The Kevin Sheehan Show - Wizards & Caps Moving?

Episode Date: December 13, 2023

Kevin and Thom today on the big breaking news that Ted Leonsis is likely moving his NBA Wizards and NHL Capitals to Northern Virginia. The boys react to every aspect of this story including the possibility that the move actually never happens. Plenty of catching up to do on the Ohtani deal, Montez Sweat's comments, and Kevin had some a few Sam Howell nuggets to share as well.  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 Chean Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy's here. I am here. Tommy will be with me today and tomorrow.

Had to take a day off yesterday. Back today. And better than ever, as Mike and Mike used to say, Tommy. And today, I can't figure out now several hours after the press conference. And an hour or so after I got off radio, reading this Ted Leonsis letter to fans and supporters. What I can't figure out, the show today is always, by the way, presented by Wind Donation, call them at 86690 Nation or go to Windonation.com for a great deal, I promise you.

Just mention my name. They'll take good care of you. I'm reading this letter that you pointed me towards, and I'm just going to start with this. Do you think this is a done deal that the Wizards and Caps and Monumental Sports are going to Potomac Yard, or are we going to look back on December 13th, 2023? In the same way we look back on that press conference that Jack Kent Cook did with Doug Wilder, way back in the day when Governor Wilder was in Virginia, and they held a similar press conference in the exact same location to talk about

the Redskins building their new stadium there. And of course, that became laughable months later. Do you think this is going to happen? Yes or no? I think the chances are better than they were when Cook announced his stadium. I think that area has changed, and the idea of an arena there sort of fits, you know, this whole city growth. It's right near the Amazon H2 headquarters. That area has really changed dramatically.

So it's not too far-fetched to see the possibility. there may not be as much opposition to it as there has been in the past, but there will be opposition. Look, I have said all along Virginia is a place where these things usually wind up dying. These projects like this, they disappear under the weight of politics, under the weight of NIMBY's. There's no bigger state for not in my backyard than than Virginia, particularly northern Virginia. Ted wrote, while we are still in the early stages, we have reached an understanding for the framework of an agreement. I mean, that's a lot of qualifying. Exactly.

Early stages, understanding, framework. I mean, that's a long way from Dunn Deal right there. And, I mean, if he wanted pressure on the district, he certainly got it because they responded yesterday with a 500. million dollar offer to renovate Capital One Arena, which is pretty close to what Ted was looking for in the first place. But do I think it's going to happen? No. Are you just taking that stance to be contrarian?

No. I think there's stuff's going to get in the way. I tell you what, I tell you who hopes it happens. Josh Harris. Yeah. Because Josh Harris just went to the front of the line for it with a city that is now going to be desperate to save face and bring the football team here. So I'll bet you Josh Harris is celebrating this. This is found money for the commanders and their interest in trying to get a football stadium there.

This is a huge deal if there's really leg to this for Josh Harris's efforts to get back to RFK Stadium. Mayor Boucher, this is a disaster for her. An absolute disaster for her, the downtown district, which is struggling right now. And they're going to have the city is really going to be desperate to save face. So I think they're going to be a lot more welcoming to the idea of a football stadium than they were before. So I think it is going to happen. And part of that is, I don't know, in 1990 whatever, shortly after a super, Bowl.

92. I mean, Jack Kent Cook could have held a press conference and said anything and not worried about the ramifications of what it looked like if things didn't get done. I mean, his team was at the top of the mountain at that point coming off its third Super Bowl in 11 seasons. And, you know, today you had this, just ask him, this consummate forward thinker. And he's surrounded by, you know, politicians from each side of the aisle. you had a Republican governor surrounded by, you know, Mark Warner and a Democratic, I guess, outgoing mayor of Alexandria in Northern Virginia. It just seemed like, I don't know, everybody seemed to be together on this. And by the way, the not in my backyard northern Virginians, can you imagine if they were threatening to build a stadium in lower Montgomery County?

Imagine that NIMBY crowd. I love that NIMBY acronym. I didn't even know what it was until about two days ago. I had no idea what it stood for. I think it's going to happen. I think it's going to happen because of that. And also, what I started to figure out a little bit before the radio show this morning and then more so during the show, and that is Ted wants to take monumental public.

And the valuation difference. He absolutely does. The valuation difference. It would be for to raise a hell of a lot of money for everything, the project that they're about to embark on, his teams. I'm sure some of it for people to cash out because it's, you know, the value of his basketball franchise and hockey franchise, while it's increased, it's certainly not been NFL-like.

But a public offering valuation with this deal in place is exponentially high. higher than it would be without it. And I think that that's not all of it, but I think that that's a part of everything. And, you know, not to mention that he does, you know, believe in, you know, what Atlanta's doing. And he thinks he's going to be at the forefront of these, you know, droplet of water onto this 70-acre thing and up sprouts this city of beautiful residential and retail and restaurants and bars around, you know, an arena housing two championship caliber teams. I mean, that was, I want to get to the presser. You watched it, right?

Yeah. Okay. I want to get to that in a moment. But I think it's going to happen. And what's surprising to me is that we're talking about whether or not it's going to happen. And I understand those like you who have followed, you know, and covered and reported on announcements, press conferences, and then understand. what actually needs to happen from that day forward to sort of make what they described a reality.

I don't know. It seemed like a reality today. And it seemed like there were a lot of different people from a lot of different sides of the aisle all in on it. And Ted likes to be first. And the public offering that he'd like to generate for monumental at some point would benefit significantly from this deal. So I think it's going to happen. I think it's going to happen. I think it's going to happen. But what he may like to do, you're right, he does want to take monumental public at some point.

I'm convinced of that. What he may want to do and what may happen are two different things. You know, his vision, this so-called visionary is often blurred, okay, by his own ego. True. We both know that. Yes. Witness that unbelievable sports book. next to his arena. I mean,

God. Yeah, I know. Great idea. It's like a Greyhound bus stop. It looks like it. Actually, it's actually nice inside, but yeah, right. I know it is, but look, it is such a politically volatile state. You have a governor who can't stay in office for more than four years. It's the law there. So, I mean, when this thing breaks ground,

they'll be a new governor. Yeah. You know, it's not going to be his buddy Yonkin who, you know, their friends from the days when Yonkin ran the Carlisle group. So Ted and him are tight. They know each other very well. So it's a very volatile state. This is why things like this don't get any legs in Virginia.

I mean, look what, look. This is a perfect example. There may be all kinds of reasons for this. But all those Democrats and Republicans in Virginia all lined up behind an FBI headquarters in Springfield, Virginia. And what's going on now? There's hearings in Congress that's to find out why it's going to be in Greenbelt, Maryland. Okay? There is a history of things like this in the state of Virginia that fall short.

And it's because there's no political will to last long enough to see projects like this through. And, I mean, you've got, it within the, doing Alexandria alone, you and I both know. They've got to go through the Planning Commission. They've got to get approval from the city council. There will be a, I think, a sizable NIMBY group that won't like the idea of the traffic. As there will be an RFK. Yes, yes, there will. Oh, absolutely.

That's a huge roadblock to RFK. And, you know, they announced this on the day after Metro announces. They've got a $750 million budget deficit. They're going to have to cut back service dramatically and lay off about 1,000 workers. And close it at 10 p.m. Yeah. What makes people think that Metro, given part of the problem, is this whole evolution of work environment in metropolitan areas where people are not going to the office anymore, what makes people think that's going to be. better on Metro

four or five years from now. I mean, they need that metro stop that they've got their Potomac yards. They're going to be relying on that severely because people, if you thought it was tough driving down to 7th Street at the arena, try driving to Potomac

Yards at Rush Hour. Okay? So there's a lot that can go wrong with this. And things, usually more things go wrong than right with something like this. So I'm on the side of things going wrong. That's why I think it won't look. I could be, I could be wrong about this. I mean, it certainly seemed the impression seemed like, you know,

Ted's got a done deal here, but it's a disaster for the city. It really is, or, you know, if it happens. I mean, not only with downtown, but Ted referred to, in this letter he wrote to fans, that they would probably want the mystics to move from the entertainment and sports arena over there on the old St. Elizabeth's campus to Capitol One. Well, the wizards practice at the new arena over there, Ted's not going to keep them practicing there. They're going to practice over in Potomac Yards probably. Well, I mean, I can.

So now you've got a $70 million arena over there. That's going to be pretty much empty. I mean, it's just a disaster for Bowser right now, which again, all plays into the hands of Josh Harris. Yeah, I mean, this letter, you know, you've read from it, but my God, there are, you know, there's some forewarning here, which was not a part really of the press conference. Dear fans and supporters, I'm thrilled to share with you a development which marks a potentially transformational new chapter. While we are still in the early stages, we've reached an understanding for a framework of an agreement. I mean, I'll tell you what, they were pretty damn excited and giddy about a framework this morning. I mean, it was so exciting and so moving.

The woman that introduced the governor broke down and started to cry. I mean, I mean, it was a little bit much. The whole thing was a little bit much. So. Did you notice that transparent Ted did not take any questions from reporters? Yeah, he wants to be completely transparent. And, you know, the one acknowledgement of, you know, of accountability at the end with respect to leaving D.C. And yet he wouldn't take questions.

How interesting. Well, maybe it's because there's. aren't definitive answers. Maybe that's the tell on this thing still being up for grabs. But so there are a couple of things before. Yeah. Okay. No, go ahead. Well, you go into a couple of things, but I was going to say, let me just say this about Ted.

I wrote about this before the cab started their season, so many issues that Ted had downtown with the arena. And one of them is the atmosphere around the building, the crime that's taken place to vacant stores all around the loitering that has taken place that makes some of their clientele uncomfortable around the arena. And the fact that Ted felt like he had to pay for like at least two dozen extra off-duty police officers to work security because he didn't feel the district was giving him enough security around the arena.

and somebody close to Ted told me he was really, really pissed off about this. It was really an issue for him, probably more than I thought it was going to be. So that's one of the factors here involved that the district didn't really pay attention to Ted when he was telling him his needs around the arena for his customer base. But part of the problem with that, this is a whole different issue that we don't want to get into, is the district doesn't have enough police officers. They're close to 1,000 police officers are short because they can't get people to take the job. Well, yeah.

I mean, that's happened in a lot of major cities over the last several years. Yeah, so it's, it's, so that, that, I mean, Ted did not like the cards he's been dealt since COVID around that area. And there may be some problems that are not easily fixable. I mean, in Washington, D.C. is the only downtown. going through these issues of vacant stores and vacant offices because people aren't working downtown anymore. So, you know, he was frustrated with the district, I think much more than I probably imagined he was.

I completely see that. I can comply because there are enough people that I know that have businesses that have the same thoughts that have. have much smaller businesses in D.C. Look, a lot of what's gone on over the last three, four years, and we're not going to get into it. A lot of that's coming home to roost in a lot of these cities across our country. What's a shame about this, though, as you were describing it,

is that they did come with an effort that was $100 million more than what they were thinking at $400. Ted wanted $600 million. And they came in with it at the 11th hour because, Basically, they've been holding on to Josh Harris so tightly. They didn't notice anybody else was in the room recently. And that probably didn't thrill Ted either. But I would also just make sure that, you know, I say, and I would think people around him know this, if the Redskins, if the commanders or whomever, if the Washington football franchise and the Washington Nationals

are the two professional sports teams that reside in Washington, and the caps and the Wizards are gone. Most people will be fine with that. And most people would say, most people would say, give me the ski, which two do I get? The majority would say football and baseball in D.C., we don't give a shit about the other two. Because let's face it, the Wizards are an abject disaster

as an organization as much as I love them or have loved them in the past. And the caps, no matter how much they've grown, and it's been significant over the last, you know, over the Ovechkin era. It's still comparative to, you know, football in particular. It's still a distant, whatever it is in overall interest. So, but I'd like to personally have all four in D.C. Here's what I'm sad about, Tommy, okay, today. It's not that I'm sad about it because there are younger people that. go to a lot more games and events than I do.

But I loved MCI in Capital One and Chinatown. And more importantly, I know what this city looked like before Abe Poland moved those two teams into Chinatown and built the MCI Center. And I know what the result of that was. Oh, my God, Chinatown can go from what it was to that. What about Logan? What about City Center? What about Columbia Heights?

What about, you know, and we, this city over the last 25 years since he moved, and by the way, at great risk, okay, mostly his own money with no guarantee that it would work. I mean, it was an entrepreneurial risk, and the upside for him at his age was legacy. It wasn't like he was going to necessarily benefit significant, in a significant way financially. he wanted to bring his teams back to the city that he loved so that people didn't have to. And remember, traffic patterns back then are different than they are now, but still, it was a pain in the ass to get to the Capitol Center. So it's amazing to me for starters that it's been 25 years.

And here we are, 25 years later, and they're leaving, potentially, leaving. It was a big deal, Tommy, for people like me, long time, native. of Washingtonians or longtime Washingtonians who went to games, who loved sports, who went to the Capp Center willingly to go downtown. I'll never forget the first, it was like the first two weeks. And I went to back-to-back games. I went to a hockey game and I went to a basketball game. And I'm like, wow, a downtown arena. We're like a, we're like, we're like a normal city. We've got our basketball team. We've got our hockey team and a downtown arena. Now, a lot of lot of places don't have their teams in downtown arenas.

You know, there are lots of, I mean, you know, the nets have moved back in for, Jersey, Brooklyn. Santa Clara is where the 49ers play. It's 50 miles south of San Francisco. We see this all the time. But I kind of am sad because I'm envisioning what Chinatown is going to become without two major tenants and 82 dates. And really, it's more than that with all the events and special events during the course of the year that keep that area thriving and vibrant. And I know it's changed in recent years.

Understood. I mean, to be honest with you, my personal experience, I've noticed a change, but not the exaggerated change that people have described to me over the last couple of days. Like, oh, I don't go to Chinatown anymore. But I was just down there. My wife and I were just down there the other night, we went to the Christmas market. Yeah, you told me you were going, right? You know? Yeah. It was fabulous. I mean, it was great. We felt great being in the city walking around that neighborhood. It was fabulous. You know what, Tommy? I'm so glad you said that because my son said to me, he said that Christmas market is down there, and he and his girlfriend went to it, and he's like, what are they talking about? I mean, I think the, look, there are terrible neighborhoods that

everybody agrees you wouldn't go there. And then there are neighborhoods where I think some people who aren't that don't spend time in the city much, that they view it differently from people who do spend time in the city more often. Because what you just described is how I love being in the city when I'm in the city. We go out to dinner a lot of times downtown. China Town definitely has gotten a little bit. It's different than it was four or five years ago, but it's not to the point where it's like an area that you would avoid, not from my perspective. Me neither. Okay.

But, but, so now it might become that, and that's a shame. And then maybe it was headed in that direction anyway. And maybe because all of the business that's moved out and all of the retail that's moved out, because people aren't down there. But man, we became a city 25 years ago that became a rush back to D.C. to work there, to frequent there for dinners and entertainment to live there. I mean, look at some of the neighborhoods and what the real estate values are today versus 25 years ago. I mean, even around the RFK area. I mean, you know, speaking of NIMBY's, I mean, not in my block, not in my backyard is going to be

a big deal with some major influencers and major affluence within blocks of RFK. So I, I, I, I'm sad about that. But I also, the flip side of that is, I can't tell you that if I had everything at my disposal that Ted and his group has, that I wouldn't have made the same decision. You know, it's two. I wouldn't have. It's $2 billion worth of investment versus $500 million. It's potentially exponential valuation increase on an expected IPO at some point. it may be from just a pure pro forma, you know, revenue standpoint,

they may say most of our Caps fans live in Northern Virginia anyway. They tend to be the biggest revenue generators for us and the most consistent because they've outdrawn the wizards over the years. And maybe there's a young demo that we can start to target for our basketball team if it ever improves. I mean, there may be a lot of information. that if I had the same information business-wise, I would do the same exact thing. The only thing that I think I probably, and I'm not saying Ted doesn't care about the town that

he's lived in forever, but it's not his hometown. He's a New Yorker. You know, and I would have considered and I would have hated to have left the city and perhaps left the city in what could become some sort of tailspin. Who knows? I think sometimes these things get overrated. but those are my two overarching themes. I'm sick for the city that I live in, and I can't believe that it's been 25 years either. And at the same time,

I don't know that most people wouldn't have done the same thing that Ted did. But you say you wouldn't have done it. I wouldn't have done it because I would have, but again, I would have cared more about my legacy. And I think this will hurt his legacy. Let me read to you from the Bible. Ted's Bible. You know the book.

Yeah. The 100 things? No, this is the business of happiness. Oh, the business of happiness, right. You know, where he wrote a book teaching people how to be happy. I'm smelling a column here. Let me read. There's so many columns that can come out of it.

I can't keep track of them all. So I have a column of Mar that has none of this where I'm going to read here. Okay. This is quoting from the business. of happiness. Abe, meaning Abe Poland, was a remarkable man who built and sustained both the Washington Wizards and the Caps, and in the mid-1990s, he'd taken on a significant financial commitment building a new arena in downtown D.C. Mr. Pollan had moved his team from Landover, Maryland into the heart of the district because he thought it would be better for the city he loved.

he finances himself in an act of civic generosity that is increasingly uncommon among sports teams owners who often rely on municipalities taxpayers to build their new arenas or stadiums for them. You know, so Ted is praising Abe here in his book and his unique commitment, and he's one of the owners that he's talking about. talking about who's relying on a municipality and government to finance his thing. So I think it's kind of humorous that he sang Abe's praises for the guts that he had, but he doesn't have the guts to stay the course and do the same thing himself. He has no obligation to.

You know, if your MO is best deal I can get, and I'm not going to criticize you for that, he's under no obligation to stay where he is. But, you know, I think there's other forces at stake. For me, there would be taking that decision in the consideration. You mentioned the capitals. They are probably the bigger, they are definitely the bigger revenue producer of two fan bases. But I don't see Wizards fans getting on the metro and go into Potomero. yards to see that team play basketball.

I think it's, I mean, I don't, unless they're so dramatically different than they've ever been in our lifetime, well, not our lifetime in the last 50 years. I just don't see people making the effort to do that. I think for the basketball team, it could be an absolute train wreck. Yeah, unless their data, unless their information says there's a whole new market of potential target consumers that are younger, that are, I don't know. You know, the other thing I've thought about is just, will there be, will gambling, will a sports book and casino be a part of this whole makeup?

It probably will. It probably will. I would think it will be. Yeah, but haven't they had some issues in Virginia? What? Haven't they had issues with sports betting in some areas of Virginia? Well, in Richmond, Richmond, yeah.

The voters there turned down a casino twice. Right. Okay. Again, this is the state's MO, whether it's Richmond or whether it's Fairfax or whether it's Alexandria. You know, that seems to be, that's their resume, doing something like that. But, you know, if they had the data,

well, let's pay attention to the next week or so, see what comes out. because I think if they had the data, the surveys, the figures, the studies to say how great this would be, I think they're going to leak it at some point. If they don't, then I don't think they really have it. Or I think what they've got is a false narrative that they've bought into. Two other things I want to mention real quickly. Number one, I do think for some, the, I, the,

initial discussion of this over the last 24 to 36 hours or whatever it's been, I think some people actually thought, oh my God, they're moving to where Washington was talking about moving the football franchise, Woodbridge or Dumfries. Like, you know Old Town, you know where this area is. It's further inside the Beltway and closer, much closer to downtown Washington than FedEx Field is. Like, you know, it's literally like, This is where Jack Kent Cook wanted to build the stadium, and we would have all been thrilled had he been able to do it there for a lot of reasons, you know, mass transit being one of them. Now, for people in Maryland, you know, especially people who live further out in Maryland, where you live, or Upper Montgomery, or way out in PG or Howard County, you know, it's going to be a longer deal. but it wasn't convenient to get down to Chinatown either unless you were taking the metro.

And now you may have to, from what I've been told, you might have to jump on, you know, you might have to switch trains. It will be a longer drive by 20 to 30 minutes somewhere in that area. And the Virginia people have said, look, we've been doing this for years. You know, it's about time. Well, you've been doing it on Sundays primarily with no traffic on NFL days. This is weekday, and they say, no, well, we went to the Capitol Center, but I would say to you, you know, our traffic in the 80s and 90s,

far different than it is today. It's just a bigger city and a more congested city than it's ever been. But this place, just for those that don't know, it's literally like barely south of Reagan National airport. It is a mile from the White House, basically. It's, or two and a half miles from the White House, and three miles or so from, from, capital one. But you know the Potomac River is like the Great Wall, China. It's such a obstacle.

I mean, without Metro, it's certainly an obstacle. And you really, I'm not kidding. It is for Marylanders. You're right. When you have to question the future of Metro service, I mean, and what premise, Do they get all those riders back that they've lost? I know. I have no idea.

You know, I don't see a scenario where that happened. By the time they open the arena, they've closed down four different lines and no longer have that as a stop. Yeah, I mean, look, I mean. I mean, you know, the whole idea of people saying, well, Virginia people have traveled, you know, to come see DC teams, come see the football team play for like 80-some years. Well, yeah. That's what they're trained to do. Right.

Okay? Now you're going to turn around and train a whole group of other people to go the other way. It's too late. That's not happening. The other thing to me that just, it's something about Ted. And I know that we have talked about him and certainly taking shots. I think most of them fair at him over the years. But when he gets into this rant of the brands that he's built and the different

and the champions that he has put together and starts to mention e-sports teams and arena teams. I mean, does anybody there close to him? Can they tell him? Do you realize 90% of the people listening to you have no idea what you're talking about? They know the wizards and the capitals, and they know the mystics to a certain degree.

Like this e-sports thing, which by the way, apparently that industry is in decline. So maybe that won't be a home run for him. East, that e-sports is far. He opened an Eastport arena downtown. See, who knew that? And it's usually a ghost town. And let's not forget his arena football proclamation.

Yeah. I mean, enough already. With the next big thing. Enough already. And on the other hand, he's a multi-millionaire. I understand that. very successful. And you know, we have to acknowledge that, you know, that he has done pretty well in his decision-making in some areas, but that he could use. Businesses made him very happy.

Yes, yes, they'd have, but he could use a big dose of humility. He really could. I mean, the luck of Ted and the learners that Snyder was here for 25 years, the brand you've built, The wizard, the brand that you've built for the wizards, and I'm not saying he built it by himself, because it was certainly more than trending in that direction with Abe. It's a loser brand. You're a joke. I hate saying that. At the time when the NBA has done nothing but grown.

I mean, his franchise is considered a joke in the NBA by fans. I don't know, maybe inside the business of happiness, Ted, a lot of owners look to him to say, oh, my God, what you've done with these wizards and the business around that and working in the East Sports and the arena. I mean, and monumental is a brand it is? Most people have no idea what monumental sports is that I know. I mean, I'm not saying that it won't become a brand of some sort, but they just acquired, recently NBC Sports Washington.

The only reason people were watching that to begin with were games and, by the way, Redskins-related content primarily. So I don't know. It's like I would have, it's hard to do this with people that aren't super self-aware or have some level of humility to just say, look, it was way too, it was way too happy today. And the acknowledgement of accountability at the end was, and then not taking questions is a bit of a slap. Like, it would have been, this is an opportunity. And here's why it's an opportunity.

And this is going to benefit, not just me, because I'd be lying if I told you it wasn't going to benefit me and everybody at monumental sports. But this is why it's going to benefit you and enumerate those answers. and part of that would be it will allow us to get ourselves into a different revenue category that will then help us to build out better teams. And maybe one day with our basketball team be a contender. We like the direction it's going in with the people that we brought in and turn that into a brand. Not act as if it's already a brand. Of course it's a brand.

It's just not a positive brand. And then to acknowledge it's gut-wrenching to lead. this city. And to know that sports teams are sort of a civic and a local source of pride and there's a responsibility that sports owners have. But, you know, he could also list every single sports owner that has his team playing outside of a city. I mean, there are countless numbers of teams that don't play anywhere near the downtown area of the city that they're in or, you know, play in far out. suburbs. But this is why we want to do it. It's gut-wrenching for me. We did work hard to try to figure out a solution to stay, but it wasn't, you know, it didn't appear to be. And I'd throw a little

bit back of it under the mayor and D.C. Yes. Oh, absolutely. You know, but you... Absolutely. What if the point in the column I wrote about the caps when they had their opener is before the mayor starts taking care of Josh Harris, he needs to pay attention to their tenants in the city. And they needed to focus their attention on keeping Ted happy before they pursued the football team. So I agree with you there. I agree with you about that.

I'm going to say one thing. I'm just going to let it stand by itself. And you brought up monumental. sports, and I'm not going to get into a big thing about it, but I'm just going to say, I've seen a lot of people, a lot of media people on social media today that are auditioning for jobs with the Monumental Network. Okay, well, I'm not paying attention to that, as you know. But I...

And you are certainly not one of them. No, I'm not. First of all, I don't think he would ever hire either one of us, although there was a time when I think he kind of liked you. Yes. A short-lived time. Yeah, I mean, I just, watching that this morning was a little bit off-putting. I mean, Yonkin clearly excited.

Look, it's a big day for him politically. But as you said, I mean, these governors of Virginia are four years, you know, there's a term limit. Yeah. And I don't know. And maybe it's a great thing for Northern Virginia. Maybe the Nimbys and Richmond and the town of Alexandria will kill it. Maybe the mayor will, you know, maybe her offer the other night wasn't, you know, best and final, as she suggested.

Maybe for the mayor, and by the way, I think this is true, there are a lot of things on the list of need to be fixed. and, you know, this is probably far down the list in terms of the economic impact, but in terms of, you know, the perception of her and her legacy, whatever she wants that to be, this will not be good. But again, if she gets Washington, if she gets the football team back, that could be a big off-setter. Yes, it could. That's her life preserver. It's getting the football team back.

And like you said, if you had to choose two to keep, the baseball team and the football team, I think most people would agree, would be the two to keep. But Washington is a big enough city that they should have four of them, you know, all four of them. And you're right, it was just a little bit too giddy over there at the expense of a city that's going through some struggles right now. Yeah. I'll be real curious how they respond in the coming days, and if they sweeten the offer. But, but again, like you said, I mean, the football team is certainly going to get a lot better attention now from city officials than they were before,

because if all you're left with is the baseball team, you know, here's the thing. everyone who was a sports fan 30 years ago still remembers the name Sharon Pratt Kelly. Okay. Everyone remembers who that was. But it was a different team and a much more important team to the fabric of that city. I mean, I had somebody. But in terms of what, you know, perception and legacy, that's everything. Understood.

Understood. somebody texted me this morning and said if you really wanted to see how important this was, Josh should have fired Ron Rivera. And can you imagine where the attention would have gone immediately just to prove, hey, this really isn't that important. It is, though. I mean, it is, though. I say that, and it's mostly tongue-in-cheek.

Although, if he had fired Ron Rivera this morning, that would have dominated the coverage, sports coverage today. Oh, yeah. It would have. But, yeah, I hope the city is able to, you know, rebound from a tough couple of years. And, you know, if she's got bigger fish to fry, it just would suck that if she's able to actually, or whomever, is able to fix a lot of what's been happening here over the last couple of years, to find out that part of what was lost during all of the trying to fix everything else were two sports teams. It really should be downtown.

I wanted to ask you, do you think that that arena, like I was down there recently, and I'm trying to think of what I was down there for, wasn't a Wizards or a Caps game, do you think that arena's really that outdated? Everybody says it is? I don't think it's like terribly outdated. It's not RFK in 9. You know, it's hard for me to see these things. I was at, I was at M&T Bank for a Ravens game a few weeks ago.

That stadium only opened in 98, one year after, you know, FedEx Field did. Right. You know, and they're getting $600 million in upgrades from the state of Maryland. I look around that stadium. I don't see anything wrong with it. I'm at Camden Yards this summer. you know, and that was opened in 92. I don't see, visually, to my eye, I don't see anything wrong with it.

I love Cameron. I mean, it's still a comfortable, functional stadium. Yeah, I mean. You know, and I'm with you on the arena. You know, every time I've been in the arena, I don't see anything particularly wrong with it. I mean, you know, it doesn't look like it's falling apart. If there are needs, they're not visible to the average naked eye. It could certainly be a technology thing.

it could certainly be a premium seating thing, which... That's, I think, what it is a lot of times. Yeah, a lot of the times it's that. But it does not, it's not a, you know, a falling down arena. But anyway, all right, what have we not covered on this? So you think it's going to fall apart, I don't. I do think, and I've thought for a while anyway, and you haven't, that Washington's football franchise will end up in,

DC. And I think, like you said from the beginning, you know, Josh Harris and Mitchell Rails in that organization, not only are thrilled with this news, but it really should give them some leverage. You know, all along, the deal in DC was going to be the one that didn't come more likely than not with significant contributions other than infrastructure, whereas Maryland and Virginia's would, but perhaps they didn't care. They wanted to be at RFK. Well, that 500 million that you're given to Ted, put a one point in front of that five, and we got ourselves a deal. And perhaps, you know, taxpayers in D.C. after losing two teams, and you said this before, and I think to a certain degree you're right, but maybe, you know, there's bigger picture

thinking, maybe they'll be more intent on making sure that Washington doesn't end up in Maryland or Virginia. When I say Washington, the football franchise. as the commanders. Yeah. Well, you know, my position has been that it's going to wind up next to FedEx Field, the path of least resistance. Well, I got to think this dramatically changes that scenario. There's another factor, too.

But I think you're right. This changes the whole location picture for Washington football and makes the football team, gives a football team, I think, significant leverage. Combine that with, in Maryland, where they're going through their own budget crisis right now, and you've got a governor who, from afar, looks like he's over his skis when it comes to these kind of deals. He is totally bungled the Orioles lease agreement,

new lease agreement for Camden Yards. He's just embarrassed himself, made a mess of it. I'm not paying attention to it. So you're talking about Westmore's really embarrassed himself on that. Yeah. He's not my governor anymore. I don't live in Maryland. Okay.

I don't think he has the ability to be honest with you to pull off a deal like getting the football team to stay in Maryland. So those two combinations. Well, maybe he should run for president then. I think RFK is now the favorite. Yeah. I think so. I think so. I mean, I think it's been the favorite.

I know this. That's where they want to be. That's where Josh Harris and Mitchell Rails want to be. As of today, they do. Let's see what happens. So, you know, it's very possible we're a couple of months away from looking back on December 13th, 2020, 3 and saying, my God, did we make a big deal out of that? I mean, it is possible. I mean, really reading that note from Ted, I'm like, wow, there are lots of, you know, four warnings and caveats and whatever else you want to say in this letter that you did not hear with.

Democrats and Republicans hugging each other, laughing together and crying together this morning at that press conference. I mean, good God. I mean, that just got to be a bit too much. All right, well, you know, by the way, the Wizards are 3 and 19. That is still their record. They're headed. This is the most successful they've been at achieving what they've wanted to achieve in a long, long time. They are tanking exceptionally well. Absolutely. And tanking with such misdirection. And we thought when they train it with Jordan Poole and signed Kuzma, that what are we saying? What are you doing?

The Okie Doke. That was an okey doke. They really got us on that one. I actually said, I actually said right before, because we did this together, before the season started, I said, I hope they didn't add enough to win 30 games or to win 33 games. games because they really need to win just like 19. 3 and 19 would make it 22 games, so more than a quarter of the way through the season. So they're on track for somewhere around, yeah, 12 and a half to 13 wins. That would be perfect. The problem is Detroit is 2 and 21, and they've lost 20 in a row.

And the Wembignana, San Antonio Spurs are also 3 and 19, and they've lost Tommy 17 in a row. Wizards have only lost five in a row. So maybe they can change that starting tonight with their game against the Pelicans. And you can go out and pay hard-earned money to watch and overweight Zion Williamson, who everybody thinks needs to change his diet. Don't we all? All right. What else do you have?

Because I know you need to go today. Where can you stick around? I've got nothing else for you, boss. Okay. Do you have to go or do you want to stick around? You know where I'm going tonight? I forget. Where are you going? Okay. I'm going with my son.

We're going to see the new Godzilla movie. It's a big deal. It comes from Japan. It wasn't made here. It was made in Japan. It's gotten tremendous reviews. We are so psyched up for this. Him and I have shared this, well, both my boys, but we've shared this love of monster movies since they could talk. That's so interesting. So I'm really psyched up for this. All right. Well, enjoy it. Enjoy it. I don't think you could get me to go.

Not with the Wizards playing the Pelicans tonight. All right. Enjoy that. I'll be back for another segment or two on the show today to catch up on some of the things that I had planned for yesterday. We'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Look who decided to stick around. God, he loves this podcast. He loves all of you.

He doesn't care for me much. But he forgot to do his Shelley's read. So that means he's got to stick around. for one more segment. Tommy, tell everybody about Shelley's. Well, the reason I'm thinking staying around is because I couldn't wait to tell people about today's special on the menu at Shelley's.

You know, I would call this a death row meal. No words, like, if I was on death row and somebody said, this is your last meal, you know, what do you want? This would be it right here. back rooms special for today, barbecue chicken and bacon sandwich, grilled chicken breast, smoked bacon, and provolone cheese

on a butter toasted potato Kaiser bun, served with barbecue sauce with fries. That would be it. You know, if somebody said, this is it, you got to check out, that would be my death row meal right there. And there's a lot more like that on the menu at Shelley's back room. You can find the menu at shelley's backroom.com, 1331 F Street Northwest, in the district.

That sandwich sounds delicious. All right. There were some things that I wanted to do yesterday, but we didn't have a show. So I want to do them today with you. And I wanted to start with the Shohei Otani deal, because I didn't talk about it on Monday. I wanted to save it for when you were on. I don't get it. I mean, I understand the greatness of the player and the greatness and the uniqueness of the pitcher and the hitter combined into one body.

But this deal is unbelievable to me, $700 million, but the present day value is more like $460,000. and basically almost all of it, like 97% of it, is deferred until later on this decade. I don't understand how this works. So, I mean, I understand the greatness, I understand the uniqueness of the player, but what was- I would- Be the greatest player ever. Maybe. if you get the pitcher and the hand-hitter.

See, that's a big gamble the Dodgers are taken. He's undergoing Tommy John surgery. He's not going to pitch next year. But they didn't sign him to be a D.H. for the next seven years or ten years. You know, they expect him to pitch at some point for them, or else he's not the unicorn. You know, there's nothing particularly special about him. So that's a big gamble that they say, look, it's a complicated deal, you know, like the dude in the big Lebowski.

I don't know all the ins and out. You know? Yeah. And stuff like that. Jeff Bridges cut this deal. Yes. I got to think that the other owners are pissed off, really pissed off at this happen. There's going to be some blowback.

I don't know if it would be enough to do anything about this deal. And you know who else is pissed off? Scott Bors. He's got to be humor. Because it wasn't his client. Right. It's not his client, and he isn't the one who came up with this deal. You know? I guarantee you that Bryce Harper is sitting there looking at his paltry,

$330 million paycheck that he's getting from the Phillies and saying, are you kidding me? Let's go back and open this up again. and he won't be the only one. You know, I don't understand it either in the sense that it's all but $2 million a year deferred, but for salary, for luxury tax purposes, his salary is $46 million a year that will go against the luxury tax, the way they figure it with a formula that I don't understand. He is reportedly going to get between $30 and $50 million a year in endorsements from Japan.

And that doesn't even count what the Dodgers will get in endorsements from Japan. They're going to get, they might make enough money to actually pay this deal if it was the full salary. If he turns out to be the player that they think they're buying. I mean, the amount of deferred money in this deal is, I mean, the learners could have actually done this deal with him. Yes, they could have. So a couple of other things real quickly that I wanted to touch on, that I, had planned to talk about yesterday. Number one, I got a lot of people that followed up on what I said about Marty Herney on

Monday's show. And I want to make sure everybody's clear that I was not reporting anything, certainly not reporting that Marty Herney is going to be around as the team's team president or general manager. What I said on Monday, and I think it was pretty clear because I went back and listened to it, and I had John Kime on the show, and we talked about it, and John even confirmed a lot of what I had discussed, is that Marty Herney just has become in the organization for Josh Harris a very trusted voice. And the reason for that is Marty's been around. Marty knows the league. People in the league know Marty. People in the league respect Marty's work ethic from what I've been told.

his stick-to-itiveness. I mean, he's been around. I mean, this guy was a reporter. He was a beat reporter for Tommy's paper. Before that, the Washington Star covering the skins. And then Bobby Bethard and Charlie Casserly, you know, eventually he went with Bethard to San Diego and has had this long NFL career. No, I was not. I was not reporting that Marty Herney is somehow a contender to be the general manager and to stay on. I'm not saying that that's not going to happen, but I didn't say that it would. What I said, said was, is that Marty Herney, according to multiple people that I talked to at the end of last week and over the weekend, said that the voice that he listens to as it relates to football in the organization is Marty Herney's voice. That's all. I just wanted to make that clear. I, you know, Marty, by the way, I would also add, not only has Marty been around in the league for a long time, Marty knows this team. You know, we, we, how. many times have we talked about Tommy? This organization needs people in the organization that know the organization. And if they've got people in the organization that know the organization,

they should listen to them. Marty actually knows this team and its history and the importance and was around covering. And by the way, his local grew up, went to good counsel, went to Catholic University, was around when all of these teams were winning and in a big way. So I just want to make sure that several, I mean, somebody I think tweeted out that I reported that Marty Herney was going to stick around as the team's next team president. I did not say that at all. I just said he's a voice in the organization that Josh Harris trusts and listens to more than anybody inside the building. Yeah. Screw Marty Herney. Okay. Why? This guy was a report.

reporter, okay? A reporter for my paper. I've never heard word one from this guy. Not a single word. The only time I ever talked to him was when he was out of work, and I tried to get him on my podcast, and he gave me a very short, brief answer saying no, you know? And this guy has betrayed his own, as far as I'm concerned. Screw Marty Herney. Well, I mean, why? Because he didn't help you out? Yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah, I mean, we know, has he ever, has anybody ever, I reached out right when they hired him, heard nothing back from him. He's never done any sort of interview.

Never. Yeah. I mean, which, by the way, let me just add that my bet would be that those in the organization who have sought, you know, a big public voice. that that is probably not the direction that Josh Harris wants to go in. That the direction that they'll go in will be, the voice will be a football czar and the owner, and then of course the voices that we always hear from, coaches and players.

Not, you know, and I'm not just picking on Jason Wright, because Jason Wright clearly wanted to be more of, you know, the face and voice of the organization. And he was officially the team president. I'm not just picking on him, but there have been a lot of people that have kind of, you know, over the years sought more of that than I think this owner is going to want. I think this owner will want a much more buttoned up organization.

This organization has leaked like, you know, a sieve for years and had too many people talking about things that they probably shouldn't have been talking about, including by the way right now the head coach because every time he speaks it's rather confusing. I wanted to just mention a couple of other things real quickly. The two Monday night games, they were so incredibly exciting. And I'm still wondering why they both started at the same time. It looked like the biggest dog of a football night with Tennessee at Miami and the Giants hosting Green Bay. and unlike their other Monday nights where they've had two games,

they started at the same exact time. I would bet you it has something to do with sort of looking at ABC versus ESPN, looking at what kind of audience ESPN gets after a game with another game going on or vice versa. I don't know. There's probably something there that the network that Disney wanted, that ESPN, ABC wanted. but the two games, by the way, both smell test winners. And I did have, I had the Giants on the Money Line. I did not have Tennessee on the Mud Line, money line.

But it just, it's crazy that DeVito, have you seen his whole crew including his agent in that get-up? Oh, yes. I have. I mean, he, he's, it's like Dobbs, him, Jake Browning, like what makes these, quarterbacks who look so awful in relief early on. And then a couple of weeks later, you're like, hmm, I wonder if he can do it. But then they turn back into a pumpkin like Josh Dobbs did, you know, and he's been benched. So longer you're out there, the longer you're exposed.

I guess that's probably part of it. But the finishes to both of those games were insane. And then what else did I have? How about the fact that NBC, which has multiple wild card round playoff games, are nixing Al Michaels? Now, Michaels works for Amazon, but has been the alternate NBC guy after Tariko for some of these playoff games. They are not giving the game to Michaels. They're giving it to Noah Eagle, Iron Eagle's son, who is very, very good. and that is for those of you that have been following along.

I'm the biggest Al Michaels fan ever, but I've said for two years running, my God, is anybody lost his fastball faster than Al Michael's house? And he really has. Yeah. And then. I mean, but he is. He may be the best play-by-play guy we've ever seen.

He's certainly up there. For all sports. To do all sports. Yes. And then the other thing, which we did not get into, I don't think, on Monday show. I know I talked about it briefly on the radio show Monday, but that was what Montez Sweat said about his time here.

You saw this quote, didn't you, Tommy? Yes, I did. He said, quote, where I come from, it was kind of like just waiting on the season to end. But here, as in Chicago, it's like every week is a new challenge and people want to play for the man beside him. Coach Fluse, Coach Eber Fluse, is a great coach. He keeps us motivated.

I've never seen a head coach run the team and call defensive plays. So that's new for me. A lot of respect for him as a coach. Several of you got upset that I didn't address this and really rip into Montez sweat for this. I did notice some of that. And I thought about it. And I wasn't, I read this for the first. first time on the air Monday on radio.

And to me, it's kind of like what Chase Young said when he got to San Francisco. I chalk it up to, they're just talking. They're building up the place that they're in. And oh, by the way, in Montez Sweat's place, in Montez Sweat's situation, it's a place that just paid him a shitload of money. and, you know, I guess it's almost like every player seems to take a shot at a former organization on their way out, especially when the former organization is trash,

which this one's been understood. But I didn't really give it a lot of in-depth thought of, oh my God, they were just waiting for the season to end, you know, before October 31st. Well, they were still three and five then. They still had a chance. What a loser group. I didn't think of it that.

way. Maybe he meant it literally. Maybe he wasn't just rambling. Maybe they did quit early in the season after the Chicago game or whatever. But let me just tell you, the organization that he's going to is not like a banner organization either in the league. It's certainly been better than this one. But anyway, did you have any thoughts on Montez-Swetz's comments? No, no, it's just, well, one more reason to end this season is quick. as everybody can. Yeah, one more reason to end it quickly. All right, I had something that I wanted to share with all of you.

It just has something to do with Sam Hal, something that I saw last night, and we'll get to that to finish up the show right after these words from a few of our sponsors. This final segment of the show brought to you by Window Nation. Call Window Nation now at 86690 Nation or go to Windonation.com for the best deal of the year. Winters right around the corner.

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They'll give you a free estimate so you've got nothing to lose. 86690 Nation or windonation.com. So to all of you Maryland basketball fans that say I don't talk enough about Maryland basketball, they won by 40 last night. They beat Alcorn State. That was nice to see. It was nice to see them make a bunch of three pointers.

By the way, did you see what Big Ben said today is in Ben Rothelisberger? Maybe the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers is done. Do you think he senses Mike Tomlin's heading out of town? And then there's the story

that Sports Illustrated Mike Curran out of New England broke, and that is that Bob Kraft has already made up the decision, made his decision. They will part ways with Bill Belichick at the end of this year. So Tomlin, Belichick, I mean, a lot of young guys. And maybe Harbaugh. And maybe Harbaugh. Who knows? Lots of options. So there were two things

that I just wanted to mention about Sam Hal season that I don't think we've mentioned enough. All right. Number one is this. Sam Howe, in terms of the number of play action passes, he is thrown, is 21st in the league. And considering that he's got many more pass attempts than number two, he's got 509 attempts. Patrick Mahomes is number two with 487. So he's got basically a half of football or more of attempts, difference between him and Mahomes.

21st in play action is just, I know we haven't talked enough about, the strategy taken. I said early in the season, this is a long game. I think they just want to see him under the fire, you know, firing it and throwing it a lot. The bottom line is running game, play action, bootleg off of running game.

Best thing for a young quarterback. The fact that he's 21st in play action throws this year, now that we've got everybody having played the same number of games, basically, it's just, I don't, it's not the right. I think a new offensive mind, which I think they'll have, I do, I think is going to design an offense for Sam Howell, if Howell remains the quarterback. That's a big if. Where he's able to take advantage of a running game and play action and bootleg off of it.

Like we've seen some quarterbacks that are similar to him in sort of talent be very successful at. So that was one thing that I wanted to mention. The other thing that I wanted to mention is that Sam, I've talked a lot about after games, he had another two or three balls deflected, had another pass deflected. He leads the league in batted balls at the line of scrimmage or behind the line of scrimmage. That's not surprising. He is a shorter quarterback, and as I've said before, I think he plays and looks shorter. Trevor Lawrence is number two on this list, and it is weird.

Sometimes that ball comes off sidearm and he gets some of those passes deflected. But then you've got guys like Baker Mayfield and Gardner Minchew, you know, that are on this list. So it tends to be shorter quarterback driven. There's nothing he can do about that, okay, other than have an offensive coordinator and become better at throwing in lanes. But he leads the league, for those of you wondering, in batted balls or passes batted by a defender at or behind the line of scrimmage with 17. through 13 games, number one in the league. So he's number one in that. He's number one in interceptions. He's number one in sacks allowed. He's also 21st in play action throws. Man, before the season, I would have said, best friend of a young quarterback is a running game and then play

action off of it. Not a big part of the offense with Eric B. Enemy this year. And certainly the play action that they've run, too, I would point out, has been a lot of shotgun play action, never as effective as under-center play action. You know, Cooley explained to us many, many years ago, when you're under center and you go play action and you turn your back to the defense, you are also turning the ball away from the defense and they lose sight of the ball.

And that makes play action much more effective when you're under center. When you're in shotgun, defensive players never lose sight of the ball. And so play action isn't typically as effective. Anyway, you got anything else, or did you want to add to that? No, I got nothing else for you today, boss. Hell of a day.

You stuck around. You were really, really big to do that. Back tomorrow with Tommy. We can create new jobs, new tax base out here, and really work to make the promise of Virginia and what our governor spoke about, but also we have a responsibility to do a great job and continue to invest in Washington, D.C. Hold me accountable. I feel that that is not just words.

When you own a professional sports team, you have annual meetings every game. I can tell you by the moment, we're down 12 points after the end of the first period. Sell the team. Get out. You're terrible. We have a great win. It's like you're the greatest. So I understand being held accountable, and I promise, and my commitment to you is we will do the right things and the right way to all the communities that we serve.