“Tell him it’s the NY Times!”

Summary

Podcast Episode Summary

Podcast: The Tony Kornheiser Show
Episode Title: Tell him it’s the NY Times!
Date: May 13, 2026

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode blends sports analysis and insider storytelling with the show’s trademark blend of humor, nostalgia, and banter. Tony Kornheiser and his regular circle (including Michael Wilbon, Doug Ferguson, Glenn Fosbray, and Ron Flatter) dissect current sports headlines (MLB, NBA, golf), reminisce about career-defining moments, and later, preview the PGA Championship and the Preakness Stakes with expert guests. Side topics include cable TV struggles, the importance of nature, and absurdities in horse racing.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Catch-Up on Recent Sports Events

• Nationals Victory: The Nationals secured an unusual win with Dalen Lyle and Luis Garcia each hitting two home runs.

  • "They haven't had home runs like that all year. They don't hit home runs." — Tony Kornheiser [02:06]

• Wilbon on Baseball’s Magic:

  • Michael Wilbon recounts the generational joy of listening to baseball in the car with his son, paralleling it to his childhood with his dad. [02:10]

• NBA Playoffs:

  • San Antonio Spurs achieved a blowout win, continuing a trend of NBA playoff routs—Wembanyama played crucially after a controversial ejection in the prior game. [03:03–03:21]

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2. Cable, Streaming, and Technology Woes

• Tony and Peacock Streaming Struggles:
  • Tony expresses frustration with complicated streaming services and lack of user support.
  • "I'm paying $327 a month. How come I don't get Peacock?" — Tony Kornheiser [04:09]
  • Michael Wilbon offers to help: "I'll drop them off at the store for you. And get you a new clicker." [03:57]

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3. Storytime: Glenn Fosbray’s Gosling Rescue

• Nature Interlude:
  • Glenn recounts an attempt to rescue a lone gosling at the C&O Canal with the help of strangers. After much effort and even wading into the canal, the gosling sadly didn’t survive.
  • "You did a fine thing." — Tony Kornheiser [09:34]
  • Michael Wilbon draws a parallel to the classic children’s book, Make Way for Ducklings. [09:22]
  • Memorable Moment: Glenn describing residents playing goose sounds on phones to lure the baby [07:36] and feeling bad he "hadn't jumped in sooner." [09:36]

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4. Tony’s New York Times & Sports Monday Anecdote

• Tony tells of the revolutionary launch of the New York Times' "Sports Monday" in 1978, the newspaper’s historic disregard for sports, and executive cluelessness during the Super Bowl.
  • Notable Quote:
    "Tell him it's the New York Times. Oh, that'll work!" — Arthur Gelb via Tony Kornheiser [15:08]
  • Tony underscores the Times’ culture and the resulting success of Sports Monday.
  • "It's a fantastic moment in my life." — Tony Kornheiser [15:07]

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5. PGA Championship Preview with Doug Ferguson

• Early Tee Times:
  • Discussion about challenges of a 6:45 a.m. tee time for top pros like Ben Griffin, with Doug Ferguson and panel marveling at the pre-dawn preparation rituals.
    • "To get ready to play golf on that level has to take at least two hours. It has to." — Tony Kornheiser [20:16]
• Rory McIlroy’s Health:
  • Concern about his foot injury but expectation he will play. [20:53]
• PGA Timing and Venue Shift:
  • Critical debate about moving PGA to May—consensus is the move has devalued the event, making it feel less significant and more compressed.
  • "It feels a little bit more devalued than usual." — Tony Kornheiser [24:02]
• LIVE Golf’s Uncertain Future:
  • Doug speculates about the end of LIV’s viability after investor turmoil, weak TV ratings, and lack of player draw.
    • "How in the world can it move forward? The team thing, no one really latched onto." — Doug Ferguson [28:32]

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6. Horse Racing and the Preakness with Ron Flatter

• Kentucky Derby Fallout & Preakness Woes:
  • Key Derby horses (including the winner, Golden Tempo) are skipping the Preakness, highlighting an ongoing trend (5 out of the last 8 years).
• Triple Crown at a Crossroads:
  • Ron and Tony discuss structural and financial fragmentation in racing, lack of a central authority (unlike other sports), and possible Triple Crown schedule changes.
  • "What's horse racing without the Triple Crown? What is it exactly?" — Tony Kornheiser [37:57]
  • "We may find out soon enough." — Ron Flatter [38:01]
• Industry Fragmentation:
  • Flatter reveals the real power lies with the blue-blooded Jockey Club, not a single national figure, complicating reform efforts. [39:46]
    • "Every state is its own authority in horse racing. There are 30 some states that run their own racing jurisdictions and trying to get them on the same page… nearly impossible." [41:32]
• Venue Issues:
  • Both Preakness and Belmont are being held at alternative, downsized venues because of construction and facility decay, raising questions about the sport’s future visibility. [43:35–44:18]
• Preakness Betting Picks:
  • Flatter likes Incrediboult, Ocelli, and Robusta for long odds.
    • "But it all comes down to my key horse, Incrediboult on Saturday to win the Preakness." — Ron Flatter [46:27]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Streaming Tech Frustrations:

  • "You're making a mistake because I will stick to you like a barnacle on the side of..." — Tony Kornheiser, joking about pestering tech support [04:09]

• On Old-School Newspaper Culture:

  • "They didn't care about the writers in the sports section at all, even though some of them were quite good." — Tony Kornheiser [13:02]

• On Horse Racing’s Future:

  • "It ends up becoming a spending spree that ends up swirling into just political or economic oblivion for everybody…" — Ron Flatter [42:24]

• On saving a gosling:

  • "I have threatened to jump in the canal several times..." — Glenn Fosbray [07:50]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Time | Segment | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:12 | Show begins, sports updates and banter | | 02:10 | Wilbon reflects on multi-generational baseball moments | | 03:31 | Tony’s streaming woes with Peacock | | 05:10 | Glenn Fosbray’s gosling rescue story | | 10:10 | Tony recounts launching the NYT “Sports Monday”; the “Tell him it’s the NY Times!” story | | 19:27 | PGA Championship preview with Doug Ferguson begins | | 21:47 | Discussion: Has the May move devalued the PGA? | | 28:32 | LIV Golf uncertainty and speculation on collapse | | 34:22 | Ron Flatter joins to discuss the Preakness and horse racing’s uncertain future | | 37:57 | “What is horse racing without the Triple Crown?”—philosophy and industry structure | | 43:35 | Venue chaos for the Preakness and Belmont this year | | 45:43 | Flatter's Preakness picks |

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Additional Segments

Listener Mailbag & Show Close

• Classic light-hearted banter, listener notes, Tony’s media advice, and nostalgia (including glory days of Binghamton sports), plus mail confusion and golf talk round out the episode.

Professor Rock Interlude

• Two tracks by UK professor duo "bgh" featured between segments with a nod to their awkward social style, paralleled humorously with Tony’s own.

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Summary

This episode epitomizes the strengths of "The Tony Kornheiser Show": strong sports takes leavened by storytelling and seasoned banter. Sporting events are dissected with both expert insight (from Ferguson and Flatter) and mensch-y humor, whether Tony is grumbling about cable or reminiscing about newspaper days. The broader theme is nostalgia and transition: whether in media, sports scheduling, or the fading rituals of horse racing, the show captures a world changing quickly—occasionally for better, often for worse, and rarely with enough warning for the people in it.

Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we will preview the PGA Championship with Doug Ferguson, and we'll chat with Ron Flatter to see how he thinks the Preakness will play out. But first, commerce.

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[Tony Kornheiser]

Previously on the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Doug Ferguson]

Now, the other side of Bobby.

[Ron Flatter]

The ones that when he went into

[Doug Ferguson]

the hall of Fame, the players talked

[Ron Flatter]

about, you know, he. He never uttered a negative quote about his players. Tony, as you know, he got thrown out of 162 games.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, the most. Most ever. Yeah.

[Ron Flatter]

41 more than any other. Man.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I would have figured Earl. I would have figured Earl had that one locked up, but no. This is General George Washington, and you're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. All right, let me bring people up to date on sports news. Nats won last night. At least they were winning when I said, I'm done. They're winning 72. Did they win?

[Ron Flatter]

Yeah, they.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, they did.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Michael Wilbon]

Big fifth inning for us in the car.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Nats in Cincinnati got home runs. Two home runs each from Dalen Lyle and from Luis Garcia.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yes, two each.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They haven't had home runs like that all year. They don't hit home runs.

[Michael Wilbon]

May I pause for just one moment? What I love about baseball is in the last two weeks, I've been driving a car, listening to the sounds of baseball on the radio, and I look and I see. I see my boy asking me what's going on in the game, what inning? Who's up to bat? And again, I same experience with my dad in the front Seat.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

Where are we resetting? Bases loaded. Bottom of the, you know, bottom of the fourth, they give up one. There's an air. And all of a sudden, Jags and Charlie. Luis Garcia. Home run to open up the top of the fifth. And it was just made me smile driving home.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's great. That's great. I was watching a lot of it. You know, the Nats, they're in. Cincinnati is above.500. The Nats are below.500. That's a good win. It is. That's a very good win. In more Wilbonian sports, San Antonio spurs continued the trend in the NBA playoffs of routes. Just routes. They win by 30. They were at home. Wembanyama was back.

[Michael Wilbon]

He wasn't 18 in the first quarter.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He wasn't suspended and shouldn't be suspended. He was thrown out of game four and they lost. You don't give him another game after that. I mean, he was thrown out in the second quarter. Come on.

[Glenn Fosbray]

126. 97.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So that's 29 points.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So route.

[Michael Wilbon]

Very well rested.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, it's a. It's a route. He's a great player and that's a route. We'll see what happens down the road. But I'm sure if you watch PTI today, we'll do nine stories on it because Mike loves that. That's what we do.

[Doug Ferguson]

All right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

A follow up on a. On Peacock. I wrote to my friend. Friend is probably the wrong word. I wrote to somebody at Peacock who has been kind enough to sort of guide me through my cable situation, even though he always says, get rid of your cable boxes. You're paying $30 a month for nothing. Get rid of them. And I don't even know how to get rid of them. I don't even know what they are.

[Michael Wilbon]

I'll drop them off at the store for you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

And get you a new clicker.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't even know what they are. So, yeah, let's do that. Get rid of them. That's fine.

[Michael Wilbon]

When you deal with like a TV person like this. Is it like when you're dealing with a pilot where you apologize in advance?

[Glenn Fosbray]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I say, thank you for taking my call. You're making a mistake because I will stick to you like a barnacle on the side of. Anyway, he said you. Because I wrote a note that said I couldn't get Peacock. I'm paying $327 a month. How come I don't get Peacock? And he said, you do get Peacock. But it's tricky to sign in well, nobody gives me a primer as to how to sign in. I don't know how to sign in. They cash my check for $327, but nobody writes me a note that says, this is how you sign in. And he said, I. I could get somebody to go through it with you as to how you sign in, but the horse is out of the barn. How many more games are they going to have on Peacock? Although I'd like to know how to get on Peacock.

[Doug Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

If I ever need. I've lost NBA games to peacock. Sure. So I'd like to know. So. But I, you know, and anyway, so I apparently have it. Would you like to tell your goose gosling story to tell the story that you told last night at dinner?

[Glenn Fosbray]

Yes. By the way, it's a very lovely dinner.

[Doug Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Glenn Fosbray]

I know. You were the only one that had the fried chicken.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So it was the first day of fried chicken. Fried chicken night on Tuesdays. I'm the only one who ordered every night chicken.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But not every night again.

[Michael Wilbon]

Tuesdays we got you the fried chicken starter. We had the.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Yeah, that was wings. That was outstanding. Wings were better. The dry wings would put the sauce on them.

[Michael Wilbon]

Get them. They could. So you can sauce yourself.

[Glenn Fosbray]

They were better than them, than the actual fried chicken.

[Michael Wilbon]

And the highlight, we got to see you eat.

[Glenn Fosbray]

I know. Yeah. It's always. It's a rare thing, isn't it?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Tell the story you told.

[Glenn Fosbray]

So I think you. I think folks are pretty well familiar with the fact that I like to. I hike a lot. And at the C and O Canal Trail, the national park there in Great falls. It's about 20 minutes outside of D.C. it's beautiful.

[Michael Wilbon]

It's your peaceful place.

[Glenn Fosbray]

It is. You see all sorts of wildlife. I've seen owls, bald eagles, you know, foxes, like, just runs the gamut. Lots of great birds. And this time of year, you see all the baby ducks and the baby geese, the goslings. And they're adorable.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They're tiny.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Yeah, they're very tiny. They're yellow, you know, they're not quite, you know, yet. The black and white that you see with the adults and they're just adorable.

[Ron Flatter]

And.

[Glenn Fosbray]

And the parents are always very protective of them. There's one in front, one in back. And if you get near them, the geese will hiss at you and sort of snap at you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Which they should.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Which they should. So I'm walking down the canal.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is their world.

[Glenn Fosbray]

It is. And we're just, you know, we're just intruders.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Glenn Fosbray]

So I see A little gosling swimming by himself or herself.

[Tony Kornheiser]

By definition, they're little.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Yes. Yeah. This one was particularly little.

[Doug Ferguson]

Right.

[Glenn Fosbray]

And I thought, well, that's odd, because you never see them without the parents. And I see this other goose swimming towards him, and I thought, oh, well, that must be his. His mum or his dad. But then the big goose gets swimming by. So then I was like, well, this is a problem, because this little fellow will not last the day in this environment.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, he will be an appetizer.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Yes. Snapping turtle, fox, that's great. Blue heron. Something is going to get him, but he's in the middle of the canal and I really don't want to jump in because it's cold water, it might be deep, and I just wasn't what I'd signed up for.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Probably polluted.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Probably polluted as well. So I'm there and all of a sudden another young couple stopped by and they see. They ask what's going on? Explain. They're now there. They're like, we can't leave until we figure this out. So there's three of us. Then another bloke comes by and he says, oh, I was here a couple hours ago, and I've been worrying this whole time if this little guy was okay. So then he stays. So there's four of us there, and we hang out for about an hour and a half trying to lure the gosling over to our side of the canal.

[Tony Kornheiser]

How are you trying to lure it? Were you talking to it? Were you trying to make rational sense out of, hey, little fella, you're gonna die?

[Glenn Fosbray]

I've had such success with ch speaking to her that I thought, well, maybe this will. This will, you know, cross over. But now we even resorted to playing sounds of geese calling their young on her cell phones.

[Michael Wilbon]

Nothing suspicious about that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So.

[Glenn Fosbray]

And finally he sort of comes close to us and we're like, all right, this. This could be it. I have threatened to jump in the. In the canal several times, and then all of a sudden, his. He just sort of wobbles and his head goes first front down into the water, and it's like. He's just, like, collapsed. And so immediately, without thinking, next thing I know, I'm in the middle of the canal.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Did the rescue move that you are instinctively doing?

[Glenn Fosbray]

Yes, it was very cold. It was very deep.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Glenn Fosbray]

But I got to the goose, was able to sort of lift him up out of the water, then handed him off to one of the. One of the two people who were. Three people who were on the shore and then banged my knee ferociously, which will happen. And then we brought him out.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We're gonna try. You have to give the gosling cpr. He didn't have to. He's alive.

[Glenn Fosbray]

No, he's alive.

[Tony Kornheiser]

When you did the handoff.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Yes. And then we. Well, we. We thought we could repatriate him with another goose family. We tried that, but it didn't work. The other geese were like, no, we don't know who this bloke is. So, yeah, moving on. So I told the. The young couple, your car is here, mine's an hour away. Could you please take him to the vet and keep me apprised? And unfortunately he didn't.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Died in transit.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Died in transit, yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Or was eaten or was thrown out the window by these people?

[Glenn Fosbray]

I don't think so.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'm just saying. Yeah, I mean that would. Anyone would investigate all. Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

Was there a picture?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Was there a picture? Well, no, not of the passed away goose. No. But I showed the two of you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So you don't know if he became pate, this couple?

[Glenn Fosbray]

I don't think so. They did not seem to be. It was best is when I.

[Michael Wilbon]

When I hear you tell this story. Do you remember the book, Make Way for Ducklings? Michael the friendly policeman?

[Doug Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

I just imagine you as the policeman making sure.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Well, yeah, you wanted these little friends. They're utterly defenseless. And when you, when you see them,

[Tony Kornheiser]

you did, you did a fine thing.

[Glenn Fosbray]

I tried. I felt. I felt terrible that I had not jumped in the water before that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, now you jumped in and don't do it.

[Michael Wilbon]

Now you understand all the signs that say even very accomplished swimmers can't handle these.

[Glenn Fosbray]

It was very. It went. Got very deep very quickly. Very quickly. Yes. And it was extraordinarily.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You're not walking into the ocean, you're not walking into a pool.

[Glenn Fosbray]

No. And like you, I don't know. What was the swimming test they had at Kiuma?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Pickerel test. I could never pass.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Yeah, I'm. I'm in that category of being a terrible swimmer.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So let me tell another story.

[Michael Wilbon]

I don't swim.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't swim. I stand. I'm a stander, a walker and a standard. I don't.

[Glenn Fosbray]

That's fine.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So I used to work at the New York Times. As people may or may not know, I was sportswriter at the New York Times for a few years in the late 70s. I bring this up because of the passing of Craig Morton yesterday. Craig Morton was a quarterback for the Cowboys. Quarterback for Denver. He was In a few Super Bowls. He had. In his last super bowl, which I think was for Denver, he had a terrible, terrible day, terrible first half. And I remembered that. And I remembered that because of this context, that Super Bowl Sunday In, I believe, 1978, that Super Bowl Sunday was the day before the launch by the New York Times of something called Sports Monday. It was going. The Times came in three or four different sections. It was a broadsheet, and they were going to devote an entire section to sports. This was revolutionary in the newspaper business. For those of you who remember the newspaper business, this was revolutionary because the New York Times thumbed its nose at sports. The New York Times really didn't care about sports. They called it the toy department. They didn't. They didn't care about the writers in the sports section at all, even though some of them were quite good. But on this particular Sunday, Sunday evening, they were going to gather en masse in the sports department and pump out the first edition of Sports Monday, which was eagerly anticipated by everyone in the newspaper business. I was working there at the time, and I was called in to do rewrite in case the stuff that came in wasn't particularly good. There was a thought that I could make it better. There was a thought that Neil Amder, who later became sports editor at the New York Times, could make it better. So we were there for that reason. And that night, the two honchos of the paper, Abe Rosenthal and Arthur Gelb, were in the sports section. They knew nothing about sports. So instead of coming in in a jacket and tie, like everybody did at the New York Times, they came in in jackets and turtlenecks to show they were part of the troops. They were guys. They were guys. They knew, again, nothing. I mean, they couldn't keep a box score. No, they knew absolutely nothing. And so they came in in turtlenecks and cursed a lot because they thought, you know, these sports guys, they understand cursing. They don't understand the king's English, they're too stupid. But they understand cursing. So we'll curse a lot anyway, so this is going on, and Amber and I are laughing and other people are in there sort of laughing, because this is the rare treat of our lives that the big bosses have found. We were on a different floor, by the way. We were on a different floor than the main newsroom. We didn't know how they found where we were because we'd never seen them before. You didn't see them on this floor. I think the main newsroom was three and we were four. Something like that. But we were separated. So Craig Morton is out there playing football and he stinks in the first half. He throws four interceptions in the first half. He's terrible. He's an accomplished quarterback. Something like 4 for 10 for 39 yards and four picks. It's like the worst. And we're all talking about, oh, Craig Morton stinks. What is he doing? Are they going to leave him in there? And this is the chatter among the sports writers. This is the chatter. Well, the two guys, Abe and Arthur, couldn't help but hear and you know, they sort of leaned in and gave that look like he's bad. Oh yeah, he's really bad. Four interceptions. This is really bad. So they decide, well, we should find out why he's bad. We should go interview him. We should interview him. When can we interview him? Is there a halftime? Yes, there's a halftime. Well, let's interview him at the half. And the writer that we have, the New York Times has, is Gordon S. White Jr. Gordy White. He's, you know, he's the college guy, college basketball guy, college football guy and pro football guy. He's a football guy at this point, along with basketball. He's, you know, it's Gordy White. Everybody knows Gordon S. White Jr. And so Arthur calls him because we have phones then. They're not cell phones. Cell phones have not been invented. These are land, these are lines. The phone is attached to something. You have to plug it in. It's a real phone.

[Michael Wilbon]

A tin can. Tin can, yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, it's like a tin can. Yes, it's like a tin can in the sense that there's a wire coming out of it into something else. And you have to talk to someone. And we hear, we hear Arthur say, what do you mean? What do you mean? Because Arthur is saying, go in there and talk to him and find out why he's so bad. And what do you mean? Cuz Gordon is saying, you can't do that.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Not possible.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You can't go into the locker room. And Arthur Gelb finally says, tell him it's the New York Times. It's a fantastic moment in my life. Oh, that'll work. Tell him it's the New York Times. Well, needless to say, you waited till after the game to talk to Craig Morton. But it was a story that made me very happy. And Sports Monday came out and it was a huge success, big hit. And you know, and I was there for it and always felt really good about that. We will take a break. Doug Ferguson.

[Glenn Fosbray]

That's right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Doug Ferguson is at the PGA at Iranom Inc. Outside of Philadelphia. Doug Ferguson of the AP will join us when we return. I'm Tony Kornheiser. This is the Tony Kornheiser show. Right now, new FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get 150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. That's right, turn 5 bucks into 150 in bonus bets just for getting started and when every possession matters in the playoffs, FanDuel makes it easier to get closer to the action. From player props on your favorite stars to all the tools you need to back them up, FanDuel puts player research right at your fingertips so you can check stats, trends and matchups all in one place and make your picks with confidence. It's everything you need all in one app, so don't miss your shot. Head to FanDuel.com podcast to get started. FanDuel play your game. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. This episode of the Tony Kornheiser show is brought to you by Wild Grain. Wild Grain is the first baked from frozen subscription box for sourdough breads, artisanal pastries, pastries, not pastries, pastries, Tony and fresh pastas. Unlike many store bought options, Wild Grain uses simple ingredients you can pronounce and a slow fermentation process that can be easier on your belly and richer in nutrients and antioxidants. And everything bakes straight from frozen in 25 minutes or less. No thawing required. The boxes are fully customizable. I love that word customizable. When I was a kid we didn't have that word. There's a variety box plus gluten free vegan and a brand new protein box. Imagine having fresh bakery quality breads, pastries and pasta at home without any trips to the store. And don't just take my word for it. They have over 40,000 five star reviews and they've been voted Best food subscription box by USA Today for three years in a row. For a limited time, Wild Grain is offering our listeners $30 off your first box plus free croissants for life. Rob Stronach signed up immediately. Free Croissants for life when you go to wildgrain.comtonyk to start your subscription today. That's $30 off your first box and free croissants for life when you visit wild grain.comtonyk or you can use promo code Tony K at checkout. This stuff's good. I've had this. This stuff's good. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show. This is a group called bgh. Those are the initials. I have no idea what it stands for. This is a song called the 80s. And we get this letter from Marco Frank in St. Albans, England. Not St. Albans, around the corner. St. Albans, England. Can I introduce my great buddy Glenn Fosbray, who is an author and associate dean at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Winchester in England and like you, an expert on music lyrics under the band name bgh. He and Daniel Ash, a visiting lecturer on the university's composing song lyrics module, have released an album. We're too awkward to say hello. The bio states BGH are a Winchester based power pop group duo made up of lecturers and self confessed song geeks Daniel Ash and Glenn Fosbray. Putting melody and lyrics front and center, their songs fuse classic songwriting with the desire to leave social engagements at the earliest possible opportunity. Much like my life, this plays in Doug Ferguson. And this segment with Doug Ferguson is brought to you by FanDuel. Play youy Game. So I'll get to a whole lot of questions, but Michael and I, just. About an hour ago, we're going over the tee times of the PGA at Ironmank, which begins tomorrow, and we saw a 6:45am tee time that had Ben Griffin, who's won tournaments. Like, he's not some stiff. That's the kid from North Carolina. Right. He's won one or two tournaments. 6:45. Doug, that's. So when do you have to get up?

[Michael Wilbon]

And the other. Fitzpatrick.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, and. Yeah, and Alex Fitzpatrick.

[Ron Flatter]

Exactly.

[Doug Ferguson]

Don't forget Alex.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. When do you have to get up to be conscious and ready to limber and ready to play at 6:45?

[Doug Ferguson]

Well, it could be. It could be better. It could be seven. It is 15 minutes earlier, but we think the same way. Tony, I got the. I got the T shirt yesterday and I was like, holy cow. Ben Griffin, a guy who played in the Ryder cup last year, won three times last year, got married. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but. But yeah, he's a, he's a proper player and he's teeing off with Alex and the club pro. Club pro is local, by the way. And Braden Shattuck, not only is he the local club pro, he's also sticking with his Wednesday women's clinic. He's at his club teaching this morning and then he's off with Ben and Alex tomorrow, which is kind of cool.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, it's just so incredibly early. I mean, to get ready to play golf on that level has to take at least two hours. It has to.

[Doug Ferguson]

Yes. You know, I talked to Rory and a bunch of other people about the kind of the. Where we are with fitness these days, how it's changed. And all of them, to a man, are getting here an hour earlier than they used to. It's at least two hours of stretching and activating and all that stuff that we never do.

[Tony Kornheiser]

6:45. You gotta be up at 3. Honest to God, you gotta be up at 3 in the morning to start getting ready for that. By the way, Rory, how's his little toe? Is everything okay?

[Doug Ferguson]

We haven't seen him today, but I gotta think there's gonna be some discomfort walking. This isn't Best Page. It's not the hardest course to walk, but no one wants to be uncomfortable when they're playing a major. And I think there's going to be some. Some discomfort.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You think it's possible he drops out?

[Ron Flatter]

No.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Doug Ferguson]

I'd be shocked if he dropped out. I mean, anything's possible, I guess, but I'd be really surprised.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Michael and I were talking about this the other day, and you're a golf expert. We will ask you about this. The PGA was moved to May a few years back so that you would have the Masters in April, the PGA in May, the US Open in June, the British Open in July, and you could get out with the Tour Championship before the NFL crushed your bones, as they do on Sundays. And so how is it working out, the pga, which was the least of the majors to begin with? Michael, you're of the opinion that it. That this is not great, having it in May, right?

[Michael Wilbon]

Correct.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. What do you think, though?

[Michael Wilbon]

You haven't had a chance to open up the Southwest or the South, Southeast because you still had tournaments on schedule and were working.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. What do you think?

[Doug Ferguson]

I'm kind of with you. But then, believe it or not, Tony, yesterday I was thinking about it, and I'm still TBD on this one. I want to give it a couple more years. August wasn't. Wasn't great, but there was something final about Glory's last shot that was kind of cool.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes,

[Ron Flatter]

May.

[Doug Ferguson]

You know, the one thing that's odd is we always talked about if it moved to May, but open up Florida until we realized there's no real courses in Florida that you can have a major. The only one that really works from an infrastructure and everything else is Doral, and no one's going there, so.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Doug Ferguson]

And when they did go this year. Nobody showed up. We're going to get Frisco, Texas, next year, which nobody is looking forward to. And yet we talked about some of the northern courses that were already on the rotation, but they've added Bethpage again, They've added Oak Hill again. Rolling the dice up in Rochester.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oak Hill in May. It could. Look. I went to college there in Binghamton. It could snow. It could snow in Oak Hill. It's like. It's same thing if you put it in Minnesota. A couple of really good courses in Minnesota. It could snow in May. Yes.

[Doug Ferguson]

Yeah. Well, I'm trying to think of. It did last time. I know. It was white on the ground on Monday at Oak hill back in 23, I think that was a heavy layer of frost, ice, whatever, whatever you guys call it up there. Yeah. Best page you remember was probably. I don't know, it was 45 degrees in the morning and most of the day on Monday and Tuesday, and then it warmed up. And I think that's going to be the case this week as well. It was. It was pretty frosty on Monday, and it's progressively getting better. I don't know. I always liked August. I always liked the, you know, for a major that, you know, as Michael says, the least of it, I think. I think the definition there is. It's the one that really doesn't have much of an identity.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Doug Ferguson]

And it always had that identity of being, this is your last chance, boys.

[Tony Kornheiser]

If Nance came up with that by himself, or if someone gave it to him, somebody should get a lot of credit for that, because the identity of the PGA became glory's last shot. And you can't say that. Can't say that in May. So I think. And I'm. I understand what you're saying. It's TBD with you, but it feels a little bit more devalued than usual.

[Ron Flatter]

A little bit.

[Doug Ferguson]

And I'll tell you why that is, in my opinion, Tony, is that. Is that we don't have a chance to breathe after Augusta. You always had a good six to seven weeks. I'd have to look at a calendar, but something like that before we've got the US Open and then we head over to the British, and then it's a, you know, then it's a sprint to the. To the end of the summer. But it just feels like we were all together back in Augusta. You just never had a chance to, you know, exhale a little bit. I think that's what happened with Rory last year, frankly, you know, when he finally reached his career dream of getting the grand flam and getting the green jacket, and all of a sudden he's got another major. And I think it was a lot for him handling it better this year, except for his pinky toe. But. But throw in also the signature events. I mean, if you look at the schedule this year, which is just stupid, you went from, from Augusta to a signature event. You had a week off for New Orleans for the team thing, and then you're at another signature event at Doral and another one at Quail Hollow. And here we are at the PGA strongest field. We've had a bunch of strong stuff this year. Yeah, there's a, there's kind of a repetitiveness to it that makes it hard for anything, any good storylines to really develop.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Iran, I mean, has hosted before. They've hosted majors before. Right. This is a course that people like and respect. Yes.

[Doug Ferguson]

Yeah, they hosted one. It was the PGA, the Gary Player one at 62. So it's been a while. They actually, and I didn't realize this till this year, but they were supposed to host the one that, that Zinger won at Inverness in 93. But that was right after Soul Creek. And clubs were required to have a diverse membership and they had a seven year waiting list and couldn't get it done. So they took themselves off the off the list and went to Inverness. But Aronomy has had, you know, it had the Tigers tournament. That was a Congressional. When it was getting ready for the Open in 11. It came over to Ronaming for two years. The BMW here was an 18. They had a women's PGA here and they had a US Amateur one by John Fodd. I forgot what year it was. It's had some stuff, but I still.

[Ron Flatter]

It's a great club.

[Doug Ferguson]

It's an old Ross course that Gil Hansen, Jim Wagner tried to restore and took out a bunch of trees and, and all that good stuff. But you still can't get around the idea that when you're in Philadelphia, it's all about Marion. When you think Philly and major championship golf, you think of Marion. It's like, it's like the one year. Where do they play it? At the. I can't. I can't remember. The Potomac Farms when they had Tigers event there and you had to drive past Congressional to get there.

[Michael Wilbon]

It's the old Davis Lovecraft PGA at

[Doug Ferguson]

Harding park and you're on the 14th fairway and you're looking down across the Olympic. Why aren't we there?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, no, no, I. I completely got. Philadelphia has some beautiful courses. I mean, if you extend it out to Pine Valley, obviously, I mean, they're not going to host anything of this nature.

[Michael Wilbon]

Right. But you think about the signature event last year at Philly Cricket. That was so successful.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Cricket was. Yeah, that's what. That's where that was your home course, Philly Cricket. I wanted to ask this. Last week, this made me laugh because Rory is in the plug for it. Rory is saying how much he likes Quail Hollow, and everybody likes Quail Hollow, and he didn't even show up for it last week. Nobody showed up for Quail Hollow and the Truist, and I paid attention, cuz I bank at Truist, and I don't really think that they should be sponsoring golf tournaments. This could be my money going into there. But nobody, Doug, nobody showed up. What did you make of that?

[Doug Ferguson]

Showed up? What do you mean, showed up?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I mean played, didn't play.

[Doug Ferguson]

Scheffler never plays because he's got Dallas. In other words, right after. Right after this week is Nelson, and then Colonial and then Memorial, and he just can't do them all.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Doug Ferguson]

But I think that's a product of, you know, guys, a couple years ago, when they were talking about all the best playing together, and we got to, you know, originally they had to commit to playing in, like, all of them. And now Rory's already missed two. Scotty missed the one last week.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Doug Ferguson]

And, you know, boy, when do you turn down a $20 million purse when you got one the next week? They've got to figure that out.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Again, I say this all the time, and I. And I acknowledge that Phil Mickelson has completely tubed his own career. He could have been the greatest TV guy of all time, but everything he said was right. He said, there's money, you'll see there's money, and there's all kinds of money which gets us to live. They have pulled the plug. I don't really understand if you pull the plug, why you're going to go to the rest of the year, but I guess they're looking for investors. What is the state of this now? What are your thoughts about whether there will be a live tour ever again?

[Doug Ferguson]

I think, and that's all any of us can do right now is just speculate. I think they're going to at least try and hang on for one more year, fewer tournaments, smaller purses, try to get some investment. But, you know, the whole idea of getting anyone to play live was giving them a bunch of money. They didn't deserve. And they don't have that money anymore. So how in the world can it move forward? The team thing, no one really latched onto. And I think they're going to try and build around that. But I think in pride alone and maybe some reserves they have by getting paid the rest of the year. I think they'll try and hang on for one more year. I just don't see anything. Anything after that.

[Ron Flatter]

I'm not very few.

[Doug Ferguson]

And domestically, too, Tommy, I don't, you know.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, I'm not an investment guy. I don't understand money. But why would I put money in that, Right? It has publicly failed. The big money is gone. Why would I put. Why would I invest any money in that thing? Right. Why?

[Doug Ferguson]

Yeah, they talk about how revenue is up 100 million from last year. They just don't talk about profit and loss and operating costs and all that stuff.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's weird.

[Doug Ferguson]

It's a lot of smoke and mirrors right now. And I think, you know, I think people see the writing on the wall. So last week, Dustin's one who just signed, I think last year. He, like, renewed his contract. Bryson hasn't done his yet. And that's a big one. You lose Bryson and you've got nothing left. But. But really, Rom, there's some nice players over there, but no one anyone cares about.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's. So they were in Virginia last week at the Trump Course and there were no shorts. They weren't wearing shorts and they weren't playing 54. And I don't know if there was any music I like. And. But they had these dopey teams that, as you say, nobody is responding to whatsoever. It just. It just doesn't. Other than the fact that they paid people a tremendous amount of money, I don't really know what the public response is. Television ratings for that are terrible, right? They're terrible.

[Doug Ferguson]

Yeah. They're barely a. Barely a blip. And that's not going to change either. Maybe we're being optimistic that they have one more year. There was. There was a lot of obits written about it in the last couple of weeks. And obits are always premature, but it sure looks that way.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It gets me to this question that, you know, you expect and everyone has to ask, which is the reentry policy. There's nothing official yet. What is your sense as to, will these guys, other than DeChambeau and Rahm and Terrell Hatton and people like that, who can win, Will these guys en masse, be welcomed back to the PGA Tour or Will they be put in exile for a while?

[Doug Ferguson]

I think, you know, I think Brooks was pretty well welcomed back as a, as a standalone and he left. He ended his contract and came over. Now it's a different scenario. I don't know what they're going to do. Bryson seems to think that the Tour needs Bryson more than he needs the Tour tour. I think he's in for a rude awakening. Do they need Bryson? Would they love Bryson? Sure. Who wouldn't? Do they need him? I'm not so sure. It was fascinating listening to some of his comments last week that the tour should realize what I can do for him. And the same guy said that we need to leave our egos at the door. I thought that was kind of funny.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Doug Ferguson]

I've always thought, Tony, that whatever status they had and there's going to be some punishment whether it's maybe a year off from getting, you know, bonus money or not having any equity shares for five years like they did for Brooks. But you know, Dustin Johnson not maybe the best example because he is getting of age. He's a lifetime member having won 20 times. And so would he have that status? Probably Bryson and Rahm with their, with their majors and the five year exemption that comes with it. But you take a guy like Carol Hatton, take a guy like Joaquin Neiman, what status do they have? I think they try and Monday qualify or maybe spend a year on the corn ferry. Maybe that is the punishment. And if they did that, if that's even the case, then I think they would get a little bit of welcoming and respect from guys because they put the work in.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Makes sense. Makes sense. Doug, enjoy yourself. Thanks for being on as always. Thank you.

[Doug Ferguson]

Thanks, Tony.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Doug for Ferguson. This segment with Doug Ferguson has been brought to you by FanDuel. Play your game. Ron Flatter, who we had dinner with last night from Horse Racing Nation.

[Ron Flatter]

Right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Isn't that where he works? Horse Racing Nation? I believe so. Will join us when we come back. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

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[Tony Kornheiser]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Commercial Announcer]

The Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Once again, this is a group from England called bgh. It's just two guys. And they're professors. Yes, they're professors. This is called. Can I say something to you, Michael? If people who are professors want to send us their original music, how do they do it?

[Michael Wilbon]

Send us music by emailing it to [e-mail] and dad and I went outside to check the tomato plants. Everything's looking healthy.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But how are the potatoes?

[Michael Wilbon]

Potatoes in the process have not been to the grocery store in a few days. Trying to, you know.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But we're gonna get them in by the end of next week.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yes. And again, as you for all your planting needs, go check out Johnny Otk plan.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right.

[Michael Wilbon]

Graduation season.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, Ron Flatter joins us. We had dinner last night together, the four of us. It was a lovely time. He's in for the Preakness, which is not at Pimlico, which is at Laurel, which we're going to ask about, because apparently the grandstand at Laurel is like you and four other guys. There's no room there. But let's start with this. Everybody loved Further Ado last week or two weeks ago. Everybody loved the horse. The horse did not win. What happened Further Ado?

[Ron Flatter]

Problem is the Kentucky Derby is a mile and a quarter. He looked like a horse who could go a mile and an eight. And that was what you have happen an awful lot of times with Kentucky Derby horses. That extra furlong that they've never gone before, that ends up being where the rubber meets the road. And in his case, it didn't. And that was what happened. He just gassed out and also maybe just how much work he had to do leading up to the race and that was that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So, so the three year olds, that's the first time they're going a mile and a quarter. There's no other prep a mile and a quarter.

[Ron Flatter]

That's part of the, that's part of the build for it. That's part of the challenge. They do that on purpose. They don't want the three year olds to do a mile and a quarter before they get to the Kentucky Derby. Most of them prep a mile and an eighth. Some of them who go through Louisiana go a mile and 3:16. And that's, that's kind of Howard Golden Tempo, in fact went a mile and 3:16 last race before he went to win in the Kentucky Derby. So that's, that's just kind of how the, that's the magic of it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, you mentioned Golden Tempo. He is not running in this race. This is the second year in a row that a Derby winner is skipping the Preakness. Fifth out of the last eight. We will get to that. Larger issue, but the smaller issue, why exactly is in Golden Tempo?

[Doug Ferguson]

Here he.

[Ron Flatter]

Well, what we were told was that it was a rigorous campaign to get to and win the Kentucky Derby. And they felt like he wasn't a horse who could come back successfully in two weeks. It's the same thing. I mean, I, I pointed out in a, in something I wrote a couple weeks ago that when you hear this story, that it's almost like there's a boilerplate message that's put out by the trainers who used the same language, talking about how it was a tough campaign and this was our big goal. And we'll see you at the Belmont. And God bless everybody in the Preakness. And it's almost like you can fill in the name of the horse Sovereignty. Last year, rich strike 20, 22. Now golden tempo. So that's what you often hear. He seems fit. He's supposed to be lining up in the Belmont. They just decided two weeks was too quick.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Do you think if there was a four week interval, do you think Golden Tempo would be in the Preakness?

[Ron Flatter]

Yes, absolutely I do. Three weeks. I don't know. And I'll give you one other angle on this, too. This is a $2 million race. The Preakness. The Derby's what, 5 million? The Belmont is 2 million. But it's five weeks after the Derby. So when you add all this up, factor for inflation. Do you remember Bob Baffert had a horse called Silver charm back almost 30 years ago?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I do.

[Ron Flatter]

If you factor for inflation, the Preakness is worth the same now as it was then. So, you know, go back to the old, oh, my phrase you want to, you know, the answer to all your questions is money. That's also a part of this.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So it's, it's two in a row. It's five out of eight where the Derby winners has skipped the Preakness. Those of us who are laymen and all we know is the Triple Crown. We're not getting an opportunity with a Triple Crown.

[Ron Flatter]

Right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

What's horse racing without the Triple Crown? What is it exactly?

[Ron Flatter]

We may find out. We may find out soon enough. I mean, it's, it's one of these, these things that you have come along in sports, I guess, every now and again. I mean, what's the Tour de France now? Right. I mean, do we even pay attention to it anymore? What's the heavyweight boxing championship? These things are almost like empty chalices and.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Ron Flatter]

And I really struggle to figure out what's going to be next. Our friend Brent Musburger and I were talking about this and he likes the idea. And part of it's the old Wayne Lucas idea that you have the Triple Crown races once a month, that you have won the first Saturday in May and then the Preakness, first Saturday in June and run the Belmont on July 4th. Brent would say throw in the Travers in August and make it a grand slam and create something new. So I think we're going to find out, though what we're going to find out, either with the spacing of the Preakness or trainers continuing to ignore it, what we're going to be in horse racing without the old traditional Triple Crown.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So this, of course, when change is needed in other sports, there is a commissioner, there is Roger Goodell, the most powerful person in sports because he runs the NFL. There's Rob Manfred, there's Gary Bettman, you know, there's Adam Silver. You can identify who's running something and you can go to him and say, this is what we need to do. Is there anyone that runs horse racing? And in the absence of someone like that, no czar. Is there someone who you think is the most powerful person in horse racing?

[Ron Flatter]

I would say it's somebody you've never heard of. As I was thinking about this when we were talking about this at dinner last night, I gave you two names. I'm going to mention neither of those now.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Ron Flatter]

I was thinking about this overnight. Everett Dobson. You ever heard of Everett Dobson? I have not, no. Everett Dobson is the head of the Jockey Club. He just took it over. And it's one of these very blue blooded things where it almost as if, you know, it's almost Elizabeth handing it to Charles, it is that blue blooded. But they hold an awful lot of influence to the point that they are the centerpiece of criticism whenever things like this come along, things like the spacing of the Triple Crown, the foal crop, which is eroded now, thoroughbreds, they're only about half as many thoroughbreds as there were even 20 years ago. And you see horse races with only four or five horses instead of nine or 10, that's a direct response to the full crop being smaller. The Jockey Club is pointed out in that respect. Whenever there's a drug issue, while we have federal authority now that regulates the medication of horses. The Jockey Club was a driving force behind that politically. So I'm going to give you the name Everett Dobson. And the problem is, though, that it's not like Roger Goodell, it's not like Adam Silver, where they can come in and iron fist their way through this because of just. It's so splintered. Every state is its own authority in horse racing. There are 30 some states that run their own racing jurisdictions and trying to get them on the same page, along with the big racetracks owned by Churchill Downs and the Strawn Act Group, which seems to be getting out of the sport, and the New York Racing association, which is fully invested in it, trying to get them on the same page is nearly impossible.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So, I mean, someone like me, a layman, would say, well, this should be easy. You just go to the Preakness and you say, you know, wait two more weeks and you just go to the Belmont and you say, okay, we're going to do it at, you know, in June. We're going to just change the calendar a little bit to July, maybe July 4th. But Belmont could say, stick it. We're not doing that. We're not. We like exactly where it is. Right. They. There's no. There's nobody who has. Can get everybody in the room and hammer it out.

[Ron Flatter]

Right, Correct. And what you just described is very similar to the tenor. We are hearing that maybe the Belmont will say, okay, you can run your Preakness the week before the Belmont or two weeks before the Belmont. We'll just throw another couple million at the Belmont. We'll see who shows up for what.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Ron Flatter]

And it ends up becoming a spending spree that ends up swirling into just political or economic oblivion for everybody. But that's been described. So maybe you get the TV networks to influence this. Well, NBC's deal with the Preakness runs out after this year. And so with Churchill down spending $85 million to invest in the Preakness in whatever way that actually means, the big expectation is that NBC is the popular favorite to keep the rights of the Preakness.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, they have lovely shows. The shows are great. They are. The horse races, they're great.

[Ron Flatter]

But Fox will do a good job with the Belmont Stakes. But it's Fox. And so you're going to think. You think NBC and Fox are going to get on the same page? I don't think so. So that just makes it. That just stirs the cauldron even more.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The other thing that, I mean, and you'd have to care about this to know it for years and years and years and Years, of course, the Kentucky Derby is run at Churchill Downs, and the Preakness is run at Pimlico, and the Belmont is run at Belmont Park. Except this year, two of them are run somewhere else. The Belmont's run upstate New York and Saratoga, which is not, I don't think, a mile and a half track.

[Ron Flatter]

Correct.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And this, the Preakness, is at Laurel, where you told me last night there's only room for 4800 people to watch.

[Ron Flatter]

Right. Because so many parts of the grandstand here have eroded. This thing is going to be turned, as at least the current plan is to turn this into a training facility for a rebuilt Pimlico. Now, the state government hit the brakes on that last week, I think, in part because they see $85 million coming in from Churchill down, so they want to see if they can sniff and get more there. That's me saying that, not anybody with who's official. So we're Laurel. Yeah. 4800 people, not 48,000. I didn't say that wrong.

[Tony Kornheiser]

4800.

[Doug Ferguson]

Come on.

[Ron Flatter]

Taylor Swift's wedding is going to get more than that. Right. So, I mean, honestly. So, yeah, it's. It's going to fade out with the old owners of this track, Stranak Group, who also owns Santa Anita, who also own Gulfstream Park. The big story is that the expectation is they are trying to get out of racing in the worst way. Well, they're. They're kind of doing it. It's almost like that scene in Major League where the. The owner wants to devalue the franchise so much so she can move it to Miami. I just feel like that's what's going on here with the Preakness. Although you have a new Maryland Jockey Club, which is a function of the government, which is going to take it over with Churchill Downs and their money. And we'll see where this goes next year, supposedly to the new Pimlico, where construction has been trickling along. And we're supposed to be back there next year. I'll believe that when I see it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, the Purple Line was supposed to start five years ago.

[Ron Flatter]

And the Belmont. The Belmont will be back at Belmont next year. That. That thing's almost done, and they're going to christen that this fall. So this. That's pretty much ready to go right now. And it's a downsized grandstand, but they'll. It'll be back to a mile and a half next year for the Belmont, so we'll start to see some normalcy at that point.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Good. All right. Hardly anybody who ran in the Derby is running in the Preakness. I have no idea who these horses are. Who do you like?

[Ron Flatter]

Who you betting on there? Actually, there are three horses in it and I'm pretty much liking the Derby horses. Incrediboult, who, by the way was, you know, Bill Mott, decided he wasn't going to send Sovereignty last year to the Preakness. His son Riley trains Incredibolt, who finished sixth in the Kentucky Derby. He's a come from behind horse in a field full of a lot of speed horses. So he was an 11th hour entry and I actually like him to win the race. And I think Ocelli, who came from the clouds, is 70 to 1 to finish third, still a maiden. I think he can hit the board. And Robusta, who finished 16th, I think actually could win this at a big price, but I'm just going to include him on my tickets. But it all comes down to Mikey horse Incredibolt on Saturday to win the Preakness.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Thank you, Ron. Great to see you last night. Enjoy this.

[Ron Flatter]

It was fantastic. Thanks very much for that and look forward to, hey, wait till next year, right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's what they say, Ron. Flatter. Boys and girls, we will take a break. We will come back with email and jingle. I'm Tony Kornheiser. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Mailbag Reader]

Here comes Tony's mail bag.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Got your email, faxes and your notes.

[Mailbag Reader]

Here comes Tony's mail bag. Going to read some for all you folks. Hey, Tony, come on, come on. Hey, Tony.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Read that mail now, baby. Love that.

[Michael Wilbon]

Just blush every time.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Just love that. You want to do the Bethesda Bagel ad for.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Yes, Bethesda Bagels. We love them. You will as well. Just go to Bethesda Bagels.com for the location in the DC area nearest you. Then pop on in and you'll be thrilled.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Before we get to the mailbag, let me just say while my temperature's rising, my feet on the floor, Crazy people knocking because they're wanting some more. Let me in, baby. I don't know what you got but you better take it easy because this place is hot now. So glad we made it. So glad we made it. You got to give me some love. That is the birthday board from yesterday. Stevie Winwood.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

When he was fronting the Spencer Davis

[Glenn Fosbray]

Group at the age of like 5.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Genius. Just. He's just so great.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's at Wolf Trap. If.

[Michael Wilbon]

Let's go.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'd like to go see. He's playing with John Fogerty, who was.

[Doug Ferguson]

Okay.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I mean, I don't love John Fogerty, but he's fine.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Yeah, sure.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's good. And so I would like to see them, but it's so impossible to get in and get out. Yeah, I need someone to arrange for transportation.

[Michael Wilbon]

So you need me to drive you?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I need. No, I need. I need. We got to be able to get in and not be on a line for an hour and a half.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Yeah, you need special access.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I need somebody who works at Wolf Track.

[Michael Wilbon]

You gotta like lot of time. This is gonna be next September.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This not next. It's this September.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, this. Well, okay.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah. I want to go. I would. Stevie Wynwood. I want to go.

[Doug Ferguson]

All right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Thanks to our guests today, Doug Ferguson and Ron Flatter. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify and Oughtysee. If you get show through Apple, please leave us a review.

[Michael Wilbon]

Do you remember after concerts we used to take monument tours in the summer? That's such a good memory.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. Well, in those days I was not old and I was not disinterested in everything. I actually had interests. I didn't get to this earlier on. This is from Chad. This is a haiku for the Hantavirus cruise ship. Come for the adventure, but stay for the rat feces. Petri of the Seas from Paul Ross. This is so nice. This is your favorite and possibly annoying retired podiatrist. Please accept this as my renewed offer to both of you to come over to TPC Potomac and allow me to host you guys for a round of golf. The turkey and bacon club sandwich is pretty good too. Michael, you can play from the tips. Tony and I move up play from more age appropriate tee box. We can also see if Finn is available to Chin can join you on the tips. Finn is a fine guy.

[Michael Wilbon]

I'm not going back to the tips.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, give us some serious thought. It'd be a true pleasure to make this happen.

[Michael Wilbon]

Shout out to a friend of ours, Travis Russell, who got a hole in one, his first on a par three the other day at GPC Patoma.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Is that right?

[Glenn Fosbray]

Well done.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I never had one though.

[Glenn Fosbray]

No, not yet.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I've been within three or four feet, but never anything like really close.

[Michael Wilbon]

I have one myself.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, you did. Doug here from Toronto. Here's a quote from a Washington post piece by Mr. Tony from Lillehammer in a column called Stepping on Ceremony. Norwegian folk costumes differ for the married and unmarried and this is most clearly seen. I am quoting here from a press guide in the women's headgear. I guess it's a bad sign if your blind date comes to the door wearing a moose head. My own folk costume was made by Eddie Bauer and consists of more layers than a wedding cake. The writing we loved when Dr. Hofwaff's fingers still type. Love the show half from the beginning so I never said I bought it there right? If it came from Eddie Bauer, yes, from the start I Does Eddie Bauer

[Glenn Fosbray]

have an outlet in Lillehammer?

[Tony Kornheiser]

From Justin no, I don't think so. Justin again from Rochester Sorry to have kicked off the Lillehammer jacket controversy that has been rankling littles around the world world these past few weeks. Relatedly, I have exciting news that might be able to resolve the matter. While looking through my late grandfather's on my father's side belongings, I found a second Lillehammer jacket that my father must have purchased for his dad in addition to the one that he got for his father in law. Not finding myself in need of two Lillehammer jackets and realizing now that you are in need of a first, I'm offering to send you one of the jackets to any address that you provide so that we can end this controversy once and for all. Thanks for providing endless fodder for the golf club loving women with whom I am soon to be related by marriage and me on the intricacies of your own mediocrity and our offer on an upstate New York round of golf. And now actually matching Lilly Hammer jackets still stands from Justin Grossman. That's very, very nice.

[Doug Ferguson]

Very nice.

[Michael Wilbon]

You have to earn it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

From Chris Ban Sells in Forest Hill, Maryland. You taught me a lot over the years. How to work a deal at the outlets, what kind of pen I need to make it in this world, what sort of things not to invest in in. But nothing has been as useful as your customer service playbook. Last week, just a day or two after you started talking about AT&T, I received a bill with a similarly raised rate. My bill for three phone lines went up by about $12. Did I panic? No. Did I pick up my now more expensive phone and scream representative at it Until I got a real live person? You bet. As a matter of fact, I followed the exact same steps that you described during last week's show. Within a half hour they were able to magically return my bill to where it started. Information for life indeed.

[Glenn Fosbray]

Well done.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Good. Tom Kicklack Fayetteville, Arkansas Dear sir, writing checks to pay bills on 5 11. What could be better? Thank you for just one of the many uplifting moments you and yours bring to my days. Yes, I've had the pleasure of reading Philip Martin's erudite reviews and columns since he started with the Arizona Democrat Gazette. Thanks for adding his music to the experience. Victor Anderson, for the second straight year I come bringing tidings of great news about your alma mater. On Saturday, the Mighty Bearcats won their second straight America east championship, defeating UMass Lowell. Unlike last year where they swept their way through the tournament, this year they had to come out of the losers bracket facing the difficult task of having to win twice. They trailed 70 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, or as we like to say, they had them right where they wanted them. Binghamton scored twice to cut the lead to 7 2, fell behind 82 in the bottom of the six, exploded for eight runs in the six to take a 108 victory and force a winner take all championship. Game seven run comeback was the largest in school history. Game two saw the green Machine jump out front early hold on 4 to 2 victory. The Stars on this team are sophomore Rachel Carey, who was named America east tournament outstanding player.471 batting average during the tournament.

[Ron Flatter]

Wow.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Season record with 72 hits. Even Wilder is that the Bearcats title came exactly 11 years after the first championship in 2015. In that instance, Binghamton also needed to win twice in the finals and defeated Stony Brook Good 4 to 2 and 9 to 3. I'm sure you'll take great joy in that. The Bearcats will be on their need to be on their A program this coming Friday. Yeah, listen to this as they start the tournament against a very scrappy up and coming program, Oklahoma. Yes, that Oklahoma. We're going to get killed. It's going to be the mercy rule. As the official College Softball Podcast Tony Kornheiser show, we again will not ask you for a letter of recommendation or even ask you for an interview. We'll provide an update on the Bearcats along with other fun softball notes to share with the Littles throughout the month. That's very nice. That's very nice Victorian. Appreciate that. From Brendan Borzelli in Lebanon, New Jersey. Do you think the final round of Survivor Rick Devins will find himself up against the Russian who went missing in the Pine Barrens? And Paulie and Christopher botched the hit. The Russian's got to be the favorite there. Hopefully Rick has more than just loafers and Members Only jackets like Paulie and Chris did when they were lost eating ketchup packets From Steve gilmore, San Angelo, Texas Just curious, did a Tim or Mark invent the 511 day? No, that was a Steve. Tell those boys they can eat it. From Neil Airways discographer Tony Enough with the Name Game already. To all those Tim's marks, John's withered out an H and all the other imposters. There's only one Name Game and it's mine. Don't make me sue for copyright infringement. Sincerely, Shirley Ellis. The Name Game.

[Ron Flatter]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Banana Bana Faux Bana Feet yeah Mo Mana Seth Shaner New Albany, Ohio My name is Seth Shaner. I am often addressed both in emails and in person as Shane, which is while bothersome and annoying, I've come to accept. But the funniest case of mistaken name came several years ago when my wife's co worker and her fiance, who absolutely rubbed me the wrong way, announced via a Save the Date postcard that they would be getting married in an Ohio State football game on Saturday in Ohio. On Ohio State football Saturday in Ohio. Four weddings or shall we say frowned upon. And this one with half of the union to be a person I didn't even care for hit extra hard. Well, the invitation eventually came and it was addressed to a Mr. And Mrs. Sean Shaner. Did I mention my name is Seth? I took one look at my wife and said, you and Shawn have a good time. Thomas Bogart Scappoose or Scapoosey, Oregon where are the Toms? Growing up, there were so many other Toms. This was never an issue for me. I always went by Bogey due to my last name. When I entered the workforce, we had Big Tom, Little Tom and Tommy. I decided I would be Thomas. My father's first name is John, but he's always gone by his middle name, Ronnie. We named our oldest masculine child Owen. I always wanted to name him Reginald after my favorite slugger. My wife was not on board with this. Maybe this proliferation of so many Owens out there, he will need to go by his middle name after all. Guy Dagata in Nagoya, Japan. I may be late to the name party, but hopefully there's room for one more. I wonder if I'm the only guy who listens to this show. In 46 years, I've never met another guy. I went to camp with Guy Epstein. I know Guy. I knew a kid in junior high named Gaetano Gaetalis. Gaetalis. Formal name is Gaetano. Okay, yeah, I knew a kid in junior high named Gaetano who went by Guy. Well, he went by Gay, but I don't think that counts. Just as Marshawn wouldn't count as a Sean. Back when people wrote incursive, I was regularly mistaken as a Gary or Greg. They would always get corrected. But I do answer to the French pronunciation of guy. As in Guy Leflore. Oh, sure. Without thinking twice, I had planned on asking to be the official guy of the show. But instead I'll ask to be the official guy with a lowercase G of the show. I bet it's not taken yet. Why not shoot my shot, right? And Michael Norwood, who we remember from Pinehurst. I have been called the wrong name since 1991. It happens multiple times a year still, and it's always from my age group. I'm 61. Everybody remembers the Norwood part when they see me. But they all call me Scott. As in wide, right, Buffalo Bill Scott Norwood. I'm not making this up. It has died down some. But I was called Scott probably three weeks ago. Anytime you're in Chapel Hill, I got a tee time for you and Michael. Or I can meet you in Pinehurst, which is wonderful and I appreciate it very, very much. If you're out on your bike tonight, everyone, as always, do wear white.

[Ron Flatter]

Come on now. That means everybody just cool out.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Will you cool out, everybody?

[Mailbag Reader]

Nowadays the 8 seems so sunny stuff like stranger things Love my pocket money on this dread so. Double dash with. Just a dental tomato on yellow grass and pox at the precipice of Fuji's treble tone sad and watched it all we frosted glass dog didn't smell too good when it was in the 80s. Can I say something to you? Come in there for a while

[Doug Ferguson]

all

[Mailbag Reader]

the noise you make without me yet still ask more, more, More me what I was before My smile seems to have broken of course I overthrow it you want me signs of life but won't let me speak my mind Just keep on pulling my cut strings Tell you what I'm hearing what I'm really thinking but by my lips. Why don't you see the way I see you? Why don't you hear me? Can I say something to you? Come in here for a while

[Tony Kornheiser]

your cash count.

[Mailbag Reader]

Smiling for the camera. Will tell you what I'm hearing what I'm really thinking Bite my lip until it please.