After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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Learn more at Goalie.com today. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Hello, hello. Welcome to your work week. If you had a holiday weekend. I wouldn't say I'm jealous because I had a pretty, pretty amazing Monday, but. Those holiday weekends are to be cherished. The three-day weekends are to be cherished. So I hope you made the most of yours.

I hope your weekend plus your Monday, holiday or no, was exactly what you needed. But now it's time to get serious again. Now it's time to get back to business. Time to compare notes.

So thanks for hanging out with us here After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I had an amazing Monday and I cannot wait to share the story with you. I posted one photo. Maybe I'll share some more. We'll see.

Actually, there are some photos floating around there on the interwebs. But yeah, it was the start of something brand new for me and I couldn't have envisioned it any better, though. I was pretty jacked up on adrenaline after the fact. I thought, shoot, was I a little over the top?

But you know what? That's me. I'm always over the top.

So be true to who you are. Now I can be over the top with you. So I'd love to connect with you on Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page or YouTube channel After Hours with Amy Lawrence. I have no idea why, but I continue every night when I'm here at work to put up the NFL Network and the games that they're replaying from the season. I can't say I'm missing football yet because I'm not. We can't miss you if you never go away, NFL. So I'm not missing the NFL, but I watch this and I think, all right, it's going to be a while before we see NFL games and feel that buzz again, because it is a it's a different segment of the sports calendar where there are pockets. This is one kind of week where there's a pocket and it requires radio hosts and TV hosts and podcast hosts to be creative, to actually think outside the box. I've had multiple colleagues tell me there's nothing going on.

Oh, au contraire. There's always something going on. Always something. So this is the type of week that requires you to be more than just someone who can regurgitate. The latest event or the coolest stat or bring back the hot topic, the hot takes, if you will. I love these kind of shows. I love the shows during the dog days of summer. In fact, I really enjoyed the challenge of the radio show during the pandemic.

There was a whole creative process going into all of those shows. And the challenge wasn't just to entertain, but it was to connect when there were no sports and like literally no sports going on. There's plenty of sports that are still going on now. So we've got plenty to talk about.

But I always do enjoy the creative challenge of looking at events or this time of the year from a different perspective. So I'm excited to hang out with you for a few hours. As I say, let's connect on social media and we're going to call this a smorgasbord, if you will. We're going to call it a smorgasbord because the NBA is on its All-Star break. And I understand from producer Carlos that you all, for those of you who are listening 24 hours ago, spent a lot of time dissecting the NBA All-Star break or maybe delivering its eulogy. I think when you look at All-Star affairs, All-Star festivities, it's fairly obvious that the leagues outside of Major League Baseball, because that one is still a game.

It's the only one that actually resembles a competitive game because it has to. It's not timed. They have to get out there and get three outs, three up, three down. They've got to be able to work their way through nine innings.

Otherwise, they're going to be there forever. And so that one's not an issue. It's the only one that I watch. I didn't watch a second of the NBA All-Star game, not even a second. Not the draft, not the game itself, because it makes me want to throw up. I mean, that's a little drastic. You know me.

I'm fairly melodramatic at times. I actually was in bed, shoot, by 10 o'clock Eastern time on Sunday night because I had to drive seven hours on Monday. But I wouldn't have watched it even if I was awake. I would have watched something else. I've been binging a new TV show on Paramount Plus that I really like. I could always watch Star Wars.

I've got a full DVR that I need to catch up on Yellowstone. I would have watched anything else except for the NBA All-Star game. And so I think as you consider what the leagues have done, NBA, NHL, certainly the NFL, we're seeing that leagues are desperate to try to figure out how else they can attract viewers and fans. Because for the most part, the majority of the audience checks out.

Not all of them. And the NBA does a good job at throwing a party, I will say that, more so than the NFL with its Pro Bowl games, as they're called now. But this All-Star, I can't even call it a game, this All-Star display that we're seeing in the NBA, I think, is having the opposite effect.

The whole draft. Okay, maybe there's a little bit of fun in that, but not really. At least from my perspective.

And the competition itself is the opposite of that. When you've got a coach who's actually part of one of the teams indicate that it's some of the worst basketball he's ever seen, well, then you know you have a problem. I'm assuming the NBA is not going to fine him for that. But we'll see. So we're going to talk a little bit about that. And honestly, I have racked my brain to try to come up with some NBA version of flag football that might be interesting. Maybe get the Manning's to be part of it, because that seems to work.

I don't know. I didn't love the Pro Bowl games. I actually wasn't paying real close attention. I was writing most of the time.

But I had it on TV in front of me. I liked the skills competitions. I liked the tire run.

And the sled that was pushed with the Manning's on top and a couple of offensive linemen. I liked those types of fun competitions that you don't often get to see from your favorite players. I don't need the flag football part, but I understand they had the whole point system going on. And so, OK, I don't even know how you would get a flag football version of basketball to be appealing.

I'm not sure how to fix it. I just know that every league now is leaning this direction to make it more fan friendly, to make it worth watching. Because it's not right now. I understand players don't want to get hurt. They've already played about 72, 73 percent of their schedule. A lot of them are banged up.

Credit to Giannis for even getting out there with a sprained wrist. One bucket, no official minutes. But it's understandable these guys don't want to go all out. I mean, think about when the NFL Pro Bowl games are situated. After Championship Sunday, so everybody's done except for the two Super Bowl teams. Those guys don't play. They have nothing left on the line.

So when Myles Garrett dislocates his toe, well, he's got time to recover from that. But I don't know the answer. I don't think it's as easy as just calling you an All-Star then canceling the whole thing because they sell tickets. They move this event around. And it is a party. Celebrities show up. Musicians show up. It's a place to be seen. The NBA All-Star Game, the NBA All-Star Weekend is a place to be seen.

It's where the cool kids hang out for a while. But, again, at the same time, they've got to tweak the format more. Because what they're doing now is bleh. Thank goodness. I don't even know the score, really.

Something about 190 points. Something like that. But thank goodness they have the star power because at least people will tune in for that, but it's not going to hold your attention.

So all that to say I don't really have an answer, but this isn't working. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Load management is always a topic when we hear from the commissioner. And he's kind of pushing back on this idea that the Stars are sitting out too many games. So we'll hear from him as well. Jonathan Gannon introduced in the desert as the new Cardinals head coach. The one Hall of Fame player is saying, I would have hated playing for that guy. Ruh-roh. I'm telling you, I could read you the quotes and it won't be nearly as good as actually hearing him say it. It's fantastic.

You're going to love it. NASCAR is off and running for those of you who love NASCAR, and I know that many of you do. We don't spend a lot of time during the summer and fall talking about it because it gets dwarfed by the NFL.

I mean, welcome to the world of sports, right, where everything gets dwarfed by the NFL. I wish we could spend more time talking about it because I love NASCAR. I went to my first race when I was 12. I've worked at multiple tracks, been going to races for decades and really do enjoy it. And I will always push back when people say to me, it's only for fans in the South, it's only for Americans in the South.

Well, that's flat out wrong. NASCAR has tracks all over the country, many of them north of the Mason-Dixon line. And NASCAR is attempting to recapture its heyday, if you will. And so to that end, we're going to catch up with a long time NASCAR insider who is on the show a couple of times a year. He's in Chicago.

Why Chicago? Well, it's significant for NASCAR and the fact that the Daytona 500 was won by a single car team. What does that mean? Well, in NASCAR, it's actually a team sport. You've got three and four car teams that pool their resources, that share information, that even help each other.

When it comes down to the late stages of a race, you are looking for your teammates. So any type of a team or an owner who can put multiple cars on the track has a decided advantage. And yet for the first time in forever, a single car without the help of teammates ended up the victor at the Daytona 500. And honestly, it doesn't happen very often on the rest of the NASCAR circuit either.

So significant for that reason. The driver himself, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., he couldn't even do victory burnouts because he was so out of gas. Like he was literally out of gas. He had no gas left to do some donuts on the infield. He hadn't won since 2017, his first Daytona after a decade in the sport.

And then how about this? His team is co-owned by Brad Doherty, former NBA All-Star Center. First African-American owner to ever capture a Daytona 500. So even as I talk about NASCAR wanting to attract a new fan base by going to Chicago, we'll explain that. How much does it help that you've got owners like Brad Doherty and Michael Jordan who bring built in fan bases, but also look different? Like a Bubba Wallace who looks different than most of what you see in NASCAR. So a big step for the sport this weekend.

We'll talk about that. Tiger Woods, best final round in a long time. Good to see him smiling over the weekend at the Genesis Invitational, though he did not win, but he played through the weekend.

And then a little bit of baseball too. Aaron Judge, he's got even more to prove this season. He now has the mammoth, massive, major history-making contract. What does he do as an encore? I don't know if that guy feels pressure.

At times I think he's among the select few who are impervious to pressure. But $360 million over nine years, the AL MVP speaking for the first time at spring training. $360 million. They don't even have that much money in the monopoly box. That's obscene.

And yet the Yankees were able to keep him, which is humongous for them. So yeah, we're going to go hop, skip, and jump all over the country. Kind of dot the sports landscape.

And so I'd love to hear from you, whether it's on Twitter, ALawRadio, or on our Facebook page. I'm not going to create any drama. For instance, I'm not going to start talking about how Aaron Rodgers may be out of the darkness. Or not. Maybe he's just stuck there. He's given in to the dark side.

It's the dark side of the force. I don't know this because I honestly, most of the weekend was busy on other projects. But I don't know if people are still speculating about him and his future. I know now that the silence makes people itchy. So we haven't heard anything from him, so people are getting itchy.

Starting to speculate, this team, that team, what will he do? You know he loves that, right? Don't give in to the itchiness.

Don't scratch the itch. He's waiting. He's waiting for you to start making up things.

He's waiting for new rumors to fly so he can get on his high horse again and tell you that you're not part of his inner circle. And you have no idea what the bleep is happening. He loves that. Don't feed the gremlin. Do not feed the gremlin. Actually, I might start calling him that.

From gizmo to a gremlin when he thinks people are trying to usurp his thunder. So we're going to have fun tonight. I'm excited about it. I have some stories to tell you too. As I mentioned, it was a pretty amazing Monday for me. A big deal start to a new phase in my career.

If you haven't read my blog post, well, it's on both of our social media sites and so you can check it out. But today was pretty darn cool. Our phone number 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4CBS. Who was saying that this was the worst basketball game ever played? Do you think that was hyperbole? We'll be back after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. You always said that awards don't mean that much to you and you're a two-time MVP front runner for a third MVP. Were you a bit surprised to go number 7 in the draft? No, I will not draft myself either. I'm not meant for this game.

You're listening to After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Ikola Jokic, two-time NBA MVP, is right now on pace to average a triple-double. He's already taken over the Denver Nuggets all-time career assists record and is adding to it on a daily basis.

And he says he wouldn't have picked him number 1 either. I'm not built for this game. Honestly, very few are built for the type of game that we saw on Sunday night where the NBA All-Star game MVP had 55 points. Come on.

I don't even know how to celebrate that because it might as well be a walkthrough. It might as well be mannequins out there. It might as well be Carlos playing defense. Hey, that's not fair. I can play.

Okay. I mean, anybody can play better defense than what we saw on Sunday. I know they have the skills competitions on Saturday, and I think people enjoy that. The slam dunk, I mean, it's seen better days, but we still see the majority of the NBA community getting into it. They show more enthusiasm for the NBA slam dunk competition than they do for the actual All-Star game. And I really do like the three-point competition. That's something that I enjoy. Again, it's because you see the maximum effort. You see what these guys can really do. I don't know what the answer is. I honestly don't.

I wish I did. Because All-Star games, actual games or faux games, they're really a fake game. They're a dying breed now. And so they've got to be fixed. And you can see all the leagues looking for some way to tweak and to keep the fans' attention. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. It's tough when you have one of your coaches, the coach of the Nuggets, who was part of Team LeBron, lambaste the whole event. It's an honor to be here.

It's an honor to be a part of a great weekend, great players. But that is the worst basketball game ever played. How do you fix it?

I don't know if you can fix it. I mean, I give Joel Embiid, Kyrie Irving, those guys are competing. Jarell wasn't flooring some of the guys to play harder to try to get some defense in.

No one got hurt. They put on a show for the fans. But that is a tough game to sit through. I'm not going to lie. That's Michael Malone, the head coach of the Denver Nuggets, saying that had to be the worst basketball game ever played. It's a tough game to sit through. I'm not going to lie.

If he's saying that, why should anyone watch? Can I tell you something as I get ready to teach my first ever class at the university level? Well, I've taught individual classes. I'm teaching a course, I should say. Probably not a class, but a course.

And one of the topics that is on my list, one of the bullet points on my syllabus, I have to build a syllabus, what? One of my bullet points is most common mistakes that radio hosts make. One that you hear people say, and I think if you're telling fans, then why are they going to argue with you? One thing a radio host should never say is there's nothing going on, or that was unwatchable, or that was whatever. That wasn't worth your time. But really, it's about what Michael Malone said. It was tough to sit through. Well, if you think that, why should we bother? If you tell me there's nothing going on, or that was unwatchable, or that was tough to sit through, well heck, then I'll remember that for next time.

And also, why do I need you, radio host? If there's nothing going on, it was unwatchable, and it was terrible, then what am I listening to you for? And so, when Michael Malone, who is the coach of the best team in the West, says that was tough to sit through, that had to be the worst basketball game ever played, what is he telling fans?

Don't bother tuning in. I actually found it somewhat comical that he highlighted Kyrie Irving as the guy who was giving maximum effort. Well, it's always time to turn over a new leaf, Kyrie. He's happy right now.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Jason Tatum did capture the Kobe Bryant award. That may have been the most poignant moment.

Again, if you score 55 points of 184, yes, I suppose you are the most valuable. But the fact that it's named after Kobe still rings true and rings powerfully with the NBA community. It means the world to me. I was in the first All-Star game in Chicago when they renamed the All-Star MVP after him. And I remember in that moment telling myself I was going to get me one of those one day. And this day is extremely special for me to get one of these. And everybody knows how much he meant to me. He's my favorite player and my idol. So, it's an honor to take this home.

Now, see, that's cool. But when you have 55 points and you're almost running around mannequins, you're just kind of running through an obstacle course, if you will, with no real resistance, I feel like practices are tougher and more strenuous than what was on display in Salt Lake. I mean, when they have to put the stipulation out there that the first team to 182 wins, ew, who came up with that? The first team to 182?

So, if you have any bright ideas about how to fix it, I am all ears. I believe that there is enough star power for these All-Star events to be able to attract fans. Again, the Major League Baseball weekend being completely different because you actually have real matchups, pitchers, and catchers. The home run derby is a huge draw every year. But when it comes to the NBA, you don't want to tank it all together.

But the challenge is, if it's in the middle of the season, you're not going to get guys who are actually playing. It's more a layup line. It's more their own personal slam dunk competition. It's more about just zig-zagging through guys who are standing there. So, once the introductions are done, the draft and the introductions are done, well then, what's the point? Can we think of anything else?

Maybe they do something completely different that has nothing to do with basketball. Giannis, by the way, just had a single bucket, not even logging a full minute as the captain of his own team. I'm glad he was smiling. It was good to see him so upbeat. And that's what we love about him is his personality in addition to his game. He's a unique personality.

There is no one like Giannis. But, of course, fans want to know when he's going to be back on the court or how this wrist injury might limit him. You want to participate. You want to run up and down, joke around, have some dunks, create some art.

At the end of the day, I feel like you've got to also be mature. A hard decision, but a mature decision to take a break here, take care of it, and hopefully I can be available for my team when they need me. Yeah, that's what matters now. Even though he already had the injury, he came into the weekend with the injury, that's really the issue. These guys have a bunch of aches and pains already, and it's not worth it to them to go out there and exacerbate the situation at all.

Marco Belletti is here in studio. You know, we're seeing a lot of the All-Star festivities change because leagues recognize that fans are losing interest. It's not worth tuning in anymore. The Pro Bowl game itself has been completely tanked. Is it tanked? I guess tanked, yes.

That would be the word. And now they've replaced it with all these kind of camp games, right? Like summer camp games, which I didn't mind. I thought some of the skills competitions were fun. The flag football part I didn't really watch much. I thought the mic'd up portion was fun. I don't know what you do with the NBA.

The skills competition on Saturday night is great, but I don't know what else you can possibly do. Is there a flag football version of basketball? You see it in the All-Star game. That's exactly what it is. Look, no.

As much as everybody wants to do one-on-one or contract incentive. Look, this became big business. These guys realize that they're not going to put their body on the line. And more importantly, they're not going to be embarrassed with the age of social media that we have. They're not dealing with it.

There are no three-on-three tournaments. It's basically the idea of like, what's in it for me? What exactly does this do for me if I go out here and give everything I got?

Does it help me in any way? And the answer is no. So once everybody kind of started to realize that and it became big business where you can't just give them a little bonus where it's an extra 20 grand.

Wow, that's a big deal as opposed to 10 grand. Yeah, I'm going to try hard. Well, that's not the world we live in anymore. Well, you know what?

Then that's the adjustment that's made. Guys realize that it's a business decision. There's got to be something they can do, though, that'll be interesting. You know what?

I'm all for it. Because the NBA markets its stars. They put this weekend together and it's a party. They know how to bring in celebrities and musicians and influencers, if you will, that never used to be a category when we were kids.

Influencers, they know how to bring all these worlds together and throw a party. But there's got to be something they can do. That's the point. The game is a party now. That's the point. It's not a game anymore. And that's okay. I'm not, again, I don't sound like I'm old man yelling at the cloud. Like, I don't care anymore because I... You're blindfolded? No, but I mean, like, I'm trying to be realistic, though.

I know. Like, what's the idea that you're going to... I like the idea of playing to a score as opposed to just a clock. Like, that's something different. That's something that got a little bit of juice a couple of years ago, whatever it was, that first one that it did.

It's different. Like, oh, he knocked down a shot and the game's over. Like, you know, being in the yard again, going to 15.

But you got to win by two. Like, that's cool. But that's it.

What else are you going to do? But the first to 182 is kind of ridiculous. Well, it's the... I don't know if it's... Is that the number? Yeah, well, it was a number for this one.

It's like a plus for the fourth quarter. Yeah. So, like, there's something there. They're trying. But, again, you can't make someone care.

No. That's what we're asking them. One-on-one or three-on-three would be fun, though. Why would a player agree to this?

I know, but it would be fun. Guys don't want to be in the slam dunk competition because they don't want to be embarrassed. Do you think they want to go out one-on-one?

Like, there's no chance. Do you think it's because of that, or do you think it's because they don't want to get hurt? They don't want to be embarrassed. LeBron James really thinks someone's going to embarrass him in the slam dunk... Yup. Come on.

Look. His ego is the size of the planet Mars. Which is why if he loses, he wouldn't be able to handle it. That's it.

There's your answer. If he wins, it's, hey, you're LeBron. If he loses, never hears the end of it for life. Why would he do it?

Like, there's no... Again... I mean, he can rig it. He can pay people off.

He can pay off the judges. You know, and that's why, like, everybody... Well, MJ did... Like, there is no situation where LeBron can win. If he does it, you have to win because you're LeBron. If you lose, we will never let you live it down. You can win 700 titles. We'll tell you how you lost to Mac McClung in the dunk competition.

People are then going to, like, use that as evidence that Michael Jordan is the GOAT instead of... It's anything. We live in a society where we want to rip you. There is no reason for the... We. Yeah. The collective we. Again, it's not... You can be on the outskirts. I don't like it. That doesn't make me... That makes me different. We as a society like to get on people.

We enjoy the troll, if you will. So, if you're these players and you're making this money and you're a big superstar, why would you put yourself in a position where you have your pants down? Why would they do it? They'll never do it.

I wouldn't watch that either. So we're asking, again, as much as it would be cool to find a way, and I'm all for it... I don't know what it is, though. We're asking them to care.

And how do you ask a human being to care about something that they don't? At least Mac McClung has now become a household name for a weekend. Right. And he made his entire career earnings in a day because he's never been in the actual NBA. It's good for him. That's why he does it. And that's great for him, but that's why he... He's got nothing to lose. Right. Right.

He's got everything to gain and nothing to lose. If Mac McClung lost the dunk competition, would you have noticed? Did you know who Mac McClung was before the weekend? No.

No one did. That's the point. It's almost like getting a guy off the street. When you have nothing, yeah, I'll give it a shot.

When you've got everything, you want to try this? No. Maybe that's it. Was it the Pro Bowl a few years ago where they made the winners or the MVP connected to a fan who won a house? Wait, what was that? Do you remember that? That's the home run derby.

That's the home run derby. Maybe they do something like that. They still don't care. The person getting the house cares, not the player. But maybe the player would have some pride in wanting to give the fan this.

You know where they would care? Why? And you can't do this. I'll take your house away from you if you lose this home run derby, which is what we can't do. You can't ask them to care. You can't take a man's house away from them. But that's the point. You'll win a house for this person.

Yeah, I'll give it a shot, but I don't really care if you get a house or not. I'm sorry, you're not getting them to care. All right. It's not enough. But I'm not saying this, you know, I'm being realistic, like, is there anything that can make any person, anybody listen, like, something that someone else wants you to do that you don't want to do?

How do they make you care? I don't know. Not unless there's some sort of incentive and you go, well, money. Money's not it.

No, not for that. So what else is there? For sure.

That's my question is I don't really know what the answer is. If any of you have the answer, you can certainly find us on Twitter, After Hours, CBS, or my Twitter, A Law Radio, our Facebook page too. All right. Coming up, we're going to pivot because people care about Daytona and I didn't have a chance to talk about it. So a little bit on the great American race and also Tiger Woods not only plays the first two days of his Genesis Invitational, but on through the weekend. Pretty sweet to see golf fans respond to him in Riviera near LA. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. This is a big deal of where our tour is going to have all the top players here playing like this. It means a lot to me as a player, but also as a host to have all these players show up like this and play and I just wish I could play a little bit better and made a little more interesting, but overall was a fantastic week.

Here's Amy Lawrence. That is the voice of one Tiger Woods who definitely had a successful week, even though he expects to win. He expects to go out there and compete. So he was more disappointed with the way that he played, however, to go two over on the final day, but finish under par was huge. He had an electrifying third round in which the fans were like the Tiger galleries that we used to hear every time he was in contention, but maybe a little tired in the final round. He did have a birdie on the first hole on Sunday, a couple more on the back nine, but mixed in a handful of bogeys as well. And so to be able to finish at one under is a big deal, but maybe he gets stronger. Maybe the next time out he finishes on a high note instead of petering out because of his physical limitations, though he has indicated that those limitations are going to plague him and that he's never going to be the same. We know he still has trouble with the ankle even when he's practicing and not playing four rounds of golf on four consecutive days.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Jon Rahm wins the Genesis Invitational over the weekend. He's the hottest golfer in the world right now, but all eyes on Tiger Woods and what's next for Tiger? I'm not going to play any more than probably the majors and maybe a couple more. That's it. That's all my body allowed me to do.

My back the way it is, all the surgeries out of my back, my leg the way it is, I just can't. That's just going to be my future. And so my intent last year was to play in all four majors. I got three of the four.

Hopefully this year I can get all four and maybe sprinkle in a few here and there, but that's it for the rest of my career. I know that and I understand that. That's just my reality. Not certainly what fans want to hear, but at least we have that to look forward to. We have Tiger Woods to look forward to in the majors and he's made the cuts a couple of times. Just hasn't been able to sustain that physical strength over the course of some of the more strenuous courses against the best in the world. Maybe that's something he works toward, maybe not. He's obviously getting older and he points to the various challenges with his ankle and his surgically repaired leg, the one that he nearly lost.

I keep trying to remind myself of that. The fact that he's golfing at all is a miracle. I'll feel the same way when DeMar Halen gets back on the football field because he says at some point he hopes to. He's 24 years old. He's got years and years ahead of him where he would theoretically be in his physical prime. I'll feel the same way about him. And remember Alex Smith getting back on the football field after he nearly lost his leg too.

So these are stories that the comeback alone is a triumph, is a success, is a victory. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We're going to pivot here. We've got a couple of callers I want to take before we hit the top of the hour.

And Bob Potgrass will join us from Chicago actually, which is not Daytona, not where the 500 was, even though he covered that race and then he went to the Windy City, so we'll hear why. Let's talk to John who's in Toronto. Welcome to After Hours. Oh, me, John? Yes, sir. Oh, okay. Thanks for taking the call.

And with the, not just basketball, but all the sports, they're focusing on the wrong things. Hey, John. Hold on.

Yeah. We're going to put you on hold and I'll come back to you. Can you turn down the radio? Because we want a delay. And so I can hear me feeding back on the radio.

And so it's just, it's like me and an echo. So we're just going to put you on hold. And if you want to fix that, we can come back to you.

Thank you. Let's talk to Kent. Kent is listening in Virginia. Kent welcome to After Hours. Hi, Amy. How are you doing? I'm good.

Thank you, sir. Um, nobody Carl, nobody's covering NHRA like they used to back in the late eighties and early nineties. It was only one man on one TV station in DC used to be George Michael.

He passed away so many years ago and he used to do it every Sunday night after like 11 30 to 12 and I've had never heard anybody, any radio station, any sports people at all never covered it anymore like they used to. Well, I can't speak for late eighties, early nineties because I wasn't doing sports radio then. But as a host who speaks to a national audience, I have to pick the topics based on what the audience wants to hear. And I would say even with NASCAR, racing doesn't always translate on the radio. It's hard. It's like hockey, for instance, it's hard to translate on the radio as well as it is in person, right?

Radio or TV. And so that's the issue there is that NHRA, while there is definitely a niche audience for it, it's not something that translates across state lines and around the entire country. You would think so because it's kind of like a big, like a bigger sport is just as big as NASCAR. No, it's not. You would think it would. No, it's not.

I don't know. Well, take my word for it, Kent, I know. Thank you for your phone call. I appreciate it.

We're going to squeeze in one more here. Kareem is in Atlanta. Kareem, welcome to After Hours. Hey, Amy, how you doing?

I'm good. Thank you, sir. Hey, I enjoy listening to you.

I would drive trucks, so I'm always riding through the night and whatnot. But I wanted to call, I mean, I kind of disagree with you and a lot of the national pundits out there. Pundits? I like that word. With respect to the All-Star game, right?

Okay. And here's my take on it. I mean, you got to get the competitive basketball when the playoffs start. Everyone knows that's the real season. But I mean, also, we can't expect the All-Star game to be like a pickup game at Rucker Park or whatnot, right? So you spoke on how the entertainment value. I've been to several NBA All-Star weekends. In person, it is the best that you can, the NBA is the best, right, when it comes to the whole weekend.

Definitely knows how to throw a party, yes. And now if you're at home watching, I remember growing up watching the All-Star games with my dad and everything and whatnot. So you're at home and you're a kid, adolescent teenager or whatnot, you've got to enjoy seeing your favorite players like, for instance, no one now enters the dunk contest.

Well, it was a glorified layup line yesterday, but you got to see everyone taking off, doing all kind of dunks, throwing it up. It was entertaining for that purpose, right? I did watch the first three quarters. It was entertaining.

Impressive. Then you got to see the shows, after the draft, they had Post Malone and 21 Savage. That was a nice little show, then you got the halftime show. So I just say all this to say, they're trying to give the fans just more of an entertainment. Right, the skills. And just get back and chill and enjoy seeing your players on display.

We as fans, we can't expect to think it's going to be a summer afternoon at Rutgers Park. All right, so I'm sorry I took it. Yes, Kareem, I appreciate that. I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Thank you. I have to let you go because that's the music and we're at the top of the hour. But if what you're looking for is them to show off their skills, they definitely did that. I guess I just missed the actual game part. It's After Hours on CBS Sports Radio.