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This is the Rich Eisen Show. Here's the other surprising part. With guest host, Brian Weber. Yeah, big shoes to film. 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 Ridge, here's Brian Weber. It's another hour of the program, and it's great to have you nationwide. 844-204-7424, Brian Weber with you. You can always.
Throw a expost my direction, B.W. Weber. Weberwood 2Bs. We are getting closer to the guest portion of the program. In fact, we are supersizing today.
something I may or may not be familiar with. In twenty minutes we'll talk MBA. With Brian Kalbroski. You read his outstanding content on the For the Win platform, part of USA Today, an hour from now, 2 p.m. Eastern.
Looking forward to checking in with Mark Mulder. I'm going to remind him. I interviewed him when he got called up to the Oakland A's circa 2000 when I was still doing local television in the San Francisco Bay Area. In fact, I got my big break in 1993. I was 23 years old, co-hosting the A's pregame show.
So, if you have tolerated me since July 4th, when I either have a rant or just a snorkey aside about the West Sacramento Athletics on their way to Vegas, if you believe that they'll ever get there. Because the worst owner in professional sports, John Fisher, according to reports, and I'll be vague because he has lawyers, may not have the cash. That's why his soccer team, according to reports, is up for sale. And I'm fully aware he's getting a ton of public money from the good people in Nevada. Corporate welfare.
Nice work if you can get it. Mark Mulder joins us in an hour. We'll reflect on his terrific career. We'll talk about the pitchers currently in the bigs that he makes a point of watching when he's flipping around. And the purpose of the conversation is to let you know, Mark.
is a three-time winner. Of the American Century Championship, the premier celebrity golf tournament of them all. Gets underway Friday. Tahoe Nevada? Rich Isen, part of the field?
Coming up, I do have the odds in front of me because in Nevada, you can bet on everything. The Sharpies like Mark, well, why wouldn't you? In fact, he had a run, a back-to-back-to-back title.
So last check, he has the sixth best odds to win it. Steph Curry leading the way, who was the champion a couple of years ago. You have to go a little bit deeper on the list to get to Rich.
Now, here's the good news for Rich. Better odds to win this event than Baker Mayfield.
So that's saying something. We'll get there coming up. And. We'll follow that conversation up in the last hour of the program with more college football. I realize that I can be guilty of coming up with sermons when it's connected to college football and basketball.
That's my passion speaking. I understand a lot of you want to start thinking about matters on the field.
So we'll reach out to the right guy, Tim Murray, who has a terrific college football betting podcast as part of his portfolio of work for Veeson, where he's part of their weekday lineup. We're talking Eagles football. Fly Eagles Fly momentarily. I want to throw a footnote to. the Draymond Green monologue that opened the show an hour ago.
A reminder, if you miss any portion of any program, you can listen any time on demand. The outstanding podcast will be posted shortly after the conclusion of the show. I use the term Transparency a lot because I think it's important. And I think it's foolish to think. that anybody speaking into a microphone can check our biases at the door.
Now I do my best to have objectivity, but when I'm venturing into a topic in which I realize I can't be dispassionate, I just want to be candid with you. I am not an enormous fan of Draymond Green, both as a person in terms of how he presents himself as a broadcaster, understanding that he's probably just being authentic to himself. And why should Draymond Green play nice just because some filling guy on the radio doesn't find it that appealing? I just venture towards a degree of likability. Charles Barkley can say whatever he wants.
I'm not getting political here, but Barkley can express any political opinion. Why does he have that kind of latitude? Because of his likability because people, I think, connect with him. They trust him. There's an old.
Sales adage: know, like, and trust somebody, you're more inclined to do business with them. And we believe that Charles is being authentic, but there's also a glimmer in his eye. Traymon just comes across to me, and maybe again I'm being too focused on the media space because I've devoted my adult life to it. He comes across to me as not having a real sense of connection with the audience. It's not about trying to relate.
It's, I have these strong opinions, whether you like it or not. And he's certainly entitled to handle his business any way he wants to. I'm sure, if I looked up the metrics for his podcast, they'll be superior to the numbers I'm generating. Hopefully, not destroying Rich's brand as the fill-in host that you can catch on the podcast.
So that's my. frame of reference when it comes to Draymond Green. I also don't like people who cannot control their bodies on the floor, understanding the reason he's had success in the NBA is what we refer to in sports as the high motor. I get it. I mentioned earlier.
I worked for the Warriors on and off for nine years as their sideline reporter when they were dreadful. I have an appreciation for the transformation of the franchise, and they don't win multiple titles without the intensity of Draymond. the emotional leader of that team. But when it comes to him expressing opinions that are just dead wrong, I can't let it. Just float around out there without offering my assessment.
So, as we started the show, Draymond Reflecting, I think, conventional wisdom, I read your feedback on social media, and I am nostalgic. As a veteran of working during this time on the calendar. I much preferred, say, 2016. When Kevin Durant summoned teams to his hideaway on the Hamptons. Or my favorite NBA free agency anecdote, DeAndre Jordan.
And maybe because I used to work for the Clippers flagship station here in Los Angeles. Remember he verbally committed to joining the Mavs? He shook Mark Cubman's hand metaphorically, and then the Clippers descended out of his house, locked the door, wouldn't let him leave until he changed his mind to stay with the team. Yeah. That was more entertaining than what happened last year, but we have to deal with the facts as they are.
And Draymond, while I agree with him, that. Metaphorically, what would happen in early July were basketball's version of fireworks, as he posted on social media. But when he said one can only point to the new CBA and the second apron for putting an end to free agency as we once knew it, he's just dead wrong. Because it's not all about the second apron. It's about the The league.
And the owners negotiated that with the players, and here's where Traymont has to put himself front and center. Went on the post, I should have been the Players' Association president, LLL. I could have helped a lot.
Now If it's a popularity contest, as any, General, here's a giant word, plebiscite. Good night, everybody. Any voting comes down to who's the most popular, who gets the most votes. And he went on to say. He wasn't wrong here.
It's baffling to me how little players know about this business and affects them in ways that most don't understand. He's not wrong there. I've dealt with a lot of professional athletes as co-hosts, as analysts on games covered them. Many just focus on what they're doing on the floor and don't think about the economic impact because that's not their passion. We should all have financial literacy.
But for Draymond to say I alone could have solved this effectively, I should have been the Players Association president.
Well, Draymond, why do you think you weren't elected to that role? Maybe back to my notion of likability.
So as we move now to the NFL, remember The NBA's goal With this more restrictive CBA, while the trade-off was a free agent cycle that is not as frantic, as frenzied, and as entertaining as years gone by, the point was they're trying to mandate parity. They want to create opportunities for. Small market teams to retain their stars, and we have Oklahoma City. In part as a result, but I think primarily because of the renowned basketball mind possessed by Sam Presti.
So, Draymond can be upset. It ain't going to change. And remember, the Players Association could have tried to block this instead. because ownership will win every battle other than baseball. Because the baseball union is undefeated now.
Cost to sport the 1994 World Series cost me money that year as a young broadcaster. But in every other circumstance, the players blink because they don't have the same kind of resources as billionaires. Secondarily, they have a concept called shelf life. There's only a finite number of years they can play, and many of them are not willing to give up game checks for the sake of principle for future generations. I get it.
So that's how we've arrived at what Draymond believes is a boring free agent cycle. But maybe. And the fellow's coming up by promise, maybe he's most frustrated. The Warriors haven't done anything.
Now, they made their move when they got Jimmy Butler. But Here's the business model for the Warriors moving forward. hoping and wishing that Jimmy Butler could stay healthy at thirty five as well as Steph at thirty seven. And remember, Steph couldn't even survive the second round of the playoffs because of his hamstring injury. Hope is not a plan.
What's going on with Jonathan Kaminga?
Now remember, he's a restricted free agent, so the Warriors can match. Clearly, Steve Kerr has no faith in him, couldn't even get him in the rotation with much regularity.
So perhaps this is Draymond projecting because he looks around the West Sees all the moves made by Denver, Houston picking up Durant, in addition to Dorian Finney Smith and Clint Capella. You look at the top of the conference, it's never been more rugged all in the hopes of tracking down the reigning champs for Hopefully, if you're an OKC fan, years to come, but let's just take it one year at a time. Everybody gunning for what the Thunder have achieved. And if I'm just going off the top of my head, it's going to take me a while to get to the Warriors because they've done virtually nothing in this offseason. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich.
We'll pick up the NVA conversation in 10 minutes when we're joined by Brian Kobrovsky of USA Today. B.W. Weber, Weber with Two B's is the Twitter handle.
So. If parody is one of the huge components for the success of the NFL, it makes sense the NBA would want to emulate that. And parody says, other than the Chiefs going back to back, And what a sizable accomplishment it was, even to make it to their third-straight Super Bowl. Then they got hammered by Philadelphia, but. It is hard to repeat as NFL champions.
So, if you care about the view from Vegas, I really should be auditioning. For some sort of gambling-related podcast. If you haven't downloaded my show in the book with BeWeb, take care of that now, wherever you get your sports cast. Would be in addition to everything under the umbrella of the Rich Eisen platform, because that is the best. Am I.
Cow chowing to the host enough. I will keep on doing it because I like working here. If you've not scanned the Vegas Odds to win the Super Bowl this year, co-favorites, the Bills and the Ravens at plus 700, right behind them, the Eagles, followed by the Chiefs.
Now, if I was going to be lazy and read the top 15 contenders, you would note when I got there. There's not a lot of teams from the NFC other than the usual suspects, like the Lions.
Okay. D'you think they're overdue for a step back? Was Jared Goff. Exposed last year and that playoff beatdown applied by Washington. How about the Rams?
Well, the Eagles just handled them, and I understand that if we're thinking about who gave the Eagles the most trouble in their run to the Super Bowl, it was LA in the divisional round of playoffs. But Matthew Stafford is the gift that keeps on giving. It doesn't have to be the holidays for him to be generous with a lack of ball security. And he made some questionable decisions down the stretch. Still had a chance to win that game, couldn't get it done.
So, as we think about where Philadelphia is in position to go back to back, A lot of it comes down to what you lose after winning a championship. And if we think about that Super Bowl, the primary takeaway was Patrick Mahomes got bludgeoned, and the Eagles did not even blitz a single time on Super Bowl Sunday. They lost Josh Sweat. Good pickup. by the Cardinals to bolster their front seven, but like the thunder with Sam Presty, Making largely all the right decisions when it comes to roster composition.
Same story with the Eagles. Howie Roseman. Is a football genius, so Jalen Carter has the ability to step up early in his career and fill that void created by the loss of sweat to Arizona. I think a lot of the general view of Philadelphia comes down to how much you believe in Jalen Hurts and Philadelphia. Feels like we encounter a lot of jail and hurt slander.
Somehow, it's held against him that he had the best running back in all of football last year join the team because the Giants didn't want to pay Saquon Barkley.
Well, how in any estimation is that Jalen's fault? And can I remind you? Jalen Hurts was part of a run to the Super Bowl by the Eagles just a couple years ago when they gave the Chiefs everything they could handle.
So I understand if we're going through the premier quarterbacks in all of football, it might take you a while to get to Hurts because you believe he's got more talent around him. Again, how is that an anti-Hertz observation? That's a reflection of how well the Eagles have been built. He doesn't have to do that much. And you talk about maximizing your opportunity.
Well, there was a reason why he was a second-round pick, and I root for anybody who's able to tap in and reach their potential.
So. If we're just saying step by step, Eagles coming out of their division. Who's gonna stop him? And I'm a big Washington fan, and I am happy for Dan Quinn. He seems like a nice guy.
Rich has him on the program often. He's put 28-3. That collapsed on his watch in the Super Bowl against Tom Brady and the Patriots behind him. Although, if we're doling out accountability, I think a lot of it should go to Kyle Shanahan as the play caller because he simply refused to run the ball, to run clock, and stuck with his typical M.O. We'll save that for another podcast.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda with B. Webb. Washington to me. We wonder about the dreaded sophomore slum. And that's not in any way Shot at Jaden Daniels.
It's a. Confirmation and acknowledgment that most quarterbacks, even those who have transformational rookie years, deal with more turbulence year two because defensive coordinators now have an entire season to dissect and they make the adjustments. Washington, I think, built to compete for years to come. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if we don't see them in the NFC title game again. They're ahead of schedule, certainly a playoff team as well.
And then I mentioned the rest of the field in the NFC. Vikings have good odds to make it to the Super Bowl.
Well, tell me what are realistic expectations for J.J. McCarthy. I don't know, and you don't know. 49ers, right behind Washington, on that second tier of contenders. Can you tell me with any conviction?
That they're going to be healthier than last year, specifically my guy, Christian McCaffrey, who just has too much mileage, too much wear and tear, because he got beat up in Carolina and then used extensively by Kyle Shanahan, who loves to have that kind of versatility.
So as I think about the outlook for the Eagles, unless you are of the mindset that losing Kellen Moore as the play caller is going to have some profound impact on this team. And remember, when they lost the Super Bowl, they lost both Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon as their coordinators to become head coaches. And they had that year that was a mirage in the regular season, stumbled down the stretch and got battered by the Bucs in the postseason. Feels like a different outlook to me, but. You can let me know an opposing view at eight four four two zero four seven four four four four four four four four four four four two four or let me know your thoughts on the X platform, BW Weber, Weber with two V's.
Coming up, we return to the MBA. I mention OKC. Keeping most of the young core intact with today's news that Chet Holmgren has agreed to his contract extension. Let's flip it over to the East with their young talents in a wide open Eastern Conference. Can the magic follow the Thunder playbook?
Are we looking on. Orlando as potentially the next destination for a team that's on the rise, that's coming up. When we say hello to Brian Kalbrowski from USA Today, I'm Brian Weber, Infor Rich.
So, you know, we love talking movies around here. You know, we love talking comedy around here. We also love talking about classics around here.
So, you know what I'm all about. That said, All of that said. You know how I must have felt when I was sitting in the movie theater, like I was the other day watching the previews, and up came a preview. for the naked gun. with Liam Neeson as Frank Greben, junior.
That Preview had me at hello. I loved police squad back in the day. I loved the naked gun back in the day. And here comes the naked gun once again with yes, Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr. Come on now, son of the celebrated police squad, Lieutenant Frank Drebbin from the original movie, Paul Walter Hauser's in this movie, also Pamela Anderson.
Guess who also makes an appearance? WWE superstar. Cody Rhodes, and the producer of the movie is Seth McFarlane, the creator of The Family Guy. Come on now. This is going to be so much fun.
I'm excited to see The Naked Gun in theaters on August 1st.
So. What do you do on August 1st? Of course, you're going to a theater near you and you're seeing the naked gun. I might even be there. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.
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That is BW Weber, Weber with two B's on the X platform. And let's maintain our NBA momentum. Pleased to be joined by Brian Kalbrosky. You can check out his fine work on the For the Win platform, part of USA Today. Brian, we have not chatted for the better part of a year, so I'll go with the expansive question.
Plus, I respect your opinion. Of everything that's happened since we got to NBA Free Agency, what have you found most intriguing? And I have stumped the guest. That wasn't even a hard question. Technology is not my friend.
We will effort a reconnection. With my guy Brian Kowprosky. Brian is the caller there. I'll do Larry King. Hi, Brian.
It's Brian Weber. Hey, Brian, it's Brian Kombrowski. Thank you. It's a new program, Bri to Bry. I appreciate you hanging in there.
My question was, of everything that has happened so far in NBA Free Agency, what have you found to be most intriguing?
So far in NBA free agency, Uh you know, it's been I would say a relatively quiet couple couple days and I think that we're about to get Potentially some big moves coming up soon. But I think that the Miami Heat trading for Norman Powell was really, really interesting. I did not see that coming for the value that they got him at. Basically, getting Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson as the only pieces who are not really a huge part of their rotations for a guy who was a fringe all-star last season of Norman Powell was particularly interesting in that three-team deal. And I think it could potentially open the door for some moves for the Clippers to potentially add Bradley Beal if the Suns decide to buy him out the same way the Bucs did with Damian Lillard and potentially a reunion with Chris Paul as well, just to get some help in that backcourt with Chris Paul and Bradley Beal to bolster the help that they'd be losing from losing Norman Powell.
Brian, I try to be an active listener, so I heard you said more could be coming. Were you foreshadowing, say, Bradley Beale moving to a contender, or what else were you talking about? Yeah, definitely. I think that the Bradley deal move should be happening fairly soon. I mean, obviously, it's a fairly complex.
Situation to unravel with Phoenix because he has a no-trade clause and he is planning to hold on to that no trade clause.
So they'd essentially have to agree just on a contract buyout and they need to figure out exactly how much money he'd be willing to give up in such a contract buyout. With the Suns in particular, it's a strange situation because the CEO of The Suns is Josh Bartlestein and Josh Bartlesteen's father is Mark Bartlestein, who was Bradley Beale's agent. What do you know? Hang on, Brian. We call that a confluence of interest.
Not a conflict, confluence. Yeah, absolutely.
So there's at least some potential lines of dialogue there between father and son for the agency and the CEO with Josh Bartlstein and Mark Bartlstein. But I think that they'll work on some kind of an agreement because the Sons are overloaded at shooting guard right now, especially getting Jalen Green back as their primary return for Kevin Durant. They also already have Devin Booker, who's also a shooting guard, and Bradley Beal is a shooting guard. It's a roster with Brayson Allen across the board that's just filled with shooting guards.
So I think that Bradley Beal doesn't really have a role in Phoenix anymore, but with his no trade clause, which he plans on holding on to, they'll have to probably agree on some sort of contract buyout. And Bradley Beal, I think at his current cost, is quite expensive. But Bradley Beale on more of a minimum deal or more of a mid-level or biannual exception deal is. Actually, a pretty good bargain.
So, I do think that the Clippers potentially unloaded some of their books to make room for him and their rotation as the replacement for Norman Powell after shipping him off to Miami. Only question would be: as you know, can Beale stay healthy? That has been the challenge in recent years. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Odyssey and talking hoops with Brian Kalbrowski. You can read his outstanding content.
On the For the Win platform, part of USA Today. Brian, I opened the program and then I revisited reading some excerpts from Draymond Green on social media. And I agreed with them, especially because I'm a veteran talk show host. I used to love when we got to July 1st. It was truly a free agent frenzy, but the world changes.
So. What did you make of him saying, I should have been the Players Association president, LOO, and how about this thought? If the players were dead set against what is occurring now happening, why did they not negotiate harder when the CBA was on the table? That's exactly right. I think that it's a good lesson for anyone who's part of a union, not to get too on my high horse about labor rights and everything.
But at the end of the day, this was ratified by the players who are part of the union. And at the end of the day, all of the players did vote to ratify this. And if they didn't like it, they could have advocated against it. They could have held the lockout. They could have had any number of things to push against.
The collectively bargain for agreement. That's what ACBA is in nature. And they didn't. The money was too good. And if you look at their salaries, you could see why they wouldn't want to interfere and wouldn't want to touch it.
Because it's like, hey, on a max salary, I'm making $60 million or so dollars per year, depending on the player, depending on if they've made all NBA or what their super max might look like. And even the guys who aren't touched super max deals are still making multi-multi-million dollar deals. You could understand why at the time they didn't want to tamper with it, but it's a little rich, I think, to come by after the fact and say, well, what was CJ McCollum thinking when he did this? Because they're all part of this union together. Every player is a part of the MVPA.
And it collectively bargains with the NBA to reach this agreement. And I think that there are going to be shortcomings from it. I do think that the July 1st free agency period that Dre is talking about is one negative side effect. For me, I think the biggest issue, and I wrote about this earlier today for the win, usa.com, fpw.usa.com, is that there are prohibitive basketball restrictions that stand in your way when you reach the second apron. And you can reach those potential restrictive penalties by potentially Paying players that you drafted and correctly identifying in the drafts pool.
So, the Thunder, who just were coming off of winning an NBA championship, want to give their max contracts to guys like Chet Holmgren, who they agreed to a max contract with today, and Shake Gildis Alexander, the MVP and NBA Finals MVP, who got a super max earlier this offseason. And coming up soon for Jalen Williams, who also played an integral role in their seed to becoming the best team in basketball this year, you want to pay all the guys that you drafted, but because of the collective bargaining agreement, there are restrictive basketball penalties that can make it difficult to maintain that roster. And so, if they're going to have to start potentially stripping down pieces and trading away parts and getting rid of key role players because they have to pay guys who they correctly identified as potential stars, that's the part that I think is the bigger issue with the CBA. I think that there shouldn't be as Harsh of restrictions for guys that you correctly identified. I could see why you want to potentially stop a big market from just overspending small markets.
But now you're penalizing teams like the Thunder, who are definitively a small market team, from making moves and from paying the guys who deserve to get the money.
Well said. And you can get that kind of insight and analysis, as Brian mentioned, by checking out his work, USAToday.com, Talking Hoops of Brian Kalbarowski. Brian, we love to throw things into the trade machine. It is the very fiber of NBA Twitter. I don't care, it's the X platform.
So with LeBron wanting to have it both ways, wanting the fifty million bucks, so he opted in, and then Rich Paul putting out the statement, his agent saying he still wants to compete for a championship. If I throw out LeBron to the Knicks in a trade, and I know it's hypothetical, how would that even work?
Well, there's got to be salary matching. And so LeBron James makes quite a bit of money as we just discussed. And for salary matching to work, you would need to have as much money going out from the Knicks as you would to match LeBron's salary. And if you type that into a trading machine, whether that's ESPN or a different one, Fanspo is another website that uses that. You would basically need to figure out how much money does LeBron make versus how much money does other players on the Knicks make to make that work.
And I guess the most obvious candidate at that point would be Carl Anthony Towns. Or stop right there. Hey, Brian, why would the Lakers accept Carney Towns?
Well, why would they accept Carl Anthony Towns? Why would the next deal, Carl Anthony Towns, I think, is the biggest thing? Yeah, fair point. Carl Anthony. Carl Anthony Towns, realistically, has quite a bit of basketball up to be played.
He's 29 years old. But there's a reason Minnesota wanted to trade him if you want to be a cynic. I suppose, but you have like one year left of LeBron at most, one to two years left of LeBron at most.
So Carl Anthony Towns and Luka Doncic and DeAndre Ayton, that's at least an interesting core of guys who are at least under 30 or around 30. Same with Austin Reeves. Whereas LeBron James, that's a player who does not have quite a bit of time left in his career in the NBA.
So if anything, you would basically want to be getting rid of Carl Anthony just to get off of the money and have a salary cap reset. But I think the Knicks did fairly well next year. And if you look at their roster compared to the rest of the rosters in the Eastern Conference, the Knicks Currently Are, I believe, the number two favorite seed team in Vegas, especially. Yeah, right behind Cleveland because, um The Celtics don't have Jason Tatum next year due to injury, and the Bucks don't have Damian Lillard on their roster anymore, and the Pacers won't have Tyree Saliburt in for all of next season.
So the Knicks are right there as a potential one or two seed and potential favorite to win the East. For me, if I'm the Knicks, I'm keeping most of what I have because we've got a good thing going. And at least with Kat, you've got a guy who's quite a bit younger and you can play around him for the next several years. And I think he was blamed for a lot of some of their issues next year. But they've already gotten rid of their coach.
And so you can basically at least try to run it back with the new coach with Mike Brown and have that be the big move rather than trying to do another move for the Knicks because they just got a core that started working for them with Kat and Mikael Bridges and Odianobi and Jalen Brunson after making swing after swing after swing for the last three years. And I live in Brooklyn. The hype around the Knicks last year was very real. And I think that they should continue to build off what they had. And I wouldn't make too many changes around the edges with the roster otherwise, especially as they've kind of improved their depth in the second unit by adding a guy like Jordan Clarkson as a backup point guard and having some guys who are going to be able to.
You know, play real meaningful minutes in a deeper rotation beyond just the one that Thibodeau played. That was a shorter rotation. Brian, as always, I appreciate your availability and all the information. Continue your fine work, and thanks for taking the time to join us today on The Rich Eisen Show. Genuinely my pleasure as always.
Like gumbled to gumble on the family guy, Brian Kalbrowski, usatoday.com, and the platform is for the win. I will pay off my own forward promotion. It is a stretch to think the magic are the next thunder.
However, as Brian laid out in tremendous detail, the East is wide open when you get beyond. The Cabs, this has to be their year. Followed by the Knicks. It's been there a year since 1973. I'm higher on Detroit than a lot of people.
Magic just locked up the face of the franchise. Paul Bencaro. You know about Suggs and Wagner or Wagner, if I want to go proper with my German. And I like the Desmond Bain pickup. And they're learning how to win in the postseason.
Now they have to stack some rounds together, but there are reasons to be high on the magic. And there are not many teams you can say that about in the East, especially the Bucs. As much as I admire the creativity it took to find a way to get Miles Turner, unfortunately, the fall guy, not financially, but the roster spot perspective was Damian Lillard still. I don't think that makes Milwaukee any better than the play-in team, and we'll talk about it later on on social media. BW Weber, Weber with two Bs.
Coming up, Mark Mulder joins us in 20 minutes talking baseball and celebrity golf as a three-time winner of the American Century Championship. That starts the final hour of the program. I can't believe this because I'm the executive producer. I wrote down here. We're going to football.
Yes, I'm aware we have reached the semifinals of the Club World Cup. And I even watched some of the Gold Cup final on Sunday. I will be Hacky Magoo. Why are Americans not better on the pitch by now? I saw Pele in person in 1977 at Giants Stadium.
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That's O'ReillyAuto.com/slash Eisen. Brian Weber back with you. Thanks for spending part of your day with us. Last call for phone calls: 844-204-7424. In a stunning development.
I took a call on July 4th. That is like Haley's comment because I don't take a lot of calls primarily because I understand. Most of you. Do not want to talk to a guest host. Secondly, because this is such a major platform and a monumental opportunity that I take seriously.
I come with four and a half hours of content we're going to put in the three-hour bag. And today, we have a bonus guest in just under 12 minutes. It's Appointment Audio, scheduled to be joined by Mark Mulder, the former MLB pitcher. Spent nine years in the Bigs playing for the A's and the Cardinals, two-time all-star. And for the purposes of this conversation, in addition to the baseball we'll discuss.
He is a three-time former champion of the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship. That's going to be played starting up Friday. In scenic South Lake Tahoe, Nevada. I had the great luxury of doing a radio show remotely from the driving range twice covering that event with all the biggest names in sports and entertainment, including the host of this program. We're going to find out.
What Rich has to offer on the links. You can catch the coverage on Golf Channel, Peacock, and NBC. And we will follow that conversation by talking college football with Tim Murray of Vieson as Big Twelve Media Days continue. at the home of the Cowboys in Frisco, Texas. I got distracted earlier.
I'll be up front with you. I'm a wordsmith. I was looking for the right adjective to come up with what is going on with Mike Gundy's hair. You can catch the coverage right now on ESPNU. I'll give them credit.
Rich used to work at ESPN after all. Mike Gundy is a national treasure. And maybe I'm being too self-promotional saying I'm a wordsmith. If I was that good, I would come up with some description. I would paint the word picture as to the rat's nest he has going on there.
Now, it is his hair. I will give him credit. As somebody who focuses on celebrity hair, I can say, I have deduced those are his locks, but the color might be a different shade than it was years ago, and just the arrangement. Is reminiscent. I'll give you an obscure poll.
Phil Spector.
Now you know the rest of the story. I have filibustered because I did not want to talk that much soccer, but I blame myself I come up with a rundown. I am aware of what's going on on the pitch.
Now the FIFA Club World Cup does not match the majesty of the World Cup that is coming to North America a year from now. I come to you from our Regal studios in Southern California.
Soccer Mania running wild here, and SoFi Stadium will play a large role in that competition. But I know my soccer fans out there mine who enjoyed all the years I called college soccer for the now defunct Pac Twelve Networks, including some great matches. At Wallace Annenberg Stadium on campus at UCLA, that national power in men's and women's soccer. I am not anti-soccer. I didn't do those games just for a check, although I am motivated.
Primarily by compensation. I mentioned it earlier: audience always changing. I'm older than my hopefully dynamic delivery would suggest to Double nickel, 55, meaning. I go back to the 70s. In fact, I was going to go back.
I was born in November of 1969. I am damn old. I saw Pele. With 77,000 of my closest friends at Giant Stadium in 1977. I dragged my old man out there and And even he conceded he had a good time because of the energy.
And if we appreciate greatness, The face of the sport, the great Pele.
Now, I don't mean to be a reductionist, but let's do the math. I was eight years old in 1977. Where is the improvement of the United States? We can't even get the field situation out. Correct.
Are you reading the quotes? From these managers from the Premier League and the Euro League as they come to play. On what they're describing as a cow pasture. At MetLive Stadium in New Jersey. We can't even water and cut the thing right to meet their high expectations.
And then on the field, and I'm aware Christian Pulisitz is a rock star. And I'm not demanding the United States win the championship. I'm just wondering, given the resources and all of the. Outstanding athletes we have in a country comprised of hundreds of millions of people. Why aren't we better yet?
And I fully understand the disconnect because it will never be our number one sport until football. Ultimately. Runs into the concussion crisis. Why do you think flag football is being promoted so heavily? Just do your own deductive reasoning there.
But probably not in my lifetime. I hang on to the notion I'll make it to 95. I have another 40 years. I truly will throw this out there because it's a sophisticated audience on the X platform, BW Weber, Weber with 2Bs, in advance of the World Cup coming to the United States next year and the culmination of the Club World Cup. And the United States losing to Mexico again on Sunday in the Gold Cup.
Yes, I watched it, I have no mind. Why have we not had market improvement in soccer? You can blame. The Federation, you can blame the individual coaches. Greg Burhalter was a fall guy.
In recent, Transactions. I for once am going to ask a question I don't know the answer to. I gave you the reasons. We're never going to match the intensity and passion of our friends in South America and Europe. But why is the United States not better in the beautiful game?
Coming up, scheduled to be joined by Mark Mulder to start the final hour of the program. I'm Brian Weber. And for Rich, we continue on The Rich Eisen Show. Lowe's knows how to help you save. This July 4th, get up to 40% off select Whirlpool kitchen appliances.
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