The Kevin Sheehan Show - The Day We Fooled the AP

Episode Date: November 18, 2021

Kevin and Thom today opened with George Mason's upset win over Maryland last night in College Park. Some Wizards and more in the opening segment too. Then it was Ron Rivera's description of Chase Young and Montez Sweat's replacements that caught the ears of Kevin and Thom. They also talked some Heinicke and the most heartbreaking loss in WFT history. In the final segment of the show, Marc Sterne (aka Nigel from the Tony Kornheiser Show) jumped on to talk about the day that his impersonation of Christopher Walken on Kevin and Thom's "Sports Fix" show became national news.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheyenne show. Here's Kevin. The show today is brought to you by My Booky from all the biggest games to the smallest events. Make every bet worth your while with My Booky. Start by doubling your first deposit instantly with My Booky's first deposit bonus. Double your own money before you even place a bet. All you've got to do is sign up and deposit using my exclusive promo code. Kevin D.C. at MyBooky. There are tons of great games, prop bets to take advantage of this week. And so, as always, as I say about My Booky, fair spot to wager, really fair point spreads, fair pricing, plenty of options to bet on anything you want, including in-game and an online casino as well, where you can play online craps, Tommy, and you can play online blackjack. and there are many forms of blackjack.

Lots of different poker games. All at MyBooky, MyBooky.ag. MyBooky.com. Use my promo code. Kevin, D.C., they'll double your first deposit instantly. So you deposit $500,000, you'll have $1,000 in your account. Even if you're wagering somewhere else, do it at MyBooky and get the free money to wager from

and use it as a comparison shopping environment for point spreads and money lines and pricing. Their point spreads, money lines, and pricing are always on point, as they say. Bet anything, anytime, anywhere with MyBooky. Later on in the show, we have a special guest. As long as I'm able to pull off the two-person guest at the same time ability with this phone, which is now new fangled and has some new conference call features, I think I'll be able to figure it out. the show will be Mark Stern, our good friend Mark Stern, the producer of Sports Fix 1.0 for seven and a half years. Ten years ago today, Mark Stern, who would impersonate Christopher

Walken on our radio show, went deep into the Christopher Walken Natalie Wood disappearance night, which had happened many years previous to that because there had been an update to the story, and it set off a shitstorm that none of us anticipated. We will explain when we have him on. Will you ever forget that day? Well, here's the thing. That's probably maybe one of the greatest moments in sports six history, and I wasn't there for it. You weren't there for it?

I was at Wildmania. Oh my God. Then you know what? I don't have to have you on when Mark comes on. Why did I think you were on? Do you know you were... I was in a bus in Laramie, Wyoming, where one of the guys says to me, you know, Christopher Walken was on your show talking about Natalie Wood. I watched from afar how this thing blew up and couldn't believe it. But I was in Wyoming. You know what, then, Tommy? You weren't there on two of the more memorable sports fixed days that day and the earthquake day. Because you were not there.

I know I was doing this show. Stephen Spector was producing because you and Mark were both off. It was in the middle of August. So I'm assuming because we were on vacation. Stern was on vacation. And that, by the way, was 10 years ago in August when that happened, when we were on the air during that earthquake back in 2011. I forgot, I should have

asked you before we started the show, but we never really talked that much before the show. And so, I just figured you were there. No, I wasn't there. It just goes to show you that when I'm not there, you really have to step up the show to fill in the gas.

We've got to create newsworthy topics. That was a newsworthy day. I mean, poor Joe White, who wrote for the Associated Press, listened to that segment, thought it was actually Christopher Walken talking about the night that Natalie Wood went missing and all of the controversy about her presumed death. And he wrote about it on the Associated Press.

He was an Associated Press writer. He had been in his car listening to the show. And the bottom line is that he thought it was real. He thought that Christopher Walken was for some strange reason. deciding to open up about the Natalie Woodnight on a sports talk show in Washington, D.C. Yeah. Yeah. And then all hellbrookalus, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, entertainment tonight, Access Hollywood.

They all started calling, and we had to fess up that it was just a bit that we were doing. Anyway. But it was one. I mean, that set aside during football season. that weekly fantasy football bit. That was great. It was great. I looked forward to that so much.

Well, that fooled everybody, too. That fooled everybody, too. Mark Stern did Christopher Walken impersonation. It's the best. And we decided that he would come on the show as a rabid, passionate Washington Redskins fan and do a fantasy football segment with us each week. And I would say, Tommy, no less, no less than 60. percent of the audience each week thought it was actually Christopher Walken.

Absolutely. Even though he said he was calling from his walking Winnebago from the parking rod at FedEx Field. He was always coming into town for the big game. Mark will join the show a little bit later on and we'll reminisce about that particular day. And now we can do it without having to worry about these new phones that are in that have that I can figure it out. I'm not that technologically ignorant or inadequate. I'm looking at it though now,

and I'm not sure exactly how I would conference into people. I'm smart. It's a good thing. Like everybody says. It's a good thing. I'm smart. Yeah. All right.

I guess we're going to start with some sports. And I guess we're going to start with merit. Maryland's loss to George Mason last night, which, by the way, I had Kim English, the head coach of George Mason on the radio show this morning. He was excellent. It was very funny, Tommy. He said that this was no different a game. I mean, this game meant no more or no less than the Morgan State game did on Sunday night when they beat Morgan State by 37 points. He said we prepared the exact same way. We don't prepare any differently. you know, for a Power 5 team or a ranked team than we do for Morgan State. We didn't prepare any differently than we prepared for Stony Brook or Penn. And so I said to him, I said, well, I'm not really asking about the preparation. I'm curious as to your players' reaction. You know, this had to be a different opportunity for them.

It's a local team. You know, Maryland and Georgetown, you know, when the other locals get a chance to play and measure up to the two big power programs in the area. It's probably a big deal for them. And he said, no, not really, not really. But then at the very end of the interview, I was talking about the coaches that he had coached with. He coached with Rick Barnes last year at Tennessee.

He coached with Tad Boyle at Colorado, who happens to be one of Mark Turgeon's best friends in coaching. And he coached with Frank Hath before that at Tulsa. And so I said, did they reach out to you last night? He said, yeah, all three of them called. All three of them called. So I don't think they necessarily called after the Morgan State win. But I understand.

He wants to play it, you know, they're a good team. I'm going to get to that in a moment. He wants to play it like it wasn't that big of a deal. And good for him. Look, you know what I get on Twitter every time Turgeon loses a game. It doesn't matter who they lose to. They could lose to number one ranked Michigan State by two points in East Lansing, and I'm going to get the Turgeon Bashers, they come after me.

You can never criticize him. Why don't you ever criticize him? How do you think he's a good coach and so on and so on? It's been happening for years. And I have criticized him many times over the years, but that's beside the point. It's November 8th, 17th, last night was. There's a long season to go. College basketball is very different these days,

especially with the transfer portal. You can reshape your roster, and every program is getting an opportunity to tap into those Power 5 program players who, by the way, weren't getting enough time because you don't have to sit out. You transfer right away. And so a lot of this was taken advantage of, and Mason got a bunch of transfers.

and they're a good team. I don't know where they'll finish in the A10, but I know a good basketball team when I watch one, and I was watching a good basketball team last night. I knew it, certainly early in the second half, in watching them. You could tell they were well-coached, and they had players. And he specifically said to me, I didn't think there was a talent disadvantage in the game.

And certainly watching last night really didn't appear to be that much of a talent, differential. Usually there is. There's at least some level of talent difference between, you know, a Maryland out of the Big Ten and a George Mason out of the A-10. Last night there wasn't necessarily. So there was that. And then there was the fact that Mason played really well. They made 12 of 24 shots from behind the arc. The kid Schwartz, the transfer from Colorado was six of ten from behind the Maryland had a difficult time guarding them, and even when they were guarded, they just knocked down a lot of shots. And that can happen in a 40-minute college basketball game.

We see it in March. We see it in November and December when you get a lot of these matchups. This isn't unique anymore. An A-10 team beating a Big Ten team, an A-10 team knocking off a Big East team. And George Mason, by many accounts, was a team that people think can contend for the upper echelon of the A-10 this year. And I think we saw a team that can. Now, do I like losing to George Mason as a Maryland guy?

No. Do I think it's a bad loss? Yeah, I think any time you lose a home game to a team that, you know, perception-wise is inferior to you. And by the way, it's a local team. Yeah, I think it's not a good loss. But the game itself, the loss wasn't a terrible loss. They didn't lose to a team that was terrible. They didn't lose to a team that they were much.

superior to. The points spread, by the way, opened at 13. Tommy, it came down to nine. Do you know how what? It was the biggest moving game on the board because there was sharp money, I mean, just pouring in on George Mason. So somebody knew something about Mason being better than a team that should be a 13, 14, 14 point underdog to Maryland. And maybe they knew something about Maryland, which I would say they're a work in progress right now. They have some talent. players. They have a lot of transfers who are playing. You know, a lot of new players. They've got a freshman that's a big part of their rotation. They've got two to three transfers that are a big part of the rotation. And they lost their best player last year in Aaron Wiggins. So it's a bit of a

work in progress for them. I think they're going to be a really good team. I think they're going to be a tournament team. I think they're an upper echelon, you know, top four, top five, Big Ten team. But Mason was really good. And, you know, in these games that are somewhat even If you make shots, which they did, and you miss shots, which Maryland did, that's going to be the difference in the game. They made shots, Maryland didn't. Why did Maryland not make shots? Well, I think they relied too much on the perimeter. I think that they, I think their spacing wasn't great.

I think they didn't go inside enough, and I think when they did, they didn't handle the double team very well. I think defensively, they had a very difficult time guarding them until maybe the last five or six minutes of the game. so much so that they went to a zone at one point. You know, when you are, let me just tell you something to tell me that doesn't happen unless you're like Syracuse where you play zone all the time. When you have a superior talent advantage over team, the team with the superior talent advantage rarely, unless it's the thing they do, they rarely have to play zone.

You can stay in front of everybody defensively. I don't know why Maryland didn't switch more last night. That's another subject altogether. But they went to a zone against Mason. That tells you all you need to know. Maryland couldn't guard them for a stretch in that game. They were stretching them by knocking down the threes, and then the floor was spaced,

and they were getting downhill against Maryland defensively. And they just were better last night. Maryland's lost games like this over the years where I've been like, oh, that's a terrible loss because that team they lost to really isn't that good. A.U., not A.U. Vermont on Saturday, really good team. They're going to win their league more likely than not.

They're going to give people trouble. And I thought that was a quality win for Maryland. And they won by 11, but it was a close game. And they won the game, but I was like, they could have lost that game. And then going into the game last night, when I saw the point spread move, I'm like, uh-oh, somebody knows something about Mason. I knew nothing about Mason before the game last night. Nothing. They were good.

They were good and they deserved it. What do you want to ask me? I particularly like about this is the way you treat the programs in town that are not Georgetown or Maryland. I mean, you treat them like the little kid who, you know, once in a while, once in a while does something that you notice and you say, that's nice. Well, Mason went to a final four. But still, still, that's what you do. Yeah. Well, because I, because one of the two teams in town, that is the Power Program national champion Chip Banner hanging team is mine. If I were a Mason grad or an AU alum, I would, I probably would feel differently, but I'm not in those shoes.

So yeah, you're right. I can be a little bit condescending to the rest of the teams in town. Yeah, yeah. And I think it's good. And I think it's good when the local teams play each other then. Yeah. I think it's good when that happens. I think it's good when Maryland and Georgetown schedule those local teams. Yes, I agree. Maryland's, you know, had beat GW last week.

Maryland's lost a GW several times over the years. You know, GW's had some really good teams, and they played in, remember they played in that event down, you know, at MCI, Capital One Arena for many years. and GW won some of those games. Now, Mason had never beaten Maryland. I think AU beat Maryland at some point. And by the way, Georgetown scheduled American. They beat American last night.

So they played AU last night. But Tommy, can I just tell you something? Because he said to me this morning, Kim English, the head coach of George Mason, he said, you know, we heard that some of the Maryland players were saying, this is a really big game for George Mason. Well, he said, that's kind of condescending. And we kind of thought it should have been a big game for them.

Well, I love the bravado from him. That's great. And you can certainly be that way, especially after you win. I mean, you can say whatever you want about, you know, after you win, like the Morgan State game was no different than the Maryland game, which just isn't true. But that's fine. You can say that. But I'll tell you what, he's right about that. And I did read where Turgeon said after the game, we had some players say that this was a big game for George Mason.

We need to understand that that should have been a big game for us. You can't say that. I can say that. They can't say that. You know, it's true. You know, when A.U. or Mason or Navy or GW get a shot at Georgetown or Maryland during the regular season, it is a big deal. I mean, Of course it is.

But, but, but, but you can't say that if you're Maryland or Georgetown. And by the way, George Town said, lost to Dartmouth the other day. They stink. Yeah, I know. Because basically when you're saying that as a player, you're saying that, you know, they're lucky to be on the same court with us. Yeah, you can't say that. Can't say that.

Honestly, I enjoyed watching them play last night. I didn't want them to do well. But as a basketball person, I understood that they were very well coached. The kid O'Duro, who was the kid he kept, the 6-9, you know, versatile player. I mean, he's got old school in his game. I mean, he had an up and under in the first half. He caught the ball in the big possession. They were up 67, 66.

Eric Iala hit two threes. It's a one-point game with a minute to go. Maryland now is one stop away from having the ball with a chance to take. the lead in a game that they didn't deserve to win, but they were right there with a chance. And they went inside to this kid Oduro who got, you know, who took a juju Reese, who was really going to be a really good player. Even Kim English said this morning, he said that that Reese is going to be a really good player. Marilyn's freshman from Baltimore, and he is.

He's going to be a really good player. But he fronted the big kid, Oduro, and they got no backside help. And he ended up with a layup to give him a three-point lead. And then Iala missed a three. So they'll learn from it. I think I said this. I've said this to you before. I don't think I already said it.

But I remember Coach Thompson once walking into the bullpen as we were walking out one day. And I think I had made a big deal out of Maryland winning a big game in November. And, you know, as he would say to all of us who, you know, he at least didn't mind conversing with, motherfucker because if he liked you you were an MFer and he said there's nothing

nothing more meaningless in sports than college basketball results in November to which I said well of course not when you're playing Hawaii Hilo in St. Leo

and he laughed and he said No, he said, I'm telling you, this is the sport that changes the most between November and by the time you get into conference play January, February, because every year you've got a new group of kids a lot of the time and you don't know what you have and how you're going to play. And I think he's been right pretty much. I mean, Michigan State's like the perfect example. They're the team that sometimes gets into conference play and they're like 500. You know, they've lost like five games already. And then by the time you get to March,

Izzo's got the whole thing figured out. Anyway, it was for you guys that are really devastated by this and think it's all Turgeon's fault. It's not all Turgeon's fault. They played a good team last night who will be good in the A-10. And here's the thing about losing a game like that. And then, by the way, on the flip side, Mason winning a game like that, both teams will be rooting for the other

because they want the loss to look like a quality loss if you're Maryland. If you're Mason, you want that win to look like a super high quality win. So you'll be rooting for Maryland to do really well in the Big Ten and be a team that ends up being a higher-seated team when the NCAA tournament comes around because it'll help Mason. Mason, by the way, good for him. He's gone out and scheduled. They've got some teams coming up that they are playing. They're playing, hold on, let me pull it up because I had it earlier.

They're playing Washington. They're playing Nevada. They're playing South Dakota State. They're good. They're playing Georgia. They had Maryland on the schedule. So they've scheduled well here in the non-conference. And then St. Bonaventure in the A-10 is ranked.

All right. We're done with college basketball talk. The Wizards lost last night, too. I was flipping back and forth, but not really. But what really appeared to be an issue, you could tell every time I flipped it during a commercial, Charlotte was playing zone, and the Wizards could not make a shot. But that's the first game that they had.

But that snaps a five-game losing skid. They shot it poorly for one of the first times. They were eight for 42 from behind the arc. Wow. Yeah, they didn't shoot well. Particularly three-pointers. Right. And then the caps won last night.

So there you go with all of the local sports. We usually don't do it this way, but there is all of your local sports stuff. Let me just do a little promo. I have a column that's running in tomorrow's Washington Times. in case you didn't know, I write a sports column for the Washington Times. Yeah. And you go to Washington Times.com slash sports, and you'll find it. I have a column tomorrow on Tommy Shepard, who got a contract extension it was announced yesterday

and promoted to team president as well as GM for the Wizards. And I did an interview with his good friend Jay Wright, the coach of Villanova, about Tommy, for the column. Oh, good. Yeah, Tommy and Jay Wright are really good friends. Remember when they were in the coach hiring process, you brought up Jay Wright. Yes. As somebody that... Probably because I knew...

I knew they had... Jay Wright wasn't going to leave Solanova. It wasn't going to leave to Coach Swizzards. Right. But I knew him and Tommy were friends. So I wrote that, figured that. And plus, you know, like I said, in a column I wrote, I remember, they did a poll of NBA GMs the year before, and 25 out of 28 said at any college coach they would hire at BJ Wright.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Do you want to talk some Ron Rivera? Yeah, let's talk about Riverboat Ron. Okay, we'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast.

Doesn't cost you a thing. Helps us. Rate us and review us wherever you can. Always helps us. So Ron Rivera held a press conference yesterday. And there were a couple of things that I wanted to read to you. Some of these were not available on their website, so I'm going to have to read some of these to you. The first one was about James Smith Williams and Casey Two Hill.

He said about James Smith Williams and Casey Two Hill, the two players that are replacing Chase Young and Montez Sweat. Well, they're blue-collar worker type guys. They're physical. very physical. They do the dirty work and they're not flashy as much as they're technically sound. They do their jobs. They use their techniques to the best of their abilities. They're going to give us a blue collar work ethic. Close quote. If you miss Doc on the show yesterday, I would hurt you to go back and listen to it. Many of you reached out to me to say how much you enjoyed it. And he was on. I mean, we both love Doc, and some days Doc is just on, and he was on yesterday,

and God did he get after Chase Young and Montez-Swed? Chase Young in particular. He said, you know, essentially said it wasn't coincidental that they had their best defensive day of the year. He criticized Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio for not going to these guys earlier and sending a message to, as he called them, the Marquis Poodle. in Chase and Montez saying that it's very clear to anybody that they have not been adhering to the scheme. And he blames Rivera for allowing it to go on for as long as it went on. And so Doc really got after him.

And here's Ron Rivera saying yesterday, they're very physical, they're blue collar. They do their jobs. What did we hear all season long? We've got some guys that aren't adhering to the scheme. They need to do their jobs. And we now, by the way, and we knew this over the last couple of weeks, there is no more when we come back to this at some future date and recount the 20-21 season

and the one-and-a-half sacks that Chase Young had and the four quarterback hits that he had before he got injured. we're not going to revisionist history this, are we? Let's remember right now that Ron Rivera basically told you who he had been calling out all season long. In that interview with Mike Silver and then in the press conferences during the bye week, Chase Young. He spent all last week, basically, the whole by week, the whole by time, he spent talking about Chase Young. And Montes went to a lesser degree, yes. Yes.

Right. Yeah. Now, he would say some things that were positive. You know, the John Wooden thing, if you've ever read, you know, read any John Wooden books, you know, the pyramid of success, it takes four constructive compliments before you can constructively criticize a college player. And I think that goes for any young player. He was at a four-to-one ratio the other way last week. But every once in a while he would slip in, but he's working hard, he's showing up. And, you know, he's got the work ethic and the whole thing.

But bottom line, Chase Young and probably to a lesser degree, Montez Sweat, and I don't know, maybe another guy in the secondary, although we haven't heard anybody singled out in the secondary, other than Landon Collins who was playing out of position. And they moved him to the position that he now is playing, you know, fairly well. The bottom line is, let's not forget, and hopefully it'll change, that Ron Rivera essentially told you that Chase Young was not coachable in 2021. Yeah, that's exactly right.

Okay. You know, but I mean, I thought, we both said this was a problem. Let's not go into, let's not regurgitate the OTAs, but when we do have to defend this 2021 position about Chase Young. someday, where we do have to explain it, the OTAs will be part of that explanation and his absence at those OTAs. And, you know, his answer to his commitment to his off-the-field, you know, activities that prevented him from going to OTAs was, I was making money.

Yeah. Yep. You know? Yeah, not. I was making money. You know, we talked about this last week. I don't want to go back through it, but the net of it is I don't have any problem with these guys

trying to make as much money as they can. But their number one responsibility is to their profession, which is professional football. And there was a way for him to make the money and also show up for an OTA day or two, especially as a team leader. It pissed them off. I know it did.

And I told you that at the time, that they were not happy. The coaching staff wasn't happy about it. I have no idea what the players thought about it. but Doc said it best back then, and we repeated it yesterday. Doc, I'll never forget, called me after the show that I did the day that, you know, we were talking about Chase Young missing the OTAs, and he said, leaders never give you a reason to question their leadership,

and that's what he did by missing all of these OTA days. Will it impact his play on the field? Who knows? But at the very least, he created the environment for his leadership to be questioned by being the only one out of 90 players not to show up for any OTA day. I wanted to read a couple of other Rivera quotes. Well, wait a minute. I want to get back to something I mentioned in the podcast near the end of the podcast

in our last one, and you went into a panic that I would even bring it up. Okay. You know, Chase Young is going to be rehabbing now. Right? Yes. Don't you think a documentary about his research? habits in the making? No. No? Why not?

I don't know. What gives you any reason that, I mean, why wouldn't he take advantage of another chance to make money at the same time? I don't know. I don't see him. That would be, it would be funny. It would be absolutely hilarious. Oh, my God. You're so rooting for it. You're so rooting for it. Well, of course there is, because it would be so great. If he tied some kind of marketing campaign, to his rehab. It would be hilarious. He was the one right that said don't be a fan later last year.

That was his line, don't be a fan later. I don't see him in the same way that I see RG3. There were much bigger red flags, and by the way, much bigger red flags about him that we were hearing behind the scenes. I haven't heard any of that stuff about Chase Young. No. No, I have not.

Yeah. But he wants to make money. Yeah, I understand. I understand. He's a Nike guy. You know what I... You know, they... Can I just tell you something?

Did that commercial. The commercial on TV we see every Sunday of him, you know, beating the crap out of a parking sled. If that opportunity presents himself and I were his coach or his advisor, I would say to him, I think this is one you pass on. you are coming off like Robert Griffin the third was at least coming off the best rookie season

in the history of the NFL for a quarterback in a rookie of the year season. He's now a year and a half removed from his rookie of the year season and he had one and a half sacks and four quarterback hits. He was a total non-factor this year for them. And again,

not to beat a dead horse. You can throw all the PFF analysis you want. I watched every game. I know what I was watching, and so do you guys. For Chase Young, that was hideously below expectations. It was not a good season. For almost anybody, by the way. So he shouldn't do something like that. But in this day and age, you know, who the hell knows what he's going to do? I mean, have you been following this Haskin stuff at a Pittsburgh? Oh, yeah. Yeah. So for those that don't know, Haskins apparently, you know,

he was up the other day with Rathlisberger down because of COVID. He was the backup to Mason Rudolph. And somebody who covers the Steelers essentially tweeted something to the effect of Dwayne Haskins is out here checking his phone and throwing lousy passes and warmups.

Well, checking his phone, some people said, well, you know, that could have meant that he was just listening to music with headphones, which, by the way, a lot of players do. And so there was a lot of pushback on this person. And then there was another report that said one of the coaches on the field pointed over to Dwayne and said, quote, look at that. How ridiculous is that? That's just lazy, closed quote. And that was, those were Steelers' coaches who observed that.

don't think listening to music because I think a lot of players do listen to music when they're warming up, especially in the super early warm up portion. If that's what he was doing, I don't think that's big of a deal. If he's looking down on his phone to, you know, to skip to a different song, I don't think that's a big deal. But if it's a, if it's been an issue with him as it was here with his preparation and this was just something thrown on top of it, even if it was a bit of piling on. Well, I mean, it's certainly based on the coach's comments, it would appear that Haskins has an issue there like he had here. Because that came from a coach. Yes. The lazy comment. How ridiculous is that comment?

I saw former Philadelphia general manager Joe Banner tweeted at one point during the Steelers game. if Dwayne Haskins isn't getting on the field now, he must be really bad. Mason Rudolph was terrible. Yes. And he's, you know, and by the way, if Rathesberger, you know, has issues, I mean, it's Rudolph. They're not considering, at this point, they're not considering Dwayne. Mason Rudolph last week, well, he was 30, 50, 240 yards of touchdown and interception, but apparently he wasn't very good.

in the game. They tied Detroit 1616. All right, this next Ron Rivera that I wanted to read to you real quickly. There are two of them, okay? He was asked about giving Heineke his first start actually when they were in Carolina and he said, and how far he's come since then because Ron Rivera's going home to Carolina, Cam Newton's first game, a lot of drama around this game Sunday for sure. Rivera said, quote, I think he's playing with a lot more confidence. I think his decision making is getting better obviously. I think with him, it's just a matter of getting reps and opportunities. I think he has improved a lot and we're seeing it. Hopefully we'll get some of the playmakers back on the field. We'll get our tight ends healthy again. We'll get more receivers back out there and really be able

to see what we can do. We're starting to get the offensive line healthy again, even though the guys that replaced the guys that were still hurt played well, we're starting to get those guys back on the field as well. Then in a follow-up question, what do you think of his swagger? Yeah, he's got that. I think it's great. I really do. But I also think that the thing that helps him is that his teammates feel that. It's funny because when you talk to the guys about him, one of the things they always say is when we get the

ball in certain situations, we feel like we have a chance. That's all part of it is your teammates having confidence that you can get something done that really helps closed quote. Tommy, Tommy, this leadership thing this how the rest of the players feel about him,

him in that first part of the answer, giving some, you know, reasons why, you know, he hasn't gotten consistent results, you know, blaming it on the players that aren't on the field. And there's a certain truth to that. You know, no Logan Thomas, obviously, no Curtis Samuel, no Diami Brown. Gibson hasn't been completely healthy.

But he has had Terry McCorn for the most part, Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissick. And, you know, he's had some guys out there. It's not like he's been out there with you and me. But this is like the second or third time in recent weeks. He's referred to the connection that he has with the other players in the locker room, how they feel about him. And one of the other quotes was more about his leadership ability.

This is a big deal to Ron. A big deal. Remember, when he benched Dwayne, demoted him to third string, he said, you know, I got 52 other guys that are looking at me. saying, you know, come on, man. You know, no, with Taylor, it's the opposite. Taylor has the locker room. You know, Ernie, of course, he once told me that the most important thing you want

out of a quarterback. He said this was the most important thing. A former GM of the New York Giants is, when he gets on the team bus to go to the game, you want his teammates to look at him and say, well, we got a chance. to win today because he's our quarterback. Right. So for him to go out of his way to describe what he thinks the team feels about this kid, it's pretty remarkable, I think.

I look, I tell you, I'm fall in front head over heels right now. That could change come Sunday real quick. Of course it could. But again, the Tampa Bay, the Tampa Bay, the Tampa, game was the game where he should have slid down further, where he should have made the final dissent to the bench, and instead he did the opposite. At a time when he was being questioned the most, he stepped up the biggest. Yeah, that's true. That is true. And I think there's something about Taylor Heineke that Ron Rivera and Scott Turner really like. I think it's a lot of the

intangible stuff. I think it's the gamer part of it, the fact that they can throw them out there. You know, Doc said yesterday, and I agree with that, he's like, the dude's perfect for being the emergency quarterback, meaning the backup quarterback. And I think, you know, bare minimum, this dude is going to be the backup here next year if they bring in another starter, which I think they will. I mean, this does not change my view that they're going to pursue a franchise quarterback, either in the draft or in some other way. Let's not forget, as I'm mentioned yesterday that just two weeks ago, there were reports that they were interested in trading for Mitch Trubesky before the trade deadline. And then we know what they did in the offseason.

So their actions have said, we don't think Taylor Heineke is our long-term starter. But they do like a lot about him. And by the way, it's hard not to like a lot about him. There are things he does on the field from a football standpoint that are, you know, high level. I've said that before. I think He's a high-level athlete with high-level escapeability and off-schedule ability. And he's a gamer. He's all those things. But, you know, clearly what he also is is he's smart and he connects with his teammates. And they think, right now they think when they get onto the bus, they look at him and they go,

that guy gives us a chance. And they did not think that about Dwayne Haskins. And I wonder what they thought about Alex Smith. You know, did I say this to you the other day? You know, the teams, you made the comment the other day. It's what made me think about it. So I'm going to give you credit for it. When you said the three games that they've won this year, they won because of Taylor

Heineke, and it's true. The offense really hasn't been at the top of the priority or the top of the blame list for any of their losses either. It's been the defense. And then I started to think about last year. You know, the truth is, no matter how bad they, were offensively, and they were pretty bad offensively. This is a much more with Taylor Heineke this year, a much more dynamic offense than it was

at any point last year, with anybody quarterbacking. I think it's probably similar to what it was with Kyle Allen quarterbacking. But Alex Smith started six games and went five and one as the starter. Now, the defense played very well in some of those games because they were playing lesser teams and lesser quarterbacks and lesser offenses, with the exception of Pittsburgh. But Pittsburgh was at the beginning, actually, of a late season decline. But Alex Smith did play well in some of those wins. He managed the games well. He played exceptionally well in the loss to Detroit when Chase Young had the 15 years.

yard penalty that cost him dearly. So, but he played well against Dallas. He played really well in the second half against Pittsburgh. And then, you know, did just enough in that Philadelphia game at the end of the year. You know, had the touchdown pass to Logan Thomas and the touchdown pass to Terry McCorn to get into the postseason. So it really hasn't, you know, in terms of the quarterback, in the wins that they've had during the Ron Rivera era,

except for that hideous Alex Smith performance in the second half when he came in for his first action against the Rams. It's actually not really, other than Dwayne, it's not really been on the quarterback a whole hell of a lot. Weirdly. Anyway. No ahead. I wanted to real quickly before I say goodbye to you and hello to Mark Stern

to finish up the show. Say hello to Mark for me, okay? I will. ESPN put out something that I've literally had on my list of Washington football team topics over the years. Hell, we may have even done this topic at some point. I can't remember it. But they put out a story called, What is your NFL team's most heartbreaking loss?

and so, you know, like the the Bill's most heartbreaking loss was Scott Norwood missing the field goal in the Super Bowl against the Giants. Here was one that I do kind of remember. New England's worst franchise loss was a playoff game against the Raiders in 1976. When Stabler had an incomplete pass when they were down 2117 on a third and 18,

but they called Ruffing the Passer on Remember Sugar Bear Hamilton, Tommy? Remember him? Yes, absolutely. Those were good Patriot teams. Really good Patriot teams with Steve Grogan at quarterback. And Chuck Bearbanks was the coach. That's right. And it was a terrible call.

The Raiders kept the ball. They went on to score with 10 seconds left in the game to beat the Patriots 24-21. You know, Cleveland's had two devastating losses. The drive against Denver in the AFC title game and the fumble, the earnest biner fumble a year later. Dallas, in the division, Dallas's worst loss for most heartbreaking loss is the Ice Bowl championship game to the Packers. The Eagles' most heartbreaking loss was to the Buccaneers in the championship game in 2003.

They were a big favorite, lost 27 to 10. The Giants' most heartbreaking loss they had as an NFC wild card round game. If you recall, that wild 39, 38 wild card game, the Giants led by 24, and then Trey Junkin had a terrible snap on the game-winning field goal that they weren't able to get off. Washington's worst loss is, in this story, my worst loss as a Washington fan. It's the one I've always referred to. I'm glad they got this right. And actually, Kime picked it for ESPN.

I'm glad Kime got it right because it is the most heartbreaking and devastating loss for me of any of my favorite teams that I've ever rooted for. Although Gravis Vasquez getting beat in his final game against Michigan State by Corey Lucius' shot at the buzzer was pretty hard to take. but the 1979 season finale at Texas Stadium against the Cowboys, when the game was for the division and for essentially home field advantage throughout the playoffs. And in Washington's case, a loss meant no playoffs, no wild card. And a win meant they would be the favorite to go to the Super Bowl. And they had a 17-0 lead, and then they had a 34 to 21 lead, and then Stawback let them back, two touchdowns in the final two and a half minutes of the game.

and they win it 35 to 34, and the clock runs out before a Mosley opportunity to kick a game-winning field goal. That is, for me, the worst and most heartbreaking loss in franchise history. There are others on my list, but for someone who is written so successfully and so extensively about the history of this team, what do you think is the most heartbreaking loss in franchise history? Well, I'll give you one to me. This is a lock. And part of the problem is, you know, this is before ESPN, so it doesn't really exist. But in 1945, the Washington football team played in the NFL title game against the Cleveland Rams.

In the first quarter, the Redskins had the ball on their own five-yard line. Sammy ball threw the ball, but the ball hit the goalposts, which at the time was on the goal line instead of the back of the end zone and bounced back into the end zone. Under the rules at the time, this was ruled of safety and gave the Rams a 2-0-0 lead. Washington lost that game 15 to 14. Wow.

I do remember now that you've mentioned the final score. I think I've seen that before. That would have given your franchise six NFL championships, not five, six, one more than the Dallas Cowboys, who also have five Super Bowl titles. They have no NFL pre-super Bowl titles. But that would have given you six NFL titles, not the least of which was Washington missed two fourth-quarter field goals that would have given them the win. And at halftime, because the field was so ice. Washington had brought sneakers with them to change into if the conditions got too bad.

But the coach for Washington, Doug DeGroote, had made an agreement before the game with Cleveland coach Adam Walsh, who didn't have access to other shoes, basically that Washington would not use their sneakers in the game. And George Marshall went down, told him to put the shoes on, and the coach would. couldn't do it, so he fired the coach at halftime of a championship game. Oh, my God. Really? Yeah. Yes. Wow. That is the worst loss in franchise history.

Well, I certainly didn't have that one on my list. And when you said 1945, I thought you were going to say 73 nothing to the Bears, but that was 1940, right? I think there was 1940. Yes, that was 1940. which is the worst loss. This was one they should have won. Yeah. I think many people would say, you know, it's certainly people my age or within, you know,

that realm of having lived through their glory years, that Super Bowl 18, the 38 to 9 loss, and that Super Bowl would be the worst. But it wasn't the most heartbreaking because it wasn't a close game. They never had a chance. The Raiders dominated that Super Bowl. For me, it's the 79 game, and I'm going to give you number two right now. The Mel Gray controversial catch in 1975 referred to as the Mel Gray game was just one of the worst because not only did they call it incomplete.

Let me give you the situation. 1975 George Allen Skins. They ended up missing the playoffs by one game. They ended up missing winning the division by one game. No, miss the wild card by one game. I think that's what it was. And they're playing St. Louis, a division team back then, in St. Louis late in the season. And they're up 17 to 10, and Jim Hart, the quarterback for the Cardinals, on 4th and 10 with 20 seconds left in a game, throws into the end zone to Mel Gray.

And Pat Fisher breaks it up incomplete. This is one of those where if you actually watched, go search the Mel Gray catch against Washington. Okay? I mean, it's such a joke that they ultimately ruled this as a catch because now, not only do you have to catch it, you have to come to the ground with it, you have to make a football, you know, the whole thing. This dude had it in his hands for a second and then had it broken up by Fisher. The referees called it incomplete, and then all of a sudden they huddled up.

The referees did in St. Louis. And then five minutes pass, 10 minutes pass. And then after about 10, 11, 12 minutes, they come. come out of the huddle and the referee, the main referee, throws his arms up in the air and says, touchdown. And they kick the extra point. The game goes to overtime. They lose 20 to 17.

That was devastating. But let me give you heartbreaking because that was the, that's the most rob they've ever been. Heartbreaking was the Sean Taylor week when they played Buffalo. And, you know, the week after Sean Taylor passed away. and they played Buffalo at home. It is still one of the more surreal days that I've ever had as a sports fan. I'm talking specifically about sports. And the moment of silence before the kickoff was,

I've never heard a stadium more silent than that. Anyway, most of you recall the game. Buffalo's up 17, Washington's up 16 to 14. at the very end of the game, and Buffalo trots on their kicker, Ryan Lindell for a 53-yard field goal down 16 to 14. And Joe Gibbs calls back-to-back timeouts. Well, you can't do that in the NFL. You can do that in college.

You can't do that in the NFL. Joe didn't know it. And they walked off 15 yards, and Lindel had a short 36-yard field goal that he knocked through, and they lost 19 to 17. I lost 17 to 16. That was heartbreaking. I felt I felt so awful for Joe.

So awful. And of course, after that game, typical of a Joe Gibbs team, they didn't lose again after that and they got to the postseason where they lost. You know, they lost to Seattle in the first round. But they went on that run with Todd Collins down the stretch, won four games and made the playoffs off that gut-wrenching ending against Buffalo. There are other losses. Super Bowl 7 was a tough loss to take. But the 79 Cowboys loss for me, that's, it was over.

Like it was here, we're on the verge. We're two minutes away from going to the playoffs and having home field advantage to we're not even playing in the playoffs. That way, against your arch rival. Man, Staubeck could do it with the game on the line. But as you and I have talked about many times over the years, If they had won that game, they probably would have never gotten Joe Gibbs. Probably not.

Jack Pardee would not have been gone after the next season. That's right. Do you have anything else? I got nothing else for you, boss. Let me just tell everybody right now, even though you'd probably expect me to give Atlanta out as a smell test pick tonight plus the six and a half plus the seven. I'm not doing it.

I got information early this morning that they're, There's major super sharp money on the Patriots. Now, the public's on the Patriots too. But the line opened at five and a half. It's up to seven now. I'm going to stay off of it. I like Atlanta because every one of my dopy friends thinks that New England's going to kill Atlanta.

New England won last week 45 to 7. Atlanta lost 43 to 3. It is a league of recency and recent impressions. And I bet Atlanta plays well tonight. But it's not a smell test pick. Plenty of smell test picks, though, tomorrow to try to follow up on my 8-0, Tommy, 8-0 weekend. Oh, by the way. Yeah.

Let me give me my thoughts on what's going to happen Sunday. Yeah, give me a pick on the game. Okay. Washington 27, Carolina 24. Okay. A last second game-winning field goal by Joey Sly, the Vegas guy. And the former Panther. Yes.

All right. 2724 Washington. I will talk to you next week. Thanks. Okay, boss. Mark Stern will join us next and we will reminisce about 10 years ago today on the sports fix when Christopher Walken came on and talked about Natalie Wood. Right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Well, we don't have the audio of what happened 10 years ago.

I looked for it and could not find it. I asked various people that I thought might have it, but they don't have it. We tease this at the beginning of the podcast. 10 years ago today, November 18th, 2011, on the Sports Fix, version 1.0, Tom, Leverro, Kevin, Sheehan, Mark Stern, the triumvirate of Sports Fix characters. But there was one character missing from the day, and I didn't know that until Tommy Mark told me earlier. said, I wasn't there that day. I was at Wyoming. And I said, I, you know, he wasn't there for the earthquake day either. And you weren't there for the earthquake day. You were both on vacation. No, you weren't on vacation. You were producing some other show that day. Because remember,

you were the one that went back up into the building before the all clear sign. And I could hear Doc on the other end of the line, like talking to the lab speaker. Is anybody there? What's going on? I think it was something that. I think it was a little bit of a lot. I think it was a lot of it. earthquake, but I'm here. So can you pop me up? Yeah, sure. With him. I forgot. I forgot Tommy was in Wiremania, and it was just me and you doing the show that day for the walking thing. Yeah. Yeah, he wasn't there. It was just the two of us. And just before I let you take over and tell the story of the day, we kind of mentioned this

earlier in the show, but Mark, most of you know who Mark is. Mark was, is one of my very good friends. Mark is also was the producer of the sports fix for all seven and a half years of the sports fix. And he is, I think most of you know, he is Nigel, his British alter ego Nigel on the Tony Cornheiser show. And on the sports fix, Stern does a lot of impersonations. He's a comic. He's a stand-up comic and he does a lot of impersonations. But I think, you know, over the years, the impersonation that you've been most known for, especially among our group, is your impersonation of one Christopher Walken. So I don't know how the idea came about. I think I pushed you.

I'm like, we got to work Walking into the show somehow. And then we came up with this bit that lasted several years where Christopher Walken would come on Friday show. And we made it out, and we tried to explain to everybody that Christopher Walken for some reason, even though he's an actor and he's not from here and he lives in L.A. He's a huge Washington Redskins fan. He goes to a lot of the games, and we would have him come on and talk about the matchup, whoever the skins were playing that weekend, and then give some fantasy football tips, and Stern would do that. And it was a running bit that literally each week, 50% of the people would say,

this is amazing that Christopher Walken comes on your show. I mean, really, right? I mean... Well, if you remember, too, you would always ask Chris what he was up to, like what project he was involved in. And we would come up with some, like, focused movies that, like, sounded just plausible enough that you're like,

now, wait a minute, is he really doing a reboot of Gilligan's Island with Megan Fox? And he's playing to prevent it. Like, like, wait a minute. All right, I'm putting you on the spot, but do it real quickly.

I'm putting you on the spot, and I know you hate that. Van Pelt hates it too when I put him on the spot for impersonations. But give everybody an example of, you know, we would do this thing. I'd say, Chris, welcome back to the show, man. How you've been doing?

What are you working on these days? Right. Well, I'll just tell you, first off, before, Kev, it's fantastic to hear your voice again. And I'm right now in the walking Winnebago with Chase Young. I'm taking the rehab. The poor kid blew his ACL out. It's a shame.

I hate it. But life is good. Taylor Heineke is a fantastic quarterback. And I'm just thrilled at the wind over the box. Yes, there you go. Are you going to be in Charlotte this weekend for the game against the Panthers? Right. Well, I would, but I'm working on a new movie with David McCovney.

And Megan Fox, I wish she was going to be a part of it, but no, Shirley McLean is going to be in this role as well. It's science fiction flick. I play an FBI skeptic, Becumby, and sort of an exfilesish reunion. it's going to be fantastic. So that was the bit every Friday. And then I would ask something like, all right, who are you sitting and who are you starting this week?

Right, right. And it would literally go from the absurd and then to like, yeah, like walk in with your fix and you got to start Adrian Peterson and all this. Right. And yeah. And I think we did it for most of like the time that we did

the show. I think it was, I think we did it for the whole show, didn't we? It was a several a year Friday during football season bit. And then I think, you know, I think, you know, like we would do this thing around draft time where we would say, I would say, you know, to Tommy and you, I'd say, look, I got a text from walking. He wants to come on and talk about the draft. And then we would do that. And people would be like blown away. They would be like, I don't get it. Why? And I would just say, like remember we would say if callers would say something. I would say he's a huge skins fan. And he listens to a lot of the shows on the station. What do you want me to

tell you. Anyway, so let's get to the day in question. Ten years ago today. You're going to have a better memory, I think, of how the whole thing came together and what the news was, but I'll let you tell what happened. So, yeah, I'll sit the back story. So obviously this tragic death of Natalie Wood. And this is the anniversary of that date for whatever year it was. Maybe now it's like 40 years gone. And Christopher Walken was on the boat with Robert Young, and he has never talked about it. Robert Wagner, right? Robert Wagner, I'm sorry, Robert Wagner. And had never talked about it. And the anniversary was coming up in 2011, which I can't believe it's been 10 years. And the captain of the boat was making the rounds on like the Today Show and stuff like that, talking about things that have never been reported for. So it was a big news item. And we were talking about. before the show, and it happened to be the day that we were going to be doing walking, and you're like, well, I have to ask walking about this.

It was like, ah, I don't know. It's like, real life stuff, you know, and you're like, come on, it'll be fun. Let's just do it, let's just see how it goes. So we did it, and, you know, as we always did, we sort of did improv stuff off our top of her head, just rifting the two of us, and you asked me what would happen that night and, you know, and it was walking. I essentially said something like, right, there was lots of shouts. outing and Sambuka, and I went to my forward bunk, and I read a Hardy Boys novel, and then I went to sleep, and when I woke badly, it was gone.

Tragic Day, tragic day. And, you know, and that was about it. We went back and forth a little bit, and then he said, well, who you got this week? Yeah. Lamar Jackson is going to throw the ball, you know, time. It was like just immediately into fantasy football stuff. and the late great Joe White of the AP was listening to the show, and I guess didn't know the bit as he should have,

but he thought that was legitimately Christopher Walken. So you and I finish up the show. We go on our way, and I go to the gym. And as I'm walking into the gym, this woman from Aitline or something like that calls me one of the new shows, and says, Mr. Stern. I'm like, yeah, who's just like, oh, so-and-so from, you know, daylight. Hey, do you have the audio from Mr. Walken being on your show earlier today?

I was like, what are you talking about? It was insane. And she's like, no, Chris Walker talking. She's never spoken. We've got to get this audio. This is the biggest story in the country right now. And I was like, what are you? What?

I was like, oh, you're going to be so disappointed about five seconds. She said, why? And I said, right, because it's me, sweetheart. It was all just me. It's like, no. And I was like, yes, that was the story. So then I started to realize this. becoming a very big story.

And what I later found out was when the AP, when they designate, like, degrees of like importance for a story, Red apparently is like the biggest story. Everything stops. This is the lead story. And earlier in that day, and I know you remember this day well

because it was very important to you, Ashton Couture and Demi Moore broke up. So that was the biggest story of the day. Yeah. And apparently, Joe White caught, you know, of the AP, calls in just stop the press, I got the story

Walk and Talk So it was like Red paint over everything in AP This became like literally The biggest story in the country And then It sort of was put out That it was a radio hoax

And we were And we push back on that heart Because we're like It's not a hoax We this is a bit that we do You know Like we weren't trying to fool it But we were just have fun

So And that was more like You know, I did a bunch of interviews I think a little on Hollywood access Hollywood. Yeah.

With Billy Bush, who had, actually I had ripped off the impersonation. Oh, right. I just apologize. I don't do the voice as much as I used to. So if the audience is listening to right of it. Well, I do want you because you kind of faded out a little bit. I want you to just repeat what was the line that essentially made Joe White, the Associated Press reporter, pull over on the side of the road and say,

oh, my God. this is a massive story. Just into the phone a little bit more clearly, the whole, you know, the shouting, the tragedy, what exactly was, when I said to you on the air that day, so what exactly happened that night? You said as Christopher Walken. Right.

Well, Kev, what I tell you is when I tell the police then, you know, there was shouting a night full of Sambuca, and I went to my forward bunk, and I read a Hardy Boys novel because I'm a big fan of those rastly little kids. And when I awoke, Natalie was gone. And it was a tragedy for all of us. Natalie was gone. And there you go.

And that was it. Right. That was it. So, I mean, for everybody that's unfamiliar, that was like the most news about the Natalie Wood, very famous, mysterious death, which, by the, way happened in 19, like, 81 or 82 or something, right? It was the early 80s whenever it happened. I'm thinking 81 because I think this is like the date of the big anniversary. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, here, Natalie Wood. She was a looker. That's for sure. She was such a unique talent. She was so

brilliant. Just a magic about her. And it was this, it was one of those people in Hollywood. you loved. And her and Robert Wagner with this great couple, and it was just shocked. They were on a boat. You know, nobody really knew what happened. She drowned. They didn't know whether she was drunk and fell off the boat or something like awful would happen.

And Walken, who was there, because he was very close with the two of them, had never spoken about it. So this rumor that he finally had took over everything and it just became monstrous. So, by the way, Natalie Wood, I would not put her in the same

category as Sharon Tate, you know, in 1969 with the Manson thing. But this was, this was a big, you know, story. And again, the fact that Walkin was speaking about it for the first time made Joe White, the AP reporter. And we all knew Joe, because Joe covered the football team for the Associated press. God rest his soul. And Joe, you know, wrote it up and it hit the wires. And literally within five minutes after I walked out of that studio. I think it was Sapienza was coming up to me going, what happened on the show? I'm getting calls from CNN

and MSNBC, and they need to talk to you guys about something that went on on the show. And I'm like, what are you talking about? And then it occurred to me, oh my God, it's the Natalie Wood thing, but well, how would anybody know? I mean, we're a little sports talk radio show in D.C.

Well, it's because Joe White wrote an immediate story. It hit the wire. It blew up. And, you know, Mark, you know, everybody, of course, everybody pointed all of the activity towards the producer of the show, which was Mark. And, you know, if you still Google, you know, Associated Press, Natalie Wood, Christopher Walkin, 980, you'll see all the stories that were written about it on that particular day. because it was a massive national story until, you know, until Stern told everybody that, you know, it's just, it's this bit that we do.

Yeah, it's this bit. I was like you're picking fantasy football team, you know? And, you know, everything was great. I mean, it was fun telling people the story, and we were having lots of laughs with it. After we figured out that we weren't going to get fired over it, it was like, okay, things are cool. And then I saw a phrase in one story like a day or two later,

and it was that Mr. Walken has retained an attorney over this incident. And I was like, oh, no, no, no, no. Oh, really? Oh, I don't remember that part. Well, he didn't do anything. He didn't sue anybody or threaten anybody. No, no. But I was terrified at getting knocked on my door.

Right. Sunshine, you had your fun, you had your laugh. Now it's time to pay the PIPA. Yeah. You know. I think you would have appreciated the whole bit. It would have been funny. But like I just,

you know, I just did what I just recommended everybody do. Just Google 980 Natalie Wood. And here's, you know, there's 30 stories. The Hollywood Reporter. Natalie Wood Death. Christopher Walken Radio interview is a hoax.

You know? And it tells the whole story of the day. It was, it was crazy. It really was. But also pretty funny. Oh, it was great fun. And I think, I don't know if I'm still on it, but I know I'm walking Wikipedia page,

I was officially listed as one of the great walking impersonators. Really? Wow. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, it was pretty cool. And I just go back to Kevin, the whole idea of that bit coming up with the two of us, and executing it weekend we had, it was one of the most fun things that we did on that show. I laughed every single time.

It was always great fun. And to get that sort of like, you know, publicity out of this one thing was sort of amazing. But I just was like, look, it's a really good bit. You know, we got to keep doing this. And it was, I don't know, I always loved doing that. That was one of my favorite things for my time with the sports thing. For those of you that need to hear it, one of the greatest sports shows of all time. I'll just say that for the record.

And who knew Christopher Walken was a big hearty boys guy? That's a shocker to me. Right, right. By the way, do you know what happened next week? Because it was such a, you know, the hooplobber, next week you asked Walkin, hey, is there anything you want to correct about that story? And I think I said, yes. It wasn't a Hardy Boys novel. It was a Nancy Drew novel. I don't remember that. I don't remember that. I do, I do remember just the whole Sambuca. There was some Sambuca, there was some shouting, and then just tragedy. And I mean, and I can just picture, you know, Joe White just listening going, oh, my God. And, you know, Joe, look, he should have called the station. He should have said, I mean, you know, he should have, I mean, yeah. But whatever.

That was fun. It's funny because in August I had Spector on to talk about the earthquake day, which was 10 years ago in August on the sports fix. and you weren't there and Tommy wasn't there, but we did find the audio of that. I think you even have the audio of that. I do have the audio. I play that occasionally on the Kornheiser show. But, yeah, that was, I was,

so I was in the Verizon store right next to where the station was. You know, I think you, I think because everybody was doing vacations, I think some of the other producers were out and then, and Chuck probably said, do you mind not producing sports fix today and producing the afternoon show or something like that. Something probably happened where you had to fill in for somebody. And then Stephen, who by the way has had a

nice career out in Kansas City. He's the program director. He does a really good show. I think it's 610 in Kansas City, the Sports Talk Station. But we were there and then you and I remember outside and the whole building's outside. It's a beautiful August day.

And you and I are both looking at each other going are we seriously going to just stand out here for the rest of the day? Because Because, like, you know, half the people basically were like, I don't want to go back to work. But we wanted to go back, get our work done, and get the hell out of there. And you just said, at one point, you just said, fuck it, I'm going in. And you did. And then you called me and you said, it's all clear.

I mean, there's no damage in the building here. We're good. And the truth is, we had no idea what, you know, because there really was a lot of damage from that earthquake. As we know, I mean, it seems like the cathedral was worked on for, you know, all. up until very recently. All right, that was great. Thanks for doing this. Absolutely, man. I love chat with you, you know that, and this is a great show,

and you're the best. Thank you, brother. Mark Stern, aka Nigel on the Tony Kornheiser podcast and show, and my good friend. All right, that's it for the day. Back tomorrow with a football Friday.