The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 1 - Better for the sport

Episode Date: June 7, 2023

Colin continues to react to the PGA Tour merging with Saudi-backed LIV Golf and why one of the games biggest agrees this is ultimately better for golf as a whole in the long run Some of the NBA Finals criticisms are ridiculousSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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. On The Look Back at It Podcasts. In 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. 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 Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but,

it's celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard 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. 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 SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day in the IHart radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go.

Ready to roll. It is a Wednesday game three of the finals. Nuggets Heat tonight live in Los Angeles. It's the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, thanks for making us part of your day. We're stacked today. Absolutely stacked.

I swear, I am reading all the pearl clutching by the sports media, the golf, media JMAQ, I don't think those people have ever actually won a business. I would guess no. Yeah, they're lobbying grenades. They don't have any idea how the world works. A couple of us up here have run businesses. Yeah, it's hard, and there's decisions, and you do business with lots of different people. And crazy.

So I want to start with that. So as of this morning, and I know a percentage of you are uncomfortable with this, but the PGA Gulf is run now by a Saudi Arabia. to be an investment fund. You got a problem with that? Because the biggest companies, advertisers for golf, they do business with Saudi Arabia. You got a problem with that? There's been tournaments, European tour with authoritarian governments. By the way, I used to work for ESPN.

Do you know the first company that owned ESPN? Getty Oil. Oil business. dealt with the Middle East, the pearl clutching. Some of you media peeps ever run a business? Not everything's perfect. It's hard. Brooks Kepka, Phil Mickelson left.

They needed their stars back. I saw a headline today by a golf writer. Pro golf will never be the same. What is it other than tax exempt? What is golf? Let me describe golf for you. Augusta National. They run the masters.

the USGA runs the U.S. Open. The PGA of America runs the PGA championship. Not to be confused with the PGA. That's different than the PGA of America. The R&A Golf Club runs the British Open, and the Ryder Cup is jointly run. I mean, this is like Bitcoin. Who's got shares?

You thought NFT was confusing. golf is boxing with a foreiron, convoluted, weirdly managed, hanky, wonky. Who knows who runs this stuff? Maybe the Saudi Arabian investment firm unifies it. Alan Shipnuck, a great golf writer, talked about this yesterday, the sanctimony being lobbed by all the purists. The European PGA tour would have gone out of business a long time ago. if it was not hosting its biggest money events in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, China. That tour is state in business playing in these places with autocratic governments.

And it's always been a factor in the sports world. I mean, you mentioned the EPL. I mean, half of those teams in the English Premier League are now owned by Saudi Arabia or other Middle Eastern interests. And so it always felt a little hollow and a little sanctimonias. Now, the tour's biggest sponsors, Coca-Cola, FedEx, Morgan Stanley, they all do business in Saudi Arabia. They have for a long time. So the lines got very blurry. The Masters, the U.S. Open get TV ratings.

The British Open hit and miss starts too early in the morning for many of you. And the PGA championship depends on who wins it. but I mean, it's always been a hodgepodge of management in golf. Hopefully now it can be unified. But the bigger picture is I can't keep track of some of your morals and sanctimony. So let me get this straight. You don't care who makes your iPhone. You don't care who makes your sports shoes you're wearing for your kids,

your sports apparel. You don't care about the apps on your smartphone. And you apparently don't care that your government has relationships as Saudi Arabia is our number two trading partner. None of that matters to you. Where you draw a line is golfers. The hell? What are you talking about? Even Rory McElroy, little egg on his face today, little bit of an idealist. Even he admitted this morning, golf's going to be better funded. It's going to be better. It's hard to, it's hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and, you know, feeling like I've put myself out there and this is what happens. Again, removing myself from the situation, I see how this is better for the game of golf.

There's no denying that. But for me as an individual, yeah, I, there's just going to have to be conversations that are had. Yes, you're going to have to pay like a fee to Rory McClackle. Roy and a Brooks Kepka and a Phil Mickelson for them to show up to your tournament. And Phil Mickelson has talked about that. And Greg Norman, who was a rock star, have talked about that for 10 to 15 to 20 years. It's not a new thing. But before you start pearl clutching and telling me about your morals,

TikTok from China, Twitter owned largely not just by Elon Musk, but Saudi Arabia, government's number two trading partner, sports, sports shoes. You wear them, your kids wear them. Your favorite team wears them. That doesn't bother you, nor does it with our government. You draw the line at golfers. Because it never bothered you that the biggest sponsors had relationships in the Middle East. That never bothered you. But the individual golfer, that is the line. Come on. Golf's probably, probably better today and better funded, certainly. All right. So game three tonight. Nuggets. and the heat.

And the two groups in America that are just for me non-starters. I just literally, I will not listen to anything two groups in America ever have to say. Election deniers and the NBA is rigged. There are no two bigger groups of weirdos than those groups. The elections aren't rigged and the NBA isn't either. How do I know that? Because in the last 12 years, if Denver wins the championship, here are the NBA champs. Mavericks in a football town, Raptors in Canada, Spurs, Milwaukee, Bucks, Cleveland, and maybe Denver.

And oh, by the way, the Warriors' first title was in 2015. That was their first in 45 years. I remember the Rick Berry teams. I remember the Clifford Ray, Jeff Mullen. Yes, J. Max, looking at me. What is he talking about? I remember that. Some of the first basketball I watched, most of you don't. They were not a big franchise. They were not a national team before Steph Curry.

Okay, so you can say, what about the Warriors? What about them? They just happened to stumble upon Steph Curry. But their first championship in 2015, they were not a big brand. So if Denver wins over half the last 12 winners are non-traditional powers. No Celtics. Lakers was in the bubble. no Chicago Bulls, no New York Knicks, no Philadelphia 76ers.

Listen, for the record, if you were a seedy referee or degenerate gambler and wanted to rig basketball, you'd do college basketball because 90% of the games are not on television and nobody would know and the players are mostly college kids and they're broke. You could buy them off. But Denver and Miami are proving that excellent coaching staffs, not just the head coach, excellent coaching staffs, drafting smart. Lee, Yokich went in the second round, player development, demanding players are accountable, solid supporting cast, and two great playoff performers, Jimmy Butler and Yokic, these are

the two best teams. And I do wonder if the two best teams are coming down to one clear reality. In the first two games, Miami has gotten an inordinate amount, a bizarre amount of what the NBA terms analytically as wide open threes. 16 in game one and 10 in game two. Game one, they couldn't hit them. Game two, they did. That is a high, a bizarrely high number of wide open threes,

26 in two games. And my guess, teams generally shoot a little better at home. If they hit them tonight and get them tonight, Miami wins tonight. And winner of game three, I think wins the, wins any series about 60, 65% of the time. I still think Denver is better. But the election is rigged crowd and the NBA is rigged crowd.

Are two groups I'm just not interested whatsoever in listening to. Denver is a football city. Miami is a transient city. They don't support most sports outside of the Miami heat. The hockey team, the football team, the college teams. They don't really get universal. annual support. These are the teams that have earned their way there.

All right. It is great to have you in today. The golf stuff is, I tell you, I don't talk a lot of golf, although I like watching the majors, but an investment fund in Saudi Arabia now essentially runs the sport, and Rory McElroy was totally honest. We're better funded. It's better for the sport. They were leaking oil, so to speak, on the PGA tour.

sponsors were bailing. They wanted their stars. They got him back. In every other entertainment business and golf is entertainment too, stars drive the bus. They lost Brooks Kefka. They lost Phil Mickelson. Be one thing if Tiger was still in his prime. Maybe you don't do it. That golden goose is over. Tiger's not dependable. Brooks and Phil Mickelson are the two guys along with Rory McElroy that get me to a TV set. Now all three are conjoined. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. New Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. 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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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, Untiefer. filtered 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at a podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick you here, unpack what we're. went down and tried to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

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

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out Discover.com slash match. Into your first year, they automatically double all the cash pack to earn everything you earned. Double. Check it out. So one of the reasons I don't talk a lot of NBA during when it starts in October, November, December, January, February, March is it's fools. gold. First of all, football's king. I stay on that. Then in March, I go take a vacation or two, talk some college basketball. And then I kind of dive into the NBA heavily in April and May and then early June, which is where we are now. And one of the reasons I do that is because I think a sports talk is NBA sports talk in October, November, December, January, February is the

cotton candy of our industry. No substance, no nutritional value. It's fools gold. All the All the time wasted the last 10 years talking about Westbrook, Harden, John Morant in the regular season, means nothing in May and June. Zippo. Jimmy Butler matters when the NBA matters. Late April, May and early June. Nick Wright and I discussed this. Is he one of the top five players yesterday on the show?

How could anyone argue that when it comes to the post-term? season, they would rather have Joelle Embed, that they would rather have any of those other guys who have not shown the ability to raise their game in these moments. And so if Jimmy Butler is not a top five player in basketball, fine. Is he a top five playoff player? Absolutely he is. If you can only have an 82 game guy like a James Hardin or a 16 game guy like Jimmy Butler, obviously Jimmy Butler's more valuable. For the record, television ratings in the NBA indicate it's

that 16 game part that you actually watch much more than the 82 game part and Butler's like a really good accountant. He's available to you all year, but you really need him in April. Jimmy Butler to me in a game 7

or a big series is a top five player in the NBA. And Jimmy Butler matters? when the NBA really matters. No cotton candy here. It's all substance.

All substance. All real calories with Jimmy Butler. That's why it's easy to root for Miami. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. I was going to break in there with some breaking news

that the line has moved for tonight. It looked like it was headed toward Miami yesterday. It was two and a lot. a half going down toward two. What is it now? It's at three now. So I like Denver tonight. So day of game money on Denver. So who do you like tonight? I think Denver. I do do it. I think it's five and six points. But I don't know that I bet it with the spread. Michael Porter's played very, very poorly. That's been a problem because he is their third second or third best player, certainly a talented guy, but he's not playing particularly well. And you pointed out yesterday,

I think accurately, that he didn't touch the ball much in game two because Yokuch was primarily a score, so he kind of got frozen out, and then he either he pouted or just got out of his groove. I thought that was a real good point by you. So when they moved the ball, you know this, has a great player on your team. The more touches, the more players get, the more people that are involved. The ball moves quicker. It's more team oriented. That's when Denver's at its very best. I know you like the finals, but you also care about my men's league team. I do greatly. We played a team last week. They, like, half their team watches the show big time. Yeah. They come up to me after the game. I didn't even play because I played in a soccer tournament.

You know, I got a lot going on. And they go, hey, Jay Mack, are you going to talk about this game on the show? I was like, I'll ask Colin, but probably not. No. They're hardcore fans, like 23-year-old dudes. We smacked him. So is America. All right, let's move on. First up, reports indicate that Brock Purdy will be the starter in San Fran if he's healthy come week one. But Trey Lance, Colin, oh my gosh, he's starting to regain his starting role, maybe.

after last year's injury. According to George Kittle, Trey Lance is looking a lot more like the third overall pick that we thought he would be. Okay. I'm not going to lie to you guys. I think Trey looks significantly better than he did last year. I really do.

I think his confidence is there. I think that he's throwing really good passes. He overthrows people once in a while. Hey, it is what it is. He's still learning and stuff. But, I mean, just watching him. He just looks so much more comfortable and confident in the pocket. And I really appreciate that from him

from all the work that he's put into it. He just looks comfortable. back there. He doesn't look like he just looks like he's having fun. Well, even if they don't play him, they want to showcase him in the exhibition season because they'd want to move him if it's a darn old Brock Purdy franchise, which I think it is going forward. So the franchise or maybe season? Well, I know. I think for the next. You can't ride those two dudes. I think you absolutely can for two years. Brock Purdy for two years, you're riding him. Absolutely. You got seven game sample size. I like him. But yeah, but he went seven and no in the

seven-game sample size. Well, he went seven-and-oh or the team went seven-hundred. Well, I know winning is not like a quarterback stat, but it sort of is since Patrick Mahomes keeps winning Super Bowls. Like, it matters. I mean, Baker Mayfield would not have gone seven and no. I do not believe. I think Patrick Mahomes would have gone seven and oh, but I do think that's always been a cliche. You know, winning is not a quarterback stat. Yeah, it kind of is. Like, nobody's saying coaches don't matter, but the greatest coach ever, Belichick, now is a 500 coach without Brady. How is San Francisco winning with Brock Purdy?

How did they win seven games last year with him? Awesome defense. Ridiculous skill position players? Did they all quit? Did they transfer to another league or something? Now there's some tape on Brock Purdy. So perhaps there'll be a little regression. Oh, yeah.

As you like to say, water finds its level. We know Brock Purdy is not a superstar, right? Come on. You don't have to be a superstar with that roster. You have to be capable. Jimmy Garapolo, definitely not a superstar. superstar got to a Super Bowl and led Patrick Mahomes in the fourth quarter. Okay.

Garapolo's up here. Purdy's not quite on his level. Come on. Garoppolo was like a, what, second or third round pick up Belichick? I'm just saying this morning, if you went to general managers and said Brock Purdy or Garoppel, Brock Purdy's the better athlete. He moves better. That's a.

Brock Purdy's healthier. And they both have good, not special arms. I would take Brock Purdy today. And I, Garoppel. Today, Garoppolo's got a foot. We don't even know if he's. I'm saying, athletically, in 2023, Brock Purdy moves better

than Garoppel. That's not an argument. Brock Purdy can make sideline throws. Jimmy can't. Brock Purdy has an injury, first ever, didn't get hurt much in college. So my guess going forward is Brock will be the healthier quarterback. That's three boxes I check. More mobile, better sideline

thrower, long-term health. All pretty. And cheaper. Four. That's four boxes I win. Where's the gym? It was the throwing our elbowy hurt, right? Yeah, yeah. So we'll see. We don't know that he's going to come back autumn. He's not a pitcher. A year ago this time, Brock Purdy was not on your radar, mine.

No sports show was talking about him. He was a non-factor, a non-entity. We didn't even know if he'd make the team. Okay, now he's better than Jimmy Caroplo? Three days ago, I didn't know the PGA and the live would be conjoined. So, I mean, what is that mean? I didn't know because he hadn't been drafted. Now he's been drafted.

Now I've seen him. I think Brock Purdy is a starting quarterback in the NFL. I would agree. I don't think he's a top 10 guy. But, I mean, again, if you. Again, if you gave me, let's take Kirk cousins, who we know is capable. He's a better athlete than Kirk. I think he throws a better sideline ball than Kirk.

I think Kirk's more talented, but I think he's very close in that class. And by the way, he's played, Purdy's played better in big games than Kirk has through his career. But Kirk's had a lot. Kirk's had more big games, you know? Not done very well in those big games. Listen, I like Purdy and now it looks like I'm a hater. Let's just move on. NBA, Anthony Davis.

Oh, boy. Eligible for a three-year extension this summer up to $167 million. Interesting. You know, I can't believe I got to do math this early, but that's over $50 million a year. You cannot pay him that. Oh, boy. NBA insider Dave McBeneman isn't so sure the team is going to give Davis the extension this offseason. Here's what he said.

You just don't do it. You play out this year with him. You see where things stand with him and LeBron. Obviously, then you risk the second year he has left. You can opt out and leave as a free agent. AD is healthy and you get the best out of him next year, but I don't think they're going to be in a position to offer long-term extension this summer. You cannot.

By the way, the Lakers are different than the Orlando Magic or the Milwaukee Bucks. If players leave and you have cap space, players want to play for the Lakers and their marketing machine. Why did LeBron come here? This was not a winning franchise when he came here. They were a mess. LeBron chose it because of business. the business apparatus known as the Lakers in Hollywood and entertainment.

So this is not your typical franchise where if you lose a guy, you've got to get stuff back. If a guy walks out of L.A. and you got Cap Space, you make phone calls. Paul George and Kauai chose the Clippers. They chose L.A. and the Clippers. You be Polenko or Jeannie Bus, wherever you want to be. I'll be A. All right. Here we go. Hello, hi.

Hey, what's going on? It's me, AD. Hi. Do you guys watch the herd? Do you see how I was the number one ranked player in the playoffs? According to Colin Cowhert. That guy knows something about hoops. Not as much as J-Mac.

But anyways, he had me number one. I was healthy. I played a lot of games. We got to the conference finals. That was great. Look at my numbers. Look what I did against Golden State and Draymond Green, the defensive player of the century.

So can I get that extension? Not right now. Really? We're concerned about your health. You don't want to give me the extension that I'm up for? AD. I'm the guy next to LeBron. Do we win a title in the bubble? I forgot, Jeannie or Rob, whoever you are. Are you up for this moment?

Yeah, I'm up for the extension now. I had a great run in the postseason. I had a great season. Look at my numbers. Oh, it is. Do we have to give it to you now? Yeah. No, we don't. Because if you don't, I want to be unhappy. And you know what? All right. Tomorrow's price ain't today's price.

Okay, be unhappy. That's what you want to do to your star. Well, when you're available, you're our star. It's cold-blooded. That's not how you treat your star. Well, that's when your star is available. Yeah, maybe I won't show up at training camp. Huh?

How are you going to like that? How's it going to look for you guys? What happens if AD goes away? Oh, that's right. You get knocked out of the playoffs like two years ago. I'm willing to play that game. Or you don't even make the playoffs. I'm willing to play that game with AD.

Totally willing to play it. Here's a guy that came in out of shape after the championship. Out of shape. You're a pro athlete. We don't ask much. be in shape. I wouldn't pay me either just for the record. All right, anyways, final story.

The Suns officially announced Frank Vogel as the new head coach. He got a five-year, $31 million contract. Vogel takes over another team with two stars in KD and Devin Booker. Last time he did that, he won a title. Here's what Vogel had to say about Phoenix. I think the first thing I can apply is direct belief, you know, because I've done it. I've been a part of it, you know, and I know that,

if their talent is in place, you know, that you can galvanize a group and, you know, take the league by storm. The number one habit that we develop all year is that we have to play harder and tougher and with more hustle than our opponents every night. Because if you develop that habit over 82 games, boy, when you get come playoff time, you know, when every team's trying to ratchet it up, like it's already going to be there for us. Hmm. Sounds like he's talking to DeAndre Aiton, huh? Well, he has a history of working very well with Biggs. So he's going to clean up DeAndre Aiton. Booker and Durant are great. I like your idea yesterday.

Bring Chris Paul back a little bit of a discount. Try to talk a couple of veterans coming off the bench, and they're going to be a really good basketball team. It's a really good team. I mean, again, they lost to Denver. That's okay. Denver swept the Lakers, too. Denver's good.

It's the way they lost in game seven against Dallas two years ago by a million at home and by a billion at home to Denver. That says something about, like, come on, does LeBron get waxed at home by 30 in an elimination gate? That just doesn't happen to superstars. Maybe that's why they moved off their coach. Maybe they wanted a different culture. I'm just throwing it out there, but that's maybe why they moved off, Monty. There was something in the locker room, something in the water, something in the culture that didn't like.

J-Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news. I like to be positive. I, inside the building, I am known as optimistic Uncle Colin. I like to take the positive sides. I've tried with the Green Bay Packers to be very positive in regards to Jordan Love taking over for Aaron Rogers.

But I saw another headline yesterday. Matt LeFleur says Jordan Love has made some really significant strides this week. Like literally strides? like he's running and his strides are, I have never sold my stock on a football team in an OTA faster than I'm selling Green Bayes now. So here's the last four headlines that we basically have on Jordan Love. Remember this one, March 28th? We all have to kind of temper expectations for Jordan Love.

We do? I don't even have high expectations. You want me to temper my mediocre ones? Remember the next headline, May 23rd. Matt Lefleur on Jordan Love. A lot of good things. A lot to clean up. Really?

It's year four. He's not even playing in games regularly. What's there to clean up? Footwork? It's year four. The next headline, June 1st, David Bocdieri defends. Packers are entering a rebuild and switch from Aaron to Jordan. Love. Yes, David Bakhtiari said June 1st, we are in a rebuild. This is not a rebuild roster or a rebuild

coach. If it's in a rebuild, it means Jordan Love is not very good. It's a good roster. It's a good coaching staff. It's a good up front office. It is. And do we got any more headlines here? Oh, June 6. Matt LaFleur says Jordan Love has made significant strides in OTAs. Significant? Listen, the NFL has pivoted to a one way to win league. You've got to be really good at quarterback. And the Packers don't have one, apparently. I saw this story this morning when I came in. Green Bay Packer fans are reacting to rookie Sean Clifford out dueling Jordan Love during practice.

That's the fifth headline. Thank God, Green Bay is in a division with the Bears. Thank God they're in the NFC. And thank God their schedule early in the NFL is littered with tomato cans. So I went and looked at the Packer's schedule. And let me tell you, I came up with six wins based on those five headlines. I think they'll win early in week two at Atlanta. They'll beat New Orleans and Vegas.

And then I think they go in an eight or nine game losing streak. I'll give them a win over Tampa. Carolina and hosting Chicago late. But folks, I'm just reading the headlines. You start looking. I'll give them some early wins. But the middle of that schedule, at Denver, Minnesota. Just look at the quarterbacks you face.

Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, Matt Stafford, Justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff as a lot of Ls there. So I think we're going into what the Packers were in the 80s. kind of irrelevant. They don't have a great quarterback. It's increasingly a quarterback league. This is not a time when if you had, you know, 10, 15 years ago, great running back and great defense,

you could be a dominating team. Those days are over. So I looked this morning. I'm moving to 6 and 11 with the Green Bay Packers. I was trying to be very positive, very positive. I got him at 6 wins this morning. I went to the schedule. And I don't think that's negative.

I'm doing that based on five different headlines. Okay. Do you remember we talked about this one? Brady left the Patriots. Yeah. Okay? Belichick had to pivot to Cam Newton, then he got back Jones,

and we'll see. Are we talking about a major wasteland here for the Packers? Like going forward, they're going to just, they're not going to be able to find a friend. Because their defense is good enough. They're not going to be like a three-win team. No, this is a good B-B-plus roster. They have elite corner, a great young safety.

Roshan Gary, an emerging star at receiver, a star running back. Balktieri is a top three tackle. Their O-line's role is good. A winning coach, an offensive coach. Well, a winning coach with Aaron Rogers. And I do wonder how much did Watson look awesome with Rogers last year. Is Watson going to look a little ordinary? Like, defenses don't have to defend love the way they did Rogers.

like Rogers can kill you over the top with precision and perfect passes. All the Jordan Love highlights we keep running for the last three months is dink and dunk, yak them. First of all, it's not a free agent market. They don't have an owner, which we've always like, we always undersold that. They do not have an owner. They don't have an owner to get on the phone with an agent. They don't have an owner to get, go to the front office and say, I want that.

I'm going to overpay for that. Like Stan Cronkey did with the Rams with Matt Stafford. Stan Cronkey told me he was. on a tarmac. He got a call from Les, Sneed, and Sean McVey. He was going overseas. He's on a tarmac. And they're like, Matt Stafford, and he said, go for it. They don't have that. Everything's got to go through a meeting. It's not a free agent market. It's not an attractive market mostly for pro athletes. It's a small, it's not even a city. It's a small town. It's got a couple hotels in a steakhouse. There's not much to it. Well, not everybody loves a big city.

Small towns can be attractive. For you and I with kids, a lot of pro athletes, they want to have fun. They like to go to the big cities. It's why L.A. is very attractive to pro athletes. They like stuff to do. Green Bay is great. If you, you know, if you're a middle school teacher and your kids, you're safe, it's wonderful. The Packers, pro athletes are young and wealthy and they, they. What about Summers and Schaubuigan?

Isn't that amazing? I've heard. It is. It is a city in Wisconsin. No, Wisconsin Dells. It's gorgeous. The Wisconsin Dells. It's beautiful.

What is that? Like a lake or something? department store? What's going on here? All I read about, I always see Packers guys riding their bikes in the downtown and getting ice cream and they're really one with the community. A lot of people love that. Why are you laughing?

You're Mr. Middle America, aren't you? Yeah, I fly over it all the time. Is Wisconsin Dells a department store? I don't know. People in Wisconsin, if they're listening, laugh at that. I've never been there. Tell me what is it. Just look it up.

It's called Google. It's a search app. Okay. All right. Search engine. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's me, Rob Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast inside the Parker for 22 minutes of pipe and hot baseball talk

featuring the biggest names of newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe in analytics or the eye test, we've got all the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday. So do yourself a favor. to Inside the Parker with Rob Parker on the IHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast. 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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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 Cliverts 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at a podcast.

I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick you here, unpack what you? went down and tried to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack,

so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Week 9 of the USFL kicks off Saturday at noon, Eastern on Fox as Michigan takes on Pittsburgh.

Then the action continues on Sunday as Philly battles New Jersey at 7 p.m. Eastern. Catch every play Saturday and Sunday on Fox. I saw this story. The Jets playing the Hall of Fame game, which, you know, people, like that thing. That's the first game of the year, like August 2nd or 3rd. Jets are playing in it. So they've canceled one of their mini-camps. And I will tell you this, I love football. I think football practice is mythology and overrated. Sean McVeigh, years ago, said, I'm not going to play any of my starters in the preseason. And people freaked out. Sean McVeigh is coached in 20 September games. He's 16 and 4. 16 and 4.

Exhibition season, useless. All mythology. Zero effect on winning. By the way, you know who's won 23 straight preseason games? The Ravens. They have one playoff win during that streak. And no franchise has been more injury riddled during that streak than the Ravens. It's harm's way.

Football practice, think about college. So in college, you have 19-year-olds, not 27-year-old men. You have kids. You lose a 30-year roster every year to, like, graduation or NFL or, you know, new scholarship players. 18-year-old, 19-year-old guys. You have limits on practice 17 hours a week because of the NCAA. And yet on Labor Day, with no warm-up games, you got to go play. And in that time, Nick Saban has won 28 straight games in September.

The best coach has won the most games. it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Practice is not always irrelevant, but OTAs, a lot of its mythology. Preseason, if I was commissioner, I would get rid of it. I'd have more joint practices. The only time I'm into OTAs is when, like, for instance, because it's such a quarterback-driven sport, if you have a rookie quarterback, Houston Texan, C.J. Stroud, Carolina Panthers, Bryce Young.

I think OTAs are very important for those quarterbacks. Or you have a quarterback who is a first-year starter, Green Bay. He's also got two really talented rookie tight ends. Jordan loves the new quarterback. Christian Watson, Romeo Dobbs are young, emerging players. I think the Packers OTAs are really, really important. But I've always thought all this talk about practice, all this talk about OTAs, all this junk about preseason. college football with kids and limitations on practice.

These are not professionals, even though they have NIL now. They're not professionals. They don't have any practice games. I watch every Labor Day weekend. There's great college football. I can't tell. Look like they're well-schooled and well-coached to me. I can't tell.

I saw this story. There's two different takes on the, LeBron Kyrie's story. Here is one take. A guy I know Bill Ryder, he works for CBS. He has a source saying this is what LeBron does. He can't help himself. You know, there's a lull in play and LeBron and his camp want to make news. It's not going to happen. It's preposterous. Here's another take. Zach Lowe is a podcaster. He says, I don't think the door is shut completely. Just because it doesn't happen this summer, Kyrie to the Lakers, doesn't mean it can't ever happen. I don't think that door is closed, said Zach Lowe of ESPN, who's a popular podcaster. But it's part of it this. If you're

going to space out the games 72 hours of nothing to talk about, this is what happens. Football has always been brilliantly constructed. Sunday games, we talk about it Monday. Monday games. Monday We talk about it Tuesday. Wednesday, we talk about college football. Thursday night game. Friday, we talk about it. Wednesday is your sort of day off to take a deep breath. Go out with the fam.

Go out with your wife. Then by Thursday night, you've got to watch the games. Even the way they do it on Sunday in the NFL with the European games, a game at 6 a.m. Pacific, then games 10 a.m. Pacific. Then games 1 to 1.15 Pacific. And then Sunday night football. They don't give you time for anything other than football. The NBA, the last time the Nuggets and the heat played was 5 o'clock Pacific Sunday.

They don't play in until tonight. So you leave this open, and guys like LeBron and the agents and the reporters are going to poke and prod and stories like this develop. A lot of this is, and I've seen this with the World Series before. When they have the World Series in October and the NBA season starts, the college football season's underway, the NFL season's well underway, and you have two and three days in between games. We lose attention. We just lose track where the games go. You play back to back to back to back in baseball during the regular season.

Why don't you play back to back to back to back during the playoffs and the World Series? Why are you leaving openings for the media to lose attention? It doesn't make any sense. So I do think the reason Kyrie and LeBron makes a little sense because it could benefit both teams. Kyrie is what the Lakers need. Another great shooter. And Dallas is sort of trapped.

They don't want Kyrie for four years. But who's going to play with Luca? Porzingis didn't work. Brunson's gone. Kyrie didn't work well. They're running out of options. Will Luca be the first star, as J. Mack pointed out yesterday, who moves on? who says, I can make my money up in shoes.

I can make my money other places. I'm not playing here. So I don't think Dallas is desperate. But if you don't want to sign Kyrie to a four-year deal, could you appease Kyrie Irving by getting him LeBron for two years? It's something I think it's worth thinking about. Now, the other argument is LeBron just moved to L.A. Why would he move to Dallas?

He wouldn't have to move to Dallas. It's called a Gulf Stream. He could watch his son's home games. brawny at USC. LeBron no longer plays 82 games. He plays closer to 52. You can work out the schedule. Give him two and three day rest periods where he can go back home, go see his son play for the Trojans. But I think there's something there. I don't think it's going to happen. But I think any time a situation benefits both parties, you've got to think about it. And I think they are. All right, Jay Mack. Ryan Riscilla top of next hour.

Greg Olson also stops by today. You know, we got into this yesterday with the golf tour, the PGA, and the Live golf tour. So they merged, essentially. It is interesting. Once you take the emotion out of it, we have a Rory McElroy bite. I want to play it again. So Rory McElroy was one of the people that was a bit sanctimonious, very much loyal. But as a European, the European tour has played in these countries, the middle.

Middle East many times. I also pointed out yesterday, golf used to have a shell oil event. If you're in the oil business, you're dealing with the Middle East. It should also be noted from comedians to actors. You know, a lot of actors make big money selling stuff overseas, big commercials overseas. I think it's very possible that the greatest golfers in the history of this country have spoken in the Middle East before for massive sums of money. So Rory McElroy, who has a little bit of egg on his face, because he was one of the, I'm never leaving the PGA, he acknowledged this yesterday. It's hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and, you know, feeling like I've put myself out there and this is what happens. Again, removing myself from the situation, I see how this is better for the game of golf.

There's no denying that. But for me as an individual, yeah, I, there's just going to have to be conversations that are had. Yeah, you have to pay them to come to your event. But let's be honest, almost every business is better when it's better funded and unified. And golf is wonky and hanky. It's boxing with a foreiron. There's tournaments run here by this group and that group and rider cups run by multiple groups. It's very much boxing.

How many people do you think? How many golfers are saying, man, loyalty is overrated? today. All of them. Loyalty to a company. All of them. They'll dump you in a second. They'll screw you in a second.

It's the herd. Our two next. 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. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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 Cliver Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.