Hey everybody, it’s that time again. Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and on PodClips, anything and everything in sports. Art, Laura, and Mark, and you. You can email us at [email protected], [email protected]. We’re taping this one o’clock Friday afternoon Pacific Daylight Time; tonight in five hours in San Diego, Dodgers at the Padres, Walker Buehler pitching for San Diego. I think the Dodgers scored like 10 runs, even in a big ballpark like that, and also it’s on Apple TV. So the question is, I spend a lot of money, everybody spends a lot of money, to get all the games for the season. I spend an extra $25 a month to get all the baseball games, except they keep sending them to Apple; you don’t get those games. Bottom line, greed and the fan gets in the head one more time. Art. Dodgers at San Diego tonight, Walker Buehler, Sasaki going for the Dodgers. Who do you like? And talk about the fact that the greed, greed, greed overcomes everything.

I got lucky because when I lost my phone at the LA tournament about three weeks ago, I got an Apple phone. Apple gives you a special discount on Apple TV. So, yeah, exactly. And so bottom line is, I’m kind of happy. But I do think it’s awfully tough for the average sports fan who just wants to tune in and find out where his team is. And when you have nine different networks that are showing the games, it gets to be a little bit too much, in my opinion. But we’re taking this, this linear TV to streaming because of the money involved. And I don’t know if you guys watched CNBC this morning. It was all about, you know, the cartels that are owning all these multi-group franchises, you know, and it’s just nuts, the amount of money that is in professional sports now, in terms of the franchise’s value; billions. Jerry Jones and, and, you know, Kroenke, I mean, these people have, you know, portfolios of three teams worth $20 billion, Fred. Did we ever, ever in our minds, ever think it would come to this?

Well, look at the White House.

Yeah.

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

Ever think you’d have a UFC fight there?

No. [email protected]. Laura, Dodgers, San Diego. Tucker might be back for LA. Who do you like tonight? Walker Buehler against his former team?

I like the Dodgers. I think they’re motivated. They want to beat the Padres. Although, you know, they’re so far ahead of the Padres in the division, but I don’t think they want to let go of that lead. I think it’s now 10 or nine-and-a-half. So, yeah, I like the Dodgers. And I think they’re probably going to go two to one, maybe, and let San Diego win a game.

Do you think Walker Buehler wants to win against the Dodgers, Laura? Honestly?

I do.

Yeah, I think, I think it works both ways on that one.

I do, for sure.

Mark, your Paul Skenes is pitching well, but not well enough. How many games in a row, when he started, have the Pirates lost? Mark, your comments.

They’re 0 and 7.

Yeah.

But you know, he’s not getting the run support. The strikes, outs are up. I mean, the team is treading water. They’re five games better than they were last year. So, potentially you got a shot to get that wild card. They’re within striking distance. But getting back to sports, I think it’s going to come to the point where they’re just going to price themselves out. People are just going to look for other sports. It’s not going to be the four mainstream sports. It’s going to be pickleball. It’s going to be flag football. It’s going to be other sports, like minor league baseball.

I gotta ask you guys a question, now you’re talking. What’s going on with Caitlin Clark and the WNBA? I mean, are there just a bunch of thugs going after this gal?

I don’t know if you guys saw the hit – the fist in the throat play.

Yeah.

She was the most valuable player last year. So there’s really no reason for that. I mean, it’s just awful. But they did upgrade it to a flagrant two. So she’ll be suspended a game. You know, we were talking about that this morning. I mean, it’s kind of unfortunate. She’s done so much for the WNBA. But, I got to think there’s a little bit of resentment going on with the players. I don’t think she deserves it. But I think it’s just part of the fabric of our society that, you know, this straight white girl gets in and all of a sudden everybody cares about it. That’s the explanation.

She was on her back. She was totally afraid of what was coming on.

No, there’s no excuse for it.

She was on her back. And I mean, it was like, I just felt really sad for her.

I just think jealousy is human nature, you know?

Boomer Esiason on WFAN indicated that the league is too woke, WNBA. So he said, basically, the referee didn’t call the foul because the league is too woke. I think the referee just made a mistake. Art, what do you think?

I’d hope to think you’re right on that one, Fred.

Yeah.

You know, I mean,

They did call a foul.

This league has come so far.

But they didn’t give a technical. That’s the deal.

Well, it got upgraded. So I think,

After the game.

Fred, when I see Lionel Messi take a guy down and there’s no foul in anything, to me, you know, this is the poster boy of FIFA.

Certain rules for certain players, is that what you’re saying?

Certain rules for certain people. Yes.

Can I tell you what I love about the World Cup? When the guy is writhing in pain, he looks like he’s going to die, and then the yellow card comes out. He’s OK, he’s up, and he’s ready to go.

Yeah.

All right.

Tell me FIFA and the NCAA aren’t in bed at the same time.

We’ll take a break and come back with more on Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and on PodClips. Back right after this.

Hey everybody, welcome back to Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and on PodClips. Art, Laura, and Mark, and you. Email us, [email protected]. Look, Brian Kelly, as Art indicated off the air, used to coach at Cincinnati.

Yeah.

He left them as they were going to a bowl game. At that point, Cincinnati was a basketball school and not a football school. He left the kids hanging. He takes the Notre Dame job, screws around at Notre Dame, leaves them hanging, goes to LSU and gets canned. Now he’s going to be a television voice. Art, what do you think?

Oh, my God.

Well, the bottom of the West will never be the same. He’s also going to do a show, a CBS Sports Network Inside College Football show. So I’m wondering if that $54 million, never quite, did it come to fruition?

No, I think he got the money. I think he’d be suing if he didn’t get the money. I just think,

Unbelievable.

Thirty-two jobs in college football last year and nobody thought that he was good enough for a head coaching job?

Okay, so we’re in June now, the end of June. When do you think the football books are going to be coming out? What football books, Fred?

July 1? Lindy and,

The only one I have is 1975 Street and Smith, and I’m in there. And that’s why I have it.

No, the point I’m trying to make is we don’t know who’s going to be quarterbacking anywhere at this point in time. Everybody’s going to be switching schools.

And the saddest part about that, Fred, is these kids that are playing high school football, I mean, with NIL and the transfer portal, I’m finding that the ESPN 300, where they picked the best 300 seniors in high school, only 140 of them really got signed last year, because the coaches are actually having video of all these players that are transferring. And to figure out what a kid’s going to be like four or five years from now, that’s a tough thing to do. And it’s starting to hurt the young kids that are in high school.

Let me tell you this story. And folks, when you hear this, you’re not going to believe it, but it’s true. The Clippers’ second-round pick, I think the 28th pick in the second round, a kid from Auburn, I can’t pronounce his name. First name is Narcisse, I think. The last name is spelled N-G-O-Y. He’s going to Auburn.

Rama.

Okay, whatever it is. But the point I’m trying to make is he got drafted in the second round. He’s going to Auburn. So he put himself in the draft. And now he can go back to school.

Now, let me ask you a question. How much more money is Auburn paying him than a second-round pick in the NBA? That’s what we’ve got to find out.

Well, much less, obviously. So, I mean, there’s no question. NIL, probably two or three million, maybe 100,000 if he’s a developmental league player, or even a second, even if he’s only the 15th player on the team, he’s not gonna be making $3 million. Should the kids have a right to go back to school, Laura? Laura, should the kids have a right to go back to school?

It depends on what the rules are. I mean, you know, NBA or the college NCAA rules allow them to test the draft. I thought, once you declared for the draft, you couldn’t go back to college. Maybe the rules changed. I mean, you know, the rules are so much in flux right now. You can’t even keep up with it. I feel sorry for,

Will there be an NCAA in college in 10 years? That’s my other question.

Well, the key to that, the kid that came out of BYU that went to Washington. I would just, you know, go back to BYU because that is an organization that hasn’t done anything since 1978, I think.

What about Darryn Peterson from Kansas, going to the Utah Jazz? A lot of Mormon intake with the Jazz and the upper management. You have Darryn Peterson, who didn’t exactly make a lot of friends in his one year at Kansas. Is that going to work out, second pick in the draft, Darryn Peterson with the Jazz?

When I read about the conundrum, I was wondering what they were taking in drafting this young man. I mean, to me, there were six really good picks, and you could have, you know, probably done just fine with any of the six. But you also have to look at the surroundings. You know, what is he going to? How does he fit in Salt Lake City and things of that nature? So that’s a great point, Fred. I mean, you know, we look at the New York Mets, who just fired their manager, and we look at the Phillies, who fired their manager, Thompson, and replaced him with Mattingly. And now they’re rolling, and they’re blaming all the things on, you know, Mendoza, who took his team to the National League Championship Series just two seasons ago, but now he can’t manage. So, I mean, clubhouses, and that relationship in the clubhouse is key to sports. You know, if you love your teammates, you’re going to play harder.

Well, and that’s the simple fact, but Minnesota, we get involved now with the Ant-Man, you got Gobert there. I think, you know, a lot of people say it won’t work. Well, Clay Thompson worked with Steph Curry in the backcourt. So, I mean, it’s going to be interesting.

What are the Lakers going to do with LeBron, Mark? That’s another key. I mean, they have to figure out now that they signed Reaves, they have, you know, they have Luka, what are they going to do with LeBron?

I don’t know, but Pat Riley is the genius of the NBA. Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O’Neal, Dwayne Wade, Jimmy Butler, LeBron James. And now he gets the Greek Freak.

What’s his name?

Giannis. You know, I want to talk about something else.

Giannis, I like that.

I think it was really on display with this dialog between Shohei Otani and the catcher, the young rookie catcher, Dalton Rushing. Because Tom Brady was interviewed, and he said, There’s three components to being a really, you know, super athlete. One is, of course, the talent, physical. The other is the mental. And the third one is the emotional issue, which I’ve never really heard, you know, those three. I’ve heard mental and physical, obviously. But, you know, I was watching that meltdown by Rushing and watching Ohtani, who’s like, always so polite, you know, kind of summoning him to the mound and saying, Look, I’m calling the game from now on. You just sit back there and catch. I’ll tell you what I need you to pitch.

I didn’t see that.

That sounds like Bob Gibson and Tim McCarver many years ago.

What ended up happening? I didn’t see it, but I heard a little bit about it. It was a big,

Well, I think what happened was, Ohtani was, wanted to pitch, I think it was fastball away, and Rushing thought it was going to be inside. And he just missed it. He just missed the ball and ended up scoring a run. So I think he irritated Ohtani. I mean, Ohtani never looks irritated, but he looked irritated in that confrontation. But the point was not so much Ohtani, but, but Rushing’s reaction. I mean, he went back to the dugout, hit himself in the head. You know, players that get that emotional, we’ve seen it a lot with key players, and they’re not gonna succeed.

You know, talking about Tom Brady, you guys. I remember when he played the Steelers in Foxborough in the AFC Championship game. And he came out right before the game, and he put on a tirade in the end zone. It was like watching the linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens, Lewis. I mean, he was just screaming and primal. And I remember my wife and I looked at each other.

Not against himself.

What’s that?

He wasn’t doing it against himself.

No, no, no. But he was, he was so pumped up. It was crazy.

Well, that’s the word around. You know, you hear a lot about with Rushing, he’s just emotional, and he can’t corral it to a certain extent. I like the kid, but he can’t,

How old is he?

24.

Yeah. He may be able to get it under control, but if he doesn’t, he’s not going to succeed.

Well, they got to figure out what to do with Will Smith here. Who knows when he’s coming back?

Art,

I’ll tell you what, Dalton Rushing has a lot of talent, Fred.

He does.

Yeah.

Art, what legal medicinal product do you take to do shows like this?

Well, we’re going to stick to the Prevagen Professional formula. It really keeps the noodle working the right way. And God only knows, at 128, I need everything I can do to go in the right direction.

For Art, for Laura, for Mark, for Mario. All night long and all day long. More of Fred the Fantastics on BLEAV and on Podclips. Bye, everybody.