Hey everybody, it’s that time again. Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and PodClips with Art, and Laura, with Mark, and with you. You can email us: [email protected], [email protected]. And so much to talk about. But we must go back to last Sunday night, June 14th, and the UFC battle. Art. Did you watch it?

Yeah, I was kind of forced to. My wife, my wife’s a really big, big fan, and I gotta tell you, I would have watched anything else in the world. I’d watch flies climbing the drapes before I had to be subjected to that. But, you know, it’s just to me. I don’t know, I don’t. It’s just what guys are punching guys when they’re already down and out of Beverly Hills. I just don’t, I don’t get that. I’ve never understood it. I’m, hey, I had trouble, you know, dealing with a lot of things in life. But that is just too raw, too brutal for my taste.

Laura, do you ever watch UFC? Did you watch it?

No, and no, I did not watch it. No surprise there.

Dana White, of course, a good friend of the guy from Mar-a-Lago. And that’s why they did it. It costs hundreds of millions of dollars, I think. And, Mark. Did you watch it?

I didn’t watch it, you know, but the thing was, I couldn’t figure out. What was it on, regular TV? Was it on cable?

No, no. It was pay-per-view, baby. There was money to be made.

It wasn’t on pay-per-view; it was on Paramount.

OK, that’s pay-per-view. You’ve got to have Paramount to see it.

Okay, from what I heard on it, you know, because a buddy of mine watched it, He said they put on this big extravaganza. Then the fighters would walk in with servicemen or something and stuff like that. He said The last fight was probably one of the best, because it was like an unknown knocking off a top-ranked guy.

He was a six-to-one underdog. I watched that fight, that’s why I put it on. And, listen, I grew up loving boxing.

Yeah.

As Art said, though, you hit somebody when they’re down. I have to turn off, I can’t take it. And so I very seldom even watch,

It’s too much.

How many? How much did it cost people to get into this thing? And, I know it was on the White House lawn.

It was free.

Oh, it was free.

It was, it was free to get in, but, again, it was Paramount+, which you have to have that if you, if you have regular Paramount, you’re not going to get, get the UFC fight. So there was money to be made on that whole process, believe me.

You know, John McCain called it human cockfighting.

I haven’t heard that, Laura, except for the roosters.

Some of the promoters of it, some of the Trump fans were referring to it, well, like they did it during, you know, the Roman days. I’m like, yeah, like the fall of the Roman Empire, hello.

I don’t know if I’d want to compare myself to what happened then.

Did Dana White pick up, didn’t, didn’t Dana White pick up the whole, it was something like 200 million?

Hang on. If Trump said, Dana White picked up the entire amount, do you really believe that that’s a true story? I mean, be honest. You really think that’s a true story? You really think that one way or the other, our taxes did not go for that fight? Come on, Mark. Come on. I know you’re not political, and you are religious, but Thou Shall Not Lie. That’s the Ninth Commandment, right? I mean,

Hey Fred, I gotta ask you a question. How can the Yankees continue to play great baseball when they’re, they’re, they’ve lost Jazz Chisholm, they’ve lost Stanton, and they’ve lost Judge, and it seems like this guy, Bellinger, used to be a Dodger, is kind of amazing. And then the Goldschmidt. I mean, this team is really playing better baseball without their superstars than they were with their superstars.

Playing well now, and of course, I think the National League is a much stronger league. So I think,

Oh yeah,

I think that plays a major role, because, of course, we had Dan Schlossberg on Sports Overnight America, and we talked about injuries. There’s no team with more injuries than the Dodgers, and then the Braves right behind, and your Yankees, I think, in the third slot as far as injuries are concerned. But let me ask you something. Is there another team that can lose, let’s say, let’s take the Dodgers, for example. They lose Will Smith, one of their best catchers. Now, it’ll be like 30 days by the time he comes back. They, they lose two of their top three or four pitchers in Glasnow and Snell, who knows when they’re going to come back? They lose both Hernandez’s, which is, you know, I mean, what I’m saying to you is, I don’t know how you can see another team, ten games out in front in their division with more injury than the Dodgers. I, you got to say that money talks, and with all the money on earth, they have enough players in the minors, they keep bringing up and putting down,

Hey, I watched Dalton Rushing the other night, the backup catcher, and I guarantee you there’s probably 25 teams in the major leagues that would love to have him as their catcher.

Oh yeah, he could become the starter.

And their centerfielder. Yeah, and their centerfielder,

Pages.

Is having a, yeah, Pages, is having a career year. I mean, can you imagine if he starts hitting?

Would you take Pages over Cody Bellinger?

Right now, yes; he’s hitting more. Cody Bellinger can give you left, center, right, and first base. Pages can give you the best centerfielder out there. I don’t, it’s really close, it really is, between two of them.

I think Bellinger is better.

But, but it’s kind of hard to dismiss a National League MVP. I mean, you know, but I think that the future for Pages is looking really bright.

I think,

I think, I think Pages has the highest average with runners in scoring position.

Yes. Yes, I think he’s 24. I think Cody’s 30 or 31.

Yeah,

From that aspect, I think you go with the younger guy, but it’s, you can’t turn around and say that the MVP in the National League is not a very good player. And of course, I have always thought that I wish the Dodgers had re-signed Bellinger. He had two or three, they had two or three chances to do so, and they didn’t do so.

Could you use the Yordan Alvarez right about now?

What was that?

Dodgers? Could you use Yordan Alvarez? I think he was once a Dodger.

Oh, yeah, of course. We’ve talked about this, Mark, on this show; they’ve made mistakes. Alvarez, certainly; Bush, first baseman for the Cubbies.

Yeah, yeah,

So they’ve made some major mistakes, because, again, if you have so much money, you can afford to, because you just go out and buy somebody.

Just cover them up.

What’s gonna happen? What’s gonna happen in baseball? Dan Schlossberg indicated on Sports Overnight America that he thinks there’s gonna be a strike before this, a lockout before the season ends. What do you think?

I hope that doesn’t happen because I’m a, you know, big baseball fan. Everybody on this show loves the game of baseball, and I, and I don’t want to see it. But if it doesn’t happen this season, I just think it’s going to be a long, dark, cold winter while these people try to put together, and it’s all going to come down to, will the owners open their books? You know, Mark, they’re not gonna do that.

Well, I think you know what, Dan said, really gives the players a leg up on the owners. Because if you can shut the thing down before the playoffs in the World Series, you’re gonna get the owners real hard. And they don’t want to lose that. So I think if I’m the players, I mean, I’m thinking, you know, with, you know, let’s, let’s call them out. If they don’t want to open up the books, let’s shut it down. And this will kill it. I mean, this will really,

Legally, can they do something like that, Laura? And what would happen with all the television contracts? Playoff contracts?

Who knows?

Laura, would you be happy with a strike or a lockout?

Well, as a fan, I would not be happy. But from the standpoint of the players. I mean, I don’t think the owners are negotiating in good faith right now, and I mean, their proposals are outrageous. And you know, the players are like, Without us, you don’t make any money. So, seems to me the players, not to use an over-quoted phrase, but have more cards than the owners do.

The NBA and the NFL have somewhat of a salary cap. But the difference there, in my opinion, is baseball plays 162 games a year, you guys, and I mean, these guys, it’s a long, hard season.

Well, here’s the thing. I’ll throw this question out to all of you. I think in my lifetime, we won’t see a salary cap in baseball. But I will tell you, Art, in football, we saw the XFL, we saw the USFL give the NFL a run. I’m telling you, little by little, flag football is going to give the NFL a run here. In some of the cities, the soccer moms, I think we’re gonna,

You think there’ll be no tackle football within 10 years?

It might be a little longer than that, but Fred, I know you’re gonna chime in here.

If you hit people like my old teammate at USC did, Ronnie Lott, you’d be kicked out of the game immediately.

But, but here’s, here’s the thing, Art. It’s, soccer moms are gonna have a big say in this, and you gotta really look at this, because maybe they can stop their sons from playing tackle football because the NFL is not doing anything with the concussion stuff.

Let me just, let me just say this. Mike Ditka, nobody could have been rougher when he was playing. He said, If I had a ten-year-old kid, he would not play tackle football.

I think gonna be what they turn to, but honestly, Fred, and I’ve always said this, and I don’t know why AYSO hasn’t, you know, achieved the greatness that I thought they would. But I mean, you got to look at it from another standpoint. Finances. You need a pair of shorts and a pair of cleats, and you’re ready to roll. You don’t need a helmet, which costs $5,000 now because of the concussion protocols. And Mark, you said something real important. The NFL has dropped the ball. All these guys that have CTE that are on these systems, put them down, and they just keep saying it’s not our problem. And you know what, when you got billions and billions of dollars, and you don’t take care of the guys that created the shield, the NFL shield,

Yeah,

They’re being, they’re wrong.

Yep,

It is your problem. We’ll take a break from here. I’m Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and on PodClips.

Folks, we’re back on Fred in the Fantastics, with Mark, with Laura, and with Art at 128 years of age. And we’re taping this at 1 o’clock on Friday afternoon. College World Series in Omaha, North Carolina, and Oklahoma. And I’m gonna watch it. I like college baseball, and Art, what do you think about college baseball on TV? Have you watched any of the games? I think UCLA are out of it.

The last game of the North Carolina Regional between North Carolina and USC was one of the most riveting games I’ve watched in baseball in a long time. I mean, it was unbelievable. And, you know, to see what USC. Here’s one problem that bugs me about the College World Series. Four of the best five teams in the, in the game, one of them UCLA, all right, you know. And I think I think there’s got to be a way of seeding the regular season so it has more importance, because if you if you lose five games out of 60, UCLA, 55 and 5 and don’t go to the College World Series, maybe they should seed the top two teams, you know, and put them into the Super Regional or somehow, I just think you’re, you’re, you’re minimizing the regular season by having all these Regionals, Super Regionals and then the World Series. It’s my thought.

They had, they had home-field advantage.

Yeah,

Art, they had home-field advantage. So that’s something, and again we talked about the World Series.

But we’re talking about Major League Baseball, Fred, when they have the one-game playoff.

Yeah, but my point is,

One game.

They had to lose two to go out of it. St. Mary’s knocked them off, and then St. Mary’s lost to Cal Poly, so, I mean, St. Mary’s is very good too, but the bottom line is,

I think it’s awesome for the smaller schools, but I also think that, that UCLA, after having a record-setting year, where you, I mean, seriously, Savage’s ball club, I think they lost five games all year long.

No, they’re 52 and 8, 52 and 8.

52 and 8, okay, that’s a nice percentage. I’ll take that any day of the week.

You know, Fred, I, I wanted to talk about how important, you know, I don’t watch the NBA a lot. But when I look at Jalen Brunson, here’s a guy that almost, you know, broke, tore his, the Achilles Heel last year against the Clippers. To do what he did is just sit and block out all the critics till the end when he shot back at Becky Hammond and all those people, it’s just simply amazing. I’m not saying this guy’s a Walt Frazier, but what he did for the New York Knicks is right up there.

No, I agree. I mean, he played 45 points in the final game. And again, we talked about the odds on Sports Overnight America. The Knicks are actually the fourth favorite to win it next year in 2027, Spurs, number one, Oklahoma City, and then the Celtics, one, two, and three. Lakers 45 to one. Okay,

I’m gonna ask Laura, can I ask Laura a question?

Sure.

Talking, talking about Jalen Brunson, do you think athletes like Patrick Mahomes, who grew up with fathers who were professionals in the clubhouse, like Jalen Brunson’s dad, who played for the Knicks, do you think that gives these kids a little bit of an advantage as they become professionals in their own right?

Oh, Absolutely. Sure. I mean, having, having parents that are in the sport already and yet give you tips from the time you’re a little kid. Absolutely. Like Kobe, for example, you know, if you guys saw Kobe’s Academy Award-winning documentary, “I Love Basketball” or something, where he was throwing socks into his little basketball hoop from his bed. I mean, sure, of course.

At 12, in Springfield.

I think you see it to a certain extent, but look at, look at Craig Biggio. I mean, Cavan Biggio wasn’t, you know, up there on the par of his dad, but I think it helps a little, but I just think when you look at these guys,

What are the odds of them making the major leagues, honestly?

What was that?

Laura, let me ask you.

What are the odds on a kid making it,

A lot. I was gonna say, though, is, is getting back to that game with the 49ers and the Raiders, you know that, and watching college baseball, there’s so, there’s so much fun when you, when you’re watching a game in a more intimate setting. Because we, I always go to the Charger Rager, the Charger-Raider game here, which is basically a Raider home game. And when they were before they built SoFi, they were playing at the stadium in Carson, much smaller stadium. And it was so much fun to go to the games there because you felt like you were right, that you could see everything. It was almost like going to a college game or a high, I mean, a high school game, where you were, college games are more like the pros.

That was the allure of Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, PNC Ballpark.

Yeah, Wrigley Field. Exactly.

Smaller parks. Yeah.

Sacramento. West Sacramento.

Laura, Brunson got married. What was unique in the eyes of much of the world about his wedding? You have any thoughts?

Oh, I don’t, I didn’t hear about that. I just, I mean, I just thought this series was fantastic. And other than the one game that was jinxed by,

You know, I’m talking about his wedding. How about his wedding? What was unique?

I don’t; what was unique? I don’t know; what was?

His wife’s name is Ali Marks, and she’s Jewish, so he had an extreme Jewish wedding. So I think that’s going to help him as far as fandom in New York is concerned, but that can’t hurt him, I don’t think.

Like he’ll ever pay for a cocktail or a meal in New York ever again.

But why are they, why are they a fourth choice, Art? Fourth choice?

You know, I just think, you know, they look at Oklahoma City. They look at some of the teams in the West, you know, San Antonio is only gonna get better. I just, you know,

Boston’s gonna have Tatum and,

If Boston gets Antetokounmpo, they’re gonna be, they’re gonna have trouble getting out of the East. You got Cleveland, you got, you know, the, I just. Yeah, I can see why they’re number four, but they’re still the defending World Champions.

I think the Lakers are gonna get the Greek Freak, and Reaves will go the other way. But the interesting thing with the Lakers is, why are they not paying Reaves? Just because of the bad playoff? They don’t want to, you know, he wants, he’s a free agent, or he wants more money, or I heard something like that.

He’s a free agent. He’s a free agent.

Yeah, why would you sign him?

Because they’re gonna have to pay LeBron 50 million, and,

I don’t think so. I don’t think they’re gonna give LeBron 50 million.

I think that LeBron might be going to Cleveland or maybe Miami.

I mean, they, LeBron has said he’ll take less money. But he wants to know what the Lakers are gonna do with the money they save, and I think LeBron wants them to sign Reaves. So, you know, I don’t think LeBron’s going anywhere. I think LeBron’s staying in LA for one more season. I don’t think he’s going to Golden State, and I think they’re gonna sign Reeves and they’re gonna get another player. I think, also. And they have a lot of chips to trade.

Yeah, but you know, I don’t know, Fred, what do you think? I think I’d let LeBron go, because now you’re trying to build a team around Dončić, and then you keep LeBron. And I don’t know.

You know, I, I’ve seen some tape of Laura playing basketball when she was a kid, and LeBron could not cover Laura at this point of his career.

Good first steps to the left.

I beat my husband and my brother-in-law in 21. So that should tell you I’m a pretty good shooter and I’m a dirty player.

Wow, there it is.

I like it.

I’m not very tall.

Were they sick that day, and you were taking advantage of the situation?

For Laura, for Art, for Mario. Thank you for listening to Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and on PodClips, and stay tuned for more later on Fred and the Fantastics. Bye everybody.