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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Check responses for accuracy. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody! Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck.
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Now, on with the show. Oh my god, you guys are my favorites. This is The Rich Eisen Show. The one and only. Rich Eisen.
I know what I'm talking about. That's the headline. The Rich Eisen Show. With guest host, Brian Weber. I mean, honestly, he's brilliant.
Brian Weber. I've got a long resume. Google me. It saves time. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.
And now, sitting in for Rich. It's Brian Weber. It is another hour of the program, and it's great to have you with us coast to coast.
However, you may be enjoying this audio experience, whether it be our great affiliates across the nation. The ESPN Radio App, Sirius, XM Channel 80, or my former employers at TuneIn. Let's keep the conversation going on social media. B.W. Weber, Weber with two Bs on the X platform.
We address baseball heading into the All-Star Break in the first hour of the show. If you missed that, no worries. You can listen to any portion of any program anytime. By checking out the Rich Eisen Show podcast, that'll drop shortly after the conclusion of the show. And we will circle the bases again in 20 minutes, getting you set for.
What are the important topics to know heading into? The All-Star game, and then it's on to the trade deadline. With a reminder, you can catch full coverage of home run derby on Monday, and then the All-Star game itself, right here on ESPN Radio. We'll get analysis from Andy McCullough of the Athletic. And I'm pausing NBA conversation.
I would clap for myself, but I'm afraid I'll knock the microphone over. More NFL coming up in the last hour of the show. We will take you across the league with Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com, part of good friend of the program Mike Florio's Media Empire. I follow the stars. I think People forget why this is called broadcasting, and I'll destroy the momentum I thought I had established.
Let me do it in 15 seconds. It was an agricultural term, a farming term.
So, when a farmer was tossing his seeds out there, you don't want to throw it in one spot in case that is not receptive to growth, because you can tell I have a green thumb. You broadly cast it out there. I went a long way to point out that if you talk about notable names and Conor McGregor is still a notable name, whether it's making terrible movies like The Reboot of Roadhouse or for other Reasons and he can steal a press conference as we saw again yesterday. He returns to the octagon tomorrow for the first time in six years. Does Connor need the UFC anymore or do they need him?
It's a really interesting dynamic that is coming up in forty five minutes. But no, I will not be breaking down what it takes to pull off a rear naked choke. in two hours. And this is another reason why Even if you're not a soccer fan, I get it. I'm not trying to convert anybody, and I don't have any professional connection to soccer anymore.
I fake my way through doing high-level college soccer here on the West Coast for national champion programs like Stanford and UCLA. Learned a ton from hanging around with those coaching staffs. But when I'm not on the air, I'm not watching La Liga. I'm not watching the EPL. Occasionally, I'll watch Champions League, but I appreciate the beautiful game because.
I'm open-minded, and I've been to Europe a couple of times, and there's a reason why everybody else in the world. Loves it so much. Here's one reason, just as a sports consumer, you might want to appreciate soccer. They start the game on time. When I say two hours from now, less than that, when we get to 3 p.m.
Eastern, that game between Spain and Belgium. That could have been United States, will get underway promptly.
Now, we could talk about the corruption of FIFA and everything else wrong with soccer and bogus red cards. But we're not going to do that because we're trying to stay upbeat in my final fill-in shift for Mr. Risen and the crew.
So I mentioned, and by now, I'm not telling you anything you don't know, the ratings. For what happened on Monday night, unfortunately, a one-sided victory put together by Team Belgium. Were unbelievably big. I'm talking historic, the biggest non-NFL sporting event since 1994. Tanya.
And Nancy. Back in the day, such a big controversy, they made movies out of that debacle.
So. Had the United States actually performed to the best of their abilities, maybe that would not have been a 4-1 beatdown. Either way, it was a lost opportunity because of all of the momentum and because of all the casual fan interest. And you know how it works in sports.
Somebody's got to be the fall guy, as Chris Carter once said.
Somebody's got to take the heat, and that's somebody. A week ago was Largely regarded as the most skilled player in the history of American soccer. I'm talking about Christian Pulisik.
So let us hear from Craig Burgley, who, like Christian, played for Chelsea at the top of the sport in the English Premier League. He said on a great soccer show, you should check it out for the rest of the World Cup and beyond, ESPNFC, that those who are now piling on quote-unquote Captain America may be going too far. And I get it, he's had a tough tournament because he started well, got injured, hasn't really found his flow again, ends the tournament. the way pretty much started his injured. But the pile on, the pile on to an individual is way over the top.
It's like if Christian Pulisic had had a great tournament, the US would have gone all the way. That's kinda how the talk is. And I get it. He has a responsibility, and he didn't he didn't come into this tournament to try and be on the par or play badly. But y to me If I was Christian Pulisitz, I would be Big time annoyed because it seems to me it's almost a personal attack on an individual rather than an analysis of the football that's gone before.
Because if it's an analysis of the football, you could go through pretty much the whole team and say, well, he had a bad game, he had a bad game, the goalkeeper made a mistake, Serginio Dess had a terrible game, letting balls bounce from the box, all that sort of stuff. But it seems that he has been painted up there as the poster boy. That is well said. Since I like to dwell in the afterglow of when I had a thriving career, I spent a lot of time in the tennis world, 19 years at tennis channel, because I like to work. And if you think about it, they play tennis every day.
My issue with that sport, and I love tennis, and by the way, if we're going to wonder why the United States is not better in soccer after 49 years since Pele wrapped it up in 1977, a Giant Stadium, do you realize an American men's tennis player hasn't won a Grand Slam tournament since 2003? That was Andy Roddick who's killing it, as he always does in media work on ESPN. My problem with tennis. other than having to work at 2 o'clock in the morning for international matches, is it's too insular. If you're quote unquote not one of us, They don't want the casuals, and soccer has that same kind of vibe.
And there's so many connections within the sport and so many generations now. Think Greg Berholter, who I give him credit, is defending Christian and his son Sebastian, who played well. Amongst the few bright spots for Team USA that came crashing down against a much better Belgium team. But as much as I appreciate the strong analysis from Carly Lord, in fact, I think she's been the best analyst. Across all the Fox's coverage.
Felt like she was being a little bit over the top. And I know she was in the moment reacting to Christian. Saying when he came. Off the field, and asked for his post-game reaction on Monday that he felt like, well, the good news is I'm going to be okay. And she effectively said, well, he's got plenty of time at the end of his career to rest.
Landon Donovan, I think, is just auditioning to be the next Alexei Lawless.
Now, if you know anything about the backstory and the personal dynamics between Landon Donovan and the Pulisic family, evidently, Landon, who used to be the face of American soccer, and he'll always have, especially now with the United States failing to meet expectations that were out there of at least reaching the quarterfinals. And I'm Brian Weber, flexing soccer knowledge for the last time. I don't know if I'll be here in four years when we roll around to the next World Cup. In for Rich, hit me up on the X platform, B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's in less than 15 minutes.
We get you set for baseball heading into the All-Star break when we're joined by Andy McCullough of the Athletic. Donovan. Was the star in 2002 when the United States made the quarterfinals, coached by Bruce Serena, and then became the elder statesman of American soccer. We've known about Pulisik since he was very young, a phenom, and with that comes the burden of expectations. According to all these reports, Landon tried to be supportive and a mentor to a young Kristen Pulissic, and Pulisik's father essentially blew him off.
Said, no, no, we're good.
Now, If you just want to tell like it is. As much as Polistic is getting buried, should we mention that now it's been confirmed, I don't think anybody thought he was faking the injury or exaggerating it, he's got a microfracture in his leg. He's going to miss several weeks for his high paying gig at AC Milan in Italy. That's notable. Because everybody who was burying him for not Cutting his leg off to get back on the field now looks pretty foolish.
But Donovan, I think, has a degree, and this is just me being an amateur psychologist, of envy. That this is just a fair assessment. I think if you just look at their international body of work, Polisic has had much more success playing at the top of the sport. I mentioned he won a Champions League title for Chelsea. He is part of a very prestigious AC Milan team.
Now, There. He's the third option, and here's where things got askew. Back to my notion of I'm always going to look for stars because I want people who don't love sports as much as you and I, as hardcores do. And we're going to talk about Connor McGregor coming up in 40 minutes with his return to the Octagon tomorrow. We were so.
Desperate to have a new face of American soccer, and here came this unbelievably talented kid, and we said, You're the man. And all the comparisons to Tiger Woods and LeBron James.
Now Christian never went out and said any of that. He didn't print t-shirts that said Captain America, but. You don't get to choose when you're anointed. We, as a sporting society, do that. And with all of that adulation and the money.
comes massive expectations. And when you are the face of American soccer, you got to do better than one assist and no goals in this tournament.
Now some of that comes down to injury. Unfortunately, that's been a consistent issue beyond his control.
So it feels like scapegoating is going on. I think the real shift that has occurred, even if you paid little attention to the tournament. You couldn't misname Balogun because it was all over the news shows over the weekend. When FIFA got to the right conclusion by pausing that red card that should never have been doled out. Just you can go back and watch the replay.
It was Internet L Contact. But they did it in such a fiefle way with no transparency. They foisted it on Belgium at the last minute after the Belgians spent the better part of a week preparing for the American side without Balogen. And you gotta believe that. That was extra motivation for Belgium.
Why do you think, in my estimation, they came out with so much attacking intensity, peppering the United States with shot after shot in the first 10 minutes? This is now Baligan's team. You can just use the eyeball test. You can see the difference in speed, athletic ability between Balogian and Pulisic.
So. As Polissic now, if he accepts A. Contributing role. I'm not saying it's Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippen. I'm not coming up with other analogies from other sports.
I'm saying it's one and one A. Balogin Just has a different gear, and I think a mindset. He wants. The pressure of the moment, and Polisic, I think, is more comfortable being a complementary talent.
So They got four years to figure this out. But the only issue comes down to this. Expectations got completely Distorted when the United States blew out Paraguay, and suddenly it was. World Cup title or bust. Look.
I'll mention again: if you saw Pele like I did now, I was six years old, but if you saw him in 1977, You figured sometime in the next 25 years, we'd actually be a contender in the World Cup. It's been 49 years, nothing has changed.
So we should recalibrate our expectations. The negativity surrounding Polistic, I think, really is just a replacement for overall disappointment of how poorly the United States played the mental miscues and Just a glaring display of the wide gap between quote unquote us and the premier teams, which include. Victorious Belgium. Taking on Spain coming up at 3 Eastern here in Southern California. If you don't love soccer.
My gift to you on the pitches. We're not talking about it again. In our remaining hour and 45 minutes. I'm Brian Weber, Infor Rich. Hit me up on Twitter.
I don't work for Elon. Don't have to call it X. My handle is BW Weber, Weber with 2Bs. Coming up. Because baseball still commands our attention, especially heading into the all-star break.
Is this year of excellence on the mound reflecting an absolute resurgence of Young Arms? Is it a one off? And who is the best pitcher in all of baseball? We'll find out when we bring in Andy McCullough, senior baseball rider for the Athletic. I'm Brian Weber, Infra Rich.
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But in any successful operation, what happens behind the scenes matters just as much. Small businesses are no different. Payroll, hiring, onboarding, benefits, and all the details that keep things moving may not be the most visible part of the job, but they still have to be handled right. Right. That's where Gusto comes in.
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No hidden fees, no surprises. Try Gusto today at gusto.com/slash rich and get three months free when you run your first payroll. That's three months of free payroll at gusto.com/slash rich. One more time, gusto.com slash rich. While the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup this summer, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent, future stars who are already turning heads at age 14.
Because Next doesn't wait for an invitation, and neither do we. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. We did it when we made advanced safety standard on every vehicle and engineered EVs with ultra-fast charging capability. Because the future isn't some far-off concept, it's already here.
Next starts now: Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. It's the Rich Eisen Show here on ESPN Radio, Brian Weber with you. Coming up in 30 minutes, we will spotlight the world of the octagon and the return of Conor McGregor to UFC tomorrow. Wasn't me for Connor.
Wasn't me for the sport. That is on the docket, but. This is a Absolutely outstanding time of the year to be a baseball fan heading into the All-Star break with Home Run Derby on Monday, the All-Star game itself in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Full coverage, of course, here on ESPN Radio. Always great to focus on MLB with Andy McCullough, senior baseball writer for the Athletic and author of the terrific book, The Last of His Kind, focusing on Clayton Kershaw.
Andy, thanks for taking the time. How are you? I'm well. How are you? I'm well.
And it's our first conversation in a year. Not only are our interaction so memorable, but I keep notes of my time filling in for Rich. A year ago, we were talking about the book. Twelve months later, did you get any feedback from Clayton or his team about it? No, I mean, he still hasn't read the thing.
It came out two years ago. You know, he told me he told me when I wrote it, I'm not going to read this. And to my knowledge, you know, he's held firm on that. He's a man of his word. No, I mean, look, like.
Clayton and his family were exceedingly generous with their time during the process of doing the book over a couple years. And so, you know, he's just been very gracious about the whole thing. I imagine it's a very strange thing to have someone write a book about you.
So, yeah, I couldn't really ask for more in terms of a subject.
Okay, I did not mean to bring up a tough topic.
Now, I'm a narcissist. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can write about me, but maybe we'll do a side deal. And I have a couple bucks. It'll be more of a pamphlet, Andy. It'd be more like common sense.
Thomas Payne is coming up Independence Day.
Well, you know the Dodgers very well beyond the terrific book on Clayton Kershaw. He used to work for the LA Times. Are you surprised at all this team has been this dominant despite all of the injuries? I mean, honestly, a little bit. You know, the last couple years as they've won the World Series, they've, you know, really sort of downshifted in the regular season.
And it's like, it's just not a priority for them organizationally. But, you know, it's just a testament. Like, everyone knew coming into the year that they were the best team, right? They have the best players. They have Shohei Otani.
You know, they add Kyle Tucker for an insane amount of money. They add Edwin Diaz, and they're getting sort of minimal contributions from Diaz. Tucker's been, you know, a little bit better as of late, but it's basically like a league average hitter. And they're just storming along. You know, it'll be interesting to see, you know, the question for them is just like, can they get to October 1st still healthy?
You know, that's really the thing. It's like if they won 110 games, 115 games, you know, whatever, it doesn't really matter in LA. What matters is if they can three beat, you know, and so it's like, can Mookie Betts, you know, who's 33 and Max Muncie, 35, Freddie Freeman's, you know, 36, like, can you, can you get them all to October 1st healthy? Healthy. Can Will Smith get his neck right then?
You know, will Shohei Otani, who's dealing with a bunch of sort of nagging small things, will he still be at his top level when the postseason starts? And so I do expect that they maybe will kind of take the throttle down a little bit in the second half. But also, they're not really pushing guys to the max right now. They're just a really good baseball team. Which is really scary for the rest of the National League and all of MLB.
I'm Brian Weber, Infor Rich. We're spotlighting the diamond with Andy McCullough of the Athletic. Andy, there's lazy analysis out there that, oh, the Dodgers just buy a championship or they have some sort of supercomputer in addition to the big brain of Andrew Friedman spitting out different combinations so they have that advantage. You're around the team. You know the human element.
How would you sum up what Dave Roberts means to this team in terms of their success becoming this season the fastest manager to get to 1,000 career wins? Yeah, I mean, he's been a big part of it. You know, he's been there for, you know, at least I believe it's a decade now. As you said, you know, the fastest to a thousand wins, you know, three World Series championships. You know, they've never missed the postseason.
I think that he's really, you know, been essential for keeping the clubhouse together in times of, you know, in tough times, dealing with injuries. There's been, you know, like there's lots of things that come with his job that other managers don't have to deal with. Like it's a privilege, right, to get to write Shohei Otani's name into the lineup every day. But at the same time, there's also like lots of media responsibilities. He has to answer questions about them all the time.
He has to sort of, you know, just be the public face of this organization. And it is a very involved, very intense job. And he's, you know, really been great at all of it. He's always been a great sort of spokesman for the Dodgers. You know, his in-game decisions, while at times have been criticized, tend to be really, really good.
And you hear very little about sort of strife within the room among players, and that's in part because of the culture that Roberts has helped create. Andy McCullough of the Athletic is our guest on the Rich Eisen show. Since we're talking about the role and importance of a manager even in the analytics era, what do you make of the turnaround in Philadelphia after they parted ways with Rob Thompson in April coming off that sluggish start? How much of an impact do you think Don Mattingly, who used to manage the Dodgers, has had, or is this much more about the return of Zach Wheeler?
Well, I think it's a lot of things. I mean, I think, obviously, and the Phillies players have talked about this, you know, Rob Thompson getting fired was a bit of a wake-up call to them. And Don Mattingly put it to them plainly, I'm just like, this should not have happened. Like, this is, you know, and I think the players understood that it was their fault, you know, that Rob Thompson, a guy who they, you know, had a great reputation and seemed to work really well within that room, you know, lost his job essentially because the players underperformed. I think we've gotten a lot of guys, you know, sort of back in line to where they'd be expected.
You know, Mattingly is a good manager. He was a good manager with the Dodgers. You know, he had, you know, he acquitted himself well when he was managing the Marlins at a difficult time in their franchise history. He earned a lot of respect during his time in Toronto last year. And yes, as you said, like Zach Wheeler's back and looks like a number one, looks like the sort of guy who could be the best pitcher in baseball if it were not for Christopher Sanchez, who is currently his teammate, who's currently seems on track.
To be, you know, Cy Young's favorite.
So, yeah, I mean, I think it's just the baseball season's so long, man. Like, it's, it feels like so long ago that the Phillies were like falling apart and Rob Thompson was getting fired because they've been a good team now for like several months. You know, and so from their perspective, you know, they feel like it was a shame that Thompson lost his job, but it was a necessary change, and the results have been there. Andy, to follow up on your allusion to the Cy Young race in the National League with what's going on in Philadelphia and the phenomen that is the Miz in Milwaukee, how do you see that race? I think it's going to be fascinating.
I think it's going to be really, really fascinating. You know, Mizurowski, Jacob Mizurowski, has just been like, he's dynamic. He's so much fun to watch. He throws so hard. I think he's the sort of player who, when you watch him, you're just sort of like, well, this will end.
We've seen so many arm injuries over the years. It's like, well, there's no way this will keep going. But he's a large man. He takes care of himself. The Brewers are trying their best to protect him essentially.
And so I think he obviously is making a case. Christopher Sanchez, as I said, probably those are the two favorites right now. I also do think that Shohei Otani, if he remains healthy and keeps his ERA as low as it's been, will stay in the conversation. But right now, Mizurowski's got a 162 ERA and more innings than Otani. It's going to be hard to make that sort of the per-batter argument for Otani with the way the Miz has been pitching.
It should be a fun race to follow as the second half goes along. Do you have a comp for The Miz other than Randy Johnson because they're both giant and they both turn it up there over 100 miles an hour consistently? Oh, geez. I know. I mean, Randy Johnson was, he was like.
The thing with Randy Johnson is apparently he like tipped with every pitch. Like you knew whether it was going to be a fastball or slider based on his delivery, and it just didn't matter. Like, I actually think like Randy Johnson seems pretty clearly to be the best pitcher ever. But like, yeah, so I don't know. Even that's a pretty with Mizarowski, it's just with all pitchers, right?
You just like you need to see it year after year before you can really feel confident in what it's going to be just because guys get hurt. You know, their fastball V-load goes down. You've kind of seen what's happened to Paul Skeens over the last couple months. Like, it's just a really hard thing to maintain, especially when you're just like pushing the limits of what humans are capable of doing in the way that Miserowski is. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Os, and here on ESPN Radio, getting you set for the all-star break in baseball with Andy McCullough of the Athletic.
Andy, as you have conversations with people across the bigs, what's your sense of how the Tigers are weighing the pros and cons of what to do with Tarek Skubel as we get closer to the trade deadline? Yes. I mean, I think it's going to be one of those that get obviously gets pushed up to the deadline, which is like four or five weeks from now, they seem to be completely dead in the water, but they've won five in a row. I think like Eight of their last ten, eight of their last eleven, something like that. You know, they know their division is not particularly strong.
And, you know, there might be a case to be made that you want to try and maximize Terex Google while you still have him, knowing that he's probably going to leave as a free agent after this season.
So you've got Terex Google, you might as well try and win the division and try and win World Series with him. But at the same time, I think there's going to be so many teams lined up trying to make offers that it may be tough for the Tigers to turn this down. A couple years ago, they were in, not to this magnitude, but I think it was kind of out of it. And they moved Jack Flaherty at the deadline and ended up making the playoffs. I believe that was 2024 when Flaherty went to the Dodgers.
So it's not without precedent. Obviously, it is a more seismic move for the franchise to part ways with a homegrown two-time Cy Young award winner. But I think between the Dodgers, the Braves, the Yankees, the Brewers, all the teams who are going to be lining up making offers theoretically. for Scoobel, it will probably make sense. What do you think the reaction would be if Scubal winds up with the Dodgers?
Yeah. The world would come unglued. I mean, it's just, yeah, that would be, it would be quite amusing. It would be quite amusing. It was like when the doctor signed Kyle Tucker, it was just like, all right, like, this is just, that's funny.
Like, this is funny. But Andy, he hasn't done anything at the plates. I know the outcry was reasonable at the time. Right?
Well, yeah, but it's sorry, what's the question? No, I'm just reacting that. No, I fill in a lot during hot stove season. People went nuts with Kyle Tucker, and here we are. He's been a non factor offensively.
Yeah, I mean, baseball is a hard game, man. It's a hard game. I think the reaction would be, you know, apoplexy. People would lose their minds if Scoobel ends up with the Dodgers, which, like, I guess from a plurality standpoint, the Dodgers are the favorites to land him. But that's, you know, whatever, like a 20% or 15%, you know, and the field is more of a favorite.
Yeah, and it would be quite amusing because it would really upset people. But, like. They are a team that is taking advantage of their resources, both financially and the talent they have in their farm system. They are doing the things that the fans of twenty nine other teams want their team to do.
Well said, and we will leave it there. Andy, as always, we appreciate the information and the insights. Thanks for taking the time to join us again today on The Rich Eisen Show. No problem. Thanks for having me.
Andy McCullough, check out his great work at the Athletic, and the books are still available wherever you get books. The last of his kind, focusing on Clayton Kershaw. I don't think that Clayton wrote the foreword, but he didn't have to. It's all about what Andy did between the covers. And the Tucker Exchange was this.
I don't know why it was Kyle Tucker, of all people, that sparked so much outrage in the offseason. I guess it was just the level of excess. Like, really? They're going to do this? Like your neighbor who has three Corvettes and he comes over with a fourth one that's just nudged a little bit past your driveway.
I get it. The optics were terrible. From a standpoint of perception being reality, It's like, okay, fine. Dodgers now just going to write another check for another title. May I remind you, as Andy did in passing.
Last year the Dodgers Required one of the most amazing comebacks we've ever seen in game seven history. And when that series shifted back to Toronto, They trailed. Three games to two. The World Series should have been won. If we're going to talk baseball, right?
We're going to go Kenny Atkinson. Analytically, the Blue Jays won that World Series. I still don't understand Miguel Rojas and everything else that had to happen for the Dodgers to win.
So coming off that miraculous, epic World Series for the Dodgers just to throw more money at Kyle Tucker. Maybe I'm numb to it because I'm here in Southern California and I grew up in New York where the Yankees always spent. hundreds of millions of dollars, whatever it took back then. But The Tucker thing Just remains humorous to me, especially because he's been a non-factor. But as Andy pointed out, That's what makes what the Dodgers have been doing all the more impressive.
Because if we play the what-if game. What if they get fully healthy? And it feels like just a matter of time for everybody but Glasnow. That is more of a long-term injury, but at some point. Diaz is coming back to give them that lockdown closer they're looking for.
You know about the Cy Young history of Blake Snow. Otani hasn't been fully healthy. And I think the other thing going on, the National League West has been such a dumpster fire. I'm talking outrageously bad. Diamondbacks and Padres are fourteen and a half out.
And it's Still early in July.
So because That is a boat race. It feels like this is the 1928 Yankees. It feels like this is an unstoppable juggernaut.
Well, We're not even at the All-Star break and we're not even in the postseason. And I mentioned that analogy of baseball is flipping a coin one hundred sixty two times, a random walk throughout a six-month sample size. Then everything shifts. Because the playoffs are so accelerated. And every small Error or pitch that's five inches just a little bit out of a guy's grasp on the outfield.
The whole postseason can hinge on that kind of level of detail. And that's why baseball still is fascinating. I'm not trying to convert you. I am an independent contractor. Heard me talking about my small business.
I am not in the baseball business. I'm not in anything but the content business and trying to keep the lights on in my studio apartment. I just look for a variety of things to talk about, especially this time of the year, because we know what's coming up. And I'm going to give you more football. I'm not trying to zig when the world zags.
I am not trying to be a contrarian because it's just too tedious as a philanost. If I'm only on every few months, am I going to remember, other than I remember in Andy's conversation because it was so notable a year ago? All right, what was my perspective four months ago? If you say what you mean and you mean what you say, it's a lot easier way to handle our business and live your life. Put it all together.
It's a good time just to check out what's going on around the bigs. And if you're just looking for NFL-style parody. Look at the American League.
Now you could argue the old Flip of the coin, it's mediocrity. If you wanted to be hot, take Johnny, you could just say the American League is terrible. Back to you. There's also a lot of baseball coming up, and clearly the Yankees are going to look different when Aaron Judge comes back. But the question is, still no timetable for that lingering rib injury.
Going to be fascinating to see what Brian Cashman does heading into the trade deadline. Does he have a lifetime appointment like the Pope? Is he in the College of Cardinals as I tap into my high school Catholic education? Does he have more job security than anybody on the planet? 'Cause all my Yankee Fans?
who are friends back in the New York Tri State area, all they do is lament, is Cashman going to finally make a move? And that move they all want is to whack Aaron Boone, but that feels like that's not happening any time soon. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich. As we continue to work our way towards the top of the hour, Let us turn up the tempo on social media. It's P.W.
Weber, Weberwood2Bs. In 20 minutes, back to the NBA. I have another perspective on what's going on with Kawhi Leonard. And because this is my last show in For Rich, I'll take one more pass at LeBron James. Is this whole ordeal even more Unseemly, then the decision back in the day.
We'll get there coming up. Straight ahead, because I gravitate towards star power. Connor McGregor is back. He'll climb into the octagon tomorrow for the first time in six years at this stage of his career. Does the UFC now need him much more than Connor needs the company?
We will tackle that straight ahead. Always a blast to keep the chair warm for Mr. Eisen. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich as we continue on the Rich Eisen Show. Oh, oh, oh.
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Auto parts. Rich Eisen here. Running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your business grow. The challenge?
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Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com/slash Eisen. Terms and conditions apply. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Weber, back with you, Friday installment of The Rich Eisen Show. Getting closer to the business end of the program, but.
Still plenty of time for you to express an opinion on social media. My X platform handle is BW Weber, Weberwood2Bs. Not only to be annoying, do I bring up the two B's? If I had one B, I'd have Weber Grill money. Clearly, that is not the case.
In less than 15 minutes, we will power away into the final hour of the program. I have made a business decision not to talk LeBron, just to give all of us a break from that fatigue. But since this is my last opportunity to weigh in. I'll frame it this way. Because we had the original decision back in the day, sixteen years ago this week, is this latest round of LeBron making up his mind very slowly.
Even more unseemly than that situation was, that is coming up with a reminder. 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. Visit sofi.com/slash trick to learn more. That is sofi.com slash trick.
Loans originated by SoFi Bank NA, member FDIC, terms and conditions apply, NMLS 696891. Million years ago, and I feel justified in bringing this up because. Amongst the roster are Of Guest toast. For the greatness of The Rich Isen Show, I am now a colleague of Seth Rollins. By extension, the Not like we hang out in the green room, but Theoretically, I could track down.
His contact info if that Restraining order was not still in effect. And I bring up Seth because When I was interested in sports. As a kid, There was not as much of The all sports availability all the time. We didn't have cell phones. We didn't have the internet.
Games were only available nationally on the weekend. You know who was on all the time? Wrestling.
So, the biggest influences on how I wanted to approach this medium were. Mean Gene Okerlund. The voice of the old WWF and Bob Costas.
Now I don't think I have blended them if I have to come up with graduating scale? Am I closer to mean Gene or Bob? There's a lot of Oakland in my delivery. And I say that because I was able to use that enthusiasm and going over the top. Oh, what a bombshell.
To call mixed martial arts. During my time in the San Francisco Bay Area, I hope you're enjoying the program by KMBR 1050. As a local television Sports radio and TV guy.
So I know MMA and I appreciate MMA. Maybe I'm auditioning to get back in the octagon, but UFC will never touch me.
So. Like everybody, I am fascinated by the return of Conor McGregor.
Now. If you haven't thought about him for a while, I get it. Guy's 37. In fact, he turns 38 next week, and he has not fought in the UFC in six years. I remember the last time we saw him.
He got his legs broken by Dustin Poirier completing their trilogy. And then you had. All of the developments outside of the cage. Rehabbing, lingering injuries. The detailed New York Times investigative report saying that the team doctor of the Rams and some other prominent franchises gave him authorization to use PEDs as part of that rehab, and that is okay because he was not in the testing protocol.
Put it all together. The man with a personality at this stage of his life that's even bigger than his skill set. Although if you saw him yesterday at the press conference, he has notably bulked up.
Now some of that is getting older. And we all put a pound or two on, except for yours truly.
Some of it, I think, also by design, because he's looking if he's going to fight a few more times to up his striking game. But the UFC, if you're just looking at in terms of popularity. Rankings and national gallup polls, or even just eyeballs. And this is a tough comparison. More people watch tennis than the UFC.
More people watch golf than the UFC. Clearly, more people watch hockey with great coverage here on ESPN. It's still a niche sport to a degree. And because they got that blockbuster media deal with Paramount They have eliminated effectively the pay per view model, meaning they don't have the same incentive to put Star versus Star on the marquee to get us all to pick up the phone and pay whatever pay per view Is now or used to be. I think I checked out at $79.95, but I was that guy.
Who would do it once a month because Not only is mixed martial arts, in my mind, the purest form of competition, it's me versus you. That is it. Everybody loses. Nobody goes through that sport undefeated.
So that's what got me hooked. But now I find myself, even though I have the streaming platform. Not caring as much. Because the sport doesn't have the same kind of stars. Why do you think people were so attracted to that absolute force here in Southern California between Gina Carrano, I called her fights earlier in her career for Strike Force, versus Ronda Rousey?
The hug in that fight lasted longer than the arm bar, but it did a massive number, and there was a ton of buzz because even casual fans know who they are, in part because of Gina's. Acting career. UFC, if I asked you right now, who's your favorite UFC fighter? And I'm not taking any shots at any of these names. I could go through the top five of the pound-for-pound rankings.
What's your favorite Islam Makachev fight or your favorite press conference interaction? And the guy is a unicorn. Tom Aspinall. Has a huge upside, and he's already the reigning heavyweight champ. But unfortunately, we haven't seen him because he got poked in the eye by Cyril Gunn.
So at this stage Of Sports relevancy. I think the UFC needs Connor far more than he needs them.
Now, if we're talking about a fighter, It would be ridiculous to presume that A fighter has saved his money. I know that's a cliche, but let's just say it's probably good for Connor if he's not getting financial advice from Floyd Mayweather. Or Joe Lewis or Sonny Liston. For whatever reason, if you beat people up for a living, you don't usually take good care of your money.
Now, Connor, according to reports, has made over $100 million. But we know all the NBA stories of guys who have blown through that sum of money. I don't think he's back because he needs the dough. I think he's back because he misses the spotlight. Because it's like oxygen for him and the UFC needs him.
Dana White has been brilliant in making the top tier of his fighters largely interchangeable. You're not tuning in any more for one specific matchup or fighter. You're tuning in, much like the NFL, because it's the UFC and it's an event, and having that historic.
However, you want to frame it, let's just say spectacle at the White House only solidified that.
Now Connor is back. Trying I think to squeeze every last moment of the spotlight that he can. Because even as all athletes compete much longer than they used to, guy's been on the shelf for a long time. I mentioned he's going to be 38. But I'll be watching when he takes on Holloway.
And maybe if he focuses more on fighting, we don't have to deal with him in terrible movies like Ripping Off the Original Roadhouse. Remember, pain don't hurt. Dalton's not walking through that door. My name is Brian Weber. I'm in for rich.
When's LeBron going to make his decision and what will it be? We will tackle that coming up as we move into the final hour of the Rich Eisen Show. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Yeah. MLB.tv on ESPN is your home for every auto-market game, live or on demand.
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