THE HERD – HOUR 1 – LeBron James & The Decision 2.0, Sam Darnold Remains Underrated

Summary

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The Herd with Colin Cowherd – Hour 1: LeBron’s Decision 2.0, the “Ring Chase,” and the Sam Darnold Paradox

Date: July 13, 2026
Podcast: The Herd with Colin Cowherd – iHeartPodcasts and The Volume
Host: Colin Cowherd
Guests/Co-Hosts: Show analysts

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Episode Overview

This hour of The Herd focuses on two central storylines dominating the sports landscape:

1. LeBron James’ impending free agency decision (dubbed “The Decision 2.0”) and the cultural narrative around “ring chasing” in NBA careers.
2. The ongoing undervaluation and under-recognition of quarterback Sam Darnold in the NFL, examining his remarkable win record versus how league insiders seemingly underrate him.

Other discussions include the challenge of global soccer dominance (relative to technology innovation), the WNBA’s challenges with newfound popularity, and a breakdown of controversial soccer refereeing moments.

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Main Topics and Key Discussion Points

1. LeBron James & The “Ring Chaser” Narrative

Starts [03:15]
Theme: Exploring public criticism of NBA stars (especially LeBron) for joining contenders, contrasting this with how “job-hopping for success” is usually celebrated elsewhere in American life.

Key Points

• Colin draws analogies to bolster his argument that NBA "ring chasing" labels are hypocritical:

  • "If you took a job at Nvidia, would your buddies, your wife, your friends say, ‘What a ring chaser? That’s the easy way out?’" [03:38]
  • Compares it to celebrated career moves in other sports and professions like Ohtani joining the Dodgers or top talents choosing powerhouse colleges.

• LeBron’s Options:

  • Philadelphia is the logical basketball choice: “He should go to Philadelphia. It’s the best team by far, best chance to win a championship. Who cares what bots say on the Internet?” [04:13]
  • But Philadelphia lacks a personal connection for LeBron, unlike the Lakers (recent years frustrated him due to teammates' lack of durability) and Cleveland (chemistry issues).
  • Golden State offers nostalgia, yet realistically is “like a boys trip in your 50s to Vegas” — unsustainable for real title contention [06:27].
  • Colin dismisses “ring chasing” as a negative, calling it “the dumbest argument in the world.”

Notable Quote:

• Colin Cowherd: “Every other person on the planet… I’ve never once said, ‘I want to go work with lesser management.’ You know what I like is bad teammates that need the ball and don’t play defense. That’s what I’d like to do.” [05:48]

• The real fear, according to Colin (and the Rich Paul camp), is the optics: “The whole fear about Philadelphia from the Rich Paul group is… it would be viewed as ring chasing. No, it would be viewed as meeting contemporaries that have put the commitment in you have.” [06:24]

Co-host Perspective & Rich Paul Excerpt (LeBron’s Agent)

Starts [09:21]

• Co-host/Analyst: “There’s a seriousness that comes with this. There’s a competitiveness that comes. We know how hard it is to win championships.” [09:22]
• “He’s not chasing the ring. … When you’ve worked this hard to position yourself, who wouldn’t take advantage of that?” [09:43]
• The group affirms the double standard for NBA stars and suggests LeBron should be free to select the best situation available.

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2. The Impossibility of Buying Soccer Glory

Starts [10:15]
Theme: Contrasts how money can quickly buy success in American sports (MLB, NFL, college football) but this logic fails in global soccer.

Key Points

• “In baseball, the Dodgers … plus the brilliant deferred payment plan has put them a leg ahead… In the NFL, you can buy immediate success. If not a Super Bowl, hire a Harbaugh. That usually helps. But you cannot do it in international soccer.” [11:10]
• Even the most resourced soccer nations (England, Brazil) go decades between World Cups. “Money has a ceiling… And for Americans, we don’t like to hear that.” [12:46]
• Soccer’s global club exclusivity is compared to Augusta National: “In my opinion, the two most difficult sports clubs to join in the world are Augusta National and elite World Cup level soccer franchises.” [10:41]
• Technology analogies ("no country leads forever") illustrate why soccer dynasties are rare: “Nobody leads everything forever. When’s the last time we had back to back World Cup champions? It’s been forever.” [12:04]
• Americans must accept that even with investment, breaking into soccer’s top tier is far harder than in US sports.

Notable Quote:

• Colin Cowherd: “Few nations bust into the top 10. It’s not like college football where Indiana can buy their way into a national title.” [13:53]

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3. Sam Darnold Is Still Underrated

Starts [19:18]
Theme: After recent NFL rankings, Colin spotlights Sam Darnold’s consistent winning — despite multiple teams and systems — and puzzles over his continued exclusion from elite QB lists.

Key Points

• ESPN’s latest quarterback rankings exclude Darnold; meanwhile, he’s quietly posted back-to-back 14-win seasons with different teams.
• Darnold’s resume: “He has the highest win percentage of any quarterback in the league. More than Mahomes. Lamar Jackson. He’s 32 and 9.” [20:40]
• Four teams, four coaches, four coordinators, four owners — same success. “Almost 100 passer rating. All started once he was benched in Carolina, got the job back, went 4 and 2.” [20:55]
• Christian McCaffrey’s glowing assessment: “When I first met him in Carolina, from the jump, I was like, this guy’s a dude… this is one of the best players I’ve been around, period.” [21:23]
• Strong Bill Parcells analogy: “The old Bill Parcells. Whatever team he went to, he won. Whatever the environment — won.” [24:30]
• The league is stuck in first-impression bias: “Images are powerful. Those first images are incredibly powerful.” [23:50]
• Darnold’s production outpaces many “media darlings” (ie. Joe Burrow), yet executives “don’t know what to do.”

Notable Quote:

• Colin Cowherd: “Herbert’s never won a playoff game. Dak has one. Burrow can’t stay healthy, can’t make the playoffs again. ... yet the data says Darnold’s just healthier, more productive, and the league still can’t see it.” [25:35]

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4. World Cup Controversy & England/Argentina Breakdown

Starts [26:13]
Theme: Game-changing referee decision in the Argentina-Switzerland match and the unpredictability of VAR/replay in major tournaments.

Key Points

• Switzerland gets a red card (second yellow for simulation/diving) late in a tied quarterfinal, swinging the game to Argentina.
• Debate about replay (VAR): “95% of the time it’s an asset. ... The rest, it just clouds and muddies a smaller percentage of issues.” [27:05]
• Colin proposes officials should err on the side of letting players decide games, especially in high-stakes moments.

Memorable Moment:

• Colin Cowherd: “I don’t think you can send someone off with 20 minutes left on a red card in a tie game in the quarterfinals. How could you do that?” [26:57]

Gambling Angle & England’s Semi-Final

• England favored to advance, despite not playing their best: “The great advantage England has, they played poorly and won. ... That’s the side for me.” [30:11]

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5. WNBA: Growth Pains and the Cathy Engelbert Interview Fiasco

Starts [46:27]
Theme: The WNBA is struggling to adapt to explosive success (fueled by Caitlin Clark) and new scrutiny.

Key Points

• Cathy Engelbert (WNBA commissioner) bailed on a scheduled Dan Patrick Show interview — a major PR gaffe: “Commissioners should not bail on scheduled interviews. ... That part of being a commissioner is being responsible and taking tough questions.” [47:01]
• The league is overwhelmed by its own hyper-growth: “They have stepped in it so many times and they beat hockey now, the NHL, in ratings. ... There’s nobody in hockey doing that.” [49:05]
• Colin suggests the WNBA isn’t prepared for exponentially rising business challenges — “It is a privilege to be criticized. ... They have such hyper growth they can’t get their arms around it.” [50:17]
• Explains the upside and challenge: “If Gordon Ramsay opens a restaurant in London and it tanks, it makes the newspapers. ... That’s the downside to popularity.”

Notable Quote:

• Colin Cowherd: “People want success. They’re not always prepared for the success they get.” [52:30]

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6. Standards and Success: English Soccer, Belichick, and Saban

Starts [54:54]

• England manager, after a World Cup win, gives a harsh assessment: “The commitment is there but we made life very, very difficult for us in the way we played...” [54:54]
• Colin draws parallels to other legendary leaders (Belichick, Saban) who demand more even after winning, viewing this as the essence of high standards in elite organizations.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|---------| | 03:15 | LeBron’s Decision 2.0 and “Ring Chasing” Rant | | 09:21 | Rich Paul on LeBron’s Choice | | 10:15 | World Cup/Soccer’s Elite Club | | 19:18 | NFL QB Rankings: Darnold’s Underrated Success | | 26:13 | World Cup Refereeing Controversy & VAR Debate | | 46:27 | WNBA Commissioner & Growth Challenges | | 54:54 | England Manager’s Post-Win Critique & the Coaching Standard |

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Memorable Quotes

• Colin Cowherd on LeBron:

  “It would be viewed as meeting contemporaries that have put the commitment in you have. … Go take a job at Nvidia. … I don’t get the ring chasing. I don’t know why we punish just pro basketball players. We don’t punish anybody else in the world for taking a better job with a better company, with better management, better momentum.” [06:43]

• Co-host/Analyst on Darnold:

  “Christian McCaffrey’s like, that's one of the best football players I've been around… and Carolina’s had some good ones. McCaffrey's been around some good ones in San Francisco, like six Hall of Famers with the Niners, yet Darnold’s one of the best.” [22:01]

• Colin Cowherd on WNBA’s challenge:

  “It is a privilege to be criticized. It is a privilege to deal with pressure. … People want success. They’re not always prepared for the success they get.” [50:17, 52:30]

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Episode Tone

Colin’s classic conversational, opinionated, and analogical style dominates the hour. He uses business and real-world analogies to make sports points relatable. The tone is assertive, inquisitive, and playful, often challenging established narratives and pushing listeners to reconsider their biases in sports and business.

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For Listeners Who Missed It…

This episode dives into the unique way both fans and media judge sports figures for making rational choices—whether it’s LeBron James weighing his next move, or the NFL’s blindness to Sam Darnold’s consistent winning. Colin makes you ponder why “winning” is celebrated one moment and scorned the next subject to old biases, how explosive growth twists even the best-run sports leagues, and why, sometimes, being at the top means never being satisfied.

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Note: Skip forward in the episode for content, as opening minutes and periodic breaks consist largely of advertisements and sponsor reads. Content segments and sports talk begin in earnest at the 3:15 mark.

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Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

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We.

[Co-host/Analyst]

We don't punish stockbrokers that go to the better firm or lawyers that go to the better firm or a surgeon that goes to a better, more capitalized, more supportive hospital. We don't even. We don't. We don't bang on high school or college kids who join a big brand. We don't crush soccer players because they want to play for Real Madrid or Manchester United. We don't criticize Ohtani going to the Dodgers so we can have better players hitting in front and behind him in the lineup. There's something about pro basketball players. Oh, ring chasing. You want to join that circus in Cleveland? You've already bailed on them twice. You want to go to the old Warriors. I admit, that would be fun. I would love to watch Draymond and staff and LeBron. I'd love to watch it. I'm a sucker for that. That's like watching that Shawshank redemption for the 13th time or Ocean's 11. Like, I'd watch it. I'd watch it. Rich Paul, on the notion, and I've been, you know, the word is LeBron's making a decision in two days here, 48 hours. I think one of the reasons he's waiting, I really believe this is LeBron knows Philadelphia is the best choice, but he doesn't have a real visceral, emotional connection there. But LeBron's smart. He knows the best choice. And I don't think he loves, you know, the ring chasing stuff. Rich Paul, discuss that.

[Colin Cowherd]

The team he chooses?

[Co-host/Analyst]

I don't know yet. There's a seriousness that comes with this. There's a competitiveness that comes. We know how hard it is to win championships.

[Colin Cowherd]

No roster, no organization is guaranteed to win a championship.

[Co-host/Analyst]

But you do want to be competitive. You do want to have an opportunity come late April and early May to compete at a high level and give yourself the best chance of winning.

[Colin Cowherd]

He's not chasing the ring.

[Co-host/Analyst]

You know, you hear these things like, why do we have to chase? He got four.

[Colin Cowherd]

There's nothing to chase. He's not chasing the ghost or anything like that.

[Co-host/Analyst]

But when you've. When you've worked as hard to position

[Colin Cowherd]

yourself the way you have, and you

[Co-host/Analyst]

can actually decide what you want to do, who wouldn't take advantage of that? Exactly. Go take a job at Nvidia. Go from the Angels to the Dodgers. Choose the Yankees. Choose, you know, choose the easiest route. Choose Ohio State. Choose, you know, Michigan State basketball over a directional school. Get the better coach, get the better facilities. I don't get the ring chasing. I don't know why we punish just pro basketball players. We don't punish anybody else in the world for taking a better job with a better company, with better management, better momentum. All right, so we're down to the final four teams in the World cup. It's big brands and big stars. You got Mbappe, Yamal, Messi and Kane. And it's been really fun to watch. In my opinion, the two most difficult sports clubs to join in the world are Augusta national and elite World cup level soccer franchises. The Spains, the Englands, the Brazils and the Argentinas. I mean, Gary Player, a three time Masters champ, was denied playing recently. His grandson, he wanted to play with his grandkids at Augusta. They turned him down. Bill gates in the 90s was the richest man in the world before we even talked about the richest man in the world. He couldn't get it in the 90s. He's a member now. They'd probably like to get rid of him. Money can buy you a lot of things. In baseball, the Dodgers money, payroll, plus the brilliant deferred payment plan has put them a leg ahead of the sport. In college sports, Michigan basketball, Indiana football, you can buy championships, pay for the coach, pay for the players. In the NFL, you can buy immediate success. If not a Super bowl, hire a Harbaugh. That usually helps. But you cannot do it in international soccer. England makes a fortune. England, endless bottomless pit of revenue for soccer. One World Cup, One World Cup. And I think that's tough for Americans to swallow. But I was thinking about this yesterday. I went on a big walk trying to get rid of this stomach crap, which I finally did. And I was thinking about how it's almost like technology. Like in the 70s and 80s, Japan was a mile ahead of us in personal computers, in semiconductors, and I mean a mile ahead of us. Felt like we'd never catch up. And then now China now is ahead of us in EVs, I mean, robotics, they're a mile ahead of us in robotics, electronic vehicles, the 5G network stuff, which I don't know much about, but they're ahead of us there. So even, even when you have money in international soccer like Brazil or England, you can go decades of having a World cup drought, even though. And the reason is because soccer is so important, it is so important for revenue, viability, relevance, and for the culture of countries. It's just like technology. Technology is so important to everybody on the face of the planet, is that sometimes we lead, but not for very long. We have Big gaps. We have droughts. We've had them in personal computers and semiconductors and 5G and electronic vehicles. Nobody leads everything forever. When's the last time we had back to back World cup champions? It's been forever. Brazil, remember several years ago when they hosted the World cup, they lost a home game 7 to 1 to Germany. Brazil got the most titles ever. So international soccer and Augusta are the hardest clubs to get into. And it does remind me a little bit of technology where you don't lead everything forever. You can lead and suddenly a trail. But there's so much relevance, so much money, so much of every country's future is tied to it. AI Is now the big race. You hope you win. Even if America wins the initial surge into AI, will we lead five years later? Will we lead 20 years later? It's too important for countries not to pour all their resources into it. This is not hockey or like a baseball. This is global soccer. And we are just fine. It's not that we lost, it's the way we lost. We're going to be okay. Here's John Strong. Last week we were always going to face this sort of bleak moment of retrospection. And like we said, it's amplified by the manner in which they lost to Belgium. If you compare it to where we were eight years ago, if you compare this team to what it was a year ago, it's in a great spot, it's going forward. But yeah, it's really, really hard to crack into that top 10 globally. Few nations bust into the top 10. It's not like college football where Indiana can buy their way into a national title. And I'm not being disrespectful to Indiana. Just the dynamics are different. Yeah. Augusta International soccer money has a ceiling. And for Americans, we don't like to hear that. All right, WNBA steps in it again. NFL executives, scouts, coaches survey on the top 10 quarterbacks in the league. Very interesting. Victor Wembanyama taking a cue from Tom Brady and Jalen Brunson gets the big picture of sports going forward. All that coming up. Calling Right, Colin? Wrong. 45 minutes from now. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. Hey, it's Ben, host of the Fifth Hour with Ben Mahler. Would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking, what in God's name is the fifth Hour? I'll tell you, it's a spin off of the Ben Mather Show, a cult hit overnights on fsr. Why should you listen? Picture, if you will, a world where we chat with captains of industry in media, sports and more every week. Explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Mather on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.

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He's.

[Co-host/Analyst]

He's way more athletic than people give him credit for. And he's really good at taking what's given to him and doing his job. Christian McCaffrey's like, that's one of the best football players I've been around. Carolina's had some good ones. McCaffrey's been around some good ones in San Francisco, like six hall of Famers with the Niners. Yet Darnold's one of the best football players I've been around. So when he came out of college, I said, there's a little, a little Brett Favre and a little Andrew Luck. He can be reckless. Arm, athleticism, toughness, leadership, guys A. I loved him out of college, I admit. In Carolina, when he got benched, I was like, I'm not sure what to do. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't think I'm wrong. I see like a little Andrew Luck and a little bit of Rhett Favre and people, oh, that's ridiculous. Well, how many Super Bowls does Favre have total? 1. How many does Andrew Luck have? None. Sorry. This is football, it's not baseball. We don't care about your batting average. The bottom line is executives don't know what to do. And I'll give you an example. I say this all the time. It's not just what happens when you enter a company, what happens to the one you leave? The Minnesota Vikings when Sam Darnold left. Same coach, same coordinator, same left tackle, same receivers, same won five fewer games, missed the playoffs with Sam, they had their greatest year in 26 years. I mean, that included, like Randy Moshears, right? He leaves Minnesota, their bottom, bottom feel for their division. They don't feel like they're nearly as good now as Detroit, Green Bay or Chicago. They would with Darnold. He goes to Seattle. They hadn't won a playoff game in six years. They hadn't made the playoffs in back to back years. They win the super bowl and simultaneously let go of their star receiver. DK Metcalf did not. Better. Did not matter. JSN became a one with Sam Darnold. Right, like so I'm watching Minnesota before he gets there, man. Gets there. Wow. Leaves there, man. I'm watching Seattle. Meh. Gets there, wins the Super Bowl. What's the thread line? What do we have in common here? So, you know, people love Joe Burrow and they should. Joe Burrow is amazing. He's number four in the list. Darnold's not on it. People love Burrow and the reason they love Burrow the most is he had a two year period where he won 22 games and got to a Super Bowl. Darnold's in a two year period where he's won 28 games and won a Super bowl and he's not on the list. They don't know what to do, people. They don't know what to do. Herbert's never won a playoff game. Dak has one. Burl can't stay healthy, can't make the playoffs again. Images are powerful. Those first images are incredibly powerful. You see it with Jalen. Hurts. He comes onto the scene. He gets to a Super Bowl. All the data is telling you he struggles to throw the ball over the middle of the field. Greg Cosell's been telling us for two years he can't see it, but. Oh, but years ago. Well, he had a perfect team. You had a stacked roster. You have a great running back. Yeah. And that's the reality. The league's executives do not know what to do with Sam Darnold. Four teams, four years, 32 and nine. That's more impressive, right? Let's. The old Bill Parcells. Parcells. Whatever team he went to, he won. Whatever. The environment won. Whatever. You could put Bill Parsons anywhere. Rebuilding jobs. He won. Didn't have to win Super Bowls. He won. I love this so much. Where is he? Where is Darnold? Let me get my bifocals, my binoculars. Where? Where is. They can't find him on the list. One guy's four. One guy's not on the list. I'm just saying feels like it's closer to me. I mean, Burl's more expensive. Darnold's healthier. I mean, deep ball arm. I'd take Darnold. J. Mac with the news. No, no, no. Turn on the news.

[Colin Cowherd]

This is the herd line news. I'm gonna stand down. I just. A lot of laughter from this room on that one.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Coward.

[Colin Cowherd]

Hey, you know what's no laughing matter? Argentina, Switzerland. Saturday night.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Oh, wow.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'm gonna try to contain my outrage here. This game was actually phenomenal, or low key. Phenomenal, as the kids like to say. But the referee screwed up. Let's. Let's be real here. He calls a foul on Argentina here gives the gentleman a yellow card. Yeah, it was very clear on replays there was no foul. That's a terrible yellow card. So he goes to VAR and says, oh, I got it wrong. It's simulation. Because the Switzerland star was diving, so you get the yellow, and he had a yellow prior and he was given a red and sent off. Colin, there was outrage everywhere. Very controversial.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Yes.

[Colin Cowherd]

I, I don't. I just don't think you can send someone off with 20 minutes left on a red card in a tie game in the quarterfinals. How could you do that?

[Co-host/Analyst]

Well, and again, VAR is proving what our replay proves in pro football, which is 95% of the time it's an asset. And then about 5% of the time it adds more confusion. And I think we saw it. We've seen it multiple times with Baligan in this instance, where whenever you introduce replay, we think it solves the issues, but it clouds and muddies a smaller percentage of issues that that interception in the Broncos game against Buffalo. Honestly, I would have been better without replay. It made it more confusing and more maddening. The Des Bryant catch, no catch. Replay was more infuriating. I would have rather seen it once and moved on. So, you know, I agree with you here. I didn't buy what they settled on, but I just, I've gone into replay. I didn't think this way years ago. I've just come to terms with about, about once every weekend in the NFL. Replay makes it worse. Yeah. And the rest of the times, it does make it better.

[Colin Cowherd]

The only problem is this is every four years, right, you get. You get a small chance to make the World Cup. This is a quarterfinals. Yes, it's a dive. That's obvious. Everybody can watch. No, it's a good attempt at a dive. I mean, NBA stars are out here like, oh, do I need to add that to my bag? That's an amazing dive. And initially it worked, but I don't know the. This is on the referee, man. It's disappointing. Anyway, Argentina, huh?

[Co-host/Analyst]

There is a rule you're not supposed to die.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's called simulation. Yep.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Right, let's go.

[Colin Cowherd]

Let's go to the call by Ian Dark, the game winner in overtime. This is an absolute banger from Alvarez.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Alvarez. Oh, that is a wondrous goal, Argentina. Do it again. Just sensational. Julian Alvarez, unstoppable to break the hearts of Switzerland.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's a tough one for Switzerland. Argentina added another one to move on for the three one, one.

[Co-host/Analyst]

So now, are you pro dive? Is I guess what I'm asking, are you pro dive?

[Colin Cowherd]

I don't love diving. I understand it. I mean, this. You could call this the sga.

[Co-host/Analyst]

So what would you have done if you were the official?

[Colin Cowherd]

I would have said I got it wrong there. There's no yellow card on Argentina. It's a dive. Don't do that crap again or you're out of here. I want to see the players decide the game, don't you?

[Indeed Sponsored Jobs Announcer]

Oh, I.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Of course I do. Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

So unless it's a. Remember the Wemby elbow to the face of Nas Reed? That's obvious. You got to eject him. But a dive in a tie game with 20 minutes left. I don't know. Anyways, Argentina, England. Colin, massive semifinal game. You know, I like England.

[Co-host/Analyst]

I like England.

[Colin Cowherd]

Interesting. So if you look at some of the gambling lines to Advance England is minus 144. That's a significant. They think England will advance the books. Now, that could be a hedge because so much money is being bet on England. But then again, Messi is the most public player in the sport.

[Co-host/Analyst]

The great advantage England has, they played poorly and won. What does Sean Payton always say? The best time to be a coach is you play poorly and. And you win and so you can coach harder. So I think. I think I thought England was fine. I don't understand people not acknowledging it was the hottest World cup game for a country that does not plan those temperatures. England was affected. I think both teams were affected. Erling Holland, by the incredible humidity and temperature on the field. It was not necessarily a well played game by many of the stars. I just think you chalk it up, too. Listen, we saw it in the Brazil World cup, the Brazilian World Cup. There were just moments where teams were playing in the middle of the day or early afternoon in just outrageous simmering temperatures and they didn't play particularly well. Fatigue sets in. So I think England playing poorly and winning comes out. That's the side for me.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. And I'll be honest, I hear some people online being like, hey, we need to move the World cup to the winter. In these warm weather locales, I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't mess with my NFL season. I can't handle NFL and World Cup.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Also, these networks vying for it have NFL schedules. So that's just. If you want networks to vie for It. They. They. And by the way, if I'm a streaming service.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes.

[Co-host/Analyst]

And I want to own it. And you want to move it to the football season, that is absolutely going to hurt. No revenues and viewership. If you think if you're Netflix and you can buy it and move it to the football season, a lot of people aren't going to watch just because it's on a streamer. Now, now, the time zones are screwed up. Remember the next two World Cups, the time zones aren't as favorable. It's not in America. So if a streamer goes and buys it, you don't get the time zones. If I have to move it to the football season against the NFL and CBS and Fox and ABC and ESPN and NBC running football, the number's gonna

[Colin Cowherd]

get cut in half. Yeah, that's. That's an issue. And it's next in Portugal. Spain. And you know, as you just went there, Spain can be a little warm in June and July.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Not terribly humid, but it is. It's arid, but it's hot.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, let's move on to the NFL. Colin, listen, we haven't talked about Aaron Rodgers in a while. It's been a glorious month. He's back. Look at him. He's going on social media and now posting that, he's hanging out a big bro trip. He's calling it the last rodeo. Hashtag bonding week with his wide receivers. And they're not in a darkness retreat. They are somewhere in some mountains. Michael Pittman Jr. Ben Skoronic, Roman Wilson, Mason Rudolph, DK Metcalf and Pat Friarmouth, the tight end.

[Co-host/Analyst]

A pretty good group of players.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. It's a honeymoon phase, huh? You remember that? Well, honeymoon phase. The early days. Everything's happy and peachy. Oh, Aaron, what a guy. He's so nice. He paid for this whole trip. He's just such a great human.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Listen, it's his last year in the league. Let's celebrate the greatness of Aaron Rodgers. Let's be positive about this.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'll let you handle that.

[Indeed Sponsored Jobs Announcer]

I'll do.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'll tackle. I'll tackle the negative. I am not looking forward to the Steelers this season. Final story, Colin. That's the NBA, of course. And LeBron James. You say he's supposed to decide in the next 48 hours. That's fascinating. It's the Cavs, Sixers and Heat with the warriors and Draymond Green making a pitch. Here's Draymond on his pitch to LeBron.

[Co-host/Analyst]

I'd be remiss if I don't take the opportunity to throw my pitch in there. You know, I'd be crazy if we're together for X amount of days, and at no point am I like, yo, we need to chop it up. Like, what the hell going on? What we doing? The things that I shared in it, I believe it definitely is going to make the. Make the brain work a little bit. Yeah, he should make the pitch. And I do think there are positives to Cleveland. It's not the basketball part. It's the fact that it's home. There's a positive to the Warriors. He is really close with Draymond Green loves Steph Curry. Steve Curry respects that. And then there's the positive with Philadelphia, which is. It's by far and away the best group of young players that can protect LeBron's age. They're durable. They play defense. I mean, when you get older, right? As a. As a pro athlete. When Tom Brady chose Tampa, they had young, athletic offensive linemen. They had young tight ends. They had. He went and brought Gronk, but they had Chris Godwin, they had Mike Evans. Brady was very smart. Brady's like, I'm choosing as I age. Age equals wisdom. I'm going to choose players to elevate me. Maybe. Maybe, you know, I've got some weak spots as I've aged. It was a new conference, It's a new coach. It's like, I want to bring in Gronk. Gronk helps me with familiarity. I want to bring in a veteran running back. Lenny Fernet helps me with some familiarity, an older player. So I think when. When you're an older player and you look at it, you think, what. What. What are my limitations? LeBron's like, I'm not playing the same defense I used to. Embiid's a rim protector. Jaylen Brown defends. Edgecomb's a good defender. So I think LeBron looks at that and thinks, oh, that. That checks some boxes. I. I really think Golden State's fun and Cleveland's home. I think Philadelphia by a mile. I don't think he'll choose the Sixers, but I think it's easily the best situation for him.

[Colin Cowherd]

So we've known this for about a month, that the only way the warriors happens is if Rich Paul can convince Golden State to trade for Anthony Davis and then pay him. That's what's holding this up, essentially. Hey, guys, come on. You want Anthony Davis, you want to pay him, and then you get LeBron. Now, LeBron AD Draymond Curry Porzingis that that's actually not terrible. But without ad, who's the rim protector in Golden State? They have no defense.

[Co-host/Analyst]

They don't, you know.

[Colin Cowherd]

Now, I did see some comments about your Sixers thing that and I don't know how accurate they are, but LeBron don't want to play with Joel Embiid because he's always hurt and, you know, he's a little bit of an egomaniac.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Would the Sixers move off Embiid?

[Co-host/Analyst]

I wish they would. I don't think anybody would take the contract.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's the problem. So I keep falling back on Cleveland. I think it'll be the Cavs. I do like that he's stretching this out though, Colin. If he wants to wait till next week, that works too. Like what's the Rush LeBron?

[Co-host/Analyst]

Good content J Mac with the news well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by the Herd LIE news. The WNBA steps in it again. We'll talk about that coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific.

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Co-host/Analyst]

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[Co-host/Analyst]

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Co-host/Analyst]

The gastroenteritis, the vomiting and all cleared up. As far as natural non GMO cat food, I don't think you can find a better food than Gentle Giants. The Dodgers are celebrating the rich culture and traditions of Guatemala on Thursday, July 30 when they take on the Mariners

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[Co-host/Analyst]

You'll receive an exclusive Guatemalan Heritage Night jersey. For Tickets, visit Dodgers delta.com promotions push the red mic button when you want to woke. No waiting on hold. You're the front of the line. It's a two way street and we close the loop. Talk back to us, we'll talk back to you. Take it to the talk back. Is there something you've been dying to tell us? All right, Bob, I'm ready. It's as simple as listening to AM570LA Sports on the iHeartRadio app. Now I need you to be doing the talk back, all right?

[Colin Cowherd]

And pushing the red talk back button

[Co-host/Analyst]

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I want 809 million your accident attorney. We're on to the semifinals of the FIFA World cup tomorrow. Killian Mbappe and a dominant French team take on the reigning kings of Europe rival Spain. Kickoff is right after the Herd tomorrow on Fox.

[Co-host/Analyst]

So I think it was about a year ago or so. I forget exactly when it was. But Adam Silver came on our show, the Herd. And I've had Roger Goodell and Rob Manfred, I've had Don Garber, I've had all the commissioners except for the WNBA commissioner. I don't think I've ever had Gary Bettman on. But when I had Adam Silver on, I asked him about the three point shot getting too repetitive. I asked him about load management, I asked him about tanking, and he was great. And he answered all of them with a smile. And we went back and forth. And that's what being a commissioner is all about. Otherwise, you know, it'd be just, I would work for the NBA. But. But Silver didn't have to come on Fox. We don't have a contract with him. I mean, that's some other network. He didn't have to come on this, but he knows I like the NBA. And he, he never asked what questions I would ask. He didn't care. And he was great. He was unbelievable. One of my favorite 20 minutes I've had on the air. I would love to have Adam Silver every year. He's a super smart guy. He's totally monetized the league. So the WNBA has stepped in a lot. And a lot of people, myself included, have been cr. Critical. So Dan Patrick, you know Dan Patrick, he had scheduled his staff, good staff. They had scheduled Kathy Engelbert, the commissioner of the wnba. Now all of us in this business have people bail on us. I've lost people. You know, some people get busy, they forget whatever or they just don't want to do it. Commissioners should not bail on scheduled interviews. I mean, that part of being a commissioner is being responsible and taking tough questions. So Kathy Engelbert, the Dan Patrick staff booked her and she bailed. And apparently I didn't see it, but was, you know, 100 yards off, just playing golf. That would add to it. So Dan Patrick went on the air and he was very upset about it. We're just trying to be a journalist here, that's all. Just trying to ask questions, but don't say yes. And then all of a sudden somebody probably said, in my opinion, oh, maybe we shouldn't do this. Well, at some point you have to do this. This is an important league. There's expansion, there's conversation. It's been agenda ized. Everybody has something to say about it. Now you have a chance to answer these questions. I think that is a totally reasonable response. Dan's been doing this for 100 years. He does a great job. He's a total pro. He was upset and voiced it. When you're doing a three hour radio show live, we don't have a copy editor in this business, we don't have tape editors. You go on the air live, if you emote because you're upset, I want to hear about it. That's good broadcasting to me. He has every right to have that opinion. And he has a very good staff and guy's been around forever. And commissioners don't bail on interviews. They just don't do it. So it's interesting because I was watching the WNBA yesterday and I thought about this yesterday and I watched the WNBA game and I got to tell you, the product, it was in Dallas. Very good tv, very good energy. And here's the thing. And I was thinking, why is the WNBA just keep stepping in it? I can keep bashing them, but why? And I came to the conclusion that there's all these leagues. They all have owners, they all have commissioners, they're all covered by the media. Since Caitlin Clark has arrived, the WNBA has exploded. They're now flying private. They've introduced three new teams. The Golden State Valkyries have a billion dollar valuation. They're drawing like 20,000 a night. The Portland Fire, Home Run, Toronto, Tempo, Home Run. You got three new franchises. That takes a lot of work. You have a superstar in the league. That takes a lot of work. The other night, Toronto played Montreal. They had like 20,000 people at the game. You got posters now that even create controversy. You have exploding revenue, exploding attendance, massive star power in Caitlin Clark, very strong growth. And I think all of it is. It's a little too much for them to handle. It's like any business listening, anybody listening to me that owns a business, is that part of the problem of hyper growth as a business? Any business is just getting your damn arms around it. And they have stepped in it so many times and they beat hockey now the NHL in ratings. Caitlin Clark is as well known as almost any hockey star. Maybe, maybe that's not even arguable. Maybe it's by a lot. She sells merchandise, she moves TV ratings. There's nobody in hockey doing that. And hockey's a legit sport. Like, it's one of the big four. So you've got bigger arenas, bigger attendance, bigger revenue, different travel, superstar, massive media criticism. They can't get their arms around it. Like, and if Gordon Ramsay opens a restaurant in London and it tanks, it makes the newspapers, it's talked about. If your buddy Joe opens a restaurant west side of Chicago and it tanks, nobody cares. That's the downside. To popularity. It is a privilege to be criticized. It is a privilege to deal with pressure. And I'm just thinking about it this weekend. I'm like, God, they keep stepping in it. It's not like they're a bunch of dummies. I think they have such hyper growth, they can't get their arms around it. It is surging. It would be like if you, if a Caitlin Clark level hockey star was introduced and literally tripled the ratings for the league and you opened up three new very successful franchises over a 12 year period. You changed the way you travel. You're now talked about regularly. We don't talk NHL much. You're now talked about regularly and you got executives, you know, trying to put a fence around it and a commissioner trying to put a fence around it. And I think they've grown so fast. It is like business that is surging quickly over a two year period. And you know, I'd love to have any commissioner on. If Batman called tomorrow and had something, I'd ask him questions about hockey. But you know, it is almost, and I'm not defending the WNBA here or Kathy Engelbert, it's almost a predictable outcome. It's like somebody is listening to my show right now. Man, woman, they're watching me. They're listening. And they own a business and the business is going really well and it's surging. And somebody told me years ago when I started the Volume, they said, you want to know what ownership and management really is Putting out small fires so they don't become infernos. Because every day with a new business, especially if it's growing quickly, every day there's a fire. You don't want the campfire to spread to the tents and the trees 15ft away. And they just haven't done a very good job to put out their fires. So people want success. They're not always prepared for the success they get. And I'm not defending anybody, but they have stepped in it so many times. This is just another example of they got a little bit paranoid. I said this a couple weeks ago. The league's a little paranoid. It's a little insular. The quality of the play is good. Paige Becker star Caitlin Star They've got Asia Wilson's and they're Michael Jordan, an unbelievable talent. They've got. I'm sitting there watching that game, I think yesterday and I was just going around the television. There was no World cup games, couldn't find a good baseball game. So I'm going around the TV and the WNBA Game was excellent. Like there was in Dallas. They had looked like they had 13, 14, 15,000 people. There was great energy. Jumped off the TV and I was like, oh, this is good TV. And I was doing stuff on the computer, so I wasn't paying full attention to it. There was a summer league game and the WNBA game had more energy. I was like, this is kind of interesting. So something else that I. That. Well, okay, I'll just. I'm going to save this for the top of the hour. There's been. There's been a lot of different stuff happening this weekend. It was so funny. One of the things, you know how, like when the Patriots were winning and Belichick was grumpy and when Alabama would win a national title and the next day Saban was grumpy and the spurs were dominating, but Popovich was grumpy. That's called standards. Can I just play? Can I just play the one bite? This is the England manager after winning a World cup game in 107 degree heat over Norway. The commitment is there, but we made

[Colin Cowherd]

life very, very difficult for us in the way we played, how we played. Sloppy of technical mistakes, not fast enough,

[Co-host/Analyst]

not repetitive enough. We were lucky today.

[Colin Cowherd]

There's no mentality problem. This is pure mentality. This is pure mentality.

[Co-host/Analyst]

You can bottle it up and sell it. This is.

[Indeed Sponsored Jobs Announcer]

Yeah.

[Co-host/Analyst]

So why is the problem mentality?

[Colin Cowherd]

It's the quality of our games. That's it.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Now, my take is the interviewer didn't ask him about the heat. To me, the heat was a huge issue. England and Norway do not play in that level of heat and that intensity in that stage. So I think it got sloppy. But I love the fact it's called standards. That's Belichick. After winning like an AFC championship, he'd go on and be like, you know, we're just lucky we won. And you know, he was like, I mean, how many times did Belichick do that? My gut, he must have done it a hundred times during the dynasty complaints. After a huge win and Saban. Saban winning the national championship, people would compliment Alabama and he'd be like, that's rat poison. Compliments are rat poison. I tell my guys, don't drink rat poison. You're like, you just want a natty. It's one of your second in three years. Nick Belichick's famous for saying no days off after winning a Super Bowl. So just to watch the British manager go out and he was to trying, just totally disgusted by the performance. I'm like, they got their Saban. They got their Popovich. That's dan Hurley at UConn after getting into the Final Four. Yeah, like, like that's what coaching is. Standards. Sean Payton always says the best time to coach is when you win but play poorly. He goes, man, I can really beat on the team after that. That's a great week of coaching. Every goal starts with inside. As Official partners of U.S. soccer, this

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team is ready to deliver.

[Co-host/Analyst]

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backed nutrients Advil of course.

[Co-host/Analyst]

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[Colin Cowherd]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.