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Now, on with the show. With the first pick, the Washington Wizards select The Rich Eisen Show with guest host Tom Pellisero. God, I love that guy. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Earlier on the show, ESPN senior NBA writer Vincent Goodwill.
Coming up. Two-time major champion, Colin Morikawa. Super Bowl champion receiver Antonio Freeman. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Tom Pellisero. Welcome back to a Rich Eisenlist edition of the Rich Eisen Show, Tom Pellicero in for Rich, as promised, one hour from right now.
I hold in my hand the top 10 storylines that will play out between now and the NFL regular season opener, which is how many days away, Brockman?
Well, if you're not counting today, 76. You count the day you're on. It's 11 weeks, 77 days from right now. You count the day. I don't know.
I don't know. The day's not over. Yeah, well, I mean, we're in the day, though. That's not Atlantic. It could end.
I mean, yes, we all could be dead tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure we're counting today. I'm I'm with you on this, Tom.
Meanwhile, Cromwell, Connecticut site of one of the signature events on the PGA Tour. Great event. Teeing off tomorrow. The Travelers Championship airs on Golf Channel and ESPN Plus Thursday through Sunday and NBC on Saturday and Sunday. One of the top players in the world, Colin Morikawa, two-time major champ, joining us right now.
Colin, thank you a ton for being here. How's the weather? How are we looking out there? I just, I'm trying to figure out if we count today or not. I'm like, I'm listening.
I can't.
Okay, hold on. Let's put this into our tour.
So on Thursday of the Travelers Championship, how many more days would you say there are until the championship is done? Until it's done. I Yeah. Four and a half. Are we counting a half days?
See? But it's a four-day tournament anymore. My day's over. My day is over after this.
So this day is done for me. But the day that it ends counts. It's Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. That's a four-day tournament. 77 to the start.
Anyway, we're doing good. We're doing good. I'm getting off top. No, beautiful day out here. First two days weren't so great.
A lot of rain, a little soft conditions. But it's good. It's good to be done with the U.S. Open, kind of get that stress over with, and finally be out here. Travelers makes it a great week for us.
So we're excited. Hopefully, make some birdies. I'm sure part of the stress is the playing conditions, as always at the U.S. Open, always at China. How much do you have to adjust the mindset, the play style when you go from that course to the TPC River Islands?
You know, it's not as big of a mindset because we have a game plan that we set forth, and out here, you know, it's just being able to attack different holes. But yeah, I think when you're at a U.S. Open, I mean, pars are a great score out here. Like, you might get frustrated if you make four, five, six pars in a row. But knowing that this golf course, you know, you have 18 holes and essentially you can make birdie on every single one.
We've seen some low scores in the past. Like, you have to be patient with yourself. And I think we're going to get some pretty good conditions this week to see some low scoring. Is there any? Listen, this is a very prestigious tournament, obviously, the Travelers Championship.
Is there any. Trap game type of impact that you have to guard against. You talk about it, the stress that goes into playing through a U.S. Open. All of a sudden, I don't know if you drove or you took the ferry or however you got there, you're in a completely different setting now, still a very important tournament.
How do you, if at all, have to kind of guard against that? I think at the beginning of the week, you know, Monday, Tuesday, a lot of us are taking it light. You know, it's a little bit different practice schedule. You're kind of resting the body.
Some guys are on four weeks in a row. This is my third week in a row. And just being able to judge that. But, you know, come tomorrow, I'm going to go 100% into it, 110%, knowing that essentially everything matters throughout our regular season to make playoffs. Last signature event of the year, like you want to go off on a bang into our last major at the Open Championship.
So you want to be in form right now, not just saying, you know, it's the week after a major, let's cruise into it.
So, you talk about the playoffs and the other things at stake. Come 2028, these stakes are going to be different for many players on the tour. I'm sure you had an opportunity to review all the changes that were unveiled in a press conference a couple of days ago. You've got two parallel championship tours going on. There's promotion, there's relegation.
Look how small the type is on this graphic as we try to get all the changes in. When you first heard this, you knew that they were evaluating these potential changes, Colin. What was your reaction? Excitement. You know, I think this is actually creating more opportunities for everyone.
And the one thing we haven't had in professional golf is just a clear-cut schedule. And I think when you look at all this, you know, you look at all these numbers, you know, what we're playing for. If you own a PJ Tour card in 2028, whether you're on the championship series or the Challenger Series, you are going to know what schedule you're going to be playing. And that's been rare in professional golf. And I get it.
There's a meritocracy. People love the openness of what the PJ Tour has to offer. But at the same time, the stress of waiting at tournaments isn't fun. Like you want to know what you're going to be playing and building out your schedule. Every other sport kind of does that.
And I think it's going to be great for the guys out on tour. And at the end of the day, you play great golf, you're going to be where you want to be. Have you heard any negative feedback? I mean, you're around other golfers all the time. Have you heard anyone who's like, I don't like these changes?
No, no. And, you know, I think there hasn't been as much talk amongst us players as you might think. And I think that's a good thing. And I think that shows like these changes are for the better. And obviously, we're making a lot of changes for the fans.
And I hope the fans are going to enjoy it at the same time. You're going to see a lot of us compete against each other a lot more with slightly bigger fields with cuts, like things that are natural to the game of golf. And that's all positives, I think, in two years. Colin Morikawa is our guest. Speaking of the fans here, they didn't seem to be big fans of Wyndham Clark during the U.S.
Open. And we know golf, listen, it's a different type of a sport. There's an expectation among the spectators, unless you're playing in the waste management open, where it seems like all the governor's off on those things. There's certain things you're not supposed to do. When you heard, and I'm sure you picked up on some of it here, where is the line in your mind in terms of what Constitutes your run of the mill chirping versus things that, in this case, literally had some people removed from the premises.
Yeah, I mean, for golf, I mean, definitely don't be saying anything, talking while we're swinging, you know, while we're actually hitting the shot. You know, there's a line of what you can and can't say. I think that's people's ethics and morals that, you know, you have to determine yourself. I think Wyndham handled it. Amazingly.
I think he did a very, very good job. He was very poised about it. And he proved that his golf game was good enough to beat all of us. And at the end of the day, your golf game can speak wonders for yourself. I've gotten to know Wyndham really well over the last few years.
We're on the Olympic team together and, you know, we spent a lot of time together on a couple trips. And, you know, look, I think he regrets, I know he does. You know, he said it, I think, the last couple of days of what he's done a couple of times throughout the past year. Look, I regret a couple of things that I've done. But you have to learn and move on from it and learn from it.
And we just continue to grow. And that's what we do as people. But as fans, you know, I wasn't there, but at the same time, you know, he's American and he's won the U.S. Open before.
So I don't get the animosity, but people have their right to root for who they want. And it was what it was. Yeah, Colin, following up on that, Eamon Lynch on the Golf Channel this week said that he wasn't sure if New York. Should host any more big events coming off of this past weekend and kind of what went on with some of the things the fans were saying to the European Ryder Cup players at the Ryder Cup last year. Did you think about that, or what has been the talk about.
Maybe taking some of these events away from New York and the fans. That's a tough one. You know, it's hard to generalize a full state and a population like that. You know, I get the statement. I mean, I think last year at the Ryder Cup, definitely crossed some lines when you're throwing stuff at people.
Look, golf is so intimate.
So when people can stand up next to a rope. And you have a rope that that's the definition of what you can't cross, versus you know, you're in a stadium for other sports and you can't hear anything. That's a big difference. Yeah. I love playing in New York.
I think it's amazing. I think Beth Page was awesome. Could it have been better? Yes. Could, you know, last week with Wyndham could have been better?
Yes. But at the same time, like people have to find ways to come out to golf courses, cheer us on. Like we enjoy that energy when people are out there. I don't think they deserve to lose it. You know, I think there's ways to respect that and find the right type of crowd.
But like I said, it is what it is. For me, I don't hear a lot of it.
So it's just, you kind of go along with it. But you want to have an enjoyable crowd. And I think that... that creates an atmosphere. That's what this week, the Travelers Championship, like a lot of us enjoy it because of the crowd out there.
And that makes weeks a little bit more special compared to some other ones.
So hopefully we can see that at some major championships, maybe not cross that line and just have people enjoying it for what it is. That's great. And I want to talk about you. You mentioned you are playing for the third week in a row. How are you feeling since the back injury at the players?
Is that all fully healed? Are you back to 100%? How are you feeling physically? Yeah, I don't know if I'm quite 100%. I'm definitely doing better than what I was, you know, through the masters and even at the PGA Championship.
I was able to take some time off and just kind of settle in a little bit, but it's just uncomfortableness. You know, I heard it on the golf course. I don't want to hurt it again. We have major championships, big events week in, week out. Oops.
You got to move. There are timers. 10 minutes.
Sorry, what's their minute? That's your guys' timer. I was in a random office right here at the golf course.
So it's, you know, it's not where I want it to be, but I've got to keep pushing. I've got to find ways to get the ball in the hole. And I'm going to get over it. You know, I know I will at some point, but we're just not quite there. What's great is that the game still feels pretty good.
So when everything's clicking, I feel like I can go out and compete. It's just, I got to put in a little bit more work before the rounds, after the rounds, to make sure, you know, I'm staying healthy throughout the four days. Colin, I think you're being played off by whoever's office you're sitting in here. We appreciate the time, man. Best of luck out there this week.
Travelers Championship. You can watch it on the golf channel and ESPN Plus on Thursday through Sunday and on NBC on Saturday and Sunday. Best of luck, Colin. Appreciate you, man. Thanks, guys.
Thanks, Colin. Tremendous insight right there. That was awesome from Colin. What what w what would be the proper deterrent? To fans crossing the line.
I don't ever remember seeing something like what we saw in that city at the U.S. Open. Because he's right. Not that you should heckle anybody or cross the line with anyone, but it's an American at the U.S. Open.
Right. And he's, you know. Completing his swing, and you hear, watch out for the nationwide tour. Like, get the bunker. Should it be.
I mean, should we just give them, like, if you're going to get thrown out before that happens, you get one driver at point-blank range, like tee it up, just smash it right into your chest? What would it take? I don't know. See, I understand. Like, look, if you want to kind of try to get in guys' heads at an international team event, you know, like the Ryder Cup, where there is, you know, you're cheering for it's our country against their country.
Yeah, I get, you know, being a little rowdy, but don't cross a line where it's personal, you know, the attacks last year on Shane Lowry and Rory's wife. Like, just. Absolutely over the line. But how do you police it? There's no other sport.
I don't know, go to the business. I mean, tennis to a degree. Tennis, yeah. Where you're supposed to react at certain times. I just don't remember.
I think SVP said this too. I don't remember it ever being like this at these big golf moments. No, nothing. I don't remember. I've watched virtually every major.
I don't ever remember. Is it just jackasses recording themselves so they can go viral on Instagram and TikTok? Like, I just don't understand. Like, what do we do? It could be partly that, just the confrontational culture we're in.
I mean, the fact that if you want to go viral, you got to get in a fist fight or do something stupid or whatever. Like, that that's viewed as a positive and not a negative. That you being escorted out of the U.S. Open and on national TV in front of by the Marshals. Yeah.
That's like you can now sell, like, that's my oh man. Badgy that was awesome. Yeah. Like, that's that, that's everything, though. That's everything across society.
You know, like, I have to step out of the way from people, you know, I'm going to get a coffee, like, doing their TikToks in the middle of it. Like, you are actively disrupting just American life in general with all this dumb stuff. And I get that it's ingrained and it's part of Gen Z. Like, my kids, they're not on TikTok, but like, they make the silly dance videos and stuff. And I just do it.
But they do it in the living room. They are not doing it out in public. Like you said, kind of disrupting just the flow of everyday life. I literally got stepped on because somebody was backing up in a Starbucks at the draft to like, you know, because you have to hit the button and then back up fast. I got run over.
I'm holding coffee. Like fully suited up, ready to go over to the venue. And I'm just like, didn't spill myself. Good hand, good coffee control in that moment. But it's like, just why are you backing up, period?
Why is anyone ever just turn around? Is anyone behind you? Turn around. Make your own decision. See what's around you.
Like you wouldn't just, you're not in your car and you just hit the gas and go back and see what happens. Why are you backing up like that as a person? I don't know. And it's part of that culture. Weird times.
That my world, I am the main character in my universe. You are merely a character in it. And guys yelling out You're gonna get relegated! He's a professional golfer. You're a jackass in a polo shirt over here.
But, like, to Colin's point, it's an American winning the U.S. Open leading, trying to close us out over other Americans. Like, I get it. I get it to a small extent, I guess. If, like, you know, it was a European player, if it was Rory or someone from another country, you know, who was chasing Wyndham down.
But it was Wyndham was playing with Scotty Scheffler.
Okay, great. Everyone wants Scotty to win. Cool. I like Scotty too. But Sam Burns, an American, chasing him down.
And it's just. Keith Mitchell, American, chasing him down. We're all in this. Together, can we just cheer? Like, Wyndham played unbelievably dominant for four straight days.
That should be applauded universally. Antonio Freeman is going to join us in just a little bit here, Super Bowl champion with the Green Bay Packers, and his son's doing okay as well. You want to talk about American sports? You are allowed to cheer in soccer. They're going to be doing it at SoFi Stadium tomorrow night.
Antonio Freeman, joining us on the show right after this. Running a small business means every hire matters. Bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your business grow. The challenge is finding that person without sorting through resumes. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in.
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Mm-hmm. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Rich Eisen here. You can always tell when something big is happening in a city. I know what it's like when I'm traveling for big games and events.
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Ask for O'Reilly Veriscan today. 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. Antonio Freeman, Super Bowl champ with the Packers, NFL veteran joining us right now, the father of Alex Freeman, as our radio audience rejoins.
So, Alex scores that goal, Antonio, for the U.S. It's on Father's Day. It's an unusual goal, obviously. Take me through where you're watching that and your emotions as you see and then hear that the goal counted for the U.S. You know, just to be a part of this process and to be there for Alex.
He's put the work in. He's a He's committed himself when no one was watching. Um Yeah. I I I I just happen to be the one to do it first. You know, just his work ethic, man.
I wish I had his work ethic, his focus. His determination, and he's watched a lot of greatness. You know, he's always been a soccer fan, he's always loved soccer. And as a parent, You know, you just want to rally around your kid and get behind him with whatever. Makes them smile and whatever they're excited about.
And that was just the case here in soccer, you know. Brainer, you know, I want the best for you, and I want you to wake up every morning excited about going to work and excited about. Getting better, and I think that's what we've seen from Alex in the last Uh eighteen months is His ability to be ready for when his opportunity was presented. And that's something that he and I constantly talk about more than anything: just be ready when your opportunity comes, because sometimes you only get. One opportunity.
So he's taking that advice, and man, he's really ran with it. When did you know? When did you know not just that he was going to be a soccer player and maybe not play in the other kind of football, but that he was legit, that he really had a chance to play at this highest level? Um I mean he He played academy soccer, you know, and a lot of kids play academy soccer, but he just seemed to stand out. At each and every game, you can see the uh The gravitation from the other players.
Just that he was different. He was something special. They called him Little Free. And. Man, he's just gone out and He didn't get a chance to watch me.
Uh during my days of of greatness. But thankfully there's YouTube and different uh outlets that he can watch it on um But he went to American Heritage and uh in South Florida. There's a large pedigree of just pure athletes. And a plethora of former athletes that are involved, that was involved in their program. And there was a lot of pressure on Alex to come play football.
And um You know, it was tough to tell my former colleagues, like, hey, he's not going to play football. He's playing soccer. And, uh, I got behind him, you know, and He's just really taking off.
Well, what was the response there? If you're telling whether it's Favre, Desmond, Howard, any number of those guys, what was their reaction when he said, all right, he's going to be a soccer star? You know, for most of my friends. They were really supportive. I think I was more disappointed.
I was more like, Man, he's going to play soccer. Know, I didn't know soccer, and I knew I couldn't teach them soccer. Uh, it was kind of a hands-off thing, but You know, you mentioned it. A guy like Desmond Howard, Derek Mays, Leroy Butler, you know, Robert Brooks, the list goes on and on. I got a call from Brett Favre the other day.
So, you know, just the support has been amazing. After the game, having over 400 text messages, that's just text. And um You know, it's just been an exciting ride. You know, it was never something that I boasted out there. It was nothing something that I put in the universe.
So a lot of my colleagues and former teammates You know, they're really excited and surprised that it's still. Football, but it yet is the other one. Yes, it's American football. It truly is American football, just in its own way. My favorite part about that goal, Antonio, was it was a very.
American football goal, in that, just like NFL games, you had to see the ball go in, and then it's ruled not a score, and then there's like a three-minute delay while they watch replays, and then they give it to them here. Did you know the rule in terms of the offside? Because I'll be very candid. I watched it, I heard the experts saying, no, he's not offside. This is going to get overturned to a goal.
And I had no idea what the hell they were talking about.
Well, you you know the funny thing for me is uh I was learning soccer. But I was only watching my kid. And during his teenage years and early on at Orlando City. in the air academy. He was a winger, you know, so he was a guy that scored goals.
So I specifically watched him. Those guys typically never come back on a defensive end.
So I never knew what offsides was. And then when he got the call up from Orlando City, They moved him to right fullback.
So again, I'm just watching my kid. And now after like It's been like five years I've been trying to figure out this off-sides thing. And now I'm watching my kid for like 15 minutes. And now, suddenly, I can see the imaginary line that goes on the back line that is offsides.
So when I watch that. Uh Actual footage. I knew. That Alex was on sides because now I understand what all sides is, and he was clearly probably. Six to eight inches, maybe away from being off sides, but.
Man, just an electric moment. Like you mentioned, the pause, it just sets the stage for such a dramatic scene. You know, and and then when he finally got the uh The notification that it was a goal, just to see his very accomplished. Teammates. I mean, these guys are accomplished already.
They're playing overseas already. Their careers are already in line. And just to see, man, those guys just rally around him. And they're so excited, you know, for the youngest kid on the team that really. Made the hair on my arm stand up and know that, you know, my kid's in a good place.
He's getting to learn from.
Some really genuine, great. Professionals in the sport.
So I'm happy for where he is right now. Antonio Freeman is our guest, Super Bowl champ, father of Alex Freeman, member of the U.S. men's national soccer team. Third game in the group stage happened on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium against Turkey. My immediate reaction, Antonio, when they gave him the goal was he did what?
Because all I had in my mind, of course, was the famous Al Michaels call of you picking the ball off the back of Chris Dishman's legs in one of the wildest plays in Monday Night Football history. You scored an 81-yard touchdown in the Super Bowl. How does watching your son accomplish these things on the biggest stage compare to making plays yourself on the biggest stage? You know, it really doesn't compare. You know, these moments you get nervous.
I don't care who you are.
So when I get bubble guts and I. I get to take a bathroom break. You know, when I played, I just had to sit there and deal with it and try to get ready and focus on the next series.
So, um, You know, I'm always nervous watching him because I want the best form. I know how much work he really put into his craft and to getting here, and I know he. He wants more than anything just to continue to prove himself and eventually separate himself from being Antonio Freeman's son, to be an Alex Freeman. the the the the premier soccer player.
So, um You know, man, just And an amazing ride. Yeah. Probably Alex expected this, but I can't sit there and tell you that this is something that I expected. Um It's an amazing ride. It's great to meet his teammates.
again, who are so accomplished to meet their families, to have visits and talks with them and the coaching staff and things of that nature. And I just hope that he continues to believe in himself, continue to stay who he is and just continue to work to get better.
So prognosticate this for me, Antonio, before we let you go here. How far this U.S. men's team is already doing things that have never been done in the history of U.S. men's soccer? How far can this team go in this World Cup?
I mean, I've had the opportunity to be around these guys. at their hotel, got a chance to stop by practice and and do a piece with Uh a network uh the other day and you know man what i see is magic You know, I don't like to compare a lot, but the love and camaraderie we had in that locker room when we were winning Super Bowls and making Super Bowl runs. It's almost electrifying when I walk into it. His team hotel. You know, they all like each other, they all get along and they all just want to win.
And they want to win for this country. You know, nobody really cares about individual stats and individual accomplishments, and I think that's what you saw. When you saw Alex make his 2-0 goal is We don't have egos here. This is the best team in the U.S. that they've put together, and all of these guys just want to win.
And their camaraderie. It glows. Whether they know it or not, it glows not only on the field. But when I'm able to see those guys and I just hope that these guys continue to glow, keep that energy, play hard, play physical and believe in themselves because they're right there on the cups of doing something great in U.S.
soccer and really turning the table and the focus to U. S.
soccer in the United States. Antonio, enjoy this ride, man. We really appreciate the time. And I won't even bring up how good your son could be if he played a sport where he was allowed like you to run past people. I think that it's great.
He can stay exactly even by six to eight inches and still make things happen. Absolutely. And I remember one day he told me. He just really told me, he said, man, after that first hit. In football, I was like, man, forget this, Alex.
Great choice. And Just um go USA. And go, Pat, go. Thank you very much, Antonio. Antonio Freeman, everybody.
Legend in the NFL Sun already, a legend in U.S. men's soccer. It's so funny to think about. The difference there. Antonio taking us through him learning the game of soccer.
Like, that's it's still the same for me in a lot of ways. Like, I generally understand what offsides is. I had no idea what was going on on that play. The fact that you can have one guy who's blatantly offside, but that doesn't count if he's not the guy who touched the ball, even if he's right next to the goalkeeper. There's a lot there's a lot of uh things there.
And yet Here we are. You can cheer for the sport even if you don't know what the hell's going on. Absolutely. We are all having a fantastic time watching and enjoying these games. Last night's match with Columbia was a thriller.
No idea what's happening. Rooting for goals, rooting for fun. I love it when the ref comes out and pulls the car out of his pocket. I love that stuff. Yeah, the card system, too, a mystery to me.
The entire manager, listen, that one guy runs a lot. It was a sad scene when the referee in the last game was down and having to get stretched out with like five minutes left in the game. One of the players on the other team was trying to stretch. We need to play. You're down.
We need you back out here. Hurry it up. Let's go. Like one guy having that level of control over the game. I know it's a little like the NHL, but even the NHL has expanded to two referees, two people who can call penalties, right?
Sakura's still, it's just that dude. It's just one guy. I I like the combativeness too. Like you don't in baseball, obviously, for decades, you had You know, face-to-face arguments and things get heated.
Now it's just like, that was a ball, you're out. Because guess what? The robot said that was down the middle. In soccer, you can still have like face-to-face interaction. Oh, they're getting after it.
They're screaming at each other. And a lot of times it just feels like it's like the teacher is the referee lecturing the students. It's just like there's a lot of finger wagging. I like there's not enough finger wagging in traditional American. Do you ever notice how big his watch is?
It's very, very large and tall. Like, what are you doing with that thing? Because you're timing the game. Presumably. Is he?
But there's a lot of other gear. There's the back, there's the earpiece.
Well, now they have the hack. Camera. The camera's in there, too. Love, great innovation. Whoever thought of that?
Referee cam is phenomenal on some of these goals.
Well, see, it's the, yeah, you know exactly what he's looking at, or potentially what he's not looking at. Not looking at. And that's why the foul wasn't called on that play. And I would also say this, all right, this is bold, but. This the flopping in the World Cup I've seen.
Has bothered me substantially less than in the NBA playoffs. Oh, you're talking about the highest level of the sport. We, granted, we kind of get girded to in soccer. You're going to have like guys are going to exaggerate things, right? Sure, you're trying to get a whistle.
To me, it was much worse in the NBA because it wasn't always that way because you didn't deal with it, you didn't deal with the best players in the sport. There's times where guys go down now, especially in the World Cup, where I think the play is cleaner because the players are more skilled. But a lot of times it's like, oh, he's milking it. Then you see it, it's a guy just head-butting them as hard as he can, right in the back of the skull. It's like, yeah, that probably.
That's like 50% of the injuries. And why are they grabbing their leg, though, if they got hit by that? Because he got spiked on the play as well. Oh, that's what it is. But it's expected, right?
We expect it in soccer. And as you mentioned. It hasn't always been this way in the NBA. It's a recent kind of phenomenon. And so we don't expect it there.
We expect the play to be clean and high-level. Whereas soccer, we're like, they're just kind of faking it. What if you reduced it down to one referee in basketball, and then you just had four other guys with flags who are just saying if the ball was in or out? If you had one guy. To call fouls.
Oh, damn. And everybody else judged the boundaries because the boundaries can be difficult as well. There's plenty of challenges in every game where it's like the ball, yes, he touched it, but it was like rolled off his fingertips. Do you want them to have flags? I want them to have flags.
In part because I think the people sitting on the floor have gained too much power. I want that guy running up and down in front of them. Knicks fans, Ben Stiller, stay back. What are you doing with all the videos? You're taking videos, Ben Stiller, of every play in the game.
Sit. Just back up a little bit. You know what's happening there. It's a documentary. It's going to come out.
It's going to be, you know, like the last dance.
Well, if the referees or whatever we call them, what would be the sub-referees? The flag men.
Well, I think they're called AR, right? In soccer, assistant referee. All right.
So the assistant referees, you don't have as much ground to cover.
So maybe the size of the flag would change. Maybe like the mini-American flags you have on the 4th of July. And you're just like. Out It's just a tiny little dot. Based on who the homemade away team is.
Ooh, I could see that. Like, you know. Knicks series, you got blue for the Knicks and Spurs. We got, you know, gray or black and this. Knicks.
But think about this: like, in most NBA crews with three officials, you know. You generally know who's in charge, right? Oh, there's a chance. You know, if someone's going to take over a game, it's going to be Tony Brothers. Right.
What if he just said, all right, Tony, you're the sole referee? You have the loan power. They wouldn't do this for a variety of reasons.
Well, but if you just said we have one referee who's calling fouls, but all the boundaries have is someone else's responsibility. Could that potentially improve the quality of the officiating? Because you're not trying to see 17 different things at once. If my only job is seeing, was that ball tipped out by someone? Did that guy step on the baseline?
And there's one guy who is just looking at the content. You'd probably have a bunch of away-from-the-ball stuff that wouldn't get called, but that doesn't bother me as much. I want them to get correct if a guy is fouled in the act of shooting or on the drive. There are plenty of fouls in a game. It's literally like two guys leaning on each other.
You grab this drip. I say, make that just anarchy. If it's something really bad, I mean, they miss it now with three guys when they can take the back of Jalen Brunson's head and dunk them into the ground, and you're not going to call it. I say. You just say if it's if it's a great dish, if it's flagrant.
The assistant referees put up the little flag. And it's very tiny. It's like a coach.
So now they have a third one. There's a third flag for flagrant. I think you just give them, yeah, you can have two flags. You got two hands. You got the flagrant hand, and you got the inner out hand.
I mean, they have trouble doing the things that they're actually supposed to do. That's adding all the ways to the future. But what if you just reduce down the lens and you didn't have three people all in the NFL? Whatever you want to say about NFL officiating, they're making changes with the new collective bargaining agreement and whatnot. They're not all looking at everything at once.
There's mechanics on every single play. For instance, the referee, well, you're looking right here. You're looking at the quarterback, you're looking at the pocket. The other officials are looking specifically at the left tackle and that edge rusher. These people are looking at what's happening on the boundaries.
You have a division of labor. NHL, you have a division of labor in terms of the guys who call penalties and the linesmen. You have baseball. They all have a division of labor where it's you're calling balls and strikes. and some of them are not very good at it, and our robot improves it.
But you call first baseline and plays a first base. You call second base. If you have to move, there's mechanics to that. The NBA, I'm sure there's mechanics to it, but you ostensibly are still calling things, you're calling the whole floor. Because God only knows.
SGL hit the deck. There's a two-second pause, and Tony Brothers, 70 feet away, all of a sudden blows the whistle. And everyone's going, they're right here. Why are you calling it from there? If we just say this is your job alone.
Maybe you eliminate some of this. I am chock full of ideas for Adam Silver today. I've also got some NFL ideas. I've got some.
Some news items that we are going to count down in just a little bit on the show. Let's take a quick break here. Phone lines are open as well. 844-204-RICH. Tom Peldicero, in for Rich.
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Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show. Tom Pellisero in for Rich. Don't look so shocked.
Is Spaceballs that big of an omission? In my history of when you put it up against the list of the other things you haven't seen until me and Chris I've caught up on a lot of them. Yeah, so I wouldn't silence of the Lambs, pretty good. Pretty good. Wow.
Pretty good. So, based upon your history, I'm not shocked at all. It's not that so egregious that I can't believe it. Yes, but you've seen Star Wars, right? I've seen Star Wars.
We're about the same age.
So, yeah, this is like in terms of spoof movies. Spaceballs, yeah, you should have seen this by now. I think I've seen every Rick Moranis movie except Space Balls. I'm with you, Tom. I haven't seen this one either.
You've never seen Space Balls either. But how old are you? Forty one. You're like four years younger than me. I feel like those are an important four years for a movie that came out in 1987.
Yeah, right? Yeah, you would have been two, I would have been six. Hello. Unless it was on at a friend's house. Didn't watch a lot of movies in my house.
What did you do? Filled my brain with useless NFL knowledge, and here I am, 45 years later, still rolling. 844-204 Ritz, the phone lines. Terzo in Iowa. Let's bring in our boy right now.
Terzo, it's Tom. What's going on, man? What up, Tommy P? What up, guys? Hey, Tommy, man, you don't count the day.
You got to think about it as how you count the hours.
So you clock in at 9 o'clock. You don't say it's 9 o'clock. You go 10, 11, 12, 1, 2. That's what I'm doing. That's an eight-hour drive.
That's what I'm doing. The NFL season begins 77 days from today. I'm not counting today, I'm counting tomorrow, and I'm counting the day the game is on. Which to me is the same as what you're saying. I think that's where the confusion was.
Say, Robins claim it's 76. The game is 11 weeks from tonight. How many days away is that, Terzo? It has seventy seven days. But we're not counting today.
Trust the attorney. Terzo and Colin Morakawa, both on my side. Colin actually added like an extra half day. I'm not sure where that came. Colin added an extra half day.
But he was on my side of it, it's definitely longer. What else you got, Terzo? What's going on?
Well, let's just think about what Colin's probably got on his mind right now, and he's probably not thinking about how much time is in between now and the start of the NFL season. But I need to talk about that trade with Giannis. I'm not necessarily a big fan of it. Just kind of for two reasons. If I was the Milwaukee Bucks, I would have jumped at the chance to have Jalen Brown.
And then I also think that, you know, I hate seeing now Jalen just kind of. dwindling out there in the wind with the Celtics, man. I always thought him and Tatum are a great tandem, and I don't know why the heck it always seems that they want to blow that up. And I just feel that if he leaves Boston, that's going to leave a big gap with that team, and it's going to open everything up in the East quite a bit. When it comes to Jalen Brown, it doesn't seem like it's about the player.
You don't create a 30-point-a-game guy in his prime. This is about the overall makeup of the team. You're trying to figure out how do we advance. And again, there were, Turtle appreciate the call. There were so many signs of.
The fact that maybe things are not completely on the same page prior to Jalen Brown's name surfacing in the trade talks. I mean, it was directly reported. Jalen Brown plus two ones. There's no ambiguity in the reporting on that trade. There's an alternate universe, obviously, where Giannis is now a Celtic, Jalen Brown is a Buck.
And depending who you listen to, part of the concern might have been Jalen Brown would come in on a rebuilding Bucks team and immediately be like, well, this isn't for me. I want to go someplace else now. The instead of the box. Bring in a bunch of rotational type players. They draft more shooting last night, and it seems like that's the way that they're going to want to play.
They're going to go from a team that won with Giannis dominating inside and be able to open things up on the perimeter for other shooters with, we're just going to shoot the daylights out. And that's going to be their path. Flip side of it, Giannis. I mean, the only concern I have with Giannis is the amount of time he's missed with injuries. It's the age in the recent injury history.
He's got something every year. There was obviously a lot going on last year. Could he have played down the stretch? He said yes. Bucks said no.
NBA investigated. They said the Bucks were okay. There was enough there. That it raised some questions about: well, how hurt was Giannis actually? It's more about.
You're giving up substantial Trade assets, draft assets, for a guy who is, I believe, 33 years old and has been banged up quite a bit, a two-time NBA MVP. But still, something where if you're projecting this out and the probability of Giannis being peak Giannis again, I do have some level of doubt. Great guy, great locker room guy by all accounts. But do you get that same level of production to justify this? That's the question, albeit for a franchise that basically invented the super team, bringing in Chris Bosch and putting him together with Dwayne Wade and putting it together the way that they did.
Giannis will be 32 in December. 32. I think on the Jalen Brown side of it, I think a lot of it too is money. You got new ownership group taping over. They don't want to pay luxury tax and be in the aprons and all that stuff.
But two years, $140 million extension that. Brown is eligible for and the Celtics can offer, uh that's a lot of money uh for the for these guys if you're not going to be, you know, contenders, which I I believe they would.
So maybe it's financial is another reason maybe to to kind of ship them out of town. I think apron is one of the worst terms in sports. Have you ever Done, has said the word apron in any context outside of putting on an apron to cook? No. Exactly.
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With Hiring Pro, you can hire with confidence and build the team you need. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash Eisen. Terms and conditions apply. I've never said apron.
There's never been, like, if you ever, like, all right, you meet with a realtor, you're going to buy a house.
Well, what's your apron?
Well, which apron are you in? It's like, what? You mean my budget? Yeah, I never thought of that. Yeah, never thought of that.
Like, it's just, it's so out of context. It's a very specific thing. You hear apron, you think of one specific thing. Yes, cooking. Right.
Yeah. I mean, the NFL will refer to like buckets, but that's buckets of revenue, right? For the revenue sharing thing. I the bucket makes sense.
Well, like spread the money between the buckets.
Well, like in wrestling and I believe boxing, like. There's an apron on the ring, but that's the only other place of the time I've heard it.
Now, if they put the money in there for the winning wrestler, that would make sense. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
