Legendary Coach Bruce Pearl One-on-One: Hoops, NIL & Anti-Semitism in America

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode: Legendary Coach Bruce Pearl One-on-One: Hoops, NIL & Anti-Semitism in America

Date: January 14, 2026
Host: Ben Ferguson (Premiere Networks) featuring Senator Ted Cruz
Guest: Bruce Pearl, former Auburn basketball coach

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Episode Overview

This episode features a lively, wide-ranging discussion with legendary basketball coach Bruce Pearl, hosted by Ben Ferguson and joined by Senator Ted Cruz. The trio delves into the evolution of college sports, the controversial rise of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals, the challenges of the NCAA, coaching philosophies, and rising antisemitism in America. The conversation is rich with personal stories, humor, and reflections on leadership, teamwork, and patriotism.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Life After "Retirement": Coach Pearl’s New Chapter

• [04:18-06:27] Bruce Pearl jokes about not really retiring but simply shifting arenas—from courtside coach to Auburn ambassador and broadcaster.

  • Quote (Sen. Ted Cruz): "I believe retirement is immoral... Retirement is not a biblical concept." ([04:25])
  • Quote (Bruce Pearl): "I'm not coaching, and you're coaching basketball. My management style is I put 20 pounds of potatoes in a ten-pound bag every single day." ([04:52])

• The hosts share health and weight loss stories, highlighting discipline and self-improvement as ongoing pursuits—even outside of sports.

2. The Unusual Path to Coaching

• [06:27-11:59] Pearl recounts his early athletic prowess, a career-ending knee injury, and how becoming involved in drama and band shifted his outlook.

  • Quote (Bruce Pearl): "I was defined by my ability to dominate you in everything... and then I had a career-ending knee injury." ([07:21])
  • Quick aside: Senator Cruz also reveals past involvement in drama club and collegiate tennis.

• [11:36-14:30] Pearl explains how hustling, doing every task for the BC basketball team, and being “unbelievable where you are” led to his first coaching role at Stanford.

  • Quote: “No matter what you’re doing, make yourself valuable.” ([13:57])

3. Coaching Philosophy and Leadership

• [14:30-18:50]
  • The difference between a bad, good, and great coach lies in love, trust, and offensive creativity. The best coaches, Pearl says, empower players and teach them to play to their strengths.
  • Quote (Bruce Pearl): “You can coach 'em as hard as you love 'em.” ([17:39])
  • Quote: “Great coaches are the ones that understand offense.” ([18:11])

4. Specialized Athleticism, Modern Development, and Life Lessons

• [20:00-22:12] The guests discuss youth sports specialization, the importance of having a distinctive skill or "dimension," and the intangible value of toughness and mental resilience.

  • Quote (Bruce Pearl): “Toughness isn’t something you can really teach, but you sure can expose.” ([21:44])

• [22:12-23:25] On what makes a great shooter: vision and mental visualization are key, sometimes more than physical attributes.

5. NIL and the NCAA: Crisis, Chaos, and Change

The NIL Revolution

• [23:41-27:03] Bruce Pearl argues that the NCAA mishandled its response to player compensation, creating today’s “chaos” in college sports.

  • Quote: “The NCAA was arrogant and not recognizing they were sitting on our country's biggest antitrust violation.” ([23:47])
  • Quote: “Back in the day...you couldn’t give them a hamburger. Now you can buy them a hamburger restaurant.” ([25:20])

• The hosts lament that massive NIL payrolls at top programs (upwards of $40 million for football) are unsustainable and threaten non-revenue sports (tennis, swimming, etc.).

The Campus Inequality and Athlete Experience

• [29:53-34:48] Ben Ferguson passionately rails against NCAA corruption and the exploitation of athletes pre-NIL:

  • Quote (Ben Ferguson): “We were abused as an athlete. I think it is modern-day slavery what they did.” ([30:53])
  • The need for reform is urgent to protect both star athletes and smaller programs; Congress may need to step in.

• [37:25-38:35] Pearl advocates for limited antitrust protections so universities and athletes can negotiate and establish fair rules without threatening the existence of college sports.

  • Quote (Sen. Ted Cruz): “If Congress doesn't act, we're going to see the college sports that all three of us grew up with...decimated and unrecognizable.” ([38:35])
  • Quote (Bruce Pearl): “With a little bit of help from Congress...let them come up with an agreement. We can do it.” ([38:02])

6. Basketball Stories, Player Development, and Sportsmanship

• [39:34-41:05] Discussion on working with NBA player Jabari Smith: success is made through discipline, sacrifice, and relentless work ethic.

  • Quote (Bruce Pearl): “That kid was in the gym every morning at 6:00am...The discipline that it takes to be a trained athlete...they can’t do what other kids can.” ([39:57], [40:20])

• [42:44-47:17]

  • Bruce Pearl calls Michael Jordan the greatest player he’s seen: not just for talent, but for elevating teammates and winning at all costs.
    • Quote: “For me, he’s the greatest of all time. He could handle Rodman, Pippen...He made everybody else on his team better.” ([43:41])

• The trio exchanges classic basketball trash talk stories and relives the culture of earned respect and resilience.

7. American Patriotism, Israel, and Antisemitism

• [48:40-52:24] Pearl shares his Jewish heritage, recalling how the U.S. saved his grandfather’s life and emphasizing a sense of duty to stand up against injustice.

  • Quote (Bruce Pearl): "My grandfather told me this country saved our family's life...American Jews should be this country’s greatest patriots." ([51:09], [50:26])

• The hosts highlight Israel's resilience in a hostile region and the necessity of "peace through strength." Pearl and Cruz stress solidarity with Israel and praise the U.S.-Israel relationship:

  • Quote (Sen. Ted Cruz): “There is nothing that would make the Middle East safer than having that theocratic lunatic who chants death to America no longer in charge [in Iran].” ([55:50])
  • Quote (Bruce Pearl): “The best way to avoid a war...is strength.” ([56:07])

Addressing Antisemitism

• [57:10-60:01]

  • Pearl gives a hopeful perspective despite rising antisemitism, reflecting on the progress of Jews and other minorities in the U.S.
    • Quote: “While it’s on the rise, there were three Jewish basketball coaches in the Final Four...This is the greatest country in the world.” ([57:10])
    • Quote: “I tell my Jewish people, look, I don’t know why God said we’re the chosen people...but there’s a responsibility.” ([63:32])

• The conversation moves toward unity, faith, and embracing what unites Americans—regardless of background or religion.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On coaching and leadership: "No matter where you are, people want to know how to be successful... Be unbelievable where you are and either God’s gonna have a plan for you or you just put yourself in position to be successful." (Bruce Pearl, [13:57])

• On elite performance: "[Jabari Smith] was in the gym every morning at 6:00 in the morning... The discipline that it takes to be a trained athlete..." (Bruce Pearl, [39:44])

• On the NCAA & NIL: "We can't continue to afford it... At some point, Olympic sports are going to get cut." (Bruce Pearl, [26:24])

• On American opportunity for Jews: "Where else in the history of the world have the Jewish people had an opportunity... nowhere else except maybe Israel right now." (Bruce Pearl, [50:26])

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |------------|--------------------------------------------------------| | 04:18-06:27| Retirement, life transition, self-discipline stories | | 06:27-11:59| Pearl's path to coaching; resilience after injury | | 14:30-18:50| Coaching philosophy; building trust with players | | 20:00-22:12| Athlete development, specialization, mental toughness | | 23:41-27:03| NIL’s impact, NCAA critique, financial sustainability | | 29:53-34:48| Athlete exploitation & the urgent need for reform | | 39:34-41:05| NBA star development (Jabari Smith story) | | 42:44-47:17| Greatest player debates, Michael Jordan/Larry Bird | | 48:40-52:24| Pearl's Jewish identity, American patriotism, Israel | | 57:10-60:01| Antisemitism, unity, overcoming adversity in America | | 63:43-67:12| Closing: National championship picks, sports banter |

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Tone & Style

The conversation is candid, humorous, and dynamic—blending sports talk, life lessons, and policy insights. The hosts and guest display mutual respect, gratitude for America’s opportunities, and seriousness about issues like antisemitism and college sports reform, while maintaining warmth and playfulness, especially in sports anecdotes and banter.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode is a must-listen if you care about the future of college sports, leadership in high-performance environments, American identity, or campus politics. Bruce Pearl’s journey—from struggling young athlete to championship coach and outspoken advocate—is intertwined with pointed commentary on the NCAA, the need for Congressional action on NIL, and the deeper values at stake in sports and society. The hosts’ mix of humor and honest reflection makes even complex issues relatable and engaging.

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Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Public Ad Read / Sponsor]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

Better Picks Sports just got better. Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you and we've got a fun show for you. Coming from Washington D.C. we're all in the same place center and we have a friend of the show, a friend of yours, a guest to talk about two different things. My favorite sports, your favorite politics and we get to talk about Israel. All of that. That's like bonus three things.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, this is going to be a fun podcast. We are joined today by the great legendary basketball coach Bruce Pearl, the former coach of Auburn. He was a national champion one in Division two, the national championship with Auburn. He went not once but twice to the Final Four, including a year ago a heartbreaker where where Florida barely eked out a victory. I'm sorry to bring that up. I know that's, you know to to quote my favorite movie, the Princess Bride, why don't you give me a nice paper cut and put lemon juice in it while you're at it. But, but, but then and Then Florida went on to win a championship, beating Houston, which was painful for us as well. He recently retired and is now ambassador for Auburn, is now doing sports broadcasting. He is also someone who cares passionately about Israel, passionately about America, passionately about sports, passionately about life. We're going to talk about all of them. Bruce. Welcome.

[Bruce Pearl]

God. Senator Cruz. That's a lot to love up to right there. That is a tremendous introduction. It's great to be with you guys. Appreciate what you're doing. Grateful.

[Ben Ferguson]

I want you to meet Maria. In 15 years, she'll be a nurse bringing health care to her village. Right now she's eight and she just needs someone to believe she can get there, someone to help her stay in school, someone to tell her she's capable of extraordinary things. I want you to meet James, a future engineer. He'll design clean water systems for his community. Today he's learning multiplication and dreaming big. But he needs more than dreams. He needs nutrition. He needs mentorship and someone who won't give up on him. Meet Sophia. She'll become the first in her family to graduate university. She'll teach dozens of children who remind her of herself. But right now, at age 10, she's at a crossroads. And your support could be what tips the balance. Through Compassion International. You're not helping a child survive poverty. You're investing in who they'll become. The teacher, the leader, the parents who will change their family story forever, impact the world one child at a time. Learn [e-mail] that's compassion. I want to just start with retirement because it doesn't sound like you're retiring at all.

[Bruce Pearl]

No.

[Ben Ferguson]

And this is what your retirement is going to look like. I just want you to know this. There's no way you're ever going to retire. Senator, I'm probably going to be the same way as well.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I believe retirement is immoral. And by the way, ask my father, who's 86, about to turn 87 and he will argue retirement is not a biblical concept. My dad's a pastor and he will lay out there's no concept of retirement anywhere in the Old or New Testament.

[Ben Ferguson]

I like it.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

We are here on this planet to make a difference. And, and, and, and retirement is not something he, he will never retire. I will never retire. And Bruce is not retiring. He's just moving to a different, different arena.

[Bruce Pearl]

I'm not coaching and you're coaching basketball. I, my management style is I put 20 pounds of potatoes in a 10 pound bag every single day. Every day.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

My Taylor says I Do the same thing.

[Bruce Pearl]

Me too. That's part of my New Year's resolution.

[Ben Ferguson]

His too.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Bruce Pearl]

I want to try to lose half a hundred.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So actually, we have a New Year's resolution. We had a show. Show this at my first resolution.

[Bruce Pearl]

How you doing? Are you on it? Are you working?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I am on it. Is to drop 30 pounds this year. And it's. I used to be skinny as a rail. I was buck 35 coming out of college.

[Bruce Pearl]

I was 252 when I started, so I want to get down to about 222. That's my number.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So I'm 236. My objective is to be at 206 January next year.

[Bruce Pearl]

All right, good. We can do it.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And you've already dropped how much?

[Ben Ferguson]

So I started this. Embarrassing. It's embarrassing. I started big dude. I'm a big dude. So I was. I'm been a big dude. Like you played football, now I play tennis. I was. I went to the doctor August 20th.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So if you can imagine George Foreman with a racket.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes, I went to the doctor. No, it's August of two and a half years ago. And I went. And he scared the living snot out of me. And I was 298. And now I'm two, I think, at 209.

[Bruce Pearl]

Wow.

[Ben Ferguson]

So I've lost about 90.

[Bruce Pearl]

Good. Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

And I feel better. I sleep better that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That. That.

[Ben Ferguson]

Three kids. That's what.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm like, I don't want to have a heart attack or stroke.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

All right, so let's start. We're going to talk sports. We're also going to talk nil and college sports, but let's just start a little bit of history. So I was reading. Reading your bio, and. And I discovered a fact I didn't know, which is I believe you are the only Division 1 basketball coach who didn't play basketball. And. And even, like, JV basketball.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Like. Like, how the heck did that happen? That's. That's pretty wild, actually.

[Bruce Pearl]

It is wild. All right, so I'm 15 years old, and I'm the best athlete in town. I'm the first kid picked for everything. I bat fourth. I'm pitching. I'm playing quarterback. I was doing it all, and I was. Can I say that?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Sure.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Bruce Pearl]

I just wasn't a great kid, I swear.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

All right. One of our very first podcasts we ever did down in a basement. This is years ago during the first Trump impeachment trial. The very first guest on this podcast was Lindsey Graham.

[Bruce Pearl]

Oh, gosh.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And Lindsey Who's a dear friend. Lindsey goes, what in the hell is a podcast? And he also, at one point, he said, that's. Can I say.

[Bruce Pearl]

Can I say that? Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It's like. Well, you just did.

[Bruce Pearl]

I mean, Lindsey Graham and John Kennedy and Bruce Pearl. Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's a trifecta.

[Bruce Pearl]

So. So I just. I. I was defined by my ability to dominate you in everything. Yeah. And I had a career ending knee injury. And as a high school.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You get tackled or what happened at what age?

[Bruce Pearl]

I was a freshman.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Wow.

[Bruce Pearl]

And. And I was blocking. It was a blindside hit. Whatever. Just. And I didn't have a very successful. Got my knee helmet on my knee. And I didn't have a great recovery, whatever it was. And honestly believe that it was God's plan to say, no, this is not the person that I had you to be.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Bruce Pearl]

And so. But there was a competitor in me. So what did I do? I went up for the school play. I became the class president, and I learned that the band kids were the coolest kids on campus. The same kids that I maybe used to make fun of because they weren't as fast as I was.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I'm not sure I'd say the coolest kids on campus.

[Bruce Pearl]

Band guys were fun.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

All right.

[Bruce Pearl]

All right.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Now, you went out for the play, and I was president of the drama club.

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm sorry, how did I not use this against you for the last X number of years? Can you say that again on the show? You were the president of what?

[Bruce Pearl]

The drama club.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay. The drama. I'm glad I have a witness for this. This is gonna be my favorite podcast we've ever done.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And played Division 1 sports at Ole Miss. Now, to be fair, it was tennis.

[Bruce Pearl]

Okay, you can say.

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm just. It's the most successful we've ever been at Ole Miss. I'm just saying.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

But. Okay, so. So you. You went out for the play. Are you a singer? Are you an actor?

[Bruce Pearl]

I could sing. I could before I got into coaching. I lost my voice.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

All right, what. What role? What was your biggest role?

[Bruce Pearl]

We did something in Oklahoma.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Nice.

[Bruce Pearl]

We actually did something in Oklahoma. So we sang there. And then we did drama competition. We did. We went and did. But it just introduced me to different world, A different world by the different.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Group of Curse of my high school acting career is I cannot carry a tune to save my life. I wish I have envy over those who can who are musical and a nightmare story just to do a digression. So senior year, we're doing Oliver and.

[Bruce Pearl]

The head of please sir, I want more.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Right, that's it.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And the.

[Ben Ferguson]

All I'm thinking right now is did I, did I read the Cliff Notes of this? But keep going.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So, so, so the head of the. I'm at Second Baptist High School in Houston, the head of the music program there said, okay, we really want you to play Fagan, which is the lead. It's a great role. You know, he's running all the keys.

[Bruce Pearl]

Who's made for you?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Oh, it's fabulous. And, and, and he said, we want you to play Fagan if you can sing it. So I actually hired a voice coach for the entire summer to practice and I had worked on it. The good thing is Fagan's songs are more spoken than songs, so you can kind of talk them through. So I'd worked on a Fagan song and I could do it. And the tryouts I thought I did pretty well. And afterwards he said, ted, stick around. And he sat at the piano and he plays dun dun dun dun. He said, sing that. And I go, dun dun dun dun. And he does it like four times. I miss every note. He goes, yeah, okay, so I cast as Bill Sykes, which is the second male lead and it's the non singing lead. In high school, you create a non singing role for people like me. Now it's the villain. I get to beat people up. A total jerk. But, but it's still, it still pains me. I should have been Fagin. I could have been a contender. But anyway, so you, you're, you're.

[Bruce Pearl]

Are you still a villain or no?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You know, yes, in some ways a little bit.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. Let me ask Siri is Ted Cruz that says yes?

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Oh yeah, Wikipedia. You should be. Look, look, Dr. Evil ain't got nothing on me.

[Bruce Pearl]

I just want to be on your side. Don't you? I want to be on your side.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

All right, so.

[Ben Ferguson]

You go from that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

By the way, I recently talking about the villain. I recently, my 15 year old daughter Catherine, her friend was asked were asking for a good movie to watch and so I recommended Coming to America which had never seen great movie.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yes.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And it starts off early on with James Earl Jones. And so you know, I was asking them like what famous voice did James Earl Jones play? And it tells you something. That three 15 year old has had no idea. Darth Vader, who was of course voted the number one villain of the past century in movies and none of the 15 year olds recognized Darth Vader's voice. All right.

[Bruce Pearl]

Wow. Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So we didn't get the sports so.

[Bruce Pearl]

Here'S what happens to me. So how do I get into coaching? What happens? So I decided to go to Boston College again, an athlete. I walked on the basketball team, got cut because I was still not a good enough athlete to be able to make it. But the head coach, Dr. Tom Davis, kind of saw something in me, my intensity and whatever. I became a manager. And my advice to people is, let.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Me stop real quick.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Why hoops? I guess, not football? Because you're neat.

[Bruce Pearl]

I played baseball. I was a really good baseball player. Had a varsity baseball career at Sharon High School, but couldn't play New York. I was actually, by that point, I had to be a first baseman because I was limited in my movement. We won the league championship and I had a good run, but the point was I couldn't play basketball. Boston College, but I worked for the program. I just made myself important. I wasn't planning on being a coach. I just kind of was having fun. I was selling tickets. I was a practice player. I was refereeing. I was helping him run his camp. I was doing all these different things just for poops and giggles. I was going to leave college and going to go to Israel and join the army for a couple of years and serve a little bit. That's what I kind of was going to do. He got the Stanford job my senior year, and all of a sudden he calls me one day, he calls me over to his house. The only time he ever called me to his house was when the dean of students caught me streaking across campus and they were going to throw me out of school. And I was the only Jew on campus, so I was circumcised.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So I'm going to make a terrible confession.

[Bruce Pearl]

You were a streaker, too.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You and I. Share that in comments.

[Bruce Pearl]

Well, you know what? That was back in the day. That was popular back then.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So this is a terrible admission. So, look, as you know, I went to Princeton. That's not the terrible admission.

[Ben Ferguson]

Although some would say, yeah, nowadays we.

[Bruce Pearl]

Don'T brag about that quite so much.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

A hundred years, Princeton had a tradition that was called the Nude Olympics. And it occurred on the night of the first snowfall of the year that sophomores stripped Little chili.

[Ben Ferguson]

Little chili through, you know, as.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

As they say, Seinfeld shrinkage.

[Bruce Pearl]

It's cold.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's cold outside.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

But. But. And you would run through the campus and you do jumping jacks and events, and it was a 100-year-old tradition.

[Ben Ferguson]

So that was. Yeah, so you. You gave the peer pressure is what.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You'Re Telling me I, I am confident there, there's no photographic evidence, but, but I did keep on my boots and a scarf.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's good, you know, fashion sense.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And, and it was.

[Bruce Pearl]

Anyway, so bottom line, no matter what you're doing, make yourself valuable. So when Tom Davis left Boston College to go to Stanford. Yeah. He asked this 21 year old manager to come with him and be an assistant coach. Why? Because when it came to, well, who's doing this or who's doing that, you were doing it, I was doing it. And I wasn't doing it to get a job, I wasn't doing for the reward. So no matter, no matter where you are, people want to know how to be successful. What's your next thing? Don't worry about what's next. Be unbelievable where you are and either God's gonna have a plan for you or just gonna put yourself in position to be successful.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's great life.

[Bruce Pearl]

And that's what I did.

[Ben Ferguson]

When did you know you want to coach? Like, when did that transition happen?

[Bruce Pearl]

So my whole, my whole deal was always I made people better around me. I recognized that there were four other guys out there in the court and they needed to do their job. And I love to win. I mean, I love to win at all costs. Right. And so my ability to encourage them, challenge them, know when to, you know, give them some support, but also hold them accountable, whatever it was, I was always a coach on the floor.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Now how do you get started? Look, it's one thing when you're Bruce, Carl, I'm like people. But, but look, you're a 21, 22 year old assistant coach at Stanford. You're playing with, with players who can shoot lights out.

[Bruce Pearl]

And they were old. So many kids on the team were older than I was when I was an assistant coach.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. And you know, they can fly through the air and they can do things right. That you, how did you get the credibility when you're just starting for them to listen and say, okay, I want to listen to what this guy has to say sometimes.

[Bruce Pearl]

Don't talk. Your presence is your gift. I'd be the first one in the gym, I'd rebound for them. You'd think that while I was rebounding for them, I'd say something about their shot. How about just be there for an hour, not say a word and then get them to go there the next day and the next day. I don't care. I don't have to teach them anything. I need to get them in the gym. I need to be in There, I need to be in there. I need to be before they get there. I need to stay after. And then just choose your words wisely. I would be a parrot for my head coach. I listen to what I say, I listen to what he said. And when I got comfortable enough, I said the same things. So all I was doing was reinforcing his messages. And so When I left Dr. Tom Davis, after some 14 years as his assistant, he gave me two pieces of advice. He says, number one, be yourself. That way you could be authentic. He was a doctor. He was quieter than I was. I'm passionate, I'm emotional. He said, look, that way you don't have to fake it. But the second thing is, do what we do, you know, our system. Teach what? Like sometimes coaches, they want to beg, borrow, and steal from. Well, when I get to be a coach, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. Look, I know what I know, you know what you know. Okay, Teach that. It's not so much what you do, but it's how you do it, how you can teach it.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So what was, what was the system? What did. What did it emphasize?

[Bruce Pearl]

Uptempo, fast break. Gary Williams, who was at Maryland, was also under Dr. Tom Davis. Gary won a Division 1 National Championship. We were very up tempo. We trusted our players. Sometimes you sometimes get confused and thinking, great coaches are coaches that are, oh, those kids are really patient. They hold the ball. That's because they don't trust their players. To get the most out of your players, you've got to empower them a little bit. My job was to see something in them they didn't see in themselves, put them in positions to be successful. I didn't need five great ball handlers. I needed one. I needed five great shooters. All that helped if they could shoot. I just needed a couple. I needed a guy that could rebound. I loved roles, love dimensions. So one of the things I tell people is, have a dimension in organization. Yes. Sometimes you need a glue guy. Someone's good at everything. But you need. I'd rather say it's great at this, but can't do that. I'll hide that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Right.

[Bruce Pearl]

I'll hide what they can't do, but give me this. And that's what I think made me one of the things that made me a good coach.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

All right, so over your career, how many games have you won?

[Bruce Pearl]

I don't. I think over 700, but I'm not.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Even sure I know it's a big, big number, but it's.

[Bruce Pearl]

It's a little over 700. I'm not even exactly sure.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So what's. All right, what's the difference between a bad coach, a good coach, and a great coach?

[Bruce Pearl]

So. So Pat Dye, the legendary football coach, said, you can coach him as hard as you love him. And one of the challenges right now in college sports is the transfer portal. And kids only stay in one year. Yeah. Like I tell my.

[Ben Ferguson]

And let's be clear, that's not a year. It's six months.

[Bruce Pearl]

Right. Right. I can't love my kids in a year. And I think love is a word that's overused. I love some of my friends. I love my family. I love my country. But doesn't come quickly. It's something. You got to go through some stuff.

[Ben Ferguson]

Trials and tribulations, ups and downs.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yes, I need to be. When they call me, when they've got. They're breaking up with a girl or something happened at home, somebody's sick and somebody's gonna die. We go through some stuff and be there when they're not. When they're not successful, but not give up on them. And then all of a sudden, they become something. And you were there when you believed when nobody else did. And so coach them as hard as you love them. Billy Donovan said this, and I agree with him. He said we all can coach them to play hard. We all teach pretty good defense. He said the great coaches are the ones that. Are the great offensive coaches that can create offense to get guys really good shots and really good looks. We all can defend. We all can get our kids to play hard. But the brilliant coaches are the ones that understand offense.

[Ben Ferguson]

When you look at the. Let's get in the nil.

[Bruce Pearl]

No, no.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I want to ask a few more coaching questions.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay, I'm ready. But it was within. It was coaching and I.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

We're going, we're going, we're going.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, we'll back it up. I'm ready to go.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

All right, so let's say this.

[Ben Ferguson]

So, you know, he's a basketball. Like, he's obsessed. Yeah, yeah. Do you know he shoots twice a week? Plays twice a week.

[Bruce Pearl]

I understand that.

[Ben Ferguson]

And you know, there's two amazing basketball courts within a driver from where we are. Yes, there's a Supreme Court. When I was there today for the. Like, the Supreme Court has. They have a basketball court at the Supreme Court. Did you know this?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Three times a week. So the Supreme Court court is above the courtroom. So the floor of the court is. Is the roof.

[Ben Ferguson]

This is not a joke.

[Bruce Pearl]

That's Crazy. So you hear the balls bounce every now and then.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You cannot play during oral arguments because you'll hear the balls bounce. So it's actually a rule. No dribbling during an argument.

[Bruce Pearl]

That's crazy.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And do you know the nickname for it? The highest court in the land.

[Bruce Pearl]

The highest court in the land. That's good.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And it's a weird court because the roof is kind of low. So you have to develop this weird ass jump shot that's almost like a line if you have a normal.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's like papa shot, you know, when you're ceiling.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So. So the folks that are regulars there have a very strange jump shot.

[Bruce Pearl]

Don't tell me seven footers have to duck. It's. It's got a higher.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It's not quite that bad, but. All right, let's say. So we have a lot of young people that listen to this show. Let's say we've got a kid who's 15, 16, it's a high school athlete and wants to make it in college. Basketball, football, whatever sport. What's the key for a kid with some skill but doesn't know if he can make it? What does a kid want to do to actually have a shot at playing in college?

[Bruce Pearl]

Well, back in the day, we used to play football, basketball, baseball. We all played all the sports. I'm sure as a tennis player, you play other sports, right? Everything. And so kids are beginning to sort of maybe cut it down to one or two, not just one specialization.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Kids are six or seven, they're telling.

[Bruce Pearl]

Us, no, don't do it then, but do it at. You get into college, don't play every sport, play a couple high school sports. And, but, but narrow it down a little bit. Obviously the things that they're, you know, nutrition now is a factor. The kids are doing a better job taking care of the body. They're, they're specialized. Our kids now are way more physically mature than they were back in the day.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Interesting.

[Bruce Pearl]

Because the money is bigger. They, they're closer to the money. So they're, they're getting more disciplined and they're, they're working out more. And I mean, again, I got, I kind of go back to advice. Have a dimension on the court. You know, do something really well that a coach can obviously, you know, can use.

[Ben Ferguson]

What is your, it's, what is your thing is the question. Right? What makes him special now? I mean, that's what you're saying is important for you to stand out when you're getting recruited.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

All right, Ben, what was your game in tennis, were you served?

[Ben Ferguson]

No, I was, I was known as being slow, having a massive serve and having an unbelievable ad court returned for college.

[Bruce Pearl]

You were a backstop. Like there's just wear them out.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, I mean it was, it was. He's going to serve through you and he's going to any and he will always have you in doubles and you'll win more points. That was what paper college.

[Bruce Pearl]

I mean for me, tough, obviously toughness, mental and physical toughness wind up wind up winning. At the end of the day a physically and a mentally tough guy is going to win. It's like when dogs kind of get in a fight. Yeah, they, they kind of who know who the big dog is and the big dog may not be the biggest dog out there, but he's a badass. And so it's, it's something. Toughness isn't something that you can really teach but you sure can't expose can be exposed and so soft kids don't make it.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

What makes a great shooter?

[Bruce Pearl]

I think the eye, I think, I think guys that have incredible eyes that are able to focus on that target and hit the target.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's two answers you gave. They wouldn't have predicted in the eye.

[Bruce Pearl]

And seen it like mentally like if you were as a tennis player. You had to actually see, see and mentally see that serve when you toss it up there and hit it through. Great baseball players can see that ball.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Say Ted Williams could see the scenes on the curveball like he had just crazy good a true story.

[Ben Ferguson]

My coach said to me, he goes, there will be a time in your life when you will be able to have a serve hit at you and you'll be able to tell me the number and who makes the ball. And it happened for me for three days and I never got it back. But you could hit ball as hard as you want to serve 100150020 miles an hour. And I could tell you it was a Wilson use open three or a pin four. And I don't know what happens in your brain, but it's the same thing with this. Now I never got it back but he, he didn't lie and that he was like the guys are the, the greats could see that the majority.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And I gotta tell you, if you play me ping pong and you hit the ball at me, I can tell you what color the ball that's good.

[Ben Ferguson]

Usually it's orange, white ball, orange ball. I mean it's, it's, it's, it's that good. It's that good.

[Bruce Pearl]

It's a gift.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's a gift. Yeah. He should have been recruited, and I would have loved this guy.

[Bruce Pearl]

Can you go to ping pong scholarship? Can you?

[Ben Ferguson]

I don't know. My game in Asia. In Asia, there might. That might be a thing.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I. I'm not for.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

All right, let's talk nil.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yep.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

How has nil changed college sports?

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

Do you love it or hate it? Can I just ask.

[Bruce Pearl]

First of all, first of all, the NCAA was arrogant and not recognizing that they were sitting on our country's biggest antitrust violation. Yes. They were just arrogant. And we had smart people in the industry. And the fact that they wanted to fight for amateurism when it wasn't realistic, when everybody was making all this money, I was a big believer. Obviously, college scholarships and what that industry did for our country. Think about it. Rural Americans that never dreamed of going to college, all of a sudden they had the opportunity through something that they maybe were good at in sports, got them on campus.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And inner city kids, lots of kids that couldn't afford it, that had no history of family going to college, weren't.

[Bruce Pearl]

Ever thinking about it all of a sudden because. Because academics may not have been something they were good at. Nobody likes to do anything they're not good at, but they like sports. Then they went to college and they got caught up and figured out they. They weren't dumb. They just weren't prepared.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[Bruce Pearl]

Women. There weren't as many women on college campuses back in the day. Intercollegiate athletics, Title IX exploded. Women on campus. And there is no other university. Intercollegiate athletics is American. There's no other place in the world that does what we do. So we've got a unique system that right now needs fixing because it's a disaster. It's chaos off the court, on the field and on the court. It's great. The product that we're putting out is really, really good.

[Ben Ferguson]

Unbelievable.

[Bruce Pearl]

But the problem is what we're paying our top student athletes because everybody wants to win is ridiculous. Back in the day, 10 years ago, you couldn't give them a hamburger. Now you can buy them a hamburger restaurant. It's not against the rules. Literally. The top college football programs that are competing right now, they're. Their rosters are between 35 and $40 million for that roster right now.

[Ben Ferguson]

And most schools can't afford it.

[Bruce Pearl]

Most schools can't afford it. So most schools aren't there. But the schools that are playing right now and still playing right now are there. Why is Indiana and Miami there? Great coaching Great kids, great support. But Indiana would be a great example. All of a sudden, Mark Cuban, the people at Indiana said, you know what? We're going to be committed.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yep.

[Bruce Pearl]

Now the challenge is, are you going to do it every year? I mean, it's one thing in your world, you got to raise $20 million for an election. 30 million, whatever it is.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

My last race was a quarter billion.

[Bruce Pearl]

Dollar race and I got, I said a thousand dollars. Very happy to have supported you.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Thank you.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I'm gonna confess I didn't know that. That's really cool.

[Bruce Pearl]

Very happy to have supported you. Thank you. But every year, every year, if you had a campaign every year and you had to raise that money every year, that's what's happening in college sports. College sports is losing an enormous amount of money. We can't continue to afford it. And so who's going to suffer from it? At some point, Olympic sports are going to get cut.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yep.

[Bruce Pearl]

We're in a. We're in the Olympics.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

We're seeing that schools are canceling programs every day.

[Bruce Pearl]

They're doing it now.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And smaller schools are also in trouble.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yep.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Division two, Division three.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yes.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

If we don't do something, I think we're going to wake up soon and there's going to be 30 to 50 programs and the top programs will survive and have all the money. And I think everyone else goes under unless we do something.

[Bruce Pearl]

Correct.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ben Ferguson]

Better Picks Sports just got better this subject makes me mad because I'm mad at the NCAA for allowing us to get to this point. And I'll say it quickly. I watched the corruption when I was at Ole Miss and what does corruption look like? Roommate of mine had to go get money in cash so mom could come to the game. Grew up in Arkansas. Literally grew up in a trailer and it was what does mom need to get you to come to school here? We were paying players. It was there. Every athlete knew it was the idea that people weren't getting paid.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

But the ncaa, I like to say SMU was doing nil before it was. That's true.

[Ben Ferguson]

They were pioneers. But. But the NCAA knew it, Bruce. And that's the part that makes me angry now is like they've created this chaos. Well they created it by not policing it and figuring out sooner because they they owned us. And I say it's an athlete like a modern day slave. You made all this money off of our work, right? You made all this cash off the TV rights.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Everyone was getting seen. But I told you I like I.

[Ben Ferguson]

Really makes me mad because I see these kids that are suffering, the parents, they just want to show up for the game. Then they're having to do shady deals where mom gets cash so she can drive to the game, but they're making millions and all the seats and all the tickets and everything else. And we were abused as an athlete. I think it is modern day slavery what they did. Now it's gone the other way and they're like, well, it's. This is a terrible thing for the athletes. There has to be an in between. Yeah, but my point is, don't pull it all the way back where. Let's make it an honest living. I think guys like Tim Tebow is a great example of this Tim Tebow or Texas A and M guy, what's his name?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Johnny.

[Ben Ferguson]

The amount of money they're bringing into these programs. And if you get hurt, you don't go to the next level, you don't get to go to the NFL. You deserve to get paid while you're a pro athlete at a university. That's what you are. I say that to also say I am concerned. I played a non sport that made money. I don't want to see golf disappear, tennis disappear, women swimming, archery, whatever it may be. How do we rein it in? It's a grand idea. I say I get frustrated because I genuinely still hate the NCAA right now. I cannot stand them. And if you go and poll athletes, if you did a poll right now of the last 20 years of college athletes in Division 1, they will tell you they hate the NTA because they never protected them, they never took care of us. And then every time we asked a question, you know what they said? Shut up and sit down. You're a student athlete. You're here for free. Be quiet. If you ask questions about expenses or anything else, you know what they do, they would investigate your team and punish you if you ask questions. So my point is this. If you don't protect the student athletes moving forward, they're going to get screwed again when you do the New Deal. And that's where I ask you as a coach, as a former coach now, how do you, how do you do both? Because I'm telling you, the kids will get screwed again because there's too much money not to screw them if you don't pay attention. So I'm worried. I'm worried that I almost like the Wild west more because at least it's an honest day's work. And all the betting that's going on now, it's Insane. The amount of money around college sports, insane. Everyone's getting paid. So part of me is like, as a kid, I'm like, if my kid's good enough, I bring me the cash too. You're making money off of every game.

[Bruce Pearl]

Of every.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

By the way, when he says if his kid's good enough, bring in the cash. This is not hypothetical because his sons, he had one son who was the number two golfer in the world for his age bracket. So, so how old he was?

[Ben Ferguson]

He started six, now he's nine. So then I have my, my new. I have a twin that's six.

[Bruce Pearl]

Auburn won a national championship in golf last year.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. Oh yeah.

[Bruce Pearl]

We've got two of the top 10am Amateurs in the world on our team right now.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, I know.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Ben's already buying a beach house off. Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

But I, I worry about this. How many kids are going to get screwed if you over.

[Bruce Pearl]

Correct. Right.

[Ben Ferguson]

So I asked that with passion. As a former athlete, I think what they did to these kids is wrong. The way they were treated was wrong. The way the parents have to. Some suffer while they're making all this cash off. It's not fair.

[Bruce Pearl]

Right. Well, you're right about some of the inequalities. I can remember before nil, we'd make the NCAA tournament and we travel wherever we were traveling to and they might send us to Seattle, they might send us to Utah or whatever. And I had parents of some of my players that would take a bus and they'd travel out there. They'd stay at a YWCA or ymca. Yeah, I would pray for victory just so they wouldn't have to watch the game lose and then get back on the bus and leave. In other words, like before we could help families get there. It was actually, there was a lot of cost involved in trying to support your. So we were way behind in trying to take the pendulum obviously as swung. So basically, in its simplest terms, and the senator understands this, the courts have ruled that the ncaa, the way it was set up, setting these rules of eligibility or whether you could transfer or what your academics could be or what scholarship was allowed and what's an extra benefit? All those rules were agreed to by the parties that beat without the student athletes being involved.

[Ben Ferguson]

We were the modern day slaves.

[Bruce Pearl]

And so when somebody took that to court, they said, wait a second, why can't I transfer? Coach can go from Texas to Texas A and M. If he wants to sit out a year, I have to sit out a year. And of course said, yeah, you're right.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And look, by the way, no coach would ever go say, ole missed lsu.

[Bruce Pearl]

No, never.

[Ben Ferguson]

Never would happen. It's an abusive relationship, I tell you.

[Bruce Pearl]

I know you were.

[Ben Ferguson]

Abusive relationship.

[Bruce Pearl]

You wanted to win the national championship. So Lane. Yeah. We'll be sitting there in some hotel room watching.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I told him, but he would have gotten a bigger bonus.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah, that would be awesome. If Lane in his contract would have got paid if they wanted to.

[Ben Ferguson]

I didn't care. Pay him the money. Like I said him beforehand. I said, I have a list.

[Bruce Pearl]

Don't forget, Coach Kiffin built that team.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, I know, but he also abandoned that team that he built.

[Bruce Pearl]

Helped.

[Ben Ferguson]

He abandoned that team.

[Bruce Pearl]

Ms. Was the one that said, look, you. He. He would. He would have stayed and coached him. But this, they gave him an ultimatum.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's like that. This is my analogy. We're going there. That's like me sleeping, saying, hey, honey, we're gonna get a divorce. I slept with the other woman that you caught me with, but I'll sleep with you tonight because I'm still your husband.

[Bruce Pearl]

You know what? You know what? When kids would want to go to the transfer portal on me. Yeah. And they wanted the opportunity to maybe come back. Yeah. I said, so you want to go the transfer portal? Yeah. You want to go get recruited? If things don't work out, you want to come back? Yeah. They said, okay, so be like me saying to Brandi, Brandi, my wife coming to me saying, hey, honey, listen, I love you, but I want to get the transfer portal. And if things don't work out, I want to come back. Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

No, no.

[Bruce Pearl]

You want to get a job, you're out.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You're dead.

[Bruce Pearl]

You're out.

[Ben Ferguson]

When Lane left and he said, I'm leaving, you were dead.

[Bruce Pearl]

Okay? So you know what? You need to get over it.

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm fine.

[Bruce Pearl]

You're not moved on. Ben, you're not listening.

[Ben Ferguson]

I've got a few democrats on there. And Lane Kiffin. It's on the list. Like, if I get a mug shot, you know it's going to be worth it. You'll bail me out, right?

[Bruce Pearl]

You're a good lawyer.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I'm right behind you.

[Ben Ferguson]

Right behind. Okay, good, good.

[Bruce Pearl]

So where are we right now? Number one, we need to recognize the urgency. This has to be fixed. Because for a lot of different reasons, obviously, women's sports being cut, non revenue sports like tennis being cut. We're losing money. There is so much more revenue to be gained. The NBA is like the fifth or sixth most watched sport in America. College football is number two. Yeah. The NBA makes like twice as much money on their television contracts than college football.

[Ben Ferguson]

Why is it, by the way?

[Bruce Pearl]

Why? Because the NBA bargained with the television as a unit as the National Basketball association college football. The SEC has got their contract with ESPN and the ABC ACC's got their Big 12 there, whatever. And we've left a lot of money on the table. College football needs to become college football and maximize their revenues, which will help pay for everybody else. But there are no rules right now.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Right.

[Bruce Pearl]

And the courts have said the way our laws in the land are written, you can't write these rules and enforce without infringing on those student athletes rights. So therefore what I'm asking would be in exchange for some limited antitrust protection, Some limited antitrust protection, Congress would create some law that would at least get us in the room and allow us to talk to the student athletes. There's a special status that's granted to farmers when they co op, but there's a special status that's granted to the Screen Actors Guild. We don't want employees. The student athletes don't want to be employees. Universities want employees. We don't want a union. We don't want to have that kind of collective bargaining negotiate. But we got to be able to have college athletics, student athletes and people that will represent them, call them agents or call them lawyers, get in the same room with some leaders providing some antitrust protection and let them come up with an agreement. We can do it, but without a little bit of help from Congress, a little bit of legislation, figuring out a way to guess in the room. I don't know. I don't know what the fix is. Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And as you know, I think it is urgent that Congress act. I spent three years drafting legislation, working on it. The real question is, are we going to get bipartisan agreement? And I have been, I would say we are very, very close. I have been negotiating. I am hopeful we get it done this year. I think if Congress doesn't act, we're going to see the college sports that all three of us grew up with. We're going to see it decimated and unrecognizable. And so this shouldn't be a partisan issue. One of the great things about sports, it brings people together.

[Ben Ferguson]

It brings people together and passion from.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Totally different walks of life, from different parties, different races, different ethnicities, different religions. You can stand and cheer. And there's something awesome about sports, about a championship. One of the most fun parts of being in the Senate is I get to root on Texas teams and it is, it is a spectacular thing. By the way, I am a die hard Rockets fan.

[Bruce Pearl]

You love a Jabari Smith a little bit.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I was going to ask you what was Jabari like coaching? And boy, he's got, his defense is great, his three point shot is getting and better every game. What was he like coaching?

[Bruce Pearl]

He was, he was a treasure to coach. I think one of the things that, I think when people watch athletes they just assume that it's God given that the talent is just there and they're just so blessed.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Doesn't hurt to be seven feet tall.

[Bruce Pearl]

It doesn't. But listen, Ted, that kid was in the gym every morning at 6:00 in the morning.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Really?

[Bruce Pearl]

At Sandy Creek High School.

[Ben Ferguson]

He worked his tail off.

[Bruce Pearl]

Worked his tail off. So when other kids put on some.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Weight, over the weight, I mean he's, he's got 20, 30 pounds heavier and it's a totally different game because last year he'd get pushed around by big guys. He's now got enough meat that he's pushing them around.

[Bruce Pearl]

He is and he's gotten a lot better. But, but the discipline that it takes to be a trained athlete, the things you have to stay away from as a high school kid or college kid that maybe other kids could get away with and things that they could do, they, they can't. And so I admire, I always tell people you want to hire somebody in your company or hire a student athlete. They've tried and they failed. They understand what pressure is all about. They've got discipline, their economy. They also know how to make sacrifice on a team. They're not worried about other people's success, which when you are just on yourself and all of a sudden you get in the workplace and you have to sort of fit in. It's like it's the first time you've been a part of a team, part of a family, so on and so forth. So now Jabari is going to be, he'll be an NBA all star and he's got a great tutor and Kevin being right there, Durant being right there with him. What a great Katie.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Big brother. We needed Katie. So last year we were number two going into the, into the playoffs. But, but our, we didn't have a superstar. We had a lot of great young, you know, 20, 21, 22 year old talent. That, that I think is awesome.

[Bruce Pearl]

Right?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

But we didn't have someone with three minutes to go. Fourth quarter you give the ball to and say, okay, we need to score.

[Bruce Pearl]

They'Re going to Get a bucket or they're going to get a foul.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And Katie is so much fun watching him because I mean he, they'll triple team foul the heck out of him. And he makes that lanky fallen back 18 footer that just. How the heck do you stop it? And there's a reason he's what, number six or seven in the all time scoring, right? Like, like a good team. I love. I DVR every Rockets game. And by the way, I was at game seven in 94 when we beat the Knicks and won our first championship ever. And it's my favorite sports memory. And we played at the Summit. And I remember summits on Richmond Avenue in Houston now Lakewood Church, but he used to be the Summit. And I remember on the street on Richmond seeing businessmen in three piece suits crying and hugging homeless men. By the way, the coolest backstory from that game. So where I was sitting was right by where Bob Costas and Dr. J were broadcast in the game. And I was close enough, I could hear him.

[Bruce Pearl]

Wow.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And when the TV cameras were off, Dr. J get gave cost us so much grief. And he was saying, man, your Nick suck.

[Bruce Pearl]

That's awesome.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's horrible. And that was the funniest part of the game is Dr. J could talk some trash.

[Ben Ferguson]

He is a trash talker.

[Bruce Pearl]

Pro.

[Ben Ferguson]

He's pro at it.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It was the funniest part of the game. But, but there's, there's a. All right. Of all the players you've seen, and let's exclude your own players because I don't want to put you in an awkward. But of all the players you've seen coaching, who's the best basketball player you've ever seen that you've said, holy cow, that guy's got some.

[Bruce Pearl]

Something the player.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Player.

[Bruce Pearl]

Probably seeing Michael Jordan. Probably seeing him. I saw him when he was at North Carolina.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Oh, did you really?

[Bruce Pearl]

I was an assistant at Stanford. And the thing about him, he was.

[Ben Ferguson]

Tiny then, by the way.

[Bruce Pearl]

He was a little thinner. But you know, you know when you go to a, a thoroughbred racetrack.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Bruce Pearl]

And you see the legs, it's just different. The horses just different on the, on those thoroughbreds. Yeah. He had a different, he had a different body, a different build. The way he moved, way cares. Just his length. And then what none of us knew was his ability to impact the team. That's the difference between him. For me, he's the greatest of all time.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Unquestionably greatest of all time.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Bruce Pearl]

Because he could handle Rodman. He could handle some of them pippin Rodman, they weren't the most talented teams, but he could handle those guys. And all he cared about was winning. That's all he cared about. And he made everybody else on his team better. I think he made Phil Jackson a better coach because he listened. Not my job. Joe B. Hall said this, and I heard this at a clique one time and I believe this. Look, it's not my job as a coach. Make every right decision. I'm going to make the best decisions I possibly can based on my experience and what I know. And you know what? I'm going to make a lot of good decisions. Not every one of them is going to be the best decision, but it is my players job to make my decisions work.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

See, when George, they need to break.

[Bruce Pearl]

The huddle and make that work. We're going to 131 might have been.

[Ben Ferguson]

A bad decision, but do it well.

[Bruce Pearl]

Get out there and make that 131 work. In this position, what's going to stop?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

When Jordan came to the NBA, I was a big Larry Bird fan. And so I used to argue, oh, you know, Jordan's fine, but he's not Bird. And bird had won three consecutive MVPs. And you know, he shoot these crazy lefty and jump shots. And it was. Bird was great. He was one of the greatest ever to play. And I'd be like, okay, yeah, Jordan's good, but he's just an offensive player, one dimensional. And then he comes back and starts playing incredible defense. And I mean, I, okay, he can drive, but he can't shoot. And I feel like Jordan just like grabbed me by the head and starts slamming me into the ground. And so I'm finally like, I'm making the arguments and I just stop and I'm like, yeah, Jordan's just like, like it, it. And, and I am.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I defined what, what would have been my ultimate dream basketball game. And it was the following. It was Houston, Chicago. Okay, NBA Finals, game seven.

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm with you.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Jordan scores 101 points and break breaks Wilt's record. And the Rockets win the championship because Scottie Pippen tips the ball in our basket. Because I never was Pippin. That was like my dream.

[Ben Ferguson]

What did Pippin do to you?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Pippen is a great player.

[Ben Ferguson]

I can't wait to hear the.

[Bruce Pearl]

Some of his mannerisms and some of his moods.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

He, he would throw temper tantrums. He didn't have the heart. Look, what Jordan had was a heart the size of.

[Ben Ferguson]

All you got to say is the flu Game.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

The end of a game. You always knew Jordan would get the ball, he'd be triple teamed and it wouldn't matter. He would score. And it just.

[Bruce Pearl]

I'm gonna give you one. You're one of the greatest athletes to play the game. Basketball.

[Ben Ferguson]

Who's that?

[Bruce Pearl]

Larry Bird. Larry Bird wasn't fast. No, he was not. And Larry Bird didn't jump high. People confuse athleticism. I know a lot of really bad athletes could jump out of the gym. Yeah. They can't catch the ball. They have no balance. They have no sense. They have no. Larry Bird had great athleticism. He just wasn't very fast. He didn't jump very hard. And sometimes athleticism. There's some great athletes that are golfers or tennis or. They may not be as powerful, but the hand. Eye coordination and things that. I think that's. That's a. That's part of being an athlete.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Xavier McDonald told a story about covering Bird at the end of a game. And the Celtics were, I think, down a point. And McDonald said that there was a timeout with like 10, 12 seconds left. And as they're headed the timeout, Bird said, all right, the end of the timeout, they're going to pass me the ball. He said, I'm going to dribble to right here. And he points to a spot on the floor. I'm going to shoot from here. I'm going to score, and we're going.

[Bruce Pearl]

To win the game.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And he said they walked off the timeout. They came back to pass the ball to him. He dribbled to that spot shot, scored and one the game.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And he said, there's nothing I could do about.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yep. Bird would do that. That's. He was known. He'd tell him right ahead of time. All right, Talk about talker. The best.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That. That was his reputation.

[Bruce Pearl]

Oh, you know, it's true. It was really, really true.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, the mailman told me. Karl Malone.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

We had. We had dinner together and hung out in Vegas.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Humble brag. Yeah.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah, it was.

[Ben Ferguson]

It was a fun day. But he was talking about out on the. The Dream Team, and he said that the best part about that was watching the greats talk trash in each other's face, calling shots with the young guys. Remember the game where the coaches left?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

All right. Are you old enough to remember Bruce's. And I am. I don't know if you are. The. The McDonald's commercial with bird and Jordan.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes, I do remember.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I've seen where they're doing these crazy.

[Bruce Pearl]

Shots.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

On the back, like, you know, nothing. But now yeah, it's one of the great for those of y', all, since we have a lot of young listeners.

[Ben Ferguson]

Go to YouTube, Google.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, like. Like Bird, Jordan, McDonald's amazing classics. All right, go ahead.

[Ben Ferguson]

But no, he said the best part about that game, when the coaches left the room, and it was like they were calling shots in each other's face. And there was a lot of betting going on. As he said, seeing Charles Barkley trash talk with Larry. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan. You look at that roster, the guys that were there, trash talking. And he said it was the ultimate level of trash talk talking because there was no audience. So it was just in your face. You weren't worried about anyone recording you. There wasn't cell phones in. It was just pure. He said it was the most fun he's ever had playing a pickup game, because you're playing a pickup game with the best players in the world, and that had to be pretty fun. And he was a part of.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So we got another topic that you care deeply about, which is Israel. So, so. So tell us a little bit about, number one. Why does Israel matter to you?

[Bruce Pearl]

I think because I was in sports and because I was, you know, obviously in college basketball. Again, we're old enough to have seen an educational system growing up. Let's take the state of Indiana, Illinois, different states where you've got inner cities and you've got rural America within the same cities, you'd see schools that look like college campuses, and just a few miles down the road, they look like prisons. Like, there's more security and more. More gun. You know, used to go the screens to get through to school. And. And this was our educational system. And I was like, man, this is wrong. Like. Like, these. These. These kids have way more of an advantage. And. And I just. I felt like there was sort of some of the things that Dr. Dr. King talked about. Silence is complicity.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yep.

[Bruce Pearl]

Like just. Just silence. My Hebrew name is Mordecai. Mordecai. In the story of Purim and Esther, Haman was going to kill all the Jews in Persia. And Mordecai, Esther's uncle, said, look, if you don't get to the King, Haman's actually going to. This is going to be the Holocaust. And so he spoke into her. And so my grandfather told me that he named me Mordechai because he wanted me to be somebody that would protect and stand up for the weaker. And so whether it be in school, if you want to try to pick on a kid, you kind of had to go through me. That's sort of who I. That's sort of who I was. So I was always wanting to.

[Ben Ferguson]

You were a protector, which meant you're the perfect coach.

[Bruce Pearl]

Correct. That's as it worked out. American Jewry should be this country's greatest patriots. Jews in America should be this country's greatest patriots. Because where else in the history of the world have the Jewish people had an opportunity to work hard, own land, own business, do things, but in this incredible democracy, the United States of America, nowhere else except maybe Israel right now, Jews should be this country's greatest patriot. So I. This country saved my grandfather's life. He came from Ternopol in 1929 when he was 11 years old. He was the oldest of three younger siblings. He brought my Auntie Shirley, my Uncle Harold was an infant, and my Auntie Claire, and he told me this country saved our family's life.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Wow.

[Bruce Pearl]

And so.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And where'd they go to?

[Bruce Pearl]

Went to Boston. Boston. Went to the Boston area. Went with some family. And much of his family couldn't make the trip. Didn't make the trip. Died in the Holocaust.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Wow.

[Bruce Pearl]

And so he loved Israel because he had told me that if Israel had been a state way back then in 1929, even though his Zionism even, even the Jews were returning to the ancestral home run, America was the dream, but it was more expensive to come to America, that maybe if Israel was a state back in 29, and they'd have gone to Israel and more of his family, more of my cousins and my aunts and uncles would have survived the Holocaust. And so those things kind of obviously, you know, sort of, you know, stuck with me. And now, now look at where we are today. You know, one of the things, Senator, when, when people want to have some debate about Israel or, or who our ally is or how much money we're giving, the same. I love when I speak about raising somebody, let's say for the Boys and Girls Club.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Bruce Pearl]

Let's pretend the Boys and Girls Club didn't exist. It's not here. It hasn't been for 80 years. It hasn't been here. How would the boys and girls in this community think of the impact it had? Let's go back to 1948. Let's say the Jews lost. Let's say they were defeated.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Bruce Pearl]

Let's say the Arabs won in 48.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Which, by the way, what would the.

[Bruce Pearl]

Middle east look like?

[Ben Ferguson]

Totally different than now.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You know, and it is extraordinary. Look, Israel is surrounded by nations that would drive it into the sea and the only reason Israel exists is because it has beaten them over and over and over again in war after war after war, in many instances, against all odds. You know, I'm reminded of, I'm going to. This is kind of a silly analogy, but it's one that resonates with me at least. When I was a kid, there was a book series I read called the Great Brain. I don't know if you ever read it. It's, it's, it's a seven book series about a kid growing up in Utah who's a swindler. There are three brothers, Swendy Fitzgerald, Tom D. Fitzgerald and John D. Fitzgerald. And the book is written by John D. Fitzgerald and his middle brother. Tom is a con artist. And it's, it's sort of like, you know, Tom Sawyer sort of thing, but he has all these different cons and they're growing up the about 1900 in Utah. And he says, you know, most of the kids there are Mormon. And he says, we weren't Mormon. And he said, but the Mormons are very tolerant. And he said it was a very simple matter of Swendee learning to whip all the kids his age and Tom D. Learning to whip all the kids his age and me learning to whip all the kids my age. And he has a line, it's amazing how tolerant kids could be when you can whip them.

[Bruce Pearl]

That's right.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And I remember that line. I was probably 10 when I read it. And that phrase, it's amazing how tolerant people can be when you can whip them. And I think of that with Israel, like you look at the Abraham Accords, you look at peace that broke out, I think under President Trump's leadership. None of that happens except for the fact that Israel can whip them. And they've demonstrated it over and over again as recently as this past year in the 12 Day War. And by the way, as the three of us are talking, there are millions of people on the streets of Iran risking their lives. And you look at women that are standing up there and men, they are literally far too many are being slaughtered. The others, if the revolution doesn't succeed, they can anticipate being rounded up, tortured, murdered. And in many ways I think this is the consequence of losing a war that, you know, sometimes in today's political world, we think everything is a comms matter. It's all about communications and messaging. Now there was a 12 day war and Iran lost. And if you are the Ayatollah Khamenei, you are an Islamist dictator. Your staying in power is predicated on convincing your citizenry, you are omnipotent, you are unbeatable. There is no hope in rising up, because I cannot be beaten. And if there's anything worse for an Islamist dictator than losing a war, it's losing to Israel.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And they didn't just sort of lose. They didn't just slightly lose. They got their ass kicked and showed.

[Ben Ferguson]

Them as being weak.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And we said on this podcast in the wake of this, I said, I believe the regime will fall because they've been shown to be a paper tiger. And look, my prayers are. I can think of nothing that would make the Middle east safer, that would make America safer than having that theocratic lunatic who chants death to America no longer in charge. What are your thoughts and reactions?

[Bruce Pearl]

I just agree with you completely. It's about peace through strength. Sometimes that guy, that tough guy, he doesn't actually have to fight. Yeah, because. Because. And so our greatest deterrent with. With China and Russia is our own strength.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

They're not the best way to avoid a war.

[Bruce Pearl]

Best way to avoid a war. Which is good for everybody.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yes.

[Bruce Pearl]

And so, you know, I look at the countries in the Middle East, I think the UAE figured this out first before anybody else. You know what? Better off being in some sort of a normal relationship with Israel. Yeah. They're strong militarily, they're ethical. They're technologically advanced. They want to have a positive relationship.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And by the way, before the end of the Trump presidency, Saudi Arabia will enter the Abraham Accords. I think they were ready to do so. If Trump had served a second term consecutively, they would have done so during his second term. I think they're going to. Now, let me ask it, because we're going to wrap up soon, but let me ask you. And I have talked a lot about rising antisemitism in America, and you've been. Been very vocal and outspoken. You've shown a lot of courage on that topic. But just, just why do you think it's. It. It's happening and how does it impact you? What are your reactions to what's. What's happening in this country right now?

[Bruce Pearl]

I would like to try to. While it's on the rise, there were three Jewish basketball coaches that were in the Final Four this past year. This is the greatest country in the world.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's pretty cool.

[Bruce Pearl]

Wow. In other words, I want to tell my players, look, and this is what always bothered me about President Obama, who, in so many ways, I admired his incredible orator. And, you know, just, I was so proud of Our country for electing a black man to be our president twice. I just. I'm sorry, I'm a basketball coach. I've seen, you know, I've seen and I was proud of our.

[Ben Ferguson]

There's a historic aspect of it. It's incredible.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

For a century, African Americans were slaves.

[Bruce Pearl]

And.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And so it is. You mentioned Dr. King. As Ben knows, I have three bus in my office. I have Ronald Reagan, I have Winston Churchill, and I have Dr. King. And so I agree with Dr. King that the arc of justice is long, but the arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice. Yes, And I think that is playing out.

[Bruce Pearl]

So I'm just grateful. I recognize the anti Semitism. I recognize my players get profiled driving while black and certain things or certain challenges, I reckon. But I don't want them to use that as an excuse for failure. I don't want. And so, yes, there's theology that sometimes wants to divide us. Sure. You could either look at the Jews and say, well, you all killed Christ, you all killed our God. Okay, well, was it not God's plan to send his son die so that you would be brought into covenant with him? Wasn't that his plan? Does it really matter who killed? For me, I look at, say, wait a second, like Jesus was Jewish his whole life. My wife's two favorite Jews in Alabama are me and Jesus. Me and Jesus. And so for me, that unites me with my Christian brothers. 12 Jewish men died horrific deaths bringing Christianity to this world. And so for me, I say to him, I don't want. I don't nobody say thank you. But there are so many Christians that are standing with us, Senator, as you know. And so while we can talk about the rise in anti Semitism, we've got to protect us from those that want to kill us. Anti Semitism is not going anywhere. Anywhere. It's not. There's going to be the haves and the have nots. Is there a disproportionate number of American Jews that have wealth in this country compared to the population? The answer is yes. Go back 80 years ago and see what those numbers were. They turned the boats around from Europe because we came over here poor and uneducated and we just took advantage of the American dream. And we should not apologize the fact that, that we've worked so hard and be grateful for the opportunity. So I kind of turn that around a little bit. Okay, I get it. It's on the rise, but you can still be anything you want to be in this country.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and I'LL say two things. We'll wrap up on this one. One of the things I admire most about the Jewish people in the United States and more broadly is the incredible success they've achieved. And you're right that virtually all of them in the United States at least started with nothing. And you look at in Judaism, the culture of hard work and discipline and family and education, and that has led to extraordinary financial success. Extraordinary. The number of Nobel prizes won by Israel, won by Jews in America is extraordinary. And I actually view it sort of in the intellectual and the free enterprise capitalist world. Sort of like the principle I said before about it's amazing how tall aren't people can be when you can whip them. Like, that's great success. And I think all of us should emulate the attributes of discipline and excellence that lead to that success. A second point. I didn't know what you were going to say when I asked about antisemitism, but I started chuckling. Because the week before Christmas, and Ben will remember this, I sent out a tweet and I said two thoughts to drive the anti Semites crazy in this Christmas season. Number one, our Savior Jesus was Jewish in the line of David. And number two, Jews didn't kill Jesus. I did. You did. He died for our sins. That's what the New Testament said.

[Bruce Pearl]

That's right.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Is that he willingly took the cross to die for our sins. And so the sort of anti Semites who say Jews killed Jesus. Well, actually, but it was Romans who drove the nails in. Is anyone mad at the Italians? Like, that's just stupid. It's bad theology. It's bigotry. And I will admit I was kind of happy with that tweet because it really did drive the anti angry.

[Bruce Pearl]

One of the biggest things I know, we gotta wrap up young Christians today, the podcasters, the people that are preaching this replacement theology, utter garbage. The love of country and the love of Christ. Only you're driving those two things hard at young people. And my point would be this. God does not break confident. He's not going to break covenant with the Christians. He did not break covenant with the Jews. He just doesn't go against what he says he will do.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Amen. God is not a liar.

[Bruce Pearl]

He's not a liar. And so the people that want to believe that, well, Jews, you didn't accept Jesus as the Messiah. Look, we'll figure it out when we get there. But for the grace of God, okay, but for his grace, who knows, you know exactly what is going to happen. So I'm Confident. As a coach, I'm always trying to bring people together and bring teams together so I can see all the things that separate us. But instead, I look to the things that unite us, and it's amazing the things that we can do together. If you think of your life's greatest accomplishments, you accomplish those with the people that you cared the most about.

[Ben Ferguson]

No doubt.

[Bruce Pearl]

That's who the. That's who the Jewish people are. And I would hope that if you needed something, there's. There's. There's a hospital someplace in Dallas that's going under, and. But for a gift from somebody. Yep, there'd be somebody that you might call that might be Jewish, knowing that there are people that are willing to give and willing to share, and we just got to keep it. I tell my Jewish people, look, we got to. You know, I don't know why God said we're the chosen people, because my grandma said the chosen people maybe should have chosen somebody else. It's not so easy.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's not so easy.

[Bruce Pearl]

But. But there's a responsibility. There's responsibility. Being a Christian responsibility and Jew, I got to walk it every single day. And I'm okay with it. I'm okay. I'm going to do the best I possibly can.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

All right, final. Final question on a lighter note. And loop. Loop. Back to sports. Got the national championship football game coming up.

[Ben Ferguson]

Who are you picking?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Who's going to win and what's. What's the final score going to be?

[Bruce Pearl]

Well, I'm going to go with Indiana.

[Ben Ferguson]

I like that one.

[Bruce Pearl]

I got to go. I'm going to go with Indiana.

[Ben Ferguson]

Looks so good.

[Bruce Pearl]

I'm going to go with the Hoosiers. I coached in Evansville, Indiana, for nine years. It's just an amazing story. I like crystal ball a lot, though. I like what he's done for Miami. I got more friends in Miami than I do in Indiana, but I'm going.

[Ben Ferguson]

You may have a few less after you just made your pick, you know.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah. 28. 24, Indiana.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

28. Close game.

[Bruce Pearl]

I think it'll be. Close game.

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm going 38 to 10.

[Bruce Pearl]

Wow. Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

I think it's going to be a blowout. I think Miami's just going to get smoked.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

But by the way, I want to make a request to all our verdict listeners. So I had a wager yesterday on the Texan Steelers game. I had a wager with John Fetterman and Dave McCormick. I proposed the wager. I proposed. And this is a sports wager I make with some frequency, which Is the loser presents like what I offered up was Texas barbecue, Blue bell ice cream and shinerbach beer. And you present it in the winner's jersey.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And Fetterman. And Dave's a really good friend and John's become a good friend. Fetterman wanted to ratchet it up.

[Bruce Pearl]

What'd he say?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So he said, no, no, I want worse. He said, when you lose, I like it.

[Ben Ferguson]

Confident betting man right there.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

He said, you. You will walk onto the Senate floor. And he went and bought wearing a Steelers beanie and this giant piece of bling that says Steelers. It's I don't know, about 10 inches wide. This giant like gold chain. Walk onto the Senate floor and cast a vote.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You can bring the barbecue and stuff if you got to walk on.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And he tweeted out a picture of the horrible beanie.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And the Steelers blank. And so I will say we won 30 to 6.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes. It was a beat down.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It was. And by the way, I grew up as a Houston fan. There's no team on earth like the Steelers that caused Houston fans to twitch because in the 70s we had the greatest team we ever had, the Oilers. We had Earl Campbell and we ran in to one of the greatest teams to ever play in the 79 and ADASC championship. That rushing.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And so last night was revenge.

[Ben Ferguson]

So does he have to wear like a Houston beanie?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So my question, and this is, this is actually a request to all our social media followers.

[Ben Ferguson]

Your vote matters, folks.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Post. Post on. On X. What horribly tacky Texans bling do we have? I should make Fetterman and McCormick wear. They've already said they're going to wear it.

[Bruce Pearl]

But.

[Ben Ferguson]

But I want McCormick to look like a rapper. I just want him to look like a rapper. Going to pass that vote because he's kind of, you know, he can get free for it.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Given what they picked, it's gotta be be a little over the top.

[Bruce Pearl]

I'd make federal women wear a suit because putting in a hoodie.

[Ben Ferguson]

Put him in a suit with a hoodie and a chain.

[Bruce Pearl]

Something different like that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I gave them both grief today and they both said, yep, we'll wear it. We'll wear it. We'll. We'll. Pennsylvania will honor it.

[Ben Ferguson]

I like it.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And so. So I'm looking for. Forward to collecting.

[Bruce Pearl]

We. We need more senators like John Federman. We need more Americans.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

He's been. He's courageous.

[Bruce Pearl]

Yes, he is.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And.

[Ben Ferguson]

And biggest surprise in much of his.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Party is it hates him for it.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, they do. Thanks for coming on.

[Bruce Pearl]

So good to be awesome. It was fun.

[Ben Ferguson]

Don't forget you can grab the show Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Hit that subscribe auto download button as well. And on YouTube you can watch this video as well if you're there. If you want to watch it on Facebook and the center and I will see you back here in a couple of days.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Bruce Pearl]

Must be 21 or older in a.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Bruce Pearl]

My favorite thing about Shipt since I signed up for target circle360 no price.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Markups when I order same day delivery.

[Bruce Pearl]

From tons of local stores.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Only a handful of alcohol retailers and items don't count.

[Bruce Pearl]

I won't lie, I've had too much.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Fun being like Markups on groceries not in my fridge.

[Bruce Pearl]

Markups on pet food not for my dog. Markups on tools, electronics, home goods, meds, not in my house.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Anyway, it's awesome.

[Bruce Pearl]

Order [e-mail] 360 terms apply.

[Ben Ferguson]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Bruce Pearl]

Guaranteed Human.