Listeners, please welcome a real finance nerd from our sponsor NerdWallet. Hey Sean.
Hey Rich, thanks for having me. We all know NerdWallet for their credit card comparisons, but there's more to it than that, right? So much more. Even for credit cards, it's not the basic this card versus that card. With us, you can filter for features you want, add your top cards to a comparison table, and get access to exclusive offers. Smarter tools, smarter financial decisions. Exactly. Beyond credit cards, we research and review thousands of other financial products, from high old savings accounts to mortgage lenders, so you can find the smartest products.
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NerdWallet Compare, Inc. NMLS 1617539. This is the Rich Eisen Show. The Rich Eisen Show. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Bryce Young being benched two games into the season and 18 games overall.
It still is one of the most stunning benchings I can recall. Earlier on the show, ESPN NFL analyst Louis Riddick, senior writer for the MMQB, Albert Breer. Coming up, hockey hall of famer Brian Leach. And now, it's Rich Eisen. That's right, hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air.
844204 Rich. Number to dial. I'm gonna have a little bit of an audible here. We're about to get to my top five list of top five storylines through the first two weeks of the National Football League season. Brian Leach is going to join us. You can talk about just a little bit outside of our usual lane here to talk about a memory lane. 30-year anniversary of the cup season for the Rangers. We'll talk with Brian Leach shortly. The baseball playoffs.
Let's get into it, man. The Minnesota Twins are feeling it right now and the heat that they are feeling is the old English D appearing closer in their rearview mirror and that object is closer than it seems. A half game out. The Tigers are just on a roll and the Twins are in a bit of a free fall. Our friends with the Royals are a game and a half in front of the Tigers. I mean, the Twins were a half game in front of the... So it's Royals a game and a half in front of the Twins or a half game in front of the Tigers. The Twins and Tigers, if they wind up tied, the Twins have the tie break. So the Tigers have to finish a game in front. And then you got the Mariners. You got the Mariners three games out. The Yankees are now five games up on the Orioles.
Five. And last night, a couple of plays might have the difference between the Orioles having a chance to catch the Yankees and the Mariners having a chance to catch the Tigers and Twins. Last night, the Giants who just had beaten the Orioles 10-0 the night before had bases loaded in the middle of the game and James McCann, the catcher, stands right on the plate and catches a ball that is just tapped to the mound and flipped right to McCann for a force out at home and the umpire says, safe. You're like, what the hell? Upon further review, McCann set his foot down in front of the plate.
He wasn't standing on it. Run scores, Giants tie the game, go on to win. Last night, Yankees Orioles bottom 10. Yanks had just plated a ghost runner in the top of the 10th on Anthony, pardon me, Yankees Mariners. Last night, bottom 10, Yanks with a second RBI of the night from Anthony Rizzo scored the ghost runner. It's 2-1 and the Mariners have first and third, nobody out. Looks like they're about to tie the game at the very least, if not rally against Ian Hamilton because they extra innings forced because Klay Holmes put a cement mixer right in the middle, middle of a plate against Justin Turner, who you can safely attest, sir, is one of the most clutch hitters in September and October we've ever seen, right? He is a dude, man. Like his playoff numbers are like Lou Gehrig-like, right?
Yeah, they're really, really good actually. So at any rate, you got to seek this play out. Ian Hamilton gets Randy Rosarena striking out swinging and the bat goes flying out of his hands up the third base line. J-Rod who's on third base avoids the bat. You know, he's leading off third base, a third of the way down the line and he's in foul territory.
Bat flies out of Rosarena's hands. He tries to, he avoids the bat, but then keeps on running towards the Yankee dugout thinking that, I guess, did he think that the ball was fouled or the play wasn't still live? He forgot to get back to third base and Austin Wells, Yankee catcher, throws to Chisholm who tags him out. Double play, next batter, Justin Turner strikes out and the Mariners lose their second in a row to the Yanks with their second base running gaff by a third base runner in his many games. And then your Mets, man, your Mets keep winning because of the, wouldn't it be, how ironic is it, and I'm not bringing this up in any way, shape or form, I'm not trolling here, but that they, they outlast the Braves and beat the Braves because of their own Acuna. Right.
Luis. Didn't see that one coming, did we? They're two in front of the Braves right now. The Diamondbacks keep winning, which is good for them because, you know, they, they, they might be the sixth seed instead. I mean, the Padres are sitting there atop the wild card and congrats to the Brewers who won the NL central last night, having yet more beer showers with one of the all-time great voices in the history of the game, Bob Euchre. He's going back to the playoffs again.
Congrats to them as the Dodgers and Phillies have at it to see who's going to be the one seed in the NL playoffs as Otani rampages his way to 50-50. He's going to do that. Don't you think? I would be. Son, if he doesn't.
If he didn't, yeah, I'd be stunned. With a week and a half to go. Yeah. And that's your baseball update right here.
He needs two more home runs and one more stolen base. Here we go, man. History. I love history. And then once they're in.
Just put them on a hat, shake it up and pick out two names. I guess that may be it. That may be it.
That may absolutely be it. For the last five years. There is no doubt in my mind if I'm the Dodgers, I make Otani a closer. For at least one of the playoff games.
A million percent. If he can throw and he's gassing it up and he can do it, I do it. I think that would depend on how much practice he's had.
He hasn't pitched in a year and a half. Guess what? You're going to make him a closer and throw him out there. You don't think he can handle high leverage?
OK. I'm wondering if his arm can handle. Yeah, guess what? They'll know.
They'll figure it out in advance. He's throwing. What's he throwing for? Why is he throwing?
Just because rehab. He misses it, Richard. Stay loose. OK, stay loose. By the way, David Sampson told me yesterday the Mets have no chance, but I'm like this. You just make it in. You just get in there. You got a chance right now. Look at the Diamondbacks last year.
Yeah, who knows? Just get us in there. Dude, I think you're going. And then and then whatever happens this year is great. And then next year when we get your guy from the Yankees.
My guy. Yeah. You know, ESPN Analytics has the Mets at seventy one point four percent to make the playoffs. Oh, baby. And we could be playing the Dodgers.
By the way, do you know when the Mets turn their season around again? Yeah. Grimace.
No, Grimace was number one. Yeah. Don't sit. No, don't.
It's the truth. Look at their record after hop to a throw. We lost that game. I know you lost again. Don't try to give her any credit for this.
I'm just saying, hey, Francis doesn't want to hear it. You don't know. Guys, she has a name. Haley Welch.
Nobody knows that dog. Very good. Yeah. Come on. We lost the game.
She hopped to OK. I know. But Grimace, we but I think we're like fifty one and thirty seven since Grimace throughout that first pitch. Something insane. I know.
Yeah. Mets record since Grimace says, let's see, where is it? But when did that's not the record I want to know.
What's wrong with you? I know last week you were forty nine and twenty seven. Man, oh man. Grimace was June 12th. Yeah. That does not feel like that long ago. That's a turnaround game. Well, that's why I realized this yesterday, because we had all summer, right? We should have been joined this summer. And all we do is we're going to wait for football to get here. And then it's like we just spent through all those months to get to this point. Exactly. Enjoy anything.
Normally, the narrative is the Mets will just blow it down the stretch. But instead, you spat on that thing. Rich Eisen. Come on, Doug. I did just say those words. I thought you were more couth than that.
I'm very couth. I thought we were above that type of thing. I am just spitting facts. That's what she did. Wait a minute. Wait a second. All right. Let's see.
The White Sox have thirty six wins. Did you see did you pause on that for a second? Did you see the White Sox tweet last night? Yeah, yeah. Did you send it to us?
I sent it to you. Yeah, yeah. Just the White Sox tweeted out, you know, final score.
The opposition scored more runs than us. They're done. They're out of options.
Thirty six and one seventeen. That is sad. All right. Let's switch gears here, gents. I have a top five list. Oh, top five surprises through two weeks of the twenty twenty four National Football League season.
Hit it, please. High five. One, two, three, four, five. Rich's top five. All right.
Music, please. Top five surprises through two weeks of the National Football League. Twenty twenty four season number five on this list. The almost two and 0 Patriots. Dude, they are not your homecoming this year.
And that was the conversation going in the win loss game every single time was Patriots you know, win against the Patriots. I don't think not at all. And hey, man, I know you wanted a pick in the top five. I would say right now, what's more likely? No, no way.
No way. They've got a coach who won't countenance that. And they went into Cincinnati and played better. Yeah, played better, played situational football, played better in all phases and then took the Seahawks all the way to overtime at home. Well, they took us to overtime and won.
That's true. Most of that game. I know that's a good thing that nobody's talking about is Drake May is getting 30 percent of the first team reps in practice, which is unheard of across the league. He's going to play sooner than what people think. Who who's getting the reps?
Drake May is getting 30 percent of first first team reps. No, he's not. Drop a drop came. I was like, did I mispronounce his name?
No, you did. Yeah. Oh, so that's the way it's going to be. The Rock came up to my apparently the Bucks Twitter account used to say, McLaughlin, say McLaughlin today, which we're very proud of.
I would point out in my main football league, someone had the audacity to drop the DD last night. Oh, my goodness. The concave.
The concave. All right. Number four on this list.
Bryce Young benched after two games. Right. Who in the world saw this coming? Because you want to talk about homecoming. I think people thought coming into the league this year would be Carolina and New England would be your homecomings. Yeah. And the fact that Bryce Young is benched, the new coach hired because of what he did for his quarterbacks in his two previous spots, hired for his positivity for the glass half full and this team as all in on a first overall draft pick, as you possibly can imagine on the for the compensation they gave up to trade up to go get him and two games into the new coach's tenure he's benched. And what in the hell is happening there?
And what's the pathway forward? And what's the metric by which the Panthers will consider him a startable quarterback again this year when you know he's not going to get reps? You don't get many reps during the season.
What you just talked about with Drache Maia is rare that you're going to see reps split between veteran and rookie quarterback during a season when the rookie is being seasoned on the bench. This is one of the most surprising stories. And the only reason why it's not higher is because I'm trying to be a bit more positive with some of the rest. And that's number three. The third surprise on this list for the top five surprises through two weeks of the NFL season is Sam Darnold 4.0. This is 4.0, Sam. As we know, 1.0 is Jet and 2.0 is Carolina. 3.0 was Niner and 4.0 is Viking Starter. 2-0 in Sam Darnold 4.0.
Taking care of the Giants on the road and then taken down to 49ers. It helps to have Justin Jefferson go 97 yards in the manner in which he did, but give it up. And I'll give it up to Jordan Palmer. Palmer Nostropomeras did it again, right?
How many times are you going to come on this year? I mean, on the show and say, look out for that guy. Yeah, and have him last year was the backup in Cincinnati, right? Yeah, the guy from Washington, right?
And blanking on now. And yeah, Jake Browning, Jake Browning. And now it's Sam Darnold 4.0.
That's a prize. Number two on this list. I know I wanted to go glass half full for the rest of the way, but I can't hear the O and 2 Ravens. I did not see that coming. I thought, yes, if they lost in Kansas City and the manner in which they lost in Kansas City, it sure looked like they take out the Raiders and they had the Raiders right where they wanted them and let them off the mat and lost at home. And their O and 2 and their offensive line has some questions about it, to say the least, waiting for the turnaround to come. But the fact that they are going into Dallas in week 3 O and 2 is a surprise to me.
You know, I didn't see that one coming. Number one, the biggest surprise through two weeks of the 2024 National Football League season, the New Orleans Saints are everything everywhere all at once. That is the biggest surprise. They eviscerated Carolina in their home opener. And as a matter of fact, if Bryce Young winds up being done in Carolina somehow, some way, I know I'm extrapolating this out to the worst degree for Carolina. The tailspin this year began in New Orleans with what the Saints did to him. And then the Saints just turned around and said, we'll turn the Cowboys entirely into something like that to coming out the offense, looking like the 2009 Saints.
And you could say, Rich, what are you talking about? Well, they're the first team to score 44 or more points in each game to start 2 and 0 in a season since the 2009 Saints. That's the way they have come out of the gate with the Clint Kubiak award. The coordinated offense. The defense is doing its usual thing.
And now this big game against the Houston Texans can't wait to see that in week number three. That is the biggest surprise through the first two weeks. Sure. Why not?
All right, we'll get one. Not a surprise to me, but a surprise to many. Jim Harbaugh has totally transformed the Los Angeles charges, right? Everybody thinking no Keenan Allen, no Mike Williams, no clue. No chance. And Harbaugh basically has taken this team and molded it in his image to the point of taking a defensive lineman wearing number 99 and putting a number 44 on him and saying, you're playing fullback and JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards, you're going to come in and we're going to play a hot hand.
And Dobbins raises a hand and says, mine's hot. And then defensively, they are absolutely blanketing the field. Now we need to see what happens when they take on a quarterback that we believe has a top five quarterback in the league elite resume and Gardner Minshew. Despite being 30 of 38 against the Ravens in that surprising win last week, a lot of people don't put him in that category, I would say. And then obviously Bryce Young having his last game as a Panther potentially this year or maybe ever didn't look good against the Chargers defense. Now comes Justin Fields. We'll see. But Jim Harbaugh has totally transformed the Chargers. They are 2-0. They are talking like him. They are picking up what he's putting down. And we are thrilled that he's back because Bill Belichick's press conference moment.
We don't have those anymore here at the moment. So instead, we now have Harbaugh files and the latest and greatest came yesterday. Hit it.
Sometimes people that are standing on third base think they hit a triple, but they didn't. He's just a great, he's a great coach. I mean, one of the best I've ever been around. You know, like Moses, I'm going to die leaning on my staff. The Harbaugh files.
I'm not entirely familiar, but did Moses die leaning on a staff? Listen, man. Okay.
I might have gone Gandalf. Right. Did he? I don't know.
I have no idea either. You know, when it comes to religious references, I'm going to lean on Harbaugh instead of you. Definitely not me. That's that's my top five list of biggest surprises through the first two weeks of the National Football League season. Could have gone in other directions. You know, the Bills surprise it. They just surprise it 2-0.
A lot of people thought that they were going to be left for no longer being division champs. You know, there's other ways to go about it, but that's my list. Let's take a break. The staff of Moses. I mean, that's him, man. Very, very funny. That is Jim. The 30th anniversary reunion of the New York Rangers is coming up and joining us next to talk about that and just throw down memory lane a little bit.
It's been a long time since I spoke to this hockey Hall of Famer, Brian Leach, when we come back right here on the Rich Eisen Show. 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. Sales Navigator helps you target the right buyers.
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Just go to linkedin.com slash direct and get started. Listeners, please welcome a real finance nerd from our sponsor NerdWallet. Hey Sean.
Hey Rich, thanks for having me. We all know NerdWallet for their credit card comparisons, but there's more to it than that, right? So much more. Even for credit cards, it's not the basic this card versus that card. With us, you can filter for features you want, add your top cards to a comparison table and get access to exclusive offers. Smarter tools, smarter financial decisions. Exactly. Beyond credit cards, we research and review thousands of other financial products from high old savings accounts to mortgage lenders so you can find the smartest products.
Hear that world? NerdWallet is not just credit cards. Thanks for that important PSA, Rich. And where exactly should people go to compare and find these credit cards and savings account and mortgage rates and more? NerdWallet.com forward slash learn more. Thanks again to NerdWallet, our paid sponsor of this segment. NerdWallet, finance smarter.
Hey, that's my line, finance smarter y'all. NerdWallet Compare, Inc. NMLS 1617539. It's awesome, especially now that football's finally back, which means it's time to order your favorite game day food, snacks and drinks on DoorDash without missing a single play.
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Alcohol available only in select markets. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, the Roku Sports Channel. In a couple minutes time, the radio audience will return and we'll be one big happy simulcast family.
And that's when we'll bring in Brian Leach. When I was at ESPN from 96 to 2003, I was getting to know the community. I lived in Farmington, Connecticut, just down the road from West Hartford, Connecticut. And a bunch of people lived in Cheshire, Connecticut, including Chris Berman. And everybody, whenever Cheshire, whenever I heard Cheshire, the next thing they would say is, you know, Brian Leach is from there.
Quite frankly, every day, it was just like every time. And that's all I heard going all over the place. Oh, yeah. He's and I'm like, you mean, you know, the New York Ranger, you know, the future Hall of Famer. Like, yeah, but he was he's ours first. It's quite literally it was either that or they were pridefully talking about that, like anybody who played for Gino Auriemma.
You know, or UConn for anybody with UConn. A nutmeg state legend. That was it. You know, that's all I heard.
And then everyone's like, you got to go down to New Haven to try their pizza. That was her. I heard that, too. Oh, really? Yeah. And I'm a Staten Islander. I'm like, whatever.
Right. How was it? I never went. I never went.
I never went. Dude, I did the 2 a.m. Sports Center. I got home at four in the morning.
Oh, that's true. I woke up at one o'clock and then sat on my ass until I had to go to work again. Cooled out. I'm not driving out of New Haven for pizza. Seriously, back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network, I'm 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 clickgranger.com or just stop by Hockey Hall of Famer. Stanley Cup champion and an absolute legend in the New York metropolitan area that goes all the way up to Cheshire, Connecticut, which I just told everybody on the Roku side. That's all I heard when I worked at ESPN is, you know, Brian Leach is from there. And here he is on the Rich Eisen Show in the 30th anniversary reunion season of the Rangers hoisting the cup. Brian Leach. Good to see you, Brian. How are you, sir?
Good to see you, too. Yeah, you're right, Chris Berman used to used to mention him and I were in the same town all the time, like on the Sports Center made me laugh. Did he did you ever like run into him in Cheshire, like walking around or anything like that? No, no, because I was a city guy the whole time, but at any of these golf events or any of our charity events and we'd see each other, we'd always go have a little talk about how the town was doing.
And it's, you know, and it's such a small town community in central Connecticut. You know, that's where I spent seven years working on on ESPN. And, you know, you are now did you ever dream that you'd be synonymous with New York City and and and how this all played out in your life and career, Brian? Well, you know, you get drafted as an 18 year old. So Rangers drafted me. I was like, I might have a chance, you know, to make this team and to be a New York Ranger and to be 16 years there and, you know, to get a shot at the cup and to come through with a win in 94 pretty much defined my career that year. I mean, you can have a long career in other places, but to win in New York City, big deal. So I mean, and for a 16 year old and for for you to be such a pillar of the team, how how quickly did you hear about the year 1940 and and have 50 years of of of all of that placed on your shoulders in your lap, Brian? My first game with the Rangers, pretty much, you know, the night the 1940 chance starts and every visiting arena. It's a very, very easy one chance, obviously, on Long Island.
They wouldn't let us forget it, not for one minute during every game against the Islanders. So but for me, you know, it was more of an opportunity. You know, we walk around.
I lived in New York City. You know, I would talk to my teammates and we'd say, can you imagine winning in this city and what it would be like? We we watched other teams win and we've seen the parades and we know the excitement that comes with being a New York City athlete. There's there's lows, too.
But when you're young and you're getting paid to play a sport, you know, at an early age, all you can think about is the upside. You know, it's like the opportunity that you had and presented with. Yeah, the 1940 chance were unoriginal.
Certainly not as original as Pot Van sucks, Brian. I remember that one. I think I was in a blue seat once upon a time, my life chanting that, you know, but that's that's that's the whole rivalry between the Rangers and Islanders from from back in that day. So what was it like when Messier arrived, Brian?
Culture change. He'd already been you know, he had four Stanley Cup, five Stanley Cups already at that point. He'd been to seven finals confidence who's through him, but him as a teammate with every single person there, including the trainers, management, everybody that worked around the garden was so interesting to watch. It was perfect time for myself, for Adam Graves, for Mike Richter to just observe and to become his friend and to be his teammate changed the whole dynamic of the whole organization, the way we thought about winning, the commitment that had to be put into preparation and conditioning. And he he led by example as well as by talking.
But it was more just him going about his business with confidence and working hard day to day. So what do you remember the first time he walked in the locker room or that you set eyes on him, Brian? Yeah, we had just gotten done playing what Dan was called the the Canada Cup, and he was on the Canadian team and I was on the American team. And I got injured in the finals, so I was not skating right away.
And he came in and asked me how I was doing. But then we got out to practice and I remember we were in Montreal and we were having our first practice and there was about 15 feet of space all around Mark. No one wanted to go skate next to him. They couldn't believe that he was on the New York Rangers. And that was our morning skate of our first game in Montreal. But we hadn't skated with him up to that point.
We just skated against him. But everybody there had so much respect for him and a lot of us had fear for him as an opponent because of how competitive and how physical he was. So then how did you learn that he's just one of the guys, though? Oh, he made everyone feel comfortable immediately.
Team dinners. He moved right into the city where I was living. We drove to and from practice every day. So just talking and hanging out and him, he went out of his way to get to know everybody, get to know their families, get to know where they came from, kind of what made each person tick. And he went about that right away and wasn't forced, felt it was genuine. And all of a sudden, he was your friend. He was your teammate.
And it was exciting. And Brian Leach, did you pick up the check? Did he get the check? Like, what about those team dinners?
We usually did the credit card game for a while, you know? Yeah, the last one gets pulled out of the hat. And then, of course, he would step in, you know, and especially if it was a rookie or someone that wasn't making anything. He just liked the camaraderie of everybody going, oh, thank goodness mine got pulled out. Thank goodness mine got pulled out. Thank goodness mine got pulled out, but then at the end, he wouldn't let the one guy pay. He'd make sure that we, the older guys, whoever was making more money would always jump in and we'd split up the tab. So when Keenan came in, what was that like, Brian?
For me, it was interesting because Mike has his own way of going about team building. And I wasn't one of his favorites right from the beginning. Why? But that's what I always ask, too. I'm like, why?
Why me? Yeah, but our GM, Neil Smith, liked me and he's like, don't worry. And then our team was good. So it wasn't like we were losing consistently, but he had players that he liked in the league. And he also liked moving out guys that had been there for a while and bring in his own players.
So I think I was on that hit list for a while. But we had a good team and Mark liked me. He had some sway with the general manager. And even when I got to the playoffs, I honestly thought I was going to be gone by the summer. But winning the cup and having Mike leave right after pretty much cemented that I'd be there for a lot longer.
No kidding. So it wasn't just as simple as maybe he picked you out to show other guys on the squad that he would treat somebody like you, you know, difficultly, like it wasn't one of those things with him. No, no, it was just it kind of was his M.O. at that time.
It's guys that had been there for a bit. And, you know, he liked to play like Chris Chelios better than me. And he was always talking about moving me for Chris Chelios because Chelsea and I are friends. And he'd call and say, what's going on with Iron Mike? He called me and said that he's trying to swap us. And I'm like, I don't know.
I'm in his office every two weeks. And he tells me, you know, what I'm doing wrong and how I'm struggling. But then I'd come out.
Mark would be like messy. I'd be like, don't worry about it. Just keep playing, keep playing and keep doing what you're doing. So we got through it, you know, we're the best team in the league that year. And obviously the playoffs went pretty well for myself and for the team.
No doubt. Richter to you. And then the big moment, Game 6 Eastern Conference Finals, the Devils, you know, the whole business with Brodure and everybody and Messier guaranteeing a win in Game 6, coming up with a hat trick. How did you learn about Messier's guarantee, Brian? Well, we weren't on the Internet then. So we always grabbed the papers, you know, every morning. And, you know, we knew it was a big series anyway in the New York area, New York, New Jersey.
So to just grab the papers and, you know, there are multiple, you know, newspaper publications at that time. So we'd have them in the car and we just kind of laughed and looked at Mark and said, now you've really done it. We laughed about it. And but he felt really confident in our team. We know we had a good year. We know we'd played well up to that point. And he really believed that we would win that game.
So just like we said about the opportunity in New York, everything gets a little bigger. And, you know, that proclamation of believing in the team became the guarantee. And for him to play that game, we still our teammates and stuff that will be getting together in the next few days, we still shake our head. You know, we feel fortunate to be on a winning team that won the Stanley Cup. But that game sticks out to every one of us all the time. We just shake our head and said, can you believe we were part of that?
Yeah. Yeah, you just still you still 30 years later in advance of the reunion that's going down this weekend, you're still shaking your head. And do you have you had conversations with Messier about it since then? Brian, like in joking ways, we've done a lot of appearances at charity events together and, you know, in question and answer things.
And it comes up in public, but not really in person. You know, we talk about our families about, you know, golfing about what you've been up to, but we don't really reminisce that much, except what our teammates are doing or what they're up to. And, you know, how fortunate we were to play those years there and to have a connection to, you know, such a such a sports special city like New York is amazing. And you're going to see everybody right coming up on Saturday at the Woodbridge Brewery in Woodbridge, New Jersey, which I know very well as a Staten Islander.
Is that where you're going? Yeah, yeah, yeah, we are. And it's interesting because we're all on a group text and we'll always fire some things off about trying to set something up to get together. The Rangers had us back for a 25th reunion. And then some of the guys just started talking to some people in the area and said, Well, why don't we put, you know, a fun few days together? Let's see if we can do some autographs and then have some dinners and have a couple rounds of golf. So, yeah, Saturday, we're spread out through the whole day.
I think it's in Hall of Fame signings. You know, on the Internet, you can look it up where to get tickets and everything. But there'll be three or four guys at a time for all day. And then we're going out for dinner after that. And then we've got some golf set up in the next couple of days after that.
So 30 years, we all can't believe it. There'll be 16 of us. They are skaters, plus Mike Keenan. And it'll be a fun time to get everybody back together. Is Keenan on the group text, Brian?
He's not on the group text. But when I was doing some TV for MSG, we did work together and we've been together a lot of events. And he doesn't remember everything quite the way I do, which makes me laugh.
But we've had our clear the air moments and I like being around Mike. The hatchets buried, you know, the cups, the cups in the case, you know what I mean? It's all good. 30 years later. Unbelievable.
I would be remiss if before I let you go. What's your two cents on Connor McDavid watching him play when you see him, Brian? Just another head shaker, you know, to play at that speed and to have that skill. It's unbelievable for hockey to have an athlete like that put on show after show, night after night, and to have players like myself that used to play.
And, you know, I used to be able to skate, you know, as one of the top guys to see this other level of a player. And what he can do is, I mean, it's just so great as a hockey fan and as a former player. It's amazing to watch. It's amazing to watch.
When you say head shaker, you know, I'm with you. The way he skates, his puck handling ability, his vision, his size, you put it all together. And, you know, obviously he's wearing the Oilers sweater. So that's another reason why a lot of people are going to be ascribing any sort of great one ability to him. Do you think that he is on a path, if not as a skill set, that he can be mentioned in the same breath as Wayne Gretzky, Brian? Oh, he will be.
Yeah, he will be for sure. But like all our top players in the NHL, besides being great people and great ambassadors, we're all a little different. You know, Gordie Howe is a little different than obviously Wayne and Mario Lemireux is different than Wayne. Then Crosby comes in and he plays the game a little bit different and, you know, Conners there and we've got Nathan McKinnon. And so all the top players, their styles are all just a little bit their own, which makes it fun as a fan. But yes, he'll be mentioned with all those guys I just mentioned and be, you know, talked about as one of the greatest players of all time without a doubt.
It's not even a question. Brian Leach, it's just a pleasure, man. To chat with you and on behalf of so many New Yorkers for 30 years ago, what you did and it just still resonates for a lot of people, including myself. I say thank you to you, Brian. Yeah, yeah.
It was a good year for me too, Rich. Thanks. No, absolutely. And I don't mean to leave on a note of potential discord, but this photograph is now being placed on the border of Connecticut, calling it the home of the pizza capital of the United States. And, you know, I just got to tell you, Brian, you know, you spent a lot of time in New York. Do you do you agree with that sign? Well, I had a sign for a sign for a few years and then it got rotating. So at least I was up there for a few years when I went back for Christmas and see my family in Cheshire.
But then it was gone. No, I understand that. But do you agree that that is the pizza home of the pizza capital of the United States in Connecticut? I know, but can't you just call yourself anything these days?
That's true. I don't know. I haven't heard. I haven't heard about it. OK, very good.
I just didn't want to start anything. But you can call yourself a Stanley Cup champion, man. And I look forward to hearing all the stories that come out of the reunion of the 30th year. And it's great to chat with you, Brian Leach. You be well, sir. Thanks, buddy. You got it. That is Brian Leach. Everybody check it out. The Woodbridge Brewery is the home of this Ranger Palooza right here on the Rich Eisen Show this coming Saturday.
Go to HallOfFameSignings.com or CXstuff.com for details and to purchase tickets. What must it be like to be in the Canyon of Heroes and looking up and seeing the ticker tape come down? When you're the ones who are like, yeah, 1940 stuff that just hopefully my kids won't grow up hearing the 1994 chants. It's a little bit it doesn't have the same ring to it. Right. Yeah, Woodbridge, New Jersey. Great mall.
I grew up there. Great. There was a ground round that was free sodas.
It was awesome. Ground round. Oh, my God. Joel and Ev would take Jeff and I to the ground round for dinner at the Woodbridge Brewery. Ground round for dinner at the Woodbridge Mall. We would pass by the Wonder Bread outlet. There was a we would pass by a Wonder Bread store where they had the Ho Hos and the Ring Dings and Ding Dongs and all that stuff.
We would beg them to stop. Never forget Woodbridge Center. Oh, my God. The Woodbridge Mall. We would go over the the the outer bridge and go hang out there as childhood and then free drink, free free sodas. Oh, my goodness gracious.
Opened in 1971. Yep. That's my childhood, sir. It was brand spanking new and everything. And we was also scared. I've told this story before.
The the one of the original pay cable boxes, Wometco Home Theater. Do you remember WHT? I don't know if you you'd be one of those guys who would be trying to see through all the the warped video just in case there was a Shannon Tweed movie or two on. I've already told you like this. You've been there. You've been there. You've been there and done that.
I see it. So we we got this was when HBO was either WHT or HBO. You had one of these pay cables, if you if you if you could. And we did. And we never got a bill. What? Yeah, I never told this story.
About six years ago. I remember you told me that we never got a bill. But the problem with not getting a bill and because we weren't going to call it and say, hey, you're not billing us for this thing. The problem with not getting a bill is we also did not get the guide as to what was on and when and what day.
So we had no idea. You know, back in the day, there was no like guide channel. You get the TV and buy the TV. You had literally had to get. Well, there wasn't WHT wasn't readily available for a lot of people in the United States. It was just new in the TV. So you had to get like your own booklet to see what was going on.
They came in the mail. So we would stop off at the WHT like shack. There was an office in Woodbridge. And my parents would send either Jeff or I in there as a kid to say, can we have an extra guide?
Because, you know, we need them for home. Something like that. And that's the way that we would get the new guide. We would go to the Woodbridge Mall. We'd get the guide. We'd go to the ground round.
I'd get like three sodas, which I probably shouldn't have had. And that was my childhood. And so we thought, Jeff and I, my brother and I thought like years later, years later of making up a fake WHT bill, send it to my dad's house for $19,000. Back months of free WHT that never got, we never got a bill for it. My brother and I just didn't have the heart to do it to my sweet, my sweet dad. May he rest in peace.
My mom. Those are my Woodbridge memories. I don't know why I'm there all coming out, but you know, there's Woodbridge for you. All right, we're back to wrap up this show. I'm out of New Jersey mall stories to tell you.
That's next year on the Rich Eisen Show or not. Healthy hydration isn't just about drinking water. It's about water and electrolytes. You lose both water and sodium when you sweat. So both need to be replaced to help prevent muscle cramps, headaches and energy dips. Now you might think drinking beyond thirst would be a good idea. No, that dilutes blood electrolyte and sodium levels, which could lead to headaches, low energy cramps, confusion, or worse.
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These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. Let's talk O'Reilly Auto Parts, people. You love their jingle. You're going to love their friendly, helpful service even better because they're in the business of keeping your car on the road. And the parts knowledge they have, it's all you need for your maintenance and repairs.
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Thank you so much for joining us today, and we'll see you in the next episode of O'Reilly Auto Parts. You can't hoist it either, right, unless you've won it? Correct. As I understand it, people say you can't hoist it over your head and shoulders unless you're a player, but that's obviously not true because the equipment managers, the head coaches, a lot of them do that. So I think it's an organizational type role.
You have to have some role within that organization to be able to do it, but they're probably not going to let Jim from accounting do that. One of my favorite humans on planet Earth, Colin Hanks, all of his appearances. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, game time tickets. Start buying tickets to anything in your area, concerts, basketball games, football, W games.
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Hopefully you enjoyed yet another three-hour edition of this show or were you informed and we made you laugh, we made you enjoy, we made you smarter. And for that, there's R-E-S consulting. Jen, so you're ready to consult again using, and listen, I know the Packers and Chargers just for two have excellent medical staffs. When something's up with their quarterbacks, the medical staffs will handle it.
There's excellent people, but when it comes to passing the eye test, nobody better than the group of R-E-S consulting. So we have practice video, two quarterbacks. Which one are we going to go with first? All right, let's go with Jordan Love first. Jordan Love. Jordan Love, practicing in pads. Yesterday we saw him, there were no pads. Today there are pads. And just so what my eyes see is somebody advancing and he goes, he's high knees through those, through the dummies, over the pads there, there he is.
That's a very nice play fake and a nice throw on the run. Well, and the trot, not necessarily the run. Okay, trot. Is that all we have? Half boot. Is that all we have? No, you got to show it again then. So he's going high knees, which is great.
That's what helps when you're trying to get through all the trash, right? High knees right there. Okay. I like it. Again, you're going to need higher knees if you're stepping over Jeffrey Simmons. Nice play fake there, and now, oh, gets the ball from the corner. You can see that his eyes are fine. You know, arm looks good. Eyes up. I see a quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. He's playing. Dude, there's no hitch in that giddyup. No, he looks good.
Don't you think? He's got a nice brace on, so you obviously got to deal with that. Brace it up and let's go. But it's uncomfortable if you've never had a brace on your leg before. Well, he's got to get used to it. Excuse me.
This is not about braces and how it feels. It's eye test. Got it. He passes the eye test, so we've cleared him for play.
I'm signing off right now. I would sit him. I would sit him anyway. I don't think they need him. I consult to have Malik Willis start against the Titans. Give him one more week. That will be three weeks since he hurt his knee. Yeah, three plus. That's the three to six.
So you're hitting the number on the head. Now, Justin Herbert. What ails him again? Ankle. Ankle.
Herbert. Getting ready for the Steelers. He was on the field, but didn't participate in any drills. I test the foot that we had to play in there.
All right, there is in the yellow. Is the ankle is taped. He's not moving. Not moving.
Ginger. He's standing there. I don't know. I mean, is that all we got? Is that all we have? Oh, that's all we're here to work with.
Wow. I don't like it. I don't love that. I don't like it at all.
I'm not really getting any. I mean, we're just seeing just five seconds of practice. I'm going to extrapolate that out to say he's questionable. I'm not going to sign off on him this week.
Being able to. So you were Easton sticking? He's heavily taped.
I got a still. I'm zooming in. He's heavily taped. He's heavily taped.
Now, he had to play in her problem. How high is the ankle still? Chris, is the ankle on the same foot that he had to?
Great question. It's on his right foot that's heavily taped. It's going up to the bottom of the calf. Are you saying this is plantar fascia moving up? I'm just wondering if he has that and the ankle on the same leg. Good question.
Well, that's why I'm here. These are all important things when we're talking about an eye test. That guy didn't pass the eye test. Jordan Love passed the eye test.
People come to us for consulting. We need all the facts. One of these Twitter docs says maybe a high ankle spread. Uh-oh.
Or you go with the Twitter doc. High ankle? He finished with the high ankle? That's dreaded, as they say. It is dreaded. That's two to four. At the minimum.
That's two to four. They better loosen that thing up before T.J. Claire's defensive player of the year caliber player. His brother said yesterday on Pat, he doesn't get the appreciation he deserves. Who, T.J.?
I don't. You're right. These walk guys. Oh, T.J., what? You love the walk guys.
What are you talking about? I understand, but T.J. Watt is fully appreciated. He did not get the MVP. He's going to the Hall of Fame. He didn't get the Defensive Player of the Year award last year. Because the other guy was better.
Uh-oh. Look, Michael Jordan did win MVP every year. T.J.'s going to the Hall of Fame. T.J. and J.J. will be in the Hall of Fame. No doubt.
Just like the Kelseys and the Mannings. Yeah. Zonks? Just 6% on a deal. You can retire next month. The BiggerPockets Podcast are on YouTube or wherever you listen.
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