← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Colin Cowherd Podcast Prime Cuts - Dr. J Talks Talks A.B.A., Done With The Draft Combine, Bears Aren’t Moving To Indiana, LeBron’s Importance To NBA
00:40:00
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- [00:00]
Julius Erving
This is an I heart podcast.
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Colin Cowherd
Guaranteed human
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Podcast Announcer
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- [01:04]
Colin Cowherd
Today's broadcast brought to you by Ferguson Home where it all comes together. Whether you're a homeowner working on a remodel or a pro managing multiple projects, Ferguson Home is where great ideas become stunning spaces. Ferguson Home is designed for the way you want to shop. Experience today's top products by top brands like LG firsthand by visiting a Ferguson Home showroom where you'll explore stunning displays featuring today's latest products and innovations. Or browse their extended selection of products online@Fergusonholm.com Security usually means extra steps and complications, but with Apple Pay, secure payments are simple. Your transactions are authenticated with face id, touch ID or passcode, so security is is built in when you check out. Plus, your name isn't shared with merchants and they don't see your actual card number. Whether you're shopping in store online or an app, protecting your money should be simple. Pay the Apple way. Terms apply. I'll say it up front, I don't usually endorse supplements. Most promise shortcuts. Anybody who's done real work knows shortcuts fail. But I like EM drives. Every morning I put that protein powder in my coffee. It's practical. As you get older, energy dips and weight comes comes easier. That's biology. EmDrive boost and burn support steady energy metabolism and fat burning so effort actually counts. Clinically tested ingredients find that it sprouts. Amazon or mdrive for men.com mdrive for men who still show up the volume. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, American Beverage. If you think about some of the most iconic drinks in the country the ones you grab at a barbecue, the ones you raise to celebrate your team that have been part of your story for decades. Coke, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi. There's something people don't always think about. The companies behind those brands are still making their drinks right here in the US While there's a lot of talk about bringing manufacturing back, America's beverage companies never left. They're American companies making American products with American workers in America's hometown. So 275,000 men and women across all 50 states. Real jobs, good paying jobs, the kind of jobs you can raise a family on. So more than 100 years, those brands have been part of everyday lives. And they're still here, still investing, still operating in communities around the country. So if you care about strong local economies and companies that walk the walk, check out the good work and what they're doing@wedeliverforamerica.org. Well, like the rest of you, I love a good sports documentary. And when I heard there was a doc on Amazon prime about the ABA for many reasons, I was fascinated. It's called Soul Power, the Legends of the aba. So I've said many times on my show the herd, 10 times, 15 times. The first basketball player I fell in love with was Julius Irving. But I was born in 1964 as Julius now joins us. And I didn't watch sports until 1972. I remember it clearly on a black and white TV. Julius. I watched the Miami Dolphins at the time, Washington Redskins, super bowl, Dolphins won 14, seven. It was about that time. I'm six years old, seven years old. I'm getting into sports. So my mom bought me a subscription to Sports Illustrated so I could watch. Baseball was the national pastime on tv. College football, college basketball was big. But like anything else in life, the one thing I couldn't get was the aba. So I had to rely on the Sporting News, which actually did ABA Guides and Sports Illustrated twice. Put you on the COVID I remember this. So I'm in my formative years and I'm like, who's Dr. J? Nobody's called Dr. J. So because I didn't get. You didn't have a TV contract because I didn't get ABA games as a Seattle kid, my parents bought me an ABA ball. So it's fascinating to me. So let's go back. And I've always felt that the NBA should include ABA numbers and stats. And the reason I do is something I think you'll believe in that. I didn't know this about the aba, Julius. I knew about the NUGGETS and the Spurs. I knew about you, I knew about how many good players there were. I did not know much about the exhibition games with the NBA and in which the ABA teams clobbered them regularly. So let, let, so let's, let's talk, let's, let's start with that. The NBA in the 70s was considered a little white and overcoached and the ABA was more stylistic, it was more fun, it was more fashionable, it was a little rowdy. When you matched up against those NBA teams, was there a chip on you, I know, your league's shoulder facing like the adult, the parent league that you knew in many instances you were superior to?
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Julius Erving
Yeah, I played in two of those games and ABA versus NBA. And the excitement surrounding it was unbelievable because it was just the exhibition season and you know, we had training camp, play exhibition games and then play the regular season. So everyone always looked forward to the regular season and the playoffs and that was the big deal. But these exhibition games against the NBA, you know, became a big deal more so for the ABA than the NBA because the ABA was the league that was trying to establish itself, also trying to prove it itself worthy and you know, wanted to have some bragging rights. So you beat an NBA team, they're going to make excuses. They're going to say, well, our guys aren't in shape, right, it's only a practice game or whatever. But you know, the ABA guys who were probably younger and more excitable, kind of like young NBA players are now, you know, looking forward to having the chip on their shoulder and all of that good stuff. So, so, so winning those games, especially if you're playing on your, on your home court because the city that you're in, you know, would always stick their chest out a little bit and say, hey, yeah, you know, we knocked those guys off and you know, the league's been around longer and you know, those names are known. People know Oscar Robinson's name, Clyde Frazier, Wilt Chamberlain, you know, Wes Onsell. They know those guys names and you know, we took them down. Those are the same guys. You know, what guys, if they cut, they bleed just like we do. If they get elbows, they bend over, they act like they're hurt just like we do or whatever. So you know, we're all human beings. And because you wear a title and you're, you're, you wear a moniker or whatever, that's not going to make you different, that's going to necessarily make you greater. So, so it was a good confidence booster for us and you know, a lot of people who went to those games alive became believers. And also, you know, that served to feed the cause. And the cause was, you know, we had seen the AFL and the NFL. You know, that's right. Someone league. So we had witnessed that. And globally, the same type of thing was happening. It was happening in soccer, and it was happening in other sports that are played universally, not necessarily in the United States. So. So that became a mission for the ownership, the players. You know, my opinion was I came out of school after my junior year. I had played two varsity seasons, and our team had been invited to the nit, even though I reckon was good enough to be invited to the NCAA tournament. We weren't and felt like we were snubbed. And after that, after my junior year, I got approached by an agent, and the numbers that they started talking about, you know, were comparable to the best players in the NBA. And they were saying, this is going to go away. I mean, if the league folds, it's going to go away. And if the NBA continues to, you know, maybe put you out of business or, you know, maintains a superiority complex, then those numbers are going to go away. And, you know, 100,000 is going to turn into 25, 30,000 or whatever. So, you know, I took the deal. I took the deal. It cost me a lot because I was. I had to forego being an Olympian, and I had played in the Olympic development program, and, you know, at my size and with my game, I was leading scorer and rebounder in the Olympic development program. We went over to Russia, Poland and Finland, played, and, you know, I was a shoe to make the team. But that, that era, the representing your country and playing for the United States of America in. In 1970, 71, 72, was not the most popular thing to do. It's not like we were just dying to do it. So I chose. I chose the pro road, pro route. And at that time, you know, this is 20 years before pros were allowed to play in the Olympics, so you had to be an amateur to play. And, you know, sorry about, you know, getting off this subject, but I'm just kind of. This fail space is very, very important in terms of the ABA story and the ABA docuseries, because there's so much to it beyond just basketball. You know, there's the culture, you know, that we have, there's the racial tension, you know, that was evident. And then there's, you know, just the global situation where, you know, we're still learning things. And there are a lot of things that have gone on for hundreds of years that haven't been fixed yet. So who's going to fix this? Who's going to fix this? So basketball couldn't be the most important thing for me in my life, but it was, it was, it was the path that I needed to take.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah, yeah. What's interesting, because I grew up in the 70s, you know, the NBA was not a rich league in the 70s. In fact, I can remember the NBA Finals being on tape delay after the 11 o' clock news. Yeah. Young fans now that can watch every game, every night. So I remember NBA teams at that time. Julius traveled on commercial first flight out of town, out of Seattle. They traveled. So what was. That's right. So what was travel like? Hotels travel in the aba, which was financially in a tougher spot than even the NBA in the early 70s.
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Julius Erving
Yeah. You know, we didn't have the top notch hotels. We had what was available to us. We had roommates. You know, everybody had to pick a roommate. So no single rooms. I didn't experience a single room until I got in the NBA and I was in Philadelphia and I didn't want a single room. Actually, Steve Mix was my roommate for five seasons. That was my boy and I learned a lot from him and he learned a lot from me. So, yeah, the accommodation piece, I don't know, you know, if your college team, you know, was in the Big Ten or maybe, you know, out there in the Pac 12 or whatever, you know, maybe the travel was a little better, maybe the hotel accommodations were a little better, you know, but you know, I played in with the Minutemen, formerly the UMass Redmond, and we were in the Yankee Conference. Right. So I travel, I travel with us a lot by bus. I mean, we, we bust over to Buffalo, we bust down to Penn, Pennsylvania to play Penn. And then all throughout New England, we played Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, you know, all of those schools and you were built for it. And we took buses. So. So the move to the ABA was actually a step up in terms of travel and in terms of hotel accommodation.
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Colin Cowherd
So I'm from Seattle. So another player who was groundbreaking was Spencer Haywood. So I, Yeah, so, you know, I grew up not only with a downtown Freddie Brown, dj, Gus Williams, Jack Sigma, Sonics, I grew up with Spencer Haywood, John Brisker, the young teams. And I tell people this because for young fans, the aba, this is why I supported the live tour to the pga. My takeaway is, folks, watch what Lyft and Uber did to taxis. You need Disruptors in society and The ABA was really the, one of the first disruptors in sports in this country. And when, I mean you were a nine time All Star, five in the NBA, four in the ABA, you were a three time, you were a four
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Julius Erving
time NBA, 16 time All Star.
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Colin Cowherd
So you were six.
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Julius Erving
I was an all star every season. But in terms of all, probably that was five in the NBA and four first team in the NBA. I already played there five years, so I was second team the other year.
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Colin Cowherd
So in the history of American basketball, professional basketball, there's a real argument that the most unrewarded, overlooked player is you. That you were, you spent probably 40% of your best days, you know, you're in your athletic prime in the aba. Have you ever thought, I mean, do you regret that decision? Have you ever thought, man, because the Olympics back in 72 wasn't what they are now. We watched for gymnastics, we watched for a lot of things. The Dream Team kind of made Olympic basketball a showcase. But when I look at you, I think of all the great players, you probably have been overlooked more than any great player. Because I remember in the 70s turning on the TV, I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and watching you against the Blazers and thinking, what am I watching? Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever had regrets about your journey?
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Julius Erving
It's an excellent question. And I kind of stand on the ground that the journey that I took, the path that I took, made me who I am today. You know, never one to ego trip and feel like I deserve more than I received. I'm more sensitive to the guys who get no recognition. I at least get some recognition. I was on eight covers of Sports Illustrated and multiple colors of sport magazine and you know, participated in a lot of charitable endeavors which led to endorsements.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah, shoe deal, Converse.
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Julius Erving
Yeah, yeah, my shoe deal with Converse and it's balding and you know, my invitation to become a Coca Cola bottler with Bruce Llewellyn. And so, so there were things that happened. I've had a good life. I've had, had a very, very good life. And could it be better? I don't know. It could be different. It could be different. But my empathy goes to the guys who are passed on, don't have the recognition their families, they don't have the financial support of pensions and gifting. So there's things that are more important than my ego. And I think that my statistics can be matched with anybody's. I mean, you know, they're the guys who came after me and played better in the NBA than they Played in the aba. And my stats in the ABA were probably a little better than the NBA, but I was playing with a different team. I played my whole career with the Philadelphia 76ers. The first day I got there, the general manager came in and said, look, we got George McGinnis here, we got Doug Collins, so we don't need you to score 30 points a game. And I've never experienced that where I've gone. And the coaches told me to tone it down, or general manager has said, tone it down. And so there were bursts in which the Dr. J of the ABA came out. But most of the time, it was, as you had said about the NBA, you know, to slow down. Structure.
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Colin Cowherd
Structure.
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Julius Erving
Playing. Playing a certain type of game. So I was encouraged to play that type of game, although inside of me, you know, there was always that ability to do more. And who asked. Who asked an athlete to do less? Nobody. It's kind of crazy.
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Colin Cowherd
Well, it's interesting because so much of your journey is fascinating. And the aforementioned Philadelphia 76ers is one of the first teams I loved. And they had Steve Mix, ABA, you, ABA. George McGinnis, ABA. Bobby Jones, ABA. It was an ABA all star team. Caldwell Jones.
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Julius Erving
Yeah.
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Colin Cowherd
So essentially, that 76ers team was an ABA team winning the NBA Finals, was it not?
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Julius Erving
Absolutely. Going and losing to Portland and winning ultimately in 83 against the Lakers. We had met much ABA representation there.
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Colin Cowherd
Yep.
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Julius Erving
And plus, you know, the guys who didn't get the ABA experience, I always, you know, taught them things that I brought over from the aba, you know, and I used to tell Andrew, Tony, I'd say, you know, George Gervin came in my second year in Virginia, and the practice was over and he wanted to go home. And I was like, gee, we got work to do. You ever hear overtime? So we would stay in the gym, and it was at this Jewish community center. We would stay in the gym and we'd play one on one and, you know, maybe put in the extra hour, extra hour and a half and go home exhausted. And when Andrew Toney came in, it was the same thing with him. I said, look, you know, you're gonna be my new Iceman Gervin, because you're really good. And. And I could use the work myself. So, you know, I would keep him afterwards. And that. That was something that Ray Scott showed me in the ABA about, you know, staying after putting in the extra time and, you know, really the other things about taking care of yourself and then the other things about just some fundamental things that you need to do during the course of the game. You don't have to always jump as high as you possibly can. And you see it in today's game where guys, they step back and shoot set shots. Yeah, whatever. So, so the jump shot, you know, is a little bit overstated because you know the true jump shot where you go to your pinnacle in your peak and then you let it go, you don't have to do that. It actually takes more energy and it's actually a risk reward shot because you probably, if you probably will shoot less of a percentage from shooting that way as opposed to stepping back and shooting said shot.
- [21:40]
Colin Cowherd
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- [25:45]
Danny Parkins
Well, so first of All I find the story to be joyless because. And so when I get, when I go on the score and, you know, I still follow all those people on social media, and they're all my friends and colleagues in Chicago media. I hate how much they feel like they have to talk about it. Because, yes, it, like it matters where the Bears play football, but this is. This is a story of billionaires trying to get a better tax rate for a stadium to make them.
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Colin Cowherd
Yes.
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Danny Parkins
Like they're going to be the Chicago Bears, whether they're on the lakefront, Northwest Indiana or Arlington Heights, they will be the Chicago Bears, just like they are the New York Giants, even though they play in Jersey. They're the Dallas Cowboys, even though they play in Arlington. And so this is, this is just about a family, the McCaskeys who inherited a football team. They are not wealthy like the Pritzkers from Hyatt or some of the poorest among the poorest owners. Their wealth is a team in which inherited. And there's a ton of kids, some of whom want to sell the team and cash in, others of whom feel an obligation to keep it in the family. And it seems like they're going to, but they don't have, you know, millions and billions of dollars of their own outside of. Outside of football. And they've played in Soldier Field, small stadium in the NFL, and they didn't own. They didn't own it. Like, I remember Kanye west had a concert the weekend of a Bears game where he brought his childhood home onto Soldier Field and lit it on fire. And so the Bears then played a game like 18 hours later with just a patch of dead grass in the middle because they didn't own the stadium. High school kids would play soccer tournaments and you know what I mean? So it was just.
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Colin Cowherd
It's been known as the worst surface in the league parks, and Rec in Chicago runs it. It's atrocious.
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Danny Parkins
Correct. And it's finally gotten better recently after like literally decades of being the worst. But so the point it's impossible to get in and out of, the renovation was pretty ugly. The field was terrible, and it wasn't big enough to host a Super bowl. And it didn't have a roof so you can host the Final Four. Other than that, they nailed it. And so then now it's like, okay, so the McCaskeys want to own their stadium, fine. But they don't have the money to do it. Well, J.B. pritzker, as you mentioned, smart business guy, Illinois Blue State, it's not Very politically popular to have publicly funded stadiums.
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Colin Cowherd
Right.
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Danny Parkins
You saw what happened with the Chiefs in Missouri and Kansas, couple of red states. And they're getting laughed at for how much public funding they're going to pony up for the new Chief Stadium. So Indiana, red state, they're going to do it or they're going to offer to do it, but my gut tells me they go to Arlington Heights. I don't think George McCaskey has it in them to have the Bears leave the state of Illinois when he inherited it from, you know, Virginia. McCaskey marries George House, the whole thing. Like I just. They bought Arlington racetrack. They spent $300 million or. No, they spent more than that. It's 320 acres of land for however many hundreds of millions of dollars they bought it for. They're not real estate developers. They bought that land for a reason. So this is all just a game of chicken. It's all just to get Arlington Heights to lower their property tax rate. And so I find the story to be joyless because it's literally just about can the McCaskeys increase their net worth by building an entertainment complex around the new stadium that they will finally own. I just don't care about it that much, to be totally candid with you. It just. It. Who cares? Who cares? They're going to be the. Caleb Williams is going to be the quarterback of the Chicago Bears call with Ben Johnson calling the plays. Whether it's an Arlington, Arlington Heights or Northwest Indiana, I honestly don't care very much.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah, Arlington Heights is close to my house, so I'm obviously don't feel like going to Hammond, Indiana.
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Danny Parkins
Can I tell you one thing about Hammond, Indiana? It's where the casinos.
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Colin Cowherd
And there's probably only one thing about Hammond, Indiana.
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Danny Parkins
Okay. So it's where I would gamble because that's where the. You could, that's where there were casinos. So it's right over the border. Like it's northwest Indiana is Chicagoland. It's the, they call it the region. Like I had radio partners, you know, who lived there because of the taxes and it was so much. You could work in Chicago, pay the nine dollar toll and then pay way fewer taxes in Indiana. But I would, I would live in Wrigleyville and drive there every day and play poker when I was 22 years old because that's where all of the casinos were now. It's disgusting. It's, it's Gary, it smells bad. It's smokestacks. It's. It's prison. It's terrible. But, you know, cheap land and property taxes. So maybe they'll build a stadium there. I doubt it. I doubt it. Where do you think they're going to go?
- [30:50]
Colin Cowherd
Arlington Heights? I don't buy it at all. This is a blue. But, I mean, the Niners play out in Santa Clara, so. California is such a massive state, but there's nothing in Indiana. Even Indianapolis is a snooze. I mean, you know, a state's a bad food state. When you say, where do you go to eat in Indianapolis? And everybody gives you one restaurant, St. Elmo's. It's just. And it's nothing against Indiana, but, I mean, there's. It's. The state's not wealthy. The state's. It's just not a place that local taxpayers in Indiana don't care about. The Bears. They love the Colts. You know what the best part about Indiana is? Bloomington. That is a great town. Bloomington's a great college town.
- [31:29]
Danny Parkins
Sure. And listen, I've had plenty of good times in South Bend going to football games. It's just. I don't. They hired Kevin Warren to get this thing done because he helped spearhead the stadium for the Vikings, which is arguably the best stadium in the NFL. And he just came in with a lot of bluster, being like, we're going to get shovels in the ground.
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Podcast Announcer
He.
- [31:53]
Danny Parkins
He promised shovels in the ground in 2025. We're recording this on March 1st of 2026, and we're still playing one state against another and three different locations against each other, and there's no shovels in the ground happening anytime soon. So it's just. It's. It's a. It's a manipulative story. The Bears are leaking a ton of stuff to a ton of local. Oh, yeah, that's eating it up, which drives me insane. Like, it's. This is just a game of political chicken and just let it play out. They'll end up in Arlington Heights and everything will be fine.
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Colin Cowherd
It's interesting with LeBron, you know, the Dodgers owners now on the Lakers, and, you know, they let go of Cody Bellinger and Scott Sager and Trey Turner on the batting title and Manny Machado in his prime, which I was surprised with Zach Grinke. They don't. They'll let go of people. And by the way, all the analytics tell you that Luke and LeBron on the floor don't work because. And. And for obvious reasons, one, they both need the ball. Two, both are. I mean, LeBron is now the second slowest player in the league. So, like, the. The tandem of Luke and LeBron is, like, it's a disaster on the floor. But not to include myself in this, but I saw this week, like, Chris Berman announced his retirement, and it'll be, like, in a year, and he'll have worked, like, 50 years at ESPN. And that's Jeter, that's Kobe. When you play for one team, that's Dan Marino, right? So there's this love. You know, I've bounced around to different companies. I've been a bit of a mercenary. You know, have microphone, will travel. What's the best offer? What's the best commerce? That was best for my family. That's why I did it. I could have stayed everywhere if things worked out. But the downside of being a mercenary in basketball and broadcasting, in politics, the downside to being a mercenary is there's not a lot of romanticism about it. Right? Like, so LeBron, you could show him the door tomorrow, Magic Johnson walks into that arena. He's still more beloved than LeBron. Like, to this day. He walks into the staples, and it's fascinating to watch. The crowd stands. It's like, ooh, there's Magic. It's like you've never seen them. You're all seasoned dicket holders. So my take is, the advantage the Dodgers have is you can let LeBron go and people will be like, well, building a statue. And I don't think, like. Like, it's not Jordan, it's not Pippen. No, it's. It's not the 85 bears. It's. Well. And I defended LeBron's mobility, but, like, LA is distracted. Like, nobody's going to care.
- [34:21]
Danny Parkins
No. So a couple things. First of all, we will romanticize you, Colin, whenever you want to hang it up. I promise you. I promise you we will give you your flowers. No, don't worry. You're very important to all of us and the volume. So, yeah, you are. You are the son of which we all know. So don't worry. You'll get. You'll get your flowers and your goodbye tour, but you're. You're not. You're not going anywhere anytime soon. LeBron means more to the NBA than he means to the Lakers.
- [34:55]
Colin Cowherd
I totally agree.
- [34:56]
Danny Parkins
But, you know, like, I wouldn't worry if I were. If I owned the Lakers about saying goodbye to LeBron, but I would worry if I was Adam Silver about saying goodbye to LeBron. LeBron still matters. He is still interesting. People still care about him.
- [35:13]
Colin Cowherd
I went to the Bulls game with LeBron. He was the most Popular player.
- [35:18]
Danny Parkins
I mean, of course, he was the most popular. He's one of the most famous people in the world. He's one of the most famous. He's one of the greatest athletes ever, any sport. He's. It's remarkable. It's remarkable. Like, he. He's taking up golf, and I can't get enough of it. Like, I like watching the clips of LeBron trying to learn golf because it's like, oh, man, LeBron. He's just like me. He's.
- [35:43]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [35:43]
Danny Parkins
Duffing it out of the rough. Like, he's. I would imagine, like, obviously, I have no idea what it's like to be LeBron, obviously, but I gotta think if I was him or in his camp, there would be a sinister part of me that when he retires, would wonder what shows like ours on both networks would talk about. We've spent. I mean, you've been at this long with me. I've been doing national TV for a year and a half. How many thousands of hours between the two networks do you think LeBron has programmed?
- [36:20]
Colin Cowherd
Oh, I said this to a. I said this to a baseball executive 10 years ago. I was about a year before I left espn and I told this baseball executive, it was in Connecticut and there were a bunch of baseball people there. I said, do you understand? Nobody talks about your sport. And you may look at first take and you may. You know, my show wasn't a thing at FS1 yet, but I mentioned four or five popular hosts and Tony and Mike and all the, you know, get. I don't even think get up was a show yet, but I said, you know, Mike. And Mike, I think was Mike. And I said, nobody talks baseball. I said, do you understand how many free hours the NFL and the NBA get on these networks? It's insane. Now, baseball, Ohtani, that's why the Dodgers, you and I have said this. They're great for baseball. They got a villain again for the first time in 20 years. Like, they need a villain, they need a bad guy. So, yeah, no, I think there isn't, really. In fact, I've noticed. Danny, when I talk NBA now, I talk Knicks. I don't talk players. I talk Knicks. I talk. Oh, I don't talk Warriors. I would say Celtics, Knicks, Lakers. I don't really talk a player. I really don't. And I think that's one of the challenges the NBA has because it's always been its most popular. When there's a galvanizing or a polarizing figure to lead the way, NFL Combine is something And I think we touched on this earlier. It ebb and flows on what I talk about. College football got too regional. I stopped talking about it to a large degree. Now it's back. Jim Harbaugh brought it back. The Big Ten brought it back. Now I talk about it all the time. The NFL combine. I am out on. I am out on the NFL the last two years and I.
- [38:09]
Danny Parkins
Were you ever in on it?
- [38:10]
Colin Cowherd
Yes.
- [38:11]
Danny Parkins
You were?
- [38:11]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. I think, I think, I think for a long time it was just NFL. And I loved. I like the convergence of college and pro. I love the draft. I love the combine.
- [38:23]
Danny Parkins
That makes sense.
- [38:23]
Colin Cowherd
But it's so rehearsed. Many of the stars don't show up. I don't care about people's hand size. I really don't care. And the truth is, I think one of the things that's really smart, one of the reasons I love the way the LA Rams do business is they're willing to say things and do things that other people won't. They just said several years ago, we're not going that we do our own homework. We have tape. We can go to the Senior Bowl. We're not doing a quick 15 minute interview where Johnny Manziel had NFL teams believing he was Peyton Manning. It's like, let's ride. I never want. It's a bullshit seminar. And it's just polished vis a vis agents. These guys come in with talking points. They train in Phoenix. You know, everybody runs their fastest 40. Everybody's got abs. You know, it's like everybody has their best vertical. It's football by October 12th. Nobody runs a four three, not even the four three guys. They've got a bad hip, they've got an ankle sprain. Like the whole league's beat up by week six. It's just a sport of attrition. You're just trying to get your best players available, like down the stretch. So I find myself like, we know who's going to go number one. Is there anything that you have moved out of? Like, I'm just not. I was never a home Run Derby guy, for instance. I was never. So that I was never in. I didn't leave it Pro Bowl. I've joked I've never watched four plays. I think the last time I watched the Pro Bowl, Walter Abercrombie was a running back for the Baylor Bears and the Steelers briefly. I don't even know where he played. Like, I remember watching it. He had a big run. I think it was him. So I don't, I don't Watch that combine. I used to, it doesn't do a thing for me now. I turned it on for 20 minutes today and I moved over to the NBA and said, more interested.
- [40:07]
Danny Parkins
Yeah, so the, the combine, like, that was one that I always, I, I understood it because the NFL is just the cash cow and it's the thing that makes the whole business go. But like, man, these networks really invested in their combine coverage. They're, they're on live for the whole time. You know, Rich Eisen is running the 40. Like, he's participating. Like, you know what I mean? Like, they made it into, like big business and big tv. And the whole time I was like, this is the underwear Olympics for a draft that, like, I'm not sure we, like, should be having. And it just like they, it's between all the college football tape and the in person interviews and the pro days and like, the number one pick never throws. Like, it's just, like, it's just go get your height and your weight measured, basically, like, so I just, I never was that enthralled by it and was kind of amazed that these networks could get eight hours a day of televised content out of it. So I've never been a huge combine guy. Regular season college basketball is something that I very much used to love and
- [41:17]
Colin Cowherd
now really, I think America did.
- [41:19]
Danny Parkins
Yeah, I used to love it. And part of it, part of it was age too, to be honest with you. Like, just like I went to Syracuse, that that program mattered then I worked in Kansas City, so I was around ku. That program mattered. Good college basketball markets. But then, like you, you grow further. You grow up, you grew further away from your alma mater. You move to a pro sport market, you realize that, like, you know, you doesn't matter. Like you, you doesn't. You can go there 10 and eight in the big 10 and make the tournament and then make a run. So like, one game doesn't mean all that much. So your regular season college basketball has lost me tremendously.
- [42:00]
Julius Erving
The volume.
- [42:03]
Colin Cowherd
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- [42:27]
Danny Parkins
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- [42:28]
Colin Cowherd
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- [42:30]
Danny Parkins
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- [42:37]
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- [43:07]
Colin Cowherd
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- [44:07]
Chelsea Handler
Seattle this is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. After the Big Game, like most people, I kept thinking about the commercials, and there was one that stayed with me. It was from the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate. And it wasn't loud or flashy. It showed a Jewish kid being targeted at school and another student who chose not to ignore it. As someone who is Jewish, that moment felt very real to me. Not dramatic, just familiar. And what struck me was how clearly it showed that hate doesn't always announce itself, but the impact is still huge. If you saw the Blue Square spot during the Big game, it's worth thinking about. And if you want to show support, sharing the Blue Square is one small way to do that.
- [44:46]
Julius Erving
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [44:48]
Colin Cowherd
Guaranteed Human.