“Tailgating with James Carville”

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Tony Kornheiser Show

Episode: “Tailgating with James Carville”
Date: August 29, 2025
Host: Tony Kornheiser
Special Guests: James Carville, Chris Clary, Michael Wilbon

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Tony Kornheiser welcomes political consultant and die-hard college football fan James Carville to celebrate the return of college football, swapping insights on tailgating, the culture of the sport, and key games in the upcoming season. Chris Clary joins later to discuss the US Open and the evolving narratives in contemporary tennis. The episode blends Tony’s signature wit and banter with heartfelt sports and cultural commentary.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Milestones, Team Dynamics, and Baseball Banter

• Tony marks a new episode milestone, joking about his commitment to keep working (“We did 151 and now this is 152… I can’t be off. I can’t unless I’m away. And I’m never away.” 01:28).
• The group reflects on recent Washington Nationals struggles and Kyle Schwarber's historic four-home-run game (02:29).
• “Kyle Schwarber, who has become the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball…21st game in major league history…someone’s had four home runs in one game.” – Tony Kornheiser [02:29]

2. NFL Trades and Ryder Cup Captain Picks

• Tony and Michael analyze the high-profile Micah Parsons trade and what it means for Dallas Cowboys' GM Jerry Jones and the Packers’ enhanced standing (06:09–07:28).
• The crew breaks down the US Ryder Cup team, focusing on captain Keegan Bradley’s controversial decision not to pick himself as a player [08:03].
• “The captain of the team, Keegan Bradley, could have picked himself and nobody would have said not deserving because totally deserving…” – Tony [09:20]
• Wilbon praises Bradley’s leadership and the complexities of team dynamics: “This is what captains do. You have to make the difficult decisions.” [10:28]

3. Anecdotes: Golf Outings and Local Camaraderie

• Tony and Michael share a story about running into Arch Campbell on the golf course and their friendly match (“We join solitary player on number 13, and it is one Arch Campbell…” – Michael [14:18])
• Plug for Arch Campbell’s new book, The Accidental Critic [15:22]

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The Main Event: James Carville on College Football

[17:12–34:00]

Return of “Midnight Special” & Carville’s College Roots

• Tony introduces James Carville with their traditional “Midnight Special” singalong, signaling the start of college football.
• Carville shares about growing up near LSU, where football defined both sport and culture in the South, particularly in Louisiana:
  • “I grew up…20 miles south of Tiger Stadium…LSU football…their entire life has kind of been the defining—not just sports schedule, but cultural schedule too…in the South, the fall was our glorious time of year because the summers are more hideous.” – Carville [18:29]

On Tailgating Culture

• Discussion about the unique SEC tailgating scene (“Night football is synonymous with LSU football…if kickoff is at 7, they’re out there two days before.” – Carville [21:50])
• Carville cements LSU’s superiority: “There’s nothing close to tailgating at LSU…what the shit they eat in Alabama? White barbecue crap.” [24:05]
• Tony notes the friendly rivalry between SEC fans over who tailgates best.

College Football’s Regional Culture & Future

• Carville laments college football’s shift toward a mega-conference structure, moving away from traditional regional flavors (“It’s going to be 28 teams…just the Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Northwestern, Purdue game is not going to cut it.” [23:01])
• On the South’s hold: “College football in some ways…it’s a southern sport. It’s obviously huge in the Midwest. West coast football has just suffered.” [23:01]

The Manning Family and the Big Opener

• Insight into Arch Manning’s pedigree and the family’s influence (“They are the first family of football. Have you ever heard a Manning say a stupid thing?” – Carville [25:27])
• Talks Arch’s readiness: “That’s a lot, asking the sophomore quarterback to first big game, to go into Ohio Stadium.” [27:44]
• Both agree: Texas at Ohio State is the biggest college football event in August, possibly ever.

Expanded Playoffs, NIL, and Transfer Portal

• Carville supports Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL): “I actually like the NIL…people bitch about it; when these kids were making nothing…” [31:04]
• Discusses LSU’s aggressive use of the transfer portal, uncertainty about instant team chemistry, and the upshot in recruiting losses and gains.

Early Picks & Heisman Watch

• Carville touts South Carolina over on wins, thinks they’ll surprise people (“Take South Carolina in over a number of wins…I think South Carolina is going to be better, people forget about them.” [32:04])
• Highlights several Heisman hopefuls, including LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier.

Memorable Quote & Closing Story

• Closing with a poignant memory: “That golden Steve Gleason return…that’s one of the greatest moments in sports history, I think.” – Carville on the return to the Superdome after Katrina [33:27]

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Tennis at the US Open: Chris Clary

[35:53–49:09]

US Open Impressions

• Chris Clary joins to break down the opening of the US Open: No seismic early upsets, but plenty of “human condition” drama, from struggling stars to rising contenders.
• “It feels to me like it’s kind of a human condition, like it often is in tennis…see people who are battling their doubts and their vulnerability.” – Clary [36:32]

Coco Gauff’s Tournaments & Stars Under Pressure

• Observes Coco Gauff’s internal pressures despite her recent French Open title—she appears liberated, yet is battling expectations, tearing up after matches [36:32].
• “To see Djokovic…with nothing left to prove…shouting, yelling at his box, trying to work through his inconsistencies at age 38…it’s very interesting for me.” – Clary [37:55]

Trends & Style Across Majors

• Tony muses on the distinctiveness between US Open and Wimbledon (“The look of them is so different. The difference even in the clothing…the difference in the traditions…” – Tony [39:10])
• Clary hails the sport’s versatility: “One of the great things about tennis…is the different surfaces—it’s one of tennis’s big strengths.” [39:59]

Fashion and Fun

• Discussion on US Open’s wild fashion choices vs. Wimbledon’s white dress code, plus product placement mysteries (‘What is Y3?’ Adidas’s boutique brand) [41:47].
• The duo jokes about Carlos Alcaraz’s new buzz cut: “That, to me, was so far the biggest news at the US Open.” [43:06]

Tennis Personality Clashes

• Recaps a dramatic on-court confrontation between Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko over sportsmanship norms and “unwritten rules.” [43:59]
• “She’s become like the baseball police…You violated the unwritten rules.” – Tony [45:23]

US Men’s Chances & The Charisma Factor

• American men (Fritz, Paul, Tiafoe, Shelton) are all dangerous, but none are favorites. “Alcaraz, hair or no hair, and Sinner…are both playing so well…” – Clary [46:55]
• On Ben Shelton: “He has a little bit of charisma to him. He does. He’s theatrical. You like him, right?” – Tony [47:47]
• “Ben’s upside the next two or three years is probably the biggest of all the Americans…he’s exuberant. He’s like a big bear out there, just roaming around the court.” – Clary [48:41]

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “There’s nothing close to tailgating at LSU…what the shit they eat in Alabama? White barbecue crap.” – James Carville [24:05]
• “You have to make the difficult decisions. It’s easy to sit yourself down…this is what captains do.” – Michael Wilbon on Keegan Bradley [10:28]
• “Have you ever heard a Manning say a stupid thing?…There’s one word that describes it, and it’s Olivia.” – Carville [25:27]
• “I actually like the NIL…when these kids were making nothing…” – Carville [31:04]
• “It feels to me like it’s kind of a human condition, like it often is in tennis…see people who are battling their doubts and their vulnerability.” – Chris Clary [36:32]

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Timestamps of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------| | 01:28 | Tony on episode milestone and Nationals | | 02:29 | Schwarber’s four-home-run historic performance | | 06:09 | Micah Parsons trade analysis | | 07:56 | Ryder Cup captain’s picks discussion | | 14:18 | Golf story with Arch Campbell | | 17:12 | James Carville joins with “Midnight Special” | | 18:29 | Carville on LSU, college football’s cultural role | | 21:50 | SEC tailgating: the legend explained | | 25:27 | Carville on Manning family and Arch’s debut | | 31:04 | NIL and portal discussion | | 32:04 | Early pick: South Carolina wins over | | 33:27 | Katrina/Superdome “Steve Gleason return” memory | | 35:53 | Chris Clary segment and US Open first impressions | | 36:32 | Pressure on Gauff, Djokovic, and the mental game | | 43:06 | Alcaraz’s buzz cut: the story of the tourney | | 46:55 | American men’s outlook at the US Open | | 48:41 | Ben Shelton’s charisma |

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Tone & Language

The episode is conversational yet insightful, full of Carville’s zingers (“White barbecue crap”), Tony’s nostalgic storytelling, and expert guest analysis. Overall, an enthusiastic, warm, and football-and-tennis-infused episode, perfect for diehard sports fans and cultural observers alike.

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Summary

• Celebrates college football’s return with James Carville, exploring deep Southern football culture and epic tailgating.
• Discusses the future of college sports, NIL, and playoff expansion.
• Reviews the US Open with Chris Clary, focusing on sports psychology, fashion, and the charisma of new tennis stars.
• Chock-full of personal anecdotes, historical context, and memorable quotes, this episode encapsulates why “The Tony Kornheiser Show” is beloved by fans: it’s about far more than just sports.

Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we will celebrate the return of college football with James Carville. And we will check in with Chris Clary about what's going on at the US Open. But first, commerce.

[Chris Clary]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Commercial Announcer]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

Previously on the Tony Kornhauser Show. I think their work is great, so I was really happy I got to sit with them. Sit with the sports editor, sit with Rennie, sit with Verluga. That was that. I. I liked it. You welcomed people, but you didn't make a speech. Did you think of making a speech? Other people made speeches. You did not.

[James Carville]

I made a little speech. You know, I. Yeah, well, it wasn't about me. I wanted it to be.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It was about you. This is General George Washington and you're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show. All right, we're doing an extra show. This is the last day of the contract here, and we didn't even contract for 150. I just said, let's do 150. And then I got to 150 and I had this week off, and I can't be off. I can't unless I'm away. And I'm never away.

[Michael Wilbon]

And you don't want to go away.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't want to go away, so I can't be off. So we did 151 and now this is 152. Yeah. What can I say? You're spared Nat stuff. The Nats went to the Yankees, got crushed, gave up 6,000 home runs. They got crushed. I mean, it's, you know, one team is a good team and one team is a bad team. And the entire three games were boom, boom, boom. It's okay, you know, but speaking of boom, boom, boom, Former Nat. It wasn't there long, was there? Like, I don't know, three months, four months.

[Michael Wilbon]

It was an impactful four months.

[James Carville]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Kyle Schwaber, who has become the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball, which is remarkable. Well, maybe not. If Ohtani's hitting leadoff, he's not the greatest hitter, but he's right there. Yeah. He's got 49 home runs. I had four home runs last night. Kyle. Kyle Schwarber is the 21st game in major league history that is over 100 years long where somebody's had four home runs in one game. Kyle Schwaber. Michael, take us back to that eventful injury in 2020 or 20.

[Michael Wilbon]

This was 2021 was. I think it was July 4th week, and it might have been like the Dodgers series, but I think it was early in the week.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And Schwaber's here. He's hitting home. He hit like 20 home runs in June.

[Michael Wilbon]

The Nats were still, you know, a team of, you know, playoff hopes at that point. He goes down, and that was the season we'd been experimenting with him in.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The leadoff spot, and everything changes. And they make all of these trades. And I would tell you, I mean, Trey Turner is a great player. He's a great player. He's, you know, he's potentially a Hall of Fame player. I don't think so. But he's on the. He's going to be talking Shout out. Yeah. He's going to be talked about. Max Scherzer is in the hall of Fame. Absolutely. A lot of people have been traded. I would tell you that trading Kyle Schwaber was the signal that the Nats were going to fall and try and rebuild. And if Schwaber doesn't get hurt, I'm not sure any of this happens.

[Michael Wilbon]

And he just felt like the win now, feast or famine player, where it's a home run or bust. And you just think about how that strength or, you know, that potential strength has just continued to increase over the years. And you think about what he does for that team when it comes to the playoffs, where you're never out of a game. If he gets back to the plate.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It'S just not a traditional leadoff guy because he bats to 20. He doesn't get on. He hits a home run or he doesn't get on most of the time. But do you know this is the. The first Philly to hit four home run. Now there are Teams who don't have anybody who's hit four home runs. But the first Philly to hit four home runs since Michael Jack Schmidt. I was going to say that. 1976. I thought he. A long time. 1976, a big gap. Yeah. It's a long time to see who the.

[Michael Wilbon]

Who was pitching for the fourth and final home run.

[Chris Clary]

Who?

[Michael Wilbon]

Wander Suero.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Wander Suare. There he is.

[Michael Wilbon]

Thank you, coach Dan Thorner, for the. For the intel on that one.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Wow. Wow. Want to thank the Ozark Mountain Daredevils sending us a bunch of CDs, for sending us a book about the history of the band and for sending us a bottle of Maker's Mark, which is the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Volume two. And it talks about the profile of the Maker's Mark made specifically with them in mind, I guess. And they sent a bottle to me, and that's very, very nice. Lovely. This is bourbon makers. Maker's Mark is good bourbon. Yes. So we thank them very much. Couple of things have happened in sports that, you know, you need to talk about. One is the Micah Parsons trade. I got a note yesterday from a friend of mine saying all of a sudden, Nico Collins isn't the worst general manager in Dallas. And the implication. The implication is that Jerry Jones is the worst general manager in Dallas. I don't know. Maybe we're going to be able to see. It's. With all trades, you wait two to three years and you make a determination as to what is going on. I watched a lot last night, a lot of the coverage of this, and I watched a woman on the NFL Network who covers Dallas. I don't know her name, so I don't want to start guessing here. Very knowledgeable. She said, look, it's a big deal trade, but there are a lot of guys on this day. She covers the team. She's in there every day. She's not parachuting in like some former athlete. It's not the same. She covers the Dallas Cowboys for the NFL Network. And she said a lot of people on that team looked at Micah Parsons last year, this year, and said, yeah, I don't know about his commitment. Really don't know about his commitment. And she was saying that there are people on that team who are okay with this. They're okay with this. Jerry Jones himself said, we need to stop the run. He brought in a defensive tackle. Now, I think Michael Parsons could stop the run as a linebacker. But, hey, Jerry Jones is going to try and justify this in every way that he can. He's got a couple of number one draft picks. He could turn them around today. Turn around today for talent. Michael Parsons is gone and this is killing Wilbon because he goes to the Packers. To the Packers. Goes to the Packers. And the packers are good. Yeah. Packers was a playoff team right last night? Yeah, I think so. You know, Wilbourne looks the second best.

[Michael Wilbon]

Odds now to get to the NFC championship.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. You know and all of a sudden getting the ball more often because Michael Parsons is stripping the ball for somebody Jordan love. Maybe an MVP candidate. Yeah. You know it really. It's not a good development that division. Yeah. Not good news for the quarterback for the quarter.

[Michael Wilbon]

Impacts our division too. Commanders fans happy?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Oh sure. You don't have to face Michael Parsons twice a year. Yeah. So you know, down the road we will see about that. How that works. The other big thing in sports couple of days ago, but we didn't get a chance to talk about it. The captain's picks for the Ryder cup the captain's picks for the. Who are the automatics? Michael, the automatic. JJ spawn. Scotty Scheffler. English Bryson DeChambeau. Xander Shaw.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, I think that gets you to your six.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Is that six? I thought I left one out. Now a couple of those people. J.J. spawn.

[Michael Wilbon]

Russell Henry Harris.

[Tony Kornheiser]

English Russell Henry. They've never played in this before. They're new to this, to the Ryder Cup. The British guys, most of them have played in this before. More than once. So they're new. And then the captain's picks. The captain's picks are Justin Thomas. Everybody knew he was going to be picked. He's a great competitor. He's got a good record. Colin Morikawa has a very good record in the Ryder Cup. Haven't won a tournament in two or three years. Has not had a Ryder cup year. Colin Morikawa, but he was picked. Can't lay. Patrick Cantlay all day. Can't lay and deservedly so. He's a great player and he's got. Put him on the clock, you know he's got a great record but just.

[Michael Wilbon]

Make sure you find him a hat that fits.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He is so slow. Where's the pitch clock on him? He is so slow. Agonizingly slow. To play against and to play with. Who else was on that team? Sam Burns. Coleman Young. Not Coleman Young, sorry. Yeah. Cam Young.

[Michael Wilbon]

New York kid.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. Father's a pro. Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow. It's great clubs. Father's a pro. Cameron Young. And the two surprises. I don't know if they're both surprises, but they could be surprises. Ben Griffin, who's won a couple of times this year, and Sam Burns, who is Scottie Scheffler's buddy, you know, and you want to make Scottie Scheffler happy.

[Michael Wilbon]

More importantly, Sam Burns leading what category for this year on the tour? Number one in strokes gained putting. Oh, he's a good match play. Yeah, first ball in usually wins.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, so there you go. So. And you know, I'm not going to argue with any of them, but I am going to say this, that the captain of the team, Keegan Bradley, could have picked himself and nobody would have said not deserving because totally deserving. One tournaments this year, you recall, beat Mick, Mick Fleetwood. That's the other Big Fleetwood, the other Fleetwood Max, the other one beat Tommy Fleetwood in a playoff in Connecticut. Yeah, in Connecticut. He's won that tournament, I think two years in a row.

[Michael Wilbon]

Specialist. Yeah, he's a New England kid. He's a Vermont guy.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right. So you know, he's probably played. He went to St. John's he has probably paid. Played Beth Page black more than any other person on that team.

[Michael Wilbon]

He's got great stories about sneaking on to Beth Page back as a kid, you know, as a college kid. And St. John's hosted a tournament there at the red course.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So he's got that. He could have picked himself. Now a lot of people, including our friend Barry Zverluga said, don't pick yourself. Michael, I think your position was don't pick yourself.

[Michael Wilbon]

It was certainly the easiest, safest, you know, to fall on your own sword. This is what captains do. You have to make the difficult decisions. It's easy to sit yourself down. There's one choice, it's him or Ben Griffin. And I think it just happened to be. Griffin was one spot ahead of him in the rankings and he don't want that to come back and bite you in the behind. You know, in six months or six weeks time, I, I personally would have liked to see him play. I'm actually looking at the vice captains and you see a lot of names that you don't really think of in that role. With Jim Fury, who's always sort of there, Kevin Kisner, who I think wanted to be a vice captain over being on the call for NBC. You have Webb, Simpson, Bran Snedeker and Gary Woodland. I think the brain trust of assistant captain said, we need you making the call because we don't necessarily have that gravitas that a captain should have. This was always supposed to be the Ryder cup where Phil was going to have his return to the New York faithful. If we remember going all the way down.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They love Phil more than they love.

[Michael Wilbon]

Tiger, and it would always be the Father's Day weekend as he's given the thumbs up. So this offers the stability. If it works, it works tremendously. And he's going to be that great storyteller riling up the fans. I always find there's a group of two to three players, and it's a mix of guys who qualified automatically but maybe weren't playing their best, who by the end of day one, you realize, like, oh, they haven't touched foot on the golf course. And it's hard to manage those personalities by saying, you're sitting kid. And if you had him as a playing captain, you eliminate that need. You play singles and you go out in the first four and you basically get the crowd on your side if you have the lead and then you cruise and you don't have to play more than one of the other matches.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And then you play Sunday. You play first on Sunday. You know, it's easy to do. I. If, man, it's hard for me to say if I were Keegan Bradley what I would have done, but I would have been happy if he picked himself. Not everybody wanted it that way. And he made the. And he was very, very authoritative in the way he described this. He said, no, I decided this last week. No, it's not me. I'm going to be the captain. So good. You are the captain now.

[Chris Clary]

I am the captain.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So that'll work out. I mean, we'll see. That's it. In three weeks.

[Michael Wilbon]

Couple weeks. He has had such a. I mean, this is a player where he had to learn how to, you know, putt again just because of putting rule changes. He had the most. The friendliest edit when it came to the PGA Tour show on Netflix because he was so open and opening his doors to the cameras where he gets that call from Zach Johnson, you're not playing. I think. I think he was trying to communicate to everyone and be. And just be super on top of this. And I. I respect that. I think he's done a great job. Still would have liked to see him play. Just because if you were to win with that, and this is probably one of the last chances where you'll see that just because you have a lot of captains who are already aging out.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Of playing, there's nobody else in the pipeline, nobody else in the United States that would have been a reasonable choice. Right? He didn't. He didn't have to call anybody and say, sorry, you're not going to play.

[Michael Wilbon]

I'm sure there's a couple people where they. They started to see the writing on the wall. And part of that is you don't necessarily make it to, you know, stop two in the playoffs. All of a sudden you realize, like, oh, no, I am on the fringe. And, yeah, you know, they know. Even look at his story, I thought.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Of go up maybe, but he's behind the other guys.

[Michael Wilbon]

He's one of the other guys.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So. All right. By the way, I had one of the great thrills of my life yesterday. I played golf with my son, was really nice. It was a perfect day. It's a beautiful day.

[Michael Wilbon]

Like, it felt like the first true fall day. And then you look at the calendar, you're like, it's August.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Yeah. So did you have fun? I had a lot of fun.

[Michael Wilbon]

I had the. I had the best. And. And, you know, behind the curtains here, we were not planning to do this show, and we had a couple of options that did not pan out. And we're in the middle of our front nine, and we're able to figure it out. Doing a lot of texting back and forth. But the highlight for me is we are behind a three ball and we are making the turn. All of a sudden, I see one cart, you know, drift away. Okay, they're. Maybe they're going to go to lunch. Maybe they're just trying to play nine. And then I see a cart continuing.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Forward, a solitary cart with a man in a blue shirt.

[Michael Wilbon]

And I see he's taking practice swings on 11, and I see. I think we can catch up with him. We join solitary player on number 13, and it is one Arch Campbell. So we played in camp. We knew Arch was in front of us.

[Mailbag Singer]

That's so great.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We played in with Arch, and it was wonderful. Oh, it's so wonderful. It was just wonderful. Yeah, it really was. And arch got on 15. 2.

[Michael Wilbon]

Arch is now leading the category. The match between you and Mr. Campbell in terms of woods in bag. He's up to five. Woods in the bag. Got a new nine wood. Seven wood. And hitting them with great success.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

And we're going to play on seven wood.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I believe he's a former key member of team Coco. Right? We are. We're going out as team Coco. Coco herself is not going to play. I mean, she had sidelines for right now, but. Yeah, but she'll be. She'll be back. But now we're going out as team Coco. Looking for shop credit. Yes. Glassware as art shop.

[Michael Wilbon]

We're just finishing every other whole. Arch, she goes, winter's coming and I need a new sweater.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So. Yeah. So all right.

[Michael Wilbon]

Go check out Politics and Pros. Arch has a book.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right.

[Michael Wilbon]

Has been published through politics and prose.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So go pick it up with the Accidental Critic.

[James Carville]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Is that what it called? Isn't that called the Accidental Critic?

[Michael Wilbon]

We'll get that and it'll be on Amazon in the near future.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So yeah, we're going to play on one. So. All right. So this show, Truth to tell, the Accidental Critic. You're Accidental Critic. Truth to tell, we taped. We're going to have Carville next. We taped Carville last night. That's right. And the reason we're going to have Carville, it's just going to be so obvious. We're flipping from no sports to the sports that matter most. And James Carville is part of the package for us and hopefully for you. So Carville is next. I'm Tony Kornheiser at Designer Shoe Warehouse.

[Michael Wilbon]

We believe that shoes are an important.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Michael Wilbon]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

Forts to building a life for all.

[Commercial Announcer]

The big and small moments that make.

[James Carville]

Up your whole world.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

Out.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. Well, you wake up in the morning.

[Mailbag Singer]

Boy.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You hear the ding dong ring.

[James Carville]

Then you look upon the table bar.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You see the same darn thing.

[James Carville]

You find no food upon the table bar.

[Mailbag Singer]

There's no fork up in the pan.

[James Carville]

But you better not complain, boy.

[Chris Clary]

You.

[Mailbag Singer]

Get in trouble with the man.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's been months since we've heard this. It's been months. We have suffered through an endless summer without football and we haven't heard midnight special done this way in months. And it's the signal. We have James Carville with us. That's all is right in the world. Because football's back. And it's not just pro football, it's college football. And James, we think of you. I know you pick pro games mostly, but we think of you as college football. Tell everybody your beginnings in football and your attraction to college football. Because you much like I, although, I mean, I grew up in New York, but we are of a time when there was nothing unlimited expansion of professional football. There was not. There was college football. Go ahead. What was it like?

[James Carville]

Well, if I grew up understand. 20 miles south of Tiger Stadium and the LSU football. Their entire life has kind of been the defining. Not just sports schedule, but cultural schedule too. And people in the north, you know, in the south, the fall was our glorious time of year because the summers are more hideous.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah.

[James Carville]

You know, and so it's as much of a cultural event as it is an athletic event. And look, Tony, this Ohio State, Texas game might be the biggest sports contest in the history of August.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[James Carville]

Okay, let's say the Olympics, right? And you got Arch Manning, a sophomore favorite for the Heisman Trophy, against the defending national championship in one of the great. Not just college sports venues, but sports venues anywhere. And then you follow that up with lsu, Clemson, where you got two of the five Heisman Trophy favorites squaring off in a. You know, would ordinarily would be the top game of any weekend. So walked to a good start in college football.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I gotta say that everybody knows that you are a fan of the New Orleans Saints. Everyone associates you with New Orleans. But tell the people, when did the Saints, when were they born? That was not when you were 2 and 3 and 5 years old. It was not.

[James Carville]

So it was born in the football season in 1966. And it was a really Pavel play. How they got born is I think Roselle was the commissioner then, and they were trying to keep the antitrust exemption going. And Hale Boggs and Russell Long took him out in a corridor outside of a committee room and said, we get a football team or you don't get the exemption. And five minutes later, they got. They got the football team Right, Right. You know, it was just a. And the first play in the history of New Orleans, I think it was three Roberts, might have been Junior Gilliam went coast to coast, 99 yards. And I was in the Marine Corps in a bar in La Jolla, California. And I said, oh, God, this is going to be fun. You know, I'm like the first guy that goes to the racetrack and cashes a daily double.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, yes, yes.

[James Carville]

And says, oh, man, this is easy. And you know, some so says, have a good life, kid.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, no, I mean I envision that in my, in my, of andy Beyer being 16 years old and going to a track and hitting the daily double. It says, okay, Bob, I know what I'm going to do. I know what I'm going to do. Sure.

[James Carville]

We got this thing under control.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. People talk about tailgating as if, as if it is an NFL event. It of course started in college. It of course is larger in college than in the NFL. And to me, if it's large in college, its large in the sec. What is a, what is a pre game? Because you play. LSU plays a lot of games at night. What is a, what is a tailgate? Like, when does it start? What does it do?

[James Carville]

Well, first of all, I think it's now a law in Louisiana that college teams can't play September daytime games. All right. And, but, but what, what happens is generally, you know, and night football is synonymous with LSU football.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[James Carville]

Let's say kickoff is at 7:00 and man, that they're out at two days before. I mean that people. There's a guy that called me and wanted me to say something about his tailgating newsletter and I said, how many people like read your newsletter? He said six, I think sometimes seven. You know, I mean that's, that's, that the cultural impact of it is, is really hard to measure. And that's sort of true. It's the south, but it's, you know, college football in some ways is that they want to hear this as a regional sport. It's a southern sport. It's obviously huge in the Midwest.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, yes.

[James Carville]

West coast football is just suffered because of time zone and the number of available games. But you know, still, you know, huge sport out there and you know, we're now coming to, we know where the sport is going. It's going to be 28 teams and just the Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Northwestern, Purdue game is not going to cut it for another, you know, Rutgers, Mel. And it's just not going to cut it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, I appreciate that. I just sort of wondered like if I talk to people who are from SEC schools, they talk with such pride about the tailgating. I mean, I've said, well, everybody knows it's lsu. And then a guy from Mississippi will say, well, hold on a second, hold on a second. Our tailgate is every bit as good as LSU is, if not better. What are the ones that you've been to where you say this is, you know, this is a 24 to 48 hour deal. And they're cooking and people are happy. And it is the lifestyle.

[James Carville]

There's. First of all, not to be arrogant, there's nothing close to tailgating at lsu because what the shit they eat in Alabama? White barbecue crap. Okay.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[James Carville]

Oh, what do they have in Crimson? Like shrimp and grits or something hideous like that. I mean, people, they. They get there and they start forever and if you, you know, big stuff. I wouldn't even eat there.

[Chris Clary]

But.

[James Carville]

But yeah, I. Let's not. The tailgating argument is over and settled and. Yeah, but. But people enjoy it. They go out and, you know, you love to watch even like the packers game in December and it's, you know, minus five and this at night. They had eaten brats and drinking beer and so you can see it having fun. It's part of the sport. I mean, I just can't separate the two.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I like. You mentioned Arch Manning very early on. I'm assuming you saw him in high school. I'm assuming you know the Manning family for quite some time. What are your thoughts on Arch Manning as a quarterback and the fact that he went to Texas and sat. SAT for two years?

[James Carville]

Right. First of all, there are. Without a doubt, we'll stipulate they are the first family of football.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. Yes.

[James Carville]

Have you ever heard a Manning say a stupid thing?

[Tony Kornheiser]

No. They're all bright. All the ones I've met are all bright. Yeah, they're all bright.

[James Carville]

There's one word that described it, and it's Olivia.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Okay.

[James Carville]

Okay.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[James Carville]

I ain't gonna cross her. I mean, there's no way. And her family owns one of the most interesting retail I did on. I assume they still do. Establishment in the country is called the Williams Store and it's in Philadelphia, Mississippi. You remember Philadelphia?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, I do. From early history. I remember that.

[James Carville]

It's. It's a phenomenal, like, country store. It's got anything you want. I think they still own it in the Phila. I went there some time ago. I might make a pilgrimage sometimes later this year. And Archie was from the Delta, he was from Drew, Mississippi. And I talked to him for a long time, Mardi Gras, year before Lash. And we were laughing and he. And. I don't know, Eli and Arch. And he has a condo on St. Charles Avenue. And it had like a football on the front lawn. And I picked it up, I said, gentlemen, this is a football now. This is how you hold the thing before you throw it. And you know, this guy played at Newman. My daughter went to school there. In the seventh grade. Walter Isaacson, Michael Lewis.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, great writers.

[James Carville]

You know, Eli Pate. Maybe Cooper was better than other two. Kind of a great guy. See him all the time. In their. Very involved in the civic life of the city. They. They now named the children's hospital wing after the Manning family. They gave him, I don't know, 10, 20, $25 million or something. And they're just a sterling family. I just can't say enough. And I wish there'd never been an LSU family. You know, Peyton famously went to Tennessee. You know, they're Ole Miss people. They're not LSU people, but that's all right. And, you know, obviously cultivate Archer's career as they should. But that's a lot asking the sophomore quarterback to first big gang to go into Ohio Stadium.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think I agree with this. I mean, everyone in the country is watching you. You're going into the Horseshoe. They are the defending national champions. This is not going to be easy. This is the kind of game that could open the season and close the season. What you hope for is it's not a 416 game. And it could be.

[James Carville]

You don't know it could be, but you know it. The same thing with us in Clemson. I think the glory of winning is more important than the value of winning is more important than if you lose it. You could see a team coming back. Yeah, all right. But if you win it, you're really in the catbird seat. I mean, and by the way, given the Heisen Trophy race, this thing is going to be largely influenced on a Saturday in August.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I agree, I agree. I mean, you've got. There's three games.

[James Carville]

The guy from Clemson is a front runner, as is Garrett Nussmar. By the way, watch Garrett Nussbauer in 2022 in the SEC Championship against Georgia. He strutted their defense when they won the national championship.

[Chris Clary]

Watch out.

[James Carville]

This guy. You know, I'm not gonna pick. It's a limited amount of picks, but I had Jaden Daniels on your show for the Heisman.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, you did. 14:1. 14:1.

[James Carville]

I think Nuss Meyer is like 8 to 1. I would take him. And I'll tell you one other thing. Archie Manning Arch has football pedigree. He's a sophomore. Nuss's dad was the offensive coordinator for Cowboys. I think he's now the offensive coordinator for the Saints. He has a football pedigree, and I think that matters. I just do get into whatever. But I would take Nuss on the hide for good reason.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You've Got three games at least. There's probably more. But there's Texas at Ohio State, which is the number one. There's lsu, Clemson, there's Notre Dame, Miami. That's Catholics and convicts. Come on now.

[James Carville]

Right. Yeah. I always. I push back a little bit on the Catholics versus convicts and I don't. It doesn't mean. But I think that's unfair to Miami. But never. It became part of the lexicon.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[James Carville]

By the way, that 30 to 30 on Howard Schnellenberger and the U.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's great.

[James Carville]

Was really great.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, it's great.

[Chris Clary]

Really, really great.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's great.

[James Carville]

And.

[Chris Clary]

But they got. They got a good.

[James Carville]

You know, it's going to be a hell of a season, man.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think it is too. I mean I really do. I think that college football and in no small, small measure because of the playoff. I think college football has been democratized all around the country and everybody cares about it. And I think the playoff has a lot to do with it. Do you?

[James Carville]

Absolutely. They're going to expand it. And I think the other thing is I actually like the nil and people bitch about it when these kids were making nothing.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. Zero.

[James Carville]

Okay. You know, Cam Newton and just encourage, you know, when you work around. But the thing about LSU single this out is they went all in on the portal transfer. Now we're going to see that only they're in Texas Tech, but they have. They'll probably be starting somebody to point out, I don't know, 15, you know, new starters that haven't played together. And I just wonder if they're going to congel for the first game. But they claim they can. But they always do that. But it's going to. It's going to be fascinating. And we lost that Bryce Underwood who was the number one recruit who's going to start for Michigan as a freshman.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[James Carville]

But you know, it might have helped us because it freed up a lot of money to spend otherwise. But we don't know. That's why you got to play the game. Oh, by the way, one more pick to start the season.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[James Carville]

Take South Carolina in over a number of wins.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Over in wins. What is it? What is the bet?

[James Carville]

I think it's like probably nine.

[Chris Clary]

Okay.

[James Carville]

Got Mark can check it out. But I think South Carolina is going to be better people forget about them. You know, you have Clemson and they're kind of a second thought after George Alabama bell issue Texas, but they're gonna be pretty good.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Do you have picks for us this week? Do you want to make some?

[James Carville]

No, I don't want to pick this week.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[James Carville]

As a pro, I just, I like a little bit of a. A broader schedule. So I'm coming in on week one.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[James Carville]

But by the way, I think I'm almost 60 or more. Come on. For two years up, I believe I'm over 60%.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, you've been the best we've got. Yeah. You've been on fire. And there's no question about it. People refer to you constantly in emails. Constantly. It makes me very happy.

[James Carville]

Don't. It makes me happy too, but don't count on it. We just, you know, we do. We, we doomed for gloom, but we're going to keep firing away.

[Chris Clary]

Oh, yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, we have a disclaimer. Don't blame us if Carville's wrong. Yeah. If you go down the drain, don't blame us. And don't blame him.

[Chris Clary]

All right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's great to talk with you. Thank you, James.

[James Carville]

Hey, all right, Tony, guess one more thing.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[James Carville]

Last night we did a Katrina 20th anniversary.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, okay.

[James Carville]

And that golden Steve Gleason return, you in the booth in the Superdome, of course, that'd be a year from now, but that's one of the greatest moments in sports history, I think.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Absolutely. I've told you this before. I've been to a lot of places. It was a sound unlike any that I have ever heard. That night in New Orleans, it rings in your ears for 20 years. It's absolutely remarkable. Just told him.

[James Carville]

All right, man.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Thanks, James.

[James Carville]

See you next week. Fire at him.

[Tony Kornheiser]

James Carville, boys and girls. We will take a break. We will come back. We're going to talk about tennis with Chris. And you're thinking, wow, did they get Chris Evert? Nah, Chris Clary. But you know, you know, maybe Chris Everett, maybe, who knows? I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Michael Wilbon]

Mint is still $15 a month for premium wireless. And if you haven't made the switch yet, here are 15 reasons why you should. One, it's $15 a month. Two, seriously, it's $15 a month. Three, no big contracts. Four, I use it. Five, my mom uses it. Are you, Are you playing me off? That's what's happening, right? Okay, give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront.

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[Tony Kornheiser]

You by State Farm. Checking off the boxes on your to.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Commercial Announcer]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is Gavin Grimes and he writes. I hope all has been well with you and the team. I appreciate you so much for featuring my song on your podcast a while back. I have a new song I'd like to pitch to you. It's called Woo. It's an uplifting song, has a catchy melody. I'd love if you could potentially feature it on a podcast. If not, I understand. Nah, it's fine. It's fine. It's wonderful to have it. It's wonderful. It's bouncy and it makes us happy. Michael, if people, independent artists like Gavin Grimes want to send in music, how do they do it?

[Michael Wilbon]

Send us your music. Music by emailing it to jingles Tony.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Corniser show.com and Gavin Grimes plays in. Chris Clary, who's our new tennis expert and has been a tennis expert for a long time, has been a great writer. I used to read his stuff in the New York Times. It's been wonderful. I. I wanted to start with this. We're a third of the way through the US Open. Nothing really exceptional has happened. And we could talk about Medvedev, who seems like a psychotic and hasn't won, you know, haven't won anything all year. So I don't, I don't know how big a deal that is. And Witek almost lost and Goff might have lost, but she didn't lose, so. So a third of the way through it. Does anything stand out to you so far? Any trend, any. Anything?

[Chris Clary]

You know, I gotta tell you, Tony, that it feels to me like it's kind of a human condition, like it often is in tennis. Yeah, it's the most interesting thing. And just sort of see people who are battling their doubts and their vulnerability. So there hasn't been a huge upset. You're right. Got close with St. Antek yesterday. Medvedev is not an upset, as you said. But to watch Medvedev, who was, you know, he's a great player, Grand Slam champion, stopped Novak Djokovic's Grand Slam a few years ago in New York and is a great hardcore player. And to see him struggling to that degree, it's just, you can't take your eyes off it, in a way. And then to see Coco Gauff, who in some ways should have felt liberated from winning the French Open, getting that second major and kind of getting that self imposed monkey off her back, she's really struggling, teary, tough with the pressure. Just hired a new coach. You can just see her battle. And yesterday she broke down in the match press conference after she won against Vetic and then was very open about her kind of feeling the pressure and anxiety afterward. And then to see Djokovic, who is already nothing left to prove to anybody but himself at this point, and to see him shouting, yelling at his box, trying to work through his inconsistencies and his vulnerabilities at age 38, hasn't played since Wimbledon, so he knows he's up against it. But kind of just to watch that and see these players try to work mentally through these holes in their games and their psyches is very interesting for me.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So I watched last night, I watched the golf match, and she was greatly helped by the fact that the other woman couldn't serve. I mean, you know, there was one game, she had three double faults in a game, but if you take that away, and Goff service wasn't fabulous, but was significantly better, if you take that away, they're even players that, that could have gone the other way. And I'm not saying that to, to say that golf is overrated. The other woman might have been underrated. I mean, that was, that was a really, it seemed. That was a really good watch, didn't you think?

[Chris Clary]

Yeah, I thought the first round match against Tom Janovic, the Aussie veteran, was also really very watchable. You know, great baseline rallies. And it just shows you, you know, I think the level of the top hundred player in both men's and women's tennis has risen so much. The game has gotten globalized. Knowledge has gotten globalized. You know, these players, all of them can play on a given day. And you know that Kicho's opponent last night, Olympic medalist.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Chris Clary]

Has had some big wins, you know, very top 20 player in the past. So they're not a lot of easy outs. And I mean, the top players know that and it plays, it preys on them. And I think you're right. The line margin of difference is pretty slim.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So what I was thinking about, and you would be able to speak to this far better than I, because I only did it a couple of times, but I, I would imagine that if you look at tennis, that Wimbledon is the tournament that people want to win the most and the US Open is the tournament that people want to win second most, at least in my mind. And they are so different. The look of them is so different. The emphasis in the night matches in the US Open and not Wimbledon, the difference even in the clothing, the difference in the traditions. The US Open tradition, far less goes back, far less than Wimbledon. And I wondered if you are struck the same way at how. How different they are in other sports. The two most important things aren't that different as they are in this.

[Chris Clary]

Yeah, that's one of the great things about tennis, Tony, as you know from following it all these years. And I'd add in the French Open and the clay court swing, which is another very different vibe as well, and very different playing conditions and a very different look on your television screen with that red clay and the way the players move around it. So I think that's one of tennis big strengths. I think they haven't leaned into it maybe enough in the last 10, 20 years by kind of homogenizing a lot of the way the game is played and the types of styles that are played. I mean, there used to be a lot more variety with people tacking the net off their serves, serving, volley, or certain players who had more unorthodox technique. You still see some variety, but it's really much more of the sameness when you watch tournament to tournament. But as you said, the transitions. Think about it. You're on clay all spring, then you suddenly go to grass, which, even though they've changed the way the grass is seeded at Wimbledon and the bounce is a bit higher, it's still a very different playing condition than playing on a. On a clay court or a hard court. Then you come back to the US Open swing, and then you're playing, you know, in hot, muggy conditions a lot of the time. And late nights. Tommy Paul last night, the American won in five sets, you know, well, after 1am which is fortunately or unfortunately very typical for the U.S. open. But I think that's a real good thing about Tennessee in the NFL. You're playing in snow. Sometimes you're playing, you know, in mud, and you're playing on grass, but you're not. You're not playing on these fundamentally different surfaces that way. And I like that. I think that's one of tennis's great attractions.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The biggest difference for me is the fashion, is what the people wear. Because at Wimbledon, you know, you gotta wear white at some form, you gotta have white on. And here, like, I don't know what Y3 is. I see all of these people wearing something that says y. What is Y3? What is that?

[Chris Clary]

You know, I asked myself the same question yesterday, and I actually Google searched it. It's an Adidas sort of niche brand play. So it's. It's with their sponsor. But I agree. I think. I think we're all supposed to be asking that question. That's what they want us to do. Tony, what is Y3? And search and click and buy, please. You know.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chris Clary]

No, but the fashion is different. And Wimbledon, that's, you know, one of the reasons why players don't wear all white anymore around the world, which predominant way of playing tennis 30, 40 years ago, is because the sponsors don't make any money off of that. If it's all white, you know, people don't care. It's all the same. And a lot of it is just another thing I really. I really never have liked that abandoned is when they have two players wearing exactly the same kit and up against each other. And you're watching tv if you don't follow tennis, you don't know who's who, and you're watching people wearing the same clothes play each other across the net. So they got work to do.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right? So to me, the, like, the biggest stunner, to me, I was unprepared for it is in the first day, Alcaraz comes out there and he's in some sort of shade of purple, some sort of. And he's buzzed his head. He's completely buzzed his head. And you go, what. What is this? And apparently that became a big deal among other athletes, saying, what are you doing? What would that. That to me was so far the biggest news at the US Open.

[Chris Clary]

I'm just jealous because it's going to grow back fast for him.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah.

[James Carville]

But no, no, you're right.

[Chris Clary]

I mean, Carlos has got a. Has got a barber thing. He travels with a barber. But this, this was. This is the fault of his brother, his older brother, I guess he was given a little. A little trim before the tournament and went a little too far then they had to correct the mistake. So. But he's. He's rolling with it and he's playing great. And. And, yeah, I think it tells you there hasn't been a big upset when. That's one of the big talking points.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Then the other thing. And I watched this, and I don't know why I was watching, but I did watch, and I will, I hope I pronounce these names correctly. Ostapenko and Townsend. Townsend Wins the match. And then at the net, they're jawing at each other like, this is. If this is hockey, someone's throwing a punch and I go, what was that? Because I didn't see any antagonism while they were playing. And what can you tell me what that was?

[Chris Clary]

Yeah, that's a great thing, actually, because Osapenko's Latvian player won one major. Very, very feisty. Definitely never been afraid to express her emotions. And Taylor Towns is a strong personality too. So he had this sort of clash of personalities in that. But what prompted that, Osiptenko said, was a funny thing, which is that when there's a let court in tennis, when you're playing a rally and the ball trickles over for a winner or it changes the rally, it's kind of reflexive thing for players to hold up the racket or apologize.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, I've seen that a thousand times.

[Chris Clary]

Hardly anybody means that, right? Nobody really means what they do. It's a tradition, it's a routine. And Taylor hit a winner with a cordon that just didn't do it during the match. So that really got Usapenko, for whatever reason that was, that was the main source of the beef. And also the way they warmed up. Taylor starts at the net, gets volleys first before the match. Almost everybody else starts at the baseline. So Ostapenko took umbrage at that. So, you know, these are obviously not earth shaking matters, but they obviously came to a head because Osapenko lost the match disappointed, so got avenged somehow. But it was quite a senior, right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, it was amazing to see. And so she's become sort of in tennis like the baseball police, like the catcher who doesn't like what the guy at bat just did is gonna hound him for a while and also call for the pitcher to throw at him the next time. Because you violated the unwritten rules. That was my sense of it, Chris, that her sense was you violated the unwritten rules of tennis exactly as it.

[Chris Clary]

Was an unwritten rule violation. No, no, no. Fine forthcoming, but definitely. And I think if Ostapeno had won the match, would we have heard about that? Absolutely not.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So does this have any lasting implications? Is this a big deal or is it just gone? Because these are not players, These are not top 10 players.

[Chris Clary]

Well, Taylor Townsend is a sparkling personality and number one in the world is doubles, which is not going to get you a lot of headlines these days, but it's true. So, yeah, I think, you know, it's certainly raised profiles when they play again next time. I've had some issues in the past as well. I just don't think Townsend backs down to anybody. And when somebody challenges her like that, she's not going to just sit there and take it quietly. So, sure, it can surface again. But Taylor's got a, Got a tough draw. I think she's playing next. She's got a. She's got a tough one, definitely. The woman's draw is starting to get pretty, pretty intense. Yeah, she plays Mira Andreeva, the Russian teenager, and that's a, That's a tough, tough match. Andreeva's in great form, has a good chance to go deep in this tournament, so I'm not sure Taylor will be with us in singles much longer.

[Tony Kornheiser]

One of the nice things about watching this on TV is on the right hand side of your screen, they list every match that has happened so far, and every other match has at least one American in it because it's a US National Championships. People I have never heard of, I have never heard of any of them. Which leads me to this question. On the men's side, do you. I can't imagine you give an American a chance here, or do you.

[Chris Clary]

Alcarez, you know, hair or no hair, and Sinner, who's got plenty of it, are both playing so well. It's hard not to see those guys going, going very, very deep. And their draws are good. There are four American men still in the tournament, guys who have been around for a little while now. Taylor Fritz was in the final last year. We've got Tommy Paul, who won that crazy match last night and has been a top 10 player. You got Francis TFO, who always plays his best tennis in the US and at this tournament semifinalists last year. And then you've got Ben Shelton, who is kind of a wild card, huge lucky serve, just won in Canada, the tournament title there. So there are some guys who could be X factors. Are any of them favorites, in my mind, to go all the way and win the title? Absolutely not. But if Alcaraz or center falter and the Americans are going to get some swings with those guys, I think as the draw goes along, you know, it's possible. Not very improbable in my view, but. But it is possible.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't use this word a lot because the career as a sports writer, you realize it's an overrated word. But Ben Shelton has a little bit of charisma to him. He does. He's theatrical. You, right? I mean, he, he. You like him, right?

[Chris Clary]

Yeah, I think both he and Tfo pop off the screen when you watch him play. And I think, you know, TFO has, they're both very expressive. Shelton's a particular, just an explosive athlete.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Chris Clary]

That massive serve and I think at one point in tennis when you had a massive serve, it could get a little dull because the points would end so quickly. But these guys return so well that a lot of Bennett balls come back. But it's, it's a massive thing and the guy just, you know, he just, he's exuberant. He's like, like a big bear out there just roaming around the court and all kinds of things. So I think it's, I, I think you're right. And I think when you listen to him talk after the match, got a lot to say for himself. I actually, I'm old enough to have covered his father.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, okay.

[Chris Clary]

Probably not a good thing.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Chris Clary]

Brian Shelton, who's now his coach, who coached college tennis very effectively and at Florida and a very, very great guy and a really good mentor. Doesn't always work. The father sun combo and tennis. But I think those guys have a chance to make it work. So I think Ben's upside the next two or three years is probably the biggest of all the Americans. Might be a little early for him now, but you can't rule anything out. You get that emotion going. Get the crowd Alcarazzer center, have a little dip. But it's going to be tough.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's a great pleasure to have you on. Have loved your writing forever and ever. Thank you, Chris.

[Chris Clary]

Thank you, Tony. The feeling is mutual.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Chris Clary, boys and girls, we will take a break. We will come back with email and jingle. I am Tony Kornhoff. Labor Day savings are happening right now at the Home Depot. So what are you working on? Prep for fall with our wide selection of cordless power tools that make it easy to clear your lawn starting at $79. And once the leaves are clear, keep your yard looking fresh with colorful mums that bloom all season long. Shop Labor Day Savings now through September 3rd only at the Home Depot. See select stores for details. This episode is brought to you by Amazon. Sometimes the most painful part of getting sick is the getting better part. Waiting on hold for an appointment. Sitting in crowded waiting rooms, standing in line at the pharmacy. That's painful. Amazon One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy remove those painful parts of getting better with things like 24. 7 virtual visits and prescriptions delivered to your door thanks to Amazon Pharmacy and Amazon One Medical Healthcare just got less painful.

[Commercial Announcer]

This is the Tony Kornizer show.

[Mailbag Singer]

Here Comes Tony's mailbag.

[James Carville]

Got your emails, faxes and your notes.

[Mailbag Singer]

Here comes Tony's mailbag.

[Chris Clary]

Gonna be song for all of you folks.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Cane Bay High School.

[Michael Wilbon]

It's back to school.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Time to go to school, kids. It's really good. I love it. Time to go to school. Oh, you want to do the Bethesda bagel ad, please? Yes. Bethesda bagels, we love them. You will as well. Just go to BethesdaBaggles.com forward a location in the DC area nearest you, then pop one in and you'll be thrilled. Excuse me. Before we get to the mailbag, let me just say I'll be alone each and every night while you're away. Don't forget to write. Bye bye, so long farewell. Bye bye so long. See you in September. See you when the summer's through. That is See you in September. It's by the Happenings. That's from the early 60s. Do you have a date on that? I do not, but I remember you told me we talked about this a while ago. That's the early 60s. That was the song that everybody. Everybody at camp. At camp. Everybody.

[Michael Wilbon]

1966.

[Tony Kornheiser]

66. Wow. I thought it was earlier than that. Wow. Okay. Thanks to our guests today, James Carville, Chris Clary, thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple. Spotify ought to see if you get show through Apple. Please leave us a review. So I get this note from Steve Schaefer in Fairfax, which is astonishing. It's an email with an AI rendering of me looking horribly like me at the Palm at Sally's dinner. Wilbon is in the picture looking more like Jim Brown than Wilbon. Sally is in the picture, some other people are in the picture and I'm furtively looking out a door and you can see in the background the Palm has all of the caricatures on the wall, which was not in the room where we were. That's in the main room. We were in the outside room. But it said, Mr. Tony, why did you leave Sally's dinner early? A Wilbon was analyzing the Sacramento Kings NBA off season moves. B, the Palm was out of blt. C, the moon was full and the time was right. D All of the above. All of the above. From J. Divine in Montreal in Quebec and Canada. It's always such a joy to listen to you speak with some of your former colleagues, like Sally Jenkins, about the state of sports journalism and to let us into the gatherings that happen when someone responds, retires or takes the package. I work for a major TV news company in Canada. And our local sports departments were disbanded and shut down long ago. While it's a sad reality of the times, it's very nice to know that for people forego the celebratory corporate cake. Instead, they get together in a bar, break out the scotch toast, and tell stories. I hope Ms. Jenkins will continue to make regular appearances on your podcast. And I want to thank you and Ms. Jenkins for sharing some of the quality stories and experiences you both covered over the past hundred years. Years. Cheers. To the great sports journalism and to Ms. Jenkins on a fabulous career at the Washington Post. Thanks for all the great reading and listening. P.S. my local TV news station recently purchased 13 Subaru Crosstreks that our reporters can drive around the city to report on local stories that are not sports related. I thought of you immediately.

[James Carville]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

13. Yes. Sports journalism is done. Newspapers are done. There was a story I read yesterday. What was the paper? They're shutting it down. They're not going to have newsprint anymore. Oh, it's gonna be online. It was a big one. Yeah. Somewhere. I'm blanking on it, but it was a newspaper that I think. Was it the Atlantic? I can't believe it was the Atlanta Journal Constitution. But it was something pretty big. And they're done. They're done. They've announced it that it'll be over in December. They want to move everybody online. Their circulation is horrifying.

[Michael Wilbon]

It is the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

[Michael Wilbon]

Cease print publication by end of year.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. And that's where Dave Kindred left the Washington Post to go to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Furman Bishop. I mean, it had great sports writing for 100 years. That's done. It's done. I say this all the time to people in moments of reflection. My grandchildren will never understand what I did. They'll see the clips. But newspapers won't have any value in their lives in the way that they had value to my life. And so that's just what's happening. They'll think you're a doctor.

[Chris Clary]

Probably, right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, I don't know about that. But there, you know, when you have this, when you have this, anybody can sit in his basement and go on YouTube and you don't know what his or her credentials are. You don't know. From Ashton Wingate in Queens in New York. Hello, old sport. Listening to the show and heard you were having trouble placing. Ocean View, Delaware. That's where my friend Rachel Dolan's parents live. Hope that helps. That's funny. That's a Dave Carpenter reference. That's funny. We may have a couple of those in a row. Thanks for the laughs and have a nice shirt. John Hilker where is Ocean View, Delaware? It's where my friend Kevin Sonde used to live. I hope this clears things up. Matt Vogel, Coventry, Connecticut A quote from the August 24 mailbag Marsha Thompson, Ocean View, Delaware I don't know where that is. Let me try to help. It's where my college roommate grew up. Time after time after time. Carl Lederman is a doctor the song out of Time was actually written by Jagger Richards and first released by the stones on the UK version of Aftermath in the spring of 1966. The most commercially successful version of the song was a cover version by Chris Farlow and peaked at the UK number one in July. 66. It was produced by Jagger. The PJ Proby version was on his Enigma album from 1967. A shorter Stones version of was released in the US in 1967. Yes, on the Flowers album. A third Stones version was released on Metamorphosis in 1975 and included a Jagger, Vogel and the Chris Farlow orchestration with new backup singers. This version was also released as a single. I'm a longtime listener, originally from Laurelton, New York and went to high school with the Shangri La. Oh my gosh. Wow. Oh my gosh. And previously had several Camp Wayne, Camp Cuoman, Nicks and Valley Stream Wetson's emails read on the air. I'm a retired radiologist living in Alexandria and would be honored to be the show's official retired radiologist, rock and roll historian of the Tony Corner Show. You got it. Carl Lederman. Outstanding. You got it. Dan Hughes Potomac Falls, Virginia I'm amazed at what information I gather from listening to this pod and being part of the community. My boss, a devout golfer, came into my office on Monday after seeing Nate Bargazzi in Baltimore a few nights earlier and told me how funny Nate was, then immediately asked, did Garcia open for him? I then immediately asked, did Garcia open for My boss, said yes, he was funny too. Who is he? Without hesitation I told him Greg Garcia was Nate's caddy. Really? He's pretty good. Might be a good comedian himself, I added no context beyond that. This Garcia kid might make something of himself. I have. I've seen Greg stand up. It's wonderful. It's thrilling. It's absolutely thrilling for me to have seen him do that. Just great. From Chris and afterwards, by the way, and only afterwards does the emcee announce what Greg has done with his this is resume. Yeah. Chris King, Cornwall in Ontario, Canada. Just watch the Wizards get killed by the Raptors in Montreal. I'm pretty sure 9 and 20 is a pipe dream. See attached photo for DC highlights from the game. This is like seeking 1970. What is this? Is this a preseason game? I guess so. I don't know. I didn't know they did that. Wait, I got one more. Two more actually. From. From Matt Bettenbaugh, Mamaroneck, New York. Just wanted to let you know I won the Connecticut State Horseshoe Championship last week. Class D thought you'd like to know. Please tell John Lanza from a Marroneck to eat it. Okay then. Good for Matthew.

[Chris Clary]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Congratulations. And one more from John Fergulay or Fergaly in Boston. Spa, New York Upstate Last week I once again visited Binghamton's beautiful Otsiningo Park. Have you been there? It opened in 1977. No, I haven't been there. To run a 5k and visit some friends. As I drove around the area, I didn't see any billboards or references that said Binghamton University 2025 National Debate Champions. What gives? I also didn't see any signs mentioning the Binghamton University football team. Can you help me out here? There is no university football team. I'm sorry. I wish there were. Not yet. Maybe somewhere down the road. That'd be great. If you're out on your bike tonight, everyone, as always, do wear. What? What's that? Chicken.

[James Carville]

Every night is the dad chicken.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Holy God Almighty. Is it possible just once you get.

[James Carville]

Something to eat for dinner around here?

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's not the chicken?

[James Carville]

Hey, dad.

[Mailbag Singer]

I'm just saying dad passed away six feet under the ground buried in its grave. I thought I saw ghost But I put my past away but it dug out of the ground and it's right back in my face I'm not someone who's looking out for confrontation but in this case I'm understand the situation between the lies and all the crowd cause and all this hatred Life is what you make it can't stress enough to say it ghost But I put my past away six feet under the ground Buried in its grave I thought I saw a ghost But I put my past away but it dug out of the ground and it's right back in my face I'm not someone who's looking out for confrontation but in this case I'm honest in the situation between the lies and all the cries and all this hatred Life is what you make it can't stress enough to say? I thought I saw a ghost But I put my past away? 6ft under the ground, Buried in its grave? I thought I saw a ghost But I put my past away? But it fell out of the ground and it's right back in my face.

[Commercial Announcer]

I.

[Mailbag Singer]

Save it. Conversation. Whoa.