Tony Kornheiser (1:50)

Yeah. Come on. So. So they win that game.

Jeff Ma (1:53)

Cruise with the Ryan Zimmerman special hitting the home run in the flowers.

Tony Kornheiser (1:56)

Home run. Home run. Home run. They have reached the point where, you know, my friend, lol s they are.

Jeff Ma (2:01)

Fun and chaotic to watch.

Tony Kornheiser (2:02)

Yes, those are absolutely the right words. Fun and chaotic. My friend Lowell Singer says, you know, you'll look back on this game. If the Nats go on a run, I run them back. The Nats aren't going on a run. That bullpick they're not going on a run. This is General George Washington and you're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show. No, they're not going on a run.

Jeff Ma (2:24)

Not going on a ride to the exits.

Tony Kornheiser (2:26)

Yeah. Witness last night. They're not going on a run. I have. I'm not going to be long on this because it's. Excuse me. I'm just going to be restating the same old themes. I'm going to say that Josh Bell, who's a wonderful guy, is no longer a major league hitter. And I'm going to say that Kyle Finnegan drives you crazy and the bullpen is. Then you don't want to hear it. But I will just tell you this. I stopped watching the game. First of all, the beginning of the game. The first three batters of the game for the home team, Philadelphia Phillies are in order. Trey Turner, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwaber. What do they have in common? TS That's, That's. What do they have in common? So I send this out to Chuck and Saliza and Michael. And then of course, of course, Swarber hits to run home. Turner gets on. Harper does not get on. Schwarber hits 2 run, home run. And you say, how does that taste? These are gnats, you know, so then, you know, then it becomes three, nothing. Gore's pitching okay. Not great pitching okay. He's pitching fine. Wheeler's fine. You know, I mean, these are two very good pitchers.

Michael Wilbon (3:30)

Sure.

Tony Kornheiser (3:30)

These are all star level pitchers.

Jeff Ma (3:31)

Wheeler's where you expect him to be given the fact that it's the, you know, the end of the first month of the season, essentially.

Tony Kornheiser (3:36)

Yeah.

Jeff Ma (3:36)

So not worried about this game.

Tony Kornheiser (3:38)

So it gets to 3 1. Luis Garcia has a 40 pitch at bat off Wheeler. It's his. Wheeler's last pitch, I think Garcia parks it in right field. It's three to one and they're bringing in a new guy. And there's basketball on and there's hockey on and I go, okay, I'm done here. I mean. Cause it's over to me. It's over to me. Then I wake up this morning to find out like a thousand more runs were scored. Can you explain what happened?

Jeff Ma (4:00)

I can't get to every, every situation with the relievers. I'm folding laundry. I just get the kids down and bases are loaded, no outs. There's an air.

Tony Kornheiser (4:08)

Bases are loaded, no outs.

Jeff Ma (4:09)

Bases are loaded. This is the top of the eighth inning. Bases loaded. Josh Bell up, tries to work account. Work account. You know exactly where the pitch is going. To go.

Tony Kornheiser (4:16)

He goes, osu with everybody.

Jeff Ma (4:18)

Miss.

Tony Kornheiser (4:18)

Yeah.

Jeff Ma (4:19)

And you're sitting there going like, that's the ending. I know you still have, you still have bats to come, but you're like, there's only one person I really trust in the situation. It's Nathaniel O. Yeah. I mean, and late in the game you might say, yeah, Luis Garcia's had a couple of like, pops to just get to get the run in. But you have to have a productive out to the outfield there so, you.

Tony Kornheiser (4:37)

Know, they don't win. Finnegan comes in and, you know, what does he do with the first batter? Well, the answer to that question is whatever he does with the first batter, he doesn't get him out. He never gets him out. He either hits him, he's trying to set up that double clock, or gives up a hit to the first batter all the time. And that's. This is, of course, what happens. And then he throws a wild pitch.

Ron Flatter (4:57)

Yeah.

Tony Kornheiser (4:57)

And they lose the game on a walk off wild pitch. How often does that happen outside a Little League? It just doesn't happen. So, you know, I don't know. I just can't go on with them. You know, I love to watch them.

Michael Wilbon (5:09)

But I felt the pain last night because I tuned in for the three run over in the eighth or the ninth, whatever else.

Jeff Ma (5:15)

It's what could have been. I mean, the, the throw from Dylan Cruz that gets the tying run in.

Tony Kornheiser (5:19)

It's not a bad throw.

Jeff Ma (5:20)

It's a great throw. It's less than a yard off.

Tony Kornheiser (5:22)

Ruiz doesn't handle it correctly, you know, so anyway, I don't want to talk about it. I did and it's done. I only talked about it because it began the show.

Jeff Ma (5:32)

It ruined my night.

Tony Kornheiser (5:33)

Yeah, I can imagine. It's ruining my day. I didn't know about it last night. Now I know about it and I'm upset. Two things to talk about. One, I was out in Delaware over the weekend and I had dinner at my house with the outgoing president of Binghamton University, Harvey Stenger, who is, I like to think, a friend of mine. You know, we don't see each other much. We chat every once in a while. But I have great respect for Harvey Stenger in his tenure. He's retiring at the end of this, you know, academic season. In his tenure, Binghamton. The improvement in Binghamton in terms of reputation around the country is enormous. We are a public ivy.

Jeff Ma (6:19)

We go into the portal.

Tony Kornheiser (6:20)

Well, I hope. No, he's not going to the Portal.

Michael Wilbon (6:22)

And I owe money.

Tony Kornheiser (6:22)

No, he's not. He's. No, he's. He's retiring. He's going to have another career. He would like to become an inventor. An inventor who, who signs up says, I'd like to become an inventor. So he wants. He's thinking about becoming an inventor, which is wonderful. And you know why he's thinking about becoming an inventor? Because he has a doctorate from mit. Okay, that's there. The smartest people in the country go to mit. There are no legacies at mit. The smartest people in the country go to mit. And when you graduate with a doctorate from mit, you know what you're doing. And I've said this before about Harvey. He's a wonderful hail fellow, well met guy. You don't expect that with a guy from a doctorate from mit. You expect him to be, you know, somewhere in the shadows just being smart. But Harvey is a very outgoing guy. Very, you know, I mean, Jeff Ma would probably tell me I'm wrong, but I don't know. I don't think Jeff Ma is the typical MIT guy. I really don't.

Michael Wilbon (7:22)

That doesn't strike me as.

Tony Kornheiser (7:24)

So anyway, so this is set up months in advance, and somebody says, harvey would like to have dinner with you. And, you know, he'll take you to any restaurant you want. There's a lot of great restaurants. I don't want to go to a restaurant. I don't want to go to a restaurant. I mean, it's a certain thing about recognition. And sometimes you say, okay, fine. And then there's Covid and there's jammed in, nah, I don't want to. So I say, I'll cook, I'll grill, I'll grill. So they say, fine, that's great. So my plan to grill. Michael, do you want to explain the plan to grill?

Jeff Ma (7:59)

Well, I think for you, you know, one tried and true recipe for success on the grill. This is going to be steak. You're doing something with steak because you know the times.

Tony Kornheiser (8:07)

I know the times, and I know how to do it. Sure.

Jeff Ma (8:10)

Except you don't know how to turn the grill on.

Tony Kornheiser (8:12)

I don't know how mom has to.

Jeff Ma (8:13)

Turn the grill on.

Tony Kornheiser (8:14)

But, Michael, you also suggested that I get kebabs.

Jeff Ma (8:17)

Yes.

Barry Zluga (8:18)

So I was.

Jeff Ma (8:18)

I was hoping, as we did some menu planning, we play a little homage to Binghamton, and we do a speedy marinated kebab.

Tony Kornheiser (8:25)

And I brought out the speedy man.

Jeff Ma (8:26)

We do some beef kebabs, some chicken kebabs, have the meat market. Throw a little onion, some pepper on there. Can't miss.

Tony Kornheiser (8:34)

I would have done that. Everything was predicated on grilling. It was all predicated on grilling. Here's the problem. The forecast was for rain in the evening, which, by the way, came through in buckets. I couldn't have grilled. So you have an umbrella? Plan B. I wasn't going out there.

Michael Wilbon (8:53)

Bring the grill inside an umbrella.

Tony Kornheiser (8:55)

Harvey brought me a Binghamton umbrella.

Jeff Ma (8:57)

Wow.

Tony Kornheiser (8:57)

Yeah. I have a Binghamton umbrella out at the beach now. I'm really happy about that. And A for Chessy the dog.

Jeff Ma (9:03)

That's a nice touch.

Tony Kornheiser (9:04)

Yeah.

Michael Wilbon (9:04)

That's phenomenal.

Tony Kornheiser (9:05)

Very nice. So anyway, I have to have a backup plan because. Not gonna grill. Maybe not. So I go to Hickman's, the greatest meat market in the world. Right.

Jeff Ma (9:16)

We all accept it's a wonderful place to watch it trim meat.

Tony Kornheiser (9:20)

Yeah. And they know me because we go there every year when my high school friends come out and we order the same things every single year. So they know me. So I go in there, I explain my circumstance. This is the day before. I go, look, I don't know about the grilling. And they said, look, take the tenderloin. We'll cut you a tenderloin for three people. Put it in the oven.

Jeff Ma (9:40)

Au chateaubriand.

Tony Kornheiser (9:41)

Put it. I guess. I don't speak Spanish. That was a joke. It's French Chateaubriand. Ha ha ha. So. So I say, well, I'm going to grill it. And the guys behind the counter say, don't grill it. Don't grill it. Put it in the oven. It's going to be better in the oven. Cause it does not have fat. You'd be better in the oven. And they write down on a piece.

Jeff Ma (10:04)

Of paper, this is what makes them so good.

Tony Kornheiser (10:06)

They write down on a piece of paper, step by step by step, what the temperatures are, what the internal temperature has to be, how long it rests. It's. Yeah, it's a can't miss. They're great.

Michael Wilbon (10:17)

That's true.

Tony Kornheiser (10:18)

They not only give you the food, they tell you how to cook.

Jeff Ma (10:21)

Now, what's amazing about you is you will not just reach out to one person. You'll have the same message out to three to five and to see what committee says, that's what orders do.

Michael Wilbon (10:29)

Right.

Tony Kornheiser (10:30)

They get a consensus, and then I decide we'll make baked potatoes. We'll make baked potatoes, and I'll go to Rehoboth to the beat. Rehoboth Beach Club. Country club. And I will get salad there.

Jeff Ma (10:43)

Perfect. Whenever you're hosting my salad, try and make it easier for yourself. So you can enjoy your company.

Tony Kornheiser (10:48)

What I did, got the Caesar salad, had them put the dressings on the side, had them put the croutons on us. We're not mixing till it's time to eat because you don't want soggy. Nice. Yes. So we are set. Carol, the night before, hits the button on self cleaning oven.

Barry Zluga (11:04)

Oh, perfect.

Tony Kornheiser (11:04)

You know, so we have a totally clean oven.

Jeff Ma (11:07)

My worry was the last time that oven was used was Thanksgiving years ago. Not sure what year.

Tony Kornheiser (11:12)

We don't use the oven a lot. We don't. Don't use the oven a lot. Okay, so now I'm set. And, and, and this is the interesting part. To me, I have to describe Harvey. Harvey is in his mid-60s now. Harvey's a runner. Harvey's in great shape. He's an athlete. He was a high school athlete. You know, he never stopped being an athlete. Athlete, as people say, student athlete.

Jeff Ma (11:42)

Probably also a mathlete.

Tony Kornheiser (11:44)

So, yes, definitely because of this. What crept into my head very late. Okay, I'll just tell the story. Harvey says, what are we going to have? And I said, I thought we'd have meat and potatoes. And his answer comes right back very quickly. It goes like this. Who doesn't like meat and potatoes? And I had that chilling feeling in the back, lower back of my spine that, oh, my God, he doesn't. He's a vegetarian. He's, you know, gluten free. He's the healthiest guy I know. And he is just saying this to me. And then he'll go home and induce vomiting so that he can get rid of the food. You know, so he get rid of the food. And I have this terrible fear. And the dinner's great, by the way. It's great. The food is great. And that is, of course, my terrible fear. Well, I don't think it's true. I don't think it actually happened, but I had that fear because of how healthy he is. But we had a really nice dessert, though.

Jeff Ma (12:44)

One lesson with the tenderloin is we're always going to go reverse sear because it's going to help protect the overall temperature of the meat. The tough thing is, if you're willing to.

Tony Kornheiser (12:53)

We have to go out and buy a meat.

Jeff Ma (12:55)

The number.

Tony Kornheiser (12:55)

Good.

Jeff Ma (12:55)

You should have every. Every home cook should have a digital meat thermometer. Now if you're on the grill, you can do a great job flipping it every two minutes and getting a nice crunch.

Tony Kornheiser (13:04)

I can't do that.

Jeff Ma (13:04)

You're going to have to add some sort of fat to Try and get that mouthfeel that you want. And every steak's different. So if you have that tenderloin, you want it to be cooked that medium rare, rare, temperature, versus if you have something with a lot more fat, where.

Tony Kornheiser (13:15)

It has to get two other things. I never asked him how does he like the meat. I just had it cooked the way I like it, medium rare to rare. So I don't know if he liked it that. But here's. Here was. Here was my ration.

Jeff Ma (13:27)

We can always leave one end of the tenderloin, put it back in, and let it get more to that medium tender.

Tony Kornheiser (13:31)

He seemed to like it, but there's.

Jeff Ma (13:32)

You had no steak sauce to finish this? No peppercorn, no horseradish cream, like ranch.

Michael Wilbon (13:38)

Dressing, something like that, Little ketchup.

Tony Kornheiser (13:40)

No. Didn't know nothing. I didn't know it was really good. I didn't put anything out.

Jeff Ma (13:44)

You didn't ask for a one and I didn't.

Tony Kornheiser (13:45)

No.

Michael Wilbon (13:46)

You said no dessert.

Tony Kornheiser (13:47)

I didn't have dessert.

Jeff Ma (13:48)

He's a runner.

Michael Wilbon (13:49)

You know, that's true.

Jeff Ma (13:50)

There's probably some gummy worms in that house somewhere. There's certainly my dad's chips.

Tony Kornheiser (13:54)

There's. My dad's chips are in the house. Yeah. But here's. Here's what I. I convinced myself afterwards. I convinced myself that. That this dinner was set up for a long time. For a long time. And it was well known for a long time that I was going to cook. So at that point, there's no. You're not at a restaurant. There's no menu to pick from. So if you have a problem, if you have a particular dietary problem, if there's something you don't like or something you do like, it's sort of your obligation then, or one of your representatives to say, and by the way, President Stenger does. Doesn't eat this. You got to tell me. Because there's no menu. It's just me, right?

Barry Zluga (14:37)

Yeah.

Tony Kornheiser (14:37)

And since he never. Nobody ever said he don't need.

Jeff Ma (14:40)

I'd say if this was going to be a larger dinner party, you would have tenderloin and you'd have maybe a fish.

Tony Kornheiser (14:45)

Yeah, sure.

Jeff Ma (14:46)

But just for an intimate setting.

Tony Kornheiser (14:48)

Yeah, yeah.

Michael Wilbon (14:48)

It's like when you go into a restaurant and the chef says, there's no menu, I'm cooking for you.

Tony Kornheiser (14:52)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And which has happened to me.

Michael Wilbon (14:55)

Yes, I know it's happened to me.

Tony Kornheiser (14:56)

Todd Gray does that at the beach. I'm cooked for you.

Michael Wilbon (14:59)

Has to be phenomenal.

Tony Kornheiser (15:00)

No, it's great. It's great. It's great. So the other thing was, I. So for months and months, I mean, waiting for this event, I of course, felt that. Why is he doing this? He likes me. Sure. But why is he doing this? Well, the outgoing president gonna ask for money.

Jeff Ma (15:13)

What's the ask?

Tony Kornheiser (15:14)

You're gonna.

Jeff Ma (15:15)

How much is this gonna cost?

Tony Kornheiser (15:16)

You're going to ask for money. And so I prep myself on this without revealing names. There's somebody I know very well who had been in this very position himself for some period of time. And he said, oh, yeah, the ask is going to come in three different ways.

Jeff Ma (15:30)

Tremendous. The detail that he offer, just great. At the time, you're like, let's give you. Let's give you enough time to. To get your affairs in order before.

Barry Zluga (15:37)

The end of the fiscal year.

Tony Kornheiser (15:39)

Right. So there's. There's the, you know, there's three different ways to ask for money, and it escalates, and it ultimately escalates into building. Named after you. Money. Ooh. Okay, so I'm. I'm waiting for this. The entire dinner. I'm, you know, I'm waiting for this. And I'm not upset at it. It's fine. It's part of everything. And it. And it's. It's the game. Like, I'm a sports writer. It's the game. I want to see the game. I want to write about the game. He never asks.

Michael Wilbon (16:11)

Really?

Tony Kornheiser (16:12)

Never. He never asks. This got me so flummoxed that I said to him, aren't you going to ask? He said, no. I said, well, let's talk about it. Maybe I can make a contribution to the school. So I did it to myself.

Jeff Ma (16:26)

I did it to my three dimensional chess.

Tony Kornheiser (16:28)

Yes. I did it. I did it to myself.

Michael Wilbon (16:30)

Well played, Harvey.

Tony Kornheiser (16:31)

Yeah. So it was real. Yeah, I really. And then he wrote me a note afterwards saying if you really consider something.

Jeff Ma (16:36)

He kept the say the closer for another Gabe.

Tony Kornheiser (16:38)

Yeah, so. But I had a really good time because I really like him. And he's done. He. He did a great, great job, you know.

Jeff Ma (16:45)

You know what I love is that how many years ago did you graduate? That your relationship.

Tony Kornheiser (16:48)

Oh, my God.

Jeff Ma (16:50)

Strong as it is.

Tony Kornheiser (16:51)

Yes, well. But that's because of the PTI show, I think. I mean, you know, I am visible and all of that.

Michael Wilbon (16:58)

Yeah, but you're a very proud graduate.

Tony Kornheiser (17:00)

Yes.

Michael Wilbon (17:00)

Yeah. Love that place.

Tony Kornheiser (17:01)

I love the place. It was great for me. Sure. I mean, not everybody, you know, it's a state school. It's a small. When it started out, a Very small state school now. It's still a small state school. 1720.

Michael Wilbon (17:11)

But as you said, state Ivy. I mean, that's public Ivy.

Tony Kornheiser (17:14)

Public Ivy, rather Public ivy. That's an incredible. You don't get a.

Jeff Ma (17:17)

The Harper Colonials.

Tony Kornheiser (17:18)

Yeah, you know, you don't. Well, we're not the Colonials anymore. With a Bearcat.

Michael Wilbon (17:21)

Now, if I mentioned this on the show before, I apologize for repeating myself. But I think, Michael, you agree with me on this, that if there were a building to be named for you, we feel that it should be like the biology building Industry.

Tony Kornheiser (17:33)

Good bio, the Cornheizer.

Jeff Ma (17:35)

You know, the non science major entrance.

Tony Kornheiser (17:37)

Yeah, exactly. Raise your hand if you're a non science. What? There's only three of you. When it says biology for non science majors, why are you. Other people in here don't really understand that. So he's been a wonderful. I think a wonderful pres. You know why people quit being president?

Michael Wilbon (17:54)

Why is that?

Tony Kornheiser (17:56)

Because 24 hour day job. Because if something happens.

Michael Wilbon (18:00)

Oh, right. Yeah.

Tony Kornheiser (18:01)

You get a phone call.

Michael Wilbon (18:02)

Yeah.

Tony Kornheiser (18:02)

If there's an accident or an incident in a dorm in the middle of the night, you get a phone call. It's not like on TV when a PTI shows. Done. I'm done. Like, they don't say, could you come back for the sports center at 11? No, no, no. That's it. No, I'm done. But when you're the president of a school.

Michael Wilbon (18:23)

Yeah. That would wear on you after a while.

Tony Kornheiser (18:25)

I mean, that's hard. It's hard. But he's a wonderful, wonderful person. Do I have a couple of minutes? Sure. Michael and I had a great treat on Monday. We went to Congressional. They have two courses there. They have a gold course and a blue course. They have redone the blue course in the last two years.

Jeff Ma (18:45)

This would be about year four now.

Tony Kornheiser (18:47)

I think, you know, and they are hosting the pga. The Senior pga. The Senior PGA Championship in a month. Yes.

Jeff Ma (18:56)

And I think Memorial Day weekend.

Tony Kornheiser (18:57)

Yeah. Okay. So. Yeah, around a month. And we got invited to play in a media day.

Jeff Ma (19:04)

A preview play.

Tony Kornheiser (19:05)

Yeah. So it was Michael and me and Gary Williams and Joe Yasharov, who's a long time sportsmanship.

Michael Wilbon (19:11)

Yeah, I know Joe very well. Yeah.

Jeff Ma (19:13)

Solid putter.

Tony Kornheiser (19:14)

Yeah.

Michael Wilbon (19:14)

Really?

Jeff Ma (19:15)

Coach looking on. I don't know if you heard this. Coach very critical of your clutch putting until the end when you made some big birdie putts.

Tony Kornheiser (19:22)

I made three birdie putts.

Jeff Ma (19:23)

But he's just muttering on number 10. You didn't even.

Tony Kornheiser (19:25)

You didn't even line it.

Unknown (19:26)

Up.

Tony Kornheiser (19:27)

I was terrible on that number 10. And that was number 10. So Michael hit the two best shots of the day. The two best shots of the day. There was about a 285 yard short par four. Michael drove number eight. Michael drove the green, giving us a birdie opportunity. Eagle opportunity, but a birdie.

Jeff Ma (19:42)

But that was also emblematic of the work that Andrew Green did on the redo of blue in preparation for. I think it's 10 PGA related events that started back in 2022 with the women's PGA.

Tony Kornheiser (19:52)

Yeah.

Jeff Ma (19:53)

Ryder Cups 2037. There is a ramp to the left of this green with a lot of sort of speed slots to get to the green and severe fall offs that, you know, they hearken back to these golden age greens courses. Has a very strong Long island feel. But I drove it to the one flat spot. We should have made the 30 footer.

Tony Kornheiser (20:12)

Well, he drove the green. Okay, that's. Let me just say this. From the up tees where I played, where Gary and I played, we'd still be there. The up tees are.

Jeff Ma (20:24)

I think I should have played one tee forward.

Tony Kornheiser (20:27)

They're a longer course than the member tees at Columbia, which I don't play anymore because I've moved up. We if without Michael getting us to the green in regulation. I don't know. 16 out of 18 times we're still out on the golf course. Michael also made a putt on 10, a par 3 putt on 10 where the three of us had previously missed.

Jeff Ma (20:51)

This was on 12.

Tony Kornheiser (20:51)

On 12. I'm sorry. Keep the card clean. Yes. And so we had no bogeys. We had four birdies. We finished 68. And I thought that was going to be good enough for something. Yeah.

Michael Wilbon (21:02)

Glassware shop credit something.

Tony Kornheiser (21:04)

Two groups came in at 59. They cheated. They cheated on that course is too hard. Those pins were too hard. Those greens were too hard to shoot 59. Unless you had four studs.

Jeff Ma (21:18)

The group that came in with 58, I verified after the round did in fact have a clean round. Did they have credit to golf dmv?

Tony Kornheiser (21:26)

Did they have stud players? Then they must have really good players because it was hard. Michael made a putt that without it, we would have had a blemish on the card. We would have had a bogey. I had a wonderful time playing what we played quickly. We never waited for a show.

Jeff Ma (21:41)

No credit to however they organized this in terms of getting groups onto the hole that had the. I didn't see other groups out there. We had great pace of play. Fun to be out.

Tony Kornheiser (21:53)

It was really wonderful. It was a lovely event. My great gratitude to Matt Williams and John Maroon who invited us and they're doing the publicity for the tournament. Loved. I loved it. I just. I love playing with Michael and Gary and Joe. We really.

Jeff Ma (22:06)

First true late spring day. It felt like it's really just got long, long views of the pool.

Tony Kornheiser (22:12)

Yeah.

Michael Wilbon (22:12)

It's beautiful.

Tony Kornheiser (22:13)

The pool where I. You know, it's so hot. It was 7 billion degrees. I couldn't do the show from out there. That's right. Get me air conditioning.

Ron Flatter (22:19)

And they did.

Tony Kornheiser (22:21)

So we had a good. Yes.

Jeff Ma (22:22)

We had a great time.

Tony Kornheiser (22:23)

Yeah. Happy. Grateful.

Jeff Ma (22:25)

I. I just was so happy to see the two of you.

Tony Kornheiser (22:27)

You play well.

Jeff Ma (22:28)

Yeah, I've been playing. My offseason training has paid off. I've been playing very well. I had a new putter in the bag which was fun to see. And just some of these pins were on edges that were. It was impossible to bully your way inside a 25.

Tony Kornheiser (22:41)

I did make three putts.

Jeff Ma (22:42)

You did.

Tony Kornheiser (22:43)

You know, Gary may be angry.

Jeff Ma (22:45)

We finished on back left pin. You made a putt.

Tony Kornheiser (22:48)

I. I led off. Okay. Sure.

Jeff Ma (22:52)

But the leadoff position is very important. Take your time. Establish a line so that everyone else can learn before we even get to.

Tony Kornheiser (22:58)

Most of the time I do.

Jeff Ma (22:59)

You just whack it.

Tony Kornheiser (23:00)

Yeah.

Jeff Ma (23:00)

And you hit the ball straight down so it one hops and you can't get a sense of the speed.

Tony Kornheiser (23:04)

I wanted to be first so that everybody else could learn from me. I was taking the bullet for the team.

Jeff Ma (23:10)

Right again. Process. You have to make sure you give it a good effort so we can learn something. I wasn't even watching your putts after the front nine.

Tony Kornheiser (23:19)

I'm not very good. I'm not. But I had a good time. And this is so self indulgent. Most people have stopped listening. Who do we have next?

Michael Wilbon (23:28)

Ron.

Tony Kornheiser (23:29)

Ron Flatter.

Michael Wilbon (23:29)

That's right.

Tony Kornheiser (23:30)

With a derby preview. Not the only one we're going to have. No. You know Andy as well. I'm Tony Kornheiser. I think you're on mute. Workday starting to sound the same. I think you're on mute. Find something that sounds better for your career on LinkedIn. With LinkedIn job collections you can browse curated collections by relevant industries and benefits like Flexpto or hybrid workplaces so you can find the right job for you. Get started@LinkedIn.com jobs finding where you fit. LinkedIn knows how. 24 chefs. 24 culinary showdowns for 24 hours straight. Which chef Will out cook, outpace, outlast the competition.

Barry Zluga (24:27)

No chef escapes the clock.

Tony Kornheiser (24:30)

All new 24 and 24.

Jeff Ma (24:32)

Last chef standing.

Tony Kornheiser (24:33)

Sunday night at eight. See it first on Food Network streamed next day on Max. This is the Tony Kornheiser show. This is a group called the Gold Needles and they write. We're excited to bring you a brand new single from UK indie rockers the Gold Supernature. It's out on May 2nd. That's the end of the week. Cleared for airplane review. Now the follow up to last fall's debut single for Big Stir Records. I don't know about that. The new track slows down for a lush cosmic trip bristling with hooks and harmony. It's preview of more to come from the band in 2025. Gold needles. Not. Not Silver Threads and Golden Needles.

Michael Wilbon (25:10)

That's a great song.

Tony Kornheiser (25:10)

That's Linda Ronstadt.

Michael Wilbon (25:11)

Yeah.

Tony Kornheiser (25:12)

Not Silver threads and golden needles Cannot mend this heart of mine. No, it's a great, great song. Really have to do lyrics from that at some point. But these are the Gold Needles. And again, it's Supernature and they play in our friend Ron Flatter. And I'm taking notes last night to what to talk to Ron about because Ron is going to be at the Kentucky Derby. He's going to be at the Preakness. He's going to be at the Belmont. I assume if there's reason to be at the Belmont at that point. But we have you, Ron. We have Andy Greenberg. Andy Greenberg, Andy Buyer. Andy Greenberg was my roommate in college. Andy Beyer. And we have George Mallet. And George sent us a note the other day as well. And. And you are our Derby team. How do you feel about that? Is that too much pressure?

Ron Flatter (25:55)

Well, it's always too much pressure. But then Again, you know, Mrs. Flatter offers me pressure whenever she sees how many torn up tickets.

Tony Kornheiser (26:03)

Yes.

Ron Flatter (26:03)

Are on the floor and how much they cost. Usually I hear about that on the first Sunday in May.

Tony Kornheiser (26:08)

So.

Ron Flatter (26:08)

Yeah. So I know about pressure.

Barry Zluga (26:10)

Not.

Ron Flatter (26:10)

Not a problem. Derby pressure is nothing new to me.

Tony Kornheiser (26:12)

Okay, so again, it's you, it's Buyer, it's George Millay. We will have everybody make a pick and if they all make the same pick, well, then I think we have to go to the window then I think we have to do that. Last year was Kenny McPeak. Right. Didn't he won the Derby. He became a guest on the show at various point your pals with McPeak, right?

Ron Flatter (26:33)

Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And he won the Derby and the Oaks So absolutely.

Tony Kornheiser (26:38)

And then he had, what, Anna Thorpedo or Torpedo Anna or something like that.

Ron Flatter (26:43)

You know, Anna, and she was the Oaks winner, wound up being the horse of the Year.

Tony Kornheiser (26:46)

Horse of the Year. So he had a pretty good year. Did. Did the Derby horse. What was the name of the Derby horse?

Ron Flatter (26:52)

Mystic Dan.

Tony Kornheiser (26:53)

Mystic Dan was spelled Mystic. Was spelled weirdly, right? If I were.

Ron Flatter (26:56)

Okay. Yeah. Okay.

Tony Kornheiser (26:57)

Has that horse done anything since?

Ron Flatter (27:00)

Had gotten hurt, remember, after the Triple Crown campaign and missed a lot of time and is really kind of coming back into himself. And we'll be racing this coming weekend, so we're looking to see what his comeback is looking like. But really, I mean, Torpedo Anna has completely overshadowed him, and every move she makes is just, you know, it has become very charismatic. She's become like the Pied Piper of horse racing. And to the point where when she raced against the boys at the Travis last year, there was a whole big think pink campaign where people were wearing pink on her behalf, and she damn near won the race.

Tony Kornheiser (27:39)

Came in second, right? She came in second.

Ron Flatter (27:41)

Oh, my goodness. A very close second to Fierceness, who is racing back here. The Derby favorite last year, who I liked, who finished 17th. Wow. But I mean, this. This just the most inscrutable horse, but then came back, you know, won the Travers and. And beat Torpedo Anna in one of the best races last year. So some of these horses, yeah, we're starting to see them coming back. They're trickling back. In fact, Fierceness will be making his first start against a horse named Locked in the Ali Sheba Stakes, and the two of them are both trained by Todd Fletcher, so there's a little bit of a kerfuffle, as it were, with the owners. One of the owners really didn't want to see the other one coming into the race and having them have this showdown so early in the year, but here it is. So that's sort of all the sidebar stuff that's going on here for the Derby.

Tony Kornheiser (28:28)

Does McPeek have a horse in the Derby this year?

Ron Flatter (28:32)

He does, but reluctantly. So it's a horse named Render Judgment. He'll be one of the longest shots on the board. I don't think Kenny was crazy about bringing this horse into this race. He drew in late because of an injury that had happened earlier in the week, and so was one of the last ones into the field. I think he rather would point this horse in a different direction, but Render Judgment is that horse, and he's on the morning line at 30 to 1.

Tony Kornheiser (28:58)

Does Bob Baffert Have a horse. Is he back in the game in Churchill Downs?

Ron Flatter (29:03)

He has two, and I like one of them a lot. And he is back and he's been, I mean, he's been Mr. Media Friendly. No, no startling maneuver there. But he's, he's done any and every interview and he is back to the point where it was thought his very being back might be the biggest distraction of the week. But because he stepped right out and he's doing every interview, it's like, okay, been there, done that. Hi, Bob. You walk by, you keep, you know, we've already done that story. And he did come back last year, Thanksgiving week with a horse named Barnes that he had hoped would get into the race. But he underperformed in his early three year old going. And his two horses then are Rodriguez, who won the Wood Memorial early this month, and Citizen Bull, who won the Eclipse Award for his age group last year, but has been disappointing a little bit since and also got stuck drawing the one post which is almost the kiss of death here at the Kentucky Derby. It's been almost 40 years since a horse has won from there. But those are his two horses, when in fact, by the way, Tony, a lot of people thought he might have five horses in this field. And so the expectation was there very much along the way. And then some of these horses fell by the wayside and it was like, yeah, okay, well, maybe Baffert doesn't have what it takes, but I always point out you only need one to win the Derby. And he's had that one many, many times.

Tony Kornheiser (30:27)

Yeah, he's a great trainer and controversial at this point, if I recall correctly, over the last four or five years, there is regularly a foreign horse that comes in that somebody likes a lot and they fizzle. Am I correct on that? They don't actually win. Or do they win? And if they don't win, why don't they win?

Ron Flatter (30:47)

Well, I think part of it is because they've had to ship and the rigors of doing that. And also they, they might put on a jockey who's inexperienced with Churchill Downs, they're throwing a horse into a race with 19 others. When they don't face 19 others, sometimes they get on the dirt here. It's different from whatever the dirt is there. But we came two noses from having a Japan horse win last year.

Tony Kornheiser (31:09)

Right.

Ron Flatter (31:09)

And that was forever young. And this year, Luxor Cafe, me, maybe that horse, and then some. So Luxor Cafe and Admire Daytona are the two horses from Japan? Wouldn't you know, they drew right Next to each other in the gate in seven for Luxor Cafe and six for Admire Daytona. But Luxor Cafe is a terrific finishing horse who's also known to stalk the lead. He could very much be in this picture, and I think he's actually one of the horses I like a lot coming in from Japan.

Tony Kornheiser (31:43)

Is there. Am I the only one who thinks when you say the horse is coming in from Japan and his name is Admire Daytona, that I think, how did that happen? How did that happen? You know, who's in charge of naming that? You would go Admire Daytona. It's very weird. So what, who are. Give me like the big, big name horses coming in. Who are we looking at?

Ron Flatter (32:04)

Well, the big. The favorite's going to be Journalism. I know you've already talked about him. I mean, didn't. Wasn't Greg Garcia talking about him the other day? So Journalism has not set a foot wrong. And in fact, when he won the Santa Anita Derby, he ran into trouble, the likes of which you could have in the Kentucky Derby when he had to check before he finished the race. And all he did to finish the race was find room and find another Gear, turn it on and win by open lengths. So he's the favorite. He's won four in a row. Comes out of California from the barn of Michael McCarthy. And so he's going to be a very short price. I mean, he's probably going to go off at maybe 3 to 1, 5 to 2.

Tony Kornheiser (32:44)

Okay.

Ron Flatter (32:45)

And so that it's the question, do you beat him or do you try to go against him in part because of the price? You have a horse named Sovereignty, and.

Tony Kornheiser (32:53)

My friend Eddie likes this horse.

Ron Flatter (32:55)

My friend Eddie, Eddie's got a reason to like the horse he comes in. He finished second in the Florida Derby, but he was coming at the end. And if the race had been another eighth of a mile longer as this one will be, he probably would have won it. So he's into the race, but he drew wide and he's in post 18 at 5 to 1. And then you have Sandman, who won just up the road in the Bluegrass Stakes in Lexington at Keeneland, and he's at 6 to 1, but he drew 17. And I'm not so sure that that race was as good a prep as some of the others have been, but he's certainly going to be attracting money. And those are the three big horses in terms of who is going to get the betting attention. And of course, I mean, look, Baffert's got Rodriguez at 12 to 1 on the morning line. I have my doubts that he'll be that long because after all, it's Baffert. So I think that alone is going to attract some money. But he would be at the other maybe name horse along with Japan's Luxor Cafe.

Tony Kornheiser (33:51)

Okay, so the moment of truth. Tell the people who you're going to bet. Tell the people who they should bet.

Ron Flatter (33:58)

I love Rodriguez. I just think if you're going to give me Baffert at 12, 1 or 9 to 1, I think the horse is moving in the right direction. They took blinkers off of him for the Wood Memorial. It seemed to make all the difference. He'll stay with blinkers off. I like Luxor Cafe. I think you're going to be shorter than 15 to 1 with him as well. And like I said, he's a good finisher. And the other one I like is going to be the long shot. Here is East Avenue. When he made his first two turn race, he looked like a world beater. And that was over at keeneland as a 2 year old last year. He then dropped to his knees at the starting gate in the Breeders Cup Juvenile, went on a three month break, came back, looked like he wasn't really all the way back from what you might call his vacation. And then he finished a very strong second in the Bluegrass Stakes and he was coming at the end. And so I think as much as it is to try to figure out what this horse is going to be on one day to the next, I think he's going to be good value East Avenue at at least 20 to 1.

Tony Kornheiser (34:55)

What do you mean he dropped to his knees? What does that mean?

Ron Flatter (34:59)

When he. When the gates open, he buckled onto his front knees before he righted himself and got going. By the time he did, the race was pretty well lost. He needs to be in front early on.

Tony Kornheiser (35:09)

Okay. Is Rodriguez named for Alex Rodriguez?

Ron Flatter (35:13)

No. No, I don't remember the connection exactly, but no, it's not. It's not a rod.

Tony Kornheiser (35:19)

Okay, so you're going to go with Rodriguez. That. That's going to be.

Ron Flatter (35:21)

I'm going with Rodriguez, Mike.

Tony Kornheiser (35:24)

All right, enjoy and we'll talk to you soon. Thank you, Ron.

Ron Flatter (35:27)

I hope to see you during creek this week.

Tony Kornheiser (35:29)

Yes, we always do. We'll make it run flatter, boys and girls. We'll take a break. Barry's Verluga will join us when we return. I'm Tony Kornheiser. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. This is the Aura Read. Sweaters, candles, the dreaded bathrobe. Mother's Day gifts can be a little predictable and boring. That's why you should get an Aura digital frame from mom. This year, Aura was named the best digital photo frame by Wirecutter. And Aura frames are guaranteed to mix things up. This year, we all have these. I have them. Nigel has them. Michael, have some. They're. They are simply a joy.

Michael Wilbon (36:07)

They really are.

Tony Kornheiser (36:07)

You walk by, you look at the pictures. It makes you happy. They are simply a joy. Yes.

Michael Wilbon (36:12)

I actually gave mine to my mom and it's her favorite thing. She adores it.

Tony Kornheiser (36:16)

Yeah. Aura frames come with unlimited storage, so you can share as many photos as you want from your phone to mom's Aura frame. Not only will she be grateful it's not another sweater, she'll also love that an Aura frame means she gets to see more of you. Aura is easy to set up. Takes about two minutes to set up a frame using the Aura app. Aura is also the perfect gift for any occasion. Save the wrapping paper. Every frame comes packaged in a premium gift box with no price tag. With Aura, you have complete control over who has access to your framework. And the Aura app lets you share photos more securely than with email, which many other digital frames require, or has a great deal for Mother's Day. For a limited time, listeners to this high quality podcast can save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get $35 off plus free shipping on their best selling carbon mat frame. That's a U R A frames.com promo code. Tony K. They want you to support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Checkout to me means you're in a grocery store and then you start talking about people whose shows you listen to. I don't know how you do this in any other way. On checkout. Terms and conditions apply. That's your money saying it's time for a McDonald's run. Cause with new McValue, at McDonald's, you get more than you expect. Like buy a six piece McNuggets and add a McChicken for just a dollar. Your money says let's go get more than you expect. With new MCvalue, prices and participation may vary.

Barry Zluga (37:33)

Valid per item of equal or lesser value.

Michael Wilbon (37:35)

You.

Tony Kornheiser (37:36)

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show. This is 2020, right? That's right. And this is called Back to California.

Michael Wilbon (37:51)

It's the album I think is Back to California.

Tony Kornheiser (37:53)

Okay. This is the end of the summer. Yes. And this is the new single from the band the End of the Summer. That was released on April 11th. The single follows the indie hits King of the Whole Wide World, Laurel Canyon. The album's title track, Back to California. It's cleared for Airplane review now. Hope your audiences will enjoy it. This is 2020, Michael. Bands like 2020 or the Golden Needles, the Gold Needles want to send us their stuff. How do they do it?

Jeff Ma (38:19)

Send us your music by emailing it to jinglesney koenisershow.com that plays in Barry.

Michael Wilbon (38:24)

I should tease what Michael Granberry has sent us in a couple more songs, so we'll have that on Friday.

Tony Kornheiser (38:28)

Okay.

Michael Wilbon (38:28)

Yeah, it's always something to look forward to.

Tony Kornheiser (38:30)

I need to drink a lot more water. I have a father.

Michael Wilbon (38:33)

Yeah, there's a lot of pollen.

Tony Kornheiser (38:36)

Did it rain last night?

Michael Wilbon (38:37)

Oh, it did. Yeah.

Tony Kornheiser (38:38)

Barry Zverluga joins us now. And and the big news in Washington. And I let me do the lead in by saying this. I did not grow up in Washington, D.C. i grew up on Long Island. I was a fan of the jets, mostly the Giants, secondarily the Knicks, certainly the Rangers, even more so than the Islanders because I was already working when the Islanders, you know, were in existence. You know, the Mets, more so than the Yankees. But I got here at a relatively young age. I was about 30 years old, and I was a sports writer. And so I got to witness something I had never witnessed before, even in New York, where there's two of everything. I got to witness a football team here that had a hold on this city unlike anything I had ever seen growing up in New York. And I spent much, most of my adult life, if not all of my adult life here and much of my working life here and got to appreciate in particular the Washington football team playing at the RFK site. It was a community unlike anything I had ever seen before, a noise unlike anything I had ever heard before. And it gives me great and fond memories. Barry did not grow up here either. But you have spent much of, if not most of your professional life doing the same job that I did. I think you're a little too young to have seen the RFK experience before. But what do you think? And I know this is local, kids, I know it's local. I think it's worth it. What do you think of the idea of the new stadium being put, where it's going to be put and what is the jeopardy, you know, for that stadium?

Barry Zluga (40:25)

Well, it's complicated. And is it a local story? It is, but it also is a story that comes up in all sorts of cities when you're talking about building new stadiums that require some or we've come to understand that they require some form, some amount of public funds. And what is the percentage and what is the dollar amount that the District of Columbia, which does not have a state government to also supplement anything it contributes, have to put in to get the very romantic, historic notion of bringing the football team back into the District's boundaries, back to the RFK site, back where the team had the hold on the town and back where the team had its most successful yes. Days. I mean, that was everything is so, it's so wrapped up in warm and fuzzy feelings. And then you say, hey, the new owner of the commander is still relatively new owner of the Commanders. Josh Harris is going to put in $2.7 billion. And that seems like an amazingly generous amount to put in on his own. But another large number is over $1 billion, which is what the District of Columbia, which just had its bond rating docked, which is hemorrhaging federal workers. The company town is losing a lot of the company. That's a lot of money for a city to put in to lure the football team back in town. My take, and I wrote this this morning, is not anti stadium. It is that the mayor of this city, Muriel Bowser, negotiated this deal with Josh Harris and his team and announced it at a pep rally on Monday that made it seem like this is a done deal and it's final. And that was way cart before the horse. She did not share the deal with the D.C. council, which has to approve this. It was not consensus building. It was like fait accompli. And I just think we got to pump the brakes on something that these taxpayers are expected to contribute more than $1 billion to what is essentially, is it a development project that could benefit the city? Sure. It's also going to benefit Josh Harris and his partners because they're going to develop the land and reap the rewards from the development there.

Tony Kornheiser (42:46)

As somebody who lives in the District of Columbia and pays taxes in the District of Columbia but has substantial funds, I'm for this, of course, and I hope that the communists on the city Council don't block it in any way because I and I wrote somebody in the government a long note about this yesterday that I view some of those people, as I view often tenured professors at college who, you know, don't have to worry about anything and think that they are benevolent to all. And I don't think they recognize. I'm going off on a tangent here. I know I don't Think they recognize the importance of sports? I do. I think they're anti sports very often. I don't think they've ever talked to people who work for a living and what. What a good team, a football team in particular, can do to their spirits and how it unites them. Do you fundamentally disagree with me on this? You might.

Barry Zluga (43:43)

No, No, I don't. I don't. I mean, I'm a sports writer. Like, I didn't get into it because I hate sports, right? So. But I do think, Tony, that there's an adult way to be a sports fan, too. And that is to understand that, you know, we've come to accept in this country kind of a, you know, a civic generosity that I think a lot of economists think is misplaced, that putting billions of dollars of public money into these private businesses is not necessarily the right equation. Now, I would love for the stadium to be there. It does represent to me the Washington team being in Washington at a site that right now, I mean, I live probably a mile, mile and a half from the RFK site. You drive out that way and it is blight. I mean, it is just. It looks terrible. It's unused land. It needs to be used for something. And if that something is a stadium, that. That could be great. But it has to be great. It has to be not the first deal that's put on the table. It has to be talked about in terms of who's going to benefit from the parking revenue, all the development. You know, I just don't think it's as simple as a one on one conversation between essentially the mayor's office and the team. This is the deal. It should be done now. Rubber stamp it. I think. I think the council's job is to say, let's pick apart the deal and see how we can improve it for the residents of the District of Columbia.

Tony Kornheiser (45:14)

I got the sense that because Roger Goodell was there, which I did not expect, I got the sense that the NFL considered this a done deal as well.

Barry Zluga (45:21)

Well, for sure. But I also think they have to be smart about it, too. I mean, they. I think their presentation was to act like it's a done deal so that the public just kind of accepts it. And Roger Zell's presence there is symbolic in that. You know, he said, I didn't come here to announce that a Super bowl will be coming to Washington, but it certainly puts Washington in the mix because the stadium is going to have a roof. And I mean, it does. If that facility is built, it opens up the nation's capital to a slew of events that we have had no chance of Hosting before Because RFK is dilapidated and FedEx is a dump, you know, whatever it is now Northwest Stadium is a dump and always has been a dump. And it left us in a less than world class sporting position because, I mean, it's embarrassing that there is a domestic World cup next year and we don't have. Washington D.C. is not represented as a site. I mean, that's, it's a great soccer community, it's a great international community and they didn't have the facility to put even a couple of games. I mean, that's, that's not. That would change with this. A Final Four could come here. You're probably going to get an NFL draft. To the extent that the loony bins who travel to those things, you know, would come to town. It does change the equation. We just have to make sure the equation is the right one for the city before just signing off kind of blind, you know, with a blindfold on.

Tony Kornheiser (46:48)

I'll tell you, I'm a big fan of the mayors. I am a big fan of what she's done for sports. I mean, I think she understands the unification, you know, that can happen as a result of sports. And sometimes there are people who are in those elected positions that are blind to that or just don't. Don't get it. And she does to me.

Barry Zluga (47:07)

Well, I mean, she, I would say she was so kind of enthralled with the idea of being the mayor to bring back football that she really almost lost the hockey and the basketball teams. And she lucked out because Virginia couldn't get it together. And then she was the heroine because she came back to Ted Leon's and said, no, we have money that we can. Let's work this out. And that's great because that in my mind we've talked about this. It saves a really important downtown neighborhood that's only blocks from the National Mall that could not fall into disrepair and now has that anchor of the basketball and hockey teams for the foreseeable future. And the football team if she brings it back. I mean, Anthony Williams 20 years ago got a deal done to bring baseball here and he was forever known as Mayor Baseball. I think Muriel Bowser will be known as Mayor Football if this thing goes through and she successfully lures that team from Prince George's count in Maryland back to the site where you open this thing by saying you have so many fond memories and the town felt different at that time. And maybe it'll feel that way again.

Tony Kornheiser (48:16)

Can I. I'm switching gears now. I got very upset when they put Rosario in the game the other day against the Mets because he can't even throw the ball to the plate. You pay people to be pitchers. If you think that your pitching staff is depleted and your bullpen is awful and horrific and you can't dfa them fast enough, just bring somebody up from the minors for a day. You know what I mean? I. Because I take it you're not. You were not as upset with that as I am. Because there's a strategy to it. I just don't like it.

Barry Zluga (48:42)

Well, I mean, it's. The strategy is you're going to lose the game. It doesn't matter how you lose it. And you didn't know at the beginning of the day that you were going to be down 15 to nothing. In fact, you had played a really competitive homestand against two teams. I know the Orioles are in disarray, but. But against two teams who open the season with World Series aspirations and the Mets in particular, who can spend. No amount of money is too great for them to spend. And you just taken two, three really, really exciting games over the weekend, both walk offs, both involving the characters that you want to be in the middle of all of this, the C.J. abrams and James Wood and your building blocks for the future. And you don't wake up on Monday morning thinking, well, we'll probably be down 15 to nothing, so I need to bring a serviceable pitcher up from the Miners so that we lose 15 to 5 instead of 19 to 5. Like, I don't really care that Rosario is out there. It's too. It's really not about Monday and Rosario being out there. It's about Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, no days off going forward. This happens now because pitching, relief pitching is, you know, you wear them out. You wear them out. This bullpen has been terrible. If you need to use a position player to get three outs in a game that you're going to lose anyway, I don't have any problem with that.

Tony Kornheiser (49:56)

I think Nathaniel Lowe is the best signing they've made in five years. I do. I think he's really good. And. And, well, I get really disappointed with the bullpen. I do. I mean, every night. I want.

Ron Flatter (50:08)

You should, you should, you should.

Barry Zluga (50:09)

Last night is a game that Nathaniel Low changed with one swing of the bat and you clawed back in it against another team with World Series aspirations in the Phillies. And he is good in the clubhouse and he is great as a defensive first. Baseman in terms of picking balls out of the dirt. And he is exactly why they traded for him. And I will say, Tony, that trade was not universally supported among Nats people that the reliever they gave up to Texas is. If you look at his numbers, he's having a ridiculous year for Texas now. He doesn't play every night. He's not impacting 162games for nine innings like Nathaniel Lowe is. But that game last night is the kind that they have to learn how to win, and the bullpen has to nail it down because they did so much work. To hang in there, hang in there, hang in there. And then to lose it like they did is a tough one.

Tony Kornheiser (51:01)

By the way, when I was. When I was thinking about talking to you, I just. I made the note. You've had a really good year. You were there for Ovechkin, you were there for Rory, you were there for the quarterback of the Washington team. I mean, you. This a good year for you, right?

Barry Zluga (51:19)

Oh, it's great. And, you know, tonight I'll have Game 5 of Caps Canadiens, and who knows. Who knows where that will go? But I will say, I mean, I think we talked before Ovechkin broke Gretzky's record. He did it on the Sunday in New York against the Island.

Tony Kornheiser (51:36)

So you could go to Augusta.

Barry Zluga (51:37)

I had a. I had a flight back to D.C. that night and a flight to Augusta in the morning, and my Masters was uninterrupted. And it ended in the most, you know, with the most compelling character leading the way on. On Sunday. That's. That's a fairly. Fairly nice week, for sure. And, yes, Jaden Daniels changed the football team. And that leaves you feeling much different about August at training camp and September, you know, it just is a different. It's not a chore. It's a joy.

Tony Kornheiser (52:08)

No, I mean, it's a word that we don't really use a lot. The civilian population out there that doesn't go to sporting events uses it a lot, but sports writers don't. But in fact, you have witnessed thrilling events, right?

Barry Zluga (52:23)

Yeah, there's no. There's no doubt about it. And I keep. I don't know if you used to do this, but mentally, I haven't really written it down much, but I got a top five. Top five.

Tony Kornheiser (52:32)

Yeah.

Barry Zluga (52:33)

Five things I've witnessed live.

Tony Kornheiser (52:35)

Yeah.

Barry Zluga (52:36)

And is. Is Rory winning the Masters to complete the career grand slam when he was just a bundle of nerves in that top five. It's. It's tough because I saw Vetchkin Break the record the week before. And I saw Barry Bonds pass Hank Aaron, and I saw Sidney Crosby score in overtime in Canada to win gold against the US And I saw Stuart Sink beat Tom Watson at Turnberry. And I saw Tiger woods at, when his 15th major at Augusta in 2019. Like, it's a good list. It's a fun debate I have with myself. It's a little self indulgent to bring it up on a podcast, but.

Tony Kornheiser (53:13)

No, it's good.

Barry Zluga (53:14)

It's really, really fun to think about.

Tony Kornheiser (53:15)

It's good because I got, I've got a list. I mean, everybody's got less. I got Leitner, I got Fluti. Okay. I mean, these are, these are games, consequential games. I got Reggie hitting three in the World Series. I got Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson. You know, I've got.

Barry Zluga (53:29)

I've, I don't know what the Beijing winning, winning eight. I mean, you know, there's, it's just, you do it long enough, your bosses put you in enough good positions, you're going to see stuff that, that still all, you know, years and years later make the hairs on the back, your neck stand up.

Tony Kornheiser (53:47)

The one that bothered me the most was I didn't get Secretariat. I mean, everybody at Newsday covered some aspect of that race on the Belmont race when he won it by 87 lengths. And I didn't, I didn't get into that one. I mean, I would have loved to have had that. But, yeah, I think we all, I think we all have that top five, right? I do. I think, I think, Rory, wow. If you keep them out, you must have had five great ones because that was, that was really something.

Barry Zluga (54:14)

It was. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, I have things that are special to me that other people wouldn't think are a big deal. Like, you know, baseball returning to Washington, D.C. after a 33 year absence like that. That to me is, is up there, that's local and it doesn't impact, you know, people nationally don't remember it, but I think it's such a huge moment for a sport in a town that, you know, has you 20 years later, you know, really upset that a position player is shifting at the end of a blowout game. Like, that doesn't happen unless it comes back. And it came back 20 years ago and I was the beat writer. Like, that's just a great honor.

Tony Kornheiser (54:48)

It's a great privilege and pleasure for me to have you on the show. Thank you, Barry.

Barry Zluga (54:52)

Appreciate it, Tony. Anytime.

Tony Kornheiser (54:53)

Barry's for Luga. Boys and girls, we will Take a break. We will come back with email and jingle. I'm Tony Kornheiser. Right now the Home Depot has spring deals under $20. So no matter what you're working on, the deals are blooming at the Home Depot with savings on plants, flowers, soil and more. Then light up your outdoor space with Hampton Bay string lights was $34.97, now only $19.99. And get the grill going with two 16 pound bags of Kingsford charcoal. Was $19.98, now only $17.88. Don't miss spring deals under $20 now through May 7 at the home Depot. Subject to availability, valid on select items only.

Barry Zluga (55:29)

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.

Unknown (55:32)

Here comes Tony.

Tony Kornheiser (55:34)

Here comes Tony. Here comes Tony Smack. Got your emails, fax, I sent your notes. Here comes Tony.

Unknown (55:47)

Here comes Tony.

Tony Kornheiser (55:49)

Here comes Mr. Tony Smack. Gonna read some for all of Annie Crest. Can do that you can't. Wow, she can do that. Fabulous.

Michael Wilbon (56:08)

Amazing.

Tony Kornheiser (56:08)

Fabulous. When we play that, you want to do the Bethesda Bagel ad, please?

Michael Wilbon (56:11)

Yes. Bethesda Bagels, we love them. You would as well 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 (56:18)

Before we get to the mailbag, let me just say, a man walks down the street, he says, why am I short of attention? Got a short little span of attention and my nights are so long. Where's my wife and family? What if I die here? Who'll be my role model? Now that my role model is gone, Duck back down the alley with some roly poly bat face girl that is the genius of Paul Simon. Forest Hills High School's Paul Simon. Thanks to our guest today, Ron Flatter, Barry's Verluga. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify and Odyssey. Get the show through Apple. Please leave us a review. Okay, so sometimes we get emails and people either claim to know me or they drop some sort of hint that we have had friendships in the past.

Jeff Ma (57:02)

Like when you bought 29 pints of ice cream.

Tony Kornheiser (57:04)

Yeah. And Nigel always says, do you know this one? Do you know that one? You know. No, don't. Don't know. Yesterday he says to me, we got another one of these. I just want to know Barbara. Vinnie and Barbara Vinier. Yeah, Barbara Vinier. Oh, yeah. No, I know Barbara Vinier. I know Barbara Vinier. She lived across the hall from me in an apartment at 20 Conklin Avenue in Binghamton. When I was a sophomore, she lived with her roommate, Barbara Newton, who everybody called Figgy for Fig New.

Michael Wilbon (57:35)

Oh, sure.

Tony Kornheiser (57:36)

So it was Barbara Vinier and Figgy. And then if I'm correct in this, Barbara left, like, maybe in her junior year to get married. She went and got married. And if I'm correct in this, the guy's name, and I could be wrong, is Don Shusterman. Now, I never met him. He was from where she lived in Queens. I mean, I never met this guy. And I think they had a couple of daughters. I don't know if they're still. I don't know how long that lasted, but I'm pretty sure that Barbara went into education and at one point was the president of Chesapeake College, which is a community college. On the way out to the beach, Maryland. So I have great, great fondness for Barbara, who writes. Letting you know that I'm now an author, too. My novel Little Bird. Not Larry Bird, but Little Bird is coming out in August. Surprised myself by starting to write when I retired. Even more surprised to be having a book published. But then again, who knew you'd become a superstar, Barbara? So. Yeah, that's great.

Michael Wilbon (58:34)

Yeah, that always makes me happy when that connection is made.

Tony Kornheiser (58:36)

Yeah, that's really wonderful. Yes, I've got great fondness for Barbara from Jason Lohr in Louisville. I played golf with a friend in Palm beach last month. He told me about his business partner who recently played golf with Maury Povich. He said it was a delightful round and Maury was great. Just. He was on your show. The funniest part, with the golf balls he had. You're not the father on them. Classic Maury. Any special messages on your pro Vs, Tony? Maybe Auto Paste stinks. Flush the mouse. Little Cheese Rick. No, I don't have anything like that.

Jeff Ma (59:05)

There's always famous images of. A caddy. Will take a picture of Maury's wedges that are always stamped with something cool from the show.

Tony Kornheiser (59:10)

Is that right? I was unaware. All I know about playing with Maury, which I've done a number of times, is at some point in the round, pretty early. Maury walks away. Mori walks away, and you find him again on 16, 17 or something like that.

Jeff Ma (59:23)

Socialite will tell this story where he'll just rejoin the round as if nothing happened.

Tony Kornheiser (59:26)

He's on the range. Peter Costas, he calls his guy. Yeah.

Barry Zluga (59:32)

Slick vision.

Tony Kornheiser (59:33)

So it's, you know, it's great. Rob Lowe, Orange County, California. Not that Rob Lowe. Did I hear your voice Concern to Maury. That the interview you gave him three months ago may no longer be current? Do you realize you haven't changed at all in decades? What exactly do you fear is no longer current? Are you suddenly burdened by memory? Do you no longer hate Pumpkin? Have you mastered the cycles of the moon? Can you no longer name all four members of the Rascals? The Littles need answers. No, I can't. I don't know. I just. You never know. I mean, we did it a long time ago. Who knows if it's current from Will Green? Perhaps this qualifies as a David Aldridge moment. My last name is Green. Something I now know I have in common with the drummer from Norwegian, Soft Kitten. Perhaps Maury can help us track down our common ancestor the next time he's on the show. Too bad cousin Mo isn't around anymore. He would have loved meeting another member of the family. Yeah, Mo had that eye problem.

Michael Wilbon (60:22)

Yeah, it didn't work out.

Tony Kornheiser (60:23)

I had to have you. I'm Jordan Gillis from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Who says, tell Patrick Sitter to eat it. Is it a David Aldrich moment? If you're sitting in a pub before your slow pitch game and you see on the TV Colin Pooch giving up a three run homer to Brandon Nimmo and you can just hear Uncle Tony's voice in your head screaming, dfa him. Right, dfa.

Jeff Ma (60:40)

That's before the Grand Slam, I think.

Tony Kornheiser (60:42)

Mark Larson, Salt Lake City, Utah. Greetings from the Intermountain west. Or as you coastal folk lovingly call it, the Flyover States. Monday night, I attended a religious event. One that is supposed to help us align ourselves closer to God. What do you think was going through my mind the entire time they put in? Pooch, Pooch to the mound. Needless to say, I got nothing from the event from Ed O'Connell. My ears perked up with this week's Focus on April 23rd birthdays. Evelyn from CVS, Liz and William Shakespeare. What about my aunt Ruth O'Connell from Buffalo? Ruth was born on April 23rd. The same exact day Shirley Temple was born 97 years ago. Her statement on her birthday. Go Bills. Shirley Temple also born in that.

Michael Wilbon (61:24)

Yeah, it's a good day.

Tony Kornheiser (61:25)

Temple Black. She became an ambassador to the United nations, did she not?

Michael Wilbon (61:29)

Yes, she did.

Tony Kornheiser (61:29)

Yeah, she's very successful. From. Who's this from? Wait a second. This is. Okay, this is from Meteor Walt in Exton, Pennsylvania, which is the northwest suburbs of Pennsylvania. That's way out by Pittsburgh. Right? Chester County, April 23rd. Who knew Liz Evelyn, William Shakespeare, James Buchanan, the 15th president and me. We celebrated on Easter Sunday with five different flavors of Tillamook ice cream selected by our six grandchildren. Vanilla bean chocolate Oregon dark cherry cookies and cream Neapolitan. Our sister in law Kathy sent the attack picture attached. Picture. Gotta love it. And there is a picture of the family. Oh, Tillamook. There's pictures of Tillamook, not of the family. Pictures of Tillamook, Oregon. Strawberry ice cream.

Michael Wilbon (62:15)

By the way, also Warren Spahn, Roy Orbison. That's a good day.

Tony Kornheiser (62:19)

Oh, yes.

Michael Wilbon (62:19)

Yeah, it's a really good day.

Tony Kornheiser (62:20)

Or in Spahn is one of the greatest pictures of all time. Who's gotten lost.

Michael Wilbon (62:23)

Yeah, he 363 wins.

Tony Kornheiser (62:26)

So great. Ken Krantz, Williamsburg, Virginia. This weekend I saw the world premiere of a new opera, Loving vs. Virginia, presented by Virginity Opera. It was a beautiful piece telling the important story. This is an important story. The famous Supreme Court court case that struck down the Virginia law that had prohibited interracial marriages. There was a movie some years back called Loving about that. The Norfolk based company commissioned the work to celebrate its 50th anniversary. It will be on tour in Fairfax this weekend at George Mason University in Richmond next weekend. The stage director was the distinguished operatic soprano Denise Graves.

Michael Wilbon (62:58)

How about that?

Tony Kornheiser (62:58)

Who, in addition to her many other accomplishments, recorded a mailbag jingle. I admit to being biased. I sang in the company's chorus for most of its 50 years and have many friends among the cast. Allowing for that bias, I think it was tremendous show, well worth seeing. Tickets are available at va opera.org va opera.org My friend, Glenn Winters. Yes. The official opera composer of the Tony Kornizer show recently retired from the staff at Virginia Opera. The company tours all of its productions to Fairfax and Richmond. Isn't that nice?

Michael Wilbon (63:25)

It is nice.

Tony Kornheiser (63:26)

That's nice. John Bradshaw writes, when I was a high school basketball player in New Jersey in the 70s, Dick Barnett, who I remember great, with great fondness, came to our school to do a clinic for our team. He stood in front of us as we all sat on the floor of the gym. He said, we're going to start with the basics. He held up a basketball in his large hand. He said, boys, this is a basketball. We were too intimidated to laugh in that moment. But I've had many chuckles over the years. As I recall it. Sorry to hear of Dick's passing. His part was part of what still is the greatest team in NBA history. Yes, it was the greatest team. Yes. Grafton. The Butts. Okay. Who writes from Leesburg Virginia on Monday show you proudly read the classic Glengarry Glen Ross line. Put that coffee down. Coffee is for closes. And shouted that's Mamet. Well, sort of. Yes, David Mamet wrote it, but only for the movie. Eric Ball, Alec Baldwin's character in that entire scene was not even in the original Glengarry stage play. The movie needed to stretch the runtime to a full hundred minutes. So Mamet tacked on the most legendary sales row monologue in cinematic history. I learned this the hard way. As soon as the tickets went on sale, I bought tickets to the Broadway revival starring Kieran Culkin, Bob Odenkirk, Michael McKean and Bill Burr. Like every sales weasel who grew up shouting ABC always be closing. I showed up and sat on the edge of my seat for the delivery of those iconic words instead. No Alec Baldwin, no coffee speech, no motivational abuse about brass things. Just a tight 80 minute play about desperation, failure and sadness performed brilliantly by TV and comedy a listers at the peaks of their careers. The audience, a weird hybrid of theater tourists and sales bros. First cousin of the weasel invests in new balances. Look. Crushed murmurs broke out as soon as the curtain closed. They didn't say it. Coffee is for closers. They buried Bill Burr. He was barely in it. If littles out there have the chance, go see the play. Ignore the weasels bros. Confused tourists and even the Washington Post review in which the headline reads why see Glengarry Glen Ross when stars are better on tv? Despite the disappointment of missing those iconic movie lines, the show itself, seeing actual A listers live without the safety nets of editing and retakes was fantastic. These bigs who could be anywhere in the world anytime they want, chose to spend hundreds of hours memorizing lines, rehearsing, blocking. Only then to perform in front of sold out crowds night after night with very little to gain and a lot to lose, they earn their coffee. And that is, that is the great joy. That is the great joy of going to a Broadway show.

Michael Wilbon (65:49)

Yeah.

Tony Kornheiser (65:49)

Especially with big name actors. Yeah. Because you can fail. You can fail live.

Michael Wilbon (65:54)

And it's live.

Tony Kornheiser (65:55)

And that's why you do it. From Mike O'Brien in Boston, formerly Revere, Chuck and Roxy, number 303. As the official Boston Duck tour guide of the Tony Kornheiser show, Please let Brooke, 40 and her family know I'd be more than happy to give them a tour of Boston when she moves to Boston. I don't know what she will be researching while in Boston, but if it's the Effects of going to too many Red Sox games and drinking multiple twelve dollar Bud Lights. I'd be more than happy to volunteer. As a case study, Drew Graff did some. Did some Sunday chores and checked in on the Nat score. And after seeing they were getting trounced by the Met 7 to 1, decided to blow off some steam for Uncle Tony by taking a drive. So I took my Subaru out. Yes, I know. And on the Grateful Dead serious station was the 1970s concert at Harper College in Binghamton. According to the DJ, this was voted the fourth best dead concert of all time. Was Tony President? No, I'm not a Dead guy. Was he rubbing elbows with Deadheads, most notably Bill Walton? No, but I once had a conversation with Bill Walton about that.

Michael Wilbon (66:50)

Oh, really?

Tony Kornheiser (66:51)

He was there.

Michael Wilbon (66:52)

He was there.

Tony Kornheiser (66:53)

Sent me a copy of it on cassette. Walton sent me a copy. Wow.

Michael Wilbon (66:59)

Yeah. Yeah, it was a great show. Really was.

Tony Kornheiser (67:01)

Mike Flannery, Roanoke, Virginia. I've been doing a bit of research on Louise. Look. Sneaky, attractive. When she was at Emily Dickinson College before she went to Binghamton. Word has it that she transferred to Binghamton after an unfortunate incident at the Dexter Lake Club with a few guys from Faber College. When asked about it, she simply stated. Ooh. Her friend Shelley Dubinsky, however, thought Frank was nice. This, coupled with a Kindle explosion, led Louise to poetry as a means of therapy. That's actually really. That's actually good. Okay, so that's it. But that's the last one. Okay.

Michael Wilbon (67:33)

That was it.

Tony Kornheiser (67:34)

Yeah, I misread. I had another one in my hand. But that's really a song thing. So anyway. So this is what happens when you're live kids. You screw it up every once in a while. If you're out on your bike tonight, as always, do wear white.

Barry Zluga (67:47)

Mr. Blutarski.

Tony Kornheiser (67:49)

0.0.

Michael Wilbon (67:53)

That's Senator Blutarski. Thank you.

Tony Kornheiser (67:55)

Yeah.

Unknown (68:14)

There's a sense of supernature Here all around us Here all around us.

Tony Kornheiser (68:30)

There's.

Unknown (68:30)

A sense of of supernature Watch it surround us Watch it surround us.

Michael Wilbon (68:49)

If.

Unknown (68:49)

We look through the stars to what lies beyond There are message is written we can't understand like emotions in motion but they move too fast.

Barry Zluga (69:12)

We can.

Unknown (69:13)

Never interpret Though the answers are fact There's a sense of supernature Here all around us Here, all around us There's a sense of supernature Watch it surround us Watch it surround us.

Tony Kornheiser (69:59)

If we.

Unknown (69:59)

Take the grand tour of what's logical we can always be sure of the factual error Message is hidden here on Mother Earth Trees and seas Tell the story of a planet's birth There's a sense of supernature Here all around us Here all around us There's a sense of supernature Watch it surround us Us Watch it surround us Faith in a faithless world Changing a changeless time.

Tony Kornheiser (73:03)

Don'T.

Unknown (73:04)

You remember Everything crashing down Falling right out of the sky the end of the summer out of the way you walked out on him Coming all over the world and wondering what are the wages of fun Squandering the night away the night away look how the truth goes dim See how the picture fades don't you remember? Nobody knows for sure how everything works out at the end of the summer where do we go from here? When do we turn around? Couldn't attach her with drinks in her hand when she dances we're not dancing Are all around don't you remember? Could anyone help us now the nights are getting cold it's the end of the summer.

Barry Zluga (75:49)

Sa.