The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - The Torpedo Bat

Episode Date: April 1, 2025

Colin supports MLB star players using the "torpedo" bat and explains why this continues to build the momentum baseball has had since last season's viewership growth The President of FIFA Gianni Infantino joins the show to tell Colin what the U.S. needs to do in order to become seriously competitive in the World CupSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Welcome in. is a Tuesday and we got a show today. I was talking about this yesterday with JMAQ. We're in a lucky time right now where everything is working. Baseball's got torpedo bats. You got the NIL has propped up college basketball where we have the four best teams. NBA Lakers decided to play defense last night. And by the way, it looks like overtime changed in the NFL. So JMAQ,

we got a good one today. And so we talked about this yesterday. Our lead-onel hitter again today is baseball. Yeah. So, L.E. Dela Cruz plays for the Cincinnati Reds, and he's one of the great players in baseball that doesn't play for the Yankees or the Mets or the Dodgers or the Phillies or the Atlanta Braves or the Houston Astros. Ellie Dela

Cruz, a couple of home runs, seven RBIs last night. He used the torpedo bat. And now, listen, the Minnesota Twins used the torpedo bat this weekend and got swept and scored six runs. So it's like Harry Potter. The wand is choosing the wizard. All right? But it's another win for baseball. More runs, more action, more base runners. Ten teams now are averaging

six runs. So last week I had Rob Manfred, the commissioner of baseball law, and I said, you've got parity. The only problem is the pitchers are dominating hitters. You have too many teams hitting 240, like half the league. This morning, you got seven teams hitting over 290, and it's not slowing the game down. Last night Cincinnati scored 14 runs. It took two hours and 25 minutes. So unlike when pitching dominates and pitching changes and you go to the bullpen and you bring on the fifth guy, those games get into three hours and 15 minutes. It's a Tuesday, Wednesday night. Nobody has that time. It takes you 40 minutes to get to the ballpark, 55 minutes to get home. People have lives. 81 home games. You got to create urgency.

So we're now getting more offense, more hitting. And again, not everybody is using the bats. and, you know, steroids was different. This is like legal HGH. Steroids would take guys that were non-home run hitters, and I don't even need to mention names, and suddenly they were in the race for the American League MVP. Now, it also helped guys like Barry Bonds, allegedly, right? Or other guys.

But you felt like a lot of times you were taking, like, AAA players, and they were making the big leagues because of HGH. This is totally legal. And it's amazing when you embrace innovation and don't fight it as a sport. and baseball, man, baseball is on a heater. Increase the size as a bases. You know, end extra ending games faster.

Speed the game up. Defensive shift. Torpedo bats. More offense. More guys stealing bases, more action. And, you know, it's like grandpa got a sports car. Baseball decided, you know what? We're going to join a Pilates class and be hip.

And of all the sports, baseball now is doing more stuff right. And again, L.E. Dela Cruz is great. But if you give Gordon Ramsey fresher seafood and better ingredients, you get a five-star meal. And that's what you're getting here. So, I mean, Aaron Judge and O'Tonnie are not using it yet. And I'm not sure they have to. But this is not creating greatness. That was the illegal stuff.

You know, this is just kind of enhancing greatness. Ellie Dela-Cruz is amazing. like now he's amazing plus and the Yankees led baseball last year in home runs and they're going to lead it with home runs plus they're not making something again there is clear magic

in these bats but it's helping Gordon Ramsey more than the guy at Applebee's it's not making the Applebee's guy you know a Michelin chef but it's taking the really good players and they are just harder to get out but it's not extending the length of the game so far

and here's Terry Francona after I think it's more of the player than the bat. I really meant that before the game, I still do. Yeah, yeah, I know. It is, but it's for real. And you better embrace it. I don't care if it's the one and done, the transfer portal. I don't care if it's three-point shots.

Don't get rigid on this stuff. It works. Order the bats now. So the Lakers won last night, but it was very unconventional. So the Lakers don't play defense a lot. Luke is not good at it. Austin Reeves is okay. LeBron picks and chooses whence he wants to play defense.

So the Lakers last night, they beat Memphis the other night, and the reason it's a big deal is they just beat Houston last night, a two-seed, and they beat Memphis a five-seat. And why that's a big deal? Because the Lakers really pick and choose when they want to play defense. LeBron's old. Luca doesn't like it, and Austin Reeves is limited. So they pick and choose when they play defense.

And here comes Houston last night, and Houston is fast. They're young, they're twitchy, and they're the kind of team that would give the Lakers fits, and the Lakers held them under 100 points. And this Laker team, when they decide to play defense is good, they're 10 and 1. They just don't play it a lot. And when you watch this game last night, Doreenny Smith is on the floor, and you only got 36 points total from LeBron and Luca. So this was one of those games where the guys aren't humming at the top, we're going to play defense. And I will say this about the Lakers, is they need home court advantage. Lakers are 29 and 9 at home. They're a very good home team. They're not the best in the league,

but they're very good. They're surprisingly awful on the road. They're sub-500. Generally, top six or seven teams in the NBA can be 500 or better on the road. Boston Celtics, by the way, often play better on the road than at home. That's when the Warriors were great. Remember when they went into that final against the Celtics, they played their best game in Boston, cross-country, tired, older players. So the Lakers are not a very good road team. I'm not exactly sure why. But this is the way it's sizing up. So the Lakers need a few things.

They need to have a home court series in the playoffs. They're also, and they know it, these games against Houston like last night in Memphis are important because it'll give them a week off with an older roster. LeBron is an older player. It'll give them a week off to watch the playing stuff. But when they play defense, it's a real team. I've got now, and I've been very critical of the Lakers' front office.

But right now, offensively, they can match out with anybody in the league, maybe except Boston. That's probably about it. Boston is so deep, so many shooters, but the Lakers have three playmakers. I think four guys I would trust to take a big shot, two defensive specialists and an excellent coach. And last night, when you watch them play defense, and this is probably the effort you will get in the playoffs. Pretty good team. Here's J.J. Redick after. I think the competitive spirit and togetherness we had to play really hard tonight to put ourselves in a position to win the basketball game

we weathered some miss shots did a good job of taking care of the basketball they emptied the tank on the defensive end it was fantastic for the record just for fun we're going to make some assumptions here but the playoffs if they were to end today and we're making a couple of playing assumptions kind of work in the Lakers favor. Okay, so there are teams that match up with the Lakers. Clippers are actually a pretty good matchup with, they've got a legit big, they've got a

great coach. Well, the Clippers would open up with a thunder. That series, that's not going to work for them. Also, Lakers would open up with the Grizzlies, a team that's got kind of a mess right now, the coaching staff, they just fired their coach. You don't trust. I mean, John Morant's not having a good year shooting. Memphis right now, you want to pay.

peak at the end of the year, they're a mess at the end of the year. That's great for the Lakers. Nuggets Warriors, Nuggets going to win that series. That's a bad matchup for the Warriors, but you know what? I wouldn't want to face Steph and Jimmy Butler either. That would be one of the few teams the Lakers could face that has as much playoff experience. The Warriors are going to get knocked out by the Nuggets. They cannot stop Yokic. They just do not match up at all. Draymond Green's great. He acknowledges it. We can't do anything. And then Rockets and T-Wolves, I don't know who I would take there. That's a go either. I may take the T-Wolves. That's a close one. That's a go-either-way series based on health.

But it works out. You get the clippers out. They've got experience. You get the Warriors out. They've got experience. And then it's potentially the Young Rockets, young OKC, and a Denver team, which, by the way,

the Lakers have beaten this year. They've always played even when Denver was clearly better pre-Luca. The Lakers always played Denver close. Now they have the offensive firepower. So just some assumptions here, But that defensive effort last night felt a little bit like a playoff game. Dorian Finney Smith playing a real defense. You know, you're not getting a perfect night from Luke and LeBron.

Although they gave you 36 points, Austin Reeves was good, but you needed other elements. They were at home, close game, held a team under 100. Very playoff feel for the Lakers. I can't get over the torpedo batch, J. Mack. I can't get over it. The whole thing's crazy. It's just, it is. Can we get one on set this week?

Can you put a special order in? I'd love to feel it and swing it. just to see what it's like. Yeah, it's, you know, people are, I've said this. If the twins or Orioles were using them and that was it, nobody would care. Some of this is the Yankees. It's like the Tush Push. If Jacksonville was doing the Tush Push, nobody would really care.

It's the Eagles. They're dominating. Nobody can stop it. We all know this. Everybody roots against Duke, yet everybody watches Duke. Everybody hates the Tush Push, but the ratings for the Super Bowl set a record. We know how the world works. Sports fans in America work.

But it is crazy what it's doing. Well, it's weird. is a gambling parallel. You know, sometimes you'll find a slight edge in gambling for a little while and you'll beat the market. And then everybody will piggyback, for instance, Lakers' first quarter bets. Well, guess what? Then the teams adjust. I'm curious how the pitchers will adjust to the torpedo bats if this keeps up.

Like, are there radical adjustments to be made? I don't know. All right. Next hour at the top of the hour. You know, I love over and unders in Vegas. So I'll take the entire NFL. There are three teams that are going to hit the over and three teams. that are going to hit the ender.

This is my favorite part. I know it's weird. I love the NFL schedule release. I'm obsessed, even though I know who everybody plays next year already. I like to see when it's in order. And the over-unders last year, we hit big on Denver, the Rams, and Washington. Those were the three teams I thought. Those are the overs.

So there's a couple obvious overs, and there's a couple obvious unders. You don't want to be a sucker and just take the optimism route. There's a couple of obvious unders as well. That's going to come up in 50 minutes. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, news, huge news?

We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a podcast. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we? How do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys?

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or wherever you get your podcasts. 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.

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And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking. criminal conspiracies I've ever come across.

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Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. So NFL owners on average are pretty well liked by their players. How do I know that? Because they have an anonymous NFLPA survey every year, and the grades went up and up and up, you know, except for four teams. One of the teams that graded very poorly on virtually everything was the New York Jets who got an F in ownership and a C to a C minus to a C plus.

They were like 24th or worse on virtually. everything. Now, Woody Johnson fired back at the owner's meetings. We're going to Albert Breer in about 45 minutes from now. And that Woody Johnson said, I love this quote. He said, you know, this is a bunch of hooey, the whole process, you know, how they collected the information. It's supposed to be a process where we have representatives. They have them, so we know it's an honest survey. Here are the four teams that got really bad grades. Arizona, Michael Bidwell, historically cheap. The Jets and Woody Johnson, Cleveland, and Jim, Jimmy Haslam and Carolina and the very impulsive David Tepper.

I don't know any of the men, but it kind of checks out, right? You know who used to do really bad at this? Dan Snyder, Washington. Yeah, he got forced out of the league. And the Jets, by the way, have the longest drought. This is true, in North American sports, largest, longest playoff drought. We're talking all the sports. In North America, Canadian teams, our teams.

No. So the Jets have also, they're doing a doge on their front office. They've offered a buyout roughly 170 of the 250 employees. What does that tell you? So ask yourself, how did the Washington commanders turn around immediately? They'd run through GMs and coaches and players. They got rid of the owner. And how do the clippers go from a laughing stock to viable almost overnight?

They got a new owner. The Dodgers, since they got rid of cheap skate, Frank McCord, two World Series titles, 11 division titles. He was an awful owner. They got rid of him. I think he still owns the parking lot. Bad owner left. Team immediately got better.

The market didn't change. The stadium didn't change. The owner left. So you see a pretty common thread. I mean, I've worked in my life, I've worked for six different corporations. Two radio, intercom, and I-Hard. And I've worked for four different television corporations,

one of them smaller Sunbelt, Fox, Disney, Beelow was Texas-based. I think it got gobbled up. So I've worked for six different corporations, and I've worked for some great ones. I'm in a very good spot right now. And I've said that multiple times, and I've worked for some stinkers. And let me tell you, the difference is not the employees. I've worked with great employees my entire life. The difference is the ownership.

Bad ownership, you know, what do they say, the fish rots headfirst? Like it's bad ownership ruins. the temperature in the room, it creates anxiety. So, you start looking around. Look at the Dallas Mavericks. Mark Cuban leaves. Protest, tradeoff, Luca, for just not enough.

It matters. So Woody Johnson can point fingers on this stuff, but overall, if you look at all players voting on this stuff, it was really an encouraging NFLPA survey. Like almost all the teams went up, you know, except for the Jets

and Carolina and Cleveland and Arizona and you start looking at these individual rankings, it's C-plus down. I mean, the only thing the Jets did well was nutritionist. I mean, you would think in New York, L.A., San Francisco, some of the hip markets, the nutritionists would be kind of a guaranteed A. No. I don't even have a nutritionist. I would give mine a B-plus. I don't even have one.

You've got to be able to get smoothies right. Sorry. But they did everything poorly. weight room, ownership, how you treat families, meals. Oh, come on. I don't think it's a lack of honesty. Because everybody else in the league except like four teams, everybody was like, yeah, things are good.

Things are better. We had T.J. Hushmanzano on this show, you know, telling the story that used to be with like the Cincinnati Bengals, they all threw their jock straps in the middle of the room in Washington. Linebacker has it one day. Slot, Corner has it. the next. I mean, come on. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

I'm a jockstrap reference. You got to get that in the first 30 minutes. He told some story about, it just not clean, not good. Remember they, for years and years, like they had water, they couldn't get Gatorade, and then he went from Cincinnati to Baltimore. He's like, whoa, this is the National Football League. So everybody thinks all these owners, they're rich, treat players as well. No, they don't. Like, it's interesting. The Dodgers have a very old stadium. The third oldest in baseball behind Wrigley and Fenway. But they're constantly updating it. I mean, they just put 450 million to it this year. They're constantly up. If you go to a Dodger game and you want to spend big money and you want to go and get some good

food options, it's unbelievable how good the food is. So you can have an old stadium but put money into it. Yes, for sure. And speaking of old and getting stale, that's Deshawn Watson, Colin, his contract, the worst in sports. And Brown's owner, Jimmy Haslam, spoke this week, admitting that the signing was terrible. Here's his exact quote to the media. We took a big swing and miss with Deshawn. We thought we had the quarterback. We did.

We gave up a lot of draft picks to get him. So we've got to dig ourselves out of that hole. A rare admission from an owner that Watson has been a failure. Now, Colin, I spoke with somebody yesterday that is kind of. I'm saying, well, based on this Watson stuff, doesn't that mean Shador's a lot to go second? When they said, keep an eye on Kirk Cousins. It sounds like when Miles Garrett took the podium, I didn't notice this. Apparently, Miles Garrett was like, yeah, I know the game plan at quarterback. The Browns had to lure him back. Remember, Garrett's like, get me out of here?

Apparently the Browns had to lure him back and tell him their plans. And it seems like people are starting to think that those plans are Kirk Cousins as opposed to Shador Sanders. Well, you know, Cleveland put itself in this situation. Here's two teams that draft well, the Rams and the Eagles. Go look at the size of their scouting departments. On both Johnny Mansell and Deshawn Watson, they just didn't do their homework. I made one or two calls on Johnny Mansell and was told, stay away. Skip Bayliss came on the air at one point and said, hey, I'm hearing things.

I was hearing the same stuff. And we didn't have the same sources, I imagine. So, Deshawn Watson, I mean, you had this civil, case that was out there. Like, well, he wasn't yet stay away. You don't guarantee stuff. So like in both the Johnny Mansell and the Deshaun Watson situation, two different issues, warning signs, make a few phone calls. I'd be interested at the depth of their scouting department. How many people do they have? Because it just seems to me that teams that draft well, like Green Bay consistently drafts well, they do their homework. The Rams with Stan Cronkey's ownership, they do

their homework. The Eagles do their homework. I've said to you about the New York Giants on some of their Dave Gettlement and Joe Shane. Like, I'm not sure they're doing all their homework. I'm not sure the size of their scouting department, but Cleveland's issues are self-created. Yeah, they're a mess. They've got to figure out how to move on from Watson. His career with the Browns, if he never plays another game, he went nine and ten, Colin, and made $230 million for nine wins. Can you imagine if the Browns had signed him and you and I came out and said he'll play less than 20 games, it's a disaster. Every Cleveland fan would have said, hot take, stuff happens in sports. I didn't like when this move happened.

I wouldn't have made it. I thought it was ridiculous. I didn't think it would be this. So much bad has happened for Watson. We forget how good he was with the Texans, Colin. I mean, he led that team to the playoffs every year. He was incredible at Clemson. I've never seen.

I can't think of an athlete who's fallen this far without like getting arrested and really being like incarcerated. Like this is a calamitous fall for him. Yep. It's over. Next up, Colin, let's talk about everybody's favorite podcaster, LeBron James. His Mind the Game podcast

relaunched this time with Steve Nash as the co-host and here's Luca talking about his new BFF. Sorry, LeBron talking about his new BFF, Luca Donchich. I've always loved the players that breathe so much confidence into his teammates that make them believe that they're actually better than what the really are. Yeah, I think LeBron's done that his entire career. And by the way, coaches have that gift too. Steve Kerr, Phil Jackson have that gift.

Almost everybody had their best years with Phil Jackson. Like if you played well and you had a three or four year run with Phil Jackson, that's the best. you ever play. Coaches can do that and players can do that. So there are, you know this as a leader. There are ways to galvanize the squad. LeBron has mostly been positive. Luca, as he says right here, breathes confidence. Is this a subtle jab at Michael Jordan, who famously would berate his teammates, punch them in practice, treated them like garbage. I'm sorry, I had to put that out there. I don't think that's what it was. I think LeBron is really happy because Because there, with Anthony Davis, as much as he loved him, LeBron still had to carry the team offensively every night.

You could never trust AD offensively, although I think AD is an unbelievable player. There are going to be nights in the playoffs where Luca's going to drop 41. And LeBron can be like, dude, I played 30 minutes. We were ahead by 13 in the second quarter. And I also think Austin Reeves, I thought when Anthony Davis left, I'm like, oh, Austin's not going to touch the ball as much. It's the opposite. It's at the pace of the Lakers now. Now, they're not as consistently good defensively.

They're not. When AD was on his game, they were an excellent defensive team. He and Jared Vanderbilt and Rui, they had size. But Austin now is flourishing because the tempo is faster. And I think Luca, and this is not a selfish thing by LeBron, but as he ages, he's looking for players that can give him possessions off. and he doesn't have to carry the offense. With AD, it was still always

LeBron's offense. Always. So I think Luke has just given him a little bit of a hall pass on possessions. Did you see last night late in the game? Amman Thompson is a very good defender. That kid is freakish, man. And Dylan Brooks is still a pest and an irritant.

They were kind of focused on Luca and LeBron. LeBron would just defer to Austin Reeves, who's cooking Fred Van Vleet or whoever, and Austin Reeves got to the bucket, made a lot of good plays. That's a good point that he's their third. option, but he's also facing a weak defender. That's right.

Whereas they want to put their best, we've got to stop LeBron and Luca. Luca has forced teams. Austin does not face the same level of defender or attention that he did. I mean, it used to be, I mean, if LeBron was off the floor with AD, Austin was getting the first or second best defender. He was getting the best wing defender. Well, your best wing defender now is not only on Luca, but probably a second choice is LeBron. So Austin Reeves is getting great looks.

has been unbelievable. You know, he always say this, when you bring in a second good receiver, so the Rams bring in Devonte Adams to Puka. Oh, yeah. Well, that's going to help the third receiver and the tight ends. Because nobody in the NFL, the Jets had two good tight ends, now they lost one. Nobody's got

three corners. Nobody has three good corners in the NFL. You can't find them. If you have two, you're the Jets. Like, that's it. So it's, yeah, I mean, Austin Reves has been a huge beneficiary of the Luke acquisition. Not to look too far ahead to the but I'm just telling you right now, they will not be able to match up

with the Lakers playing two bigs. They're going to have to play Caruso down the stretch and he's not a great shooter. I know Thunder fans don't want to hear it. The Lakers are a brutal matchup for OKC. It's just not very good for the Thunder. Final story, Colin, as the NFL coaches meetings are happening right now,

we're getting a lot of rule changes. One big one that passed is regular season overtime will be like playoff overtime. Ten minutes in length still, but both teams will get. had a chance to possess the ball. Your thoughts as opposed with sudden death now out the window. Well, what if I do a 10-minute drive and I score with no time on the clock?

Do you get the ball? I mean, when I saw that, my question, because you want overtime to be as fast as possible. You do because remember, it's like skiing. When do you have your accidents on your last run? Right? You're tired. You're fatigued. You do not want overtime.

You guys are all worried about fairness. Get it over fast. You do not want 16 more. plays for your defensive backs. That is the fun. It goes over to the next week, too. Yes, it does. So it's like, I just don't understand, like regular season, don't worry about it if you

have a tie. Oh. I think you're, what you don't want as an NFL fan are injuries. That's what you don't want. You can take a tire or a loss, right? Kansas City lost several games before the Super Bowl. Losses are not, I mean, Washington lost several before they made a run. Yeah.

You get to overtime. And your defense on the field for another 12 play drive, that's when players start falling. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Line News. You know, I was watching the Celtics beat Memphis last night. And again, Memphis is a bit of a mess.

But the Celtics are really taking, I think the Celtics are going to win, and I think Cleveland will push back a little. But I just think they're too deep and too good. But it's very much a Golden State warrior path. They've been building this thing with Danny Aange and Brad Stevens. They have been constructing this roster for seven years, and it's a dribble-pass shoot roster. If you can't dribble pass and shoot, you're done. Not everybody's a great defender, but they got five, six different guys. I would trust in a big shot shooting a three.

And it's not just about the culture. It is the roster construction. And they're not just collecting talent. They have, you'll watch college basketball, and you'll see some teams, Michigan State doesn't have one. elite shooter. Celtics have six. Al Horford can hit a jumper. So, and you'll also watch college basketball, and a good college basketball team like Florida or Auburn will have five minutes of wasted possessions. Like they don't run their offense. Boston has been building this roster, and so now they can put in a Drew Holiday and move off a Marcus Smart, and it's all good.

But when you watch them play, it's not something you can duplicate. For years and years, Golden State's been running that kind of pass and react, cash and react offense, young players struggle with it. Like DeAngelo Russell did not work. James Wiseman didn't work. They've got a style in Golden State, and the Celtics have not only copied it because they don't, you know, they don't have a KD. Steph combo yet.

Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum are good. They're not KD and Steph in their prime, but they're really good. But this offense is past dribble and shoot. and they'd prefer you defend, but that's really the key. And most of their best players do defend. But they also, I was reading this morning, they average the fewest turnovers, yet their pace is fast. So they're very intentional when they come down.

College basketball, you've seen it for the last three weeks. You just get wasted possession after wasted possession from good teams. Like you just like, we just didn't get a good shot. You almost never see the Celtics get a wasted possession. somebody's getting a good look at three point. Last night they shot, how many three-pointers they shoot last night? 62. And again, they didn't shoot a great percentage, but they're mostly good looks.

And so there was no really copying the Warriors. Remember they started small ball and everybody's like, ah, let's get smaller. It didn't work for anybody else. And I don't think there's really any copying the Celtics. They're a roster full of switchable defenders. everybody can pass dribble and hit a three. And there's just, I mean, it's, there was Joe Missoula last night.

They are ready for the playoffs. I would venture to say that our guys are good everywhere. More about just playing consistent basketball, but I think each year you develop different kind of strengths, especially with the same team. And this year it just happened to be just kind of our road mentality. The other thing about them, they always say this about having a great defense in football.

It travels well. Like an offense doesn't necessarily always travel well. If you're throwing the ball down field like the Miami Dolphins and you go into a windy, cold environment, the offense doesn't travel. So you always want a good, solid defense. Defense is good regardless of the temperature. The Celtics are a great road team. Why?

Pastrible shoot travels well. It's young, in their prime, switchable defenders, deep roster, past ripple shoot. and Warriors were a great road team in their prime, Celtics are a great road team. So you start watching this team play as they're ready. I know everybody loves Cleveland and OKC. I don't see it. I don't see anybody beating this team. All right, we have good stuff coming up.

We have the FIFA president. No, not this summer, but the following summer, the World Cup comes to the United States. This summer in the U.S., we've got the club World Cup, which is, you know, Real Madrid, Barcelona coming to the United States. So this is going to be centerpiece for soccer globally for the next year and a half. And the FIFA president joins us next.

Live in L.A., it's The Hurd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, Steve Kavino. And I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Kavino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio

and, of course, the I-Heart Radio. Why should you listen to Kavino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world? We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved too.

Take your phone calls, chop it up as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio. Maybe the most interactive show on planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino & Rich live on Fox Sports Radio and the IHeart Radio app from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich, wherever you get your podcast and, of course, on social media. That's Covino and Rich.

Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it.

We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range. of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast,

where people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down, in my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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 Smigel and friends on the I-heart radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way 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. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free Our Heart Radio app.

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

I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. Well, the next year and a half in the United States, we are going to be the centerpiece of the world's greatest soccer. Gianni Infantino is the president since 2016 of FIFA. not only a global citizen, seven different languages, a world traveler. I am jealous, I will admit, and you are joining us. So now, it's called the Club World Cup. So not this summer, the following summer is the World Cup.

Correct. We know about that. Harry Kane, Mbapé, our best players. The Club World Cup is on our soil. We're lucky enough. Explain who will be involved in that. Do I get the best of the best? You get the best of the best.

Well, Harry Cain and Bappe will be there as well. so Leo Messi and many, many others, the 32 best club teams in the world. Now what's at stake? What kind of money are we talking about? Well, first of all, what is at stake is this incredible trophy here, which is beautiful, but the money we are talking about is one billion US dollar price money, which is there for grab, for the winning team. First time, we organized an event like that, first time there will be a club, truly crowned world champion by FIFA.

champion by FIFA. So we are seeing in Major League Baseball, and we've seen it over the course of my life. Latin America has furnished us with great players. Now, Asian players coming over. The Dodgers have a pipeline to it. It absolutely helped the game. Otani's our biggest star.

How is the United States viewed globally in soccer? Because I remember the Kyle wrote junior days in the 70s. My mom was British. I went over there when Netherlands and England and the 70s were dominating Johann Croix and the great British teams. And we were kind of clunky and our players weren't as aesthetically pleasing. How are we viewed now in the States?

Well, I think what is seen from outside of the United States is that, of course, in America, other sports are more important than soccer, which is the most important sport all over the world in every other country. Right, right. However, I think that the two world, the one this summer of the team of the clubs and the next one of the countries next year will change this fundamentally. Since you have been the president, what do the numbers say about the growth in the country? Because generally, when a World Cup is hosted by us, even if it's not, but if it is, there tends to be exponential growth.

So have you seen growth in your run as a FIFA president, United States-wise? Oh, definitely. We basically double the revenues when it comes to FIFA. and the World Cup by organizing it here. But what is important is that what happens here in America has an impact all over the world. So the gross figures can not just be measured in the United States, but all over the world.

And when it comes to both women's football, actually, men's football, whenever we do something here, it has such an important global impact that is just incredible for the game. When you look right now, I think, I've said this before, I think this is the most talented group of players we've ever had. Now, we're young.

When we got beat by Netherlands, clearly they had older, more senior players. We weren't at that level. That was almost aspirational, a goal. I look at our team, it's kind of a golden age of soccer, the academy system. We have many players over in Europe. Are we viewed in the world now as a serious soccer country? Well, definitely. I think that the work that has been done with the MLS in the United States and Canada, the work with the academies that has been put forward is really impressive.

You have a good team, you have good players. You have a great coach as well, Mauricio, who is really fantastic. And these players, they play now for the best teams in the world or in Europe, if you want. and the world can see that. Combine this with the fact of playing a World Cup at home, well, it's quite an explosive combination, isn't it? Is it harder? I mean, because of security reasons among others and technology, is it harder to put on a World Cup than it was eight years ago? Well, to put on a World Cup is obviously always quite a challenge,

especially the next World Cup will be 48 countries participating instead of 32. Yes. So we increase the number by 50%. We'll have 10 million people coming to the US. These are incredible things. We'll have 6 billion people watching it all over the world. This requires a lot of organization and we're here for that. We team up with you for that as well.

Yeah, that doesn't hurt. Where is soccer? Now it's growing. I looked at a number of this. morning, which was amazing. According to Forbes, the number of the United States people who have been soccer fans for five years or fewer. So this is our newest fans, has gone up 57% year to year. And over, and the number of first-time fans is up 400% year over year. So over five years, it's 57%. So something has happened in the last year where there's been an explosion in the United

States. So when I think of soccer, I think. of Spain and I think of Germany and I think of the Netherlands and I think of Italy and France. And I do think of the United States selfishly. Where is this game growing that would surprise me? Is it growing everywhere? It is growing everywhere. It's growing in the Middle East, it's growing in East Asia. But I think the big surprise will be the growth here in North America. When you see every child, girl or boy now plays soccer, what happens then is that the most talented players they go to other American sports right because they maybe don't see a path to glory through soccer but they will see it now this year with the club will come with the best teams in the

world next year with the World Cup with the best countries in the world they will see that there is a path to glory a path uh to uh to something incredible and this will make a big difference when the US organized the 94 World Cup 85% of the Americans a couple of months before, didn't know that the World Cup was happening. Wow! Today is the other way around. 85% of Americans, they know that the World Cup is coming. Already one year ahead.

So these are signs that things are changing, plus one more thing, if I may. Sure. You know, you are the United States of America, right? The greatest country in the world, you are number one in kind of everything you do. Yeah. You cannot be satisfied to be number 20 in the number one sport in the world. That's right. You want to be number one in the number one.

in the number one sport. So let's go for it. Yeah, no, you're listening. You're preaching to the choir here, believe me. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. My mom was British. So when I was a kid, I went to England at the time. The English team was battling for the World Cup, like 1972, 73.

And again, Netherlands was great. So when I was a kid, I was introduced to it, then I moved to the Pacific Northwest, which Seattle and Portland are great soccer market. So I think I got an advantage. My Seattle Sounders made the NASL championship game against the New York Cosmos. Of all the great players you've dealt with over your, not just at FIFA, but you're a global citizen. There is something special about soccer players. I like the global feel to it.

There's a graciousness and a gratitude for what soccer presents. It's the happiest sport. And nothing against football players and baseball guys. But is that something within FIFA that you talk about, that it's the world's game and it's very welcome? It is. You're absolutely right. It is the world's game. It brings happiness. I mean, look at this, what we brought for you. You can see this? This is yours. A gift. Yeah, a gift. Can I give it to you? Absolutely. By the way, he has a small ownership and a small soccer team. It has your name. Look at that. Look at that. And now, this is the official match ball of the FIFA Club World Cup. Now look at your face. You're smiling. You see? Why? Because this ball is a magic object. It's much more than just a ball. It is magic. It brings smiles to faces of children, of girls, all over the world.

It's a very simple sport. It's the world number one sport for that, and that's why we are investing all over the world. The revenues we generate, we invest them in Africa, in Asia, in Americas, everywhere in the world to make sure that the game can go. If American soccer, if you could say, and Gianni Infantino is joining us, the president of FIFA, he has been since 2016. If you could, if I may, I'll put you on the hot seat. If you could make one change to US soccer and just nudge them to do something there. Is there anything that you're frustrated a little with USA soccer? Yes.

Okay. They should listen to me. Yes. And then they become number one league in the world. But anything in particular that you would push? No, they are a little bit too, how shall I say, too communists. Too communist. Can I say that word? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Regulations? Yeah, too much regulation, too much limits. You know, be America, open up,

bring the best, invest money, and the return of investment will be just incredible. Because it's interesting. Our other pro leagues are global and spend nothing but money, but you think we could open up the pocketbook a little bit more? 100%. And the impact will be global because your other I mean look at the Super Bowl which is fantastic right it has what 120 hundred 30 million viewers right the World Cup has six billion viewers crazy so a World Cup is 104 Super Bowls in one months it's three Super Bowls a day and and this can this happens from here and this can happen every week if you have the best league in the world you know you travel um you travel the

globe give me something about America that you really love. You live in Switzerland and Italy, if I could choose two places, that would be close to it. World offices in Zurich. You have a Miami office now, so obviously United States soccer is growing. You now have a Miami office. What's something when you travel the globe that you love about America? Can I say burger? Yes, you can say burger. No, but I would say burger, definitely. But what I think as well here, And this is really, it's not to flatter anyone, but it is really the land of opportunity. I mean, there are so many opportunities here for so many people,

which is why I still don't understand why soccer has not become the number one here. 400% year to year of new soccer fans, Gianni and Fentino, a pleasure. Thank you so much. How are you next? Hey guys, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what?

We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We get to ask other people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know. Tired and sick.

Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert. Mygall 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. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that's

shaped us. From IHeart Podcasts, Saigon. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart. This is for Vietnam. They're pouring patril all over here. Freedom for Vietnam! There's a fire coming to this country, and it's going to burn out everything.

Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I've told myself can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown if you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole. This podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to Deeply Well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Thank you.