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No, just him.
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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. Yeah. We are back, baby. We are back. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.
We are back! Yes, we are back! This is the Rich Eisen Show. The Mojo's back. Yeah, baby.
Earlier on the show. ESPN senior writer Seth Wickersham. Coming up. World Cup analyst Maurice Hadou. Actor Lou Diamond Phillips.
And now, it's Rich Eisen. To the Rich Hisen Show is on the air 844-204 Rich is the number to dial here on the program later on this hour over Reaction Monday, because it's a Monday. That podcast returns later on this month, and then we're off and running because training camps are. Cool, baby, we're back. Yeah, so close.
I know. As for football, as the way the rest of the world calls it, the World Cup, we've got football. Four sides remaining, and it's chalk for the first time, right, in the World Cup. We've never had top four teams in the FIFA World Cup rankings. They're all in the semifinals.
Spain, Argentina, and England. Fantastic.
So much to talk about with a man who had 46 caps for the U.S. men's national team in his career playing MLS analyst and our soccer expert. Certainly here on the Rich Eisen Show. Maurice Adouhe is here on the program. How are you, Maurice?
Good to see you. I'm doing well, Rich, man. Good to see you guys. How are you? I'm great, man.
Appreciate it. Fox Sports Soccer Analyst Maurice Adew, right here on the program. I'm going to start this off by just giving you a heads up here. I'm a relative novice, having watched as much soccer as I have. Uh, over the last three weeks, as ever.
Are there actual caps? Do you get an actual cap for everyone? Is there a real cap? Is there a hat anywhere for it, Maurice?
Well, two things. One, I'm glad that you've watched the most soccer this summer. You know, that was the goal, that was the hope. Uh, in regards to the caps, I did not actually get a cap every time.
Some countries actually do give you caps. Um, you know, one of our colleagues, Peter Crouch, he just got. He just got awarded a cap, and his cap was kind of unique. They have this program now within England where. They're doing these honorary caps for all the players who have been capped for the national team.
So he was, I don't remember what number, but 1,000 and something, and he just got presented with his. But no, we in the U.S., we didn't get a cap. All right, let me ask you more relevant questions then. Let's start with the semifinals and how you see this playing out. Start with France and Spain, if you don't mind, Maurice.
For me. Yeah, I like this. I really like this matchup between France and Spain. France, to me, has been. Coming into the tournament, they were my pick to win the whole thing.
And I think they've lived up to the building. They've been the best team in the attacking phase of the game. They've gotten better defensively. In the group stage, they conceded two goals. But in the knockout rounds, they've yet to concede.
So I look at this team as being the most deep, the most complete, and I would say the most star-studded. Killing Mbappe, the man you see him there on your screen, just been absolutely elite. He seems to thrive at this stage and in this competition. He's played 20 World Cup games to date and has scored 20 goals. And when this is all said and done, I think he will probably be the best World Cup player that we've ever seen.
So I tip my hat to France in this matchup. But Spain has a good track record against France in international competitions. Spain has only conceded one goal so far in this tournament. But where they are lacking in comparison to France, in my opinion, is their attack hasn't been as efficient as they need to be. They're a star man.
He just turned 19. Lamin Yamal, just the one goal so far in this tournament. But that being said, because they've been so good defensively, they just leave the door open for them to get late winners, which has been a theme for them in the last two matches. Yeah, I mean, uh, I was mentioning uh just a few weeks ago, um, Maurice, that watching Messi surpass Close up for most Uh World Cup goals scored ever. Have we ever seen a tournament in which that record has changed hands twice?
Because Mbappe may catch him. You know what I mean? He may catch him, and he may catch him this semifinal match. And then it would be amazing if they both go into the final if that happens. Obviously, England has different ideas.
that they go into the final tide. Right. And it's entirely possible the game-winning goal separates the tie. I mean, like, that is how wild. this whole affair has been over the last few weeks.
If you think about it. No, you're yeah, you're spot on. You're spot on. It's been this. I was going to say two-headed monster in Killing Mbappe and Messi, but there's been others who have been involved as well.
Erling Holland, although Norway bowed out in the quarterfinals, he scored seven goals in his first World Cup. Uh, Jude Bellingham, right? He plays in midfield, so you don't always. Focus on those guys that being in contention for the golden boot of a World Cup. But he's found a way to deliver in the most crucial moments for his country.
He's been amazing, though. He has been amazing. Amazing. Rich. He's only 23.
The kid is only 23 years old, and I mean, he's already. Taking so many boxes for England. There's already whispers of this guy having the pedigree to be the best ever English player. And I co-sign all that. I mean, he's been absolutely amazing every time he puts on an English shirt.
But to your question directly, yeah, this is. Everything is kind of aligning perfectly where The race for not only the golden boot within this tournament, but also the race for the all-time leading goal scorer in World Cups just seems to be going back and forth. And I promise you, as much as Messi, as much as Mbappe are focused on winning their matches and getting to a World Cup final and winning the World Cup final, yeah, they also have one eye on that competition for the golden boot and the all-time leading goal scorer as well.
Well, the stuff with Bellingham, too, Maurice, is what bubbles beneath the surface is that he doesn't play. his professional Football in the Premier League. He doesn't play it in the nation. And a lot of uh English fans hold that against him. I mean, how amazing would it be if he gets them past Argentina?
And then and then somehow Spain beats France, and it's him against. You know, the country that houses Real Madrid. You know what I mean? Like, that would be. Wild as well.
There's so many storylines that are out there. Right now. Yeah, Jude has a chance to be the hero and the villain, I guess, in that scenario, right? Because. The last time England The only time England's lifted the World Cup was in 1966.
So if it's Jude who's leading the charge, if it's Jude who's the star man in a semifinal match and ultimately in a final that gets England that trophy that they've been craving, that they always tell us is coming home. If he's that guy, I mean, the storylines just write themselves. And if it ends up being against Spain, you can imagine the headlines going into that match. You know, will Jude be the guy who breaks the hearts of all the. All the fans who support him at the domestic level or at the club level.
But then also, the guy who will never have to pay for a meal, a beer, anything in his home country, I think you would welcome that responsibility. A chance to just be an ultimate icon. I mean, again, I just can't stress the fact that what he's doing, he's doing at 23 years old, right? 23 years old. He's setting the world on fire, and it's been a joy to watch.
So let's break down the other semifinal game then now: England versus Argentina. How do you see it, Maurice? This one's a little bit trickier for me to call. And I say that only because. Argentina have made their games way more competitive than maybe we anticipated.
You know, every single game in the knockout rounds, they've had to score three goals to win a match, which. As you get later in the stages, you want to be a little bit more In control of matches, not have to get into extra time, not have to be. In these kinds of stressful situations. But again, that's what knockout round football presents: the game's not one on paper, you have to go out there and execute. Where I think Argentina have an edge, they have so much experience.
So much experience.
So many guys that were a part of that team that won the World Cup in 2022, they have the greatest play that we've ever seen. Let's not even waste time going through the debate of Messi versus Ronaldo. This man on the screen, Messi, Lionel Messi, is the greatest footballer that we have ever witnessed. And when you watch him on TV, when you watch him in person, he's always a difference maker. What helped, I think, in the last game, actually, is that he.
He had maybe one of his, what I would call a quieter game, quieter performance, and so other guys had to step up. Julian Alvarez scores an absolute screamer of a goal. Lataro Martinez scores a goal. But where I lean towards Argentina is because the experience. They know how to navigate this competition, and so many guys were a part of that 2022 team.
Now England's journey to this days has been difficult. Going on the road to Mexico, which is where I thought they were going to bow out. Playing at altitude. Me too. Right?
What a win that was. I mean, that setting, that nation, that's that. You know, the reign, the whole, it was so set up for England to. not get through. And that was as gut I mean, as gutty as you could see.
As gutty as you can get.
So we were in the stadium for that game, Rich. And what was that like? I mean, I've. I've played there before. I've been there now as an announcer, but this might have been one of the best experiences that I've had in terms of the atmosphere.
I wish I could show you my phone and just some of the videos I have. It starts from the moment you get into that stadium. It was a little bit of a rain delay, right?
So you would expect the stadium to clear out and fans to just come back when they were allowed to. No, they stayed put, they were singing, they were chanting. And then, once things started to finally get back into place, the national anthem in that stadium is ridiculous. The passion that you see amongst the fans, the The energy that they just bring to that building, it can be an intimidating venue, but I tell you what. England showed a lot.
They showed a lot of character to weather that storm, plus, whether the storm that comes would actually play in the game.
Sometimes you end up playing the environment more than the actual game. And England did both on that night. And so. I learned a lot about them in that game. Against Norway just the other day.
Again, it wasn't their best performance, but to me, When you're playing in the knockout rounds, it's more so about getting the result over the performance. Survive to live another day and compete and go on. Yeah, I loved that match. I mean, I can't even. Over and over and over again, this World Cup has delivered.
I mean, we were just talking about the Argentine. The uh you know the Argentine the Argentine victory You know, the Alvarez goal. over the outstretched arms of a six foot five goalkeeper in Kobo. Um and and he put it in the one spot I mean he threw a dart man And the whole bar I was in just lost. I mean, we actually, where I was is, we were, I won't tell you where I was, but.
Um I I was getting ready to to watch a a live show in in uh Lake Tahoe, Nake Bergetse, the whole crew and we were waiting for him to get on stage. Everyone's watching on their phones. Everyone erupted. It was one of the most wild goals I've seen. Like it really is amazing.
I can't rave enough about it. You know, you know, you're spot on, you're spot on, and this tournament has delivered so many moments like that, but. What I would say for Julian Alvarez is He's a guy that came into this tournament supposed to be.
Okay. How should I describe him? The guy that really was the Messi's the 1A, and there's not even a 1B in that conversation, but the number two guy, right? The number two guy in Argentina. He came in off of an incredible season at club level for Atletico Madrid, and there was so much expectation.
On his shoulders. He was a big part of their team in 2022 when they won the World Cup. Rich, that's the first goal he scored in this tournament. That's the first goal that this guy has been able to. And you see the fashion that he scores the goal, the timeliness of it.
You're getting desperate now, you're in extra time and. As the clock keeps ticking. Switzerland are getting more confident. Can they get to penalty kicks and then roll the dice and see what happens there? And then to score what's going to go down is one of the goals of the tournament to put your team ahead.
It's just an incredible feeling for Julian Avarez. Can you walk me through how Alexander Serlot does not pass the ball to an unmarked Holland? Maurice, and what w what goes through his m what what you think was going through his mind then and now? Right now. Regret.
Regret because of how the game played out. Regret because. His team is battled out of the competition. In the moment, though, for Sorlop, A part of me wants to give a lot of credit to Jon Stone, the defender who was in that situation, 2v1 against him, because. Because of his positioning, he makes it a little bit trickier for Solov to make the pass.
But come on, man. You've got to find a way to get the ball to Holland. Draw stones to your side, lay that on a platter for Holland to feast on. And then that puts the game into a really tricky situation for England. 2-0 down, that's a bigger mountain to climb than 1-0, where all it takes is one special moment, which Jude delivered to get their team back into the game.
But yeah, we were watching that game, we were live, we were in the stadium. And as the play is manifesting and developing, I have two former England internationals next to me, Peter Crouch and Alex Scott. And I'm watching with excitement because I'm neutral in this scenario, right? I'm just enjoying a beautiful match of football. I don't, the results are not.
doesn't have an impact on me directly. And I'm watching, I'm standing up because I'm anticipating a goal. He doesn't pass it, and I look at them. I look over the two of them, and you just see this. He sort of sighed relief.
Like, what the hell? Like, you can't even call it a bullet dodged. Come on. Oh my God. Seriously, that should have been the moment that Norway have one foot into the next match.
And then you see how the game plays it out, and it's just like. You were that close. You were that close. And I think for Norway, that's. They're going to look at that game and feel like they had so many opportunities to get an extra goal, to be in that game, and to actually win the game.
They didn't take that moment or those moments. And then England has a couple bona fide superstars, a couple world-class players. Harry Kane, Drew Bellingham, but on the night it's Drew Bellingham who just. Once again, he said, oh, it's a big stage. You need a superhero?
Let me put my cape on real quick and flex for you guys. The kid's a he's a he's incredible, man. No doubt. His first goal was just a thing of individual athletic beauty, and the other one was just brilliant sensibility of being on the right. You know, at the right moment, the right spot.
And clearly, he's. He's on another level. Do you think Mbola should deserve to be sent off? For flopping? Maurice through VA too.
By the way, but VA, let's take a second look here. You know? Like, what do you think? Yeah. I do.
I do. And, you know, it's unfortunate for Switzerland because up until that point, they look like, as soon as they scored that equalizing goal, I thought, oh, wow. Argentina's in trouble. Argentina's under pressure. They haven't found any solutions to slow down this attack.
And Switzerland looked dominant, and then just one moment of madness. When you watch it back, and you see. There's no contact, it's a flop. Like, there's no way around it. I think the referee makes the right decision.
It's unfortunate. And I think Switzerland are going to feel aggrieved because they feel like, okay, there are other moments in the game where calls should have gone their way, where fouls should have been called. Maybe there's some truth to that, maybe there isn't, but in that play specifically, It's the right decision. And again, it's unfortunate because. And Bolo, top player for both club and country, and a very important player for Switzerland.
But once you go down a man against Argentina, it just shifts completely how you have to try to manage the game. They were trying to weather the storm. They bent, and for the longest time, it seemed like they weren't going to break. And then Julian Alvarez with the Wonder Gold just.
So Before I let you go, Maurice, do finish the sentence. I don't usually do this, but I'll do it here just to get to it directly. Um, because you've been so kind with your time. Uh, the 2026 U.S. men's national team performance in the World Cup was.
Oh man, um Memorable.
Okay. Good one. Look at you. I like that.
Now I got to follow up. Damn it. All right. Memorable how. I was trying to think of one word that was.
But that was great, no? No, I mean, you checkmated me there, but I'm now flipping the board over. You know what, Rich, Rich. It was memorable because there was so much, so much anticipation coming into this World Cup, right? I think the team navigated the group stage pretty much the way that I saw them doing it.
But I would say the first two games, I saw those results coming. I didn't see those performances coming where they were so dominant. They were entertaining. They played the game in a different way than we maybe expected them to do that. And they looked incredibly confident.
Third game, the group's in the bag already. We rotate players. I'm not worried about that. We win a knockout round game, scored the most goals we've scored in a World Cup. We captured this country, and even those tuning in from a global standpoint that maybe weren't as intrigued or had reason to watch the U.S.
team, well, now they had reason because our guys were performing at a top level going into that match. Against Belgium. Belgium, now that's where it's a little bit disappointing, of course. And to me, That match is more disappointing because of the performance versus the result. If we lost that game, Rich, and We left everything out there.
There was no ounce of performance that we could have mustered up beyond what was there. Then fine. If you're just beaten by a better team, you have to at some point hold your hand up and say, There's still room for growth, and we're just not at that level yet. I didn't feel like that was the case. I thought we could compete against this Belgian side.
And so that's where the disappointment. But that being said, you look at the numbers that came and the people that tuned in to watch that game, I think it was 30 million plus, right?
So that just shows how much this team. Has inspired this country, has given us reason to believe in what the future can look like, but also, It's now a challenge. It's a challenge for these groups of set of players for U.S.
soccer to continue to progress us in the right direction. And hopefully, by the next time this World Cup rolls around, we're in a better position to where we've learned lessons from the last two occasions and we're ready to go out there and take that next step because we've improved massively and we're ready for the occasion. All right. And lastly, I lied, one last thing, because you've been traveling around with the Fox coverage, which I've really enjoyed. Um Have has the fervor.
that you've seen Um in this tournament. Um even supp in America. Obviously you've been you've been to It's a three-nation hosting. the fervor that you've seen in America. Has that even surprised you?
Maurice? Yeah, I would say so. I had expectations. You know, 94, I was eight years old, and but I remember vividly everything that I witnessed on TV, in the streets, everywhere. And yeah, I mean, the amount, you know what's beautiful about World Cups is it's what happens on the pitch and in stadiums, but it's also what happens in the surrounding areas, in the streets, in the bars, in the shopping centers, in the malls, everywhere, like hotels.
Everyone just gets captured by the moment and by the occasion. And you have fans coming from all over the country, from all over the world, excuse me. And they get a chance to showcase who they are, their personalities, their traditions, their cultures. And then we adopt them. We're the host country ourselves, Canada, Mexico.
I've been in all three countries, by the way, and I've seen it across all three countries. We get a chance to really live in the moment with these fans and celebrate. What they're bringing. No way bows out, but I promise you, you will still be seeing that grow as these games continue to play out. That's so fun.
So fun, man. Thanks for the time, Maurice. I appreciate it. Hopefully, I'll I rebounded from my first question asking if there's actual caps. For a flat return.
Oh, okay, my man. Appreciate you. Right back at you. Enjoy the final three matches of this World Cup. Maurice Adou, right here on the Rich Odyssey Show.
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Hire right the first time with LinkedIn Hiring Pro. Get started by posting a free job at linkedin.com. Slash eisen. Thank goodness I have this job because I sure can't play golf. The American Century Championship once again.
Memory-filled, memory-laden. Yeah. Unbelievable. Jonathan Thomas and the American Century folk put on a great show with. John Miller of NBC Sports, and I could go on and on and on about everybody at NBC Sports as well.
But it's first rate, it's first class, it is awesome. It's fundraising as well. 40% of the uh revenues of American century go to Medical research, which is why Marty Fish, when he won it all, now receives a lab coat. Marty Fish is coming on the show Wednesday and I told him to bring his lab coat. Yeah.
Um But it's in terms of the good times and the golf and what have you. Uh Just awesome. And my my remember last year I said my first t-ball. I I um I topped it and I lost it. I couldn't feel your hands.
I couldn't feel my hands. Matt Ryan's like, Do you feel your hands yet? And I'm like, nope. This time around, it was with Grant Hill. And Vince Carter.
There they are. Nice. This photograph on the famed 17th hole with the lake to your right and people on the boats, and it's a massive party. Susie took this photograph. Oh, nice.
Well framed right there, Suz. The caption is: Which one of these guys did not play in the NBA? And I always like taking a selfie after we fill out the scorecards and we check on each other's scores at the scores table and everything. Because it's run like a real-deal tournament.
Okay. And so great day. Vince has a terrific golf game. Grant Hill has a good one, and I you know I was doing my best. I doubled a lot on that first day.
It was just, again, it's just. I'm out of my lane, man. Out of my lane. But you're there. I'm there.
I know. I know. I don't know. Second day, though. Uh oh.
Second day, I had six pars. Yeah. Six. Five of them on the front. I was, and by the way, the front, I played the back first.
Tiger Eyes. And I'm telling you, man. I was following along. It was fun. And I know you were fun to watch.
Don Weird Money. Texting with Don, like, getting updates. And he's giving you all sorts of stuff, you know, real-time stuff. He's locked in. He's locked me in on Reeds.
He was terrific. And I was putting, I was doing it all. And by the way, 13, apparently. on the stimp meter. It was like putting on this countertop.
That's fast. Oh my gosh. I took out a six-iron, it was 170-some-odd yards away on that, again, circus hole. And I pured it. I pured it.
It hit the green and rolled off the back. But I, you know. In front of everybody? I mean, it was. Great.
And so I'm walking up. you know, the left side where it's the non-lake side. and just high five in people, right? and and taking pictures and You know, if you will, kissing babies or. Signing one.
Hardcraft. Because I'm walking up John O'Hurley. I played day two with John O'Hurley and Peterman. He's coming on the show. We're going to go down a Seinfeld wormhole.
And Trey Wingle, I hadn't seen in a long time. I'm walking up the left side and I see John O'Hurley. Appearing to sign a baby's bottom. And the mom is holding the baby up, and the baby's like, you know, kicking. His legs, I think.
Being a baby. Right? Being a baby. So I'm holding. The leg while John O'Hurley signs it, and he's done it.
I'm like, when am I gonna have this opportunity? All right, I'll sign the right buttock. And here we go. There's a video of it. He finishes there.
He hands me the pen. And I signed the baby's uh tocus.
Well, I mean, it's a diaper. There's a yeah, the diaper. I guess it's a you know, the oh, little onesie. Onesie. Oh, nice.
Yeah, and off we go.
So check that box, never done that before. Anything. And then I went up. And I too putted for a par. Unbelievable.
Good luck from me. Oh, my gosh. And then yada yada yada the the next nine went down. Um Final day, um, played with Trey again. And Bobby Flay, just a delightful person.
So it's Flay Trey and Just Okay in those photographs. That's the caption right there. Thanks again to Travis Matthew for the Running Man gear. Love it. Going to pop that on richeisonshop.com soonest.
And the best moment here, well, born out of my inconsistent play.
So um the third hole of the day After I had a difficult first two holes where the golf gods were not kind to me, any miss that I made was completely. Um Magnified one ball rested in a in a bunch of Wood chips that were perfectly manicured. By the way, Edgewood golf course were perfectly manicured.
So the ball was in the wood chips, but resting up against the grass that was about an inch tall. I mean, it was perfectly manicured. I had a call for a ruling. That's never happened before. Needed a ruling.
The guy comes up in a golf cart and basically tells me, I am S-O-L.
So I'm in my head. I'm not doing very, it's so now this is the part three where they're giving away a boat if you ace it. And I don't I hit it. I chunk it. It's shy of these traps.
At least I'm shy of the traps. Just got to get over the traps, chipping a putt, and I'm in, right? Except I duff that, put it in this massive. Trap, and I'm like hating myself. My inner monologue is I am cursing myself in the worst possible way, and I'm like, screw it.
And I just chip it out of that sand. And now I'm on the back right of this screen, about 25 feet away. But just behind Bobby Flay's ball that he put there Off the T.
So Bobby's putting for Bertie. And I'm gonna put it for par. I mean for bogey. And he Jarzin. He puts it in for Birdie, and the place is going, oh, wow.
And I'm thinking to myself, what are the odds? Of me following up at two in a row. And I'm like, screw it. And I put it in for bogey, and the place goes nuts. Nuts.
Like Jar and then jar. Oh, man. And I'm like, that's amazing. It's off-screen again. Yeah, we're back.
We're back. Yeah. Yeah. It's golf, man. Then the next hole.
Oh. The next hole. Oh, no. I tee it up. Moments later.
Moments later. Moments later. And I'm feeling great, right? Golf's great again. And I don't finish my swing.
Yeah. And off it goes to the right, just balloons to the right. And I'm like, that thing is gone. Except it lands in the next fairway all the way over.
So I'm like, okay, I'm in good shape. Good lie. Except for the fact that coming up that fairway to play the golf hole. Is a threesome that's in the hunt. In the hunt to win this lab coat.
Oh, no. And I'm now going to get in their way. And so I say to Don. Money manager, the stars in my category. I'm like, just give me the three-wood.
Let me just hit this and get it out of here. Because I don't want to. I don't know who's coming up. I have no idea who's coming up. I just know that there's a whole gallery, which means they're in the hunt.
Right. That could be Smoltz, could be Annika, Marty, step girl, it could be right.
So I'm like, so I step up. And Don gives me the perfect, you know, like take this line here, there. I don't think about it, even though it's an incredibly difficult shot to get it back in the fairway. And I. Pured it.
Like shot of the day. Shot of the day, and I turn around, and who's approaching me? Put it up on the screen. It is, in fact, Steph Carr. And then he's playing with put it up.
John Smeltz. Hey, amazing. There we are. And I'm like, great shot. And they were like, great shot, great shot.
I'm like, hey, I'm loving though. Even though I'm in your fair, like, look at the fairway I'm standing in. It's their fairway. Amazing. Do you see?
The cart path behind us, the fairway I should have been in is behind that. Ha ha ha ha. Yeah. Yeah. That's great.
It's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Golf. I love it.
It's one of my favorite tournaments to watch every year. They do such a great job. It looks so beautiful. You made the coverage, Peter Jacobson, giving you a shout out at one point. Peter was nice because on the Team Box, he was, I mean, I mean, in the practice range.
You know, he was very kind because he saw me last year and he saw what my game looked like, and he saw me this year. Because performance golf, which is associated with the American Century Championship. Help me out. And JT Thomas is my swing coach in my shot, a maker, if you will, my coach. There he is on the screen.
He is out. Standing. I told him, I'm like, the way he simplifies things and his outgoing nature, the way he communicates it, he's one of the best I've ever. come across. And there he is.
And even though I was patently disappointing him from time to time, he was giving me he was giving me some tips that absolutely made me a better player, even though the results were not that much more diff um much different. He was amazing. And the interesting thing is, you know, Jonathan Thomas of American Century, who runs the whole damn thing, he's in my phone as JT, and so is he. And so sometimes I'm like, wait a minute. Jonathan Thomas is sending me this about my golf game.
I'm like, wow, I must be doing that.
Well, no, it's my coach. Anyway, so. That's the golf part of it. The other part about the American Century Championship that's awesome is the camaraderie of hanging out with your fellow. players.
And all coming together, and the sense of just hanging out and having a good time. And doing this for American Century and for the charitable aspect, and of course, the competition, and then the hanging out.
So this time around L. D. came up and played the um the Thursday Pro-am. Gave that one a whirl. And so, Doc Rivers, who was a first-time American Century player.
He and Larry David are tight. And so we walk in for the players' meeting on Wednesday night. In the Caesars. Um Casino. That's there.
By the way, words that I'm now allowed to say.
Okay. And who was there as we're walking up with Larry David? Was Larry the Cable Guy. And it's like, hey, Larry the Cable Guy, this is Larry David. Larry David, this is Larry the Cable Guy.
I was actually able to make that introduction. There's Taylor Twoman. Smoltz and Mala also snuck in there. I saw that. There's Doc.
I saw this.
So this got on the get-er-done gram. Yep. Larry David's first ever appearance on the get-er-done gram. I don't know if L D knows, but it's like, okay. Larry David.
I guess Larry the HBO guy and Larry the cable guy. And then we go into the meeting, and it's a lot of fun. And then comes just the hanging out.
Now, there's two. Ways you can hang out. You can do the casino and the all-night party thing, or A little bit more my speed, it's the hangout at the Edgewood fire pit. And have a glass of wine as I did on Saturday night. with uh with uh wit.
Andrew Whitworth. There he is. Put up Whit. And I had to tell Whit with his size 19 million shoes. Dude, I'm smelling rubber burning right now.
You might want to put your feet down. But the Tahoe sunset. He finally does, and then Ryan Fitzpatrick shows up with his whole family. Um there we are. And meanwhile, apparently across the way, one of these uh spots at the casino.
Steph Curry was having a party. And the giveaways were cowboy hats. And look who showed up with his cowboy hat around the firepart. Ladies and gentlemen, Doc Rivers. With his cowboy hat.
Wow. Yeah. Yeah. I mean it's just the way to just hang it out. It doesn't get much better.
And so You know the one thing that I want to win more than anything else. At the American Century.
Well, it's the karaoke contest. On Thursday night. Last year, I sang New York, New York. Uh I think robbed. And I told this to Ray Romano's face when he was here last month.
Got robbed 'cause he sang M and M with his his sons came up. and you know did some choreography behind him. And even though I just crushed New York, New York. He comes up right after me and says to me, I got to follow that, and then follows it with a winning performance. I don't even place or show.
So this time around, it was the most... Packed. Karaoke lineup ever. They started turning people down. Who?
Oh. Okay. Who got turned down? That I don't know, but they were like, we're full up. They didn't make the cut.
The whole thing, right? They didn't make the cut. So this time around, I was going to do That's Life, which, as you know, is my. That's my. Go to.
That's my showstopper, and I'm going to kill it. And number of people coming up saying, you know, are you ready? I'm like, I was, Susie's rolling her eyes, like, is he ready? I've heard this 9,000 times. Is he ready?
So they put me up third to last. Oh, how many total? Like 25? Wow. Anthony Anderson came up, did a Frankie Beverly song that was he was spectacular.
I'm like, okay, that's competition there. That's competition there. And then I realized I was in deep Deep trouble. When the Kachuck brothers and Matt Boldie stepped up, And popped out their gold medals. Oh, I heard about this.
Their gold medals. And crushed Dream On, which, as you know, was in the closing credits of Miracle. Fresh off of winning the gold medal. Mm. For a teen USA for the first time since the miracle.
You started dreaming on, Rich. And then it's now time for Jay Demarcus of Rascal Flats, whose band, by the way, spectacular. They learned every song. They were amazing.
Okay. Rob Riggle and Brian Baumgartner, they're huddling up.
Okay. And they announced that the winner is going to perform with the Rascal Flats on Saturday night in Lake Town. And I'm like, oh, what are they going to do? All right. I'm going to choose the...
The That's Life guy from From here? Or they're gonna pop out the three gold medalists. Yeah. Yeah. That's So here's the deal.
Are you gonna need needed bring my two sons? to do some dancing behind me. Or bring a golf w I do I gotta win three Emmys in the next Well, yeah, I don't know. Yeah. I don't know how it's possible.
I mean, for. Gonna take a trophy personally to show this with Sports Center, which I think is gonna be hospital. We're putting it up. What else? That could be, yeah.
I don't know. Yeah. I think that's three. Show up next year. Like flavor flavor and hanging around my neck.
Those are a little harder to transfer and travel. That's true. You know what I mean? I don't know if you checked those.
Well, anyway. Thank you, American Century Championship. I heard about the gold medals getting. Oh, they popped out the gold medals. Yeah, I heard about that.
Susie knew it at the time. She just didn't even want to look at me. She just knew this was a good one. Yeah, I had a source there sent me some video of your performance.
Well done, as always. But when I heard the gold medals made an appearance, I was like, oh, Servic didn't win. She's like, no. Nope.
Okay. Okay. Okay, we'll take a break. Over Reaction Monday, still to come here on the Rich Eisen Show, everybody. Uh Rich Eisen here for Gusto.
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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?
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So, get down to your local Hyundai dealer and get away with a deal you'll love during the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Visit HyundaiUSA.com for details. We'll mention here on the radio side of things and simulcast side of things, what we just mentioned on the T V side of things. We screwed up before mixing our Munsters with Adam's family earlier on in hour one in our pop culture references.
So I just want to make sure that wa was it the Adams family that slept in coffins? And woke up. That's a Munster. Or was that the Munsters? The Munsters did that.
Okay, it was the Munsters. The Munsters had, you know, their staircase lifted up. Foot up.
Okay. So there were a dragon.
Okay, very good. Just to know that. Wow. Because that's the current family, I think. The current.
State of the affairs of the Boston Red Sox, who go into the all-star break having won nine consecutive games. If I'm not mistaken, that was a streak that began when my Yankees were in Boston, or that happened after. That happened after. That happened after. We had the first 9-0 road trip since 1977.
Hottest team in baseball you mentioned, nine in a row, 17 in our last 22, only a half game back in the Wildcats. That's it.
So I've been joking: like, we'll see, we'll see you next year. October is going to be for the Patriots. Never know. Thanks, too. TJ Jefferson's New York Metropolitans.
I'll just say this: it's definitely becoming a tougher Metz town. New York. It's tougher. I don't live in New York. I was just there.
So I sensed it. It was becoming a tougher Mets town.
Okay. Forget about the fact that it's not. It's a next town, but The standings, you know, the Yankees stumbled a bit, and then they finished with a sweep of the Washington Nationals. Look at this. Chris Brockman's Red Sox are only back in the loss of the Yankees.
That would be a difficult day for me on the Rich Eisen show if somehow, some way the Red Sox keep pulling forward. In some way, shape, or form.
Meanwhile, the Mets have just fallen and they cannot get up. Nobody. Their manager got fired. I mean, yeah. Man.
It's a tough match to have. I don't know if this is derelictive duties or not, but I have not paid attention. To baseball in probably the last two months. I'm not going to allow this team to ruin my summer. I'm having a great summer.
Well, so why would I spend two hours a day watching crap baseball?
Well, that's a good point.
Well, I'm here to show you the silver lining. There is none. Oh, yes, there is. There's help on the way. The New York Metropolitans drafted this player put up there.
His name is Zach Crotchfeldt. Oh, yeah. I drafted him in the 14th round of the Major League Baseball draft.
So the Mets have got his real name Zach Crotchfeldt drafted. Come on. I mean, he got the photograph that I saw on the old social. I'm pronouncing it incorrectly because Crochfeld? Is it French?
Is he French? Yeah. I mean, do your research. I didn't pay attention to this. Honestly, man, you could.
I speaking to every Met fan that I know, my brother Jeff, my buddy Steve from high school, the Cold Strike Looking by Carlos Beltron to them, it was very crotch felt to them. You know what I'm saying? I've forgiven him as been Crotchfeld. I've forgiven him for staring at him. Is that how you pronounce it?
Just listen to what I'm saying. I'm looking at him up. He's from Jackson, New Jersey, Mike. Where's that? Down at Mid Profel.
Mid. How do they pronounce it down there in Jacksonville? Mid Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson. Oh, nice.
Well, it's a great adventure for adventure these days. That's nuts. Yeah. It's Roaring Rapids. There you go.
That's our baseball segment. Thanks for catching me up because TJ's gone. God, no, man. TJ's like done. Come aboard.
Come aboard the duck boat. Oh, no, I'm not looking to go anywhere. I realized that. I'm too loyal to, but I'm also too smart to sit there and watch. TJ Jefferson, everybody.
The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Uh MLB.tv on ESPN is your home for every out-of-market game, live or on demand. Get your favorite teams and players, plus MLB network and ESPN app features like multi-view, syncing your stats, key plays, bets, and fantasy. All in one place. Sign up now for MLB.tv in the ESPN app.
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