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Hello, Rich Eisen. Rich Eisen. Oh, that's Susie Eisen's health. The Rich Eisen Show. And now, sitting in for Rich.
Here's Dan Schwartzman. Hour number three: The Rich Eisen Show. Dan Schwartzmann in for Rich on this Friday, man. Two hours have flown by. Talk about NFL with Harrod Balzerk.
That's coming up here in about 20 or so minutes. But I do want to get into NFL a little bit here, not actual football. Talk because right now it's the offseason, so who really cares about what's happening in the NFL? But a story came out Late yesterday. That newest Chargers running back, Najee Harris.
Who left the Pittsburgh Steelers after four years, retro over a thousand yards all four years? After being a first-round pick, he avoided apparently very serious injury. He sustained an eye injury, and That's being called superficial by his agent Doug Hendrickson. After a fireworks mishap at a July fourth event. Several people were injuries.
One person lost fingers. This occurred in Antioch, California, which is where Harris is from. Signed a one-year deal to play with the Chargers and uh They also drafted, by the way, a running back in the first round, Marion Hampton from North Carolina.
So. They are pretty um They're set there. By the way, amazingly, the Chargers have not had a thousand-yard rusher since Melvin Gordon back in 2017. Another first round. Hopefully, they won't have one for another 50 years.
It's 'cause you're a Raider fan. I understand. Yes. But here's what's always amazing to me, okay? You're a professional athlete, and Harris is twenty-seven years old.
So, as a running back, his earning potential years are not much more. Maybe four years, maybe. Even after rushing for a thousand yards a season for four straight years. There was not a ton of uh interest in Najee Harris on the free agent market to where You know, he's a guy that was able to sign just on a one-year contract. Like, you have to do everything in your power to protect your body, right?
Like, I don't know what some of these guys have as fallback options outside of football. Like, I've been fortunate. To have worked with more than one NFL, former NFL player. And I found them to be bright guys, but You know, they pl went from playing football to talking about football. And I'm not sure what they would have done in the, let's put it this way, the real world, right?
Outside of sports. If they had to. Like, I don't know what their skill set outside of football and even conversation was or is. But You have to maximize the number of years you play in the league because that's going to be the bread and butter. That's where you're going to make the bulk of your fortune that you're going to live the rest of your life on, or if you're lucky enough to make a lot of money, pass on to your kids.
and set them up for quite a while.
So, when you are the star, right? Like when you are Harris or you are Jason Pierre Paul. And there's a fireworks show going on, like the little local fireworks show that you and your buddies are putting on. You have a hell of a lot more to lose than your buddies.
Okay. Oh, yeah. Like, I don't know if the other attendees at this little bash in Antioch, California. are also NFL players or professional athletes. Most likely not.
Right, but I do know Najee Harris is an NFL player that's made millions of dollars and potentially for at least three or four more years or possibly more can make millions more.
So, when your buddies are like, hey man, you want to shoot off this rocket, you're just supposed to say no. Nah, dude, you shoot off the rocket, and you know, I'm going to keep my fingers. And if it's like, okay, guys, we're going to shoot off some rockets, you go as far away as you can from where the rockets are being shot off. And by the way, there's precedence for this, right? This isn't like, wow.
We've never heard of this happening before, right? Like Najee Harris is the first guy to get himself injured by fireworks as a professional athlete. or even as a professional football player.
Well, sadly, he's not. And again, thankfully, this is a quote superficial injury.
So, what I read from that is it's not going to affect his ability to play football, so it's not going to affect his earning potential. Close, but he should be okay from what we are understanding.
Now, maybe that's not true, maybe it's a lot worse, they just don't want to tell us. But I mentioned Jason Pierre Paul, who literally blew off fingers. Shooting fireworks down in Florida Like apparently had like a a a Like the back of a truck full of fireworks, and he was shooting fireworks and literally lost fingers. Crazy, just a crazy story. Right.
So, and then he came back and played that club on there, right? Remember that? Like, he was actually fairly good after that. But still. There is a precedent set in your own league to where maybe you shouldn't be shooting off the fireworks.
If you want to watch, so be it. Go watch. But take a step back because you have more to lose than everybody else at this fireworks show. I assume, and probably correctly assume, It is always mind-boggling to me. Like, I am not a millionaire.
I am not a professional athlete, and I am not going to make millions of dollars in the next three to four years. And I'm smart enough to realize, you know, maybe I stay away from it, leave it up to the professionals, right? Or leave it up to my friends if they want to shoot the fireworks. By all means, go do it. I'm not going to partake.
I'll watch. I'll enjoy. I'll have a drink with you. We'll cook out. Awesome.
But when the fireworks start, I'm going to take a step back.
So good news is he is apparently okay. That's the most important thing here. But let's hope that we don't have a repeat, especially in the NFL. Of players getting injured or a player getting injured. due to fireworks on july fourth.
Okay. As a Raider fan, as a Raider fan, I I'm not going to say anything. Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't say it.
Yes, the the Raiders have been the Raiders players have been oh my gosh. On the police blotter a lot. Yeah, they've just been bad.
Okay. Yeah. I mean, what a story, right? What an absolute crazy story Oh, man. All right.
It is now over at Wimbledon, and Novak Djokovic loses to Center six three six three six four. He faces Carlos Alcaraz, who earlier beat American Taylor Fritz, who played well. He lost. 647563 and then Eight, six in the tiebreaker in the fourth set.
So it was actually very competitive, and Fritz is getting better and better. But still, we have number one versus number two. Look, I mean, if you are a huge tennis fan and you don't specifically root for one tennis player, then this is what you want, right? You got the 23-year-old number one-ranked tennis player versus the 22-year-old number two-ranked tennis player who's won five Grand Slams already.
So. In terms of the actual match, like Djokovic Alcaraz is a really good one, too. They've had a. few battles out there, but One versus two is kind of what you want. Because in the women's one, you're not getting one versus two, you are getting number 13 versus number eight.
Now, Iga Sviatek used to be number one, but now she's number eight. And then. For us, it's going to be interesting to watch, right? Because we get to watch the American Anissimova, who is. hopefully poised to win her first Grand Slam.
It's her first Grand Slam final, I believe.
So, you know, she was a protege at seventeen. She had a nice run, I think, at the French Open back then. She's had some, you know, mental health issues since then. Her father, who was her tennis coach, had a ha a massive heart attack and passed away when I think when she was seventeen or eighteen. And uh You know, she stepped away from tennis for a year, and it's good to see her.
I mean, she was a phenom, you know, and it's good to see her back now at I think 22, 23, 24. You know, starting to, you know, be the player that everybody thought she'd be based on her abilities and what she accomplished as a young tennis player when she was, I think, number one or something in those ranks.
So there is a storyline to watch Saturday, but it is still number 13 versus number eight. In the men's, it's number one versus number two. It's what you kind of wanted, what you asked for, and you have now gotten the matchup that. Probably most people want to see. Can both men lose?
Probably not unless they both get injured. Maybe they both run toward the net for a ball and they collide. That's probably not going to happen.
So what I gotta ask you, Art, because You know, I've given you time to calm down, right? Before you say that. Oh, man, this alchemist, he got me fired up.
So, what? Yeah, yeah.
So. Let's look at this from afar. Alcaraz is a tremendous player. He is. Poised to be an all-time great when it's said and done.
He could win his sixth Grand Slam, and he's only 22.
So, why do you have very strong negative thoughts? On poor Carlos Alcaraz, because I got to work. we start talking and you just are not a fan. Oh no. Oh no.
I was rooting for Fritz. I was rooting for Fritz. But this Alcarazzi, I mean, he comes around it comes across like very arrogant and he looks like he's l you know, a spoiled rich kid. Yeah, no, I I don't disagree. Yeah, no, he he does give off the uh and Fritz is like one of us, you know.
He's he's he's he's an American? He's an American, yeah, of course. But he's a grinder. He's he's a grinder like us. Yeah, I get that.
And yes, Al Garaz does kind of rub me wrong sometimes. I think he is a. A sort of loser, right? Like his body language at times and his facial expressions when things aren't going his way, his way kind of rubbed me wrong. But with that said art, You gotta admire what he's doing on a court.
I mean, guys his age usually don't have this type of success this early. Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. And he's He's a winner against a sinner. He's won eight times against sinner. And I think when it comes down to the lesser of two evils in your mind, Who would you rather root for?
A sinner who is a guy who got busted, right, and should have been suspended longer and probably shouldn't be playing in this tournament. The suspension probably should have kept him out of this tournament. Or Al Kharaz, who is, you know, again, body language, facial expressions when things aren't going his way are good. Right.
There's the you know, your belief that he's he acts like an entitled rich kid.
So, who are you going to root for? You're a tennis fan. I know you enjoy watching tennis. Who are you rooting for? Oh, man.
Jeez. Ugh. I'm rooting for the ball. Yeah, but The big one they sign afterwards. Because think about it, okay.
I love when people tell me, oh, yeah, I watch sports and I don't care who wins. I don't buy that, okay? Even if you're watching a game in whichever respective sport that you want to fill in the blank with. And it does not include your team. Like for you, the Raiders, or for me, the Jets, baseball, your Dodgers, my Yankees, whatever it is.
You're just watching, say, Sunday night football, just two random teams You end up still pulling for one team to beat the other for whatever reason, right? That's human nature, I think. Right.
You can't watch sports without a rooting interest. It's very hard to do. And you will just start rooting for a team by just watching.
So, same thing here. You're not going to watch this match being completely indifferent as to who wins the points. You're going to start pulling for one of the two guys.
So you don't like either one art. And you're probably somewhat of a curmudgeon, which you are, and that's why you don't like anybody. But seriously. Who are you going to root for when you watch this great number one versus number two Maximum Sunday? I mean, the history shows that Alcarez is got more wins.
So I would say Carlos. You're rooting for Carlos.
So you are going to put the entitled Rich Kid attitude that he shows. On the back burner. You're going to let it go, and you're going to root for him to beat Yannick Sinner the. Italian with the non-Italian name. Exactly.
Yeah. You know, we could call this the economic. Final. Two countries that are beautiful, amazing food. Great climate, but no jobs.
I mean, that's really what it comes down to. Spain and Italy, very similar countries. Low cost of living, low salaries. Amazing food. Beautiful scenery, right?
On the Mediterranean No jobs. Yeah. I mean God, I'm so old, man. I start thinking about countries. Great countries to visit, but don't don't want to live there.
You can't. I would live there. I honestly would live there. Like, you have to earn an American's salary. You got to live there.
I would move to Spain tomorrow. I really would. I would absolutely move to Spain tomorrow. Great place. I don't know if you've ever been to Art.
It is phenomenal. It's beautiful. It is awesome. I've passed through it on the way. To Saudi Arabia, yeah.
Yeah. Well, you got to hear the next time you get a chance, stop off and enjoy it because it is. People there know how to live. You know what they say, right? Americans, we.
live to work, Europeans work to live. And they don't work as hard, they have siestas, they get the whole month of August off. People are more laid back, more relaxed. Cost of living is less. Yes, salaries are less, but for some reason they can survive on much less money than we need to survive here in this country.
It's just a different lifestyle.
So, Italy and Spain are actually very similar with how things are in terms of average salaries, quality of food, quality of life. And amazingly, you know, as much money as we make here in America, the quality of life in a lot of these European countries that don't have the wealth we have. is actually much better. It's crazy. Really is crazy.
But I don't want to get all political on you here. We're not going to do that. We got some uh football to talk. It is the offseason, but before you know it, it's training camps, mini camps, all that good stuff. You're already starting to read all the stories about this team could do that, this team could do this.
Who's going to be good? Who's not? Who's poised to be in the playoffs? Who's Super Bowl favorites? We're going to do an early edition, an early look at the upcoming NFL season.
Our buddy Howard Balser. He is going to join us next. We continue here in our number three. That's right. Hour three, The Rich Eisen Show.
Dan Schwartzmann in for Rich on this Friday. Back with Howard Balser next.
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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Call 562-314-4603 for details. Dan Schwartzmann in for Rich Eisen on this Friday, July 11th, hour three of the programming. Talked NBA hour one. A lot of baseball in hour two. It's the all-star break almost here.
Homeland Derby on the 14th. I think it's still the best All-Star game of the four major sports. Basketball is a joke. Hockey is a joke. It's just pure offense on both.
The Pro Bowl, there's nothing positive you can say about the Pro Bowl except you can gamble on it. And then I think baseball kind of stands out. Let's talk a little NFL, our buddy Howard Balzer. Is joining us and he is, man. I'll tell you, Howard does everything.
I think this is year number 47. He's a Cardinals NFL reporter for Cardswire. He's also a Hall of Fame selector. Howard, is this your 47th year? You must have seen, you must have seen unbelievable things when you look back at your NFL career here, my friend.
Yeah, I I have seen a lot, no doubt about it, Dan, and thanks for having me on. I I will say this. that this is actually starting the f my 50th season, half a century covering pro football.
So yeah, it's been a long road, but a fun one, an exciting one, and an interesting one. And here I am. Still going at it at this advanced age, if you will. Ah, you're young, man. It's like the new 50s, like the new 30.
But what's the one thing in all these years that stands out? Is there one moment that you remember the most? Maybe it's a game, a player doing something smart or stupid. Is there one thing that stands out in these 50 years of covering the NFL? My goodness, you know, s someone said to me the other day that He asked me if I've ever written a book and I said no.
And they said, well, this 50th year, you should do a book just on your 50 most exciting or greatest moments. Yeah, I said, Boy, that would even be hard to get it down to fifty But but to choose one, obviously, is is very, very uh difficult. I I will say the one the one thing that jumps out in you know, I'm in Arizona now covering the Cardinals. but in St. Louis for many, many years covering pro football.
And certainly that Super Bowl year, that moment, that season when it culminated in a victory over the Titans and the unbelievable story with Kurt Warner and everybody else on that team, that's probably. And the one thing that stands out, because obviously it all happened in my backyard. But there's so many others, being part of the Hall of Fame Selection Committee. And I'll be heading to Canton in a little under three weeks, believe it or not. And I was adding it up.
This will be the 35th Hall of Fame weekend that I will be at.
So there's been so many. And truly, Dan, I absolutely feel blessed. by by everything that I've done and experienced in this last half century. You know, it's interesting. You mentioned the Hall of Fame, and you mentioned that St.
Louis Rams team with Kurt Warner. If it's not for, and you know, people say it's a dirty hit, Rodney Harrison and the hit on Trent Green, I believe it was. Was that the preseason? Who knows what happens with that? Kurt Warner doesn't get the opportunity.
Rodney, of course, has been a finalist many years, but it's kind of ironic when you think about the fact that that happened because Rodney Harrison takes out Trent Green for the year. Kurt Warner steps in, and obviously he ends up becoming a Hall of Fame quarterback.
Well, we are, of course, going to talk in a few. I was going to say the other quick thing about that for moments that changed history is that even Kurt Warner getting a tryout to be part of the Rams originally, the year before that, occurred. Because a guy by the name of Al Lukenbill was coaching the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe, and they wanted a quarterback to have on their team that they could say was on an NFL roster.
So he talked to his old friend Charlie Armey, who was the personnel guy with the Rams, and said, Hey, we'd love to have you sign him.
So they brought him in for a tryout. He admits he didn't do very well. But the Rams signed him anyway. And send them off to NFL Europe for that year.
So, without that, who knows if Kurt Warner ever even gets another tryout. after being in arena football for numerous years after his one season as an undrafted free agent with the Green Bay Packers. Yeah, incredible when you think about how things play out. I loved NFL Europe. What a great starting place it was for a bunch of guys who ended up having lengthy career.
You know, NFL careers. Also, reporters, by the way, broadcasters. A lot of people can owe their careers to NFL Europe. I remember Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Barcelona, all these places. London, Monarchs, I think it was.
Bunch of teams. And they had those stupid plastic face masks. I do remember those. But I. Howard, I have to ask you, you know, you look at the league right now.
I want to start in the AFC. And again, it's so early because it's the offseason and guys are more on beaches than they are thinking about football. But in the AFC, three teams really stand out to me, and that is the Kansas City Chiefs every year that Patrick Mahomes is going to be there. They're going to be in the conversation. Same thing with Allen in Buffalo, Baltimore with Lamar Jackson.
Right now, when you look at those three teams, who is the best of the three in your mind heading into this season? Things will change, of course. Yeah, they they will and we never know when injuries will hit. when you look at it overall, I think when you look at the rosters and look at everything that these teams have, I I would say the Bills might have uh the best roster, but it's very close. And of course you you you have Patrick Mahomes who I mean, heck, Josh Allen, you know, Lamar Jackson, they're always trying to get over that hump and get past the Chiefs.
uh to get to the Super Bowl and that's that's what keeps them away because the Chiefs have been there. uh so often.
So it's always tough to pick against Kansas City, but I would say the bills slightly, it's not a whole lot. And but they are the three teams that sh you know will probably be vying. Doesn't mean that anyone else can't jump up and challenge them like like the Bengals, if they can get off to a good start at AFC West, Boy, oh boy, if the Raiders can be competitive, I mean, look at the head coaches. in the AFC West with Andy Reid and Harbaugh and Sean Payton and Pete Carroll. I mean, that's just a treasure trove of NFL head coaches.
So it's going to be very interesting to see the way that whole conference plays out beyond those top three teams. With Buffalo though and with Kansas City, and that's become really a heck of a rivalry if you think about those two teams playing great quarterbacks and very competitive teams. Is there a psychological factor when you're Buffalo and you're facing Kansas City? I think there probably has to be. And I think that it's only natural.
And obviously you try to put it out of your head and you say, hey, this is just one game, play our best football. But and they've come so close so many times. Most of the time, heck, there was that epic divisional round game several years ago that went to overtime. And most of the time when they've lost to them, it's usually by a field goal. And so that just shows how close you know, those games are.
And so but you have to believe I mean, you have to put it out of your mind, obviously, Dan, but you get to the fourth quarter of a game and it's close and you're saying, boy, you know, who who's gonna you know, hopefully who's gonna make the play To help us for the Bills, let's say, win the game or not make the mistake that helps us lose it. And certainly they thought it was going to be them in that overtime game. When, heck, what did it take the Chiefs 13 seconds after the Bills went ahead to go down and tie it and send it to overtime?
So yeah, that has to be in the back of your mind. You have to put it behind you. But it's not as if they've haven't been competitive with the Chiefs. They have been. And you just got to find a way to win that game that is finally going to take all that weight off your shoulders.
Cardinals, NFL reporter for Cardswire and Hall of Fame voter Howard Balzer joining us here on The Rich Eisen Show. Dan Schwartzmann in for Rich on this Friday. Give me an AFC team. Again, so early here, but this is the fun of it. Give me the AFC team that you think is going to make the strides to potentially get maybe not into that big three group that we just mentioned with the Ravens, Bills, and Chiefs, but could give them a little scare.
Is there a team like that in the AFC you think about? You know, I think that, you know, there's certainly going to be so much focus and watching the the Steelers.
Now, with what they have done, you know, to go all in with signing Aaron Rodgers and trading for DK Metcalf and now acquiring Jalen Ramsey. Certainly, they've got to get TJ Watt. uh signed uh because I I have to believe that'll happen. But you look at the Steelers over the last few years and aside from quarterback play, They're a different team when TJ Watts on the field than when he is not.
So that's a team that you really look at and say, this is a team that can be. you know, a real challenger. I look at the Broncos and it you know It's not. It's not crazy to say that they can challenge the Chiefs. Obviously, they have that tough division that I just talked about, but no one expected them.
To do what they did last season. And now, if they can build on it, then they could potentially be in that discussion.
So I think those are a few teams that. We have to keep our eye on. The Bengals always seem to be, not always, one year they got to the Super Bowl, obviously, but they always seem to be that enigma with all that. all that ability on offense. but they always just seem to get off to these slow starts and then really turn it on at the end of the season.
If they can get off to a good start and then carry it through, then that's certainly, I think, if the defense improves, is a team that could be right there with the Ravens and The Steelers in that division. I want to turn to the NFC. And the Eagles are the Eagles, and they're tremendous, obviously. And with Hertz quarterback, Saquon Barkley is unbelievable. Washington, of course, a much better team.
But Detroit tastes success, right? And they were very good. They let 15 wins last year. The disappointment in the postseason, but still.
Some teams need that disappointment to then take the next step this year. How scary in your mind is Detroit going to be? Oh, they're definitely going to be scary because that offense. It's so explosive. They got some adjustments to make on the offensive line.
And they've got to keep everybody healthy on defense. That was the biggest problem last year. And yet, they still won 15 games, but bowed out of the playoffs early.
So that's a team that you can never underestimate. Um The one the one question you have, and it's always something that we It's hard to wrap our arms around, but when you've done things a certain way for a few years, with assistant coaches. And you lose both of your coordinators in the same year, and then you wonder: how is that going to be without Ben Johnson and without Aaron Glenn? and they have the talented players, but even when you say, well, we're you know, it's still going to be pretty much the same and all that, but it's not the same when you lose guys like that. And I think that's going to be one of the hurdles that the Lions have to overcome to still be At that top of the NFC, but they're good enough to be talent-wise.
And if everyone's comfortable with the coaching, and it's not only, The players being comfortable with the coaches. It's the coaches being comfortable with the players and what they can do. And so, but they are still one of the teams to beat, obviously, I think, in that conference. Washington, a great story. They finally shed themselves of Dan Snyder.
They have adults now owning the team, a new name. They have a quarterback that seems to be the real deal here that they can go a decade plus with and be successful. They go 12 and 5. Really shock a lot of people. I hate it.
Do they take a step back this year, or do you think that's legit that this is a team that can now make the stride to win more and go deeper in the playoffs? No, I think they are legit, and obviously it still is on the shoulders of, for the most part, on Jaden Daniels. Uh who no one Even though he was the second overall pick, I don't know that anyone could have expected him to play at the level that he knows for the entire season. And Dan Quinn. I think he was a very underrated leader, which is what you have to truly be as a head coach and let everybody else coach, but be the leader.
And I think he was underrated in that when he was with the Falcons. And now he showed what he can do with that team. They've got to get Terry McLaurin happy. I remember last year at the beginning of the season, he and Daniels weren't on the same page for a while. Then all of a sudden they were.
And it was a big factor heading down the stretch in what they did.
Now there's some contract questions. Are they going to be able to get that done? You would think they realized the importance. of having him uh to help to help Jay Jaden Daniels. But yeah, I I think this is you know, you still have to look at the Eagles as the as the favorite in that division.
But yeah, I definitely think the commanders have a lot going for them and that, you know, step back. I mean, what does that mean? I don't know I don't know if they'll win 12 again, but they should they should certainly be in that you know in that vicinity. And as long as you get into the postseason, that's the most important thing. Because as we all know, Dan, once you get there, anything can happen.
Last question, Howard. And a buddy of mine asked me this question, and I'm going to pose it to you. I'm a Jet fan, so it's been a long struggle for me, but being a Giant fan is no fun either right now. Who's going to be worse? Who's going to be better?
Jets or Giants this year. I think they're black terrible, but still. I don't know if they'll be terrible, but The bottom line is how will the quarterbacks play? And interesting for both those teams, they're both going to have starting quarterbacks that were teammates last year with Justin Fields and Russell Wilson. And now Wilson's with the Giants, obviously, Fields with the Jets.
And but it's not only the quarterback. We all tend to gravitate toward that position and obviously the importance of it. can't be understated. But there still has to be a lot of support for that quarterback on that side of the ball, plus on defense and all those other things. it's it's you know you you would look at and say the Giants because of Wilson has all that experience.
But I've always thought that Fields is a very talented guy. who just never seems to have been given the chance over the long haul to see what he can do. And now he's got the challenge of the Jets for him, only a two-year contract. And he's got the ability. Again, the question is: will everyone come through around him?
to enable him to play at a high a consistent at a consistently high high level. Yeah, going to be interesting to see here in New York. I guess it's maybe a team slips in the postseason, but it's going to be who really is the better of the two teams, both struggling, of course, in recent years. Howard Balzer, Cardinals NFL reporter for Cards Wire, also a Hall of Fame selector, beheading to Canton shortly. Howard, appreciate the time.
As always, have a great weekend. Same to you, Dan. Take care. Thanks for having me on. Always great, Howard.
Always great talking to Howard Ballson. He should write a book. 50 years covering the NFL. How do you not write a book? I'd read it.
I mean, the stories that he could tell, right? Think about it. Like. The stories in 50 years of the NFL watching this league grow from being. Fifty years ago, yeah, there was some popularity in the NFL, but I mean, the explosion of it's the richest sports league in the world by a mile.
Not even close. I mean, they print money in the NFL. Like Sunday Night Football gets like 21 million viewers a game on average. Incredible. Yeah, he saw the Raiders go from Oakland to LA to Oakland to Vegas.
He actually saw the leaders raiders win a game. All right, that's amazing. You've probably never seen that. Let's talk O'Reilly Auto Parts people. They're in the business of keeping your car on the road.
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Wrapping things up on a Friday, Dan Schwartzman In for Rich. It's the Rich Eisen Show. Famous guy passing away yesterday. Not known really as a baseball player, and wasn't really that successful as a manager. He became Ultra famous because he has one of the greatest sports rants.
Really ever. I'm talking about Lee Ilya, who managed the Chicago Cubs and the Phillies. He spent more than 50 years in professional baseball, passed away. It was on Wednesday when he passed away. He only managed four seasons.
Two at the Cubs, two at the Phillies, was a coach for a very long time. And what happened was in 1983, when he was like 45 years old. The Cubs lost to the Dodgers, and at that point they were 5-14 on this season. This was a late April game. Wrigley Field had less than 10,000 fans in attendance.
They started throwing garbage at the players. and Ilya afterwards Talk to the media. And I think he dropped the F-pomb literally 30 or so times, maybe even more, but it has become. Quite possibly the most famous baseball rant by a manager. It's like.
When Jim Moore said, playoffs? Playoffs? And it was what Dennis Green saying, we are who we think, or whatever it was, man. We are who we think we are, whatever it was.
So, I believe do we have an edited version? I hope. Fingers crossed. Yes, we have a blooped version. We do.
Why don't you play a little bit of one of the most famous rants? This is 1983. April 29th, I believe, after the Cubs lose in a game and fall to 5-14 on the season. We've got All these so-called fing fans that come out here and say they're gun fans that are supposed to be behind you, rip at every fing thing you do. I'll tell you one fing thing.
I hope we get fing hotter than s just to stuff it up them 3,000 fing people that show up every fing day. Because if they're the real Chicago fing fans, they can kiss my fingers right downtown and print it. My favorite. Am I supposed to do? Go out there and let my fing flavors get destroyed every day and be quiet about it for the fing Nickel dye people to show up?
don't even work. That's why they're out of the came. They only go out and get a fing job and find out what it's like to go out and earn a fing living. 85% of the world's working. The other 15 come out here.
You're fing putting it around for a f ⁇. Yeah. Yeah. All right, Art. That is the most classic line.
85% of the world works. The other fifteen per cent come out here, meaning Wrigley Field. Wow. That's classic. That's up there with Tommy Lasorda's rant.
Dave Kingman. Yes, the Kingman rant. But I mean that line. 85% of the world works, the other 15% come out here. That's true.
I mean, you know, Cubs played afternoon baseball. They didn't have lights at Wrigley for a long time. And in 83 they still had no lights at Wrigley. Clubs played only day games at home. Imagine, by the way, being a Cubs player, and all you have to do is play day games like.
You could have Dinner at normal hours every night. Right? Unless it went extra innings, we had a double well, you couldn't play a double header 'cause You had to get it done before it got dark. But yeah, Lee Ilya passing away. And uh really that's one of the greatest meltdowns.
that has ever happened. Wow. You know, it's interesting because you start reading up on these guys, and I had no idea. He only managed. Four years in the Major League Baseball, and I remember that name, obviously.
I was born in 1978.
So I remember Lilia's name growing up and You look now and it's like, wow, you only managed four years. You think to yourself, oh, I managed 20 years, right? 15 years, 20, whatever it is. But no, it's only four years. But I was a third-base coach when the.
He was with the Phillies in 1980 as a third-base coach when they won the World Series back then. And was with the mariners for a long time as well, different stints with them, so. Rip to Le Ilia, passing away, still the author of one of the greatest rants in the history of baseball.
So speaking of baseball, it is nearing the All-Star break. Thankfully. And by the way, I don't know, Art, if this is me being a little too. You know, I I don't know. Why don't they just have it halfway through the season?
Why does it make sense? I don't quite understand it.
So, Sunday is the last day of. The first half of the baseball season. Which is not the first half. Which is not the exactly, it's not the first half.
So I don't really understand why it's that way, but for some reason. The all-star game is not truly at the halfway point. A lot of teams, I mean, look at the number of games teams have played right now, okay? The Yankees have played 93 games. That's well past the halfway point.
Other teams have played nine, yeah, I mean, teams have played, some teams have played 94 games. The Red Sox have played 95 games already.
So, why not just keep it right there at 80? It would be what, sometime in late June? Yeah, late yeah, two weeks right ago. Two weeks ago, so it'd be End of June.
So why not just do it end of June? What is it about July? Maybe NBA Finals was still the NBA was still going on, I guess. Yeah, NBA was going on.
So maybe they don't want to be added against the NBA potentially? NBA playoffs and the NHL, yeah.
Well, I don't think they look at the NHL as really a threat. I don't think they're they're worried about losing viewers to the NHL. No offense to the NHL. I just think that's what it is. I don't think, you know.
The other sports. You know, people underestimate the NHL. It is actually a very rich league. It's one of the most lucrative leagues in the world, but. Compared to the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, it is much smaller, and I don't think they.
look at them as as competition for eyes.
So But definitely the NBA they do. And maybe that's what it is. By the way, you know, we were speaking earlier with Howard Balzer about the NFL. All right, the NFL is on the cusp of becoming a twenty billion dollar. They're a twenty billion dollar league.
Like that's incredible. Very healthy. Yeah, the NBA is twelve billion baseball is like eleven and a half billion. Then the Premier League is next. Um You know, it's Well so the NFL is a little over.
It's actually $20.25 billion using a Exchange rate. NBA is $13 billion. Major League Baseball is $11.5 billion. NHL is. About six and a half billion.
Only the Premier League stands in the way of all four American professional leagues being 1, 2, 3, 4 in full standings. That's pretty impressive.
Now, do you watch the Premier League? I mean, are do Americans watching? Yeah, they do. Yeah, because you remember when it came on NBC years ago? It's grown.
La Liga's on the SPN. You can watch Italian Syria somewhere as well. It's really growing. I mean, soccer has grown significantly in popularity in this country. I have to admit, really, over the last 10 years, Art, I never watched soccer.
I never cared about soccer. I never followed it. And then for work about 10 years ago, I had to start learning a little bit about it, right? Because I knew nothing about soccer. You knew the names of just a handful of players, like the best of the best.
But I started to follow it and You know what? I've started to enjoy it. I can't watch some leagues. But you know, here in New York on Sunday, we have the Club World Cup final. And it's PSG versus Chelsea.
We just had PSG versus Real Madrid. I mean, it's. Lot of people in the stands. Let me tell you, this has been a real eye-opening tournament here. As a precursor to the World Cup, which is going to be next year in America, Mexico, and Canada.
And out there in LA, I'm telling you right now, you guys are gonna pack SoFi. Oh yeah, oh yeah, it's gonna be Epic. Absolutely packed. It's this country has embraced soccer, MLS. Is growing and it's going to be very interesting.
All right, I want to thank Mike Vorkhanov, NBA Business Reporter at the Athletic. Jared Diamond for the Wall Street Journal, Howard Balzer for joining us. It's been great. Dan Schwartzmann in for Rich. He'll be back.
It's 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.
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