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Now, on with the show. Oh my god, you guys are my favorites. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Rich Eisen. I know what I'm talking about.
That's the headline. The Rich Eisen Show. With guest host, Dan Schwartzman. I mean, honestly, he's brilliant. He's a poet.
Dan Schwartzman. Oh, my gosh. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. And now, sitting in for Rich. It's Dan Schwartzman.
And it is a beautiful Wednesday here, Dan Schwartzmann in for Ridge Eisen. No, I was not invited to Taylor Smith's wedding, so you gotta bring the beat team in when it comes to days like today. And that is me, great to be in the big seat yet again.
So much to get into, obviously, World Cup. continues the disappointment of USA soccer. We'll get into that. We'll break it all down a bit later on the show. But there's one thing that continues to irk me when it comes to sports today.
No, it's not the Yankee Bats. No, it's not the fact that while baseball is prospering, we are heading to an inevitable lockout. No, it's not that my Jets are probably in for another terrible season, and I have no idea if Geno Smith's going to be the quarterback. There's a lot going on in sports, but one thing continues to just stay at the top of my mind. And let me preface by saying this.
The gentleman we are going to discuss. is somebody I respect highly. In fact, I will sit here and argue with you about his greatness any day of the week. And I do think he's right up there with Michael Jordan in terms of who's the greatest, who's number two. We are, of course, talking about LeBron James.
And why am I mentioning a guy who's like 41 years old? A guy that has played 23 years, has cemented his status as an absolute legend. All-time great generational talent. A good guy, by the way. He's not getting in trouble, arrested, being caught at places he shouldn't be at, things like that, right?
But there's one thing about LeBron James that continues to rub me wrong, and that's where I want to start today.
So he's going to play one more year. Look, if anybody thinks that LeBron is going to be out there playing another two. Three, four years, whatever it may be, that's not the case. It's not going to happen. He's going to play one more year, and I understand he wants to find that perfect situation where he potentially.
can lift that championship trophy one more time before he rides off into the sunset, again, having cemented his legacy as potentially the greatest of all time. If not the greatest in your book, he's probably number two behind Michael Jordan. Completely understandable. And we could sit here for days upon days and argue who's truly the greatest. The st the stats or the rings, the unbeaten championship record, or a guy that's taken teams that probably had no business going to championship being in there.
These are all the arguments we can make literally over the course of days talking about who's really greater. But who cares? There's no question LeBron's one of the greatest of all time. But there's that little thing called ego when it comes to LeBron that continues to bother me. And the fact that it seems to always be about him.
We know that when he did that decision show, while it raised money for charity, it was bad optics, right? Very few people thought it was a good look to sit there with Jim Gray and do the whole run up to where he's ultimately going to play and he's going to take his talents to South Beach. That kind of backfired. Wasn't a good look. And here we kind of have a mini version of that.
without it being televised.
So we know that he's not coming back to the Lakers. That was an entire production as well, right? Using social media to say and thank the Laker fans. And by the way, why not go back to the Lakers? Whatever.
That's up to him. But now it's these are the teams that I'm thinking about. These are the teams that I need to be interested in me. These are the teams that I'm going to meet with. I'm going to take this list and I'm going to narrow it down.
Again, all about him. And this is not a LeBron James who's in his 20s or even early 30s we're talking about. This is a LeBron James. Who's forty one years old? He's a one-year rental Yes, he can make an impact because he's LeBron James and he can put up 20 points in his sleep.
Nobody questions that. But it's not going to be the same impact of a 20-some-odd-year-old LeBron James leaving Cleveland. And deciding to go to Miami, or even going from Miami back to Cleveland or to the Lakers, whatever it is. This is a guy who, compared to what he once was, is closer to being a shell of himself than actually being himself. But in his mind he still has this amazing impact where he's going to be that missing piece.
Yes, he is a piece, and he's a very good piece to a puzzle to try to win a championship. But to make this into production where his agent is talking about, well, it's Philly, it's Miami, it's Cleveland, maybe Golden State's in there. It's like teasing here a little bit, right? Oh, the fan base of this team. And unfortunately, when we're thinking about LeBron James potentially coming to, say, my team, right?
And I I worked in Philadelphia for years. I have a lot of friends still in Philadelphia media. And there's this giddiness about the possibility of LeBron James riding in on his horse and saving the day, right? Because that whole trust the process, them tanking all those years to accumulate top draft picks and then actually being a pretty good team, built around and beaten, well, Ben Simmons at one time, that didn't work out, but then bringing in Jimmy Butler and Paul George and this piece and that piece, and they were good, they got into the playoffs, but they never won anything. And now they're talking about, you know, Jalen Brown's there, and they're going to add LeBron into the mix, and that's going to put them over the top.
But in their minds, they're still thinking of a 25-year-old LeBron. That's the vision of LeBron that they have. There's the selfishness of thinking we're going to get LeBron James potentially, and he's going to make us Uber better. He will make you better, but he's also old. And while he has aged much gracefully and better than all of us, let's not kid ourselves, I'm forty-seven and I think I feel terrible.
Right, like I sugared up and drank plenty of coffee before starting this show today. And I'm forty-seven. LeBron James is in incredible shape and still plays at a very high level, don't get me wrong, and he can't help a team. But people are still thinking they're bringing in a superstar caliber player. I'm not sure LeBron's still a superstar.
He's a very good player still. But there's still going to be some struggles. Age never loses, right? Father time always wins out. And it's just this You know, every day a little trickle of news, right?
I am going to meet with this team. Come on, just make up a darn decision here. And then Rich Paul, you know, Nick fans have had this infatuation with LeBron for years, right? Like LeBron's talked about, oh, playing in the garden, it's the Mecca Bastarina Bright lights. Big city.
All that. And yet he's never played here as a member of the Knicks. And was it Rich Paul who came out, was it last week or a week and a half ago, and said that, well, if the Knicks weren't coming off a championship, like we wouldn't be discussing other teams, it'd be the Knicks, right?
Well, here's the thing. If LeBron's got one year left, and again, this is a one-year rental. Money's not going to be the issue because LeBron's got more money than he needs, frankly, and it's going to keep growing. He's got incredible endorsement deals, and he's had tremendous financial people help him invest his money. LeBron's a billionaire.
And that's not gonna go away. My whole point is when I look at What he wants to accomplish in this one year. Does LeBron want to be a savior? And hope to win? Or does LeBron just want a flat out win?
Okay? There's a difference. Obviously, he wants to win a championship and ride off with that. But you go to a place like Cleveland, right? And they haven't won squat.
Yes, they're a better team now. And they just locked up Donovan Mitchell, and NBA salaries are unbelievable. Congratulations to him. It's like 69 million a year, some unbelievable number like that. But he'd be bringing, he'd be going back to Cleveland as a savior, like he did the first time.
And it worked out, he won a championship, but he'd be a savior. He goes to Philadelphia. He is a savior, right? It's the last hurrah of Joelle and Bede being the face of that franchise. And if this doesn't work out, they're going to have to blow it up again and maybe have to trust the process part two.
And I don't think Philly wants to live through that.
So Jalen Brown helps. He is now going to be that second guy to Embiid, and he's going to be number one a lot more because Embiid's never healthy. But LeBron is going to be the savior in Philly if he goes there. Same with Miami, and even same with Golden State, which is on the wrong side of that dynasty. But here's my thing, and I'm not saying I want LeBron James on the Knicks.
I think LeBron James could help the Knicks. Sure, they need scoring, right? They need some shooting, blah, blah, blah. It doesn't hurt to bring a guy like that in. But if his goal, LeBron's goal, is to win a championship and call it a career.
Well, go to the champions. Right? I mean, go to the champions. You want to be a champion again? You want to raise that trophy?
Well, then go to the team that actually has the trophy right now. Why go in there and play hero ball?
So, if you're apparently wanting to go to the Knicks, except that they won, so you don't feel that you fit in there. Make yourself fit in there. LeBron's never, in my opinion, been a selfish player. If LeBron wanted to average 35 points a game, 40 points a game in his career, he could have done it. No one can stop LeBron James, right?
LeBron in his prime, and it's been a very long prime. can do what he pretty much wants to do. He can instil his will on anybody on the court. He's bigger, faster, stronger than anybody. But he gets high assist numbers.
He is an unselfish player. Does pass the ball a lot. I love his brand of basketball because of that fact. You know, like you look at a Carmelo or you look at a Russell Westbrook, somebody like that. I know Russell Westbrook obviously has had assists with the triple-doubles, but there's more of a selfish angle to their game.
than with a guy like LeBron James. I am a LeBron fan because of the fact LeBron James is not a selfish ball hog, ball-stopping player where. You're watching the Cavaliers or the Heat or the Lakers play, and when LeBron gets the ball, everybody clears out of the lane and practically takes a nap, right? And you know LeBron's gonna either drive the lane or shoot the basketball. He's not that type of player.
That was Carmelo with the Knicks. No offense to Carmelo. That's kind of what it was. But if LeBron's ultimate goal is to once again raise one last banner. And he has an infatuation with the Knicks to where Rich Paul said: if they hadn't won a championship, this is a no-brainer.
Well, they won a championship. But they've lost some pieces. They don't have a lot of money to spend. They're not going to go to that second level, right? James Dolan has said, I'm not going to that second level because they don't want to be hit with the ridiculous penalties, financial.
And go to the next. Don't make this a big production. And it's an easy sell, right? You don't have to say, I want to go to the team that's holding the trophy because I want it one more time. What he can say is that I'm fulfilling what I've always wanted to do in my career.
I've played twenty-three years. I helped Cleveland. I helped the Lakers. I helped Miami. I've always wanted to be a Nick.
And they win a championship, but the East is going to be better. Philly's going to be better. I think Boston, without Jalen Brown, actually probably is going to be better. You know, guys, Halliburton is back with Indiana. They're going to be better.
I mean, I want to go to the Knicks because it's what I've always wanted to do before I called it a career. He could make that point and sell it. But you can go to Philly? You're going to go to Miami again? You're going to go back to Cleveland?
That's a homecoming you already had. You don't need that second homecoming. It doesn't add to your legacy.
So, what if you retire as a quote-unquote cavalier? You want to retire as a cavalier? Here's how you do it. the day after you play for another team. You say, Hey, sign me to a one-day contract, I'm going to retire as a cavalier.
And you know what Cleveland's going to say? You know what Gilbert's going to say?
Okay, here's the one-day contract. Congratulations. You've retired as a cavalier. Your number's going up there in the rafters. You're an all-time great.
You're the greatest player in our franchise's history. And we love you here in Cleveland. You've done wonders with the students here in Akron, blah, blah, blah. The legacy's already written there. He's got nothing left to do in Cleveland.
He brought a championship there. Again, my whole point is: you want to win, here's your way to win. Go play for the Champs. You're not doing it for the money. I mean, it's a lot of money for any other normal person like myself or you out there, but for him, it's.
He's taking very little money, but it's not something he actually needs. That's my point is why make this such a massive production again with these three teams and it's front page news and it's going to be on there, you know, ESPN.com, Top Stories, anything that has to do with LeBron is always going to be up there as Top Stories. And what's the top story? LeBron narrowing it down to three teams or four teams. This doesn't have to be a lengthy production.
All right, Dan Schwartzmann in for Rich Eisen on this Wednesday. Get into the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event and get away with the deal.
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So get down to your local Hyundai dealer and get away with the deal you'll love during the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Visit HyundaiUSA.com for details. All right, we are going to get into some soccer. Still disappointed from Team USA's effort. It was not there against Belgium.
What is the next step for U.S.
soccer? And ultimately, Argentina, an incredible comeback against Egypt, but rather than celebrate it, should Argentina, the number one team in the world, have a little worry? Lucas Weiss, the athletic soccer reporter, will be joining us next. It is a Wednesday here. Dan Schwartzmann, beautiful day here in the Northeast.
In for Rich Eisen.
Soccer coming up next, USA soccer and of course the World Cup. Mum. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Back on the Rich Eisen Show on ESPN Radio, the SPN app and Sirius XM Channel 80. The Rich Eisen Show presented by Progressive Insurance.
Hit us up at the hotline, 888-SAESPN. That's 888-7-293-776. Dan Schwartzmann in on this Wednesday for Rich. Little Lebron talk, but it is World Cup fever, and I don't care if you are a soccer or Should I say it correctly, a football fan. If you're not swept up by this fever, something is wrong with you.
It has been incredible. I watch. Countries that I don't care about nor ever plan to visit I watch with glee. Got my four year old asking if there's soccer on. My wife rolls her eyes when she goes, How much longer is this?
I say, Two more weeks. She goes, Two more weeks of this. But I love it. I absolutely love it. The announcers.
The energy The pundits Everything about the World Cup I am a fan of. But there's big questions coming out of this, not just for Team USA, but even teams that are currently still in the tournament. Lucas Weiss, soccer reporter for the Athletic, joining us. And Lucas, let's get right to Argentina. Just an incredible comeback for the ages down.
2-0 to Egypt. It looks like they are in a lot of trouble. Looks like the number one team in the world is going to get knocked out. And before you know it, they score three goals. The winner in, I think, the 91st or 92nd minute, and they move on.
So. Lucas, you got the adulation, and everybody's excited for what Argentina did, but That said, what's the big concern watching that Argentina game for the defending champions? Rich Eisen here for Gusto. On my shows, we talk a lot about what happens in the spotlight, the games, the highlights, and the moments that get replayed and debated. But in any successful operation, what happens behind the scenes matters just as much.
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Well, first off, thank you for having me on. I think Argentina's a team you have to be concerned about their starts. I mean, the last couple of games, they just haven't started on the front foot. And You look at yesterday, Egypt Had a fantastic start. You can make an argument that they could have been up.
3-0 had it not been for the disallow goal. And I also think, too, that They rely too heavily on Lionel Messi. I mean, Messi is Amazing. He's the greatest soccer player of all time. What he's doing at 39 years old is incredible.
But I do think if you're gonna beat Argentina, you have to find a way contain him.
Now that's easier said than done. But I don't know if Argentina have the pieces like they did four years ago. To find that scoring depth.
Now, they were able to beat in Egypt yesterday, but. If they face a team like an England or a France potentially in the final, they're gonna need more than Leon O'Messi to get the job done, but It does help, though, having a player of that stature continuing to perform at such a high level. Lucas, you mentioned England and what a win that was in Mexico City over Mexico. And you mentioned France, and I think France clearly has to be one of the one or two favorites. But that said, France also has not exactly looked dominant.
They have in a couple of matches, but in their last match, they really didn't look, you know, let's call it dominant. What's the concern with France? Um The Conservative France is their midfield. I don't think they have the midfield. like some of these other countries.
And to me If you're going to beat France, you're going to need to have high possession rate. You're going to need to not put the ball. in France's feet. and you're going to need to muddy up that midfield so that The stars of that team, namely Keely and Mbappe, can't sprint through there to create scoring opportunities. Look, I mean, anything is possible in international football, a global sporting event like this.
I mean, we've seen.
Some surprises already. I mean, we nearly saw the shocker of the tournament if Egypt were to win that match against Argentina.
So. Anything needs possible. I think Spain Is the country that that is best suited to beat France? Of course, Spain has not conceded a goal yet. And I just think that their defensive ability along with their ability to score can really muddy things up for France.
We haven't really seen France with their backs against the wall yet. I think Morocco will be a tough test, but I still think that France will pull through. But If there is a team That could end France's run at a World Cup title, it would be Spain in that semifinal. Chat with Lucas Weiss, soccer reporter for the Athletic here on the Rich Eisen Show. Dan Schwartzman in for Rich on this Wednesday.
U.S., very disappointing, and I think people really need to understand it's more than just what you saw on the pitch. It's also the fact that the best midfielder of his generation, Kevin De Boyna, wasn't even playing. Lukaku came in really for a cup of coffee at the end and scored that fourth goal. You know, Brollgeman wasn't even playing its full squad, and yet they did what they did to America. We got four years to the next World Cup.
Essential for America Lucas to retain Mauricio Puccettino, and if so. Is he somebody, from what we understand, willing to stick around for another four years, or is club soccer back in his future? It remains to be seen with Pochiquino. I mean, obviously, you love a manager of that stature.
So even if it isn't. Pachetino. You want a top manager managing this group. But I just think, Dan, there's questions about mainly the defense. I don't think the U.S.
have the center back depth that some of these top countries do. And you need that in soccer. I mean, as much as the The United States can can boast about Christian Pulisik and and Toleran Balgan and and some of these other pieces You need that back line to be strong against world-class opponents. And then the goalkeeping, right? I mean, Matt Freeze just did not do a good enough job, simply put.
I mean, that goal that he gave up was one of the worst goals that I've seen at this tournament, maybe in the history of the World Cup. I mean, I I know that sounds hyperbolic, but like at that stage, you just can't make those kind of mistakes.
So I think if they focus on that, I think that you know, the United States could be in a better position, but but you know, we've but we say this constantly, right? But I just think it remains to be seen what these star players turn out to be, the Pulitzics, the Balgans, but they need to really improve that back line in goalkeeping. My thing is, we have four years to go till the next World Cup, and there is obvious excitement here in America. We've never developed that superstar. We don't have death.
You mentioned defensively, you have a 38-year-old Tim Reem, at one time a really good player, but obviously he's only playing there because they need him and they don't have anybody else, and he's 38 years old. Let's jump ahead now. There are young players that we've kind of heard about in this pipeline that potentially in four years can make a big impact. Kevin Sullivan's a 16-year-old kid that in two years he's going to go to Man City if he continues to progress. Diego Cochin plays for La Macia in Barcelona.
He's going to go play in, I think, Denmark so he gets more minutes, although he could play for Spain in four years. Is there a pipeline developing here in the States? For where we kind of look at that next generation and say, hey, in four years we do have. Better talent, better depth, something that we don't have right now.
Well I mentioned center back, Noah Kai Banks. He's 19 years old. He's someone that I think people need to really pay attention to. And he's someone that I think. you know, that has the tools.
You know, he's already played a lot of Bundesliga minutes, already being 19 years old. And the fact of the matter is that, you know, you know, he he's someone that You know, just is just going to continue to develop. You know, Alex Freeman, who's a fullback with. Orlando City. I mean, he's someone that I think, you know, you could argue You know, he's been the best fullback in that league.
But, you know, I mean, I mean, there's others too. Yeah. Four years is a really long time. And the fact of the matter is, they just need that experience. Both at the club level, but also the international level, right?
I mean, you hope that. U. S can go on a deep run at the Gold Cup. You hope that if Copa America allows CONCAD CAP nations to play, that the United States will be there and potentially compete with these South American countries.
So obviously, the World Cup is the grandest event of them all, But there's going to be other international events too that definitely capture a lot of headlines and an opportunity to gain more success at that level. Lucas, what really got me watching USA and watching other teams, for instance, Mexico, Colombia. The physicality of those countries compared to us. I did not see that from us. Is that something you can teach?
Because, you know, talking to my friends after the disappointment of the Belgium match, looking outclassed, I just felt they're not a physical enough team. And yet we're America and we're supposed to be physical. We play NFL football. We're tough guys. You know, we bang bodies in basketball.
Yet here they are on the pitch and they're just not being as physical as some of these other countries. Is that something that can be taught or is that an entire mentality that we just don't seem to possess? Certainly can be caught. Look, I I mean, you know, you know, you do drills and and and you can, you know, you know, really instill that mentality in a group. But you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink, right?
At the end of the day, They thought that the United States came out really flat in that Belgium game. Like this is the biggest game in the program's history. You had not been to a quarterfinal since two thousand two. And you just came out like it was just another friendly, right? And look, we won't ever know probably the extent of which the balogun.
storyline off the pitch impacted the group. But you have to think somewhat, right? And and and and and to me, I just think that You just gotta find a way to show up in those moments. And these world-class countries do that consistently, right? And they also win in different ways.
Like I look at France. We've seen France run up the score sheet But they can also muck it up too, like they did against Paraguay. Like Paraguay was very interested in keeping that low scoring, going to extra time, potentially penalties. It just felt like the US The magic of the group stage, where they beat, where they were one of the stories of the tournament entering the knockout stage, it just fizzled. And It's just happened more often than not with this group, and it just felt like a same old story.
once they bowed out to Belgium. Chat with Lucas Weiss, soccer boarder for the athletic. Dan Schwartzmann in for Rich Eisen on this Wednesday. Last thing, Lucas. I'm a big Christian Pulissich fan.
I think he's been very good for American soccer. He's. A guy that has shown that he belongs playing in Europe, playing in Syria right now. But he really had a terrible, terrible World Cup here. What does this do in terms of his legacy as maybe the greatest American player we've developed in this country based on what we saw where he was such a non factor?
In fact, you could say he was at times detrimental to this club. 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.
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Well, you have to wonder how much the injury impacted him, right? I mean, he came in with this calf injury. You know, he missed some time. And you and you look, you know, we'll never know to to the extent to which that really hindered him. And and look, but injuries are part of the game, right?
I mean, you know, I'm I'm based here in Canada and, you know, Alfonso Davies is a big story here. He only played fifteen minutes.
So But for Pulisik, I think you can still be hopeful, right? I mean, this is someone that's still when he's healthy, has elite acceleration, he's great with the ball in tight spaces, he's very versatile tactically, But you just have the question, right? I mean, is he. Made for this big stage, right? And we're going to have to wait four years.
And, you know, four years is a long time, right? I mean, you know, this is. the prime of his career right now, and you just don't know Four years from now, if he can conjure up that same magic. I mean, he's going to be 31. four years from now.
So that's a lot older in soccer years.
So It's a shame because I do think when he is at his potential, he can be very good and a big part of this group. But you just never saw that. And for American fans, that's going to be the lasting image of him subbing out early. and just never really making any noise at this Home World Cup. Yeah, very disappointing to say the least.
Lucas Weiss, soccer reporter for the athletic. Lucas, appreciate the time. Enjoy the rest of this unbelievable World Cup, my friend. Likewise, my friend, you too. Take care.
Appreciate it. Great stuff from our buddy Lucas Weiss, soccer reporter for the athletic and uh That's the disappointment. This is the biggest soccer match America has had for Decades And this was supposed to be the World Cup we highlighted on US soil. The generation of talent that we've never seen for the U.S., or so we thought. Right, Giorena by now is supposed to be a star.
Pulicic has been a star on the club level internationally, though. He just either doesn't play because of injuries, and that's been the biggest knock on him, is he can't stay healthy. Serginio Dest made it all the way to Barcelona, but then couldn't really cut it there. Went back to the Erdivisa in. Uh Amster you know, in in in the Netherlands It's disappointing, right?
I was trying to explain to my wife the whole free, you know, freeze the goalie situation. He plays in the MLS and I said, look, Nothing against the MLS. I think the MLS has made massive strides in its 25 years or whatever it is. They've made massive strides. And the talent level is getting better and better.
But I just have this Mental block. Of giving the same respect to an MLS player than I do a guy playing in Europe. in one of the major leagues, La Liga, Premier League, Bundesliga. Syria. I'm not going to throw Liga one in France in there.
I don't think it's a great league by any standard. But my whole point is, by now I thought most American talent would be playing overseas in Europe because we should be on that level where we're making an impact. We do have talent. Richards is a real talent, okay? Tillman is a real up and coming talent.
But Pulisich was the guy that was supposed to put this team on his back. and lead us. I'm not saying win a World Cup. I'm saying take us into the quarterfinals. We were there in 2002.
But that's where I thought he could do. And look, injuries, again. Here's my thing when it comes to injuries, and maybe this is not fair, okay? Maybe this is a really bad way to look at this. But if you think you're healthy enough to play, then I don't want to hear the excuses.
If you think you can play and help this team. Then guess what? Go out there and help this team. If you're too banged up to make a positive impact, then don't play. And I don't know if Pulisich was You know If he played poorly because of injuries or the moment was too big for him, I kind of hope it is injuries.
Because if the moment was too big for him, what that tells you is he's not the guy to lead U.S.
soccer the way that we thought he was all these years. But if he's hurt, and that's what we saw out there, they were better off not playing him because he did absolutely nothing to help this team. And if you're hurt, and that's the effort that people are going to see out there, because if you're on the pitch, you're healthy enough to play. You kind of embarrass yourself to a point.
So my issue is if it's not You know, if you're going to be out there representing any country. But you're playing at 60, 70 percent, and by the way, don't be out there. But I really hope the effort we saw from Christian Pulicic was more injury-based. than just him not being able to rise for the occasion. Because if he couldn't rise for the occasion of representing the U.S.
as the best player. This country has probably ever developed up until now. It's not a good look. It's nice what he does, and I take pride in seeing that he. Does a lot for AC Milan and he puts up goals and Heck, you know, you could say last year he may have been the best player at AC Milan.
And that's impressive to take a a storied international club with a history like Milan. And say that you are the best player on that club for a year and you happen to be American, like, we could thump our chests out for that. That's a big deal. Because that doesn't happen all the time, right? When could you really say that an American was the best player on a European club?
It just doesn't happen.
So, the disappointment for me watching the Belgian game was. We just don't have that guy. And in a country of 340 million people. That's us, the U.S. With so many immigrants from soccer-loving countries, South America, Europe, places like that.
I understand that soccer kind of takes a back seat when it comes to the talent in this country. You know, Americans would more like to play baseball, football, basketball. But because we are such an immigrant heavy country, Where soccer is such a prevalent sport for the generation that came here. and we would believe passed it on. It's just always mind-boggling to me that we have not developed A legit world-class superstar.
And I'm not talking the Messi level, the Ronaldo level. That's rarefied air, that's generational talent. I'm not even going to be greedy and say Ibrahimovich or Lewandowski. Right? Those guys are all-time greats, but maybe a cut below Messi Ronaldo, Harry Kane.
We have not developed anybody remotely in the conversation with any of these names that I've mentioned. Mbappe, guys like that, we don't develop that. Why? Why have we not developed that superstar American soccer player yet? We have world class facilities.
The richest country in the world. And I'll tell you the answer, because I've thought about this. We're not committed. We're not committed. Dallas has a good academy.
You have clubs like Barcelona that have American academies. But it's not to the same serious level as what you see overseas, right? If you're any good in Spain, Barcelona swallows you up at 10 years old and throws you into La Masilla. Where you eat, sleep. and drink soccer all day.
You study, but you play soccer all day at La Masia.
Okay? Parusha Dortmund. Great Academy, IX Amsterdam, Great Academy. These are breeding grounds of talent. And I don't think we're committed to the sleepaway camps for thirteen-year-olds, and that's their boarding school where they eat, drink, and sleep soccer.
And until we're ready to do that, we will never ever. Ever. Develop that first American true soccer superstar. All right, it was a crazy night in Major League Baseball. There was some good milestones, and And there was some bad as well.
We'll get to that next. It is Dan Schwartzmann on a Wednesday in for Rich, the Rich Eisen Show, on ESPN Radio, the SPN app, and SiriXM Channel 80. The Rich Heisen Show, the podcast. A SoFi personal loan is here to help you achieve something once thought impossible: overcoming high-interest credit card debt. Walk the tightrope of your finances with one low fixed-rate monthly payment, no fees required, and as soon as the same-day funding, that's right, pull off your own debt-defying stunt with a SoFi personal loan.
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Baseball season rolls along, the dog days of summer. And there was some good, there was some bad on a crazy night in MLB. And I will preface it by saying baseball is my favorite sport. Sport. I am one of those who love going to a game on a nice hot summer day or evening.
Have an overpriced beer, an overpriced hot dog. If you're in LA, have one of those overrated Dodger dogs, but they do do that taco thingy and the helmet, really cool. And uh just kind of have a great time. Enjoy the pace of baseball. I do like the pitch clock.
I do like the. Replay on the strike, you know, the strike zone. I hate the runner on second base. I don't care if a game goes 20 innings. If I'm there and it goes 20, great.
More baseball for me.
So, crazy night in MLB, and I happen to be based out in New York, and the Yankees are the team I grew up watching. And it's embarrassing when you look at a team that strikes out 17 times, not once, but two games in a row.
Okay. It's a record. How does a team strike out 17 times? They're not facing Pedro on Tuesday and Randy Johnson on Wednesday. This isn't the greatest strikeout artists, right?
This is a bunch of guys for Tampa and so they're good pitchers. Nothing to write home about. And here the Yankees swinging and missing left and right. giving free air conditioning. It's embarrassing to me.
You know, baseball today has become all or nothing, and it's because of the sabre metrics. And you know what? If you're gonna make an out, it doesn't matter if you make an out the long flight ball or a ground ball or a strikeout. It used to be embarrassing for guys to strike out a hundred times in a season. You struck out a couple of times in a game, you crawled back to the dugout, and you wanted to disappear.
I forgot the famous story. I think it was Luke Brock or somebody where he was at 99 strikeouts going into the last game of the season. He asked not to play because he just didn't want 100 strikeouts. It was embarrassing. Guys already have 100 strikeouts by the All-Star game, no problem.
Seventeen times. Like, go up there with an a an approach. What are guys doing? I watch baseball. Again, I don't have the talent of these guys.
I'm not sitting here telling you I can do better. I can't. Back in my younger days when I lived in Alabama, I lived with a minor league baseball player. Never made it out of double A, but I'll tell you, greatest player I've ever seen in my life. It was a privilege to go play catch with him.
It's amazing. We go to the batting cage. Amazing. Never seen something like it. And that was a double A player.
I can only imagine what the major leaguers are like. But you have to have an understanding of what you're doing, and some guys do, and some guys don't. Like, you look at young players who get better and better every year. Like Junior Camareno, right? Like, the guy went from barely walking last year, he's going to walk 100 times this year.
He has an approach at the plate. Doesn't strike out a ton compared to today's power hitters. But he has an approach. The on-base percentage is climbing up. It's going to be over 400 probably by the end of the year.
He knows what he's doing. He's learning. He's getting better. Other guys just go up there. You're like, what are you swinging at?
What are you looking at? Like what was the approach when you stepped up to the plate with scattering reports on these pictures today? These guys have massive scattering reports, videos on the iPads. They know exactly what these guys do, and yet they go up there and they look lost. Guy swinging for the fences.
Like, I'm watching the Yankees, and Austin Wells is bounding 150. I'm thinking, how is he playing at this point? Like, send him down. You know, Anthony Volpe experiment has been a failure all these years. At what point do you realize you're getting no type of production there?
Instead, you're getting 17 strikeouts in a team that's lost what, like 10 of their last 11 or some incredible number like that? That's the bad of what we saw. Here's the good. You know, there's the argument in the NBA. And and James James Steele, the legend himself on the other side of the glass here, The argument has always been, and we started the show off of this with LeBron, James, Michael.
You can make an argument: who's the greatest, right? When I watch baseball today and I watch Shohei Otani, I think to myself, there's no argument. He's the greatest player we've ever seen. He's the greatest player we've ever seen. And, James, I don't know.
You want to argue with me on this, or you want to agree with me on this? No. Shohei Otani is the greatest player we've ever seen. Maybe you can make the argument for Mary Bonds. I certainly, as a hitter, Barry Bonds is right there, too, but.
Uh I think just because of what Shohane does, like both sides pitching and hitting. I think that I don't think I've ever seen anyone better. And you know what, James, you bring up Bonds, and I think Bonds Pre-Steroids was one of the greatest players I've ever seen. But here's the thing that Cece Zabathia said on a podcast. I think Stephen Jackson, a bunch of NBA guys, were on that.
Barnes, I think, is part of that. He said, Yeah. you know, Bonds is great, but he's not going out there and throwing a hundred miles an hour and striking out ten guys in a game and throwing seven shut out innings after hitting a home run. Otani, who hit his three hundredth career home run, is It's a guy who does that. He's not some novelty act.
He is a legit ace. He is a legit you know massive Offensive weapon. We've seen that. I want to keep going on the baseball story heading into hour two. Dan Schwartzman for Rich Eisen, right here on a Wednesday, the Rich Eisen Show on ESPN Radio.
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