The Best of The Dan Patrick Show

Summary

The Dan Patrick Show — "The Best Of"

Date: June 26, 2026
Podcast Network: iHeartPodcasts and Dan Patrick Podcast Network

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Dan Patrick Show delivers a mix of insightful sports commentary, media reflections, and pop culture debates. With A-list guests like soccer analyst Taylor Twelman, legendary MTV VJ Alan Hunter, and ESPN’s Linda Cohn, Dan Patrick explores hot topics from Team USA’s World Cup journey to the evolution of SportsCenter and ’80s/’90s music history. The conversation is spiced with humor, personal anecdotes, and memorable debates — a classic showcase of Dan’s relaxed and curious interview style.

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Key Segments & Insights

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1. U.S. Soccer World Cup Recap with Taylor Twelman

[02:24 – 07:44]

• World Cup Tournament Structure & Importance

  • France vs. Norway: If top teams (France, Spain, Argentina, England) win their groups, they avoid each other until semifinals.
  • “While both France and Norway are going through, it’s vital for France that they win this group.” — Taylor Twelman [02:45]

• Team USA’s Recent Loss & Knockout Prospects

  • Twelman and Patrick agree: Loss wasn’t catastrophic; it provided useful answers heading into the knockout stage.
  • “The result was inconsequential, but the game wasn’t meaningless... Pochettino has answers to which players are ready for the knockout stage.” — Taylor Twelman [03:37]
  • Team must be “proactive...on the front foot from the opening whistle” against Bosnia. [04:31]

• Christian Pulisic’s Return

  • “He’s fine. He’s completely fit...Immediately you saw how important he is. He made that team much more dangerous within three minutes of being on the field.” — Taylor Twelman [04:41]

• Preview: USA vs. Bosnia Herzegovina

  • Bosnia plays defensively; emotional state crucial, as this is their first ever knockout game.
  • Key: “The first 15, 20 minutes will dictate whether the United States has a game like they did against Paraguay or they’re gonna have 90 plus minutes.” — Taylor Twelman [05:39]

• Big Picture Outlook

  • “We’re talking about the United States preparing for the quarterfinal. I really believe that.” — Taylor Twelman, on what we’ll discuss in two weeks [07:03]

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2. Music Debates & MTV Nostalgia with Alan Hunter

[12:02 – 29:21]

• Hey Jude, The Beatles, and Musical Generations

  • Dan describes a debate with a younger colleague who dismisses "Hey Jude." Alan Hunter responds:
  • “It’s one of the great anthems of all time...Whoever said that, look, there are a lot of people who maybe don’t realize that the Beatles are the greatest band ever...But they certainly love the music once they hear it.” — Alan Hunter [12:13]
  • On Paul McCartney: “Don’t you wish that you could look and have the energy that he has at the age of 81 or 2, whatever he is? Crazy.” — Alan Hunter [13:06]

• MTV’s Early Days

  • The first month (August 1981): “If you weren’t there...then you didn’t witness what was basically a local cable television show...stitched together with duct tape. MTV had no money to start.” — Alan Hunter [18:10]
  • “We were the liaison between the wild world of rock and roll and people...It was an atmosphere that we created...Early on, it was held up with duct tape.” [18:49]

• Greatest American Band Debate

  • On Grateful Dead: “I wouldn’t use words like the greatest or the best, but paradigm-shifting...the vibe, the religion surrounding them.” [16:28]
  • R.E.M., Aerosmith, Journey, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles discussed as contenders.
  • “The Dead, you know, got started in the mid-60s...Their whole thing was a vibe...It was wearing the uniform of the Dead...It was a religion, to be honest.” — Alan Hunter [17:23]

• Behind-the-Scenes at MTV

  • VJs enjoyed the scene but had to stay professional.
  • “We were in a weird position...right in the middle of the artist and the audience...” — Alan Hunter [25:17]
  • “We have the drug stories...in the bathrooms late at night. But essentially, I had to stay sane, fairly sober and responsible to get the gig done.” [26:35]

• Classic Hall & Oates and Springsteen Stories

  • Praises Hall & Oates as “one of the best blue-eyed soul singers we’ve got...one of the greatest duos of all time.” [23:56]
  • Springsteen’s visual reinvention: “He realized the power of the video...he literally went and got in shape.” — Alan Hunter [27:26]

• Memorable Anecdote

  • Alan accidentally hit John Oates in the head backstage at Madison Square Garden right before a show. [24:05]
  • “I had whacked him in the head. Therefore I said, this is why stage people shoo people like me away...” — Alan Hunter

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3. Farewell Conversation with Linda Cohn

[32:23 – 44:48]

• End of an Era at ESPN

  • “Tonight is the last night. This is it. Can you keep it together?” — Dan Patrick [32:37]
  • “It’s not like nothing is ending and ESPN is ending...I’m putting a nice bow on it and then moving on.” — Linda Cohn [32:41]

• Cohn’s Longevity & First Days

  • Reflects on her 34 years at SportsCenter, starting in LA and then Bristol.
  • “I just didn’t want to screw up, you know, I just wanted to stay in my lane, not upset the apple cart, do as I’m told, and just, you know, try not to stumble.” — Linda Cohn [34:58]
  • Cohn credits Dan for straight advice and for preparing her: “You really were a straight shooter. You really let me know, hey, a lot of the women before you didn’t really do great...but it really helped me.” [34:38]

• Media Changes & SportsCenter’s Evolution

  • “We were so fortunate that you didn’t have social media...People had to tune in to see the result...” — Dan Patrick [37:07]
  • “We were the only game in town and we were very fortunate, and I’m grateful every day to play a part in that.” — Linda Cohn [38:14]

• Behind-the-Scenes at ESPN

  • The newsroom was competitive, political, and sometimes toxic.
  • “A lot was toxic. But I tried to side with the laughter and the people that were grateful and just happy to be there...we had more laughs than we didn’t.” — Linda Cohn [41:07]

• Legacy and Inspiration for Women

  • “All these incredibly talented young women who have reached out to me...say that they never would be doing what they’re doing or have the self-esteem or the courage to do it if they weren’t watching me before getting on the school bus...” — Linda Cohn [41:32]

• Memorable Moment

  • Linda and Dan reminisce about meeting in New York when Dan was at CNN: “I was close to royalty. Dan, you were at CNN. I mean, I was like, I gotta, you know, have it soak into me.” — Linda Cohn [43:27]

• Final Reflections

  • “Congratulations. I mean, this is about survival, perseverance, but it’s about talent. It’s about stepping up in the moment. And you certainly did all of those things...” — Dan Patrick [44:04]
  • “I’m not sad. I’m excited for what’s next. And I’m going to try to stay present and be in the moment.” — Linda Cohn [44:22]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Taylor Twelman on Team USA:
  “The result was inconsequential, but the game wasn’t meaningless.” [03:37]

• Alan Hunter on the Beatles:
  “It’s one of the great anthems of all time...there are a lot of people who maybe don’t realize that the Beatles are the greatest band ever.” [12:13]

• Alan Hunter on the Grateful Dead:
  “The Dead...it was a religion, to be honest.” [17:23]

• Linda Cohn on Her SportsCenter Legacy:
  “All these incredibly talented young women...say that they never would be doing what they’re doing or have the self-esteem or the courage to do it if they weren’t watching me...” [41:32]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:24] — Soccer World Cup conversation with Taylor Twelman
• [11:04] — “Hey Jude,” Grateful Dead, and MTV with Alan Hunter
• [18:10] — Alan Hunter on the launch and culture of MTV
• [24:05] — Alan’s Hall & Oates backstage story
• [32:23] — Farewell segment with Linda Cohn
• [41:32] — Linda Cohn reflects on her impact

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Final Thoughts

This “Best Of” episode balances current sports analysis, nostalgia, and culture—moving effortlessly from the pitch to the anchor desk to the MTV studio. Listeners get both expert commentary and insider stories, sprinkled with humor and genuine sentiment. The banter between Dan and his guests creates a uniquely personal, engaging listening experience that’s both informative for sports and pop culture fans and poignant for those reflecting on changing media landscapes.

Transcript

[Podcast Host / Advertiser]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[Linda Cohn]

I turned off news altogether.

[Podcast Listener / Advertiser]

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[Alan Hunter]

don't trust much of anything.

[Dan Patrick]

It's the rage bait.

[Podcast Host / Advertiser]

It feels like it's trying to divide people.

[Alan Hunter]

We got clear facts. Maybe we could calm down a little.

[Kal Penn]

NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the Facts. Let's move forward from there. NBC News reporting for America.

[Dan Patrick]

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[Dan Patrick]

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[Dan Patrick]

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[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

You are listening to the Dan Patrick show on Fox Sports Radio.

[Dan Patrick]

Taylor Twelman, Apple TV lead soccer analyst and former member of Team usa, joining us on short notice. Where are you right now, Taylor?

[Taylor Twelman]

I am in Boston, Massachusetts for Norway, France, which should happen in a little bit, Dan. Should be a good one.

[Dan Patrick]

How important is this game?

[Taylor Twelman]

It's important because I think the general public doesn't fully understand with the 48 team tournament that the top four teams in the world FIFA rankings, France, Spain, Argentina, England. If all four win their group, they avoid playing one another until the semifinal. So while both France and Norway are going through, it's vital for France that they, they win this group. And so there's still, still something to play for here.

[Dan Patrick]

All right. A lot of people clutching their pearls after the loss last night and bigger picture with Team usa and I kept saying that's a great problem to have that we didn't need to win a match. I don't know how you feel, but that's how I saw the result. Your thoughts

[Nissan Advertiser]

same.

[Taylor Twelman]

I mean, Dan, listen, they scored in the 98th minute, so it's an absolute bitter pill to swallow. I literally was on the verge of putting it out on social media. Great perseverance from the second string. Great reaction to twice going down, I mean, once going down to one, scoring the time goal and finding a way with second half subs to mitigate that. Now, in saying that, I went into the game saying this, the result was inconsequential, but the game wasn't meaningless. And so now Pochettino has answers to which players in the knockout stage are ready for the moment. And I'm not totally sure if he got answers he wanted, but he got answers. It's the first time, so own it. Take the, take the fruits of those labor and say, hang on a minute, we're favored against Bosnia. We got to be the proactive team and we got to be on the front foot from the opening whistle.

[Dan Patrick]

What did you see from Christian Pulisic last night?

[Taylor Twelman]

He's fine. He's completely fit. I'm actually, I was in the camp of saying don't play him because I don't think the reward outweighed the risk. However, I understood saying, listen, if we can get him 20 some odd minutes, it gets rid of those. He's been out for two and a half weeks. He gets into the flow now he's in the thick of it. So you gained a lot now by him not being injured, getting rid of the 20 plus minutes. He got nutmegged on the game winning goal. I know that's going to be tough. And he probably was thinking about that at the end of the night. But immediately you saw how important he is. He made that team much more dangerous within three minutes of being on the field and against this Bosnian team where they defend and tactically are very south. Danny's their most important attacking player.

[Dan Patrick]

USA faces Bosnia Herzegovina. So what can you tell us about them?

[Taylor Twelman]

Bosnia is very similar to Australia and Paraguay. They'll defend first. They'll defend very simply with a 4, 4, 2. They'll have numbers behind the ball. The difference between them versus Paraguay and Australia, they have absolutely no problem doing that for 90 minutes. And what I mean by that is they will be 100% committed in making sure defensively they frustrate the United States. Now the caveat to this is emotionally where are they going to be? This is their first knockout stage game in the history of their country in the World Cup. So emotionally are they going to be prepared for 70,000 people that are red, white, blue rooting for the opposition? This is 100% on away game, both on the field, off the field and everything else about that. So the first 15, 20 minutes will dictate whether or not the United States has a game like they did against Paraguay or they're going to have 90 plus minutes. Because now in the knockout stage that can go to penalties. Dan, it's important that the United States wins that first half because if they do, Bosnia's got to come out of their show. That's not where they're at their best.

[Dan Patrick]

If I talk to you in two weeks, what are we talking about?

[Taylor Twelman]

We're talking about the United States preparing for the quarterfinal. I really believe that, I've said that from the beginning. I just believe that they would win their group and by winning their group it would set themselves up with a third place team and then a winner of two second place qualifiers. I think we're talking about the United States in a court in a quarterfinal.

[Dan Patrick]

Before I let you go, would you rather have Mbappe's future or Holland's? Thank you.

[Taylor Twelman]

Because he doesn't eat liver and onions.

[Dan Patrick]

Thanks for joining us on short notice there. Safe travels, Taylor. See you, buddy. Taylor Twelman.

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan Patrick show weekdays at 9am Eastern, 6am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio in the iHeartRadio app.

[Dan Patrick]

Hey, it's Cabino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio.

[Covino]

Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. We're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for the show.

[Dan Patrick]

Yup, that's right. You can now watch Covino enriched live

[Alan Hunter]

on YouTube every day.

[Covino]

All you got to do search COVINO and Rich FSR on YouTube again. Go to YouTube. Search COVINO Enrich FSR.

[Dan Patrick]

Check us out on YouTube.

[Covino]

Subscribe.

[Alan Hunter]

Hit that thumbs up icon and comment away.

[Dan Patrick]

Why is it always chaos when we link up?

[Nissan Advertiser]

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[Dan Patrick]

Is it a good song? Is it a great song? Is it a bad song? Dylan thinks hey Jude is tired. It's not good. And McCartney sounds desperate there for some reason. Some reason. That's how we got into this music discussion. Because I'm thinking, Dylan's 30, he doesn't know anything about music. He's ripping on hey Jude, McCartney, the Beatles. He wears his Grateful Dead hoodie. And I'm like, do you know anything about music? And he, it. The more he speaks, the more I realize that he does not. But he's putting Grateful dead over Aerosmith, R.E.M. eagles, Fleetwood Mac. I'm saying Best American Bands of All Time. And then all of a sudden I go, you know what? Why don't we get a music ombudsman? Alan Hunter SiriusXM Host 80s on 8 classic Rewind and one of the original MTV VJs. Are you sure you want any part of Alan?

[Alan Hunter]

Wow, I, I've never been called an ombudsman before, but I do love that terminology. I just.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay, okay. It. Your thoughts on hey Jude by the Beatles. Great.

[Alan Hunter]

John Lennon wrote it, of course, about, you know, or rather Paul McCartney wrote it about John's son Julian. And then it morphed into hey Jude. It's. It's one of the great anthems of all time. And it didn't even have to make sense like so many of their songs. Whoever said that? Look, there are a lot of people who maybe don't realize that the Beatles are the greatest band ever. And they might be of the younger generation, but they certainly love the music once they hear it. I think, you know, when you talk about the Beatles, they think it's an old band from the 60s. And Paul McCartney is out there acting like a 22 year old kid with his new album and his new music. I mean, don't you wish that you could look and have the energy that he has at the age of 81 or 2, whatever he is crazy.

[Dan Patrick]

I just hope I'm alive by then, Alan.

[Alan Hunter]

It's kind of. That's the standard. Well, people will say about people like Paul McCartney who look good and still can talk. Well, if I had a billion dollars, I'd look good and be healthy as well. Well, he didn't make the billion by doing nothing. Made great music.

[Dan Patrick]

We talked about the Grateful Dead, Dylan, who's age 30 and he's a. A Deadhead. And then I started thinking about the mtv. Like, you weren't playing Grateful Dead videos. I don't think when you guys first started there, REM Got a lot of play. Yeah, Aerosmith got play. Yeah.

[Alan Hunter]

Interestingly, R.E.M did not get a whole lot of play. I mean, they came on, you know, early 80s, 1981 with Radio Free Europe, which I saw on the David Letterman show when they played live. And we were all like, wow, who is this band? But their first. I started playing them on an alternative show On MTV called 120 Minutes. It was around 86, 87. And we played. We played Losing My Religion. I think that was the first. No, no, we played the one I love. That would have been the first one that we played from them. But they had a number of years before they were, you know, commercially successful. And then it was into the 90s before they were internationally a huge alt band.

[Dan Patrick]

But Duran Duran got a lot of play.

[Alan Hunter]

Well, Duran Duran is the poster boy band for the group. I mean, their first videos for Girls on Film were, to this day, some of the most salacious videos around. That was a video, Girls on Film, that. That caught parents Hair on fire, who thought MTV was truly the devil's playground. They saw the images on that first video. But, yeah, Duran Duran, you two, the Pretty Boys, the. The. The second wave, if you will, after the Beatles, after the Rolling Stones. The first wave from across the pond came the new. The new waivers. And that was the predominant focus on mtv because they were the only one ones, by the way, that were making videos.

[Dan Patrick]

You know, Greatest American band is who.

[Alan Hunter]

Greatest American band. Well, R.E.M. would be one of them. It depends on if you're talking from the 80s or the 70s. I would.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You.

[Alan Hunter]

You mentioned Aerosmith. I'd certainly say they're one of the great rockers you could throw down stadium rockers, arena rock, like A Journey, you know, the REO Speedwagons. And the Sticks were the. The. The journeyman live bands back in the 70s. They were the ones, by the way, who had the hardest time embracing the new era of the video. The The American rockers of the 70s who played big stadiums and put out albums had a hard adjustment period in the early 80s. They made some of the worst videos on the planet. But they caught. They caught the wave for sure.

[Dan Patrick]

Where does the Grateful Dead rank? That's part of our big argument that we have, because I said, look, Eagles better. American band. Fleetwood Max, better.

[Alan Hunter]

No doubt. No doubt.

[Dan Patrick]

R.E.M. not Grateful Dead would be a great experience. I'm talking about better band.

[Alan Hunter]

Right, right.

[Dan Patrick]

Where. Where. Where's Grateful Dead?

[Alan Hunter]

Well, there's so many criteria you'd have to nail down to say what. Who's the best? I mean, the Grateful Dead extend across so many decades. I think that's where their staying power is. Like the Rolling Stones and the Beatles from Across the way, to me, are the greatest bands because one of their longevity. I mean, some people would argue that the Rolling Stone should have stopped long ago, and they're just cranking out the same old stuff. Same for AC DC and any other. Or Bon Jovi or Def Leppard. Any band that's come out with new albums, it's like, yeah, same as the old. The Dead, you know, got started in the mid-60s, before my time, really. Touch of Gray was their only top 10 hit, so they weren't commercially successful in terms of, you know, selling albums or getting on the radio. The biggest draw when it comes to live touring, I think. I think I would say that they're one of the most important bands. I wouldn't use words like the greatest or the best, but paradigm shifting and the. And. And. And the kind of ethos that they projected and. And the kind of, you know, mysterious spirituality that surrounded them throughout their entire career. Jerry Garcia and Bob and Phil gave people a vibe. Their whole thing was a vibe, right? It was the live show. It was hanging out in the parking lot beforehand. It was wearing the. The uniform of the Dead, whatever that meant. That it was a religion, to be honest.

[Dan Patrick]

The Dead, he's Alan Hunter. He's Our Ombudsman, Sirius XM host, 80s on 8. Classic Rewind. That first month of MTV. How would you sum that up for those who may not remember it or didn't see it?

[Alan Hunter]

Well, if you weren't there August 1, 1981, then you didn't witness what was basically a local cable television show where in the show is stitched together with duct tape. People, you know, know, MTV is this worldwide phenomenon, but it started out like a local community theater show. I mean, MTV had no money to start Warner Amex, you know, gave him 25 million bucks, which was, which was nothing. And, and, and cable television in the early 80s was like local pornography shows, you know, or the Crank Call show. In New York City, we had all these crazy public television shows. But when MTV came along, CNN and ESPN were the only 24, 7 cable shows. Cable was in its infancy. The rural communities of America, starting in the mid-70s were the ones who embrace cable television. Turn of the decade, you know, it was only those two channels. MTV comes along and blows everybody away. And within one year there, there were, you know, several million people who were addicted to it. But that first month was experimental. I'd say the whole first year was an experiment. We changed everything every day from the set to what we did as host on the show. The one thing I really appreciate about. Appreciate about MTV was that we were going to blow the model up. What's, what's a TV show? What is a talking head? In between the videos about we're not newscasters, we became everybody's friends. We were the liaison between the wild world of rock and roll and people sitting in their homes in, in the middle of America, watching at 2 in the morning, you know, watching these crazy videos. It was an atmosphere that we created. And again, early on, it was held up with duct tape. And later I got paid at the very end of my life at MTV in 87, I finally got paid a fair wage.

[Dan Patrick]

What were you making when you first started?

[Alan Hunter]

I was making around $35,000, which to me was better than the starving actor wage I was making. I was bartending, waiting tables, and my criteria for a gig. And I had no idea I was going to get this gig. This was out of left field. I wanted to be on Broadway, and I got the gig. And they said, here's what we're going to pay you. And I didn't even argue with it. It's like, fine, whatever. Send it over. That's a little more than I would make as a chorus boy on Broadway. So I'm good. So I bought some clothes and some new furniture. By the end of my tenure there, I was the highest paid vj. I won't tell you the wage, but it made sense. And then I decided to leave. Which my father said, what are you doing? Why are you leaving? I said, no, I'm burnt out. Six years. I've had enough.

[Dan Patrick]

Dad, how many videos did you have in rotation initially?

[Alan Hunter]

Well, I'll tell you, that's the funny thing about it, is that early on we probably had a little over 100 videos in the library. Because when MTV started, you know, they told the record companies, we want to use your videos, but we're not going to pay for them. Which was a big argument in the beginning. But that's why you saw Rod Stewart 10 times, 10 videos. Pat Benatar had multiple videos because no one made them. The only ones making them were David Bowie and Duran Duran. And the English artists had a lot of videos. I mean, the Beatles started the. The mini video. Right. They started the mini film for promotion purposes. But we had Charlie Daniels on. For God's sakes. Charlie Daniels on mtv early on, because that was all we had. We had these weird videos from fish heads and barns and barns and just crazy stuff. But then finally, when the record companies started getting requests from local record stores around the country saying, the kids are coming in asking for U2 and the stray Cats and Duran Duran. They were saying, who are these bands and where are they seeing them? They said, on this cable channel. Then the record company said, oh, maybe we should spend some money and make videos for our artists. And on from there.

[Dan Patrick]

Fritzi is our local musician. He is. Been on stage with Darius Rucker. He's saying.

[Alan Hunter]

Sweet.

[Dan Patrick]

He's. Yeah, he's a big Holland Oates fan, so.

[Alan Hunter]

Oh, man.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, me. So let me let you. Let me let you hear. Here is Todd Fritz on stage with Darius Rucker. This was last. Last summer. Here we go.

[Alan Hunter]

Hopefully I'm not gonna supposed to critique the performance if it.

[Covino]

Okay.

[Ebglis Medication Advertiser]

All right.

[Kal Penn]

That said.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. You were just critiquing the sound.

[Alan Hunter]

Yeah. Just describe. Just describe how it went, and I'll critique that.

[Dan Patrick]

Bad, bad, bad. He had his hands in his pocket, both hands in his pockets, and he. He decided to do two songs. I said, do one. Darius had lost a bet, and so he blew through the stop sign, did two hall and Oats songs. So if you heard that music, you

[Alan Hunter]

know, did you just. Did you just play something that I didn't hear? I just want to make sure that people understand. I didn't hear anything.

[Dan Patrick]

Oh, yeah, didn't hear it. Oh, you can't hear.

[Alan Hunter]

Didn't come through my. My monitor system here. But you. You were singing.

[Podcast Listener / Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Dan Patrick]

You know what? You're lucky. You're lucky that it didn't go through.

[Alan Hunter]

I wondered why. I want you wondered why I'm just standing here. Which. Which so long was it, so I can comment on that.

[Dan Patrick]

Todd, why don't you give. Give Alan just a little bit of, you know, kiss on my list.

[Alan Hunter]

Your kiss is on my list because your kiss is what I Miss, when

[Nissan Advertiser]

I turn out the lights, I think

[Alan Hunter]

you're singing John Oates harmony part there, right? Yeah.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay. Okay.

[Alan Hunter]

You know, one of the best, one of the best blue eyed soul singers we've got. I caught on to him in the late 70s with Sarah and Rich Girl. Those were the two 70s hits. And come Voices, which was turn of the decade, 1980, the album. And Private Eyes was really the, the one that put him over the top. I mean one of the greatest duos of all time. Sold the most albums, sadly, couldn't get along. Daryl's a prickly character. I probably know John more than I know Daryl, but, but we were in each other's lives during that time and they, they were, they were huge. One story is that I'm at a Hall of those concert, Madison Square Garden with my wife in the wings. The band about to go on, the lights dim and I'm gesticulating to my wife telling a story. And I hit something. It feels soft like a face. And when the lights come up, John is ascending the stairs to the stage holding the side of his head. I had, I had whacked him in the head. And therefore I said, this is why stage people shoe people like me away from the sides of the stage.

[Dan Patrick]

But a great dude, you guys got really big. And I didn't know if you were partying with bands like you would go to shows and you know, you get caught up in the culture of we're kind of a big deal here.

[Alan Hunter]

Well, we were in a weird position because we again were right in the middle of the artist and the audience. But we were totally immersed in the culture at that time because MTV was very New York centric. So all the artists were there, you know, on a daily basis. The MTV Studios was a 50 ring circus. The artists would come down, they hung out. If they weren't on the show, they just wanted to be in the green room. It was a very much of a scene thing. And so we were going to the shows the night before to see, you know, the Psychedelic Furs or to see U2 in concert. We did go backstage and we hung out with them, but we had to get up and do a gig the next day. I mean that was. The funny thing is that we. I remember going to see a band, I forget who it was, but their show wasn't until 1:30 in the morning and I had to interview them, them at 10 the next day on the set. So I, I roll in just bleary eyed and so too do they. But a band can come in all messed up. But that's part of their ethos. But the host needs to have his brain together. I was brain dead a lot of the time, so we were mixing it up. No doubt. We got stories to tell in our book called vj, by the way, that we put out a couple of years ago, me and my cohorts, about partying with David Lee Roth. We got the. We have the drug stories, you know, in the bathrooms late at night. But essentially, I had to stay sane, fairly sober and responsible to get the gig done. So tough, tough, tough one to keep all of that together.

[Dan Patrick]

Once again, Fritzi, our resident singer, is not a Dylan fan. He doesn't like Springsteen either. Thinks the Beatles are overrated. But I'll leave you with just a little bit of Bruce Springsteen from Fritzi, and I'll get your thoughts.

[Alan Hunter]

All right, come on now.

[Nissan Advertiser]

After she put her cancel band.

[Alan Hunter]

All right, come on now. I'm trying to think who he sounds like, and it's definitely not Springsteen. You know, that's a funny story. If Bruce was one of those. No shade. By the way, Fritz, he.

[Taylor Twelman]

No shame.

[Alan Hunter]

I know. You sounded like Michael McDonald, you know, the guy who does the shower, the comedian who does the, you know, here commercial. Springsteen was, you know, in his 70s era when he came to. To. To the table. And then in the early 80s, he was not really anywhere, but he popped up on Born in the USA and he was ripped. He actually was a scrawny kid when he first started, but he realized the power of the video. And so for all of the videos on Born in the USA he was pumped. He literally went and got in shape because he knew that the next stage for him was going to be that visual brand. And he. He got on board with it. I'll give him that for sure. He's one of the greats. You know, they're. They're. They're. I was more of an alt music guy, more of a Peter Gabriel. I like music that's a little more complex. I was a huge yes fan back in the prog rock days of the 70s and loved their stuff in the. In the 80s. But Springsteen told stories and to this day speaks his mind. And that's what I appreciate about him the most.

[Dan Patrick]

Great stuff. Alan, thanks for joining us. Sirius XM host, 80s on a classic rewind. I'm sure the request came out of left field. You're like, why am I going on a sports show?

[Alan Hunter]

Well, I. I know who you are, Dan, and I. I was fully willing to talk sports. The cards. I'm living in St. Louis, though they're in third place. I mean, bats on balls. I mean, I I made the mistake One story of when I first moved here five years ago of going to Busch Stadium and the only hat I had was a Cubs hat. Little did I know because I was. I'm a huge Cubs fan. I lived in Chicago for a long time and I got into the stadium and man, I thought I was going to die. Quickly bought myself some cards, schwag. So. And go soccer. I'm not a big soccer guy, but I am now. Go usa.

[Dan Patrick]

Thank you, Alan.

[Alan Hunter]

Thank you. Appreciate it.

[Dan Patrick]

Alan Hunter Sirius XM, one of the original MTV VJs.

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[Dan Patrick]

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[Dan Patrick]

Linda Cohn ESPN SportsCenter anchor longest tenured sports center anchor, 34 years at the Mothership hall of Famer Tonight is the last night. This is it. Can you keep it together?

[Linda Cohn]

Dan, what's up? First of all, as a great imitation, I I love Chris Farley forever. That doc is a great doc and great imitation. Yeah, I'll keep it together. You know, it's not like nothing is ending and you know, ESPN is ending. As you know, Dan, I'm putting a nice bow on it and then moving on. You know, I got to follow in your footsteps.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, I left after 18 years. You're there 34. How, how many times did you think about leaving?

[Linda Cohn]

You know, last year was kind of sad because, you know, for the last eight years I've been in Los Angeles, left beautiful Bristol, and I'm back here now staying at the, you know, what kind of hotel, how close it is back in the day. I mean, it's just so crazy. That's the kind of memories that go off, come up to me. But last year, two mays ago, they closed down the LA studio for SportsCenter. It was sad because that crew was so great. Love working there. Neil Everett, Stan Verrett, and everybody in production. And then, you know, that's when I started thinking about, okay, maybe the writing's on the wall here. Maybe I should listen to the universe and carve a new path. So that's when I started thinking about it. But it took me by surprise, so I didn't want to do anything. Suddenly, I wanted to do it on my timetable as well.

[Dan Patrick]

What do you remember about your first Sports Center?

[Linda Cohn]

Chris Myers. Trying to keep it together. I mean, you've done a million shows with Chris. I mean, the great, you know, you, you're no good. One of his catch races, but that's who I remember most. He just made me feel so at ease. And full disclosure, so did you, Dan. I mean, when I was still in Seattle, the great Gary Miller got you on the phone with me. We had a great talk. You really were a straight shooter. You really let me know, hey, a lot of the women before you didn't really do great. Probably just Robin, you know, type of thing, but it really helped me. So the first Sports center with Chris, he welcomed me, and I just didn't want to screw up, you know, I just wanted to stay in my lane, not upset the apple cart, do as I'm told, and just, you know, try not to stumble.

[Dan Patrick]

But I was a little nervous and I, I. And I was honest with you because I wanted you to know what you were walking into. And, like, you really, really, really have to know your stuff, and you prove that. But it's not like a local sports caster, right? This is. You got to know the brewers bullpen, and you gotta know what the Vezina Trophy is like, all of these things. I just wanted you to know. You're coming in here and they're going to be watching and they're going to be listening, and it will be tougher for you than it would be for a guy. But, you know, once you got in and we realized, once we realized that you were more proficient with hockey names, we're like, okay, you're. You're going to survive. You were you. And you, you carried that torch. You planted that flag a long, long time ago. You truly, you and Butcher Grass fought for the NHL as much as anybody has. And, you know, good for you for doing that.

[Linda Cohn]

Yeah. And thanks for those nice words, Dan. And yeah, that did mean a lot because you're honest and that's how you are. You're genuine. And, you know, I've always adored you. I always tried to, like, look up to you because the way you did Sports center, of course now, you know, doing this amazing, successful Dan Patrick show that you've done for a few decades already. But when you did SportsCenter, you just talked to people. You weren't shouting, you really weren't. You were connected. And to me, that's what it was all about. As, you know, like I always use this term, but it's not overused for me because it's the truth. I'm a fan first and I wanted to make sure that I could connect to those viewers and let them know not only that I knew my stuff, but I was one of them. I had passion for my teams, that I love doing sports, that if I wasn't on SportsCenter, I'd be watching Sport Sports Center. I'd be watching anchors like you.

[Dan Patrick]

Dan, the changes in the media, where. Where are we headed, do you think, with this?

[Linda Cohn]

Yeah. I mean, isn't it great we're not breaking in now?

[Dan Patrick]

Oh, yeah. I mean, we were so fortunate that you didn't have social media and you might know the result, but you had to tune in to see the result. So that was, you know, a natural feeding process for us on SportsCenter. Certainly the 11 o', clock, because you're tuning in because you don't know exactly how your team won or lost.

[Linda Cohn]

Was there anything more exciting than following a live game or something amazing that happened in sports? And you're coming on SportsCenter and you know, those viewers can't look anywhere else else, find it anywhere else for the most part. Back in the day, in the golden era, and they were watching, you and I, you and I equate this all the time. You know, we're not athletes. But if ever I came professional, by the way, if ever I came close to that feeling in a big stage, big game, that adrenaline rush. I don't know about you, Dan, but, man, I did my best highlight reads when I knew everyone was watching, especially back then and following a live event and, and, yeah, I mean, where is it going now? It's just different. And, you know, kudos to espn. They adjusted along the way. You know, some great moves, some not so great, but it's a crowded playing field now. We were the only game in town and we were very fortunate and I'm grateful every day to play a part in that.

[Dan Patrick]

Talking to Linda Cohn tonight is her last night at the mothership after 34 years. I want to Expound upon something that I said to Rich Eisen during The that was SportsCenter interview that he did with me a couple of weeks ago when Keith Olbermann left. And I know there were a lot of people in the building who wanted that job. And I didn't make any request. I didn't do anything. I said to Steve Bornstein, you pick who you want to see every night. Because I didn't want that on me.

[Linda Cohn]

Yeah.

[Dan Patrick]

And, you know, the more I thought about it, I had suggested you because I thought that first, you could do it. Second of all, it was different than, you know, with Keith and I. And it didn't go over immediately like I. They said, well, who are you thinking? And I thought, Rich, I knew Stuart didn't want to do it, and I knew you. And I just remember I didn't know they were going to pick Kenny Maine. I had no impact because I didn't know if Kenny wanted to do something like that, that Kenny's more of a send him out on the road and let him do features where, you know, the 11 o', clock, it's live and it is. I mean, it's tense and. And you got to be, you know, know all the sports and all that. I didn't know if that was what Kenny wanted to do, and that's why I had suggested you. So it. I brought it up to Rich. I didn't want it to be one of those throwaways. I wanted to at least explain that to you, that I thought you, you were probably going to be the idol person for a variety of reasons.

[Linda Cohn]

Well, I appreciate that. I did not know that until you made that comment to Rich on that. This was SportsCenter and I was on that. And Rich did such a great job with those episodes so far. I love that. Dan, you know me. I wasn't the type to go knocking on doors. I wasn't going in anyone's office. I didn't even know where they were located. I don't even know if they'd let me in at this point to campaign for myself like many of our colleagues did and have done. So I had no idea. I would have loved it. I know I could have handled it, as you had mentioned, but, you know, Kenny is Kenny. One of my. Some of my favorite sports centers are with Kenny Maine. I just couldn't keep it together. He always made me laugh. I couldn't even look at him. I looked at him. He didn't have to say anything. I'd be cracking up at his face.

[Dan Patrick]

And I Tell people how competitive it was back then. Politics, competitive. I mean, it was like there was a lot of talent in that room, in that newsroom. There was a lot of talent and there was backstabbing. There was, you know, playing favorites. Go to management. I mean, who. I'm glad I survived.

[Linda Cohn]

Yeah.

[Dan Patrick]

I don't know how you felt.

[Linda Cohn]

Yeah, no, absolutely. You know why? I tried to not get involved in it. I didn't want to get into the weeds, into the minutiae of what you just said. A lot of everything, a lot was toxic. But I tried to side with the laughter and the people that were grateful and just happy to be there. And we were having fun. And you know that Dan, you and Keith and the whole gang, Torico, Myers, you know, all the old people that I keep leaving out of so many people because I've worked with about a, you know, you think I've done 6,000 sports centers? I think I've worked with 6,000 different acres on sports centers. I can't even keep track. They're coming out of the woodwork, which is wonderful. But, yeah, I mean, I just try to stay away from it because, let's face it, Dan, we had more laughs than we didn't. And I felt, as I look back, that's what matters. And, you know, I've been saying this a lot and it really touches my heart when you say, how am I going to feel tonight? I think what has resonated with me the most so far is all these incredibly talented young women who have reached out to me to say that they never would be doing what they're doing or have the self esteem or the courage to do it if they weren't watching me before getting on the school bus in the morning when they're in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and realize that anything was possible. And Dan, for obvious reasons, professionally, I don't mind if that's my only legacy.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, it's a hell of a legacy. I think we met in New York City when I was at CNN.

[Linda Cohn]

Yeah.

[Dan Patrick]

And you came in, Bill McPhail, my boss, said, there's a woman coming in from Seattle. Yeah, her name is. Her name is Linda. And I was there with Artie Burko, my producer. And he said, she's going to shadow you. And I remember you came in and Artie and I were like, there's not a whole lot to watch here. All we do is, you know, think about the next story we're going to do. But I. I think that's the first time I met you. Was probably 1985 somewhere around there.

[Linda Cohn]

Yeah, actually later. Because if I was coming from Seattle and I was still in Seattle, then it would have been somewhere around 89.

[Alan Hunter]

90.

[Dan Patrick]

No, because I went to the mothership at 89.

[Linda Cohn]

Okay. So it must have been early 89, because I, I. Or around. I went to Seattle late 89. I went to Seattle late 89, October of 89, and left in early 92 to go to ESPN in July. So anyway, the point of the story is. Yeah, Are you kidding? I was close to royalty. Dan, you were at cnn. I mean, I was like, I gotta, you know, I gotta, you know, have it soak into me. Maybe that was the difference. Maybe it started then. But no, seriously, Dan, that was funny. Artie. Piece of work. I do remember that whole scene, though.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, congratulations. I mean, this is about survival, perseverance, but it's about talent. It's about stepping up in the moment. And you certainly did all of those things and I'm proud to know you and have fun tonight.

[Linda Cohn]

Yeah, I appreciate that. You know, like I said, I'm not sad. I'm excited for what's next. And I'm going to try to stay present and be in the moment. You know, people in our business always have hard time doing that. We're always looking to the next. But in this case, I'm going to pause and I am going to smile and I'm going to be grateful. So I'm grateful to you, Dan, for everything you did to welcome me and having me on today. Thank you so much.

[Dan Patrick]

Thank you. All right, Linda Cohn Gygo presents a

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