Are roll batteries the same? Yeah. That's like asking if all soccer players are the same. Take Messi, the most decorated player ever. Is there any other player who has achieved that?
No, just him.
Now take Duracell. Is there any other battery with power boost ingredients inside? No, just Duracell. Remember, GOATs only trust GOATs because they're built different. And Messi only trusts Duracel.
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Now, on with the show.
Now commencing. This is the Rich Eisen Show.
So far, so good. With guest host, Kirk Morrison. I like it. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Today's guests.
U.S. men's soccer great Landon Donovan. Senior NBA writer for the athletic, John Hollinger. Senior NFL writer for the athletic, Ted Wynn. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Kirk Morrison.
Hut, hut, hi! Let's go. Yes, hut, hut. Hi, everybody. It's right, Kirk Warrison here, filling in for Rich Eisen on the Rich Eisen show on this beautiful Monday, June 22nd.
I can't believe it's already here. Summer is here. The official date of summer has now here. No more unofficial days of summer as we kick off what I call the sports summer universe. As so many things are happening, so many things have now ended.
And it's where we're turning the page to.
So, as always, I'm never here by myself. I'm always here with my guys. I can't wait to talk to my guys. Brockman is always here, everybody. It's so great to see you.
It's been a long time. Happy you're here. Let's do it. Yeah, last time I was here, you ditched me for a golf tournament. Trust me, I would have done the same.
So we're good. It wasn't for nothing, Kirk. I brought home the trophy. Oh, hey. Like, so it wasn't for nothing.
We won. It doesn't even matter. You went on a golf. Trip. That's like, that's perfect.
Like, you know, I love that. Jay, what's going on? Good to see you. Hey, audio is great for me. You know, glad we checked it.
You know, got early. I got it early for the show. And as always, TJ over there. What's going on, TJ? What up, dope?
Okay. All right. What up, man? How you been? I've been good, man.
I got so many stories to share with you guys. I can't wait to talk about a trip that was planned three and a half months ago. Uh, to New York, uh, tell you all about that. That was happened three and a half months ago. I planned a trip.
Did it happen yet? It happened last week. Oh, so I had a trip to New York that during the madness, like I said, during the purge? I can't wait to talk about the purge. Which also will bring up why I brought up a top five, Kirk's top five teams in the NFL.
That needs to win a championship because I had a feeling last week when I was in New York, stumbled onto a Nick's parade. Oh. And so I have some reactions to that. I got some pictures.
So I'm going to share all that a little later on in the show. But right now, it's World Cup 40. Fever. Everybody's got it. I mean, there's watch parties everywhere.
They're making up watch parties. Like, it's watch party here, watch party there. And it has taken the U.S. by storm. And I love this.
I don't remember this, guys, back in 94, right? Do you remember when the World Cup was here? And They always call it the soccer boom of the U.S. because it was a sport and we knew how much soccer meant to the world, but it really wasn't on the U.S.'s radar. And then, boom, it just hit us.
And now we've had this spike, this boom of soccer since 94 when we had the World Cup. But now, the World Cup being back here right now. It has been unbelievable, fellas. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm watching all of it.
I know we're just in group play, but group play has been like pretty cool.
So I'm watching that and I'm thinking about where the US soccer team is now. And how much pride it's been with that, and how many people are watching. And now we're invested. And not gonna lie to you, went on last night to a couple of websites, all USA team jerseys sold out. Wow.
Go on a couple websites, please. Type in the 2026 US men's national team soccer jersey.
Well, they may have some like, well, you're a medium, right, Brock?
So they may got some mediums and some seatbelts for you. But they don't got the big dogs. The big dog jersey. 2X. Because you know, you only put about five of those out anyway.
That's it.
So we got to get into a lot of that as well. We got a two-time now U.S. Open champion. We'll be talking about that. William Clark, yes, who wins the U.S.
Open over at Shinna Cock. Tonight, we even got. Uh another champion will be crowned. College baseball. I feel like the College World Series has been going on for like five weeks.
How long has it been? Yeah. Is it too long? I don't even know what to do.
Well, there's regionals and super regionals and super mega regionals, and then the World Series actually starts. But yeah, it's been going on for a while. North Carolina, the fifth-ranked team of the nation. Oklahoma, unranked, makes it to the College World Series championship round. And now we got a game three, do or die for all the Marbles tonight.
Got a champion. A champion will be crowned. In college in the summer. How about that? You're also right.
The only thing available for these soccer jerseys are smalls. I told you. No mediums, no larges, no XLs, no 2X, no 3X. Not any. All gone.
Everything. Everything. So a World Cup frenzy is a real thing, especially here in the U.S. I think it also has something to do with the influencers. Everybody's coming out.
Everybody wants to be a part of it now. It's the cool thing to do. Because I'm seeing a lot of brothers wearing these soccer jerseys now. Alex Freeman putting on like, I didn't see that back in 94. I didn't see that back in the day.
You know what I mean?
Now it's like, hey, it's pretty cool to wear a. Is it a sweater? A kit? A kit. A kit.
Yeah. See, a kit. A kit, baby. I didn't realize until a few days ago that. He's Antonio Freeman's son.
I don't know how I. How we missed that. How we missed that? But I didn't miss it. Because I saw it a long time ago, and I think now it's being reintroduced to everyone.
Because whenever you see a former football player, you automatically think that his son is a. Football player. Or a rising star in basketball. And here, Antonio Freeman's son, Alex Freeman, is now the breakthrough star of this year's World Cup so far for Team USA. It kind of makes you more interested because you knew who the pops was.
Yeah, oh, yeah. Super Bowl champion. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like O'Shea Jackson Jr.
says, Nepo Babies up by Philly.
Well, we are at that age now where all of the athletes in every sport that we grew up watching and cheering for when we were, you know, kids and like just learning to love football, basketball, whatever. Right. Their kids are now all over the place in all these different sports. It's just really cool to see. It don't matter what you're watching, right?
We can be watching World Cup, or I even go back to the NBA Finals just a week ago. We're watching Dylan Harper, and it was like, yeah, just watching Ron Harper, right? And the Bulls win back-to-back championships and three peats and all that. And yet, here you have the kids of the greats and now. That's what I think that this World Cup has been about so far in terms of when it comes to the US.
Now, look, Argentina, I can't wait a little bit. It was about less than an hour. They'll be on. Messi trying to repeat another three P, I mean, another hat-trick that he had in game number one, match number one. I want to watch that.
So, I got some storylines of that. We'll get caught up with Landon Donovan in about 15 minutes or so as well. But right now, We are on Giannis Watch. I feel like there should have been an intro to it. Like, is that a thing now?
Is Giannis onto the coupo? Are we, is he driving this NBA? Because it doesn't have the same impact. As maybe LeBron did, or Kevin Durant changing teams probably three or four teams ago. Kyrie Irving.
I know this is a big deal, but when you narrow it down to two teams, and right now, all reports say that a decision will be made tomorrow in terms of what team that Giannis out to the coupo. MVP of the league former MVP I should say. will be traded from the Milwaukee Bucks to either the Boston Celtics Or the Miami Heat. Don't let me get y'all. Again, Boston Celtics are Miami Heat.
Like, why just those two? And for some reason, I feel like with some of the chatter that's going on right now, I feel like it's leaning more toward the Boston Celtics. It feels that way. It's starting to feel that way. It's starting to feel that way, especially when you see what's going on, again, over in New York.
It's one thing when you've kind of pushed the New York Knicks away for a long, long time. And all of a sudden now the Knicks win. A championship.
Well, Boston fans don't like that.
So it feels like they're sweetening up the pot because he's going to make it. Who makes the decision for tomorrow? Is it Kazian? Does he have a no trade? Like, I'm learning all of this.
You know what I mean?
Because. This feels a little bit different. Is this like shifting of the NBA power? Depending on what team Giannis goes to, because I always say he can be traded, but what are you giving up for him, too? Right.
Like, what are you going to give up for him? Like, is it I mean, I feel like if you're going to acquire Giannis, if you're Boston. You're not, you're not, you can't keep Tatum. You you can't keep brown. Like, one of those guys has to go, right?
Right. Like, That's That's what I think, right? Same thing with Miami. Yeah, it seems like it.
So. Bam, out of bio's not going anywhere.
So, is this like a Tyler Hero? Like, who? Like, a star must go. Like, that's just what it is. And maybe even a young star, right?
Maybe go back to this little Miles Garrett trade in the NFL. Right, well, Miles Garrett traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Rams. Little Miles Garrett tree? Yeah, that's a little Miles Gary tree. But We're not trading you unless we get a player.
who is someone who can build and a on the verge of being all pro perennial, all pro type player. That was the sweetener. That's what got the deal done. I wanna know what the sweetener is in this deal. What's going to be the sweetener in this deal?
Because you're just not going to trade Yannis for eight first-round picks. You know what I mean?
Like, that just doesn't, you need a player to come back. Who is that player? What does this trade look like? And so we are supposed to find out tomorrow on, by the way, the NBA draft day. Yes, there is an NBA draft tomorrow.
For all the people who didn't realize that or didn't know that, yes, there is an NBA draft tomorrow. And it's what AJ DeBonsa, it's. Caleb Wilson. Kay Wilson. Yeah.
Kim Booser. Derek Peterson. Darren Peterson. Yeah. The top of this draft is pretty good.
The best we've kind of seen in recent years. And we got all of that looming, but then we got the Giannis thing. This is kind of taking up all the oxygen in the room. And I'm kind of with you. If you're Milwaukee, you're giving up a star.
You need to get serious star power back. And I think, you know, Jalen Brown, if he is the centerpiece of a deal with Boston, he's proven this year, TJ, that. When given the opportunity to be a number one guy, he can be a number one guy. He was probably one of the top eight players in the league this year. He was in the MVP running there for a little bit midseason.
And if you know, you look at the offers and it's like, okay, is it a one-for-one? Is it Brown for Giannis? Does Boston throw in a pick or two? Is it another player? But then you're like, okay, then you look at the Miami offer.
And if it is just the two teams, I still can't believe OKC isn't going to come off the top rope and make they have all the picks, everything they can, and they have lots of players. Pretty much everyone is untouchable except Shea, right? Everyone's on the team, except for Shea, maybe. I don't know. Miami is just a bunch of picks and Tower Hero and a bunch of role players.
That doesn't really do it for me if I'm Milwaukee. Like, you need to get some serious star power back if you're going to be still a player in the East, which is now ruled by, I can't believe I'm saying this, the New York Knicks. It's interesting that you do say that, though, about the OKC. The Thunder because they do have the picks, they do have players and assets that lots of chips and they can give away two or three players and still have a nice roster, still be totally fine, and still be fine and still now add Giannis. But what does that mean?
You know what I mean?
Like, do they change how. Because Giannis goes to. He goes to Miami, he's still the lead dog, right? Would you say that? Yeah.
Is he the lead dog? Or does he have to take a back seat? It's Tatum's team. It's Tatum's team, right? But Jalen Brown would be like, hey, it's probably my team, too.
And so that's why you split those guys. If he goes over KC, it's still Shea's team. Right. Kirk, Kirk.
So you have to wonder: did the Thunder feel like this? If Jalen Williams is healthy in this playoff run, they win the title. They. For as much fun as the Knicks were and how good they were, you gotta kind of believe that maybe a healthy Jalen Williams puts the thunder over everybody.
So, are they looking at this like? Mm-hmm. They're going to stand pat. They got two draft picks in this upcoming draft. There's a lot of talent there.
Maybe they're happy where they're at and they don't want to mess up the chemistry. We see with the Knicks' chemistry, yeah, right?
Okay C Thunder, the same thing. You know, that team they hang out together, you know, they do the interviews together. Chemistry means a lot, so maybe they don't want to, you know, tinker too much with that. I just want to see that they did Chet Holmgren get ran up out the West by Wimby. That's all I want to see.
Or I want to see if he gets traded. I want to see if Chet Holmgren stepped up to the plate. He's in the weight room. He's working on the game. He's getting stronger.
As OKC Thunder fan, I'm sure that that's what they want to see, right? They want to see him take. He got challenged, right? Yeah. And he got his heart snatched.
We all saw that. But now, how does he react and recover? Yeah, we got to break in a second because we got to get to Landon Donovan coming up here on the program, but also some other NBA news. Dusty May, the now former head coach of the Michigan Wolverines. Is now the new head coach.
Of the Dallas Mavericks, everybody. That's right, Dusty Mae. Congratulations to Dusty Mae, by the way. Talk about an unbelievable three-four-year run that he's had from Florida Atlantic to now coming over to Michigan, wins a national title. And oh, by the way, I'm done with the high school college kids now.
I'm done. I'm moving on. You know, and I did see this over on Twitter a little bit ago: he actually now. Is going to coach guys with multi-year contracts and not just one-year deals, if you know what I mean. Basically, in college, this is a year-to-year business.
Everybody enters the transfer portal. Dusty Mae does not have to worry about the transfer portal anymore. Congratulations, Dusty Mae, because I bet you they had to write a nice little check to bring him from Michigan all the way to the Dallas Mavericks.
So, a lot of NBA news. We'll get to more in that in the next hour. I don't want to keep our guy waiting, though. Landon Donovan. That's right, the soccer legend.
He's going to join the Rich Eisen Show coming up next, right here. On the Rich Eyes, it shows Kirk Morrison filling in for Rich. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. A bandwagon fan, the biggest insult in sports. But this summer, during the FIFA World Cup, it's an invitation, America.
Never watched soccer before? Perfect. Think a corner kick is a karate move? Sure, why not? Prefer sports where players can use their hands?
Me too. Just here for the snacks?
Now we're talking.
So grab a bag of Lays and jump on the bandwagon. We're undefeated. Lays, the official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026. O'Reilly Auto Parts can help take the guesswork out of your vehicles, check engine, ABS, or maintenance light with O'Reilly Veriscan. The service is free and provides a report with solutions verified by ASE certified master technicians.
Ask for O'Reilly Veriscan today. Rich Eisen here with some advice. If high interest credit card debt is grinding you down, it might be time to call an Audible with a SoFi personal loan. It consolidates your debt into one low monthly payment with no fees required. And with as soon as the same day funding, you can make the right play fast.
Call an Audible on your debt today at SoFi.com slash debt play. Loans originated by SoFi Bank NA, member FDIC. Terms and Conditions Apply, NMLS 696891. FastFunds Terms Apply at SoFi.com slash DebtPlay. Yeah, he's the six-time MLS champion.
He's the soccer legend, one of the greatest soccer players of all time. Landon Donovan joined the Rich Eisen Show. I'm Kirk Morrison filling in for Rich. But Landon, like, obviously, everybody's gravitating to the U.S. men's national team here in the USA.
And to see how they've played in their first two matches and now have an opportunity for another match, already qualifying for the group set, I mean, for the knockout stage. What have you liked so far in these first two matches for the USA? What have they shown?
Well, they did what they're supposed to do, Kirk. And that's these are two teams. These are two teams that they should beat.
Now, did I expect him to beat them this comfortably and this emphatically? No. But I expected them to win both games, maybe a tie in one of the games. But they've done everything they needed to. And then the way the other results have worked out, now after two games, they have clinched a spot.
In the round of 32 and clinched first place in the group, which is Never heard of on the US men's side. The women do it all the time. They do it in their sleep. But for us, it's trying to do something new, and they've been phenomenal. And so now the question is: we have a game Thursday in three days against Turkey.
That game is now. Meaningless other than keeping form and keeping rhythm because Turkey is already eliminated and we're already through his first place.
So it's keeping the rhythm and keeping the excitement and the intensity going while being careful. Of course, you don't want anyone injured or getting suspended for the next game. But now they can start thinking ahead and planning for the round of 32, which I believe would be July 1st in Santa Clara.
So it's been a really exciting. Few weeks, and for someone who's been involved in this life in this game their whole life and As an adult, my whole adult life has been in this game professionally. This has just been a dream come true to get to watch. Yeah, Atlanta, I would have never thought that the U.S. would be in this situation, right?
When I think about the sport that I play, football, it's like qualifying for the playoffs, and now I got to play a week 18 game that really doesn't matter because you know what's ahead of you already. How does the U.S. handle this, though? How did this men's team handle going out and playing honestly a game that you don't even need to play, but you don't want to lose the rhythm? And we see that in all sports.
The team that usually takes a little time off, they're a little rusty when the next round comes. And in the knockout stage, you know, you don't have time to wait.
So I would say this, in soccer it's unique in that they played Friday. This next game will be Thursday. The following game, I think, would be the next Wednesday.
So Friday to that next Wednesday is what? Do my math with me. Is that 11 days? Yeah, about 12 days. Yeah, 11, 12 days.
You're not going to lose in soccer. You're not going to lose rhythm or fitness in 12 days.
So they would be fine. If I am Mauricio Pochettino for this game Thursday, I'm playing a completely different 11 players.
Okay. Who have played these two games because there's no need to play them. You don't want to risk an injury. You don't want to risk someone getting another yellow card and getting suspended, or getting a red card and getting suspended. It's just not worth it.
So, for me, I play an entirely new 11. And you know what else that does, Kirk, is it brings all those other 11 into the fold and feel like they are participating and a part of it, which is a really important part because in the first game, Pochatino played. The exact same lineup, minus Christian Pulisic, because he couldn't play because he was injured, played the exact same lineup. And most of those guys played a lot of minutes.
So they now have continuity. They've been part of it.
Now you bring the other guys in and let them be a part of it too. I think it makes perfect sense. You mentioned the big name there, Christian Pulisic, who didn't play in the last game, probably won't play in this one. Gives him a little bit more rest. What does this do for him?
I think that's the positive. What does it do for him that he can get back in that knockout round? And what does that mean? Or how does this team change when he's out there on the field?
Well, Kirk, you've seen lots of muscle injuries, right, in your day. And in soccer, a calf injury is really hard to deal with because you're running, right? And you use your calves to run. And so when he injured it, I think it was two days before their first game, I said at the time, look. I would be shocked if he's ready to play a week or nine days later because usually these things take seven to ten days at a minimum and oftentimes a couple of weeks or more.
And so now they were able to they were trying to ramp him up for the game. To see if he could do it.
So you're pushing a little harder than you should.
Now they can completely back off for three days for it. Just literally let the muscle heal without doing too much. Completely heal. You don't have to play in the game Thursday. Then you start getting into training, getting your rhythm, getting fit again, and he will be more than fine by July 1st.
You are the soccer legend, Lennon Donovan, joining the Rich Eisen Show. Lennon, I would ask you what we're seeing right now in about 30 minutes or so. Messi, Leon Messi, will be going out for Argentina. His last match, he had a hat trick. Like, how good is he?
Like, to see where he's at, how long he's been playing, and to come out and do what he was able to do, and has another opportunity to continue to keep playing. But. Just, I mean, for the world who didn't know and now you see it, and then for the young kids who've always heard these things, and now they're seeing it live. How has this World Cup been for Messi? It's unbelievable.
I mean, Kirk, you've played Kirk with people who. I mean, I'm sure Brady at the end, when you're watching him play, you're just like, how is this guy still doing this? Right. And you have to remember. These are the best players on the planet.
That he is doing it against. If he scored a goal in this World Cup, it'd be a miracle at his age, given everything he's done. He scored a hat-trick in the first game, and now he's tied for the all-time lead and goals scored. And so it's just so much fun to watch. And you talk about the kids.
I mean, my wife and my son, Slate, my middle son, are at the game today. Right?
So they're in Dallas, they're looking out their hotel room. My wife's like, look at these people at 8 a.m. lining the streets to get into the stadium. You are looking at, in my opinion, The best player who has ever played soccer. And this has been the world's game forever.
So you could say one of the best athletes who's ever walked this earth. You are getting to see him live in America right in front of you. And that's why people are flocking to these games like crazy. It's incredible what he's done. I'm almost positive he's going to break that World Cup scoring record maybe today.
And I would just say, enjoy it while you got it. Just like Jordan, you know, like enjoy watching him while you have the opportunity. You know, we've talked about this expanded field for the World Cup and you've been calling these games as well.
So Lana, what else has kind of drawn you that really brought you in? It has excited you just where soccer has gone. Not just worldwide, but I even say even in the U.S.
now. What has really brought, I think, more attention for you in this World Cup? I texted Tim Howard after the first LA game, and I said, Tim. I can't believe how cool soccer is. Like the people who were at the game, like it was the place to be.
And even just like the culture and the gear and the vibe and the energy, it's just the cool thing to do. And it just blows my mind because for the longest time, people would make fun of me for like dribbling a soccer ball around, you know, and sports media wouldn't talk about soccer, right? And so it's just become so cool. And the other really cool piece about this tournament is. It's been really competitive.
A lot of times, I mean, the U.S. is the anomaly. We did not expect the U.S. to be winning the group after two games. We expected some of these groups, maybe Belgium or maybe Germany or some of these, to win after two games and be through, but it's not happened.
I mean, Spain really struggled in their first game. They're sitting on four points going into their last game. They have to win the game against a really good Uruguay team. It's not going to be easy.
So you are probably going to see some big countries either go out of the tournament or finish second or third and have a really hard matchup in the round of 32. And I think that's great for the tournament.
So there are expectations now. That's what happens when you win. People start to look at you and say, I'm going to win the World Cup. And we don't realize how difficult it is, especially when you get to that next stage. When you get out of this group stage, and obviously the U.S.
has one more game on Thursday. But what is the real true expectation now that they are in the group of 32 when it does happen? What's the expectation for how far this team can go? Meaning, if they don't win the World Cup, how far can this team truly go?
Well, they've set themselves up perfectly. Because there was a scenario going into the tournament where they finished second in the group or finished third in the group, and now you're playing a much more difficult team in the round of 32. The expectation, knock on wood, now is you are going to play now a third-place team, and the expectation is that that third-place team. is a team you should beat. You will be favored against.
And so now with the momentum. And the excitement and the crowd and the energy and the pressure that puts on your opponent. Is going to keep building and building. And I keep saying, Kirk, if that goes past the round of 32 to the round of 16, and now you get a team that you're maybe even with, maybe a slight underdog, all of those factors take you over. Maybe you win that game, and now you find yourself in the quarterfinals.
Now you're definitely an underdog on paper, but you have all this momentum going, and now it makes it maybe an even matchup. And so, this is how these things can build. And so, the fact that we're already a massive part of the way there is huge. And then, now we see who we get in the round of 32. I'm sure.
In San Francisco on July 1st, it's going to be absolutely crazy, and I would expect us to win that game. You know, Landon, and for you. You were a breakout star when you first started playing with the men's national team, and you were the name that everybody knew.
Now we have this, like, this new younger generation of guys who are now, you know, breaking through for the first time that we're seeing a lot of people are seeing Alex Freeman for the first time. Like, oh, his dad played in the NFL. But, like, for these guys, what are they experiencing right now? These guys who have kind of been playing all different places and different leagues and now representing the USA. And everybody's like, wait.
Wait, he plays for us? I didn't know that. I can only. Speak to it on a much smaller scale because the sport just wasn't as big as it is now. My last World Cup was 2010 and it was in South Africa.
It was literally the other side of the planet from America. And so I experienced.
Something incredible, things that have changed my life forever. It's probably why I'm talking to you today. These guys. Are you getting it on such a bigger scale because the other thing you have to remember, Kurt, is. It's yes, people watching on TV, but it's everybody's phone is being flooded with these images on social media all the time of this goal and this crowd and them singing Country Road after the game, and Alex Freeman.
Oh my God, his son, his dad played for the Packers. All these things are just flooding. your feed and your brain all summer long.
So these guys are becoming mega stars. And that's why I say if this continues long into the tournament, this will change their lives forever. Mm. Yeah, man, what game are you calling up next? I know you got more going on tonight.
Tonight, what's your game? Tonight, I'm calling Norway-Senegal, which is a really interesting game because Norway won their first game against Iraq 4-1. Senegal lost to France 3-1, but they looked pretty good. Senegal have to get something out of this game if they want to stay alive. They can't lose this game and expect to advance because even if they beat Iraq, that would only put them on three points.
So they have minimum need to tie the game. And then Norway. Their last game is against this little country called France.
So they need to win this game to make sure they don't go into that last game needing anything.
So there's a lot at stake. It's going to be a lot of fun. Eight o'clock Eastern time tonight. Just a couple more questions for you, Landon, because I never knew that all of these stadiums can grow this type of grass. I'm serious.
I am jealous because of how green this grass looks on television. You're seeing it up close and personal. And for what people used to always say, this couldn't be done. I don't know what the World Cup did, what FIFA did, but I'm telling you, the grass and all of these stadiums look this is like the best, most pristine a stadium for soccer can look. And I'm like, the World Cup pulled this off.
Yeah, I've been down on the field a number of times, and I'm looking at it, and I'm so jealous because for a soccer player, Perfect grass is like the perfect tool for you, right? Like it's all you ever want, and you never get to play on fields like this.
Well, at least I didn't at my time.
Now, these guys do because they're used to it. But FIFA spent a ton of money and they put a lot, a lot of emphasis on this. Historically, what you would do is like if you went into Atlanta and there was turf, they would just lay down grass on top of it. But then there was no give. The ball wouldn't bounce.
It was still felt. A little bit dangerous at times, but FIFA months ago went into all these stadiums, brought in. Big thick pallets of grass, like real grass that is growing and alive. And then they've kept it perfectly manicured.
So the fields have been absolutely perfect. Yeah, absolutely perfect. And you don't have to worry about mosquitoes and ticks coming out of this grass. No, you don't. You're indoors, you don't, Edison.
If you're outdoors, you do. That's why we keep the Zevo on.
Well, one more time, man. Tell us about Zeevo and your partnership with Zevo. Yeah, they've been great. And again, it's just for people who have kids out there, you know, it's the most annoying thing trying to get your kids to wear this ticker insect repellent. But Zevo makes it easy.
Clean, it's not icky, it doesn't smell, it's not greasy and gross.
So it just goes on, the kids forget about it, and then you don't have to worry about it. Who's your favorite right now? As I let you go, Landon, is there a favorite right now outside of the U.S.? I know who your number one is, but outside of the U.S. men's national team, who's your favorite right now?
I still think Spain are the best team. They got their best player, La Mina Mall, back yesterday, and it changed everything. Their opening game, they struggled against Cape Verde, 0-0, but yesterday they looked like the team that we expect them to be. They won 4-0, and they were really dominant.
So, as long as La Mina Mall stays healthy, I think they're the favorite. Landon, man. Great to catch up with you. I know you got to work today, so get some more rest, and we'll watch you tonight. All right.
I appreciate you, Kirk, and great job again. Oh, thank you, man. Landon Donovan, everybody.
Soccer legend. Let's go. Join the Rich Eisen Show. You know what? He said Spain.
You know what? I took a trip to Spain actually last summer. Oh. You know, they finally finished the church, by the way. What is it?
The. The great church has been what it took him 140 years to finally complete it since it's. I don't want to mess up the name, though. The name of the. I'll let you do it.
Yeah, see? Let's see. He's probably not the one. I know. He is the one.
The Basiclia? Yeah. There you go. That's what that's. That's not how you say it.
I just have a picture of it. The Basilica. There it is. The Basilica. There it is.
172 meters high. It is. Trust me, I took a picture in front of it. It is amazing. They've been working on it for 144 years.
Yes. 564. And they had fireworks last, I think, a couple of weeks ago, announcing the completion of it.
Okay. And now with Spain being sort of Landon Donovan's favorite outside of the U.S. men's national team. There may be a party at the Basilica. I'm just saying.
I'm just telling everybody. Oh, man.
So much theo to get to. I don't even know where. Hold on. Wait, one second. I got to look at my rundown.
See, this is real radio right here. What's next? What's next? We had a two-time U.S. Open champion.
Tell you more about. That guy has uh he had me glued to the T V. Yesterday. Talk about that coming up right here on the Rich Eisen show. Kirk Morrison filling in for rich.
The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Rich Eisen here. And summer's here too. And that means it's travel season. My favorite summer trip last year was to Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. Back here on the Rich Islands. That's a fact. Letting people know, like, yeah, Reseda is LA.
Part of LA. When I moved to LA, part of one of the first things I went to see is like, where's Reseda? Because I know John DeLawrence and Danlo Russain. Yep. Palm trees, everything.
Yep, Reseda, part of it. Tarzana, that whole little stretch. The valley, baby. The valley, baby. Oh, it's ten degrees hotter than where we are right now.
Twenty. Twenty. That's where I grew up. It's hot. It's hot, baby.
You guys know that back in the day for a couple of years in the mid nineties there was a show, I think it was on HBO called Sherman Oaks. I didn't know that. Yeah. What was it without? Oh, man.
I'd have to look. Let me see.
Now I got to have a look. Look it up. But it was, yeah, it was definitely a shirt. It was a comedy. I can't remember exactly, but I know the guy that produced that actually.
Oh, really? Yeah. He plays the brother on it. This guy, Tyler.
Okay. It was a brother. Or it was a brother. He's a brother. Brother Cardi R.
Not so fast. He plays the brother. Yeah, he was the brother. I had to get you. I had to get you.
We could actually get a little bit of a title. Here we go. Dr. Baker, a plastic surgeon, and his family are the subject. Oh, yeah, that's right.
They were doing a documentary on a plastic surgeon. wealthy who lived in Sherman Oaks. That's but he worked in Beverly Hills. I don't know. I don't know.
Peter Billingsley's in this show. See, now we got stuff to watch later on. Very attractive sister.
Well, speaking of Los Angeles. Larry Coleman was in two episodes. Yeah, speaking of Los Angeles and and parts of Los Angeles. A couple of years ago in 2023, I had the great opportunity to be at the Los Angeles Country Club. Yeah, you were.
Right down. What? Yeah, I was at Los Angeles Country Club. Wait a second. On Sunday.
No, now look, I was. A media member, because I did, I had a media pass.
So I watched the US Open and I watched Wyndham Clark. And this was my Father's Day gift. My wife was like, go watch golf. And it was not too far from my house.
So I went there. I actually got a ticket because I parked where I wasn't supposed to park at.
So I'm pretty happy. But it was kind of nostalgia for me a little bit because I try to go to as many major events as possible. I remember 09, me and my dad went to see Tiger versus Rocco, Rocco Media. That was one of the greatest steal forever. And I always remember that one at Torrey Pines because.
They tied And they had the playoff was going to be Monday. There was no playoff on Sunday. Mm-hmm. The playoff was Monday. Yeah, back in the U.S.
Open. Back in those days, if you tied at the U.S. Open, you came back on Monday to play a full 18. Full 18. They've since changed the rules, but a lot of courses, a lot of tournaments do just do a one-hole playoff or a three-hole aggregate.
But back in the day, the U.S. Open was a full 18, and it was awesome.
Well, you got to remember, at that time, we're still in the final stages of the. NFL off-season program.
So I actually had a practice the next day. And All the people who attended that U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, if you had a ticket, for the Sunday You are allowed to come back the next day. For the full eighteen I did not go to the full 18 because I had to go to practice.
So I always remember that. Like, I had a chance to just watch Rocco and Tiger. But I locked eyes with Tiger, I think of one of the I forgot what hole it was, like in terms of just watching him walk with that little look and scowl because his knee was hurting. And he looked, I kind of gave him a like, you know, that little head nod, like, I see you. And he was, but that was it.
So I did like Eyes with Tigers. That's one of my things. Man, that's awesome. Did he give you a nod back? I mean, he was like in robot.
Like, he, like, if you see him when he was on a court, he looked like a robot. Yeah. Like, he was just like, just rope the way he moved, like, just everything was always in sync and moving. And so. I always, every time I had an opportunity to go see a major, I want to go.
So This time I went to LACC. Had a great time. And here we get to Sunday. And I'm watching just as it all unfolds. And Wyndham Clark becomes a first time Major champion.
And now we fast forward to 2026, and he's the leader after. Round one. And he's the leader after round two. And he's the leader after round three. And then all of a sudden, he's got a seven-stroke lead.
Yeah, he wasn't just the leader, he was kind of obliterating. He was beating up the course that was beating up everybody. Yep. I mean, like, how many times did we hear the name Shinnecock?
Okay. Like, that was just like Shinnecock, Shincock. I'm like, I've never been to Shinnecock. I don't know about it. But now, I guess it's a cool place in the Hamptons.
And it almost looked like a. Did it almost feel like a putt-putt chorus at times? You know what I mean?
Because you had these peaks and valleys and this and that. In terms of there being a lot of obstacles. There was like two. Trust me, I love scoring when it comes to the PGA. This was like way too much patience.
You know, I wrote down the other day, I called this the U.S. Open because it was like every time I'm watching throughout the whole weekend, it was always a guy would hit a putt. It's like, oh. And we saw that with Wyndham Clark yesterday on 16. He just birdied one, and all of a sudden he gets to 16.
Same thing on 18, I think it was with Sam Burns. Had an opportunity to go out, get a birdie, go in, feel good. Cool. Oh, so I'm calling that the Shennecock was the U.S. Ah, pin.
You like that one? All right. I thought I was going to go over better, but it's all good. But Wyndham Clark. Yeah.
Wyndham Clark, man, congratulations. But this was a guy who uh stood through the test. And I've never had that feeling before. I don't know what that feels like. When everybody's chasing you.
You know what I mean?
Like the nerves that you have to have. I remember someone said, Do you understand what it feels like to Stand over a putt. to either win Or to even lose. Like Your heart is beating out of your shirt. How do you feel your hands?
Like, how do you feel? How do you know what that feels like? Like what is that what does that pressure feel like? And that was every single putt and every single shot for him yesterday. You know, he starts Sunday with a six-shot lead, seemingly in golf, insurmountable.
But in the course of the opening hour, it was cut in half. Sam Burns came out hot, made a couple of birdies. Wyndham bogeys a couple early on. And now it's like, okay, well, we're in a tournament now. It's basically me and this guy kind of head to head for the next three hours.
And it got down to one shot at one point on the back nine. And then Wyndham had an incredible hole on the part five. Seemingly in jail off the tee, gets out and then makes an unbelievable 15-20-footer for Birdie to get the lead back up to two shots, which he did need after a bogey on 17. And I. I am.
Wyndham is tough. He has done a lot of stupid things on the course. There was an incident last year where he smashed one of the lockers at Oakmont. Massive, massive no-no. He has had outbursts on the course before.
He's smashed sponsorship signs. And he's famously a coach, a sports psychologist who works with him. And. And now he's dominating a U.S. Open.
Where the course is kind of the star, and he is just like beasting this thing. Shinner Cock. And no one is cheering for him. This guy is hitting unbelievable shots. He is getting up and down from all over the place the entire weekend.
It's really remarkable the performance that he put on a wire-to-wire major win, which we. It's so rare. We don't really see this in the sport. And every T-shot, someone's yelling, get the punker. Like, they're cheering when he misses short putts.
It's like, Yeah. What are we doing? What did this guy do to you? Do you remember that? Yeah.
They kicked two guys out of it. They were acting like lunatics. But this is the same crowd that was behaving like madmen at the Ryder Cup last year to the Europeans, to Shane Lowry, and Rory had guys kicked out. And it's just like. Can we just go to a golf tournament and cheer on the performance that we're witnessing?
This guy in historic fashion is now a two-time, I said two-time U.S. Open champion, which the list of people who have done that is very small. And now this guy has an all-time performance, and we're just booing him. And why? Because you want Scotty to win?
Look, I get it. It's cool, but appreciate what you're witnessing here in the moment. Yeah, I appreciate what I was witnessing. I like that. And I think that's what fueled him, too.
He felt like, look, I had to go against the crowd, too. You know what I mean?
Like, it wasn't just me out there on the course. It was me on the course, but also going against. Scotty Scheffler going against the crowd. I like that. That to me was what kind of drew me into Wyndham Clark.
I was excited for him. And for people who haven't been watching, he's been playing great this year, too.
So I'm kind of not surprised that he was able to finally secure a victory. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
