“Listen Up!”

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Listen Up!" – The Tony Kornheiser Show

Episode Information:

• Title: Listen Up!
• Host: Tony Kornheiser (This Show Stinks Productions, LLC)
• Release Date: February 24, 2025

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Introduction

In the February 24, 2025 episode titled “Listen Up!” of The Tony Kornheiser Show, host Tony Kornheiser delves into a diverse array of topics ranging from sports to personal anecdotes. The episode features insightful discussions with regular contributors Michael Wilbon and Mark Feinstein, interspersed with light-hearted banter and listener interactions. Skipping the commercial breaks and promotional segments, the core content offers listeners a rich tapestry of conversations that highlight Tony’s unique perspective and the expertise of his guests.

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Revisiting “Listen Up”

Tony kicks off the show with a nostalgic reflection on his short-lived CBS sitcom "Listen Up," which was based on his columns for The Washington Post. Discussing the show's limited run, Tony shares personal memorabilia, such as a jacket and fleece from the set, emphasizing his lasting pride in the endeavor.

Tony Kornheiser [05:02]: "There's always been a great source of pride to me."

He contemplates reconnecting with Danielle Monet, a former child actress from the show who has since starred in Hallmark movies. Tony expresses his desire to reach out and congratulate her, highlighting the enduring connections formed during the show's production.

Tony Kornheiser [06:53]: "She'd be totally delighted."

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The Mexico Open and Golf Insights

Transitioning to sports, Tony discusses the Mexico Open, a PGA Tour event aimed at promoting golf internationally. He provides a play-by-play of Brian Campbell’s dramatic playoff victory, showcasing Mark Feinstein’s analysis of the golfer’s career trajectory.

Tony Kornheiser [07:45]: "Brian Campbell gets on the tee for the second time on 18 and hits it so far right that it's going to be over the moon."

Mark Feinstein elaborates on the significance of Campbell’s win, noting its potential to elevate his standing in major tournaments like the Masters.

Mark Feinstein [12:14]: "By getting into that level, it then becomes easier to stay at that level for a couple years and see what you can exact out of those opportunities."

Tony also shares a personal story about exceptional service at a UPS store, underscoring the theme of unexpected kindness.

Tony Kornheiser [14:18]: "Unbelievably kind. Went out of her way. So nice. Unexpected. Thank you very, very much."

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NBA Discussions with Smiley Kaufman

The conversation shifts to basketball, where regular contributor Smiley Kaufman dives into the dynamics of current NBA teams, particularly focusing on the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers. They debate the televising of every Luka Dončić and LeBron James game, with Smiley defending the widespread availability of broadcasts despite Tony’s concerns about game quality.

Smiley Kaufman [16:38]: "Every game is televised around the country."

The duo examines team performances, player trades, and managerial decisions, offering a blend of statistical analysis and personal opinions.

Smiley Kaufman [21:37]: "We live in a town where, you know, a lot of things can go wrong. But the first thing that goes south is if you don't have enough money, you can't go through first apron or second apron."

They also touch upon college basketball, highlighting significant matchups and the impact of coaching changes on team performance.

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Automated Ball and Strike System in Baseball

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to discussing Major League Baseball’s potential adoption of an automated ball-and-strike system. Mark Feinstein provides an in-depth analysis of the technology, its implementation timeline, and its implications for the game.

Mark Feinstein [33:53]: "It's certainly trending in the direction of becoming part of the game as early as next season."

Tony raises concerns about the system’s accuracy and the preservation of traditional umpiring, referencing insights from late sports columnist David Israel.

Tony Kornheiser [36:36]: "Does it then, Mark, become fair to you that it's only two dimensional?"

Mark responds by highlighting the league’s consideration of diverse player strike zones and the technological advancements ensuring precise calls.

Mark Feinstein [37:30]: "I have to think that the league has thought about it. I certainly believe the players association has thought about it because they understand that their players do not all have the same strike zone."

The discussion also covers the impact on televised games, emphasizing the importance of the strike zone box for viewer engagement.

Tony Kornheiser [38:54]: "I would not want that. That would be a deal breaker for me as a consumer of baseball."

Mark reassures that umpiring crews will remain essential, asserting the nuances of in-game judgment that technology cannot fully replicate.

Mark Feinstein [40:59]: "Umpiring a baseball game to me is as hard as... Well, I won't say it's harder than revving a hockey game because they actually have to, like, skate."

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Yankees’ Beard Policy

The episode also explores cultural shifts within sports teams, specifically focusing on the New York Yankees’ long-standing beard policy. Tony and Mark discuss the recent relaxation of the rule, reflecting on its historical context and modern implications.

Tony Kornheiser [42:40]: "The only thing I could justify it with is that free agents, you know, they might lose a free agent if a guy said, I don't know. That's nonsense. I don't want that."

Mark recounts notable instances where players adapted their appearance to meet team expectations, highlighting the evolving standards of professionalism in sports.

Mark Feinstein [44:50]: "I think a well-groomed, and my joke that day was, who's the arbiter of well-groomed now? Right. How do you determine what a well-groomed beard is?"

Tony nostalgically compares the beard rule to other outdated uniform regulations, emphasizing the Yankees’ unique position in upholding tradition while adapting to contemporary norms.

Tony Kornheiser [45:16]: "I liked the rule because it was the last rule. It was like wearing white shorts and shirts, playing tennis. And I know it's antiquated and I know it doesn't apply."

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Listener Mailbag: Geographic Rants and Personal Stories

In the latter part of the show, Tony engages with listener emails, addressing a passionate debate about New York state geography. Multiple listeners from various regions correct Tony’s assertions about Buffalo’s location, sharing personal insights and regional pride.

Tony Kornheiser [47:36]: "I agree Buffalo shouldn’t be considered Central New York. As Wilbon would say. Everyone knows Buffalo, like Toronto, is a classical Midwest city."

The exchange underscores the deep-seated regional identities and the humorous yet earnest attempts to rectify Tony’s geographical misconceptions.

Additionally, Tony shares personal anecdotes from listeners, including stories about Brandy Carlisle’s support during his early career and humorous tales about preparing for his trip to India.

Tony Kornheiser [53:04]: "She encouraged each and every one of them to buy one of my CDs. I sold more that night than in any other gig I've ever played."

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Musical Interludes by Nicole Wagner

Throughout the episode, Nicole Wagner provides musical interludes, offering original songs that complement the show's content. Her performances, such as "The Rules of Baseball," seamlessly integrate with the discussions, adding an artistic dimension to the episode.

Nicole Wagner [32:38]: (Performs “The Rules of Baseball”)

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Conclusion

The “Listen Up!” episode of The Tony Kornheiser Show delivers a compelling mix of sports analysis, personal stories, and engaging dialogue. Tony’s interactions with Michael Wilbon and Mark Feinstein provide depth to discussions on golf, basketball, baseball, and the cultural shifts within sports teams. Listener contributions add a relatable and humorous layer, while Nicole Wagner’s musical segments enhance the overall listening experience. This episode exemplifies the show's ability to blend topical conversations with personal anecdotes, catering to a broad audience seeking both information and entertainment.

Notable Quotes:

• Tony Kornheiser [05:02]: "There's always been a great source of pride to me."
• Mark Feinstein [12:14]: "By getting into that level, it then becomes easier to stay at that level for a couple years and see what you can exact out of those opportunities."
• Mark Feinstein [33:53]: "It's certainly trending in the direction of becoming part of the game as early as next season."
• Mark Feinstein [40:59]: "Umpiring a baseball game to me is as hard as... Well, I won't say it's harder than revving a hockey game because they actually have to, like, skate."
• Tony Kornheiser [42:40]: "The only thing I could justify it with is that free agents, you know, they might lose a free agent if a guy said, I don't know. That's nonsense. I don't want that."

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Closing Remarks

The Tony Kornheiser Show continues to engage its audience with insightful and entertaining discussions. This episode, “Listen Up!”, effectively showcases the show's dynamic range, from nostalgic reflections to forward-thinking sports analysis, all while maintaining the personable and relatable tone that fans have come to love.

Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we'll talk college and pro basketball with Michael Wilbon. We'll also chat about baseball's new system of calling balls and strikes with Mark Feinstein. The automated system which could go into baseball by next year. But first, let's keep the wheels of commerce moving.

[Michael Wilbon]

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[Mark Feinstein]

18 + DNC supply Where'd you get those shoes?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Easy.

[Mark Feinstein]

They're from DSW. Because DSW has the exact right shoes for whatever you're into right now. You know, like the sneakers that make office hours feel like happy hour. The boots that turn grocery aisles into runways. And all the styles that show off the many sides of you. From daydreamer to multitasker. And everything in between. Because you do it all in really great shoes. Find a shoe for every you at your DSW store or dsw.com.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Previously on.

[Michael Wilbon]

The Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Isn't that nice? That is nice. So he sent it to me three years later.

[Dan]

Better late than never.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Let me tell you what else came in the mail.

[Carol]

Took a while to get that degree, by the way.

[Dan]

You've seen that. It reminds me that when he's talking about standing on top of the arch with no, you know, safety harnesses. Yeah, like the people building the Empire State Building. Having lunch.

[Carol]

Yeah, lunch break.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Crazy. No, thank you. Crazy. Totally crazy. Crazy. Totally crazy. But there was no thought of safety. Then if you fell off, you fell off. That was it. That's how it works. Oh, there goes Billy. Okay, Billy's fallen onto 43rd Street. The tony Kornheiser show is on now. Now, it's possible with a big gust of wind, Billy would have fallen on 43rd Street. That's possible. But as Dan Fenster in Putnam Valley, New York points out, either you've been in Washington too long and forgot your geography, that was some gust of wind that pushed Billy a half a mile from the Empire State Building, which is on 34th street, to land on 43rd Street. Yes, in my mind I had the Empire state building on 42nd street, which it's not. Yeah, it's not.

[Carol]

It's the miracle on 34th, apparently.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right.

[Dan]

That's right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right. The Empire State building is on 34th street and way up in the air. Okay, a couple of quick things. No more toothpaste. I got enough. Yes, I have enough to last me. I'm an old man. I'm not gonna live that much longer. Share the bounty I have. Oh, you can have all the toothpaste you want. The two of you can have all the toothpaste you want. It's wonderful. Thank you to Tara, thank you to Tamara, who sent a bunch of toothpaste. But that's okay. Stop. No more toothpaste. Don't send any more toothpaste.

[Dan]

We're good on toothpaste.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Sometimes people, in their zeal to be accommodating, and I appreciate this very much, send a lot of stuff, and I appreciate that, I really, truly do. But then we get an overload of it and. And, you know, and I thank you all, but I can get my own toothpaste. Unless I can. Unless I can't find what I want.

[Carol]

And you'll return to this topic in roughly nine months.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Dan]

Right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But I have enough toothpaste right now. Okay. Another thing. Michael suggested that I talk about this on the show. When I mentioned it to him earlier this morning. Carol said to me last night, do you remember the girl who played Elizabeth in Listen Up? And I said, sure. I mean, I remember her. I remember her as a child actor at that point, because it's 21, 22 years ago. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about. There was a short lived show, nice show, full season. Full season on CBS called Listen Up. And it was based on columns I had written in the Washington Post. And it starred Jason Alexander. It was his first show after Seinfeld. Didn't work out. But it's always Been a great source of pride to me. I still have a jacket that says Listen up on one side and Tony on the other. And I still have a fleece thing from Listen Up. Right. So I'm really.

[Carol]

And there's enough time now between the original air date where you can wear this out in public. No one really gets the reference.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Nobody knows what it is.

[Dan]

I am seeing it right up. And it says, in a nutshell, Listen up was quirky, rye and brash.

[Tony Kornheiser]

There you go. So that's very nice. It lasted once, one full season. We have tapes.

[Carol]

Smart and funny.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, we have tapes of it, actually.

[Carol]

More. More than the tapes. I found the old scripts tucked away in a dresser.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, I didn't know that. So that's. That's wonderful. So anyway, to get back to what. What was said last night, Carol said, have. Do you know who this is? And I said, well, you know, I'm aware of her. And Carol says, her name is Danielle Monet. M O N E T. And I said, oh, okay. What is this about? And she said, because Carol watches all the Hallmark movies, everyone. There's not a Hallmark movie that's ever been made that she hasn't watched 10 times. Carol says she was just in a Hallmark movie. She was in a movie called, you know, something. Etc. Or Sisters. Etc.

[Carol]

Sisterhood, Inc.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Sister Inc. Sisterhood Inc. Sisterhood.

[Carol]

She played Izzy.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. She. Well, how do you know this?

[Carol]

I'm on her IMDb oh, okay. Holiday Crashers a year ago. So what I saw Loja Surf Hotel.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Are these Hallmark movies?

[Carol]

These are TV movies. So, yes, Hallmark or something similar.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. So I said, you know what we should do? We should contact her. We should find out where she is, and I'll write her a note and I'll say, you know, 20 years ago or so, a little bit more than that. You played our daughter on Listen up. And my wife just saw you in a Hallmark movie, and I just wanted to say congratulations. Good for you. You're still acting. Good for you. You have our best wishes. And Carol looked at me like, no, that would be terrible. And I said, no, no, no, no. She'd be delighted.

[Dan]

I think she would.

[Tony Kornheiser]

She'd be totally delighted. I said, I'm totally delighted when people send me random notes like that that they saw something that. No, I'm totally delighted. So I called Jared and I said, you know, could you look her up? Could you figure it out and could you tell me how to get in touch with her? So I'm waiting on that. But Michael said, talk about it on the air. Right?

[Carol]

Yeah. I thought if you talked about it here, it would make a lot more sense if she then got a message versus, I don't know, a Facebook message from mom in D.C. no, we're not.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We'Re not getting Facebook messages.

[Carol]

But she has worked non stop since. Listen up.

[Dan]

She's a working actress.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Good, good. You know, I mean, maybe she doesn't even remember. I'm sure she remembers.

[Dan]

Oh, I'm sure she does.

[Carol]

How can you forget? Listen up. With such classic lines from young Mickey Kleiman as what's a zip code?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, there you go.

[Carol]

Yeah, Storms covered.

[Tony Kornheiser]

How could you forget any of that? Okay, so I have one other thing to talk about. Well, maybe a couple more things, but I'm going to talk about the Mexico Open in golf. The Mexico Open is one of those tournaments that the PGA Tour runs to facilitate golf in other countries to show that they don't just care about grinding out money in the United States. And you know, and they take the tour abroad every once in a while. Not like the live tour, which is almost all abroad, you know, but you know, they take it abroad here and there. It didn't have much of a field. I doubt there was anybody in the top 30 in that. Right?

[Carol]

I can't imagine.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't think there was. So anyway, I was watching it because, you know, how much NBA can you watch? I mean, the fact of the matter is there was an NBA game opposite it, the Golden State game, which was a non game. It was like a 25 point game. So I went on the golf and stayed on the golf even though I didn't know most of the people. And there was a guy. Is it Brian Campbell?

[Carol]

Yes, Brian Campbell.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So it comes down to a playoff. Brian Campbell, who had a tour card some years back, lost it for lack of, you know, wins or lack of money. Made and went on success. Yeah, Went on the corn ferry traditional path back and is now back. Is he 35, something like that? He got on the tour about 26.

[Carol]

Yeah, he debuted in the late aughts. It's 2015. He was still in AM when he was low AM at the US Open. So. Yeah, around that timeline.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, around that time. So to get back onto the tour is a big deal for him. And he ends up in a playoff. He's probably in his 30s, mid-30s. He ends up in a playoff with a kid from South Africa and named Aldrich Potgieter. And I don't think he's 20. Do we have a. I'll Pull up his age.

[Carol]

Yeah, I'm guessing he's probably 20.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. But he's not old. He's not like 25. He's not 25. And he can hit it 330 off the tee all the time.

[Dan]

20 years old.

[Tony Kornheiser]

20 hits it 330 off the tee all the time.

[Carol]

Ball speed into the 190s.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. And by the way, can't control it a lot. You know, he was wide on Saturday. His last four holes, he wasn't anywhere near the track.

[Carol]

You sort of saw this with Bryson years ago. When the ball speeds, creep up into that territory, just misses, become bigger both ways.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So. So he's in. They both par. It's par five, the 18th hole, where they go to play the first extra hole, the overtime hole. They both par. And then Brian Mitchell. Brian Campbell.

[Carol]

Campbell.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Brian Mitchell is somebody I know. Brian Campbell gets on the tee for the second time on 18 and hits it so far right that it's going to be over the moon.

[Carol]

Uses that dad strength.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's just gone. It's just gone. It goes into the trees, and the golf monkeys in the trees spit it back out. So it lands on a playable surface on the actual golf course. He's going to lose.

[Carol]

It lands inbound.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's inbound. Yes. He's going to lose. If it's so far right, he's going to lose because he can't make that up. He hits his next shot, and Pot giter hits a good drive. He hits his second shot to about 100. Yeah, I think it was 68 is a par five. So he's, you know, he's. He's in two. He's still 100 yards, whatever it is, he's off the green by.

[Carol]

He's playing it in three.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Pot Gator hits a second shot, looks pretty good, but lands in a trap. Greenside trap. Not the hardest shot in the world. Then Brian Mitchell. Brian Mitchell. Then Brian Campbell hits his next shot to 3ft, 6 inches. Wow. He's going to birdie the hole. Potketer knows he's going to birdie the hole. Potketer gets out of the trap to six feet.

[Carol]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Misses. It's over. And Brian Campbell wins a PGA tournament. And a couple of guys in the booth, Smiley Kaufman and Nota Beghe, who were on the tour not forever and ever and ever.

[Smiley Kaufman]

No.

[Carol]

But that makes what they're about to say more important.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right. And they were not stars. Nota Begay is notable for the fact that he was Tiger's classmate at Stanford.

[Carol]

And I Think.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And roommate at Stanford, you know, notable for that fact. And Smiley Kaufman.

[Carol]

And for putting lefty and righty.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, Smiley Kaufman. Notable for the fact that he's pals with all the bros on the tour. Yeah.

[Carol]

And what, canoeing with Jordan Spieth in Hawaii one time.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. It's like, that's his thing. And they've given him an enormously wide berth on NBC to basically do an hour in a golf show all by himself, just sitting around the 18th old, chatting. And he's pretty good. Yeah, he's pretty good. So they talk about the fact that for Brian Campbell, this will change his life. Change his life. And they say things like, he's never been in the Masters before. He's in now. He's never played in. What are those events called?

[Carol]

Elevated events, Signature events.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's in now. He's got a year of being in anything he wants, Right?

[Carol]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And he will. He'll play every week.

[Carol]

And this is sort of. This is the Monopoly board of golf, which is. By getting into that level, it then becomes easier to stay at that level for a couple years and see what you can, you know, what you can exact out of those opportunities. So, I mean, as you take a look at what golf should look like, if you think about reunification, this is a. For lack of a better term, a minor league event.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Carol]

But when you go to the Wikipedia page, it still says PGA Tour winner.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right. You won. You won. And you get in other tournaments as a result of that. And you are. He. He was overcome. He's so happy. He was so happy.

[Carol]

I mean, every golfer has hit that shot. Not necessarily under tournament pressure like that. Where you go, that's going. Right. It's gotta hit a house.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, that's right. Right. No, it was so far. Right. And it was spit out trees. Spit it out onto the track with.

[Carol]

The bounce of a career.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. It's the luckiest thing that ever happened. And he capitalized on it with the third shot. Yeah.

[Dan]

You gotta make good of it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He did and he did and he did. Good for him. I don't know him. If he walked in here right now and said, I'm Brian Campbell, I'd say you, Brian Mitchell. I mean, I wouldn't even know, so it doesn't matter. But good for him. Good for him. I want to just say thanks to one other thing. There was a woman working at the UPS store the other day who helped me out enormously. I had to return some. It's a long story. I'll get to it in another time, but I had to return something. And I went to the UPS store because Carol said, go to the UPS store. They'll send it back for you. Because I had the label in my computer, in my phone. I don't know how to do anything. And I looked at her and I said, I gotta send this back. And they gave me a label and I don't know what I'm doing. And she looked at me and she said, you can't send it from here. I said, why? So, no, you have to send this label you have to send from the post office. I said, oh, okay. And she said, let me see what you've got. And I showed her what had to be sent back. And she said, I'll print the label for you and I'll put it in a box for you. So all you have to do is bring it to the post office.

[Dan]

Oh, how incredibly kind.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Unbelievably kind. Went out of her way. So nice. Unexpected. Thank you very, very much. Who do we have first? Wilbon.

[Dan]

Wilbourne first?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. All right. So we will come back with Michael Wilbon. I'm Tony Kornheiser. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. This is the Ethos Read. Your family depends on you, so get serious about something. Every family needs life insurance. Ethos has made securing life insurance as smooth as possible. Normal coverage from work may not be enough and rates go up as you age. I know that with Ethos you can apply for affordable life insurance quickly and easily online, all without a medical exam. Just answer a few health questions for a free quote in less than 10 [e-mail]. tony. Ethos gets you coverage quickly and easily. And it's all online. They got term life policies. 10 to 30 years start as low as $10 a month. Come on. Ethos lets you save time with customizable. Love that word. Coverage to fit your needs and budgets. Plus, you can start your policy instantly. You'll be in good company. Two million families have trusted Ethos to help find the right coverage. Give your family peace of mind today for whatever the new year brings. Term life policies start as low as $10 a month. Get your free [e-mail] Tony that's E T H O S. You're listening to.

[Nicole Wagner]

The Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is Nicole Wagner. Her music is sent to us by Michael Granberry, who is, I don't know, 50 for 50, 70 for 70. And sending us people who sing beautifully. This is called Beauty where youe Find It. And Michael writes that Nicole grew up in rural Colorado, graduated from Arizona State University, where she majored in journalism and excelled at photography. But soon after migrating to Austin, she was ready to embrace another passion, music. She's just got a great voice. Just a great voice. And again, this is called beauty. Where you find it, it plays in Michael Wilbon. I'm just gonna start by bragging is the wrong word, but I am gonna say, I told you so. But you know what? I'm gonna say that. Why would you not televise every single Luka and LeBron game?

[Smiley Kaufman]

Every game is televised, Tony.

[Mark Feinstein]

They're all televised.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But I mean around the country, not just in la.

[Smiley Kaufman]

They're televised around the country. Don't you have problem getting.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You have to buy a package. You have to buy the NBA package to get that.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Maybe, I don't know which game that was on. But the point is, you also cannot, even if you're the league, you got more than one partner. You just can't put games on TNT or ESPN and take them away from people who have them, who've already paid for them.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, no, I understand that. Well, who else is in?

[Smiley Kaufman]

Every game is on. Every game can be seen easily. I don't even have, Well, I do have, I have it here. I certainly have the package here. But you're not going to. Luka LeBron is going to be on. Now, I don't know what happened on Saturday night because I was, I was out, I was celebrating Neville's birthday. Good for Neville in Georgetown. So I, even so I missed the game. So I don't know exactly which of the networks it's on, but there's no, believe me, they're all on tomorrow night. Now, Tuesday night, that's probably a Turner game, so that'll be easier for a lot of people to get. But I think with the Tuesday night game, that's probably, probably unturned.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So, and I'm not, I'm not saying they're going to win because I, I don't think they're going to win. I don't, I don't think they're going to win.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'm saying that they are the greatest show in that league right now. And you, you got to watch them. You just.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Great.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You got to watch them. Right?

[Smiley Kaufman]

You know, I, I, I missed two Sunday because I had that dinner. I ain't missing Tuesday night.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Smiley Kaufman]

And so I'm, yes, yes. And for me, and again, I'm deeper into it than 99% of people, but I'm watching Golden State, every game. They're five and one with Jimmy Butler.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I know, I know.

[Smiley Kaufman]

I'm not saying that Draymond Green is right. They are different. They are fun to watch. They are massive fun to watch with Jimmy Butler on that team now playing with Steph Curry. And Steph Curry is clearly energized by it. And so I watched them yesterday. I've watched, I don't know, at least their last three games. Three of the five with Jimmy.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I got off five and one. I got off that game yesterday because it was not a game. It was 25.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Right, right, right, Tony. I did, too. But the point was I'm going to watch it while it's a game. I'm watching that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I understand that.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Same thing with. Same thing with the Lakers tomorrow night. There's no question I'll be watching that game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So, in fact, there was one thing. Late in the Golden State game, the Golden State kid, the rookie was laying on the ground holding the ball, and somebody tried to rip his head off. And they called it a jump ball. And I'm not saying it's flagrant, too, but it was flagrant one. It was absolutely a flagrant one. It was like terrible refereeing. It's 25 point game. They just want to go home. But, you know, and I understand watching them, but I'm saying about Luca and LeBron, I'm saying that this is theater that you have to watch right now, especially Tuesday.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Dallas.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, sure.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Night.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, sure.

[Smiley Kaufman]

In Los Angeles. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's. And because you only have 25 games yet, the Lakers are not in the clear. Yes. They're in fifth place right now. But I was looking at schedules last night. I think the warriors, if they have these people. And by the way, the warriors don't have what I guess now is your fourth best player. Kaminga. Kaminga, who's coming back. He scrimmaged. Saturday. They put a 6, 8 guy back in the lineup who's averaging, I don't know, 17, 18 points a game, five, six rebounds. They put Kaminga back in the lineup, too. Their schedule, to me, looks favorable. And the Lakers are not guaranteed of finishing ahead of them without getting hot. So there's drama in it, Tone. There's the. There's the. There's the, you just want to see it, you know, element. But there's also the element of, yo, you got to win some games because the west, there's too many teams. It's too deep.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, you don't have to worry About San Antonio at the moment, they're done.

[Smiley Kaufman]

No, no you don't. But I tell you what, they've won a couple of games without winning. They're not going to catch anybody.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They're not going to catch anybod, by the way, and I say this as somebody, as you did, who started out long before writing columns as reporters, started as reporters. I really wish there was more reporting on why the Mark Williams trade was rescinded. I really do. I want to know what happened there. Because you have an agent saying this should never have been rescinded. You have people, two players back on the Lakers who are wondering what their future is on the Lakers. And you have a situation where one of the reasons the Lakers can't win and they can is because they don't have anybody over six'eight they just don't.

[Smiley Kaufman]

And what was the buyer's remorse here?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know.

[Smiley Kaufman]

What do we not know yet?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, we don't know. And that's why I want to see more reporting on that. And you know, I want to see less people sitting in a house screaming about what's going on and more people actually asking a question of somebody who might know. Right? Yeah, that's what I want to see.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Not the world we live in anymore, but it's gotta come out. I mean, one of the people doing some Reporting is Dave McMenamin for this net for our network who covers, actually covers old fashioned, the way we covered a beat McMiniman does that. And so.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So find out.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And we've seen so far an objection to it, as you just mentioned.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Okay. You guys need this thing and you had it. You knew there was a asterisk and that he had an injury. But he's out there playing now. Yeah, he's out there playing now. So what did you discover that led you to say nevermind.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, we're gonna. We're not doing it. We're not doing it. So. Yeah, I'd like to. I would. I want. It's one of the few things I actually want to know that I know I can't find out myself. I can't have an opinion on it because I don't know.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Yeah. Very few things stay mysterious in professional sports these days.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Agreed.

[Smiley Kaufman]

That one is. But I don't give it much longer tone, so we'll know something.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Did you see, as a son of the Big Ten, did you see that Duke played Illinois in New York?

[Smiley Kaufman]

Yeah, it disappointed me greatly. Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Do you. Well, Illinois. Well, either Duke's really good.

[Smiley Kaufman]

They blew them out. Yeah, I came in from. That was Saturday night also. So I come in and I know this sounds crazy. The first bit of curiosity I had was not about Lakers, whoever they played. It was about, you know, it was about Illinois. I've seen Illinois in person this year. I watched Northwestern beat Illinois this year in person. So I come in and that game again, was streaming it. I can just turn it on. I can watch it one of about three ways. I can watch the condensed version. That'll take about, I don't know, 12 minutes and I'm going to see all the plays that matter. And I said, let me just go through the beginning of that. If it's close, then I'll turn on the real game and watch, you know, not in real time, but delayed time. I watch the last, the second half, it was like 30 to 12. I'm like, what is. What just happened here? So I got out of it. I went to something else. Very disappointing to see Illinois lose like that. Illinois, you know, I have thought Illinois has a pretty good team and it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Was a neutral site game too.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Well, you know, I mean, a game, a Duke game in New York is not neutral site. But. But it wasn't at Durham. Again, very disappointed given.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I was curious about it. I mean, this is late in the season.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Yes, it is.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Why are you playing out of conference? Like what? And then I read that John Shire, this was an idea how he wants to do it every year.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Yes. John Shire's from Illinois.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Chicago, right?

[Smiley Kaufman]

Yes. As Mike Krzyzewski is. And so, you know, Mike and John wanting to play Illinois, for that matter, wanting to play Northwestern. Some of this stuff is taken care of in the Big Ten ACC challenge, which may or may not exist much longer. I don't know. You wouldn't play them twice.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, no.

[Smiley Kaufman]

But yeah, I loved the fact that that non conference game was scheduled and hated that it turned out like it did.

[Tony Kornheiser]

There were two things over the weekend in college basketball that were worth mentioning. I'm not saying we're going to get to him on the show today because it's, you know, it's not that big a deal. Duke, Illinois and St. John's hounding UConn at the Garden. Yeah, like, you know, I. Yeah. You and I both know there are things in Rick Pitino's life that are not great. That are not great. But he can coach a basketball team.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Rick Pitino, when he has a squad that, you know, sort of reflects his temperament, how he, you know, what he believes in philosophically and you know, that can change because Patino's changed it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right.

[Smiley Kaufman]

He'll change it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Unlike all these guys. Say, no, you gotta play my system. No, no, no, no. We'll figure it out. And so, yeah, I want to see them come tournament time. I really do. I want to see what St. John's has got. There's some very curious things this week as we get into essentially the next to last full week of the regular season of the big boys. The mid majors may have. No, the mid majors will be done sooner.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They're sooner.

[Smiley Kaufman]

I'm actually going to go to LA and watch ucla, usc, the women in their rematch on Saturday night.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Smiley Kaufman]

I just think that's an enormous gain, enormous game. Based on what happened the first game, based on who's in this game, in this rematch where women's college basketball is, you know, you don't have to see any one person. There are people that you might want to see. I, you know, I could easily feel that way about a game between South Carolina and someone. I will feel that way about South Carolina and UConn. Now that game, if it's played again, would have to be played in the tournament.

[Tony Kornheiser]

In the tournament.

[Smiley Kaufman]

But that rematch is what I want to see. But coming up this week is ucla, usc. So there's, there's some. I'm glad college basketball has some, Some big matchups because as we both agree it. The season is truncated. It feels like abbreviated because the NFL goes on until Easter. And so you get a very little time where college basketball has the stage to itself. And this is one of those three, four or five weeks.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Did you watch the golf at all?

[Smiley Kaufman]

No, not true. I watched the women. I watched Thailand. I watched the women. I don't. The men. You know, I tried to watch. I watched the guy, the big guy who had the lead. Did he win? Did he finish it off?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Pot Gator. He lost in the second overtime hole. It was really. I talked about it earlier in the show. If you hadn't seen it, you haven't seen it, but it was really exciting. Did you watch anything over the weekend? Really or you were out of pocket?

[Smiley Kaufman]

I know, I watched. I just told you. I watched a lot. I watched college basketball, NBA. I watched it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, you said you were going to Neville's party, so I just.

[Smiley Kaufman]

I went to Neville's party. It's only one day. Neville's party's not a. The Mardi Gras.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, okay.

[Smiley Kaufman]

That was. Party was Saturday night in Georgia, so I, So I Couldn't see the Lakers live. That's. That's. That's the only thing I couldn't see. I watched a ton of college basketball.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I watched.

[Smiley Kaufman]

So, like, I got off golf from Thailand.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I got off Golden State really early. But I will say that I enjoyed much of the Memphis Cleveland game that I watched. Yes, that was actually a good game.

[Smiley Kaufman]

That game stayed. Again, listen, later, now, after you went to bed last. Last night, the. The. The OKC Minnesota game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, that was. The late game.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Was a hoot, that game. OKC Tony is up like 23 points in the first half. They're going to town. They're doing everything they've done all season in Minnesota. And you look at this going, come on now, Minnesota. Minnesota has these fits and starts and they seem to get themselves together. They win three in a row.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They made a terrible trade. It's a terrible trade. Well, it's terrible.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Minnesota. Minnesota not only catches up, Minnesota has.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The lead at the half and loses.

[Smiley Kaufman]

They lose a close game. They lose a real. But they don't have Julius Randle. No, he's coming back. They did not have Gobert, but he's coming back. They don't have Dante DiVincenzo.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I give you all that. I'm just saying that they had getting.

[Smiley Kaufman]

All three of their people back, like tomorrow.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They had a potential championship team and they trade. I just. I didn't get it. They traded away Towns.

[Smiley Kaufman]

They had to trade it because they could afford it. Everybody's not Steinbrenner worried mostly about facial hair. That's not how the world works. The. We live in a town where, you know, a lot of things can go wrong. But the first thing that goes south is if you don't have enough money, you can't go through first apron or second apron. Minnesota doesn't have that kind of money. That's why they're being sold, and that's why a Rod and his group will buy them. And I don't know that a Rod and the group will have enough money, but they could not keep Karl Anthony Townes and pay a third supermax. Everybody's. Not the Celtics able to pay two dudes $350 million. The Celtics can do it with three guys. The Minnesota Timberwolves cannot. So they've already got Anthony Edwards, who has to make that amount of money. They paid Rudy Gobert that amount of money to put him in place so they could have the championship team to which you refer. So now you got Carl Anthony Towns. You're going to pay him 352. No, you can't. So they traded him for multiple guys and you know, it is, it is not worked so far. By the way, it ain't working for the Knicks either.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, it's not.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Even though the knicks are like 37 and 7.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So they lose to good teams.

[Smiley Kaufman]

They lose to good teams are 07.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, they lose to good teams. But that's OK. By the way, Karl.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Anthony Towns has had a great year season.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's why I wouldn't have made the trade. That's just me. All right, I'll talk to you later.

[Smiley Kaufman]

All right, Tom.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Michael Wilbon, boys and girls. We'll take a break. Mark Feinsand when we return. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Michael Wilbon]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You've heard me talk about Collars and Company, makers of the amazing dress collar polo. Well, now they've taken things to the next level with their brand new maverick performance blazer. And you have to check this out. These blazers are sharp, perfect for travel. Why? Because they're wrinkle resistant. Just throw it in your bag. When you get to your destination, slip it back on. No wrinkles, no stress. Finally, no more figuring out how to travel with a blazer. And it's not just about convenience. The Mavic performance blazer is made with stretch fabric so you can move comfortably all day long. Plus it's packed with smart features, inside security, zip pockets, a built in optional pocket square and even a sunglasses loop. While you're at it, pair the blazer with The Collars & Co. Famous Dress Collar Polos. They've already sold over a million of these comfortable polos with the signature dress collar on top. So Visit Collars & Co. Use the promo code Tony for 20% off today. Use the code people. That should send me one of these. Yeah, I'd like to see this. A non wrinkle blazer. Yeah, because then I don't have to carry a steamer around with me all the time.

[Nicole Wagner]

This is the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is Nicole Wagner. This is a song called the Rules of Baseball. Michael Granberry sent it, which means she is talented. The Austin American Statesman describes Nicole, Michael writes as one of Austin's most promising young singer songwriters, a claim reinforced in 2024 when she released her second album, which includes what we have already played, beauty where youe Find It. This once again is the Rules of Baseball. This was on her debut album in 2018.

[Dan]

This is a keeper.

[Tony Kornheiser]

She's really so talented. Michael Granberry is like the eye of an eagle. When it comes to talent, she plays in Mark Feinstein, who knows the rules of baseball. And I want to get to the rules of baseball. This is really. We can talk about Mookie Bets going to play shortstop. We can talk about Juan Soto hitting home runs. We can talk about whether Nolan Arenado is going to be traded. We're going to talk about those things. But I want to talk about the automatic ball strike situation. What your thoughts are about it, if you think it will in fact become the rule of work in Major League Baseball. And just what are your thoughts about it?

[Mark Feinstein]

Well, Tony, it's certainly trending in the direction of becoming part of the game as early as next season, 20, 26. I like it. I've seen it a few times in person. These are the All Star Game year two ago. I've seen them in the minor leagues a couple of times. And frankly, it's a very fast system. I mean, I think the first one that we all saw in spring training this year, it's a 15 seconds or so. But I've seen it where, you know, they've challenged it, they've had the ruling change within five seconds. So it's a. It's a good system. I've always been on the side of if you have the ability to have the calls be right, that's preferable. Obviously, I'm not saying you should be able to challenge every ball and strike the whole game. And I don't want to see robot umps.

[Tony Kornheiser]

There's only two permanently, you're only allowed to do two. And if you keep winning, you. You maintain the two. But we're not going to see this 20 times. We're not correct.

[Mark Feinstein]

And, and they're also, you know, can only be the batter, the pitcher, or the catcher who can make the call.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So you don't. You don't think that the manager, you don't think the manager will have a special dog whistle that will say to the catcher, do this?

[Mark Feinstein]

You know, it has to happen so quickly that I don't know that that's possible. And plus, look, Tony, you watch a game from a dugout. You can see high, low, you can't see inside, outside, trust your eyes that much from dugout view to be able to say, no, that ball was over the plate. You don't know that. Which is why the batter, the catcher, the pitcher are really the only three that should be able to challenge this. And again, because it's such a limited number of challenges, I don't think it's Going to be a thing where it adds two minutes to the game or four minutes to the game. This literally could add, you know, 40 seconds to a game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, because we don't want to go backwards. We have the pitch clock now. We don't want to go backwards.

[Mark Feinstein]

I agree. I, you know, I was, I was a big fan of the pitch clock from the word go. I've really enjoyed most of the rule changes. I'm still, I still don't totally buy into the ghost runner thing, but I get it and I'm glad they don't use it in the playoffs. Just like, you know, hockey doesn't use the shootout in the playoffs. I understand the concept of overtime in hockey or extra innings in baseball, wanting to not have that go on forever on a Tuesday night in, in January. But as long as in playoffs, we don't mess around with these things and they, they play many extra innings and no ghost runners, and they play many overtimes with no 3 on 3 skating. I'm okay with that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So let me bring up something that my friend David Israel, who was one of the great sports columnists of all time, brought up to me the other day in a series of texts where David, you know, it's sometimes it's exhausting because David has to win. And I say, he says yes, there's no point in having a conversation if you don't win. So, okay, so that's my cross to bear because David's brilliant and it's difficult for me, but he said, look, this is two dimensional. It's not three dimensional. It's two dimensional. It's like a window. It's right out there. It will not account for differences in stances. Really, it won't do that. And umpires have to take all of that into consideration. Does it then, Mark, become fair to you that it's only two dimensional?

[Mark Feinstein]

Yeah, I don't know the mechanics of the system well enough to determine whether or not, whether or not it will take into account stances, etc.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Pete Rose's stance is really different than Aaron Judge's stance.

[Mark Feinstein]

I mean, forget, you know, Aaron Judge and Jose Altuve do not have the same strike zone.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Mark Feinstein]

One guy's 6, 7, 6, 8, and the other guy's 5, 6. So, yeah, I think these are things that are certainly going to be questioned and addressed. And before it. Actually, I would have to think that before they put it into Major League Baseball, these things are going to be buttoned up. And I also think that as brilliant as your friend David Israel is, he's probably not the first person to think about that. So I have to think that the league has thought about it. I certainly believe the players association has thought about it because they understand that their players do not all have the same strike zone. And that's going to become an issue. So I would imagine that these things are being addressed and that they will certainly be taken into account before anything officially becomes a rule in the game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

One of the things that I think will help sell it is if it is televised like in tennis. People like it in tennis. They really like it. What I heard was there was a possibility that if this goes into effect, that ball strike box that we see watching games on television will disappear. I would not want that. That would be a deal breaker for me as a consumer of baseball. Have you heard the same thing?

[Mark Feinstein]

It's funny, people have such strong opinions about the K zone box one way or the other. I have a friend who won't watch baseball on ESPN because he hates the K zone box.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I love it.

[Mark Feinstein]

I. Everybody has a very varied opinion on this, you know, but again, so I've always watched that and said, is it the same K zone box for each batter or do they adjust it based on the hitter because everybody doesn't have the same strikes?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think it's the same.

[Mark Feinstein]

I do think it would be entertaining for fans to be able to say, oh look, here's how close that pitch was. Yeah, like those calls in tennis. Again, technology is to the point where I don't see why that would not be the case. But I don't know what each would. Each broadcast would be specifically looking to do, you know, based on. Based on having their own strike zone box or not.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I am confident that this will not reduce, I hope will not reduce the size of umpiring crews. I would think you have to have umpires because they have to call plays at the plate. I don't want baseball to turn into a self checkout thing at a supermarket where nobody's working the register. That's me personally. But where are umps on this and where are players on this in the early stages?

[Mark Feinstein]

Well, I think umps would have had a much bigger problem if this had become the abs. Was the rule of law for every pitch in a game. You know, if you can only challenge two or three pitches on each side and also there might be be many situations where you challenge a pitch and guess what? The elbow got it right. So, you know, I think unbiased to me, I know that people love to rag on them and kill them for the bad calls, and we only know the names of the ones who make the bad calls. Umpiring a baseball game to me is as hard as. Well, I won't say it's harder than revving a hockey game because they actually have to, like, skate. But I, you know, the guys were like, oh, this guy's a 99.2% right on his ball. Strike calls.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Wow.

[Mark Feinstein]

I've tried to umpire Little League games. They're really hard to get those calls right every time. So, no, I think umpires are here for a while. I don't think they're going anywhere. You can't, you know, yes, you can make a fair foul call based on the line, but there are plenty of calls in a baseball game that you need judgment. You need a human to be there doing it. I don't think umpires are going anywhere.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, where are players on this whole thing? Are they afford or against it, or is it too early?

[Mark Feinstein]

I think it's too early. You know, it's funny, a lot of the younger players are perfectly fine with it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They've seen it come up using it.

[Mark Feinstein]

In the minor league, and I think that's, you know, sort of like the pitch lock.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Right.

[Mark Feinstein]

The younger players had very little trouble adapting to the pitch clock because they had been testing it out in the minor leagues for several years. And I think as we move through this, there will be less and less resistance. I'm sure you'll hear some people questioning it. But again, if the, if the, if the calls are getting made right, then it's not going to be an issue. And, you know, I think more pitchers would have had a problem with the pitch clock, veteran pitchers, anyway, than they will with abs.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, all right, we'll move off this. We'll get to something that you also are familiar with because you covered the Yankees. The Yankees are allowing beards, well trimmed beards. This started. No beard. Started with George steinbrenner, you know, 50, 60 years ago, and now his son is reversing this. The only thing I could justify it with is that free agents, you know, they might lose a free agent if a guy said, I don't know. That's nonsense. I don't want that.

[Mark Feinstein]

Yeah, that's been an issue for a while of, oh, well, the Yankees aren't going to be able to sign this guy.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, but they do sign him. They do.

[Mark Feinstein]

But guess what? Jason Giambi had long hair and a beard until the Yankees gave him, you know, $120 million. And then he said, I'll shave that. That's fine. Johnny Damon was, you know, looked like Jesus Christ. Yeah, and you know, one with the Red Sox and it was his whole Persona and there's no way he would ever go to the Yankees. And then, you know, he was shaving for his press conference. So, you know, it hasn't been an issue. I guess Devin Williams was the latest one. When the Yankees traded for him and he had beard his entire career and he had to shave it and people were not happy. And I guess Devin Williams spoke with Al Steinbrenner about it and other players have spoken with him as well. There have been players through the years who have sort of toed the line. I remember Cece Sabathia, Roger Clemens, those guys, when they would actually take the mound, they'd be clean, but the day before they'd have a five day growth going that if you didn't want to call it a beard, you could say it's stubble. But that was being kind. I think this is just a move into understanding that, you know, guys express themselves in different ways. Guys, beards have become a lot more common. Remember when George Steinbrenner first instituted this rule in the mid-70s, growing a beard was like, oh, you must be one of them hippies. And you know, it was not as common a thing. Now the vice President United States has a beard. So, you know, I think a well groomed. And my joke that day was, who's. Who's the arbiter of well groomed now? Right. How do you determine what a well groomed beard is? I think as long as it's, as long as you don't look like Johnny David on the Red Sox, you're probably, or Brian Wilson, you're probably safe. But yeah, I think there were a lot of people calling for this rule to come to an end. It was sort of antiquated. And you know, I think as long as you look presentable and when you look at every Yankee in the off season, they all have off season beards because they can. And when you look at everybody who leaves the Yankees for another team, they always have a beard within about 12 minutes. So they're finally the Yankees will allow their guys to do it too.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I've say I liked it. I liked the rule because it was the last rule. It was like wearing white shorts and shirts, playing tennis. And I know it's antiquated and I know it doesn't apply. And I just thought, well, if there's only one place where it happens, that's okay. And if it's the Yankees because of the tradition. Like the other teams don't have the tradition of the Yankees, the Yankees have the most tradition. You know what I mean? So I could justify it. I could justify it so.

[Mark Feinstein]

Well, I guess the idea was this was not a rule in the days of Mantle and Maris and DiMaggio and.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Nobody had beards then.

[Mark Feinstein]

Well, correct. But I guess, you know, this was something that was put in long after they started winning and creating that condition.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Mark Feinstein]

You know, to me, keep the names off the back of the jerseys. Keep the, keep the uniforms, you know, tight and the way they are, the white pinstripe uniforms and just simple gray with the New York. Don't, don't futz with those things so much. And I think your, your tradition is fine. It's funny they said the thing about the well groomed beards. I don't know if long hair is now also permitted. I'll have to look into that one because, you know, there have been guys in the guys with long hair or, you know, big dreadlocks said, I'm never going to the Yankees because I'm not cutting my hair.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Mark Feinstein]

Right again then they do so well.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Pay him enough money.

[Mark Feinstein]

Money solves a lot of problems.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right. Thank you, Mark. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[Mark Feinstein]

Thanks, Tony.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Mark Feinstein, boys and girls. We will take a break. We will come back with email and jingle. I am Tony Kornheiser. This is the Tony Kornizer Show. Oh, here comes Tony's mailbag. Got your emails. Here comes Tony's mailbag. Gonna read some for all of you to follow.

[Mark Feinstein]

Gonna read some for all of you folks.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The legendary Biff Gott doing everything he can right there. You want to do the Bethesda bagel ad?

[Dan]

Yes, Bagel sandwiches. They're very happy about that. Just go to bethesdabegles.com for the location in the DC area nearest you. Then pop on in and you'll be thrilled.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The line from Michael here. Before we get to the mailbag, let me just say it feels so good to be back at the Dexter Lake Club. We'd like to do for you now a tune entitled Shamalama Ding Dong.

[Carol]

So hit it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So hit it. Thanks to our guest today, Michael Wilbon, Mark Feinsand. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify and Audacy. Audacy. If you get the show through Apple, please leave us a review from Carl Wallace again from Oswego, New York, whose email we read the other Day about snow total. Central New York snow total. Oh, that's right.

[Dan]

The Golden Snowball. Is that what it's called?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Golden Snowball event. So he didn't. He left out one of the cities. I assume the cities were Rochester, Binghamton, Buffalo and Syracuse. And he had Rochester twice. Or something like that. My apologies for sending my last email without vetting my sources. I was copying information from the Golden Snowball website. For today's email, I will use a source we all know and trust. Wikipedia. Syracuse is in central New York. Buffalo and Rochester are considered western New York. Albany is in the Capital District and Binghamton is in Southern Tier. Okay, five cities going forward. I'll be referring to any town from Binghamton north where it is Upstate New York. At any rate, I'm sick of snow and ready to move south. Everything is upstate New York north of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Right? That's how it works. Whatever they're calling that bridge, they renamed it, I think.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah, the Cuomo Bridge.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Okay. Anything north of that is upstate New York. Long bridge, no Rolls, Air or. Mark Corriere, Ellicott City, Maryland. I heard the Friday email about snowfall totals in central New York. Like you, I agree Buffalo shouldn't be considered Central New York. As Wilbaum would say. Everyone knows Buffalo, like Toronto, is a classical Midwest city. From Chris Harrison in Apex, North Carolina, which I got wrong. Which is not at the top of the state. I got that wrong. Formerly of Hell's Kitchen, New York. Dear Mr. Tony, I would like to think that the demarcation between eastern New York, Utica and Albany and western New York, Rochester and Buffalo, or in Buffalo's case, the Midwest, if you're Wilbon is Interstate 81 since it's. It bisects New York in half as it runs from Binghamton to Canada. Also, when I attended school at Rochester Institute of Technology, great school RIT in western New York, we had a bar and a restaurant in the basement of our student union called the Ritzkelar. Beyond the RIT part. I never understood why they called it that until now. Information for life from John in San Diego. You need to stop taking geography lessons from Wilbourne. While you were correct that Buffalo was not in central New York, the remainder of that rant was off. When you leave Buffalo by car, one must drive 75 miles in New York before entering Pennsylvania. It is then a further 45 miles in Pennsylvania before you hit Ohio. Okay, I don't go that far. I don't go that far. Becky in Des Moines, I'm here to Confirm your geographic proclamation that Buffalo is not central New York. I was born in Amherst, just northeast of Buffalo, and as such was born in western New York. We moved there. From there to Elmira, otherwise known as the Southern Tier, then to Norwich, which is about an hour away from Cooperstown and 45 minutes from Cortland is about as solidly central New York as you can get as a now resident of Des Moines, Iowa. When I say I'm from central New York, it's assumed I'm talking about midtown Manhattan. We must continue the good fight against Wilbond's geography. Old sport, keep it up. From Greg Dennis, who signs at Rochester, Buffalo and New York City on Friday's show, you had a brief rant about Buffalo and Rochester's geographic location, the state of New York. Well, I now live in New York City. I grew up in Rochester, as did you know everybody. You know, Mark Tuohy, the whole Tuohy clan. Oh, right. I grew up in Rochester, then moved to Buffalo to attend the University of Buffalo, or as Conan O'Brien dubbed it, the crown jewel of the SUNY system. Please, please. I've always thought of Rochester as western New York, but was scolded by Buffalonians, that is in central New York, even though up until the early 1990s we shared the 716 area code. Wilbonians would consider it part of the Midwest, but I defer to to his. But I differ with his expertise, with him having gone to a directional school. Regardless, Northwestern, I still consider Rochester to be part of western New York. It is. And the Finger Lakes region it is. Syracuse and even Binghamton to be central New York. And of course, the Adirondacks to be upstate, which I concede is a hot take. Alas, it's all upstate now, because any New Yorker worth their salt knows that upstate starts at Pelham. Yeah, that's. Yeah. Come on. Stop. John Mesler, Alice Springs or Science Australia? Your surprise about Finland's national anthem being sung in Finnish reminds me of when the woman to whom I'm related by marriage brought her dog over from Norway. After we got married and settled in, she had her dog sent over from Norway. A beautiful yellow lab. My friends were astounded that the dog understood commands in Norwegian, but not in English. By the way, for a long time, my Norwegian was limited to get down off the sofa and go outside and pee. This worked well until her parents came to visit. Dan from Ishpeming, Michigan. It says, good luck with that. One is H P E M I N G Ishpeming Michigan My grandfather was born in Finland and Finland was his first language. The proper pronunciation for Sumi is sumi. The o is silent and it means Finland. I'm hoping I can become the show's official Finnish linguist. If we need one, it's you. Tim Cree Fort Collins, Colorado Something weird to Me we were invited to a baby shower at 7:30 Saturday night. 7:30? Everybody knows a baby shower is a two. You eat lunch before you go, you drink lemonade and have cake, open gifts, take pictures, and everyone is long gone by dinner. Everybody knows this Saturday, 7:30. Are we going to watch Outlander and drink Merlot? I am not drinking Merlot. It's funny. George Melay Our friend George Melaye Saturday marked the annual running of the world's richest horse race, the $20 million Saudi Cup. The horse Andy Byer and I liked in last year's Derby won an amazing stretch run against Romantic Warrior. It looked like Romantic Warrior had put Forever Young away. Forever Young, Though I had other plans. I edited the race down to the stretch run and put it on my YouTube channel. If you click on the link below, it will play for you. It's a mere 38 seconds of action. Our boy Kenny McPeak's horse rattle and Roll was in this race too, but was overmatched and, as my fellow horse placers might say, failed to menace. George Melay is 64 and he wants to be a jockey. Not going to work. Yeah, it's going to be tough, but he knows that. Tim Wildsmith, our friend from Nashville.

[Dan]

We love Tim.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Recent mentions of Brandy Carlisle on the show compelled me to write in about I opened for her back in 2008 at a show in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She and her band were fantastic even back then, in the early days before she skyrocketed to success. After the show was over, I stood next to Brandi at the merch table for more than an hour and watched as she graciously spent time talking to every single fan who approached her. And I kid you not, she encouraged each and every one of them to buy one of my CDs. I sold more that night than in any other gig I've ever played. Her kindness helped a struggling singer songwriter pay his utilities and stock up on groceries. I'll never forget it. That's really sweet. Andrew Rubin Andrew in Los Angeles in 1989, I was going to join an aunt and uncle who were in India so that she could write a report on the Indian election. They had been all over the Indian subcontinent and I was going to meet them in Pushkar for three days at a sort of religious festival, country fair where they get the largest collection of camels in the world to auction them off. 30,000 camels.

[Dan]

That's a lot.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Guarantee to find one you like. My uncle's secretary started calling me about a week before I was to leave, asking me to throw various items into my bag to bring to my uncle, like a dozen Titleists special vitamins that he took. And eventually, and you, being my age, will remember three wheel Dexes, the large Rolodexes. Muttering under my breath about the inconvenience of finding them at a discount and then having to buy a separate suitcase for them. I flew to India, schlepped them around for 10 days until my rendezvous with my uncle. I learned that India did not import things like golf balls and Rolodexes, but still it had been a pain. Upon meeting up with my uncle and aunt at a distance the camels and at a distance the camels, I asked him about the golf balls. Yes, I'm giving them to a businessman I met. He can't get them here. And the absurdly bulky wheel decks? As I asked, he got animated and told me they had spent a day with a Dalai Lama, and when they were leaving, my uncle told his Eminence that I was coming from the States. Could I bring him something? Had I only known, I would have written my contact info on a card in the R's. Who wouldn't want to be in the Dalai Lama's Rolodex, right?

[Dan]

We like to think the golf balls were for the Dalai Lama.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Big Hitter. Yeah, big hitter. The llama, yeah. Anthony Garcia Pleasant Hill, California no worries about misnaming Bad Bunny as Big Bunny in last week's pod. His music is a staple in our house, and our three year old likes to call him Good Bunny. What's funny is the origin of his stage name of Bad Bunny. It came from when he publicly shared with his fans a picture taken of him as a grumpy kid in a bunny costume he was forced to wear for singing performance as a joke. From that experience he established his Twitter username as Bad Bunny, and the name stuck with him ever since. Maybe Michael can get you on social media as Bad Water Bill, Bad Suero, or Bad Mice. And one more from Ben Sandler in Columbia, Maryland. As spring approaches, I've been thinking about your upcoming tomato crop and whether I should venture into that endeavor. I decided growing your own tomatoes is the best way to devote three months of your life to saving $2.17. I think I'll pass. Ben Sandler, Columbia, Maryland Hope to be on Chuck and Roxy 5 11. Not the best, but not the worst. If you're out on your mic tonight, everyone, as always, do wear white.

[Smiley Kaufman]

Mom, press the crease in my chinos. Cause chinos I like to look deep.

[Nicole Wagner]

The stars are burning holes as the glimmer in the night Watch one as it falls hold your breath and make a wish I should have kissed you when I wanted to Hesitation then the moment wasn't right Jump on in, the water's fine don't think about tomorrow There will never be a perfect time Sometimes being brave is not enough There is beauty where you find it the sound a secret makes when it's whispered in the dark Buzzing through the air like fireflies We've been going through the mother still missing every mark Jump on it, water's fine, don't think about tomorrow Gotta stop looking for a sign Sometimes brave is not enough there's beauty where you find it maybe all we'll do is trying to walk each other home Broken compass, best intentions, we're still skipping Jump on in, the water's fine don't think about tomorrow I know you will never be mine and sometimes being brave is not enough there's beauty where you find you I stopped trying to find religion there's no explaining a mystery I count the 108 stitches on a bone Instead of saying rosary maybe we were lonely Nothing less, nothing more you know it's not the majors let's stop trying to keep school and I'd explain the rules of baseball but we both know you don't care Add it to the list of all the things we don't share Days are getting shorter Summer is almost through Most important through baseball. There's no crime when you lose I can't remember my last confession But I know it's been too long it's one thing not to love you it's another to admit it's wrong it all comes down to timing Swinging hard, Little late, don't get me on a fire or maybe call it late Can I play the rules of baseball? Well, we both know you don't care Add it to the list of all the things we don't Shame, there's a bit shoulder Summer is almost through Most important move, baseball. There's no crying any lo we don't have to talk about it let's go back to chasing dreams Next time you see me at the plate, you'll have to take one for the team. But I believe in the Holy Spirit and the magic of a hanging curveball. Some things don't come easily. Some things don't come at all. And I'd explain the rules of baseball, but we both know you don't care. Add it to the list of all the things we don't. Shame. Days are getting shorter. Summer's almost through. Hosted for Blue baseball. There's no. No crying when you lose. No crying when you lose.