Time again, folks, Fred and the Fantastics, with Art, with Laura, with Mark, and with you. You can email us, [email protected]; this, that, and anything in sports and more. I was listening to a talk show a couple of nights ago. I think it was like a 35-year-old kid, and the question he had, or a 35-year-old host? He asked the question, Most important athlete in the last hundred years? Most important athlete in the last hundred years.

Art, he said Tiger Woods. I said, What? Tiger Woods? Art, in your mind, the most important athlete in the last hundred years? Take it away, Art.

Boy, he could have been, had he not done some things that he’s done lately. I mean, he was definitely on the way there. If I was gonna have to pick one person in the last century, sports-wise, I’d have to go with Muhammad Ali.

That’d be my choice, Muhammad Ali, a guy who lost part of his career.

He stood up for a lot of things that were important.

Yeah, he stood up for, he stood up against the Vietnam War. He gave up, what, five years of his career?

Laura, the most important athlete in the last hundred years? Was it Tiger Woods or Muhammad Ali, or somebody else?

I was gonna say Muhammad Ali also, but also, I think Jackie Robinson has to be up there in the top five. You know, I mean, people, you know. Tiger Woods certainly changed the game of golf, for sure, but I don’t know that he has any other impact other than in golf. Other than avoiding drunk driving or medicated driving. But someone like Ali.

Did you ever see my chauffeur?

I mean, Ali had a huge impact on our culture, so I think, you know, he was probably the most important athlete of the last century.

Mark, Mark, it was not the Paul Skenes, was it?

No, I’m gonna throw a little more oil on this grease fire. And I know our buddy out there in Toronto, John, would love this one. Nobody has changed a game, a league, or cities in the, you know, the West Coast, than Wayne Gretzky. Wayne Gretzky, by far, has changed the landscape, and he’s my number one choice. Everybody else has a good point on it, but nobody’s changed it like Wayne Gretzky. There wouldn’t be no hockey in the West Coast if Wayne Gretzky wasn’t involved.

Right, I like all these choices. I like Muhammad Ali, I like Jackie Robinson, I like Wayne Gretzky, and I think a name that nobody’s bringing up. I was one of his producers in the early 1970s at KABC Radio, named Bill Russell. Not the Dodgers’ voiceover,

Greatest champion of all time.

The Celtics center, as a coach and a player, the Celtics win 11 out of 13 times. But just like Muhammad Ali, Art, he stood up for things. You know, when the Celtics were traveling, and if he wouldn’t play, wouldn’t use a hotel that was just for Blacks, or whatever the case might be, he fought for things like that. And I think, and I’ve said this before on this show, I think in all shows, I think Bill Russell was the best sports talk show host I’ve ever heard in my life, because he was totally honest. He didn’t think twice about what he should say. He thought what he believed. Art, you’ve done a lot of shows; what do you think?

I’m with you 100%. He’s one of my all-time heroes. When you epitomize the winning that he did with the Celtics, and with Red Auerbach, and that whole crew, Casey Jones. I mean, 12 titles? Is that pretty close to it, Fred?

Eleven in 13 years.

I mean, who wins 12 titles? Okay, yeah. And then who comes back and coaches the team as a general manager? As a sportscaster? And, like you said, if you listened to him on the radio, and you were privileged enough to be his co-host, you knew the man knew exactly what he was saying and where he was going. He was erudite, he was intelligent, and he had the best laugh I’ve ever heard, that cackle of his.

You know who we’re overlooking, who I’d like to nominate, is Billie Jean King. Because she is another absolute trailblazer, and she’s been an activist her whole life, and she’s still an activist today, and I think she’s in her 80s, late 80s, and so I’d nominate her also to be,

Think about the impact that Bobby Riggs and her match in the Astrodome had, in terms of all the TVs we see, all the Netflix, and the pay-per-view events. I think that might have been one of the highest-rated pay-per-view events, man against woman. It was pretty awesome. I mean, and I think they both had a great sense of humor about it.

All right, let’s take a break and come back with a whole lot more on Fred and the Fantastics, with Art, with Laura, with Mark, and with you. You can email us, [email protected], [email protected]. Back right after this.

Welcome back, everybody, Fred and the Fantastics, Art, Laura, and Mark, and with you. Email us, [email protected], [email protected]. Mark, you mentioned the name off the air. Michael Jordan is one of the most important sports athletes in 100 years. Make your case.

Well, I’ll tell you, making the case is, look at what Nike’s doing. His shoe is still selling, you know, 30, 40 years later. I mean, plus, I think, you know,

Don’t they have a division,

Yeah.

His own brand within the Nike umbrella?

Yeah, so, I mean, that’s where you look at it. And, you know, what he did with the Bulls, I mean, all those titles there. I mean, people could say whatever they want about him, but, I mean, that team was dangerous. I think Michael Jordan is gonna be something. You guys brought up Muhammad Ali. My favorite boxer of all time wasn’t Muhammad Ali. It was Kenny Norton. And I remember what Kenny Norton did. He broke Ali’s jaw in that fight, so,

Broke Ali’s jaw.

Yeah.

Yeah, in the fall.

But Kenny Norton didn’t fight for the things that Muhammad Ali fought for outside of the ring, and I think that’s why,

There’s two other guys we could throw in there. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Joe Frazier.

No, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Julius Erving.

Oh, Dr. J.

Julius Erving has done wonderful things for the people in and around the whole Philadelphia area. I mean, in terms of Boys and Girls Clubs, and making an impact on the community, doing things to change people’s lives, I think, is where we’re going with this, right?

Yeah. Okay, let’s, but again, it was definitely not, in my mind, Tiger Woods. And again, that shows you the difference between a 35-year-old and a 128-year-old, in Art’s case, of course. I wanna talk about Caitlin Clark.

Oh, gosh, that’s,

Let me ask you guys a question, and Laura, a question. She’s selling more shirts, basketball shirts, than any other player in the NBA or WNBA. Laura, you have any idea who is the only basketball player selling more shirts than Caitlin Clark?

At this stage?

Right now. Thousands.

I was gonna say Kobe, but maybe not. Maybe Kobe, I don’t know.

Art, who might it be?

Oh.

Most shirts, most are selling more than anybody else. More than anybody, because she’s in second place.

I think Sophie Cunningham.

Great shooter.

Her protector, Sophie Cunningham.

It might be Stephen Curry.

Stephen Curry’s the answer, and he’s the only guy or gal leading Caitlin Clark. Why do they hate Caitlin Clark? Laura, why do you think they hate Caitlin Clark in the WNBA, where they’re making, what? $275,000 minimum now? $66,000 last year.

She brought them all millions of dollars. I don’t know why they would hate her.

What was that?

There’s some players that have it out for her, but I think they’re a minority. I mean, I don’t think the rest of the whole league hates her. Who knows? I mean, I think the players might feel like, well, they’ve been busting their ass for all these years, and she comes in, and she’s this white girl, and she gets all this publicity. And while it’s good, it’s kind of like, well, what about us? We’ve been doing this for how long, 20, 15 years?

30 years, 30 years this year.

Yeah, so that could be it. I mean, I don’t know. But I don’t think it’s all that widespread. I think there’s a lot of media attention to something that just might be,

That’s a great point.

Just a very small group of people in the WNBA.

Art, might it be the white thing? Might it be the gay thing? She’s straight. Art, what do you think?

There could be a myriad of reasons for it to happen. The sad part is, when a gal is down like that and somebody puts their hand in their throat, and then kicks them with their shoes, at what point in time does the referee go, Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on here, all right? So the NBA, I mean, the WNBA has to do a better job of protecting all their players, and I think they should explain to them that their talent in the game is incredible now. You don’t need all this pushing. Even in the World Cup, Fred. Down when there’s a corner kick, these guys are down there; it’s like you’re in South Central Los Angeles. You’re fighting for your life. Guys are elbowing guys. It’s nuts, and I mean, that’s not what sports is about. It’s playing the game, playing hard, but playing within the rules. And she’s a great player, but I think you’re right. There could be some racism there. There could be a lot of latent problems there. I mean, this is real. You can say, Well, it doesn’t really exist, but it might.

Mark, what do you think? You’re a religious guy. You think it’s because she’s white? Do you think it’s because she’s straight, or just because they’re not thinking logically?

I think what’s happening today in society, and my motto I keep every day is, observe everything, say nothing, and stay in control. And when I look at,

Stay in your own lane?

Yeah, and basically, I think what it is, it’s like any job. You get on a job, and I remember years ago, I was in an Argentinian restaurant. I must’ve been the only guy that didn’t speak Spanish, and I would do very good in tips because I’d go over there, give service, and everything. I think people try to bring you down to their level when you wanna exceed expectations and stuff, and I think that’s what’s happening with the world today. I mean, if you start to show people up, they try to bring you down. I think what she’s doing is, you know, she’s a great talent and everything. And if the WNBA doesn’t start fining some of these guys or suspending them, she’s gonna go to a different league. Maybe go play in Europe or something. Who knows? But I think it’s sad because,

I’ve heard that. I’ve heard that over and over.

We’ve lost accountability, and we’ve lost communication, and when accountability, you’re losing anything across the board. Sometimes in life, in order to move up, you gotta move on.

All right, so we talk a lot of gambling on this show, and gambling exists in the world of sports beyond belief. Now, Art, of course, played on the PGA Tour. Made a quarter of a million dollars. A couple of the golfers now indicate that they can tell by the crowd’s reaction that the crowd, many in the crowd are gambling right now. Art, what do you think?

Well, they had a lot of money on Scottie Scheffler at the United States Open. I know that because the way they treated Woodman Clark at the final round of the US Open at Shinnecock Hills was just, it was reprehensible. You know, in golf, it’s a gentleman’s game, and you can pull for your player, but you don’t, when a guy hits a drive a little erstwhile out to the right, and it goes into the bunker, and you start clapping, that’s really not the spirit of the game. You’re supposed to defer to the other person. You’re supposed to be a gentleman. You know, you shake their hands, and yes, it can be very competitive. Seve used to, you know, jingle, change in your backswing, stuff like that. But the reality of it is, Fred, gambling is gonna start to infringe on everything. We already know about the Sorsby situation, the quarterback, what he did. We remember the Art Schlichter days. We remember the NBA referees. And at a certain point in time, when you go to bed, like my Sicilian grandmother said, and you wake up with fleas, you have to wonder why.

All right, Art’s 128 years of age. He’s very sharp on the air. Art, what do you take to keep as sharp as you are?

I’m looking for it. I forgot where I put it. Oh, there it is. Yeah.

What is that?

Prevagen Professional Formula. It’s fantastic stuff, you guys. Supposedly, it’s from jellyfish, I don’t know. I’ve been stung by jellyfish, but now I’m actually taking jellyfish. So we’re having a great time. But it works, and that’s all I go by. And the other thing is, if you’re looking for a good investment, and you wanna get into franchise restaurants, the Horn Pub is the way to go. And I mean, I gotta tell you, their world-class wings, great, profitable business, innovative menu, great drinks, really great place for the community. Get ahold of Jimmy at [email protected], [email protected], and change your life.

Laura, change our life. What’s going on in the world of sports besides the Dodgers hosting the Padres all weekend long? Take it away, Laura.

Well, I’ve been having fun watching Djokovic play at Wimbledon, because every time I watch him, I think it could be the last time. And I’ve always been a Djokovic fan from day one, even though he wasn’t really that popular. But for whatever reason, I just liked him the first time I saw him. And so I’m watching a little bit of the,

Did you watch Serena?

And I was just gonna say that the Serena comeback was really fun.

It was so much fun. I was like, just glued to the TV.

You know, and she’s another one. The Williams sisters are another,

Yeah,

Important people who really changed sports.

Great call for you.

So they need to be up there too.

Laura, you discovered that you have ESPN Unlimited?

I discovered I did because we bundled it with Hulu and Disney, and which I didn’t know, I don’t think I have that $14 DirecTV sports package,

Well, wherever ESPN goes, Disney’s not far behind.

All right,

That’s a lot of fun.

For Laura, for Art, for Mark, thank you guys again. Mario, thank you guys and gals for listening to Fred the Fantastics on BLEAV and on PodClips. Bye, everybody.

Bye, everybody.

Love to everybody.