The Kevin Sheehan Show - View Of Commanders: Local Vs National

Episode Date: June 28, 2023

Kevin and Thom today on a number of topics including Shohei Ohtani to start. Then the boys had a conversation about the view of the Commanders locally vs nationally. Dennis Rodman claimed Larry Bird would be relegated to playing in Europe if he were playing today. The guys' reaction to that one ends the show. 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 Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy is here. I am here. I want to start the show by sending my condolences to Joe Rada's family.

Early yesterday morning, Joe passed away suddenly. It was a shock to so many around this city because Joe touched the lives of so many in this city. Joe's been the athletic director. at Gonzaga for many years. He's been a very, very important figure, a significant figure in the WCAC, which is the most competitive high school conference, not just in this city, but perhaps in the country, certainly in basketball. Joe was an AD, he was a coach, he was an educator. He had such a positive influence on so many young people over the years. He was kind. He was kind. He was always seemed optimistic.

More importantly, he was a father and a husband, and Tommy, his Gonzaga family is in shock. Many of us just saw Joe over the weekend. He was at CJ's wedding over the weekend, and he looked great. I saw him Friday night. He was a huge fan of the station. He was a huge fan of this show. I've loved my conversations with Joe over the years. It was not unusual while I was on the air for Joe to text me to say,

hey, show sounds awesome. I just want to let you know that we beat McNamara last night by 7, just in case you want to fit that into the show. But he just is going to be missed so much by so many. and I'm so glad I had a chance, and I know so many people that were at CJ's wedding that know Joe are sitting here in shock, but at the same time, you know, happy that they had a chance to see him the other night. And he looked great to all of us on Friday and Saturday. You know, Tommy, I don't think, and I think about this often when I come into contact and I get to know.

people like Joe and know a lot of the coaches, or certainly several of the coaches in the area. I don't think parents of kids that come into contact with people like Joe, I don't think all of them realize the impact and influence that, you know, teachers and coaches and mentors in grade school and high school have on their sons and daughters. You know, it's like one of those professions that still to me doesn't get recognized for the importance. And, you know, I think a lot of people have understood that, you know, with respect to compensation and other things, and that's been a conversation in the past. But I think so many parents in particular are way too wrapped up in their own lives. I'm not being critical, you know, you're trying to make it. You know, you, you know, people are working.

People are, you know, are in that day-to-day grind. But I think sometimes they, don't realize how many good people like Joe are out there that are really influencing their sons and daughters' lives in such a positive way. And, you know, it's getting harder and harder for these teachers and coaches. It's not getting easier. Yeah. And I'm sure people said that about my generation and your generation compared to the generations that came before that. But anyway, go ahead. I mean, I recognize that Some educators create lifelong connections with some of their students. And it's usually because the student remembers that this particular educator cared about them.

You know, when there really was, I mean, for me, it was always like, you know, this guy or this woman cared about me when there was really no reason to care about me. give any reason to care about me, but they did. And that's something you don't forget, the connections with the people who cared about you when you were going through the, you know, fun but difficult time of growing up. Do you have somebody that you remember that really was a positive influence from school at any point during school or a coach that comes to mind? That's one. You know, it's just one. And it's funny, he was a football coach, and I didn't play football. But he was an English teacher as well.

Ed Christian, who went on to become the football coach at East Trousburg High School for 35 years, won multiple championships in the Pennsylvania coaching high school coaching Hall fame. He was my English teacher for two years in high school. and he cared about me. I mean, I wasn't a football player. I gave him no reason to care about me. I was just screw up in high school. You know, I barely got out.

But he saw something that, you know, other people didn't care to see or just weren't paying attention. And he was hard on me sometimes, but I could always tell he was interested. And, you know, to this day, I have a fond memory. of the fact that he literally went out of his way, you know, to try to get me through that. So, yeah, I understand those connections. I've always been impressed as an outsider with the strong sense of community Gonzaga has.

I've always been impressed with that. It's a huge community, and it's very close-knit. I was with a bunch of those people last night. There are a couple of those schools. Georgetown prep has it. You know, DeMath. I mean, we could go on and on. Some of the public schools have it as well. You know, it's funny when you were talking about, I didn't play football in high school either.

I played through ninth grade, but I did not play after that. I played basketball in high school. But the football coach, the varsity football coach, was a math teacher. and I had him for math at one point, I think in 10th grade for maybe the first semester of 10th grade. When I went to high school, Tommy, ninth grade was not, we didn't have a freshman class at Whitman and Bethesda. It was 10th, 11th, 12th grade. My middle school, or what we called junior high school, was 7th, 8th, and 9th. So my first year in high school was 10th grade.

The football coach was my math teacher that first semester. And I'm going to tell you about another math teacher in a second. I didn't play football, but I was into football. And I was into understanding point spreads and odds on football games. Now, it wasn't as, you know, popular back then. just tell you that when I walked into his class, what was open on his desk was the daily racing forum. All right? So he was very much into the horses and I understood all of that. So I quickly became a favorite of his. And I mean, there were days he couldn't wait for me to get

into class to talk about the previous days races or the, you know, the points. of the NFL and college games coming up that week. But actually, it was a math teacher my second semester of my first year in high school. Mrs. Goldman, I will never forget her. I was like, I didn't, I ended up loving high school, and I loved everything about high school after the fact. But that first year in high school was not an easy transition year for me. And that second semester, I was, I remember, I skipped a lot of classes, you know, with a couple of friends. And it's not that I was heading down any kind of wrong path necessarily, but I wasn't necessarily heading down the right path either.

And Mrs. Goldman, who was a math teacher, and I was actually a very good math student. I think I've said this before. I was not a, I'm in a communications career. I was not a great English student or a literature student. I was a very good math student, always from the time that I was a young kid throughout. Like my SAT math scores were great. My SAT verbal scores were not great. But anyway, I had, you know, basically forged a signature for two straight days.

of missing her classes, you know, forging one of those notes from, you know, it was my father, because I was living with my father at the time, and signing, you know, his name to it. And she knew. And she, I could have gotten in a lot of trouble, but instead she took a different tact with me. And she knew that I was capable, but for whatever reason I was struggling in that class. All I remember about her was that she had just lost her husband. to leukemia. He had passed away literally within the last like six months and then she was back teaching kids every day and there was a sadness about her and I'll never forget this. And by the way, I have no idea how old she was. You know, we have this recollection of our teachers in school being

much older than they really were. She could have been in her 20s, you know, her mid to late 20s. I bet she was no older than 30 or 31 at the time. So she was young. But for whatever reason, she reached out and she said, I know you're going through like a difficult time and sort of transitioning. And she knew I was a capable math student. And I, in that first quarter of the second semester, I got the worst grade I've ever gotten in math, ever. I didn't fail, but it was like a D. And then the second quarter of that second semester with staying with her hanging out with her like after school for 45 minutes. I got an A plus. Like I got a 97. And I, and I remember her so. He didn't get paid for that 45 minutes. No, she didn't. And I, I kind of thought about it years afterwards because

she always stuck out to me as somebody, Mr. Bryson too, for any. anybody that went to Whitman and had Mr. Bryson for American AP history, he was very memorable as well. But Mrs. Goldman was absolutely someone who I remembered, and I remembered all the while that she was going through this incredible, you know, incredibly difficult time as well. You know, let me tell you a little bit about Ed Christian, a story that wound up, you know, when I was a junior in high school, this happened, and it wound up resonating with me 30 years later. I had him for 11th grade English, like I said, I mean, I barely got through high school, and we had to read a fellow. He made us read a fellow. And I'd rather stick needles in my eyes.

I loved a fellow. That was a, that's a Shakespeare that I loved, but go ahead. And read a fellow, and it was so bad that I couldn't even bother to read it. the cliff notes. And I failed a big exam. And he pulled me aside. He said, you know, you're going to have to take this class again next year because

you're failing. And he said, you know, he gave me this big lecture. I said, but I'm doing good in my other classes, I told him. And he said, like what? I said, social studies. I said, I'm doing really good at social studies. So he takes me down the hall.

This is during class. He takes me down the hall to my social studies teacher, holds him out of class, and says, how is he doing in social studies? And I was, because social studies consisted of pretty much read the newspaper, which I did every day. So I knew what was going on in the country and in the world for an 11th grader. So that convinced him that he said, I'm going to give you another chance. He said, and he hands me a copy of the old man in the sea. He says, I want to. you to read this and do a report on it. Well, you know, the old man in the sea is not a fellow.

It's only 130 pages, and it's a riveting 130 pages. And by the way, you look like the author, apparently. And I did a report. I did a great report. It saved my grade. Only because he cared about that. He didn't just, like, just dismiss it and just said, you're out. You know, he cared about it.

Now, 30 years later, I'm in Kohimar, Cuba just outside of Havana, and I'm interviewing the old man, Gregorio Flentes, from the old man in the sea. Hemingway's shipmate. He was like 102 years old at the time, and I'm sitting there interviewing him. His grandson charged me $1 a minute to interview him. Really? A dollar a minute? Oh, wow.

Yes. try to haggle that dollar down to 50 cents a minute? No, no, I did. Good. It's just a wild. It was just a wild time that whole Cuba trip. But then I wrote a column about him. You know, Gregorio Flentes was his name.

And most people believe he was the model for the old man in the old man in the sea that Hemingway wrote. So, and I thought of all I could think of was And making me read that book That's really cool And what he would think, yeah, what he would think about you getting to interview this guy Yes You know, as we're talking about this, I'm also thinking And I know I've talked about him before

But my high school basketball coach Marty Dickerson Who passed away suddenly just a few years ago At a pretty young age as well although not as young as Joe. Joe was too young. Marty was 69, but Marty, I think I've told you this story before, but it was one of the great lessons kind of for all of us

that played for him on how to kind of hang in there, not concede when it appears as if your season's about to buckle which way it can and figure out a way to succeed. We lost our first five games, my senior year, by an average of 25 points a game. And then I think I've told you the story before. I know I've talked about this before with those of you that are listening. But he said, you know, practice tomorrow morning, 8 a.m. It was a Saturday morning after we had gotten blown out.

I think it's Seneca Valley on Friday night. And he comes in and he installs a double high post delay offense. No shot clock back then. In fact, in fact, public schools didn't. get a shot clock until very recently. And we became so proficient at running that delay offense. First game we put it in was at Blair. They were ranked 10th in the city. It was three to two at half time and we lost 19 to 18 in double overtime. And after that, we went on a win streak and we ended up winning, I think, 10 of our final 12 games. We missed the postseason by like a game.

And if we had gotten into the playoffs, nobody would have wanted to play us because we beat some really good teams along the way. And Seneca Valley, who was a, you know, everybody that grew up in Montgomery County or even just in the area remembers that in the 80s. And before that, Seneca Valley was a powerhouse locally in football. They were really good in basketball for many years as well. and they were number one in the city. Dematha was number two. They had actually beaten Dunbar, D.C., the public school Dunbar in D.C.,

and we lost to him by a point in overtime. We were really good at running this offense, and it was like, and Marty was just, he was just such a, he was tough, but he also was clever. And he was like, look, we don't have the size and we definitely don't have the, the quickness or athleticism to match up with a lot of the teams we're playing, but there is a way that we can compete and that we can win,

and we figured it out. And we started to win. And, you know, it's still a regret for all of us that if, you know, that we didn't make the postseason because, you know, you wipe out the record. And a lot of teams made the postseason. Like, we ended up with a losing record, but still were within a game of qualifying, you know, as like the play-in. round, but nobody would have wanted to play us at that point.

And by the way, we became so, you know, good at running this and lulling people into backdoor layups that we started to score in the 30s, even into the 40s. But still, those are incredibly low-scoring games. You know, we were winning games like 36 to 29 and 40 to 32, you know, but there were a couple, like the game we lost to Seneca Valley, I think, was 31 to 30 in overtime. But anyway, he was a great influence in somebody that every one of us that played on his very first team, by the way, at Whitman, because he had won a state title at Blair before he came to Whitman. All of us were impacted from that experience in such a positive way and have great memories of it. There are a group of us that get together.

We're on text threads together, and we talk, you know, all. the time and get together once a year. And it was sad when he passed a few years ago. But anyway, I think everybody's got those teachers and or coaches that, you know, made an impact because they do. And, you know, more parents complain about the coaches and teachers than actually praise them. And look, there are probably some coaches and teachers that deserve, you know, to be

criticized. but for the most part, most of these people do such a great job. Anyway, a long way of getting around to, you know, sympathies to Joe's family, because he is going to be missed for sure. Anyway, how about Shohei Atani,

Tommy? I mean, we're, you're a baseball person. You're a Hall of Fame baseball writer. For those that didn't follow what Otani did last night, he struck out 10 and hit two home runs in the same game. He set, I think he's tied the record or set the record for most home runs in a month for an Angels player.

But what are we watching right now? I mean, we're watching the clear MVP for this season, right? Like nobody's even a close second right now. How do you describe them? Well, again, it's, I mean, you have to go back to Babe Ruth to find something equivalent, and Dave Ruth was only able to do this for about four or five years early in his career until he became a full-time player and not pitching anymore. I think Bruce probably could have done this.

He was that good of a pitcher as well if he continued to do it. But that's, you know, we haven't seen anything like this since then. There's nothing in baseball. I mean, it's difficult to describe, even. I mean, because, you know, he doesn't show any fall off. I mean, he's on pace for like 56 home runs this year. I know. I mean, it's just amazing.

Imagine if he played in New York. I mean, I don't, there's just some, look, I'm not a West Coast guy, so it's easy for me to say. But, you know, I think in a lot of ways, media-wise, we're an eastern country, East Coast country, you know? And, you know, I mean, O'Anne is great. Fernando Valenzuela comes to mind as a West Coast baseball pitcher that became a phenomenon. I don't know if I believe that as much.

I mean, I know what you're saying. You're right. But there are examples. Maybe it's a picture for the Dodgers instead of the Angels, which is, you know, really ridiculous since they're both in the same market, it would have a bigger impact. But I tell you what, people are going to watch the All-Star game this year, probably more than they usually do, just to see Otani, you know, featured as a featured star in the All-Star game.

He right now through, you know, we're approaching the midpoint of the season. He leads the majors in OPS, home runs with 28, RBIs with 64. Among 65 qualified pitchers, he's got the 15th best ERA at 3.02. He's got the third most strikeouts at 127. And he's got the lowest batting average against. Teams are hitting 180 against 10. him. So it's really not, I mean, you're following this more closely than I am, but there's not even, well, I'll look up the odds right now. He's got to be like a massive favorite to win

the MVP this year. At my bookie right now, Otani is minus 847 to win the American League MVP. like that's as much of a favorite as you can get at this point in a season. It's not even worth discussing. I mean, Franco's plus 4600. He's the second pick. Unbelievable. What a heavy favorite he is to win the MVP. I'm sorry, go ahead.

Well, he'll be a free agent at the end of the year, and obviously this will be the record-breaking free agent. I don't know how much. money he'll wind up getting, but it'll certainly be more than anyone else gets. And, you know, Sports Illustrated published a list a few months ago about potential teams to where he might go unless he signs an extension with the Angels. You know, the Dodgers are number one. You know, they did not spend a lot of money this winter on their payroll.

and that seems like a natural for the Dodgers would be number one they have the Padres at number two but the Padres are hurting financially their TV deal was with the Diamond Sports

the offshoot of offshoot of Sinclair the regional sports network that has basically collapsed and so they don't have the TV money that they thought they had plus they have you know, a pretty high payroll. So I don't see the Padres coming into play.

The Giants and the Mariners, all these West Coast teams are right among them. The Mets, I mean, the Mets right now are a disaster. I think Steve Cullen, the owner, is having a press conference today to address that. I saw a report where Max Scherzer said he'd be willing to entertain trades if the Mets wanted to trade him because it doesn't look like they're going anywhere. And then the Yankees are like seventh on this list, and the Texas Rangers are eight. Who's not on this list are the Washington.

No. No, they're not in position right now. I mean, the nationals, they don't know who their owner would be. At this point, a new owner will probably not be in place by the time the free agent market comes around this winter. But if there was a new owner, Could you make a bigger splash? No.

Would Transparent Ted do it? I don't know that he would do it. I don't know if transparent Ted would do it. No, I don't think he would do it if Ted winds up being the owner. But he's not coming here. O'Tonnie in Washington, D.C. would be a huge, huge hit. Josh Harris has a better chance of landing him to play quarterback than the Nats do to getting him to play. I was thinking about where Otani.

Excuse me. I was thinking about where Otani stacks up right now among the best team sport athletes. And to me, I don't know. I think most sports fans in the country would say somebody like Patrick Mahomes or Yokic. Yes. Or even maybe somebody... I think Patrick Mahomes. Yeah, Mahomes would be one.

I'm not sure about Yokic. I don't know. I mean, the NBA is, I think, slightly more popular than Major League Baseball, isn't it? Oh, I don't think so. I'm not talking about live audience. I think it is in every other. No, it's not. Not in ratings either.

It's not. It's third behind. And plus, look it, Yokic looks like, what we're talking about O'Connie is what an amazing athlete he is. Yokic looks like he could play basketball. ball in horseshoes, and that's about it. I don't know about that, but I know what you're saying in terms of body type and the kind of athleticism that people think of when they talk about athleticism. Otani, let me just say this.

Otani should be considered. You give Otani four weeks and he could play in the NBA. Otani should be considered. And let me, this is just a thought off the top of my head. actually out of all these people that we've mentioned, and even if you throw in people like Janus and others into the conversation, Otani's athleticism in the way you think of athleticism combined with what is baseball's most important thing,

which is a skill. It's a highly skilled sport. I mean, you can't take, like, I don't know, Patrick Mahomes would probably be great baseball player, great basketball player, great everything. But there are football players that would struggle mightily in baseball. Baseball is such a, there's so much more skill involved. If you aren't skilled, if you don't have great hand-eye, if you don't, like you can't play that sport. Otani has, I think, the athleticism on top of the incredible skill. I mean, I think you can make the case of Tani's the best athlete on the planet right now, all around athlete.

If you include... Professional athlete. I mean, I don't know if there's any soccer players who would be on that list. Messy's older. I mean, he would be the one that most people point to, I think. I know. I know. Messi. So how did it happen that the best baseball player in the world is from Japan? I don't know. You tell me. I mean, it's pretty remarkable. book. A lot of people thought Itturo Suzuki was the best player in a major league when he played. Right. And there was another guy who we never got to see enough of because he played up in Seattle. Right.

You know? Yeah. But, and it's a, you know, a lot of people, ironically, give Babe Ruth a level of credit for the rabid interest of baseball in Japan because of a, a Japanese tour that he led of Major League players in the mid-30s that generated a lot of interest. Now, there was baseball in Japan before that, but in some research, he's considered the guy who kick-started baseball in baseball in Japan. I mean, you know, the legend is during World War II, when, and not I don't know if it's true, but this is the lore, that when kamikaze pilots were about to blow up an American destroyer, they would scream, F.U. Babe Ruth. Right.

Yeah. Now, I don't know how anyone knows what kamikaze pilots were saying before they were going to, you know, die. you know, crashing into a ship, but that's the lore. Right. So, I mean, I think the connections between Ruth and Otani are pretty interesting. And, I mean, I don't think it's right for people to say no one's ever, well, no one has ever done this before. I think Ruth could have done it. Incredible story.

By the way, in terms of television ratings for 2022, After all of the football stuff, it's NBA finals games that are ahead of World Series finals games, just as an FI. Really? Yeah. And, by the way, North Carolina Duke's Final Four game is ahead of the World Series games as well. By the way, that's also ahead of the Warrior Celtics NBA Finals series games. And we know that this year's NBA finals were higher. No, it was actually, actually they weren't. The finals were not higher rated than last year, Warrior Celtics,

but the playoffs as a whole were much higher rated than any playoffs in the last, I think, 10 years. Now, I think I've pulled this story before. So I'm repeating myself, but that's what you tend to do when you're as old as I am. Cal Ripkin, when he was coming out of high school, was more highly regarded as a pitcher than a shortstop. and when he was drafted by the Orioles, the scout who drafted him wanted the team to use him as a pitcher. But Earl Weaver was adamant that he wanted Cal as an everyday player rather than just a pitcher.

Because he was that good of a pitcher when he came out of high school. But I'm sure there's a number of guys like that as well. but it was a real debate within the Orioles organization when they drafted Cal if he would be a pitcher or an everyday player and I've always said that that's why Cal was such a good shortstop

because he knew pitching so well and he knew where to put himself on the field behind his pitcher to get the ball at shortstop that's interesting because Coley has told me before sometimes the best office

offensive players are the players that really have played defense before and really understand defense. And he said from a coaching standpoint, a lot of coaches today that want to coach offense start by coaching on defense because, and they end up making better offensive coaches and offensive coordinators if they started coaching defensively. By the way, to keep the baseball conversation just going and making it a Nats conversation. Is there any doubt now that Lane Thomas will be the representative for the Nats and the All-Star game? I mean, he is, he's on fire. Yeah, he is. This is one of Mike Grizzos finds that has worked out. Right. Very well. He came from the Cardinals in the John Lester trade when the Nats had their

sell-off two seasons ago. And, you know, I've been. And, you know, I've been a, you know, under us. I thought Lane Thomas was a good player. He's better than I thought. I've always said that on a really good team, Lane Thomas would be a fourth outfielder, a guy who might play 80 or 90 games a year at different positions

for you. I think he's better than that. I think he'd be a starting player on a good outfield. And they got a fine with Lane Thomas. They did. He is rolling right now. They won last night in Seattle

and 11 7 to 4. He was 2 for 5 with a double and two more RBIs last night, including the go-ahead double and the 11th to give them a 6 to 4 lead.

All right. They're struggling, though. At 21 and 38, I think. 17 games under 500. Yeah, they've played well here recently on this West Coast swing, though. I mean, they beat the Padres, the final two games. They lost the first one of the Mariners the other night, but they won last night, which

means they've won three or four. And, you know, during that stretch where they were losing a lot of those games, a lot of those games were really close and winnable, which I think is why we've seen Davey, you know, get to the point of a level of frustration, including getting tossed the other day, because he knows that they're, you know, they're in these games and they've got a chance. It's not a no-hoper every night. They typically have a chance. I know, but which is why I've also pointed out in a column that losing games like that takes its toll emotionally on a team. Yes.

All right. Up next, we're going to talk about something that we've alluded to here and there over the last few weeks, and that is kind of the national media's view of the commanders. It tends to be a lot different than the local view. That's next right after these words from a few of our sponsors. This segment of the show brought to you by MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.com or MyBooky.ag. Use my promo code, Kevin, D.C., to secure a first deposit bonus of up to $1,000.

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Follow us as well. That's a big help. I did get a couple of tweets that I wanted to read. This was from Jeremy. it's that he quotes me from the show the other day. It's that thing in our business that says content is king, but it's not content is king, it's good content is king. He writes Kevin after spending 20 minutes talking with Tom about Tom's 45th wedding anniversary

that he wasn't even invited to, but somehow you two always make it work. Thank you. Very much Jeremy. And then from, I don't have who this is from, sorry, because I copied and pasted it, and I didn't copy and paste the Twitter handle. Breaking down bare behavior and safety on yesterday's show, brown, black, or grizzlies, they've got tips, insight, and hilarious misinformation.

entertaining as always exclamation point. Thank you on that. Yeah, I don't know that we really knew what we were talking about. That was from... Carson once. Stephen Blackwell. I have the same one. Oh, okay, Stephen Blackwell.

Stephen, good job. Yes, we probably didn't know that much about what we were talking about, although there were a few people that said, yes, Kevin, hunting, you know, especially with the intent of a controlled hunt to thin population, is good for the rest of the population of, you know, example, bears or deer. But, man, that was a pretty black bear. Very handsome animal, for sure. We did a lot on the show yesterday.

Animal rights advocates, animal rights advocates would say if there was a human population explosion, how would you like it if they handled that way to control the population? Yeah, but I'd like to see how they'd react Is that Black Bear, you know, an overpopulated Black Bear population started to rummage around their trash and come into their, you know, family room at night to kind of hang out and watch TV. Let's see how that goes.

By the way, I want to alert everybody about the fact that you led some kind of text attack on me after that show the other day because I well you participated in it because you weren't invited to my my anniversary party. What are you talking about? I was the target of text from you and our good buddy, Chris Spira, because you guys weren't invited to the anniversary party. We were both very hurt. I took some abuse for that.

We were both very hurt from that, yeah. Like I said, I'll have a second anniversary party for my second tier friend. that was Tommy's response because Chris sent out a text to Tommy and I. If it makes you feel any better, Kevin, I didn't make the top 50 to 55 either. And I saw knock on wood with Tommy and King's Soul in person. And I just said, well, you know, he has better friends. And then Tommy said, I'll have a second anniversary party for my second tier friends to which my response was, that's one of the nicest things Tommy's ever said about me, which is true.

True, that I'm a second-tier friend. I made the second-tier so happy about that. So you wanted to talk... It's precarious, though. So you wanted to talk about sort of the national NFL media's view of our team versus kind of our local media and fan view of the team. Yes. And I have this perception, my perception of this, and this is nothing new,

This has been going on, I think, for years, is that somebody's wrong, okay? Because traditionally, the national media, people outside, you know, outside the fan base area, typically has a much lower opinion of the players of this football team. and the hopes of this football team. And that includes bookies, right? Yeah, the sports books don't really view this as a very good football team heading into 2023. They didn't view it as a very good football team heading into 2022 or 2021 or 2020 for that matter. It's been a long time since there were preseason expectations.

You probably got to go back to 2017 to find, you know, an over-under number that was, you know, above 500. But anyway, yes. And I think some local media is usually acts surprised every year by these rankings and this this outside opinion. And certainly a lot of fans do. You know, they, I mean, because, you know, they have this opinion that, you know, every year this team is amassing some kind of juggernaut talent. And I wonder if that's a phenomenon in every city.

Maybe it be. Well, it's not a phenomenon in every city because in Kansas City, everybody has that opinion. National and local media. You know, so it's only in the places where you have bad teams that you have this divergence of opinion. So who's right usually? I actually think that the people who follow their own team locally, and in our case, discuss it in sort of a media environment. I think they usually know the team better.

Now, with that said, not everybody is capable of being, you know, something resembling objective. And let me back up. Like the reporting and the discussion about this football team when the season ended by so many about Lamar Jackson, why on earth isn't Washington pursuing Lamar Jackson? Well, we knew the answer because they couldn't. They're in the midst of this ownership change and they're not going to be allowed to do that, which is why, you know, many of us believe that the whole Sam Howl QB1 label early in January was, you know, in part a convenient play. Because it was, don't look over here at the way the season ended, especially the Cleveland game and the coach not knowing that they could be eliminated from the postseason, you know, later that day, to, hey, we found our guy and we drafted our guy.

But they also knew that they couldn't pursue a big guy in this particular offseason like they had in 2021 with Russell Wilson or in 2020 with Matt Stafford. So, you know, there is a lot of outside a market that the national pundits, the national media just miss on that we obviously living at day to day understand much better. I also do think, though, that the evaluation by those that can at least think somewhat reasonably, fairly, objectively, is better done by those that follow the day to day of the team. Now, sometimes you might say, well, we're too close to it. Like, there are a couple of examples. Like, I think Terry McClorn's been kind of a lightning rod for this conversation in recent years. like our fan base, and by the way, some in the media, you know, two years ago,

certainly last year felt like it's a joke that Terry McCorn isn't in the top 10, you know, in every wide receiver ranking in the NFL. Well, you know, you start looking at all the wide receivers in the NFL, and it was tough to get him into the top 10 if you were being really objective. You know, he's really good. He's a number one. And after last year, he's probably close. to that top 10, but I do think national pundits have come around on Terry being a real number

one. Look, our defensive line gets credit, but maybe not as much credit as we give it. I know recently I've been much more, I talked about this yesterday with the discussion from Mike Lombardi, that Dalvin Cook should be a target for Washington. They believe Washington has a problem at running back. I don't think it's got a problem at running back. Maybe I'm not, being objective enough when it comes to, you know, two players who I really like, one in Gibson, who I love. But I don't know, Tommy, I think, put it this way. I'm going to read to you the email that I read yesterday. I got to find this because I should have saved this for you anyway, but I know I read it on yesterday's show. It was from our friend Randy who's emailed, I know he's emailed me

a lot over the years. And it was a Sam Howl, you know, email. are you trying to drive people crazy about Sam Howl? The conversation last week with Ben, Ben and I had a conversation where Ben, you know, brought out all these numbers about day three quarterbacks and the long shot odds of them making it. You know, they're only in the last, since 2010, there are only three quarterbacks that have started more than 30 games through 2021. He didn't look at 2022 or 2023 yet because only 34 games have been played in total in the regular season. Kirk Cousins, Dak, Prescott, Tyrod Taylor. That's the list out of 74 day three quarterbacks. Only three have started more than 30 games.

And none of them would you say is elite. All right. So the odds being stacked against it was the conversation we were having. And this guy, Randy, wrote, you know, teams passed them over. So what? They did the same with Brady. They did the same with your boy cousins. The guy has the best arm, the best accuracy, and the best mobility in one player we've seen here, a quarterback ever.

He's the real deal. You're going to look stupid. You're going to look stupid when he becomes the story in the NFL this year. Saying he won't be the guy's going to get you, Kevin. I know you hate to hear this, but get on board or get lost. And then, by the way, I went back and found old emails from Randy. And this was his email nearly a year ago in July. It was about Carson Wentz.

Kevin, the draft picks and the money are nothing for Carson Wentz. Are you really mad that a second and third round pick were given up for that guy? Come on, man. The Colts hated that he wasn't vaccinated. That's why he's gone from Indy. The Eagles had a coaching change. Wentz was almost an MVP in 2017. Non-first-round draft picks, are you really being?

serious. And then he, you know, writes more. He goes, you got the cousins thing right, but you're going to look dumb on this one. The team's headed in the right direction of quarterback. And then he finished with be a better fan for once. And that goes back to all of the discussions that we both had last year, which was the Carson Wentz, either get on board or get out. And now it's Sam Howe, you know, as he wrote, get on board or get lost.

You know, these people... Is this isn't a parody account? It might be, but it's not, because I did find him agreeing with me on Dwayne Haskins too, because remember, I thought Dwayne Haskins had a chance to be a pretty good quarterback, and I was dead wrong on that one. And by the way, he praised me for that. He praised me for being positive about Haskins.

But anyway, I think that there is, you know, a percentage, and it's a small percentage of every local fan base. I can only speak to this one. That is delusional optimistic, despite so much evidence that should produce, you know, a more sobering analysis. And obviously, over the last, you know, many years, that analysis should start with, dude, get over yourself,

Dan Snyder still owns the team. We don't have a legitimate chance. to be a winning team over a long period of time, let alone, you know, probably not even this year. I mean, a lot of those people didn't think that that was a true impediment. Not a lot of people, but a small percentage of people. And they're just, you know, they're clearly not all there. And whatever. You know, we used to see them all the time.

God bless them. Bless their hearts. I love that saying. Let me ask you about this one particular. ranking. I know you like Bill Barnwell, right? I mean, I read Bill Barnwell. I mean, I don't always agree with him, but yeah, go ahead. Which one are you going to refer to? He has the commander's skill players. Yeah. Ranked 21st in the league. Yeah. Yeah. What do you think of that?

So, you know, he agrees with the receivers in Terry McLorn being a top 10 receiver and talks about how nice it would be if Terry actually had a quarterback at some point in time. He downgrades kind of the running back situation. This is something that I personally just don't agree with that much. Maybe I am off on this one, and I'm not being objective enough on this one. I like Antonio Gibson and Brian Robinson, Jr., and everybody seems to be super down on their running back room. Everybody keeps talking.

You know, Kareem Hunt was the... the rumor and the discussion a week and a half ago with Josina Anderson. And then, you know, I don't, their tight ends are a mystery. The receivers, let's keep in mind, McLaren and Dotson are really high level. We don't know about the rest of the group right now. Hopeful on Diami Brown. Curtis. Yeah, is a good player, kind of a gadget kind of player.

he's not a true, you know, dominant receiver, or I don't know that he's a great number three, although I like him too. I like our skill position players. I like them more than the national media does. And I've been with the national media on Terry McClure not being an obvious top 10 receiver in previous years. I think it's even really difficult to get him to top 10 right now. We went through this exercise like a week and a half ago. I mean, he's right around 10. But I think some in our fan base think that Terry McLaren is like one of the best receivers,

like, you know, a true, you know, half the game plan against receiver. No, he's just a really good number one. He's a true number one. But there are a lot of receivers in the league you're going to take before Terry McLaren. There are at least nine or ten of them. So we've overrated him. We may overrate, you know, Alan. and pain individually.

I don't think as a tandem that I've over, that personally that I've overrated them, I don't know that there's a better tandem of interior defensive tackles. But in terms of the team, like PFF had Washington ranked 22nd in their power rankings the other day, which actually is as high as I've seen them.

I've seen them as low as 27, 28. I don't know. You're right. I think. You're right. You know what? The proof is, well, they've gotten it right more often in recent years than probably the majority of local media. I don't know if that's true if it's the majority of local media fans. I think so. You do? A significant amount of local media. Well, they went over their total last year. They won eight games. The over under was seven and a half. Yes. Yes. Now, is it seven and a half this year or six and a half in some place?

I've seen it as low as six and a half. I've seen it as high as seven and a half. Let me see where it is on my bookie right now. I'll check on my bookie. Now, I mean, I think you hit the nail on the head is that, you know, you may think a guy is good at this particular position, your guy, but you don't know how good the other guys are throughout the league. You don't have the same intimate knowledge about the receivers around the league

that you do about your guy. So sometimes you can have good players and a lot of other teams can have better players. Six and a half is the number at my bookie right now on win totals. It's not the lowest. I mean, the Cardinals in Houston, you know, in the NFC, the Cardinals are four and a half. And I think Tampa is at like five and a half and maybe Carolina is somewhere. It's not the worst. Game one. Must win.

Must win. But, yeah, what did you just say? Because I had a thought there for a moment. Well, the idea that if your world consists of your receivers or your players on your team, you don't take into account that, yeah, they may be good, you know, but a lot of other teams may have somebody better. It doesn't mean your players aren't good. I think that, and it's been a question.

criticism that I have put out there to a lot of, you know, Washington fans. And I bet that this isn't, you know, just specific to our fan base, but it actually should be different for our fan base because this team's been so dreadful to watch. But man, there are a lot of fans that don't watch the league. They just watch Washington. And so their perspective is just not a good one. You've got to watch the league. If you watch the league, if you consume the league, then you'll have a much better perspective of what we have here in terms of talent, in terms of players. Again, I think Terry McClorn, you know, is the best example here recently of players that have been overvalued by our fan base because they just don't tend to watch the rest of the league. And I'm looking at

to see, this is, okay, this is PFF's wide receiver rankings ahead of the 2023 season. All right. Devante Adams won. Hello, he's better than Terry McLorn. Justin Jefferson, two, better than Terry McLaren. Tariq Hill 3, better than Terry McCorn. Jamar Chase 4, much better than Terry McLaren. And by the way, Terry McClorn's good.

But these players are just flat out game-changing players. And now you can say, well, I mean, they've got better quarterbacks. They do. They do have better quarterbacks. Stefan Diggs, five, Cooper Cup, 6, A.J. Brown 7. A.J. Brown was a guy that I got into with everybody last year when I said that he was better than McLorn. And he is better than Terry McLorn. Yes, he is.

But guess what? This year, PFF has Terry McLorn at number eight. number eight. Okay, so they've got them up there. C.D. Lamb is nine. I've always thought McCorme was better than Lamb. Debo Samuel at 10, I would not, if I had a choice today, if Debo Samuel on my team or Terry McLaren on my team, sorry, I would take Debo Samuel.

Mike Evans is 11. I'm okay with that. DeAndre Hopkins is 12. You know, we'll see where he lands. Garrett Wilson's 13. He could really end up moving way up the list with Aaron Rogers as his quarterback this year. D.K. Metcalf, sorry, I would take D.K. Metcalf over Terry McLaren. I would. Amon Rae St. Brown,

I think, is on the verge of becoming not just a star, which he already is, but a superstar. DJ Moore's below him. Jalen Wattles below him. Devante Smith is below him. T. Higgins is below him. Brandon Ayuk. By the way, watch out for Brandon Ayuk this year. I think he could

blow up this year. With a quarterback in the Purdy situation, who knows. But they've got Terry McClearn at 8. Now there was a recent ranking where it was Mike Clay's ranking where I think they had them at 11 or 12 because we talked about that one. Let me just see Mike Clay's. Okay, he put this out at the end of May.

Oh, these were fantasy rankings. Oh, he ranked wide receiver cores. And the wide receiver group was 11th. in the NFL. Still, eighth is phenomenal. I'm with you. I'm with you on the running back situation. I think the running backs are better

than what they're given credit for. But that doesn't mean they can't get even better. Yeah, no, agreed. By the way, Terry McCorn post-season last year was the 17th best receiver in the NFL per PFF's grading. All right. So, yeah. And then the preseason ranking for him last year was 14 on PFF going into the season.

And I thought that was fair. I actually think eight is a little bit too high because I just gave you a couple of guys that I would take in front of them. Right. I would definitely take D.K. Metcalfe. for sure in Debo Samuel in front of them. But Terry's really good. But he's one of those guys that I think at least, I think some in the fan base were a little bit premature

to put him as an elite wide receiver. And I think some of that is because not a lot, but a segment of our fans don't watch the league. They just watch our team. And I think that's another reason why some of our fans are incredibly bullish on Sam Hal, or we're incredibly bullish on Taylor Heineke. Like the people in the Heineke hive,

I really don't think a lot of those people watch the NFL as a whole, you know, in detail. I mean, the game that's on or whatever, the Monday night game, but I don't think they're sitting there watching and seeing the difference in the way the ball is thrown between good NFL quarterbacks, in the way Taylor Heineke's thrown him in recent years. And by the way, you're going to see Sam Hals' arm strength right up there with the good quarterbacks in the NFL. That's one of the reasons to be optimistic.

He can make all the throws. And they haven't had a quarterback that could make all the throws here recently, although Carson Wentz could make all the throws. But obviously he was flawed in so many ways. But this time last year, you didn't want to say it too loudly or you would be told to get out by some. I mean, that to me still, how did people not see that Carson Wentz was a major desperate move by the organization? I know. I mean, that's just, that's just stunning. Really stunning. Now, I'll admit, I did say, I think there's a chance he could be better than what they've had,

you know, and I'm hopeful that he'll be better than what they've had. But to think that he was the long-term answer with all that was attached to him, just that's the kind of local naivete that I think national pundits trump every time. But I don't think they trump everybody all the time. Did we cover that topic? I think we did. Just think of it as the other podcast out there. There's some podcast out there that are good. They're just not as good as this one. Up next, when we come back, I will share with Tommy

what Dennis Rodman said about Larry Bird. That's next right after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, Tommy, tell us about Shelley's. Well, look, we've got a big holiday coming up the 4th of July

next week. And before that comes, If you're driving in your car right now, or if you're sitting at home, listen to the podcast or at work, I'm going to offer you a proposal. Why don't you declare today your holiday? This is Joe Smith's holiday, okay? This is Randy's holiday, because Randy sounds like he needs a holiday. Okay. And if it's going to be your holiday, here's the place to spend it.

Shelly's back room down in Washington, D.C. Enjoy a great cigar. They have the best cigars selection in the city. You know, all the top 25 cigars listed in cigar aficionado to choose from. They have the top list of whiskeys in the city for you to pick from. They have great food on their menu. One of their specials today is the Santa Fe Chicken Sandwich, A chicken breast with smokehouse bacon, provolone cheese, and barbecue sauce.

Oh, that's my kind of sandwich right there. That sounds good. Okay? Right now, yes. Right. And if your wife or if your significant other wants to know where you are, you tell them you're celebrating your holiday at Shelley's Backroom, 1331 F Street, Northwest in the district. You can find out more by going to their website, shelley's backroom.com.

Now, I think if we're sitting outside at Shelley's on July 4th, I don't know that that's the best view of the fireworks, but you'll hear them. You'll definitely be able to hear the fireworks. And you'll be hanging out with a bunch of guys, great conversation, good cigars, great food, and Tommy, some really good bourbon down at Shelley's. Great bourbon choices down at Shelley's.

All right. So Dennis Rodman the other day on a podcast, I think it was, or it was on Vlad TV. I don't know if that's a podcast or some sort of TV. I don't know what it is, actually. There you go. I don't know what it is. But Gilbert Arenas, yes, that Gilbert Arinas, Agent Zero, had recently said on a podcast that Bird would probably beat LeBron James in a one-on-on-on-on-on-on-one. on one matchup. So Rodman was asked to respond to what Gil said, and he said, quote,

if Larry Bird played in this era, I think he'd be in Europe. I'm just letting you know, man, he'd be somewhere over there. His game was fit for Boston at that time in the 80s. Today's world, oh, hell no, there's no way. I'm not downplaying him because he's a great player at that time, just like I was. But I'm saying, no, there's. There's no way, closed quote. Well, he's right, you know, he's right about one thing. Larry would be playing in Europe because he'd be banned from playing in the NBA. Because he'd be so good he would embarrass the rest of the goddamn league.

I mean, it's drug-addled brain. I mean, to think that Larry Bird wouldn't dominate in today's game, I mean, it's absurd. I mean, you can't take that seriously. You know, I mean, Jesus, my God. This is really. I mean, Larry Bird, it's Larry Bird is a player whose stature has grown since he retired, not diminished. I mean, the Internet are filled with stories about players telling stories about Larry Bird.

That's true. That is so true. Larry Bird actually. in today's social media world actually doesn't resemble the player he was because they've built him up to be, you know, even better than he was and he was great. This is so stupid because did he not just watch the NBA finals? Nicola Yokic is the best player on the planet right now. He just won an NBA title dominating the postseason as a 6'11, 240 pounds.

250 pound, 260 pound, maybe it's 270. Unathletic player who does it with great skill and feel and IQ, which is the way Byrd did it. Does any, did Dennis, look, I can't take Dennis Rodman seriously, but let's just take him at his word. Does he watch the NBA? Has he watched Luca Donchich? I mean, Luca is dominating the NBA.

Look, I don't think Luca is a top five player, but he's certainly a top 10 player. And Luca can score any number you give him. Tell him you need, it's like what they used to do with the Ice Man. Hey, Ice, we need 70 tonight. He'd get you 71. Ice, we need 45 tonight. He'd get you 46. Tell Luca, we need 63 tonight.

He'll get you 64. And Bird, you can put side by side with those. two players and say they're cut from the exact same mold and they're dominating the NBA. So there are a couple of things about Byrd's game that would totally translate to today. First of all, Larry Bird would be in today's game one of the great three-point shooters in the game. He's one of the greatest three-point shooters of all time. Imagine if he shot, you know, if he had eight attempts a game. He'd be winning the three-point shooting contest or be right there with Steph in Clay and the others every single year.

But Larry would have been an incredible spot-up shooter at a bare minimum in the league. So there would have been a big place for Larry bare minimum as a spot-up three-point shooter. But he would have been so much more than that. Larry's passing is compared. I mean, Yokic's passing is compared to Larry. Larry Bird's passing. Yokic is shredding people with his passing as a center. Larry Bird was off forward. Now, here's one thing I don't think Byrd did great back then, and I don't think he'd do it very well today, even though there's no hand checking today, and it's a more free-flowing game. Larry Bird's not going to create off the dribble on the perimeter, you know, but he's going to lead a fast break like Yokic does.

Larry Bird from the post is going to show that ball on a shot fake and people are going to be jumping over him as he goes up for an easy up and under. He's going to wrap that ball on a fake pass around somebody's waist. They're going to turn around and he's going to hit a little floater. The game actually in some ways for Larry Bird's skill and feel and vision, it would be easier for him to play today because there's no hand-checked. and it's so much more free-flowing today. He'd be dominant on the post. He'd be dominant as a spot-up shooter off of other action. He'd be incredible coming off downscreens, catching and shooting.

He'd be incredible in the mid-range. And then defensively, he'd be your best rebounder. Now, Larry Bird is not going to stay in front of today's athletes defensively because he couldn't stay in front of the athletes of the 80s on defense. But, you know, he was so crafty. I think Larry Bird would be a great player in today's game because the skill that Larry Bird had translates to today's game. What doesn't translate to today's game,

and I don't want to get into a long, you know, drawn out argument with you about this because we've done it so many times in the past. But players are physically strong. stronger, faster, quicker, and there is an element to that overpowering strength speed and, you know, the physical athleticism that you just didn't get back then. It's different today. And I believe actually, Tommy, and I've said this before, I think the shooting is better today, but from this perspective, the shooting from deep, which didn't exist back then, because it didn't have to exist, you know, whether it was pre-3-pointer or three-pointer in the early

days when it wasn't emphasized, has changed the way the game is played from a geometry standpoint. The floor is spaced completely different because you have to go out and guard certain players, and it's not just Steph, it's not just hardened. There are dozens of players now in the league that pretty much when they cross half court have to be picked up or they're a threat to knock down a three. I mean, the 30 to 33 foot three pointer is common. You would have been benched for shooting that back in the day. But what's happened is the game is played differently because there's so much more space to operate because defenses have to extend out much further. And so I think that that level of shooting from that

range is just so much different than we've ever seen. I'm not saying that Bird and, you know, the great shooters of the day, had they been allowed to go back and keep going back and keep going back, wouldn't have shot it at the same level. But it's really amazing the shooting talent that's on display at every level of basketball now. You know, I see it at the youth level. I mean, the games just play differently. But, no, Bird, Bird, would have been just fine in today's game. See Luca, see, by the way, see James Hardin, for that matter. Okay?

I'm not a Hardin fan, but Hardin doesn't overwhelm you with physical athleticism. He overwhelms you with incredible ball handling, the ability to create space, and the ability to shoot and score. The other thing, too, is that Bird was a killer. You know, Michael, Kobe, Bird. you know, the three greatest, just absolute stone cold killer competitors of my NBA watching lifetime. And by the way, that's one of the reasons too defensively.

While he would have, you know, and did struggle at times athletically to stay in front of people, he also was, you know, a guy that fought. He was a guy also that had really good hands, quick hands, and could get steals, because he anticipated so well with his basketball IQ. Anyway, whatever. Anything else? Well, yeah. I wonder to say YouTube videos I watched recently of Larry Bird

was the game where he played most of the game shooting left-handed. Yeah, he, yes. He scored 47 points against Portland in this game, 27 of which were done left-handed. Yeah. It was like he wanted to prove to people that he could do it left-handed. So he just went out and scored half of his 47 left-handed.

It's funny to see the videos of that game where you can see he's intentionally trying to shoot left-handed. In that game, by the way, which was a 120-19 overtime win in Portland, he had 47 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists of steel, and two blocks in 49 minutes. By the way, Big Tony, when we were having this conversation on radio yesterday, pointed out, imagine Bird with load management ability where he could take a couple of days off here and there. Or with just the, you know, the chartered flights and the relaxed, you know, because Bird really did, his body broke down, his back broke down specifically. Yeah. And you would have had a fresher Larry Bird. in in 2023.

You know, I was a magic guy like you were, but God, I so respected Bird. And in some of those finals where I was always rooting for the Lakers, it was just always so incredible to watch Larry Bird play. It really is. And that's one of my choice on YouTube, watching them play. The one thing that I think about Bird, like, and I could be wrong about this.

Today's game really doesn't have the traditional point guard necessarily anymore. And anybody, like we see Yokic, you know, basically being the point on a fast break or on a half-court possession. Or, you know, when you think about Luke or you think about LeBron or, you know, players that aren't point guards control the basketball. They initiate the offense. They create shots on their own. Bird was a very good ball handler. Don't get me wrong. don't know that that would have been where Bird would have been great in today's game when,

you know, shot clocks. The difference is Bird played at a time, and this is why I loved watching Denver this year. This is why I loved watching Miami. You know, five people participated in the offense, pretty much on every possession or on a lot of possessions. You know, what you get with Dallas is you get a lot of, or you get with Philly, you get a lot of one-touch possessions. and you get Luca or Hardin and you get, you know, a lot of teams do this. And the ball, you know, four players are standing and watching or three players are standing and watching on a pick and roll or a pick and pop.

And I don't know, I think Bird would have been phenomenal, actually, as a screener and a role or a screen and pop guy. But I don't know that one-on-one from the perimeter, he would have been great at going by people or creating the space to get the shot off. But he would have been good enough doing that. Um, anyway. All right. There's going to be a show tomorrow.

Oh, oh, my God. We didn't talk about. I did tell you this, though. I talked to Howard yesterday on the show, and Howard would be thrilled to meet with you at Shelly's. By the way, he'd love to go to Shelly's and meet with you and hear about your, you know, your screenplay or your treatment, as he calls it. I don't know if you know it's called a treatment.

Well, I don't know. know what a treatment is. These are not treatments. I have two full-blown screenplays. A treatment is like a six to ten page story about what your story will be about. You've got the whole thing. Do you have the pilot written? I have the whole thing done. Do you have the pilot written? No, no, it's a movie. It's not a TV. Oh, right. That's right. It's a movie. Right. Okay, so I gave you his number. I gave you his number. You've talked to Howard

before because we've had him on the show together. You said one Okay, one time. But he looks forward to your call. Okay. That's great. You've earned your money today. I'm glad I can help you out. All right.

I've got one other thing before we sign off. Yeah. You see Ryan Mallet died? Yeah, I did. That was sad. He drowned? Yeah. At the age of 35.

About 20 blocks from where I go in Florida in January. of February. Oh, really? Yeah, he drowned in Destin. In an area where when I was down there, you know, I go down in January or February. Yeah.

There were a couple of drownings there as well. It's a dangerous area where he was. And that's a shame because people I know who covered him really liked him. Yeah, that's too bad.

Be careful. I know that, you know, it's that time of year, and rip tides can really, I don't know how he drowned. So I don't know what the circumstances were, but, you know, everybody's got to be careful out there. All right. So I am taking some vacation time. Tomorrow, you're going to hear the second part of my conversation with Howard. Howard, by the way, Tommy, yesterday talked at length about working when he was in college at Columbia, working is Steve Rubel's right-hand manned at Studio 54.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God. This guy's got, I mean, Howard's got one, you know, adventure after another. And it's funny because, you know, he'll throw it out to me. And then all of a sudden it's like, wait a minute. Why haven't you told me that before? Let's talk about that. And then the second part, which you guys will hear tomorrow, which I've already recorded.

And the show will go up. tomorrow. He talks about his acting career. Yeah, Howard's been in movies. He's been in television shows. He has, you know, A-list celebrities like George Clooney that he calls friends. So, tune in for that. And then after that, there won't be a show for a few days, but I'll be back next week, I think with Tommy, on Thursday of next week. So there won't be a show Friday, Monday. So there won't be a show Friday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. But I will share with you my travels or some part of it when I get back. I'll miss everybody. Tommy, take care. I'll talk to you next week.

You have a great trip, boss, okay? I remember we were playing Washington in Washington one night, and Larry just hit what would have been the game when he shot. Casey called timeout. Don't count. If there's not count, Boston had called a timeout. Larry came back to the bench. He was a little upset. He looks at the bench and says,

Hey guys, when I come back after time, I'm going to go right to the same spot. I'm going to kick it in. He told Washington, I'm going to get the ball. Two seconds left. The bullet's by a one. Ains to bird. He gets a good shot in the shoulders with him.

Boy, this is something else. Incredible.