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It before you even get going. I can I say something on Colin Cowherd's behalf, Okay, I am, And we don't have to spend any time on this other than this statement I want to make. I am offended on behalf of my dear friend, Colin Cowherd, that so much of the Internet reacted surprised by your agent thoughtful and dare I say obvious take on Donald Trump. The amount of people that were like, oh, I was worried Colin was a Trump, I'm like, have you been a lot?
Like I'm not saying that Colin was out here, you know, knocking doors for Bernie Sanders, but the idea that there were people that were they were like, oh, what a pleasant surprise. I'm like surprise. And so, first of all, I'm glad you said what you said, but I'm also kind of offended on your behalf that people were surprised by it. So I just wanted to say that off the top, and then we can do what everything well.
I well, I had a comment one time and it wasn't an endorsement of anything. I just said, I have this feeling we're going to see a red wave during mid terms because of the way one of the things I didn't love. I don't love when government overreaches on anything. And I thought some of the COVID stuff, it's like, let Californians take their kids to the beach, it's a virus get in the sun. I thought they were a little over the top. And I said, I got a
I think we're going to see a red wave. It wasn't an endorsement.
So I remember when that happened, and I think do so maybe that is where the surprise came from. Ye, I think some people took that as a hope rather than a prediction. And you know that you were just saying because we talked about it. I think more so in the moment about the pessimism or optimism about what was going to happen. But yeah, okay, So maybe that's
where the surprise came from because people saw that. And by the way, in those that specific midterms, a lot of people that were just crunching the numbers, you know, the pollsters and stuff, thought that was certainly very in play that this last round of that round of midterms, there was going to be significantly more you know, conservative Republican gains than there were, So maybe that's where it
came from. But I was just I was. I was very pleased listening to the pod, and I was initially pleased by the reaction, and then I was I started getting annoyed by it. I was like, yeah, of course, you think Colin's out here hanging out in southern California wearing a red hat, Like, give me a break, guys, but go ahead.
Well, for the record, sometimes I just like to be instructive. The dollar in America, For all those lamenting the economy, our dollar right now is the strongest it's nineteen eighty. What does that mean? That means, folks, if you have the wherewithal financially to travel overseas go this summer, that's the dollar will buy you more. What you know it means, obviously, you know our dollar on the exports imports. A strong
dollar is always an economic advantage for us. But what it really means to the common person is if you can ever go to Europe go the dollars hasn't been this strong since nineteen eighty, So everybody lamenting the economy. Nobody's saying it's like the dot com Bill Clinton era, right when, like you know, Grocer dot com skyrockets and like is losing money, But we're saying it's not. Seventy
two percent of Americans now believe that. That's what I read yesterday, that their economy, their finances are fine, but the country is to believed.
So that that it's a similar thing. By the way, and then again we can move off this. I shouldn't have said this off the top, but it's similar, which is, how dangerous is your neighborhood, Oh, it's pretty safe. How dangerous is the country? Terribly dangerous? Like it is. There is a lot of that, and I don't think I don't think anyone would argue right now everything's perfect or ideal or even necessary necessarily the best it's been in
the last ten years, twenty years, whatever. But the point you made, which is trying to sell you an America that doesn't exist, I thought that you don't see I thought was very a very smart way of putting it, Like,
it is very difficult to say these like that. There is this level of crises in every sector of life going on, and for anyone who experiences daily life to then be like, well, I'm not seeing any of the you know, I'm not seeing that, and so yeah, I obviously agreed with you, but yeah, go ahead, as you were. I don't know where we're going to start.
Yeah, yeah, well I can always tell when somebody is not from Southern California, they say you live in a gated community outside of Hidden Hills, which is like the Kardashian neighborhood. Southern California doesn't gate a lot of its communities. Now Orange County might, but La County doesn't. So I mean, there's some Beverly Hills stuff, but you can drive all over the flats of Beverly Hills and there's no gates there. So you can drive up right next to a Hollywood
director in Beverly Hills. So whenever anybody says like, oh, you live in your gated community, it's like, no, that you'll see more of those in Cincinnati per capita than here. Like on golf courses. LA's really frankly quite open. There's an area in Malibu which is hard to get into with stars Beverly Hills on the Denzel Washington, the hillside very difficult to get into. Orange County's got more of it tends to be a bit more conservative, golf course driven.
Where I live.
I right now live in an apartment by young people. Like this idea that I'm by, I'm mansioned and it's like, and for the record, I don't really care what anybody thinks about my you know, if you like me, great, if you don't find But my point is is that I got a bullshit meter that's pretty good. And like, if you keep selling me on something, I'm walking around the town and where I live right now as young people, it's not a wealthy area and it's like, no, there's.
A wolf factor there just is if you can't always tell me that you know what I mean, the collapse is around the corner, imminent happening. And it even more so if you try to sell me in my opinion three and a half years ago, if you don't reelect me, then hell will be at your doors. Then three and a half years later you kind of have to pretend hell is at your doors. And I don't think that's what most people are experiencing. I'm not acting like to
be there. It's times aren't tough I'm not acting like, you know, inflation didn't really hit a lot of people hard. I'm like things are perfect. I'm like any that there are that things are going swimmingly across the board. But somewhere between things being you know, the greatest they've ever been and the worst they've ever been is reality, and I think it is. I don't think anyone is trying to sell us it's the best it's ever been, because
that wouldn't be, I think, believable. But you do have people trying to sell us that it is the worst it's ever been, and that's not that's right, that's I don't think what most people. It's hard to sell that when you know unemployments at four percent are below it's the there are certain things yeah with that, it's just people aren't going to buy it, even if we wish things were better.
But go ahead, Yeah, and I and I also think the truth is we have many challenges ahead of us as a society, and there's no perfect administration. And I never seek I don't ask my wife to be perfect or my employer to be perfect.
I hope you're on the right side of.
Big environmental issues, on big economic issues, but I don't ask for perfection and but but I mean, we do have challenges going forward. I tend to when it comes to politics, I'm looking at your policies more than people and I and I told this to a conservative friend of mine. You guys have got to shift out of grievance. That's not a policy. Like, you can't just go angry until election day. You have to at some point pivot to and here's two or three peas.
That's right.
You've got to at some point have some shite you And by the way, both there is a and I'm I hate when people do the both parties thing, but in this regard, it's true. Both parties when they're out of power are doing more of the here's what's wrong. I totally get that, Yes, but there needs to be a level of and here is my plan, you know what I mean? Like that, here is.
The say what you will think about? Go ahead, think about this. You go on a date with a girl and all she does is bitch about her ex boyfriend instead of talking about hey, like, this is what I like to do? What do you want to do together? Like there's a level of anger and resentment and grievance it's got you can fill the cup up pretty quickly, like at some point pivot to all right, let's get
optimistic on this thing. Here's what we're doing. You gotta it's like almost like I used to have a boss he passed away, Larry Kenop, and he used to always say it was a really I really used it, he said. You know, sometimes you have to put your arm around it in an employee and with your left leg kick him in the ass. You can't just rip him for fifteen in it. You got to put your arm around him and say, boy, I'm pissed off, I'm pissed off, or I really love you. But managers, coaches, politicians, it
can't be a fire hose of grievance. You've got to give me positive.
And you've got any really any you mentioned relationship, any like, not just dating, romantic relationship. Nobody wants to have dinner or drinks with the friend that the moment you sit down, it's just woe is me. Here's here is the last awful thing. You know, if I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any you know what I mean. That's the story of my life. No, and I'm not again, I am not trying to be toned up. I understand
some people really really have it rough. But the folks who no matter and all of us know these people that no matter the situation that's going on, they are always either in crisis real or imagined, or they have just you won't believe how I just got screwed over. Let me tell you about it. That person's exhausting. And it doesn't mean you don't want you don't have the
empathy for someone when something happens. But the people that I think are most magnetic, most attractive in as far as to spend time with, are people that almost no matter what's going on, they're either looking forward, solution orient oriented, or they're just you know, they are trying to figure out a way through. And that's the people you want
to hang out with. Those are the and for a lot of in my opinion, whether this is the right or the wrong way to elect politicians, a lot of what decides close elections is the old who do you
want to have a beer with? Test? Again, I think that's kind of dumb, but that is It's been shown time and again, and I just don't think people love the whiner and I and I. At one point in time it felt to me like the conservative wing of America had done a really good job, whether it's accurate or not, of marketing themselves as the we'll figure this out.
Bad shit happens. Yeah, but you know what, whatever it is, we are going to And again, even if I think it was bullshit marketing, it was the way people people associated with it, and they associated the left with more of the whining and complaining. That is, if you tell me right now that there is a politician that just did a thirty minute interview and all they did was bitch and moan. I don't associate that with AOC. I don't.
Now.
You might say AOC has bad ideas, but she has ideas. She came into Congress She's like, hey, green, new deal, I want to remake everything. Here's the bill. And you might say that's a disastrous bill. What you didn't come in and say is, oh, it's so unfair. What's happening to me? Everyone's out to get me. No, I just don't find that personally inspired. And there's the political thing.
Yeah, no, no, that's I always thought.
I've said this before.
My two favorite politicians ever are Reagan and Obama and there was, they weren't. Neither was catastrophic, and I've worked with people who are catastrophic where the sky is falling. And Reagan always had a smile on his face and we'll figure it out. He was a very positive guy. Reagan just felt like, good morning in America. We're gonna make it work. This is the greatest country.
I loved.
Reagan and Obama always had a this job is hard. Let's take a deep breath. I'm gonna wear a beas suit. Don't freak out. This job is not easy. Phil Knight has a manifesto. When he started Nike, he wrote down ten and a lot of this you could see in Air the movie Air Ben Affleck and number nine on it was this will be messy. And one of the real things I talked about today about the WNBA was we are seeing this moment in time where this league. And I've always said, I'm in the omelet business, not
the egg business. I don't make you interesting. When you're made, I talk about you, not my job to make the omelet. I'll report on the omelet. So I didn't talk about the WNBA because, frankly, it didn't get ratings. I mean Jesus, the finals got seven hundred thousand. Now you have a catalyst that explodes when a business explodes. It could be a tech business, pharmaceutical business, it could be a law firm. When something explodes, shit gets messy, and we're in the
messy phase. For the WNBA. Their early schedule for the Fever is insane. They're played twice lay.
A game played colin from previous Friday until Sunday. That nine day stretch, they play as many games as the Aces have played all year. They it was and it was again from a marketing standpoint, I got it. Put Caitlyn as many places as possible. From a the you know, the Fever played eleven game, the Finding champs have played six. Now that maybe that was sneaky, brilliant, and then I'll
let you finish. I'm sorry because it will lead to I think Caitlin being awesome at the end of the year, because all of a sudden, she's gonna be the most rested player in every game because they got they have no more back to backs, they have no more three games in four nights. So the rest of the year she's gonna have real time in between it, but they were they but go ahead, you were. You were making a point that I interrupted.
So it's just an it's an exploding business. For the first time it was you know, let's we all know the backstory on the w NBA that it was subsidized by the NBA for a decade. Now they moved into smaller arenas, it wasn't terribly profitable. Las Vegas has sort of figured it out first to be the first franchise that's making real money, almost has an an ideal with its players. But the point being is this is an explosion,
and you see it in tech all the time. You just quite it's it's hard to predict the unpredictable, and so I.
Think so much of the Caitlyn Clark WNBA commentary has actually been some weird media meta commentary about the commentary, like it has been very like the basketball stuff, I think is pretty straightforward. This is a hell of a rookie class. Cameron brank is going to be a star. Angel Reese is going to be a star, Caitlyn Clark is going to be a superstar, and maybe those other two will as well. And they have brought a lot
of eyeballs. Caitlyn Clark's team seems to really be struggling, probably in part because they had the number one pick the last two years for a reason, and partially because of this schedule. And is there some predictable jealousy either,
just based purely on attention and economics? Is some of it about ads rookie and some hazing short, all that stuff kind of to me is a pretty straightforward sports story, up to and including the foul heard around the world that was just a hard flagrant, not even a flagrant too, like it was a hard foul. But the commentary has really been about the commentary, and there's so many levels to it. So I want to start with the first
thing you said, which is like thought exercise. Let's say in five years there is a Tiger Woods like athlete and and some would say, oh, we've already had it, but no Tiger Woods esque in that he captures everyone's attention in hockey. Do we then need to go on the air and be like, we are so sorry that we weren't covering hockey before we did a moral disservice. I don't feel we do, and so I don't feel when folks have been like, well, you're new to the party, Like, well,
in our specific business, the party just got going. Now. It doesn't mean it was not worth a worthwhile league. It doesn't mean I'm not glad it exists. But I on my show, I barely talk about professional baseball. I don't talk anything about hockey. It'd be one thing if on our shows we were talking eleven different sports and just like, nope, we have time for cricket, but we're not making time for the WNBA. That's not the truth.
That's not how these shows work. And there has been to me an element of what I would compare to the hipster band phenomenon, which is if there is a band that all of a sudden is playing arenas, but a year ago was playing eight hundred person venues. The folks who were the fan of the band then sometimes are like, oh, you know, I was here before it was popular, and they're almost snarky towards the new people, as opposed to being like, hey, I always knew this
was awesome, Glad you're here now. So I don't love that, and I think so I think that is problematic in one direction from a media perspective. Here's another thing. I think is problematic from a media perspective. In the other direction, folks who clearly have the attitude of you should be happy I'm even talking about your sport. Therefore, none of my opinions are open for criticism because you're just lucky to be getting my opinions. I think that's bullshit too.
And I think if it were or if it were hockey, or if it were the MLS, I think people would have an easier time with it. Because there is the gender aspect of it. People are nervous about how we
talk about it. And then you add to it that there is also a very obvious now we can talk about how significant, but an obvious at least component of a racial component, which is it is odd that this league that is majority black, a disproportionate amount of its stars have been white women throughout history and now its biggest star is a white woman. That is an added landmine or a complication, whatever you want to put it.
And I think because people are so afraid of all of this, everyone's just freaking out and losing their mind about a foul and who's talking what, And all of a sudden, now the WNBA without anyone mentioning, Hey, the Connecticut Sun are undefeated is taking up more airtime than it has in the last five years combined. It's a fascinating media story as much as anything.
I thought.
James Jones, who's been watching the WNBA for years, had the most prescient, prescient point on it. I thought it was really smart. I didn't think about this.
He says.
The biggest difference between the NBA and the WNBA is the NBA is much more vertical. You may occasionally have a woman break away in the WNBA and dunk it. Men go through the lane, jump over other men, and jampers, often behind their head. Both leagues can shoot, Both leagues can move their feet, both leagues can rebound. Both leagues can pass. The NBA men jump over other six or eight men and duncan in their face regularly, he said.
Because of that.
The WNBA is more physical. You score through physical banging body. You don't go over, you go into. Oh, it's fascinating, he said. The WNBA is actually more physical than the NBA. The NBA is no hand check. You can't stay in front of anybody. The Biggs all shoot threes. The lanes wide open. That's not the WNBA, you score bully ball. And he said, so if you watch the WNBA for years, it's way more physical.
Oh, so that's the NBA. So I hadn't even I hadn't even thought about it. So I says, I, it's a great point by James. So I considered myself like more in I was in tune enough prior to Caitlin Clark with the WNBA to make a significant wager before last season on the Aces to repeat because I'm like, oh, they're the best team, Asia Wilson. I am not in tune enough to tell you who the All Stars were, you know what I mean? So I was, I was.
I was a cash visual observer of the league, which I think makes me above average for you know, America, but below average for the diehards because there's a level of the other aspect is it almost feels like Americans who are fans of like the EPL, your English Premier League, there is a where there's almost not don't love casuals and casual fans. And I feel like the WNBA, for its first time, maybe in its existence, is experiencing casual fans.
And so that was the other thing that I thought was so fascinating about some of the coverage of the angel quote from yesterday. So the internet aggregators did do something unfair to Angelry. She gave a long, thoughtful answer, and they cut it right when she said, you know, basically when she said, you know, this is because of me too, and then right after that she then talks about her teammate and other women, but they cut it
to where it just sounded like that. But now there's a whole other group of people who aren't used to Internet aggregators doing stuff that they've done to every athlete. It sucks, it's unfair, and they thought Angel Reese was getting unfairly picked on. It's like, nope, Actually, all those accounts do that to everybody. Can they do it to Kyrie? Do it Aaron Rodgers? They do it to anyone who
they can, because they're just trafficking clicks. And it's a lot of to me, like, you know, almost like very what's the word communities online that don't interact with each other, who all of a sudden are getting put in the same chat room and everyone's just yelling at d and everyone's mad and you don't even really and there are a lot of real things going on about it now, like you at about the tech space and about growing. I actually think all of this is going to be
good for the league, for everybody. We're getting all of them out of the way early and by the time you get to the you know, the part of the season after the Women's Olympics or the after the Olympics with women's basketball team plays, everyone's going to kind of know the rules of engagement, who's good who from a player,
respective who's bad, what teams are good. And people are into it, and they do have a nice built in time of year for their sport to be going on, because we got a maximum of seven NBA games left and then we are into the real dead time, and people care what angel Resent does and they care what Cap does, and then people are going to by definition care about what the best teams in Asia, Wilson those people do. And so I think it's great. I think it is so I think it's like having for me
right now while I'm talking to you. Behind on the screen, right behind the camera is the Royals Guardians game because for the first time in eight years, I'm watching every baseball game the Royals play because for the first time in eight years. They're competitive, and for me, it's like, oh cool, Like I have a new thing that I care about because I only am a nine hard baseball fan when my hometown team's good, which if your Royals fan,
is about once every fifteen years. And so I go long stretches where I only watch big game for the playoffs. But it's fun to have something new. It's fun to have a new thing to be into. And that's how I feel about the WNBA.
Yeah, May through September. Now they play their championship in football season. But I think I've told you this before. I'm pretty selfish on that is that I literally know exactly.
When my.
Vacations are every year. I know I'm gonna work six and a half months football, take a week off, come back for March madness, NFL free agency, take a couple of fridays off, do the NFL Draft, take another Friday off, do like six to seven weeks of hard NBA, and then I've got like two months, ten weeks of oh shit, yeah,
do a couple of vacations built in and there exactly right. Yeah, And so it's like if I can get every day, I mean today Jason mcinron Jason McIntyre Night Today spent at least an hour on the WNBA, and.
It was a blast.
We had all sorts of good debates and I we will you know when the show ends. We lovered to get up and walk out at the same time. We don't sit around at all, and he goes, he goes. Man. We had some good debates and I'm like, that was a great June show. Waiting for the NBA. I'm like, that's as good as a June show is going to get for three hours, and I'm like it was. There were great debates. We talked stars and villains and rivals and oh, I'm gonna scheduling business.
Can I ask you a question about villains? So I said this on the podcast I do with my son this morning, which was it was in the context of Angel Rees saying, you know, I'll be the villain. Yeah, And my take was, and maybe you can think of someone no one actually enjoys being the permanent villain, with maybe one exception that I'll give you. So Lebron tried it on, didn't fit him. Dylan Brooks literally said Dylan the villain, and then two weeks later was like why
is everyone calling me a villain? Patrick Beverly pretends he wants to be the villain, but then comes down and like, oh, that lady in the crowd said something really mean to me. Draymond kind of is okay with it. But also I think Draymond wants to be liked, and I don't think he wants to be He doesn't mind being the enforcer, but the villain is different. I don't think there are
in today's in f real you know villains. So the guy, the only one I came up with currently is I do think Luca enjoys playing on the road more than at home and mfing the crowd and all of it. But I don't think it is sustainable long term to permanently be the villain. People might say, Reggie Miller, that was for one so that was for one arena. Then you know MSG. And it should be noted that Reggie Miller was six and twelve in his career in the
playoffs in MSG. It was the worst in the He had the worst record in MSG home road versus any arena he played in his whole career more than five times. So even though he liked said he liked being the villain. It didn't actually, you know translate. I don't think it's sustainable to permanently be the villain in sport. I don't know if you agree, but that's what I thought of when Angel said I'll do it. I think she can do it for now. I don't think you can do it permanently.
Yeah. I tend to believe as a performer, I am at my best when I'm neutral, So I don't like to be elevated, nor do I like to be the villain. I feel like every day i'm going on, I'm walking onto a stage and I'm performing for the audience, and inside of a big studio, I'm performing for a camera in Jason McIntyre, and I think I'm best performing neutral is that I have strong opinions the audience. Is it for it or against it? There have been times I've
been popular and unpopular. But I think for a performer neutral, I mean, Jerry Seinfeld could handle a heckler, but that's not what he would ask for. He could also ask for a ten minute standing ovation, but that would get tedious. Jerry's at his best when he has to earn the approval and get the laughs regardless off at Caesar's Palace or the laugh Factory in Taledo, Ohio. So I think I think all athletes because I almost feel like it's being it's a car racer is. I want my my
heartbeat to never fluctuate corners, flats, finish, beginning. It stays the same, so my adrenaline doesn't change radically.
I don't make more.
Emotional moves or more urgent moves, So I I largely agree with you. I think everybody likes to be liked at some point. But I also think people sometimes understand their roles. As a dad, I understand sometimes my voice is deeper. Sometimes if I say, hey, knock it off, it plays better in the room than if my wife would sit like I have a more a deeper.
Richer voice.
So I think there are roles I have played from time to time to be the heavy in the family and.
Just say cut that shit out.
But doing it.
I also like to.
Be permanently that in any phase eye thing is just tough. I think it wears on you and I'm and maybe I am. Maybe there is an obvious athlete that I'm just People in the comments section will tell me if I'm forgetting one. But I can't think of an in modern maybe again in yesteryear, but in modern America, if you will, I can't think of an athlete that has successfully been just perma villain any place, anywhere, for you know,
more than a season. Again. Lebron, who I think is as mentally tough the Dallas series in twenty eleven, notwithstanding of any athlete we've ever seen, tried that hat on for a year and that then led to the Dallas Series and he hated it like it wore him down so much he had the only true failure of his career. I just don't think that's a healthy spot to be.
The volume. Thanks for listening to part one of the conversations with Nick.
Don't forget to check back for part two.