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This is the Rich Eisen Show. Then there's Trey Hendrickson. I don't know. There's no other organization knows me better than this one. This is the one where I don't know.
Wilson, under pressure, sacked. Trey Hendrickson. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Because with the Bengals, you just don't know, man. You never know.
Earlier on the show, Royals pitcher Rich Hill. Actor Chad Michael Murray. Coming up. USA Today's sports columnist Christine Brennan. Plus, latest news and more.
And now. It's Mr. Rich Eisen. Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air.
Some breaking news involving our partners at Roku. Did you see this? That the. The documentary on the Super Bowl championship of the Philadelphia Eagles. Super Bowl champions, the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles from uh uh partially uh produced by NFL Films.
Landed right here on Roku. Our boy Joe Francettis quoted right now in the reporter. Oh, yeah, I just know that. I am seeing it right now. And this is to show you.
Congrats. That's awesome. It's just to show you Joe Francett's professionalism. This is a diehard Steeler fan. He's happy that the Eagles Super Bowl win is on Roku's.
Joe, he couldn't have that job. Joe's a lead pipe wielding professional. We've known that for years. You can sing the praises of the Eagles. Do you think his fingers were crossed when he was telling that to the Hollywood Reporter?
I wouldn't have trouble open his mouth a little bit. Did you have a job? Yeah, landing a nice documentary here on Rocus. I don't know when it's coming. I'm just skipping it.
I know I'm skimming it right now, but it's coming soon.
So, keep an eye out for that right here on the show. Yo, hey, Roku Joe, man. In case you're just joining us as well. Uh It's Chris Brockman and T.J. Jefferson's birthday.
Happy birthday to TJ. And we just finished hour number two, in which Chris Brockman fulfilled TJ's birthday wish from Chris to. For you, TJ, that he had to be positive the entire hour. Yeah, and you did outstanding, Chris. I must be honest with you.
I want to say, in the face of adversity, like, here's the deal: like, who needs enemies when you have friends like these guys? All you guys did for the whole hour was try to bait me into going off. Excuse me, excuse me. And ruin the positivity. I was doing a great job.
Excuse me. Excuse me. I know you're pent up having to have been nice for an entire hour. We were just talking sports, and it was just the subject matters I have them all written down here. The lust tradition of the New York Yankees.
Mike Delta tradition. Mike Del Tufa becoming a Dodger fan, being cool. Eli Manning's Hall of Fame credentials. LeBron James being the goat, never complaining. The fact that Jason Feller has cats and he likes sharing it with you.
And you don't like coffee, and there's an AI photograph of you or something. For the end of July, when training camps open. I'm not done. Pickleball. But then we talked about the optimism Russell Wilson has for the Giants season.
And then, you know, just to hit the way back machine, one last parting shot. Or topic for discussion, Joe Milton's great start for the Patriots last year. And you even said, without that, we wouldn't have Will Campbell. That's true. Which.
If he winds up in the Hall of Fame, guess what? I think Joe Moon. Would have been cool to have Travis Hunter. Great job. AJ in Dallas here in the Rich Islands Chair.
What's up? Pardon me, Al in Dallas. What's up, Al? How are you, sir? AJ?
I'm battling the allergies, Al. Give me a break. What's up, Al? AJ from Dallas is like Bizarro Brocknell. What's up, Al?
How are you, brother? Free man. That was great. Happy birthday, gentlemen. Thank you, Al.
Thanks, Albert, Al. How are you, Albert? I'm doing great. I mean, Brian Dayball really went out on a limb today, huh?
Well, what do you honestly? I mean, this is it, brother. I mean, he's not naming Jameis the starter, I guess. And Jackson Dart, Jackson Dart was not going to start week one, Al, right? That's what I'm saying.
Like, why was it even a topic of conversation? I mean, I guess he was asked. I don't know. Well, I mean, it's the opening of training camp, and he's there's two ways to go about it, you know, and you know, even Brian Callahan said today, after Will Levis. Gets shoulder surgery out of nowhere on an injury that he first suffered in September of last year.
He's saying that Cam Ward's taking the majority of the snaps. Like, oh, oh, okay. You know, right.
So there's two ways to handle it where you're like, There's competition here. That's what we're doing. It's all about competition. Every spot needs to be competed for. Or you're just going to do what Eberflus did last year.
And I know that's not the. The template you're looking to follow in terms of being successful as a head coach, win-loss record. Which is, he's the guy. That's it. End of story.
Let's not have a conversation every day. You know? And lastly, Richard, I don't think I spoke to you after. You did your stint at the American Century. You are getting, and I'm asking you seriously.
I think you made a comment about it, but you are getting reinvited back again to play there, right? I don't know. I'm certainly hoping. I had a great time, met a lot of good people. You did a fantastic.
Your golf game may not have been great, but your social media presence and your pictures were fantastic. You appreciate it. You did a wonderful job. Did you bring in pizza for the boys? Because I know how you love that.
What's your name? Vitos? Vitos? No, but Suze is bringing something else. Oh, breaking news.
It's going to be mimosas. It's going to be mimosas for brunch. Maybe some. I'll take it. Al know it's my wife's brand.
Thank you so much, Al and Dallas, everybody, right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Um listen. This is what we do around here in parts these days with the training campus, talk about guys who aren't there, right? And the guy's not there in Cincinnati and Trey Hendrickson and Shamar Stewart. I mean, Listen, Joe Burrow basically put everybody in Cincinnati's front office on notice.
Did he? As soon as the season was over, right? He's like, hey, the Eagles are keeping everybody out. How do they do it? Why can't we figure everybody out?
And then they signed Jamar Chase and they signed T Higgins, which is great. Joe's got to be happy about that. And then it's like... What was the number last year? How many games did they lose when they scored 37 points?
I had it wrong. They were 0-4 when scoring 33 or more. Usually should be the inverse of that. You should win all of those games. You should win all those games.
But the defense, we all know, was the issue. And the fact that Trey Hendrickson's not there, and then they also drafted somebody to help rush the passer in Shamar Stewart, and he's not there because there's something going on with the language in the contract.
So, um Now it's Joe's turn to chime in on this. You think he wants to be talking about this? Absolutely not.
So Burrow was asked about the guys who were not there. Yeah, obviously disappointing. You know, you'd like to have Have all your guys out there Day one to try to to build that cohesion that I was talking about earlier. But that's It's not how it usually works out. You know, it's a business and That is uh how it's gone.
Well, jeeze. That was a psi. Wow. I mean, on the psi meter, that's 10 to 10, right? 9 to 10?
He was choosing his words carefully because he definitely knows that his words have weight.
Well, he's gonna have to wait. Dude. You could say they're in this situation because of Joe, though. Like, uh-uh-uh-oh. They could have franchised T.
Higgins, given Chase the money, and they would have had it left over for Trey.
Now, listen, you don't. Come on, man. That's just a fact. Is it really? You have the numbers in front of you.
You know the full cap situation. You're like, you're Mr. Chris. I'm using logic. Spot tracking.
I'm using logic. No, I know you're using it. You didn't have to sign both wide receivers, right? Obviously, you take Jamar Chase. He's one of the best in the league.
You have to do that for me. If you could have franchise T. Higgins, would have pissed off T. Higgins. But you could have done that and pay Trey Hendrickson.
Or you could probably pay everybody. You know what I mean? Again, we're not going to be able to do that.
Well, the Sermark Stewart stuff is language. The Sermar Stewart stuff is a contractual language. Let's put that aside. But we don't know. I have no idea what Burroughs' contract was all laid out, whether he took less money so they could spend other.
places in the next couple of years. We have no idea. I don't know. I'm sure Joe knows a lot more than he is putting, he's letting on right now. That is for damn sure.
He wants Trey Hendrickson there. He wants Trey Hendrickson and Shamar Stewart there. He wants them rushing the passer, and you could say, well, Mike Brown wants that too. And the general manager and the head coach wants it too. And will it happen before week one?
I think it will. Although, with the Bengals, that's the only one. That's the wild card. That's the one. You know, Mike Brown is old school.
He I think he was the only one who voted against making replay permanent. you know back in the day He was one of the only two. I should be more buttoned up on that if I'm going to throw that out as a fact. But we don't I don't know There's always money in the banana stand when you talk about salary cap. You can always rework this, you can always rework that.
It's just, do you want to set a new precedence? Do you want to spend all that money on somebody that is that age? Do you want to? You know, worry about the end of the contract. You have to have the cash to put aside.
There's that too. We were always wondering about the cash flow situation of the Bengal states, but we don't know if that's true or not either. But we all know exactly when we'll know. When that uh That signing happens, right? What happens if we're not on the air?
Should we should we Jason Feller should we make the um The Velcro sound noise available to all of our listeners and viewers.
So whenever that happens, they could just play it for their friends. I don't want the breaking. If it happens, if Trey Anderson gets signed. Or Shamar Stewart comes back. We have to be on the air.
It's on the air. I don't want to hear the breaking news. I don't want to hear the my eyes. See, I don't want to hear the pacino breaking news. It's that noisy.
There we go.
Okay. And then, what's going on with Terry McLaurin, right? You know what I mean? This is what happens. Dan Quinn was asked about it today.
Hear it. It's part of the business of the NFL. I don't judge it or get too worked up about it. I know Adam and his team are working as hard as they can, you know, with Terry. And so the best thing I can do, honestly, in this space is like put all the attention and the focus to go doing what it like.
We love them.
So I know they're working really hard to go do that. It's part of the business of our league, and this happens on teams all over. And so the longer you've been in it, the more you recognize that's just part of how things go. It's the same thing. Over and over and over again, year after year after year, just change the proper names and the teams.
and the different ways that coaches approach it. Right now Dan Quinn is allowing. These questions right now.
Soon it'll be like Guys, I don't know. Yeah, right. You know, he's not here. And then, as you know, there's the coaching cliches: it is what it is. Control what you can control.
And you can also remove control, what you control, except for this time of year. Which is, I'm only talking about the guys who are here. I mean, at some point we're going to hear that from somebody. We'll not hear that from Cincinnati or Washington or Dallas. If Micah departs.
Speaking of Dallas. Yeah. It's now time before Christine Brennan joins us to talk about Caitlin Clark at WNBA Women's Sports. Chris Brockman, you. We're stellar in hour number two.
Thank you. Absolutely. Chris Brockman, you went to James Jefferson. Share a birthday. Today is that day.
TJ said, For my birthday, Chris, I want you to be positive for an hour. Boy, we put you through the ringer. You guys did your worst. And he came up with that idea after, though, you said your idea for your birthday. That TJ should do the Dallas Cowboys win-loss.
I think it's time. Understood, it's inevitable. It's inequitable. You got to be that way for an hour. He's just going to be done with this thing.
But his lasts the entire season. Yeah. You held accountable. TJ Jefferson, it is now time. Let's go.
For you to give Chris Brockman what he wants for his birthday, and that is you. Finally. Telling us what's going to happen for the Dallas Cowboys season in the win-loss game. You are draped in your Dallas Cowboy regalia. Mm-hmm.
I appreciate that music being played. TJ Jefferson. I haven't even looked at the schedule, so got that. What happens on opening night in Philadelphia? Oh, baby.
Opening night, pomp and circumstance. You got a Super Bowl champion. You know, they're going to be, crowds are going to be hyped. It's called the win-loss games. I'm going to go ahead and say we're going to take an LVA.
Hey, PL. 0-1 coming back home. Here come the New York Giants and Russell. Wilson. 14 and 1 in their last 15 against the Giants.
I don't see nothing changing there. That's a dub.
Now you're at Chicago 1-1. What happens then? Late window Fox. Look, I'll have Ashton Kutcher. I might have Seth Rollins nipping at my heels for that game, but guess what?
Cowboys take out Bears. That's a dub.
A name-dropping win. Two and one. Home for the Packers on a Sunday night. Man, I gotta be honest with you, man. It's like Greenway's kind of had our number a little bit.
So. I'm begrudging. I'm going to take the L. All right. Two and two at the Jets.
Laugh all you want, pal. That's a dope. I once watched Sam Darnold. Yeah, he did, but beat Dak back in the day. All right, three and two at the Panthers.
The Panthers, interesting. You know, upgraded their offense a little bit. Oh, boy. Uh. But I still don't see them being able to take out us.
Four and two, home for the Commanders. Late window on Fox. Look, I call my brother son because he shined like one. We just own the Commanders, so I'm going to call that a W.
Sorry, Spike. And two, three straight wins going into Denver. I can remember like three years ago, I did this win-loss, and I said we were going to lose to Denver, and Rich gave me crap about it because he thought it was wrong. This is not about me. This is about Chris's birthday.
We're getting there, man. What are you telling us win or loss?
So I tried to tell you we'd lose, and we did. Denver's another team, man. They play us hard.
So unfortunately, I think that's an L. You're five and three now, coming back for a Monday night home date with the Cardinals. At home, I think this is surprisingly going to be a good game, but I'm going to give us the dub. All right, so you're now six and three in your bye.
Okay. Coming out. It's a Monday night visit to Vegas. Oh, are you going to that game? Oh, I might have to.
Me and Jay Felly might have to take a road trip to see the raids. What happens? What's going to happen is I'm going to go. I can't wait. Any cowboy gear because Raiders fans will beat me up, but that's a dub for a seven and three home.
For the Eagles.
Okay. Now, I'm just going to say this: we are going to split. They're not going to sweep us. They're just not.
So that's a dub. Carl Anthony Towne says hello. All right. That's three wins in a row. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and three.
Thanksgiving Day Kansas City Chiefs 8-3. What happens? You know how I feel about that man. What is it? It's that Mahomes kid.
That's true. He's so good. Unfortunately, I think this is going to be a high-scoring affair. It's going to be a good game on Thanksgiving. But we're going to eventually take the L in there.
All right, 8-4 at the Lions a week later. The Hines lost both their coordinators. I know that. And Chris Brockman always says that's a problem. It's a problem.
Because of that problem, I'm gonna give us the dub. Nine and four. Home for the Vikings. You know, I like JJ McCarthy. And uh 9 and 4, home for the Vikings.
9 and 5, home for the Chargers. I hate to say this.
Somehow, some way these Chargers are gonna take us in this game and nine and six Going into Christmas Day on Netflix against the Commanders in DC. Would this be a third straight loss? Drop it a nine and seven. It would be. It would be.
If we weren't playing the Washington Commanders, but I just told you what happens there, that's a dog. Sweet Commander wins going at the Giants. What are we? 10 and 9. 10 and 5.
10 and 5. 10 and 5. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. 10 and 6. 10 and 6.
Look, we're going to need this, I think, to make the playoffs.
So unfortunately, nobody rests. We all play. We get the dub. 11 and 6. TJ.
Jefferson. Happy birthday, Chris. Thank you. What do you think? 11-6, same record I had for the Patriots.
I think you're both off. I think you're way off the battlefield. Both off. Yeah. I think you're both off.
I would take the under on both. What? I would. Dude, you're not sweeping the Washington community. I think that's unlikely.
I don't think so. Splitting with the Eagles, I believe. Sweeping the Giants, I get. But you. Being 5-1 in division, 11-6 overall.
That is a tall order, sir. Five and one division is pretty rich. And I'll give you one to look out for. October 12th, I think you lose in Carolina. And I think that's going to be one of those watershed moments in the season where we're coming on the air on Monday and the whole world is freaking out hair on fire.
I'm glad you feel that way, but. Hmm. No, I don't. 11 and 6. I think that's, you know, provided.
Mike is going to be there. I'm telling you. I don't think it's out of the realm. Who's running the ball, though? Who is running the football?
Is Javante? I'm waiting for him. Anybody who's had him in fantasy knows, and I know fantasy and reality are different, but come on. We've got an RBBC. We're going to have a couple guys toting the rock.
Okay, that would be George Pickett. Did you see Dax? And I'm not, obviously. By the way, don't get fooled. That was an old video of Brandon Cooks, TJ.
First take got fooled by it. Oh, really? Yeah. I just saw the pass. Everybody got four bytes.
Everybody got four. George Pickens is incredibly talented. But George Pickens can make catches like that, and he will make catches like that. Steelers let him go for a reason. Correct.
You know? We'll see if the Cowboys can look.
Sometimes the change of scenery makes all the difference in the world. That's why I'm excited to see it. That's true. I don't think 11 and 6 is in any way me being like, oh, I can always see the comments. I'm out of my mind.
But I think I'll see you. I don't think I agree. 11 and 6, I think, is at the high end. We'll see. We'll see.
All right. Happy birthday, Jess. That was great. Awesome. 344204, which is the number to dial right here on the code card.
When we come back, Christine Brennan has written a. A tome that is highly popular. USA columnist on her game, Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women's Sports When We Come Back.
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. 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 Drebbin 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. Let's talk O'Reilly Auto Parts people.
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This week's episode is being recorded today, and it will be seen on Roku, which you can check out. All the time, all past episodes of Women's Sports Now, on her game. Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women's Sports is available now wherever you get your books. USA Today Sports columnist Christine Brennan here on The Rich Island Show. Good to see you, Christine.
How are you?
Well, great to see you, Rich. I'm good, thanks. How are you doing? I'm doing great. Thanks for coming back on this program.
And it was great to see you on Women's Sports Now. Last week as well.
So, uh, walk me through uh this book and how much um. I guess Caitlin Clark's was there any cooperation, any reach out to her at all, Christine, for this book? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. She answered 40 to 50 questions that I asked her.
Yeah, she's great. She's better in person than you'd hope. Yeah, what happened was right around the time actually you and I spoke, which was the Olympic snub, which by the way. Is a chapter title in the book, and I have even more reporting on that abysmal decision. And I continue to report it.
So there's breaking news within the book on that chapter alone, as well as there's lots of things. But within a few weeks, I was, you know, just early July thinking, you know, gosh, should I maybe do a book on this? I hadn't written a book in a long time. This has become my eighth book, fourth with Scribner. Literally 54 weeks ago, there was no book.
And now we're number two on the New York Times bestseller list.
So, you know, what it shows, Rich, is the incredible power, appeal. of this 23-year-old woman who is changing the face of sports, not just women's sports, but the way men, you know, we know those guys, right? The guys that wouldn't have been caught dead watching women's basketball. When I would be on radio shows or, you know, you and I might be talking on various things, you know, guys would laugh like, you're not covering the women's final four, are you? Like, why would you go to the women's Olympic gold medal game at all the Olympics I cover?
You know, what a waste of time. It's not good basketball. It's below the rim. They're rolling around on the floor. You know, it's jump balls.
These are the things I heard. I was laughed at as I would advocate the coverage of women's basketball among all the other things that I've been able to do, men's and women's, right? Sports. And honest to goodness, to see now those guys that would have been calling into sports talk. Talk shows around the country laughing.
They're the guys now buying the number 22 jerseys. They're wearing them not only to games, but to the grocery store and the gas station. They are Caitlin Clark's biggest fans, and they are the reason that these TV ratings are through the roof. The reason that the Indiana fever home attendance, average home attendance last year, first year of Caitlin Clark, was higher than the average home attendance of five NBA teams. I cannot even believe I said that sentence and I researched it and it's in on her game.
Point being, this has absolutely been a sea change, the likes of which I did not envision seeing in my career. That's how big a deal. And I chronicled the whole thing and Caitlin answered every question, tough questions, looked you in the eye, goes on and on with answers, goes off on a tangent, comes back and finishes the answer. I mean, she's just a delight and so available. And as I said, nothing.
No holds part. Nothing was off limits. You know, good, bad, indifferent, all of it's in there. But I will say there's a lot of logo threes jumping off the page in the book because she truly is an entertainer, even more than a basketball player, very similar to Tiger Woods. With golf, right?
Where people who would never watch the sport now tune in to see her. Yeah, no doubt about that. A few weeks ago, Christine, The top story on this program, and also, I believe, wound up being. The most viewed video on our YouTube page in June was when uh JC Sheldon and Marina Maybry treated Caitlin Clark like a pinball in the Connecticut Sun game, and then.
Sophie Cunningham treated Sheldon like she was a wide receiver that needed to be tackled before the end zone, you know, and it was. It was awesome. It was awesome. It's the competition. It's the heat of the competition.
And it also plays into the conversation of. Um what is going on with Caitlin Clark and her colleagues in the WNBA, whether it is just another. moment where a superstar comes in from college and gets treated. You know, physically, as clearly Michael Jordan was back in the day, right? Like, let's not forget, it's not specific to just the WNBA and Caitlin Clark, or is there some form and format of of jealousy happening here, Christine, and where where do you stand on that subject matter?
Yeah, Muffet McGraw in the book, I quote her, she talks about the petty jealousy that she was seeing. She's, of course, sent a ton of Notre Dame players to the WNBA and is watched very closely and follows Caitlin Clark very closely and thinks, you know, so highly.
Well, she recruited her. She had Caitlin Clark for a while until Caitlin said she didn't want to go to Notre Dame. She wanted to go to Iowa and how different that would have been if she would never have been Caitlin Clark trucking it from the parking lot. You know, it's going in Notre Dame, you know, Muffet wouldn't have allowed that. But anyway, yeah, there's certainly it is that when Marina Mayber did what she did, and by the way, I've interviewed Marina Maybry and she likes Caitlin Clark.
She gets it. At least I thought she got it. But when she did that, I mean, Shelton and Caitlin go back a long way because of Iowa and Ohio State through the Big Ten. And so, you know, there's chippy play. And Caitlin Clark does not need me or you or anyone to defend her.
She's not a victim. She gives it as good as she takes it. She's tough. She's strong. She's revving up the crowd.
She loves it. And people love her for that. But when Marina Maybry plowed into Caitlin Clark, like A freight train. If that did not injure Caitlin Clark, as far as we know, although now she's had these four injuries, and the last time she missed a game was sophomore year of high school. Bizarre, absolutely bizarre, what's happening.
And so obviously disheartening for Caitlin Clark and so many of her fans. But when Marina Mabry does that, you know who she's hurting at the end of the day? She's hurting Marina Mabry and her earning potential. Because when Caitlin Clark is injured, at the first time she was injured this year, Red, she lost, she would miss five games. During those five games, when she disappeared, more than half of the viewership.
Of the WNBA, not just the fever, but the WNBA. More than half of the viewership also disappeared. That is falling off a cliff. Tiger Woods, I looked it up. When he would be out of a major tournament or missing something, it would drop a little.
Michael Jordan, when he went to baseball, dropped a little. You know, others over the years. Over half of your TV audience just disappears. That is devastating to the WNBA and to its financial future, and all those players with the CBA now up and they're having these negotiations. They need to realize sooner than later, not that you treat her like kid gloves.
But that Caitlin is to them even more important than Tiger was to men's golf. Because men's golf had already had Arne Jack, Byron Nelson, you know, Sam Sneed, going all the way back to Bobby Jones. It already had the commercials and the standing within the sports culture. WNBA, in our male-dominated sports world, never has had that.
Now Caitlin gives it that. It's like it's a, the fever are like a men's pro sport, men's major league sport in terms of interest and following and everything about it. And then these hits.
So I would say, yes, it is like that kind of rite of passage. Except, let me know when women's basketball players make the same as men. Let me know when the TD contracts are the same, when the attendance is the same, other than for Caitlin. Point being that the WNBA needs this woman to be there, to be playing well, and that spotlight that shines on her, Rich, shines on all these other players who never got the attention they deserve. Majority black players, 74% black league.
And now they're getting that attention because Caitlin Clark and because now the media is covering it really for the first time in a major way. Christine Brennan on her game, Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women's Sports is available now wherever you get your books. Let's talk about the revolution in women's sports. Um is is the You mentioned the CBA conversation between the WNBA and the Players Association. Is that a fault line?
in this revolution right now because you're just seeing An interesting strategy, because imagine it has to be a strategy. It's not happenstance from the PA. then on the heels of the league announcing a media deal of $2.2 billion in You know, also the wake of what we're hearing, these WNBA franchises are being bought for or being bought in for. The union opts out of the deal, the current deal. Uh the league announces expansion.
And um and then They say how the league's first proposal, the PA, was a slap in the face after expansion. I could go on here. The all-star game. uh where they were wearing payos t-shirts. The players Um using that spotlight.
Unrivaled announces a whole big to-do, announcing how many NCAA athletes for the upcoming season. have been signed that was on the heels of the all-star weekend. Is this a strategy that we're seeing right now from the Players Association? Is this the fault line in this revolution that we're talking about about equal pay, Christine? Yeah, I mean, that's it.
You know, pay us what you owe us was the t-shirt that they all were wearing at the All-Star Game where I was and, you know, doing a lot of book events as well, as you can imagine. Indiana and Iowa. They love the book and that's fun. You know, I think it is. You know, the NBA owns 60% of the WNBA.
And that is, of course, owners, team owners, like. you know, Pacers, Sports and Entertainment, obviously, is Pacers and Fever. Also just the league in general. We also know, and I don't put this in the book because I don't have, I was not able, anything that's in the book is journalistically sound. It's the journalism that I have done for years, breaking news, all kinds of inside, behind the scenes stories, but they're all sourced and whatever.
So I don't have the numbers on how much money the WNBA is losing, but by all accounts, it is losing money. But so the players want more, and who can blame them? Caitlin Clark's salary last year as the first pick. in the WNBA draft was $76,000. Top pick in the NBA draft, $57 million.
So it's never going to be equal, certainly not in my lifetime or your lifetime, Rich, maybe in our great, great, great, some kids, grandkids' lives, maybe. But I don't even know that that's, I mean, that's a goal, but is that it's not a realistic goal? It's the idea of paying athletes more so that they don't. The reason Brittany Griner, of course, was in Russia, as you know, not because of the ambiance in Russia or hanging out with you. Right.
It's because she was making a million bucks from an oligarch who wanted to pay her to play a few months. And then she was making basically a quarter of a million in the U.S.
So in the WNBA.
So when you can make so much money, more money overseas in China, Russia, et cetera, you know, that's a bad look. And so they need to up that and make it a salary that is meaningful.
So many of these college players, of course, have great NIL deals like Caitlin Clark did worth millions.
So they're coming in with money, which is nice. And the TV dollars, you're right, it's four. TV contract now is four times the value of what it was. But all of this, I mean, in my mind, it's all related to Caitlin Clark. And the league seems so reluctant in some players to talk about that.
Or when they're talking about the TV ratings, ESPN, for the All-Star game, they say, well, it's the highest, you know, ever. Oh, except for last year.
Well, what kind of a report or PR is that? No, no, you say it's the second highest ever. And it's okay to say last year was more. It dropped 36% because Caitlin Clark wasn't playing. It's all about Caitlin Clark.
And it's okay to say that. I cover Tiger the length of his career. I watched front row seat and the press sections and galleries inside the ropes. And quickly, the male golfers said, Hey, we get it, rising tide lifts all boats. As soon as the WNBA players do that, and they have not yet done that, some have, but not all.
As soon as they do that, Rich, they're going to be better off for understanding the magnitude of Caitlin Clark. Again, guard her, play tough, fouler, whatever. Don't try to kill her or don't try to steamroll her. I'm not saying they're actually trying to kill her, obviously. Yes.
But don't do that because, again, like Tiger, this is tie yourself to this person and make a lot more money because of her. Is Caitlin going to have to win a title? for that attitude, for the lack of a better phrase. or word to change. Do you think she has to win, like dominate the league, and be the clear 100% star?
I mean, You know, we're talking a lot about this. Sabrina Ionescu's performance in the three-point contest was exhilarating. Um from that weekend.
So again, that's the pushback that people have. Like, yes, Caitlin does raise all boats, but there's some other stars in this game. Angel Reese is another one. That has a massive fan base and might also be somebody who you always you also need to have somebody who's a You know. A rival, you know, Agent Wilson being another.
I could go on and on. Sure. But what what will it only will Caitlin have to win with the Indiana Fever for this to change? Do you think? Wins, actual W's on the scoreboard.
Yeah, I absolutely think that would be great. And that will certainly add to her resume. Taking Iowa to two straight final games is extraordinary, right?
So you have the UConn women saying she needs to win a title.
Well, the UConn women played with all these other incredible stars, all of them going to the WNBA. And of course, Caitlin Clark played with one person who was going to the WNBA at Iowa, and that's Kate Martin. And the rest are people who have gone on with their careers.
So, you know, I find that a little strange because, again, the reality, the numbers are there. You know, Asia Wilson's a great player. and she's getting so much more attention now because of Caitlin Clark. And she is an MVP. I mean, Caitlin is not yet that.
Caitlin's not the greatest player in the WNBA, may never be the greatest player in the WNBA, Rich, but she's the most important by far. Again, every number, all of the attendance moving to bigger stadiums, it wasn't for Angel Reese. Paige Beckers is a great player, great player. She cannot sell out the 8,000-seat arena in Dallas. Juju Watkins, fantastic.
Let's hope she gets healthy. She's that magical player. She's the entertainer, kind of like Caitlin. And Caitlin is the master entertainer. Juju cannot sell out the USC Arena.
So what I'm saying is When you look at the numbers, you know, the funny thing about facts, they're facts. And people get mad at me for saying this stuff. But these are the facts. I have covered this. I so wish Maya Moore had been gotten the attention that Caitlin Clark has.
I wish that Asia Wilson was literally being discussed in the produce section the way Caitlin Clark is, right? I wish the grandmothers and grandfathers had changed their days for Cheryl and their evenings for Cheryl Swoops and everybody else. I knew them. I covered them. I was covering women's final fours in the 90s.
I've covered the WNBA throughout the 90s and all the way and fought for it and fought for coverage within our news organizations. Of course I have. You know I have. It wasn't happening then. It's happening now.
This is a great thing. This is not a terrible thing. And how it has become that, and again, the book has so much more: the magic of sports, the magic of Caitlin, those threes, how she plays, the inside her head, you know, of how she thinks, how competitive she is. We go back and forth on some questions and answers in the book. All of that's there.
But if we're talking about this, it's Caitlin Clark. Caitlin Clark is the one, and there's just no denying that. And that's the unfortunate part about whoever is feeling. These women are strong enough to handle it. They can handle it.
But that leadership of the WNBA failed them by not preparing them, by not talking about this seminal moment of a white woman coming into a 74% black league and being the superstar that elevates everyone. Christine, thanks for the time. Greatly appreciate you again being on Women's Sports Now last week and then the show today on her game, Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women's Sports is available now wherever you get your books. Let's chat again soon. Appreciate the time.
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See mintmobile.com. And as I mentioned, it is Chris Brockman and T.J. Jefferson's birthday. And as I did mention before, Susie Schuster. Is here with something for you guys.
Come on out, Steve, ladies and gentlemen. She's here. My lovely wife, the host of None Other Than Women's Sports Now. Susie, we do that at the moment. Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to Chris and TJ. Here's Fudgy the Whale. Ladies and gentlemen, Susie. What is it, Fudgy the Whale?
What is that? Caramel ice cream. You never heard of Fudgy the Whale? Yeah, no, but Yo, here we go. Can you blow out only one of the candles, Chris?
Can you direct your accuracy? There you go. Accuracy. There it is. But he said, okay, very good.
Now Susie's bringing over the other kids. It's a TJ Jefferson. Why do they have never heard of it? TJ. Are you serious?
It's cookie opus when it's when it's we never went to Carvel growing up. We always went to Dairy Queen. You went St. Patrick's Day. It's Cookie O Puss.
Oh. Uh and then Fudgy the well, ladies and gentlemen. T.J. Jefferson, get in there. Get in there.
Oh, he's literally making a wish. You'd better believe it. There we go.
Cowboys to go 11 and 6. All right, very good. Very good. Come on over here, Suze. Sit on down, bring the cake.
I'll start slicing it up as we finish up today's program. Let's do it. It's a rock, right? I mean, it's frozen solid. You don't have a microphone on it?
I don't have a microphone on, but there you go. Take a seat. There you go. This is Susie's first time in a TV studio. Leave her alone.
Hold on, Susie. I'm doing my jeans for you. What is that? What is on there? This is the imprint of my tire.
They was trying to hold the cake. Oh, wow. There you go. Oh, I thought it was. You can sit down and talk over the microphone.
Oh, my God. I thought it was a design. He was trying to tell me what to do. I just got him. I was hoping.
What I did for you today, I was trying to hold the cake in my bag, my computer on it. It's my fault because you told me, don't forget it in the freezer in the nighttime. I sent him a text. I was like, Rich, don't forget the cake. Nailed it.
Here. Nailed it. Max, would you mind taking this and handing this around? Hi, you guys. There you go.
There you go. Don't take that, hand it around. Happy birthday, guys. Thank you. That Instagram of Cage wishing you happy birthday was very cool.
Oh, I haven't seen that y'all. I haven't seen it either. I did see Sarah's. Thank you for informing me. I did see Sarah's photographs on Threads.
Is this ice cream? Yeah, dude. Oh, sick. Are you out of your mind? How well does he not understand?
I've never been to Carvelle. You've had. Flying saucers before. I brought them here. It's flying safe.
You have three last time. Dilly bars? Max, I can see why you give me a lot of time. No, you guys had flying saucers last time. I brought them up.
Let's get Max. I can see why you give the second piece of money to the menu. Let's get two. Tom Carvell. That was Tom.
I was supposed to say, if you're very lucky. Kevin Gangs is Shungang. I Carvell. That's what he was used to say. Here, Max.
Sorry to turn you into the Feggy the Witch. By the way, I went on Dan Patrick's show today and took many, many, many strays on behalf of these morons who got all the stories wrong. They were not cheating. But the one thing that was confirmed. The word cheating was used.
It was used. He did read your texts out. What text? The one where you said, congrats on beating those morons. That's number one.
That's number one. Oops. Benedict Schuster. What else did? And then there was another one on top of it.
He read there were two of them. No! Right on the air. Dan. And Dan.
You stink, Dan. Do you need a slide? Do you need a piece of cake? Yeah, he does. It's his own.
You got one?
Okay, very good. Yeah, also try to turn you against us. I need a second piece. Wow, Dan sold me down the river. How did you not think that was going to happen?
I didn't think it was gonna happen. 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 gonna 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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