboy organizations had a couple ugly stories within it. And in that same period, the last two years, they have taken a half a dozen players, Matt, in drafts with massive red caricatures.

or flags. I've been told this by other teams. This is what would worry me is that are they comfortable with a level of dysfunction because they're living through it in their own business? I'm serious that I know, like I know three or four front offices really, really well in the NFL. And then I have six or seven others I'm reasonably close to that I talk to the GM or at the scouting director.

and the overriding theme on the Cowboys' last two to three drafts is, man, they're taking some guys with character stuff. And then I look at the organization and the family and I'm like, yeah, there's a lot of drama all around it. And I think to myself, are they getting a little too comfortable with it? Is that a fair criticism or have they been doing that for 20 years since you covered him? Yeah, they've been doing it for 20 years. and I don't think it's changed. I think Jerry's always loved the thought of he felt like people took a chance on him and he was at some tough places in life.

And he's always loved like if you can get either an injury risk or a character risk for tremendous value, he's all about it. This is a weird one though because they have a guy that was involved. in a drive-by shooting death murder. That's a second round pick from last year. And it's almost like Jerry's just defying everybody. I know you're all looking at me. And now the case against the old miss defensive end that they took, Sam Williams was thrown out.

Yes. But still, red flags, there's a reason he was there. And I don't think, like Randy Gregory may turn out. to be, I mean, he's already shown he was a first round caliber player, but he had all these issues. And they've dealt with all that. And then they end up losing him anyway. Jerry can't help himself. He loves the thought, and maybe it's the old oil and gas part of him. He loves the thought of just outfoxing people. Yeah. He, and it all goes back to Charles Haley. It goes back to taking a, a huge, locker room issue from San Francisco and that helped them win, you know, a couple more Super

Bowls or maybe three of them. But he took someone else's problem and that guy was tremendous for the Cowboys. And as an oil person, you know, an oil and gas guy, like he just doesn't remember the failures. He only remembers like the successes. And so that's a, that's, I think that's what he always comes back to now the family stuff that you're bringing up is interesting they're they've never really shied away from family drama the only thing different here is this has just gotten a lot more public and so i i don't know i i think it could be a positive that they have like more kids in the room now to make make picks and help them so ryan rissillo came on my show today and he had an interesting stat on usage rate

And it's that basically if your team is led by a player that leads the league in usage rate, you can't win your conference. Luca has the ball in his hands. You know, it feels like 85, 90% of the time for the Mavericks. But what I find fascinating about Dallas, because they're going to be on a mission to find a number two like they did for 20 years with Dirk. They were trying to find that number two. This is something I discussed this week. I don't understand. Dallas is in the middle of the country,

no state tax, beautiful women everywhere, well run, a very pro athlete owner. And they struggle in the free agent market. They do not land. And my takeaway has always been, is Dallas viewed as a football town by NBA players.

Is Mark Cuban such a celebrity that they think they would shrink. They wouldn't get the publicity in Dallas. But if I was a free agent, I've always said Dallas would be top two in my list. I mean, I'm literally no more than three hour flights, no state tax, mild winters, great fans, winning culture, Mark Cuban loves players, treats them like gold, one of the first guys to have a team jet. Why can't they land free agents? What is it? I don't think part of it is they haven't had like the ultimate recruiter as as great a player as Dirk was. I mean, it's not like he's just not wired like LeBron.

He's not wired like any of these guys, Kauai, all these people that have put super teams together, Kyrie or tried to. Wow. That's interesting. He was the greatest player for this franchise for many, many, many years. but I don't know if this is the, you know, his German side or European side, his disposition was not to be jumping on one of these jets or kind of what they did to DeAndre Jordan that time. And, and like, you know, people were trying to, like the clippers got into the room with him and wouldn't let him out of the room. And he changed his mind and the Mavs lost him. Like, Dirk would never in a million years try something like that.

Dirk was such a great player. He was like, if they want to come here, great. And if they don't, great. And unfortunately, what Cuban made a critical error, and he's actually admitted to this, is with that championship team, he didn't give him a chance to repeat. And people that are big Cuban, you know, kiss-ups have defended him on that. But the truth of the matter is, you know, he could have kept Tyson Chandler and all these guys together and had another go at it.

He got in this, and that was back when, like, landing Dwight Howard would have been a big thing. Every year, let's go for the big thing. Yes. And even though Dirk. is just such an incredible, like, franchise guy. If you really got Dirk to be honest, he would just tell you that Mark was a little bit of a buffoon on that front. Like, you finally put something together, and yet in your mind,

you're out seeking these huge players. Now, why don't they come to Dallas? I think we underestimate, you know, the state income tax, the great stuff that Cuban does. I think Cuban did a great job at all that, but everybody does it now. And they really don't care about this stuff. And it's mainly they go to places where they desperately want to be around certain players.

And while Dallas is a big market, it's not, it's like widely sort of considered by all these players. I don't think they think of it like that. You know what's interesting, Mosley? I've been looking for the answer for this question for 10 years, and I think you tapped into it right there, is that the messenger was an international player who didn't have the right disposition. Is it possible that international players are not as comfortable recruiting our domestic players as our domestic players are, as Wade is, as Kobe was, as Chris Paul is. Durant, Steph, it's really interesting, is that, you know, if Christian Pulisic overseas was building a team, he wouldn't have the labyrinth of connections an international player would have for Chelsea.

And that I think you literally found the answer is that between Dirk's disposition, it's fascinating. The super teams have often been led by a domestic player willing to get on the phone and recruit. Look at the super European players. Janus is not really wired to be out like recruiting like crazy. Dirk wasn't. You're right. I don't

I think Lucas like fine being a superstar and embraces that. And it's not like he's running from the spotlight. But I promise you he's it's going to be easier to for somebody to try to recruit him than it is for him to go after

somebody. That's not really the way he's wired. I mean, he couldn't even get his hero was like, Druggish, and he couldn't even bring Drogich to town. Who's like 38. That is funny. I think you literally solved a damn riddle.

I've been pursuing for a decade. I love it. You know who else solved one of these? So years and years ago, here was another NBA riddle. I could never figure out during the Jerry Sloan, John Stockton, Carl Malone years, like 12 years, they had the best home record and they were always 500 on the road.

And I'm like, I don't get it. And then John Ireland, the voice of the Lakers, came up with an idea once. And it literally, he nailed it. He said, Sloan was a chippy player. You know that, Matt. And that the jazz played such a chippy, aggressive style. that on the road, they didn't get those swing calls. And those were fouls.

And at home, referees are willing, because they don't want to hear, you know, the fans, the proximity to their officials. They don't want to hear the ugliness for two and a half hours as you call foul after foul, after foul on Brian Russell, John Stockton, Carl Malone. And he said, Jerry Sloan was a chippy player. They were a chippy team. And at home, you got those seven or eight calls. and on the road you didn't. And it was like, for 12 years, they were like the second best team in the league.

And they always had an average road record. And he solved a riddle. You guys that solve riddles, that's why I hired you mostly. I love riddle solvers. I really do. Make sure to check out the Dremon Green show. I brought Dremon Green into the volume

because one of the more entertaining voices in sports, unique perspective, understands behind the road, also chops up with guests like Gary Payton, Zach Levine, Tracy McGrady. Make sure download the Draymond Green Show wherever you get your podcast, only on the volume podcast network. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform. became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream,

this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. So I always feel like the media's in two camps, mostly. Old school, new school. And I talked about this earlier before I brought you on.

I'm much more fascinated with what's going to happen. tomorrow than what happened yesterday. I find you to be an old school guy that is pivoting very well to new school and not not a lot of guys with 20 plus years of media skin in the game are. So give me your thought on what's happening now to the media in America. Wow. And I appreciate you saying that. I was looked at it's funny how things have even changed just in the past 15 years.

I left a newspaper beat or with the cowboy. People thought I was crazy to do this like NFL blog. I was the first ever somebody made this joke the other day. There was one person, kind of like what the guy does at PFT, you know, covering all the, I covered the entire NFL. And I looked up about a year and a half later and there were 32 of us or a couple of years later. Because then we had like NFC, we had the, you know, divisional blogs and all. But when I left the newspaper business, and some of these people are still newspaper business,

and I didn't really leave it. I was, I just jumped into the Dallas News.com, the website, and they just thought I was insane. How do you, how do you deal with not being in a newspaper every day? And it just felt like the internet was going to be huge. And so you just sort of embrace kind of what's coming next. And I would now I have a fascination with the same thing you kind of are loving. is starting something and building something and even stuff that were maybe uncomfortable doing, like raising funding and doing all. I mean, that's not something I ever got in a business or went to school to learn how to do, but you just sort of do it.

So I do think it's fun. I think there's some old sensibilities and old things. I think, you know, you can still use things that we came up knowing, you know, but I do. It's funny. I was on the radio today. And I was thinking,

some of what I'm doing on the radio feels like so old school. And so these conversations and it's funny who like you're drawn to, Rosillo and Scott Van Pelt had me on before you really even started having me on. And we just, so it's just, it's interesting, you know, the different personalities we're all drawn to and everything. But I find that the next big, I mean, it's happening. before our very eyes. And what you've been good at doing is identifying these personalities. And I think probably it took you two seconds to realize, okay, Draymond Green. And then it's like wildfire. It seems like

every night something huge happens with this guy on the court. And then next thing you know, I mean, it's like it's too good to be true. Like he's on a mic doing a podcast for you. So the what you've embraced is something that most of us have resisted. It's the athlete getting control of things. And I think as old school media, we want the control. And we hate losing any of that. And we hate giving up scoops or sharing like, we still think like,

what if we had a scoop that ended up in the newspaper the next day? Well, that's old. That's so old thinking. But that's our background. And so what you've done, And what I hope to do is sort of realize, okay, these players are heading this way and they're going to cut us out. At some point, they're just going to cut us all the way out. How do we stay relevant?

And you stay relevant by providing them platform. So I think there was a moment this week where J.J. Reddick called out a broadcaster, kind of an old school guy, Chris Russo. And Russo loves baseball, very old school, very nice guy reportedly, you don't know him. In fact, I called a media critic in New York, Andrew Marchand, just to ask about him as a human being because I was going to have an opinion today and I was like, I don't really know him. Is this a fair opinion about him? You know, about Chris.

And it was interesting because Redick was really bothered by the fact that kind of Rousseau, you know, didn't like Draymond's personality. And I do find in the media, Matt, I find this, as I said earlier to you, there's old school guys and new school guys. And I do find a lot of the old school guys love their baseball and hate the current NBA. You and I love the NBA. I love the players. I love their opinions. I'm not bothered by the politics.

Some people are. That's fine. But when I watch the interaction between that host and JJ Reddick, it was almost a political statement by one host and JJ Reddick. It was one host, you know, embracing the current NBA. You've embraced it. You like it. I like it. But I know a lot of people in my industry.

my age that are totally turned off by basketball players. What do you make of it? Well, I think people were especially turned off and this became very political with everything that happened, with the kneeling and all of that. And again, it's too bad that politicians, and that's what they do, you know, they use sports to drive us all apart and everything. And I just don't, I'm kind of like you. I don't get caught up in all of that.

I mean, I'm kind of like, well, they have the right to say anything they want. But like, how can you not like these enormous personalities and like what happens on Twitter? And what happens with, you know, KD sort of defending himself and these people now challenging his legacy and all this. Like, it's the biggest soap opera going. In fact, the NFL has had to kind of try to pivot. And the NFL for so long just owned everything. They own the season. They own the off season, everything.

And then the NBA said, you know what? I think we're going to go ahead and take over this off season. Think about it. We're only 10 years removed from you and I being on the radio all the time or 20 years removed or whatever from the hot stove league being everything. And in one like lockout moment or whatever it was, they just lost it. They lost everything. Like the Rangers spent a half a billion dollars in a day or like two two days and got Seeger and Simeon. And it was like a one day story national.

I mean, that's a one day story. Here it was a little bigger deal. But, but, you know, the NBA, I just don't know. I think to have an anti-MBA stance, and again, I don't get into, it's not even fair. I'm like you. I've been on with Rousseau and all that, and I appreciate what they've done. But I just think a young guy, like what, you just open yourself up if you start saying, well, I like the old days. of wilt. Well, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, the Twitter mob will start coming after you. I don't know if he meant anything, you know, by any of that. I don't really jump to any of those conclusions. Like, if that's the era of the guy liked, then that's okay. He likes it. That's okay. And I'm not here to like convince him and go, I don't like your sensibilities or I don't like the undertone. I don't, is there an undertone saying you like Will Chamberlain? I don't understand that. But anyway, Again, I should say, I just kind of have barely, I didn't really get down and dirty into that whole thing, but I did see kind of the back and forth. I will say this.

I said this. The NBA ratings are spiking during the playoffs. I think one, there's some really good new young players. The games have been fun. The series, the first round was great, a lot of competitive games. I do think, and they're doing this without LeBron James. And I said there were two reasons in my opinion, Matt. Number one, I do think there are lots of people who want their sports on one table and their social issues on another.

Fair or not, LeBron brings social issues into pro basketball. And we saw it with Kaepernick. Not everybody loves it. You're going to turn off, you know, 15, 20 percent of the fans are just going to turn the TV off. The second thing is there's a LeBron fatigue. He's everywhere for 20 years. We're kind of over him. That's my takeaway and why the ratings are up.

I mean, God, in Dallas, there's so much love for this team and this group of players. That's my take on the spike in ratings is, you know, most of the good players are in it. We like them. They're like a bull. Brooklyn was a little bit of a villain. Now I guess Draymond's a little bit of a villain. But I do think it's a really great moment for the NBA when LeBron's not in the playoffs and the ratings are spiking. I think that's how strong the league is.

That's my take. Well, at the most part, the people that say they don't watch the NBA because of the political takes weren't watching the NBA already. They're just sort of seeing what's reported. And so I don't even get into all that. But like John Moran, there's something amazing that happens for a franchise in a city when you get a new superstar. And for the Mavericks and the Lakers and some of those teams, we were spoiled because we had a superstar for like 15 years or 19 or 20 years. years in the case of Kobe and Dirk when a place like Memphis, which is not a big market, and they've been the grit and grind and all that stuff. And it was an interesting thing.

They had Connolly, but I mean, it's not like we stopped down. Oh, my gosh, Memphis is playing. But what happens is there are certain stars that just sort of transcend everything. Yeah. When you watch John Morant play, you see something that takes you back to such a, there's a level of athleticism and power and that's just unlike anything we've seen in a while. Like Luca has an international, a European, an unbelievable game. But the doubt, people of Dallas have fallen in love with him. Jha is just an interesting deal. It's like this guy who's shown up and he doesn't feel like he has to pay his dues to anybody.

That's why he's barking at the end of the game right in Steph's face. Steph paid his news. Steph was the greatest shooter ever. But, I mean, he kind of went through some things and had to kind of grow to that. And John Morant has arrived on the scene. And he's like, I'll just dunk on anybody's head. And if you can like ignore that, I don't get it. Like if anybody that says they don't like the NBA, they made that decision like 10 or 15 years ago.

It's not, to me, it's not because too much. of the all the politics those people a lot of those people were saying i don't watch because politics we're already not watching matt mostly this was perfect 32 minutes of greatness co-host doomsday podcast with edward how's worder doing how's edwarder doing you know um he's miserable no he's he's fine he's fine he's just got to wake up every day and find out what what what what do I need to be upset about but he's got grandchildren and um he's got a little place little uh in Colorado that he goes to which is kind of where he does and oh he does he's a he's a he's a great guy and um hey uh where's your little secret place where do you take the misses where's your

little hiding place your love nest where is it i don't usually share it um i so we we in the summers we have a place in Florida. And I think you and I've had conversations when I'm coming back from there. But unfortunately, Sean Payton and Jason Whitten and Tony Romo found out where we were. And they've sort of ruined it. Jerry, because it's become a little bit too popular. But there's a place called Seaside, Florida. And that's our annual get away.

And that's where everybody from the south goes. And so that's the only issue is you see all your neighbors. You go to the peach. And you see Jerry. Yeah. Jerry's hanging out there. Oh, boy. Yeah.

All right, Mosley. That was really, really good. I'm going to Italy, by the way, tomorrow. Really? You're doing for a week over there? Is there something? No, I'm not. No, I'm not.

Florence, Rome. My wife, she is locked in. She just basically said, listen, next 10 years, 10 trips to Europe. And I said, well, you know, I got to get this one right. can't mess this one up. So I do what my wife says. She runs the house. She runs everything.

So I said, okay, let's go. So this is our first trip. Oh, man, to Italy. Okay. Well, I've done that a few times, a couple of times. What's your favorite place in Italy? I studied abroad over there, by the way, back in the day at Baylor. And, I mean, Rome, just for the history of it in all.

But, I mean, there's some offshoots. that you'll love. You got to see Verona. You got to see Sienna. There's some different things there. But Florence just has a, there's, there's just something, the romance and for you and your wife, if that's kind of what you're looking for, but the history, the museums, everything. I think Milan, if she's like way into fashion and that kind of stuff is cool. But I think Florence just, you know, from a from a historical romantic just experience that it's it's really hard to top so i would i would stay there as long as you can moseley great seeing you buddy yeah no i always think you should hit up a guy from coughman texas about your international travels what you should do in

it all right buddy another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on humor me with Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their Between Songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

On the Look Back at a podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me I'm Sam Jay 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 It was a wild year

I don't think There's a more important year for black people Listen to look back at it On the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcasts

A win A win is a win A win I don't care what you'll say Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at Tickford. podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast.

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