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bluenile.com code POD. You wake up every day saying, how can we make this show better than the day before? Because we're lead pipe wielding professionals. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Live from the Rich Eisen Show Studio in Los Angeles. When he was calling games this year, that's what's going to make him the next Lakerhead coach?
First take. That's going to make him the next Lakers head coach, right? But podcasting with LeBron James. Earlier on the show, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah. Coming up, host of ESPN's First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Tampa Bay reliever Pete Fairbanks, comedian Jay Pharoah. And now, it's Rich Eisen.
That's right. Hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. 4-4-2-0-4, Rich. Number to dial. We'll take your phone calls shortly on this program. Stephen A. Smith scheduled to be zooming in in a matter of moments. Pete Fairbanks, the closer of the Tampa Bay Rays, who has made me laugh a couple times out of his own misery.
He's letting the smile be his umbrella after a couple blown saves having some dynamite press conference quotes for the ages. He's going to be on this program. Jay Pharoah stopping by in studio in hour number three. Kevin Costner will be on tomorrow's program. It'll be a lot of fun.
8-4-4-2-0-4, Rich is the number to dial on this show. The game seven for Lord Stanley's Cup to be handed off to some lucky bunch of bearded mitts tonight. These guys are just happy they get to shave tomorrow, right?
Yeah, I don't know. Hold on to it. That goes down tonight on the family of networks for the worldwide leader in sports. And I'll be awarded tonight, says the Stanley Cup on its Twitter handle.
Phone lines are lit right here on the program. Kevin in North Carolina is first in, first up. What's up, Kevin? How are you, sir?
I'm good. Happy birthday, Rich. Same to you. What's on your mind, Kevin? Hey, it's your friend, the forward-thinking All-Star, who provoked Brockman into the Danny Hurley question. Well done. Congratulations to Brockman on raising the Lario B. Thank you, sir. He's getting ready for Swerve and Osprey and Forbidden Door.
Belly, what's up? Let's do this. Hey! Love the Judge Reinhold interview. Thank you. I'm looking forward to Kevin Costner tomorrow. Me too.
Not to make you feel old on your birthday, but I remember being a kid watching you and Stu on reruns from the overnight, and your call of million dollars. Yeah. Didn't know if you saw the ESPN announce they're going to make a 30 for 30 about Stu. Yep. And as far as choke jobs go, Brockman's right.
This would take the cake. The Oilers are also known for a massive choke job the last time they played in the Stanley Cup in 2006. I was lucky enough to be there for Game 1 against the Hurricanes. In Game 1, they were up 3-1 going into the third. They gave up three goals in eight minutes, tied the game. Brendan Moore scored the game-winner 5-4, catching Ty Conklin out of the goal with 32 seconds left. But I was curious if Brockman could find out what the odds were for the Oilers to win the Cup before Game 1, after Game 3, and join into Game 7. Because God knows, I would love to have put $100 on the Oilers no matter what after Game 3. Thank you for the call, Kevin.
Greatly appreciate that. I don't have that information. I guess it'd be in the 20-1 range after Game 3. Didn't Portnoy put another millie on the Oilers with the Celtics too?
Yeah. Did he play parlay or something like that? He's on the heater of all heaters this year, to be honest. Again, my kids still couldn't believe that we were seated a couple seats away on the Rose Bowl day of somebody who'd bet a million dollars on Michigan's result. They couldn't believe it. It's good cash, homey. He won on Chef wear yesterday, too. Did he really? Yeah, he won $500K, I think. Well, I mean, wouldn't you have to wager like $700 to win on Chef wear?
Yeah, he got them at almost 2-1, so he cagged decent odds on my Friday. Don't condone that behavior. Of course. Understood. Being in National Football League. Understood. Honk.
And betting six figures all the time on them. Man, oh, man. Kevin in Jacksonville, Florida. You're here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's up, Kevin? Hey, Rich. How's it going?
I'm doing well. I'm a big fan of you and the show. Thank you. And the Punters Are People clip is still one of the funniest things that helped us get through that Brian Anger picture. Brian Anger. Thank you. Instead of... Who was the quarterback that was sitting out there, Kevin?
Russell Wilson, I think. That's his name. Yep. Yeah. Yeah.
But anyway, I wanted to try and play the Jags win-lock game. Oh, okay. All right. I hear you right now, Kevin.
It would be my pleasure to do that. I don't know how many we've had so far on that front. You're the first. I don't think we've had one. We had one with Susie. Okay. You had one with Susie? Yeah. Jacob with Susie.
What did he have? 13-4-1 seed. Oh, my goodness gracious. All right. Kevin and Jacksonville, let's get the music going. Here we go. First up, at the Miami Dolphins. Yeah, defenses, they got the advantage early in the season...
Sorry. Offices have the advantage early in the season because defenses just haven't seen the new wrinkles yet. I think we take an L here, but I think it's closer than people think. Home for the Cleveland Browns. Last time we saw the Sean Watson, Gardner Minshew was throwing the ball around here, and I heard what our fans were saying to Watson. I think the Jags get a big W when he comes to play us there.
All right. At the Bills on a Monday night. I think we know what happens when the two Josh Allens have to play each other. That's a win. By the way, the defense of Josh Allen has had the better of the...
I think his only interception is against him. Okay. So two and one at the Texans.
Yeah. It drives me nuts how fast the Texans have fixed their roster after I've watched the Jags rebuild year after year. I think the Jags take an L on the road.
All right. Two and two home for the Colts. Anthony Richardson's only thrown like 50 balls in the league, right? That's a W. Okay. Three and two in Tottenham against the Bears.
Yeah. You know how well we play in London, and I think this is a welcome to the NFL game for Caleb Williams. That's a win for sure. Then you stay in London to take on the Patriots in Wembley. Is Jacoby Brissett still at the helm when the Patriots start one and five, Brockman? One and five?
Who do we beat? Okay. I gave you one. I thought there was one in there, but no, I think this is an easy win.
I look at that depth chart at the wide receiver position and just keep saying who. Okay. Five and two home for the Packers. I think this one's close.
I think the Jags just play a little bit better at home and take the win, but this one's going to be close. So that's a yes. That's a win. That's a win. Okay. Let's go win loss here at the Eagles. Yeah. I think this is a bad outing for the Jags on the road, and Jalen Hurts just drops it to AJ Brown all day. That's a loss. All right. Four and three against the Vikings. No. One, two, six and three home for the Vikings.
I don't know. I think Sam Darnold's still in the land of the dead seeing ghosts. I don't think going to the Vikings is going to help him much. So I think this is an easy win for the Jags. Seven and three against the Lions at the Lions.
The Kings in the North and the King of the Jungle, they're going to be too tough to beat at home. That's a loss. Seven and four off the bye against the Texans. Doesn't matter how good the Texans are, we always split. So this is a win.
Eight and four at the Titans. Yeah. I mean, they're sneaky good. Hopkins, Ridley and Boyd, that wide receiver ruin is dynamite.
And I think they just catch us by surprise. I think we take a loss. Okay. Let's go to the Jets. Okay. I'm going to try and help spread the positivity, right?
Shining the light, being the light. I'm going to go ahead and give us the best case scenario for both teams, which is I think the Jags squeak out a win and the Jets are nine and six at this point. The Jags are eight and seven. Both teams need this, but I think the Jags get the win. But then the Jets go on to win the last three games of the season and finish 12 and seven. Does that sound good?
No. I got you. You actually have them at nine and five at the Raiders.
What do you have? I think I'm really, I'm really sad that we have to see Gardner Minshew. He is Jacksonville. Duval County made flesh.
I think Minshew, meaning he's still alive and well here. But I think he reminds us why we part ways and we get a W in Vegas. Ten and five against the Titans. Yeah, I think W. Bush would say fool me once. Shame on you. Fool me twice.
You can't get fooled again. Eleven and five at the Colts. Yeah, I think we sweep the Colts again. Swept them last year.
We'll sweep them this year. Twelve and five, says Kevin in Jacksonville. Thanks for the call, Kevin. Appreciate it. No problem at all.
Thanks for it. Okay, very good. All right, Kevin. All right, there you have it.
Kevin in Jacksonville with 12 and five. Let me just say this, man. I don't know where Trent's gonna go. No, let me just say this. Let me just say this. I will say this, because we've just heard about the caller in Jacksonville talking about Brian Anger being chosen and I went hog wild on that.
That was a long time ago. Punters are People 2 debut where I just decided to go nuts on the draft set. I think I got picked in the third round. I think it was the first time where Mike Mayock looked at me like, Oh God, is this where we're going to go now in the draft?
And I just did my thing. And how Brian Anger got chosen and Russell Wilson was on the clock. And the Seahawks took him and the rest is history. And, you know, I just don't know if Russ would have been the Russ that he became if he did that in Jacksonville. I don't know if Jacksonville would have provided the defense, would have provided the continuity at Coach. The Pete Carroll thing. It's the constant conversation about nature versus nurture. Could anybody just be great wherever they show up, right?
Billy Ray Valentine proved this to be true, maybe? Well, I'm talking about the NFL, not the world of frozen concentrated orange juice. And it's one of those fascinating conversations to be had in advance of Russell being where he is now. In Pittsburgh, PA, you know, and the opportunity that he has this year. And I keep on trying to figure out how I feel about it and his opportunity that he has in front of him. It's tough, man.
It's tough. OK, put a pin in that, because, as you know, on my birthday here, being the double nickel, having on guests that delight me is what the booking staff kind of has at their disposal. And this man delights me. He's Stephen A. Smith back here on The Rich Eyes and Show. How are you, Stephen?
Good to see you. My brother. Happy birthday, my man.
Happy birthday. Double nickel. I like that. Double nickel.
Double nickel. I'm just better for seeing you on my screen. How's everything with you? I'm on the grind, man.
Just putting it in, putting in the work and all that stuff. Thank goodness the NBA season is over. I was wrong about my prediction. I thought Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks would show up and they were no match for Boston and all of that stuff. But I don't give a damn neither are the Knicks, so I'm good. You know, doesn't bother me.
I don't know. I just as great as the Knicks season that we just saw completed, Stephen A. I'm just wondering if there's Brown and Tatum just found something and the Celtics are just going to be somewhat unbeatable atop that conference right now, despite how exciting a season the Knicks just had. You know, I'll tell you that they'd certainly look that way. I certainly wouldn't pick the Knicks to beat them, make no mistake about them. I thought that the Knicks, fully healthy, would have given them a much tougher matchup than the Indiana Pacers. I certainly think that if the Knicks were healthy, they would have beaten Indiana and they wouldn't have gone seven games. But credit to Indiana was a potent offense all year long closing the deal, particularly in that game seven, when they went up against the infirmary known as the New York Knicks at that time. Everybody and their grandmother was hurt. Julius Randall, Mitchell Robson, O.G. and a Novi and then obviously Josh Hart and then Jalen Brunson breaks his wrist and all of this other stuff.
So it is what it is. But in the end, the New York Knicks still need a couple of pieces to even compete with the Boston Celtics based on what we've seen throughout these playoffs and in the NBA Finals. You've got to look at the rest of the Eastern Conference, Joel and Beacon. You ever stay healthy, even if you guys acquired Paul George in the off season?
Or could you stay healthy? Because without you, you're not going to be the Boston Giannis and Damon Milwaukee. Is that enough? We don't know that to be true. And so you've got to look at it from that standpoint and really, really question who in the East can really challenge the Boston Celtics, particularly now that you are officially champions and you know how to win and what it takes to win. So that really, really gives them a nod above the rest of the crowd. And then out in the Western Conference, there's far more parity. But who's to say you guys are not going to beat up on one another to the point where ultimately you run into a Boston Celtics squad and you're kind of wondering what they're going to be, what you're going to be able to do against them? That's why I think that right now, as the reigning defending champions, the Boston Celtics, who are the favorites coming into the season, should easily be deemed the favorites now. If I could give you a marker, a Stephen A. Smith marker, an SAS chip that you could place down on a Western Conference team and say, this is the team I'm going to have for the next five years.
Not only going to be successful in the regular season, but going to make NBA Finals, if not win multiple ones. Which one do you place that chip on? None of them.
None of them. I would tell you if I had to pick, I'd certainly pay attention to Denver, because if you lose Jeff Green and Bruce Brown in the offseason, if you had them, I don't think you'd lose to Minnesota in that series. If you're Minnesota, you still need a shooter. They don't really shoot the ball that well, so we have to pay attention to that. You look at Dallas, yeah, you've got some firepower, but you can't bring an undersized guy like Kyrie to go up against the likes of Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum and those guys, with Derek White and Drew Holliday, who are both legitimate 6'5 guys.
And so all of those things come into consideration as you look and you sky the rest of the gun. Don't get me started with the Clippers. Show me that Kawhi Leonard could be healthy for a playoffs series, and then you can call me about that.
I'm not thinking about that. You look at the Los Angeles Lakers, you've got Anthony Davis, you've got Anthony Edwards, I'm sorry, you're Anthony Davis, LeBron, but what else do you really have that you can rely upon? And so I just look at the Western Conference and I say the two teams that jump out of my mind are Minnesota and Denver, but Denver has to make up for losing Jeff Green and Bruce Brown in the case of the T-Wolves. You've got to get another bona fide scorer, and I would say a shooter as opposed to a scorer, to peer with a guy like Anthony Edwards.
That's what I would think. What do you think Paul George should do? Go to the Knicks. The New York Knicks have 11 first-round picks over the next seven years.
I don't think you'd have to give up too much to get them. Obviously, you've got to sign a trade potentially anyway. If he wants to go there and free agency, I don't know if they could pull that off, but they certainly have the assets for trades.
Some people say Philadelphia. Joe Allenby has to show me that he can be healthy enough in the playoffs. On one leg, he averaged 35 against the Knicks. We know how sensational of a player he is, but is that going to be enough to do what you need to do in order for you to get over the hump?
That remains to be seen. So I would tell him that the best situation, the New York market, the fact that New York needs another scorer other than Jalen Brunson, I would say that is the way to go because Paul can play the two or the three for you. You can bring Josh Hart off the bench. You've got DiVincenzo with Brunson on the court with him offensively, and because he can play that three for you as a defender as well as an offensive player, I think it complements the New York Knicks very, very well. Stephen A. Smith here on the Rich Eisen Show. How are you enjoying doing your show? How are you enjoying doing that? I love it. I'm learning a lot in terms of what it takes in the digital stratosphere compared to doing first take, first take. I pretty much got that down pat. We've been number one for years in the morning.
I think we're going to continue to be number one up 22 consecutive months, year over year, year over year in the ratings. So I think that's a beautiful thing. But when you look at the podcast, it's a different audience. You think about doing the stuff on YouTube and ultimately iHeartRadio, which is where my deal is on the audio side. Just knowing that you have to appeal to a younger audience and learning the ins and outs of that, the algorithms that exist on YouTube, some of the business decisions that I have to make running my own business and stuff like that. It's something that I never had to do before because I never had the freedom to do it rich. And so because I didn't have that freedom now that I've had that freedom over these last few months, picking up about seven hundred thousand subscribers in 14 months, I don't think it's too shabby.
But you know me, I'm not satisfied, not satisfied at all. Well, where do you want to go with this? I mean, you want to take it where you want to take it somewhere on network. You want to go like what's like a wave of one?
The Stephen A. Smith Show goes where? I'm open to all the possibilities. I don't limit myself. I mean, you know, I could say one thing, but if a better opportunity presents itself, I'm certainly going to entertain that.
Certainly, you know, building my own studio out of my own pocket, spending the money that I spent. You know, my goal was to make sure that I establish something that was appealing for linear television as well as for the digital stratosphere. I certainly want to do that. I've been continuing to do that.
But I'm also not married to just sports. I think about I'm a huge, huge fan of Bill Maher's real time, real time with Bill Maher. I'm a huge fan of that. I'm a huge fan of John Oliver. I was a huge fan of The Daily Show first with Jon Stewart.
And then, you know, obviously with Trevor Noah and stuff like that. And, you know, imagining myself in front of a live studio audience is something that's incredibly, incredibly appealing to me. It's not the be all end all. It's not to say that I have to do that. But if an opportunity presented itself for me to do that on a weekly basis, it's certainly something I would entertain, whether it's in the sports stratosphere or the political stratosphere, because I like talking politics.
I like talking about some of the political issues that are percolating and are permeating throughout our society and beyond. So that stuff does not scare me. It's something that I embrace. But I'm never leaving sports.
That's my bread and butter. It's something that I want to do. But again, I like that feel, whether it's late night feel or whatever is in the afternoon in front of a live studio audience, at least once a week. That's something that I definitely want to entertain.
And there's opportunities that's presented itself and I'm going to entertain them as I move forward. I hear you. Listen, you know, the politics thing is always a difficult lane to stray into.
But, you know, here what we're doing here, a lot of pop culture talk, a lot of movie talk, a lot of celebrity talk. I love that. I appreciate that. But it's just the politics thing to go in that lane and then the other lane.
That's a tough one, Steven. That's exactly why I like it, you know, because it's tough. Of course, pop culture and entertainment are paramount. It's just as profound as sports. I don't mean to imply that I don't want to talk about those things. But to me, those things are a given. Pop culture and entertainment, along with the world of sports, that was a given. Because that's what the younger generation is most interested in. But the reason why politics excites me as well is because, number one, it affects the lives of every American citizen.
Number two, there's no in-between. You know, you either love it or you hate it in terms of the subject matter that's tackled and what have you. You piss people off or you make them incredibly enthused and excited about what you have to say. Certainly, it's a dangerous platform at times. I understand that, particularly in the climate that we live in. But I also like to be that renegade.
I also like to be somebody that's perceived as not running from anything. And I've often said this, I don't knock Jimmy Pataro and ESPN for doing this one bit. When Jimmy Pataro arrived around 2017, 2018, he wanted us to veer away from politics. And he was absolutely right because it was hurting the network and things of that nature. I completely supported him then. I completely support him now.
When you tune in to ESPN, that's what you're looking for or whatever. But in the same breath, we're not monolithic people. We have an abundance of ideas and passions and interests that we like to touch on that fuels our spirit and our soul on a lot of different levels. And when you don't see me talking about those things, it's primarily because I'm appeasing the bosses and the network that I work for. It's not because I'm running from it, because I'm not scared.
I don't mind tackling those issues any day of the week. That's who I am. That's how I've always been. It's how I've gotten to where I am.
And I'm not about to change. I mean, I'm 56, but I'm in the best health that I've been in in 30 years. I feel stronger, more healthier than I have been in the last 30 years. I'm just revved up, ready to go practically every morning that I get out of bed. And so my passion and the things that I'm passionate about are what excites me.
And as long as I'm excited about getting up every day and tackling the issues, I think that lends itself towards me having this successful career that God has blessed me with. And I'm assuming the conversations you're currently having, right? You do mention politics in these conversations. You mentioned Pitaro, right?
No? Not necessarily, because, you know, listen, I don't talk about my contract stuff like that, you know, particularly in negotiations, because I'm certainly not going to do that. But what I will say is that I'm never shy. I'm never shy about letting people know where I stand and what I want to do. And I have no problem with ESPN wanting me to limit myself to sports or ESPN.
But I don't have an aspiration to just be, you know, monolithic in what I'm doing or how I'm thinking. There's work that I'm happy to do for ESPN. There's also work I'm happy to do for Disney. And last time I checked, Disney's got Hulu and they've got FX and they've got a lot of things. I've got a doctor's series that's on ESPN Plus right now that I co-produced as a production company with Religion of Sports that I also executive produced. I've been greenlit on a drama series that I've created that I can't touch on as of yet until they make the announcement that was picked up by somebody outside of Disney.
And ESPN. And so because of those things, I have a I have a strong desire to be an executive producer, to build my production company and to have the freedom to venture in any direction that I want to venture in when I'm off the airwaves of ESPN. I have no problem at all limiting myself to doing what ESPN wants me to do for them.
When I get off work, I have my own life and my own passions that I want to extend beyond the corridors of sports. And I'm going to do it. Of that I have no doubt.
And I am rooting for you, sir, because me back 21 years ago, asking to play with more tools and toys in the Disney chest is why I wound up working for NFL Network and no longer ESPN. And it's it's it's not a lot of folks who can take a stance like that and believe in oneself and pull it off. And, you know, to be straight up, you know, you are I will say you are you are that, Stephen. I mean, for real. Well, I appreciate it. I got to say this, though, you know, there's so much news that percolates and all of this other stuff. You know.
Here's what I have to stand down on and just acknowledge. My contract called for me. To just do ESPN.
When I made the decision that I wanted to have the freedom to start my own podcast or what have you. That had to be allowed by ESPN in order for me to do it. Jimmy Potaro had given me his word two years earlier that he would allow me to do it. And he kept his word. And so a lot of times when people are talking about things that they don't really have an idea about the relationships that I have within the walls of ESPN.
The Jimmy Potaros to the Bob Igas, the Dana Waldens down to the Burt Magnes is the Dave Roberts of the world. I can honestly look you in the face and say to you, every time they've given me their word, they've honored it. Even when the contract stipulated that they didn't have to. And so as I sit here today with something like the Stephen A. Smith show, completely 100 percent owning and operating it on my own. One of the things you don't hear me doing is bloviating about, yeah, I wanted to do it, so I just did it. But no, I had to go and ask for permission and remind them of the word that they gave to me.
And they kept it. And so I'm very, very careful in terms of talking about my desire for independence, my desire to really show my chops as an executive producer, as a production company, some of the other things that I want to do. Hell, I even want to get into a little acting since I've got my recovering role in General Hospital. There's a lot of different things that I want to do, but I'd be remiss in highlighting and articulating all the things that I want to do without mentioning the fact that there was a time that they could have handcuffed me. And back in the day, like you said, they did in previous regimes.
This particular regime hasn't done that to me. And so my relationship with the bosses is incredible, because when you work for bosses that keep their word and honor what they said to you, when they know they have the power to do otherwise and they still keep their word and honor it, that's a big deal. And I appreciate that.
No doubt. Yeah, they didn't handcuff me. They cardboard boxed me, Stephen, eh? But it's all good. It's all good. It's all good. It didn't work.
It clearly didn't work. Hey, thanks for coming on and just being you and chopping it up and being honest, as always, and just saying yes. And Susie sends her best. Thanks, Stephen. Please give Susie my love and happy birthday to you, my man. Thank you.
All the best. And I'll see you soon. I hope to see you soon. That's Stephen A. Smith, everybody.
We'll see him on first take on the morrow right here on the Rich Eisen Show. I'm a little disappointed. About? Well, did you like him?
No, it's not that. It's just like I tell myself I get tired of him always trash talking the Cowboys. And then that whole interview, I'm sitting there.
Let's get to the Cowboys and we didn't get to the Cowboys. I guess I wanted it. What a hypocrite. Do you want it? Do you want that? I thought I would spare you that noise. Stephen was spitting fire. He was dropping some gems.
I know our reels are going to blow up in about three hours from now. And I just figured, you know, maybe we put a little cowboy sauce on there. That was a great interview, though, man. Well, he was honest about his situation, which is not easy to do.
You know, certainly when there's negotiations. Let's take a break because Pete Fairbanks was scheduled to join. Now he will. One of our favorites. And I can't wait to get to meet him and talk with him. That's next.
This is the Rich Eisen Show. We'll be right back. This message is sponsored by Green Light. As your kids get older, some things about parenting gets easier. But then again, there's that axiom. Bigger kids, bigger problems like having that conversation about money. The fact is, kids won't really know how to manage their money until they're actually in charge of it.
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And you should as well. Millions of parents and kids are learning about money on Green Light. Sign up for Green Light today and get your first month free when you go to GreenLight.com slash Rich. That's GreenLight.com slash R-I-C-H to try Green Light for free. GreenLight.com slash Rich. Back here on our Roku Channel feed, the radio audience less than two minutes away, and that's where we'll bring in Pete Fairbanks, who's, listen, guy's been in Major League Baseball since 2019.
He's been in the show, but really didn't show up on this show's radar screen until April, when a blown save caused him to say this soundbite into microphones that were working, the cameras that were recording and brought that light into our lives. No, I thought it generally sucked. I didn't think it was a specific suck. I thought it was like an all-encompassing type of suck. So, you know, we're going to try and rectify that. But for right now, I'm going to be pretty pissed about it.
I had written it down wrong. It was type of suck, not kind of suck. So listen, listen, listen, listen. There's no question about it. When we are going to defend our highly disappointing finish in the Sleeper Fantasy Footballers Fantasy League last year, we were great. And then injuries caught up with us. And then it was an all-encompassing type of suck.
It really was. That is 100 percent out of all of the phrases that we've got down there. The clubhouse leader for this year's fantasy team is all-encompassing type of suck. The only question is, will the app allow that many characters for our team? That's the only question that's still lingering.
Is can we can we fit in all-encompassing type of suck in the device and space provided? We're pushing almost 30. It's going to be tough. Oh, my gosh.
Boy, cross your fingers, man. Back on the Rich Eisen Show. Joining us here is one of our new favorites. We've yet to meet him, but that's about to change.
From the Tampa Bay Rays closer, Pete Fairbanks. How are you, Pete? Good to see you. Yeah, thanks for having me.
And thanks to Cash for letting me hijack his little, his little press conference bit we got back here. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I don't think he is aware that I'm hijacking, but it's happening nevertheless. That's the manager's step and repeat that you're in front of right now, Pete? Oh, yeah. This is his daily press conference.
He's the only one that gets to hide from people, you know, not at their lockers. And I'm taking it, taking advantage of it for the day. Well, Pete, listen, man, I got to tell you, you know, obviously you not performing to your best or up to your standards is not what you're looking for. I totally understand that. But your reactions to the adversity have caught our eye. And they are, laugh out loud, hilarious, Pete.
And I kind of just wanted you on to tell that to your face. How much we're enjoying it. Well, I'm glad that somebody is enjoying the blown saves.
I particularly hate them. But, you know, as long as I can brighten somebody's day with it, that's a net positive. Net positive. Yes.
By the way, that could be another fantasy team name. Hey, listen, you did get the win the other day after destroying a stool right in Minnesota. Is that what happened?
Yeah. I still in the past two years, I've thrown two innings now exactly twice. And this one, I obviously give up three on home or come out. I don't think I'm going back in. So I just, you know, go let it all out. And I'm in the process of walking back to the dugout. When our pitching coach is like, hey, you're going back out like I am.
We don't have anybody else. I was like, all right, well, I guess I am. So let's hope we get a run and we can go try and get a win here. And, you know, fortunate that that happened to, you know, turn that into a little bit more of a positive for all parties. So let me ask you this. Walk me through how that happened. So you're you give up that three run home run, the inherited runners score.
There's now going to be a 10th inning. And you went where? Where did you go right after that?
What happened? So they got if you go like back like through our back towards our locker room, the visiting locker room, Minnesota, there's a cage. And normally I like to hit if I'm mad about anything. You know, taking it out on a little five ounce baseball seems to make everything better. This was a travel day. So there were no bats. You know, everything was basically put up. So I had the first thing that I found that was, you know, non baseball, very destructible, was a little wooden stool. And I. Destructed it was like big. This is what it was like. Yeah. You know, just like a little just like a little step stool.
And it was very satisfying to smash. OK. Now, did you know it was from Ikea or you just eyeballed it? I said that this looked like it was something somebody like DIY for the twins. Pete. No, that was that was the first, you know, just given that it came apart in so many pieces.
I figured that it had to have been, you know, of the manufacturer, that it is very much the the wood board that you have to painstakingly assemble and then breaks rather easily. Yes. Yes. I know that well.
I have I have tried to find the proper size Allen wrench for such a device or such a put together project before Pete. I know the. Now, listen, you strike me again, this is the first time we've met, but you strike me as a self-aware individual for you to be able to to say what you've said post misery. OK. And so when is that moment where you realize what you've done is beyond the pale and you need to bring yourself back in? Pete, can you walk me through that moment when that hits for you?
I don't know. I mean, I give myself a little bit of a little bit of pity party time, obviously post, you know, any bad outing. And then, you know, I try and have it all gone at least by the time I get home. You know, I can't can't take all of that back with me to the to the wife and kids. That would be irresponsible. So I try and try and give myself a little bit of time to get that out of the system.
Get that out of the system, whether whether the form it tastes is positive or negative. You know, it just kind of depends on the day. Funny, man. Funny, funny, Pete. So so who's your favorite comic? You strike me to have a good sense of humor comic. Who's your guy?
I don't. So my dad, I got to get a shout out my dad for that. My dad is the big he's a he's a bigger, like true comedian lover in the family.
He has forced me to listen to a lot of Nate Bargatze time that we had. Pete, I was going to say him together. I was going to I swear to you, I swear to you. I was going to get if I would guess him based on the way that you carry yourself and the words that you're saying. You sound like him.
Pete, sound like. Yeah, I was not a bit usually whenever my dad presents me with something, I initially have to resist. Right.
It's just, you know, human nature, whatever our dads tell us, we got to like at least have a little bit of hold back to it. Yes. But I did enjoy. I started he started to grow on me. I very much appreciate just about everything that Bill Burr has ever said. And then my my go to that my buddies and I would watch in college and has not gone anywhere is Bill Burnham just for his OK. Satirical ability. Right.
And, you know, kind of a different take and still, you know, putting out what I find to be very intelligent and funny at the same time. Did you watch the Brady roast? Did you see that? I watched. I didn't. I did not.
I don't have time necessarily in my daily life to watch, sit down and watch all things. But I definitely got all of the the good bits that popped up amongst my social media feeds. I definitely, you know, was able to take most of those in.
Oh, fantastic. Hey, listen, Pete. So I guess let's talk a little bit of ball for for for you right now. Rays are just four games out, two games under right now. What's the general sense of things as you're about to hit July for the Rays? Yeah, I think I think and I don't want to put it out in the world.
So the world spits it right back at us. But I think things might be starting to click a little bit, you know. And we got obviously a couple couple of good series coming up that are going to be, you know, big for us. We got, you know, the Mariners coming to town. We go to Kansas City, Texas, coming up. So I think, you know, things are lying that we can hopefully start or continue to keep it together and maybe gain a little grounds in this wildcard. OK, man.
Fantastic. And what do you do to stay fresh for six, seven innings? I mean, what do you do, Pete? What's your day like that? Let's see.
Well, I spend I spend the first four probably in the training room or weight room going through my, you know, soft tissue to activation prep everything. OK. Maybe, you know, I actually can't say that because our our hall monitors that we have in here to prevent us from using any sort of technology during the game might get mad at me. But I might find some distractions throughout throughout those four innings.
I listen to my my pregame little mix that I have going right now. Music you're talking about? Yeah. OK. All right. So you're you're you're not on like YouTube. You're not like checking in. You're not like watching TV.
No, no, no, no, no, no. OK. All right. They know, unfortunately, that would be a great way to alleviate all the stress that comes with waiting for eight innings to see if you're going to pitch or not. But that one is not not the approved list of things to do during the game. Then it's, you know, going down to the bullpen, continue with the activation and try and, you know, we all, I think, collectively try and distract, trying to try to distract ourselves.
From the impending reality of the phone ringing and somebody having to get ready as much as we can, you know, and then, you know, obviously once that happens, you know, we lock it in and get ready to go. OK, fantastic. All right. Last one for you. What is your what's the song that plays when you come out of the bullpen?
That is Secret Crowds, Angels and Airwaves, the time to launch offshoot, which I then guess launched, launched his media empire of his right novels, et cetera. But yeah, that one is that's right in my sweet spot, you know, like. Mid 2000s, that was, you know, I read somewhere that like that's like your formative age for music, right, you're hitting like high school. OK, yeah. And then once you get there, your tastes never change. I don't know if that's true for you or not, but it is. It is.
Yeah, it's definitely, definitely accurate for me. Yeah. Oh, yeah.
That's that's that's your personal choice and that's what you go with and that's what you're always going to be. That's what you're saying. That is it.
Yeah, that's our that's we're just stuck right there. Pete, thanks for the time, man. Pete, thanks for the time. This has been a blast. I've really enjoyed watching you work and your your personality that that you let out there.
And it's just it's just been fun, even though it's been born out of stuff that's not fun for you. So I appreciate that. Yeah, thanks for having me.
I appreciate it. Let's do this again. Let's do this down the line.
Yeah. They can be I would I would love to be a repeat guest. Let's do it. Let's do it.
And hey, you don't have to but you don't have to destroy anything in order to come back. OK, except the opposition. How does that sound? How does that sound?
That sounds like a better plan. You got it. Pete Fairbanks, Pete underscore AF, which I assume is his middle and last initials right here on the Rich Eisen Show, everybody. That's Pete Fairbanks. Right.
His middle name is A. Right, of course. That one is delightfully, as I would hope it would. That was fantastic. And it's also perfect that he likes Nate Bargatze as a comic. He's got the same cadence.
And he's really set himself up to for whenever his playing days are over, hopefully way down the line. Yeah. Just put it right in the booth. Baseball needs more people. We need personality out there doing their thing. Love it. All right. We'll take a break right here on the Rich Eisen Show.
So much more in a second, including my night at Dodger Stadium Saturday night. And I'd like to rethink a couple of things coming up. Are you struggling to close deals? Business to business selling is tougher than ever, and that's why I want to tell you about LinkedIn Sales Navigator. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a sales intelligence platform that helps professionals effectively prospect and engage high value customers, drive higher revenue and increase sales performance.
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Just go to LinkedIn dot com slash direct and get started. Hey, everybody, this just in. It's summertime. It's time to go and do all those summer things like going to a baseball game during the summer. I'm about to do exactly that. And I know exactly what to do.
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Lowest price guaranteed. Kevin Hart, why didn't security let you onto the Philadelphia Eagles podium after they won the Super Bowl? Listen, listen, listen.
Listen, Rich, first of all, the haters, Rich, that's the thing, the haters. And they couldn't see me. If they would have saw me, then they would have known who I was.
And I would have been right up there with the Philadelphia Eagles bringing in the good times. And because, you know, it's a celebration, celebration time. And I say the next time I need you all to know who I am because I'm the biggest star on the freaking planet. Like it's me and the rock. That's it. It's me and the rock, Rich. That's it.
Nobody else credible. I'm about to sell out the solar system. Ma'am.
That's what I'm going to do. And the rock says, I'm just playing good rock. The rock says, you're going to see Rich, Rich Eisen, the rock, the Brahma Bull sitting here. You're talking about Kevin Hart. Why did he get why did he get escorted away from the Philadelphia Eagles? That's because he was drunk.
Rich was drunk, Rich. The rock doesn't drink the rock. You know what the rock does? The rock has a juice. The rock has a cleanse because every day at 2 p.m., I said 2 p.m., the rock drops a deuce. That's what he does.
Another good one for you. I'd like to ask Jason Statham. What do you think about the NFL's new targeting rules to make the game safer?
Let's see here. In the game of football, you have to be really, really rough. And if you're rough, that's when you get a good show. Now, if you're not rough, then it's going to be a little pansy. So I think they shouldn't do it because I don't like pansies. I hate pansies. You know, pansies, people I beat up in my films, I beat them up all the time. And you know what I do after I'm finished with them?
I sit on top of their bodies and I have sex with me, girl. That took a turn. Jay Farrow about to make a return appearance back on the Rich Eisen Show, sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk, furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.
Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Guys, went to the Dodger game Saturday night. Two things happened I want to bring to the table. One, Otani Homer. Oh, I don't know if you saw that shock. He won four hundred and sixty feet so far. The ball went off his bat and you could hear it and you could see it.
And I've never seen anything like it. I mean, I've seen Judge, obviously, from the right side of the plate. But just knowing that at some point he's going to pitch again and he will pitch again. Yeah, I mean, he probably will. But I think it's not the right move.
I don't I don't agree at all. First of all, there's a seven at the beginning of his contract for a reason. It's not because he can hit so well. It's because he could do both, except he's hitting 50 points higher, not pitching. Well, we'll find out how it works next year when he goes pitches again. I think that's and by the way, if he pitched Saturday night, there was fifty three thousand people there announced. There were a few seats that I could see at the top.
I don't know. But the Dodgers, it was just a beautiful night. Chavez Ravine. I was sitting there with Cooper thinking.
Do I need to re do? Who's the best living baseball player right now? Well, we kind of brought him up and mention him as that guy. Yeah, honestly. Honestly, it was like a ground ball to he damn near beat it out.
It was routine. He's big. He's huge. He's fast. He hits and he could pitch. It's nuts.
Positively insane. He used to be able to pitch. Let's just see how he does when he comes back. I bet you he'll be fine. If there's anybody who looked who looked who looked the part last night, it was him. And I cannot imagine he comes back and suddenly he's he's a hittable pitcher.
Far more hittable pitcher. Let's put it that way. And I can't wait. That'll be next year.
Can't wait. And I understand we need to see what happens in October. And with this difference, that difference, Mookie Betts goes out there like, let's just put him in leadoff. Yeah, I want to see him. I mean, obviously he's amazing. He got to play five times Saturday. I want to see him play in some games that matter. I think he might have even gotten there six times. As a matter of fact, let's see him in some pressure packed games.
I can't wait. I mean, he played well in the World Baseball Classic and the World Series. And then it was just a great night at Dodger Stadium. It's just a it was a perfect night and the fun stuff on the scoreboard and whatever. And Cooper was doing the hat race, the ball race, this race and all that stuff.
Find the ball. You know, and then it was like a truck race. And he he found out, I guess, if if the truck gets something splashed on the truck in the in the animation, that that truck eventually is the winner. I mean, it's the stuff. Honestly, the stuff that comes out of the stuff that comes at scoreboard hack, the stuff that comes out of a 13 year old who's diehard baseball fans mouth.
It's unbelievable. And at one point, Kendrick Lamar showed up on the on the board, I guess, saying, hey, Dodger fans, get up there. And on the way home for just apropos of nothing, Cooper says to me, Dad, you know, that was Kendrick Lamar, right? And I'm like, yeah, sure. You did not.
And he proceeded to spend the next five minutes explaining the Kendrick Lamar Drake feud to me. Nice. And I wish I could have recorded it. You could have. I'm driving. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That would never stop Susie. Safety.
Nice. His explanation. He knew every song. He knew every song in every order. Every diss track, Dad. He was explaining to me what a diss track is, too. Like, I wanted to stop and say, you know, like, I don't live under a rock. You know what I mean? Like, I understand what I know, but you're just not dialed on that. But the fact that he is and then wanted earnestly to explain it to me, he's 13. What's he got, by the way, is the greatest thing.
How much? Just joy was your heart filled with it was just great. I will listen to any of my kids could read the phone book to me and I'm good. All right. But just him and I didn't want to stop him. But I also wanted to reach for my phone and just hit record.
No, it was better. I know I said you should record it, but that's a moment you don't want to. Oh, my God.
You don't want to. But he knew like and then then then this happened and then Drake said this. Yeah.
Yeah. And then that week was pretty great. Oh, and then and then future is getting involved.
I never would have thought we had to cook that. Well, just this show would never be talking about Drake, Future, Kendrick. Oh, that now, you know, I'm you know, and you know, Kendrick had that big concert at the Forum last week, which was unbelievable. And it feels like Drake got his L.A. privileges revoked.
He got he got all of his he might have gotten his American privileges revoked after that. But it was just like a who's who of West Coast, like Bloods, Crips getting in and unity and love. And that thing was amazing, man. Well, Coop was explaining that to me on the drive home from Dodger Stadium. He brought Shocks back, by the way, Nike Shocks right now on Shocks back are six hundred dollars.
That's stupid. Is that what you were looking at during half these interviews today? No, this was last week. Oh, OK. Kendrick and Jerry Seinfeld bringing Shocks back.
Look at this. Jay Farrow in studio, our number three right here on The Rich Eisen Show on a fun Monday. And honestly, he would then hop on, you know, Spotify and want to play me some of this music.
And he would start it. He goes, no, that's that's pretty explicit. No, there's a lot of cursing in this. There's a lot of because he's trying to be respectful of me.
It's uncomfortable listening to that stuff with your parents, too. I know. I see he he wanted to like start playing it. Then, you know, what's on the beat?
Oh, my gosh. So did he did he end this by telling you who he thought was the victor? Who won? Who did you think?
Why do you think Kendrick won? Obviously, I think the way he was describing it by a landslide. Yeah. Yeah. A landslide. The general consensus.
Yeah. But I don't want to speak for him. You want to do a FaceTime coup?
I think he would love to break down. Spend time coming in studio here and explaining this to everybody. But you got to act like you don't know, because because I I I he assumed I was a blank slate. I know somewhat accurately. Yeah, that's great.
And was filling me in on everything. I feel like you know more than me at this point. Well, I do. I do. Oh, I do.
Because Cooper is dialed. I'm telling you, I wish I would. If I had a pen and paper, I'd start writing stuff down or recording it. He was telling me when it started, then then it went back and forth. And the names of the songs that would go back and forth. You know, I guess it started when Drake said he was the best ever. There was a big three and Kendrick said, oh, yes. And he did that. J. Cole just bowed out. I was like, you guys handle it.
Basically, we're going to keep sounds like a smart, wise policy. It sounds like. Hey, guys, welcome to the Candy Valentino show. I'm Candy Valentino. I was a founder before I could legally order a drink. And for more than two and a half decades, I've built, scaled, acquired and exited multiple businesses in diverse industries.
Now my goal is to help you by sharing the knowledge that I've learned, the mistakes that I've made in the wisdom that I've developed over my journey. Biweekly episodes every Monday and Thursday. The Candy Valentino Show, wherever you listen.
