The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd-HOUR 1-NCAAFB, Blazers, Draymond Green

Episode Date: August 10, 2020

Colin discusses college football being in trouble, the Blazers being a dangerous 8th seed, and Draymond Green's tampering fine.Guest: Doug Gottlieb Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the 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 which I'm 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, unfilled conversations with athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the I Heart 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. On the Look Back at it podcast.

From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's 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. 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. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go.

Ready to roll on a Monday with mostly good news live in Los Angeles. This is The Hurt. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. One hour from now where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. Plenty of both. Joy Taylor's joining me. I watched so much sports on television this weekend, especially yesterday. day from golf to the NBA to baseball. Glad to have it back, but there's one sport that may not

happen. Yeah, kind of after a great, great sports weekends, which we haven't been able to say in a long time, it's kind of a disturbing news, discouraging news. Yeah. So sports is back, mostly. College football's in big trouble. The Big 10s met, the Pac-12s met. You know, from the very beginning I've said, I think the SEC will keep their head down and bulldoge through it. I still believe that this morning. The SEC will work. It matters more. That's their slogan.

That's their marketing campaign. It matters more. I've been down there. I've gone to SEC games. I still believe they're going to power through it. I do not believe that's the case. I think the rest of college football probably gets canceled. And I think there's two reasons for it.

I've been banging this drum for a long time. It's 2020. college football makes over $2 billion a year just on television revenue. And they don't have a cohesive plan because they don't have a president. They don't have a CEO. How is it possible that you make over $2 billion annually as a business and you don't have a president or a CEO? Mark Emmert, you can go to volleyball matches.

Hire somebody to take care of football. What we are seeing from the White House to states to tiny towns to sports, leadership matters. There is no centralized voice with football. How could there be in college football? There's nobody to run it. It's every man for themselves. If you want to know how much leadership matters in this crisis, look at the NBA. Good God.

Unlike every other sport, COVID hit him in the middle of a season. David Stern and Kobe Bryant both suddenly died. China pulled out of a $2 billion deal with the NBA because of something a GM for the Rockets, Houston Rockets posted. You had a massive social movement in America where LeBron James was front and center. All of these were challenges, perhaps. And yet I watched the NBA and I'm like, damn, looks good, players into it. Energy's amazing.

Aesthetics are great. No positive tests. Oh, Lou Williams had some fun in Atlanta. But in the end, that's what leadership looks like. College football's five power conferences, all fighting over revenue, fighting over bowl games, every conference for themselves. It's just, I don't understand it. I grew up in my sports career in Vegas. It's a big boxing city.

And so when I was like in my 20s, I'm a young sportscaster, boxing was everything. There was no such thing as UFC. But the problem with boxing was always, they didn't have a CEO. It was Don King. It was Bob Aram. It was these promoters getting rich. And then little UFC with Dana White came up. They had a president.

They had a centralized voice. He was a tough guy, street guy. And they just rose right over boxing. Was it better than boxing? I don't know. But they had a leader. College football doesn't have one. It's unthinkable.

It's 2020. Fox alone. pays the sport 500 million. You can't pay a mill to get somebody smart to, you know, keep their eye on the till. Here's the second issue. Again, it's money. The NFL or the NBA owners can write a check. NBA spending $150 million on the bubble. NFL owners can all write a check for $20 million per team and have protocols and daily testing and safety measures for trainers and players and coaches and secretaries and interns and colleges can't do that. Everybody always talks about how much money colleges make.

Yeah, Ohio State does. Oregon State doesn't. There's 130 college football programs. There's about 12 where they're just rolling in lettuce. And there's about 100 that are Purdue. You know, Western Kentucky. There's a lot of them don't make a lot of money. And they can't just write $25 million checks.

Because remember, college football stadiums are off. and bigger than pro stadiums. Why? Because college football needs people in the stands. They make huge ticket revenue. That's why Little Auburn. Auburn's a little tiny town in Alabama. They can have an 85,000 seat football stadium. Yet in Philadelphia, a big city, right, 10,000 less than that.

College football needs fans. They need ticket revenue. They don't have it. They got to pay for all those sports, men's and women's, and almost all lose money except football on Saturday. So I think it's great that players came out yesterday, star players in college football, Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence with We Are United. But good God, that feels like grabbing a small bucket as the Titanic sinks. It is way too little and way too late.

Folks, leadership is mattered. They do studies on this, why kids are generally more successful, little boys and little girls, if both parents are around. And I have watched during this crisis, great leadership from some governors. Great leadership from mayors of cities, great leadership from some of the commissioners. College football has a massive hole. College athletics has long been a house of cards. I'm not saying it's designed to make money, but it sure is hell not designed to hemorrhage it. But it is time to start over.

It is time to hire somebody to galvanize my favorite sport. I really love college football. But right now it is a circus and the tent. The doors are closed to the tent. And I don't think it's coming back for a long time. I'm crossing my fingers on the best run conference, by the way, arguably the best run conference, the SEC. I'm crossing my fingers. They'll survive it.

All right. So I've been watching a lot of this NBA bubble stuff. And as you remember, Joy and I talked about this a lot. I thought they should have just gone right into the playoffs. I mean, to me, we got a pandemic. Fewer games, fewer tests. Let's get in, boom, let's get out. Crowd a champ and go home.

But the NBA said, listen, you can't have these guys off four months, have them come into playoff intensity. So we're going to have some warm-up games. And I think to myself, yeah, I get it. All right, that makes sense. Let's have some warm-up games. And they kind of rigged this thing in the NBA so somebody could sneak in like a New Orleans or, you know, a Portland.

So for that, I think they've done a pretty good job. But here's my takeaway in this whole bubble. I got three big takeaways, because I've watched almost every team play, many of the good teams play three or four times. My first takeaway, the Clippers and the Milwaukee Bucks do not care. They're number one seeds, those coaching staffs, those rosters, and those front offices, they don't care. I've watched Milwaukee get beat by the Nets.

I've watched the Clippers get beat by the Nets and the Sons. They don't care. By the way, that's right on brand for the Clippers. who didn't care during the regular season. I don't take anything of the Bucks. I don't take anything out of the Clippers. I think they should be favored to get to the NBA finals. I think Milwaukee is excellent defensively, has a brilliant young coach.

They've got good enough players to win it, though I'm not picking them. I don't take anything from the Clippers or Milwaukee. We're planning a bubble. Home court doesn't matter. All these teams care about us being healthy. So Clippers, Bucks just don't care. My second takeaway is, oh, the Lakers do. They just can't shoot.

Sort of a problem in 2020. The Lakers have the worst field goal percentage of any team in the bubble. I'm not joking. They have the worst three-point percentage of any team in the bubble. This is why LeBron James to me is the MVP. He is the super glue holding together a lot of odd and past their prime parts. The Lakers can't shoot. And, oh, by the way, they're not very good at defending the first.

perimeter as well. To me, this is not a championship team. What it is is the world's best basketball player, the world's smartest basketball player, kind of making it work. The great lubricator in the NBA, LeBron's just sort of making it work. This is not a very good team. I don't want to hear about the number one seed in the West. It mattered to them. It didn't matter to the Clippers. My third takeaway is I want no part of Portland. I don't. If I'm in the playoffs in the West, I got no interest play in Portland. Damian Lillard is the best shooter. On most nights, the best player in the bubble.

They've got three, seven footers. So they match up with teams like Milwaukee in Toronto and the Lakers who have size. Gary Trent, Jr., who was a nice player at Duke, always a good shooter. Yikes. Now, he looks like Steph Curry. Terry Stott's has been very good for years, very respected. Carmelo Anthony has added harmony and scoring for. the wing. Portland to me, they are going to be the greatest eighth seed in the history of the NBA.

Their back court could be a nightmare for the Lakers. Gary Trent's emerged. How about Mello? They've got three seven-footers. I watched Dame drop 51 yesterday. I swear, you know, if he doesn't go to Weber State, if he doesn't play in Portland, if he went to Duke and played for the Knicks, Would we all get how good Damien Lillard is? I mean, I said last week, is everybody watching him when he plays Westbrook? How much better he is than Westbrook? So those are my three takeaways so far in the NBA bubble. Coming up next, I've never tried to be an epidemiologist.

You know, my theory on this thing is wear a mask, went out in public, and try to stay six feet away from people. But I do think, and I'll explain why, I'd rather have my kids going to college and being athletes, then staying home. And I'll explain that coming up. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

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

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

and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple 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-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to? do a little kill. Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we

survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so 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. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year

for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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

health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. 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? 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, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now. I do hope we get college football.

Good to have you back. Joy Taylor and myself. It's called The Herd, brought to you by CarShield.com. Cars get beat up in the summer. Hot pavement, long drive. save thousands. Carsield.com. The code is H-E-R-D.

Great company. So Ohio State parents came out this weekend, released a statement in support of playing. These are the parents of the players at Ohio State. I am a believer, and I am not a doctor, but it is safer for college athletes to stay on campus than go home. I'll give you an example. My daughter is going to go back to college.

Now, she has two roommates. They are not athletes. nor is my daughter. Do her roommates have boyfriends? Do I trust those boyfriends in college, 20 years old? To wear a mask? Not really. I'd feel much safer if my daughter was a volleyball player

and was rooming with two volleyball players because I know they'd go to an athletic facility and they would be tested daily or at least twice weekly and there would be protocols and there would be an athletic department and adults monitoring them. That's how I feel, and I've discussed it with my family and my daughter. As it is, she's going to go to college, have nice roommates. I'm not pointing fingers, but girls date boys in college, and I don't trust the boys.

I do trust the girls more than the boys, but you get my point. Here at Fox, I come to work. It is the safest environment I am at. Joy is as close as anybody gets. 15 feet away. I keep Goulé this distance even in good times. The point being is, when I go home, I've got kids. They have friends. Yes, I've let a few over. I'm crossing my fingers. I don't know where those kids have been. You just trust their parents. But I don't have to trust Joy. I know she had to go through the same protocols I had. Jim Harbaugh, coach of Michigan, came out today. He said, I'm for bringing kids back, not because of feelings, but because of facts. He said the Michigan football program has had 11 positive tests out of 900 administered, and two of those came to the school with COVID.

He goes of the last 417 administered COVID tests, two positives. Of the last 353 administered, no positives, meaning the kids are safer back on campus around medical professionals, multiple weekly testing. You know, it's nothing against athletes. But I saw this yesterday. If you send a college athlete home, is he in a big house? Does he have space? Does he have?

Many of these college athletes, men and women come from multi-generational living, which statistically, it appears now that can be very problematic. You know, I'm not being a sports guy and I'm numb to what COVID is. But I'm telling you in my life, I have flown 12 times. I have chosen, my kids have flown. Do I fly any airline? No, I do not. I choose airlines based on who's more responsible. I'll just say, I like Delta.

They've been great. Others I don't trust. Maybe one's an advertiser. I won't talk about it. But in the end, I'm not going to hide from it. I'm not going to hide from it. My kids are not going to hide from it. And I think these colleges, though probably not as intense or as safe as an NBA or hockey bubble,

certainly beat going back to your small town around your family and friends. And you really think those college kids will all socially distance and wear a mask all day. I'm going to go with I wouldn't have either. So that's where we are today. Sports in trouble at the college level. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. lose. This is the herd line news. Well, after missing two free throws and a three-pointer late in a

frustrating finish to the Clippers Saturday, Damien Lillard bounced back in a big way against the 76ers, 51 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter to lead his team to the 124-121 win. Sixers lost more than just the game yesterday because Joelle Ambide left in the first quarter with an ankle injury. So now they are without Jewel Embedde and Ben Simmons. I'm not laughing. It's just like Those guys, not only do they not get along, they get hurt a lot. Well, yeah. So the Sixers is really the story of this game to me. We know what name does in crunch time when everything is on the line.

That's what he is. He always rises to the occasion. Now, obviously, the game against the Clippers was a rare situation for him, and that caused a little bit of controversy. But I would say that was an outlier situation, him not making those free throws in that three-point or late. Now, there's no word yet on if he's going to have to miss any time, Dwell and Bede.

But Philly is obviously. already without Ben Simmons who's going to have surgery on his left knee now. It's just a... Shouldn't be this hard. Shouldn't be this hard. It shouldn't be this hard. It feels like... You know, how you put it last week was, I think, the best analogy for it. It feels like an exhausting relationship. Like, it feels like a relationship where you're like, this should work because we have so

much in common. Hollywood marriages. They're both beautiful. They're both doing well. They're happy. We have the same job. Same age. We're in the same business. We live in the same town. And you're yelling all day. to eat the same food, but like you just can't, you can't get along. You cannot make it work.

It always feels like a struggle. And it bothers me because I hate tanking. So I loki didn't want this to work, but because Philadelphia fans have been through so much of it. And truly, like, the mantra I actually do buy into trusting the process. I do, I am a process person. I don't think you should skip steps in life because it puts you at disadvantage to people who have had that experience. But that doesn't really apply to tanking.

And this was a disaster. and unfortunately, I don't think it's going to last past this year. I think everyone has collectively been exhausted by what's happened in Philadelphia. The Blazers, on the other hand, are a very scary team. Hot fire. I still feel like Houston is a team to pay attention to, but the Blazers are playing amazing. So the Clippers found themselves in a whole early last night, down 21 points to the Nets in the first quarter. Kauai did a pretty good job getting L.A. back in it, 39 points as Paul George had the night off.

But five Nets scored double-digit points to lead Brooklyn to a 129-120 win. Brooklyn has now clinched the seventh seed in the east and will face the Raptors in the first round. The Clippers have just a one-game lead over the Nuggets. They play Wednesday for the second seed in the West. And Montrez-Harrel is back in the bubble now as well. Brooklyn's been very impressive. Well, effort has proven to be very important. Phoenix and the Nets have just willed their way.

You know, I had an NBA, Mike Dunleavy told me years ago. He goes, if you come to the arena, young aggressive teams want to play hard. He goes, it's amazing how many games you can win. Now, you're not going to win in the playoffs. He goes, but just regular season, NBA travels rough. You can win 40 games in this league with a let's outwork them tonight. Yeah, and with travel, with back-to-backs, with, you know, veteran teams only focused on the postseason. This is a situation where you can thrive.

And plus the bubble, as we know, because all those things are not a factor, you're a young team, you have more energy and you've had time off. You've got fresh legs. This is why Brooklyn to me is really interesting. It's always been interesting next year. They do have good players. They have good pieces. When they get Kyrie and Katie back and they're in a full season, they're going to be a problem. Finally, probably the most disappointing game, definitely all weekend, but maybe in the bubble was this Pelicans game. So their quest for the postseason is over. They had a 122, 113 loss to the spurs, which paired with the Trailblazers win over the Sixers, which eliminated the Pelicans from playoff contention.

New Orleans was quickly down 14 to 3 to start the game and only scored 19 points in the first quarter. By the time they cut the Spurs 20-point lead, the single digit, at the end of the third, it was too late. It was just really a completely lacklesser performance by everyone. It just had no energy, no urgency the whole game. Also, Lonzo Ball has been awful. It's some things, I mean, like, he could be the worst player in the bubble that

starts. It's not been a great situation for Lonzo, no. Zion said after the game, but the team's slow start was not acceptable and thought their lack of spirit in the first half led to issues throughout the rest of the game. I mean, it did. The first half was terrible for the Pelicans, and it was too much to come back from it. And Pop is always going to find a way to keep you a step behind once he gets a lead on you. He's just that that's what it is. The Kings are also eliminated from the playoffs. So these teams are going to start going home as they're eliminated as well. I think the team we all thought was not a playoff team, but could play their way and do what was Portland because you had like veteran leaders and talent.

And it's like, okay, that's exactly what happened. Right. And I think we both felt Memphis and New Orleans were going to be fun. We wanted to watch them. But they're kids. This is not a kid league. I mean, Damien Lillard is a grown-up. Carmelo Anthony, Terry Stocks.

Yeah, I mean, they're in a different, they're in different category altogether. And Memphis is fun to watch. This is a better situation for Memphis because they're not only going to get playoff experience in a very unique situation, obviously. but they're kind of putting all their pieces together and have had their pieces, whereas the Pelicans haven't, obviously, with Zion and even trying to work him back in the bubble. It's disappointing, but it's, you know, they have a long way to go, the Pelicans. Good stuff. Joy Taylor with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly. Doug Gottlieb in a second. By the way, 30 minutes from now, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong. We'll keep you abreast of the situation with college athletics. I have my fingers crossed on the SEC. see you are seeing players, coaches, parents come out now saying,

our kids are safer inside the bubbles, semi-bubbles of college athletics, then they are at home. That I agree with. I've talked to multiple parents, talked to one over the weekend. They feel better their kids being on campus than home where they can't control them. It's kind of a less controlled environment. I mean, listen, we have basically three different environments in sports. There's the bubble.

It clearly works. The bubbles work. The UFC went to an island. It worked. NHL bubble works. NBA bubble works. The bubbles work. Then there is what I believe is kind of semi-bubble,

PGA NASCAR, baseball where you can control some of it, but you can't control all of it with baseball. There's too much travel. That's working with problems. I think college football feels a lot like a baseball bubble. You can't control everything. and there is a Marlins and a St. Louis Cardinals mess.

But you don't have a problem with the Dodgers or the twins or the Cubs or the Astros or the Yankees, the really good grown-up teams or the A's. You know, the teams that are really good, discipline know, hey, we can't mess this up. We've got a chance to win the world's serious. Those teams are great. So I think college football feels a little like baseball. It's not a bubble, but there are protocols that, make it better than not playing and going back to wherever you're from, wherever your town is.

Doug Gottlieb joining me now, brought to you by Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing. So let's talk about it. I mean, it looks like college footballs in dire straits, Dougher. So what do you think it's all about? I think it's all about liability. And, you know, I was talking, Colin, to a couple of athletic department members from the Big 12. And they said that there's some evidence. I don't know if it's empirical or anecdotal.

that, you know, we all look at deaths and hospitalization, but what we can't necessarily quantify is the lasting effects of COVID on an athlete. And there are, there is some evidence that people have had COVID, especially guys that are bigger and guys that are a little bit overweight. There's some lasting heart issues or lung issues. And I think at the end of the day, it just comes down to, look, kids can get sick at home and you can't sue a university, but if you get sick playing college football and one person has, you know, God forbid anybody dies, even if they don't die, it's the lasting effects becomes not just a lawsuit, but potentially a class auction lawsuit because you've had this information, you put people in harm's way.

I believe the players want to play. I believe you're safer on campus, and I can explain why in a moment, but I think the reason that you're seeing the Big Ten is because the Big Ten was the first one to have this evidence, and they shared it with some of their conference brethren. Yeah, I mean, you were a college athlete. I was just saying I'd rather my daughter go back to college and room with volleyball players than non-athletes because I don't think either is perfect. I just think athletes are less imperfect.

I do think there's daily testing or weekly testing, and that would make me feel as a parent a little safer. You played college sports. Do you think, you know, being at Ohio State or Wisconsin or, you know, Old Miss is safer than being home? Well, it depends. And this goes for pro athletes as well. If you're going to stay home and quarantine for the entire year, okay, and quarantining

is not isolating, okay? Quarantining is, meaning social distancing, six feet away, if you're going to wear covering, if you're not going to go to large gatherings, you know, you're going to go and space from people when you go to the grocery store but not sit inside at restaurants, if you're going to do all these things, not have playdates for your kids, you know, not go to large gatherings. If you're going to do all these things all year long, well, then you're safer. The problem is that the rest of the world has opened up.

And even when it's not opened up, people are going to other people's houses, which completely defeats the purpose of quarantine. And so for a pro athlete, definitely, for a college athlete, definitely, you're safer with your team where at least there's some form of control over your environment. There is testing. Obviously, pro testing is going to be daily. It's going to be a percentage of kids in college. But there's also this. when you're on campus, there's a personal self-discipline it takes to be a college athlete, to be a professional athlete. When you're on campus, if you think about breaking out of your bubble and breaking your protocols, much like baseball now or basketball with the tip line, at least the coach, the other players, the position coach, have some sort of oversight.

Like, yo, dude, if you go out to that party, this could ruin all of our seasons. If you stay home, like you would be the first college student in the history of the world to want to stay home with your parents. on a Friday and Saturday night if you decide to not go to college this year. So I understand that in theory, being at home in your own personal bubble in quarantine is safer than playing college football or college basketball or the NFL. The reality is you're actually safer when you're tested, when you're monitor, when you're in some form of bubble, and you have the oversight of a head coach, of a position coach, and your fellow teammates if you're on a college campus. Yeah, there is peer pressure when you're on a college campus.

you don't want to let down your college teammates. There's peer pressure. I think that helps. Okay, so this may qualify as, I don't think it qualifies as any hot take. I watch the Lakers, Doug. They can't shoot threes. They can't defend threes. I think you're seeing, I think the Western Conference was a little bit in reboot,

restructure mode for most of the regular season. Now we're in the bubble. I look at the Lakers and I think what you're seeing now is the truth. This is what they are. think they're being a little unmassed here. Well, it's interesting because we've talked about this on my show and when I've hosted for you. I'm not sure the bubble has destroyed some of these businesses.

I think it's sped up the process, right? And I think it's happened some in sports. This has sped up the process. Let's not undersell the loss of Avery Bradley. Yeah. You know, Rondo's a loss because of experience and people think playoff Rondo. He hasn't been a very good player in this league in over a half a decade, maybe even a decade, okay? But you do lose Rondo. But when you lose Avery Bradley, who's a three-point

shooters, your best point shooters, your best point guard, and was playing his best basketball of his Laker career, just his Laker career, you lose him. And now you're throwing out there Quinn Cook, who, I mean, look, Quinn Cook got destroyed by Chris Ball because he's supposed to get destroyed by Chris Paul. Chris Ball is the first ballot Hall of Famer. Quinn Cook was a G-leager who's found a way to stick in the NBA. Like, it exposes everything. And the irony to missing that one position is, you know, when LeBron and the Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks the first year, what has never been discussed is that Mike Bibby was awful at point guard, the first five games. He was so bad that in game six, the last game of that NBA season, he didn't even take off the

sweats. He didn't play. He was washed at that point in his career. And if you get exposed badly at that spot, it changes everything. You're right. They don't have enough shot creators. That's one reason that the three-point shooting is down. They don't have enough guard.

This season will likely come to an end sooner rather than later because they couldn't talk to Aaron Collison out of not retiring because Avery Bradley chose to opt out of playing in the bubble and because they could not find a way to get enough perimeter players in a league in which you have to have that if you want to succeed at the highest level. So, you know, you were when you left college basketball, you were the seventh all-time leading assist guy, meaning that you had teammates. You were the passer. They were the finisher. couldn't shoot. But needless to say, you were a great distributor, and it's all about cohesion in basketball. You can be Michael Jordan, but you need a Pippin. You need a coach. You need a Kerr. You need a Rodman. You can't do it all, not even LeBron. I look at him beating Simmons. And Doug, it's the Hollywood marriage. It looks good on paper. It looks good in a picture,

but for some reason it doesn't work. What is your takeaway after now they're both hurt? You know what's interesting is that we used to think that Simmons' work ethic was going to be his downfall, and Embed's body was going to be his downfall because of injuries. And now it seems to be a little flipped, right? It's Embedd's struggles to play hard every night and totally be engaged, and Simmons is the one who's had the back injury and now has a knee injury and is out for the season. That thing has changed. look they're both dynamic talents they're both all NBA caliber talents they do struggle to get along with each other

with teammates I think there's some reasonable frustration between both but if it's me I was always on the side of teen Simmons simply for two factors one he makes other people better around him and two he hasn't been hurt as much as MVP well now you take the injury thing aside because he's hurt more than indeed and I'm not sure he can make everybody better because of his refusal to shoot jump shots.

And so I agree with you. I do think that it's going to be time to break these two up. They don't seem to be making each other their best selves. And I think Simmons is the one who's most likely to go. Yeah. By the way, I don't usually talk a ton of golf on this show, but no Tiger Woods this weekend. Doug, I was riveted.

We've got all these guys who trash talk. Golf has become the Brooks Kepka, Brooks Kepka, Bryson, shamble. Dustin Johnson used to be a trash talker. He's like the guy that goes to bed at nine o'clock now. What did you, I watched the leaderboard yesterday, no Tiger. And I'm like, if this is the future of golf for 10 years, these are fascinating personalities. Yes. This is, like Steph Curry's going through this with the Trey Youngs and the Damien Lillards of this world, right? Like the, what he is, everybody else, you know, when Tiger Woods brought not just this, you know, big personality and persona to golf, but he hit it a mile and he was in great physical condition.

And, you know, different sorts of physical condition. But look what Deschambeau has done since he changed his body. How far he's hitting a golf ball. Like he's basically, Tiger is a victim of his own success. Now when you play in a course in which you got to hit it long and straight, he no longer truly can compete. But it still is missing something. Look, golf is better without fans because you don't have a U-Damian, you know, beat the ball, some sort of yellow. You can see the entire course.

and yes, you can hear the voices. I think golf probably benefited. And it was a great watch. Yeah, it was. It was a great watch. And it's an interesting point. Golf without fans is less tedious at times because all the goofball fans yelling you, the man.

Doug Gottlieb, good stuff. Top of the hour, Colin right, Colin wrong. Coming up next, Draymond Green was fined 50 grand for a comment he made on the air. and why the NBA is so sensitive to what he said, because he didn't really say anything. He really didn't say anything, and they find him 50 large. I'll tell you why coming up.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. 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 Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions,

my journey from basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told,

and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye They said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little kill? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed, correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now.

Thank you for finishing that sentence. 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. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite there.

Careers, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough.

Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. 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, Keir Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the Hardway. Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Good to have you in. A lot of stuff. A lot of rumors out there.

already canceled their football season. I looked it up. I don't believe it yet, although I do think it will happen. I'll have some thoughts on if a spring college football season, which, by the way, they called a spring season. It would be played in January, February. I don't know where you live in the Midwest, but that doesn't feel like the

spring to me. That's winter and flu season. I'll talk about that coming up. Top of the hour, Colin right, Colin wrong. So Draymond Green, who I bumped into it at a fight, he watches the show and likes me a lot. Anyway, he got fine 50 grand this weekend because he went on TNT's pregame show, postgame show. Those guys are funny. And they bring players on and they talk. And Draymond said this and it's considered tampering and he got in big trouble.

Get my man out of Phoenix. It's not good for him. It's not good for his career. Sorry, Chuck. But they got to get book out of Phoenix. I need my man to go somewhere where he can play great basketball all the time and win. because he's that type of player. Are you tampering?

Maybe. Well, the league said, yes, 50 grand. He didn't tell him to go to Golden State. You just said, get him out of there. There's two things the NBA is petrified of. Two words. Tanking and tampering. Now, let me just say this.

Something has happened in America, and I don't want to pretend it just happened. I'm not blaming anybody for this. But I do think cable news has been a part of this for 10 years. 15 years, it's made it worse. It doesn't matter if it's left or right, MSNBC or Fox News. Those are not places that do reporting.

They do opinions and very well on both sides. But if you're a liberal, you go to one channel. If you're a conservative, you go to the other. It's not about information. It's about affirmation. This is what I believe and I'm tripling down on it. So we're in America, the country we live in today, it doesn't matter if I hand you facts.

You are so deeply embedded into, quote, your side, whatever side that is. I don't care what side it is. I'm independent. I don't even care what side it is. So here's the remarkable thing, and here's why the NBA is petrified of tampering and tanking. And they get firm, they get punitive, they fine, they freak out. All Draymond Green said is, you know, that star player, you got to get out of there. that's what that's called an opinion that wasn't even a hot take that wasn't even a mild temperate take

because there's this narrative out there with the NBA that of course is not true like a lot of information on cable networks but people believe it so it doesn't matter the NBA has to fight this all the time that if you go to a small market you can't win that's actually what happens in baseball baseball has no salary cap if you look at baseball last 12 World Series titles. It's the Yankees and the Cubs and the Red Sox and the Giants. Cardinals are a top 10 revenue team. It's all big cities.

San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, New York. One, Kansas City, eaked out a World Series and then went back an hour later to being irrelevant. But in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs were a dynasty. Cleveland for eight years was fascinating. Actually, seven, and then four more. Portland last year got to the Western Conference

finals. Oklahoma City's been fantastic day one. Indiana's always viable. Oh, wait, Milwaukee's number one in the east. Hey, a team from Canada just won. In the NBA, small markets are often brilliantly represented. But yet people think the lottery is fixed. Really?

You think the NBA said, hey, let's put Zion in a football city in New Orleans and John Morant in Memphis. That's what the NBA wanted. Yet in the NBA, the next year, Six have been Dreadbull forever. Washington can't get attacked together. When's the last time Philadelphia was good? Or Detroit, or Chicago,

or the Lakers for five years, or the Clippers 20 years in a row until the last several. Big City NBA teams are a mess. Small markets have flourished. You know, except Sacramento. In baseball, it's the opposite.

So that is why the NBA freaks out. Because there's this narrative that is not true. Small markets are great. I mean, if you told me the top seven or eight young players in the league, I don't know if Dame qualifies yet, seven or eight young players, none of them are in New York, none of them are in L.A. And none of the top 10 young players are in New York or L.A.

They're in places like Miami, Oklahoma City, Dallas is fairly large. It's a lot of small market. Milwaukee's got one. So this is why they freak out because they constantly in the NBA have to battle this belief that small markets are the end of your career. And that is simply not true. Kevin Durant would have never left Oklahoma City had they not given James Hardin away to Houston for an end table. If James Hardin would have stayed there and they'd have paid him and paid, then the Oklahoma City would have won championships. And Hardin and Westbrook and Kevin Durant would be there right now.

and Milwaukee would be the best team in the east, and Oklahoma City would be the best team in the West. And LeBron probably wouldn't be in all the finals, and Kauai Leonard would maybe still be in Canada. So I just think it's a narrative that's not true, but the NBA freaks out about it. You can't control tampering. First of all, players talk all the time.

Can you imagine if we had a tampering rule in our business, meaning that if Joy and I talked about somebody on the air, we'd get fine. But like when the show was over and we're walking to have lunch, we couldn't talk about it then. There are no cell phones? Tampering and tanking happen all the time. You can't do anything about it. It happens in the NBA more than any other sport.

But the NBA realizes facts don't matter. It's all feelings. It's not about facts. And the facts are small markets flourish in the NBA. Canada this year flourished. Milwaukee's flourishing now. All right. So we'll give you the very last.

latest on college football. I'm going to go with my belief that the SEC has about a 50-50 shot to survive this week of college football. That's my guess. They're the only ones, I think, that will go and have a season. I'm rooting for the Big Ten and Pac-12 to play. I got bad vibes on that. SEC, I think it's 50-50. Go either way. Cross your fingers on that. But we'll give you the very latest on that stuff. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, coming top of the hour. Peter King will be joining us to. Joel Klat's strong opinions. He wants college football.

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. It's Michael and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the 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, 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 Clifers 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 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. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, 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. 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.