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So book your test drive for Polestar 3 today at Polestar.com. I'm living my best life. Yeah, yeah. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Here's the other surprising part.
With guest host, Brian Weber. Yeah, big twos to fill. Eisen's a legend. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. The Rich Eisen Show.
Do you know who I am? I'm a guy on television. I have my own show. And now, sitting in for Rich, here's Brian Weber. Welcome to the program.
We are live on this Independence Day, and it's always a blast to contribute to. One of the most impactful shows in all of sports media. Brian Weber with you. It is a holiday tradition unlike any other. If it's a day in which 99% of the United States population is off.
I am coming to you. From our Regal studios in Southern California, filling in for Rich, and I savor each and every opportunity. And because I know you have your calendar in front of you, Whip out your pen. Write down Brian Webber in for rich on Labor Day. Because we love to keep the momentum going each and every holiday.
We have a ton to get to, but the goal is to be interactive. I give out the phone number for a reason. I'm going to explain my philosophy about phone calls momentarily, but the number should be ingrained in your brain by now. 844-204-7424, the number to call. In all candor, your best opportunity to get involved is through social media.
Hit me up on X. It is B.W. Weber, Weber with Two B's. I always try to design the show. With the goal of maximizing your chances to have your opinions be heard.
No guests in the first hour of the program. In fact, we will not have a guest join us unless you pick up the phone. I'll consider you an impromptu guest until midway through the. Second hour of the program, just two guests in all. When we get to hour number two.
In addition to the NBA thoughts I'm going to pass along momentarily, we will give you the takeaways and the ramifications of what has happened so far. in what I think has been deemed through lazy analysis as a Alright. A midweek in NBA Free Agency, but if you really have been paying attention, there's been a lot of substance going on. We'll get analysis when we're joined by James Jackson of the Athletic. I am older than my enthusiastic delivery would suggest.
I still talk baseball, especially on July 4th. And I'll get help in the final hour of the program when we check in with James's colleague from the Athletic. He covers MLB. Levi Weaver will be our guest. This is the football show of record.
Rich is the face of NFL Network. And I understand the smartest business decision in sports content is to go all in on the NFL, but it is July 4th. And beyond my lean towards a little bit of baseball. And what's going on in the NBA with the potential for something historic to happen this weekend? Oh, that is a good tease.
You got to hang with me for at least another 30 seconds. I'm aware. that an American hero Is returning to the spotlight today. It has nothing to do with football. In fact, as I look through what's coming up, I will not get to the NFL until the very final content block.
So you've got to stay with me every step of the way. But nothing says. The United States of America on its birthday like Gluttony. And eating a ton of bad food, and who does it better than the immortal Joey Chestnut?
So if I get distracted and I try not to multitask, When I have a chance to fill in on the Seimbulcast, you will see how much paper that is written out. In just horrible penmanship that I cannot even read is in front of me. But we do have a television on. And when Joey Chestnut makes his triumphant return to Coney Island, I will keep you updated.
Now I'll do the Mike Francesa. I can't do play by play, and I'm not going to go he's up to twenty, he's up to twenty five. But The record was set. A handful of years ago. Seventy-six dogs, remember the buns.
Not only is that calorically important, but it's part of the process. Chestnut. Excluded last year, creating a national nightmare because he had the audacity to endorse vegan dogs. Thankfully, Wisdom has prevailed. Joey Chestnut will be shining once more, and I'll use that as a catalyst to take you inside the dark and frightening world of competitive eating.
And if you have any idea who I am, who am I? Why am I here? I'm Brian Weber, Infor Rich. Phone number is 844-204-7424. I'll check out your interaction on social media as we get deeper into the program.
If it's good, if you're not bashing me too much, I'll read it on the air. It's B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's. Baseball coming up. In just over 15 minutes, what is going on with the Yankees?
Like Rich, I'm a former New Yorker. I do my best to over-enunciate, to bury the remnants of that East Coast accent. But the sky is falling across the five boroughs, all the more pronounced because it's the Yankees and the Mets kicking off the latest edition of the Subway Series today at City Field. We'll try to ascertain: is this just a blip for the Bronx bombers or do they have real flaws? And as much as I want to lean into...
Coming up with reasons why the Mets aren't that good. Remember, they're way over 500. I think they're. Primary dilemma is the Phillies have a better roster, baseball coming up. I mentioned that It is a popular Consensus of opinion this week that NBA Free Agency has been killed.
It's not like the good old days of, for example, Kevin Durant. Holding court in the Hamptons and summoning teams to come see him like he's Michael Corleone and Lake Tahoe and Godfather 2. Or my favorite anecdote of all time, as a veteran of Working This Week, I have utilized NBA free agency to feed the content beast repeatedly. Let me take you back to DeAndre Jordan. Remember what happened with him?
The verbal commit to the Dallas Mavericks. Then all of his teammates from the Clippers descend upon Texas. They lock the door at his house. They won't let him leave until he decides to change his mind. And you have reports of Mark Cuban driving around neighborhoods looking for DeAndre.
Yeah, that was a lot of fun. But NBA owners who are not connected with the big markets don't care about what drives the news cycle. They care about parity. They want to have competitive balance. Hey, here's your NFL connection.
They're trying to rip off the NFL. Because if we're going to be totally upfront beyond gambling, which has always driven football. And even more so now as it becomes much more permissible state by state, the NFL is built on hope. I'm back with you Monday through Thursday next week. I have not mapped out each and every content block, but I would imagine at some point, if I'm looking for a way to talk about teams in the NFL who will be vastly improved, I'll bring up the fact that something like 19 the last 20 years, somebody's gone from worst to first.
It's all about parity in the NFL. NBA vastly different. No sport has leaned into dynasties more than professional hoops. Over the course of 70 years of NBA action, it is fantastic. If you think about the majority of championships, better than half of them have been won by seven franchises.
That's it.
So as ownership looked around and said, why if I am in pick a small market, Sacramento. Why if I am not one of the big boys, one of the franchises with glittering brand equity, why am I working as a de facto feeder system so I can cultivate talent and then have it stolen by a big market team?
So, the entire point of the new collective bargaining agreement, I know this is tedious, so I'm trying to do it quickly. And the goal is to be as high. Holiday lighthearted and push some levity in there as we can. And you can help by hitting me up on social media, BW Weber, Weberwood2Bs. But when the new CBA kicked in, the goal was to Make it as hard as possible for players to leave and raise their incentives for them to stay.
And that's why we don't have the same frenetic Pace of action and all of the big names on the move, and I'll think back to a year ago. And last year actually had a couple names we knew, but it felt like, at least from a standpoint as a guest host, I got to talk about Paul George going to Philadelphia for three days.
Now, I don't have to, it's my decision what to map out in terms of a content strategy. But Paul George and Clay Thompson were the bright, shiny objects in motion a year ago. Kevin Durant, remember? Is part of a trade, not a true free agent. If we're just talking about raw free agents, the list coming in was not going to do much to move the needle.
Brooke Lopez, D'Angelo Russell, and I might have had some fun, maybe, when I was here during the NBA playoffs saying we better enjoy every step of the way of the postseason because who's really going to care about the future of Miles Turner?
Now How could I have known that the Bucs would pull off the most creative move in terms of bookkeeping and MBA accounting we've ever seen? At the same time, How would you like to be Damian Lillard right now? I realize. Getting $113 million, however, you were handed that dough, and however many years it takes to receive that payment. spread out over five years.
That's got to feel pretty good when you look at your Bank account. But this is a man with a Hall of Fame resume Who was picked up in a move to appease Giannis a couple years ago? hops is Achilles in the postseason and gets kicked to the curb. as Milwaukee is doing everything they can And just now emptying the bucket. to try to make Giannis smile.
Try to make Giannis happy. Try to make Giannis be more inclined to stay. You have to, again, give them props for Playing 12-dimensional chess and how they were able to structure the deal to make room for Miles Turner.
Now, when you throw in what they're paying Miles plus what they're paying Deem to go away, It's something like better than $50 million a season. It makes absolutely no sense, but this is not about rationality or logic. This is about emotion. This is signaling to Giannis: we're doing all we can. Because in the history of the NBA, there is no comparison for what the Bucs came up with.
It is truly unprecedented. Not only to write a check of that magnitude, but to do it to a star like Damian Lillard, who I know is in his mid-30s. And who knows when we're going to see him again? Yes, there have been radical advances in the surgical techniques for Achilles injuries, but let's just say best case. Maybe if he's available towards the end of regular season, he can sign with a team to try to boost their playoff run.
But in all likelihood, no Dame next year, no Tyrese Halliburton, no Jason Tatum, because it's been a crisis of Achilles injuries across the NBA. I'm Brian Weber, feeling healthy on this holiday. Infra Rich, 844-204-7424 is the number to call. Or let's crank up the interaction on the X platform. That is B.W.
Weber. We'll get to the baseball Yankees and Mets now coming up in less than 15 minutes. After that, As a veteran of July 4th, it is ingrained deep into my memory banks. And if you care at all about my background, the way I was a dookie hauser of broadcasting now 35 years ago in my early 20s was pre-search engines. I knew a lot about sports history.
So if you say July 4th to me, I say, hey, tough guy, who was born on July 4th? Good Tom Cruise movie. We're not doing Mount Rushmores today. Al Davis and George Steinbrunner, born on the 4th of July. Who is the worst?
We'll go from those icons to the dregs. Who's the worst? current owner in all of sports, that's coming up in thirty minutes. Terms of the NBA, if we're talking about terrible owners, I could make the easy segue into what are the Knicks doing? Meddling James Dolan has done it again, but I am not going to crush the hire of Mike Brown.
And I'll save those thoughts for when we bring in our first guest coming up. In an hour, talk at NBA with James Jackson of the Athletic. I think Mike Brown. is directly comparable to Tom Thibodeau.
Now Thibodeau gets all the raves for his defensive ingenuity, but I will defend the Knicks from this standpoint. I have no problem with firing Tom Thibodeau. Because we've seen it before. He'll take a franchise so far, but he's not going to take the next step and get to the NBA Finals. Plus, you would think at some point, after all of the wear and tear that his starting five went through in Minnesota, same story in Chicago, asked Derek Rose what it's like to play for Tom Thibodeau, that he would at least be open-minded to coming up with some sort of different rotation for his players, but find somebody in life.
Who loves something as much as Tom Thibodeau loves running his starting five into the crowd?
So, at a minimum, Mike Brown is going to play his bench, and that's one of the assets the Knicks have. Because As we think about the implosion of the Eastern Conference, driven by the Celtics crumbling right before our very eyes, and I may or may not have said around this time last year, because I was in for rich on July 4th, I may have told you the Celtics were a dynasty in the making.
Now, I'm not going to bat a thousand. And because I'm talking baseball, three out of ten will get me into the Hall of Fame. And nobody could have foreseen the Tatum injury, but it is interesting as we think about ownership. The folks writing the checks matter. New ownership coming in, paying $6.1 billion for the Celtics.
And they don't want, as I'll connect this to the CBA and why you might think, as a casual fan, not much happened this week. They don't want to stay in that repeater luxury tax, which you're paying something like $3 for every dollar you spent. And here's the most tedious thing you keep hearing: if you get into that dreaded second apron, you can't do anything. It's not about willing to suspend. The handcuffs are thrown on you from the league in terms of making trades.
So it's a good thing Boston has an intellectual savant from a basketball standpoint in Brad Stevens because he had no choice other than to start blowing up the team. Exit holiday. Exit Porzingas and man, the what if conversation about Christophs Porzingis, what if he could stay healthy, but you are, would you consistently do? And even losing Luke Cornett. That's a nice pickup by San Antonio, which gets us to the Western Conference.
I could do four hours. Maybe I'll come back for a bonus hour. We'll go to richison.com. I'm Brian Weber, Ink for Rich. The good news is you only have to deal with me for.
Two hours and 45 minutes now. Bad news is I'm back Monday through Thursday next week, but we're going to have a good time. And I want to make sure I. Effectively articulate how much it means to me. That I have the confidence of Rich because his name is on the marquee and he owns the program.
So thank you to Rich. Thank you to the great Jerry Subowitz to have faith in me and pick up the phone when the holidays roll around. These are my holidays. It's Christmas in July, and I savor every chance to get into the chair. But if you're of the mindset, Nothing has happened.
Of real substance in NBA free agency. Let me try to just give you an overview of moves that you might think are marginal, but when you put them all together, Could actually impact the balance of power in the West. I'm not talking East too much because I think it's really straightforward. Cleveland won. 64 games for a reason.
Done in by injuries, and the most tenacious team we've seen in years in the Indiana Pacers. If Cleveland stays healthy, and that's something we can't presume, but if you think about the supporting cast around Donovan Mitchell, they'll be the best team in the East, followed by the Knicks. I'm way high on the Pistons because I watched each and every game of that first-round series between the Pistons and the Knicks. Arguably, Detroit should have won the series. If you keep thinking about the East, Orlando's been on the rise.
I like the Desmond Bain pickup, and unfortunately, for Milwaukee. Even with the bold, ambitious move to get Miles Turner, and that gets you, I think, some appeasement for Giannis. What does that get you in the East? I think there's still a play-in team because tell me this on social media: BW Weber, Weber with 2Bs: who is their point guard going to be? As for the West, Think about all of the talent that is coalesced there.
Behind her, young, gentle. Deep and well run OKC franchise that has Draft capital for years, the second youngest team in the shot clock era to win an NBA title, but they're going to get pushed, I think, most notably by Houston. Denver also. Making good moves that you might go, what does that really mean? Yes, picking up Tim Hardaway Jr.
and bringing back Bruce Brown matter. The headliner, Cam Johnson, an upgrade with his versatility over Michael Porter Jr. But if we're just slotting the top of the West, I only gave you three teams and I give myself props. I have not talked about the Lakers for 20 minutes.
Well, I can't work for a national TV network because. That's the handbook when you walk through the door. I will get to some Laker talk because I've been teasing this subtly, and now I'll pay it off. Houston picking up Durant was the ideal acquisition because if you think about what did them in against the Warriors beyond Steph Curry being healthy, unlike the case against the T-Wolves, they just couldn't buy a bucket. In two of those games, they couldn't get to 90 points.
So you put in, even at this stage of his career, instant offense, a reliable Hooper in Durant is going to get you 25 points a game, even though he's not ever been totally the same since his Achilles injury. And most important, they did not part ways with their key young players. There's a reason why they were willing to say goodbye to Jalen Green because he's already on his second contract and they don't view him as one of their top three young guys that they believe will be the way to elevate from what was a dynamic year. This year. A lot of people forget Houston was the two seed in the regular season.
I understand the West was so jam-packed, and Laker fans kept telling me: hey, we had a great run. We, I love that. We had a great run. We were the three seed, and then all I had to do was pull up the standings and remind them something like. A game and a half separated the three seed from the eight seed.
So sometimes your record does not reflect truly who you are. If you're a Rocket fan, you gotta be delighted that you didn't have to. Say goodbye to Thompson or Shangoon, and they kept moving forward once we got the free agency. Remember, the Durant trade dropped a few hours before Game 7, the NBA Finals. It doesn't seem like.
That monumental of a move to pick up Clint Capella, that is important depth in the paint. And the Lakers, if I can bash them on the fly, got nothing after trading for Dorian Finney Smith. And that's one more asset for Houston. And here is the question. It's taken me a long time to get here because I don't fully believe it's going to happen, but I want it to be true, especially since I'm working Monday through Thursday next week.
You might have seen, unless you actually enjoy spending time with your family during a long holiday week, this report was broken by the Athletic, and other platforms now are validating it. And I'll just give you the quick chronology. Trades in the NBA cannot become official until Sunday, July 6th.
So while we know the general parameters of how Durant is going to Houston, currently a two-team deal between the Suns and Rockets, according to the Athletic, This thing could go thermonuclear and become a historic seven-team deal. Because reportedly, the Warriors, the Nets. The Timberwolves, the Hawks, and the Lakers are all in conversation. And coming up when I get back to the NBA to start the next hour of the program, I'm going to run through some of the wildest scenarios that actually could emphasis could happen if you believe LeBron wants out.
Now if he wanted out... He should have opted in. He could have been a free agent. But LeBron loves the attention. All you people bashing SGA for being a free throw merchant.
How about LeBron being an attention merchant? Oh, and he wanted the fifty million as well. But if LeBron now... Because he opted in. S Truly, as his agent Rich Paul articulated in that bizarre statement, has a championship goal in mind, well.
What if he winds up playing for the Warriors? What if Jimmy Butler heads the Phoenix? Man I should be a podcaster with these kinds of sizzling hot takes, but there's some substance there, and we will flesh it out coming up in the second hour of the program. I'm Brian Weber. Not treating this like a holiday.
Hopefully, you can tell I'm bringing my fastball. Clayton Kershaw doesn't have a fastball anymore, but he still was able to get the 3,000 strikeouts. We'll put it in context coming up in the next hour of the program. Hit me up on the X platform. BW Weber, Weber with two B's.
Straight ahead as promised. We'll get to the baseball. New York, New York with the Subway Series about to get underway at City Field. What's wrong with both the Mets and, more to the point, the Yankees? That is on the way.
I'm Brian Weber. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart Choice. Progressive loves to help people make smart choices.
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Getting the song out of the song. Welcome to AutoZone. What are you working on today? Hey, that's the spirit. Right now, we're celebrating free with a free STP oil filter when you buy five quarts of oil and free Duralast brake pads when you buy two rotors.
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We'll spotlight the Yankees and the Mets heading into the Subway series in a moment. But I'm not just an auctioneer. I'm not just rattling out the phone number for the sake of radio formatics. I do it for a reason. 844-204-7424 is the number to call because if we have compelling folks who have something to say, I'll put you on the air and let's make that happen.
Let's speak it into existence. Here is Mitch in New Jersey. Hey, Mitch, you're on with Brian Weber in for Rich. How are you? Good, Brian.
How are you doing? Happy fourth to you, everybody out there. Everyone's doing well. What's on your mind? Yeah, I hope these moves by Milwaukee.
I hope that's enough to keep Yanis. In Milwaukee? I mean Damon, really, that was a good move, too. I know he doesn't take good much. He's not that tall.
He's a Hall of Famer. They tried. Uh it wasn't his fault I got hurt.
So hopefully that's stuff to keep missed so we don't have to hear them. against all these players that want their cake and everything. just like and I think Phoenix, I know that was a good move by Phoenix too. I think that helped both teams.
Now they have Phoenix has three shooting guards And they trade for two centers. I think it helps a lot. You can play with free shooting cards. If you like run DMC from the Floyd Warriors, And one more thing, I also like the Lakers I thought the NGA was enough. But he's going to be another one, another one.
A prima darn is he's too much. It really so much of all his demands. Anyway, I'm Brian. You have a nice week. Be safe.
Thank you, Mitch. I appreciate the phone call.
Now, if we're going to throw around terms like, Primadonna. I don't love D.Va, but we use it in Sports Talk Radio. We have to make sure. It actually is fitting. It does, I think, have a real connection to Deandre Ayton because if you think about the issues that have slowed him down, we overlook the fact that he was the number one overall pick coming out of Arizona seven years ago.
Now, we've also seen other top picks not too long ago like Anthony Bennett. Markel Fults Flame Out. The issue for Aiton is not talent. It is effort. It is want to.
It is mindsets. Because I'm based on the west coast. In fact, I saw him play a lot at Arizona. Used to spend a lot of time in Tucson for family reasons. When he is engaged, He is your prototypical classic.
Post player. The only problem is they truly don't Matter that much in the NBA, other than you need some large body to occupy space. in the late. The problem for Aiton is How much can you rely on him showing up? Only played 40 games last year.
If I'm talking about showing up, practice matters. And when you're there being engaged and not beefing with teammates, Feels like when he got that second contract, that mega deal from the Suns, and you can't blame the Suns for paying him because he was instrumental in their unlikely run. to the NBA Finals, losing to Giannis. But if we're going to play amateur psychologist on the radio, something has gone to miss moving forward. Because he feuded with Monty Williams?
And then had a disconnect with Chauncey Billups in Portland. It got so bad. Portland, if we're talking about willingness to spend to say bye-bye. The buyout is twenty five million bucks. Lakers are only paying him $8 million, but from a Lakers' standpoint, and we'll...
Hit the pause button on the NBA for now. They had to do something. anything. because it feels like Rob Polinka takes the summers off. Rob Palenka only is a competent GM when he's dealing with ineptitude, like Nico Harrison handing him Luka Doncic.
And to me, the Aiton move not only was about a necessity, it's the only thing of substance the Lakers have done, it's also about keeping Luka happy because what is not being discussed enough. And I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. Luca is eligible for the MAX extension coming up the first week of August, but he doesn't have to sign it. Then he can wait until next summer. If he's shrewd, you would think he would wait, unless he wants the money now, but he's going to get the money either way, just to make sure.
He's got the hammer. He's got the leverage to hold the Lakers accountable. Here's what's on the horizon. Laker ownership is going to change. By the time we get the free agency next year, the ownership group will be led by Mark Walter.
who runs the Dodgers, and the Dodgers Like money on fire more than anybody.
Now, they've also gotten the benefit of, say, Shohei Otani willing to defer hundreds of millions of dollars. That's not going to happen in the NBA, and it's much more restrictive because baseball doesn't have a cap, but Better days are coming for Laker fans for two reasons. LeBron is winding down. You build around Luca, and I'll just throw it out there. And as Mitch was talking about, I don't think this is going to be enough to appease Giannis, but let's not put words in Giannis' mouth.
He's never said he wants to leave Milwaukee. The report from Shamserania was he was open to Listening to options with the team. He was willing to explore what his future could look like. And what was that? Another leverage play.
Do something. Get me more help. It worked in the past. They don't win the title without picking up Drew Holiday. Because remember, when they won the title, their second best player was Chris Middleton.
Then they got dame.
So you cannot, in any way, undermine the Bucs' lack of effort. My question is: was it mean on the floor? I'm Brian Weber, Ain for Rich. More NBA coming up in the next hour of the program. I'm just happy I've hit my yearly quota.
For taking a phone call, and it's only July 4th. I'm like a sales guy who can mail it in for the rest of the year. We'll talk some baseball, probably better. I only left myself a handful of minutes. And look, I'll say it again.
I bring a lot of energy. This is my passion, my priority. But I'm 55 years old. Rich and I are the exact same age, both with New York City connections. He's from Staten Island.
I grew up. Less than two miles away from the city line, adjacent to the Bronx, went to high school in the Bronx.
So we have a lot in common, and we both grew up as baseball first fans. And Rich talks a ton of baseball, so I want to lean into the spirit of the program. And I'd be a fool not to acknowledge what's going on in New York. I'll get to the Dodgers coming up. But again, I'm guilty of media bias.
I'm talking New York. LA and maybe some Chicago Cubs as the program rolls along. I am well aware of what Tampa is doing, but to me, that's a reflection that the AL East is just not that good. and the Yankees have flaws, as we've seen repeatedly. I will steal from the great Jeff Patterson.
There's too much pilfering going on in their industry. He pointed out. That if you think about the Yankees' troubles lately, getting swept by Toronto, here come your Blue Jays. Two games under 500 in late May, now in first place after busting out the brooms against the Yankees. As George Springer was dialed in, I was watching bits and pieces of that game yesterday.
Toronto's on a heater, but the Yankees, over the course of the last 20 games, Only six wins, primarily because they keep dropping one run games and They can't win in extras. What does that tell you? They gotta bolster the bullpen. And the lineup's got to produce. And I will go back to As someone who grew up in the era of George Steinbrenner with thoughts on the boss straight ahead.
Does Brian Cashman have a lifetime job? I saw Pope John Paul II perform Mass at Yankee Stadium when I went to high school at Fordham Prep, about 10 minutes away from the big ball yard in the Bronx. Is Cashman a pontiff? And I didn't get the update. I didn't see white smoke coming out of old Yankee Stadium.
Brian Cashman. Does not have the ability to stay on that job forever unless. The Steinbrenner kids have just decided they don't want to be their old men. Where is the accountability? George would have fired somebody.
anybody. Clyde King would be the interim manager. They dig up Billy Martin.
So you tell me if you're a Yankee fan. You want to see Boone go? To me, it's more about how the team is constructed. Let's just tell like it is. Boone.
is a middle manager. The decisions are coming from Cashman and his Brains Trust. They won't admit it. They fill out the lineup card. They're telling him how to go through the pitching.
Progression. And Boone is there to take all the slings and arrows, be the face of the franchise, and follow the orders from Brian Cashman.
So. As a former Yankee femme, I don't root for teams anymore. I root for things to talk about. The Yankees' issues reflect how they're constructed and. The AL East is just middle of the road.
As for the Mets, let's not go nuts right now. They're still 12 games over 500. I understand they hit the rough patch.
Soto has. Has rebounded. You got to think about the long body of work. It's going to be okay. Still, with all the hype surrounding both these teams, heading into This Subway series to find them now both in second place is a juicy development.
I'm Brian Weber in for Rich. If you want to keep Big Mo going on the phone lines, 844-204-7424, hit me up on the X platform, B.W. Weber, Weber with 2Bs. 20 minutes from now, back to the NBA straight ahead. I mentioned George Steinbrenner.
Born on the 4th of July, As was the case for Al Davis.
So. Now that you know that nugget will go from Legends of the past to focusing on today. Who is the worst current owner at all of sports? What if I told you you can take you and your family and your friends to the ballpark with such low price tickets, you can invest more in buying food and drinks, merchandise, and easily on top of all of it, get a larger group to come with you? That's where Game Time Tickets comes in.
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Brian Weber back with you in for Rich and the guys. Thank you for spending part of your holiday with us, 844-204-7424. Or head over to the X platform, BW Weber, Weber with Two B's. In less than 15 minutes as we ease into hour number two of the program, we'll get back to baseball. Didn't have enough time to stretch out there.
Will put the career of Clayton Kershaw into its proper context now that he has become just the fourth left-hander to get the 3,000 strikeouts. That's on the way, and more NBA as well. When we bring in our first guest coming up, Yeah, 1:20 Eastern Time. Looking forward to Talking Hoops with James Jackson, staff editor of The Athletic. Because I am a solo artist, when I have the wonderful opportunity to fill in for Rich and the guys, I don't have a chance to interact with, say, a content genius like Chris Brockman.
I have to make the executive producing decisions on my own.
So. In any program The goal is to have evenly distributed content. Don't get too high, don't get too low. In fairness, not everything is going to be. Of four hundred fifty, four.
Fort Home Run.
So I with Specificity in mind, decided to go with this subject at this time because I am aware, and now I'm distracted, Joey Chestnut is eating a lot of hot dogs as I speak. In Coney Island. I can't do the play by play. I can let you know he's currently at 42. I will give you the final tally and then coming up in the next hour of the program.
Were you aware that if you wanted to emulate the American hero, you could become the Joey Chestnut of tamale eating? Could I interest you in Pastrami sandwiches. Major league eating is a thing that is coming up. A reminder. Chestnuts record 76 dogs and buns set in 2021.
Oh, the suspense is killing me. Born on the 4th of July. Tom Cruise is the last movie star. That was a terrific Oliver Stone picture. Not that upbeat on a holiday, but a tale of American history.
Born on the Fourth of July, Connected to sports? George Steinbrutter. And Al Davis. As I think about Al Davis. Is Christian Bale really going to play him in a movie?
He is Batman. I could see Bail do it because he's such a thespian. To me, Nick Cage is John Madden. It's just mind-blowing. I gotta just check that out just to see how he pulls it off.
So those are two icons of sports. A bit of serendipity, both born on Independence Day. And that got me thinking. If we go from... the belief, and both had their negatives.
And the boss, as Reginald Martinez Jackson used to point out, was a convicted felon. He got pardoned. And I won't get into all the details of the alleged bribe slash Campaign contributions funneled to Richard Nixon for that. Got to listen to my podcast back in the day with BWEB. Al Davis, I was around him towards the end.
I was the Raiders TV beat reporter for what was Sports Channel into Fox Sports Bay Area in the early 2000s, late 1990s. Always had nice interaction with Mr. Davis because I would play up the New York thing and remind him that I was aware he went to Erasmus Hall in Brooklyn for his high school. But.
However, you view their negatives, you can in no way undermine their achievements.
So let's go from. The pinnacle. those big names to the bottom. Who's the worst current owner in sports?
Now, I mentioned sports channel quickly. That company was owned. By Cablevision, owned by the Dolan family. I could bury James Dolan. For A few more hours and then make a podcast out of it, but I think that would be too knee-jerk.
Because the Knicks Actually, they are well constructed beyond his meddling. I told you, I think they're the second best team in the Eastern Conference. Getting back to the conference finals for the first time in a quarter century. If we're thinking NFL, To me, undeniably, it's Jimmy Haslam. And I don't have to even go through the entire Diddy Watson trade, the worst trade in sports history.
Only in the neighborhood is the SGA trade. But think about Watson: every dollar that contract fully guaranteed, plus the number one pick.
So Haslam stands out to me. And there's a reason why the Browns remain. Mire to mediocrity. For baseball, and I'm glad I didn't give myself a lot of time because it's a holiday. I don't want to do the rants.
Tell me somebody worse than John Fisher.
Okay. It is a sports crime, what he did to the city of Oakland.
Now that team, the athletics, is playing in West Sacramento, and let me know. Where's the money coming from, other than the public financing he's fleeced from the state of Nevada to build that stadium in Vegas? I'll believe it when I see it. Joey Chestnut, 64 hot dogs and counting. More details as we come up on hour number two of The Rich Eisen Show.
Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because you're not playing me. With rapid fire takes. And a lot to get to, and I'm not sure you're going to like all of it.
Honestly, I don't even care if you like all of it or not. I have a job to do. Scorching debates. On any given week, you have lots to beef about. Take advantage of it.
Get up in here. He's the Spitfire of Sports Smack. Which is not my fault. We will get to all of that. The Jim Rome Show podcast.
Get up in here. And we'll beef later on. What's your beef? Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.
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