“Pucks and Ponies”

Summary

The Tony Kornheiser Show — “Pucks and Ponies” Episode Date: June 8, 2026
Host: Tony Kornheiser
Guests: Michael Wilbon, Eddie Olczyk
Summary by Section

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Episode Overview

This episode takes on an unorthodox structure due to Michael Wilbon’s tight ESPN schedule, with Kornheiser bringing Wilbon in at the top for a quick-hitting segment. The show covers a wide range of topics: NBA Finals, horse racing’s Belmont Stakes, the Stanley Cup Finals, difficulties with cable sports broadcasting, local sports grievances, summer family anecdotes, emails from listeners, and the characteristic wit and nostalgia that defines the show. The highlight guests are regular panelist Wilbon and dual sports and horse racing expert Eddie Olczyk.

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I. Michael Wilbon Segment: NBA, Golf, Tennis, and Personal Reminiscence

(00:36–10:58)

Wilbon’s ESPN Marathon & Early Morning Woes

• Wilbon jumps on for a rare, rushed early segment due to TV obligations.
• “Morning is not my friend...I do it only in the playoffs.” (03:27, Wilbon)

NBA Finals (Knicks vs. Spurs)

• Kornheiser and Wilbon marvel that the Knicks are up 2-0.
• Wilbon doubts the Spurs can win Game 3: “I don't think they're going to win tonight. I think they'll put forth a massive effort...but they don't have the poise, Tony, yet. They don't know enough.” (06:27, Wilbon)
• Discussion of perennial heartbreak as a building block for NBA greats—“They don't just lose a little. They get their butts kicked and they're angry....most of them I saw with my own eyes.” (07:01, Wilbon)
• Knicks’ Brunson and “Cat” (presumably Anthony Towns) highlighted for their roles. “He [Brunson] may be the greatest free agent signing ever. And the fact that Dallas didn't want him shows you how stupid Dallas has been.” (09:16, Kornheiser)

Golf: The Memorial & Women’s US Open

• Wilbon watched PGA's Memorial and emphasizes Nelly Korda’s win at the Women’s US Open. Michael loves seeing Michelle Wie back on the course.

French Open & Tennis Indifference

• Neither had watched due to early knockouts of star attractions: “I checked out when you checked out. Just Sinner goes out. No Alcaraz, Djokovic, goes out.” (05:25, Wilbon)

Stacy King’s Passing

• Wilbon pays tribute to Bulls player and announcer Stacy King: “His passing yesterday at 59 years old, just a crusher.” (10:18, Wilbon)

Notable Quote

• “They don't just lose a little. They got crushed.” (07:01, Wilbon)

Timestamp Highlights

• 03:30 — Wilbon’s sleep-deprived schedule.
• 06:20 — Knicks up 2-0, skepticism around Spurs.
• 09:16 — On Brunson’s importance and Dallas’ mistake.
• 10:18 — Tribute to Stacy King.

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II. Kornheiser Local Sports Rant: Cable Frustrations and Nats Blackouts

(11:00–17:04)

Nats Game Blackout & Cord-Cutting Frustrations

• Rant about failing to find the Nationals game on regular cable, eventually watching it in Spanish after Peacock streaming complications.
• Praises cable customer service but laments obscurity in local sports access: “I'm paying...327 dollars a month...and I want two things. I want the Gnats and the red zone. And now I'm not getting the red zone. I don't want to pay this anymore.”
• Liz and Carol join in, empathizing and discussing the annoyances of streaming platforms and local blackouts.

Notable Quote

• “To get onto Peacock is the most complicated—it’s like building a bridge across the Chesapeake Bay.” (12:53, Kornheiser)

Timestamp Highlights

• 12:00 — Can’t find the Nats game, discovers it’s streaming only.
• 13:50 — Cable/streaming login woes peak.
• 14:45 — Settles for Spanish language broadcast.

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III. Personal Notes: Kornheiser’s Golf Exploits and Summer Anecdotes

(18:04–22:43)

Kornheiser’s Golf Game & Course Woes

• Tony’s comic despair at his high scores (“I shot 99 because I will not say I shot 100. And I didn’t shoot 100. I shot more than 100.”)
• Greens at Columbia described as “impossible” due to state amateur tournament prep.

Missed Concerts & Summer Schedule

• Beach Boys show postponed due to Mike Love’s illness.
• Excitement about upcoming Steve Winwood / John Fogerty show (“But that’s a weeknight. I’ll fall asleep. I don’t know.”)

Liz’s Family Trip to the Beach

• Brief but warm recounting of classic boardwalk rides, kids winning trinkets, and the death of a beloved cherry tree.

Timestamp Highlights

• 18:04 — Alexander King’s music intro.
• 18:28–21:18 — Tony’s golfing troubles and missed Beach Boys concert.
• 27:33 — Liz on summer family routines.

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IV. Email Bag & Listener Contributions

(29:13–end)

• Emails range from listener stories about Erasmus High, historical sports trivia, celestial events, and potato farming advice (in the recurring “potato patch” saga).
• Cornucopia of nostalgia, including memories of Marv Albert and prominent sports figures.
• Shout-outs to “Little Palooza” and the loyal community of podcast “Loyals.”
• Several listeners offer concrete complaints and advice regarding cable settlements and streaming frustrations, seeing their own lives in Tony’s on-air rants.

Timestamp Highlights

• 29:13 — Listener email nostalgia about Erasmus High, Mark Spoor.
• 31:43 — Upcoming celestial events in D.C.
• 60:24 — Potato patch updates.

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V. Feature Interview: Eddie Olczyk on Belmont Stakes & Stanley Cup Finals

(34:18–49:39)

Belmont Stakes / Horse Racing Crisis

• Olczyk praises Golden Tempo’s “incredible run” and jockey Jose Ortiz’s ride for a second Triple Crown race win.
• On modern Triple Crown dilemma: “Trainers are really understanding that I'm not going to put my horse in that spot and I'm going to give them a little bit more extra time.”
• Riffs on need for a “commissioner of horse racing” to modernize the sport.
• Advocates lengthening the gaps between Triple Crown races to stop Derby winners skipping the Preakness.

Notable Quotes

• “We need a commissioner of horse racing...so I think it needs to change, Tony, because you're going to continue to see it happen.” (38:28, Olczyk)

Stanley Cup Finals & Series Format

• Predicts a tight, possibly seven-game series.
• Praises Vegas for seizing momentum and “being on a roll.”
• Breaks down a controversial coaching challenge and the strategic risk of hockey’s “lost challenge = lost player” rule.
• “Momentum swings, Tony, are absolutely incredible. And the key is, is that when you do have the momentum, what the hell do you do with it?”

Timestamp Highlights

• 35:14 — Olczyk on Belmont Stakes.
• 38:28 — Horse racing structural critique.
• 42:03 — Olczyk pivots to Hockey Finals analysis.
• 46:17 — High scoring in Stanley Cup discussed.
• 47:19 — Detailed explanation of lost challenge penalty in NHL.

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VI. Show Routine: Music, Bagels, Nostalgia, and Listener Community

(49:53–end)

• Original jingles and indie music showcase Alexander King.
• Banter about Bethesda Bagels and more classic rock references (Bonnie Tyler's birthday spawns an impromptu rendition by Tony).
• Deep dive into listener emails full of eccentric sports nostalgia, community shout-outs, and jokes.
• Returns to potato patch saga and thanks listeners “out on your bike tonight, do wear white.”

Notable Quotes

• “You just can't. You can't. She can and you can...” — on jingle singers and unique audience talents.
• “You know how like...oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m gonna guess potatoes.” (Carol, on potato patch outcome)

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• “To get onto Peacock is the most complicated—it’s like building a bridge across the Chesapeake Bay.” (12:53, Tony)
• “They don't just lose a little. They got crushed. They sat in their lockers and they sobbed...Most of them I saw with my own eyes.” (07:01, Wilbon)
• “We need a commissioner of horse racing...do right by the animals.” (38:28, Eddie Olczyk)
• “Momentum swings, Tony, are absolutely incredible. And the key is, is that when you do have the momentum, what the hell do you do with it?” (44:32, Olczyk)

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Final Words

This episode encapsulates everything Kornheiser listeners love: sharply opinionated sports talk, everyday aggravations about cable and technology, reverence for athletic achievement, and a loyal, eccentric audience. With Wilbon bringing NBA gravitas, Olczyk delivering expert horse racing and hockey analysis, and Tony ranting about streaming, aging, and potato sprouts, it’s an episode as wide-ranging as it is warm, nostalgic, and funny—equal parts pucks, ponies, and pure TK.

Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, things will be a little out of order as we talk to Wilbon in the open because the only window he had in his marathon TV schedule this morning. Then we'll do the show open. In our second segment, we'll talk to Eddie Olczyk about the Belmont and also about the Stanley Cup Finals. But first, Commerce. Previously on the Tony Kornheiser Show. If the Knicks were to win, would that be like the greatest achievement? Or if the jets won, would it be a greater achievement? The Yankees win all the time. And what, how, how do you rank the teams in terms of what people want from them?

[Eddie Olczyk]

I think the jets would be in that category also. I mean, you're looking back to the, you know, days of Joe Namath.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They have one highlight. They have Joe Namath wagging his finger. That's their only highlight. The Tony Korneiser show is on now. You recognize my voice in that because you listen to this show. It's the other guy who's got the voice. It's the other guy. It's Marv Albert. Marv Albert has, if you grew up in New York, the most recognizable voice of all time. Of all time. More than any other announcer, it's Marv Albert. Got this note from Mark Spoor in Canton, Georgia, who is the official bowling coach of this show. Thank you so much for the Marv Albert interview on Friday's show. Much like you, Marv was a soundtrack of my childhood and a big part of what made me a sports fan and later a sports writer and editor. Growing up in upstate New York in the 70s and 80s, seemingly every sports memory I have has either Marv, Phil Rizzuto or Ralph Kiner as a soundtrack. What a time to be alive. Thanks also for being seemingly the only national sports personality in this era, except maybe Wilbon, that appreciates history and context. It is much appreciated. And it is. Your note is much appreciated. We have an odd show today. Let me just say from the top. Wilbon, who's always with us on Monday, he never fails.

[Carol]

Never fails.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Unless he has a doctor's appointment, right? Well, he's, he's on ESPN constantly. He's on the 7 o' clock sports center. He's on the 8 o' clock sports center. Well, it's the 8 o'.

[Michael Wilbon]

Clock.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Get up. He's on the 10 o' clock first take show. He said he's just on. He's on all the time.

[Liz]

I hope they let him out by 5:30.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I hope so. So he can do the show he gets paid to do.

[Carol]

Got a note to, you know, release me.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, so he, he offered to do this for five or six minutes. It's pointless. It's pointless. Let him do what he does in New York and we will carry on without him and simply make fun of him as the show.

[Liz]

I love that he had to stop off in Chicago.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Of course he did.

[Liz]

To New York.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Of course.

[Carol]

Check in.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Liz]

This might be him.

[Carol]

This is actually going to be him.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, so just. So we'll just put him on right now if he wants to get on, you know, because I think he's got like four minutes to. To accurately mark this for people on the clock that I have in the studio. It is 8:54 now and Wilbon has to be 7:7, 7:54. And Wilbourne has to be on the opening shot of, of get up. Yeah. I mean if Wilbourne is there, he has to be in the shot. So you have like three minutes. Go. Three minutes, you know. Well, are you feeling good? You look fine today.

[Michael Wilbon]

No, I landed in Newark at. Got to bed at 2:30. It was up at 6:30 to do SportsCenter. So no, I'm not. You know me, you know me longer than anybody up here.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yep.

[Michael Wilbon]

And you know, you know, morning is not my friend.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, I know.

[Michael Wilbon]

And so I do it only in the playoffs. So that's like April 10th through whenever this series ends and I go back to trying to sleep until 10am every morning.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'm not even going to ask you about the basketball. Cause you're going to talk all day and all night about the basketball. You didn't watch the Belmont, right? You forgot it was on.

[Michael Wilbon]

Didn't know it was on. Didn't know it was on.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Did you watch the Memorial?

[Michael Wilbon]

I, I watched some of the. I watched some of the Memorial yesterday.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

Before I got on a plane in Chicago. And you know, I wasn't. It was fine. I mean, posting. I didn't realize he had won like that's like his fourth or fifth. Great, great. I told you three weeks ago. The next golf. And it's always good to see Jack. Jack and Barbara Nicklaus. Yeah, it's always, it's great. But golf is the US Open. There's no golf.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Michael Wilbon]

There's women. The women's US Open. I watched the women's US Open.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Your girl.

[Michael Wilbon]

I could all weekend in Nelly. Quarter one. Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, she's your girl. So. Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

And Michelle, we played. It was great to see Michelle. We play.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I read a story about that.

[Michael Wilbon]

Do full time or not? Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I read a story about why Michelle we West was going to play for her children, to let them watch her.

[Eddie Olczyk]

Great.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And she seemed a little bit nervous, but also sort of understanding. It's the last time. It's the last time. How'd she do?

[Eddie Olczyk]

I thought it was terrific.

[Michael Wilbon]

You know, I don't know that she made the cut.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I wouldn't because I didn't.

[Michael Wilbon]

I didn't see her after Friday. But just seeing Michelle out there is great. Tony does some television now. She does events that I wind up seeing her and her husband Johnny.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Eddie Olczyk]

Jerry.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You like her?

[Michael Wilbon]

Jerry West. I love. I love her. She's tremendous for the game. I'd like to hear her voice more, but she's trying to be mom, which is more important than entertaining dopes like us. But Michelle, we, you know, it's just, it's cool. Whenever you could turn on a tournament and see Michelle we.

[Tony Kornheiser]

French Open. Who, who are the winners? Who are the. Who played?

[Michael Wilbon]

I checked out of that. I checked out of that. Tony. I checked out when you checked out. Yeah, just center goes out.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, Alcaraz and Djokovic goes out.

[Michael Wilbon]

Zverev won. I know who Zverev is. Yeah, but I didn't watch.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, I didn't.

[Michael Wilbon]

I didn't watch any of it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I didn't watch. And I hadn't heard of either of the women who. I mean, God bless. No, but that is the. That is the tournament that gives us people who you never hear of again. The prime example is Gustavo Querton, who never won anything else ever and can win in at clay. It's twice.

[Michael Wilbon]

I think the biggest, the biggest story of women's tennis is Serena Williams and whether she's coming back and win. That's the biggest story.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, we'll see what she has left. All right. So much to our. Our surprise, honestly, much to our surprise, the Knicks are up to nothing. The Knicks won two games. The Knicks won both games. And they were good games. The Knicks won them both. And, and now San Antonio. No one thinks San Antonio is going to win, but if they win tonight, that does change your frame of mind.

[Michael Wilbon]

It makes it possible.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. What do you think?

[Michael Wilbon]

I don't think they're going to win tonight. I think they'll put forth a massive effort, the greatest effort we've seen. They could have a 10, 12, 15 point lead. It won't matter. They don't have the poise, Tony, yet. They don't know enough. And this is, you know, this is my thing. This is your theory by getting older, your theory heartbroken?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. Well, not everybody. Not magic.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah. Not Bill Russell, not Magic and not. Okay, so two. Two guys in 75 years.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, well, maybe not.

[Michael Wilbon]

George Michael Duncan and Jordan and LeBron and Isaiah and Kobe and Shaq.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They all lose a little.

[Michael Wilbon]

They all had their feelings hurt. Not just they lose a little. They got crushed. They sat in their lockers and they sobbed. I've been there. Most of them I saw with my own eyes. So, no, they don't just lose a little. They get their butts kicked and they're angry. And I saw this happen with Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich after they'd won four. They got crushed when they lost to Ray Allen and LeBron and they came back on a mission the next year and won. And that is what Wembanyama is going to be on after he loses this time.

[Tony Kornheiser]

When Banyama. It is. It is altogether reasonable to believe that in the next 10 years, Wembanyama will be in the final seven to eight times, right?

[Eddie Olczyk]

Yeah, it is.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Now, you never say 10. I mean, he's not Bill Russell.

[Michael Wilbon]

He can't expect it. Even though, I mean, Magic was in. Magic got to the finals nine times in 12 full seasons.

[Tony Kornheiser]

There was a period of time with Magic Johnson and Julius Irving and Larry Bird where you said, this is as good as it gets because they're always in. One of them is always in.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yes, absolutely. So I, you know, I expect. Yeah, I expect that. Winyama. But not now.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I understand. I understand that. Do you think it. Do you think it's a sweep?

[Michael Wilbon]

Do you think I could see them getting. If they get tonight, that's all I could see that once they won the first two. Tone, that's. And I give Charles Brocky credit. We're sitting around watching game one, and Charles said, nixon, six. But at halftime, he said, the Knicks win this game, they get game one, they're going to sweep.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is exactly how I felt my words were. All bets are off if they get game one. Not game two. Not game two. Had to be game one. And by the way, that little kid there may be MVPs, he may not be the MVP. He's the MVP on that team, and he's the MVP in the playoffs. That kid, the left hand. Yeah, he's great.

[Eddie Olczyk]

Yes.

[Michael Wilbon]

If. If the votes go in, if it was continued tonight, the way it's played out so far, Cat would win Most Valuable.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's fine. But you don't do it without Brunson.

[Michael Wilbon]

No, he's the Lead, dude. Yeah, he's the lead.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

And he's. You know, and he's. Even when he's not great for three quarters, he's great. He's Mariano Rivera at the end.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's exactly right.

[Michael Wilbon]

Like, what else?

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's exactly right. And for those people who don't understand this, this didn't come out of the blue. He was on championship teams in college. He may be the greatest free agent signing ever. And the fact that Dallas didn't want him shows you how stupid Dallas has been.

[Michael Wilbon]

Wow.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right?

[Michael Wilbon]

Wow. That's a wow.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Dallas didn't want him or Luka Doncic. Really? Who do they want? Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah. Two to five best players in the league. Get out.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You just come on. All right. Go do your show. Do what you do. I'll talk to you later.

[Michael Wilbon]

Before we leave, I gotta say one thing and we'll talk about this later. The passing is Stacey.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, yeah, go ahead. Sure.

[Michael Wilbon]

The weekend in Chicago and Stacy is connected with us. People who listen to the broadcast of Bulls games forever. Like Harry Carey connected with Cubs fans. Is that meaningful to us. And the rest of the world doesn't know that. If they know Stacy King, they remember him. If you're old enough as the guy who played at Oklahoma, was player of the year in the Big Eight over Danny Manning.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's a fine player.

[Michael Wilbon]

As a senior, drafted in the first round, I think 6 overall helped the Bulls win three championships. Depth going against Sally and Rodman and Buddha Edwards and lame Beer. And he sort of disappeared because he wasn't good enough long enough. But he came back and reinvented himself and brought us joy. And so his passing yesterday at 59 years old, just a crusher.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I remember Stacy King. And I do remember thinking in a locker room, if you need somebody. And the Bulls had a lot of good talkers. But if you need somebody, go to him. Go to him.

[Michael Wilbon]

Always.

[Eddie Olczyk]

Great. Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

And see shall sign off with the way he signed off after wins. Drive home safely, Chicago. And that was it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, we'll talk to you later.

[Michael Wilbon]

All right, Tom.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Thanks, Michael Wilbon, boys and girls, in the open of the show, which we don't usually have because we didn't think Wilbon was going to be on because he's completely scheduled out. Let me take a few more minutes. Well, I will have time in another segment, in the first segment to talk about a lot of things, but let me just exhaust this segment with something that gets me so angry. You know how Wilbond gets angry at Marketing people, analytics people. And Wilbond's positions are insane, as we understand. My positions, on the other hand, are completely reasonable for reasons that I don't understand, because I believe that it should be a birthright, or at the very least a constitutional right to be able to watch your local team on television when that team is on. Any team. Your local team. I'm not saying you have to broadcast these games nationally, not saying anybody else gets to watch them. I should be able to watch the Gnats whenever they're on. I should be able to watch the Nats. And I've been watching them even more.

[Liz]

So for a Sunday game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, Sunday afternoon. Sunday afternoon game after I played golf, came home to watch the nats, turned on 1261, got nothing. Got a poster that said, next game Monday. Whoa, what? Then I checked. I checked the schedule in the Washington Post, and they said, yeah, this game is on. It starts at 3 o'.

[Michael Wilbon]

Clock.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It was like, I guess, an early start. Or is that a 1 o'?

[Michael Wilbon]

Clock?

[Liz]

It was 3:15, whatever it was.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Arizona's two time zones away from us now. Three in the winter. Something, whatever, it doesn't matter. I don't get it. So I have that thing on the clicker. I'm going to talk for a while here. I have that thing on the clicker where you press it, the blue thing.

[Liz]

Make sure you have enough battery power.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Blue thing. And it says listening. And I go, not Peacock? No, because Solyzza said it's on Peacock.

[Liz]

Never give this guy a microphone.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I text, I texted solicitor. I said, what? What? And he said, peacock. So I go, peacock. So I get Peacock. To get onto Peacock is the most complicated. It's like building a bridge across the Chesapeake Bay. Well, it's the most complicated thing in the world. You press 87, it still doesn't give it to you. I could not get on. I tried for 30 minutes. Carol tried. I was so furious. And I sent a note to somebody at Comcast, I don't want your cable anymore. I pay three $127 a month. And I want two things. I want the Gnats and the red zone. And now I'm not getting the red zone. I don't want to pay this anymore. That's four grand a year. And I'm not getting either of the things that I want on the regular basis. I sent him a note. I haven't received the note back. This is incredibly complicated. And then Carol insists we don't even get Peacock.

[Liz]

You get Peacock.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, she says we don't and in

[Liz]

any case, you just don't know your login.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Then they ask you for your login. They ask you for your password.

[Liz]

There's a QR code.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Just stop. I'm paying again. $327 a month for Nats and Red. So that's all I watch. I don't watch anything else. I don't want cable anymore. I just don't want it. And they're very nice when you talk to them, and I can afford it. That's not the point. The point is it's a lot of money, and I want to watch the Net. And if I don't make getting Peacock harder than Apollo 13, don't. It shouldn't be that hard. Finally, you know what I do? Finally, I press the blue button again and I say Nats Baseball. And it shows me where I can get Nats baseball in Spanish. And I press on it.

[Liz]

Baseball, B, E, I, S, B, O, L. Baseball.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And I press on it, and I get it, and I don't care. It doesn't matter to me. The game. Yeah. I know how to watch a game. Yeah. So we went to. It was 2:1 and then 4:1, and I stopped at 4:1 when I realized the Nats weren't going to win. But I watched for an hour. I watched for an hour, and I was happy. So. And this. I don't. I don't even know what channel it was. It was in the 1200 somewhere. It doesn't matter. But I'm just infuriated at Comcast.

[Liz]

I'm smiling because I'm on 16, dealing with, you know, traffic. Traffic. I'm getting on to 50, and it goes 16 miles, Bay Bridge, 66 minutes. And I'm just laughing, knowing that you're watching the Nats game in Spanish and.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Liz.

[Liz]

Liz, what are you laughing at? Do you need me to get your phone? Nope.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'm watching in Spanish. The Nats win the Series. They won Friday and Saturday. They lost 20 runs. That's all that matters, is they won. It's all they did.

[Liz]

And Soka threw a gem yesterday.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. Yes. And he used to be with the Nets, but, you know, again, the baby manager doesn't ever have the same lineup twice. So that Garcia had, like, I don't know, 300 RBIs on Friday and then was a pinch hitter on Saturday. It's just when nobody bats in the same order except James Wood, who is now striking out a lot. Now striking out a lot again. But nobody bats in the same place in the order. And all the pitchers turn around and everything.

[Liz]

So interesting for us because we're listening through SiriusXM, so you're getting the local broadcast. So to hear your team being described by the other booth was interesting. Just.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, so you. Easy. Oh, you didn't get Jaggler?

[Liz]

No, I didn't get Train Dave.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know, I don't know who I got in Spanish, but I don't. Also, if I'd gotten Peacock, that would not have been Coco. No, it would have been the Peacock people.

[Carol]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is the second time already that the Nats have been on Peacock. You know, what do you do again?

[Carol]

Starting to feel personal.

[Tony Kornheiser]

$327 a month. Yeah, I think this should. I think this should be a constant

[Liz]

for at least two or three cable boxes that never get turned on.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I just.

[Carol]

It's. And that's very concerning, obviously, the inability to watch the Nats.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But how bad if the red zone. They take the red zone.

[Carol]

If they take the red zone, I'll

[Tony Kornheiser]

take these cable boxes. I'll throw them out.

[Carol]

That's. Why would they do that? That's one of the most amazing channels. Just keep it for us, please.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, we'll take a break. When we come back, I'm going to talk more because we've already heard from Wilbur. I'm Tony Kornheiser. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Alexander King]

It's 2am My time. I call you from across the pond and live.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Wow.

[Carol]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Wow. This is Alexander King. This is called Anchored to the Sea, and she writes. I wanted to reach out and submit some songs to you to be played on your podcast. I'm an Irish American artist living in Nashville and from New York. And my debut album, it dropped on June 5th last Friday.

[Carol]

Oh, that's Friday.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, it dropped. An Irishman at the rodeo raved about your podcast and suggested I reach out. Let me know if any of these would suit your show. Thanks a million. This is great. Alexandra King.

[Carol]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Anchored to the Sea. And normally I would say she plays in Michael Wilbourne. Well, you already heard from Wilbon. She plays in me. Now I can do the Oprah. It can do the opa. She's really good. I. I'll be very brief on my golfing exploits. I played on Saturday and Sunday. I stunk. I put in at the shop that I shot 99 because I will not say I shot 100. And I didn't shoot 100. I shot more than 100.

[Liz]

Let's see what the. The. The handicap adjust is for. Course Conditions just.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. I mean, because of the Maryland State Amateur being played at Columbia, the greens. It was. You may as well have played at Augusta. There were. Michael will know this. I will name some of the Greens. Number 3, number 6, number 10, number 11 were impossible if you were above the hole. I put it. I'm a fairly good putter. On nine, I putted to the left. In other words, I am equid. I am on the same level as the cup.

[Liz]

Okay, you're pin high, but I have

[Tony Kornheiser]

to go above the cup on my putt on six. And, And, and, and oftentimes when you're.

[Liz]

When you're sideways with the hole, it's when you get it going down.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And so I'm going north with the putt. I'm putting away from the hole.

[Liz]

Edges couldn't pick up more.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Figuring for the roll, I put it off the green. I breathed on the putt. It went 40ft, 50ft off the green because 1 on 10, it's an. It. The. The pin is all the way up. I didn't quite reach. It came back 30ft. So that's what they did because they have the best amateur players in. Who was the guy who won? Ryan Gephardt.

[Liz]

Yep. And particularly for. Yes, particularly for match play. You can push. Push those pins into some more difficult spots. Unbelievable.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Unbelievable corner. So you're out there and you know your score is going to be. My score is going to be ridiculous anyway, but congratulations to Ryan Gephard. Congratulations to Columbia for having a great tournament. So that, that was. So. It was fun.

[Liz]

How was your bunker play?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I. I had some trouble. I had some trouble. I went into the face on 13 twice. Then I got out. But I'm trying.

[Liz]

Okay.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You teach. You taught me. I'm trying. It wasn't so terrible, but I had. I had a good time. I'm just. I'm a terrible. I'm terrible. It's okay. It's okay that I'm terrible. Anyway, on Sunday, I wasn't supposed to play. I was very fortunate. I got a phone call from Scott at, I don't know, 7:30, 7:45. And he said, we have an opening at 8:30. And so I got to play Sunday as well. The reason I wasn't supposed to play on Sunday is because I had tickets to the Beach Boys at Wolf Trap. And I got a call from Bernie at Wolf Trap on Friday. He says, I have terrible news. What? Says the Beach Boys had to postpone.

[Eddie Olczyk]

Oh.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Now, my immediate reaction to that was, and they're going to Be back in late July. But I. I'm. You already. I'm promised out to my high school friends in Delaware. I'm not going to get to see them.

[Liz]

And I wouldn't trust that weather either.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I was eager to. To go. I had a great seat, like in a box in the front row, so nobody was in front of me. I was going to get the good parking. Everything is about the good parking.

[Carol]

Oh, it's.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, the special park. Bernie had worked everything out. I was really excited, really grateful. And my immediate reaction was, you know, there's three guys. I assume the Beach Boys are still the Beach Boys, and I assume Mike Love and Al Jardine and Bruce Johnson are still there because the Wilson brothers have all passed.

[Carol]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know, and I thought to myself, well, maybe somebody got hurt. And then you said today there's a news item that Mike Love had respiratory.

[Carol]

Yeah, I think it was a respiratory. Yeah, I think Michael had said that. Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So I understand that they canceled three shows or postponed three shows. The New York show, a Philadelphia show, and a Washington show. They're all rescheduled. They're going to Europe. When they come back from Europe, they're all rescheduled. But I. I can't go. So now the only show I want to go to is the Steve Winwood, John Fogarty show. But that's a week night.

[Carol]

That's going to be tough.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I mean, you know, I. I'll fall asleep. I don't know. So that was. So that's. That's something that happened. I couldn't see the Beach Boys, so what else? But I watched. I watched the Belmont. I mean, we're going to talk. Eddie Olczyk's going to be on the show, so we'll talk to him about horse racing. And the horse won again.

[Carol]

Golden Tempo.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Golden Tempo won again in exactly the same way. From last. From last place. At the top of the stretch, the same move. The horse won again. I'm so angry at the trainer, Sherry Deveau. I'm as angry at Sherry Deveau as I was last year at Bill Mott. I'm so angry.

[Carol]

Could have been Triple Crown.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Could have been a Triple Crown. You kill in horse racing. You think you're saving it. You think you're saving the horse. You're killing horse racing. It's great race, though. Nobody watched. I'm the only one who watched it. So. So then I watched because I. After the gnats in Spanish, I watched the memorial golf tournament. J.T. poston won in a playoff against Ryan Gerard.

[Liz]

Ryan Gerard Of Carolina.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Aren't they both of Carolina? Yeah, they're both of North Carolina. Right, sure. Here's why we rooted for Poston over Gerard. Even though Gerard made the shot of the tournament. He met a birdie on 17 from about 45ft that put him one shot up on everybody else. There are tournaments that are won and there are tournaments that are lost. This thing was mostly lost. It was mostly lost. For example, Fleetwood. Tommy Fleetwood bogeyed 17. He was in a five way tie for first place. He bogeyed 17. Sam Burns bogeyed 17 or bogeyed 18. He bogeyed one of them. He put 17 because he put the ball. I thought it was in the water. It ended up on a footbridge. He chipped onto the green and then missed the putt. On 17. Somebody else took themselves out of it.

[Liz]

And I'm thinking of Wyndham Clark, Windham Clark, who's had a great couple weeks.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He pared everything. He didn't bogey, I don't think. But he couldn't catch. He couldn't catch Ryan Gerard. Gerard was 12. And then on 18, on 18, Poston made a birdie. He gave himself a great look inside of 10ft. He made it to Ty Gerard.

[Liz]

They both Western Carolina University.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. But he's from North. The state of North Carolina. Hickory, right? Yeah, he's from Hickory. I remember because I heard all this stuff yesterday. And then in the playoff, the second hole of the playoff. In the first hole of the playoff, they both hit tee shots exactly where they hit them. When they each played 18. They both hit second shots exactly where they hit them. And they both played 18. But in this time, Gerard made a far better putt. The time before he was like six feet past and had to roll it back in to save a spot in the playoff. This time he made a far better putt, but he missed the putt. But this is the first hole. Poston made a putt right. He made. They tied. They tied the first time. They go to the hole again, they hit their drives in the schmutz. Both of them hit it in the schmutz. They both get on the green. He has a Gerhard. Is that his name? Not Gerard?

[Michael Wilbon]

Gerard.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Gerard. I'm thinking. I'm thinking of Gephardt because it's Ryan as well. Gerard has a tough two putt and on the second putt he misses from five or six feet. And Poston cashes in from five or six feet with a par and wins the Jack Nicklaus tournament, the Memorial Tournament. Why did we Root in this house for Poston. No particular reason other than Johnny O. Yeah, he's wearing a Johnny.

[Carol]

Oh, he's a Johnny O guy.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, he's a Johnny O guy.

[Carol]

Oh, yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So then we were rooting for him. Sure. And he won. I mean, and he's apparently won three or four times before.

[Liz]

He's top 40.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. I'm unfamiliar with him, and I was unfamiliar with Gerard, but it was fine. And Jack Nicklaus got out there and congratulates the winner, which is what he's supposed to do. But he had to sit in the sun for the playoff, which is like, took an hour. And I thought, he's 86.

[Eddie Olczyk]

Don't get him out of the sun.

[Liz]

I didn't get to watch the tournament, but I love this tournament. Always feels like the US Open is just around the corner because it is. It feels like the beginning of summer. And I love that. Nicholas. What often feels like it's during the tournament, once the final group goes through, he starts blowing up. Agree.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right. He's working at it.

[Liz]

The memberships, getting a notice as the tournament's going on.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It makes. Nance is very happy because Nance gets to sit with Nicholas. Like there was. They were rained out on Saturday late, and. And Nicholas came into the booth, and so they sat around and Nance reveres. Nance is a golfer.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He reveres Jack.

[Carol]

Nicholas doesn't have the hole at his house.

[Tony Kornheiser]

In trouble.

[Carol]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

With people. Wilbond got a hole in wall. He's got the wall. Wilburn's name is on Nancy's house. That's so great. Wilburn got a hole. So that's. That's what I did. You went to the beach? Yes.

[Liz]

The official story. Summer of 2026, I think the longest summer that we're gonna have in years just because we had an early Memorial Day and we're gonna have a late Labor Day. We battled traffic.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Liz]

We still have. Our two older boys are in school, so we had to leave sort of in the thick of it on Friday. But we had a great two days of going to the beach, going to. Or going to the. The pool, going to Funland, going to browse about. It makes me so happy that the boys have a routine out there. They love going to the land.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You went to Funland?

[Liz]

Yeah. Oh, yes, we are.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, we are throwing down french fries.

[Liz]

We are throwing down dollar bills at the, you know, the little ring tosses or the ping pong tosses. And you just love it that the boys, they want to play Skeeball. And they have.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Did they bank it or did they go straight forward? I banked it.

[Liz]

Different techniques. So much of this comes down to which lane you're in. There's some good lanes, then you sort of have to jockey out. You get to the left side to bank off the right. I like to bank, but I need a couple of games to get into rhythm. Liz was the big winner this weekend.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Did.

[Liz]

Did any trade up from the small to the medium?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Did. Yeah. Did anybody. Did you bring home junk toys? Oh, yeah.

[Liz]

Your house is filled with little. Little trinkets.

[Carol]

Oh, yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's great. That's great. And the house looked okay?

[Liz]

House looks great.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The tree is dead.

[Liz]

There's a beautiful cherry tree. We're out there.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Gorgeous. Had it for 20 years, and we

[Liz]

finally got to see it in bloom. And it is condemned. There's a tag on it that says removed.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It died. It died. Stone cold. Dead from the winter. It died. And we have to. We have to put. We can't put another cherry tree there because everybody says they're too fragile, even though they're beautiful. So we're going to put something called a red Bud there.

[Liz]

Yeah, we have a red Bud.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. So that's. That's what we're going to have.

[Carol]

Don't have like a.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Can I just read a couple of things here?

[Liz]

Baby.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Baby boy from Michael.

[Liz]

Loved. Loved him some Candy Kitchen.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, that's good. Candy kitchen's good.

[Carol]

Not the watermelon.

[Tony Kornheiser]

From Michael Salovey in New York City. A longtime POD listener and PTI watchers. My first email. Your discussion of Erasmus High prompted me to write. My late uncle Mark was an Erasmus alum, and I have vivid childhood memories of him proudly discussing going to school with both Barbra Streisand, who you mention, and Bobby Fischer.

[Carol]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The world's greatest chess player of all time who dropped out in 1960. The list of famous Erasmus alums is pretty staggering. It includes Mae west and sports figures Al Davis, Sid Luckman, Jerry Reinsdorf, Sonny Werblin, and Bob Arum. Come on.

[Carol]

I mean, are you kidding me?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Come on. The second uncle I wanted to mention is my children's. My wife's brother, Ben Shaffer, also sadly gone. Ben, as you know, was head of sports medicine at Georgetown and then the team doctor for the Caps and the Gnats. We were recently looking at old videos and came across a wonderful tribute you did for a memorial golf tournament held for him many years ago. Thank you. Our family still misses him dearly. Finally, connective tissue only almost 20 years ago you and I were at a birthday party in Tribeca for our friend Douglas Alden. Douglas and I and our wives had dinner this past Thursday. The Wednesday show was one of our topics. Then we went to a lecture at the 92nd Street Y where your Wednesday guest, David Remnick spoke about the mid term elections and raved about the Knicks. The force of the show is strong. Wishing you plentiful potatoes. Please tell Douglas Alden and Glenn Cole to eat it, which is very, very nice.

[Liz]

Does Remnick have a ticket?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know if he has a ticket. Apparently it's not. They what Wilbon thought were his tickets as he said on the show. Yeah, or somebody else's tickets. But I think that the I think the magazine should buy him.

[Carol]

I think so.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And also and I've gotten this from Jimmy Crilly and I got this from from Jim Basilone or Basilone Basilone maybe in Wheeling, Illinois. Wilbond Territory As a fellow stargazer, I wanted to share some of the best celestial events coming up this month. Most will be visible in the Washington, D.C. area. A few of these are rare alignments and should be worth stepping outside for tonight. June 8 June 9 Venus and Jupiter Connection this is a standout event of the month. Venus and Jupiter will appear extremely close together in the western sky after sunset, separated by only about the width of a finger held at arm's length. Best viewing time is roughly 30 to 90 minutes after sunset, when the sky is still bright enough to keep the horizon clear but dark enough for the planets to stand out. Look low to the west northwest horizon. Venus will be the brighter of the two, with Jupiter just beside it. No equipment is needed, but binoculars will make it especially striking since both planets may fit in the same field of view. June 11 Moon, Mars and Saturn before sunrise, a thin crescent moon will appear near Mars and Saturn in the eastern sky. This is a quieter but very photogenic event. Best viewing is about 45 to 90 minutes before sunrise. Oh, am I up there? Looking east to southeast, the crescent Moon will be low in the horizon, with Mars appearing as a reddish point of light and Saturn slightly dimmer nearby. The one this one rewards an early start and a clear view of the horizon. Even binoculars will help bring out Saturn more clearly. June 15 New Moon and Dark Sky Window this is the darkest night of the month, which makes it the best time to see the Milky Way and faint deep sky objects in the city. Light pollution will limit what you can see, but it still improves visibility noticeably. Best viewing is after full Darkness sets in around 10pm onward. This is the best opportunity of the month for anyone interested in seeing a more natural night sky. And from June 15 to June, oh, there's many, many more. And there's a meteor shower on June 27. There's a Strawberry Moon on June 29. The Planet lineup of Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and the Moon. Over several Evenings between the 15th and 18th, Mercury joins Venus and Jupiter low in the western sky, with the crescent Moon moving through the group midweek. Best viewing is 30 to 60 minutes after sunset. Mercury will be the hardest to spot since it stays low on the horizon, so binoculars will help. Venus and Jupiter will be easy to see with the naked eye, while the Moon adds a nice visual anchor. This is one of the most photogenic opportunities of the month, especially if you have a clear western skyline. So thank you to Jim for that. And because I care about these things, I mean, I'm not gonna probably forget when.

[Carol]

When you look up in the sky and you see Venus, do you immediately think of the song by Shocking Blue?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, there's your Venus, there's your, your desire or whatever that is. But I think of other things too, like think of, you know, Venus. If you will please send a little. Oh, sure, that's Frankie.

[Carol]

Yeah, Frankie Avalon.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Carol]

Yeah. That's actually a lovely song.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I think all about everything that mentions Venus.

[Liz]

Sure.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. When we come back, Eddie Olczyk will join us. Eddie knows about horse racing and Eddie knows about hockey and we will talk to him about both. I'm Tony Kornheiser. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show Once again. This is Alexander King is called Bottoms Up. She sings in Nashville and she's singing on this show. Wow, she's terrific. Michael, if independent artists like Alexander King want to send their music into the podcast, how do they do it?

[Liz]

Send us your music by emailing it to jinglesneycornizershow.com and if you want to look like JT Post and go check out Johnny O. We have TK Triple.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah, TK Triple. There were some holes where I had quads and quints and I just gave myself a couple triple. The song plays in Eddie Olczyk, who was at various times has been a guest on pti who knows the two things that happened over the weekend. He knows horses and he knows hockey. He's covering the Stanley cup on radio for Sports usa. I'm going to start with the Belmont because I love the stuff that you do on NBC. This was a Fox broadcast, so you weren't on. I'm going to start with the Belmont, where the horse Golden Tempo for the second time, is dead last at the top of the stretch and wins the race, has won two thirds of the Triple Crown. What did you think of that? And then we have to talk about the fact that for two years in a row now, the Kentucky Derby doesn't. Winner, doesn't enter the Preakness and wins the Belmont. So where are we? But let's start with what you thought of the performance of the horse.

[Eddie Olczyk]

Yeah. Well, Tony, great to be with you. Thanks for having me. And no better time of year for pucks and ponies. And when we're talking about the ponies on Belmont weekend, the pace of the race allowed Golden Tempo and jockey Jose Ortiz to be able to make that incredible run, to be able to sit back, let the speed go, and then the speed comes back, and then he has his incredible, I would say, half a mile kick where he just goes into another gear and mows him down and makes history by winning, you know, two jewels of the Triple Crown. So I had, you know, I like Renegade. I thought Renegade would get the jump on him. He did, but he just seemed to flatten out at Saratoga on Saturday. But Golden Tempo, you know, I think when he's mentioned not running in a Preakness and trainer Cherie devoe understanding and knowing the quiet athlete, Tony, of realizing that he was not going to be able to recover quick enough in order to be in an optimal position to run in a Preakness two weeks later. So he ran on the first Saturday in May. He had five weeks off in between races, and he was able to get back to where she thought he would be, and it ended up being to be, you know, proven right. And this happened the same thing last year with trainer Bill Mod and Sovereignty.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yep.

[Eddie Olczyk]

So it's just the way that it's going right now. But I was very impressed with the way he ran, and if you liked him, he got north of 6 to 1 again. And that's pretty darn good because in the Kentucky Derby, he was 19.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I am figuring that if this horse runs again, if it runs in the Travers or the Horse of the Year, you know, Breeders cup or something like that, at some point, he's got to be the favorite. At some point, you have to recognize that this is how the horse goes, right?

[Eddie Olczyk]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I don't necessarily think that he has to be the favorite. I think it all depends on size of the field, post position, all those type of things that happen. But Yeah, I don't even know if it's a. Maybe. Maybe people thought. And having played the race on Saturday and not being on the right side of it, I think maybe I felt from a horse racing point of view of could he be able to repeat the same effort that he did in the Kentucky Derby? Tony so. And he did so you're right. Like the respect factor needs to be there moving forward. But as you know, in horse racing, sometimes traffic and sometimes decisions made. Moving a little bit too early has a, an effect on it. But it certainly looks like he's going to have some time off here. Maybe seven to eight weeks, maybe run in a race prior to the Travers in late August at Saratoga. And then I would imagine if things continue to go the way that they are, he'll be riding at Keeneland and Lexington, Kentucky for the Breeders cup in November.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You love horse racing and you're great at it. How can you have a Triple Crown that's sustainable like this? If year after year people skip the Preakness, what is the solution?

[Eddie Olczyk]

Well, Tony, we need a commissioner of horse racing. We don't have anybody that is the head of horse racing to really bring everybody into the room, bring the heavy hitters into the room. For people that may not know the Triple Crown, it's run at three different racetracks, Churchill Downs, Pimlico in Baltimore. That's under renovation. That's why they ran it at Laurel this year and then at Belmont park usually. But it's been run at Saratoga last year because they're making the new Belmont park the all sports. As you know, Tony and you and Michael, I still watch you guys often and talking about sports in general, but sports has evolved. Games have changed, rules have changed. You know, you want to say just let's take, you know, the other sport that's close to me is in hockey where, you know, the rules have been catered to offensively more it's, it's more towards the offensive side. Let's less hooking and holding. You go to overtime. In a regular season, there's a three on three. It wasn't like that, you know, 25, 30s ago, there's a shootout. Now football caters to offense, home run. You know, stadiums and baseball have moved in their fences over the years. I don't say it's easier to hit home runs, but certainly, you know, the game has changed and evolved. The pitch clock now NBA, the three point line in the late 80s, whatever it was. So I think for horse racing, what I'm getting to is, is that what, what has changed now is that trainers are really understanding that I'm not going to put my horse in that spot and I'm going to give them a little bit more extra time to be able to do it, you know, to rest. Not thinking the two week bounce back would be ideal for the horse. So they're not going to run and then they're going to save and wait for the Belmont. So what needs to happen, Tony, is to have a deep dive and look at it and say, what is that number? Is it three weeks in between? Is it. What is race the Kentucky Derby the first Saturday in May. You do the prequels the first Saturday in June, and then you go to the first Saturday in July for the Belmont. Would that be. Would that be right? Would that be good? All stats have changed. You can say, will it tarnish the Triple Crown? Well, you can argue with some of those examples that I used a little bit earlier. So I think it needs to change, Tony, because you're going to continue to see it happen. Do we lose the luster two weeks after the Kentucky Derby going to the Preakness in Pimlico? Do we lose that luster when the Kentucky Derby winner doesn't go? The answer is absolutely 110%, yes. Yes. But, but the horses don't have a voice and the trainers need to make sure they're taking care of the equine athletes. So I think it's coming to a time we have to evolve in horse racing and do right by the animals. And if we can do that and give them an extra. Would a week, an extra week make a difference? If you talk to the top trainers in horse racing and people involved, Tony? I would say absolutely. It would make a big difference. And we want to get the momentum for the game because people really, you know, get jacked up.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, it's the most. It's for the casual fan. It's the only thing that matters. And if you don't 100%, if they're not eligible because a trainer pulls them, it's not good. And I should say Eddie knows all about horse racing, but he's way too big to be a jockey. And that's why he was a hockey player. That's why he's a hockey player.

[Eddie Olczyk]

Hey, Tony, I get, I get near a horse and I could feel the vibe of being a former, former, former athlete in the National Hockey League. Horses look at me and go, hey, buddy, you're not getting on about me.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So, so let me get, let me get to the hockey. And there's there's two issues for me that I want to get to and we'll start with, with what's happening on the ice in terms of both these teams. It is setting up or it did set up at one point to look like the Carolina Montreal series where Montreal went into Carolina in the first game, won the first game, but then lost four in a row. Okay, so you say, well, this could happen here, but it didn't happen because Vegas won. Vegas won game three, which leads me to conclude that Vegas is different and probably better than Montreal and that Carolina is in for something harder than they had before. Most people that you talk to like the Western team. Do you like the Western team? Student team?

[Eddie Olczyk]

I felt that going into the series, a lot of people, hockey people felt that Carolina could, I don't want to say have their way with Vegas, but they could. It would be a shorter series and I didn't see a Tony. I thought it had every bit of chance to go seven games and certainly looks like we're on that type of collision course. I think for Carolina, this, the path to the Stanley cup final was there. If they weren't going to do it this year, it maybe it wouldn't happen for a very, very long time. There was no Florida Panthers who were able to be. They had their way with Carolina the last couple of years. You had no Toronto, you had no New Jersey, you had no Rangers. So the path was there with the teams that, that were in their way and they handled them beautifully. And they had the one blip in Montreal, Game one. They were offered, you know, two weeks or whatever. They were awful and Montreal took advantage of it. But after that they. They had their way with the Canadians who had played two series prior and gone seven games. So I think they were out of gas by the time they saw Carolina. So it was on a platter forum. This is a much different animal in the Western Conference. Vegas was one of the top five teams International Hockey League going into the playoffs, A, because they got healthy and B, most importantly, in the most, most important position is Carter. Hart was healthy and he got back. And they've been on a roll right now. So I'm not surprised at all that Vegas is up 2 to 1 in the series. And quite frankly, they should be up 3 to nothing.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Eddie Olczyk]

Because of how well they played for 50 minutes of game two Tony until they made a bad decision with the puck. Carolina scored. Logan Stankholm has scored the goal and it went from two nothing to two to one. The Kayniacs were into it. And then they had absolutely all the momentum and eventually Seth Jarvis scored in overtime to win the game. So what I talked about a lot, not only on the TV side for the NHL and TNT and now on radio for the cup final, is, is that these momentum swings, Tony, are absolutely incredible. And the key is, is that when you do have the momentum, what the hell do you do with it? Are you able to put a crooked number up on the board? And then on the other side, people, people say, well, you got to get the momentum on your side. Well, when it's not, when it's against you, a, you have to stop it somehow. Maybe it's a save, maybe it's a penalty kill, maybe it's a big hit. And then when you do get it on your side is what do you do with it? And we've seen it for nothing lead in Game 3, the Stanley cup final for, for Vegas at home. And next thing you know, they get one goal, that being Carolina, and it's a four, three game and the goaltenders out for the extra attacker and we're headed to overtime. Like, it's just, you can't make this stuff up. Hockey history seems to be happening every night. These two teams are so close. But I thought going in, I thought, at least for the odds makers, I was a little bit surprised at how big of a favorite Carolina was going into the series. And now obviously with Vegas up 2 to 1 in the series, they're the overwhelming favorite.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So it's a very high scoring series. It's been very exciting about that, Tony.

[Eddie Olczyk]

I'm surprised, I'm a tad surprised that there's been as many goals now. You could argue it was a, you know, it was a 2 nothing lead in game 2 with 10 minutes left to go for, for Vegas. And they played the perfect road game. Carolina had nothing in that game. No, I mean, really nothing. They get one and all of a sudden you got four goals in the third period and obviously the total goes over. So I am a little bit surprised at how consistent the high scoring has been so far for the first three games.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Here's what I have to ask you. I was unfamiliar with this. I am. I don't know very much about hockey. I appreciate it, but I don't know very much about it. When Tortorella challenged in game two, and I understand that challenge because if he gets that goal, they're going to sweep this series. That's what's going to happen. I understand the challenge, but I had no idea that if you lost A challenge in hockey, you lost a player. That's not baseball, that's not football. You just lose the challenge. My God. That changes everything, right?

[Eddie Olczyk]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

No, it's.

[Eddie Olczyk]

From what I saw, I saw what Vegas saw. I did. I did not see that puck. I don't think ever was frozen or was slowed up by goaltender Freddie Anderson. I saw a continuation play and that puck finding its way to the back of the net. You're allowed to go get that puck as a attacking player. I saw that. Now, the challenge aspect of it is, is yet you have to understand where you are in the game. Carolina had all the momentum. You were up to nothing in the game. It is now tied. If you are wrong, if you are wrong, in which he ended up being wrong, which I still feel like it. It was a good goal. That you are in a situation where you are going to lose a player and you're going to go on a penalty kill. And now you continue feeding the momentum of Carolina. If it was a different type of setting, Tony, I would have said 110% go ahead with the challenge and, and see what happens. But I thought that the circumstances. There was. There was a time, there was a. There was concern for. There's. You were going to pause and really, really realize, okay, if this somehow goes against us, we're going to put these guys on a power play, which. A power play that was struggling at that particular time and that. And I think that's part of the decision as well. So long winded. I saw what they saw. I agreed with the challenge. But the only thing I had a problem with is that under the circumstances and the momentum Carolina had, I would have really, really had to be about 120 or 130% confidence that it was end up going to end up happening. And I think that that's why the league has done that, Tony, is to just sit there and just not have coaches and staff and video people just challenge for the sake of challenging.

[Tony Kornheiser]

To be casual about it.

[Eddie Olczyk]

The exact.

[Tony Kornheiser]

There's a real penalty here. This isn't baseball. This is a baseball where he says get back in the box. It's okay. No, no, no, no. This is great. This is a great. I think it's a great innovation. Eddie, thank you much so you so much for being on. I appreciate it very much. Thank you.

[Eddie Olczyk]

Always great to be with you and say hi to Michael. I will appreciate it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Eddie Allchick, boys and girls, Edzo, as people call him that, that was just great. We will come back with email and jingle. I'M Tony Kornheiser. This is the Tony Korniser Show. Tony Kornizer Show.

[Alexander King]

Here comes Tony. Here comes Tony. Here comes. Tonight comes Tony May back. Got your emails back. Sent your notes. Here comes Tony. Here comes Tony. Here comes Mr. Tony S.M. for all of you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, any Crescent can do that and you can't. She can and you can. You want to do the Bethesda bagel ad?

[Carol]

Yeah. Bagel sandwich day. Always excited about that. Just go to Bethesda Bagels.com for the location in the DC area nearest you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Then pop on in and you'll be thrilled. And before we get to the mail bag, let me just say, once upon a time I was falling in love Now I'm only falling apart there's nothing I can do It's a total eclipse of the heart Once upon a time there was light in my life now there's only love in the dark Nothing I can say A total eclipse of the heart That's. That's because Bonnie Tyler turned 75 today is who wrote that song. I can't remember who produced that song. Anybody I know do that song. Anybody I went to high school with, do that song. Jimmy Steinman, do that song. Thanks for guests today. Michael Wilbon, Eddie Olczyk, thanks as well to. I didn't expect Wilbon. That was good.

[Carol]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Thanks as well to today's sponsors.

[Liz]

He'll Lose His Voice by pti.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You can listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify and audio. If you get the show through Apple, please leave us a review.

[Liz]

You rediscovered him through snl, right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, yes. I mean, well, then he became. Then he wrote, you know, scores on Broadway and stuff like that.

[Carol]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And then I got to. I got to see him when one of his shows debuted in Washington. I got to chat with him for a little while. It was wonderful.

[Carol]

That's great.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Wonderful. Yeah. Yeah. I was stunned when I saw him on. I had no idea what. Who he had done.

[Michael Wilbon]

Right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I didn't know who Meatloaf was. And then in 1977 or 1978, I'm watching Saturday Night Live and I go, what? That's Jimmy Star. What?

[Michael Wilbon]

Okay.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. This past weekend was Little Palooza. Yes. Was wonderful. They had a whole bunch of events. I got a lot of candy at my house as a result of that from Chuck and Roxy. I'm very grateful. And Tony Beeson writes, linda and I have a wonderful weekend in Washington, D.C. we were in town for Little Palooza, noted author. It was wonderful meeting. Yes. Meeting your wife and Kim Braun And Jason Lochinfour and so many great people who make up the Loyol community. And he sends a bunch of pictures along. And Bill Isaacson went out of his way. He basically put together the whole deal at Comet Ping Pong, where he told me the pizza's really good.

[Carol]

I've never had that pizza.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Carroll said it was really good. And Bill Isaacson, I think, may have gone into his pocket for all of this. And so, yeah, I'll reach out to

[Carol]

Bill and see what's up.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's wonderful.

[Carol]

And I just wanted to apologize. I fully intended to talk to Dina and Tony. I was gonna go, but then I went a big hike and I took a nap and never woke up.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So apologies to everyone. Mike Mackler in Wilmington, Delaware. Chuck and Roxy, episode 110. For the past weekend's Little Palooza, I decided to honor the late Ted Turner. I tried to advertise, who tried to advertise his TV station on Andy Messersmith Jersey with Channel 17. Yeah, he decided to call Annie Messer Smith by a nickname channel. And then his number was 17. I decided to put a more modern Washington national spin on it. And then he's got on the back channel 1261, which would be great if I didn't have to find the Spanish broadcast, because Comcast just failed. Hosed me. Yeah, just hosed me. From Ron Flatter. Oh, he's in Louisville. Why did I think he lived in Vegas?

[Carol]

Well, I think he does, doesn't he?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know. I heard you say that. Even Ron Flatter would admit that Andy Beyer is a bigger gun than he is. That is beyond true. In the artillery of horse racing, Andy is a howitzer cannon. I, meanwhile, I'm that plastic water pistol that Jesse gnawed into a misshapen chew toy. Okay, Michael Snyder from Jerusalem. Nigel. Excuse the length. Hi, Captain Tony. I was fortunate enough to have a series of David Aldrich moments, the first one predating his birth by a few years. Marv Albert and my brother rick met at WAER, Syracuse University's radio station, then worked together at as DJs playing the hits at Wolf. In a seminal autobiography. I'd love to, but I have a game. Marv described how he and my brother Rick, working under the station required moniker of Tricky Dick. Sorry, it was the Times. Brought in bands to play locally. They were poached together in 1962 by arch rival WNDR. My brother went on to become a legendary top 40 disc jockey, according to Al, while Marv became the goat. No Al needed. No AI needed. According to AI rather. I'm sorry. I was 4 years old when Rick first brought Marv home from dinner. Legend has it he was not enthusiastic about my mother's specialties of kugel and cheese blintzes with sour cream. She claimed her dying day that she saw him eyeing a banana and offered to swap out the blintzes with a banana, a delicacy in our house. It is said that Marv, as the majestic bowl with the bananas sliced perfectly to fit one at a time on the spoon with ample amounts of cream, was set down before him, told my mom it was a spectacular move. That phrase was kept under wraps until another one occurred some 31 years later. The family was shocked that Wilbon failed to mention the call's origin on PTI last week. 66 years later, I still can't eat a bowl of bananas and sour cream without everyone leaving the room. So they don't have to hear that particular Marv story. But we have many others. P.S. spectacular correction. Jim Brown was a two year all American lacrosse player at Syracuse, including Player of the year in 1957 when Syracuse went in undefeated. The same year he was robbed of the Heisman Trophy. He was robbed. Paul Horning. I believe it was the wilt of lacrosse. The NCAA implemented a rule change banning a player from cradling the ball against his chest after he scored 43 goals in 10 games and five more in the first half of the North South All Star Game by, as you noted, running through defenders. He was elected to the National Lacrosse hall of fame in 1983. Yes, I got that wrong. I thought he did not play at Syracuse, but I thought he was the greatest lacrosse player of all time. From Manhasset High School. From Rick Wallace in Weaverville, North Carolina. Mr. Tony Marv Albert casually mentioned Howard Comas and that no one would know what he was talking about. Well, hold on, Sparky. In 1963, my dad nine varsity letters at Bowling Green University took me to see Bowling Green play. Number two, Loyola Illinois. Butch Com Ives. That's how I know him. Butch Com Ives was a star guard and Nate Thurman was the star center. Bowling Green won the biggest game in its history. But wait, there's more. The next year, Nate was gone and Com Ives led the nation in scoring. After the season was over, he student taught at my high school. Can you imagine that happening now? In the annual coaches versus the basketball seniors, the coaches had the ultimate ringer. Howard Butch Com Ives. I'll never forget Com Ives leading a fast break and whipping a ball. Whipping a behind the back pass to a 35 year old football coach who had no chance of ever catching that ball. From Jeff Paddock in Canandaigua, New York upstate New York Syracuse University class of 1979 while the liberal arts graduates were chanting we need jobs, those of us in the engineering school responded with we have jobs. Tom Brokaw was the main speaker at the ceremony held in Manly Field House. He was co host of the Today show at that time with Jane Pauly. During his speech, which I remember none of, in between shots of intoxicating liquor, a bunch of us held up a banner about 12ft long asking where's Jane Pauly? And they spelled it wrong. They forgot the E P A U L Y. He acknowledged us by letting us know that after four years of college we should at least know how to spell Paulie Maiden. Otherwise explained. Excruciatingly boring couple of hours. Something to remember Isn't that yours? And mutual love of potatoes from Brett Hobbs in Linton, Indiana. One T on that bread I know you missed the Park Mobile cash settlement that I previously told you I collected, so I want you to know I received a postcard telling me I'm included in a Comcast data breach settlement. Since you are a Comcast customer, you can now register to get money from this settlement. I would hate for you to lose out on getting money back from your favorite cable system. Tell Ryan Grove to eat it. My favorite cable system that they Are they going to give me 327amonth back and get me the gnats?

[Carol]

Probably not.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Come on Ed. But you should be Wilm Esque not surprised that eight of the 32 golfers who made it to Match Player Columbia members. Classic golden age courses like Columbia require a lot of local knowledge like for example which breaks on the greens are deceptively more and left than they more or less than they look and most important, where you simply cannot afford to miss. And that's SAP6. Hello. Goodbye off the green One of my guests for our member guests observed that an astonishingly high percentage of the better ball scores were used were by the Crystal Downs members. Same thing. Sincerely, fellow duffer Ed Butt P.S. last year I wisely invited a guest who had played our course 40 or 50 times. We won our flight in a romp. These are so long today from Jim waldron in Wallingford, Connecticut. Following up on my previous email regarding Connecticut 8 native Ben James and the PGA Tour University Ben finished 16th and Christian Moss finished 19th in individual stroke play Earning Ben James a coveted tour card for the remainder of this year and all of 2027. Preston Stout of Oklahoma State won the individual stroke play with an impressive 14 under par. Ben James finished his college career with seven victories, 35 top tens, 46 starts. As Adam Sandler would say, not too shabby. I was fortunate to attend the first three rounds of this year's NCAA championship. The access provided to fans is unlike any other PGA Tour event. You are encouraged to walk the fairways and have close up access to the tees and greens. For a $10 daily entry fee, you can experience the drama of individual and team stroke play dynamics and witness an amazing level of golf talent. Ben makes his PGA Tour debut at the RBC Canadian Open. That's this Week on June 11th. Followed by his home debut at the Travelers Championship at Cromwell, Connecticut. And that's the espn, you know, one that everybody goes to, right? You know, it's in Bristol. Bristol. Basically in Bristol. It's in Cromwell on June 25th. Continuing with the golf theme, Monday, June 8th, that's today is the longest day in golf with US Open qualifiers taking place at 10 venues around the country. Golf Channel does a great job of capturing the feel good stories of players qualifying. In other competitive golf news, my partner David St. Gene and I are sitting comfortably in third place in our golf league, the Pratt and Whitney Analytical Engineers Golf League. Oh, I gotta get a T shirt. We have a highly anticipated match on Monday with Matt Brown and Matt Dawson. The mats, the mats, the mats. I'll be sure to keep you updated on that. Yeah. At Woodmont today. You can go. You can go and watch qualifying at Woodmont. That's pretty cool. Yeah. And they're going to do it all day long. Abraham in Silver Spring. Here's something fun. This month will feature a rare 10 day streak of palindrome dates from 620 to 6296-202626-22126. And so on and so forth for 10 consecutive days.

[Carol]

Good days.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's nice. Yeah, we like that. From Palmer Denny in Manassas, Virginia. Oh, potato Captain, my captain. I know I'm a little bit late for the name game, but I'm fairly confident that I'm one of maybe a handful of Palmers that listen to the show. So I'd like to be the official Palmer of the Tony Kornheiser show. There's a guy named Palmer who lives three doors down from me. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. However, that's not why I wrote to you today. I'M the father of four and one of my kids favorite things for me to do for them is to cook breakfast on the weekends. Their favorite is eggs, bacon, toast, and home fries. A couple of weekends back, I reached into a bag of russets. As I pulled out the potatoes, I discovered that all of them had started sprouting shoots. I told my kids they were out of luck. Dad's planting potatoes, so I'm going to channel my inner Tony and hopefully, more importantly, my inner buster. Yes, and at my own Christmas in September. Good luck with your harvest. Hopefully I'll be able to tell you of my successes in 100 days. Tell Mike Kendra to eat it. I've been watering the potatoes. Yeah, some of them sprouted, some have not.

[Carol]

We're hopeful.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Never know. Patrick sitter, Sioux Falls, South Dakota have you given any thought to installing a 24.7live webcam of your potato patch? Those of us who are regular listeners to this dull, boring, uninspiring podcast will likely be mesmerized by streaming video. You're sprouting spuds? Psf.

[Eddie Olczyk]

Have.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Have any broken ground yet? Or initially. Would we be just looking at dirt? Of the six bags, yes. Three have something green. Okay. But I don't.

[Liz]

Progress.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know if it's potatoes or trees. You know how like.

[Carol]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm gonna guess potatoes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know.

[Liz]

Speaking of live feeds, there's nothing like when you're out of town and we could see you picking up packages through our doorbell cam. I did you stare it down.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You asked me to pick up the package and it put. Put it away. And I did.

[Carol]

Oh, should we thank Jenny's the ice cream?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, it was a little wet.

[Carol]

Well, we got a little wet. We got it in time.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We got it in time. So I haven't checked it. Have you checked it?

[Carol]

Well, no, it's been in the freezer. So.

[Tony Kornheiser]

One more. My uncle Stanley Goldstein and Aunt Edith Isaacs went to Erasmus. They're not famous, but both very smart. Dg, you're out on your bike tonight. Everyone, as always, do wear white now,

[Eddie Olczyk]

Folks, that's it for Broadway. Good night to all of you and good night.

[Michael Wilbon]

Good night, Mrs. Calabash.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Where everybody, Jimmy Durante.

[Alexander King]

It's 2am My time. I call you from across the pond and light. No, yeah, it's going well. I'm sorry. I can hear you with the gu. And you said don't forget to call me when you make it. Is there a world where I could hold your heart, not break it cause I belong here for a moment that's the show. 33 more days to go. Oh how my heart it aches if time could only wait. Cause when one gives one takes it's taking me away Cause I'll always live in the space in between yeah I'd let you keep me anchored to the sea. I'm on stage tonight it's just me and my Martin and the moon. The memory of you looking at me with bright eyes Like I'm lighting up there room and I love you like I'm running out of time I want put out the door but you're always on my mind and I'll see home When I look into your eyes, you see it in mine. Oh how my heart is it a It's I could only wait Cause when one gives one takes and it's taking me away Cuz I'll always live in the space in between yeah I let you keep me I go to the sea. Queens and castle standing. The roar of waves instead of cry But I wouldn't be me if that's how this played out that's how this plays out oh how my heart aches if time could only wait Cause when one gives one takes it's takes taking me away Cause I'll always live in the space in between I'd let you keep me anchored to the sea. Some call me an old horse I always know where I'm going Feet are always moving even when it's stormin I live on the west coast down by the sea well my home is an old pub called Oases Spirits are high the beer is colder than this night Watch the rush, come on in, Enjoy the show Feeling all right? Do you look gorgeous in this life Raise the toes, let it go Bottoms up Bottoms up. Raise your toes, let it go, bottoms up Heard you're looking for a bar stool Scraping up a sawdust floor Take a seat, pints are cheap and you can always score Tell the bar man it's on me what the hell, make it three I got a tab runs miles deep what's a female? Spirits are high why the fear is colder than this night what's the rush? Come on in. Enjoy the show Feeling all right Gorgeous in this light Raise your toes, let it go, bottoms up Bottom. Let it go, bottoms up don't worry now darling I ain't leaving soon but when it's my last call I might haunt this room but when I hear old pal picking out this tune you might see my ghost drinking and sitting on this st. Spirits are high? The beer is colder than this night? What's the rush? Come on in, enjoy the show? Feeling all right? You look gorgeous in this line? Raise a toe, just let it go bottoms up, spirits are high, the beer is colder than this night? What's the rest? Come on in, enjoy the show? Feeling all right? Till the gorgeous in this life Raise a toes, let it go bottom toe I raise a toe, let it go bottoms.