Premier Lacrosse League comes to Charlotte

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Visit us at capitalfinancialusa.com. This is the Adam Gold Show. Chris Singleton, former big leaguer, ESPN baseball analyst, three times an author, and his latest comes out tomorrow. And it comes, not tomorrow, the 17th on the anniversary of the day that I did not realize that your mother was one of the victims at the CME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. And I appreciate your time, and I want to talk about it because what happened over the last couple of weeks actually had an impact in baseball with the Rays and the Yankees both devoting their social media during a game against each other to only tweeting out about guns and how it impacts our lives. Before we get to everything else about the book, I'm just curious how that impacted you when you saw those two teams do that. Yeah, man, I'd say that was huge. People using their platform to try to bring awareness to something that has affected a lot of people, not just the things that happened to them personally, but around the country and the world, man.

It's sad, so I was impressed by that for sure. Baseball around the world, how the world plays the game, comes out June 17th. What's the thrust behind this, and what can you tell us about it?

Yeah, well first I'll share this. I mean, it happens all the time, but there's two Chris Singleton's, man, so I've played minor league ball with the Cubs. But David Ross is why I'm bringing that up, obviously the manager for the Cubs, and he's actually endorsed my book as well as Harold Reynolds, but this is basically celebrating diversity in this sport. So we got players from Dominican Republic, obviously from the States, Canada, Japan, like all over the world, and sports always brings us closer together.

So that was the reasoning behind it, and the mission for me is always about unity after I lost my mom. Chris Singleton is with us here, baseball around the world. What can we learn from baseball? I've watched, let's just say, the Dominican World Series or the Caribbean World Series. I know during the pandemic, our first foray back into sports was Korean baseball. What can we learn from baseball around the world that might impact baseball in the United States? Well, I think it'll give you a different appreciation for it. I know for me, once I started playing professionally and learning about the guys that were playing in Venezuela at six, seven, eight years old and how much they love the sport, it gave me a different appreciation for it.

So I think it'll definitely do that. You'll learn about baseball in Puerto Rico. You'll learn about different players that you may or may not have ever heard about before.

What different types of foods people are eating. There's so many different things that I'm teaching in this book that I'm excited about and hopefully brings people closer together. We're talking with Chris Singleton, author of Baseball Around the World, How the World Plays the Game, comes out in about eight days from right now. If we incorporated more of the fun, and I know we're getting pushback on some of that, we even saw that between Josh Donaldson and Tim Anderson. And that's a deeper issue than just about fun because Anderson, when he referred to himself as Jackie Robinson, he was really talking about being a trendsetter for putting the fun back in the game.

How much of an impact would that have on the sport if we just loosened up some of the old-school thinking? Yeah, I think, well, first, you know, with that, I think, you know, relationships will always supersede, like, the things you say or don't say. So if you've got a relationship and it's deep with somebody, you can joke around like that.

I don't know if they had that relationship. So I can't really speak to that. But I do think we have to bring the fun back in the game. We've been talking about it for the last, I want to say, five years really heavy because we see sports like basketball.

Everybody loves football. But baseball is something that, it's America's pastime, and, you know, we celebrate that. So, you know, I know they're trying to shorten the game a little bit. People are pimping home runs, big strikeouts, people are getting excited. So, you know, I think that stuff is stuff we need to see in our game to keep it pushing forward. I agree. I'm very pro bat flip. It was cool to see in the KBO. The bat flip is, it's an art form.

Look, I've always been a fan of it. I think that stuff, we celebrate in every other sport. We spike a football after scoring a touchdown. Why is it not okay to essentially spike a bat after hitting a home run?

I mean, it's got to be the biggest thrill that you, I know the first time I hit a ball over a fence in a competitive baseball game, the adrenaline rush is something like, is nothing like I have ever felt. How do we get more diversity back in the game? And by that, I really mean about American diversity because African American, you know, participation in the game, certainly at the pro level, is way off. Yeah, I'll say, you know what, the really good thing is that over the last, I want to say two or three years, the amount of first rounders and high draft picks that are black athletes has gone up tremendously.

So I think the tables are turning because we're finally talking about the problem. You know, it's not, you know, the eighties where you see so many different black players or, or even with me, you know, I loved Andrew McCutcheon. He was like my guy, the young guy coming up. And so we're actually starting to see that with people like Hunter Green, like you mentioned earlier, Tim Anderson. So if we market those guys, like, like we should, instead of me saying, hey, I'm in, you know, South Side of Chicago. And, you know, obviously I love D Rose and I love Zach Lavine and I love Tim Anderson. He's on posters everywhere. And he, you know, he's, he's got swag, just like these NBA players do.

So I think, I think we need to champion that and keep pushing it because that's how we get people in the game when they have their own brands. Just like basketball players are doing it when they're, you know, showing people the lifestyle. Like, I know it's weird and it's not traditionally done in baseball, but that is what will sell, I think, to more to the urban communities.

You know, it's interesting. I grew up in a time where the game, and really maybe all games were similar, but I grew up watching baseball in the seventies and the eighties and the game just had more style back then. It's, it's, we're getting back to that with some players, but you know, like a UL Washington, I don't know if you even remember him, who played shortstop for the Royals with a toothpick in his mouth the entire time. Or the, I mean, serious, you see it on YouTube, or the Joe Morgans who had, you know, the, the interesting, you know, batting stance with the, with the flapping elbow. We just had more style in the game for kids to imitate.

Like now, there's not a lot. Everybody just adjusts their batting gloves and steps out and takes too long. Yeah, that's funny that and I think when you say when you share that I automatically think about Gary Sheffield and how everybody tried to copy, you know, his batting stance so I definitely think we, we need to champion that for sure. But also the players that are doing players that are having the swag let's, let's make sure we're putting them on the billboards and in the commercials because that'll that'll definitely sell.

That is no question. Baseball around the world, how the world plays the game comes out eight days from now Chris Singleton. This Chris Singleton, not that Chris Singleton, except my apologies, sir.

I hope the book does really really well. Thank you very much for your time. My pleasure, man. Thank you. You got it, Chris Singleton.

Well, there are plenty of Chris Singleton's I'm sure. All right, when we, when we come back, Nikai Montgomery is a professional lacrosse player. We should call them lacrosse errs. Anyway, he went to Duke, he's from Dallas he's partners, laxers, he's part of the premier lacrosse league are going to be in Charlotte. It is a very cool concept.

It essentially it's barnstorming with one of the most fun styles of the game that you're ever going to see. We'll talk to him next. Nikai Montgomery is a recent third round pick of the Redwoods in the premier lacrosse league and they're in Charlotte this week the barnstorming tour week to Albany last week Charlotte this week pretty soon you'll get a chance to go home to Dallas, Texas. How you doing?

I'm doing well, doing well, just actually just landed in Charlotte, I'm going to my hotel right now. All right, well, are they treating you well in the, in the premier lacrosse league. Yeah.

Yeah, no, it's great. Last week was awesome. So they crushed it.

Just example. And yeah, I'm excited to get week two going. I'm curious about this and there's a lot of I have a lot of questions as somebody who has loved the sport of lacrosse and I'm a Maryland grad, and I graduated a long time ago, I do not claim the national championship. Once they left the ACC for the big 10 I stopped paying attention. But I graduated in 1988 I went to a lot more lacrosse games and I went to football games at the university. You've always wondered why it hasn't been a bigger pro sport because to watch it in college was absolutely amazing. I'm just curious this format.

When you are essentially a traveling the circuit I'm not trying to compare it to a circus but you're basically a circus you're traveling from city to city. Do you like this aspect of it. Oh, this is the second week but I mean yeah I mean she's pretty cool, you know, for a different city and play on ESPN who can definitely sounds good on paper but I mean I seems. I'm excited.

We'll see. I gotta I need some time to answer that but I'm excited man. I appreciate the fact that you actually considered the question because the knee jerk reaction would be, hey man, it's great we get a chance to play pro lacrosse when you were a kid growing up, and you are playing. It's you know before high school or in high school. Did you aspire to be a pro, or is this something you've just sort of kind of fell into as you got through Duke and you were an all American for three years so I'm just curious that, you know, is this what you wanted to do always. I just kind of wanted to be the best at whatever, whatever it was I did always to be honest so I guess, kind of yes, be a pro. You know what I'm saying like I've just always been really competitive whether in school or lacrosse or football or other sports are just chilling at the house. So, so, so I mean I guess to answer your question. Yeah, I guess I definitely wanted to want to be a pro.

You mentioned, whatever it was, you mentioned football, you, you played a little bit for the in the final year of David Cutcliffe How was that, which is tougher. Both are men both got, you know, big guys big strong athletic guys in front of you that don't want you to go forward, you know, want to push you backwards so both both are you know both got their own their own way of being hard but both are both are really fun obviously I love both. You wear less equipment, although I've often said this and Dennis is lacrosse coach, the producer of this epic. I've always wondered why do they allow guys to whack each other with sticks, like for no just seems like for no reason, like I can just hit you with my stick.

I've never understood that, that doesn't seem fair. Yeah, that is definitely a part of the game, I don't know, makes you tougher. It is all about.

It is all about being tough this. All right, so you come out of Texas, what made you decide on Duke, and then I'll ask you about a current teammate and another Duke grab. Yeah, so I mean I decided on Duke when I was 14. I was back a dating myself this is back when the recruiting was was easy recruit earlier, right, they're kind of coming out of coming out of, honestly, eighth grade wasn't like a lot of schools filled up their recruiting classes. And so, so after my freshman year, Duke reached out and and wanted me to commit so I committed to Duke. And then that was like I said I was at the end of my freshman year and then kind of.

I was I was always dead set on Duke, and I still can't even tell you why I just I just knew I wanted to go there for some reason I didn't have family or anything that went there, or really anyone that I knew. And the only, the only thing that would have that probably could have changed that was play football somewhere else. I was watching something else over the weekend and they mentioned the legendary john Danowski, who was that they were referring to I guess lightning game. Yeah, there you go as well. I was like, why are we talking about john Danowski I was actually going to fire off a text to him but I got distracted.

I must have a DD or something. And I saw, so I never did reach out to him but it's very cool to hear that during a during a hockey game and Mackay Montgomery is joining us. All right, so when you go to places like Charlotte, as opposed to Long Island which will be next week, or then Baltimore. The following week when you go to places that were lacrosse hasn't doesn't have real deep roots, I grew up in the New York area. So I know about it in on Long Island, I lived in Baltimore for several years I know about it in the, the Washington DC Baltimore area. I know, I know where the lacrosse hotbeds are. Is it different when you're playing in front of places that lacrosse hasn't been doesn't have deep roots. I gotta I gotta wait and see, you know what I'm saying I gotta I gotta wait and see we have some, we actually have some, some really good some like family friends now.

Shut up. Miss ginger and the boss wells, who come who came to the call themselves the Duke lacrosse super fans, I came to every game. Of course my mom being the socialite she is got to got got to know them and went out to the farm. You know, a couple of times out here.

So I mean it's, you know, these are these are more southern people you know probably more. Well, we're kind of more used to in Texas but I did I think they're going to see some lacrosse and we're going to give it to them so that's the plan. I to two quick things about the game. You scored a two pointer.

Does college need a two pointer. Definitely Why not, like it's just, it's just fun, like, like when we go back and watch highlights of like Michael Jordan playing at UNC and there wasn't a three point line you know I'm seeing like why not. Yeah, like you know the next the next time it's time to vote on rules or implement rules. Why not. I'm going to hurt anything, get rid of the goal mouth to get rid of the goal mouth.

What what what would that do. I don't know it's just like a weird rule it takes out subjectivity takes out, you know, Rex. Okay, whatever the rest takes you see you know just makes it more objective I think gotcha make more clear rules on that. How many goals get scored from what is it outside 15 yards how many goals really get scored from out there. Man.

That's a good question. There were two an hour game. That was, that was, there's one that was an almost maybe like last weekend and four games, there was about eight or nine. Okay, is it. Do people typically shoot from there in a college game. Yeah. Oh yeah, okay, then we should have to, we should have two pointers in the college game more scoring people, people would like it and maybe Cornell would have come all the way back to beat Maryland in the, in the national championship game. Yeah, they're shooting from deep, you still have a fighting chance. Yeah, and it's just cool like in practice, Kevin game scenario okay we're down one, you know, okay, well, we can, we can win this game in one position, right, I'm saying like that that was a cool thing, kind of like transition from the college to the pros kind of a cool thing, kind of a camp and then we also obviously had a to goal. We're down to those scenarios working on those plays and stuff like that so I mean just as another element to the game some coaches have to coach. That would be, that would be a cool thing until your team is on the losing end of that.

But then again, don't, don't give up a two pointer. And final thing. What is your interest in indoor lacrosse and we have outdoor the game looks a lot like what it what I see in college indoors. Looks, I just I goofy I mean it's crazy it's so fast. What is your sort of like the difference between indoor soccer and outdoor soccer to me. What's, what is your interest in the NN NLL. I'm definitely I would definitely put it out it seems so cool. Maybe, I think I've been in that transition, you know, but yeah, play some D, you know, move some guys you know watch out for some pics, try to get up, get out, get a shot off and transition.

I think I think I could maybe do that. It's a combination of football hockey and lacrosse. But lacrosse is cool. I like it.

I love watching it. Nick I Montgomery, by the way, why did you wear 15, when you went to Duke, because of miles Jones, because of miles Jones, you were. Yeah, you were 15 so I was like I was more than 15, I never worked with him.

Right. Miles Jones weren't because of Vince Carter. That's the I can't believe that he went to do that school. So that's something you can bring up to a to a former Duke teammate. Actually guys never played together right you he was gone before you got there. No, yeah, just looked up to him.

Nick I Montgomery do grad. Now with the Redwoods in the premier lacrosse league they'll be in Charlotte. This weekend, I appreciate your time my friend. Good luck score another two pointer, and hopefully we can check in down the road. Hopefully, hopefully we play it play much better come out with a win this week. Well, good luck with that.

Thank you so much. I hope he was not offended that I didn't know that they did not win last week. That's okay. Did you, did you wager on the Redwoods last week. I actually did have them losing. Oh, you did. Yeah, you picked against them. Can't believe that. Oh, yeah. Well, they're stacked.

The Atlas is strong, isn't it? There you go. Oh man that the jokes right themselves.

All right, when before we get to the rewind. I went, I went through a little bit of a Twitter, not a certainly wasn't a rant. There were a lot of clips from the press conference yesterday and the day before over in England, where the live international series is being played. You know what I can't find. I can't find a good leaderboard for live.

Oh, how unfortunate. No, I mean, like I'm curious who's who I know DJ finished one under par. He's not in the lead. I don't recognize anybody who's in the lead. I don't. There's seem a thing. Oh, no.

Charles Schwartz was five under par. It just looks like golf on TV, which is if you like golf on TV. I do then it looks the same. If you think it's better. I really I would love to know why you would think it's better other than there are no commercials because there are no sponsors at this point. I mean, I mean, I don't know what the streaming numbers are going to be.

I would imagine is a fair amount of people streaming it because it's something it's first first event like we'll see what happens with the next event, which is at the end of this month. But the mean it looked like golf on TV. It does have a little bit of a Formula One look in terms of how it's presented. So and the Saudis are very involved in Formula One. I would imagine there's some crossover in the production, but it just looked like golf to me on on my laptop.

Actually, it was on my phone initially. All right before we get to to the rewind. Here's a couple of things that were said over there and I want to go back to because this will get us into something that Mark Brazel said a couple of times and I didn't want to explore it during the conversation with him.

But here's Graham McDowell on not being what everybody wants him to be. I love using the game of golf as a, you know, as something to kind of help grow around the world. That's pretty much we've done for the last 20 years. Be role models to kids.

Try and use this game. Like I say, as a force of good, really. So, you know, we're not, you know, we're not politicians. I know you guys hate that expression, but we're really not, unfortunately. And, you know, we're professional golfers.

And if Saudi Arabia wanted to use the game of golf as a way for them to get to where they want to be, and they have the resources to accelerate that experience, you know, I think we're we're proud to help them on that journey. Oh, Graham. Oh, man. There's nothing good about that. It's just nothing at all positive about that. You're not being a role model. You're not being a force of good.

They're not interested in accelerating the process towards not being a human rights offender. They're not. They are who they are.

I'm not. Nobody should be trying to change. I guess people are charged with trying to change who they are, but nobody's going to make them change.

But what Graham said at the end, we are proud to help them. Like, no, man, you're not helping them do anything other than make people think that they've changed. Because you're not doing they're not doing anything. I mean, all you're doing is allowing yourself to be used. Now you are getting paid handsomely to do it. Yeah. And all right. So you make that choice. And look, I joked and I'm not going to pretend like if the Saudis were really into sports radio.

And they offered me an insane amount of money to do a sports radio show for them. I can't tell you that I wouldn't do it. Yeah, I mean, I mean, being as honest as possible, I'm not trying to stand on a morality pedestal here.

Everybody's got a price. But I will say this. If I were in the Graham McDowell tax bracket, I'm pretty sure I would have stronger, stronger views. Yeah. On that subject. Right. But for those like the only player I have heard on that tour who has said, hey, man, it's about cash.

Richard Bland, who plays primarily on the European tour, won his first event in like 700 500 starts last year just to qualify for the U.S. and qualified for the U.S. Open based on it, won his first event ever last year at like age 48. Wow. So he's like, I mean, this is my one chance to make a boatload of money. So he's been upfront about it.

Everybody else is lying, just lying. Graham McDowell is in it to make money. Right.

This we'll leave it at we'll leave it at this. This is Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, two Ryder Cup stalwarts. Who are asked a series of questions by the British press. I'm telling you, this is why it's good that the first event was in England, because their press gives no bleeps.

Here you go. Lee and Ian, is there anywhere in the world you wouldn't play? If Vladimir Putin had a tournament, would you play there? A speculation, I'm not even going to comment on speculation. In a generality, is there anywhere you wouldn't play on a moral basis?

If the money was right, is there anywhere you wouldn't play? I don't need to answer that question. Sorry? I don't need to answer that question. Lee, do you want to answer it?

Would you have played in apartheid South Africa, for example? Are you just asking us to answer a hypothetical question there? Well, they're moral questions, aren't they? Answer a question on that. I don't know.

Trent Crim, the independent, I don't know. But whoever was asking those questions just came hard. I mean, I know that it might feel inappropriate. Those were not inappropriate questions. And they're not hypothetical questions either.

They are, as the reporter responded, they're moral questions. Now, again, it's hard for me to say that I wouldn't do it because money. And some of us need money. I'm in no position to retire. None at all. I mean, I might have to.

I'm not arguing, you know, whatever you need to do. But the not all the players, Ian Poulters of the world with multiple Ferraris and homes and like five different places and Graham McDowell. And I mean, Dustin Johnson, who's made over 200 million dollars in his PGA Tour career. More than 100 million of it on the course and over 100 million off the course.

I mean, now we're just talking about I mean, how big can the pile of money get? Which, again, doesn't mean that you don't do it. Right. I'm just thinking that at that point, at some point, you either don't care, which maybe none of these guys do. Maybe it doesn't bother them.

Real quick, because I keep getting this. Well, what was the NBA and LeBron James are in bed with China? The NBA does have a major business interest in China, as does LeBron James. There are plenty of players who wear shoes made by a Chinese company. The PGA Tour is involved in China. The there are roughly 350 American corporations.

That have major business interests in China. I'm not making this up. You look it up. The number is like 339, right? The the daughter of the last president, Ivanka Trump.

She has. Chinese trademarks, trademarks that she uses to sell product in China. China's got a one point four billion people. This is a major marketplace for companies not just in the United States, all around the globe. If you're going to what about this by saying, well, what about the NBA in China?

First of all, I think you're telling on yourself. But really. A marketplace that size is interesting to every major corporation on the planet. Coca-Cola and McDonald's and everybody else who's interesting, interested in tapping into that gigantic market. Selling to whatever your product is, offering your services for a fee. To.

A large group of people. Is very different from. Allowing yourself to be used for a price. You're not selling anything. You are allowing. This government to use you. So and again, I am not trying to make this a a morality play. I am simply trying to explain the difference between the association with China.

And the association with the Saudi Arabians. That's all. That's all. Again, I think I've been up front. I said right out right out of the gate. If they were really into sports radio, I ain't sure I'm not doing a show about live golf today. We sort of did anyway. But and I'm not sure I'm not talking about it differently.

I'm not I'm not trying to I'm not trying to front about anything here. The amount of money is staggering. Dustin Johnson doubled his career earnings or he didn't quite. He could double his career earnings by what he does in the eight events this year. I mean, the number is probably closer to 150 that he got guaranteed. And the amount of money they are playing for four million dollars to the winner this week. There are team. There's team bonuses. There's end of year bonuses. Dustin could end up doubling. He made he has made seventy four million dollars just in tournament winnings on the PGA Tour. He's exceeded that by one hundred and fifty percent based on the last couple of days.

It's amazing. Again, I'm not trying to make it a morality play. I just wanted to explain the difference. So for those of you who want to say, what about China? What about China?

What about China? That's the difference. That's at least the way I see it. You may see it differently. And that's fair. This is the Adam Gold show.