Then we continue on Fred Rogan, Rodney Pete on a five to seventy LA
Sports. All right, this is the hour we are giving away those sweet
tickets for tonight Dodgers Giants. Will be in the AM five to seventy LA
Sports suite at the stadium. So when we give you a queue to call,
it's coming up this hour. At some point you gotta be able to
go. Don't call if you can't go to the game tonight, because that
does nobody any good. Make sure you can go when you call, and
we'll give you that opportunity. Next hour. David Vass jumps on the show,
Rodney, and he'll be coming up at about two thirty. Oh all
right, Lakers, nice win, big win, important win, and Lebron
really did have a very good game last night against Brooklyn. Let's bring on
Fox Sports Radio. NBA insider Mark Medina, Mark, thanks for jumping on
today, Fred, thanks as always for having all Right, So, the
Lakers nearly blew a twenty six point lead, but Lebron got hot and that
was that. Somehow, some way they hung on. Can you tell me
who the real Kers are? Mark? I think the real Lakers are is
that they have a check and Hyde personality. They have games where they beat
up one good opponents, they have games where they give away, and then
games where they will kind of average. So I think, you know,
we've clearly gone deep enough into the season that we know that they're going to
be consistently inconsistent and we don't know if that roller coaster is going to go
off the rails or lead to a nice ending. But time will tell with
us. Yeah, I believe what they are two games back of the seventh
seed. Now is that where they are? Mark? I believe that they
jumped up there or something like that, or eight seeds they are. It's
fluid, but as of now they're one and a half games behind the Kings.
But as you guys know, the Kings have the tiebreaker there right right.
Does it matter for the league? I mean, certainly nobody wants to
be in that play in But who the Lakers play, as we've seen all
season long, like you just mentioned Jackal and Hyde, that they can beat
anybody in the league, but they also can lose to anybody in the league.
Well, I think all these things matter, but it's about how do
we rank the importance. I think no matter what the number one thing will
always be the same thing for every team. Health. I think number two
is going to be momentum. But I think the third part is that seeding
and matchups do matter because for two reasons. One, when you're looking at
just the regular season success, they don't have any answer for the Denver Nuggets.
They do have an answer for the Oklahoma City Thunder, so that's going
to affect those things. I think the other way that seeding matters is that
if they're a seven to eighth team as opposed to nine to ten, only
needing one game to win in a playing tournament, I think can mean a
lot for a team that's riding all Lebron James and Anthony Davis and their injury
history. But no doubt it's still going to be about health as wealth and
play the long game. But the challenging part about playing the long game is
they don't really have margin for air with any of these games because every outcome
really significantly assways the standings race with only a few games left in the season.
So Gabe Vincent was back last night, played fourteen minutes two points.
Is he going to be a wild card here? Could he be an x
factor or mark. Do you think he's missed so much time it'll just be
what it'll be. Yeah, I think I think that he can be an
X factor. He's not going to be a savior by any means, but
I think that he can be a guy that helps with their depth and positional
needs. I think we have to keep in mind this was the biggest Lakers
off season signing that they had because of his success with Miami and the fact
that he can plug in so many holes of being a team guy, being
a good defender can knock down some three point shots. But I think to
your larger point, he's missed so many games. Is this late in the
season. I don't think that he's going to be the difference between, you
know, whatever playoff fortunes or misfortunes that they have. But the more body
armor that he can give a Lakers team that is too reliant on Lebron James
and Anthony Davis is a good thing. And I think in the short term,
the fact that he gave productive minutes and didn't look two winded given his
lengthy absence, is surely a good sign for these last few games of the
season and beyond. Yeah, and Mark Friend, I have chopped this up
throughout the whole season. Like you know, most teams will have, you
know, they have their big two or their big three, but usually two.
And the Lakers with Lebron and a D have been pretty much healthy all
season long, and they've those guys have delivered. I mean A D I
don't think gets talked about enough for what he's done this season. But for
as that third guy, it really for the Lakers, it hasn't mattered who
it is. They just need that third guy. Some nights it's you know,
it's it's D'Angelo Russell, some Knights is really hotch to Morrow. Some
some nights it's Austin Reeves. Do you feel the same way, It doesn't
really matter who that guy is. It just has to be one of those
guys. Yeah, I agree with you one hundred percent. It's a question
that I asked Arvin Ham during last playoff run about if he feels like the
team has a defensive third option or if it's a composite character, and he
went with the ladder. I think one of the one of the challenges of
this season is that clearly, for the good and the bad, there hasn't
been a definitive third guy, but even through the bad there wasn't a definitive
third option with many options, but I think you know, as of late,
you know they've been able to rely on any combination of D'Angel, Russell,
Ruliatchamora, Austin Reeves gave Vincent could fill in that box now that he's
back, and you know, really all they really need is one or two
of those guys to have a good game on a night tonight basis, and
that can offset maybe the bad games that the other role players have. But
it is an added bonus that if they can have two of those on a
nightly basis opposed to just one. And I think that's where they gave Vincent
return, can do dividends of just giving those additional reinforcements so they at least
have some margin for air, you know, with with the quality opponents and
just overall attrition and health. Mark Madina, Fox Sports Radio, NBA ins
with us. Does it just blow your mind watching Lebron at this point?
I mean, I mean, honestly, you covered the Lakers, you've covered
the Warriors, You've worked nationally for USA today. You know the league like
the back of your hand. Are you just do you marvel at what he's
been able to do? Yes, without a doubt. I mean, this
is unprecedented, literally unprecedent someone at thirty nine years old to not only have
a kind of knight that he had against the Brooklyn Nets with forty points,
but to have a season where it's pretty much on par with his career averages.
And you know, he's not the same player as he was in his
prime. You can tell his athleticism isn't the same, He's not having the
same kind of defensive responsibilities that he did. But you know what, for
the lens of he's still an All Star caliber player and still the best guy
on the team. He's still offered enough as far as his scoring, playmaking,
and as far as a reference point, I certainly saw Kobe Bryant do
a lot of miraculous things, including that sixty point game in his final game.
But I'm also very well reminded that when I covered Kobe in the latter
part of his career, he was dealing with season ending injuries, and so
you weren't seeing the full Kobe Bryant that we actually know and well. You
would only see flashes of it occasionally while he was fighting injuries, and with
Lebron you're mostly seeing him play up to his standards at a pretty elite all
star level on a game in game out basis. Yeah, and is it
time just to stop with the you know, Lebron badging and just sit back
and just kind of, as you mentioned, be amazed at what he's able
to do at thirty nine years old. I mean, like you said,
we've never seen this and probably won't ever see it again. Yeah. I
think clearly with Lebron, the positives that vastly outweigh the negatives. You know,
some of the things that played him as a young player, he's been
able to overcome that with championships and just you know, being able to make
the right play at the right time as far as you know, not always
having to pass, making the clutch shot. He has defied every single conventional
record there is and the fact that he's still doing this and his twenty first
season is astronomical. I mean we're only a year and I think two months
for a month and a half removed from him breaking Kareem Abdul Jabar's all time
scoring record, and the fact that he has been able to continuously score at
a prolific pace, and you provide some separation between Lebron and Kareem that makes
me think that, Look, I think this modern era of basketball with high
scoring, his record will eventually be broken. But I think that that record
will be intact for a while. And I don't think anyone currently in the
NBA will break it because when you look at some of the most notable examples,
I think, like Kevin Durant, he's number nine on the all time
scoring list, but he's at the latter part of his career. He's handled
his own injuries that I think that it's going to take the next generation of
a star to do that. But that's going to require that star to be
able to play for so long to be able to reach Lebron's level that it's
going to take some time. All right, Mark, listen, now shift
over to the Clippers, And I asked you this about the Lakers, all
right, Who are the real Clippers. Yeah, it's a good question because
they're check one high personalities for different reasons too. I tend to think that
they're more of the team that we saw midway through the season, where they're
unstoppable one of the best teams in the NBA had a lot of good chemistry
with all their star players. That the team that's been good on the road,
not good at home, been soft. In Tylw's words, I do
suspect that when the playoffs turn around or come around, they're gonna flip that
switch. But the problem is, much like the Lakers, they don't have
a margin for air, but for different reasons, they only have a two
game cushion over I believe Dallas, for you know, home court advantage in
a four or five, New Orleans is not that far behind, and so
I do think that big picture, the Clippers are in a better shape just
health wise, depth wise than the Lakers. You know, they're inconsistent.
If they are inconsistent, that will come back to bite them in the playoffs
because the Western Conference is just so loaded that even a first round matchup against
the Dallas team or New Orleans team is going to be challenging. And for
them, Mark, do they got to win it? They got to at
least get to the finals this year. Yeah, it's a fair question.
I think that because they've gone through zero championships with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
That would be a reasonable expectation. But I'm not about giving participation trophies.
But I'm willing to give benefit of the doubts. It's still a successful
season if they match up against a Denver Nuggets team in the West Finals,
or you know, they get to the NBA Finals and they just face a
fully loaded Celtic's team. Those teams are really good. But it's not so
much if they lose against those teams. It's about how does it look like
if it's a competitive six to seven game series and they lose, well,
you know what better team won, But they still had a good season.
But if they get dominated and swept or heaven forbid, there's more injury issues
than it would be considered unsuccessful. Hey, Mark, before we let you
go, one more question, do you think Paul George ends up with the
Clippers again next year? I do think so. I mean, technically,
things can always change when you don't put pen to paper when it comes to
contract extensions, but I think the right end of the wall has already been
there, that they already committed to Kawhi Leonard. If they're in that mode
of let's try to win now, I don't think that there's a better alternative
than not keeping Paul George. The look, things can always change, and
you know, we'll see if the playoffs are an indicator of that. But
even if you know, the Clippers fall up short, I would be very
surprised if he winds up elsewhere. I think it's just a matter of finding
what the right price would be for both sides and then agreeing to a deal
with that. All right, Always good to talk to you, Mark,
Thanks for coming on. Likewise, thanks for having me as always. All
right, Fox Sports Radio NBA insider Mark Medina joining the program. All right,
we still have the sweet tickets to give away, not yet, not
yet. Everybody's settled down. I don't call yet, not yet, but
soon. Oh and when we come back. Rodney was right. Oh and
I got duked by an April Fool's joke. Oh yeah, we'll talk about
it. Let's go keep it moving on a Monday right to beat fitt Rogan.
Yes, we got a jam pack, fully loaded show and we're still
going fiddy. Let's go. All right, A couple of things I want
to get to here. First. I got April Fool today, you know,
t April Fool's Day. I'm not a big prank guy, but I
bought something I should a bought. So in our house, there's a joke
about Jane Sterotor. Of course, he worked nt DOUAA basketball for years as
an official, and he was a referee in the NFL. Rodney, was
he working when you played? Yes, he was. Yes. He was
seemed like a pretty pleasant guy, very very good guy, very good guy,
always fair. He's what I remember. I always talked about officials you
can talk to in certain ways. They didn't want to hear from you and
if you were complaining, but Gene was always have a conversation with you about
why he called something or why this was a penalty or what he was doing,
so that I always respected him. Yeah. So Jane Sterotor, uh.
Of course now works for CBS and when they have a call during an
NFL game, their NFL official is Jeane Sterotor. But during NTUAA basketball,
because he also worked the nc double A, it's Jane Sterotor. So we're
sitting at the house and we're watching the tournament, and Kevin Harland goes,
all right, let's let's check out with Jane Sterotor. My son Josh is
sitting there and he goes, who is this guy, king ref? He's
everywhere, He's the football ref, he's the NCAA. Is he king Ref?
Is that who he is? And I started laughing. I said,
yeah, Jeane's probably king Ref. So Jeans said out a tweet today,
and I love officials. I mean, I'm a geek. I like the
officials. And he said, I'm returning back to the field. I thought,
oh my god, they've called Gene out of retirement. He's going back.
The NFL wants Gene. And then I thought, wait a minute,
that never happens. When you go, you're gone. They don't welcome you
back. They replace you, and they bring younger people in to keep the
pipeline going. It was an April fool's joke. Oh Gene, he's His
tweet was an April fool's joke. Yeah. Yeah. So a couple of
hours ago, this is what he tweeted, with a photo of himself refereeing
the super from some years ago, excited to announce I'll be returning to the
field this season. You can only keep those zebra stripes off of me for
so long. Hashtag Let's go, followed by about forty five minutes ago after
review the press box last Studio food is two good people with a picture of
April first a calendar. I thought you might have reached out to him and
say congratulations getting back out there. Huh Oh that would have been even better
if you How embarrassing would that have been? Yeah? You know, I
have a few officials numbers. I'm thankfully I didn't have his, But Kevin,
I'm glad. I'm glad this happened. I think we should try to
get him on the show. Sure, there you go, I do.
And I think CBS would let him do it too, because he is.
If Dean Blandino goes on radio hits all the time for Fox, I'm sure
it's gene to do it. Yeah, see winget Gene. Because Jim would
be a good one. It seems like Rodney's got a great personality. He
does, he really does. I'll work on that. I'll see if I
can do that. Yeah, Okay, other thing we want to attend to
now. When you're right, you're right, you must receive credit, and
Rodney, you get credit. Okay, you are right. Oh? Oh,
last week you told us Andy Enfield was leaving USC to become the basketball
coach at SMU. Yes, I did. You told us this before anybody
even mentioned it. Then a report came out and said he was one of
their top choices. You went on the air and said, I guess he
is a top choice because that deal's done. He's going. Yeah, today
they announced it. SMU hired Andy Enfield. It's done. Wow. I
was sweating there for a minute for it. I was sweating there that I
put out some misinformation that it wasn't going to be done. But no,
yeah, listen, Andy did a great job for USC. You know,
took the program to a different level. The program was dormant for a while
and he came in and really did a good job. Didn't get it over
the top, and you know, I know, over the top is getting
to final fours and possibly win in a title. But he put USC in
the conversation and and we're and during his tenure, they were able to bring
in some really top not recruits and players, and but I think, you
know, at this time it was time for him to move on and and
move on to a place that's got deep, deep pockets too. And he
pointed that out. Yeah, I got deep, deep pockets. I think
La I mean SMU and all especially football and basketball are really focused and Eric
can talk about this, Eric Dickerson that they are focused on getting back into
that conversation and they're gonna do whatever it takes. So what was the deal
with Enfield? His deal was up after this year? His deal was up
after uh yeah, after this year, I believe, And so there was
an extension involved and and then then it became a buyout involved buyout situation and
what that buyout number was and you know, so that was I think part
of the delay since the time at that I reported on it, is how
the buyout was going to work itself out, and apparently it did, and
he's got an extension. Now I think I don't know what the deal is,
but I know it's like what a five year deal. I think he's
something like that and he's fifty five, so I think he's looking at it.
Hey, this might be my last job, so let me go do
this. And I think there was questions of whether or not USC was going
to extend him that long. Yeah, And that's what I was going to
ask you, because you have gen Cone now as the athletic director, and
she's trying to get her feet wet, she's trying to get settled, and
so that would be her first big hire because she inherited Lincoln Riley, right,
So the basketball program would be the thing she could focus on now.
And if he wasn't convinced that they were going to extend him at this point,
then he probably did the best thing he could. Because they're going to
the Big Ten next year. We don't know how they're going to fare.
And you have to believe if he goes to the Big Ten and just gets
it handed to him, why would extend him? Andy, Thank you,
You're not my guy. That's how business works. I want my guy.
Yeah, it's a whole different world, right, going to the Big Ten,
especially in basketball, I mean, Calipari has founding it out. Now.
You can't win. It's very difficult to win when you're trying to put
together a whole new team every single year, and that whole new team is
built up a freshman, you know, eighteen nineteen year old kids, and
you're trying to go out and play against a Yukon, a Gonzaga, you
know, Villanova's of the world, Kansas of the world, that's got kids
that are juniors and seniors, it's very difficult to do that. So you
have to be very active in the portal and hopefully you can retain some of
the kids for a few years instead of you know, being one and donner.
So it's a difficult, difficult landscape. And like you said, moving
to the Big ten, it's going to be more competitive. Although the Pact
was very competitive this year, it's going to be some challenges. And again,
if you're looking at this selfishly, if you're and he say, okay,
I can have five years guaranteed to me coming, do I go or
do I stay and hopefully we have a good year and now I get an
extension here at USC that it's almost like a no brainer. So and I
know he loves it here, is no ill feelings or bad will or anything
like that. He loves it here, obviously, how can he not.
I think he lives in Manhattan Beach and loves the place he's gotten. They
took care of him here at USC when he first got here, so and
you know he'll probably retire after here, after his days at SMU, But
at this point in time, I think it was he was looking out for
the best thing for him and his family. You know, you point out
how different things are. John Calipari trying to build with these young guys and
develop them for the NBA, and that's his pitch. You come here,
tell you what, look at my track record of putting people in the NBA.
Right, But it really comes down to this, what is your job
as the head basketball coach at a university? And that's why. And I
know you guys disagree with me. When I see, uh, the NCAA
supports student athletes or whatever that thing is on the court, I'm thinking to
myself, these people are athlete students at this level. The portal build through
the portal. Don't tell me that's a student. Tell me that's somebody that's
going somewhere where they have the best chance to play. That's what that is.
It's not the old ra ra days when you were recruited, Rodney and
you know, listen to us, Well, here's what it applies to.
And if we really break it down, Granted, it's not women's sports,
I understand, although they have a portal and they have nils, but not
to the degree in men nine. The sign right, what I'm saying is
what I'm saying is in big time basketball and football. In collegiate sports,
these kids are athlete students. It's not that they commit to a school if
you are going to be one of those athletes because they've always dreamed of going
there. No, they go where they have the opportunity to play. Division
three is different. We had Russell White on from Cal Lutheran. Jack played
at Chapman. As he points out, it's the only place Division three where
you pay to play. You want to go to that school and you want
to play. That's the only place in NCUBA sports because Division one and Division
two they all have an eye out. I mean, I don't know what
you could make in Cal State San Bernardino. We had the coach on,
But you can make something if it's available to you in Division two. So
I just I'm so tired of the nc double. Ah. Why because they've
lost student athletes? Why can't you be fred there is two? If not
maybe if there is a little bit more than that percent it is, but
majority of the players on a football team are not going pro. Correct,
they're not going pro. They all tournament. In this tournament, there may
be one or two, two guys, maybe tops three guys that are going
to the NBA. So Brodney Rodney about that. They're the majority of that
team art student athletes. They're hired guns. Look at Nick Cronin at the
sixth man, the seventh man, to eighth man, the ninth man,
the tenth man. I'm not even talking about going to I'm not talking about
going to the NBA. I'm not talking about going to the ng They're going
to They're going to school there though. Yeah, but they're getting They are
going there because perhaps they received a scholarship. But moreover, they can they
can all be paid. And if the sixth man is sitting on the bench
and said, you know what, I just got a call from Wichita State
and I'm going to be their starting power forward, I'm going I'm going.
I'm not sitting here like this. If it was all about the school,
the athletes would not go. They would go to that school. They would
say, you know something, I wanted to go to UCLA and I'm going
to go four years here and complete my education here or however many in case
they go pro But they don't say that. They say I'm going to and
I'm getting out of here. I agree with you. For a small percentage
of those players. But for a majority of those players, it is about
going to going to Texas and getting my degree or going to USC and then
figuring out how that relationship at USC is going to further my life and get
me a job when I get out of college. You know. But yes,
those those three or four players on the basketball team could go to the
NBA or go get into the portal and go somewhere else to play. But
for the majority of those kids playing in these tournaments right now, they are
going to try to do something with the degree that they got from that particular
school. Yes, there are there are one and Donners and NBA guys and
get aspirations from majority. Your team is not the same thing. On the
football team. There may be ten guys that go play in the NFL off
big time college programs. The rest of them, what are they? What
are they doing? What I'm saying ninety five guys on that team on the
sidelines of a college football game, right what are the eighty five of them
doing? Okay, So if you're the backup right tackle, but you think
you can play, and you've sat behind a guy all year now because you
know either you didn't you couldn't beat him out. Coaches made a decision.
Are you in your Are you in year one? Are you in year four?
I'm saying you're your year one? Okay, all right, you're in
year one. If you're in year one and you get a call from Arizona
Jet Fish, come on down, you're gonna play for us? Yes you're
gone, Yes you're gone. You know that you're gone. My point is
the NCAA has been neutered. The model doesn't work. Why they still are
even mentioned is ridiculous. How every school is not just cut the cord from
the NCAA. I don't know, That's what I'm saying. I don't understand
how that happens at all. Well, why they still are even relevant to
anything? Yeah, I mean I get what you're saying. Let's be real
about it, right, you go to Kentucky. You're not going there for
four years of Kentucky and I love the bluegrass and I love Kentucky bourbon,
and I want to study how to mix bourbon in Kentucky and I'm gonna learn
that at the university. No, No, you're going to Kentucky play for
cal Party because you got aspirations of going to the NBA, and this is
a great pipeline. But there are also a number of kids that go there
because the relationships and the and the branding of Kentucky and what it's gonna do
for me if I if I enhance my college experience, get a degree in
a particular industry, and Kentucky's loaded with people that know how to mix whiskey
right, and I'm gonna I'm gonna go major in that or sports marketing,
know, whatever may be. That's what I'm going to major in. Because
this carries a lot of weight. I go to USC because it carries a
lot of weight with relationships and things that it can do for me after school.
I may not ever go to the NBA or the NFL or anything like
that. So there is some value of going to school. And so I
don't get caught up into the semantics of student athlete athletes student. I think
it's a specialized and individual thing. Yes, kids that absolutely don't even go
to class, you know. And I'm here for this one semester and it's
all I'm out and I don't need to get good grades because I'm going right
to the NBA. But there are a number of kids the majority of them
that won't, and so what do we call them? All right, well,
let me ask you this then, So if you look at the model
that we're talking about, the portal, building through the portal, and Yukon
is so very good. I mean, I can't see Yukon losing the national
championship this year and some of those guys came from the portal. What is
your obligation as a college basketball coach? What is it? What is your
job? Are you to win and put people in the seats? I don't
know anymore. I don't know anymore. Well, here's what I think.
I think if you are the coach at a college or university, your goal
is to win. So that might mean that might mean I'm not gonna go
after the top high school kids in the country one and done's But what I'm
gonna do is go to the portal and find guys with two years of experience,
we're more physically and mentally developed, and bring them in and win.
I don't need the top gun. You're gonna turn down the number two,
three, four player in the country coming out of high school? Well,
I don't know, You're gonna have one year he wants to come to Kentucky.
He wants to play at Kentucky, and you say no, Now,
we're more looking for that kid that can that's gonna stay here four years.
That's no guy we want. We're more. We're more looking for a kid
that's gonna help me win. My job is not to get you to the
ABA recruiting. You don't think that kid who six' ten plays like a
guard Anthony Davis. I'm not gonna recruit him out of Chicago because, yeah,
he may be won and done. So let's stay away from that guy.
Okay, would you rather would you rather you didn't answer the question?
Well, let me I'm gonna answer like this. Would you rather, if
you're the coach of the team, be John Caliperry go with these young guys
with the expectation because the pressure is on in Kentucky that you need to win
a title. Or would you rather get guys with a little experience, bigger,
stronger that really have a chance to win? And maybe these guys don't
capture the headlines during the regular season as the six to ten guy who can
dribble between his legs and spin the ball off the top of his head and
dunk upside down. But maybe this group of guys, bigger, stronger,
more mature can win a title. I think it's a philosophical question on how
you build your program. And I think if I'm coaching in college today,
that's how Because of the portal, there's no more development in building programs.
No, but I mean you have to have a philosophy of what you're going
to do. I think the goal of a college coach is to win.
That's their goal, that's their job. Guys that don't win get fired.
Correct And if you're at a school like a Kansas or a Kentucky or North
Carolina or a Duke, and everything has to go your way, but you've
got to get to the final four every couple of years. You've got to
be there at schools like that, or you lose your job. So if
the best way to get there is with kids that have some experience and are
bigger and stronger, I think my philosophy in running the program would be that,
I think, sure, guys, wait wait, wait, wait,
so your philosophy is to go steal a kid from another school. If the
portal is available to me and I can find guys that can playing, I
think I would do that portal is available, Well, then I think I
would do that. I say, if the portal is available, I think
what you do is you do that kid coming in that you're recruiting. You're
basically he's gonna be a one and done two otherwise you wouldn't bring him into
your school. Well, you then you have got experience. So he's already
played a year or two and somewhere else, and you're bringing them in to
help you win right now. But I don't know if those guys are NBA
guys. If they're there two years, I don't know if they're there if
they enter their third year. They may be great college play, but he's
not. He's not coming to you. He's not coming to you in the
portal, especially if you're recruiting him. Had out of the portal, because
he's got to be pretty good to go to Kentucky or to Kansas that you
say, Okay, I'm gonna recruit you out of this portal. You're gonna
be here for the next three years for me or now years for me.
No, No, you're not doing that. Those guys are coming because I'm
going to Kentucky. We're gonna be in the conversation, and this is my
ticket avenue to the NBA. When you weren't playing it at USC, if
the portal existed, now you had a sparkling career. So maybe it's unfair
to ask the question. But when you were there, and let's say you
weren't playing all right, hard to imagine, but you weren't and you got
a call from another school considered a very good school, Oklahoma, I'm making
it up and I said, you are going to play here. The job
is yours right now, would you go? He said? If I was
in the portal and the first year USC, you're sitting behind somebody, you
got no shot. In other words, you get there and realize I'm not
gonna play. Three guys are gonna have to break their leg for me to
go in the game. Not for me, because the situation for me was
lined up for me to play early. So but I'm saying, I'm saying
so that maybe that's why it's unfair. But if we but up to your
point there there are were people that were in similar sity. So this was
let me give you, let me answer this. So when I got to
USC, Sean Salisbury was a quarterback he was a senior, all right.
He was a senior, had played there, had some injuries up and down
whatever. I was a freshman coming in and knew they were very upfront,
we're gonna red shirt you your freshman year, you're not gonna play. We're
gonna red shirt. Now, that's that used to be the thing to do
back, you know, when I played, if you weren't gonna play,
and it was looked like it was if if it was fifty to fifty,
they usually tried to red shirt you and so they could build and get you
some experience, get you acclimated to college and all those things. So I
knew I was gonna red shirt, but I felt that second year I was
gonna play. I was gonna have an opportunity to start. Had I not
won that job, then yeah, I might have went into the portal because
there were people that that I beat out that were one year ahead of me.
You know. There was a quarterback named Kevin McLain, very good quarterback
out of the Long Beach you played at I think Lakewood. Very He could
have played anywhere too, but he had to sit behind me for three years
at USC, where he could have gone somewhere and played and actually played,
and he didn't do that. My college roommate, you know, could have
probably gone somewhere and played. He was a tight end and probably would have
left if it was more accessible or accessible like it is today. But but
yeah, certainly I would have waited all those options and been gone had I
not won that job my technically my red shirt sophomore year or freshman year,
Yeah, i'd have been got so first they said we don't want to be
here, we're done. Then they were told, well, why don't you
reconsider maybe you should stay. Now they're trying to work out a short term
lease. We'll explain. Come on, come on, come on, oh,
come on, it's a beautiful Monday. Yes, the hated ones are
in town, frid the hated ones are in town, and they don't want
any part of this new look Dodger t And somebody needs to go see that
game tonight. Let's give the tickets away. Eight six six nine eighty seven
two five seventy. We have a pair of tickets for the sweet at Dodger
Stadium tonight. Eight six six nine eighty seven two five seventy. Rodney would
call her number seven, call her seven. Go ahead, fire it up,
good luck. Hope you get out there tonight. Uh. Paxton pitches
for the Dodgers tonight, he'll make his season debut. Yeah, come on,
Paxston, he'll be on the hill all right. So the Oakland A's
are just a complete mess. They are a mess. Uh. You know,
they want to leave and they're going to Las Vegas. They have approval,
they're gonna blow up the hotel on the grounds where they're gonna build a
stadium and let's go to work. So they're going. But then the mayor
of Las Vegas comes out and says, we're gonna be honest with you.
You know, I've looked at and maybe you guys should stay where you're at.
Then the City of Oakland says, well, you know what, these
guys just screwed us. They didn't play ball with us. They were deceptive.
We would have given them what they had in Vegas, but they asked
her so much more here. And because of that, you know, we
don't care. First of all, the City of Oakland and all of these
negotiations. When you deal in Rodney, you did it with the Raiders.
When you deal up there, you're dealing with three different municipalities, and that's
the problem. You're not just dealing with the city of Oakland. Everybody's got
to come together on this thing, and they never do, and they're going
to lose all their teams. They lost the NBA bata the city of Oakland.
Yeah, it's a mess, right, So they lost the NBA back
to San Francisco, they lost the NFL to Vegas, and they will lose
their baseball team all right because they're not going back to that garbage dump in
Oakland. Is that should be condemned. That stadium, it's awful anyway.
Now the problem is the new stadium for them in Vegas, where they kind
of are wanted but not really. That's not going to be ready to twenty
twenty eight. So now they need to figure out a place to play.
Wait a minute, you said twenty twenty eight. Yeah, you said twenty
twenty eight. Yeah, I believe I did. Yeah, So now they
need to figure out a place to play because they have no place to play.
I mean, they're not in Oakland. Vegas won't be ready. So
then they're kicking around. Maybe we'll play in Sacramento, maybe we'll play in
Vegas. In this little team at the stadium. Did you see the crowd
at Oakland A's opening weekend? If there it's awful, Why would anybody spend
any money to go watch that. I mean, it's like you have some
sort of sick wish. I feel bad for the players. I feel bad
for the players. I feel bad for the fans. That stadium is rubbish.
Better crowds at spring training at Huhoakum. Probably she'd go play there.
Yeah, listen, at least they could fill it for two thousand people exactly.
So now the question becomes where are they going to play? So then
they decide, you know, maybe we'll stay in Oakland. Maybe that'll be
the plan for us. We'll stay in Oakland until the new stadium in Vegas
is built, which to me is the most asinine thing I've ever heard,
because people already have given up on them in Oakland. So we're just gonna
sit in Oakland. No fans are gonna show up. We're just gonna sit
here, all right. So the city of Oakland named Duck team in Oakland
where nobody wants to go see him play? Right, nobody's going now,
So the city of Oakland says, okay, if that's what you want,
we got a plan, got a plan. I think they We're paying a
million and a half dollars a year to rent the Oakland Coliseum. And that
was probably a million, four hundred and ninety nine thousand dollars too many,
right, but that was it. So they had a sweet deal there.
So the city says, all right, look, if fact you guys need
a place to play, you know, we have this wonderful facility here that's
available to you. It's only going to cost you ninety seven million dollars.
You pay US ninety seven million dollars. And by the way, if you
leave, no total total and if you pay US ninety seven million. Let's
say it's a five year deal, but if you leave in year three,
if you leave in year three, it's still ninety seven million. All in,
give me ninety seven million. Just sit here for five years whatever,
leaving two years, leaving five, it's up to you. But it costs
ninety seven million dollars. Why would the A's even consider something like that,
Why would they even contemplate that for one second? They have destroyed the brand
in Oakland. People don't want to go to the games. The stadium is
a total dump. The players are probably miserable. They have no, you
know, zero chance to win anything anything. I'd be curious to find out
what kind of hotels they travel to on the road. They might be Best
Westerns. Nothing wrong with that. If that's where you go. Who owned
the A's. The family owns the A's, right, I forget which family.
It's like I can't remember the guy's name. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah. I mean why would they stay in Oakland? I
would get out of there so fast your head would spin. Yeah. Play
in Reno, somewhere in Nevada, play anywhere. Get out of there.
You can't make money there, that's for sure. But but you do have
a TV deal, a local TV deal with NBC's regional networks. So if
you could confirm, because people in the Bay Area are probably clamoring to watch
this magnificent team, the A's, that BC would still pay you a rights
fee. If your games were in Sacramento, I would get the hell out
of there. And a heartbeat and a heartbeat. Why are they even messing
around with this? I mean, you're leaving You're yeah, you're leaving the
city. You don't have fans already, No, one's showing up to the
games. What advantage do you have by staying there and playing another season at
the very where two three she didn't even play there another month. It should
back up and get up out of there. You know what's interesting to me?
You know what this is sort of like, so Rodney, we decided,
or someone has decided, not us, someone's decided. They are leaving
their wife. They're out, they're going, and they're going because they have
this new girlfriend. They're leaving their wife and they're moving in with a girlfriend.
That's it. They're out. They've made the announcement. They leave the
house. They get to the girlfriend's house. The girlfriend says, listen,
I thought about this, and uh, I think maybe you should go back.
They should go back, signed, you know, and he decided you
leave it right, We're done, honey, but you should go back.
So then you turn around and you go, well, geez, I gotta
go somewhere. I'm gonna go back. I'll go back. You go back,
and you tell your wife, well I'm back, and she goes,
you're back. You just left. You can't come back, all right?
Fine? You know I've been married to you for a number of years and
obviously it didn't work out. I'm not gonna be cruel. You can just
live here and never talk to me again. There's one room, not it's
my house now, by the way, you gave it to me. But
we have a little room outside in the garage, and you can go there.
Don't come in the house and don't talk to me, but you can
go there. That's where you will be and no one is going to talk
to you ever. And the place you're living it is such a dump.
When it rains, it leaks, there's no air conditioning or heating. But
you go ahead, you can stay there. Who would do that? Who
in the right mind would do that? And this AM's move is kind of
like that when you really think about it. This is major league baseball we're
talking about, right, Yeah, I think so. Well. No,
not not in Obland. No, we're not talking about major League baseball in
Oakland. Hey, Kevin, who wanted the tickets? Who wanted the tickets?
Kevin? Do we know running Chris Chris? Yes, Chris Chris played
the game earlier? No different? Oh, okay, So Chris and Whittier,
congratulations you are going to the game tonight. Dodgers and Giants, and
of course download the free iHeartRadio app, put in your earphone and listen to
the game while you'll watch it. Nothing better than that you'll hear the words
to the melody. Have the app, watch the game, and have a
great time. Tonight, David Vassa will join us later this hour, and
up next we'll have some spirituality with Vic. Yes