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- [00:00]
Tony Kornheiser
Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we'll catch up with Bryan Windhorst about the flurry of trades we've already seen around the NBA. And we'll talk about the big Dumper and more with Tim Kirchen. But first, let's do some commerce, boys and girls. 5am I'm up with a crisp Celsius energy drink running 12 miles today. Grab a green juice, quick change and head to work. Meetings, workshops. One more Celsius. No slowing down. Working late, but obviously still meeting the girls for a little dancing. Celsius Live fit. Go grab a cold, refreshing Celsius at your local retailer or locate now@celsius.com.
- [00:36]
State Farm
This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Knowing you could be saving money for the things you really want is a great feeling. Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with a personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts, and savings and eligibility vary by state.
- [01:05]
Tony Kornheiser
Previously on the Tony Korniser Show. You know, he plays in this club in Florida and he talks about it a little bit and. And he says, it's Emerald Dunes. And I go, whoa, whoa, hold it. Emerald Dunes. The socialite belongs to Emerald Dunes. Mori belongs to Emerald Dunes. I've played Emerald Dunes a bunch. I say these things. Within five minutes, the socialite calls me out of the blue and I say, I'm playing with Lou. I'll call you later. I'll play with L. Says, say hi to Alan for me. The Tony Cornheiser show is on now. That. That happened when we were about to take third shots on number four. Seriously, that's when it happened. You just say to yourself, wow, it's weird. All right? Normally I would talk about the Gnats. I did well. I went left to the water, you know, I didn't clear the water. I was in a. Yeah, yeah, totally. Play it safe. The Nats lose last night. All I know is that was. I think it was four or three. I don't know anything about the game and it's okay. I don't care. Today. I don't care. Today the basketball team that. That is stuck in front of me all the time. The Washington Wizards made a trade. They traded their leading scorer. They traded Jordan Poole for CJ McCollum of New Orleans. I'm not going to go on and on at length about this because you're going to ask me, well, why would they trade their leading scorer? And the answer is, because everybody hates him. Everybody hated him in Golden State. He made. He made Draymond Green look good. What? He made Draymond Green look good when Draymond Green punched him. Yeah. And nobody came to his defense, so they traded him from one of the great teams to one of the worst teams. And now he goes from one of the worst teams to another one of the worst teams because it's like being in exile. And that's his NBA career. Jordan Poole, because nobody likes him. Is it a good trade? It's. It doesn't mean anything when. When teams. When bad teams trade with bad teams, it just reinforces badness.
- [03:07]
Michael Wilbon
So you take our garbage, we'll take yours, pretty much.
- [03:09]
Tony Kornheiser
And that's not what I want to talk about. What I want to talk about is clothing that I wore yesterday on the PTI show. I am out in Delaware. I have stayed a little bit longer than I originally intended to stay. I was only going to do one show here. I knew I had a couple of sport jackets out here. I knew I had a couple of shirts out here. I knew I had some ties out here because I wear a tie every day. It's just what I like to do. I knew from the time that I spent time in Delaware doing the show last year in the winter, I knew I'd left clothing. I hadn't left much, but I'd left enough for one day. You know, I'd left enough for one day. Well, that one day is going to turn into five days because of this heat wave, because it is terribly hot in Washington and terribly hot in Delaware, but less hot. A little bit less hot, and it's okay. So. So I need clothes now. I can't go to my favorite clothes place in the world, the Brooks Brothers store. The Brooks Brothers outlet store in the Tanger outlets, because they closed it. They closed it last year. I bought one last sport jacket there last year off the clearance rack for about a hundred bucks. I love it. It was great. But it became a Barnes and Noble. I'm not saying anything bad about reading. Reading is good. Everyone should read books. I was a writer. Book, sell books. It's all fine. But I prefer Brooks Brothers to that. And it's gone. There's no other place to buy clothes around here.
- [04:42]
Tim Kirchen
On the Avenue.
- [04:43]
Tony Kornheiser
Carlton's is done. Carlton's was a. Was the shop in Rehoboth beach, right by the water. That was everybody who grew up here bought their suits here, their ties here. Their, you know, their high school graduation stuff here at Carlton's, and it closed. And it's probably a pizza joint or, you know, three guys, because five guys didn't work out. It was too expensive. Or maybe the five guys still works.
- [05:08]
Tim Kirchen
I don't know, tax.
- [05:09]
Tony Kornheiser
And. And you can say, well, there are other outlets. There is, for example, a Polo Outlet. But, you know, there's a Calvin Klein and a Polo Outlet. They don't sell the kind of stuff that I wear anymore. They sell something for much younger people, much more casual, much sportier. I can't get what I need out there. Can't get it. I don't believe so. And I know there's a Michael Kors shop here, but I, you know, I think that that's mostly for women and not for men, even though I have some Michael Kors ties and it's been a long time. And there's other. There are other clothing outlets like Tommy Hilfiger and Tommy Bahama and everybody named Tommy. There's stuff like that. That's not what I'm looking for.
- [05:53]
Tim Kirchen
I would love to see a Tommy Bahama shirt.
- [05:57]
Tony Kornheiser
I would look like a. I look like a fool anyway. I'd look like more of a fool.
- [06:01]
Michael Wilbon
Doesn't Royal Farms have a clothing line?
- [06:03]
Tony Kornheiser
No, they have chicken. They don't have a clothing line. And you know, so. So I was looking through the closet and I saw a suit bag at the deep end of the closet. Suit bag. And I know I didn't have a suit out here, and I've never seen this thing before. And I open it up and there's a light purple jacket in it. It could be mauve, it could be lilac. Lavender, you know, could be lavender. Lavender, blue, dilly. Dilly. Yeah, it could be that. But I. I take it out of the bag and I go, oh, no, Tony, you can't. And I go, well, you know, maybe now. I've already got. Yeah, I've already got on a blue shirt and a blue. A pattern tie. And I put on the sport jacket. And the sport jacket goes pretty well with the blue shirt, but not with a tie.
- [06:56]
Michael Wilbon
Yeah.
- [06:56]
Tony Kornheiser
So I look around and I happen to have a tie that's got a little bit of mauve or lilac in it. And I go, you know what? I'm gonna take a shot at this. And I put on that tie and it brings it together a little bit. And I go, I think I can get away with this. I asked Carol, she's non committal, this jacket. So we've owned the house for 20 years. So I'm sure it's at least 20 years old. It's probably older than that. It's got very wide lapels, but it is a very summery color. It's a very summery cut of cloth. And I put it on and I think, you know, maybe I can do this. But I. I don't ever remember buying it. I don't ever remember getting it. I thought maybe Bonnie. I mean, my. My default position is always Bonnie gave it to me. I think this is one of those PTI blazers.
- [07:53]
Tim Kirchen
Yeah. It used to have the TJ logo on it.
- [07:56]
Tony Kornheiser
Yes. But those. I had a red one and I had a blue one with the PTI logo on it. And those. Those jackals were junk. This. Do you think this was one of those? Well, but there's no evidence that the crest, the PTI crest was taken off it where you would see sewing threads or some. There's no evidence of that.
- [08:18]
Tim Kirchen
I'm convinced. And I last wore that jacket to the member guest about 10 years ago.
- [08:25]
Tony Kornheiser
You wore the jacket?
- [08:27]
Tim Kirchen
Yes, I found it in the closet.
- [08:28]
Tony Kornheiser
Knew it was here. Oh, so did I. But, like, I don't ever recall buying it. I would not buy something that color. I would be too afraid. Wilbourne would. I would be too afraid. Did you see it? Did you see the show yesterday at all?
- [08:43]
Tim Kirchen
We had a birthday party.
- [08:46]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. So, okay. Well, I don't know what happened. I don't know how I got it, but I wore it. And then Ride Home made a good funny joke at the beginning of it. And I referred to it, I don't know, eight or nine times during the show. And I don't know.
- [09:01]
Michael Wilbon
The best was as you. As we were sort of figuring out what the open should be. Everyone enthusiastically loved the jacket.
- [09:08]
Tony Kornheiser
They did.
- [09:08]
Michael Wilbon
And then Ride Home goes. I'm working on something. It comes up with suave and mauve.
- [09:12]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. Yeah. It's just. Yeah. I mean, people seem to like it. Yeah. I don't think I'm ever going to wear it again. No. Unless I wear it tonight, you know, Unless I wear it tonight. But I don't.
- [09:23]
Michael Wilbon
Back to back.
- [09:23]
Tony Kornheiser
I don't think I'm going to do that, you know, but it was like. Because you need that tie and I don't have any other, by the way. You can't buy ties. You know, Calvin Klein, which used to make ties. Very nice ties. There's. They have no ties. Brooks Brothers had ties. There's no. Brooks Brothers Polo has no. They have no ties. Where am I Going to get a tie. I can't get a tie around here. I don't think, I don't. I think only old men wear ties. I don't even think young men wear ties.
- [09:51]
Tim Kirchen
When you started this, I thought you were going to discover the, the wide wheel corduroy jacket that I have hidden up there.
- [09:57]
Tony Kornheiser
I put it in there. The, the, the beige one. I put it in there. I tried it on yesterday. I looked like David Byrne. It was so big and boxy that I just felt I couldn't wear it at all. But I wore this purple sport jacket and Wilbon sort of liked it.
- [10:15]
Michael Wilbon
Wilbon loved it.
- [10:16]
Tony Kornheiser
Yes.
- [10:17]
Michael Wilbon
By the way, I texted the photo to Sean and Michael. Sean, I'm going to reveal your joke here. Sean just replied. Did he win a third tier golf tournament in 1978?
- [10:26]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, that's right. That's what it looks like. It's really weird looking, you know. And by the way, the lighting out here is far stronger. Yes. Than. Far brighter and stronger than the lighting in Washington. So it accentuates the purple ness of it or the mauve ness of it or the lilac ness of it. Yeah. You know, but Michael, you wore that to a member guest dinner.
- [10:47]
Tim Kirchen
Yes, it's. If you saw PTI yesterday, it is the perfect, you know, summer party jacket.
- [10:53]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, yeah. For when it's 110 degrees.
- [10:56]
Tim Kirchen
And, and I know you, you were. This is for tv, so you don't get to see the full outfit, but it looks, it looks great with the dark pant.
- [11:03]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, I had on, I had on gray slacks and I, I mean, nobody sees my pants or my shoes, so I got on sneakers. But the tie worked because the tie had some of that purple in it or else it wouldn't have worked at all. I don't think it would have worked. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. All right.
- [11:22]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah.
- [11:22]
Tony Kornheiser
And when we come back, Brian Windhorst.
- [11:24]
Michael Wilbon
That's right.
- [11:24]
Tony Kornheiser
I'm Tony Kornheiser. This is the Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [11:29]
Brian Windhorst
Pivotal moments in sports history come from seizing opportunities. Like when Joe Montana went down with an injury in Super Bowl 19 and a little known backup named Anthony Irwin. Kornheiser came into the game, led the 49ers to victory. All right, that may have never happened, but you get the idea. When life gives you an opportunity, you have to make the most of it. And that's true in business as well. But businesses need quick access to capital to actually make those moves. Revenued offers, the fast flexible funding that allows small business owners to make a play when opportunity presents itself. Unlike traditional lenders, where you're often forced into borrowing a lump sum and then paying fees tied to the entire amount, the Revenue Flex line lets you draw only the amount you need when you need it, and you only pay for what you use. Unlike banks, Revenood approves businesses based on revenue, not your personal credit score. You can get access to up to $250,000 in as fast as one business day. And there are no application fees, no draw fees, no maintenance fees, just a clear upfront cost. And don't just take my word for it. More than 10,000 business owners use Revenod to power through uncertainty and Revenood is Rated Excellent on Trustpilot with over 9005 star reviews. Apply now at userevenued.com that's use use revenued with a D dot com. Apply today and be ready for whatever comes next.
- [12:52]
Tony Kornheiser
This is the Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [12:55]
Brian Windhorst
Pivotal moments in sports history come from seizing opportunities. Like when Joe Montana went down with an injury in Super Bowl 19 and a little known backup named Anthony Irwin Kornheiser came into the game, led the 49ers to victory. Alright, that may have never happened, but you get the idea. When life gives you an opportunity, you have to make the most of it. And that's true in business as well. But businesses need quick access to capital to actually make those moves. Revenood offers the fast, flexible funding that allows small business owners to make a play when opportunity presents itself. Unlike traditional lenders, where you're often forced into borrowing a lump sum and then paying fees tied to the entire amount, the Revenod Flex line lets you draw only the amount you need when you need it, and you only pay for what you use. Unlike banks, Revenood approves businesses based on revenue, not your personal credit score. You can get access to up to $250,000 in as fast as one business day. And there are no application fees, no draw fees, no maintenance fees, just a clear upfront cost. And don't just take my word for it. More than 10,000 business owners use Revenud to power through uncertainty and Revenood is Rated Excellent on Trustpilot with over 9005 star reviews. Apply now at userevenued.com that's use use revenued with a D dot com. Apply today and be ready for whatever comes next.
- [14:19]
Tony Kornheiser
You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser. This is Lydia McDavid who writes to us and says you guys have played A couple of my songs on the podcast. I wanted to let you know I've just released a new single called Already Gone, which I'd love for you to play for your listeners a little background.
- [14:38]
Brian Windhorst
About Me I grew up in New England.
- [14:39]
Tony Kornheiser
I've always been a die hard Red Sox fan. With the recent drama with the Red Sox and Raphael Devers, I feel my song is coming out at a perfect time. The song is about mentally being done with someone or some situation. For me, this song was about a job I'd had in the past that brought a lot of stress in my life. I feel like Red Sox management or maybe Devers, depending on what side you're on, could use this song. Go Socks. Thank you, Lydia. It's lovely. And it's called Already Gone and it plays in Brian Windhorst, who is on television constantly. I mean, that's his, it's not even his job to be on television. His job is to gather information because he's a reporter and. But he's on television talking about it all the time. I'll start with the, with the sort of overall question here, which is was, was the season, the NBA season which ended with a Game seven in which one star player was hurt and was out for three quarters plus and the best team all year one, was this a satisfactory conclusion to you or did it leave you, you know, with a little bit of longing that what might have been didn't happen?
- [15:44]
Unknown Speaker
As you know. Tony, good morning. First off, as you know, those of us who work in the profession, we have the passion of the game rooted out of us. So we're sort of dispassionate, we passionate about good stories, but we're sort of dispassionate about the results. It's not because we're bad people. It's just because that's what happens to you when you cover 15 teams in a row going to win the championship and you cover 15 finals rounds.
- [16:12]
Tony Kornheiser
But I was well, you might be bad people too. It's possible.
- [16:16]
Unknown Speaker
Not mutually exclusive. That's right.
- [16:18]
Tony Kornheiser
No good.
- [16:19]
Unknown Speaker
That's good. That's good observational journalism. Well done. I reacted to Tyrese Halliburton's injury on a visceral level. It hurt me to see it. And so I was left to basically say that I completely honor the Thunders championship. You know, I, because I live in the Midwest, I go to Oklahoma City a little bit more than the average national journalist. And I remember being in Oklahoma City three years ago when they were at the bottom of their rebuild and you know, praying that the number six pick, Josh Giddey, was going to be a transformational player for them. And so I've seen them go all the way up. And I've known Sam Presti, their general manager, for 17 years, and a lot of their staff have been around for that long. And I know them, I know their families, I know their children. And so I was very happy on a personal level for them. And I take nothing away from them. But when I watched the slow motion replay and saw his calf, I just put my head in my hands because it made me have such a reaction. So, yes, I was not satisfied with it. No. But I also recognize the thunder. This was an organic slow burn earned championship. And so I want to recognize both things if it's possible.
- [17:42]
Tony Kornheiser
And I completely agree with that. I mean, there was a certain hollowness to the victory because of what happened to Halliburton, but it should not detract from the season that Oklahoma City had.
- [17:53]
Brian Windhorst
The only.
- [17:53]
Tony Kornheiser
My only point would be, and maybe you disagree with this, there's a rush to canonize them and say they're going to be a dynasty. I don't. I don't see that. Do you see that?
- [18:04]
Unknown Speaker
It's possible. But, you know, I think in today's day and age, you're expected to have like a black or white answer. Are they going to be a dynasty? Yes or no. And my answer is maybe, you know, I will say the last eight years or I think the last seven years, we've had seven different champions. The last six champions have not made it out of the second round. How can I ignore that trend? How can I just say, oh, yeah, they're going to raffle off four in a row. Like, there's a reason why these teams, you can't win multiple times in a row. It's very hard. It's very taxing. There's a lot of challenges. So I'm going to honor what that trend is teaching us.
- [18:43]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. That is my point. To two people all the time. Seven different teams in a row, and last year's champion becomes the next year's fourth place finisher. It just happens because there's so much movement in the league. For example, Kevin Durant moves, and that makes a difference. If Giannis Antetokounmpo moves, that makes a difference. If Joel Embiid, if they finally say, get this guy out of here, is never healthy, you know that.
- [19:08]
Unknown Speaker
Good luck.
- [19:09]
Tony Kornheiser
That makes a difference.
- [19:10]
Unknown Speaker
Good luck.
- [19:10]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that. Well, it's not going to happen, obviously, but there's a flurry of trades going on. Boston has, has offloaded Jrue Holiday, who was a terrific player, although last year his all his numbers went down. They've offloaded Kristaps Porzingis, who is fascinating to watch but is rarely on the floor and now has mysterious illnesses. And there was a minor trade involving the team where I live, where they got rid of Jordan Poole, who nobody likes. And, and it just players went from bad teams to bad teams. If it was a trade between Washington and New Orleans, you just bang your head against the wall, go, oh no, I'm going there. I was just here and now I'm going there. What do you make of are any of these trade. Are they trend setting? I'm thinking maybe the Celtics is, but I don't know.
- [20:05]
Unknown Speaker
So, okay, I'm workshopping a new name for the second apron because it's so legalese and so non descriptive and so, you know, annoying. I gotta find something else to try to convey what that means. It's something like Satan's jail or something like that. It needs some sort of something with, with, you know, Adam Silver's dungeon. You know, like there's got to be something that illustrates that this is not something that your grandmother would have after her first apron got dirty. And so the reality is, is that being in that zone is devastating for teams both financially and with their ability to change their rosters. And this was illustrated yesterday by a faux pas that the owner of the Denver Nuggets, mate, he was introducing his new front office and he was basically explaining why the Nuggets will never be a second apron team, they will never be Satan's jail team. Because he said, if we get in there and then something bad happens to us, we might have to trade Jokic. And everybody in his PR department slapped their head. Every Nuggets fan was only. Every Nuggets fan who was only marginally interested in the team right now all like had their phones blow up with notifications. And now I think that Josh Kroenke will not do another media appearance for seven to 12 years. And the point on that he's in Satan's jail. Getting into that zone is extremely unappealing for teams. And that is just what's happened to the Boston Celtics. So 10 days ago, Tony, the Boston Celtics were faced with having a payroll this year, including taxes of $520 million, $540 million. Okay, they traded two players, Drew Holiday and Chris Epso Porzingis. And now it's 280. They saved $260 million by trading two players. And obviously those two players don't make 100, whatever, 25 between each. But that is an illustration of how penal this is. And the purpose of Satan's jail is so that you can't have super teams, that you can't have teams win four championships in five years. It is forcing you to break your team up. And in the case of the Celtics, it is, it is exacerbated because Tatum got hurt. And they don't want to do anything like that because they don't think they can win. It's one thing to think about spending 4 or 500 million if you think you're going to win. If you don't think you're going to win, you can't do that. And so they're not. And so teams avoiding Satan's Jail. I'm workshopping this. I'm going to just start rolling.
- [22:51]
Tony Kornheiser
I like it. I, I think Silver's jail, it might be better because it, it associates it with Adam Silver, that people can, they can visualize him. He might be Silver suscal. Although I think Scott Boris. I think Scott Boris is Satan. So I don't, I don't know.
- [23:06]
Unknown Speaker
But.
- [23:07]
Tony Kornheiser
All right, go ahead.
- [23:08]
Unknown Speaker
So anyway, they're trying, they're trying to get away from this. And so many of the transactions are focused on this. And so that's the reality of the modern NBA. And as far as your wizards, and I'm assigning them to you because you're one of D.C. sports legends, and I'm assigning your wizards, the trade that they made yesterday will give them $100 million in salary cap space next year.
- [23:32]
Tony Kornheiser
And that's. Somebody wants to play there.
- [23:35]
Unknown Speaker
That, you know, follow up question is, what am I supposed to do with that?
- [23:39]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, right. Because nobody wants to play there. And what they are trying to do, they have acquired. I don't want to go too far off a tangent here, but they've acquired in the last, you know, three weeks. You know, whenever they made these trades. They acquired Khris Middleton, who's a fine player when he's healthy. They acquired Marcus Smart, who's a fine player, and they acquired, you know, McCollum, who's a fine player, but they don't want to win any games. They want to tank and get a high pick. So they're either. They're not going to play them enough. And if they played them, they're. They're all old. They're like trying to win the 2015 NBA championship. It's just, they are A mess and loaded in 2015.
- [24:21]
Unknown Speaker
I would love it.
- [24:22]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, they're. You know, I don't think the guy at the top knows what he's doing. And you might, because he was with Oklahoma City at one point. Michael Winger. Right. He was. He was part of that rebuild. I think I met.
- [24:34]
Unknown Speaker
I met him 20 years ago. He's actually with Cleveland. Getting old, Tony. I've been knowing these people who are running teams for 20 years, so I would just say that last year, the Wizards were rebuilding and they were getting embarrassed every night. They were. For a while. They were trending towards being the worst team in the history of the sport based on scoring different. And I think they said, let's not be the worst team of all time. And let's not. You know, let's not have kids running out there not only getting bad habits, you know, but also maybe learning so that losing is acceptable. So if you look at the trades that the Wizards have made since they confronted looking like the worst team of all time, they brought in adults. Marcus Smart, Chris HAMILTON, and now CJ McCollum.
- [25:24]
Tony Kornheiser
CJ McCollum.
- [25:26]
Unknown Speaker
Is it gonna help them win any games? No, but.
- [25:29]
Tony Kornheiser
No.
- [25:29]
Unknown Speaker
At least they won't get beat by 60, which was happening.
- [25:32]
Tony Kornheiser
I get that.
- [25:33]
Unknown Speaker
So.
- [25:34]
Tony Kornheiser
So. So, yeah.
- [25:35]
Unknown Speaker
It's not good.
- [25:36]
Tony Kornheiser
Go ahead. All right.
- [25:37]
Unknown Speaker
No, it's not.
- [25:38]
Tony Kornheiser
I should. I should ask you about the draft, but I'm not interested in the draft. Only because I don't know any of the play other than Cooper Flag. I don't know any of the players, and you never know what's going to happen. So I'll move away from that to something that you were a witness to yesterday because you were on a thousand television shows and you're on with former professional athletes, all of whom could not have rushed quicker to line up with Tyrese Halliburton and praise him and say, what he did was great, and I would have done the same thing, and all of that is fine. But there seemed to be no acknowledgment of the actual cost. Not the theoretical cost, the actual cost. He's out for the next year. That team's going under 500. I mean, there's a real cost here that no athlete ever considers because, you know, they only consider themselves and their own glory. What about that part? What about the. I'm not saying he shouldn't have done it. I'm not. But you have to acknowledge that this is the cost.
- [26:42]
Unknown Speaker
So Halliburton's an interesting case study. A year Ago, as In last season, 23, 24, he suffered a hamstring injury, but he needed to play at least 65 games to potentially make all NBA, to get a $70 million bonus in his contract. And to have to. For a game to count, he had to play at least 25 minutes. So for. For weeks on end, Halliburton was limping through the season trying to get to this threshold. And the Pacers were doing it because they didn't want to give the impression that. That they were not. They were trying to keep their guy from earning an extra 70 million. And it hurt them in the middle of last year because he probably should have been shut down. And so Halliburton was, you know, playing through injury to guarantee himself more money. Nobody lionized him for that, but that went on. Okay, he got the $70 million, all right. He's a brilliant player. He's one of the best players in Pacers history. I'm not looking down my nose like, you know, but that happened last year. So now Tyrese Halliburton has his $250 million contract. He has his shoe deal. He's been all NBA, he's been an all star. He's won a gold medal. The outlook for him to take a risk is different than a guy in his third year who hasn't been paid yet. And so I think that. That. I think you have to have that frame of reference from the gladiator concept, you know, from, you know, dying on your sword and everything like that. Like it is respect worthy, but his. His risk profile is different than other players. So I think that the Halliburton thing is interesting because two months ago there was a poll that comes out in the Athletic where he's voted as the most overrated player in the league. Even if it was only 30 guys who felt that way, not 400. He got attached. Most overrated player. And two months later, he leads this incredible finals run, hits a handful of amazing clutch shots, will be remembered forever, and has this injury, which is devastating to him, but has made him a legend amongst players, and now he would amongst his peers. He is regarded as a leader and an icon. And so I think it is a remarkable turn of events and it is incredible story and story is so important when it comes to sport. But I also think that he can take this risk and feel this way because he had a unique set of circumstances. And yeah, I respect it, but I also think there's context that has to be added to it.
- [29:15]
Tony Kornheiser
I wasn't aware of that at All. Yeah. I mean, you know, when you say an extra 70 million, that implies, of course, that there was 70 million before that, and it's an extra 70 million and people out there. You make this much money, right? Do you make this much money? Well, like your job.
- [29:33]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah. Well, you have the kind of money that you have mauve sports coats in closet for decades.
- [29:41]
Tony Kornheiser
What a. Yeah. I don't think I bought it. I don't think you.
- [29:47]
Unknown Speaker
I think you did.
- [29:49]
Tony Kornheiser
Maybe in another life. All right, I'll get you out of here on this. We are. You are describing a circumstance in the NBA which leads me to believe that there will be more trades as people try to get under monetary figures in order to not be hamstrung by those monetary figures. The largest trade, now that Durant has been traded, the largest trade out there that is a reasonable thing to think about is Giannis Antetokounmpo. Do you think he will play for the Milwaukee Bucks next year or do you expect him to move?
- [30:18]
Unknown Speaker
Is. Am I permitted to answer? I don't know.
- [30:22]
Tony Kornheiser
Sure. Sure. Of course.
- [30:24]
Unknown Speaker
So my answer is I don't know. But if. But that might be enough to get other teams to wait back and see, you know, like Durant, you know. You know, the Suns ended up not having a lot of good options for Durant. Part of that was he's 37. Part of that was these teams are worried about the second apron. Part of it was that, you know, today's day and age, you don't want to necessarily have three high salaries and all minimums. You want to have a depth team. And part of it was some of these teams are thinking about they don't know what's going to happen with Giannis. And so the Bucks, in my view, are going to have a very, very hard time building a contending team, considering Dame Lillard is probably going to miss all or miss the year much. Now, let me see, for two weeks, maybe. The Bucks do some things over the next two weeks and they have a team that I think could. Could do it. They all have a different opinion, but I suspect that that's not going to be the case. And I suspect he's going to see that's not going to be the case. And I wonder how he's going to react to that. But I. But as far as what I know right now, I don't have an ironclad feel on what's going to happen there.
- [31:30]
Tony Kornheiser
Okay, I said I'd get you out, but just one more before you go. Do get up. Wilbourne is convinced that Jason Kidd, by hook or by crook, is going to coach the Knicks. Are you?
- [31:41]
Unknown Speaker
I'm not convinced, but I would say that to some people that's not a closed door. Maybe to the Mavericks organization who denied permission, they considered a closed door. But I've seen contract extensions given out to coaches that the Knicks requested permission on or at least the intention of contract extensions. I have not seen that with Jason. Kidding. In the last seven to 10 days, three of Jason Kidd's most important assistant coaches have all left the organization. You know, and to pay at the risk, at the risk of parodying myself, why would they do that? Why would they leave an organization that's got Kyrie Irving and, and Cooper Flag and Anthony Davis? Why would they leave?
- [32:23]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, so it's an old song and it went sign, sign everywhere sign. Oh, yeah. So yeah, it's that these are signs.
- [32:29]
Unknown Speaker
Maybe the Mavericks have to say that door is locked. Maybe their Mavericks are saying that door is locked. But the Knicks haven't hired a coach and you know, you wonder why they're dragging their feet. I wonder why.
- [32:38]
Tony Kornheiser
I'd have fun on doing five hours of live television today in the next five hours. Enjoy that and we'll talk soon. Thanks, Brian.
- [32:45]
Unknown Speaker
I'm afraid to say you might be low, but have a wonderful day.
- [32:48]
Tony Kornheiser
No Brian Windhorse, boys and girls, we will come back with Tim Kirchen. Tony I'm Tony Kornheiser at gmc.
- [32:57]
Tim Kirchen
Ignorance is the furthest thing from bliss. Bliss is research, testing, testing the testing until it results in not just one truck but a whole lineup. The 2025 GMC Sierra lineup featuring the Sierra 1500, Heavy Duty and EV. Because true bliss is removing every shadow from every doubt. We are professional grade. Visit gmc.com to learn more.
- [33:25]
State Farm
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- [33:56]
Tony Kornheiser
You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.
- [34:03]
Dan Byrne
Out there in Seattle. Oh, the fans are having fun behind the plate. They've got a catcher second to none. Cal Raleigh is his name and he sure can hit home home runs. But Cal Riley is in what they call him when the day is done Big dumpity dumpity dumper He's a world class thumpity thumper He's a four bagger fist bumper Big dumpity dumpity dumper Hit the ballparky to plumper Traffic's now bumper to bumper for Big dumpity dumpity dumpity dumpity dumper his backside resembles an Alaska bound barge which is to say it's kinda large Big dumpity dumpity dumper He's a world class thumpity thumper he's a 4 Baker fist bumper Big dumpity dumpity dumper Hit the wall parky to plumper Traffic's now bumper to bumper for big dumpity dumpity dumpity dumpity dumper Big dumpity dumpity dumpity dumpity dumper Big dumpity dumity.
- [35:11]
Tony Kornheiser
Dumity dumity dumper that is the brilliant Dan Byrne who writes. Well, if AI hasn't beaten me to the punch, here's Big Dumper which is just a fabulous tune and of course it plays in Tim Kirchen. And of course we're going to talk about Cal Raleigh who is leading all of baseball in home runs. And, and yesterday we had a a story on the show on the PTI show making the case for Cal Raleigh as the MVP over Aaron Judge in the American League. And Tim, I was very, very surprised. Wilbourne bought in completely because I didn't realize Wilbon had such respect for catchers. You know better than I that it is rare that Catchers win MVP. You can go back to 1976. That is 49 years and only four catches. Counting both leagues, only four Catchers have won MVP in that time. Tim, what do you make of Cal Rawley and his possibility of actually beating Aaron Judge for mvp?
- [36:19]
Unknown Speaker
Well, he's having a fabulous year. My guess is if they voted today, Aaron Judge would still win. However, Cal Raleigh has now hit more home runs at the All Star break before the All Star break than any catcher in history. Johnny Bench, who for me is still the greatest catcher of all time.
- [36:37]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah.
- [36:37]
Unknown Speaker
Hit 28 in 1970. Cal Raleigh already has 32, most by a primary catcher. He's also got six multi homer games already. The record in any season by a catcher multi homer games is eight by Javi Lopez in 2003. Big dumpers already got six of them. He is. And Tony, it's not like he's some big heavyset guy who can't do anything except for hit home runs. He's a good hitter. He is a great defensive catcher. Tremendous throwing arm. He is the leader of the team. All the pitchers love to throw to him. He is the son of a coach and he knows how to play the game as well as anybody in baseball now. So don't ever label him. You wouldn't. As somebody who just always just one of these guys. Today it's homer's. That's all he does. This guy is so much more than that. Which is why he would be very, very high in the MVP voting if it took place today.
- [37:43]
Tony Kornheiser
I will make this case. And I know how great Aaron Judge is. I understand how great Aaron Judge is. Cal Rawley has more home runs than Aaron Judge right now. He has more RBI than Aaron Judge right now. Aaron Judge, good fielder Cal Rawley fields his position better than anyone in baseball. He's the best defensive player. He won the Platinum Glove last year. And the average catcher right now today is hitting.239 and he's hitting 40 points higher than that at a position that is impossible to play. That's my case. Could I persuade you?
- [38:22]
Unknown Speaker
Yes, you can persuade me. I'm just saying that if they took it today, the writers would vote for the Judge first. However, I would never argue with anyone voting for Cal Raleigh. Tony. My problem is these days we're voting for the player of the year instead of the most valuable player. You take Cal Raleigh off of the Mariners and they're not even close to being the same team. I saw something from my friend Justin Havens the other day about OPS plus, which is too complicated to even describe, but Cal Raleigh's OPS plus right now is higher than any season. I think I've got this right. It's not my statistic. Any season by Shohei Ohtani or Willie Mays. That's how productive really has been offensively and defensively this year. It's stunning how good he has been.
- [39:14]
Tony Kornheiser
The record for home runs by a catcher. And this is something most people would only know if they looked it up because we would all assume that Johnny Bench had it or Yogi Berra had. No, it's 48. It's only 48. Salvador Perez, currently the catcher at the Kansas City Royals. This guy's got 32 already. I don't care if he's on pace for 66. He's not getting that he's a catcher. It's too hard. But I think he could go 48 plus, don't you?
- [39:44]
Unknown Speaker
I do, Tony, because he's a switch hitter with power, which is very unusual. It's a fairly small list of catchers in major switch hitting catchers in Major league history who have ever hit 30 home runs in a season. Less than 10, I believe. And he's already got 32 and we're not even to July yet. So, yes, I could see him hitting 50 homers. And again, Tony, I don't want to personalize this too much. My oldest brother was a great collegiate catcher at Catholic University, maybe the best player ever to play at that school. So I tend to understand the difficulty of being a catcher. And when you're producing like that, while playing that position and hitting in the middle of the order, it's just such an enormous advantage for your team that not only is our catcher running the show defensively, he's the best hitter on our team, if not the best hitter in the whole league right now. That's how great Cal Raleigh has been.
- [40:45]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, I mean, my point would be that if he played in New York or LA right now, he'd be the face of baseball right now. That doesn't mean in three months, but right now he'd be the face of baseball. Right? He would be right.
- [40:57]
Unknown Speaker
And he's so wildly popular in Seattle, not just because of his production, but because the way he carries himself. And he has the best nickname in the game today. And remember when the Mariners finally clinched a playoff spot a couple years ago for the first time since 2001, it was Cal Raleigh that hit the walk off homer that secured the playoff spot. So, so typical. He hasn't just been doing it this year, this is several years now. He has been great. And I asked, I asked one of their coaches, Perry Hill, like, why do they call him Big Dumper? And he goes, well, he's got a. But his butt is as big as a school bus. So I went to Cal Raleigh and said, this was the description of that your butt is as big as a school bus. And Cal Raleigh looked at me and goes, yeah, that, that's about right. So he's also funny and self deprecating, and that's all part of him being Big Dumper and one of the best players in baseball.
- [41:59]
Tony Kornheiser
All right, we'll go to one of the. We'll go to maybe the best baseball player of all time. Now, Shohei Ohtani, what are you seeing from the pitching results at this point? And what, what are you projecting in terms of when they might say, take the ball and go five or six, not just one.
- [42:18]
Unknown Speaker
Right. The two appearances, I believe, have been tremendously encouraging for him and for the Dodgers. I've watched them both. First one, you know, he gave up a couple of heads 28 pitches, 16 strikes, but he threw 100 miles an hour. Tony, having not thrown a baseball in anger in 21 months, 17 of his 28 pitches threw at 95 miles an hour or better. That just cannot happen to a normal person. And this guy is beyond normal. His second inning, so he's pitched two innings, one at a time was better than the first. And I fully expect them to ramp this up to the point where they're going to get him to be starting and pitching five innings in a game sometime after the All Star break. But he will, Dick, dictate how much he's going to be able to pitch, because the one thing he's not going to allow is for himself to get hurt. The Dodgers are not going to allow that to happen. But they also, in a very stout National League, are going to need some help in their rotation. They're going to need him to be good at some point in five or more innings. And I fully expect that to happen. Because whatever this guy sets his mind to do, he does it. It's that simple.
- [43:37]
Tony Kornheiser
You talk about a stout National League. The Mets were the stoutest or most stout team for a while, and they have fallen on hard times. The Atlanta Braves, a perennial playoff team, stunk the joint out for a while, and they are getting better as we watch because Acuna for the last three and a half weeks has probably been the best hitter in baseball. Your thoughts on both of those things?
- [44:03]
Unknown Speaker
Well, Acuna just stole last night his 200th base. So he and Hank Aaron are the only players in the history of the braves to have 200 steals and 150 homers. Him and Hank Aaron And Acuna is still like 14 years old. There's no telling where this guy is going. Chipper Jones told me a couple years ago, Ronald Cunha Jr is the most talented player I've ever seen to wear a major league uniform. That's how good he is. And I'm with you on the Braves, Tony. They have been a massive disappointment to this point, but they're starting to get hot. They've won nine out of 12. There is no chance that they are just going to stay, fall by the wayside and not have something to do with contention in the National League this year. I fully expect them to continue to swing the bats and be good. The Mets, on the other hand, Tony, are. Well, they're in trouble right now. They've lost 10 out of 11 games. You know, when we watched their starting pitching early in the season, I kept saying, is this a mirage I didn't think they're starting. Pitching was very good, and it was great for two and a half months, and now it isn't. Kodai Senga went down and he had a 159 ERA when he got hurt, and they just haven't picked it up and they've stopped hitting for a while. And they sent Francisco Alvarez, their great young prospect catcher, back down to the minor league. So a lot of work is going to have to be done for the Mets now to catch the Phillies in the division and try to make the playoffs, because suddenly that is in question in a very deep National League.
- [45:45]
Tony Kornheiser
That surprises me that the playoffs would be in question. I mean, because that's a, that's talented team.
- [45:51]
Unknown Speaker
I don't think they're going to make it, Tony. But, you know, you know, the Cubs are pretty good. The brewers are charging. The Cardinals are much better than we thought. Three teams, if not four, in the NL west are pretty good. And you got the Phillies, who are red hot.
- [46:06]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, I know. And the Giants adding Devers. That's a big deal. I think that's a big deal. So. All right, let me, let me ask you this. It's off the beaten path. LSU won the College World Series again. And I, I didn't follow it on any level, but I know that they've won it before because they sent two guys to the top of the draft. Dylan Cruz for the Nats, who hasn't done much, got hurt and really hasn't done much while he's been up. Not as much as James Wood, but Paul Skeens, who's fabulous. Is there anybody in college this year on the Paul Skeens level that you've heard of?
- [46:42]
Unknown Speaker
No, Tony, I'm telling you, there's nobody on the Paul Skeens level that I think I have ever seen come to the big leagues. And I was there for Strasburg. First night, no walks, 14 strikeouts. First pitcher, only pitcher ever with no walks and 14 strikeouts in his major league debut. I'm telling you, this guy is different and better than maybe any young pitcher that I've ever seen. Today is his 40th start of his major league career, and no one has a lower ERA through 39 starts in the history of baseball than Paul Skeens. He is huge. He throws 100. He is wildly competitive. All he cares about is winning and tearing your throat out. And I'm not sure I've ever seen a better young pitcher come to the big leagues in such a short amount of time. And, you know, I Saw Mark Pryor that fizzled out. I was there for Dwight Gooden. That was unbelievable. But I'm telling you, this guy is different. And I think he's going to start the All Star Game in each of his first two seasons, which is amazing.
- [47:53]
Tony Kornheiser
And that gets us to the scary part, which is so many of these guys who throw at that speed and have this amount of velocity, they get hurt. They get hurt. No indication that he's getting hurt, right? There's nothing like that.
- [48:08]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, nothing yet. And again, if anyone is going to be able to avoid that, this is the guy. Even though his, you know, his motion is not perfect like Mark Pryor's motion supposedly was perfect, he'll never get hurt. And he got hurt more than anybody else. This guy is so different that I think he will find a way to avoid it. But Tommy John is almost unavoidable. Now, Tony, just go look at the injured list. It's ridiculous what we're looking at on a daily basis. And it's defeating for Major League Baseball. It's the al, the NL and the il. We have three leagues now, and it's. Something has to be done here. But the reason it's happening is what you just said. Everyone's trying to throw as hard as they can on every pitch, and when they're throwing a breaking ball, they're trying to spin it like they've never spun it before. That's how you get hurt. I just think this guy is so different that he will find a way to at least avoid Tommy John surgery for his first few years in the major leagues.
- [49:11]
Tony Kornheiser
That's a great line, Tim. The al, the NL and the il. That's a great line. That's a great line. I bow to that line. Thank you, Tim.
- [49:20]
Unknown Speaker
Okay, Tony. See you guys soon.
- [49:23]
Tony Kornheiser
Tim Kirchen. Boys and girls, we will come back with email and jingle. I am Tony Kornheiser.
- [49:28]
Dan Byrne
Savor every last drop of summer with Starbucks. From bold refreshers to rich cold brews. The sunniest season only gets better with a handcrafted iced beverage in your hand. Available for a limited time. Your summer favorites are ready at Starbucks.
- [49:44]
Tony Kornheiser
You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. The Tony Kornheiser Show. That is Kelly Vicstrom Hoyt on the squeeze box. We like that Bethesda bagel, Adam.
- [50:15]
Michael Wilbon
Yes, Bethesda bagels. We love them. You will as well. Just go to bethesdavagos.com for the location in the DC area, then pop on in and you'll be thrilled and if you happen to be in Rehoboth, stop by Surf Bagels as well.
- [50:24]
Tony Kornheiser
They're very good.
- [50:25]
Michael Wilbon
Very, very good. Lovely.
- [50:27]
Tony Kornheiser
Before we get to the mailbag, let me just say hot town somewhere in the city Back of my neck getting dirt and gritty Been down isn't a pity doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city all around people looking half dead Walking on the sidewalk hotter than a match head. That's the fabulous, loving, spoonful Summer in the City. Wonderful, wonderful tune. Thanks to our guests today. Brian Windhorst, Tim Kirchen, thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple podcasts Spotify and Odyssey. Get showed through Apple. Please leave us a review from Matt in San Antonio why is the rough in front of the water on number two at Silverhorn strong enough to stop my club entirely, but thin enough to let my ball roll through into the lake? Yes, Michael, that is a golfer's problem. Problem?
- [51:07]
Tim Kirchen
Isn't it all about the way it's mowed? You can talk about grain.
- [51:11]
Tony Kornheiser
Mark Hughes Ashton, MD Chuck & Roxy 292 Great idea having comedians every three or four holes for a golf tournament at Rehoboth Beach Country Club. I assume you chimed in that you could get Nate Bargazzi, Greg Garcia, and Chris the intern. That should cover the front nine. Who else you got? Garcia is caddying for Bargazi at that, you know, that tournament in Lake Tahoe? Is that where it is? Lake?
- [51:34]
Tim Kirchen
Yes.
- [51:34]
Tony Kornheiser
He's. He's caddying for the bag.
- [51:37]
Michael Wilbon
That's so great.
- [51:38]
Tony Kornheiser
That should be so wonderful.
- [51:39]
Tim Kirchen
They have that part three up on.
- [51:41]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. Michael Dogwitz. I hope I pronounce that correctly. Cable Beach, New Providence in the Bahamas. First gentleman of the United States Embassy to the Bahamas. Wow. I was the young bartender in a prominent Northwest Baltimore restaurant. Preakness Week was always a big deal. In 2001, my boss walked behind the bar and showed me a signed basement baseball with some glee. He and I are both baseball and Oriole fans through and through. I looked at the ball, thinking it was a player either for the Orioles or a former player in town for the race. After examining it, I flatly asked, who the blank is? Gary Stevens. My boss's face went white, and six feet from me, a man's hand sheepishly went up. Four days later, Gary won. On point given. As was tradition, we had a winner's table ready for the winning jockey in his entourage. He had enjoyed his Champagne, and about 1am he smoked, swayed his way from the table to the bar and motioned for me. I leaned in for his order. He grabbed my tie and loudly pronounced, I bet you bleep and know who I am now. Todd Hart. It's Todd Hart. Yes, that Todd Hart from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Formerly of Kohler. When we were in college, the woman to whom I'm related by marriage and I worked as bartenders at a Holiday Inn in Kirksville, Missouri. It was a big place and they would bring in entertainment to try and get people to the bar. One week they had booked a brand new band called Clint Black. They had just made their first album, which hadn't been released yet, called Killing Time. It went on to be a huge hit. By the third night, we knew all the words to all the songs and would sing and bartend. After, everyone would leave the band and the bartenders and the waitresses would party. Clint was a huge Jimmy Buffett and James Taylor fan. He would break out his guitar or on the piano and we would drink and sing songs until three in the morning. On one of those nights, he looked at me and the woman to whom I'm related by marriage and said, you two should go out. You would make a perfect couple. Sure enough, we started dating that summer. Six months later, we were engaged. A year after that, we were married. A week ago, we celebrated 35 years of marriage. We have three beautiful children and we were given a new granddaughter, our first in March, named Zoe. I would like to think I was cool enough to land my bride without Clint Black's blessing, but it sure didn't hurt. And there are some pictures of then and now, which is really nice. Michael, are you familiar with Clint Black? Black? Are you familiar with that?
- [53:49]
Dan Byrne
Yeah.
- [53:51]
Tony Kornheiser
A good. A good singer? Yeah. Oh, I'm. I don't know. I don't know. Sam in Rockville, Maryland, long story, but Ms. Monet's family and mine belong to the same social club in the Santa Monica mountains. That's Daniella Monet. Listen to your show religiously. I was saddened to hear that attempts to reach her had fallen flat. I promised myself I would make it my life's mission to inform her face to face of your repeated attempts to contact her when I was out west next time. Well, that day had come today. I saw Ms. Monae this evening and informed her there's a litany of emails awaiting her reply to my reply. To my surprise, she said she had heard of this from her manager and friends, but she had not received any of your emails. Long story short, she's now been made aware and she hopefully will reply and or reach out. I now need a new mission. Please let me know if you have any outstanding electric beefs. I excel at those as well. Yes, she played Elizabeth in Listen up.
- [54:42]
Michael Wilbon
Yeah, she just posted something to her Instagram as well. That was a listen up clip.
- [54:46]
Tony Kornheiser
Really? Yeah. Oh, so that makes me happy.
- [54:49]
Michael Wilbon
Yes, very happy.
- [54:50]
Tony Kornheiser
All right. Ben Abarentos, Abarientos from Everett, Washington. After listening to Monday's pod, I thought I should share that I am the post anesthesia recovery nurse that helped take care of that Dennis Bounds after he woke up from surgery. What he failed to mention was that I also gave him the TK salute after he said le cheeserie. Been a longtime listener ever since you became available on itunes. And if read on air, I promise to leave a review. Finally, after all these years, can I also be the official Merce male nurse of the show as well? You j ask. I know, but worth a shot. You got it. Thanks for all the laughs during drives to and from work at the hospital as I told my kids what to write when signing yearbooks. Have a cool summer. This is really nice.
- [55:29]
Dan Byrne
That's great.
- [55:30]
Michael Wilbon
And it's.
- [55:31]
Tony Kornheiser
Who's listening to this thing? Elaine Caffrey, Duluth, Georgia. Chuck and Roxy, number 374. Since I live in the south and I have also owned a dog with a lot of hair, as you can see from the picture, a blow of my dog Murdoch, who was part chow and part golden retriever, I thought I would offer you some advice. For many years, I left Murdoch's coat alone during the summer. But as he got older, the heat was more of a bother to him and his hair would get matted around the collar, hard to brush out. So I decided one particularly hot summer to go ahead and shave his hair all off. I'd hesitated to do it because I thought it would freak him out. However, he loved it and I wished I'd done it sooner. It just grew back over the summer, and by the time it was fall and getting cooler, his coat was back to normal. So there's my advice for your sweet Chessy. Shave her down. She can have a cooler summer. I don't know. I don't know. I'm glad it worked for your dog.
- [56:19]
Tim Kirchen
From Murdoch, three on the side.
- [56:20]
Tony Kornheiser
That's a big leap for me. John Buchanan, Chuck and Roxy, number 276 out of Annapolis, Maryland. Tony at the 2 at the 2026 mark to Pam Ward. So what are you doing, Pam? The WNBA, women's college basketball and softball. And back to the WNBA NBA Tony at the 23:42 Mark to Pam, are you doing soccer? Are you doing lacrosse? Pam I am not just doing basketball and softball. Our favorite potato farmer unburdened by memory even 3 minutes and 16 seconds later. I sort of like that from get the Second Page. Jason Best in Springfield, Illinois all this potato talk has me strolling down memory lane. I spent most of my summers as a kid with my grandparents. My grandpa had a giant vegetable garden. As a kid, it felt like 100 acres. As an adult, I realized it was more like 800 square feet. Still, I spent countless hours helping him plant, weed, water and harvest. At the time, I hated it. In hindsight, I'd give anything to spend just one more day with him in that garden. My favorite vegetable to plant potatoes. My grandfather, a creature of habit, always planted his onions right next to the potatoes. One year after noticing this pattern, I finally asked him why. Well, he said, you know how when you cut an onion, it makes your eyes water and cry? The potato seeds have eyes. The onions make the eyes of the potatoes cry and that helps them grow. It made perfect sense to me. I don't know if there's any science behind it, but we always had an abundant harvest later in the year. Thanks for stirring up these precious memories. Wow. Josh Cromwell, Moselle, Mississippi how much did you offer to pay the 12 year old to come over and squash all the potato bugs on your growing potato plants? I should have offered him the chance to walk Chessy because now I'm doing it in this heat. Mark Hughes, Ashton did we read something from Mark earlier today or yesterday? We may have My apologies for not letting you know ahead of time about jingle contributor Steve Lifton playing in Atlantis last Friday with Hootie guitarist Mark Bryan. It was a long stretch, but I hoped you might jump in on bass for a song or two. It does raise the question as to what type live performer you are on bass. Are you the classic stoic bass player hiding behind dark sunglasses and moving with the energy level of a wax museum figure? Or are you the role model for Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers bounding around the stage with the reckless abandon of someone chasing a squirrel from your tomato plants? Laura Littles Want to know well, they're going to have to wait and see, aren't they? Lee Gordon, Chuck And Roxy, number 80, Bornton Beach, Florida. Yes, there was a place called Delaware, Ohio. Some rum dum lives there. Perhaps you've heard of her. Claire Natola.
- [58:51]
Michael Wilbon
I know that I forgot that she had moved there.
- [58:54]
Tony Kornheiser
Kooland Claire Lived there.
- [58:55]
Michael Wilbon
I did know that, but I had forgotten that. Yes.
- [58:58]
Tony Kornheiser
Know that. From Wendy Nelson. This is just thought about you when we saw this at Westminster Abbey last week. Oh, it's 16 vestal virgins.
- [59:10]
Michael Wilbon
Yeah, From Chaucer, right?
- [59:11]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. From Chaucer. Leaving for the coast. And although my eyes were open, they might just as well be closed. From Michael Bryan, Boston, Massachusetts, formerly revealed, number 303. Did Michael just casually throw in he sang hallelujah to his son for 25 minutes? Was his holding a lighter demanding an encore? Did you ask for a thousand green M&Ms? 25 minutes of singing. Do you want to explain that every.
- [59:36]
Tim Kirchen
Night I sing Holly at two of the boys, the big ones. Yeah. More of the Rufus Wainwright version versus Jeff Buckley. I think that's a bit too too loud for the kids.
- [59:46]
Tony Kornheiser
That's wonderful.
- [59:47]
Michael Wilbon
Love that.
- [59:47]
Tony Kornheiser
And we have response to it. That's great. If you're out on your bike tonight, everyone, as always, do wear white.
- [59:53]
Unknown Speaker
A captain at sea, a farmer at home.
- [59:59]
Tony Kornheiser
Unbelievable.
- [60:17]
I
I've had enough of your wicked way? I've given so much and got nothing in repay you. Sit on your throne while I'm out here in the cold? So you shouldn't be surprised that this train has left the station? I'm already gone, I'm flying a new migration? You're not coming along? Not coming along, coming along? Cause I'm already gone? Not coming along, coming along? Cause I'm already gone? Your feelings are as deep as my pockets? You have this little niche but I think you lost it? You're losing control over what people should see? So if you would just step aside? This train has left the station I'm on already gone I'm flying a new migration? You're not coming along? Not coming along, coming along cuz I'm already gone? Not coming along, coming along cuz I'm already gone. Thought you have the moves to overthrow me? But I guess I'm not the only one you see? Cause this train has left the station? I'm already gone? I fly in a new migration and you're not coming along? Coming, coming along? Already gone.
- [63:21]
Dan Byrne
Out there in Seattle oh the fans are having fun behind the plate they've got a catcher second to none. Cal Raleigh is his name and he sure can hit home runs? But Cal Riley is and what they call when the day is done? Big dumpity dumpity dumper? He's a world class thumpity thumper? He's a four bagger fist bumper? Big dumpity dumpity dumper Hit the ballpark Eat a plumper. Traffic's now bumper to bumper for big dumpity dumpity dumpity dumpity dumper. His backside resembles an Alaska bound barge which is is to say it's kind of large. Big dumpity dumpity dumper He's a world class thumpity thumper he's a 4 Baker fist bumper Big dumpity dumpity dumper Hit the ballpark. Eat a plumper. Traffic's now bumper to bumper for big dumpity dumpity dumpity dumpity dumper. Big dumpity dumpity dumpity dumpity dumper Big dumbbety dumity dumity dumity dumper.