Hey, it’s that time again. That’s right, Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and on PodClips and around the world. Anything and everything in the wonderful and wacky world of sports. You can email us at [email protected], [email protected], with Art, and Laura, with Mark, and with you. And you can be the key of the show if you email us: [email protected], [email protected]. Before we go any further, we’re taping this on Friday afternoon, about one o’clock. Now, Art was a professional golfer on the tour. Over 30 minutes, there were two 62s in the second round of the British Open. Art, have they changed the course? Two 62s in a 30-minute period?

Fred, Western Europe has had such a dry spell over the last three weeks. I talked to some friends of mine that actually were over there, and they saw the course three weeks ago, and it was, it was lush. And they’ve had a dry spell with temperatures in the 90s, and the course is completely burnt out. Guys are hitting three irons 300 yards. Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau have hit drives 400 yards. The technology of the game is, is changing; the balls are going further. I guess there is global warming, who knows, because I’ve never seen golf courses quite this dry. And I mean, you know, we got fires in Canada right now. We can’t even go outside here in Pennsylvania, because, I mean, half of Canada is burning. And it’s all blowing down at us. And, you know, kids can’t go outside. It’s their summer vacation. There’s a lot of wild and woolly things happening. But first we gotta; go ahead.

What do you think about the World Cup being played in New York tomorrow, or Sunday? I mean, apparently the air quality is like, warm 80s. I mean, it’s like, unhealthful; that to even breathe it, and they’re playing soccer,

Don’t even get me started with that World Cup. I mean, I am so frustrated with that thing. I mean, I don’t care if Lionel Messi gets up there and tries to defend, you know, his status and everything about how Argentina, they screwed at least two countries in Egypt and Switzerland, in my book.

You’re saying that FIFA is corrupt.

Oh yeah.

That’s not a new story.

There’s been something going on with them in Argentina since about 2016, I think. I mean, it’s just, it’s something,

You mean the hand of God with the angle with Maradona?

Come on, man. I mean, they don’t want a little country in this thing. And it’s, if you watch their games, I mean, it’s 12 goals in. They score 12 goals. And still, of course, it’s money.

It’s all money. It’s all it comes down to. The two biggest superstars are gonna play in the finals. And this young kid from Spain, 17 years old. I mean, think of the future he has, oh my goodness.

Let me ask you, Art, and Fred, and Laura. Why would a guy need to come up and explain himself if nothing was happening? And Lionel Messi explaining that. Oh, well, you know, everybody’s blaming us for this and that achievement. Why would you have to explain something if you haven’t done anything? That’s what I don’t understand.

You know, it’s just soccer and the rest of the world loves it. I played it as a kid. I don’t love watching it, but as the rest of the world does, so I don’t know what you can possibly say. Very expensive to go. And, by the way, a Pelé jersey, jersey was just sold. Art. How much do you think somebody just spent on a Pelé jersey, excuse me, from 60 years ago?

I’m gonna say 25, 2.5 million.

Laura. Higher or lower? 2.5 million for a Pelé Jersey.

Higher.

Mark, higher than 2.5 or lower than 2.5?

I, I would say higher than that. And my wife said, If you die first, I’m gonna get rid of your stuff. She’d probably get rid of all my stuff for a hundred bucks, not realizing what it was worth.

Four point nine million dollars, somebody just paid for it.

Oh my God.

Yeah, for a jersey. I hope it was clean. You can email us at [email protected].

I got to meet Pelé in 1969 in New York, and he was a very, very amazing, charismatic human being. And I mean, he goes down in history as, I think, one of the greatest soccer players ever. But he doesn’t get the credit for that, in my personal opinion.

Folks, you can email us at [email protected], [email protected].

You know, Fred? That’s an interesting question about soccer, and you hope to see if the U.S. can keep it burning. We saw, you know, and you, you, you did stuff with the Kings and everything. It’s amazing how growing up and seeing the Kings draw 5,000 fans or 6,000 fans. And maybe on a Saturday night when the big boys would come to town, Philly, you might get a sellout. I can remember sitting on the glass in 1980 at the All-Star Game for, like, $60. And now hockey’s transformed. Can we see soccer transform? Like we have hockey on the West Coast?

Well, right now, right now, it’s an expensive game for kids to go to, to practice and training, or whatever the case might be, so I think they’re gonna go in the direction of no more pay to play. They’re gonna try to get enough money, again, FIFA’s what it is. But somehow they’re gonna get enough money where the kids do not have to pay, so the inner-city kids can play, and that expands the possibilities tremendously. Right now. It’s an expensive thing to,

You guys, we got something really big happening at the British Open right now, the, the Open.

What happened?

Bryson DeChambeau hit a ball on number 15 over to the right? He played his shot. They’re saying that he improved his lie. They’re back out at the spot of the quote-unquote crime right now. And it’s the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen. They don’t know what they’re gonna do. He signed for a scorecard. It might be a Roberto DiVincenzo at the Masters in 1967 situation here, and it’s been an adamant argument. I’ve been watching it now for the last three minutes, and I don’t know what they’re gonna do, but it’s bizarre. In the middle of a tournament to go back and re; in other words, they had a referee with each group in the Open Championship. Referee had no problem with what happened. Now they come back after looking at TV, saying that he may have improved his lie by walking around in the rough. Or when he took a practice swing, he touched some of the, the hay; this is gonna be bizarre. So, I mean,

Wow,

Watch out and see here. Because, you know, with the LIV and the PGA Tour and the DP Tour, it’s getting crazy, man. It’s like everything in the world seems to, guys.

Art, I don’t think that’s right. If he signed it and they didn’t change it before he signed it. I don’t think he should be penalized at all.

That’s what I say.

Let me tell you, nothing was greater than in, Laura could probably chime in on this one. Sinner taking down that German guy. What a, what a, what a match that was in tennis, man. That poor guy. I think after he turned his ankle, that was the end of the line for him. Sinner just,

Yeah, when he slipped on that one shot. That was the end of the line for him, I agree with you.

Yeah. That was the end of the line right there, and he was done.

Laura, let me out. Let me ask you a question, Laura. You have Netflix, so you could have watched the Home Run Derby. Did you watch it?

I did not watch it. I, like, I said, I’m not, it, to me, it’s just I’d rather see real, honest-to-goodness competition in sports, and I think all these Home Run Derbies and All-Star Games, I mean, they’re entertaining, I guess; they’re not I, just, it’s not my cup of tea. But I love Netflix.

Bottom line 5, 5.3 million, which is lower than it’s been since 2003, 2003. So, 23 years of not being on ESPN, basically, a much higher rating than it had. Again, Netflix is a streaming service. As good as it might be, I don’t have it. Only 5.3 million watched Schwarber lose in the last second, as Jordan, of course, hit six in a row over the fence.

Jordan was awfully impressive.

What a weekend. I mean, what a weekend in New York. We had, the ESPYs were in New York. Fanatics Fan Fest is in New York. The Dodgers are in New York. Saturday night’s main event, the WWE’s in New York. I mean, what’s happening with New York in all this?

Wait a minute.

Hopefully everything’s indoors.

Not the Yankee game.

A lot of times, including last year, the ESPYs were in Los Angeles.

Yeah,

But they alternate. So it’s just the way it is, just happens to be New York’s turn. However, I think this, I think ABC and ESPN made a mistake. Usually, Los Angeles will get it twice. It’ll get it at 5 o’clock and again at 8 o’clock. We did not get the 5 o’clock. I did not watch it at 8 o’clock; I was watching something else. So the bottom line is they lost some of the viewers by not showing it twice, as they have in the past. And I didn’t think it makes, made any sense not to show it twice.

ESPN has a tendency to do those types of things, as you know, Fred.

But this time ESPN,

How do they lose one of the great shows of all time, their own show? I mean, come on.

No, you’re right. ESPN,

To play it twice,

Yes. ESPN did not carry it, and it went to ABC, and ABC 7 Los Angeles usually carries it twice. Did not. Only carried it once, so I missed the whole thing. And I’m trying to find a way to get it. I think you go to the ESPN app; I think you can get it at this point. But I did not. I have not watched it, as we’re past 1 o’clock on a Friday afternoon here in Southern California, where it’s like 95 degrees already. Unbelievable. Okay, we’ll take a break. Come back with more on Fred and the Fantastics, with Art, with Laura, with Mark and Mario, all straight away.

Hey, welcome back everybody, Fred and the Fantastics – Art, Laura, Mark, and yours truly, Fred. You can email us, [email protected], [email protected]. Art. You’re an old guy, 128 years of age. What do you take to answer these questions correctly, in tremendous heat, if you happen to be living in Southern California at this point, which you’re not?

Next week you’ll see me with six masks on to combat all the Canadian fire. But right now, it’s the professional formula of Prevagen. You’ve probably seen it. This is five times stronger than their normal stuff, which is really expensive. This is like, you know, I had to pull out a major loan at my bank. It is the best stuff in terms of helping your mind and keeping things clear.

Hey, let me get you the welder mask the Pirates use, so when you go outside, you can put that on.

Yeah, I know. I was thinking, you know, I was watching that show on Netflix about Mars; I want to get one of those helmets, you know.

All right, let’s go forward here. This week, we discovered that Walt Hazzard made the Collegiate Hall of Fame; he should have made it 50 years ago. Art. I don’t understand, how do things like this happen? How did they forget? He died 15 years ago. You know, he should have been in 50 years ago. How do these things happen?

Fred, I, I think it is personalities, a lot of times, you know, we’ve talked about, you know, the Roger Clemens, the Barry Bonds, the Pete Roses, maybe, maybe Walt Hazzard rubbed somebody in the wrong way. You know, it’s not the first time this has ever happened between writers and players. And I would hope to think that’s the reason. Because he was the, the key to the whole beginning of the Wizard of Westwood’s dominant run, the titles,

Yeah,

The whole shot, and he came back, and he coached. And everybody that I’ve ever talked to, including Jim, who we had on the Sports Overnight show earlier, you know, yes, he was cantankerous. How many head basketball coaches could we name to fit in that category? I mean, Bobby Knight, PJ Carlesimo; we can go down the line. There’s a lot of cantankerous basketball coaches, but, you know, I think it’s wrong, personally. I think you should be, you should get a chance in your lifetime to be, you know, given that honor.

Let me, let me state this: in 1962, UCLA made it to the Final Four. They played Cincinnati. Cincinnati was favored. Tom Thacker had a jump shot at the buzzer to beat Walt Hazzard and the Bruins. They could have made it to the finals two out of three years. The next year, they lost in the Western Regional to Arizona State and Jumping Jim Caldwell. And then the next year, they win the whole thing, led by Walt Hazzard. Now, simultaneously, as Walt finally got in this week, we found out. Gail Goodrich has been for 30 years. Now, Goodrich was a better pro player than Walt was. But on the collegiate side, it was Walt when they were together in ’64; that was the star of that team. Goodrich, of course, won it again for the Bruins in ’65. But one guy got in 30 years before the other; that is insane. I’m sorry. I assumed that Walt was in. I mean, I, I don’t get it, and I never will get it. Meanwhile, Cronin’s now in, talking about feisty coaches. Art, Mick Cronin, a Hall of Fame coach?

Wow.

Is that right?

What Hall of Fame’s that?

Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

If the guy, if he was coaching 25 or 30 years ago, he’d be considered a great coach. But, but to yell, yell and blame everything on your own team? Never take any personal accountability for the guys that, that you recruited and brought in to play? I’m not a Cronin fan, you know, to be honest with you. I’m real upset at the whole UCLA Athletic Department. I do like their new football coach, though. I think he’s a breath of fresh air. I think he’s gonna do some great things.

Let me,

Go ahead, you guys.

Who would you take? And I, you know, I’m just taking this guy, you know, with what he’s done for, for that University. I’d take Tarkanian any day of the week over Mike Krzyzewski.

Really?

Yeah, I would. Well, I think,

I’d put him in the top ten, but I think Krzyzewski is the best. He and Wooden are like, on the Mt. Rushmore.

I think everybody’s trying to, you know, replace Tarkanian out there, and they’ve had a hard time replacing him at UNLV, but I think Krzyzewski you can kind of replace with bringing in some talent. He had a little bit better, you know?

Having done UNLV basketball on the radio in the ’90s and their championship run, that town lived for the Running Rebels. Now you have a lot of other things in town, okay, so that town has changed. I mean, that was Jerry’s City. He could go to anywhere he wanted to, everything was, was comped, and he took care of his kids, too, which, I believe in. And I, you know, I, I was on his side in those days. But he also pissed, excuse me, peeved a lot of people off, okay, and he was a great basketball coach, but to put him in there above Wooden and Krzyzewski, not so fast.

Well, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t put him ahead of Wooden, but I would put him ahead of Krzyzewski, I think, you know.

All right, before we go, if we’re talking college basketball and UCLA, Donovan Dent: three years at New Mexico, last year at UCLA. The first 25 games, he was very, very average. The last eight or ten before he got hurt, he was spectacular. The first triple-double in the history of the Big Ten Tournament, 15, 10 and 10. He got the Bruins as far as they could go before he got injured. Art. He’s got another year of eligibility based on the new rules of the NCAA. Bottom line is, I don’t think Cronin wants him back, or I don’t think UCLA wants to pay him to come back. I’m hearing Gonzaga might go after him. I would hate that. I think if he wants to go back to UCLA, I’d like him as a Bruin. Art. What do you think?

I think the young man, you know, obviously there’s a personality conflict between, you know, Cronin and Dent, so I mean, personally, if there’s that kind of a situation, I wouldn’t want to go to that situation. I agree with you, what you’re saying, in concept. If a kid wants to play for UCLA, you know, there should be men that being able to compromise and, you know, play. Hey, maybe with this guy I could take the next step and get to the Final Four, or the Sweet, you know, the Elite Eight. I don’t get it. I think there’s so much ego in sports right now, that I think it’s, it’s really weighing down a lot of things that have changed. And I would love to see him go to Gonzaga, because I’ve always been a closet Gonzaga fan. I’d like to see Gonzaga win it all in the next couple years.

No, no, they’ve been a bridesmaid for years.

Laura, Laura, do you like Donovan Dent?

I’d like to see Dent stay at UCLA. But, you know, speaking of Cronin, everybody talks about his personality and his screaming at players. But I don’t think he’s even that good of a coach. I mean, he makes weird coaching decisions like, just, you know, not not. His substitutions are weird. I mean, I don’t know, I just don’t think he’s that good of a coach personally.

You know, five years ago, they’re playing North Carolina in the Round of Eight, and they have a better team than the Tar Heels, and he never played – I think he played his best defensive guy like a total of three minutes in that game, and it was just nonsensical, as you’ve indicated.

Yeah, exactly.

Not only a screamer, he’s not the world’s best coach. He’s stubborn as heck, and he made it into the Hall of Fame.

It doesn’t make sense.

Anything is possible in the wonderful and wacky world of sports, I guess. I don’t know. It’s,

Well, you know, it’s amazing,

And it’s getting crazier and crazier, you guys.

Well, you know, you know, what’s amazing at UCLA is you got a guy like that running a basketball team. And you got one of the baseball best minds, and I think he should be a Major League Baseball coach.

Savage?

Savage. It’s just like night and day there. I mean, and nobody talks about Savage.

I’m gonna tell you, this Bob Chesney, you can Google it, he’s a good football coach, as Cignetti says.

Yeah, he is.

Yeah, don’t forget about the UCLA women’s basketball coach.

She’s good too.

And softball, and softball.

Cori Close.

You don’t talk about them. Yeah,

Cori Close, basketball. Okay, Art. Give me a wrap-up with the world of sports as we say goodbye.

Well, the world is spinning pretty much off its axis if you really want to know how I feel right now. It’s just everything is coming at us and like, a billion miles an hour. You know, the British Open, the Open in, you know, in Southport, England. Now they’re out there revisiting the scene after the, after the point. We got the World Cup gonna be played in, in, you know, Canadian fires and in the worst air quality in the world. I don’t know. I think we need to maybe take it, take a deep breath, and, and maybe, maybe look to inside ourselves, all of us.

All right, for Art, for Laura, for Mark, and for Mario. Thank you guys and gals for listening to Fred and the Fantastics. More later. Never miss us. Bye, everybody.