REShow: Jeanie Buss - Hour 3

I ask this question. This is the Rich Eisen Show.

And this question was asked of Ron Rivera yesterday, saying, hey, why are you the only one lagging behind the division? We're back. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.

How about that? It took five weeks to get that soundbite, huh? The Rich Eisen Show. Earlier on the show, CBS Sports broadcaster, Ian Eagle. Actor, Nick Turturro. Fox Sports rules analyst, Mike Pereira.

Still to come, Lakers owner, Jeannie Buss. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. We're live on the Roku channel, channel 210. For those who are watching us, we appreciate that. If you missed anything over the first two hours of this program, stay right where you are.

As soon as this third hour is done, we re-air and we keep wheeling over and over and over again. We appreciate your viewership and, of course, your listenership. If you're listening coast to coast on the Rich Eisen Show terrestrial radio network or on Sirius XM, Sirius channel 218, XM 202, the app 992 if you're listening digitally. Also, there's the Odyssey stream. We appreciate anybody who gets our podcast on the Cumulus Podcast Network.

YouTube.com slash Rich Eisen Show is another nice backstop. We appreciate a follow and a subscribe wherever you might be able to find that mouse and click on it. We greatly appreciate it and also greatly appreciate a return guest, certainly when it's so close together. Last Friday, we spoke about, wow, women of wrestling.

That was the subject matter, but now I guess we're more close to the hub of the business for the controlling owner and president of the Los Angeles Lakers. Great to see you back here, Jeannie Buss. How are you?

Thank you for having me back. Let's talk about what you're wearing first. You got your jersey on?

What do you got? I usually don't make a habit of wearing Laker jerseys, but tonight happens to be Lakers pride event for our game against the Timberwolves. And so we designed a special uniform.

My nephew actually designed this and I thought it was really pretty and it would be great to wear on your show. Appreciate that. And I'm sure people can go to Lakers.com, NBA.com to get some more. Yes. See, I'm trying to move product. Thank you.

Trying to do that. What goes through your mind at the outset of a new playing season? You know, this time of year, everybody is optimistic because no one's lost a game yet.

Right. And certainly for me, really looking at, you know, wanting to see the team that we had put together last year with Anthony Davis and LeBron and Russell Westbrook have an opportunity to actually play together. And also Kendrick Nunn, who was out the whole year last year.

So allowing, you know, them to have an opportunity to really see what it looks like. I think they only played 11 games where they were all healthy, you know, but the big change this year is we have a new coach, Darvin Ham, who I think really brings a lot of authority, a lot of experience because he was a player in the NBA. He won a championship with the Detroit Pistons. He's been an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks when they won their championship. And he's ready to be a head coach.

And he's he he has that presence that we we really need. And I'm sure he's the first coach you've hired that has a Sports Illustrated cover of a broken backboard that he broke in college on his wall. I mean, he does come with quite a history in the game, collegiately and professionally. What what sold you on him, though? You know, he didn't have that in his resume about that.

He did not. So that's you know, he he just he really there was something about him. You know, our basketball front office really did a deep dive and really looked through a lot of candidates. And and he just brought he checked every box. And, you know, that's such a cliche, but he really has, you know, the experience as a former player and as an assistant. And he was also an assistant under Mike D'Antoni for the Lakers. So when he walked in my office, he he he said, you know, I feel like I'm home.

I feel like this is where I'm supposed to be. And, you know, what I liked was finding out that his mother was the first mayor of Saginaw, Michigan, female mayor of Saginaw, Michigan. And so I just I feel like he he respects a woman in authority. Interesting. And that's an important clearly an important box, if you will, to check when you when you are hiring a coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

And clearly, you know more than most in this business about the importance of star quality in this town as well. And LeBron, was he involved at all in choosing Darvin Ham or did you check with him? You know, he's cool with it or anything like that?

No, I mean, you know, he's he's also he's a very important voice in our organization, but he wasn't part of the committee that that did the you know, the vetting of of the candidates and ultimately choosing. OK, but clearly he's got to be kept happy. I always say to LeBron, I want to make sure you're happy.

I want you to be happy because when you play happy, that makes me happy. How does he respond to that? He gets a big smile on his face. That's a way to confirm that he is indeed, in fact, happy.

I you know, he's he's. You know, we'll see how things go this year and then we'll see the smile on his face. So he does talk about being happy here with the Lakers. He signed an extension.

Yes, he did. So I feel like he believes in the organization. He loves the fan base and he loves the fact that he won a championship here.

And, you know, let's do it again. Jeannie Buss here on the Rich Eisen show talking about the Lakers on the on the cusp of a new playing season. And it is obviously very crucial with Russell Westbrook still here. How do you envision his role with this team? That's so much discussed about whether he fit last year and the coach and he might not have fit. And what Darvin Ham is going to plan for him and whether he's buying what the new coach is selling.

What's your perspective on that? You know, I have faith and confidence in Darvin Ham. You know, it's really up to the coach to figure out how to to, you know, put the best lineup out there that gives us the best opportunity to win.

And I think Darvin will do that. And and Russ is another. Russ has been he Russ is, you know, extremely hardworking, shows up in shape, you know, is I mean, he's been great to work with from my point of view. So I you know, I would like to see him be put in a position for him to be successful and the entire team to be successful. Well, I mean, I saw the video of him the day that he got his money right, that it was he was, I think, in the front seat of his car.

He was big smile on his face. And then just the question is, does he if he if he plays a complementary role, is he going to work here in Los Angeles? I believe that Russ wants to win and whatever it takes for him to win, he will do. And then Anthony Davis and the idea is that he's going to be the guy here in Los Angeles for a very long time to take it to another era once LeBron does, in fact, age out, for the lack of a better phrase. And who knows when that might actually be viable.

But do you view it that way? You know, Anthony has you know, he led us to a championship. He's he's amazingly talented. We just need to make sure that he stays healthy.

And how does one do that? Just make sure that he stays healthy and listens to, you know, his his workout coach, his doctors, everything. So to make sure that he's in tip top shape and how how do you delegate?

Because, I mean, I can only imagine you must be a control freak. I just know that most incredibly successful people I've met are just, you know, understand the importance of delegating, but also want to make sure that everything is buttoned up to your satisfaction. Yeah, I think that comes with communication with your staff and understanding what expectations are and making sure that you provide the resources that people need in order to be successful. And, you know, staying on the same page, constant communication.

And, you know, I have, you know, a vision of what I want to accomplish. And, you know, we got to make sure that everyone's on the same page, because if you have people that are not working towards that same vision, you'll never be successful. Jeannie Buss here on The Rich Eisen Show. Who are your, who is in your inner circle? There's so much conversation about who is in your inner circle. People are, like, fascinated with with that for some reason.

And, you know, I could ask you, do you ever ask Mark Cuban who his inner circle is or Joe Lakob who his inner circle is? It's just there's just something about being a woman. I think that people feel like, oh, you know, what crutches does she need or what does she lean on?

Because she's not capable of doing it herself. So, you know, I have great people that work with, that I work with. You know, people seem most interested in Linda Rambis, who I've been working with for, you know, over 30 years. You know, I've operated in the same style since I started working, you know, with the organization.

And even before that, with the Great Western Forum, putting on events. And, you know, I, Bill, I'm a leader. I'm not a dictator. I like to build consensus. I like to hear from, you know, everybody at the table. And then ultimately it's, you know, people need to understand I'm the governor of the team and I'm held accountable for every decision that's made, both business and basketball. So if anything goes wrong, it's on my watch and I'm held accountable for it. Well, I mean, I do feel compelled to say that, you know, I have immense respect for you, right?

I mean, like, and in the- But I mean, let me ask you, like, have you ever asked any man that question? Well, honestly, Jerry Jones, who is an owner of another jewel of a sport, has a lot of questions posed of him as to who his inner circle is and whether they're qualified in order to do it because it's his family. You know what I mean? Like, hey, you know, like, shouldn't you have a regular general manager who's always posed of Jerry Jones? And if I had Hal Steinbrenner, if he was kind enough to do what you're doing, which is appear on this program, I would say to him, who are you talking to to make sure Aaron Judge gets signed? But that might just be me as a Yankee fan. And I think that that is part of the questions, certainly with Rob Palenka signed from 25 through 26. There are some fans wondering why you did that and who's helping, you know, guide your process if you need that.

I mean, Kobe was also a guy that you leaned on quite a bit as well when he was alive and Magic Johnson and Phil Jackson. Right. You know, but there's it seems to make people crazy when I answer those questions. So, you know, I again, it's like I don't know why I have to explain that, but excuse me. I guess I was going to make a point about. You know, about about who is who?

You know, again, I was just saying that for folks in this town, that's perhaps why or maybe they do view you as a woman. And you need to answer that. I, I, that's not why I'm asking. I know what I was going to explain. I'm glad you brought up Rob.

Excuse me. I'm glad that you brought up Rob Palenka because he signed an extension at the end of last season because I wanted to make sure that he and the coach were on the same page. So before going on this search for a new coach that, you know, that they would it wouldn't be the general that the coach wondering if the general manager was all in because his deal would be coming up. And, you know, just to to really create a collaboration between front office and coach, which is what I, you know, advocate for because of my relationship with Phil Jackson.

I know what an NBA coach goes through and how it feels like you're put on the plank to stand out there alone. And I wanted to make sure that the new coach that we hired knew that there would be this support, that there would be this long term opportunity to build success and that it wouldn't be about, you know, who's on the hot seat next. So this was done and it just happened to come out. I don't know why it happened to come out.

I do believe that we might have an internal leak, but it just the timing was strange to me. And, you know, so thank you for let me clarify that. Absolutely.

Jeannie Buss here on The Rich Eisen Show. And again, I know I'm going further down the road and you've got a playing season right now, but this fascinates me. And you could answer it how you wish, obviously. It's your world.

We're rent paying in it, Jeannie Buss. But do you envision LeBron and his son playing together in a Laker uniform one day? Well, you know, I could get in trouble about talking about an underage player that hasn't been drafted. But I will tell you a story that one of the most enjoyable events I ever got to go to was way back in the day when the Hartford Whalers had Gordy Howe and Mark Howe play on the, you know, play together, father and son. And, you know, they played against the L.A. Kings. I was there. It was it was just one of those kind of great moments and a great thing to watch. So I'm a fan of a father and son playing together.

So that's all I can say. Certainly, if they're as great into their 50s as Gordy Howe was. I saw him check a guy clear over the boards in that game. He was unbelievable.

You know what I mean? So I feel stupid even saying the word aged out when it comes to LeBron, because as I did earlier in the day of our conversation, because he is just truly unbelievable. And to have that star power, star quality in Los Angeles, that's the difference maker.

That's the formula that clearly your family has been following forever and a day. So what's your first memory of an opening night? You know, I mean, certainly in our opening night are actually our first game is on the road against Golden State the night they get their rings. So for any organization that wins a championship, your opening night is the ring ceremony. And those are the most memorable, of course. And, you know, oftentimes you don't actually end up winning that game because there's such a there's such a hype to it. And, you know, the players get excited to see their rings for the first time. I thought it was interesting. I just read that the Colorado Avalanche gave their rings to the players in a private ceremony as opposed to on the ice. And that's probably so they wouldn't get distracted looking at their new rings and focus on the game.

The ice was on their hands. I saw I saw what those looked like. And I also I mean, you know all about presentation. Did you see the presentation where they open the boxes and there was a video of the moment? Oh, I didn't see that.

There was a screen on the top of the box. It's a nice idea. It's unbelievable. You know, yeah, it was it was a it was a heck of a of a ring. But so I guess your memories of of an opening night where you get your rings. That's. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, the commissioner comes to town. So, you know, I think probably the most special ones were when Chick Hearn was still with us and he would he would be on the court as the master of ceremonies. You know, announcing everybody that was really special. Jeannie Buss, a few more minutes left with the controlling owner and president of the Los Angeles Lakers. Do you have any opinion on the, I guess, midseason tournament?

Do you have anything? What are your two cents on that subject? I what I appreciate about our commissioner is like everything's on the table. He's not going to be like, well, we're doing it this way because we've always done it this way. He looks at everything and and really has the fan in mind about what will be exciting for them. And, you know, and also the players.

He's been he's been really great, you know, making sure that we eliminate as many back to backs as possible. So, you know, to save the wear and tear on the players, you know, so I'm I'm I'm all for looking at what a tournament can be. I to be honest with you, I really wasn't a fan of the play in tournament, but now I really get why it's important. And I think it's added an element of fun at the end of the season. Yeah, I know that my my only issue with the play in tournament is that it doesn't go in a record book anywhere, right?

It's not technically a regular season game and it's not technically a playoff game. It's just sort of like the records get caught in some netherworld. I mean, obviously, if that's a problem, it can be dealt with. But I had never thought about that.

So I guess they're now in its own record book, I guess is a play in tournament record or something along those lines. But I don't I don't mind it. I kind of like that. You've got to play in and make sure that teams that might be out of it normally are still in it. Right. I mean, like, yeah.

Yeah. I mean, everyone's anticipating that we have a big draft coming up and that everybody's going to be like kind of, you know, interested in being in the lottery. So, you know, we'll see what the effect that has on the season. And and, you know, instead of it being like, oh, let's hurry up and get to the playoffs, you know, the playoffs really start at the end of the regular season because people can, you know, move up. And depending, you know, if you have an injury early on, you may be in the hole and you're a better team than what your record says. And now you get your player back and you get that momentum. You know, you can you can still make the playoffs. How do you as an owner of a team that is all about hanging banners and spending money to hang banners and making sure that fannies are in the seats to hang banners? What are your thoughts on teams that might be tanking? What do you think about that? You know, that was never anything that that that's not Laker basketball to tank.

My dad never did that. You know, it's it's I learned from Phil Jackson that every season when you start, there's a journey that you can you know, you can plot out a path to a championship. Some years it may be straightforward, some years it may be like climbing Mount Everest, but there's always a path to winning. And so you just have to figure out how you're going to do it and get the team to commit to the same journey.

But when you're in a meeting, a Board of Governors meeting, we're just with the governors. Do you do you take a hard line on this? I do, because, you know, having been with Phil for, you know, almost 20 years, losing takes a toll. And when somebody loses on purpose and and when you're a coach of a team and you don't have a choice in the matter, you know, you got to wear that losing for the rest of your life. That becomes part of your permanent record. Same for a player that may get drafted to a team. And I don't think that's fair for, you know, somebody. It's beyond their control if a team is purposely trying to lose and, you know, it's something that they're going to have to carry around on their resume the rest of their lives.

So before I let you go again, you've got a preseason game tonight against the Timberwolves and it's a Pride night and you're wearing the new Lakers Pride jersey. So your your your thoughts on a rule change that if you could wave a wand, you're now in charge in the NBA. Do you have a pet peeve that you'd want instituted?

The rest of your colleagues would pass? You got one of those? You know, that's a really good question. I, you know, I'm really satisfied with the league and and, you know, and like I said, I feel like any time, you know, that we're a league that continues to evolve.

And that we're not stuck in, you know, just doing whatever we're doing just because we have always done it. So I don't really have anything, but I'll think about it. I mean, I just have, you know, a couple of things about penalties and fouls in the NFL.

And obviously, I don't know if there's anything like that in basketball or if you've got a pet peeve, analytics, anything like that sort of thing. You need to have Phil on your show because Phil would have a few things he would say. Sold on that.

Absolutely sold on that. I've got a lot of questions about obviously his back in the day and things of that nature. Jeannie Buss, I really appreciate you always coming here and giving the time. And, you know, just for everyone to know, you never ask like, what are you going to ask?

What can you know? You're always ready to have stuff bounced off you. And not many, not a lot of people do that. So I appreciate that. Yeah, I mean, I have to be prepared to answer every question. And like I said, I'm the governor of the team and I'm held accountable for all the things that go wrong, but also the things that go right.

So, you know, I have to be prepared to answer for that. Were you surprised at the backlash of the loss of Staples from your building name? Was that something? I was very shocked. I mean, it's still the same building, right? No, because you don't understand that when they announced the name, it was going to be named Staples Center. People were aghast at that.

Now all of a sudden it's like, but it's Staples Center. Like, wait, when did you get so attached? It felt like Bill Plaske, like a member of his family died.

I was like, Bill, take it easy. It was amazing how people took that so like you didn't take their memories from them, right? I mean, the memories are there. It's still the same building.

The banners are still in the same spot. Exactly. You know, but it's just OK. I mean, I was kind of shocked by it, but you're seeing that too in Pittsburgh right now with the Steelers.

They changed the team, the stadium name, and people freaking out over that sort of thing. At any rate, again, wow, Women of Wrestling, you were on last week to talk about that. Everyone should go check that out online as well as on social media and look forward to the Lakers season. Thank you.

Thanks. That's Jeannie Buss right here on the Rich Eisen Show. We are back. Bill Belichick has spoken today. So much going on in the world of the NFL. We will catch you up on all that when we come back.

We'll be right back. Each set is played up to six points. It's a sport you need to check out. HiLiWorld.com. Monday and Tuesday at 5 p.m. Friday at 7 p.m. Influencer.

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Navy Federal Credit Union. Our members are the mission. Great chat with Jeannie Buss.

I'm serious. If she doesn't ask at all, like, what are you going to ask? Commissioner of the NFL is just like that, too.

So is Adam Silver when he's been on this program. Not like, you know, so what are the ideas of what you're going to ask and whatever? Not at all.

She had no idea what was coming her way. Hey, how's it going? Away we go. I can't talk about Brownie, but I do remember when Gordie and Mark Howe played each other in Great Western Forum when he was with the Hartford Whalers.

That was pretty cool. Anthony Davis has got to stay healthy. Yeah. And then, you know, Ross has got to I mean, whatever Darvin Ham is selling, he needs to buy.

He needs to buy. Yeah. And I can only hope for her sake and for the Lakers sake and everyone else's sake that the whole concept, because this is what LeBron said right off the bat at the end of the season last year. Hey, me, Ross, Anthony Davis, we only played 11 games together. That's it. So watch us under 50 games, 60 games with the right coach.

OK, we shall. And it starts Tuesday night in Golden State. The Lakers there for a ring ceremony.

That's not their own. Jeannie Buss just said, you know, her favorite opening nights were the ones where they got the rings. The commissioners there and it feels great. And they're the visitors looking at this whole thing. And the ring ceremony is going down and who's going to be there to collect his ring?

But a new newly reinstalled member of the team, Draymond Green, he's going to practice with the team Thursday, expected to be in the preseason finale Friday and then there with the team Tuesday. Do not pay attention any longer to the fact that he nearly rearranged Jordan Poole's face in a video that got out. The mole hunt is on. Who got that video out?

That is a mole hunt going down in San Francisco. That is for damn sure. But like I told you, they have the right guy at the helm. Future Hall of Fame head coach who was the punchy in practice once. The most famous right hand maybe ever in the history of practice punches being thrown from Michael Jordan. So if there's anybody who needs to who could look at Jordan Poole and say, hey, Jordan, X, Y and Z. ABC, let's talk to Draymond. It's Steve Kerr. It's Steve Kerr. How many coaches can look at Jordan and say, I know how you feel, Jordan? Because there's a guy named Jordan who once did it to me in practice. Yes, but I'll do this back to Steve's playing career. He's not even a tenth as good as Jordan Poole. And same for the guy who punched him. That's a tenth of as good as, 20th as a good guy.

I get it. But he's still a valued member of a championship team. And you need to get this all put aside, don't you think? But yet the optics of this whole thing is that they're more upset about the video getting out than an assault that took place between That's what I said.

Another really good player. I told you why. It's a problem that the video got out. It's a problem. Their house has been basically broken into by somebody.

And is it a member of their staff? Draymond Green already burned the house down from inside by doing this in the first place. But everyone now saw how bad it was. And it's video of practice. I mean, video of practice. What are we talking about? We're talking about a very important part of becoming a championship team. Where you're working on stuff and things happen in practice and it should never get out. Ever.

And the question is, why did it get out? Does somebody want to clown Jordan Poole? Or does somebody want to make sure Draymond Green is held more accountable than he might not have been? Right? And you're sitting there wondering, absolutely it's an important part of this equation.

Certainly if you can put the other matter to bed. Steve Kerr spoke about that on Tuesday. We feel like we have a great feel for our team. We've got a lot of continuity on this team. So Bob and I know our players extremely well. We feel like this is the best way, after assessing everything, for us to move forward. This is the biggest crisis that we've ever had since I've been coach here.

It's really serious stuff. We're not perfect. Our team isn't perfect. Bob and I have definitely made our share of mistakes over the years.

But we're going to lean on the experience that we have together over the last nine years. And trust that this is the best decision for our team. Bob being the general manager who also said that Draymond crosses the line quite a bit but he always comes back. So he has now crossed the line in clearly the most significant way he's ever crossed the line internally. And he's been fine for it, not suspended. And he's done it before they've even played a single regular season game before they even got their rings.

Which means, how much tolerance is there going to be for any broach of the line from here on out? And that's going to be the razor's edge for this championship title defense. I mean I don't know how Jordan Poole stays on this team if I was him. Why would he want to stay on this team? Why would he want to be anywhere near Draymond Green ever? Well what's he going to do, just quit? Or demand what Draymond gets fired? I'm out.

Him or me. I'm not going to leave a championship squad to get traded to the Utah Jazz. That's the evidence. Look, if one of you guys punch me in the face, guess what? I'm never working here again. And that's the end of story.

The answer is what? We can trade you to the spot that's willing to take anybody on. Although Jordan Poole may be too talented for the Jazz to take on this year. They want Crown Vic. They want Crown Vic. They want the Frenchman of all Frenchmen.

The France. Here's the deal though Chris. One of us is probably never going to punch the other one in the face. So we don't ever have to worry about that. But I'm just saying if that scenario comes up, like what if Mike punches Adam in the back? Guess what?

Adam's never working here again. Yeah but you know, honestly we're a different operation than the Golden State Warriors. Please.

Mike I've been wanting to sock a couple of you guys. It's workplace. I hear you. I get it.

I get it. Nobody's going to really hit each other around here are they? I've thought about it. Oh please. Let's not do that.

But I'm not going to do it. How about Jeannie Buss saying, I mean she knows what the rule is. A lot of people talk about next year's draft already and how people are trying not to win some games.

Like she said she has to do everything. I mean Victor Webayana is just flat out hanging all over the season. Has an 18 year olds abilities. Hung over a league. When was the last time that happened? LeBron. Did you hear what Woj said?

What? Woj said he's the greatest prospect ever. Better than LeBron. I mean that is saying a lot. I sat on SportsCenter and did highlights of high school basketball for only one guy. I know. True facts. True facts.

I sat on the SportsCenter set waiting to go on the air after a live high school basketball game starring only one guy. Well. Okay. He wasn't seven foot four and could shoot threes. If Vic was American then yeah. But because he's over in France maybe that would change that narrative a bit. Or he's not going to hang over.

I don't know. Imagine if he was from New York. You'd be able to. Everyone going to be tuning into Metropolitan 92 games this year? There's some people will but the majority of us aren't. I mean if you're a hoophead you are. And by the way his clips will go viral on Twitter and Instagram and TikTok.

There will be everywhere. I would say you'd have to put Zion in there now that I think about it. Because Zion was that first athlete that really blew up. Not like this.

Not Rich. He blew up. Zion's YouTube clips were the greatest.

Oh I know that. He was the first kid who like. Like everyone's definitely tanking for him? Tanking for Zion? No because Zion went to college. He went to college. I know. But he was the first kid who like blew up based on social media. I mean the Knicks tried to tank for Zion. And then blew out of his shoe.

It didn't work. By the way he looks good. I can't wait. I know. Oh I can't wait.

Zion 22 to 1 MVP. Come on. Let's take a break. We have a handful of NFL pieces of business to get to. Yeah we got Bill.

The Dolphins have made a move in their locker room. The Dallas Cowboys head coach and I are like this. Oh yeah? Oh yeah. Mike McCarthy and I are simpatico. I like that. And a Bill Belichick press conference moment of the day and one other piece of video involving Travis Kelce that nobody I don't think has seen publicly yet. And we have it here. You didn't still have his ring camera did you? I'm telling you this is going to be great.

I wouldn't move. We're going to have a great NFL news segment when we come back to send you into the rest of your Wednesday. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show 844-204 Rich number to dial. Once upon a time the Miami Dolphins were 3-0. They're now 3-2.

We know what happened. They got Teddy Bridgewater in the middle of a game because of what happened with Tua. It doesn't look like Tua is coming back this week.

As a matter of fact it doesn't. It's not happening. Teddy Bridgewater if he does return from his head injury that knocked him out of last week's loss to the Jets he's going to back up Skylar Thompson. Coach Mike McDaniel naming Skylar Thompson the starter today.

They're taking on the Minnesota Vikings. And I guess they're all coming together as a leadership council and staff to address a lack of focus potentially in the locker room as well. Tyreek and the captains decided that you know they're going to have to work together. The captains decided that you know they wanted to take a step forward with all of their opponent prep with regard to the team and their preparation with our game plans in general.

So he made the move to take the ping pong tables out of the locker room. That to me is leadership. To me leadership is acting not talking.

There's a bunch of different examples from those guys. And that's why they're captains and that's why I rely on them because it's about solving problems not complaining about them. And they collectively as a group of players wanted more time investment during the week on their jobs for Sunday. So instead of just saying it they did something about it.

And that's the whole reason that I really have a lot of love for those guys. You know a lot of people definitely make fun of the fact that their losing streak cost them a ping pong table but I've heard about this stuff before. Where you know locker rooms get loose and suddenly two game losing streaks and you walk in the locker room and you are not happy about it and you are your jobs on the line you've got to prove something you're not winning and you see somebody in there playing ping pong.

Right. I'm sure that's when you hear like oh it's leadership they took the ping pong tables out that's I'm telling you that's a significant thing. That's why I didn't bring the ping pong table in because I didn't want you guys to get waxed. We didn't win an Emmy and I didn't want to bring the table and I wanted to save that for when we do win and reward us. But that's why in case you were wondering why I didn't bring the table.

But as you can tell there's if there's people in South Florida move things around there's people in Southern California who can move things in as well. You know it's my you know I'm the one who calls the leadership council together and I would like the ping pong table here if you don't mind me saying I think we can handle the distraction. You think? Well we've already got a putting surface and we're getting nominated with a putting surface. Oh and I'm a really good putter. Plus let me just say this.

Let me just say this guys. What do you what do you what do you know that makes me happiest here on the Rich College? Michigan winning? It's being right. Being right. Being right. Being right and not only being right but having my opinions echoed by the professionals who are actually coaching or playing the sport. This doesn't sound humble.

Oh it doesn't matter. This is not for humility. This is for chest pounding to say I've been telling you I told you this two days ago and yesterday. But I have been pounding the table for quite some time to have all 15 yard penalties reviewed in the National Football League. Certainly roughing the passer penalties and this has just allowed me to pound the table louder. Your voice carries weight bro. Mike McCarthy's voice carries a lot of weight too. He's the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

For sure. He's the Super Bowl winning coach of the Green Bay Packers before he was a coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Before he wins one with Dallas.

Yes. Look at him. Without him pushing buttons where would Cooper Rush be? Let me talk him up some more because he's about to echo my sentiments on roughing the passer penalties. I'd be for it.

I'd be for it. I think, just my opinion, I think clearly you look at the big penalties in the game. I think any foul 15 yards or more should be reviewable.

That would be my choice. I just think those type of plays are impactful. They can swing a game.

They can swing the field position. But there's obviously a process and there's a lot of debate that goes into it. There's a lot of analytics that goes into these things and so forth. I get it.

I've been part of some of those meetings in the past. But I think when it becomes very, very difficult for the players to try to do it right and they're still being penalized. That's a huge challenge. Two things.

First of all, he's so right. Secondly, do you want one of those Styrofoam Dallas Cowboys star cups? Yes. Okay, let me work on that. You know I do.

Let me work on that. That's your boy right now is what you're telling me, right? I do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, give me one.

In the hat too. You know what, let me call my buddy Mike and just tell him, you know, hey Mike, you're so spot on. You're so smart. Can I get me some of them Styrofoam cups? You would have them the next day. Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Thank you. Next up, next up, next up, Bailey Zappi's second start. Unless Matt Jones is coming back, unless it doesn't matter if Matt Jones is ready to come back because it's Bailey Zappi's job.

That's not true. Bailey's got the job. Bailey Zappi versus Matt Jones or in the same conversation as Matt Jones. Well, that leads to today's Bill Belichick press conference moment.

Today's Bill Belichick press conference moment. We prefer to win. How similar are Bailey Zappi and Matt Jones' skill sets?

Has it been an easy transition having him, you know, take the first naps at practice? Similar. Both right handed. They're both right handed and they both take in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.

They have blonde hair and blue eyes. Just like all of us because when it all comes down to it, aren't they just people? That guy in Eagle was a person.

They're people. That's another similarity. Yeah, Bill's not biting at this.

They're both right handed. Very good. He paused for such a long time. He's just like, I'm not going to answer this. What other joke? What was the other one liners he was thinking about using? It's like everybody.

I went through this with Brady and Bledsoe a million moons ago. And look, I pushed the right buttons there. Can you all just back off, please?

They're both right handed. Last item for you. Last item.

This is great. Travis Kelce, four touchdowns on Monday Night Football, correct? That's correct.

Yes. Who famously scored four touchdowns? Al Bundy. Al Bundy. Right.

So he tweeted out about it. There it is. Al Bundy has been my role model since I was a kid. The Polk High legend.

Four touchdowns in a single game. God-like. Put that out there. Hold on a minute. He wasn't done.

He had multiple tweets on the subject. Oh, yeah, yeah. You can't tell me I'm not all Al Bundy. Okay. So luckily for Travis Kelce, he has a diehard fan of his team who can reach out to the real Al Bundy. This is a fact.

And shoot a video just for Travis Kelce. Oh. Oh. And luckily for me and us, I have a spouse who is very friendly with Ed O'Neill herself.

Facts. He called in when she sat in here. And thanks to that relationship, I have the video. Oh. Oh. This is what was sent to Travis Kelce by Eric Stonestreet.

Check it out. Travis, Al Bundy here. Just want to congratulate you on the four touchdowns in one game last night. Tying my record that I never thought would be broached when I scored four in 1966 against Andrew Johnson High School against my arch rival, spare tire Bubba Dixon. Anyway, after that, you know, as you probably know, I've had great successes. I'm living in a trailer now, unfortunately, down by the river.

Good luck. That is epic. Has he received such video? I believe he has.

He has not reached out to Mr. Kelce. I hope he has, because we now have it. Just like him chilling in his boxers. It's one of those things. We wake up this morning, Susie goes, apparently Ed O'Neill did this video and he just sent it to me. And I'm just looking at her. I'm like, are you serious?

I don't even need to see it yet. And she goes, do you want to ask if he can use it? I'm like, yes. Of course. So then, of course, he says, go right away. And I'm like, well, what was the background? What was like? How did it tell happen?

And at that point, she turns to me and she goes, you text him, which I then did. Yeah, that makes sense. Is he in his boxers? I do believe that looks like a trailer. And he does look like he's all Donald Sterling now for his nude gig. So he's probably in the boxers just chilling.

I don't know, but that's the way he shot it. And I'm like, OK, does he want me to show it? Because remember, Eric said he went to his house to drop something off and he just came out in just this box. So that's an O'Neill national treasure.

And I live in a band down by the river. And that's the story he told when he called in with Susan Marshall. Chris Farley. Hey, guys, I need you to Google that thing. You know, he did that thing. Oh, God. Eric's telling that story.

That's right. Fantastic. I have an Al Bundy Polk High T-shirt that Ed signed and he signed. Oh, four TVs, one game. Legend.

Legend of the game. That'll wrap it up for this fun Wednesday program. I want to thank my guests on this program. Ian Eagle and Mike Pereira and in-studio guest Nick Turturro and Jeannie Buss. We're back on Roku to wrap this up. Thank you.