This is the Rich Eisen Show. Why has the Kyrie Lucca marriage put the Mavs in a position to miss this playoffs entirely? Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.
This is a team building crisis because the Mavericks were in the conference finals last year. Earlier on the show, ESPN Sports Center host Scott Van Pelt, Fox Sports College football analyst Bruce Feldman. Coming up, former sports marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro. And now, it's Rich Eisen.
Yes it is. Here on the Rich Eisen Show, Sirius XM, Odyssey, the Roku channel, free on all Roku devices. Select Samsung Smart TV, free on all Amazon Fire TV, the Roku app and the Rokuchannel.com.
We are live in Los Angeles, California. Sonny Vaccaro, who's played by Matt Damon in the movie Air that hits theaters tonight. It's so dynamite, it's so great. Honestly, it's directly up the alley of everybody who takes in this show. And I'm assuming everyone takes in this show because we're a blend of sports and pop culture.
This film is exactly that, about Michael Jordan signing with Nike. We had Ben Affleck, who plays Phil Knight in the film that he also directs on Tuesday. Monday's show featured our chat with Matt Damon, who again, plays Sonny Vaccaro, who's in studio in this hour. We already chatted with Bruce Feldman, two segments, deep dive on his mock draft and what's going on in the NFL draft.
He is as plugged into anybody in college football and what people are saying at that level about all these prospects are coming to the next level. We chatted with Scott Van Pelt in hour number one. This show re-airs on the Roku channel, channel 210. As soon as we're done with this third hour, there's our podcast for anybody who wants to listen to this show every day. Hit us with a subscribe button there for the RSS feed.
We also appreciate anybody who subscribes to our YouTube page as well. 844-204-RICH, numbered Adal, Chris Brockman, Mike Del Tufo in their spots, TJ Jefferson in his spot, as always, right here on our program. So, what the draft is three weeks from tomorrow, teams are beginning to have press conferences with their local media about what their draft boards look like, what they're thinking about. The draft looks like a little bit of a PR. I can't wait for the Jets and the Packers to have one, because right now, as we're currently sitting there, Aaron Rodgers is still not a New York Jet.
Radio silent. He's still not a New York Jet, and it's all good. It's all good, honestly. You know, my buddy Mike Greenberg, who's hosting the draft, he is all agitated right now. I am, I am, look, look at my hand right here.
For the radio audience, it's not moving. I'm cool. You're not going to curse on the air, are you? Um, no.
Okay. Why, is Greenberg cursing on the air? He's threatening to drop F-bombs if it doesn't happen.
On ESPN, I would pay to see that. I think he said it on a different show. Oh, okay. Um, well, it's very undiznified. That's what I meant.
If he's going to start... I don't know. I mean, because if you take the word up out and put the F-word in there, that's a totally different name of the show. It might be a better show. Mike Tannenbaum has heard that language since his Rex Ryan days.
At any rate, I'm cool. This is going to happen. It's going to happen because there's no way the Packers are going to watch the Jets use back-to-back second round picks.
No chance. And if they do, let the Jets go back-to-back in the second round? That they sent Elijah Moore to Cleveland to get a second round pick? Clearly to send to Green Bay for Aaron Rodgers? Like, hey! Joe Douglas waving his hand from New Jersey.
Hey, Brian Gudekunst! See that trade I just made with Cleveland? It's a second round pick. I got one.
You want one? Because you're not getting the 13th overall. And I know that that still has caused us, apparently, one would think, to be in this sorry folks world right now. That Aaron Rodgers is still not on the New York Jets. Sorry folks! There you go.
Mike has finally clued in with it. I was doing some stuff. Got it. Bottom line is, I'm cool.
Sorry folks. It's going to happen. And if the Packers want to let the Jets use all their draft choices and then send us Aaron Rodgers? Because they're going to have to. All I know is Albert Breer last week said, hey, it's going to happen sooner rather than you think.
And I'm kind of like Albert. Tick-freaking-tock with three weeks now for the draft. But. Jets and the Packers are going to eventually talk to the media, I guess. The Ravens had one today.
They sent a trio of gentlemen to the stage. They sent Eric DeCosta, the general manager. John Harbaugh, the head coach. And Joe Horowitz, who is their director of player personnel, has got a lot of his tires kicked by teams looking for a general manager. He's still with the Ravens organization. And the Ravens said, hey, this is a draft press conference. Any questions about Lamar Jackson? Well, we're going to pass. Take a pass. How do you think that went?
Here you go. It's been a week since Lamar tweeted about having the trade request and saying goodbye to the fans with the Ravens. Have you had a chance to talk to him since?
What was the conversation like? And when the player asks, saying he wants to be traded, what's your confidence level of him being able to be in the playing this year with the Ravens? Yeah, so those are, you know, I understand the need to ask those kind of questions. I think just out of respect for the process, this is a draft luncheon. And we're going to try to keep as much of this discussion as we can to the draft. To the coming weeks, building the best football team we can build. So I understand those questions. I think we've spoken about this situation probably five different times this spring in various different press conferences and such. So we're going to try to just kind of defer those questions and move forward to the draft.
With respect to this being about the draft and everything, just with the Lamar stuff that's going on, are you all looking at quarterbacks? Out. Out. If you can, this is about the draft. There you go.
Can I ask a question? That's part of it. We're not going to answer one more question tonight. Ladies and gentlemen. That's on the tape. It's not you.
I just want people to be, like, leaning at me. The cost was asked if he's looking at quarterbacks differently because of the situation. Quote, unquote, I don't think we really are. We got into every draft trying to take out. We go in every draft trying to take out any kind of bias.
We kind of need any kind of need based situation. Take it out of the draft equation. Joe Horitz asked about the evaluation of the quarterback class, that it's pretty strong up top. Both Horitz and DaCosta said they like the quarterback group so much.
Here you go. DaCosta was asked if he would take a quarterback in the first round, the Ravens choose 23rd. And the answer would say, depends on the board, really does. I would have to say yes because we have quarterbacks in our top 31.
So just based on that alone simple math, I would have to say yes. Can you imagine Lamar still unsigned to an offer sheet, draft hits, first round, they take a quarterback. I will tell you what. Let me just say this because, again, this is my 20th year with NFL Network. And I have been hosting a live draft every year since 2006 with the exception of the COVID draft when I was online as part of their fundraiser. Zoom. Yeah, I did the Zoom draft. Let me just say this. All I'm saying is I've been around the block.
I've done this for a while. If the Ravens go into the draft and Lamar Jackson still does not have a single offer sheet signed and the Ravens 23rd overall take any quarterback, anybody who is a quarterback. Hendon Hooker would be a perfect example if he's still out there. Where you don't need him, Tyler Huntley can go or Lamar can go. Whatever you want to say, however you wish to spin it, you take a quarterback in the first round that night. And I understand April 27th, is that the actual date of the draft? April 27th, that Thursday night in Kansas City, it will become December 25th.
Because the entire world would light up like a tree. Oh, my God, that would be something. Now, I don't think that's going to happen.
How about that? I don't know what Lamar's option is going to be. Because you look at the teams that could currently go get him. Washington, I guess I'll still include Atlanta, although they have spent in a certain way where I don't know. I'm not a capologist.
I don't play one on TV either. Vegas, Indianapolis. I don't see that offer sheet coming even after the draft if they don't get another quarterback. I don't see it.
Now, there is one that still fascinates me, because it would blow the roof off this sucker, and it's your team, Chris. It's the Patriots. There's weird stuff going on up there. Because Mike Florio is reporting that Belichick has talked Mac Jones this offseason with other teams. Mac's still there, and no one will say anything, because they're not going to say anything. Because the only one who can say anything doesn't say anything. That's Bill.
Not going to happen. But there's a reason why Robert Kraft let it loose that Meek Mill told him, hey, Lamar is interested. There's a reason why. Kraft clearly has a relationship with Meek Mill.
We know that. He doesn't need to name drop. Is it to communicate to you, the fan in New England, that, hey, we looked into it? Is it to communicate to Bill, hey, if you are going to trade away the kid who I adore, there is Lamar here. What would the option be if they traded Mac Jones away?
Go get Will Levis in this draft, sitting there in the middle. They love him so much in Kentucky. That's the backup plan. That's the one thing I haven't heard in this conversation. Florio's report that Mac Jones, if they are willing to part with him, if Belichick is willing to, if we're going to take into account Tom Curran's conversation with us from NBC Sports Boston, the reason why Mac will not be sent away this time at this point is Bill O'Brien was brought in to rectify last year's situation where everything sucked like the quick game. And Kraft loves him in Mac Jones.
That if he is willing to buck that system, what's the what was the plan? Bailey Zappi? I don't believe it.
I don't think so. Like and your your print up the Zappi jerseys. And if things went south with Zappi, the guy who was always there as Brian Hoyer, they released him with still owing him guaranteed money. But he's still staying in the family. He stayed in the family.
I know. McDaniel's goes to Vegas. Somebody with a Patriots pedigree cannot quit Brian Hoyer. He just signed as the backup to Jimmy G. Is Zolack available? I mean, who knows? I think this is what I think. I think Kraft dropped the Meek Mill line.
Yes. To be like, hey, if this goes south again this year and the quarterbacks are terrible and it doesn't work out and we miss the playoffs, look, there's your guy who you can blame. Bill wanted to keep it this way and it would make Kraft getting rid of Bill so much easier. But he's the guy he's the guy who. Never paid Brady like the top quarterback in the league ever, and he's suddenly now going to do that with Lamar Jackson.
Really? Bob's in his 80s. He's the one who's got a stroke. He wants to win again. I don't think he's laying the groundwork to fire Belichick. I'm telling you, Bill is coaching for his job. I know you keep saying playoffs this year, but there will be a new head coach in New England in 20. But what? Let's just but let's place that aside for the moment. And I know you you keep returning to that and trust me, we'll have time to keep it out there.
So if it happens, I know you've already put it out there and I'm sure you're going to put it out there again. Who is the guy who they would turn to? Now, we don't know when these trade offers were made. If the trade offers were made before Garoppolo or Derek Carr signed somewhere else, that would make sense to me. Those guys are off the market. Right.
So once those guys went off the market entirely possible. Well, didn't we hear was it Zolack who said, I wouldn't be surprised if Jimmy G went to Oak, went to the Raiders? No, I know. I know.
Sorry, Mac Jones. Well, all these rumors have been out there before the Raiders are in the Florio report. One of the four teams that Belichick spoke to.
So, by the way, Florio's report entirely accurate. And so could the fact that these trade offers were made before Carr and Garoppolo made their moves. And once they did, Mac Jones is entirely off the table. Like we could be having this conversation on the show right now as we are. And the possibility of trading Mac Jones is long since passed.
But I'm just curious to know, who is that guy? Who is the guy that they would say better than trying Mac Jones on for size for a third year with the guy that we brought in to specifically fix last year and give him the opportunity to improve? A year or two to three jump that we sure didn't see between years one to two. Or were they going to punt on and then just reset the clock on the five years like we've been talking about some team might do at some point? Patriots are sitting there 14th overall. I don't think that's who they're going for. What if Anthony Richardson is still there at 14? No chance. Not a chance on this green earth will that kid be available after five. No chance. That kid starts to fall.
Do you know how fast somebody's phone is going to ring? He wouldn't get past 13. The Jets would trade out.
Or the Jets would take him and tell the Packers, see ya. Sorry. Hey Allen Lazard, you want to play with Anthony Richardson? Honestly. I'd have to.
I would be all over that. Sorry Green Bay. Enjoy that 60 million dollar salary. And I'm Joe Douglas.
I am saying that one million percent. Try me. Try me. And you can't if you're Gudekunts run that risk. No.
Not if you're the Packers. Anthony Richardson's there at 13. Done. Sold. Sold. How more can I emphatically say that? How about this.
If Anthony Richardson's available at 13 for the Jets and they don't take him, I'll curse on the air. Yes. Oh please.
What the heck. We now have something to root for. There you go. Let's go. Come on Green. I'll raise you an F bomb. But this is what I'm saying.
If somebody starts to drop, who makes moves to the... You can't run the risk if you're Green Bay. Fascinating. This is amazing. I can't wait. Three weeks from tonight we get answers. Finally. Take a break. Sonny Vicaro is here on the Rich Eisen Show. This is going to be fun. Don't go anywhere.
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Good to see you. I'm doing as well as I've ever done since I married Pammy a long, long time ago Rich. It's something that you just can't grasp, at least someone like myself, what's been happening as far as the movie goes. As far as the movie goes because I was going to ask, you know, you mentioned your wife Pam who's sitting here in studio, you know, watching us talk to one another and you know so many people when they say, hey if they make a movie about something in your life or about you, who would you want to play you? I mean Matt Damon's pretty high up on the list for a lot of people Sonny. You know you can go to any generation you want and there's a few Matt Damon's every time along the way that'll live forever in the skills that he has and that's film and movies and acting and all that. You can't get any better and Ben and Viola, in fact the whole cast is sort of like, you know, the Frank Sinatra, the first, you know, when he got the old gang together, Ocean's Eleven, right? This is what we're talking about. By the way, another movie that Matt's been in, the second version of Ocean's Eleven. Right, absolutely. Matt's been in everything.
I mean, God bless him. He played a soldier, he played a guy who was crazy and whatever. But the most important thing, we'll get on with your show, Rich.
Sure, yeah. The one that I remembered forever and I loved him for, not, you know, the guy that loses his memory and has 25 and it lasts forever, is gambling movie, Rounders. One of the best gambling movies ever done, that and Cincinnati Kid. I've gambled and I enjoy poker and all that and I've told Matt, I said, I can always go over the whole thing. I thought, I think that's what bounded me to never think this day would happen, Rich.
Sure. And it's odd that you say you love poker, Sonny, since in the film, you know, the Sonny Vicaro character cleans up on a trip to Vegas with a big fat wad of cash. I mean, I saw that part of the movie. I was very impressed.
And I sevened out and lost all the damn money, right? Okay. So I got to tell the story of that. So that's okay. That's true, too. That's good.
It is funny. So I love the movie and I think it is just, it felt like it lasted five minutes. And I was also on the edge of my seat, even though I knew, obviously, you would wind up getting Michael Jordan to sign on the dotted line. What is your recollection of signing Michael Jordan, Sonny? Well, the last scene, you know, in the public and the first time I'm saying it ever, I think, because I never thought there'd be a movie of it.
So why would I bring it up? In fact, after I saw the game where I first saw Michael was when they beat Georgetown. That's the first time you ever saw him?
That's the first time. And the last time I saw him, until Tony Romo, two years later. Michael Jordan was on my A-list that day that he hit that shot. Georgetown, and you know, because you followed my life, Georgetown was one of our Nike teams.
John Thompson was one of my best friends in life. He hit that shot that beat the team that was working for Nike at that time. I mean, we had Nike.
It had nothing to do with North Carolina. Never met Dean Smith. You had never seen Michael Jordan play? Never.
And never saw him play again until he went pro. I'm very honest about that. And that's the irony of the whole movie, and that's what the public's going to get. The way Matt played that scene of me, you know, having psychologically the film and all that stuff, that's an improvement. Because in my mind, what Matt did was make a whole scene out of exactly what I told him happened in my mind. Which was the fact that you saw Jordan calmly... Make the shot. Right, and that Dean Smith had clearly drawn up a play for him at that young stage of his life. He made James Worthy, one of the greats of that era, you know, come across and drag the defensive man with him. I never forgot that.
Then I was home. I was mad because we didn't win. We beat Georgetown and John and all the kids and Patrick. And I never thought about it until the day they brought me into Nike and asked me to talk about signing an athlete that they never had.
They had pros, as you know, but they never had the signature guy. So to go, you know, to go where you want to take me on the show, Rich. I want to say, you know, that that scene that Matt replayed and he eloquently talked about it to the public in that three or four minute piece explains my mind. If I can't just keep saying I saw him and I liked him, it doesn't make sense.
Right. And that's why I never talked about it before. But if you explained it to I saw something that just stuck in my mind and as life went through for me, I had an ability somehow because, you know, to use this on your show today. I did see Kobe would never saw him before.
I did see Tracy McGrady never did was involved with LeBron when he was a sophomore and a junior in high school. I have a gift. Other, you know, the gift is I think I can tell talent at a low level or a small level or whatever level that was. And it was nothing planned. I didn't know anything about it. In fact, if you would have asked me, you know, early in my life, basketball was the least interesting sport to me.
I was a pretty good athlete, but I was horrible in the game of basketball, even getting there. But to go to the movie, it is so direct and New York's more questions for you. But that scene to me tells the public that's why we signed them. There was no logic for me to say against the other people in the room that day were more powerful and Nike than I was. I ran the college thing.
I had nothing to do with the pros. Sonny Vicaro here on The Rich Eisen Show again airs in theaters on Wednesday, April 5th. Wow.
So many different ways to go with you after what you just said. But Kobe, you said you said when did you see him? And you're like, OK, that's that's that's another one of the guys here.
When was that? When I went to Adidas, my job was to find the next Mike. That that's like, yeah, do it again. Do it again. And Adidas and Rob Strasser, who's in the movie, they had bought Rob Strasser and Peter Moore acquired Adidas America from the parent company.
Using the money that you guys made from Nike. Well, pretty much it was his not mine. No, I'm right here. Well, I mean, due to your decision. Right. But my point, I had nothing to do with the financial buying of that stuff.
Yeah. So they went they invited me to join them. I was doing OK. My wife was a very successful commercial actress in the 90s. We were making a living, OK, after I got fired.
I'm fired now when they do that. And Peter and Rob, they're both passed away now, as you know. You know, they bought it. They invited me to join. And right after that, you know, Rob died like six months into the new buy.
The first and Peter was named president. And he said to me, what do you think we got to do? I said, well, we can't redo what we do.
We have to find the next guy. And I said, let's just start with the high schools. I then Adidas sponsored about 50 high schools that that next year. And I got to know the kids.
Now, here's what happened. So that my my internship goes in this new job. I said to them, let me go to New York for a year. They rented an apartment for nine months for Pam and I.
A very nice thing. I went to New York and my thing to the public was I everything happens in New York City. I'll see the pros. I'll see the colleges. And what I wanted to do was see the high school, because my ABCD camp gave me entree to all the new great young kids.
The ABCD camp was my that was my that started my second life. OK, I'm passed. I'm fired. I'm no longer I don't have control of college teams anymore. I don't have any teams like I did at Nike.
So we get college teams one at a time. And here's what happened. I started the ABCD camp. I knew about. In nineteen ninety two or seventy two, Joe Bryant played in my Dapper Dan Rombaugh classic.
He was the MVP. That's Joe Jelly Bean Bryant. I know who that is. And the next year, OK, Chubby Cox plays in the Dapper Dan Rombaugh classic. That was, you know, his mother. That's her maiden name is Cox. OK, Joe. It's Joe's wife. OK, Pam. And so all the.
I'm there. I hadn't seen Joe since nineteen seventy two. He played in the NBA, went to Europe. They lived in Italy.
Kobe was brought up in Italy. OK, he comes. He goes to a friend of mine named Gary Charles, who was a main help to me in the EU movement. And Gary came with me in nineteen ninety when I got, you know, let go. Joe comes over and he talks to Gary and he reintroduces me to Joe. And Joe talks to me and he said, you know, I was sure I remembered he was the MVP. OK, I said, Sonny, can I get my son into ABCD camp? I, I did that a lot.
ABCD camp was for the best. But I always brought in guys who may not have been the best. And or if somebody was, I did that. So you're like, sure, for Joe.
Jelly, I'll do something. Right. Joe was a great player.
And so was Chubby. So he had Kobe walks in. Is that what you're saying? No, they're there.
They're there. They're OK. Gary brings him over and reintroduces me to him. So he talks about. So I put Kobe in camp camps over one week.
OK. And as you know, whatever square the God Almighty, Kobe comes over to me after the camp. First time he was another kid of 140 that year, 130 kids in camp. He made the underclassmen All-Star game, which was very big there. I think Jay-Z was there.
I mean, various Jay and that's the kind of people would come. It was in Farley Dickinson. That's where he had the camp.
So it was easy to get there. And Kobe says to me, swear to God, he comes over and says, thank you, Mr. Vercaro, for inviting me to camp. I appreciate it. I said, I'm so glad to help you.
And I hope I'll see you next year. He said, I got to apologize. This happened, Rich.
I said, apologize for what, Kobe? I want to tell you something. I'm very disappointed. I think something happened. Somebody heard him or something.
You know what? What happened? Next year, I'm coming back to camp.
I'm going to be the best player at this camp. Kobe said that to me. He made like the underclassmen also apologize for not doing better. He apologized. Only two people ever did that. There's a story about Michael Jordan, very similar to that, but not that.
But Kobe Bryant comes over. Well, now I know in my mind, psychologically, I saw he was good. Obviously, he didn't made you all start him. Now he's in my thing.
So my whole we're paying the rent, you know, the big apartment there in New York. I called Peter Moore. I said, I got the kid. What do you mean you got the kid? I got I know what I'm doing. What?
I got a kid. That's going to be great. I swear to God on that day, on that day where he said apologize for not doing as well as he thought. Because I knew on that day what Michael Jordan told me one day prior to that, when we were making a tour of Europe and Germany, what I'll tell you the story about, stay on Kobe. I knew he had the good ones. OK, I knew he had the guts to do it. OK, I never saw Kobe play a high school game.
I would invite Pam and I would have his wife and him, his father. Never saw Kobe again. Never till camp. Never. Now, I'm recruiting him.
I go to his house at Christmas time. But we went to see, you know, the kid from Villanova was pretty good. OK, so and Terry Kittles.
That's what you know. And Terry was good. Terry was in the lottery.
So but I disguised it by doing other things and never talking to everybody. I knew that Kobe was going to be our investment. He played through and he had a heck of a senior year. But not that he he doesn't have the accolades of like some of the other kids.
I mean, whatever. That's the day I knew Kobe Bryant was going to become part of Adidas. Everyone thinks of him now because he ended his career and it's horrible the ending of Kobe.
But my point, Rich, I knew that was the person. And that changed because signing Kobe, then we got Tracy. Then we got Jermaine O'Neal. Then we we had a great shot of getting LeBron.
And if LeBron would have, you know, if Adidas would have done what they were supposed to, we had a better chance to get him. But Kobe Bryant was the same mentality as Michael Jordan. I can tell you this now, the public watching it, and they all know because I think the only guy that you can talk about today, all this goat stuff and all the greatest, that doesn't mean anything to me.
You know, what means to me is how good you were in the area you're playing. Well, Kobe didn't make any friends by being nice to his teammates. OK, Kobe didn't make any friends by doing anything when he was on that court. That was his life.
There was no question about it. When he was off the court, he was whoever he wanted to be as a husband, as a whatever. We lived in Palisades Drive. We helped Kobe's parents get his first home on top of the drive. That's how close I was to the Bryants as we went. So talking about Kobe and talking about Sonny Vicaro and starting this whole conversation about Michael. That was the trail of my life. There was always a reason for me doing whatever was odd in society. It was a heck of a trail for sure. Sonny Vicaro here on The Rich Eisen Show.
OK, in the couple of minutes I have left. So you did go to Michael's house? You did.
And you knocked on you? Not physically to Michael's house. OK. We had that conversation, though. I actually talked to his mother after I met him at Tony Romo's because I had the sense there that we had a shot with him. But I knew the most important person in his life. His respect for Dean Smith was obvious. But the one thing he said to me as we sat there at lunch that day, that first and only day I met him till after he signed him, was his family. And I that is what I started a phone conversation with her. She knew who I was. And in the ending, that last scene you see where she's there, where Dolores is there and making a final decision. Those words happened.
They didn't necessarily happen in the sights of where they're going. But Mrs. Jordan and I had those conversations, yes. Is it true that, again, in the film, Jordan, you know, wanted a deal, obviously, but he also wanted a car out of it? And then ultimately he would have just done the deal for the car and his mom wound up getting, you know, a piece of the shoe?
His mom ended up getting a piece of the company. Forget the shoe. What Michael Jordan did, give me 30 more seconds.
Go for it. He wanted a whole new world for athletes. He I don't know about the goat, Rich.
I said that five seconds ago to you. But I do know there's one goat in what Michael Jordan, the goat of marketing, the goat of making money, the goat of being part owner. Michael Jordan over that. LeBron was like the next guy that comes close to that.
But there is no no enforcement for black athletes and Spike Lee and all the things that Michael did. Michael Jordan to the world should be remembered as starting an industry that was not there. You can like Mark Michael.
You cannot like Michael. You can think it was the best player, not the best player. That's your argument. But one thing the world knows, Michael Jordan saved the company that now is as big as it can be. Nike is as big in the industry, in the world. There's no question about the superiority of what Nike. Michael Jordan did that. No, Michael Jordan.
First of all, forget me being fired. I don't know if there's a Nike today. And however people want to argue, you can say you can argue for all. They would have been another Reebok or another Puma or not saying that they're bad. Of course, I understand they wouldn't be the Nike they are today.
That doesn't happen. Was it his mother's idea to get a piece of the company? His mother was the idea. She I told Michael he'd get a piece of the shoe. Rob and Peter gave me the authority. You're going to own part of this shoe. I didn't know what was going to transfer. The lawyer says my son's going to own part of Nike. You make a dime.
I make a dime. I'm that that that that when Viola does that. Ladies and gentlemen, don't cry. Just listen to what this mother is saying. Again, listen to the year 1984. We just got off the 1960s, the 1970s. You talk about we have problems today with race and religion and everything else.
Rich, it was worse then. And this lady stood up for her son with the knowledge of like they met when they made a trip. I had the feeling we got him. But when she said, you know, I want a piece of the company. And you remember the last scene where Phil comes in and, you know, he's talking to Rob and he's hollering at me.
What the hell did I know? I felt like we can't, you know, but you told me to offer him. But and Strasser did say, you know, he did give me the OK. But the bottom line, I can say we can sign off.
However, it worked out in life. Yeah. Phil and I did say, yes, let's give it to him in the screening that I saw the movie Sunny. That was an applause line when she said, I want a piece. And the whole audience clapped.
You're getting goosebumps, right? I was thinking about you just you just in the vein that happened. It was it was really something in the theater when that happened. And, you know, I mean, obviously, literally the rest is history.
Again, air is in theaters exclusively on Wednesday, April 5th. Before I let you go, Sonny Vacaro, let's do this. I want your favorite Jerry Tarkanian story.
You want to talk about goats. OK, you got you. Come on.
What do you got for me? I need I need to go. What's your favorite Jerry Tarkanian favorite? The most favorite one was when he made the first statement, you know, you know, that your school gets on probation.
You know, no one knows who the hell you are. And they allow, you know, Kentucky to go on and do whatever. You know, we put them on the little school in Kentucky violates everybody. But Jerry had so many. But the most important thing about Jerry. Yes.
What he was was the oddest looking most successful person in the world. Well, that's true. I mean, you want to just talk about sucking on a on a wet towel. I mean, that's one of them.
A short sleeves, nervous wreck on the bench. You know, everything. Then he goes to Las Vegas, where in 1970s, when he went there, when I was there with them and I was included in it, listen, the mob rubbed.
They ran. What the hell am I going to tell this audience? I can't lie. And they were my best friends. I mean, you know, and and Jerry, we had because of my friendship, I had access. Pam and I got a lot of free dinners in Las Vegas. OK, so so Las Vegas was special.
But Jerry Tarkanian is the only man that could have gone to that university and turned it around in America. That they've been good and all that sort of stuff. Yeah. But his life was like this blessing. They put him in Las Vegas. Well, I mean, in between the story that that takes place in air in E4 and the Fab Five, who you had mentioned in between that was the ascension of UNLV basketball, as we know it with with Larry Johnson and Grandmama and Stacey Augman and the rest.
And Craig Anthony. I mean, yeah. I mean, that was that was another team in the midst of all this with Duke taking off. And obviously Michael making North Carolina champion in the 80s, Georgetown doing what it's doing. There was UNLV doing its thing for sure.
I know you've been kind to me and we're over time. OK, let me say the game where Duke lost to Vegas in Denver when they kicked their rear end. That was that. You go back on the roster of that team. Now they win the next.
And I still think that the kids in Vegas lost a tough game. We'll just leave it at that. Sure. But let me say for your show, OK, to Sonny Vicaro personally, there are three schools. Now, I was close to all of them. I had favorite friends because of just that's what human beings do.
But I never let it interfere with my business. I never made a decision on a school because I like you more. I may have given you a contract, but what I can tell you for the record today, the Fab Five, George San Hoyas and the Las Vegas Rebels did more for what I was in. Sell shoes than any schools in America at that time. Those kids, those kids earned everything in those universities.
But to Sonny Vicaro, they'll never be three teams to me in the world that I lived in that moved basketball forward. These these kids who were all questioned for, however, in the schools were. However, all these kids went to those particular schools at those particular times had nothing to do. And you went to Michigan.
But those five kids, the Fab Five. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. OK, you know, John's teams, Tarck's teams, they moved the needle in selling the product that I was involved in. No one ever did that and still hasn't.
And they never will be like that. Sonny Vicaro, thank you for coming on here on this program. Again, airs a terrific movie.
It is a fun frolic. Just remembering what happened back in the day. And is that an accurate portrayal of Phil Knight in the in the film? Well, yeah, it is because, you know, he's a different person.
I mean, all the things you saw about his beliefs and Buddhist and all that stuff. Right. There's nothing wrong.
Everybody has whatever. That's what I mean. Yeah. But he was I mean, that movie, that was for real. We didn't make up him being that over him with no no shoes on his feet.
Right. And then coming in and saying, I'll think about, you know, whether you can sign Jordan. And he said, I went for a run. I mean, and you know what?
It's interesting. I was on the yo yo. That was true.
I was a stranger in 1984. Just remember, I had nothing to do with pros. Me picking Michael was totally out of context of what my life was. I didn't give a damn about the pros, to be very honest with you. I cared about the colleges and the kids in college for my camps and for everything else I did. My life depended on those people. Well, you certainly picked a winner. There's no question about it. Sonny Vicaro, thank you for being here on this program. I like to get animated and you helped me so much.
It's a pleasure to meet you and pleasure having you telling all these stories. Air is again available exclusively in theaters on Wednesday, April 5th, right here on The Rich Eisen Show. After years of getting ripped off by big wireless providers, there's finally a better option. Mint Mobile is the affordable premium wireless service that you can buy online starting at just 15 bucks a month. By cutting out retail stores, Mint Mobile got rid of the crazy overhead costs so you could score sweet savings every month. To get your new wireless phone plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to mintmobile.com slash switch.
That's mintmobile.com slash switch. Rich Eisen Show radio network back here, sitting at The Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger is the right product for you.
Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. The great Jeremy Shapp, as we refer to him in our household, Shapeel O'Neal. Whenever Grainger comes on, I don't know. Could you imagine he goes, he shows up on outside the lines. Welcome to outside the lines. I'm Shapeel O'Neal.
Do you want me to shoot it? But Shappoix, the great Jeremy Shapp got Kaitlin Clark to zoom in on his Tuesday program. And hit her up with the two topics du jour, which, by the way, is amazing. The day after the men's championship game, we're still talking about the way the Sunday women's championship game ended. And the fact that Dr. Jill Biden, our first lady, said that she thinks that Iowa should come to the White House as well to celebrate their.
Terrific season, that's not the way it works, we all know, and then her comments got walked back by her press secretary. But at any rate. The I mean, we're not sitting here talking about the Mensa-Sonogo rivalry. No, we're talking about Angel Reese and we're talking about Kaitlin Clark because of the way that game ended and. Kaitlin Clark told Jeremy she has zero problem with what Angel Reese did at the end of that game.
And it should not be held against the LSU Tiger. I don't think Angel should be criticized at all. You know, no matter which way it goes, you know, she should never be criticized for what she did. You know, I'm just one that competes and she competed. So I think everybody knew there was going to be a little trash talk in the entire tournament.
It's not just me and Angel. So, you know, I don't think she should be criticized. Like I said, LSU deserves that.
They played so well. And like I said, I'm a big fan of hers. Bingo. So it's over, right? Controversy. It should be done. Kaitlin Clark has no problem with it. Over.
Right. Just women doing what men do. And again, as you know, I don't know, you were here yesterday, I pointed out with Susie. I don't understand so many. Susie is one of the most competitive people I know. I'm sure so many people know many competitive women.
Why are we so shocked when we see it in an actual competition with the stakes that they had on the line between Iowa and LSU? Well, can I be honest? Like this was kind of like I thought about this all night, Rich. And it kind of like bugged me. And I didn't say it yesterday.
So I have to say it now. I understand that you're looking at it like they're just thinking of as women being competitive. But as we all know, that's not what the big story here was. That's not why. I mean, yeah, the women that may have accounted for five percent. But that's not why this happened.
That is not why this has been talking about race. I mean, clearly look at, you know, some of these people like, you know, the barstool guy who calls her a classless POS for doing that. And, you know, Keith Olbermann, who, you know, that's that said stuff about her. KO didn't know the full story.
And also, like I filled you in yesterday, LSU, I'd been watching them. They had been taking sharpies every game and drawing rings on their fingers. So that ring thing was something that they'd been doing. But people didn't see that. They didn't know that. They just saw this girl doing that.
And I don't know. I just had to get that out because, man, I swear to you, all last night I was thinking about it and it was just bugging me. So, well, Kate and Clark also said that she doesn't think that Iowa should go to the White House. As well, I mean, Clark's a dog, man, I don't think so. I don't think she needed anyone to like stand up and champion her.
I think she's she'll be just fine. There you go. So that's from outside the lines. Hosted by Chappelle O'Neill. Yes. P.N. If we ever get Billy Crystal back on here, we've got to have him do his Jeremy Shab. He is a great Jeremy Shab because he always because he always spells out E.S. P.N. That'll wrap it up for the R.E.S. right here on the Rich Eisen Show. We are back with more in a moment.
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