The Josh Innes Show - The WNBA Hates America!

Episode Date: June 24, 2025

First off, Chip Caray, who calls Cardinals games on TV, made an unfortunate gaffe. Second, the WNBA continues to find ways to look stupid. In this instance, Rebecca Lobo was on the call of a lady basketball game when she dared to entertain the idea that America is great. I got a message from a friend who said his friend thinks I'm a right wing wacko. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Hurry in employee pricing is on for a limited time. Visit your local GMC dealer for details. Oh boy. It's always fun. Like I feel like once or twice a week maybe bi-weekly the WNBA does something that confirms that they are not ready for prime time that they can't get out of their own way. Like that is what the WNBA is. What did I compare them to a couple of weeks ago? The WNBA is like Brooks and Shawshank like

he's in prison forever. He's gotten so used to being in prison, then when he finally gets out, he has no idea what to do on the outside, like tries to work at a grocery store. Like it just doesn't work. He is used to the stability and the structure of being in the penile system, the penal system. And what ends up happening Brooks ends up hanging himself because he cannot handle life on the outside. It's like the people that win the lottery, you win a million dollars in the lottery. I used to watch those shows all

the time about the people that would win the lottery and it didn't make them better people. It just really highlighted who they actually were. And they would blow the money in five minutes and end up hooked on fucking heroin or crack or whatever they would end up hooked on. And then they'd be screwed and they'd be broken and probably end up dead. Like some people are not meant for prosperity. broken and probably end up dead like some people are not meant for prosperity. Some sports leagues are not made for prosperity. Some individuals are not made for prosperity. Some people just are not and that's okay. It is totally okay if you're not the WNBA is not equipped for prosperity now in their defense. It seems like there's a lot of people that are out there trying to get gotcha shit on the WNBA, right? The Clay Travis's of the world, the Jason Whitlock's of the world, like these people have an agenda. There is a large group of people who are mostly right wing white people who are trying to shit on the WNBA. Just like we like to talk about how there's a group of **** liberal people or gay people or transgender people or minority folk that are or

liberals that are always going to be looking to take somebody down for something like let me give you an example. Actually first, let me play a couple commercials. I'll give you an example. The new BMO VI Porter MasterCard is your ticket to more. More perks. More points. More flights. More of all the things you want in a travel rewards card. And then some.

Get your ticket to more with the new BeMo VI Porter MasterCard and get up to $2,400 in value in your first 13 months. Terms and conditions apply. Visit bemo.com slash the iPorter to learn more. So I was told by a friend yesterday that one of his friends thinks I'm like some super right wing wacko, right? A buddy of mine told me that, sent me a DM and was like, listen, my buddy, he's like, I don't think you're a wacko, but my friend thinks you're a real

right wing guy. And I said, well, that's probably because my favorite target is making fun of just kind of woke and over-the-top people that happen to be on the left side of things. As I've said, those people have pushed me probably right of center, but I probably agree with them on a lot of shit too. But for every Clay Travis or right-wing wacko that is obviously trying to take down the WNBA for some reason, there is another group of people who are extreme left-wing people who are constantly looking for ways to destroy others. There's a group of people that want to boycott McDonald's because McDonald's rolled back

some of their DEI policies. That's your concern is we're going to boycott McDonald's. Like cool. Another example, while we're talking about announcott McDonald's like cool. Another example, while we're talking about announcers, we'll get into the WNBA announcer in a second, but here in St. Louis over the weekend, a gentleman by the name of Chip Carey had a slip of the tongue and that's all it was. It was a slip of the tongue play by play announcer for the Cardinals on television and the Cardinals are promoting that sometime in July they have their Disability Pride Flag giveaway. Now I think we discussed

the Disability Pride Flag thing the other day in terms of trying to figure out what Disability Pride is. Like is it pride in your different disabilities or are you disabled and gay and you have your own separate flag? From what I gather it is not about sexual preference. So this isn't like somebody that you know on the spectrum But is gay it's not that it is pride in your certain disability and it is also a rainbow flag So look they couldn't even go out and get their own flag, they had to go out and get the gay flag. So now you've got two different rainbow flags that mean two different things, I guess. One can mean the LGBTQ plus IA whatever, and the other

is for disability pride. So like if you're somebody that's, you know, I don't know, whatever your disability is, you're prideful of that and there's a flag right? Cool. So the Cardinals are giving this away sometime in July. Chip Kerry is reading the promo for this the flag is up on the screen. Hey guys, disability pride flag night. But as you know, what happened because it's something that cannot happen that it would happen. My man Chip Carey here who I guarantee you every time he says the word flag like it's in the back of his mind like

don't fuck up the word flag because this could end terribly. Well it ended terribly because our friend Chip here instead of saying disability pride flag said disability pride gay slur. saying, Disability Pride Flag, said Disability Pride Gay Slur. And instead of just rolling with the move there, because he corrected himself, he said the F-slur, the note, flag, instead of just going about his business and saying like what it was, which was a slip of the tongue, don't acknowledge it, it happened, move on, the dudes in the broadcast booth literally sat there for almost a minute while the game was happening and there was dead silence for like 45 seconds to a minute. Like I want to say two or three pitches happened. Now, understanding the way the world is and understanding that that audio is

out there forever, Chip Carrey is probably thinking, oh shit, I'm done. Because you didn't mean to say it, but it just so happens that it happened in the middle of talking about some sort of pride flag, which it turns out is not a gay thing, but it's a disabled thing. But, sorry, disabled isn't the right word. Because you can't say the disabled list anymore. There's the injured list. I don't know what the fuck to say. Disabled, handicapped, handicapable, whatever whatever the verbiage is that's what this was for okay it's a handy capable flag although as they said it was it was disability pride night whatever we're trying too

hard to pandered to too many people my head's going to explode I'm confused so you know that in his mind he's thinking **** I'm done and his partners in the booth looking at him like like work mouthing like you're fucked. You're fucked bro. It's over. And like he's concerned is all hell about this. Now. It's a slip of the tongue. It was a mistake. Right. It could be very easily made. Sit there for 60 seconds dead silence he shit in his pants his life's over life

is flashing before his eyes Kids are gonna have to start going to be a public school now He's got to like go be a minor league baseball Broadcaster call UFL shit on the radio. Maybe the voice of the battle Hawks like this is what's going through his mind finishes out the game after the game For whatever reason there's an announcement made that chip carries not going not going to be suspended. Why did he even make an announcement on this? I don't know, but he's not suspended. Then you start reading headlines about this, and this is where the headlines are

gross, and this is the kind of shit that's happened to me before, and I don't even like Chip Carey. I find him to be obnoxious, and I don't like him. But a lot of the headlines were like like Chip Carey will not be suspended for homophobic slur and I'm like, yes, that's what came out but it's a very easily understood mistake. So then you start reading these websites because they're just trying to glom on for clicks like the awful announcements of the world and the Barrett sports medias of the world. Instead of being honest about things, they have to put a catchy headline, an eye-popping headline that's going to get you to pay attention to it.

So what do they do? Chip Carrey will not be suspended after homophobic slur. To say something was a slur, to me, the intent has to be behind it. That's why I don't believe words without intent should be offensive. When someone has a slip of the tongue, that's a totally different thing, right? So let's take a look. Let me just Google Chip Carey and see what the various headlines are. Let's see. Chip Carey, various headlines. Chip Carey will not be suspended for accidental homophobic slur. That I'm fine with because that's what it was. It's a homophobic slur but it's on accident. Cardinals broadcaster Chip Carey reportedly won't be punished for accidentally saying gay slur. That's fine. StLewis.com uses the quote, unintentional use of offensive word leads to lengthy pause on Cardinal's

Bracket. I think it was clearly unintentional and I know that that was their word so you're putting that in the thing but I don't like the way you worded that. Commentator Chip Carey, shocking slip of the tongue during viral pride night commercial goes viral. But that's also misleading because as we've learned it is not a Pride Night thing in the sense that it's gay pride, it's disability Pride Night. And it's not like, hey, somebody's on the spectrum and they're gay, it's that someone

is prideful of their disability. So someone's like, hey, I've got spina bifida and I'm proud of it. Like I guess is what that, I don't't whatever. I don't know all the rules. But like I know that that dude was sitting there like my life is **** over. Like you know you're sitting there and you're thinking that to yourself. You're like **** my life is over. I'm donezo. But that's kinda how that went. Anywho, let me get to the other announcer and this kinda goes back to the point of the WNBA. So Rebecca Lobo, I guess is one of the announcers for ESPN's Lady Basketball coverage.

And she said something that upset the play-by-play lady and it led to an awkward moment on the broadcast for them. Let's play that. They disagree with you. They do. And I disagree with them. And that's fine. That's what makes America great, right, Pantwark? I should rephrase that. Yes. But yeah, I did think... Yes, that's a better way to say it. No, see, here we are, the WNBA. And like you could say that, well, that doesn't mean the WNBA hates America,

but it can be interpreted that way. And you continue to open the door for yourself to look stupid. And therein lies the rub, morons. You open the door for yourselves to look stupid. And therein lies the rub, morons. You open the door for yourselves to look stupid. Because then what's going to happen is, Clay Travis is going to go all in on his little talk show, and you're going to get like Jason Whitlock to go all in, and it's going to become a whole damn thing. And then you're going to have to answer questions about whether or not you love America, which I think they've already asked. I want to say Outkick or some outlet has already reached out to the WNBA

inquiring about how much they care about America and if they think America's great or whatever. And you can say, Josh, that's just right-wing people just basically being assholes. And you'd be right, but the world of assholedness goes both ways in this. So basically what media is now is that the media is based on right and left wing people and It's basically a world of gotchas So these two groups are looking to catch the other group being Hypocrites or doing something that they would otherwise criticize the other side for if they did it Right. So that's all this is now. It's just gotcha finger pointing bullshit.

Like I don't like Clay Travis. I don't like Jason Whitlock. Like I might agree with some things they say just like I'll agree with something Bill Maher says or like I mean, not everybody is in a vacuum where you just follow one person. If you do, you're a moron, right? But I don't like them, right? Like I actually kind of like Bill Maher. Like I genuinely think he's a talented guy and a funny guy. Like I don't think Clay Travis is particularly funny or like, I don't mean this like real talk. So and I think I've told you guys this, but in 2020 during the Rona and this is before Clay

became, you know, the guy on the that replaced Rush that happened when I was in Nashville. But before Clay became the guy that replaced Rush. That happened when I was in Nashville. But before Clay became the guy that replaced Rush, he was doing his morning thing on Fox Sports, and he had out kick. And in 2020, anybody who's listened to this podcast knows that I was at my angriest during the lockdowns. And it was the only time I've ever voted, and I voted for Trump in that instance. I hated the fucking left-wing people.

I felt what they were doing was wrong and as we learn more about what they are, they're crooked sons of bitches. Not to say right-wing people aren't too, but in that instance, the left-wing people were sons of bitches in that moment. And it was awful and they shut us down and they closed down businesses.

And I have no respect for them for that and in 2020 I was very angry about this and that was the most political I've probably ever been in my life, right? so I voted for Trump and and all that shit and during that time We were I sent an email to the people at out kick. I'm like, hey if you guys are looking for a podcast I think my podcast would be good for what you guys are doing. I forgot what the guy's name was, but I did talk on the phone with some guy who handled their podcast shit.

I think I messaged Clay Travis. Clay Travis said, get in touch with this guy. I did. I talked with him. Nothing really ever came of it, and I'm glad it didn't because I don't think... People tell me all the time, they're like, you you'd be great without kick but why like I'm not in I don't believe all the shit they believe like whether you like it or not. Outkick is the brand of out kick is just associated with angry right wing people joyless not funny, angry shit.

Like there's nothing really funny like I don't think Clay Travis is particularly funny. I think he used to be, but I don't think he is. Rush Limbaugh, early Rush Limbaugh in the syndicated era of Rush Limbaugh, you could say he was an asshole. You could say his politics were terrible. That's fine. Talented radio guy that had bits and it was funny and there was satire. There's no satire or anything involved in anything with the Clay and Buck show. It's you know like it's nothing like it's just White guy right-wing radio is all that is and that doesn't do anything for me and like I

Just I wouldn't fit in that just like I see what's that thing? That Sean Salisbury is on he's got a show on one of these Forgot what it is grinder. I don't know what the fuck this thing is called. Some site where you have, no, Grindr is the gay love site. Whatever the fuck it is. It's some one of these sites that's like an angry right wing, like, you know, patriot shit. And I'm like, I don't want, that's not who I am. I like to make fun of shit, but that's not who I am. But in that time, I was in that head space where I'm like, I think my shit would work well and blah, blah, blah. And I didn't end up doing anything with it. I don't think I even had another conversation with them about that, but I did reach out to them. But like, it's just not my thing, right? That's not what I get into.

Now, I will make fun of a lot of shit, but all that to say, like, if you're the WNBA, and you are trying to thrive, and you've've got your opportunity and you've got your superstar, you've got your golden goose, you've got more eyes on your product than you've ever had, do your best to not give the other side something to go off about. It's kind of like how I do with, I talked about Trump the other day, like why are you on Juneteenth? You can think Juneteenth is bullshit and all this shit. Why on Juneteenth are you like, we need fewer federal holidays?

You just put yourself in this fucking position and you look, I mean, it looks racist. You talk about how optics, it's just optics. Optics matter in some instances. With the WNBA, you're trying to prove that it's not just some angry racist league, which is the narrative that is being pushed, that it's an angry lesbian filled racist league that hates Caitlin Clark because she's a little white chick. And that's what you end up with. And then you just set yourself back. It's like, would you like to go play basketball in Iran?

You want to talk about countries that are great? America's not great. We can't associate America with greatness. Go to Iran. You want to talk about countries that are great. America's not great. We can't associate America with greatness. Go to Iran. They'll make you play in like headwear and sleeves and long pants. Hey, you want to talk about greatness? You're allowed to go out and post pictures on your Instagram in this country for somebody like Sophie Cunningham who the whole world I guess just discovered the other day. Sophie

Cunningham's Instagram is basically pictures of her wearing next to nothing with amazing long ass legs. You know who doesn't have amazing long ass legs for the world to see? Women that play basketball and I ran. Oh, but America. America's great. Can you imagine what the, just like in the Cardinals when the guy sitting next to Chip Carrey is like, oh, you're fucked. What do you think the chick sitting next to Rebecca Lobo was looking at it probably like burning a hole thrower petrified by talking to the IFB back to this truck, dump it, dump it. It's like, I don't

I don't know how to explain it. Like, like, imagine like how it's controversial to say America is great. Like, you're playing women's basketball on ESPN and there are people actually watching it and you're like, no, America, even if it's not what you said, that's what's going to be intimated from that. That is going to be what is gleaned from that and that's going to become the story. You're fucking stupid and you can't... Take it from a guy who cannot get out of his own way. As per our previous podcast, I was making you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars a year working at

790. All I had to do was not piss off like like make pert what they consider personal attacks on the rockets. And all I had to do is just keep my fucking nose clean around the building and I could not do it. I could not get out of my own way. Take it from someone who honestly sucks at handling prosperity. It's almost like I need to be knocked down so I am the W fucking NBA in this instance. Take it from someone who can't get out of his own way. Get the

**** out of your own way but that's the thing about people. A lot of times people who are poor or imprisoned or whatever don't want prosperity because it could be bad for them because again, like go back to the point of Brooks. Brooks didn't know how to handle being on the outside. He felt better on the inside. I think that most of these women's basketball players are far more, part of it is they're not used to the attention. They've probably said dumb shit forever that nobody cared about, but now there's attention on you so your dumb shit is magnified. That's part of it.

But the other part of it is that you're more comfortable being in the shadows because it's a lot easier to be in the shadows and bitch about needing more than being out in front of people. Like what's the story about the guy that got everything he ever wanted, he lived happily ever after? That's not always true. If you get the he ever wanted, he lived happily ever after? That's not always true. If you get the shit you want, then there's more pressure. It's more of a mo money, mo problems type of deal.

In this case, it's more attention, mo problems. So people are paying more attention to you now. And because they're paying more attention to you now, the stress and everything is magnified. It's a lot easier to just sit around, play in front of 2,000 people and yell about how more people need to pay attention To us, etc, which is kind of what the WNBA was forever Now they're getting this attention and a lot of them don't know how to handle it and they're making clowns of themselves Anyway more to come