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TNC Supplies. I'm Dr. Mary Claire Haver. Ready for honest conversations about thriving in midlife? Listen to and follow my new podcast, Unpaused, available now wherever you get your podcasts.
Hello, it's Lena Dunham. I host a podcast called The Sea Word with my dearest friend and historian of bad behavior, Alyssa Bennett. What is up? It's a chat show about women whose society is called crazy. We're going to be rediscovering the stories of women society dismissed by calling them mad, sad, or just plain bad.
Listen to and follow the C-Word with Lena Dunham and Alyssa Bennett. Available now, wherever you get your podcasts. Gresham for JR tonight here on the Infinity Sports Network. Boy, we got a lot to get to. And a couple of things that may have been off your radar.
Mm-mm. For those of you who appreciate a good bit of spite and malice. With your uh sports? I've actually got a story in the world of NASCAR. Um I do want to touch a little bit on the past UFC pay-per-view as well.
but trades are happening in the uh in the National Football League. I know we have uh we haven't had like the real blockbuster, what Mechie ends up on the uh on the Jets and One of the jet players reworked their contract to be able to get the hell out of Dodge.
So. You know, we're starting to we're starting to see NFL teams kind of move the roster about a little bit. You know, the Patriots made a couple of trades sending some guys out the door.
So, of course, that's got people thinking they're getting ready to bring someone in the door. I don't necessarily don't see it that way. When it comes to New England, because to me they're looking to trade draft capital. If people are looking to swap players or to. Have a player thrown into a package of picks if you're like, you know, Cincinnati and you're trying to trade Trey Hendrickson or something like that.
Uh that's where it uh that's where it might things might end up uh getting in the way for New England.
So I know that the uh I know that the rumor mill is a churning and um You know, is there really a chance that Trey Hendrickson could end up getting traded considering he has a little bit of a hip injury that the guy has been fighting through already? If completely healthy, it'd be a little different. But. Um you know, San Francisco Ended up working a deal with New England and getting former second-round pick Keon White, which I think for those of you in San Francisco, You are really going to like this guy. This dude was just in the wrong scheme when the Vrabel people came into town, quite honestly.
But I really think San Francisco may have gotten themselves a steal when it comes to Keon White and throwing him in as a part of that 49er defense. You know, there's rumblings about what could happen with Brees Hall and Jacoby Myers and.
Okay. You know, Jalen Phillips and Bradley Chubb, and people like that.
So there's all kinds of names that are out there. But I just don't know if we're going to get. the big blockbuster move. Uh I saw something on uh on Twitter before Hopping on that, uh, I guess Kirk Cousins has requested to be traded again, and now. You know, maybe the maybe a um uh are reuniting with uh Minnesota.
Hmm. It would be interesting because I know Carson Wentz came out and defended the Vikings today, saying that, hey, nobody forced me to play. Uh, you know, so it basically he's taking the heat off the organization because he was uh he's gonna have season end or a season ending shoulder surgery on his left elbow. His quote: I'm not an idiot. I know what I was signing up for going out there.
No one was forcing me, pressuring me, or any of those things.
So, you know, now that we've got now that supposedly Kirk Cousins wants to get the hell out of Atlanta again. And Atlanta is in a. Atlanta. Is in a very interesting spot this week, right?
So the Falcons. are playing the Patriots, who right now are on a heater. The Patriots played a a nice run of bad teams to help kind of fatten up the record a little bit. But The Atlanta Falcons are the truest version. Of Jekyll and Hyde in the NFL.
And remember, it was what, a year and a half ago. Where Arthur Blank had the big decision to make. He was either going to keep all of his people, as all of the people that were there were rallying and playing the Raheem Morris card with the old man, the owner Arthur to rally around each other and then and keep Bill Belichick out of there because Arthur Blank had two very serious meetings with Bill Belichick. Um Sometimes you need that year off anyway, but it sure felt like if you were Atlanta. That you were maybe heading towards Belichick.
And, you know, regardless of what happened in North Carolina. Um, you know, the g I I mean, if people are just gonna look at it and say, Oh, his last season was four and thirteen, he's forgotten everything he's ever known. I mean, come on now. But I'm wondering if Arthur Blank Even though it is the Mike Vrabel-led New England Patriots, there is a part of me that wonders if Arthur Blank is sitting there and going, Boy, oh boy, I might have made a mistake. Because if you're the Falcons and you're trying to find some consistency, the schedule's not going to bring it to you.
You're playing 6-2 New England this week, and then it's Indianapolis. I do believe that one might be in Germany. I see 9:30 a.m. Eastern. For that game against Indianapolis.
And then you get Carolina and New Orleans and the Jets who stink. But then you got Seattle, Tampa, Arizona, the Rams, and then the Saints once again. If the Falcons are just going to be nothing but a roller coaster ride. And they're going to be up and down this year. Then, you know, I wonder if at the end of the year, Arthur Blank just goes, you know what?
I've already screwed this up. Let me broom you guys out. And, you know, would Arthur Br Blank still turn around and bring in somebody like a like a Bill Belichick if they decide to move on from people down in Atlanta? Excuse me, because I think the thing we have to realize Especially with Arthur Blank. He hasn't won one and he's only getting older.
So, whether it's, you know, Bill Belichick, John Gruden, you know, whomever, pick, pick whatever, Brian Kelly, I have no idea. I just wonder if there'll be an evaluation of the existing people that are there in Atlanta. And you kinda realize that it just ain't happening and ultimately moves on to maybe a big splash higher down in Atlanta. 888-710-4ISN, 888-710-4476. It's how we can interact.
And if you can't wait on hold. Or if you cannot call, but you have a computer, maybe you're listening to us on the Odyssey app, or maybe you're listening to us on SiriusXM Channel 375, you can always get me on social media everywhere. Twitter, Instagram, TikTok. My YouTube channel. At the Riogresh, G-R-E-S-H, pretty much whatever platform you're in.
Whatever platform you're in, you should be able to type in at the RealGrass G-R-E-H and be able to find you and interact on social media. I just needed the old quick drink of water there. I'm still. kind of fighting uh fighting a little bit of a uh of a cold. Um I have rarely seen.
In college sports A the governor of a state. Basically, publicly embarrass. Another state employee, in this instance, it would be the athletic director. of L S U.
So earlier today, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, who I he could walk in my house right now. I would have no idea who he is. I've never seen him before. I know nothing about this guy. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry told reporters Wednesday.
LSU Athletic Director Scott Woodward. Won't be involved in selecting the Tigers' new football coach. Saying he'd let Donald Trump do it before Woodward.
Okay, so. You hear that or you read it. Right? You read it, but you don't know how it sounds. Because that sounds like one of those things where he could be deadass serious.
That's one of those things where he could be saying it kind of like tongue-in-cheek or saying it with a little bit of a wink. Or it could just be one of those comments at the spur of the moment or something. Great job by Ryan in New York. Here is what it sounded like.
So, a little background, right? I read it. And then what does it sound like? Here's Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry. No.
I can tell you right now, Scott Woodward is not selecting the next coach. Hell, I'll let Donald Trump select it before I let him do it. I don't know, but the board of supervisors is going to come up with a committee and they're going to go find us a coach. Hold on, hold on. One real quick thing on that.
Because here's what y'all reporters need to do. Y'all need to start looking. And who represents all these people? Like these agents. You know what's interesting, if I'm not mistaken.
What is agent? Kelly's agent. The Texas A and MA, they're all the same agent. Like you realize, if I would be, I don't know how y'all, how many sports writers we got here today? I got just you.
We should have a bunch.
Okay? Like this is ridiculous. Lawyers would be disbored. For the way these agents act and the way they're able to represent. In fact, they may, there's no doubt, they may even represent some of the players now.
Like it's really time for the NCA to put on some guardrails. in college sports. Because we and it is fine. We don't need the guardrails. Big billionaires want to spend all that kind of money, no problem.
But if I got to go find $53 million from Kemp, it's not going to be a pleasant conversation. I'm just telling you.
Well, there you go. There is Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, who. has uh if he were if he sounded more gruff Or if he sounded gruff, there would be. You you hear like Ed Ed Orgeron in there, or at least I do anyway. I'll tell you this.
Uh. I give Governor Landry a lot of credit. For saying what needed to be said there. In terms of the look at the agents in all of this. That's a uh that's a fair point.
It really is. Like No one talks about that stuff, but You know, what was it? Elaine Kiffen hasn't made any decisions yet, apparently, on Ole Miss.
Well, that's because Jimmy Sexton hasn't told him what to do yet. And then I do believe that when the Steve Sarkeesian rumors came out. Right. I think he's a Jimmy Sexton guy. If I'm not mistaken on all of that.
So. Yeah. Oh. Hang on here.
So, uh I guess maybe the uh I guess maybe the old Gubna May not have been completely correct. This from Ross Dellinger of Yahoo Sports. Uh this is great. They took the quote: Y'all reporters need to start looking at who represents these people: Woodward's agent, Kelly's agent, the Texas AM coach's agent. Uh they're all the same age.
I think he was referring to Elko, by the way. But Ross Dellinger providing some clarity. Around the governor's comments here. Brian Kelly and Jimbo Fisher are not represented by the same person. Kelly is represented by Trace Armstrong.
Fisher is represented by Jimmy Sexton. I thought that was more of a Now, I know that they were the reference of the fired football coaches and stuff like that. I didn't take that as Jimbo Fisher. I kind of thought of. uh of Mike Elko.
Just in terms on people and who they represent and stuff like that. But man, oh man, I mean, when the you know, when you have whiffed so badly in the buyout market, You know, they had to pay Ed Orgeron seventeen million. They got fifty-four million on on uh Brian Kelly. I'll tell you what happened. This was all a part of when schools ended up losing their minds.
When it came to their coaches, keeping coaches, recruiting coaches, retaining coaches, all that kind of stuff. That you know, there was so much movement, and there was a land rush or competition for. uh, Brian Kelly and people like that. I mean, good lord So that's where I think that's where I think these athletic directors. started to Kind of lose their minds a little bit and either not have stronger offset language.
Like, the word buyout doesn't even. Like, it's money owed to you, right? Like, it's not. It's not a buyout in the essence of Um You know, it's not a buyout the way you would hear about it in big league baseball, right?
So, say a guy goes to a team for $20 million, and there's an option for the next year at $25 million. Or there's a two and a half million dollar buyout of that option, right? If it were a true buyout, it would be Brian Kelly is owed 54 million, but for him to be scot-free within 30 days, he'll accept 45 of the 54 million to be able to get out from underneath like a clause in the contract or something like that. That would end up being a a buyout. I mean, otherwise, you guys got fired and they owed him money.
It's no different than, you know, people in radio or any other line of business, right? Like Someone like me, you have, you know, maybe like 90 days if they fire you. Um You know, that's different than sort of what these football coaches are owed and how these contracts are structured. And I mean, that's just talk about getting. I mean, really, just if you're Scott Woodward.
You got verbally pa The governor of the state, of the state university, in which you are the athletic director thereof. Not a good day for Scott Woodward. But then again. We have all of this clandestine money now in college football to be able to pay these people, or you got shoe money or something like that, whatever it is that's coming in to be able to kind of balance the books. And hell, the Big Ten is arguing over whether they should take money from venture capitalists, which would be an automatic infusion of money to each of those programs.
Um, this is th th this is big business now. And if you hear of a Say CEO in the corporate world who ends up leaving their job, and you hear that they got, you know, $20 million going out the door. in some instances, that's kind of what this is for some of these coaches. You're leaving and there's your exit package. And yes, it's closer to an exit package than it is a buyout.
But nevertheless, I still, I mean, who in the hell is that?
So I look at it this way: if LSU was paying $10 million a year for a coach. Unless they're going to get someone who is not as high-profile. as Brian Kelly. Like if LSU is not gonna be in the lane kiffin lane or you know i i in that high speed lane of trying to get somebody who's a big name, You know, are they like, are they the ones who's going to say, well, let's go get Scott Silverfield from Memphis and we can pay him, you know, six and a half million dollars a year or something like that? I kind of feel like LSU, they're going to end up having to spend more money.
And maybe even more on a per-year basis. 'Cause you gotta remember all the assistants are getting fired now.
So, whatever those guys had on deals, I'm sure there's a duty to mitigate or something. But if you're an offensive coordinator to LSU and you're making $2 million and you go, you know. You'll be an OC at the uh FCS level for two hundred grand. You know, you're you're still because you want to. You're still getting a ton of duts, still a ton of dough that LSU has got to pay out to a bunch of these guys.
So this isn't just Brian Kelly, it's the Brian Kelly staff and how many of those people will either be retained or shipped off into the suite good night. But You know, LSU, they had James Franklin. I don't know where they're going to turn. Or, excuse me, LSU had Brian Kelly. I don't know if Penn State had James Franklin.
You know, they got to turn around and make a big splash higher.
So. You know, I think Penn State makes a hard run of Mike Elko because of those jersey ties, and we'll see how that all ends up working out. 888-710-4ISN, 888-710-81777777777 4476. Gresh with you here in for JR tonight. I got Rowan Kavner of Fox Sports coming on to talk some baseball at 7 p.m.
Eastern. Brian Diardo does NFL for CBS, and he'll be in at 8 Eastern. And the great Bill Bender of Sporting News will talk some college with me at 9:20 Eastern time. Otherwise, tons of room for you. 888-710-4ISM.
And we What I have for you next. If you enjoy A little bit of spite and malice with someone that wins a championship. Hang around. Because boy do I have a story for you and it's all gonna go down on Sunday.
So hang with me. I'm Gresh, InfoJR on the Infinity Sports Network. Listen up football fans, you won't want to miss this. Right now, new Bet365 customers bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets win or lose.
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Call 1-877-718-5543 or visit morethanagame.nc.gov. Must be physically located in North Carolina. TNC's apply and app only. I'm Dr. Mary Claire Haver, and my new podcast, Unpaused, is the place for bold, unfiltered conversations about what it takes for women to thrive in the second half of life.
Listen to and follow Unpaused, available now wherever you get your podcasts. Uh Hello, it's Lena Dunham. I host a podcast called The Sea Word with my dearest friend and historian of bad behavior, Alyssa Bennett. What is up? It's a chat show about women whose society is called crazy.
We're going to be rediscovering the stories of women's society dismissed by calling them mad, sad, or just plain bad. Listen to and follow the C Word with Lena Dunham and Alyssa Bennett. Available now, wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief, Keirs Fresh. Oh boy, I admittedly, I can't wait to get to this story.
Okay. And uh for those of you who uh didn't quite understand what I was uh mentioning, teasing you with as they were saying there were the uh Uh at the end of the uh last segment. I think it's always fun when someone can win at a high level and be able to like stick it to someone at the same time.
Okay. Now, let me be the first one to tell you that I am a changed man. Let's say. I never, never, ever, ever, ever. like NASCAR, until I met my uh wife Betty Gresh in uh two thousand late two thousand nine.
And then into 2010, I started getting into it. She loved it, and the kids liked it.
Okay, so I started paying attention. And now I fast forward fifteen years later of uh being married to this woman and I am a uh I watch NASCAR with her. I do. And tomorrow is the championship race in Phoenix. Not tomorrow, excuse me.
Tomorrow's the Trucks. And then Saturday is the Xfinity. And then Sunday is the Cup.
So Sunday Cup Series. Denny Hamlin will once again have a chance to win an elusive championship. Denny Hamlin has 60 wins. in the NASCAR Cup Series. This is a guy who's got 60 wins.
He is like that. Denny Hamlin in the racing world is like that great golfer. Where, like, they've kind of done everything else. They've been on the Rioter Cup team, things like that. But they've never won a a major championship.
Like it would be like winning sixty tournaments on the PGA Tour and never having won a major or won the overall championship or the FedEx Cup.
So, Denny Hamlin, it's down to the final four, and Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, and William Byron. Are the championship four heading into Sunday?
So everybody races, anybody can win the race. but of Hamlin, Larson, Briscoe and Byron, the the one who ranks highest, you know, the one who finishes the best in that race. Like maybe they'll win the race, but they finish in second against those other finishing second overall, which means they beat, you know, Larson, Briscoe and Byron, and then ultimately Denny is the uh is the champion.
Now, there have been I mean, this is the fifth time Denny Hamlin has been in the championship four.
So, you know, this is a guy who went in 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021. And he hasn't finished better than third among the four finalists in any of those years. And you could have a bad pit stop, mechanical failure. There's a lot of things that could end up. Becoming a problem when it's just a one-race scenario for those four drivers.
And it'll be the third time for Denny Hamlin to have a chance to win at this one-mile Phoenix Oval. But the first time in the next gen car, they switched cars years ago and teams had more of an ability in the previous version of the car to tailor it towards a driver's needs.
Now it's a little more general. to where you're really trying to get the talent of the driver.
So now that I have laid all of that out to you and given you a little bit of the back story on Denny Hamlin, Denny Hamlin is also an owner Denny Hamlin partnered with Michael Jordan to create a 23XL Racing. And they have Bubble Wallace as one of their drivers, I believe. And. It wa it was it was pretty big when a couple of years ago. They announced that Denny Hamlin, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, and by the way, I do believe inked an extension recently to continue to drive with or for Joe Gibbs Racing.
And he is a partner with Michael Jordan on other on racing teams in the Cup series.
So, Hamlin's 23 XL racing along with Michael Jordan and Front Row Motorsports, another relatively new entry into the sport. They are embroiled in a bitter lawsuit against NASCAR. that it is a monopoly. And that basically what a 23 XL racing And front row motorsports are doing is they are essentially challenging the business structure. of the France family Who owns and controls NASCAR?
So In this bitter lawsuit. last week, there were two days of settlement negotiations.
So they tried to go to arbitration because if you're the France family in NASCAR, you probably don't want it in open records in court. about what your books really look like.
So they tried to get a deal done through arbitration. It didn't get done.
So they are headed to trial on December 1st. My guess is. After everybody wakes up from the Thanksgiving trip to fan, They'll wake up and figure this out before December 1st, but it's a real challenge to. the sport that Denny Hamlin has helped build. It's a real challenge to the business structure of the sport.
Where the France family has been able to keep a ton of the money and do your digging into the France family if you're going to do a Google search and you'll see some stuff there, let's say the least.
So here's my hope.
Okay. Here's my hope. What I want Is Denny Hamlin to win this championship? And then on one hand Denny Hamlin can grab the championship trophy with his right hand. and he could throw that thing in the air for all of his fans.
while in the left hand he's looking at the people at NASCAR who have to hand him that trophy, and he can peg them the finger with the left hand as well. Hold the trophy up in the air with the right hand, take the left hand and pit and and just flip the bird to the France family. Denny Handelin said he would not feel awkward having NASCAR Brass hand him the trophy. He said, I've seen those guys as much as I've ever seen them over the last few weeks. It's just been I've had a different suit on, and they've been in their normal suits.
I mean, he's not in his fire suit. Ha ha. And I and so I don't think it'll be awkward. I got respect for all those guys, and obviously it's a totally different issue than what we're fighting on the racetrack this weekend.
So, Denny Hammond kind of being magnanimous. But how racing would it be? Right? In the old days it would be It'd be... driver had the cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth.
When he threw the hand up with the uh the right hand up with the trophy and the left hand, pegging the uh pegging the France family the finger.
So, if you like a little bit of spite and malice with your sports. And where somebody could maybe end up winning a championship and maybe popping off verbally a little bit. Denny Hamlin did a good job there, but maybe after the adrenaline of winning the championship, maybe it's not so nice. Because Denny Hamlin is one of those guys in the NASCAR circuit who. Um His words can bite, let's put it that way.
But he he can definitely like get right to ya. And if Danny wants to say it, he's never been afraid to not he's never been afraid to not speak his mind. Like he has a podcast and he lets it fly and he's talked about this whole lawsuit before and things like that. But it could be really interesting. I'm rooting like crazy for this guy to win it.
Because I just want him to have the ability to be able to Pop that finger right up on the old left hand as he's hoisting that trophy into the air.
So I figure that's one of those off the radar for some of you where you know you flipping on flipping on old, I think it's NBC now, I think it's NBC Peacock now. Uh so I'm pretty sure NBC will end up having that race. on Sunday if uh if you did want to uh want to check it out. My man Rich Ackerman is standing by with the update. Ackerman has never had an acrimonious moment in his life where he would have to flip someone the finger.
You sure would. Unless it was like a cabbage.
Well, unless it was a. I figure if you're on the street and it's a cabby and there's a puddle and someone splashes you. That's right. There you go. Yeah, I got that one.
Maybe in the subway. But I know with all your Brazilian jiu-jitsu that if you flip somebody in the subway at a closed quarters, you'd be just fine. Yeah, I think so. You know, from Brooklyn, you know? Hey, listen, people forget you're not just a pretty face and a nice guy.
You know what I mean? I'm an ugly face and an ugly fighter. Listen, there are no the beautiful the people who are beautiful fighters are in the UFC. They're the ones that can make it look good. All right, we got a busy night coming up in the world of sports with everything.
Here's Act. That 365 is paying out before the final whistle. Check out Bet365's unrivaled early payout offer. When you bet on a team to win and they take a 17-point lead, you get paid no matter the final score. Forget the final whistle and start counting that cash.
Hold up. You get early payout on parlays too! Download the app and see why it's never ordinary at SET365. Gambling problem? Call 1-877-718-5543 or visit morethanagame.nc.gov.
Must be physically located in North Carolina. TNC Supplies. Hi, I'm Dr. Mary Claire Haver, a board-certified OBGYN and menopause specialist. My new podcast, Unpaused, is the place for bold, unfiltered conversations about what it really takes for women to thrive in the second half of life.
Every week, I sit down with medical experts, cultural icons, and powerhouse women to talk about what really matters, your health, your power, and your future. We're covering hormones, identity, finances, relationships, and so much more. New episodes drop every Tuesday. Listen to and follow Unpaused with me, Dr. Mary Claire Haver.
Available now wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, it's Lena Dunham. I host a podcast called The Sea Word with my dearest friend and historian of bad behavior, Alyssa Bennett. What is up? It's a chat show about women whose society is called crazy.
We're going to be rediscovering the stories of women society dismissed by calling them mad, sad, or just plain bad. Listen to and follow the C-Word with Lena Dunham and Alyssa Bennett. Available now, wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief, Kears Gresh. We'll do some World Series baseball coming up at the top of the hour.
Rowan Cavner of Fox Sports will be with us. Yeah, I gotta say, um The more that I sort of push not push away. The more I continue to tell myself, yeah, just not in the World Series, I don't care about baseball, next thing I know. Here I am lying in bed at 2 o'clock in the morning watching baseball on my phone.
So We've had the continued greatness of Otani We have had an eighteen inning game. We have maybe one of the wildest 2-2 series you've ever seen, and I got to give Toronto a lot of credit. I didn't think Toronto was going to get swept, but. I didn't think Toronto would be this resilient at this point in the season. I thought the Dodgers were just going to have you know too much from a pitching standpoint, and you have an eighteen inning game that ends up, you know, throwing things haywire for your bullpen and things like that.
But it's been overall a pretty entertaining series. But I'm not gonna I'm not gonna lie to you. For me It isn't about the battle between the two teams. It's way more about my interest in Sho E Otani. And even for, so I have two stepkids.
I have a 21-year-old who is at school right now. And I have a twenty four year old Who, um Who is a uh caddy? And he just left to go spend his time down in Florida. And Uh My kid left this morning at 6 a.m. to make the drive down to South Carolina to go stay with some friends until he moves in in Florida and yada yada.
Last night he had a couple of his friends over from here. you know, up here where we live. And when they came over The first thing I heard from them was Not did you have the World Series on. Not do you have baseball on? It was do you have Otani on?
And that was the way one of the kids, and I've known these kids forever. But it was just interesting to me that one of the boys came over last night. Said Hey is Otanion in And I think for Me and like my wife's a really good sports fan. But not into baseball. My boys aren't into baseball.
Uh their friends are into baseball, or they have some friends that are into baseball. But I think it's more like uh More like said last night on the hey is Otanion because That is, that's, you know, the big hook and the and the big draw.
Now for me If there wasn't Otan, even with eighteen innings. If there wasn't the Otani factor in all of this to really get me to flip it on last night. The only World Series game. that I watched from the beginning Of the four that have been played so far. was last night because Otani was on the bump.
And I've really been wrestling with this as someone who has done. sports talk radio for, you know, twenty eight years now. Right. I've seen the evolution of the way people feel about baseball. And in you know, when I broke into Sports Talk Radio in 1997 and in 1998, baseball still had that powerful presence.
But even then, you were hearing people saying, Yeah, but the young people aren't gravitating to baseball anymore. And now I think about it some 25 years later, and I you know, I am in a household in theory with two kids of age who at that time in you know 98, 99. I mean, one of the kids is born in 02 and the other is 05.
So you still had that stronghold of baseball then? But, and I'm not putting this on the Red Sox and the Yankees, okay? Don't get me wrong, because Lord knows that rivalry has been shoved down our throat for way too long. But I do think once the Red Sox kind of won the World Series in 2004, you took away one of baseball's great stories. And then you shifted it to the Cubs, which, quite honestly, I don't think the uh the streak that the Cubs had In between World Series wins.
was as big a boon for baseball As the Red Sox 86 years. And yes, the Yankees are part of that. And, you know, the whole Babe Ruth stuff. And there's a lot of. There's a lot of of common thread that I think Made the Red Sox for a long period of time lovable losers, and therefore it was kind of a national story.
But I feel like. Once the Red Sox kind of got over the hump, and then the Cubs got over the hump, and then you know, Florida in their history, they've been an expansion team here as of late, and they've won it a couple of times. And you know, you just look at the way that baseball has changed. And when I think about when I think about baseball right now, I really gravitate towards the real diehard northeast sort of sports markets. You know, Kansas City will always respect baseball, but they're never going to be.
you know, the hotbed that is going to lead the, you know, the free world when it comes to enthusiasm for baseball and stuff like that. But even in the larger cities, you know, even like I can tell you in my backyard right now. Where I am in New England Everybody's gaga over Drake May. There isn't any I know that Roman Anthony had a run during the baseball season, but right now you look at, at least in my backyard, the Boston Bruins, they're without a superstar. The Boston Red Sox, some would say, are without a superstar.
You know, when we're used to Manny and Ortiz and Pedro Martinez, you understand sort of what I'm saying here. And you look at the New England Patriots, and there's Drake May, and everybody in New England is starting to smart on that guy. And I feel like That when it comes to, you know, like having Otani on the west coast, when it comes to baseball. That done help the sport. It doesn't help me.
And I'll be the first one to admit. that in the middle of uh in the middle of July On an idle Wednesday night, there might be a Dodger game on at 10 p.m. Eastern time. I'm not going out of my way to flip that on. Or, I'm not buying a package to be able to watch that.
If it's on naturally, then fine. But. You know, for the past ten years, the two the sport's two biggest stars, arguably. Mike Trout and Shoe Otani. had been shuttered to the west coast.
where we on the East Coast and those who really appreciate, you know, baseball and sports and the story that is someone like Gotani, you really gotta go out of your way to find it. And I think that's where the younger baseball fan or the younger sports fan. You know, maybe they'll come across some highlights late, or they'll come across highlights on the west coast, but. you know, do we have the days of kids now Staying up and, well, I was just about to ask, staying up and listening to baseball on the radio, you know, finding a way to hide it under their pillows so they could listen to the game. There was something that was that, I mean, that was a part of the romanticizing of big league baseball.
And I'm sure that if you're of a certain age, you've. you know, stayed up to listen to the game or something like that. I just that I don't think that's happening anymore.
Now, there's a lot of reasons why the Information Superhighway is one of them, but. you know, if you're a If you're a Dodger fan and you're a kid and your parents are making you go to bed on the school night or whatever, are you going out of your way on your phone or, God forbid, actually on a radio or something like that? To be able to stay up and listen to it. I feel like there is that disconnect. But look, when it came to the new technology, that was me the other night, but it took an 18-inning game.
Where Otani was, what, four for four with two home runs. The Otani splash got me there, and then I hung around for the baseball.
So we'll see what happens tonight in game five of the World Series. I'll talk about it with Rowan Kavner of Fox Sports coming up next. I'm Gresh, and for JR. Here on the Infiniti Sports Network. That 365 is paying out before the final whistle.
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