The volume. All right, my buddy Nick Wright is about to stop by. But before we start with Nick, I want you to grab your smartphone and download the game Time app. You know how the game works. It takes about ninety seconds to download apps. The game Time app is great. You don't have to worry about tickets to the big event ever.
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All right, We bring in Nick, right, and there's the first thing. We got to get right right to the important stuff. So Nick apparently show them Nick what you have in your hand? He broke his hand.
I got a broken arm. I had a broken arm, is what I have.
So I didn't notice this on our weekly TV appearance, mostly because your arm isn't in the shot.
Mostly, Oh, my arm isn't the shot though. I'm waving a sharpie all around. I'm pointing things out, but you're so locked in so you didn't notice. So you're just now realizing that, yeah, I would have a broken arm.
What'd you do?
Well, Colin? You know, I mean, this is I wasn't going to bring this to the audience, but it's fine. You know the you know the company I keep, the circles I run in and when I send you a you know, a panic text message and you wire me thirty five thousand dollars and you leave it on red or unopen like this is what happens, you know what I mean? People were no nothing that cool or all I felt I had gotten I got.
I was people at forty don't fall? What does that mean?
Well, if you get knocked, if you're going down the stairs holding a phone reading Twitter, Oh, and get get and get bumped by the old family dog. Oh Jesus, sonime's your fall. And then and then don't want to drop the phone and think you're going to fall gracefully, and instead you don't. You break your arm, which is like, can I tell you either that or I owed somebody money and they broke my arm. The audience can choose what they want to believe.
I have a fall story.
So I've had two really bad falls in my life, and when you get to my age, you could die that way. So about Yeah, Jackson was two or three, may have been three years old, So this was this was fifteen years ago. I'm in Connecticut in a condo and I have I'm going to bring him a blanket downstairs, and I have myself. I have a shorts on nothing else. It's early morning, and he wants to watch cartoons or
something whatever it is. And I have my cell phone in my shorts and I have a cup of coffee in my right hand and the towel the comforter, I step on it and I do flip.
I had a tough one.
I landed and I tried to save my coffee as I'm falling forgetting that I'm old at the time, you know, I.
Was forty five.
I fell so hard one it eventually two days later left a phone imprint on my calf. I mean, I literally went horizontal. Secondly, it's the only time in my life I was when you get when things are like shock like was didn't remember about five to six seconds of I got up and there was coffee had fallen, and everything had fallen, and I had a bruise. I had a phone bruise. I had bruises up and down
my leg. And so what's interesting since that moment, I literally when I go into upstairs, no phone, no has changed the way as I've aged, I go up and downstairs.
So you don't want to know what's funny. So because I'm not as old, yeah, I get maybe I'm a little more hardheaded than you. The day after this happened without the dog bumping me, but same thing, socks on the stairs with the cast on my arm, I almost felt my I was walking with my daughter. I almost fell again, and she yelled at me. She's like, Daddy, you can't. And I was like, you know what, I'm now a hold the railing guy, I'm not. I didn't I didn't think i'd get there before I hit forty,
but I got there. I'm now a hold the railing guy like I'm gonna slow but steady. Yes, and so yeah, So that's so, that's what it is I have. Yeah, So that's that's the embarrassing story there. But that's I'm glad to talk to you. I also have a slight.
Beef with you, if he go ahead, go ahead.
Yeah, when you and I, when you and I started doing these again and doing these regularly, and I know I've been off lately, and I apologize for missing last week. One of the conceits of it was that we would have a few drinks together and it'd be like a night thing and whatever. And the first couple episodes you did it, and now you've stopped. I'm still doing it. And to your volume audience, it's like man Nick showing up with a broken arm. He's drinking on a Tuesday,
Like is he okay? Like it's there, doesn't look like he's cut his hair in two years. Colin's just drinking seltzer. He's out here drinking bottles of wine. So there, Yeah, I saw it. I was like, that guy's got a diet coke. There what is he? Francetha like, what are we talking about? And so well that's all. So maybe next time you can share a cocktail with this.
So what I do?
You know? The second wife reality is when when when Ann comes to La sometimes we go have a good time. So we went to Beverly Hills the last two nights and we stayed out, and I mean we went out and had.
A great time.
And and so tonight I thought I would dry out a little and just be just be an adult for the first time in three days.
You know, good for you. No, I I appreciate that. I respect it. But so go ahead, now we can go.
Now we can go. So I was it was brought to my attention somebody on the staff said this the other day. Is that and Dan Woiki, who's for the La Times, A bright guy comes on my show, and he said, I like him.
He does a good job.
He was really really thoughtful, bright guy.
And we were talking about I said, you know, listen, I think the European structure is better than the AAU. That's what's creating this imbalance in European stars and domestic stars. It's nothing against our kids. AAU is about getting yours, playing.
With your buddies.
European, their academies are playing against older, physical players and coming out at eighteen or nineteen refined, mature, disciplined, and hardened because years ago, twenty years ago, the knock on European players was they're all sold, they're all Tony Ko coach, and they hurt it. And so now they have created a system in which their guys come out Luca Wemby, they come out ready to play physically. Our guys get a little pampered with AAU. You don't get the hard
high school or college coaching. You go to G League, you go onto a bad team Jalen Green, and you can get yours. But the game is there's not a lot to it. It feels like an individual game. And the European guys are part of systems and teams very quickly. And somebody brought this up. The NBA has to find a domestic star, and they thought it would be Jason Tatum and he's just not interested in that. Part of being a star is you have to be interested in it.
Lebron was was magic, was Bird wasn't Doctor James Boby.
Was obsessed with you. Yes, Goby was obsessed with.
And the European guys aren't. Just like when you go to Europe you're a visitor. You you tip better, you're more gracious, you're more forked. You don't add lib and go out to a club just you know what, just random it. So the European players don't want to be the star of the league. They want to get they want to get points, they want to get wins, they get their sleep. And the American kids, frankly, we're waiting for one of these kids to embrace it. And Tatum's
not interested. Anthony Edwards maybe, but he is in Minnesota.
Even KG was.
Sort of invisible in Minnesota, and he's an all time great player. So I was thinking about this. We need a domestic that's nothing. I love the Europeans, but to some no, so, but this is why. So I have a lot of thoughts on this.
Yeah.
So one is this is why John Zion going a little sideways is so damaging. That's why I wanted it. He's electrifying, Yes, you know what I mean. He may I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was gonna get back on track after a bunch of public missteps, but then he got hurt. Zion, you know, seemed to get caught up in a lot of things. And it feels like everyone even though by the way, Zion's been excellent this year, he's been healthy, the Pelicans
have been good. Yeah, but it feels like the idea of like, oh, Zion's going to be an MVP, like everyone's kind of moved past that and been like, Okay, he's good. He's really good, and so like that's disappointing from where he was. Anthony Edwards wants it, and even though he's in Minnesota, Colin he's so electrifying. Yeah, I think he can. I think he could do it. Now.
It's hard for a six three and a half, six to four guy to be good enough to be the face of the league, but he is, so i'll use the word again, electrifying as an athlete and as a player. And I'm sure you saw hustle. He's charismatic, he's a
good actor, like all those things that they need the league. Really, I think it would benefit the league massively, even if the ratings weren't great this go round, if Minnesota goes on a real run, if he all of a sudden, you know what I mean, starts showing up in those games.
But the other thing you pointed out, because I've always appreciated the way you've talked about the issues potentially with the AAU circuit, because you've made a very clear, uh, You've been very intentional about saying I'm not blaming the kids, blaming the players, because a lot of the critiques of AU basketball from a lot of people have felt to
me in the past slightly racist. It's always felt like they were trying to send coded language at these black a lot of black running organizations, a lot of black kids. I so, but they're obviously, we now have almost proof of concept that the American born players are coming into the league the best ones, a lot of them less prepared than the European players with a foreign players, no questions. So why is that? I think a lot of it has to do. And there's a point our mutual friend
Bill Simmons has made me. He's right. The volume of games that are played removes some natural competitiveness. And that might sound counterintuitive, but if you are playing five games in two days, how much does a lost sting? Yeah, you know what I mean? Like I'm back at it. I'm playing again in two hours like and so as opposed to from what I understand, is a lot of the leagues or camps or what they call them. I forget what they call them in Europe, but it doesn't matter. Academies,
that's the word. It's a lot of you know, practice leading up to a game, and then a lot more so you see a real pain from losing, because it's like god, dogg, there is gonna have to sit with me for days. And so I think that there's a lot of elements there that are that are not necessarily the best incubators to create the best, the most talent, and and so I think that that is instructive because I do think it is important for any league to have where it is based some of its very best
players be from there. I don't think that's nativists. I don't think that's I think that's just normal. I think that one of the reasons hockey is more popular in Canada is a disp warning amount of the great players are Canadian. You know what I mean? Like that is and so yeah, I do think it obviously would be better for the NBA if we can have more domestic stars. But you you look right now the NCAA tournament's coming up, there's no there are far more, far more domestic female
stars than male stars. No, that's not even debatable. It's not even debatable.
Yeah, usc the girl at lsu I Away, the Angelries.
Juju Watkins, Caitlin Clark, those three stars stars are bigger than Zach Edy, yes, or anyone Yukon has as far as you know. And by the way, none of them are even on the best team in South Carolina with just their stars, their head coach, and as great players. They're once upon a time, it felt like in that
time went that long ago. It felt like in our business, you almost if you if people acknowledged or you know, said they were you know, they had an opinion on the women's tournament that wasn't like Yukon or Tennessee was gonna win. It almost felt like it was performative. This last two years, it feels like people are invested, you know what I mean, like have takes because they've been watching. Yes, it's like, oh I watched Juju right and she acts like, yeah,
everybody knows. Caitlin Clark. It's exciting.
I remember watching Maya more and think for the first time, Oh, she could make a Division one men's team. That was the first time and I thought, oh, Jesus, that's that's like, that's an alpha she is.
That's she got moves.
And now I watch several women and I'm like, Caitlyn Clark's range is beyond men's players, Like that's just not you know, that's a different But now men tend to be more vertical palming the ball right. And I also think what it points out to the emergence of women's basketball is a lot of things. But I'll throw my belief system into this. We are more distracted than ever because of our phones and what is on our phone social media, which is because, yeah, but what what they
really are. We've become a society of me and less about we. And so we go to our Instagram and we look at us and we take selfies and we you know, the algorithms to let us read what we want to read. We're not interested really in information. It's mostly affirmation politically, sports, my team, my Reddit board. So
what's happened? We are distracted? Therefore, stars, political stars, tech stars, stars now the rock Elon Musk so if you look at the sports that are growing, the NFL, where their best players are stars, Women's basketball is growing like crazy because their best players are stars. Men's basketball is shrinking. There's no stars in the sport. There's no there's no I mean, Zach Eaty is a second round but he
can't defend at the NBA level. And so if you and by the way, this has been baseball's problem that show Hee O Tani. I think we'll solve at least to the Dodgers. He's a bonafi star. So as society has gotten more distracted, we read the headlines, we don't read the story, and metaphorically politics, that's what opens the door for a Trump. It's right people laugh at Trump, and I'm like Mark Cuban could run tomorrow and be
a viable candidate within six months. So I think what women's basketball, the growth of NFL and women's basketball are the two fastest growing sports.
They're star driven. That's really a big part of it.
And the we are the NFL is almost Somebody asked me the other day that what I Because people know I love the NBA thanks to the chief success, I don't think I'm considered really an NBA guy anymore.
That's true.
I think the people think of me as like an NFL A and NBA guy. But once when you and I first started working together, people looked at me mostly as an NBA and.
You have benefited by the way you have benefited. When I started ESPN, I was seen as a college football guy, so I stopped talking about it because I thought I needed to shift to an NFL guy first. So I think it's actually benefited your ratings and benefited you because I think the NFL is so overwhelmingly popular, you have to well, that's.
What I So that's what I was getting to. Somebody asked me. They were like, you know, what do you think in ten years or fifteen years, is going to be the second most popular sport in America? And I said, I wonder if we are headed towards and you and I might have talked about this before, everything other than football being niche, where if football is the only thing that everybody's into, and niche doesn't mean it doesn't you know, there's not stars, and you can't make millions of dollars
doing in all those things, but that everything else. Women's basketball is in a unique place because it's it was coming from such a place of little attention nationally to now growing. But that everything else that already had a sizeable footprint, if those footprints are going to shrink a bit,
the nfls is going to continue to grow. And then that every that there, it is the only thing that is going to be universal amongst sports fans going to be football because march madness and filling out the bracket and that experience is still universal among sports fans, But following day to day college basketball is not sure. That is that it absolutely is not. The NBA superstars are
still you know, universal amongst sports fans. But there are a lot of people that consider that watch fs one all the time, that are big enough sports fans to know who I am, know who you are, all these things who if you ask them, hey, it is there's fourteen games left in the year. Have you watched more than one NBA game start to finish that they'd be like, no, it's not the playoffs yet, I haven't, you know what I mean? And so that is that is happening across the board.
Well, so I wrote this down two three days ago. I wrote down I wrote down the sports calendar and it was I was figuring out vacation time for the family. And if the NFL goes to an eighteenth game, and they will, it will, I believe, create a second buy that will push football potentially two more weeks into February because they won't start it early. They I just don't think that Labor Day is still you know, it's kind of right. They'll shrink the preseason down to two games.
They'll add a game another buy. Selfishly, here's our here's what our job will be. And I know this is insular and people that are listening, but this is the stuff you and I talk about off the air. So part of podcasting is doing that. So if the football season ends, Super Bowl is the twenty third, it'll always be indoor warm weather. You can no longer do anything but indoor warm weather, right like, which I'm okay with Marty Gross. Same place every year, New Year's drop, same place.
It's going to be Domes or Wart Miami or something. Right, So it ends on the twenty fourth, you talk about it for five days, you take a vacation, which because the season will be so damn long now, it'll be twenty six weeks of our life we don't take vacation during it. We'll all take a vacation. Company will probably mandate it. I would guess say get out of here.
You and I will come back no dead time into free agency and the final seventeen games of the NBA regular season, You and I will lose those two to three dead weeks that all sports talk radio show hosts. They'll be gone and the only dead time. And companies like Fox and ESPN's been doing this for years, but I think increasingly Fox and FS one will do this
is August will largely July and August. We'll get more time off, larger blocks because the company will realize we're asking our nick wrights, Colin Skip whoever, to do like twenty five straight weeks because college football now on Saturdays with a big ten and four brand from the West in it. You have to watch some college football on Saturdays.
No and so yeah, so there will be it. It is going. I look at the sports calendar currently, is this from September one until Valentine's Day is NonStop football with no days off, no days off. It is just it is my wife and I. You know, we we feel like every other podcast we either talk about therapy or marriages or whatever it is. But my wife and I somewhat off your I don't want to say you're pushing, but you talked openly about it, so I'll talk openly
about it. My wife and I occasionally go to couples counseling. Yeah, I do it every wednes type thingy there you go, Ye did it today and she said, she said to our therapist. I don't know when it was. She was like, so, how are you know, how are you guys doing? This was a few months ago, and I don't want to miss quoter her, but this is about the line. She was like, well, I don't really like him a lot
right now. But it's the beginning of December. And that's how it is every year because by the time we get to December, it has been three straight months of me, you know what I mean, basically out of it. And she knows there's still a couple months to go, you know what I mean, and so there, So that's so, but that is what it is. From September to mid to Valentine's Day, we are locked in six and a half days a week and we have great I'm not
complaining about it, but it's just what it is. We then get, like you said, a week off, and then to be honest, I kind of feel like it probably should be like two or three weeks off because I see the numbers. Nobody everybody is taking a deep breath from sports. Everybody is everybody who's been locked into football.
Basketball isn't heated up yet. And then it picks back up NFL free agency, and that carries us to the NBA stretch run NBA playoffs, and then right after the NBA playoffs, the NBA stays kind of hot because they walk right into their free agency, and then from mid July until that September one, those six weeks, we're all just tap dancing. Well, you know what I mean. We're all just that there's nothing going on baseball. Even if you love baseball, those are the dog days of the
baseball season. There's nothing happening. Yeah, and so that is the NFL extending would be great for everybody. I heard you and Jason talking about this, yeah, and it would be It would be great. I don't know how much the players would love it. I don't know. If here's the only question I would have. Do you think one of the reasons the NFL is so popular and the NFL is so great is every game feels very important.
At some point that flips to eh, it's okay, do you like at what number would you say they are risking you know what I mean. I don't want to say ruining a good thing, but hutting off some of their own urgency.
Well, I've thought about that.
And baseball so laughably long and the NBA similarly in hockey, are that the scarcity still exists even with eighteen games. I mean baseball, literally, there's nothing that makes sense about one hundred and sixty two games, twenty spring training games of potentially eighteen to twenty postseason games. A team could play two hundred games if they won the World Series. So it's so insane, so many innings, so many hours, that I still think there's a scarcity that sort of
drives the sport. I mean, college football used to be like eleven games if you won the NATTI, or now it's like fourteen or fifteen.
Well now you see, right, like Joe Burrowsell's you team was fifteen and uh, and now they're adding more like so they are approaching where the NFL was like Joe Paterno, I think won a national champion with eleven wins. That's why I could you know what I mean, I could be and so that has happened at a very rapid pace.
I have one other kind of big picture NFL urgency thought, which is I don't know if you remember me ever saying this, but I I'm a big believer that one of the best things to happen to the NBA was Lebron's Heat team losing that first year, because it made every other year of that era feels so much more important. Year two, Holy shit, if they lose here, they're gonna break it up. Year three, are right, they won, but we've seen them lose, you know what I mean? Can
they do it? If they don't do it, then it's not really that impressive. Anyway, they win it year four, all right, now they're going for a three beat check Kobe Michael. Whatever they lose, I think the worst thing to happen, not the worst thing, but I think it was bad for the NBA that Durant and Staph one year one. Had they lost Year one, I bet Durant never would have left. But because they won, everyone's like, yeah, we fucking knew you would win. That was too easy.
So I think sometimes like adversity can be good for long term success of storylines. Whatever. Here's why I bring all that up sneakily. I think while it was exhilarating to watch and great for the legend of the player and the coach for NFL conversation next season, I think
the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl was a sneaky bad thing. Yes, because now there is every NFL conversation is going to almost either implicitly or explicitly include like nobody is going to feel, I think, feel almost allowed to doubt the Chiefs, Like you know, if the Chiefs start four and four, is anyone gonna feel comfortably and like, well, now they're cooked,
you know what I mean? Like now there And so there is a level of because they looked so bad, it was statistically record wise, all these things their worst year, and then they won anyway, and it's not like, well the bracket broke for him. It's like, no, they had to be Buffalo, Baltimore, San Francisco. How is it's going to be a tough sell on any of.
Those the volume.
Thanks for listening to part one of the conversations with Nick. Don't forget the check back for part two.