“Cleaning up dog puke”

Summary

The Tony Kornheiser Show — Episode: “Cleaning up dog puke”

Date: August 7, 2026
Host: Tony Kornheiser (This Show Stinks Productions, LLC)
Guests: Michael Wilbon, Nigel, Ron Flatter, Taylor Twellman

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Episode Overview

This lively episode is a classic Tony Kornheiser mix: sports as a jumping-off point, followed by pop culture, media, and a healthy dose of personal anecdotes. Tony is joined by regulars Michael Wilbon and Nigel, with guests Ron Flatter and Taylor Twellman. They cover major shakeups in horse racing (the Preakness and the Triple Crown), the future of U.S. soccer leadership, FIFA politics, Team USA’s coaching extension, and a smattering of baseball and golf frustrations. The episode delivers Kornheiser’s trademark wit and curmudgeonly charm, featuring everything from laments about the Nationals to dog puke and tomato gardening.

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Key Discussion Points and Timestamps

1. Opening Banter, Announcements, and Nationals Lament (03:17–12:00)

• Podcast routine and show updates: Tony announces the show will be taking a week off—“Everybody is scattered to the winds.”
• Obsession with production numbers: Tony’s quixotic drive to tape 150 shows per year (“I’m obsessed with numbers.”) [04:02]
• Nationals’ recent struggles: Extended breakdown on the Nationals’ losing road trip, managerial decisions, specific player performances, and the comedic futility of the season so far.
  • “They lost seven out of eight... that was a give up game.” [08:48]
  • Frequent gripes about “Meatball Nicholas” being kept in too long: “That one was accepted. The loss. And the chances of...” [09:44]
• Recognition of young players: Frustration with how prospects are being handled (Dylan Cruz, Brady House) and calls for letting them play consistently.
  • “You have to give Chaparro and House 10 straight games. You have to see what they’ve got.” [18:23]

2. Kawhi Leonard and Agent Scandals (07:01, 16:07)

• Pulitzer-winning podcast by Pablo Torre: Surprise that podcasts can win Pulitzers and Kornheiser’s tongue-in-cheek jealousy about never winning one.
  • “I didn’t know podcasts could win Pulitzer Prizes. B, I don’t know why I never won one, but I’ve never won one.” [07:01]
• Kawhi Leonard salary cap circumvention: Tony argues agents and managers should have prevented Kawhi from questionable dealings.
  • “His agent, his manager, you just can’t let him do this...You have to say, Kawhi, do this, I'm out.” [08:00]

3. Horse Racing Shakeup & The Preakness Drama (with Ron Flatter) (24:00–38:38)

Tribute to Robbie Alvarado (25:17)

• Remembered as a fixture in horse racing, plagued by health issues, passed away at Kenny McPeek’s house.

Preakness/Triple Crown Upheaval (26:49–38:38)

• Series of rushed announcements: Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes form new coalition/race series; Preakness notably excluded.
  • “There were two news conferences this week and two announcements...Conspicuous by its absence was the Preakness.” (Ron Flatter, [26:49])
• Rivalries and TV rights: Behind-the-scenes friction between Churchill Downs, NYRA, NBC, and Fox.
• Blunt assessment:
  • Kornheiser: “They deliberately torched the Preakness. Yes or no?”
  • Flatter: “Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. They did. They will say they didn’t, but they did.” [29:29]
• Potential impact: Discussion on the future of the Triple Crown—will structural changes and scheduling keep it meaningful? Flatter suggests logistics may force further changes (e.g., Belmont might have to move its calendar).
• Fan perspective: Most American fans only care about the Triple Crown races; new six-race series is unlikely to catch on.
  • “I don’t think people give a flying bleep about it. Baffert was right.” (Ron Flatter, [35:35])
• Preakness’s counterpunch: If Maryland increases purses and offers bonuses, it could force Belmont’s hand and keep the Preakness relevant.
• Memorable moment: Tony’s quip on the importance of the Preakness:
  • "The Preakness needs to live so young drunken people can run on top of the bathrooms..." [37:24]

4. Soccer Shakeups & FIFA Scandal (with Taylor Twellman) (41:08–54:09)

Taylor’s recent TV gig:

• “Nobody got fired, Tony. So that’s a...” [41:28]
• Taylor shares his Today Show appearance was fun, but his focus is still on soccer.

USMNT Coach Contract Extension (42:07):

• Tony: “Did you think he'd want to come back? Did you think US would want him back?”
• Taylor: “[Pochettino] likes the daily grind...I truly didn't know if he would be interested, but I think he's motivated to rectify that Belgium game.” [42:41]
• $6 million/year salary—big for US, normal for European powers.

Gianni Infantino and the FIFA/UEFA Rift (45:08):

• Tony: “Does he have the authority to sell off FIFA?”
• Taylor: “No, he does not. You are a custodian for the game, you’re not the game.” [45:54]
• UEFA’s opposition to Super League style moves and the contrast with past attempted club league breakaways.
• Tony’s “Churchillian” admiration for UEFA’s moral stand; Taylor agrees, but notes UEFA’s previous hypocrisy.
• Will Infantino survive? Twellman’s blunt:
  • “You gotta be kidding me...I think you have to question whether or not he should continue as the president.” [49:39]
• As statements pour in from world federations, the outcome is uncertain; Taylor admits, “I was cleaning up dog puke right before you called me, so bear with me here...” [52:48] (episode’s title origin)

5. Personal Stories & Light Moments

• Tony’s golf struggles:
  • Humorous recap of a disastrous 12-hole round, ending with a shot deflecting off a sprinkler head into the water:
    • “I hit the best chip I ever hit. Oh, and it went in the water.” [14:45]
• Red Sox resurgence, household fandom, and baseball banter:
  • Nigel: “They win 12–11, they don’t lose...” [17:09]
• Tomato growing woes and correspondence:
  • Hilarious email section with creative listener stories about tomatoes, gardening failures, and band tales.

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Notable Quotes

• On the Nationals:

  • “That one was accepted. The loss and the chances of the... six to one after three, all earned. They had eight doubles by the fourth inning. Philadelphia, come on, that's a lot of doubles.” —Tony Kornheiser [09:44]

• On Preakness/Triple Crown drama:

  • “They deliberately torched the Preakness. Yes or no? They deliberately torched it.” —Tony Kornheiser [29:29]
  • “Yes, absolutely...They will say they didn't, but they did.” —Ron Flatter [29:44]

• On FIFA and Infantino:

  • “You are a custodian for the game, you’re not the game.” —Taylor Twellman [45:54]
  • “You gotta be kidding me. And I honestly, I think you have to question whether or not he should continue as the president.” —Taylor Twellman [49:39]
  • “I was cleaning up dog puke right before you called me, so bear with me here.” —Taylor Twellman [52:48]

• On golf:

  • “I hit the best chip I ever hit. Oh, and it went in the water. Didn't know what to do.” —Tony Kornheiser [14:45]

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Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Start | Highlights | |----------------------|:---------:|--------------------------------------------------------------| | Opening Sports & Banter | 03:17 | Nationals’ woes, show logistics, radio banter | | Preakness & Triple Crown (Ron Flatter) | 24:00 | Racing news, organizational chaos, implications for fans | | FIFA/UEFA & USMNT (Taylor Twellman) | 41:08 | Soccer politics, coach extension, Infantino controversy | | Personal Stories & Listener Emails | 12:52, 54:41 | Golf frustrations, witty fan mail, gardening tangents |

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Tone and Style Notes

• Conversational and irreverent: Frequent sarcasm, whimsical asides, and playful ribbing among panelists.
• Insider sports commentary: Assumes a baseline of sports literacy but is engaging and accessible.
• Honest and blunt: Willingness to criticize sports figures, administrators, and each other.
• Listener-centric: Show closes with a creative, entertaining mailbag—connects the community.

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Conclusion

In “Cleaning up dog puke,” the Tony Kornheiser Show delivers a quintessential mix: sports analysis, behind-the-scenes media interplay, irreverent humor, and the unique camaraderie of Kornheiser’s circle. It’s a must-listen for fans of sports media, providing rich, candid analysis of major shifts in horse racing, the global soccer landscape, and—of course—the endearing foibles of D.C. sports fandom.

Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we will talk to Ron Flatter about what's going on with the Preakness and the Triple Crown. And we'll also talk to Taylor Twellman about Team USA keeping their coach for another four years and the rift between the head of FIFA and the European soccer teams. But first, commerce. This is the Tony Kornheiser Show. Certain flavors instantly transport you back in time, like those classic, refreshing freezer pops everyone lived on as kids. That's why you want to try the new firework freeze five hour energy shot. It will completely blow you away. They have officially taken a beloved freezer pop classic and reimagined it into a delicious, convenient energy shot. It's a serious flavor explosion from the very first sip, perfectly blending juicy cherry, citrusy lime, and that sweet candy like blue raspberry. Honestly, it tastes exactly like the real thing. But with a major upgrade, you get that iconic freezer pop flavor you crave with absolutely none of the sugar. It's the ultimate zero sugar portable summer companion that sparks a tasty flavor sensation and keeps you moving. Whether you're headed to the beach, working late, or traveling, you need to stock up on this flavor immediately. Ignite your taste buds with a firework freeze flavored 5 hour energy shot. Now available online at FiveHouseEnergy.com or find it on Amazon. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. The Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Michael Wilbon]

The other night I was browsing the Vistaprint website. Normally I wait till there's about two outs, two strikes in the Nats game just to be sure. Just thinking about little ways to make our podcast feel even more organized and professional. I completely lost track of time because there's so many options. We use Vistaprint, order our show's custom notepads. We really do. And what's great is that I have orders from eight, nine years ago that are still saved. So it's as easy as going and logging into my account and they're ready to send out again. So I know Nigel uses some of the notepads, the spiral notepads, which is great. And I use some of the notepads that have our logo sort of in a shadow in the background. We actually send those out every year. Handwritten notes to our to our winners from the March Madness tournament bracket.

[Nigel]

That's lovely.

[Michael Wilbon]

I realized how useful it would be to have show branded notepads for episode prep. Just like Nigel. Interview questions. Tony just uses a legal pad. But we're working to get him into our own show. Branded 1 production notes and all those ideas that pop into your head right before you hit record. Instead of scribbling notes on random pieces of paper, everything stays in one place and it looks great too. And you know what, they have recommendations. So once you're part of their system and your logos in there, they will say, hey, would you like a deck of cards? And you know what you're sitting there considering.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Michael just passed the read to me. This is like a relay in the Olympics. Don't drop the like the 2 by 300 if there was such a thing. That's what we love about vistaprint. They make it easy to turn simple ideas into polished professional products without spending a fortune. Whether you're running a podcast, a small business, or you just want materials that reflect your brand, vistaprint gives you the tools and and real human support to help make it happen. Vista Print. Print your possible. Right now, new customers can get 20% off with the code [e-mail] remember, that's 20% [e-mail] when you use the code NEW20. So use the code people. Previously on the Tony Kornizer Show. I watched the highlights this morning. Look, he won six innings and gave up two runs.

[Nigel]

Not bad.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He didn't get bombed. He lost the game. Because the Dodgers don't win any games at the moment. They don't win any games. They lose to the Red Sox. They lose to the Cubs. Will Bond who of course makes the PTR show the most Chicago centric show in the history of the world. It just talks about the Cubs all the time. Cubs, Bulls, Blackhawks, Bears. Can't wait for them to move to Indiana. Can't wait. The Tony Kornheiser show is on now. A small notes to start out one is that we will be dark next week. We're going to take the week off. Everybody is scattered to the winds and we're going to take the week off and resume the next Monday. Not to worry.

[Nigel]

That's right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

On my work day out in my head maybe they're 52 weeks in a year. If you do three shows a week, it's 160. You might do a concessional. Well, we could do that. Yeah, we could. We could film ourselves. Yeah, that would be fine. But I wanted to do 150 and everybody on the show. And when I say everybody, I mean, you know, Michael and Nigel and Sean say, well, do what you want to do. Don't. What are you announcing numbers for? And I, because I'm Obsessed with numbers. So we'll get to 150. Don't worry about it. But I'm. I'm going to take this is. I took a week off to go play golf in Florida, and I'm going to take a week off, and that will be that. That's one small note.

[Michael Wilbon]

150 has a nice ring to it. Like the year 2015.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. 2015 is. You know, if I could have gotten married again, I would have gotten married in 2015. I would do that. What do you.

[Nigel]

We got some emails about that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, we'll get to it later. We'll get to it later. I got the year wrong.

[Michael Wilbon]

I just think going forward, we should celebrate it as 2015.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's probably the right thing to do. I can blame other people for constantly putting in my head that it was 2015, but I will just shoulder the responsibility and say that I got it wrong, and I'll try not to get it wrong again. What else do we have? Oh, I have to make this note that Josh Maurer, our friend Josh Maurer, who is a broadcaster for the Milwaukee brewers, was also, for 10 or 11 years, broadcasting the Boston College basketball games. And the new coach comes in, Luke Murray, who is the son of Bill Murray and fires the broadcasters, or has the school fire the broadcasters. Josh Maurer and Kevin Collins, I believe is.

[Nigel]

That's right. Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Because. So we don't want anybody attached with losing. You know, I think that's awful. Everybody. I mean, Josh Maurer was our first intern at pti. We like Josh. We went to a game last year when he was broadcasting. We're very fond of Josh, and he's a very good broadcaster. And the notion that the broadcasters had something to do with the losers losing at Boston College is insane. And this is another Boston College move. Boston College was the first school to their patient zero on destroying the geography of the conferences in the United States of America. Look, I understand if a coach comes in and says, I want to clear the decks of everybody who was associated with this. So I assume he's going to go down to the janitorial staff. I assume he's going to go to the administrative staff, I'm sure. I think you have to do that. If you're going to fire the broadcasters, you have to fire everybody.

[Nigel]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You have to clean the entire program out. You want to do that, you do that. It is irresponsible and 100% wrong of the. The administrators of Boston College to do this. It's 100% wrong. It's a Simple.

[Michael Wilbon]

The radio guys represent continuity with your fan base. Those are the guys who resonate the most with your longtime alumni and, you know, supporters.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Stinks. That's my opinion on that. Also, one other small note. Pablo Torre, our friend Pablo Torre on the podcast, the Pulitzer Prize winning podcast. A, I didn't know podcasts could win Pulitzer Prizes. B, I don't know why I never won one, but I've never won one. But Pablo. And Pablo Torre finds out has a second deal that Kawhi Leonard has made with apparently agents for the Los Angeles Clippers. The deal may not be in place anymore, but he reports that it was in place. Look, let me just say this. Kawhi Leonard's manager, Kawhi Leonard's agent, Kawhi Leonard's advisers have failed. Kawhi Leonard. Kawhi Leonard will take the fall. He's got to be suspended. He's got to be suspended for circumventing the attempt to circumvent the salary cap rule with Los Angeles Clippers. And the Clippers have to be punished for this as well. If indeed this is true. This is a second. There's an investigation going on now into the first one. And this was a previously undisclosed or heretofore undisclosed second one. And yes, Kawhi Leonard probably understood exactly what he was doing and should be punished. But if you have a lawyer, if you have an agent, if you have a manager, you just can't let him do this. You have to say, oh, you have to quit. You have to say, kawhi, do this. I'm out. Because it's obvious that it's wrong. Yeah, it's obvious that it goes against the rules and, you know, the guy's not getting any help. Okay. Other things I have my Hawaiian shirt and shorts.

[Taylor Twellman]

Have them.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Mark Lerner, the owner of the Washington Nationals, sent them over. I wore them on the show the other night. In the final segment, I wear the Hawaiian shorts to bed. Makes me very, very happy. Thank you to the Nationals. The Nationals lost again. The Nationals went on a road trip to Atlanta and Philadelphia. Two teams above them in the standings. Two teams better than them in every way. They're better teams. They lost seven out of eight. They lost last night. And that was a give up game. The baby manager gave up. I blame the baby manager on this one. He kept Meatball Nicholas out there for no reason at all through about six innings. And he gave up six runs. By the third, Michael third of the fourth, he gave up six runs and they were down either 61 or 62 and he didn't take him out and try to win. Didn't try to win. That one was accepted. The loss and the chances of the

[Michael Wilbon]

six to one after three.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, six to one after three, all earned. They had eight doubles by the fourth inning. Eight doubles by the fourth inning. Philadelphia, come on, that's a lot of doubles. That might be the record. Yeah, yeah, they were, they were just roping the ball and there was no attempt to change pitchers and it was a give up game. That's on the manager. And the other night they dfa Mark Littell, they have to do the same with the meatball. They have to. They made a big deal last night about how he was celebrating last night his 10th anniversary in the major leagues and the announcers talked about how great that was. It's fine. It's a lovely accomplishment. Not any. Everybody gets to do it. Yeah, but he's done. He's done. You know, I'm not going to be surprised. Although he bunts. They could bring him in for sacrifice bunts situation. But to me I think you have to.

[Michael Wilbon]

And he defends his teammates.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, he's very good. You know, he's, he's probably very popular. Maybe you don't have to do it, but I, you know, on the other

[Michael Wilbon]

side of the ball, just look at the top three batters. You, Dylan Cruz, five at bats. How many strikeouts? Four you had? Chaparro and House got a combined one hit.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, they were terrible. That's the top of the order. Without James Wood out there, that's top of the order. And C.J. abrams had a terrible at bat. Bases loaded, one out within striking distance and he struck out. He did the same thing against Atlanta last week. I know. He leads the National League in rbi. I'm not saying he's not having, he's having a great season. I don't want to trade him. He's had terrible at bats. When it counted in these two particular games. I, you know, I watched every single pitch.

[Nigel]

But then that's a. Still an idiot right there with the wild card, right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, no, they're not right there. They're probably five or six out. They've lost seven out of eight.

[Nigel]

Six.

[Michael Wilbon]

They're, they're at point 1% chance of making the wild card.

[Nigel]

Okay, you're now at the point of

[Michael Wilbon]

the season where you look at, they have the Reds coming up, they have the Cubs. You're looking at how other teams are going to use their games against the Nats to position themselves.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They didn't try to win they should have gone and got Nicholas.

[Nigel]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They should have put in some relievers. They had a chance to win that game, tie the game, do something in the game. They did not avail themselves of that opportunity. And I lay that on the manager, maybe the general manager as well, called him up and said, no, leave the guy in. But I think it's possible you can designate for future assignment. Is that what it's called? Designate for future assignment?

[Michael Wilbon]

Hmm.

[Nigel]

I thought it was just designated for

[Tony Kornheiser]

assignment, Whatever it is. Designated for assignment.

[Nigel]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. That, that means you're done with him. Yeah, he's, you know, he's, you know, maybe you don't want to do that. I don't know. But these nine arms that you traded for, let's see some of them. Bring them in.

[Nigel]

Although I just heard about Connelly Early.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's on the. He's on the deal.

[Nigel]

Yeah. He was doing some simulated backing batting practice.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's got hurt again.

[Nigel]

Yeah. He doesn't feel good. No. All right, shut it down completely.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Let me just give you two words. Josiah Gray. Two words. When was the last time Josiah Gray pitched?

[Nigel]

1960.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All Star pitcher. Doesn't pitch anymore.

[Nigel]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Doesn't pitch. I gotta tell you this one little golf story. I played 12 holes yesterday. You say, why did you play 12? I. I had some friends who were on six when I got into a cart and met him at six and played in, it was fine. It was 10,000 golf courses. Yes, that's true. It's a gentle warm up, 10,000 degrees. My first shot went 12ft. I was about 130 out. I took out a five, rescue one about 12ft. I was terrible. But look, I didn't warm up at all. I didn't take any swings. I was happy to be out there. I was very happy to be out.

[Michael Wilbon]

Happy to be with your friends.

[Tony Kornheiser]

16 is the last par three on the course. It's over water, the old people's tees. It's about 110 yard shot, depending on the pin. Well, this pin was in the middle. Middle, front, middle front. I hit a shot, hit a little bit too long, landed in the rough on top of the trap behind the green. It's a very, very delicate pitch shot that I'm not good enough to hit. I understand. I'm not good enough to hit.

[Michael Wilbon]

It's a hidden hope.

[Tony Kornheiser]

One of the caddies, Eric, who I know very well, I think Eric's very good. Eddie, Eric and Tachi were out there. Eric said, look, go all the way out left. You're going to leave yourself a 25 foot putt. But you, if you try to chip the ball at the hole, you're going in the water, you're not going to be able to do it. And it makes sense to me. So I'm attempting to chip into the rough, get one bounce, land on the green, have a 20 foot putt. I hit a great chip exactly where I wanted to land it. With one exception. There was a sprinkler head there. It hit the sprinkler head, went in the water, Went in the water. I hit the best chip I ever hit. Oh, and it went in the water. Didn't know what to do. I just dropped a golf course where

[Michael Wilbon]

they take a little piece of turf and put it over the sprinkler head when, when they are in play, right around the greens.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I didn't know there was a sprinkler head there.

[Taylor Twellman]

Why would you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And nobody knows. And, and so I, you know, I just thought, okay, this is me, this is golf. This is why I love it and I'm terrible at it and it's okay and I'll come back soon and I'll try it again.

[Michael Wilbon]

You hit the shot?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I, yeah, I hit the right shot and then I went to 17 and hit a fine tee shot. 17 is the hardest shot. Second shot to an elevated green. The hardest shot. I never get it on the green. I constantly shank it. I constantly put it on the ground in the heather. I did it three times yesterday. I picked up the ball and just flipped it onto the green and just, you know, I probably, in the 12 holes that I played, I probably shot 110. I was that bad.

[Michael Wilbon]

How many golf balls did you lose?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I lost three golf balls yesterday. It's too many. But luckily I have a three pack of golf balls in the car and I will be able to replace divided by three.

[Michael Wilbon]

Okay. Trying to figure out your per hole rate. Okay.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Just very bad. I was really bad. And yet I had a good time. I preferred doing that to whatever else I could have done. I would prefer doing it today, but there's no carts today because it's wet

[Nigel]

and it's about 1,000% humidity outside.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Michael, am I wrong about Kawhi Leonard? I'm not excusing him, but. But doesn't his team of people have to say, you can't do this, that's

[Michael Wilbon]

why you have a team?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I just can't do it. And if he won't listen to you, you quit. That's what you do. You say, okay, then what is the point of me being here. There's no point. Okay. It's the open. I didn't want to sound this angry on the last open before I'm going away.

[Nigel]

You hit a great chip.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I did hit a great chip. Wanted to land it.

[Michael Wilbon]

And Nigel, you got your Red Sox.

[Nigel]

Yes. That's. I don't even know what's going on.

[Taylor Twellman]

Eight in a row.

[Nigel]

I think it's eight in a row now.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's like 25 out of 26.

[Nigel]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Something unbelievable.

[Michael Wilbon]

Our household turned the game off just in, you know, at the end of the game.

[Nigel]

Well, I thought they were down 7, 5 late now that. Well, this is. White Sox are a first place team.

[Michael Wilbon]

Wait, your.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Your, your household, your extended household has Red Sox fans.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, we're getting the ness and feed.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, it's lovely.

[Nigel]

Yeah. So they win 12, 11. I just don't. They don't lose. I. I can't explain it. It's unbelievable.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Because when they have bases loaded and won out, their best hitter doesn't strike out.

[Nigel]

No, I mean, they. Trust me, there was a lot of that in the first three months.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And when they have a manager and he thinks he can win a game, he doesn't leave a pitcher in too long.

[Nigel]

No. They're playing like it's the playoffs right now. Everything is huge.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. This is the first time I've been publicly critical. I mean, I just thought, I thought they gave up last night and just said, get us out of here. Get us out of here. One in seven. It's okay. If we hit and we win, fine. But we're not. We're not going to do all the things we would do. Do you think in a playoff game they'd have left that guy in?

[Nigel]

Oh, there's no chance.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, no, they wouldn't have left him.

[Nigel]

And that would have given you the split. And then you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, that doesn't mean you win, but you give yourself a chance.

[Nigel]

I mean, if you win that, you get the split and you think, all right, well, that's not. You know, we started out.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But Dylan Cruz. What? James Wood is out. What is Dylan Cruz batting? And he's not the overall two pick in the draft. And a major league hitter. 220.

[Michael Wilbon]

21.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And what is

[Ron Flatter]

13.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And what's House batting?

[Michael Wilbon]

Brady House. 228.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, so they're all in the two twos. They're all there. So I would say this, and I've said this in the text chain. I think if you're the manager and you have vacated third and vacated. First, you have to give shaputzva and house 10 straight games. You have to see what they've got. You know, don't jerk them around in the lineup. Don't do that. Put them out there in those positions and see. See what you've got.

[Michael Wilbon]

And context matters. You're going against Sanchez for what, six innings last night? So.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, but they got to Sanchez pretty early. I mean, they hit Sanchez. So they have this kid, Andrew Pinkney, and it's his first major league game ever. And in his second and bat, he hits a home run. It's fabulous. It's a lovely story. His parents are in the stands. His girlfriend is in the stands. They interviewed them. It's great.

[Nigel]

Great.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And then the next time he comes up, he gets yanked for a lefty, righty situation. He gets yanked.

[Michael Wilbon]

You gotta let the kid roll at that point.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's what I think. Jacob Young. Could you look this up? Did he have a double and a triple last night? I think he did. I think he had a double and a triple late in the game. They take him out on a righty. Lefty. He is a righty. They had a righty pitcher in there, baby. Manager takes him out. Who does he put in? Tanya. What does Tanya do? Strikes out. That's all he ever does, is strike out. Righty, lefty.

[Nigel]

I think.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think Jacob Young had a double and a triple. I'm sure he had the triple.

[Nigel]

I'm seeing him with it with a triple. Not somebody named Ford. Got a.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Nigel]

Gerald Ford?

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, Harry Ford, the substitute catcher. Okay. But he had a triple last night. Knocked it, took him out. They took out a guy with a triple. Took out a guy with a home run. Put in people who did not produce. I'm watching too carefully. I have to stop. My goodness, I have to stop. We'll take a break. Is it Ron Flatter or is it Taylor Twelveman?

[Nigel]

Ron Flatter.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Ron Flatter. When we come to try to explain what happened to the Preakness, to us, Try to explain. I'm Tony Kornheiser. This is the Tony Kornheiser Show. The Tony Kornheiser show is brought to you by Fanduel. Baseball fans think you know who's hitting a homer today. Well, Fanduel is giving you a free chance to call your shot. With daily dingers joining the action is easy. Just make your free pick on who's hitting the home run in their game. And if you're right, you'll get a profit boost to use on your next bet for a chance at extra winnings. You got nothing to lose and a lot to gain. And don't forget, you can make a free pick every day during the MLB season. It's just another reason why fanduel is the home for home run. So are you ready to play your game today? Join all the [e-mail] podcast that's fanduel.com podcast to play daily dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a homer. Play ball and swing for the fences on FanDuel. An official partner of MLB must be

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[Tony Kornheiser]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. They say that every day your business is late to air, you actually fall two days behind. Look, the competition is only moving faster and trying to keep up can feel completely overwhelming. Fortunately, there's NetSuite Next. You probably already know NetSuite as the trusted AI powered business management suite used by over 43,000 customers to securely connect financials, inventory, HR and CRM into one single source of truth. Well, netsuite Next is a massive leap forward because AI is now built into everything you do. It automatically surfaces custom insights throughout your day, deploys AI agents to handle routine work, and lets you ask questions just like you're talking to a colleague. It's customized for a wide range of industries, and honestly, if you need a system to scale your business, this is what you should use. Whether you earn millions or hundreds of millions, it's time for NetSuite Next. For the first time ever, you can try NetSuite Next for free. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures.

[Ruby Greenberg]

Whoa.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Go to Netsuite AI slash Tony Built for every industry, ready for every boardroom. Netsuite AI/Tony this is the Tony Kornizer Show.

[Ruby Greenberg]

Open a window, let the fresh breeze in.

[Tony Kornheiser]

If you're wondering why this singer is so great, how beautiful her voice is, don't wonder. It's sent to us by Michael Granberry, who writes Ruby Greenberg grew up in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado but now lives in San Diego county, not far from the Troubadour in la, which served as the musical home of so many great artists in the 1970s. Ruby is much younger than those Troubadour albums, but those are the greats whose music to this day moves her the most. She continues to be inspired by, among others, Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Christine McPhee. Ruby sees her original music as embracing a modern folk style while invoking nostalgia for the acoustic sounds that she finds the most inspiring. This is the first of two songs by Ruby today. This is called Pictures of Us Plays in our friend Ron Flatter. We have two guests today. I'm in over my head on horse racing and soccer, yet we have Ron and we have Taylor Swellman, and I want to get to what has happened with the Preakness and ask a series of questions that I'm sure Ron has asked himself. But let us start with the passing of Robbie Alvarado, who who won Triple Crown races, did he not?

[Ron Flatter]

He did so. He's best remembered for his association with Curlin. Curlin who 20 years ago, two time horse of the Year, most recently in the Triple Crown Series. He rode Swiss Skydiver, a filly to win the Preakness during the COVID year in 2020. So yeah, he certainly was. And he also rode Mine Shaft, another horse of the year going back to 2003. But he also was a guy who just never had any good luck with injuries. He had two skull fractures and he had congenital heart trouble.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Heart problems? Yes, he had heart problems.

[Ron Flatter]

That's what killed him he died in his sleep. He was staying at the home of our friend Kenny McPeak in Saratoga. Kenny was looking after him. They were very, very close friends. Kenny hired him as an exercise rider in the mornings. And Robbie rode Kenny's best horses, Torpedo Anna, Mystic Dan. You remember those names recently. Yes, he was always there. He was absolutely a fixture in the morning. So, yeah, that was. Unfortunately, he passed away. He just had a heart procedure and then just didn't wake up the other day.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So this is our tribute to Robbie Alvarado. And then we want to get into the reason that we called originally. Can you explain briefly what has happened? What is the original intent of Churchill Downs and the nyra?

[Ron Flatter]

Well, the short answer to your question is no, I really can't. I'm still trying to get the answers, but here's what I know. There were two news conferences this week and two announcements. One was Monday when basically the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes got together to create a coalition. Add three summertime races and then a final race in the fall as part of a series to crown a three year old champion. And conspicuous by its absence was the Preakness. You've reported on this. That was what happened Monday. The Preakness, they hold a news conference with the governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, and it's at the State House in Annapolis. And it was a splashy deal, a new news conference that of course started at 12:49. And so here was Wesmore and he was slick. And then the Maryland Jockey Club guy, Bill Knopp, comes out and he was calm. And the NBA C guy, NBC just re upped with the Preakness and he was smart. And off they went. What I've been told was this was originally going to be the other way around. The Preakness announcement was going to come first. But you may remember the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs tried to buy basically the nil of the Preakness, the imaging rights and all of that for $85 million. And the state of Maryland used its bargaining chip, its contractual chip, to block that. They just matched it and they kept it and that ticked off Churchill Downs. So I think there might be a little bit of spite here, Tony. And Fox, which televises the Belmont Stakes and is in bed with the New York Racing association, they tried to get the Preakness and they lost to NBC. While NBC's part of this alliance with Churchill Downs and with the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont. They do the Derby right? Well, Fox has got a little spite in the stews. And from what I'm told that's why this news conference was rushed onto a Monday. It was a disaster in terms of organization. Questions went unanswered. Reporters were told to submit their questions in writing two hours in advance. So it was going to be curated. And none of those questions was asked. And then the whole thing fell apart like 10 minutes after it started. So it was rolled out very embarrassingly. So you see, there's a lot of unanswered questions in all this.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So let's go line by line if we could.

[Ron Flatter]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The Churchill Downs people in the nyra, in establishing this six race deal to crown a three year old champion, they deliberately torched the Preakness. Yes or no? They deliberately torched it.

[Ron Flatter]

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. They did. They will say they didn't, but they did.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. And the Belmont was involved in this? Yes.

[Ron Flatter]

Mm.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Ron Flatter]

Because they're. Remember, because they're now only two weeks after the Preakness. The Preakness is now three weeks after the Derby.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right.

[Ron Flatter]

With the Belmont being only two weeks later. Now the Belmont gets squeezed in the.

[Tony Kornheiser]

If they adhere to the traditional schedule. And we always have to say those things. Did this seem. It was a deliberate torching of the Preakness, but did it seem to you to also be, and feel free to disagree, a deliberate torching of the Triple Crown as we understand it?

[Ron Flatter]

No. I'm going to say no because it's still a five week series. And again, if the Preakness had made its move first by pushing its race back a week, then that all seems reasonable at that point. Okay. Preakness moved back a week because the last two Kentucky Derby winners weren't showing up. I think part of the reason for that, by the way, is they weren't staring down the barrel of a 1 1/2 mile Belmont Stakes five weeks after the Derby was only a mile and a quarter. Well, supposed to go back to a mile and a half next year. Supposed to. Now we're hearing rumblings that it might not, but we'll see about that. Now, the Belmont squeezed and do they want to go ahead and maybe move back a week themselves?

[Tony Kornheiser]

So that's why I don't think the

[Ron Flatter]

Triple Crown was torched. I think it can still be. That could still be just fine.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is what I wanted to ask, and I say this so that everybody understands. There is no Commissioner of horse racing in the United States of America. There ain't Adam Silver or Rob Manfred or Roger Goodell. It doesn't work that way. Doesn't work that way. So Each of these tracks operates independently. Nothing ever happens to the Kentucky Derby because there's nothing before the Kentucky Derby that would force them to move. That's consequential. But now the Preakness not only moves a week later, but goes on Sunday, which is bizarre to Of Me goes on Sunday. Now Belmont is in the two week position the two weeks after with a longer race most of the time the only mile and a half race of consequence on dirt in America. They have always been reluctant to move. I mean, they like where they are. Do you anticipate them moving as well?

[Ron Flatter]

I think they're going to have to. And by the way, everything I've suggested to you in terms of my point of view is very debatable. I mean, I could initiate pitchforks and torches outside my door right now just from what I've said. But at the same time, I think there's two problems with the Belmont Stakes moving back a week. One is the whole idea, the tradition, the five week Triple Crown, blah, blah, blah. The other part of it though is the New York racing calendar, because that then dominoes everything down the line. There are races set up after the Belmont Stakes for three year olds to come into the Jim Dandy, which will be part of the, of this new series. The races that are not part of it, like the Haskell in New Jersey, which also seems to have gotten squeezed out. And so there are other points on the calendar that are associated with horses from the Belmont Stakes and even some of the other races on that card, because there's a lot of big races on that card. They don't want to domino a problem coming afterward. That's been some of the New York Racing Association's reluctance. I think they're just going to have to suck it up and do it. And then we're going to hear about something. Either a shortening of the race or a delaying of it by one week.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I believe I've talked to you about this. I've talked to David about this. I've talked to Rich Podolsky about this in texts. The Triple Crown is the only thing that most people look at with horse racing, casual fans. The Triple Crown, it's been going on for a thousand years, has been about 15, 16 winners. Whatever it is, it's a big deal. Continues to be a big deal. That's why when trainers skip the Preakness, people like me go, what are you doing? Why are you doing this? Given the fact that the Triple Crown is not just a big deal in terms of notoriety and history, it's a big deal in terms of stud fees. You know, it's a, it's, it's worth a lot more money than the actual race is worth. Will trainers now, in your opinion, go to the Preakness and be alive for the Triple Crown?

[Ron Flatter]

Yes, I do. And then the question then becomes, will they go to a Belmont Stakes? That's either longer or it's going to be within two weeks if it doesn't move. And that's. And then do you say if they do go and win at all, is there an asterisk? We can deal with that later. But to your direct question, I think they're going to show up for the Preakness. One thing that's gone unanswered, I did ask Bill Knoff, who's the head of the Maryland Jockey Club, will they raise the purse for the Preakness and will they offer a bonus for horses who come out of the Derby? And then maybe if the winner then wins the Preakness, will they offer a bonus? And so I was asking that to myself first. I merely asked him about the purse structure in a text message and he comes back to me and says, we're still working on it. Basically, we're looking at maybe the purses and bonuses. So he volunteered the idea of bonuses without my actually asking about it. So stay tuned on that. I think they're going to do something in that vein and that's going to force Belmont's hand because then the Belmont would be looking at being a two million dollar race, while the Preakness would be more. And the Kentucky Derby is what, 7 million?

[Tony Kornheiser]

And by the way, the Preakness, now everything is owned by the state of Maryland.

[Ron Flatter]

Yep.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So you can get taxes at Preakness taxes. The governor can say, we're going to do it because we want to pay for this. We want to make it a big deal. So now what happens to this six race thing? What happens to that?

[Ron Flatter]

I don't think people give a flying bleep about it. Baffert was right. When you're right, too. Baffert said once the Triple Crown is done, once the Belmont Stakes is run, most people aren't watching horse racing again until Kentucky Derby the following year. And by the way, that out, Tony, not even that. Now it's only getting about 2 million against college football. It's, it's now maybe the fifth or fourth or fifth most watched race. It goes Derby 24 million this year. Preakness had seven, Belmont had five, Kentucky Oaks had two. The Breeders cup had two. So it drops off really a lot. I just don't think people are going to care about this series. I really don't.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, that's my feeling. That's my feeling, is that they can run this and they can dress the horses up in pink if they want. Nobody's going to watch this. It's just not going to matter.

[Ron Flatter]

Bonus. Yeah. It's not like I'm getting paid to fight.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They don't have a structure. They don't. You don't even know. Do you accumulate points? Do you have to win all the races? I mean, nobody. It's vague at the moment. And what.

[Ron Flatter]

They haven't even said, who's paying for it? Who's paying this? 5 million. They haven't even said that yet. Yeah, right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So. So my takeaway in this would be that what the Preakness has done, once they got punched in the head, the Preakness punched back harder, it seems to me.

[Ron Flatter]

Yeah. And in fact, what Churchill and the New York Racing association were doing was effectively throwing the counter punch as a preemptory strike by moving and hastening their news conference.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Ron Flatter]

A couple days early. So, yeah, I think. I think it was a very big wallop by the Preakness. And if they do deliver in, in terms of a bigger purse and bonuses, then it means everything. You know, the answer to all your questions. Right. If they don't, they're the nit.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Well, I mean, I just think the most important thing is that the Preakness needs to live so that young drunken people can run on top of the bathrooms that are placed in the middle of the infantry and fall down.

[Ron Flatter]

This whole Sunday thing, by the way, my understanding on that is because four of the next six years, Sunday will be Memorial Day weekend, they'll get better TV numbers that day. So that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, but aren't they going against. Aren't they going against the Indianapolis 500?

[Ron Flatter]

No, that's because actually, if NBC, or, pardon me, if Fox had its way, it would have the huge lineup. The Indy 500 goes off at what? Noon, 1 o'? Clock? It's done by 3 or 4 o'. Clock. Preakness doesn't go till 7. So there. Unless there's like a big rain delay in Indianapolis, they're fine with that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okey dokey. Thank you for trying to make sense of this to me.

[Ron Flatter]

By the way, I should tell you, I hate to, you know, prolong something you're trying to get rid of, but the whole thing about who did you meet up with in the men's room. I had a very strange experience the other day given the situation I'm in. I found myself next to Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo. And I can't tell you how humble I felt having that circumstance in the men's room.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Thank you.

[Ron Flatter]

Chopping that one. Sorry. Thank you very much, Tony.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Run flatter, boys and girls. We'll take a break. Taylor Twillman will join us when we return to explain what's going on in soccer with FIFA and UEFA.

[Nigel]

Yeah, we're quit. Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

What are we doing here? All right. I'm Tony Kornheiser. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. Baseball has always been a game of inches. Now it's also a game of seconds. T Mobile and MLB have teamed up to bring ABS challenge to all 29 ballparks across the United States. This isn't a minor upgrade. This is the most significant new technology in the history of the sport. And it's powered by T Mobile. With every pitch thrown, ABS Challenge uses real time precision to verify the call, giving them the support they need. No delays, no guesswork, just accuracy at the speed the game demands. Thanks to ABS Challenge, T Mobile is helping power the moments that define the game. When performance and reliability are non negotiable, MLB turns to T Mobile. That's not a coincidence. That's what happens when the most innovative network in the country powers the most data driven sport in the world. T Mobile Powers MLB's most ambitious technology. And America's best network powers your connection to baseball. Home or away. Every pitch, every game, every day. T Mobile. It's better over here. Major League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit mlb.comtmobile Best mobile network in the U.S. according to Ookla Speed test. Based on analysis by OOKLA of speed test intelligence data 1H 2026 Ookla trademarks used under license and reprinted with permission.

[Taylor Twellman]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Ruby Greenberg]

A withering plant by the window.

[Tony Kornheiser]

She can sing. You can't. She can sing. This is Ruby Greenberg. This is called the house you built. She's fabulous, Michael. If independent singers like Ruby Greenberg want to send in their independent music and play it on this podcast hotel, they do it.

[Michael Wilbon]

Send us your music by emailing it to Jingles Tony konizershow.com and we have the promo code TK Corn available at Johnny O with with all the heat and humidity. Go check out their featherweight line.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, it's probably a good thing to do. It's very hot and washy.

[Nigel]

Yes. And this song, by the way, released today, so if you'd like to get it downloaded wherever. Yeah, it's wonderful. Brilliant.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. She plays in Taylor Swellman. And we have. I know less about soccer than everybody in the the world, but I have a few questions because soccer has been in the news lately. Before we get to the soccer, though, the last time we saw Taylor, he was co hosting the Today show. How did that work out? Did you have fun?

[Ron Flatter]

Yeah.

[Taylor Twellman]

I mean, nobody got fired, Tony.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So that's a. Yeah. Is it a career change? Are they going to come back to you?

[Taylor Twellman]

Do you think there's potential? Yes, sir. I've got a little more time on my MLS Apple deal, but the Today show was a blast. First off, truly, it was the talents and like the background staff. It felt as if I was there for like 10 years. So similar to you and Michael when we do PTI and your crew, everyone made me feel so welcome. So again, nobody got fired and everybody had a good time. So at least I didn't wear out my welcome too fast.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's great. We're happy for you. We think it's thrilling when people we know are on television. Even though we are on television, it never means anything to me. I'd like to see my friends on television. Let me get to. Let me get to the fact that Mauricio Pochettino, who came in pretty late this year to coach the United States national team in the World cup, has signed a deal extending him through 2030, the next world Cup. Your thoughts on having him back? Did you think in fact he would want to come back? Did you think, in fact the United States would want him back?

[Taylor Twellman]

That's a good question. Honestly, first and foremost, you think about when you look at the world and the way international managers are working and the options they have. Pochettino is a club coach, Tony, so he likes the daily grind, he likes being with players. So this was his first stint at ever doing international. So I truly didn't know after the World cup if he was going to be more interested in Tottenham, AC Milan, which from my sources, he wanted to see what was available before resigning with the United States. Now, in saying that it's the worst loss in modern day history for the US men. So there's a part of me that believes that Pochettino is a little embarrassed is the wrong word, but he's motivated to rectify that Belgium game. And so now he gets an entire cycle of World cup qualifying of more than likely a Copa America in 2028, Tony, he gets four years now. So whether he stays four years, I know there's a lot of skeptics out there, because if Tottenham or another club calls, he may leave. The United States Federation has protected themselves financially with that. But if you ask me right now, which you are, beginning of August 26th, who's the best option out there, I don't think there's any debate that that's Mauricio Pochettino. Right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Now, the story I read said he's getting $6 million a year. Is that a lot or a little in soccer? Because soccer is such a big deal. You wouldn't shock me if you told me that they get 10 and 12 million dollars a year.

[Taylor Twellman]

Year, yeah. It's a lot for the United States. They've gone outside for donors and all of that to get into that. So he's made more than any male or female for the United States Soccer Federation now in saying that it's about what he should get paid, because if he was doing England, if he was doing Germany, France, the number is going to be the same. Now, you could argue that you may need to overpay him a little bit, Tony, to get him to come to the United States and take the job, but it's not astronomical. It's just a lot for the United States.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, so we are, I'm sure we are agreed that the World cup was a huge success in the United States, that the viewership was astonishing. Only the super bowl got more viewers at any one time. Right on the heels of that, there was a story about the head of FIFA, I hope I pronounced his name correctly, Gianni Infantino, who, it seemed to me, if I read the story correctly, was going to sell. Sell off parts of FIFA. Can you explain what his intent seemed to be?

[Taylor Twellman]

Yeah, no, because it's not his to sell, Tony.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Taylor Twellman]

So it's completely question that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. My next question was, does he have the authority to do this? Yeah, go ahead.

[Taylor Twellman]

No, no, he does not. Because you are. You are a custodian for the game. You're the governing body of the game. You're not the game. And so I think Infantino's head got a little too big because of, you know, the 12 billion plus that they made having the World cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. I think he believes that he could pull this off. Now, Tony, for your listeners, a little background. UEFA ironically comes out against FIFA, yet they tried to start a super league the same way and with the same financial backers, and they got Heavily criticized and ridiculed for even trying to do that. So, listen, it's like that meme where there's three Superman or Spider man pointing at each other. All of these people in the game, you are custodians of the game. You are not the game. And so I am very happy that immediately after the World cup ends, that it is leaked out and it is completely shot down. I just find it a little bit ironic and sacrimonious, a little bit that UEFA is steadfast, that Infantino is 100% wrong, when 18 months ago they tried to start a Super League.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So, yeah, what I'm going to say is going to sound hopelessly naive to you, but it is me. I don't really understand soccer. I was told when the Super League started, fans went crazy and they said, no, we're not going to have this. And then UEFA, which represents the national teams of a lot of these places, I thought their position, the anti Infantino position, was actually Churchillian. I thought it was moral, I thought it was brave. And it appeared to work immediately. And I think there's a lesson here that Americans, by and large, don't understand. I don't think we understand how important important soccer is to these other countries, because we ain't got nothing like that. We have localized things, but we don't have anything like this, right?

[Taylor Twellman]

No, because these are so. So. Exactly. So let me. Let me use a comparison here. If the Olympic Committee went out and said, we are going to private equity the Olympics, every single country would be like, wait a minute. Why? Yeah, that's exactly what FIFA was trying to. That's what Infantino was trying to do. You are just the governing body of all these nations. UEFA is all of Europe. So I agree with you. Is it brave of UEFA? Absolutely. But for any of us that are in the game, we're like, well, they learned from their mistake of trying to start the Super League with the clubs. Here's the difference. Super League was for the clubs. This is for the national teams. And so you wait for right away was like, you can go ahead and do it. Not a single European country will play in the World cup, which immediately killed the idea. But it is a little scary to me that there was enough belief internally. Now, the New York Times has reported over the last 24 hours that Infantino put real pressure on the FIFA executives 24 hours before the World cup final to sign off on this. And I think just. I think better minds and smarter minds prevailed, Tony, from doing this. But you got to be Kidding me. And I honestly, I think you have to question whether or not he should continue as the president.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I was going to ask you, you know what. What is his future? But before we get to that, let me take the Michael Wilbon position, my position on UEFA. And it's foolish for me to have a position because I don't even know what UEFA stands for. I guess United Football of Europe or something like that. But my position was this was very brave and I admired it because it was a moral position. Wilbond's position was, they'll take the money. Everybody takes the money. But they didn't take the money, right, Taylor? They didn't take the money.

[Taylor Twellman]

No, no. And so that's where. That's where it gets interesting. Listen, if you're asking about the Super Liga and the money, UEFA had real, real financial backing, the same financial backing that had convinced Incentino and FIFA to try to do the same thing with the World Cup. Now, I know it's not the same thing, but I'm just keeping it on a macro level, right? They didn't take the money. And listen, Wilbond's 100% correct, 99 out of 100 times. UEFA, FIFA, anyone in the world of sports will take the money, but not if it jeopardized the competition, in the integrity of the competition. And that's even arguing going to 64 teams, Tony, is borderline jeopardizing the competition, because that is about taking the money. Yeah, but this was a competition, completely different scenario, because the money would have gone into Infantino's pocket and not necessarily the game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So who is with Infantino? Who sits in a room and says, yeah, this is a great idea. Who does that?

[Taylor Twellman]

Well, that's. That's the best part of you talking to me this morning. If you go on social media over the last 24 hours, the countries and the federations, which is what? So, by the way, United, UEFA is United. European football associations, okay? So the Football association, so Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, the United States, Morocco, all of these individual federations are now releasing statements for or against Infantino. And now they're saying, well, we're not for the private equity money of the World cup, but we like his leadership. He's now asking for the support to save his job. And by the way, as you just called me, Argentina released their statement, Mexico released their statement. So this is where this gets very interesting of whether or not Infantino continues. I don't know your way for saying right now that they want none. No, no one wants Infantino, continue. But now the South American constituents, The American, the North American, Central American, African, the individual federations coming out. Tony now gets real interesting.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So what is the. Does the United States have a position to this point not to be.

[Taylor Twellman]

Listen, I was. I was cleaning up dog puke right before you called me, so bear with me here. Yeah, it's the title of the show I haven't seen. I haven't seen the United States statement, but I read Mexico's this morning. Argentina and one of the African ones. But I have not seen United States yet.

[Ron Flatter]

No.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So we'll ask the speculative question. Three years from today, you know, when. When people begin to gear for the World Cup. Three years from today, do you think Johnny Infantino will have this job as the head of FIFA?

[Taylor Twellman]

Oh, man, it's such a good. I mean, the fact that he was bribing Morocco for their votes to then give them the final of 2030 like Tony, I don't. I don't know. My gut says no. My. My brain says yes, he is.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. All right. It's a pleasure to talk with you. Go clean up the dog puke. We know.

[Taylor Twellman]

I mean, never dying moment here at this household.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Talk to you soon. Thanks, Taylor.

[Taylor Twellman]

See you, buddy.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Taylor Twellman, boys and girls. Good show today on topics we never would talk about. Yeah. Okay. Email and jingle when we return. I'm Tony Kornheiser. All new drinks are now at McDonald's with refreshers like the Strawberry watermelon refresher and the Mango pineapple refresher with popping boba. To crafted sodas like the Sprite Berry Blast with berry flavors and cold foam. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire six.

[Taylor Twellman]

All new drinks are here now at McDonald's.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Refreshers contain caffeine. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Ruby Greenberg]

Here comes Tony's mailbag. Got your email faxes and your notes. Here comes Tony's mailbag. Gonna read some for all you folks. Hey, Tony, come on, come on. Hey, Jody.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Read that mail now, baby. It's my favorite. It is it. I love them all. I love that one the most.

[Nigel]

Gotta get them back together.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hangover. Do you want to do the Bethesda bagel ad for us?

[Nigel]

Yes. Hot bagels today. We're always excited about that. Just go to Bethesda Bagels.com for the location in the DC area nearest you. Then pop on in and you'll be thrilled.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Before he gets to the mailbag, let me just say, Michael, I have a great affection for. For you and you live a rich and interesting life, but you're a bad man, not an attorney. If your intention was to have me committed, you should have kept me in Wisconsin, where the arrest report, the videotape, eyewitness reports of my inappropriate behavior would have had jurisdictional relevance. I have no criminal record in the state of New York, and the single determining criterion for involuntary commitment is danger. Is the defendant a danger to himself or others? You think you got the horses for that? Well, good luck and God bless. But the last place you are want to see me is in court. That's from Michael Clayton. That is just. That's Wilkinson, right?

[Nigel]

Yeah, Tom Wilkinson.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's just such a great movie. Thanks to our guests today, Ron Flatter and Taylor Twelman. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify and Odyssey. It's just showed through Apple Podcasts. Please leave us a review from Chad Littlefield in Noonan, Georgia. Killer shirt, Captain Farmer. It's going to look great under your cape the next time you're on stage with NorW. Norwegian soft kitten P S. Could you please tell my Uncle Mike to eat it? Speaking Allen Norwegian Soft Kitten There are two reasons why Post Sex Nachos has never claimed that you played bass with them. First, you never played bass with them. Chase Mueller is their bassist and a founding member of the band. Second, it appears you don't remember your confrontation with Chase that occurred after a show during our 199192 winter tour when you played bass for us. We had just finished playing a Gag At Least L gig at Lindenwood university just outside St. Louis, and we had torn that auditorium apart. When we exited the stage, we found the lads from Post Sex Nachos there. After Mitch, Sammy, and Hunter had congratulated us on the show, Chase looked at you, Tony, and said your bass playing was acceptable. You gave Chase the stink eye, and that's when the bass off began. You still had your bass strapped to you, and you plugged it into a backstage amp and let fly with a stunning riff. Chase grabbed a base that was backstage, plugged it into an amp, and Chase let fly with a fabulous rip. You responded, and for the next five minutes, you and Chase hurled one astonishing, thundering bass riff after another at each other. Just when it appeared that we had a standoff on our hands, you let fly with a short bass solo from Paul Simons. You can call me out. Jaws dropped, eyes boggled, heart stopped. At that point, Chase removed his base, gave you a single nod, and the lads from Post Sex Nachos ended, exited without a word. To this day, there's been a pleasant relationship between the two bands. But underneath that pleasantness, the result of that bass off simmers on a back burner. And it was that base off that cemented your legendary status in the music world. Well done, Hot Bagel.

[Michael Wilbon]

It's really slapping the bass.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's just brilliant, Glenn and Allen. Just brilliant. This email is from Dr. Steve Gerber of South Bend by way of Ocean Sergeant, New York, South Shore, Long Island. Dear Dr. Grandpa, Captain Potato Farmer Buster mentions his sister Hannah is a tomato expert. And you don't inquire further. Where is your journalistic reflex to jump on that and find out more? Can you get her on the show? There are way more tomato growers listening than potatoes. We need help. And please tell coach Bill Mountford and Glenn Gerber to eat it. Yes, we should call Hannah.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, we're going beefsteak heirloom.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, whatever.

[Nigel]

I mean, we need help.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We need some. Yeah. Because our tomatoes, while the plants have grown large, they are producing no fruit. Steve Gilmore, now in Rising Star, Texas. Dear potato man, have you tried unplugging the tomatoes and plugging them back in?

[Ron Flatter]

Sometimes that helps.

[Tony Kornheiser]

From Al DeLuca. Once I had a teacher named Al DeLuca in high school. James DeLuca. I'm sorry, not Al. Dear Dr. Tony, once the garden soil temperatures reach 80 degrees or above, tomatoes stop producing fruit. So once, unfortunately, your tomato plants are done, yank them. And that's what happened.

[Nigel]

Well, we'd like a second opinion.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's what happened. From Rico in Sequoia National Forest, per your tomato aggravation. Here's the solution. Use the Google machine and search for eco friendly elm dirt. Here, I'll help you. Www.elmdirt.com I'm in 90 degree plus heat four weeks running. I have one beefsteak, one slicer and two Roma plants. I'm to going to harvest well over 50. When they all ripening? When they all ripen. I'm already harvesting sweet cherry tomatoes and I picked about 100 already without making a dent. Elm dirt. Use it or get ripped off the road stand. Huh? Plant juice. Elm dirt.

[Nigel]

Yeah, get some of this.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Let's put that in the special pile.

[Nigel]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

We never tried fertilizer. Maybe that's it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I, I used garden soil. The, the, you know, the garden soil thing, the topsoil. I use that from Chad trade now for later. But tomorrow never comes. Even with nine arms. Yes. That is my fear and my. Look at it. Dan Hughes, Potomac Falls, Virginia the show always provides me with something. Every pod. While I was listening to the latest, I came up with the name of my new book, Nine Arms the True Story. The 2040 Washington Nationals World Series championship run. Chapter one is called Trade that set it all in motion. The movie might be on Peacock by then. From David Epstein in New York. When I worked at NBC a couple of decades ago, we were compensated in part via commission plan, which paid us five times a year. One year they announced that the mid year payment would now become a year end payment. Instead of being paid in July, the money would come the following January. I said, so we're losing a payment? And they responded, no, it's just moving. So I said, oh, we're getting six payments next year. And they replied, no, five. So I calmly pointed out that if we were supposed to receive five payments and one of them was moving, it stands to reason that next year's number of payments would increase by 1. Otherwise we were losing it. And they replied that I was misunderstanding. It was simply delayed, not gone. I then less calmly told them they were idiots, or perhaps they thought we were and remarked if we were previously getting five payments every year, but now for one year, we're getting four, that's losing a payment. I continued by saying, the question is, how long do I have to work here to get back the payment you're skipping this year? And the answer, apparently is forever. Welcome to my world, fans of the Washington Nationals. If every year is traded for next year, how long are you going to have to wait to be a winner? Forever. I left NBC soon after and never received that payment. Wishing you Nats fans better luck. Pretty good email, by the way.

[Nigel]

Elm Dirt ordered will be here Sunday.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Tremendous. And we just put it in. See what happens.

[Nigel]

Yeah, I think that's the plan.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right. Seth Shaner, New Albany, Ohio. You're lamenting that tomorrow will never come for the Nats. Welcome to the crowd. Signed a Cincinnati Reds fan. The Reds have not won a playoff series since 1995 and appear to be in perpetual rebuild mode. Paul Frampton.

[Nigel]

Not Peter.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Not Peter. From Lindsay, Ontario in Canada. Get ready to yell at your remote. And Michael on Sunday, the Nats are on Peacock again. Why are they always on Peacock? All right, from Tom Pace, 8 to 14. Hey, you got two out of three that in 667 not very good. But there were some worse. Tom Pace, Associate professor of English. Okay. John Carroll University, the birthplace of football coaches.

[Ron Flatter]

Oh.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Andrew Bowers, Poolesville, MD on Wednesday show in the mailbag you mentioned Liz's wedding date. 1111 22. Could be beat. I'd like to enter my wedding date for consideration. June 9, 201269 12. It gets better. We had the ceremony at 1 and the reception at 313-69-12.

[Taylor Twellman]

Boom.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's the day from James Provincetown, Los Angeles. This one's for Dr. Captain Potato man and the whole gang. I'm thrilled to announce I'll be traveling to D.C. for the first time next week for a work conference downtown at the Westin. Years of listening to the POD are finally going to pay major dividends. I hope I fly in Tuesday. I'll be at the Nats game against the Cubs for $5 Tuesdays. Good move, good move. But I would love any and all must hit food recommendations for my trip. Quick trip to D.C. which spots do you all feel the must hit essentials? Eating is my favorite pastime besides listening to the pot. You may recall my email last year about the Wilbon Pizza at Los Sorteds in L A. I get around. Seriously though, many thanks and much appreciation to Dr. Tony, Michael, Nigel, the whole crew for the recommendation. All the years of laughs. Anything Michael that you want to say. That guy should eat. He should eat at great little restaurant

[Michael Wilbon]

Shea Billy Sued down in Georgetown. If you if you can get a reservation there, it's awesome.

[Nigel]

Or Duke Ziebert's. Get the salad there.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Duke is not there anymore.

[Nigel]

Well, they can look around.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Chef Shea Billy Sue Sud.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, that's nice. Steve the Sycophant A belated farewell Dear Satcher, the great saxophone saxophonist plus Johnson who left us last month at the age of 94. Top Level Studio musician playing on hundreds of recordings with such immortals as Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and the Beach Boys. What puts him above so many other outstanding players was his classic solo on Henry Mancino's theme from the Pink Panther, the Badum Badum. Oh that's great. It's great. We'll go on long after the movie disappears from late night. RIP Mr. Johnson from James Austin. I hope I pronounced that correctly in Glenmont, Maryland. It's your friendly neighborhood rabbit4h parent here. Please remind Michael that this year's Montgomery County Ag Fair opens on Friday, August 14th through Saturday, August 22nd. Fair information can be found at mcag montgomery county ag fair.com especially info on parking. I hope you're all able to attend and come see and maybe buy a rabbit and all the other animals too, I suppose. P.S. one treasure. It's yeah, my son treasures his official Nats Hawaiian Shirt that he got at the Goodwill in Rockville. Though I'm sure Saturday shirt and shorts will be of the highest quality. Not something you'd expect to be paired with a free bowl of soup. I have. I have the shirts in the shorts. They're very good.

[Michael Wilbon]

Are you always wearing them as a pair?

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, I sleep in the shorts and I don't wear the shorts.

[Ruby Greenberg]

We.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The short. It looked ridiculous.

[Michael Wilbon]

Shorts for the daytime.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The shorts are at night. The. The shirt is during the day. We can't buy a rabbit. Did I tell you Jesse was chasing a rabbit and knocked into my leg and opened up a huge cut in my leg. She was going, you know, rabbit speed, 40 miles an hour.

[Nigel]

Yeah, she loves to chase the rabbit. The rabbit. Yeah, she will.

[Tony Kornheiser]

She will eat the rabbit. She's done that. Tim Cree in Fort Collins, Colorado. So glad you closed the Monday show with the buckaroo banzai quote. See, my wife is taking Italian lessons on her phone, and yesterday she learned the word for tea, which is spelled T E, but pronounced tay, T, a, y. So she's saying tay, tay, tay over and over into her phone, and I'm saying big booty, tay, tay. At my age, making my wife want to hit me is one of life's best joys. From Brett Hobbs is temporarily, as we know, in Yellowstone National Park, Bison 3, Tourist 0 so far. One took off after a little girl who was getting too close. A grandpa going for a bison flip. And now bison puncturing a vehicle tire. We sell a lot of coconut water here because it is a great drink to rehydrate after a long hike. I've got to try.

[Nigel]

Yeah, everyone says it's good for hydration.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And one more from Mike Roseberry in state College, Pennsylvania. God is eyewitness. I saw a guy in a purple cape walking across the wegmans parking lot yesterday. You're coming back into style, captain Ch Chatter. It's only a matter of time until dungarees make the scene. If you're out on your bike tonight, everyone is always to wear white. You want to talk real customers, kid, that's me. Like the mayor of Duncan, I go from marblehead to revere.

[Ruby Greenberg]

Open a window, let the fresh breeze in Take a sip of my coffee Hear the birds chirping Shake out the dusty curtain put a book on the shelves these four walls are made to be lived in. Don't need a new start still, it feels nice singing songs in the kitchen labeling the spice. Oh, it makes me happy watching you move through the house These four walls are where we build our life. It's just me and. Me and you Putting down roots all of our stories Packed up in boxes Filling empty spaces just like we want to. Making a home Leaving behind still memories from our old place. Pictures of us to remember this moment. Looking from outside oh, you'd never know how we're rich in our laughter. Love made of gold. Put on our favorite record Spin me till both of us crash. Honey, we've made it look what we've grown. It's just me and you. Me and you Putting down roots all of our stories we packed up in boxes Filling empty spaces Just like we want to make it a home Leaving behind still memories from our old place. Pictures of us to remember this moment. On we go, Every possibility Our eyes all the beauty we can find. Putting down roots all of our stories we packed up in boxes Filling empty spaces Just like we want to. Making a home Leaving behind still memories from our old place. Pictures of us to remember this moment. Open a window, let the fresh breeze in. These four walls are made to be lived in. A withering plant by the window. Tired but willing to fight a cactus Swans left and forgotten Waits for a lift from the light Casting gold on the walls of a softly lit room. Candles burn as we talk through the night. We read it so long the wick turns to smoke while each word he says. That's me, right? You say and do everything I need to feel safe in the world. The house you built is the most welcoming place My lonely heart has ever been in. The music that plays is familiar to me. You smile, singing along. Laughter is longer than trains we ride on. In the house you let me belong. I come in from from the cold melted snow on my feet you remind me spring will return. The table is crowded with flowers and plants and surrounded by people I know you say and do everything I need to feel safe. Safe in the world. The house you built is the most welcoming place My lonely heart has ever been in. The house you built is the most welcoming place I've known as long as I've live Long as I. Long as I live in my lonely heart. A home for my lonely heart. Home for my lonely heart. Heart.