April 18, 2025 • 37 mins
William Fichtner has been in a lot of movies, but do we remember his name… Willaim is like every sports center anchor not named Scott Van Pelt. Has Sportscenter fallen to a point we don’t know who some of these people are that host outside of SVP? the Seattle Mariners got it done but there are some concerns regarding the pitching and Julio Rodriguez. We also play audio from Kirk Herbstreit as he's challenging someone to step up and take a stand with NIL and everything that has come with it.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A lot of things going on at once. So it's uh,
it's that time of the year. And a week from
last night we will have the first round and a
week from tonight the second round of the NFL Draft,
So what en third round?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
What's better than that? This is a great time of
the year.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Not as good as Thanksgiving time because at Thanksgiving you
have every single sport going on simultaneously. NFL, college football,
college basketball, NBA, NHL, UFC, you name it, they're all
going on. All the major main sports are going on
at the same time.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
So yes, this is a good weekend.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Though I'm psyched for my Knicks in the playoffs against
the Pistons starting tomorrow. I don't feel great about it
because the Pistons makes.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
It, I hope.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So I can't believe that the Knicks are a favorite
in this series.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
But you put money on it.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
No, No, I've got some I've got some basketball bets.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I did put money on.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Not on that been on your favorite team unless you
know it's a unless you know it's a Locke. It's like, so,
I'm watching this movie last night, which I've seen a
few times. It's twenty years old called Crash Star Study Cast,
Brendan Fraser, Matt Dillon, Sandra Bullock, Ludacris, Lorenz Tate aka
(01:21):
Odog from Menace to Society.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
It's a who'shu.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
But there's this one guy who's been in a lot
of movies and he's he's like one of those guys
if you were on an airplane with him, you're like, yeah,
you're in Crash, You're in Heat, You're in Go. But
those are the movies some of the movies that he's
been in, amongst others that I can think of.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
But you don't know his name. Why do I bring
this up?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Well, the guy's name and if you want to google
his name right now is William And I don't know
if I'm pronouncing it right.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Fittner.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
If I see h tn Er, if I see h
t n Er. As soon as you see his picture
in Google Images, you're like, oh God, yes, I've seen
him in a bunch of them. I've seen him in
Heat with Al Pacino, Robert de Niro and the late
great Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd. There's you know, there's a
(02:20):
lot of movies this guy's been in. Why do I
bring this up? Because it just hit me and right
Before watching this movie, I was watching Sports Center with
Scott Van Pelt. So what does Scott Van Pelt and
Sports Center have to do with this guy?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Nothing? But here's my point.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Other than Scott Van Pelt, who is one of the
biggest stars in all sports media, he's the only guy
that I've ever known to host Sports Center by himself,
and he does such a great job.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
He makes the show.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
It's not cookie cutter, it's not copy paste like everything else.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
It's just unbelievable. With Scott Van Pelt.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
He does bad beats, which is something that he took
and it's become this entity. They even made it own
show over it. He's even made his sidekick, who you
know is what he is into, some sort of a
brand named Stanford Steve say what him? You know what
you will of him? So yes, yes, he is an
(03:28):
amazing movie. Yes, However, it reminds me of Sports Center.
And why do I bring that up? Because William Fittner
is every single Sports Center anchor not named Scott Van Pelt,
(03:50):
They're all nameless, they're all faceless, none of them have brands.
I was a production assist at ESPN just over twenty
years ago before I got my start in sports talk radio,
and I worked with the Lake great Stuart Scott, Dan Patrick,
Rich Eisen, Scott Van Pell, Linda Cone.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
The list goes on and on and on. You knew
who everyone was.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Steve Levy, Reese Davis, my boy, I saw him at
the Final Four in San Antonio. We just got a
By the way, congratulations to Reese Davis. Just got a
seven year contract extension from ESPN. He's been there thirty
years and he just got a seven year extension. So
kudos to Reese Davis. He's one of the greatest sportscasters
of all time. And as great as he is on
(04:35):
the air, he really truly is even a better human
being off the air.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
So how about the fact that how far.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
ESPN Sports Center has fallen to where you don't know
who anybody is. It's just, oh, yeah, you're that guy.
Oh yeah, I've seen you on sports. I don't know
who anybody is anymore. I don't Back in the day,
you had a brand. Back in the day, you knew
who everyone was. You did, and I ran prompter for
(05:10):
these a lot of these anchors. Now you just they're
all nameless, they're all faceless. They don't want anybody to
become bigger than the brand. The Four Letter Network and
William Fittner is kind of like the current version of
ESPN SportsCenter anchors.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
You don't know who any of them are.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
As matter of fact, you look at Sports Center, like,
do you even watch it anymore? Like the only one
I ever watched usually is the one with Scott vanpel
at night, and he's going on and he's interviewing the
player who just played in the game. If they were broadcasting,
whether it's Ant Man or Steph Curry or whoever, you
just don't And it's amazing to me that how far
(05:55):
the spike, the fact that ESPN has pretty much monopolized
the world of college football. They have every event and
other than Big Noon on Fox on Saturday, they own
the sport. They have the entire playoff, they have the SEC,
the greatest conference in the history of college football and
now the best conference in college basketball.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
So they have everything. They've got their.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
NFL Monday Night package, they've got playoff games, so they
have obviously a strong hold in that space. With the NFL,
they're getting away from baseball after this year. They're doing
away with baseball. Can I tell you addition by subtraction.
Smart move, very smart move. Baseball just doesn't rate the
way it does locally, it does not nationally.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
It just doesn't right.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
And of course they have the NBA, they have most
of the NBA, and next year they're going to get
the greatest studio show in the history of sports broadcasting
inside the NBA, with Ernie, Charles Kenny and Shack. But
it just hit me, it's like, wow, has sports centered
fallen that far? That far to where it like that
(07:04):
you just see these and they're like, who's that? You
almost sound like an owl when you watch it, except
for Scott van Pelt.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Who's that? Who? Who? Who?
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I don't know who these people are anymore. I have
no idea. And that used to be a very coveted spot.
Not so much anymore, they're not. It's just it's amazing
how it has changed. And it got me thinking of
the actor that that had a small part and Crash,
William Fitner, and he's been in a lot of other movies.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Heat was a great movie. If you oh, Heat.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Was unbelievable if you've never seen it. It came out
this man DeNiro was on a roll back in the nineties.
I think it came out the same year as Casino,
so DeNiro de Niro had h Casino No, he had heat,
and then Casino come out in the same year and
it was it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I mean, it was nominated for an Oscar I know that.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
But so it just kind of got me to thinking that, man,
it is uh, it's been a minute, it's been a minute.
And like other than Scott fam Pell, I don't know
how any of these people are. None of them male, female.
I don't know any of them. I just don't and
nor do I want to know. None of them have
done anything to stand out other than SVP. So kudos
(08:19):
to Scott Van Pelt. That's all I'm gonna say on
that one.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
All Right.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
The Mariners last night out well, right after I got
off the air, held on an extra innings eleven to
seven to win their third straight series in a row
over the Cincinnati Reds at the Ballpark in Cincinnati. And
you just you know, after giving up that Grand Slam yesterday,
(08:43):
it didn't look good, but they were able to come back,
they were able to hold off, and they were able to.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
It's kind of turning. It feels like it's turning.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Now, team was three and seven, four and eight, and
it just feels like it's starting to turn a little
little bit in Now.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
That's the good news.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
The good news that the Mariners are somehow, some way
maybe finding something here in that they can take to
Toronto and then hopefully to Boston beat the Blue Jason
Red Sox at least take two out of three from
both of them, come back after six and three homestad. Ideally,
you never know what's gonna happen, but that's what you
want to happen, all right. That's the good news. Let
(09:28):
me give you the bad news. The bullpen. And I
had my crack research staff do this yester after yesterday's game. Now,
I couldn't do the splits without Andre's Munos. I wish
I could, because he's been lights out. Munos is the
(09:49):
best closer in baseball right now. He's better than everyone
out there. It's Munnos. He along with Jorge Polanco, I've
been the one the two staples on this team that
have been nothing short of phenomenal as of last night,
(10:10):
the era of the bullpen. Now this is Munos including
so you can imagine without him how much worse it
would be three point seven to one, seventeenth in Major
League Baseball, tenth in the AL, horrible ERA eighteenth in baseball,
or excuse me, earn runs total total, not just ERA
(10:35):
earn runs total eighteenth in baseball, eleventh in the American League,
whip one point four two twenty second in MLB, thirteenth.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
In the American League.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
How many teams are in there in baseball in each
league fifteen they're third to last right now, third to
last in the American League for bullpen whip, horrible, walks
allowed twenty seven, tied for nineteenth in baseball, strikeouts tied
(11:17):
for sixteenth in baseball. So they're bottom half there. And
here's the worst one ooive hits allowed tied for dead
ethn last in Major League Baseball, thirtieth. They've allowed seventy
seven hits the bullpen fifteenth in the AL, last place
(11:41):
in the AL. Seventy seven hits allowed, absolutely pathetic. Now,
could you imagine if Munos was not included in all
of this? If I was able to do it and
take Munios out of it, they would be near the
bottom of the league in all of those categories I
(12:04):
just mentioned. ERA hits allowed, which they are already lasting
that total earn runs, whip, home runs allowed, and strikeouts. Oh,
I didn't mention walks allowed nineteenth in baseball, tied for
tenth in the American League. They've allowed twenty seven walks. Bad,
(12:24):
really bad. I don't blame Dan Wilson. It's not Dan
Wilson's fault. Maybe he's made some questionable moves here and there,
putting Vargas in and this that, and but these guys
just aren't getting it done except for Andre's Munos.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
So this is something to keep track of going forward.
You just I mean, this is not something. I mean,
they're gonna have to get to six. And please, Matt Brash,
will you please come back a sap? Matt Brash needs you,
really need you. I mean, it's just this team and
(13:04):
what was the one thing we came into the season.
We knew the starting pitching was arguably the best in baseball.
We assume the bullpen was going to be up there
with them, commensurate with the starting rotation. They're not, except
for Munos, who has been lights out along with Logan,
the three best players in the Mariners so far. The
constance the guys that you can rely on every day.
Have been Logan Gilbert, Andres Munos and Jorge Polanco. Now
(13:28):
cal Raley's starting to come on. He hit his six
home run in six the last six games. Six home
runs in six games. Big Dumper is coming on and
earning that one hundred and seven million dollar contract or
whatever it was.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
He's been unbelievable recently.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Look like he'll be the starter, starting catcher in the
American League for the All Star Game. This is something
that worries me, and it's something that should worry you.
This bullpen is absolute.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Good, good good good goo goo goo goo goo goo
goo good good go garbage, absolute garbage.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Except for Munos, he's been the shining He's the Scott
van Pelt.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Okay, he's the Scott van Pelt of the bullpen.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
The rest of them are like the other nameless, faceless,
no name sports center anchors. That's the rest of them.
Munios has been Scott van Pelt. He's been unbelievable. Oh
I'm not done yet. Oh no, no, no no. The
(14:33):
guy who I keep saying is the biggest star in
Seattle Sports. Number forty four Julio Rodriguez one for six
yesterday currently batting one to eighty seven. Guys, I'm sick
and tired of the excuses. It's his fourth season in baseball.
(14:54):
I know he's young.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
I know this.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I know that I'm sick in f and tired of
hearing the excuses. Julio, it's time for you to step up,
or it's time for you to just be meh. And
that's what you're looking like right now. Matter of fact,
you're not even meh. You are garbage one eighty seven.
(15:21):
You're not even batting your weight. You're below the Mendoza line.
I and here's the thing too, I don't think Julio
would be as bad. I don't like him in the
leadoff spot. I think that's a bad position for him
to be in. But Roe Bless is out for three
months and maybe the rest of the season, so he
has gotta be the default leadoff hitter and he shouldn't be.
(15:47):
He just shouldn't be. It's it's something that I just
don't see. I don't see it right now with long
term and I don't know what they're gonna do, but
Julio needs to step it up. And I don't, you know,
sound like a broken record on here. Every day. But
here's the problem. The record isn't broken when the song
(16:08):
remains the same. And for Julio, he's just not pulling
his weight, literally and figuratively. He's just not doing it.
Randy Roseorraina is coming around a little bit now. And
the thing I like the most about a Rose Arena,
he's coming up in clutch situations, which he's done since
the first opener of a season against Detroit.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
So a rose A Reraina is coming around. But Julio.
I talked to a friend last night.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
I did a spot on Fox thirteen Seattle on their
nightly sports show with Alyssa Charleston Smith last night, and
I'm on my way home and I'm talking to a
buddy of mine who works up in the media in
the Northeast, and I said, look at Julio Rodriguez's stats.
Right now, he goes holy ish, he said. If if
he was on if he said right now, if Julio
(17:03):
was playing for the Mets, the Yankees, the Red Sox,
or the Phillies, if he was playing in New York City,
Boston or Philadelphia, he beginning absolutely.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Crucified right now.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
Now.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
I don't know, I don't know of anybody else who's
calling him out the way I am. I just judged
by the text line or Twitter and my handles. Mark James,
Marc James, if you can find me. Like a listener
said the other day, I'm being shadow band by Twitter.
I don't know why. Maybe because I didn't tweet for
a few years. But Elon Musk is shadow banning me.
(17:39):
Don't know why. I didn't do anything wrong. I was
verified before people could buy their blue check mark, so
I have no idea.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
But I'm being shadow band.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
But someone is people on Twitter and people on the
text line at four nine four five one. You've told me,
You've said, Hey, you're the only one who's calling out Julio,
and it's refreshing.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
You're not a Mariner's ball washer. Thank you for that. No,
I'm not.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
If I don't like I always want to look at
everything through the prism spectrum, in point of view of you,
the fans, the listening audience, because you're the ones paying
your harder money and you're the ones not getting your
money's worth out of forty four who's supposed to be
the biggest star in Seattle sports right now?
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Now that DK metcalf is no longer here. It's up
to him and he needs to step it up.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
And maybe he needs to get through the first month,
get through those kinks and get through those little, you know,
rough spots in the first month of season. That's fine,
but May's coming up in about two weeks. And I'm
just sick and tired of hearing the excuses when it.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Comes to Julio. And I'm sure you are as well.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
But he is not only and I you know, I
said this will have Gary Hill coming on at the
top of the noon hour, not is he not a superstar.
He's not an all star. He's not a star period.
And you know the other day, c K when you
buck Keith Law, who's awesome from the athletic and I'm like,
(19:11):
what's wrong with Julio Rodriguez, Like, well, I disagree with
the premise of the question.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Well, he's batting one eighty seven, so you tell me.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I mean, I'm not trying to you know, I'm not
here trying to play you know, the DA the district
attorney here on sports radio.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
He's batting one to eighty seven.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
I don't give it f about his war He's not clutch,
he's not doing what he should be doing. And your
team is only as good as your best player. So
the Mariners right now are above five hundred in spite
of Julio Rodriguez, not because of him.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Period.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
All right, get ready for the next hilarious PayPal campaign
with Will Ferrell singing his rendition of Fleetwood Max go
Yeah Way in a bathtub. Check out the teaser tonight,
that's tonight Friday, and the commercial during basketball games this weekend.
(20:11):
I just heard that song on my way in to
work today. It reminds me of the movie Casino. There
was a scene where danirom Peshi were in that car
and they turn on the radio and go your own
Way came on. So your thoughts on Julio Rodriguez and
I've got to look at it. Teams winning. They're doing well.
They won their first road series of the season. I'm
(20:33):
happy take it to Toronto and then to Boston and
beat the hell out of those I hate the Red
Sox forty four's got to step up, man. It's time
to become If you want to be a star, you
better act like a star, but more importantly, you better
play like a star. He's not doing it, period. There's
no loaded question, there's no you know, hidden premise or
(20:57):
anything like that.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
He's just not doing it. He's not doing it.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
But kudos to the MS because how about Polanka Man
two for four yesterday, Batten three seventy eight so far
this season doing great.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Col's coming on.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
You know, Col's never going to be an average hitter,
but in terms of batting average, six home runs in
his last six games, so he's earning his contract, stripes
a lot of things.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
All right.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
You know we've heard this before.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Could the Sonics return announcement be coming sooner than later?
And I've only been here for two and a half months,
and folks, I can tell you I feel your pain,
and I have to tell you I want an announcement.
I don't want announcement tomorrow. I don't know what announcement today.
I want an announcement yesterday and we better get one.
(21:46):
Find out next on MJ in the midday on ninety
three to three KJR FM Adam Silver, Well, you know
what what am I going to say here? He's the
commissioner of the NBA. He appeared where everybody appears. Now,
if you're anyone in sports, right, Lebron James, Aaron Rodgers
and now Adam Silver on the Pat McAfee show. Roger
(22:06):
Goodell was on recently as well. Today he's had on
Stone Coolts, Steve Austin and RIEA Rippley. So it's Pat McAfee.
He's living every man's dream, let me tell you. So
he went on with Pat yesterday and here's what the
commission I had to say.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
In terms of expansion. We're trying not to look at
it every year, just because we don't want to be
too much of a distraction. What I've been saying for
the last several years, we knew we needed to get
a new collective bargaining agreement done. We did, we needed
a new media deal to get done. Did that. We've
locked in our television rights for eleven years and so
now that those things are done, we're just beginning a process.
(22:46):
So internally at the League of exploring the opportunity to expand.
I will say sometimes on the outside it looks like
a no brainer, because it seems like you're printing money
to expand. But again, as I said, you're really selling
equity in the league. You have thirty teams that own
the league and now you're saying we're gonna have thirty
two teams that own the league, so you're diluting the
economic interest of all the thirty teams, and so we're
(23:09):
looking hard at it. We're sort of modeling it for
lack of better terms, in the League office. Look, there's
no doubt there's been interest in Las Vegas Seattle. Have
been very public about it that it was a market
that was fantastic for the league that we left at
the time for understandable reasons. But there's no doubt that
there continues to be enormous passion in that market for
(23:32):
the NBA. So we're looking at those markets and others.
I think as we get into the summer, we'll get
into a more formal process of how we go about
doing it. I don't want to say it's a foregone
conclusion that we're going to expand, but I also think
over time, organizations tend to grow, and I look at
the success of those markets for other Major league teams now,
(23:55):
and so it's easy to present a scenario where you
can see it working successfully for the league.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
It it feels like a lot of just vapid, empty rhetoric.
I think.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
At this point I have two guesses of when we'll
hear the Sonics are coming back to Seattle Summer League
around that time or before the start of the twenty
five to twenty six season. That's my guess at this
point because I'm with you, Mark, and what he hasn't
(24:36):
there has not a definitive Hey, this is when I
plan to announce.
Speaker 5 (24:39):
Say hey, let's get through the summer. So those are
the two timelines. So here's what I've heard through my sources.
I was in Vegas and I heard also separate from Vegas.
So here's the thing. So we in Seattle, we need
the Tea Wolls to be sold done. We need the
Celtics to be sold done. I heard the NBA wants
(24:59):
to announce what they're gonna do. They want to announce
Seattle in Vegas as the thirty first and thirty second franchises,
but they want to do it collectively together. They don't
want to do one before the other. They want to say, Okay,
here's thirty one and thirty two Seattle.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
We have our ownership group ready to go right in
the bill. You know, the checks, CPA, it's all everything
is just on standby.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
We're waiting.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Now what I heard we're waiting on Vegas to get
their ownership group bids in order.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
And now I'm here's another thing I heard about Vegas.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Guess what Now, normally you would guess such, Yeah, normally
you would think that Vegas would play in the same
arena as VGK an Hlseam. No, they want their own arena,
which okay, whatever, but like, listen, that issue should not
(26:02):
be holding up Seattle. Like I understand the ownership group. Fine,
I don't know if it's one of those. Hey could
be my new buddy, the president, founder and CEO of
the Circa, Derek Stevens. I don't know if it's mister
Wynn Steve Winn Well, he had some bad issues, so
it probably wouldn't be him.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
I don't know. I think he kind of did something
that I remember.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
He sort of was on the verge of being canceled
for something bad that happened recently.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
I can't remember exactly what it.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Was, but it's like, can you just put us out
of our misery and announce that the Sonics are coming
back to Seattle?
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Please already? Will you.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Just please do it? We're sick and tired of I
even talked to purple sheet the other day, and he's like,
you know what, it's like everybody here, we're sick and
tired of like I said, this nebulous. You know, great area.
Oh well, we don't. Let's hear it again. Let's hear
the commissioner again.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
In terms of expansion, we try not to look at
it every year, just because we don't want to be
too much of a distraction. What I've been saying for
the last several years, we knew we needed to get
a new collective bargaining agreement done. We did, we needed
a new media deal to get done. Did that. We've
locked in our television rights for eleven years, and so
now that those things are done, we're just beginning a process.
(27:24):
So internally at the league of exploring the opportunity to expand,
I will say sometimes on the outside it looks like
a no brainer because it seems like you're printing money
to expand. But again, as I said, you're really selling
equity in the league. You have thirty teams that own
the league, and now you're saying we're gonna have thirty
two teams that own the league. So you're diluting the
economic interest of all the thirty teams, and so we're
(27:47):
looking hard at it. We're sort of modeling it for
lack of better terms in the League office. Look, there's
no doubt there's been interest in Las Vegas. Seattle. Have
been very public about it that it was a market
that was fantastic for the league that we left at
the time for understandable reasons. But there's no doubt that
there continues to be enormous passion in that market for
(28:11):
the NBA. So we're looking at those markets and others.
I think as we get into the summer, we'll get
into a more formal process of how we go about
doing it. I don't want to say it's a foregone
conclusion that we're going to expand, but I also think
over time, organizations tend to grow, and I look at
the success of those markets for other Major League teams now,
(28:33):
and so it's easy to present a scenario where you
can see it working successfully for the league.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
We left Seattle for understandable reasons. Try telling that to
all the people up here. I've only been here for
ten weeks. Try telling that to all the people who
have been bereft and devoid of the NBA for the
last generation, and by the time that we can all
hypothesize that the Sonics will come back in October of
(29:09):
two years from this October in twenty twenty seven, tell
everybody here after it's been gone at that point for
nineteen twenty years, that it left for understandable reasons. Really, yeah,
I wouldn't have gone there. I didn't have a problem
with anything he said, except for that part. You know,
(29:31):
you know, we left Seattle for understandable reasons. No, no, no,
that you shouldn't have said that, Commissioner. I don't have
anything against Adam Silver. I do think he's just the players.
He's just a kind of a lap dog for most
of the stars in the NBA. They run rough shot
over him. But do not say you left Seattle for
(29:55):
understandable reasons. That was something that, yeah, you better really
reconsider how you were that. Try telling that to a
market and a generation that has grown up without the NBA.
So people who are twenty five in under here, whose
memory probably only goes back to when they were, you know,
(30:18):
seven years old, or let's just say twenty three and under,
they've never had it. They don't they have no frame
of reference to the NBA. The closest thing they have
the NBA is the Portland Trailblazers if you want to
you know, so, yeah, didn't like that. Just do something.
We're sick and tired of the hyped up non announcement.
You know, just get it done. And now when I
(30:42):
heard this last weekend at Seattle's now we are at
the behest and of the ownership group who will take
over in Vegas.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
So now we have to wait for that too.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Hoyve Adam, you're trying to do the right thing, unlike
your predecessor, the late David Stern, But just do it.
Like Nike's old slogan, just do it, get it done. Well,
we just don't want to hear anymore. Oh well, we're
gonna dilute the economical feasibility. Who gives an f about
the economical feasibility of the of the Utah Jazz or
(31:21):
the Sacramento Kings.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
You're gonna have two more teams. Just announce it. Do it.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
You just got a seventy six billion dollar rights agreement.
There's plenty of money to go around for everyone. And
and I know a lot of you out there listening
right now, you're more pissed off than I sound. So
I feel your pain because, believe me, there's nobody who
wants well, there are, but I want the Sonics back here.
(31:48):
I want the NBA in Seattle. I mean, Jesus, Las
Vegas is gonna be a fourteen pro sports town pretty soon.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
We know Seattle should be.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
We it's a major, major market, number eleven market in America.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
But just do it.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
I'm tired of it, all right. What did Kirk Kurbstreet
say about the media and they're afraid to do something
I'm not afraid to do in Seattle. We'll get to
that next on Hitting to All Fields on MJ in
the midday, ninety three to three kJ r F M.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
All right, MJ in the.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Midday Hitting to All Fields. We know about the Nico
iam Aliava situation leaving Tennessee, and now I'll get to
that coming up more and how that was the biggest
and dumbest decision of the year, next to the Mavericks
trading Luka Doncic.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
We'll get to that.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Kirk Kurbstreet came out and he talked about how athletes
need to be held accountable.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Here's what he had to say in.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Terms of expansion. We're trying not to look at it
every year.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
That's Adams don't. Yeah, yeah, I know that one.
Speaker 6 (33:19):
When do you ever hear anybody be critical in this
era of a player because they're afraid to be critical
of a player because you get labeled as a guy
that's against the players, You get labeled as a guy
that's an old head. And I'm just saying that somebody's
got to have the stones to step up. And I
don't know who that is. I have no idea who
(33:40):
it is, but I hope one day somebody decides to
be a freaking leader and help us save the sport.
We're not saying take in Ioway. We're not saying any
of that. We're just saying, can we have some freaking
rules not give the players all the cards? The players
went from having no cards to every single card and
(34:01):
that's not right?
Speaker 3 (34:02):
Is it not healthy?
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Well? I agree with everything Kirk Kerbstreet just said. There.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
My thing is, Kirk, like, you need to look in
the mirror. Bro, When was the last time you were
critical of a player? I can't recall. And I love Kirkurbstreet,
so I'm not trying to say anything bad about him,
but I mean, Wind was the last time Kirk Kurbstreet
was really critical of a player, and I heard him
(34:29):
talk about Nico, and he spoke about him glowing.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Listen. I'm sure Nico is a good kid.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
I think he's got some people around him that are
looking out for their best interest rather than Nico's best interests.
And I think ultimately that's pretty much what I mean.
I've called him out, I'll call him out again. I mean,
I just think that it was a dumb ass decision.
(34:57):
He took to an a million dollars in a state
with no income taxes, and he turned it into nine
hundred thousand dollars after taxes in that setspool better known
as California.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
That's bad business. That's stupid.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Not to mention, you went from playing in front of
one hundred and twelve thousand fans screaming Rocky Top every
Saturday and the greatest conference in the history of college
sports to what seventy eight thousand empty seats at the
Rose Bowl every Saturday. Nobody cares about UCLA football. UCLA
football is more irrelevant than Lindsay Lohan. Nobody cares about it.
(35:40):
It's that's triple garbage. So Nico, I wish you well,
but I give you two words. Jaden Reshada the guy
that's suing Florida and Billy Napier because they didn't deliver
on his nil deal. So then he went to Miami.
Then he Miami, he de commits from there. He didn't
him and his dad didn't like what they were doing there.
(36:02):
His dad said, I'm going to go to Arizona State.
This is his dream school, goes there for like a
year or two, leaves, goes to Georgia thinking that I'll
take over after Carson Beck goes to the NFL.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Well, Carson Beck comes to the U and now Gunner.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
Stockton is the starting quarterback at Georgia, and now Jaden
Rashad is talking to Yukon Western Kentucky in Tulane. So
be very careful, Niko, where you're at.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
You're on a when you hit that wall. Those power
for schools.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Once you get branded and labeled, all of a sudden, Miami, Florida,
Georgia turns into Yukon Western Kentucky in Tulane, and then
you become completely irrelevant, just like Lindsay Lohan. All right,
coming up next, who of all the why receivers would
(37:01):
fit the Seahawks the best in next week's draft. MJ
in the midday on ninety three to three kJ r
F M
A lot of things going on at once. So it's uh,
it's that time of the year. And a week from
last night we will have the first round and a
week from tonight the second round of the NFL Draft,
So what en third round?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
What's better than that? This is a great time of
the year.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Not as good as Thanksgiving time because at Thanksgiving you
have every single sport going on simultaneously. NFL, college football,
college basketball, NBA, NHL, UFC, you name it, they're all
going on. All the major main sports are going on
at the same time.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
So yes, this is a good weekend.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Though I'm psyched for my Knicks in the playoffs against
the Pistons starting tomorrow. I don't feel great about it
because the Pistons makes.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
It, I hope.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So I can't believe that the Knicks are a favorite
in this series.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
But you put money on it.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
No, No, I've got some I've got some basketball bets.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I did put money on.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Not on that been on your favorite team unless you
know it's a unless you know it's a Locke. It's like, so,
I'm watching this movie last night, which I've seen a
few times. It's twenty years old called Crash Star Study Cast,
Brendan Fraser, Matt Dillon, Sandra Bullock, Ludacris, Lorenz Tate aka
(01:21):
Odog from Menace to Society.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
It's a who'shu.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
But there's this one guy who's been in a lot
of movies and he's he's like one of those guys
if you were on an airplane with him, you're like, yeah,
you're in Crash, You're in Heat, You're in Go. But
those are the movies some of the movies that he's
been in, amongst others that I can think of.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
But you don't know his name. Why do I bring
this up?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Well, the guy's name and if you want to google
his name right now is William And I don't know
if I'm pronouncing it right.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Fittner.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
If I see h tn Er, if I see h
t n Er. As soon as you see his picture
in Google Images, you're like, oh God, yes, I've seen
him in a bunch of them. I've seen him in
Heat with Al Pacino, Robert de Niro and the late
great Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd. There's you know, there's a
(02:20):
lot of movies this guy's been in. Why do I
bring this up? Because it just hit me and right
Before watching this movie, I was watching Sports Center with
Scott Van Pelt. So what does Scott Van Pelt and
Sports Center have to do with this guy?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Nothing? But here's my point.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Other than Scott Van Pelt, who is one of the
biggest stars in all sports media, he's the only guy
that I've ever known to host Sports Center by himself,
and he does such a great job.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
He makes the show.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
It's not cookie cutter, it's not copy paste like everything else.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
It's just unbelievable. With Scott Van Pelt.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
He does bad beats, which is something that he took
and it's become this entity. They even made it own
show over it. He's even made his sidekick, who you
know is what he is into, some sort of a
brand named Stanford Steve say what him? You know what
you will of him? So yes, yes, he is an
(03:28):
amazing movie. Yes, However, it reminds me of Sports Center.
And why do I bring that up? Because William Fittner
is every single Sports Center anchor not named Scott Van Pelt,
(03:50):
They're all nameless, they're all faceless, none of them have brands.
I was a production assist at ESPN just over twenty
years ago before I got my start in sports talk radio,
and I worked with the Lake great Stuart Scott, Dan Patrick,
Rich Eisen, Scott Van Pell, Linda Cone.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
The list goes on and on and on. You knew
who everyone was.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Steve Levy, Reese Davis, my boy, I saw him at
the Final Four in San Antonio. We just got a
By the way, congratulations to Reese Davis. Just got a
seven year contract extension from ESPN. He's been there thirty
years and he just got a seven year extension. So
kudos to Reese Davis. He's one of the greatest sportscasters
of all time. And as great as he is on
(04:35):
the air, he really truly is even a better human
being off the air.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
So how about the fact that how far.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
ESPN Sports Center has fallen to where you don't know
who anybody is. It's just, oh, yeah, you're that guy.
Oh yeah, I've seen you on sports. I don't know
who anybody is anymore. I don't Back in the day,
you had a brand. Back in the day, you knew
who everyone was. You did, and I ran prompter for
(05:10):
these a lot of these anchors. Now you just they're
all nameless, they're all faceless. They don't want anybody to
become bigger than the brand. The Four Letter Network and
William Fittner is kind of like the current version of
ESPN SportsCenter anchors.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
You don't know who any of them are.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
As matter of fact, you look at Sports Center, like,
do you even watch it anymore? Like the only one
I ever watched usually is the one with Scott vanpel
at night, and he's going on and he's interviewing the
player who just played in the game. If they were broadcasting,
whether it's Ant Man or Steph Curry or whoever, you
just don't And it's amazing to me that how far
(05:55):
the spike, the fact that ESPN has pretty much monopolized
the world of college football. They have every event and
other than Big Noon on Fox on Saturday, they own
the sport. They have the entire playoff, they have the SEC,
the greatest conference in the history of college football and
now the best conference in college basketball.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
So they have everything. They've got their.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
NFL Monday Night package, they've got playoff games, so they
have obviously a strong hold in that space. With the NFL,
they're getting away from baseball after this year. They're doing
away with baseball. Can I tell you addition by subtraction.
Smart move, very smart move. Baseball just doesn't rate the
way it does locally, it does not nationally.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
It just doesn't right.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
And of course they have the NBA, they have most
of the NBA, and next year they're going to get
the greatest studio show in the history of sports broadcasting
inside the NBA, with Ernie, Charles Kenny and Shack. But
it just hit me, it's like, wow, has sports centered
fallen that far? That far to where it like that
(07:04):
you just see these and they're like, who's that? You
almost sound like an owl when you watch it, except
for Scott van Pelt.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Who's that? Who? Who? Who?
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I don't know who these people are anymore. I have
no idea. And that used to be a very coveted spot.
Not so much anymore, they're not. It's just it's amazing
how it has changed. And it got me thinking of
the actor that that had a small part and Crash,
William Fitner, and he's been in a lot of other movies.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Heat was a great movie. If you oh, Heat.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Was unbelievable if you've never seen it. It came out
this man DeNiro was on a roll back in the nineties.
I think it came out the same year as Casino,
so DeNiro de Niro had h Casino No, he had heat,
and then Casino come out in the same year and
it was it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I mean, it was nominated for an Oscar I know that.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
But so it just kind of got me to thinking that, man,
it is uh, it's been a minute, it's been a minute.
And like other than Scott fam Pell, I don't know
how any of these people are. None of them male, female.
I don't know any of them. I just don't and
nor do I want to know. None of them have
done anything to stand out other than SVP. So kudos
(08:19):
to Scott Van Pelt. That's all I'm gonna say on
that one.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
All Right.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
The Mariners last night out well, right after I got
off the air, held on an extra innings eleven to
seven to win their third straight series in a row
over the Cincinnati Reds at the Ballpark in Cincinnati. And
you just you know, after giving up that Grand Slam yesterday,
(08:43):
it didn't look good, but they were able to come back,
they were able to hold off, and they were able to.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
It's kind of turning. It feels like it's turning.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Now, team was three and seven, four and eight, and
it just feels like it's starting to turn a little
little bit in Now.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
That's the good news.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
The good news that the Mariners are somehow, some way
maybe finding something here in that they can take to
Toronto and then hopefully to Boston beat the Blue Jason
Red Sox at least take two out of three from
both of them, come back after six and three homestad. Ideally,
you never know what's gonna happen, but that's what you
want to happen, all right. That's the good news. Let
(09:28):
me give you the bad news. The bullpen. And I
had my crack research staff do this yester after yesterday's game. Now,
I couldn't do the splits without Andre's Munos. I wish
I could, because he's been lights out. Munos is the
(09:49):
best closer in baseball right now. He's better than everyone
out there. It's Munnos. He along with Jorge Polanco, I've
been the one the two staples on this team that
have been nothing short of phenomenal as of last night,
(10:10):
the era of the bullpen. Now this is Munos including
so you can imagine without him how much worse it
would be three point seven to one, seventeenth in Major
League Baseball, tenth in the AL, horrible ERA eighteenth in baseball,
or excuse me, earn runs total total, not just ERA
(10:35):
earn runs total eighteenth in baseball, eleventh in the American League,
whip one point four two twenty second in MLB, thirteenth.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
In the American League.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
How many teams are in there in baseball in each
league fifteen they're third to last right now, third to
last in the American League for bullpen whip, horrible, walks
allowed twenty seven, tied for nineteenth in baseball, strikeouts tied
(11:17):
for sixteenth in baseball. So they're bottom half there. And
here's the worst one ooive hits allowed tied for dead
ethn last in Major League Baseball, thirtieth. They've allowed seventy
seven hits the bullpen fifteenth in the AL, last place
(11:41):
in the AL. Seventy seven hits allowed, absolutely pathetic. Now,
could you imagine if Munos was not included in all
of this? If I was able to do it and
take Munios out of it, they would be near the
bottom of the league in all of those categories I
(12:04):
just mentioned. ERA hits allowed, which they are already lasting
that total earn runs, whip, home runs allowed, and strikeouts. Oh,
I didn't mention walks allowed nineteenth in baseball, tied for
tenth in the American League. They've allowed twenty seven walks. Bad,
(12:24):
really bad. I don't blame Dan Wilson. It's not Dan
Wilson's fault. Maybe he's made some questionable moves here and there,
putting Vargas in and this that, and but these guys
just aren't getting it done except for Andre's Munos.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
So this is something to keep track of going forward.
You just I mean, this is not something. I mean,
they're gonna have to get to six. And please, Matt Brash,
will you please come back a sap? Matt Brash needs you,
really need you. I mean, it's just this team and
(13:04):
what was the one thing we came into the season.
We knew the starting pitching was arguably the best in baseball.
We assume the bullpen was going to be up there
with them, commensurate with the starting rotation. They're not, except
for Munos, who has been lights out along with Logan,
the three best players in the Mariners so far. The
constance the guys that you can rely on every day.
Have been Logan Gilbert, Andres Munos and Jorge Polanco. Now
(13:28):
cal Raley's starting to come on. He hit his six
home run in six the last six games. Six home
runs in six games. Big Dumper is coming on and
earning that one hundred and seven million dollar contract or
whatever it was.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
He's been unbelievable recently.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Look like he'll be the starter, starting catcher in the
American League for the All Star Game. This is something
that worries me, and it's something that should worry you.
This bullpen is absolute.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Good, good good good goo goo goo goo goo goo
goo good good go garbage, absolute garbage.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Except for Munos, he's been the shining He's the Scott
van Pelt.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Okay, he's the Scott van Pelt of the bullpen.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
The rest of them are like the other nameless, faceless,
no name sports center anchors. That's the rest of them.
Munios has been Scott van Pelt. He's been unbelievable. Oh
I'm not done yet. Oh no, no, no no. The
(14:33):
guy who I keep saying is the biggest star in
Seattle Sports. Number forty four Julio Rodriguez one for six
yesterday currently batting one to eighty seven. Guys, I'm sick
and tired of the excuses. It's his fourth season in baseball.
(14:54):
I know he's young.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
I know this.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I know that I'm sick in f and tired of
hearing the excuses. Julio, it's time for you to step up,
or it's time for you to just be meh. And
that's what you're looking like right now. Matter of fact,
you're not even meh. You are garbage one eighty seven.
(15:21):
You're not even batting your weight. You're below the Mendoza line.
I and here's the thing too, I don't think Julio
would be as bad. I don't like him in the
leadoff spot. I think that's a bad position for him
to be in. But Roe Bless is out for three
months and maybe the rest of the season, so he
has gotta be the default leadoff hitter and he shouldn't be.
(15:47):
He just shouldn't be. It's it's something that I just
don't see. I don't see it right now with long
term and I don't know what they're gonna do, but
Julio needs to step it up. And I don't, you know,
sound like a broken record on here. Every day. But
here's the problem. The record isn't broken when the song
(16:08):
remains the same. And for Julio, he's just not pulling
his weight, literally and figuratively. He's just not doing it.
Randy Roseorraina is coming around a little bit now. And
the thing I like the most about a Rose Arena,
he's coming up in clutch situations, which he's done since
the first opener of a season against Detroit.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
So a rose A Reraina is coming around. But Julio.
I talked to a friend last night.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
I did a spot on Fox thirteen Seattle on their
nightly sports show with Alyssa Charleston Smith last night, and
I'm on my way home and I'm talking to a
buddy of mine who works up in the media in
the Northeast, and I said, look at Julio Rodriguez's stats.
Right now, he goes holy ish, he said. If if
he was on if he said right now, if Julio
(17:03):
was playing for the Mets, the Yankees, the Red Sox,
or the Phillies, if he was playing in New York City,
Boston or Philadelphia, he beginning absolutely.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Crucified right now.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
Now.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
I don't know, I don't know of anybody else who's
calling him out the way I am. I just judged
by the text line or Twitter and my handles. Mark James,
Marc James, if you can find me. Like a listener
said the other day, I'm being shadow band by Twitter.
I don't know why. Maybe because I didn't tweet for
a few years. But Elon Musk is shadow banning me.
(17:39):
Don't know why. I didn't do anything wrong. I was
verified before people could buy their blue check mark, so
I have no idea.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
But I'm being shadow band.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
But someone is people on Twitter and people on the
text line at four nine four five one. You've told me,
You've said, Hey, you're the only one who's calling out Julio,
and it's refreshing.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
You're not a Mariner's ball washer. Thank you for that. No,
I'm not.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
If I don't like I always want to look at
everything through the prism spectrum, in point of view of you,
the fans, the listening audience, because you're the ones paying
your harder money and you're the ones not getting your
money's worth out of forty four who's supposed to be
the biggest star in Seattle sports right now?
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Now that DK metcalf is no longer here. It's up
to him and he needs to step it up.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
And maybe he needs to get through the first month,
get through those kinks and get through those little, you know,
rough spots in the first month of season. That's fine,
but May's coming up in about two weeks. And I'm
just sick and tired of hearing the excuses when it.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Comes to Julio. And I'm sure you are as well.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
But he is not only and I you know, I
said this will have Gary Hill coming on at the
top of the noon hour, not is he not a superstar.
He's not an all star. He's not a star period.
And you know the other day, c K when you
buck Keith Law, who's awesome from the athletic and I'm like,
(19:11):
what's wrong with Julio Rodriguez, Like, well, I disagree with
the premise of the question.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Well, he's batting one eighty seven, so you tell me.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I mean, I'm not trying to you know, I'm not
here trying to play you know, the DA the district
attorney here on sports radio.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
He's batting one to eighty seven.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
I don't give it f about his war He's not clutch,
he's not doing what he should be doing. And your
team is only as good as your best player. So
the Mariners right now are above five hundred in spite
of Julio Rodriguez, not because of him.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Period.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
All right, get ready for the next hilarious PayPal campaign
with Will Ferrell singing his rendition of Fleetwood Max go
Yeah Way in a bathtub. Check out the teaser tonight,
that's tonight Friday, and the commercial during basketball games this weekend.
(20:11):
I just heard that song on my way in to
work today. It reminds me of the movie Casino. There
was a scene where danirom Peshi were in that car
and they turn on the radio and go your own
Way came on. So your thoughts on Julio Rodriguez and
I've got to look at it. Teams winning. They're doing well.
They won their first road series of the season. I'm
(20:33):
happy take it to Toronto and then to Boston and
beat the hell out of those I hate the Red
Sox forty four's got to step up, man. It's time
to become If you want to be a star, you
better act like a star, but more importantly, you better
play like a star. He's not doing it, period. There's
no loaded question, there's no you know, hidden premise or
(20:57):
anything like that.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
He's just not doing it. He's not doing it.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
But kudos to the MS because how about Polanka Man
two for four yesterday, Batten three seventy eight so far
this season doing great.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Col's coming on.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
You know, Col's never going to be an average hitter,
but in terms of batting average, six home runs in
his last six games, so he's earning his contract, stripes
a lot of things.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
All right.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
You know we've heard this before.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Could the Sonics return announcement be coming sooner than later?
And I've only been here for two and a half months,
and folks, I can tell you I feel your pain,
and I have to tell you I want an announcement.
I don't want announcement tomorrow. I don't know what announcement today.
I want an announcement yesterday and we better get one.
(21:46):
Find out next on MJ in the midday on ninety
three to three KJR FM Adam Silver, Well, you know
what what am I going to say here? He's the
commissioner of the NBA. He appeared where everybody appears. Now,
if you're anyone in sports, right, Lebron James, Aaron Rodgers
and now Adam Silver on the Pat McAfee show. Roger
(22:06):
Goodell was on recently as well. Today he's had on
Stone Coolts, Steve Austin and RIEA Rippley. So it's Pat McAfee.
He's living every man's dream, let me tell you. So
he went on with Pat yesterday and here's what the
commission I had to say.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
In terms of expansion. We're trying not to look at
it every year, just because we don't want to be
too much of a distraction. What I've been saying for
the last several years, we knew we needed to get
a new collective bargaining agreement done. We did, we needed
a new media deal to get done. Did that. We've
locked in our television rights for eleven years and so
now that those things are done, we're just beginning a process.
(22:46):
So internally at the League of exploring the opportunity to expand.
I will say sometimes on the outside it looks like
a no brainer, because it seems like you're printing money
to expand. But again, as I said, you're really selling
equity in the league. You have thirty teams that own
the league and now you're saying we're gonna have thirty
two teams that own the league, so you're diluting the
economic interest of all the thirty teams, and so we're
(23:09):
looking hard at it. We're sort of modeling it for
lack of better terms, in the League office. Look, there's
no doubt there's been interest in Las Vegas Seattle. Have
been very public about it that it was a market
that was fantastic for the league that we left at
the time for understandable reasons. But there's no doubt that
there continues to be enormous passion in that market for
(23:32):
the NBA. So we're looking at those markets and others.
I think as we get into the summer, we'll get
into a more formal process of how we go about
doing it. I don't want to say it's a foregone
conclusion that we're going to expand, but I also think
over time, organizations tend to grow, and I look at
the success of those markets for other Major league teams now,
(23:55):
and so it's easy to present a scenario where you
can see it working successfully for the league.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
It it feels like a lot of just vapid, empty rhetoric.
I think.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
At this point I have two guesses of when we'll
hear the Sonics are coming back to Seattle Summer League
around that time or before the start of the twenty
five to twenty six season. That's my guess at this
point because I'm with you, Mark, and what he hasn't
(24:36):
there has not a definitive Hey, this is when I
plan to announce.
Speaker 5 (24:39):
Say hey, let's get through the summer. So those are
the two timelines. So here's what I've heard through my sources.
I was in Vegas and I heard also separate from Vegas.
So here's the thing. So we in Seattle, we need
the Tea Wolls to be sold done. We need the
Celtics to be sold done. I heard the NBA wants
(24:59):
to announce what they're gonna do. They want to announce
Seattle in Vegas as the thirty first and thirty second franchises,
but they want to do it collectively together. They don't
want to do one before the other. They want to say, Okay,
here's thirty one and thirty two Seattle.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
We have our ownership group ready to go right in
the bill. You know, the checks, CPA, it's all everything
is just on standby.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
We're waiting.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Now what I heard we're waiting on Vegas to get
their ownership group bids in order.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
And now I'm here's another thing I heard about Vegas.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Guess what Now, normally you would guess such, Yeah, normally
you would think that Vegas would play in the same
arena as VGK an Hlseam. No, they want their own arena,
which okay, whatever, but like, listen, that issue should not
(26:02):
be holding up Seattle. Like I understand the ownership group. Fine,
I don't know if it's one of those. Hey could
be my new buddy, the president, founder and CEO of
the Circa, Derek Stevens. I don't know if it's mister
Wynn Steve Winn Well, he had some bad issues, so
it probably wouldn't be him.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
I don't know. I think he kind of did something
that I remember.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
He sort of was on the verge of being canceled
for something bad that happened recently.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
I can't remember exactly what it.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Was, but it's like, can you just put us out
of our misery and announce that the Sonics are coming
back to Seattle?
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Please already? Will you.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Just please do it? We're sick and tired of I
even talked to purple sheet the other day, and he's like,
you know what, it's like everybody here, we're sick and
tired of like I said, this nebulous. You know, great area.
Oh well, we don't. Let's hear it again. Let's hear
the commissioner again.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
In terms of expansion, we try not to look at
it every year, just because we don't want to be
too much of a distraction. What I've been saying for
the last several years, we knew we needed to get
a new collective bargaining agreement done. We did, we needed
a new media deal to get done. Did that. We've
locked in our television rights for eleven years, and so
now that those things are done, we're just beginning a process.
(27:24):
So internally at the league of exploring the opportunity to expand,
I will say sometimes on the outside it looks like
a no brainer because it seems like you're printing money
to expand. But again, as I said, you're really selling
equity in the league. You have thirty teams that own
the league, and now you're saying we're gonna have thirty
two teams that own the league. So you're diluting the
economic interest of all the thirty teams, and so we're
(27:47):
looking hard at it. We're sort of modeling it for
lack of better terms in the League office. Look, there's
no doubt there's been interest in Las Vegas. Seattle. Have
been very public about it that it was a market
that was fantastic for the league that we left at
the time for understandable reasons. But there's no doubt that
there continues to be enormous passion in that market for
(28:11):
the NBA. So we're looking at those markets and others.
I think as we get into the summer, we'll get
into a more formal process of how we go about
doing it. I don't want to say it's a foregone
conclusion that we're going to expand, but I also think
over time, organizations tend to grow, and I look at
the success of those markets for other Major League teams now,
(28:33):
and so it's easy to present a scenario where you
can see it working successfully for the league.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
We left Seattle for understandable reasons. Try telling that to
all the people up here. I've only been here for
ten weeks. Try telling that to all the people who
have been bereft and devoid of the NBA for the
last generation, and by the time that we can all
hypothesize that the Sonics will come back in October of
(29:09):
two years from this October in twenty twenty seven, tell
everybody here after it's been gone at that point for
nineteen twenty years, that it left for understandable reasons. Really, yeah,
I wouldn't have gone there. I didn't have a problem
with anything he said, except for that part. You know,
(29:31):
you know, we left Seattle for understandable reasons. No, no, no,
that you shouldn't have said that, Commissioner. I don't have
anything against Adam Silver. I do think he's just the players.
He's just a kind of a lap dog for most
of the stars in the NBA. They run rough shot
over him. But do not say you left Seattle for
(29:55):
understandable reasons. That was something that, yeah, you better really
reconsider how you were that. Try telling that to a
market and a generation that has grown up without the NBA.
So people who are twenty five in under here, whose
memory probably only goes back to when they were, you know,
(30:18):
seven years old, or let's just say twenty three and under,
they've never had it. They don't they have no frame
of reference to the NBA. The closest thing they have
the NBA is the Portland Trailblazers if you want to
you know, so, yeah, didn't like that. Just do something.
We're sick and tired of the hyped up non announcement.
You know, just get it done. And now when I
(30:42):
heard this last weekend at Seattle's now we are at
the behest and of the ownership group who will take
over in Vegas.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
So now we have to wait for that too.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Hoyve Adam, you're trying to do the right thing, unlike
your predecessor, the late David Stern, But just do it.
Like Nike's old slogan, just do it, get it done. Well,
we just don't want to hear anymore. Oh well, we're
gonna dilute the economical feasibility. Who gives an f about
the economical feasibility of the of the Utah Jazz or
(31:21):
the Sacramento Kings.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
You're gonna have two more teams. Just announce it. Do it.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
You just got a seventy six billion dollar rights agreement.
There's plenty of money to go around for everyone. And
and I know a lot of you out there listening
right now, you're more pissed off than I sound. So
I feel your pain because, believe me, there's nobody who
wants well, there are, but I want the Sonics back here.
(31:48):
I want the NBA in Seattle. I mean, Jesus, Las
Vegas is gonna be a fourteen pro sports town pretty soon.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
We know Seattle should be.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
We it's a major, major market, number eleven market in America.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
But just do it.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
I'm tired of it, all right. What did Kirk Kurbstreet
say about the media and they're afraid to do something
I'm not afraid to do in Seattle. We'll get to
that next on Hitting to All Fields on MJ in
the midday, ninety three to three kJ r F M.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
All right, MJ in the.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Midday Hitting to All Fields. We know about the Nico
iam Aliava situation leaving Tennessee, and now I'll get to
that coming up more and how that was the biggest
and dumbest decision of the year, next to the Mavericks
trading Luka Doncic.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
We'll get to that.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Kirk Kurbstreet came out and he talked about how athletes
need to be held accountable.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Here's what he had to say in.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Terms of expansion. We're trying not to look at it
every year.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
That's Adams don't. Yeah, yeah, I know that one.
Speaker 6 (33:19):
When do you ever hear anybody be critical in this
era of a player because they're afraid to be critical
of a player because you get labeled as a guy
that's against the players, You get labeled as a guy
that's an old head. And I'm just saying that somebody's
got to have the stones to step up. And I
don't know who that is. I have no idea who
(33:40):
it is, but I hope one day somebody decides to
be a freaking leader and help us save the sport.
We're not saying take in Ioway. We're not saying any
of that. We're just saying, can we have some freaking
rules not give the players all the cards? The players
went from having no cards to every single card and
(34:01):
that's not right?
Speaker 3 (34:02):
Is it not healthy?
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Well? I agree with everything Kirk Kerbstreet just said. There.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
My thing is, Kirk, like, you need to look in
the mirror. Bro, When was the last time you were
critical of a player? I can't recall. And I love Kirkurbstreet,
so I'm not trying to say anything bad about him,
but I mean, Wind was the last time Kirk Kurbstreet
was really critical of a player, and I heard him
(34:29):
talk about Nico, and he spoke about him glowing.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Listen. I'm sure Nico is a good kid.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
I think he's got some people around him that are
looking out for their best interest rather than Nico's best interests.
And I think ultimately that's pretty much what I mean.
I've called him out, I'll call him out again. I mean,
I just think that it was a dumb ass decision.
(34:57):
He took to an a million dollars in a state
with no income taxes, and he turned it into nine
hundred thousand dollars after taxes in that setspool better known
as California.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
That's bad business. That's stupid.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Not to mention, you went from playing in front of
one hundred and twelve thousand fans screaming Rocky Top every
Saturday and the greatest conference in the history of college
sports to what seventy eight thousand empty seats at the
Rose Bowl every Saturday. Nobody cares about UCLA football. UCLA
football is more irrelevant than Lindsay Lohan. Nobody cares about it.
(35:40):
It's that's triple garbage. So Nico, I wish you well,
but I give you two words. Jaden Reshada the guy
that's suing Florida and Billy Napier because they didn't deliver
on his nil deal. So then he went to Miami.
Then he Miami, he de commits from there. He didn't
him and his dad didn't like what they were doing there.
(36:02):
His dad said, I'm going to go to Arizona State.
This is his dream school, goes there for like a
year or two, leaves, goes to Georgia thinking that I'll
take over after Carson Beck goes to the NFL.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Well, Carson Beck comes to the U and now Gunner.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
Stockton is the starting quarterback at Georgia, and now Jaden
Rashad is talking to Yukon Western Kentucky in Tulane. So
be very careful, Niko, where you're at.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
You're on a when you hit that wall. Those power
for schools.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Once you get branded and labeled, all of a sudden, Miami, Florida,
Georgia turns into Yukon Western Kentucky in Tulane, and then
you become completely irrelevant, just like Lindsay Lohan. All right,
coming up next, who of all the why receivers would
(37:01):
fit the Seahawks the best in next week's draft. MJ
in the midday on ninety three to three kJ r
F M
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