The Kevin Sheehan Show - Steve Buckhantz Joins and Redskin Erosion Quantified

Episode Date: July 22, 2019

Kevin opened with the latest Wizards news, the Nats weekend in Atlanta, and the British Open. He then discussed a recent report/study that revealed that the Redskins have lost more fans over the last 10 years than any other NFL team and the 5th most in sports. He also talked about Adrian Peterson's comments over the weekend about Case Keenum and Dwayne Haskins. Steve Buckhantz joined the show to talk about his 22-year career as the play-by-play voice of the Wizards. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. I'm here. Aaron is here and we're back. This show's presented by Window Nation. If you're in the market for Windows, call 86690 Nation or go to Windonation.com and tell them we told you to call. There was a lot that happened since our last podcast, which was Wednesday. And we'll be taking a shorter week this week as well and next week trying to get some days in here in July. July before training camp gets underway. Training camp opens up Thursday in Richmond, Virginia for the Redskins. A lot about that. A couple of stories written about the Redskins since we last spoke, some information to provide. But there's a lot before the Redskins that we'll get to. By the way, Steve Buchance will be coming up. We were going to have him on our last podcast. It just didn't work out timing-wise. So he's going to join us today. And we'll talk about his 22-year career as the legendary voice of the Washington Wizards. Speaking of the Wizards, a lot of breaking news over the

weekend. And then this morning, it was finalized with a press release from the team. Ted Liancis, chairman and chief executive of monumental sports and entertainment, announces a new division for its professional basketball properties. That would include the Wizards, the Mystics, the G-League go-go team, the NBA 2K team, all that is under the monumental basketball banner. Sashi Brown, a former NFL executive, hired to be monumental basketball's chief planning and operations officer, and Tommy Shepard officially gets the general manager job of the Wizards. And actually, the press release described it as general manager and lead strategy the analytics player personnel scouting and coaching for three of the basketball teams,

which would include Wizards, the GoGo, and the E sports team. I'm glad he will be focused on the primary team only. No, I guess not. Which one is the primary team of those, though? Who knows for Ted? It might be the e-sports team. And in addition to the announcement of Tommy Shepard being the official GM now, and Sashi Brown being high.

Sashi Brown, by the way, most recently with the Cleveland Cavaliers before their 1 and 27 stretch. And actually, he did some good things there with Jacksonville before that. But part of this release revealed that the monumental basketball operation has hired John Thompson III. JT.3 is going to work for Ted. and he's going to lead the athlete development and engagement department for all players under its umbrella. I don't even know what a lot of this means, but I just always get a kick out of reading Ted's quotes because they're always so brief and easy to understand. Quote, we have formed a new leadership team with a forward-thinking structure to adapt to the new NBA

that requires every possible strategic advantage to compete and win. We are building a leadership brain trust with deep wizards and NBA experience and with sports professionals from inside and outside the NBA to challenge our thinking and adapt to an ever-increasing competitive environment, closed quote. I'm happy for Tommy Shepherd. I think Tommy Shepherd is bright, does a good job. Clearly, I think, if they had gotten Yussai Majiri out of Toronto, that that would have been the preference. and perhaps even Tim Connolly, if things had worked out with him. But Tommy Shepard deserves a shot as a full-time GM, and we'll see how it goes. Look, I've said this a million times, and it's not going to change.

When it comes to the NBA, you need aggressive, nearly impulsive thinking. And I know that impulsive is an exaggeration, but you've got to be aggressive going after star players. You have to have an elite player, or you cannot win in the NBA. And the Wizards are very analytical. They're very, they take their time. Ted is far from impulsive, far from aggressive when it comes to being the owner of his NBA basketball team. They are methodical and methodical just typically or typically. And in the recent NBA, the new NBA, does not work.

You got to roll the dice, take big shots and go for it. or you're going to be relegated to the list of 25 to 26 teams that have no chance of winning a title. And often that list is even bigger than that. So that happened. It was announced a couple of days ago. It was made official this morning. And so there you go with the Wizards. The Nationals, you know, the big four game set with Atlanta ends 2-2 over the weekend.

I actually think that this series, Aaron, with Colorado coming up starting tonight. They've got four games against the Rockies who have really struggled as of late. I think the Rockies actually beat the Yankees yesterday, but prior to that, they had lost six in a row. They also had a five-game losing streak recently. They're a team in free fall right now. This is a huge opportunity for the Nationals to take advantage of the schedule as it can be taken advantage of. The Rockies, you've got to get three or four in this homestead against the Rockies. Anything less than that will be considered a disappointment.

They lost Ryan Zimmerman again, an MRI on the planter fasciitis, on the foot, on the ankle, the whole area down there. He came up lame on a base hit early in the game last night. I actually thought Joe Ross pitched pretty well. He gave up two in the first, and after that really settled down last night in the start that we were hoping would be Max Scherzer's, but was not. Max Scherzer continues to be hampered with the back strain. And right now, the target for his return, Aaron, would be this weekend against the Dodgers, right? I believe that's right. Correct me if I'm wrong on that. Sounds right, yes.

I thought I read that over the weekend. But I thought Joe Ross, for the most part, settled down and pitched pretty well. Kevin Gosman was awesome last night for Atlanta through seven innings, gave up, you know, one earned run. And that came, you know, in the eighth before he got taken out. and the Braves won the series finale to even up the series two games apiece. Perhaps the most dramatic moment of this series against Atlanta came in the the Nats, I'm sorry, the Braves other win in this series when Victor Robles hit a two-run shot in the top of the ninth, and this was on Friday night, to tie the game at three apiece

and send it to extras where at that point Atlanta, I'm sorry, got it to the bottom of the night, didn't go to extras. It tied it up in the top of the ninth, and then Atlanta won it against Fernando Rodney in particular. Rodney pitching a second inning. Yeah, pitching a second inning did not work out, and the Braves won that game in the bottom of the ninth. But what a moment for Robles again. He's had a couple of those this year, and it was a clutch home run. seemed improbable in the moment.

And the Nats lost a game that, you know, they had a chance to win and would have been a dramatic win. But they get a 2-2 split with the Braves, which overall is pretty good. They're still in good position as far as the wild card. They are the number one wild card as we speak by about a half game. I believe it's a half game over, I think it's the Brewers that are in that second spot in holding down the second wildcard spot right now.

but a lot of baseball to go. And I think a huge opportunity here over the next four nights against a Rockies team that's really struggling right now. And then the Dodgers come into town and the Braves for six games starting this Friday, three with the Dodgers, three with the Braves. They will see Ryu and Kershaw this weekend against the Dodgers. And again, you know, Scher right now, perhaps Thursday against Colorado, or maybe it's Sunday against the Dodgers.

I don't know. I'm starting to get a little nervous about the Max Scherzer thing, and this is partially because we've seen this several times over the fast few years, especially with back injuries that, for whatever reason, with the nationals, they can't quite diagnose it right. It ends up becoming a big thing. But this is going to be a fascinating week, both because of those series. Then, of course, the trade deadline is coming up quickly, too.

And we will have Mark Zuckerman. Tommy will be on with me tomorrow, and Mark Zuckerman will be on, Wednesday as we talk about the trade deadline and whether or not the Nats can add some relievers can add some bullpen help. And if they get aggressive trying to find some bullpen help before the trade deadline to make this run. Look, right now, they are still six and a half back of the Braves. They will have their chances to cut into that, head to head with the Braves, obviously. But they're in good shape right now with respect to the wild card. Playing the kind of baseball they've played over the last month and a half would lead to at the very least a wild card spot

and a one-game playoff to get into a series, by the way, against the Dodgers and a best of five in the divisional rounds. So look, based on where they were end of May and where they are now, two totally different teams, they really need Scherzer to get back to health and get back into the rotation. But they are, you know, they did fine over the weekend. Obviously three and one. would have been real grounds for true optimism with respect to the division, but the Braves kept that lead right where it started at six and a half games with the win last night. I wanted to mention also the British Open yesterday. Shane Lowry winning the British Open, an Irishman after he shot 63, had a chance to tie the major championship record on 18 if he

had birdied 18 on Saturday with a 62, but got to 63, an incredible 8 under 63, to 10. to take a commanding lead into the final round yesterday, which got sideways for a lot of people yesterday. The weather kicked up, rain, wind, they knew it was coming. And how about this, before we get back to Shane Lowry, how about J.B. Holmes, who was the second round leader, and after the third round was in the next to last group going into yesterday, J.B. Holmes in the final round yesterday shot 87, 87 from one of the top two groups in the final 16 over par. He went from 10 under par to finishing 6 over par. He went from the top three to finishing tied for 67th. Now, it was the later groups that got the worst of the weather, and J.B. Holmes ended up, with two triple bogeys and three double bogeys on a round that went 41 on the front, 46 on the back, 87 on the day, on a day in which most of the field was over par, but not over par, like poor J.B. Holmes,

who shot one of the worst final rounds by one of the first four or five groups in championship history. Now back to Shane Lowry, how unbelievable was it to see an Irishman win the Open Championship in Ireland for the first time since 1951? He was great through the first three rounds and really was outstanding yesterday. Got a little bit tough there over about a five, six-hole period where I think he had three or four bogeys. But then his birdie at 15, the roars heard were unbelievable. Paul Casey, who played with him on, I'm sorry, Paul, Paul. Casey who played with Rory McElroy on Friday said about McElroy's charge to make the cut where McElroy shot 65 on Friday and missed the cut by one shot. Casey said he had never heard roars and

galleries like the galleries at Port Rush in Northern Ireland for this Open Championship for Rory. It was an incredible Friday to watch Rory try to make the cut. It was really incredible. All he had to do was Bertie either 17 or 18 and couldn't do it, he parred both. But Casey said, Ryder Cup playing with Tiger, nothing matched the roars of what you saw in Ireland over the weekend. And you could see Shane Lowry on Saturday and then yesterday as he was approaching victory, the incredible crowds. And might have been a pint or 50 of Guinness last night on the course per person, by the way, for the Irish. some pretty good Irish whiskey, I would bet, consumed last night as well. That was fun to watch.

I thought going into yesterday, there was a chance that Shane Lowry could blow a four-shot lead, which he had over Tommy Fleetwood. I thought with the weather, anything could happen. I thought Kepka could make a run. His incredible season finished yesterday with another top five. He finished at six under, tied for fourth, with Lee Westwood, who had the lead at one point early Saturday, 46 years old, and one of those players who's been talked about over the years is the best to never win a major. But Westwood finish tied for fourth with Kepka. So the majors are over in golf. Remember, with the change to the schedule and the PGA championship being moved up to May, we don't have a major championship to be played in August. The FedEx playoffs will run through the

month of August. And really, this was done for a lot of reasons. Most notably, they wanted the golf schedule to end before the football season and football schedule started. All right, I wanted to get to a few things Redskins related. And I wanted to start with, yes, yes, I'm sorry about this, but a negative story. We were so positive last week about the team, had multiple shows of being glass half full. But I read this report and I've been holding on to it since I think Thursday that I saw in 24, 47 Wall Street. It's a financial content website. It described big picture the fact that live attendance at professional sporting events for the four major sports has declined over the last

decade. That's hardly a revelation to those of us who have followed sports. We've talked about it as sports fans for years. The expense, the traffic, the inconvenience, and the price of attending live versus watching from home on television, on a big HD or 4K television screen has become obvious over the years. It's just not as enjoyable for many, and that's one of the reasons for the drop in attendance. And we've also known as Redskine fans that the fan base, both at FedEx Field and on television, even more so on television, has eroded. You know, how permanent or long-lasting is the erosion? That can be debated. Many of you think that winning brings everybody back. I tend to think that winning would certainly bring the majority of lost fans back,

but I also believe that many are gone for good as long as Dan Snyder owns the team. But this story, back to the story, this report, documented just how much skins fans have jumped ship over the years. According to this report, which documented just attendance numbers from 2008 to 2018, the Redskins have seen a 31.1% decline in attendance over that period. fifth worst in sports, worst in the NFL, in fact, by far the worst attendance drop in the NFL during that span. The Bengals have seen the second biggest drop, but at a 21.4%, I think it was, 21.4% drop, not at the 31.1% decline that the Redskins have seen. So nearly 10% less than the skins losses in attendance over that 10-year period. Again, this represents just LiveGate, FedExfield.

attendance numbers. It doesn't reflect a much larger number of people who watch the games on television. Remember, 60 to 80,000 people go to the games, hundreds of thousands or more, locally watch on television. The TV numbers are really more alarming. You know, the Redskins Eagles game, a game that I point to many and have pointed to many times over the months in early December on Monday night football for first place in the NFC East did a local rating that probably would have been 50% higher five years ago. The Cowboys regularly draw more eyeballs on television locally than the Redskins have over the last two years in particular.

The Ravens have gotten bigger TV numbers locally in D.C. A few times, numbers that have been bigger than the Redskins have gotten. For those of you that think some of us have exaggerated the decline, I get that a lot, oh, you're exaggerating. Come on, Kevin, this is ridiculous. That the Redskins fan base has eroded. and you chalk it up to being haters or being negative, you're dead wrong, dead wrong. The evidence is right there. Trust me. The team knows it. They do. The attendance numbers in this 24-7 Wall Street story

are evidence. The television numbers evidence. The 24-7 Wall Street story, the 31.1% drop, fifth worst in sports, worst in the NFL by far. They're very interesting. The reporter or reporters who pulled these numbers for the story on ESPN, they pulled the numbers, I'm sorry, from ESPN's listed attendance numbers. Those are the numbers they used during that span of 2008 to 2018. You know, indicated a couple of things. First of all, the Redskins in 2008 led the league in attendance. 88,604 per game, to be exact. That was the first year of Jim Zorn, by the way, and coming off Joe Gibbs' team, which made the playoffs in 2007, and then Joe retired, and we know what 2007 was. It was a tragic year for the franchise with the loss of Sean Taylor.

But there was some optimism, and Jim Zorn came in, and remember, that team started 6 and 2 in 2008. They averaged 88,604 in 2008. And then over the 10 years that followed, we know that the numbers dropped as seats were taken out and covered up, and we saw, you know, at times half-filled or even worse late in the season, stadiums. But here's the interesting thing about where the Redskins finished in this study. Again, worst in the NFL, by a lot, fifth worst in sports. The interesting thing is that without the hiring of Brian Lafamina last year to run the business operations of the team, the Redskins would likely still be fudging the numbers.

And the results of this study may have indicated something, different as far as the Redskins are concerned. They probably would have been in the dropped attendance, but not worst in the NFL, not fifth worst in all of sports, because the skins reported a drop in attendance last year alone at 19%. This, remember, for a team that started the season six and three. We saw it though, right? The home opener versus Indianapolis, that was the most troubling and eye-opening for me. You know, it was a big, you know, it was a beautiful day. It's off a season opening road win at Arizona with a new quarterback and a hall of fame, running back going over 100 yards or close to 100 yards. But what got reported

for that Indianapolis game was the truth versus what had happened in years past. Many think, I believe, it's fact that the skins had been fudging the numbers in recent years. According to this report, the Redskins averaged just 61,000. last year at FedEx Field. By the way, they were the only team in the NFL, the only one out of 32 that did not sell at least three quarters of its available seats in 2018. The only team out of 32 that didn't sell at least 75% of its available seats in 2018. But back to the Brian Lafamina part of this story. His transparency strategy, which was to basically report the correct numbers and tell everybody that they had tickets,

the Redskins averaged again, according to them, I'm sorry, according to ESPN, 61,000 in 2018, the year before Lafamina got there, 2017, their average attendance was 75,175. I bet it wasn't, but that's what was reported. I think most of us know that the years prior to last year were, you know, worse attendance than, reported. The waiting list, as we know, was a bogus claim for at least five years, if not 10 plus years. Lafamina came in here and admitted that there was no waiting list, which I do not think Dan and Bruce thought he would do. He admitted that there were tickets available for games, saying at one point, I remember this. I just feel like, quote, I just feel like if we have tickets available,

we should tell people, closed quote. That was a, an unbelievable comment from somebody in that organization. He also, if you recall, limited tickets in the aftermarket, making it different, not necessarily more difficult, as some have described, but the process for purchasing tickets before Lafamina got hired, I'm sorry, before he got fired last year, it had changed. He wanted the available tickets to be sold to Redskins fans on Redskins.com. The problem, of course, was that Redskins fans didn't want

them. And once he got fired, all of a sudden, they became more available to opponent's fans, witness what happened in the season ender last year against Philadelphia. Anyway, the transparency strategy by Lafamina infuriated Snyder and Allen. Remember just before the Colts home opener last year? You had Lafamina out there saying, hey, we've got tickets available for the home opener. And at the same time, Bruce Allen was on WTOP saying the game was a near-sumel. sellout and would be sold out by game time. That game drew 57,000 people, more than 20,000 short of a sellout. And it was the first time the Redskins were forced to admit that their 50-year sellout streak had ended. Even though we all knew it had ended years before that day last year

in September of 2018, last year, because of Lafamina's strategy, transparency strategy, they had to admit that the 50-year sellout streak had actually come to an end. If not for Lafamina, the Redskins wouldn't have been so high up on this list. They would have carried on with the bogus claims of attendance, and perhaps, by the way, other teams have had similar attendance reporting practices. I don't know that. And maybe their numbers aren't reflective of the actual drop. But this report, in combination with the even worse drop in television ratings, is the most compelling evidence of what bad ownership can do to a revered brand. This is the evidence, the attendance numbers and the TV numbers. Dan Snyder for the moment, for the moment, has ruined the Redskins

with some help from Bruce Allen along the way. The reasons are simple, the record and the behavior. You know, throw in a bad stadium that is incredibly inconvenient and that's a tiny percentage of it. It's really the record, not winning, and the behavior. A sacred public trust, a widely popular consumer product here locally, trashed by incompetent ownership and management. This we all know without even needing one piece of data, of quantifiable evidence. I don't need that report to tell me that. I don't need the report to tell me the Redskins have lost more fans at the gate

than any NFL franchise by a lot over the last 10 years to tell me that this once-beloved franchise has been run into the ground. The question is, as they get ready to open up another training camp, before the franchise is, by the way, 83rd season in Washington, is the erosion permanent? Can this franchise win the lost fans back and gain new fans simultaneously? Can it happen? Can the franchise do it? The answer as to whether or not it can do it is yes, it can. Will it? Well, let's answer the first one first. Can it? A consistent winner would bring many of those who don't call themselves fans anymore back. It would. I know many of you tell me you're done, you're over it, you've moved on with your life. If they put together a consistent winner, you're right back in it if they're winning. A consistent winner would also add new and perhaps younger fans who because of the recent

record and dysfunction, they've never really become fans in the first place. And then you've got people who are super young. You've got kids who haven't actually proclaimed their allegiance to a particular team yet. So the skins are still in play for them as well. I believe that consistent winning will change everything. Put together a stretch of 10 and 6, 11 and 5, 12, and 12, and four with three straight playoff seasons and at least one of those resulting in a team that we all think has a legit shot to win it all. Yeah, winning will solve that. The attendance numbers will be way back up. The stadium, no matter how inconvenient, will be near, if not completely full. For the big games, TV ratings won't be in the 15s, won't be in the upper teens. They'll be

in the 30s and 40s. Do you know the playoff game against Seattle in 2012 or in January of 2013? Did a local TV rating of 50? That was six and a half years ago. 50! Half of the people in this market on that particular day that own a television set

were watching the Redskins and Seahawks. Remember, that was three years also following the end of the Jim Zorn era where many thought the franchise had reached Rockbush. bottom. We've since learned that there are even lower rock bottoms, but the point is a star player in RG3 and won, just one 10 and six season got everybody back. Imagine a two to three to maybe four year stretch of playoff contending football with Dwayne Haskins as a star quarterback. There would absolutely be a huge market for that. For those that are super negative and say you're done for good

and those that say they're done for good will never come back. You're wrong. Two to three, four years, Dwayne Haskins is a star quarterback. You're back. It's the NFL. Now, will it happen? If consistent winning is the only way the franchise can be revived, do we believe that Dan Snyder is capable of producing consistent winning? I don't. I hope so, but I don't. It just seems to me, and I think it would seem the same to a lot of you, that it's a long shot that an owner in his mid-50s would all of a sudden transform himself professionally. I've said this before. The worst combination in business is arrogant and dumb.

It means you can't admit the mistakes you're making are yours, and therefore you never learn from them. That's it in a nutshell. It hasn't been bad luck or better competition. It's been ownership making the same mistakes over and over, again and rarely, if ever, learning from them. And because of the depths and length of the dysfunction, the organization for now has reduced in a major way its ability to hire quality people. This place has become among the last places that quality football people want to work.

That's a limiting factor for this organization moving forward. Dan used to be able to convince people with money. That doesn't work for him anymore. We saw coaches. bolt in the off season for lateral positions, lateral moves. We saw coaches and players say no over and over again. It's why Greg Minnowski is still here. It may be why Jay Gruden and Bruce Allen are still here. Nobody wants to come here. I don't know Snyder personally. I don't, even though I worked for his radio station for many, many years. Few really do know him from what I've been told. He and his wife have been very generous in the community. And perhaps that is a reflection. of the kind of people they are personally, with good hearts,

someone who means well, you know, does the right things personally. That could be them personally. I don't know them enough to say otherwise. But professionally, he's been a disaster. And while I hope that changes, I wouldn't bet on it. I would not bet on it. Anyway, still another training camp about to start. The first indication that football season is right around the course,

is training camp beginning. By the way, this is the last complete week, Aaron, of no professional football until February. Actually, you got the week between the championship games and the Super Bowl. Come on, there's the Pro Bowl. You do have that week. No, it's true. I know that when we get to a few days before the opener in Philadelphia, I'll probably get sucked into the conversation about what if, you know, what if Haskins is so good that it doesn't

matter what Snyder and Alan do? What if the defense is top five great and they carry this team to a nine and seven, ten and six wild card season? What if the Cowboys have devastating injuries and the Eagles lose wents and half their defense in the first few weeks of the season? The NFL is the best. It really is, I cannot wait for the games because the games, when you just play an individual game in the NFL, you got a shot. You got a shot. But anyway, I thought that that that story that I read about the attendance, it just got me to thinking really about whether or not they can get out of this spiral, this downward spiral. And, you know, in any situation, any business, you would look towards the leaders of that business, the owners of that business,

and you would evaluate them and say, are they capable of getting them out of this? And unfortunately for the fans of this franchise, when you look at ownership and management and leadership, there's not a lot of confidence that is inspired there. By the way, since we last spoke, nothing new on Trent Williams and nothing new on Brandon Sheriff either. I think, by the way, I'll just take a guess. I think reports on both of those situations are imminent, obviously, because training camp's about to start. That's just a gut-feel prediction. When I say reports,

like something that brings each of the situations to a conclusion, it's not based on any real information that I have. It's not. But it's the timing, I guess, as we're nearing the beginning of training camp, I think we're going to hear something on Trump Williams over the next day or two. That's my guess.

Brandon Sheriff, I think we'll hear something soon as well. All right, quick word about my first. friends at Wind Donation. The intense summer heat is back. We felt it all weekend long. It causes your old leaky windows to produce unnecessary high energy bills, allowing damaging UV rays to fade your valuables, making your windows even less effective. Listen up. While everybody's on vacation, kids are at camp, my good friends at Wind Donation, Harley, Aaron, Eric, all of them there, they're still working. These are the guys with 80,000 satisfied customers, including me, and an A-plus Better Beard. Business Bureau rating. They've got extra capacity right now and they've got to keep their factory

busy and installers working. So for the first time ever, you'll not only get one window free for every window you buy, no minimum or maximum purchase required on all style windows. For the first time ever, no down payment, no payment of any kind and no interest for 24 months. They've never done it for two years before. Buy now, start saving now and literally pay nothing for two full years. Trust the window company that I trust. Visit windownation.com or call 86690 Nation to get one free window for every window you buy, no limit, plus no down payment, no payments of any kind, and no interest for 24 months. Call soon. This sale ends July 31st. Okay, back to the Redskins here for another few minutes. John Kime put a story out on ESPN.com this morning titled Dwayne Haskins

Redskin Era starts with less hype, same hope as RG3s. John, once again as he has on this podcast and in plenty of other places, emphasizes that Haskins more likely than not won't be the week one starter or even super early in the season. Make no mistake, by the way. This is the number one storyline of Training Camp. Number one storyline in training camp is will he, or won't he? Will Dwayne Haskins or won't Dwayne Haskins start week one? Personally, I don't have a strong feeling one way or the other. I think I would lean in John's direction. John has been saying

for a while, and here's his quote from the story this morning, quote, Haskins will compete with Case Keenham and Colt McCoy, but there are people in the building who say it would be best for Haskins to sit and learn this season. It's not about his talent, but rather learning the mechanics of the position in the NFL like calling plays in the huddle. Closed quote. That from John's story this morning. John's had this belief for a while he was on with us last week and said the same thing that he doesn't think he will start week one or early in the season. This is the number one storyline in training camp. Number one, nothing's close to it. I tend to if I don't have a strong feeling one way or the other, but if you forced me to wager on it, I would wager that

Haskins doesn't start week one. But it's certainly in play. It's in play because of the owner. The owner got what he wanted on draft night, all right, to the dismay of the football people in the building. Again, I have to say all the time when I say this, it's almost like a given now that it doesn't mean the football people don't like Dwayne Haskins, that they think he stinks. That's not true. That's not what I'm saying. The reporting and my understanding is that they did not have a mid first round grade on Haskins. In fact, what I've heard is that they had a late first, early second round grade on Haskins. But Snyder said, too bad what your grade is. We're taking him at 15, period. So understanding that, if Snyder wants him to start week one, we've got to understand that

it's possible that he will start week one, if not probable. Now, we don't know what Snyder will think. He will be influential in all of this, but hopefully it is, if it turns out that Haskins really is far from ready, let's hope that Snyder sees it and doesn't want to risk it. You know, hopefully that is the case if Haskins is far from ready and the football people can convince Snyder of that. What I'm hoping personally is that it becomes obvious starting this weekend, that Haskins is the real deal and he's ready.

And that the football people can say, the football people can say clearly to Snyder and Allen, you got it right, guys, this kid is ready, we've got a better chance with him in the game than with Keenham or Colt. That would be the cleanest outcome. But if he's not anywhere near ready, and Jay Gruden and Kevin O'Connell and the offensive staff, along with Doug Williams, sit down with Dan and Bruce and say, look, he lit it up in the second half of the Cleveland

game in the preseason, but trust us on this. He's learning, and we're confident that he will eventually get there, but he's not close to ready right now to be in an NFL regular season game and will hurt his development by putting him out there too quickly. Will Dan and Bruce defer? Will they go along with it? I think they might. I'm not totally sold on it like others seem to be, but I think they might. Again, wouldn't it be great if it becomes obvious, you know, early in training camp, that Haskins is really ahead of schedule and he's ready to play. Don't you want to hear that anyway? Even if he struggles at times as a starter in his rookie season, like any other rookie quarterback, don't you think it would be much better, a much better long-term signal if Jay Gruden is blown away

by how good he is in the huddle and running his offense sooner rather than later, isn't that a much better result here over the next month starting late this week? It's an interesting training camp. It's an interesting training camp for the Redskins this summer. Most of what will make it interesting is the Dwayne Haskins, will he or won't he be ready storyline? That's the number one storyline for this franchise right now. Did they get a player at the most important position on the field for the next 10 years? That'll make, by the way, a bad owner look decent because that one position could totally turn the bad ownership thing on its backside. We've seen it before. Kurt Warner in Arizona.

By the way, there was a story this morning on NBC Sports Washington. JP wrote it this morning. Adrian Peterson Adrian Peterson was at SportsCon in Dallas. Is that like

Comic Con? I've never heard of SportsCon before. Comic Con was this weekend. Okay. So anyway, Adrian Peterson was at SportsCon in Dallas, whatever the hell that is. It's probably like a trade show, sign autographs, that sort of thing. That's what I would think.

And he said the following, quote, offensively, we really look good with Case Keenham back there. He's a veteran, closed quote. Then a little bit later on, he said, quote, he's been in the league for a long time, he's a gun slinger, he's a guy that's going to throw the ball and spread it around closed quote. That is Adrian Peterson on Keenham. he said about Dwayne Haskins, quote, I'm looking forward to seeing what he'll do in training camp. Once he gets more under his belt and becomes more comfortable, he'll be able to play faster as well, closed quote.

So Adrian Peterson, clearly when it comes to the quarterback conversation in Washington, seems to be indicating that from his veteran perspective, with all of his experience, he thinks that Keenham is ready to be their quarterback, and Haskins has a way to go. All right. One last thing real quickly. I read this this morning. Did you see where Dwayne Haskins was working out with Antonio Brown in Florida, throwing passes to Antonio Brown? Apparently it's not the first time they've worked out together. In 2018, Haskins spent his spring break on a beach in South Florida throwing to A.B. And also to Muhammad Sunu, the Falcons wide receiver. But apparently Haskins has been getting work in with lots of receivers since the OTAs and the mini-camps, which is great. That's positive. Unfortunately for him, he won't have Antonio Brown to throw to in Washington.

So it may be a bit misleading. Anyway, I can't wait for the beginning of training camp, actually. I mean, I'm not a big preseason football guy. I hate it, actually. But I am going to be intrigued day by day on the reports that come out. at training camp. And really, as I said to you, going back to mini camps and OTAs, Jay Gruden's press conferences, and the other players as well, to hear what the other players are saying about Haskins, I'm also very interested to hear what everybody says about Montez

sweat early on, very interested in that. And there are other storylines, clearly, but the Dwayne Haskins storyline is the biggest. All right, let's bring in Steve Buchance, my good friend of many, many years. I've told people this a million times with or without you on the air that you were my first job and my first boss, and you were not Michael Scott.

You were the best boss ever. I wish the first guy for a lot of guys, Kevin, and that must make me... Am I that old, really? Well, you're not young anymore, but you certainly act young, and at times, you know, you look young. But that's beside the point.

But you really weren't. I've said this to you and Ernie both. Like, you know, it's, you wish, and I and I now have, you know, three sons, one who is in a job at a college working. And the only thing you can hope for young people is that their first, you know, professional experiences with really good people and is a good experience. And, God, you and you were the best. You were because you were secure and you would give us work and you would give us responsibility. and you would encourage and, you know. Tell people listening what you and Joe and Farnes and all of the Scotty,

all those guys did when you were there, because some people may not know. Well, I mean, we did a lot of things. Like, I guarantee you compared to most first jobs, we were given responsibilities. Like, I mean, well, first of all, you start by, you know, logging games, right? And then you'd bring your... And then we're talking about being at Channel 5 back in the day.

Channel 5 back in the day. and I can remember the first few days. I'm logging Orioles games and picking out the highlights and bringing them into you and writing them for you. And Buck was one of these people, by the way, before he goes on the air at, let's say, 1045 or 10.50 for the Channel 5, 10 o'clock news. He'd start to get ready at about 10.30. He would, you would rely, you did. You relied on all of these people. Buck was a great writer.

He's one of the first people. I really, I really, I, I, I, always felt like one of the biggest takeaways is I learned how to write from you, especially on deadline, because you always made it a deadline, and Buck could really write on deadline. But it was, those were, those were really cool days as a young person. And then to get the opportunity to go to training camp and cover the Redskins and go out and, and, you know, with a producer and come up with creative, you know, ideas for segments and bring them to you. That was, That was a lot to do for a 23, 22, 23-year-old.

Yeah, no, you're right. And surprisingly, you guys all handled it well. I kid, but it's true because all of you, when I say all of you, we're talking about whether they were, you know, producers, interns, you know, yourself, Van Pelt, all the guys that worked with us and for us were sharp and good. and, you know, it was just a matter of time for you guys, but back then, we just were all in our own little thing doing our, you know, covering the Redskins, covering whoever we did, and coming up with ideas. And that was back in the day, as a lot of the young listeners who may be listening now, don't realize that local sports was a lot different than it is now.

First of all, the personnel was different. You had real sportscasters. You had guys who personified that term who will never be ever, again, like George Michael and Glenn Brenner and Frank Herzegg, and I list those people. But it's true, and also back in the day, that's where you got your local, your sports.

Like if you needed to know about the Redskins, you tuned into the local station. You didn't tune into ESPN or some of these other outlets. You got them from your trusted people locally. And that's when we covered the team, and that's when it was a lot different than it is today.

It's changed so much, but just one last thing before we to your 22 years of calling Wizards games in that coming to an end. Buck rarely, he rarely got upset. And when he did, it was more just this look and shaking his head like, oh, babe, that's not very good. But I'll never forget something from New Year's Eve, whatever year it was. Joe Yatcharoff and I were given the responsibility, like on December 10th to put together

like a three-minute, you know, year-ending sports segment for you. Yes. So you had plenty of time, in other words. Right. And so on December 31st of that particular year, we were scrambling to put this thing together because, of course, we waited until the last second. And it got done barely, and when you came in to look at it, you were legitimately upset with us, and you essentially just looked at it and said, this thing sucks.

It's not going on air. And that was it. But then, you know what we did afterwards? We went down to Sign of the Whale, or we went to Chadwick's first, and then down to the sign of the whale. And you know who picked up every single tab? Buck did. Always. Yeah.

Yeah. No, I remember that to this day. In fact, I'm not even sure you guys finished it. I think we got like three quarters of the way through the year. I think that might be right. Yeah, I think that might be right. Why aren't you calling games anymore? I've pondered that.

Truthfully, Kevin, I don't think it's because of my skill set. I think I'm still really good at what I do, and just like the other 29 guys who do what I do, they're all really good at it. I think somebody wanted to change, somebody being, you know, the top of the heap, the owners, which is really, you know, I haven't said this yet to anybody on the air that I've been on or what have you, but it's really unfortunate because clearly ownership is taking a beating in social media right now and maybe rightly so. But the fact of the matter is, I like Ted Leonces. I have, before he even owned the Wizards, you know, before he even bought the capitals, he was

a partner with A-Poland, and we always had a really good relationship, and I like the guy. And I, you know, I watched his son grow up, for God's sake. So I thought we always had a really good relationship But at some point along the way I guess I must have fallen out of favor Or at least At least to the point where they thought You know we want to make a change

We want to I believe they wanted to go younger And maybe hipper and somebody that's maybe a little more in tune With e-sports and gaming and analytics And all of the things that they're into you know, because they're out-of-the-box thinkers and that kind of thing. So I truly don't believe that it was someone from NBC Sports Washington. I don't think you can go into a market where you haven't been for, you know, two years and pull somebody out that's been in a market for 35 years.

I can't imagine somebody going up to, you know, Mike Breen in New York or Iron Eagle in Brooklyn or Mark Zomoff in Philadelphia or Eric Reed in Miami or Mike Gorman in Boston or you pick, pick any of the 29 guys. I can't imagine somebody going up to them, especially somebody that hasn't been in that market, and saying, you know what, I think your time's up. I'd like to make a change. I think, you know, those guys would look at them cross-eyed and say, get out of here, man. Right. And really, the biggest, the most telling analogy you could use for this with regard to whether or not this came from the top. you know, if in fact it was a decision by my bosses at NBC Sports Washington,

all you have to do is say to yourself, had they gone up to Ted and said, listen, I'm not so sure about these hockey announcers. I'm thinking about maybe we're going to make it, we're thinking about making a change. We want to look at the long term of this broadcast. You don't think he would look at them and say, you're out of your mind.

We're not changing these two guys. They're the best there is in hockey. And so clearly they don't feel that way about me and that's the most hurtful thing. That and the fact that, you know, I haven't heard from these guys. And look, maybe they feel like there's too much water under the bridge. They don't want to have any communication with me. Or maybe they were going to and this thing blew up and then they figured, well, I'm not going to call them now. So are you saying that they have not come to you to say this is why we made the decision we made? Nobody has told me why.

I had a meeting not long after I found out they weren't picking up my option. I had a meeting with my bosses at NBC Sports Washington. And the only thing they hinted was that maybe there was a chemistry issue that they wanted to look at between me and Carol Lawson, which, you know, come on, that's nonsense. I mean, the first year clearly was a tough year because, you know, I'd been with Phil Sheenere for 20 years, so now we're trying to feel each other out,

and she's trying to figure me out and vice versa, and maybe she was not quite as aggressive as she should have been because it was her first year doing it, what have you. The second year, this past season, I thought our chemistry was good. I did too. Yeah, I thought we, you know, it was a nice meld, it was a nice mixture between me, the sort of older, you know, guy that's been around and seen the bullets when they were in the championship years

and her, the new face coming in that's, you know, the brilliant, you know, mine, basketball, mind and a little more hip and in tune to all of the things that are going on. And I thought it was a lot of fun to go back and forth with that, you know, and talk to her about things she had never heard of and heard to talk to me about things that I was clueless about, you know, so I thought that was kind of fun. And then, obviously, so that's the only thing that was even hinted to me. Now, look, if they wanted to go to somebody a little younger or hipper, they couldn't say that

to me. They couldn't say that to me because, you know, legally, they're little. looking after themselves. So that's not an excuse. You can't use that. So it would either have to have been what they said, which was maybe chemistry, or maybe they didn't like what I did anymore, or maybe they felt I was, you know, not productive or what have you, which, again, I just, I don't get that. There's too many people that are way older than me that are still working, that are productive, and some that are kind of, you know, losing it a little bit, but still working. So that, that couldn't, that's not a good excuse.

But then, when Kara went to the Celtics to be an assistant coach, that theory clearly is blown out of the water. She's gone. And now the guy that had been there for 22 years is still there. And I did, I don't know how many games I did with Drew Gooden. But see, when I thought maybe there was a slight chance they might bring me back with Drew Gooden after she left, because I thought Drew and I had great chemistry. I think Drew's good, too. Oh, I thought, you know, he was great.

and I got along with him really well, and we could really speak to when he played and what it was like when he was on the floor and covering guys and when he played against the Wizards and for the Wizards, and he was really easy to do games with, and I really enjoyed it, and I thought we had excellent chemistry, and I thought, you know what, this would be a really good group. This would be a good pairing. Now, what I love to have, Phil back in the booth, obviously.

I mean, I thought that chemistry was unmatched. but if it was going to be Drew Gooden, great. I thought we would have got along great. So nobody has said to me, Kevin, why this has happened. And I don't think they will, because what are they going to say? I mean, are they going to say, we don't like what you do, or are they going to say you did something that we don't like, or are they going to say, we think you're over the hill?

They can't say you're too old because that's grounds for legal action. Right. So I'm puzzled by that. I think they got into so much backlash from social media that they really just don't even want to reach out at this point. It's childish. It's childish that they didn't come to you. This isn't a one-year independent contractor-employee relationship.

And it's also some guy out of college who did a couple of years. team and they thought they want to go in a different direction. This is somebody that's done it for 22 years. And I, you know, listen, you can argue with me if you want, but I'm the biggest bullets fan in this area. I've been going to the game since 1967 when I was 12 years old. And when my parents used to have to drive me to the Baltimore Civic Center to watch them play. And that's how long I've been a bullets fan. And so this was my passion. This was my dream job. And I was blessed to have it. I worked hard to get it. You know, I thank Susan O'Malley and A. Poland for that opportunity in Jody Shapiro at HTS.

But this was a dream job. And look, nothing lasts forever. But you'd like to think that after 22 years of this and 14 years at Channel 5 and 35 years in this market where you've made an impact, that you have the opportunity to kind of go out when you want to and not have some guy that's not even been here two years walk in and say, we're going to make a change or have ownership say, you know, geez, we just, we just don't like this guy. We're doing something. We want to make a change. They have every right to do that.

But like I said, this wasn't handled properly. You know, you don't tell somebody the door is still open and then leave them hanging for five months and then just kind of dismiss them into the, you know, into the thin air with no fanfare after 22 years. That's not how you treat somebody, right? Am I right? it's not defendable the way this was handled on any professional level I mean it just look it could have been handled a lot better of course and here's and let me just say this on your behalf you know you are you're speaking very

honestly right now if it had been handled differently you weren't going to be the guy that you know threw them under the bus if they had come to come to you directly you're not even throwing them under the bus right now the way potentially you could I mean, I don't, it's inexplicable. I don't understand it. You were there 22 years. I mean, did they go to Phil and explain to Phil when they weren't bringing him back? I don't think, you know, and I know the situation pretty well, probably better than anybody as well as Phil.

I don't think they ever said anything to him like why they were replacing him. And a lot of folks think and thought at the time and still think that he retired. He did not retire. He was forced out. And luckily he was able to hang on and do some things in the, you know, following that with the team and with NBC Sports Washington. I think it was basically just a save face. But, you know, he was able to do some things, which is great.

But no, nobody said to him why. And so that was unfortunate. it. What should have happened was they should have said to me, look, you know, we're making a change and this is going to be your last year. And, you know, when the season's over, you can thank whoever you want and hopefully it'll turn out great. I think they were really worried. In fact, I know they were worried because I got some phone calls to this regard that I was going to say something on the air about my contract, about, you know, who knows what. They thought I was going to explode and go crazy on the air.

But, you know, they don't know me. You know, that's not who I am. I was there 22 years. I would never do that. And I never, and I didn't do that in the, however many games I worked the whole month of March when I knew that I was just going to be done. So I would never do that. And my final broadcast against the Knicks in New York, because our last game against

Boston was a TNT game. We didn't do it. I said, you know, thanks. to some of the people that I wanted to thank. I said it was enjoyable working with Drew Gooden, and then I said, have a safe summer, I hope to see you all in the fall.

And that was it. I didn't say or do anything, and I'm sure they were all holding their breath. But that's, you know, that's an unfortunate way to go out because I just kind of went out and then the hockey season,

the playoffs happened, and people forgot about the Wizards for a little while, and then that was it. And that's unfortunate. It shouldn't have happened that way. All right. Let's talk about what you've done for the last 22 years. Do you have a favorite moment?

A favorite call or a favorite moment, or maybe both? Yeah, I mean, I go back to this, and a lot of people have this same moment, and there were a lot of them, and some of them weren't even on the basketball court. Some of them involved, like Michael Jordan when he was with the team and other things. But I think my favorite call, my favorite moment was clearly to give. Gilbert Arena's game winner in Chicago over Kirk Heinrich to win that playoff game. I mean, we're in a hostile environment, and at the time, Chicago, you know, they've settled down a little bit because their teams haven't been as good, but they're still rapid basketball

fans, and back then, the place was insane. And for him to hit that shot and win the game, and, you know, to be able to scream, you know, dagger and that dramatic situation, that atmosphere was awesome. And we had a lot of those shots with Gilbert, but that one was the most meaningful, clearly. Yeah, that was, I told Aaron before, I said that's my number one call and we'll play it for everybody right now. Gilbert, fade away. Oh, it's a minute. Arenas hits the shot at the buzzer.

You believe that. And the Wizards have sucked the life out of Chicago in their own building. That's what I guessed, because I don't think I've asked you this before. or maybe we've talked about it before, but that's one of the most dramatic games of certainly the wizard's history. You know, we've got so many of them as bullet fans, a long time bullet fans, but that shot by arenas on the road in a 2-2 series in their first playoff series in forever was, and your call of it. And I've always said this about, you know, I've said it to your face before, too. I've always loved, and more even in recent years, how measured you are, how you let the action speak. It's very Summerall-esque, which for me is the way to do it.

I love Summerall. Yet you elevate for the right moment with just the perfect call of big moments. And that one was awesome. Is there a moment that you recall that you regret? Like is there a worst mistake or a moment that you'd love to have back calling games over 22 years? Well, let me just preface this by saying, listen, we all make mistakes. I mean, every sportscaster and every play-by-play guy makes mistakes. Even in the course of just a single game, I remember Joey Crawford, the great referee,

who by the way called me to say, hey, I heard about the news. Oh, wow. I was stunned when he called me, but that was really nice. He said, listen, we're never going to, he says, if we ever have a game where we never make a mistake or we have a perfect game, I'm going to mark that down in history, because it's never happened, and it probably never will. And the same goes for players, the same goes for coaches, the same goes for broadcasters.

So, yeah, there have been a number of games where I've made mistakes, and I wish I had them back. But clearly the most glaring one was the dagger call that wasn't a dagger. Right. Histons by 1, 96-95. John Wall takes control guarded by Caldera Long for Bradley Beale. Beal, driving, kicks it out. Areza, baseline, Dagger!

Wow. Wow. A raiser from the baseline for three, and the Wizards with a miraculous comeback in Washington. They'll front. They're saying it did not go. And that was after we had been moved up into the stands, section 110, where, truthfully, I had a,

I had a better view of Venus than I didn't. Right. Yeah, great move. Yeah, we're playing the Detroit Pistons. The Wizards had made a tremendous comeback. Trevor O'Reza had hit, I don't know, a couple of three-pointers to bring the team back late in the game. And then his final shot, from my vantage point, the far corner of the floor, you know, goes in, and I scream dagger. And the broadcaster for Detroit, George Blahawas, says, oh, a wizard's win.

and we're all sitting on that side of the arena, and the whole arena is going absolutely bonkers because the reasons just hit that shot and the game is over. But I look on the floor and I don't see anybody celebrating, and then I hear my producer and my ears say, I don't think the shot went in. And then the next thing you know, it didn't. It had glanced the bottom of the net short of the rim.

The net popped up, and from our vantage point, it was good, and then I realized it wasn't, and I said, I'm going to have to retract this dagger. And, of course, that ended up getting national publicity at Tony and Michael Wilbon on PTI are talking about it, and it was embarrassing for me and everybody else that saw it that way, but I've looked at it a hundred times, Kevin, and that shot still went in for my opinion. Well, look, I mean, the Pistons announcer got it wrong as well because of that ridiculous spot in which you were broadcasting those games over the last few years. I mean, by the way, just out of curiosity, how many NBA teams put their television broadcast

team up in the crowd? Say it again, Kevin. How many NBA broadcast teams put their announce, how many NBA teams put their broadcast teams up in the crowd to call games? Five of them. Five of them did? We do it. Philadelphia does it.

Charlotte does it, but at least in Charlotte, you're in the middle of the court. Michael Jordan has put everybody right at mid-court. Their announcers are up there, too, Del Curry and those guys. Houston does it, and the Clippers did it this year. More and more teams will be doing it because they sell the seats, and that transfers into, obviously, lots of money for the owners. So it's only a matter of time before that happens. heck, it could be only a matter of time

before we start calling games from the studio, which we used to do for the Summer League to save on other expenses. But, you know, moving off the court was devastating because you, basically, you're a fan in the stands calling the game now.

It's difficult to see the court. It's almost impossible to see intricate plays where a guy may have stepped on a line or not. You're removed from hearing the coaches and the referees, and the referees and the players talking, and that's huge because a lot of times when I'm on the floor, I can hear guys say things, which I can then report and relate to the viewers.

We can call officials over and talk to them about plays during a dead ball or a timeout situation, and that's invaluable. We can see things on the court. Like if I were in the court, I'd never miss that Trevor Areezy shot. So the only good thing about being up in the stands, the only good thing is that, the coach is not standing in front of you, which happens, I'd say, 60% of the game. And then you look at the monitor. The coach is up and standing right in front of you, and then you can't see anything,

and you have to go to your monitor, or a player will sit down on the scores table in front of you and sit there. I mean, I remember reaching out one time to Randy Whitman and literally grabbing him around the waist and moving him aside because he was right in front of me. So that's the only good thing about being up there. but five other teams do it and there'll be more soon. All right. What are you going to miss the most?

Truthfully, and I know it sounds like a cliche and, you know, kind of BS, but, you know, I'm going to miss being with the folks that I work with and the people I see every day at the arenas, the security people and the parking people and the equipment people like Rob Seller and Jerry Walter, who I've known forever, you know, the trainers, the coaches, the behind-the-scenes people. I'm going to miss that more than calling the games. I'm going to miss being with, I've missed being with Phil for the last couple of years.

Kara was great, but I enjoyed, you know, Phil and I are close, the guys that I work with. And then my counterparts around the country that do these games, whether it be television or radio, I can't tell you, Kevin, how overwhelmed I have been in hearing the support from people, and I want to thank everybody so much for what they've done, the kindness, the support, the love, you know, my counterparts, almost every one of them has called or texted or said something to me, other play-by-play guys. It's a very small fraternity. We're all very close and friends, and I've got good friends that do what I do.

And then I got calls from, you know, people I didn't expect to. Charles Barkley called me, and Joey Crawford called me, and two other referees called me. people in the business Mike Breen who's one of my counterparts who's just been fantastic a good friend Joel Myers

I don't want to single out guys because everybody has been great I miss that the most Kevin and then being able to change my hotel room which I did on a free day no I just I'll miss those guys

and then being with those people and calling the games was great I was blessed to do that I used to say forever it's the best job in D.C. You're working with the greatest players in the world at the highest level, traveling with the team, getting to speak on the air for two and a half hours and basically do what you do. There's nothing better than calling an NBA game. I've said this before, you've heard me say it.

If you ask 100 sportscasters what they'd really like to do, 99 of them will tell you play by play. I've had guys at other networks, friends of mine that have said, hey man, you've got the best job there is, because you know exactly where you're going to be on what date and where you're going and the hotels you stay in and traveling on the team playing. And then when the game's over, you're done. And when the season's over, you're all for five months. I mean, what better job is there than that? So I've been blessed.

I've worked hard to get that job, but I've been blessed. And that's what I'm going to miss the most. And the fact that it was taken away from me is sort of inexplicable to me. But I've got to move on and see what's next. Thanks for everything you're going to be missed doing the games. Thank you, buddy. I appreciate it. But we will talk plane crashes, weather, and sports whenever you want to. Thank you, man. I appreciate it.

All right, thanks to Buck. He's the best. He'll be missed. And you know what? The next two years, we're going to be rough years for the team anyway, more likely than not. And he'll land on his feet. Again, and I've said this to him many times, you took a guy who was really, if not getting better, certainly in his prime as a play-by-play announcer. There was no slippage at all from Buck in recent years. He was excellent. I'm never going to be objective when it comes to him,

but I love play-by-play guys, and I love listening to them and evaluating them by myself or even for the purposes of this show. I think Buck's always been one of the best. All right, rate us if you're listening to us on iTunes, as we've mentioned before, subscribe. Also, it doesn't cost you anything and mention to people that can't listen to podcasts

or don't want to listen to an actual podcast in podcast platform that they can listen to this content via the Kevin Sheehan Show.com. One last thing before we run today. I wanted to circle back for a moment to the British Open and Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods did not make the cut. Rory McElroy didn't make it either.

We mentioned that earlier. But Tiger Woods shot 78 in the first round, 70 in the second round. And his press conference following his final round on Friday was remarkable from this standpoint. It sounded like resignation from Woods. Now, he was disappointed in the way he had played. He has not played much at all.

He's only played 12 rounds of golf since his master's win in April. He was actually scheduled to play this coming week in Memphis, but he's not going to play. He said, quote, I need some time off, just need to get away from it. Closed quote. But I would urge you to go listen to it. I'm not going to play it because it was rather lengthy. But if you're interested in his press conference from Friday and you hadn't seen it, go listen to what he said following that second round.

Tiger really sounded like it's near the end. I mean, this, just a few months after, he won a major championship at Augusta, you know, coming off the tour ending championship last year in Atlanta. And the thought when he won the masters of, oh, here we go. You know, here we go. Tiger's going to put this thing together and it's going to happen. And we're going to have another three, four, five year run of him being in. contention. Well, when he missed the cut the other day, he said some things that were really incredible.

He said that essentially that Father Time has caught up with him, that he can't do the same things that he once did, that he can't practice at the same level that is required to be an ongoing challenger week to week, that the guys are too good that he's competing with. He said, look, every once in a while, I'll put it all together in a given week, but that, you know, he's not going to be able to do it consistently. And maybe we would have said that and acknowledge that prior to the win at Augusta. But when he won at Augusta in April, I think a lot of us, I certainly thought that as long as his health was there, in Royal Port Rush, in Northern Ireland for the open where temperatures were in the 50s and, you know, it was chilly and with a back like his

warm weather's better, you know, hot weather's better. And by the way, when it comes to the majors now, not having an August major, a PGA championship at Belrieve in St. Louis in the 90s, you know, but instead, you know, at Beth Page Black in May where temperatures are maybe in the 60s, it's not conducive for someone with his lower back issues. Um, but anyway, he really talked about how prudent he needed to be about his schedule to prolong his career. And it just sounded, I know he was disappointed in the moment, but it sounded like a guy that was, you know, seeing the end near. Crazy, but that's what it sounded like. And then you put it together with how little he's played since Augusta.

And, you know, something's not right there. He talked about, you know, essentially not being ready and not pulling. playing enough before the Open Championship at Royal Port Rush. But to hear sort of a shocking resignation tone in his voice following Friday's missing of the cut. And by the way, he is currently the fifth ranked player in the world. Even at 42 years old, he is ranked number five in the world or was before this past weekend. But when he said, you know, father time and can't practice to enough to compete consistently with the guys that are out there. It was interesting to me. I think he was very disappointed in the moment, and he's the ultimate in being a competitor,

but we'll see what his schedule looks like the rest of the year, and then what it looks like next year in sort of getting ready to defend his title at Augusta. Maybe he'll look at these majors and think, look, Augusta's my chance to win. And a warm way, major at the Open or at the U.S. Open or, you know, the PGA Championship in May, that gives me a chance. But I think he was resigned to, you know, not being a threat this weekend before he even got there. Maybe he shouldn't have played. But the sport is different when he does play. That is for sure. I mean, it is a different level of intensity, although it was awesome to watch this weekend, Shane Lowry in Ireland. But I don't know, I hope this, this brief window of Tiger's

return that started, you know, at the beginning of the 2018 calendar, you know, in late 2017 and then throughout 2018 when he contended consistently and then had a chance, you know, at the British Open last summer, at the PGA championship last summer. And then this year won the first major of the year. And then since that first major, there's been little Tiger. to really speak of. It's been interesting how that one-win at Augusta has changed everything. It seemed to have taken a lot out of him. All right, thanks back tomorrow with Tommy. Steve Sands is going to be a guest on the show tomorrow, and then Mark Zuckerman will be on with us on Wednesday. Have a great day.