REShow: Pierre McGuire - Hour 2 (6-5-2023)

This is the Rich Eisen Show, live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Nick Nurse was introduced. Do you want James Harden back?

James Harden's a great player. It didn't answer the question. Did you order the Code Red?

Did you order? The Rich Eisen Show with guest host Kirk Morrison. Earlier on the show, veteran NBA reporter Howard Beck still to come. NHL analyst Pierre Maguire.

Sirius XM MLB Network radio analyst Scott Miller. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Kirk Morrison. Yes indeed, our number two of the Rich Eisen Show, Kirk Morrison here filling in for Rich. Happy graduation by the way, Cooper. That's where Rich is at today, being the awesome dad that he is. So congrats to Cooper as well.

Always here with the guys, Dale Tufo, Brockman, TJ. Our number one was really NBA heavy, which had to be coming off the NBA finals last night. And I always make sure I stress that. I make sure that I stress that because I did learn this a very long time ago guys, that it is the NBA finals and it's also the Stanley Cup final. It is not a plural. Yeah, it's final.

No S. No possessive or plural. It is the Stanley Cup final between the Florida Panthers and the Las Vegas Knights, by the way. So I always like to stress that because we were talking a lot of NBA finals in segment number or our number one. As we get into our number two, there's always NBA news that sort of floats around.

We're focused on obviously the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat. And sometimes you don't want to talk about things that may overshadow the NBA finals. Like Adam Silver talking about, hey, we got a suspension for John Moran, but we'll let you know when the series over. Like that to me is kind of like, okay, so now we're waiting when the NBA finals are over, we'll learn the fate of John Moran. But then when there's a story, when there's a report that comes out, that Kyrie Irving, who's a free agent, again, a free agent decides that, you know what, I'm going to reach out to LeBron James and say, hey, LeBron, would you like to team up with me in Dallas? Which would give Dallas a big three of Luka, Kyrie and LeBron. And the actual tweet is sources Kyrie Irving has reached out to Lakers star LeBron James and attempts to see if James would come to Dallas. Irving is a free agent this offseason.

So which honestly does that explain a lot? Meaning that I talked earlier in the first hour about what do I notice when I watch NBA games or NBA playoffs? I'm always looking at who's in the crowd.

Who's there? Kyrie Irving, he was at some Laker games. He was sitting courtside. Was he there just as an NBA fan? Or was he trying to just be noticed by LeBron?

Say, hey, I'm still here for you. Let's bring the gang all back together, right? Because Kevin Love is also going to be a free agent. You may be able to bring back the whole Cleveland Cavaliers 3-1 squad that beat down my Warriors, which I don't want to hear about. But when I see the reports like this, like to me, it's really like, will LeBron even consider that? Because now LeBron has to have a rebuttal.

Like I would never do that. I'm still in the contract with the Lakers. It's so, I just don't see it happening because what about Luka? Are you saying I can't win with Luka if you decide to go back to Dallas?

What is Kyrie Irving saying? Yes, this is going to make the news rounds as we only have, look, today's Monday, I'm sorry, the NBA game two of the NBA finals was on Sunday. So we have like this two or three days in between games to where stuff like this tends to start to blow up a little bit, right? Because we've already analyzed the game already. We've already talked about the Nuggets, they lost the game and Eric Spoelstra in the heat.

They've already done what they're supposed to do. They've taken over home court now. So what does the NBA news? Oh, here's Kyrie dropping a bomb on there.

I want LeBron to play with me. Like, is that not news, newsy? Is that not gossipy?

Like, what is that, Brock? But I'm trying to figure out, well, why does that come out today? If you look back, well, it's interesting. So I have a few thoughts. Do you think it reeks of desperation by Kyrie, first off? Desperation. A little bit.

But where does he go? I don't know. And also, if you look at all the big Nets news from the last couple of years was broke by whom? Was broke by Shams, right? Shams is a mouthpiece for Kyrie Irving.

Oh, wow. It's kind of an obvious, right? There was a nice puff piece about Kyrie, you know, earlier in the year. Anything that's broken out of Brooklyn the last couple of years has been by been by the Champs or Shams.

I always get it wrong. Shams has been broken by Shams. And that's because Kyrie or his team is just giving him the information. So it's not surprising that Shams is the one to break this today. That Kyrie is reaching out to LeBron. I just think it's kind of funny.

He's a he's a he's a free agent, but he's recruiting him to a spot that he got traded to, but that he's not in a contract for. You can go all crazy tinfoil hat conspiracy if you want. Is Luca telling Kyrie to leak this information to Shams to get that out?

Also, let's be honest. Yeah. Dallas with a big three of Kyrie and Luca is probably LeBron's best chance to win another title? Possibly. Yeah, I think so. Like that's a really good team in the West, I think. But who's the alpha, though? Who wants who gets the ball in the last seconds of a game, right?

Is it still? Well, look, LeBron is transitioning to I don't know how many years he has left, but he's going to be at a different phase of his career. So let Luca bring the ball up. Let LeBron play the four the five like a stretch four, stretch five. And Kyrie can play the two. Kyrie was willing to let James Harden play point guard in Brooklyn.

So he's obviously willing to to be the second banana there. Chris, I don't know if you remember this, but like two months ago we were talking and I said, LeBron's best bet because he loves Luca and he loves Kyrie is Dallas. I said that to you, but I honestly, I said it in jest just because I knew he loved Luca and I knew he loved Kyrie.

So I was just like, yeah, Dallas is his place. But now my question is this, is this a soundbite or is this just something we read? Did we actually hear how Kyrie said this? Was this just like, yeah, I'd love to have LeBron come. I'm calling and going, hey, it's reported to come. Shams is reporting his reporting, which means it's coming from Kyrie's camp. So I think it's a real thing. So it wasn't just something he said, like a flip it like, yeah, I'd love for LeBron to come here, like on a podcast or something. No, I don't think so. Okay.

Because I'm all because now, you know, we always have to take it into consideration. You know how it was said circumstances. You know, if this is a report that's coming out, like Kyrie Irving has said that he wants LeBron James to join the Dallas Mavericks. And it's one thing if Kyrie's just sitting around chopping it up, he's like, yeah, I'd love to have LeBron come down here. I think that's another that's kind of a different thing. I don't think that's what it is. I think this is a sham saying, I mean, just read the tweet as it is, has reached out to LeBron to see if he'll come to Dallas.

Okay. So well, which will be, would it be insane? Would it be great for the NBA? Absolutely be great for the NBA.

Oh, are you kidding me? Dallas Mavericks will be in prime time every game. Sometimes now Texas would become the NBA capital of the world, right? With that big three. Now, crown Vic in San Antonio. And if James Harden goes back to Houston with Emay Udonka now as their head coach.

Yeah. The Texas, what is it? The Texas triangle, whenever all the teams have to play through this.

The triangle. Now the only thing is it won't happen. That's the only bad part. Like it just won't happen. Are you throwing water on this? I'm throwing water on this.

Have to. And the main reason is because, let's be honest, what LeBron has built in Los Angeles over the last three to four seasons, it's bigger than just basketball, right? Obviously Bronny, Bronny James, right? LeBron's oldest son has decided to go to USC. Do you mean LeBron is going to go to Dallas and not, and miss out on watching Bronny James play over at the Galen Center at USC?

No, there's a reason why. LeBron can stay here in Los Angeles and continue to watch his son play basketball. Oh, by the way, his other son.

Yeah. Bryce. Who I think is going to be the one. He, who actually looks much better. I think Bryce is going to be the one. And Bronny, who actually is taller by the way.

Yeah. I don't know how to, he still got two more years ago. He is now transferred high schools. He's no longer going to Sierra Kane.

He'll be going to a different high school, Campbell Hall. LeBron, I know Kyrie's wishful thinking, but it ain't going to happen. But just to have the guts to reach out to see, hey LeBron, would you?

I think this is all a ploy by Kyrie that he's got a little, keep his name in the news that he's got a little pull. But the only thing is from what I've noticed, what I can analyze and say, your parents always ask you, right? When we leave for vacation or we leave the house to you, make sure that when we come back, it's better than how we left it, right? When we leave, just make sure the house is the way that we left it. Every time Kyrie Irvin comes into the house, it ain't never the same when you come back. When Kyrie enters the house, it is never the same. Furniture's missing, something's broken.

This relationship is broken. Teams who get in trouble. Dallas got in trouble. Dallas got in trouble. The Dallas Mavericks traded for Kyrie Irvin and at the same time got in trouble for tanking. Think about that. They went from being, oh my God, this is a team that can contend for the NBA finals, can win the NBA championship.

And then at the same breath, at the end of the day, they were getting in trouble for tanking. The house is never the same when Kyrie Irvin enters it, whether it's in Brooklyn, right? Whether it's in Boston. It just doesn't seem to always fit, doesn't seem to work.

And that's unfortunate. So if I'm LeBron, do I want to be a part of that? Or I just say, hey man, appreciate it. Appreciate the invite. You know, it's one of those invites that you get that you can't wait to say no, but you want to, you just want to make sure.

I literally said this to a friend last night. It's like, I'm not going to go to the party, but I want to be invited to the party. You don't want to go. Hey, appreciate that, man. And you know what? I thought about it. And you got to come up with your most sincere apology to like, won't be able to make it, man, but appreciate the invite.

He ain't going nowhere. But hey, could you imagine this story, guys? Let's just say that Bronny had committed to, I don't know, SMU. Then we would have a story right now. You could have said UT.

I mean, the University of Texas is not too far away. Man, that would have been the one. Had he went there, you'd have been like, ah, okay.

Okay. That would have been the one. So that was the newsworthy drop of the day that I had too. But you know, this weekend, something got lost. Your wallet?

No, not lost. I mean, not my wallet. I mean, who really carries a wallet anymore? Let's be honest. Now with Apple Pay, everything's on my phone. Del Tufo has a Costanza wallet still. Yeah.

That's a curse. This is the secrets of the world in here. What do you have in that thing, by the way? Everything. That's like a brick phone right there.

What is that? You have your birth certificate in there? I probably do.

I do have a passport card in here. I got everything. If I go, I'm happy. You got to think about all of this, Kurt.

This is my life. If I go, I'm going. Look at everything.

You can start walking. You're all good. Like when I get there, you just. Yeah, I got enough credit. Look at his wallet. He's got everything. You got credit cards. You got baby pictures. I love it. He's got his fifth grade report card in that joint.

Yeah, it was washed. That's a lot. That's a lot. So look, I mentioned earlier, we have NBA finals going on. We also have the Stanley Cup final. And it's interesting to see how are we taking this Stanley Cup final?

We don't talk hockey much, but when you get a Pierre Maguire available, you got to reach out to him because I want to understand more about this Stanley Cup final this year because you've got the Florida Panthers, another team from South Florida putting in work like the Miami Heat. And then you have the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Now, if I would have told you before that that Las Vegas is now turning to a sports town, you would have laughed at me. Crazy sports. Five, six years ago, like I would say 10 years ago, if I ever told you that Las Vegas would now be must see, must go, it is going to be a sports town to rival anyone.

Look at it, man. I mean, I'm a big fan of the Aces watching what they've done. They've already won a championship. This is the second Stanley Cup final appearance for the Vegas Golden Knights. As heartbreaking as it may be, I think the Major League Baseball Board of Approval will take my homegrown Oakland Athletics at some point to Las Vegas. And we already know about the Las Vegas Raiders formerly of the Oakland Raiders, which I was drafted. But yet Las Vegas is now a sports town and game one was rocking. But I want to get Pierre Maguire's take on what are we seeing now with this shift in hockey? This ain't the original six no more. This is the new guys, the young bloods.

We'll have Pierre Maguire break it all down for us coming up next here on the Rich Eisen Show with Kirk Morrison filling in for Rich. Men, do you get distracted during the day thinking about your underarms sweating, itching or emitting an odor? Do those thoughts keep you from showing care when it counts? New and improved Dove Men Plus Care Antiperspirant with 72 hours sweat and odor protection and one quarter moisturizing cream helps you forget about your underarms so you can be present for the moments that matter. Don't let underarm insecurities keep you at arm's distance from the ones you care about.

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It's like saying you're not allowed to use a pencil to create a piece of art. Rolling Stone Music Now, wherever you listen. Larry David, you are now the new commissioner of the National Football League. Really? Yes. Congratulations.

Are you kidding? There you go. Congratulations. This is a dream. Okay.

I had a quick curvy enthusiasm in a second if this is true. Okay. Okay. What do you do first as the commissioner of the National Football League? Larry David.

Number one, and I really don't care if people like it or not. I'm losing the goalpost. Why, why are there goalposts? Okay. Why, why are kickers?

Okay. Who have, they don't have football skills. They're not football players.

I'm sure they're wonderful people, but they're not football players. Why, why, why are they kicking a ball through goalposts to decide games? It doesn't make any sense at all. First of all, goalposts are a relic from the old English rugby, I think.

Okay. You know, when they used to actually run and kick a ball through goalposts, but they don't do that in the NFL. There's no need for goalposts.

Wouldn't the game be better without them? Think about it. Why not just have leaping frogs to decide games? See if a frog can leap through a little goalpost that you set up, okay, on the floor. And if the frog can leap through the goalpost, then do that. Why kick it through a goalpost? Well, it's not called leaping frog ball.

It's called football. So you're saying take the feet out of footballs? Is that what you're saying, Larry? Is that what you're saying?

Yes. Why feet are deciding games and they shouldn't. Why should one player, one player with this skill, like the guy on the Ravens. Hmm.

Justin Tucker. Yeah. Why should this one player who does nothing but kick a ball be deciding games when you have 52 other players who are actually playing?

And this one person, this 53rd person is deciding games if it makes no sense whatsoever. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, Rich Eisen Show radio network sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. You click on Grainger. That's right. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. You know that the Stanley Cup final, it started this past weekend. Game number one was Saturday, the Las Vegas Knights. Yes, the Las Vegas Knights defeated the Florida Panthers, five to two.

Someone who can help me break it down. One of the great voices and a great analyst of the NHL, Pierre Maguire joining the Rich Eisen Show. And Pierre, it was five to two, but I just want to understand the electricity and how Las Vegas has brought this new life energy to the National Hockey League that it looks so much fun to be in that arena.

What did you see from game number one? Well, first, Kirk, it's really nice visiting you. Secondly, you're spot on about Vegas. It's an amazing sports town, but what it truly is is an outstanding hockey city. It really is.

It's amazing. I remember calling the first ever game there against the Arizona Coyotes. I remember clear as day when they hosted the NHL awards and then right after they had the expansion draft.

Just the party, the expansion party afterwards was just phenomenal. It's well owned by the Foley family. Bill Foley is a tremendous owner. It's really well presided over by George McPhee. Their general manager is just phenomenally off the charts. Their coaching staff is elite, led by Bruce Cassidy. I should have said Kelly McCrimmon's name, by the way, their general manager.

I just take it for granted people know him, but I'll mention his name. They've got star players. What they have is a creative environment. It's so much fun, Kirk, for people to be at the game. It is truly a novel sports organization.

It's something that a lot of teams in a lot of different leagues should follow and copy. I agree with that, Pierre, only because having been to a bunch of Raider games in Las Vegas, it's not about necessarily the action on the court or on the field or on the ice. They turn them into an actual show in between where you feel like you're at a Las Vegas show, but oh, by the way, we actually get a game right in front of us. And it just so happens that the actual team is pretty good in the Vegas Knights. Them being in the finals, this is their second appearance already, but are you still shocked at how quickly this thing has kind of come together for the Vegas Knights?

I'm not. I broadcast the first final they played. They obviously lost to the Washington Capitals, a great Capitals team led by their former coach Barry Trotz and Alexander Ovechkin and Braden Holpien. I mean, it really was a great Capitals team, but what I'm not surprised by is the professionalism of the organization. I touched on ownership matters a lot, as you know, from being a professional athlete for a bunch of different organizations.

And you know, I coached in a bunch of organizations and I was part of one as a player for a short time. And ownership matters a ton and they have phenomenal ownership in Vegas. They've got a mandate to win from Mr Foley and the people that he empowers to win. They do it and they go out and they're not afraid to make deals. Kirk, they're not afraid to go out and draft players and maybe other teams don't think are very good and that eventually those players end up being pretty good. They sign a kid like Zach Whitelaw out of Bemidji State who other professional teams could have signed and nobody wanted.

In fact, one NHL team had him in a development camp and released him. And now he's, you know, become a very important part of their organization. So they've got a keen eye for talent. They're really well owned. They're really well-owned.

They're really well presided over and they're really well managed and coached. He's an NHL analyst. He's Pierre Maguire, the YouTube show, NHL Stanley Cup Central.

You can find him on there as well. But what happened in that third period? I mean, this thing's tied up two to two, game one.

I'm like, whoa, here we go. We're going possibly overtime. And then it was just the Vegas Knights pulling away, scoring three goals in that third period.

What happened for the Knights to take over? I think fatigue. Vegas is able to roll four lines and their fourth line is really a big, heavy, physical group. And they lean on you, whether it's Nicholas Waugh, whether it's Polisar.

They just have a way of wearing it down. Will Carey is another part of that line. And I don't think Florida could really handle the four line pressure and the four checks that warmed out in the third period.

I talked about Zach Whitecloud before, Kirk. He scored a huge goal to start the third period. And then Mark Stone, who had seven shots on goal, made a brilliant play to put them ahead by a couple. And then Riley Smith scored into an empty net.

So, you know, you look at it. I just think the pressure of the four check game from Vegas, the four line depth and the ability to just frustrate Florida, I think really cost Florida game one. It's what if Vegas can do that again tonight, it puts Florida in a tough spot. You know, in the NHL, Kirk, you're never in trouble till you lose a game on home ice. So even if Florida were to lose tonight, I don't think they're in major trouble. But I think they're starting to feel some concern. Yeah, I remember you obviously in the first round them beating up on the, I don't want to say too loud, the Boston Bruins.

And I know Brockman doesn't want to hear that from me as well. But there is this sort of sense that possibly Cinderella's carriage turning into a pumpkin, right? It has the magic maybe worn out when it comes to the Florida Panthers and how they just got into the playoffs and then how they played and all of a sudden they get to the finals and could that magic be running out as they are now at the big stage? I don't, I still think there's a little bit of fuel left in the magic that are the Florida Panthers. You know, the one thing that's really interesting about their team, they've obviously got one player in particular, Matthew Kacheck, who can really help change a game, not just with his physicality and skill, but also with his passion for the game, the way he speaks, the way he tries to intimidate the opposition. And they've got another player like that in Sam Bennett.

So they've got a lot of energy there. The truth is about the Florida Panthers, and I don't know how much has been talked about over the course of the playoff, but they've basically been in the playoffs since the middle of February. Had it not been for a huge uncharacteristic meltdown by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the last week of the season, when they lost to two non-playoff games with Chicago and Columbus beating Pittsburgh both, you know, that's what caused Pittsburgh to playoffs. Had those two teams not upset the Penguins, the Penguins would be in the playoffs and you wouldn't even know the story about the Florida Panthers. So the fact they've been in the playoffs for so long, I think, speaks a lot to how battle ready they are. And I think that's going to help them in this series.

I don't know if they'll win the series, but I think it will help them extend the series and make it tight. You know, Pierre, what does this year's Stanley Cup Final represent for you in terms of, for me, I'm looking at, if you're a hockey purist, you always think of the original six, right? You think of the the Blue Bloods that have been around for so long, but you see the success of the Vegas Knights. You see the success of even the Seattle Kraken, you know, teams that have just kind of come about over the last five to ten years, and yet they've had more success, it seems like, than teams that have been doing it for so long.

Why is that? What is this new brand of hockey that seems to be a little more exciting, but it's a lot of new fresh blood? Well, I think the fresh blood is great, number one, and expansion in the key markets with good owners. I like to think about Tampa. Until this year, they've been in the finals three years in a row.

Brilliant. I talked about ownership before Jeffrey Vinick. He's not just a great owner in the National Hockey League. He might be the best owner in all professional sport. He's just a phenomenal owner. He's a tremendous human being. He employs really competent people, and he's not afraid to enhance the viewing opportunity for his fan base down in Tampa.

I use that as an example. You look at the ownership. We talked again about Seattle. Brilliant ownership. Tremendous management team led by Ronnie Francis.

I'm not surprised by what they're doing in Seattle. It's an outstanding hockey market. So, Commissioner Bettman, our Commissioner of the National Hockey League, has done a really good job identifying really important partners to join the league as owners, and it makes a big difference. It really makes a big difference.

So, I think there's a lot that goes into it. I've been in the league over 30 years, almost 34 years now, and I've seen it change significantly, and a lot of it's because of what Commissioner Bettman has done in terms of his vision for the growth of the league long term. He's the NHL analyst. You can find him on the YouTube show NHL Stanley Cup Central. Pierre Maguire joining the Rich Eisen Show.

Kirk Morrison here filling in for Rich. The stage is all set for tonight. Game number two between the Panthers and the Knights. What should we expect?

What should the adjustments be? What should I be focused on tonight, Pierre? Florida's got to play with a lot more discipline. They can't be taking needless penalties. They can't make it an easy game for Vegas. Vegas had seven power plays in game number one. They scored twice in seven opportunities. Vegas played really disciplined. They only took three penalties. I think if they take three penalties per game, it's going to be a hard series for Florida to win, especially if Florida takes more than three, and they took seven in game one.

So, that's something to watch for. Discipline. It took Bennett and Cousins. That's the top line for Florida. They're going to have to really get going offensively. They had a really tough game one. So, if they're not going offensively, that's a problem for Florida. I think the biggest thing for Florida is they've got to get their cycle game going. They've got to spend more time in the Vegas zone than they spend in their own zone. The other night, it was the other way around.

Vegas spent more time in the Florida zone than they did in their own zone. So, that's something to watch for. But I would say that the biggest thing is just discipline. And Kirk, you know from all your years of playing football, whether it was in San Diego State or your stops in the National Football League, the teams that are really disciplined usually, not always, but usually, they give themselves a better chance to win.

Well, I got to leave you with this last one, Pierre. Is home ice really a thing? You mentioned earlier, possibly not in a bad situation that Florida's in, but because of the way that these atmosphere or the atmosphere is in Vegas, is it a real thing that is a must that Florida has to win tonight?

No. Home ice used to matter a lot more when we had different size rinks. Now, all the rinks are cookie cutter.

Perfect. 200 by 85. And every single rink, back in the day when I was coaching or playing, you know, you had the odd in Buffalo, which was a house of horrors, unless you were a physical team, the stadium in Chicago, where I was fortunate enough to be part of a Stanley Cup winning team with the Pittsburgh Penguins. You know, you look at the old farm in Montreal, Maple Leaf Gardens, the Coliseum, Quebec, the Olympia in Detroit. I mean, they were all different.

All the sizes of the buildings were different. So, it was really, you did have a home ice advantage. Now, they're all cookie cutter. So, if you get through the first 10 minutes, Kirk, you got a chance to win. And so, that's where home ice kind of gets negated. The first 10 minutes, the home team better show up.

If they don't, then the visitors got a real good chance to win. See, Pierre, you sound a lot like the NBA Finals that are going on right now. You know a lot in the first 10 minutes. So, that's what I'll be focused on tonight, Pierre.

Appreciate the time, my man. Alex, great visiting. And by the way, just a little San Diego State shout out. My former teammate of mine, John Rice, his son plays football, did play football at San Diego State, playing the USFL right now for Memphis. His name is Kyrie Woods and I'm a huge fan. So, I know Kyrie's probably listening right now. I just want to say hi to Kyrie and all the great San Diego State Aztecs that are out there. Oh, man. Appreciate that, Kyrie as well. What's up, brother? Always go Aztecs.

Aztecs for life. Appreciate it, Pierre. I'll be watching tonight, man. See you on your coverage on the YouTube show, NHL Stanley Cup Central. Thanks, Kirk. Really nice visiting you. Take care. All right.

Appreciate it. That's Pierre McGuire, NHL analyst. Give him some love to the USFL. You see how soon I said USFL, he said USFL, Dil Tufel stood up. Like, oh my God, wait, USFL, wait, wait.

Actually, in the Memphis game. Fox, I'm mixing it. Oh my God.

Sounds good. I know the name. I actually know the name. Oh, that is fun, man.

That is fun. But yeah, I mean, new coverage for hockey. I mean, I don't know how much people get into the Stanley Cup final, especially when it's not your team. I know, you know, when it comes to hockey, when it's your team, you focus in a lot.

You focus in on who your team is, your player. But when you do have this sort of fresh new blood, I've seen the Vegas game. I haven't been to a night's game. I just want to be there. I got to scratch that one off the bucket list. But the atmosphere, you can feel it coming off the television.

You go, I'm like, wow, that looks fun, right? And it's only been around for like six seasons. It has not been there for, you know, some of the older, the original six teams of the National Hockey League. And it always gets me thinking like, will a Canadian team or team in Canada ever win the Stanley Cup again? It's just how difficult Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, like it's Saskatchewan, Calgary. I'm just looking around. It's going to be tough, man.

Winnipeg. I don't think it's going to happen again, brother. It's good.

I don't know. It's one of those things that you'd like to see it. It's kind of like the Cubs winning the World Series, Cleveland getting back there, Boston.

What's it was? It was a Super Bowl team that even just imagine the Browns make the Super Bowl. It would be incredible. But Toronto, you're just pulling for them. It's been, what, 70 years or something?

I actually want a cup like. Let's go. Come on.

I'm actually pulling for them. The Canadians were the last Canadian team to win, right? Montreal. Was it 93?

Around there. Yes. Yeah, they beat the Kings. They beat the Kings.

They beat a team in LA, right? It's like it's the battle of the battles, right? It's Tim Hortons versus Starbucks. Tim Hortons is never going to take over Starbucks. I'm just saying that's what the battle is until a Canadian team wins.

Starbucks is still going to reign supreme when it comes to coffee. But I know we were talking Las Vegas. We were talking the Knights. But there also is some trouble in Vegas. Or could there be trouble in Vegas? Could someone not be retired? Could he stay retired? Or is he just going to go to theme parks? I'll tell you more about that.

Let's go, baby. Coming up next here on the Rich Eisen show, Kurt Morrison, fill it in for Rich. What would they do?

They detain you and get people on the phone and then they finally let you go to your modeling job. How many times does it happen? Once or twice. It just seems like it wouldn't happen. It happens. Yeah.

Inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum, wherever you listen. What goes through your mind when you hear everybody wants one of you? You know, it's flattering and humbling, Rich, but it's a result of the success we've had as a team. And, you know, it's just like, you know, but you know what, though, it is true, though, like we got great coaches on our staff. We got good players. It's a great reflection of our organization and what we've done. And I think, you know, that's the biggest thing. And to see guys that we've worked with over the last couple of years, get opportunities with Matt and with Zach Taylor, you know, they're deserving of it because of what they've done on their own merit. And when they go in and compete for jobs, people say, man, we can see this guy leading our organization.

And, you know, I'm looking forward to seeing those guys thrive. Have you told Kingsbury that he has a job because of you too? No, that's it. Cliff got his deal on his own. Okay. No, I'm sure he did. I know you had, you know, you were, you were, you were knocking on his door too, to join your staff.

I know that. So you, you passed him, according to you told that to Schefter that you totally, what did you do to him? Well, basically, you know, we, he, he obviously has a preexisting relationship with, with Patrick Mahomes.

He was out here doing some things and Cliff was, was having dinner with him and a group of people. And we have a mutual friend and I tricked him into thinking that, you know, he was tampering and that he was going to lose some picks. It was what you changed. Somebody's somebody's name and your phone to Roger Goodell. I did our mutual friend. He, yeah, I couldn't let this go on too long. So our mutual friend, a guy named Chaz Gessner, we put, I put his number in my phone as Roger Goodell and had him send me a text that said, you know, Hey, this is tampering.

You know, better than this. You guys are both, you know, and, and I showed it to Kingsbury and I said, you know, Mr. Goodell, he never texted me. I said, you better call Steve kind of right now. And his face, he was like, he said, I thought I was going to throw up. He's like, that's wrong. I mean, I couldn't let it go on for more than 30 seconds.

It was, it was a good, but a bad joke, man. I mean, he's like, you ruined dinner, man. Back here on the Rich Eisen show, Kirk Morrison filling in for Rich. We've got through a little hockey. We've got through obviously the NBA finals, but you know what? We got to talk NFL. Even though it's the down period of the national football league, there's still stories that are lingering.

We always wanted to know what was the story that was going to keep on going. But you know what? That's why I was excited about Lamar Jackson getting his deal. Actually, remember he signed the deal the last time it was on the show, by the way. Remember Lamar Jackson got his deal done.

So I think maybe I had some good luck to have that. Yeah, just give me a little bit, man. I mean, I know you got it. You're your own agent.

Go ahead, Lamar Jackson. But the storylines or the lingering stories that are now affecting the National Football League, even as downtime, because we've reached out to a number of NFL writers and everybody's on vacation. I couldn't get an NBA, I mean, sorry, an NFL guy to come on, like, yeah, vacation. Yeah, I'm out. Yeah. Call me when the, when some big news breaks because there isn't much news because everybody's getting ready, right? You're getting the final days of OTA's the final days, the mandatory mini camps is really the next time we'll hear maybe some stories come out because for guys who don't show up to the mandatory mini camp, we know what that means. Like, they mean business.

I need a new contract. They're making a statement and, you know, that's where the big news comes out. But the biggest news over the last couple weeks has been Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who recently had surgery right after his introductory press, press introductory press conference with the Las Vegas Raiders and has really, and for me, I shouldn't, but I do love looking at the message boards.

I love looking at the, uh, the fan, the fandom of a team, especially when it comes to the Raiders. And there is this notion that Jimmy Garoppolo from the team, he is going to be fine. He'll be okay. He's on pace.

He's hitting his marks. He'll be ready to go for training camp possibly and be ready to go as the week one starter for the Las Vegas Raiders. But yet there is still a guy that is out there.

Now, he is retired and I will throw up the air quotes, but I haven't seen the paperwork. I haven't seen it truly be until week one. Tom Brady is not retired. And I know people are like, it won't happen. It can't happen.

But man, you look at some message boards. There's still a possibility. There are still some fans who believe.

Now, I don't believe this at all. I don't think, I think Tom Brady has done. What? Tom Brady is living his best life right now. I mean, the dude is going to, uh, amusement parks. He's going to Disneyland. Oh, you went to Disneyland this past weekend. The Tower of Terror is mad chill, dad. Is that what Vivi said to Tom?

That's what she did. First of all, if you've never been on a Tower of Terror, that is not a chill ride. It's not. Wait, what is it?

Describe it. I'm not a Disney rides person. So took my kids, right? Crazy. And I just thought Tower of Terror is like, you're going to go in, you know, you're probably, it's a ride in which you're going to be like, you know, maybe in one of those cars and you're moving around and they're just trying to scare you. Yeah. A nightmare house.

Okay. So I'm in the line and I'm kind of noticing at, wait, what, wait, what is this? Cause you're in that big building that goes straight up.

It's a, it's a building. You get on the ride and like, you know, you're locked in. I remember I had my daughter with me and she, you know, we're just, we, we had no idea. Next thing, you know, you're in it and it go and it immediately, I think it was shoots you straight up into the sky and it literally is a bouncing up and down.

I had no idea. And you like go to like these different floors and each floor, the elevator raises up and you're like, what is going, it was too much. So the Tom Brady face, I understand. I lived that.

Cause if you have never been on it before, you have to be prepped. I wasn't prepped for that. And literally, yes, my stomach was all the way up near my eyeballs.

That's just how crazy of a drop that it was. But getting back to Tom Brady, that is, there's always going to be the possibility that Tom Brady can say, you know what? I still got a little left in me. I still got a little left in me.

I want to play quarterback. Yeah. People will say, Oh, he's done.

I get it. But I remember the hardest part as a retired player. The hardest part is that first Sunday, that first Sunday in the national football league. And you're not out there. It's one thing if you're injured, it's like, Oh, I could be out there, but I'm injured. But when you know, you're done, you're done, done, you look out the door, you look out there, you're like, wow, I miss it. Cause right now there's nothing that you are missing truly. Right? How many guys? It's OTAs.

You're not missing anything. Even training camp can start. I mean, we've seen like Brett Favre and guys come in and just pick it right up and play right away come week one. So until week one actually gets here, Tom Brady, technically to me, he's not retired until week one to that first week one or like week eight.

Don't you feel like you moving a goalpost? Don't you feel like, Hey, two against two gets hurt. Dolphins called Tom, whoever is playing quarterback for the Raiders. Like what if they Jimmy G's foot is bad and they cut them and they trade for Trey Lance and then he gets injured in week five.

They're not calling Tom Brady. Well, they or Josh, Josh McDaniels, they're going to roll out Jared Stidham for real to just get whacked by every other team. And remember Stidham was gone.

Remember that was the Sean paid master. They're going to bring out Hoyer. No chance.

We discussed last week when Rich interviewed Tom, like essentially he couldn't eat. If he buys into this team, he can't, but it hasn't been approved yet. Come back and play. You can buy into the team whenever he feels like it. Yeah.

It hasn't been approved. I'm saying if he buys into the team, then he can't come back. He can and it only has to be approved by 24 owners. And you think the owners and as, as Florio has pointed out, Tom Brady is good for business. That's the number one thing I was saying.

Like, I know there's so many hoops. No, no chance. It won't be put into bed until the actual season starts or the season is almost over because to your point, rocking, which is, I think is a great point. If something happens and we've seen crazier things in the national football league, and you need a quarterback, you need someone to save your season.

Think about it. If Wilson gets hurt, come on. You don't think Sean Payton's calling Tom Brady to save was going to be the Dolphins coach with Tom Brady, his quarterback until Brian Flores sued the league. You can rent a quarterback for half a season for your Super Bowl team that you think we can compete. We can win right now.

I'm backing up to bring Tom, whatever you need. Just give us eight games, nine games to whatever it may be. That's what could possibly happen.

And that's the only thing that I'm holding on to. But I would love it just for the, like you said, the NFL business side of it. Tom Brady returns like that'll be amazing.

I plead the fifth. Aaron Rogers gets hurt. You don't think the Jets are calling Tom Brady? The Jets call anybody. He may not take the call, but they have to call him. Oh guys, it's over. Everybody's going to make the call. We're going to do this until he's 58. Yeah.

He's it's like, Hey, the dude was 45 last year and set two NFL records. I get it. That's fine.

He can still play. It's rear view mirror. It's not rear view mirror. And I forgot where I had it. It was just going through my youth. And I forgot where I had this, this, this picture of all of the quarterbacks that are now like gone, like from yesterday, like Drew Brees is now gone. Peyton Manning.

Okay. Matt Ryan. Ben Roethlisberger. Eli Manning. Donovan McNabb. Michael Vick.

Like the whole era of quarterbacks in which not only I played with or watched as I was entering the National Football League, the only one that's truly left for me is Aaron Rogers. He was my draft classmate in 2005. Wow. How long have you been retired? Nine years now. He's still going.

Wow. But I also saw something the other day that the outside of Aaron Rogers, think about the oldest quarterbacks in the National Football League is like Russell Wilson. And I still think of Russell Wilson as just getting to the National Football League in some senses.

But you think about everybody else. Josh Allen is still fairly young. Like I saw Patrick Mahomes tweeted about it the other day because they were showing like the ages of the quarterbacks in the AFC. And he's like, seven years, like, yeah, seven years has gone by pretty quickly. The next thing you know, he'll be at year 10. And there's this new crop of quarterbacks. And you see the rookies that are in there. And then look at the NFC, the NFC, the oldest quarterback or the longest tenured quarterback with one team right now is Dak Prescott. Can you believe that TJ? I do believe that in the National Football League.

Wow. The quarterback has been with one team the longest currently is Dak Prescott. It was like just yesterday. He was the fourth rounder who was behind Kellen Moore and Tony Romo. And now Tony Romo is in the booth. Kellen Moore is the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers and Dak Prescott is still kicking. You know who's second on that list in the NFC?

Second on that list in the NFC. Don't tell me. Long longest tenured quarterback. No, no, no, no.

Do not tell me. He's second. Dak is first. This guy is second.

Dak is first. Is it? No, no, no, no. Don't tell me. Don't tell me. I'm guessing. Oh, that's easy.

Has my name. Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, it's crazy.

Because run down the list. Eagles hurts. This will be his third, fourth year. Fourth year, but third is starter.

There's a starter. Fourth year. Yep.

The Giants, Daniel Jones, I guess, is on that list as well. Yeah. When did he take over as a starter?

Uh, after 19, 20, something like that, right? But this is his fifth year. This is his fifth year, but he wasn't the starter right away, right? Commanders will have a new quarterback. Lions, Lions, second year of Jared Goff. Packers, new quarterback. Bears, a year three with fields.

Yeah. Bucks, new quarterback. Panthers, new quarterback. Saints, new quarterback. Falcons, new quarterback. Forty-niners.

We have no idea. Seahawks, year two of Geno. Rams, year three Stafford. Cardinals, new quarterback.

Cause you know, Wes Kyler comes back mid season. Have y'all seen the videos of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterbacks doing? Yes. Have they completed a pass yet? We've seen two or three sets of them missing passes. I'm serious.

We've seen that. Airmails. But this is like, we call them ROAs, right? Routes on air. Hey, routes on air.

They're doing routes on air. Basically, there's nobody out there guarding them. So they're just playing catch? It's just playing catch.

And I'm seeing way too many. There was a point where I've been in a row, I think, where coaches would say, you know what? Let's stop. The ball doesn't touch the ground. Here we go.

Let's go fellas. Ball doesn't touch the ground. That's where some teams, that's the level of competition that you have within a group between quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs. Hey fellas, we're running at the end of practice every time the ball touched the ground. Where it was incompletions, it was fumbles, interceptions. That's the level of competition that Tom Brady probably brought to Tampa. You go from Brady to Baker, Mayfield, Kyle Trask. And I don't even know who the third quarterback was.

Is it still Mike or Blaine Gabbert? Is he still there? Or he went somewhere? I don't even remember.

See, I get caught up in the next couple of days. I think Blaine Gabbert went to Kansas. Is he Kansas City? I don't know where he's at. He's somewhere.

We'll find him. But that's a lot that's been going on too. Yeah, he's on Kansas City now.

It's a lot. Speaking of Kansas City, is that the best option for DeAndre Hopkins? For DHOP?

Is that the best place? Or is it Buffalo? DeAndre Hopkins is going to have a decision to make. And I'm looking forward to seeing where he decides to go.

He is like that last story that's kind of lingering. That's going to go all summer. I mean, he can pick a spot tomorrow.

How long does this last? Because immediately DeAndre Hopkins enters your wide receiving room. I'm not going to say that that team is a Super Bowl favorite, but it does up your chances of getting to a Super Bowl with that type of talent. Oh man, it's him. It's going to be Dalvin Cook.

What's going on with him? I think those are going to be the two big guys here. But Aaron Wilson in Houston who covers the team is saying that strong possibility is his quote, Hopkins to the Browns. Little reunion with Deshaun Watson might be coming. That also changes that team because we've, as we've talked about here, TJ, nobody's talking about the Browns. No white talking about it. Yeah, people talk about that. It could be a fourth of the division, but we do know one place Deshaun Watson, or not Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins won't be. That's in New England.

No, what? He will not be reuniting with Bill O'Brien, the offensive coordinator, former coach of the Texans. We know that. I don't think we do know that. Chris in his heart of hearts knows this. Come on, bro. He's trying traded away.

This is DeAndre Hopkins and impersonal. It's strictly business. He traded away money talks. If the paths offer 15 million, are they going to chance to make it 19?

Guess who's coming? Bill Belichick offering that money after he just check has proven that he will take a chance on wide receivers who might be disgruntled other places. Yep. He already gave the money to Juju. Juju Smith Schuster.

So you go find more money. They go give it to DeAndre Hopkins. And he goes back with Bill O'Brien. I don't know, man.

It's just the way that there's always money in the banana stand. The way that things ended in Houston. It's just how long ago was that water under the bridge? He's saying this, but he don't believe it.

Water under the bridge. So think about your boss who like, did you dirty at one point and then you get told that you're going to go, but would you go back and reunite with that person showing me the money? No, but you can make the same money.

You can make the same money anywhere else. Would you go back to this place with that person there? You wouldn't. Bill Belichick though.

All right. Again, he don't believe it. Bill O'Brien's not running the team. He's running the offense. Run this town. You saw, you saw the wired clip, the NFL films. I saw that miked up clip. I just, I just don't see, I just think that not enough time has passed.

No DeAndre in New England. Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show coming up next. Conspiracy theories. Paranormal. UFOs. Science teacher Andrew Greenwood stated that a child ran into his classroom and was hysterically screaming and talking about the flying saucer outside. Hundreds of children ran out of their classrooms to go outside and see this unidentified flying object that was just above the school. Just imagine a bunch of kids running out of school. Most of them probably just ran home. Theories of the third kind on YouTube or wherever you listen.