Loading summary
Dan Hicks
This is an iHeart podcast.
Dan Patrick
Guaranteed Human introducing Taco Bell's new jalapeno citrus Salsa with bright citrus real red jalapenos, guajillo chiles. Usually you add sauce to the food, but when the sauce is this good, the food is just there to get the sauce to your mouth. That rolled quesadilla. Not a rolled quesadilla anymore. Now it's a sauce shovel. Taco Bell's Jalapeno Citrus Salsa. Get it with any item on the Cantina Chicken menu while it's here at participating US Taco Bell locations for a limited time only while supplies last Contact store for availability.
John Wertheim
Lot to celebrate this summer and why not take the beverage with you that loves to celebrate with you? Keep it classic. It's Miller Lite. Whether you're toasting the birth of our nation, our soccer team, or maybe just a warm evening on the deck, it's Miller Time in America. That's why I reach for a Miller Lite and you should too. All American Summer starts with an all American beer. Go to millerlight.com Patrick Find delivery options near you or pick up Miller Lite pretty much anywhere that they sell beer. It's Miller Time. Celebrate response responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 96 calories, 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.
Dan Patrick
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone Paying Big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying. No judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment
John Wertheim
of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per intro rate. First three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms@mintmobile.com Big transfer news today.
Dan Patrick
Who's moving me to the couch with Domino's?
Dan Wetzel
Best deal ever since they just added stuffed crust.
John Wertheim
Any pizza any toppings? Now with stuffed crust for 9.99 it's a long term contract with no release clause only 9.99. Yeah, that sounds like the move. I'm heading straight to dom.
Dan Wetzel
Price is higher for some locations. Excludes XL and specialty pizzas.
Dan Patrick
Select this offer from 6:15 through 7:26 online only.
Dan Wetzel
Size availability varies by crust type. Max 7 toppings 6 for ANN and new York style crust. Minimum purchase required for delivery prices participation, delivery area and charges may vary.
John Wertheim
You are listening to the Dan Patrick show on Fox Sports Radio let's bring in Dan Hicks. He's At Shinnecock here, NBC's lead golf play by play announcer. Let me ask the important question here, Dan. Would you rather. Now 12 people have walked on the moon, and what we have three or four people broken par at the US Open at Shinnecock in history, would you rather break par? Would you rather break par or be like the ninth man on the moon break par?
Dan Hicks
Not even a doubt, because I would join the select few. I'd be four guys out of like 690 guys in the history of Shinnecock's U.S. open to break par. And I think that's fewer than the guys, obviously, that have walked on the moon. So I'm good with breaking part SHINNECOCK
John Wertheim
in the U.S. how much of this is the conditions? How much of this is the course? If you were going to try to put a percentage on this, you mean.
Dan Hicks
You mean the history of the toughness of Shinnecock? Yeah, I'd say it's a combination of everything, and that's what makes Shinnecock. Shinnecock. It's probably the hardest championship course in the game to set up. In this case, the USGA's perspective of dealing with the elements. It's. The weather's crazy, it sits on a sandy soil, so it dries out a lot quicker than, say, pebble beach, which obviously is a true links course. But I just think it's a combination of everything. It's the undulation of the greens, the fescue, the weather, and then the pressure of a U.S. open. It all kind of conspires to make it just the toughest. I think it's the greatest championship test in golf, certainly here in the United States. And there's a guy named Rory McElroy that agrees with me on that. So he has the ultimate respect of the players. Obviously, it's gotten out of control in previous US Opens, and we all know about that.
John Wertheim
But that's that fine line of, you want this to be the toughest championship. Like, you come out of this like you're the fife and drum bugle corps, like you just survived this. But then I don't know how many golf fans want birdies. You know, when I watch the Masters, we want birdies on the back nine at a US Open, aside from Tiger at Pebble in 2000, like, for the most part, it's a slog around the course. Where do you weigh in on a one under par, two over par to win it good or you want 15 under?
Dan Hicks
Yeah, I love the Variety in the game and all the majors are different, right? I think the Masters has just an incredible back nine where birdies and eagles are possible bowl and it's guys are making big moves. But I do think, and I probably get the most response of just buddies of mine who watch the game and love the game. And I think it goes pretty much around the, around the horn for just fans in general. They love to see the guys struggle because that's, that's who they can relate to, right? I mean they can relate to, you know, a bogey is a good score on this particular position on this hole. So I think it's the variety in golf and the US Open. And again, the USGA has this new kind of mantra. You know, we're not worried about a score and that's been kind of what they've been preaching this week. But inevitably the golf courses that they choose and the way they set it up make par a very good score.
John Wertheim
Talking to Dan Hicks Coverage begins today on Peacock NBC sports network from 5 until 8pm with the weather delay. How many golfers you think are going to have to finish their first rounds tomorrow?
Dan Hicks
Well, we're working on a two hour, it's a two hour delay right now. So no way obviously is the first round going to be finished. So it's going to be quite a few players. As I'm looking at the T sheet right now, you've got 242 is listed as the final tee time off both 10 and 1. So that means if there's no further weather delays, which I don't think there will be 4:42, it's going to take five hours plus I don't know how much lights going to happen with the overcast guys we have right now. So it's going to be catch up time. But I think the good news is, Dan, is that I think the weather forecast is good for the rest of the day as long as the wind doesn't go crazy this afternoon. I mean that's the next weather thing that they have to dodge out there. You know, we're hearing the armageddon forecast of 35 to 40 and the USGA has been pretty, you know, pretty adamant that that's going to happen. So I don't care how much you've slowed the golf course down, if you've got 35 mile an hour gusts on the slopes of these greens which are exposed balls going to move. So hopefully we don't run into that
John Wertheim
problem later in the afternoon as Scotty Scheffler Cooled off.
Dan Hicks
No doubt about it. He's cooled off when he's only one once. And even with a number of high finishes, he just hasn't been able to. He hasn't been as sharp as he has now. That's a high bar that he set. But, you know, he won once earlier in the year. He's got a number of high finishes, and he's been fighting this. And I think if you. I know you've had Bradle Chamblee on your show, and Bradle's done a great job of kind of documenting the misses to the right. I was out on the practice rounds, and I saw him still struggling with the misses to the right, which drives him crazy. He's a perfectionist, so he's not quite on, but he's just so good at every other shot in the game. If he can just figure that out, which I believe he can. You still go into these majors with Scotty Scheffler being a favorite. I don't care if he's fighting that or a mini Scotty Scheffler slump of having won, having not won in 11 events. That's a lot for him with the caliber of golf that he plays.
John Wertheim
This is your 27th US Open, I believe so. I covered two US Opens. I covered Shinnecock when Ray Floyd won. I was at Seattle.
Dan Patrick
Wow.
Dan Hicks
86.
John Wertheim
Yes. And fuzzy Zeller, Greg Norman, Wingfoot.
Dan Hicks
Oh, wow. Those are great ones.
John Wertheim
Yeah.
Dan Hicks
Yeah. And so you probably. You had a first head. First row seat to the heartbreak of the Shark in both of them.
John Wertheim
Yes, both of them. And I was at the Masters. I covered that in 96Y. You know what Greg Norman does? He doesn't want to see me.
Dan Patrick
Shark wants.
John Wertheim
No.
Dan Hicks
No views of DP anywhere, any place.
Dan Patrick
You're a curse.
John Wertheim
It's easy, I think, to get excited when we see something great, but how do you temper like, how do you get that empathetic voice when there is heartbreak during a round?
Dan Hicks
Yeah, it's. It's a fine line that I think all announcers. I don't want to say struggle with, but just want to be careful with. You want to be, you know, journalistically sound. Tell everybody the story. Why?
John Wertheim
How about you try it here? I just. I just four putted on 18, and I. I've lost the Masters.
Dan Hicks
You know, you just have to feel at this point for Dan Patrick, with all of the work that he's put in, no one has worked harder the last 10 years. A decade of hard work. And to see it just frittered away in Such a short amount of time. You have to feel for him. I don't know. It's my best.
Dan Wetzel
Nice.
John Wertheim
I got a nice golf applause. Why golf club? Why is it there's always one guy who's worked harder than everybody else?
Dan Hicks
Yeah, you're right.
John Wertheim
Like, come on.
Dan Hicks
You're right.
John Wertheim
Come on.
Dan Hicks
You're right. They all work. We just did Nelly Cord as US Women's Open win a couple of weeks ago. And I, you know, you're trying to come up with something right? New as they're coming down the 18th. And so I talked to her, her caddy, Jason McDeed, earlier in the day on the final round. I said, you know, she's got the statuesque swing. It all looks effortless. How hard does she work? I guess I kind of wanted to get the work ethic thing. And he goes, oh, dad. He goes, you wouldn't believe it, man. He goes off weeks, you know, we. I'm on the bag. We're still working, we're looking at video. You know, she'll text me, you know, you know, midnight, blah, blah, blah. So I went with it. As she was coming down 18, I said, you might think that this effortless swing just happens, but no one works harder than the game, the Nelly Corda. And it's all paid off today at Riviera. So, yeah, I mean, but it takes hard work. And inevitably the women and the men that win these championships, I mean, no one worked harder than Tiger Woods. I tried to tell that story for 25 years, that he had the best mind. He had the. He had the best, you know, most. Most innate talent, but I swear, no one worked harder. And he put it all together with one of the great careers ever.
John Wertheim
Yeah. But would you ever say, you know what? This guy doesn't put any time at all and he's going to win the PGA Championship.
Dan Hicks
Probably wouldn't go for that. Probably wouldn't do that. But there are guys that work harder than others, and that's. That's a fact.
John Wertheim
The live golf topic in the rearview mirror.
Dan Hicks
I think so, and I hope so.
John Wertheim
Yeah.
Dan Hicks
It's just been a saga, right. That has just drained the narrative of the game for too long. I don't know how it can survive, Dan. I just. I really don't. Looking for an investor. I mean, I don't know if there's any astute business people out there that want to get that thing revved up again. I don't know. You got Bryson dechambell still over there, and obviously John Rom is here, but it's just not a lot to really invest in if you wanted to keep live alive. So I, I, I think it is, I really do.
John Wertheim
You got a sneaky pick to win this.
Dan Hicks
I don't know if it's sneaky, but it's a guy that, I still don't think a lot of people. Everybody's talking about Rory and Scott Aiken. He won the Grand Slam, and there's a bit of, and it's an obvious name, and it's Xander Schoffley. I just think it's not a sneaky pick, but I don't really hear a lot of people talking about it because it's been a while since he won those two majors, but we were out there on the practice grounds this week, and he's just a dog. You know, you got to be a grinder to win at Shinnecock, and you, you have to have a short game. And we were watching him hit these, these little chip shots, these little pitch shots after the close on the closely mown areas, which is going to be a huge factor this week. Whoever wins this thing is going to have a scrambling around the greens percentage that's going to be near the top. And I just think he's got the attitude in the game to get it done and win another major.
John Wertheim
I was thinking about when Mickelson had the putt.
Dan Hicks
Oh, yeah.
John Wertheim
And it didn't stop rolling on 13. And then, and then he just putted it again. Like, how does. This is one of the greatest players of all time? And he lost his mind.
Dan Hicks
Yeah. That's what this course does to you. That's what the US Open does to you. And, you know, he, he tried to, like, I'll never forget, you know, he had all the media around him afterwards, and he was trying to, like, make sense of it all. And he says, well, you know, it was really the best way to handle it. I'm thinking is making a 10. Is, is, is that the best score you were looking for at 13, but only Mickelson. Right. I do miss the guy from a golf perspective, but I don't know if we've seen a more precipitous fall from, from grace than since Tiger Woods. So I, at the same time, it's, it's, I'm saddened by his absence from, from these, from these events.
John Wertheim
I thought Phil was going to be the second coming of.
Dan Hicks
Arnold Palmer had had the golf world in the palm of his hand, and he was picking up the mantle for, for the king. Arnold Palmer, there's no doubt about It. I mean, after that win at Kiawah. So to see that. See that whole fall is. It's sad. It really is, because he was a lot of fun to watch. Unbelievable talent and just great for the game in so many ways. So sad to see it all transpire as it has.
John Wertheim
Who looms larger over their sport, Tiger or Michael Jordan?
Dan Hicks
Wow. Man. I would probably say. I would probably say Tiger because, you know, there's a lot of great players, and I'm a Michael Jordan guy. I think you could talk about LeBron James, you could talk about Wemby. Who knows where he's going to be on the whole. And the whole spectrum of things down the road. But I just think. I think individually, Tiger made a sport cool that really wasn't so cool. Turned on an unbelievable amount of people to the game. Just played it in a much different way now. Michael did as well. But I think Tiger's impact on his sport, and I've said this before, is the greatest single impact by any individual on any sport ever. I just. I mean, there's that saying a lot because there's Wayne Gretzky, there's Michael Jordan, there's all these guys. But I. I really think that. That he had that kind of magic. It was the way he won, Dan. It wasn't just how many he won. It was the highlight reel, which blows away anybody else's reel, including Jack Nicholas and anybody else.
John Wertheim
Yeah, I brought up, what was it, a six iron from the bunker at the Canadian Open.
Dan Hicks
Yep.
John Wertheim
And hit it within like 4, 4ft or something crazy where you wouldn't even attempt the shot. And there's that, to me, was the first time. I think I went, oh, my God. Yeah, this. This is. This is something we've never seen before.
Dan Hicks
He tried shots, you know, that you'd only try and practice for playing with your buddies. He put it into play with a tournament on the line. So that's how unbelievable he was. And it goes on and on and on. Putts that he had to make, shots that he had to make whole lots. You know, getting into trouble, getting out of trouble. I mean, it was the most complete spectacular highlight reel in golf in history. And I don't think we're going to see another one anytime soon. Just like it.
John Wertheim
More likely to play again. Phil or Tiger.
Dan Hicks
Wow. I mean. I mean, I think Phil will play again. I'm not sure exactly in what capacity or where that's going to be. If Liv is still around, I think I could see him playing. So we were hoping that Tiger I'm going to be a part of the US Senior Open coming up next month at Scioto. And that was one that Tiger I know was going to play. And he was had on good authority that he was pointing to that.
John Wertheim
That was his Champions Tour debut.
Dan Hicks
That was going to be it.
John Wertheim
Yeah. Yeah.
Dan Hicks
I mean, he, he, there's a chance he might have played before that, but there's no doubt because no one in the history of the game, Dan, has won the U.S. junior RAM, the U.S. open, and the U.S. amateur forgot that one. So the U.S. junior, USM, U.S. open, and U.S. senior Open, no one has won those four. And he really wanted to put that on his resume. And he was going to show up at Jack's golf course that he grew up playing. You know, it had a great kind of movie script, Tiger s theme to it, but obviously it looks very doubtful and I can't see him showing up. But that, you know, that was, that was, we were hoping that was going to happen. So I, I do think if Tiger is able to get everything back together, he's coming back from an unbelievable, difficult time. I think that he wants to play in certain events and that would be one of them.
John Wertheim
Great to talk to you. Have fun this weekend. Thank you, Dan.
Dan Hicks
DP thanks for having me, man. Good to see you.
John Wertheim
Dan Hicks, who would rather shoot under par at Shinnecock than walk on the moon. He'll be on the call NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports Network. Their coverage 5 to 8pm Eastern.
Dan Patrick
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan Patrick show, weekdays at 9am Eastern, 6am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app
Dan Wetzel
here. I have a podcast empire. It continues to grow and I have brought it here to iHeart. I'm also doing a live radio show from 3 to 5pm Eastern because my wife wanted to kick me out of the house. It's called Stagatsu company Live, which is available in podcast form right when the show finishes every single day.
John Wertheim
Some of the biggest names in sports,
Dan Wetzel
a lot of phone calls.
Dan Patrick
I love you guys show. It's one of my favorites.
Dan Wetzel
A lot of interaction. Guys not taking themselves too seriously. Those are just some of the things that you can expect from Stugats Co. And Stugatson Co. Live. So listen to Stegotson Co. Live and our original podcast. Please subscribe, rate and review Stugatson Co. And God bless football. Taylor's livelihood depends on it. Do it today and you can check all of those out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.
John Wertheim
Hey everyone, it's Kal Penn. I'm the host of Irsay The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Ray Porter, the narrator of Andy Weir's audiobook project, Hail Mary Massive Sci Fi adventure about survival and science and what happens when you wake up alone, very far from Earth. I really had to make a decision
Dan Wetzel
because I caught myself getting that frog in my throat and starting to get teary as I'm narrating some of these sections and it's like, okay, yo, yo, yo, is this indulgent? And I really thought about it.
Dan Hicks
I was like, no.
Dan Wetzel
At this point it would kind of be betraying the trust the author and the listener have in telling this story if I don't go through it. But there's places in this book that that deeply, emotionally affected me and I
John Wertheim
left it on the mic.
Dan Wetzel
That's great because it served the story. People will say like, oh my God, I cried at the end. It's like, yeah dude, me too.
John Wertheim
Listen to Irsay the Audible and iHeart audiobook club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Dan Patrick
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone Paying Big Wireless Way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month, of course, if you enjoy overpaying. No judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway, give it a try. @mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for
John Wertheim
3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms@mintmobile.com you're locked into a
Dan Wetzel
lot of things you can't change.
John Wertheim
Weather, traffic.
Dan Patrick
Hey, stay in your lane.
John Wertheim
Your wireless carrier's latest price hike.
Dan Wetzel
But you can unlock a better way. Unlock the savings at Boost Mobile and
John Wertheim
save up to $600 a year. Switch to the $25 a month unlimited wireless plan.
Dan Wetzel
No contracts, no price hikes and you keep your phone stop being locked into their games. Unlock the savings@boostmobile.com unlock based on average annual single line of payment of AT&T Verizon and T Mobile customers compared to 12 months on the Boost Mobile Unlimited
John Wertheim
Wireless plan as of January 2026.
Dan Wetzel
For full offer details, visit boostmobile.com I turned off news altogether.
Dan Patrick
I hate to say it, but I
John Wertheim
don't trust much of anything.
Dan Wetzel
It's the rage bait.
Dan Hicks
It feels like it's trying to divide people.
Dan Patrick
We got clear facts.
John Wertheim
Maybe we can calm down a little. NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the facts. Let's move forward from there. NBC News reporting for America. I just got this sent to me by a source because we've been thinking about Cincinnati's role with Brendan Sorsby. What role did Cincinnati play? And maybe exposing the gambling problems when he went to Texas Tech. They still want their $1 million back. Nil. My source said Brendan Sorsby's gambling was discovered through a sportsbook law enforcement tip to the ncaa, not because his school independently uncovered it first. This, according to court filings. March 11, NCAA received a tip from an ongoing gambling book. That sports book reportedly had been informed by law enforcement about Sorsby's gambling activity. The NCAA then opened and advanced its investigation. April 14, the NCAA notified Texas Tech it was investigating. And then Sourceby's agent comes out and starts pointing a finger at Cincinnati. What did Cincinnati know? Did they have a known gambler on their roster for two years before he went to Texas Tech? Well, this sounds like something John Wertheim from 60 Minutes would be diving into. Are you guys looking into this? John?
Dan Patrick
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's a fast moving story, as you know, but we done a few pieces on sports gambling and this is obviously a new wrinkle. What a. I mean, at some level this is a wild story. I mean, right. We think there's some red lines even as we talk about the wild west of college sports and transfers and nil seems pretty indisputable. You don't bet on your own team. You don't. And yet, and yet here we are. But I, I don't know. I mean, it's some, I don't know where you want to take this, but, you know, at some level we're talking about competitive people and kids and sports and money and did nobody anticipate this? But yeah, I was laughing at that. I mean, I'm sure you talked about this. The judge's ruling the now moot, of course, but any suspension would deprive him of the collegial atmosphere of the locker room and training facilities. And you sort of say, yes, that's what consequences tend to look like at some level. This is a new sort of, we've entered new territory here. And at the same time, like, wasn't this the most predictable thing ever?
John Wertheim
Yeah. I'd been saying all along, all these commissioners, everybody was against this. You're gambling all you can't. I mean, now we have teams in Vegas now. They've opened, you know, the doors, you know, to the bank vault and every. Everybody's okay with gambling. I keep saying the 18 to 24, that is the age group you really got to keep an eye on because you're away from home, you got maybe a little bit of cash or maybe you're exposing yourself that you now need a little extra cash. Here's a kid who had nil money. I just think it's, you know, this. A really, really slippery slope.
Dan Patrick
Yeah, look, look at these sports books and look who their target is. And we talk about the frontal cortex of the, of the male and we talk about not understanding personal finance. Now A, you have this subset that actually has money in their pocket. Now B, these are inherently competitive people anyway, and they have inside information. They have the opportunity to affect outcome. We're talking about, maybe you talk to people who are casual observers and they talk about point shaving, and you sort of have to explain. We're not talking point shaving. We're talking about whether Jontay Porter gets off the bench with a bogus eye injury for 11 minutes or whether the, the third pitch of the second inning is in the dirt. It's a really bad sort of set of circumstances. And you, you put it all together and you've got sort of, you know, you've got young men and everything we know about them with, with money in their pocket, the ability to impact games, this inherently competitive strain anyway, and sort of what, what you think was going to happen.
John Wertheim
I saw that you profiled lamine Yamal on 60 Minutes this past Sunday, and he's 18, I think 19 next month. And I was curious, how do you go about picking him? Obviously a bright future, but you focused on an 18 year old who by all intents and purposes is the future of the sport.
Dan Patrick
Yeah, I think the last time the World cup came around, we did like Panini trading cards. That was our big World Cup. We said, you know what, let's pick an actual athlete this time. So this was, you know, several months in planning, my dear producer, Dragon Mihailovich. I mean, I'm full disclosure, I'm not the world's greatest soccer fan like Buddy Grant Wall would always take me to bars and games. It was like, I was like, it was like opera. Like, I know I was supposed to like it and just. It's on me. It's my shortcoming. It just didn't. But no, we went over to Barcelona and we found this kid. He was 18 years old. He was the star of the Euros two years ago. We figured he was going to have a big impact on World cup. And it was, it was wild. I mean, it was, it was a great window to me on sort of the difference between developing talent in sports in Europe versus the U.S. i mean, he had been cited by Barcelona, but it's like if the Mavericks found Cooper flag at like age 9 and said, hey, come, come move to Dallas and we're going to, you know, we'll feed you, we'll train you, you learn our offense, we'll monitor your, all your biometrics and we own you. And so it was funny because I got the feeling he was so sheltered. He actually liked being interviewed. I mean, usually you know this better than I do. I mean usually a lot of these athletes, they've, they've done their media training, they've done a million interviews, they've been asked the same questions. You sort of, it's, this was like, wait a second, this is kind of fun. I'm having a conversation and getting to explain myself. He was that shelter that at 18. I got the feeling this was one of the few real sit down interviews he'd ever given.
John Wertheim
I don't know if you can compare Messi at 18 or Ronaldo at 18 with the fame, but I don't remember Messi being famous famous. And no social media, no Internet back then. So I'm guessing Ronaldo and Messi, I don't know when they became worldwide famous, but now an 18, 17, 16 year old on big stage like this and that's, that's a lot of pressure.
Dan Patrick
Yeah, I mean, I think you're right. I think social media is the great accelerant. I mean, ironically enough, Messi at roughly the same age, played for Barcelona, actually. I mean, I don't, I think we got it in the story where the mom laminate mom won a raffle when he was a few months old and you got to, you got to pose with a Barcelona player and they actually got messy. So there was this photo. The photographers, like I didn't think anything of at the time, of course, but now it's like, hey, it's, it's Michael Jordan in Whatever, 1984, 1985, posing with baby LeBron. I mean, it's just a phenomenal coincidence, but no, Messi at that age played for Barcelona and people sort of knew who he was, but you weren't on your phone watching clips of these insane goals he was scoring. I, it's funny because I was thinking about that in terms of you know, the Knicks and the parade that goes on. On as we speak. And Jalen Brunson. I mean, Jalen Brunson's level of fame is like one tenth of this kid, and he's 18 years old and all that comes with it. And I've just. I. I don't think I've ever seen a level of athlete fame quite like this combining AJ team. He's very much sort of a flashy, you know, guys. I mean, he. He's a bit of a look at me kind of in a great way. But, I mean, he's. He doesn't shy from. And soccer in Europe is just a completely different level as even the NBA Finals and you sort of add it up together. I'm not sure. I think you could probably make the case. This might be the most prominent athlete in the world right now. Certainly top five, top ten.
John Wertheim
You were in Europe during the NBA Finals?
Dan Patrick
Yeah, I just came back. I was in Europe for, like, three months. Man, I didn't think of Paris as a. I'd been living there for a few months and then did the French Open for tnt. And, man, Paris was like a lot of adjectives to describe Paris. You don't think of it as a sports town. This is like, suddenly it's like Charlotte, North Carolina. They're like screens everywhere. They love their Wemby. They've got this. This PSG won the Champions League for the second year. I mean, they're coming. Even when the Olympics were happening, you got the feeling it was a little bit like, you know, Paris. You know, Paris didn't need the Olympics. They were doing a solid to the ioc, we're kind of getting the train back on the tracks. This was not like the great sports town. Paris has now turned into, like, one big sports bar. Wemby, obviously, a big part of that. But yeah, they. They suddenly. I don't know if there's a Paris basketball team. Giant Splitter actually was with a coach last season. And you go to this basketball gym and they're, you know, on a Tuesday night, there are 10,000 Parisians going crazy for European basketball. They. They love their Wemby. There's an NBA store in the middle of St. Germain now. It's really funny to watch. Sort of sober, serious. Harris thinks very highly of itself, but they. They like watching NBA basketball as much as anyone.
John Wertheim
He's John Wertheim, Sports Illustrated senior writer and, of course, correspondent for 60 Minutes. I brought this up last hour. I was surprised, bordered on shock, that Nike is just putting out the Caitlin Clark shoe John. She's been signed up since she was a junior in college.
Dan Patrick
I was gonna say, have you heard about Caitlin Clark? You know, she's a standing player. You might want to keep an eye on her.
Dan Wetzel
Yeah, I don't know.
Dan Patrick
Dan Wetzel wrote a great piece I would point everyone to about that. It's always been a bit of a mystery, especially as Nike's fortunes have gone in the direction they have been, why they wouldn't jump all over this. And it's kind of mystifying, isn't it? I mean again, Nike was giving Caitlin Clark and nil. I believe I have this right. When she was like a sophomore, a junior, Nike, very quick to act. I mean there was, you know, the, the French Open played out last weekend and literally the segment after match point of the women's final, Nike had already teed up Its tailor made 30 second spot about the winner. This is not a company that tends to act slowly and cautiously when it comes to its own athletes. Yeah, I would love, I mean, I've heard, suspect you have as well. There's a lot of speculating inside, in, in Beaverton at the inside Nike about why it took so long. There's a culture war component to this. But yeah, you've got Caitlin Clark on your roster. Would you not be like building the shoe as she was running down court
John Wertheim
when you profiled her, I think two years ago, did you get the sense she was ready for all of this? You can be a star in Iowa now on a, on a global basis, 100%.
Dan Patrick
She got it. She understood the. Now that the statute of limitations has lapsed, she said she would agree. I mean, I think I'm okay. She said she would agree to the story, but she wanted it to be about more than herself. Let's make it about the wnba. And you sort of said kind of an interesting take. She understands the political dynamics to all this, the race dynamics, the women's sports ascendancy. She doesn't want to be better than the. She was completely ready for this. And I thought she was, she was a lot of fun to talk to. She's good company, she's very cool. She, I mean, you know, you're, you're, you're based in Ohio. I mean you, you and I grew up fairly close to it. She was a very familiar figure to me as someone who grew up in the Midwest. And she understands the landscape, she understands all the landmines. But again, why Nike? Especially at a time when, you know, go look at Nike stock over the last five years. Why it took till June of 2026 when you've got Caitlin Clark on your roster and you are paying her is just. We're going to study this as one of sort of the great sports marketing missteps.
John Wertheim
But, you know, you bring up that she was 100% all in, ready for this. The WNBA was not ready for this. That, that's the disconnect. That's, that's like Tiger going to the PGA Tour. And I remember talking to a veteran player and he's like, yeah. When Tiger said, well, I didn't have my A game and this got this pro, he was like, oh my God, did you hear what this kid said? And I saw him years later and he goes, I don't, don't do it. Don't bring it up. Don't give me the A game stuff. And he goes, I know I made a mistake there, but the WNBA really miscalculated this on a variety of fronts, unfortunately.
Dan Patrick
I noticed you were using the past tense. I don't. Yeah, my experience with the wnba and I know a lot of people have had. When you actually get to the players themselves, they are awesome. This was before, but I did a piece on super like, I mean, these are athletes you want to cheer for. They get it, they're cool, they're self aware. I mean, these are everything you want in athletes. But the infrastructure is so lagging. The infrastructure of the league is not worthy of the players, put it that way. And I'm hoping, you know, you hope that changes. You understand this is a fast growing league. But you're totally right. You have the feeling like Caitlin Clark was there and the structure around her was not. And you just hope it catches up.
John Wertheim
Great to catch up with you again, John. Thank you.
Dan Patrick
Anytime. Good seeing you.
John Wertheim
That's John Wertheim.
Dan Patrick
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows@foxsportsradio.com and within the iHeartRadio app.
John Wertheim
Search FSR to listen live. Hey everyone, it's Kal Penn. I'm the host of Irsay the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Ray Porter, the narrator of Andy Weir's audiobook project Hail Mary, Massive sci fi adventure about survival and science and what happens when you wake up alone, very far from Earth. I really had to make a decision
Dan Wetzel
because I caught myself getting that frog in my throat and starting to get teary as I'm narrating some of these sections and it's like, okay, yo, yo, yo. Is this indulgent? And I really thought about it.
John Wertheim
I was like, no.
Dan Wetzel
At this point, it would kind of be betraying the trust the author and the listener have in telling this story. If I don't go through it. There's places in this that that deeply, emotionally affected me. And I left it on the mic. That's great because it served the story. People will say like, oh my God, I cried at the end.
John Wertheim
It's like, yeah, dude, me too. Listen to Irsay, the Audible and iHeart audiobook club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Dan Patrick
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying Big Wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying. No judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway, give it a try. @mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for
John Wertheim
three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms@mintmobile.com unlock the savings at
Dan Wetzel
Boost Mobile and save up to $600 a year. I've been scouting these big carriers for a minute now and I've seen them pull the same play a thousand times. They promise you the world, then hit you with a price hike right when the game gets tight.
John Wertheim
But boost mobile, their $25 a month
Dan Wetzel
unlimited wireless plan is the most consistent player on the floor. No contracts and no price hikes. Unlock the Savings today@boostmobile.com Unlock based on average annual single line payment of AT&T Verizon and T Mobile customers compared to 12 months of the Boost Mobile unlimited
Dan Patrick
wireless plan as of January 2026.
Dan Wetzel
For full offer details, visit boostmobile.com I turned off news altogether.
Dan Patrick
I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything.
Dan Wetzel
It's the rage bait.
Dan Hicks
It feels like it's trying to divide people.
Dan Patrick
We got clear facts.
John Wertheim
Maybe we could calm down a little. NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the facts. Let's move forward from there. NBC News Reporting for America, Dan Wetzel, the Mothership ESPN senior writer. I got a couple things to ask him about because one is I brought up the Caitlin Clark. I didn't know Dan wrote an article until we started talking about, you know, Nike just rolling out Caitlin Clark's signature shoe in October. I go, wait, where's this been Dan did a deep dive, but also I can't have him on without talking about Brendan Sorsby as well. How surprised were you that his agent goes on a sports talk show and starts pointing fingers at the University of Cincinnati?
Dan Wetzel
First off, I give a little respect to South Korea. They get after it there covering Olympics there. I could go an hour, we could go an hour on this subject. I've covered, I covered 10 Olympics. I know these people, not just at the countries but in the, in the, in the media lounges. Dude, South Koreans, very, very strong.
John Wertheim
I like that.
Dan Wetzel
Very big. Good. They're like the Gonzaga. You're not thinking of them.
Dan Patrick
That's why.
Dan Wetzel
Lottery picker too in the lineup. Yeah, there.
John Wertheim
That's why you're the journalist. You are Dan.
Dan Wetzel
That's right. I can compare mid major basketball to world drinking rankings. Am I surprised that sore? I think Source B's camp is trying to throw the distract in any way possible. Look, as of what we know from any investigations so far, there's been nothing to the idea that Cincinnati knew. There was an alert once that came up that he had gambled. They questioned him and that was the only alert. You know, we'll see. Anything is possible in this world. But generally speaking, most people in college athletics or anywhere are terrified of sports wagering and are well aware that, you know, anything lacking compliance will cost them their career, if not their freedom. So it's the idea that there's a bunch of administrators and coaches at the University of Cincinnati that were sitting around saying, oh, we don't care. Is, is, is a, doesn't really hit common sense to me. So we'll see what happens.
John Wertheim
And the NFL has to let him into the supplemental draft, don't they? Like we haven't heard anything about, you know, Green. I was told a couple of days ago the reason why he wasn't able to announce his pro day is the NFL first had to acknowledge that he would be in the supplemental draft, therefore he could have a pro day.
Dan Wetzel
I don't, I think they have to, but, but this is the NFL, okay. They once suspended their, maybe their most famous player, Tom Brady for a month because they thought some footballs were deflated. You don't, you don't know what. They're going to make up the rules kind of as they go along. So I don't know where that stands officially, but I do expect Brendan Sourceby to be in the supplemental draft. Whether if you draft him, he is going to face further suspension or discipline at the, at the NFL level is still Unresolved.
John Wertheim
Also, I did a deep dive on Caitlin Clark and Nike and this rollout with the shoe. And she's been under contract since I think her junior year at Iowa. I.
Dan Wetzel
Yes.
John Wertheim
What, what happened? Why, why are we. I, I was shocked when I go, she doesn't have a signature shoe. Asia Wilson does. INSQ does. I what, what's the backstory here?
Dan Wetzel
Well, there's a lot and it's not just the signature shoe which can take a while to develop. And you want to design it. Right. And construct it and all that. And it's a big investment. There's only been one brief Caitlin Clark television commercial. There's very little promotion in stores. There's very little pop up events. There's almost nothing that links Caitlin Clark, arguably at least for a while, if not still the most popular athlete in the country, male or female, to Nike, who built their, their entire business on seizing people like Caitlin Clark. And you know, one name stars, LeBron, Michael Tiger, Serena Ronaldo, whatever it is, and marketing the heck out of them. So the shoe is one part of it. But even on their social media they barely play. So she has been on the back burner for Nike for most of these four years now. The first two are nil deals at Iowa and they certainly did some things to celebrate her, but not, not, not what like State Farm did. They were putting her right in national television campaigns with Jake from State Farm right away while she was still in college. And then certainly since she got to the wnba it has been a, it's been very, very little with Caitlin Clark even though she is, you know, she currently has three high rotation national advertising campaigns with State Farm where she stars on her own ones now Xfinity and with Gatorade and you've seen them all. And she has others with Eli Lilly and other companies. She's selling everything from Wilson back basketballs has a whole line. They say it's the most successful basketball line they had since Michael Jordan, Stanley drink cups, Gatorades, got towels, Panini America official card of the Dan Patrick Show. They've got a whole thing with her. Oh, just trying to help you out, Dan. I know, you know you gotta knock out the mortgage. Yeah, give you a little extra bump there. She's selling everything. She's everywhere except with Nike. And that's been the weirdest thing. It's the signature shoe as part of it. It's going to come out in October. That's five seasons they've had her and they're finally getting shoe out and four years and five seasons since they first signed her. But it goes into all the other stuff of like, why, what, what, what were we waiting for? Because if anything, I don't know if anybody can reach the popularity she had a couple years ago when she was finishing up at Iowa.
John Wertheim
Anybody willing to go on the record at Nike?
Dan Patrick
No.
Dan Wetzel
I mean, so there's a couple things here. One, Nike's been a extremely poorly run company. The last five years their stock is down over 70%, almost 75%. They've lost 200 billion in market valuation. Last year their revenue was down over 5 billion 10%. And that's at a time when Adidas was up 13%. So they have blown direct to consumer sales. They're dealing with all sorts of challenges. And in the Chinese market they've, they've lacked innovation. There's a lot of problems at Nike and Caitlin Clark would not solve that. She's not selling $5 billion in shoes, okay. But it's indicative that there is sort of a couple things. One that you, you just have pure dysfunction, a lot of paralysis by analysis. Why didn't we get this going sooner? Why didn't we jump on it earlier? And then you have the sort of the political realm where they, you know, in the women's basketball space, they had to get an Asia Wilson shoe out. Asia Wilson is a far more accomplished and better player than Caitlin Clark. She's a, I think four time mvp, three or four time champion, best player, best player in the world. And they had to get that shoe out. And Asia Wilson's an African American player. They hadn't had a single deal with an, with a, with an African American WNBA player since the last edition of the Cheryl Swoop shoe back in I think 2002. So was there some politics involved in that? All of these things are theories. I talked to lots of people work at Nike, lots of people that used to work at Nike, all off the record. And you know, any one of them could be it, any of them kind of put in together. There's a perfect storm. But Nike invested a ton of money in Caitlin Clark. They're paying her $28 million over eight years, but they just haven't activated it until apparently October. Maybe this summer they'll do some commercials.
John Wertheim
I think Nike introduced the first Jordan shoe three months into his rookie season.
Dan Wetzel
They did. They also got the LeBron out within seven months. Now shoes are a little different now, so maybe it takes a little longer. But again, to me, after the first season, the first season they had her junior year at Iowa when she took them to the championship game and the TV ratings were as high as NBA finals games and everybody was into Caitlin Clark and she was going to come back to me. That's what Nike and a lot of people in Nike said. We should have immediately tried to sign her to a long term deal and set up a shoe so that when she got through her senior year, right as she's entering the wnba, we have a shoe out there, but even if you don't do the shoe, there's other stuff. They've released a couple hoodies and T shirts here, but an apparel line. Again, commercials do not take huge investments or lead time. Social media posts, they virtually ignore her. All the different things that are really easy to do and when you know, if you read the story, the different people in the story, Will Sebastian was like, we couldn't, we couldn't put her, they just were buying anything with her name on like it didn't matter. And our, and all the companies would say when we put stuff on social media that we had a Caitlin Clark, here's Caitlin Clark film in our commercial or whatever we had. The numbers were just incredible. There was just an insatiable appetite for Caitlin Clark, particularly in 2024. I still think there is in 2026. It's just a one of the great marketing failures, sports marketing failures. And it's from Nike of all places, who almost invented sports marketing.
John Wertheim
Good to talk to you as always, Dan. Thanks for joining us.
Dan Wetzel
Thanks, Dan.
John Wertheim
That's Dan Wetzel at Edward Jones. We believe rich is more than caring about the latest and greatest. It's also taking care of of what gives your life meaning.
Dan Wetzel
That's why your dedicated financial advisor meets
John Wertheim
you where you are with personalized financial strategies that help protect what matters so
Dan Wetzel
you can preserve your progress while creating a path forward.
John Wertheim
The key to being rich is knowing what counts. Let's find your rich together. Edward Jones Member, SIPC Running a business shouldn't feel like surviving a software group project. One app for accounting, another for inventory, another for sales and somehow none of them talk to each other. That's where Odoo comes in. An all in one business management software that brings every part of your business together from sales and accounting to inventory and marketing, all in one powerful platform. No messy integrations, no bouncing between tabs, and best of all, no spreadsheets. Stop managing software and start managing your business with one unified system. Try for free today@odoo.com iheartradio that's O-O-O-O.com iheartradio we learned how to love dogs from the dogs that loved us and waited for us to get home from school. They were the dogs that raised us. We returned the love with Pedigree Dog Food. It was good then. It's better now. For 40 years, Pedigree has been bringing out the goodness in dogs. Every bowl serves up 100% of the nutrition your dog needs, supporting six health essentials. That's the Pedigree Goodness promise. Pedigree Good then. Better now.
Dan Patrick
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile. Com.
John Wertheim
Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees, extra default terms@mintmobile.com.
Dan Wetzel
this is an Iheart podcast.
John Wertheim
Guaranteed human.
Podcast by iHeartPodcasts and Dan Patrick Podcast Network
This episode of The Dan Patrick Show dives deep into the worlds of golf and sports marketing while maintaining Dan Patrick’s signature blend of humor and insightful conversation. The show explores everything from the challenges of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, the enduring impact of Tiger Woods, and the puzzling marketing strategy surrounding Caitlin Clark’s Nike partnership. Guests include Dan Hicks (NBC golf announcer), John Wertheim (60 Minutes and Sports Illustrated), and Dan Wetzel (Yahoo Sports).
Breaking Par vs. Walking on the Moon
Why Shinnecock is So Tough
Handling Adversity as a Broadcaster
Announcer Empathy Roleplay
Common Golf Announcer Clichés
Greg Norman’s Heartbreak
Nelly Korda’s Work Ethic
Xander Schauffele as a Pick
Phil Mickelson’s 2018 US Open Incident
[31:07] John Wertheim: “I was surprised, bordered on shock, that Nike is just putting out the Caitlin Clark shoe... She’s been signed up since she was a junior in college.”
[31:15] Dan Patrick: “It’s always been a bit of a mystery... why they wouldn’t jump all over this.”
[32:31] Patrick on Clark’s media savvy: “She was completely ready for this. She was a lot of fun to talk to. She’s good company, she’s very cool... She understands the landscape... again, why Nike?... why it took till June of 2026 when you’ve got Caitlin Clark on your roster...”
[33:35] Wertheim: “You have the feeling like Caitlin Clark was there and the structure around her was not. And you just hope it catches up.”
[41:09] Wertheim: “What happened? Why are we... she doesn’t have a signature shoe... what’s the backstory here?”
[41:24] Wetzel:
“Even on their social media, they barely play. So she has been on the back burner for Nike for most of these four years now... It’s been very, very little with Caitlin Clark even though she is... the most popular athlete in the country, male or female, to Nike, who built their entire business on seizing people like Caitlin Clark…”
[43:59] On Nike’s internal challenges:
“Nike’s been an extremely poorly run company the last five years... Caitlin Clark would not solve that... but it’s indicative... you just have pure dysfunction, a lot of paralysis by analysis.”
[45:49] On the timeline:
“Nike introduced the first Jordan shoe three months into his rookie season... They also got LeBron out within seven months. Now shoes are a little different now, so maybe it takes a little longer. But again, to me... we should have immediately tried to sign her to a long term deal and set up a shoe so that... right as she’s entering the WNBA, we have a shoe out there.”
[47:25] Wetzel: “It’s just one of the great marketing failures, sports marketing failures. And it’s from Nike of all places, who almost invented sports marketing.”
This episode balances serious sports journalism—digging into golf’s greatest challenges and contemporary scandals—with highly relevant cultural and marketing critiques, especially surrounding Caitlin Clark. The panelists’ sharp insights, rich stories, and banter make for an engaging listening experience—even if you missed the live show, this summary delivers all the key moments.