We got a little duet between Pitt Pull and Cindy Lapper rolling in on a Tuesday afternoon.
What did you do to us? What is this? Dave?
That's that's old disco song. It's called Let's All Chant by Michael Zager Band.
Is that one of the tracks you played when you were at disco Dave?
When I was beIN in the Wax back in the late seventies. That was a hit, didn't I hit?
Was it DJ Dave? What was your DJ d It was just a Dave? Yeah. I worked at a couple of clubs locally.
The front page twenty first South Broadway over here, okay, Broadway?
Old enough? Is that? What where the movie theater is now?
No?
No, no, sorry, it's on Main Street.
It was called the Broadway and it's in a down It's now just an office downstairs.
But we had a night club, disco in there. What was the name of the first club you said?
The front page, twenty first South ninth East. Okay, Now, I think a Walgreene had a big lit dance floor.
It was awesome. Was it really lit? Oh? Yeah? Was it lit like the kids say lit? Or was there like literally light?
No? It was literally light like Saturday night fever. Okay, that was just saying I thought you were trying to be happy.
No, it was.
It was a lit floring and uh man, if that DJ Booth could talk.
Okay, that's enough, let's move on.
Dave Fox Live in studio, two pelotons, two ammys, Dave, how are you?
I'm doing great? How easy? How was your President's Day weekend? It was good.
I was honoring the decorum, decency, and honesty of the highest office in a lands. That's what we're supposed to do on President Day, right, Yeah, I love that I do.
The same thing.
I just I spent about an hour and I just meditate or I'm all or how honored we are to have what we have in this country.
You don't strike me as a meditator. Okay, maybe I didn't meditate, that's.
What I thought, but you definitely didn't work because the goat. I didn't. The goat was on the show last night. Yes he was. How was our guy Mikolic? He's doing great.
Adams Sue, we we chatted briefly this morning and he's doing well.
He's doing really well.
How much to NBA All Star Weekend? Did you consume my gosh.
Well, so, as you know the Fox household, every Sunday night, the entire family comes over. So there was a big debate do we watch the Saturday Night Live, which I just recorded and watched it later, or then we I had a handful that wanted to watch the NBA thing.
So what was I reading? Though?
Maybe you could help me with this, I want to say, in the three hour broadcast, I read somewhere that there was like a total of thirty eight minutes of basketball.
I don't even think that, maybe not even that much.
Yeah, it was, in my view, awful, but a couple of family members wanted to see it, and so they sat through that, and it is what it's like. They keep trying to figure out ways to fix it. Maybe it's just time to move on.
So okay, let me kind of kick the tires with you as far as where you're at with the whole topic, because ultimately, I definitely sound like the old dude that misses the old All Star games, but you're certainly a guy that's covered sports in the market. Ninety three was really cool. We have the NBA All Star Game here. It was a good game. John and Carl co MVPs.
The game at MSG in two thousand, we saw a young or I think nineteen ninety nine, saw young Kobe go up against his idle Michael Jordan, and that game was competitive and it was fun. So where I'm at with it is I continue to be frustrated with the product, but only because I do remember when it was awesome. And when it was awesome, it was top shelf. It was the greatest pickup game in the world. It was the best basketball players in the world who showed up.
They cared, they played hard, and they tried to beat each other, and simply put, that should not be a complicated formula. But to your point, I'm kind of now resigned to the fact that these dudes don't give a rip no matter where it's played, no matter what the format is, they just don't care. And if you don't care, guess what, we don't care. Yeah, here's the problem. Today's athlete has been enabled. I mean you could barely get him to care during the regular season, much less in
an All Star game. Think about, you know, load management? What did I hear a comment the other day from Michael Jordan just laughing at the idea of load management.
How old is he retired? Forty years old? In the PLA every single game with Washington.
Granted, as you know, skills have diminished, but these athletes are enabled now and they rest for anything. Well, they're sure, is he not going to go put their all into an All Star Game? Back in the nineties, And you're right now, we're both being that guy. In ninety three, every game meant something, or at least to the athletes. They played every game and they play and even the
All Star Game. It's it's the whole thing is I just don't see anyway fixing it short of paying every player on the winning team a million dollars or something, and even that, who knows because they make so much money.
It's it's really just bad.
And then I don't mind the round robin idea. It feels like they're just throwing out stuff and see what sticks. But the thought that you know, one of the teams is a bunch of kids who really aren't All Stars was just kind of weird, Like, does you know Zach Eatie and Dalton connect and Keyantay George deserve to be playing on All Star Sunday Night?
I don't know. It just seemed weird. It's just a mess.
I don't see any I like what the NBA or excuse me, the NHL is doing with that four nations thing.
Yeah, yeah, that's that's kind of cool. That's been really cool.
I don't know if the NBA has the answer to it, and look, they have a theoretical answer to it, because because I'll get people like, hey, what's.
Your preferred format?
My preferred format is a basketball game played by the best basketball players in the world who actually care.
That's my preferred format. But I do think.
There could be a little bit of juice with this international versus domestic players, the international pool versus the NBA players. It has been tried before, but this is different. You can make an argument right now, shake Gilges, Alexander Nikola, Jokic, Jannis Nbid when he's healthy, obviously Luca, like five or six of the top seven or eight players in pro
basketball right now, or international players. So could they do a Rocky four type thing where Rocky goes to Russia and he's running through the snow and he's training to fight. I'll go and I'm honestly thinking out loudlier because I think even if they did that, the domestic players would go over to Europe or whatever, and they still would mail it in.
Yeah, that's what I think. I think there's anything you can do to get these guys to.
Carry and even the international team, they're still NBA players. Same look at Yokachi doesn't want to play. He didn't want to be at the All Star Game, right, And then here's this doesn't help either when you have, you know, the face of the league, Lebron shows up the day before and says I'm not playing.
Not the day before, a few hours before the game, You're right, a few hours.
I mean, it's just stunning. But again, it all gets back to being enabled. It's it's their world. We're just living in it. They'll play when they feel like it. It's that way in the regular season. It's that way certainly in the All Star Game. You know, it's interesting because that the end season tournament is more competitive. I think, wouldn't you agree with this than the All Star Game? Now that's an entire team and the wins and losses actually count. But I don't even know how you would
replicate that. You know, I don't think there's a solution other than just get rid of it. The Lebron stuff I think was a horrible look. Oh awful, for a few different reasons.
First of all, it's just a bad look when you have not announced that you're not going to play, and so the general public is watching intros and then suddenly they say, okay from the Lakers Lebron James, and he's in street clothes and you're like, dude, what are you doing.
But ultimately, if you're.
One of Lebron's peers, I do not like that All Star games are in contracts, that the stipulation of if you make an All Star team, then you're gonna yeah, what's the point, You're gonna trigger a mechanism of a bonus. I don't like that they're in the contracts. But Dave, they're in the contracts.
Okay.
So what Lebron just did is take two hundred and three hundred K out of.
The pocket of somebody.
Instead of saying, hey, I'm not playing, Okay, we'll name your replacement and then this player can get paid, Lebron selfishly took the spotlight for himself and just decided to sandbag it.
I thought it was a really selfish, bad book for me.
Maybe that's us getting back to the contract idea is just to word it that you get this bonus if you play in the All Star Game, not if you're named an NBA All Star. That might and but again that doesn't solve the All Star I'm just talking about your You mentioned the contract thing that might that might fix that.
But my point is if Lebron said I'm not playing and they name his replacement, the replacement player gets his check.
That's That's what I'm saying. That's that's the way that contract should be worded. But that's again that's not gonna happen because it's it's their world, their money.
I do you just pay him?
I do think we saw some fun Keyante moments. I don't know if there's anything that, Like I asked Tim McMahon earlier, like, is there anything he can take from the experience, And Tim didn't really think so. I mean, just to just to know that you were named in a group that has the best young players in pro basketball and you advanced to play on Sunday against the
best players in the world. I don't know if I'm stretching to kind of make this a topic, but I'm sure Keyante came home from that experience with a little pepminis step I would imagine.
Yeah, and he had a nice first game. I believe the first game he had ten and they have three in each of the next two. I think when you're there in the moment, and you know this because you were referring to ninety three and then the one we had here just a couple of years ago, there is something cool about being in the moment there, especially for the younger players. Obviously the older players they're done with it,
you know, they're just they know what it is. So I'm sure just that, and like you said, the idea of just being named and being there all weekend, that's that's a really cool thing. So and he really looked like he was having some fun, especially in that Friday game and he hit the game winner.
You know, that allowed them to advance.
So look, we're a market that's used to seeing our players play in the game and also participate. We have Dunk Contest champions with Donovan and Griff I think Jeff won the three point Contest one year. We've had all Stars and to only see one rep. Don't forget Jeremy in the Dunk Contract Jeremy Evans. I'm just I'm shaking my head because every year we'd hear this thing, like, hey, Jeremy Evans, he was able to get two more inches on his vert I'm like, did is he shooting free throws?
Did he learn how to dribble and pass? Like? Thanks for the vert update on Jeremy, but he's getting jumpers up. But yeah, it was just kind of odd, you know, for the second straight year to have a very minimal representation for our local team and the dunk contest winner isn't even in the NBA. He's a good dunker though, Mac is fun.
Yeah, but put him dunk? Well, Look, everyone Jordan competed Larry Nance Well, and.
Here's the other issue, Dave, Like, in my opinion, if you're gonna grab Mac McClung, who's it good.
He's a G League MVP. I mean, it's not like he's a bad player.
You can go on YouTube and watch highlights of professional dunkers that are wild and NBA players have never touched. So if you're gonna let Mac dunk, go, get all these pro dunkers and let's have a little fun, why not? Because your point about so it wasn't as Jordan like Kobe participated. He yeah, don contest. Vince Carter was an awesome player, and they were great dunkers.
There were great dunkers.
I could keep going, Aaron Gordon, Zach Levine like, but Muggsy Bogues, I mean, how incredible was that Bogues, Dominique Wilkins, all fifty like all NBA seventy fifth anniversary team. And now these dudes are so scared to look dumb, and I think that starts with Lebron But like Zion Williamson, John Moran, and I could keep going. There are really good players that are really good dunkers, but they don't want to be embarrassed.
It's like this weird, soft dumb approach. They're like Prima Donna's.
But it all gets back to the whole weekend, and at the end of the day, I think, yeah, I think you made the best point of all. I'm guessing there are a number of those guys that are excited to be a part of it only because they have some big bonus coming to them. Other than that they could do without it well.
And the money is so big now doesn't even motivate them and try hard.
That's very true.
That's why I don't think you could pay him spence because how much could you pay him that would make what they are already making worth it?
No, like one hundred million if you play hard, like you know, the money is already astronomical. And I'm for the players getting their fair share of the pie. But if you're going to show up and mail it in because you know your check is coming anyway, then we're watching a product that's being run like a fortune five hundred business and not an entertainment product.
And I do think that's an issue.
Yeah, and you refer to some of the you know, I had another game pop into my head. There was an All star game was in Phoenix. I don't remember the year. Karl Malone, I want to say, game winning shot, not for his team, and he jumps up and I think he accidentally tips it away. And then afterwards one of the guys that's doing the play the being interviewed says, I think I think Carl was point shaven.
Oh really, I do not recall this. It was a game in Phoenix.
They were kidding around, but they the point is it went down to the last second.
Yeah, and they fought to the bitner.
You know what, the game in Utah ninety three that went to overtime I believe was a game.
Yeah, I know it.
No, it was, And that's just that's just it shows you how far we have drifted away from the competitive nature of that game. And look, the NFL finally realized that that game stinks and what they're doing instead isn't much better. But I don't see a solution to these things. Baseball, you know, you show up, you get one at bat.
But the main you know, so I was, you know, I don't do a lot of combative radio, right. But when somebody says, well, what about the Pro Bowl? What about the Major League Baseball All Star Game? The Pro Bowl was never good, No, And the NBA All Star Game was good once upon a time. That's the difference. Like the Pro Bowl has always been horrible, the NBA All Star Game for thirty forty years was awesome, and
now that it's not, I don't know. I think maybe I just need to move into the area of acceptance that this is not something that's going to be fun ever again, the way that it used to be.
The whole weekend's fun for fans to show up when it was here, it was cool. Go see all the great displays and that at the salpeals. But it's the games just it's brutal, all.
Right, h we'll end with the little college football before we get there. Twenty eight games left for the Utah Jazz. The playoff pushes on. It's very much not uh oh, there's a playoff push, but it's a playoff for the lot It's a lottery push.
What do you look? What's exciting about the final twenty eight for you?
Okay Spence, Here's what I think, And maybe I'm gonna be wrong, but this seems to me like this is the time where you're gonna start to see players sitting more. They did the same thing last year, if you remember. And then guys that are never going to be in the league, like Kenny Lofton became an All Star right overnight because he played so well in the last ten games of the year. I don't know when this is gonna kick in, but I just sense, if you're this close to you know where you want to be in
that lottery, do you really blow it? Now?
You Now you've harped on this for the last two or three years.
The problem is the Jazz front loaded their wins and by the time this time of year rolled around, it was too late to seriously get into tanking. And what do they end up with a tenth you know, number ten pick something like that.
The draft of a kid you can't play exactly.
You are this close to getting to top three or top four, and there's three or four really good players out there. We all know Cooper Flags the Grand Price. I just don't think you run the risk of not finishing. And when I say not finishing, I mean, you know, sitting down.
Some of these players.
Look at this next six game homestand there's two games that I think are almost impossible for the Jazz to lose, Pelicans and maybe Trailblazers. So the only way they've either got to resign themselves the fact that they're going to win those two and go ahead and surrender. Okay, see in Houston and Minnesota and maybe the Kings, or they're gonna have to sit them.
They're a ton of players.
So I'm of the thought that over that last twenty eight that you just mentioned, at some point you're going to start to see guys like you know, Mark and and section still hurt. But Clarkson, whoever, John Collins start to sit out. I don't know if they rest the younger guys because they really need even more time to you know, like call your in that. But that's what I think is gonna happen. Maybe I'll be wrong, but
that's that's that's what I would do. Yeah to management Spence, because players aren't trying to lose.
No, I think in a way they've been doing that. But to your point, like you've got to I think you got to step it up. You've got to run through the tape. You've got to finish what you started. There may be a point where you hear the shutdownward. Yeah, I mean at this point, why are you playing anyone? I guess when you know what the deal is. It Look, I keep using this line what the Jazz are doing is the right thing to do, but it sucks.
It just does if you're if you're a fan, it's tough.
I mean, I think a lot of jazz fans simply want to go to a jazz game, eat a hot dog, and drink a beer with their friends and go home, you know, like they're fine with the deal because it's winter here it's cold, and people just want to kind of go watch a game. Maybe they don't give a rip about exactly how competitive the team is, but the diehard Jazz fans really badly want to see a competitive team have to really have had a frustrating.
Year, and I really only think this is they only need to do it. I know we've talked about another year of tanking. I think this is it. You do it now, get in that top three, maybe even number one, and then you're off and running.
That's my opinion. Have you seen AJ debounce?
Yes, I know, but I don't think you can survive another year of this. These kids are anxious to get going.
Could be a guarantee, if it was a guarantee that you get Cooper flag this year and AJ Debonnson next year.
I think you do it if you could guarantee it. But you know you can't.
You cannot, all right, Dave, Before I set you loose, Since you and I last spoke after twenty years on the job, Tom Homo is a very nice vacation. He did a hell of a job in a spot where just that job the athletic director for BYU has to be among the hardest jobs in college athletics administration. You have to align yourself with the message of the institution while running a department that is probably least aligned with
the institution because of the diversity involved. And ultimately, I think Tom traverse the space in a very very respectable manner. Give me your thoughts for a sets. Great absolutely great guy, hard workers.
You said, I don't think people really understand how difficult it was to navigate the era of independence. I know he had two or three assistants who are strictly in charge of helping with scheduling. When you're in a league, you know this. What are you looking for? You're looking for two or three non league games, not when you're an independence. And he did a masterful job of that
great person. I've known him well for many, many years, and I'm happy for, you know, whatever led to this and whatever's next for him and his wife and their family.
I think it's great.
Did you attend the press conference for the station or we sent the goat?
Oh? Why didn't you go? It was too early, all right, I had to work late that night. TV Gold tonight. What have we got? Well, it is solid gold, because you know what we've got tonight.
We've got talking jazz with the one and only Spence checkets who will join us? And you're gonna hear I'll play a little snippet if you give me something good on two News at ten.
Oh wow, I'll do my best. Then, well, I thought it's at ten thirty five. Other than that, the actual show is at ten thirty five on KMYU Television and we stream.
It as well. Dave, great to see my friend. I'll see a few hours. Heay, thanks man. Two pelotons too, Emmys, Dave Fox