The volume. It's the Colin Coward Podcast presented by fan Duel super Bowls. Here no better place to get it on in the action than fan Duel. Awesome exclusive super Bowl offers for both new and existing users. FanDuel app is safe, You get paid fast, a lot of ways to play the spread, the money line, team totals, players, props, a lot of stuff over unders, jump into the action, same game parlays are my favorite. Just use the promo code Colin and download the fan Duel app today. Start making every moment more during Super Bowl fifty seven. Hi, everybody, and welcome to our Friday morning podcast, Nick Wright. We bring on Nick about once a month and it's always as funny and smart of thirty minutes as we have. I thought I'd rant for about ten minutes on something that I normally wouldn't waste time on for radio or FS one, But you know, this is why I have this podcast company. So I saw this story today and it's a story that's been simmering and been discussed a lot in the last two weeks on the interweb. And it doesn't really mean anything because Tony Romo makes seventeen million dollars a year guaranteed. But Andrew Marshan on his podcast, a New York Post radio TV critic media critic had said that CBS was getting concerned about Tony Romo's sort of unconventional style, undisciplined style, and there's been slippage with Tony Romo. My takeaway was for no other reason than because I don't talk a lot of media. But I've been doing this for thirty years, and I thought this is an interesting thing. I think for the audience, it's kind of instructive. So when you get out of the NFL or NBA or any sport, but let's talk NFL and Tony Romo, who I think does a fine job. I've never already bought into the hype. I thought predicting plays was kind of silly and overrated. It doesn't mean anything. The media freaked out. I don't care. That's not why I watch you to predict plays. I look for insight that I wouldn't get interviews, I wouldn't get information I wouldn't get elsewhere. And that's why I think Greg Olsen, by the way, is crushing at Fox. So when you first get out of the league, your first year or two, you're generally the most familiar with the league, but the NFL. Two things are happening. Number One, there's younger general managers in the NFL, and they are trading players without a concern. And if you look at the average NFL career, which is about four years, the league turns over about every three to four years. So a guy like Romo can come out of football have a real understanding of the personnel, the rosters, the coordinators, and then all of a sudden, some of those coordinators leave, go to different places, go to college football. The rosters turnover three or four years later, and you really have to do your homework. And the knock on Romo, and I'll get to this more in a second, is that he doesn't really put the time in. So networks get really, really frustrated when they pay you a fortune, they put you on their number one event, and you're not prepared. So Romo makes seventeen million a year, that's been reported. And if you consider that Jim Nance talks for more than half of the broadcast, sideline reports, commercials, the game itself, Romo's probably talking for twenty five minutes once a week. They want you to be really, really dialed in for that twenty five minutes. I'm on the air fifteen hours a week ad libbing with no game, just talking. You're gonna make mistakes. Charles Barkley, By the way, it doesn't follow half the league. When the Lakers made a acquisition or a trade recently for a wing from the Wizards, Shack had never heard of him. He covers the NBA. So Shack Barkley Television's entertainment Harry Kerry was a legend. He was drunk on the air at various times. But football is different. You get twenty million viewers. It really is the most important broadcast singular three and a half hours weekly for networks. And if they're paying you seventeen million dollars and you're talking about twenty minutes a week, they want you to be dialed in. I always had this theory that and I use this for years when I would interview people and I was going to hire them, if I had lunch or coffee with him, I always asked him if they loved golf, Oh, I love golf. Do you love golf? And if they said yes, I wouldn't hire him because I always had this theory that as guy's age. Many of them get addicted to golf. They're on pgatour dot com. They're putting in the backyard, they're thinking about it at work, they're scheduling a trip to Scotland, and they lose sight of their other job. Romo wants to be on the tour. He literally wants to be on the tour. I mean, what's the first thing Aaron Rodgers does in the offseason. He goes in golfs. He loves it both by the way, great golfers, especially Romo. But I've always felt like Tony Romo is one of those guys, and we all have somebody on our social circle like this. They got the golf bug. He's had it for fifteen years. Tony wants to be on the PGA Tour, but he likes to paycheck at CBS. And I don't think he does a bad job. I think he's fine. I think initially Romo was overvalued with predicting plays. That's not why you know. I mean, if he did it once in a while, it'd be great, But that's not why I'm watching you. But when you're only talking about twenty minutes a week on the biggest broadcast, for a network where they pay billions of dollars annually. They want you to be dialed in. And I'm never going to criticize somebody because they slip a word up or you know, mispronounce a name. Live TV is really easy for people who've never done it. Romo and Jim nance have producers in their ears and directors in their ears, and they've got action and they've got ads to read. It's not easy. But when I listen to Greg Olsen, he sounds like he's been studying for that three hours for six days. Romo sounds like sometimes and he's entertaining. He's winging it. And again, I think Barkley and Shack wing it. But the NFL is different, and people love Barkley and Shack, but it's the NBA. There's eighty two games. It just doesn't matter. They're on the air for hours every week. Nobody's losing any sleep if they don't know something. I mean again, they make fun of Barkley not knowing players in the NBA. But those NFL windows man, those analyst jobs, those networks don't want to pay those guys seventeen million dollars a year, so they sit there with a microscope and you make a mistake or they think you're not putting in the work, they're gonna leak stuff. This stuff gets out by the way. Marshand said, CBS attempted an intervention that only gets out because CBS wants it out. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Romo's agent calls CBS and asks for CBS to release a statement denying the report. Wouldn't shock me. Before I get to Nick Wright, because we'll debate this story. Nick has a belief that when Lebron James breaks Kareem Abdul Jabbar's all time NBA scoring record, that we really aren't giving it. It's just due that we're not giving it the momentous appreciation that it deserves. And I think it's not because we don't respect Lebron James. I've felt this with Brady and Lebron the last several years. I believe they've been so great for so long, there is fatigue. And part of Michael Jordan's popularity is that he left the sport and returned, so his career had multiple stories. College Michael early can't beat the Piston Celtics. Michael gets Pippin becomes the King, Baseball returns, loses to Orlando, eventually wins three more, then breaks up SIA Wizards. The book had multiple chapters. Lebron didn't have a college career. Lebron was great very quickly. Lebron changed a couple of teams. But he's been the best player, arguably for fifteen years in the league. There isn't this arc, these disappearances, Baseball return different story arc in Chicago, battling constantly with his GM. Basically, Lebron has been great for fifteen years. He's changed teams, but finals, finals, finals, finals, finals, finals. Once he started getting to him, he went back to him for almost a decade straight. And so there hasn't been a lot of swings to Lebron's career. Great early, great, middle with titles, still great, with one title with a dysfunctional Lakers, and so and I felt this with Brady. Brady was great early, there was a gap when he didn't win championships. He was still great, and then it was great late in New England, and it was really great in Tampa, and then he retires. Where are the swings? The story arcs Brett Farve was problem early then he was great, pushed out by Aaron, goes to the Jets, goes to the Vikings. You know, there's a lot of arcs, there's a lot of different storylines. I think Lebron and Brady were so great early and so great often the new cycle. We're always looking for the new thing, the exciting thing, the controversial thing. It's not intentional. It's the reality of John Morant, Zion Williamson, Josh Allen. It's new. Everybody likes new, the new restaurant in town, the new club. And I think when you're great early, great in the middle, great at the end. I mean Tom Brady set two NFL records at forty five years old. Pass attempts and past completions, is that, you know. It's like when Martin Scorre says he has a new movie. He was great early, he was great with Good Fellas, he was great with the Irishman. Everything's great. It's like Spielberg, when wasn't he great? Everything he puts out is phenomenal. So we don't talk about him as much. Doesn't mean they don't think Spielberg is one of the most remarkable creative geniuses in the history of Hollywood. But when Quentin Tarantino came out, it was like he got ten times to press. He was new, he was unique, pulp fiction. Who is this guy? So not that anybody's a victim, Brady Lebron Spielberg of their success, but the media gets bored and I'm guilty of it too. This year, the only app you need at your Super Bowl party is FanDuel, America's number one sports book. Okay right now download fandel used the promo code columns c O L I N. You can bet super Bowl fifty seven with a no sweat first bet. You get up to three thousand dollars back in bonus bets. If your first bet doesn't win. FanDuel lets you bet on everything, money, line point spreads, who's going to score the first touchdown? The promo code Zoa's Colin. FanDuel has tons of betting options. I like the same game parlay, bet a little, win a lot. FanDuel's app is safe, secure, easy to use, and you get paid your winnings really fast. 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For six seven three six nine In New York, Tennessee redline one eight nine seven eight nine Tennessee visit one eight hundred gambler dot in West Virginia. When I started in this business, opinion was rare um. When I first started in this business. There was no national sports talk radio. Rome was the first to make it, and then now it's exploded. Opinion now dominates cable TV. Opinion is where the money is. Eight. I was a local sportscaster, and I had a fine career as a local sportscaster. But when opinion became more influential, driving revenue in ratings, my career exploded. I didn't get more talented, I got more opportunities. So Andy Reid enter this league. When you could grab his receivers, his receivers could be crushed over the middle of the fielding you could drive his quarterbacks into the turf. They were always hurt. And then it changed. Then the league, due to safety CTE safety regulations, has now given all the rules not to Belichick's side, to Andy's side, and to Andy. Andy was always always as good or better than Belichick, but his industry was built against him. And now finally there's even footing or advantage Andy and he is separating from Belichick. Well, listen, I do think that we're all belichick credit is. I do think he has a better grasp on the coaching minuchet that drives me nuts, the clock management, the challenge stuff in a way that Andy still struggles with at times. But holistically, I think it's one hundred percent correct. And I had on Thursday, I had Mahomes on the TV show, and I kept every time I talked about the Chiefs being disrespected, the chief, super Bowl window, any of these things. Now and listen, he's a brand and he knows, you know, how to handle himself. His love for Andy Reid popped off the screen. He said. When I asked him, did it seem like the national media was ready to turn the page from the Chiefs and love the Bills or the Bengals or the Chargers prematurely? What he said was, I think as long as we have Andy Reid, we should be the favorites like that, And so he that relationship there. Andy's, by the way, not a young man anymore. And no one, our mutual friend Danny Parkins made this point. I think it was smart. He said, no one is discussing is Andy Reid retiring if they win this Super Bowl. He's obviously dealt with personal tragedy. He you know, he's done it. He's a Hall of Famer all these things. And what Danny's point was is and it's because everyone's like, why would he retire? He is Patrick Mahomes. They're gonna continue to dominate. He can climb. He's three wins away Colin from being fourth all time in regular season wins. He's already now second all time in playoff wins. He's going to have a claim as the second greatest coach of this era of football. I think he already has that claim. And I think your point is, what if the Chiefs win three of the next five and then he walks out the door, can you make the case he's the best? Like, it's gonna be interesting. It's at least going to be on the board if he ends at four and Belichick has six, but especially if the Patriots never pop back up, because I know what people people can say, well, Andy had Mahomes. Yes, but Andy made five conference championship games in Philadelphia without a Hall of Fame quarterback, with a good quarterback, without an accurate quarterback. Yeah, I mean McNabb was not a bad quarterback, but he was not a Hall of Fame level player, and he made five NFC championship games. There might have been six. I think it's five. But it is interesting is that sometimes cultures change and opportunities present themselves, and people don't suddenly just get talented at fifty. Let's be honest, you flourish in the opinion space. Could you probably would be as effective as a local sports anchor, all right. I got caught from the Syracuse college radio station trying to do play by play because I couldn't the at W A r that before you can even try to do play by play, you have to do a ninety second sports update, like you know what they used to do on local radio station. Yeah, yeah, Colin. I came in twice a week, ninety minutes each time, for three semesters, a year and a half, trying to get cleared to do ninety second sports updates at a college radio station. And then, God love him, the guy who's now the voice of the Las Vegas Raiders, Jason Horowitz, had to call me. It was like, buddy, you're a second semester, sophomore, and you're not even to the first step. We gotta you gotta go, You're not. I got cut from my college radio station because oh I was. I mean, it's the whole reason I went there, So the whole reason I went there, But I was fortunate in that I was already working on the talk show staff, and I then just grab and I was kind of realizing, like man, I thought I wanted to do growing up, I thought I wanted to do play by play, but what I wanted to do was color commentary. I would watch the NBA on NBC with with Costas and Walton and Steve Snapper Jones, and what I wanted to do was the color. But I didn't realize you can't do that unless you're a former player or former coach. They're not hired me a color commentary. But then you know, they did hire Dennis Miller briefly like they hired Kornheiser. So I was like, oh maybe at some point um so no, I was. I was crushed, but it I then it made me fully pivot to talk show. And you know, little Humble Bragg here now at War the talk show studios named after me and my pictures on the wall. I'm a Hall of Famer there, that's true story. Marv Albert, Bob Paste, Nick Wright are the three studios there. That's true and so but the point is, I'm not a great broadcast. I'm I have a like a traditional broadcaster. You know what I mean. I can't read off a teleprompter. I'm not good at like I have a nasal. But there is a specific thing I can do, which is confidently argue, no matter whether it's you know, one on one with my wife or in front of a million people. Well, also, you're entertaining. In my preamble, I talked about this. Charles Barkley doesn't watch the league he broadcasts. He literally doesn't know ninety percent of the players. He's entertaining. Nobody wildly entertaining the audience. They don't care. Nobody cares the entertainment business that we're in. And you get extra credit for being right and smart and all these things. But what a lot of I think broadcasters don't understand is this the perfect storm is entertaining, smart, funny, correct analysis. Right. That's like you, if you could check every box, that would be it. You can get away with You can even thrive if you're with your picks, always being wrong, with your analysis, always being off. As long as you're entertaining and captivating. If you you could be right on every prediction, know the name of every player. And there's a few broadcasters you and I both know. We don't have name names that are like this, that are buttoned up on everything and they're boring. But if you're if you're boring and don't captivate the audience, you're drawn dead. You're just flatly drawn dead. Years ago, there was a guy named Pete Jenncini at ESPN. Yeah yeah, yeah, really nice guy, and um, when I got to ESPN, they didn't they weren't doing radio very well, and they brought in a guy named Bruce Gilbert to kind of fix Mike and Mike there was a big vote whether to keep him or not when I first got there, and it was like nine people voted five to four keep them. Wow. So Bruce Gilbert came in to fix them and hire somebody to replace Kornheiser when that was that was the guy. And Pete's a really good guy and real smart guy. But we had a discussion one time and he said the number one the number one thing at ESPN is to be informative. And I said, Pete, it's number two. I said, I've watched you either demote or get rid of really informative people. This company has never gotten rid of somebody. That's funny, on the air and enter entertaining. Ever, ever they may leave you, you don't get rid of them. I've watched you not promote people who are informative. I said, we radio TV is the entertainment business. Remember when Barbara Walters was a journalist and she was doing twenty twenty and she was doing sit down Kushey interviews with Johnny Carson and Steven Spielberg. That was the entertainment division. It was the highest rated thing she did. That's why Barbara Walters made a fortune, not because of her journalism, because she would do these sit down interviews that got massive ratings, and they were that was part of the entertainment budget. And so when I had this this discussion with Pete who again this is not a criticism, and I just said, Pete, I'm watching what the company does you promote really entertaining people. The messaging is be entertainment. Well listen, and for me that was listen. That took me a long time to grasp on television because I'd figured out radio. I'd figured out how to do like the radio show exactly the way I needed to. And then when I got on TV, I think the first year maybe I thought the job was to always have all the answers, to have my you know what I mean, to have the facts exactly right, to to never to never be wrong. You know what I mean to always and what I'm you know, I've now done the show five and a half years by a country mile. The most successful version of the show I've ever done is the one I'm doing right now this moment with Wilds and Bruce Arry. It's the funniest. It's the funniest, and that's why now I still It's not like I have forgotten that info. I still have the info available to me, but I am not out there. I used to approach the TV show with the perspective of I have to I have to prove else smart I am to the audience every single day, and now I approach it as our entire goal is to put on a show that people smile while they're watching. You know what I mean, That people smile all they're watching and have a good time, and that has enough meet to it to where it's not all empty calories. There's got to be the information, there's got to be the analysis, but there's also got to be a lot of bells and whistles and funny stuff and you know what I mean, Guys messing with each other and that's what works. And you know what I mean. That took me a while to figure out because people, you know, when I first started, they would say to me, the best version of you is when you're on with Colin. They're like, can you can you try to be more of that on First Things First? And I ain't part of it. I was like, well, I get up for First Things first a three thirties, so I don't know. Oh, I'm not certain. But the other thing was is especially early in our relationship and I still do it, but especially early in our relationship, I was really really trying to impress you, and I wanted to make you laugh. Like every time I came on, I was like, it's successful if I make Colin lamb. And I didn't. I was too stupid to fucking realize I should just be trying to make the audience laugh too, and I have to get out there and like to tell jokes, but the same, you know, and so, but that was the best version of me at the time was because I wasn't trying. I felt like you knew I was smart, so I wasn't trying to prove it to yet, right, so you know what I mean. So I could just kind of be the best version of myself, and that's what works. That's what works in this business. You go across the networks. I'll give credit to the other network, even though this show happens to be up against mine at one point. A show that I did really works on the other network is NFL Live because those people like each other and they're fun together, and they bust each other's chops and they have real info, you know what I mean. Like that show whenever I can't watch it was all the same time. But the clips, I'm like, oh, they're fun, they're funny. That works. That always will work. People that get along, that are smart, that know what they're talking about will always work. Well. Yeah, and I don't watch that show, but I know the people on it and they're likable and they're fun. And this mug is from war the radio station that cut me. That's so fun. They've sent it to me today. Hey listen, you're fine, here's a mug. Yeah, yeah, that's right, that's right. Um. So people think from time to time, I don't like certain people. I don't like Russell Westbrooks half court game. He's probably a wonderful guy. It drives me crazy. I don't like I don't like the neediness of Aaron Rodgers. I think he's a smart guy and a wonderful quarterback. Um. But I do think about it that if I ran into Aaron or Russell, they wouldn't like me. And I totally get that. Andy Dalton once ran into me and I called him the Babe water Pistol for a decade, and he was really really sweet. But Rogers is a fascinating person because he really does project a lot. He had another one this week when he said, apparently they're doing discussions. You know, I'm not involved, which is interesting, and I thought it's interesting, Aaron, You're so smart, but you lack of basic self awareness that you are projecting constantly, passive, aggressively, and it's why you know I've said this about Aaron. We give too much credit to talent. What really separates Mahomes is his self awareness. He's so eff and good at the podium. He is such a good teammate. He almost never ever compliments himself. He goes the talent thing. I think that Mahomes is gifted, But I think when I talked to Sean Payton, I went to dinner with him, spent four hours with him. Sean Payton told me that they flew in to Lubbock or wherever god forsaken town he played college football in. Yeah, they wanted to draft him, but go ahead. After the workout, they brought in information they thought would overwhelm him and would take three days. Within two hours, he had digested it and was vomiting it out to them. He said, it's the smartest player I'd ever interviewed. We got on a plane, we told nobody we were there, and Sean said it was the greatest quarterback I'd ever worked out or gone to a whiteboard, and that where Mahomes is underrated. His ability to consume information, see things and let go of the ball instinctively is the greatest I've ever seen. I think. I think Josh Allen has a stronger arm. I think Lamar is faster. I think Kyler Murray is almost more elusive. I think above the shoulders, Mahomes is almost the performance artist. He's he's prince, he is He's the world looks different. His dad was on I'll mention second second Danny Parkins shout out. But his dad was on Danny's radio show a couple days ago and said, the Bear the reason Mahomes counted on his fingers when he scored a touch sound against the Bears was because the Bears told him were drafting you at three and then they trade it up for Traubisky and Mahomes was crushed because he really wanted to go to Chicago. But in that same interview, and I'd never heard anyone say this, he said that Patrick has an idetic memory, which I just googled what that meant. Yes, and that you can see something once and then always be able to pull it back, which I'd never heard someone say that about him. And maybe that's a dad, you know, embellishing about his kid. I don't know. But if that's true or something close to it, And what you know, you're saying, Sean Payton told you it does now all of a sudden, you have like so for let me give you a for instance, Lebron has the highest basketball like you I've ever seen, plus kind of the perfect body for basketball. If you it's like, hey, I want to play twenty years in the NBA. It's like, Okay, you're gonna have to be big enough to withstand injuries, you know what I mean, tall enough. It's like, okay, so when check check on like a brain thing and a body thing that leads you to this, right, Mahomes has the physical gifts of like the crazy arm angle stuff and the alarm strength from playing baseball. So that's like the physical stuff check the memory thing that now we've had Sean Payton talk about his dad talk about it feels like we have contemporary evidence from seeing how he plays. Yea, like, oh, there might have been like two genetic lottery things where it's like the in the same way that Michael Phelps like has the webbed fingers and toes. It's like, oh, so it's like, it's not just that you work so hard in all these things, you also happen to be kind of blest specifically for this type of greatness. Yes, and so because there is an element with Patrick and I think you want to talk Rogers talk Rodgers too, but with Patrick of he can he can, with the exception of like a three week stretch during last season, he can instantly figure out what the defense is doing and within a half adjust if need be in a way that I've seen very few quarterbacks ever consistently be able to do, and the only one that I've seen be able to do it at this level is Manning. And Manning's problem, I think problems listening. He's one of three best quarterbacks ever. But for Peyton, what I think heard him a bit was he had that ability and almost couldn't turn it off to where if guys weren't where they were supposed to be, or guys through He didn't have the improvisational ability that Patrick has, which are as good as anyone I've ever seen, Yeah, as good as anyone I've ever seen. What do you think's going to happen with Aaron? I think Green Bay ideally wants to send him to the Raiders because with Peyton and Russ Herbert and Kellen Moore and Andy and Maha Holmes, he'll finish in the fourth place. And so if Jordan Love is bumpy initially, which Aaron was in his first year, that you know, Minnesota's not going eleven and no one one score games, Chicago still awful, and Detroit still Detroit, although they're better that I don't think they know quite yet what Jordan is. But if they can get another first round pick, address their tight end situation edge rusher, and get supplemental picks, right that if the Jordan loves situations a little bumpy, Aaron's not crushing light in the world. Yeah, yeah, so, and I think I think they want to move off. And and I think this is why the Raiders right now are holding on a Derek Car that the Raiders may be saying the Raiders don't want to give up as much. I think Green Bay has leaked already publicly. All this stuff gets out Nick because somebody wants it out already leaked afc all, there's Aaron even said it. Well, they're talking about me. So Green Bay wants it out to the league, not Aaron. We are ready to move off him. Their takeaway is we don't know exactly know what Jordan Love is, but what we don't want is far of to the Vikings, good at least for a year. Correct and listen, I the Jets obviously one them. They hired Hackett. Here's my but I think Jets Raiders are obviously the leading contenders. Here's my question. Let's say Rogers does go to the AFC honest question here and then I'll give I'll give you the possibilities. Does that make Dak Prescott the second best quarterback in the NFC? Like it's Jaalen one and Jaalen by the way, I still think has some real question marks, So I give him credit for what he's Stafford staff The problem for Stafford, though, is he's got an elbow and a spine injury, and he's an older like I mean, and even the year he won the Super Bowl, he led the league in picks and pick sixes like and even if he is good, I think that team's not going to be good. Like I was thinking about it, I was like, I mean, Kyler is a torn acl is a pain in the ass, and nobody seems like Justin Fields is a great runner. We've seen nothing like I was because I was just going down the list of NFC quarterbacks because Jerry came out. I was like, we want Dak for the next ten years. And I'm like, man, in the AFC, if Dak were your quarterback, you'd say we have to upgrade. In the NFCU say he might be the best quarterback left in the conference. In a few months, it's crazy. It's crazy the level of discrepancy between quarterback talent and the two conferences. I mean, Trevor Lawrence, I think would be clearly the best quarterback in the NFC, and I don't know if he is top five in the AFC right now. Well, Mahomes would be, Alan would be Burrow, Herbert Lawrence, Lamar, maybe de Sean to see if he ever gets it back where it's seven. I mean the I mean there's tann It's crazy Tannehill goes to Carolina tomorrow. He's no worse than third in What's insane? Yeah, I mean, I don't know if two is gonna play again. I don't think he's that great he would be in the discussion over there, I mean it is, it is bananas, Like it's such a discrepancy. I feel like the NFL like has to behind the scenes be like talking about like what do we do here? Because we can't we we need to find a way to get sitting now. I think they're probably thrilled Chicago got the number one pick, but the problem in Chicago's not gonna take a quarterback, Like are they calling the Bears like you have to trade that pick? To an NFC team, Well, you can't have it. It's crazy networks in the last several years, remember when, um, because the AFC has always had the smaller markets except Boston, the NFC's always had the bigger markets M Saint Louis became Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, whereas the AFC has got a lot of Cincinnatis, h Nashville. All right, And so for several years ago Fox started losing occasional games to CBS, and then in the league said we're going to even it out. Now they're still doing that, but Fox will probably get an increased note I would think so, Yeah, because because you need it's a quarterback league and they didn't mean for it to happen this way, right, But like I know this much, they need Caleb Williams to the NFC. Yeah, they need that. Listen for years and years, I you know how I love theories and figuring stuff out, the jigsaw puzzle of sports. For twenty years, I couldn't have figured it out. Why the f is the Western Conference always better than the Eastern Conference? And I could not. I mean I had weather theories, the West has better weather players don't like these Eastern turbulent flights cold weather off of plane because Miami gets good players. So I thought, well, maybe it's a weather thing. And then Mark Cuban. Mark Cuban said something to me one time, and he said, the West has way better general managers outside of Miami. That's why Miami engineers better trades. They've got a great general manager. And by the way, and then Boston got good with Danny Ainge, who now moves West, and that sometimes it's just so. The truth is the AFC has had better gms make better picks on quarterbacks. By the way, Howie Roseman, great GM, found Jalen Hurts in the second round, less Steed went An engineered a deal to get Matt Stafford. The AFC is hit on more of the quarterback picks, better GMing and the and I also think that there was you had Brady obviously went to the NFC. Rogers was there, Breeze was there, and it was it was kind of being propped up by these old the last three years, by these much older quarterbacks, two of which have now retired and one might be leaving the conference. And it puts him in a really rough spot a really rough spot, like you know who they really would like to be as star as Trey Lance, you know what I mean, like God, because they spent that draft pick on him, Like, hey, listen to spot man. If Mac Jones is a nine or quarterback, they beat Philadelphia potentially, Oh yeah, absolutely, because he's just a distribuer that the knock on tree as he's not accurate. That's why Shanahan, like Kirk Cousins, like Matt Ryan, preferred Matt Jones. It was almost your worst nightmare because you know, if he wasn't a ram, he might have ended up being a nine er Baker Mayfield. Did you imagine if that was Baker Mayfield coming to the rescue in that game, is that is Josh Johnson cutting up the Philadelphia Eagles going to the Super Bowl? We would have been legend, Derek, I'm gonna throw something at you. Yep. When Quentin Tarantino came on the scene, it's all anybody talked about for two years. Spielberg has done far more, far longer, but it wasn't new and shiny and fun. That We're not dissing Lebron or Brady or Spielberg, but we like the new stuff we like, the new restaurant, the new nightclub, the new job Morant, Zion Williamson, Josh Allen, who you've accurately said, we like him more than his game produces, and that I think Lebron was great, early, great, middle, great, late. He's never had the story arcs going to baseball like MJ the fight with his GM, the no couldn't win without Pippin, then had Pippin, and then he left for baseball, and then he came back and then he lost to Orlando. Michael's career had so many different chapters. Lebron, Spielberg, Brady, great, early, great, middle, great, late. What's there to say? Well, yeah, I think there's that. I also think that when the so I don't know if you saw this, but you're by when people here or see this, it'll it'll be I think on February third is when this will come out. Your former employer is doing across all shows tomorrow because tomorrow is two three slash twenty three Michael Jordan tributes and if I understand the timing on the calendar, but you also can't convince me that's not some editorial decisions by folks who are heavily invested in Michael Jordan remaining the gold standard for everything that we are going to be potentially a day away from Lebron breaking Kareem's record, and we're gonna have wal to wal Michael Jordan coverage. I mean, give me a goddamn break. And so there is I think there has been so much of our sports logic forever has been I shouldn't say forever for the last thirty years, has not been based on what is objectively the best, but has been based on what is objectively the most similar to Michael Jordan's arc that we have. We've perverted so many arguments like Tim Duncan was a more successful, more impactful, more winning, more everything than Kobe Bryant. But when you say Tim Duncan was better than Kobe, it breaks some people's brains because they're not judging who's better, They're judging who remind you more of Michael Jordans. I'm old enough to remember, as are you, that when Tom Brady before he got to seven rings, after the Seattle Super Bowl, when he had four rings and then two Super Bowl losses, there were people that argued Joe Montana's four rings were better than Brady's four rings because Montana never lost a Super Bowl, which is objectively idiotic because it just means he didn't get there. But the reason that was the case was because we had already decided that Jordan's six and ozho was better than Kareem's six and four, which never made any sense objectively speaking, that same logic would dictate by the way that Patrick Mahomes actually, if he loses in the week, yeah, that logic dictates, you know, it was bad for him to have this legendary performance on one leg and beat the Bengals. Would have been better to just lose that game, because losses pre championship round don't hurt you, but losses in the championship round due so much of it is about protecting the narrative. And I think the Lebron if we wanted to tell the Lebron story the same way people want to tell the Michael Jordan's story, the story of overcoming incompetent coaching at various steps, were coming incompetent teammates, of having no true like basketball training, he's come straight out of high school. Suppose having Dean Smith instead of coming from a great two parent household, he had one parent incredibly poor, and that one parent dealt with their own issues. All of that could be part of the legend, but since the guy's been twenty seven, a huge part of the story surrounding him has been discrediting what he's accomplished because people want to protect Jordan. I truly believe that, and I think we're still seeing it. Can I throw this in? This is engineered by Michael, who remains a grudgeholder and incredibly petty. And the reason he okayed use of certain footage to ESPN because after Lebron beat the Warriors there were real discussions that Lebron's better than MJ and m the next day, then okated the day after the parade. Yep, and now as Lebron gets ready to set the record. This is not coincidental. Michael is petty, He's a grudge holder. He still holds a grudge to Isaiah Thomas, who the f cares anymore about it, but Charles Barkley, who used to be his best friend. It's the and it is just I don't think because and but the other part of it, forget the Michael part of it. The other part of it is on the media writ large for just deciding what we are and are not going to treat with importance. I made this point on the TV show, but I didn't make it to you. I think you'll agree with me. There was far more day by day, breathless coverage of Steph Curry breaking the three point record last year then there has been about Lebron breaking the all time points record. Last night or Wednesday night, Lebron passed four and five in the all time assists rankings. Nobody cares. So he's going to be top four and assist the day he becomes number one in points, and it feels like it has been a sub story. Go ahead, no, you know, Nick, One of the things I've noticed by the media. I never blame fans It's short for fanatic for having favorites. That's why they're great. But one of the things I've noticed, I remember Jerry Seinfeld was asked, it was like two years ago, and he was asked about the media and the COVID coverage and people and their opinions, and you know, I remember reading somewhere Jerry Seinfeld said, well, maybe the media should do a better job. And I do believe the media can be condescending. They have agendas. I see it in the coverage about our careers where it's so I only can judge based on information I have and stuff that's written about our careers radio, TV. What's it like for politicians? What's it like for star athletes? So I don't think what's funny is Jordan basically refused to talk to Sports Illustrated because of a cover. Jordan won't talk to Isaiah Thomas or Charles Barkley. He's petty. Lebron James may call out certain people, but Lebron has been the most available NBA star outside of maybe Magic of My Life. He is every night local, broadcast, regional, every night. And he doesn't do the big sit down interviews anymore except for, you know, maybe once a year, unless it's with his own company. You know, he has his own production company, so he does with him, which makes sense. But I'm talking all the time, and it's just it is incredibly frustrating to me. And the other thing that is also frustrating to me is that none of us, myself included, none of us thought it was possible for him to be in year twenty playing like this year nineteen and twenty he's averaging thirty points thirty six minutes per game, better than fifty percent shooting. None of us thought it was possible, and yet almost nobody has stopped to appreciate it. We didn't think it was possible, and then we instantly started taking it for granted. And they're like, oh, they're not winning enough, which is true except for the fact that this is an unbelievable stat. When Lebron's on the court, Colin, the Lakers have a better net rating than Milwaukee. When he's off the court, they have a worse net rating than the Hornets. So with the teammates around him, when he plays, they are a one contenders. When he goes to the bench, they're a bottom three team. And I mean, that's an indictment on the general managing and on the roster construction, but it's not an indictment on Lebron. The other night, I was I went to dinner with my daughter and I was at the bar at Craig's in West Hollywood. Oh, that's where you and I went. Yeah, I think, isn't that where you and I went? Yeah? I think so, yeah, yeah. And so the net Celtics first quarter was on and it was it was about ten feet away from me, and the sound was down, and I was watching it and it was like, you know, forty six nineteen or something, and you know, I didn't hear what was happening. But it is really interesting that. And I made this point today on FS one. Stafford left of the Rams because they had a better coach and a better roster. It was about winning. Peyton went to the Broncos. Go back and look at that roster. It was about winning. Tom left New England because he saw the league pivoting the offense. They literally in New England could not draft or develop a singular wide receiver as last year in Foxborough. The cameras caught him one game screaming at receivers somebody get open, separate. So Tom actually went to dysfunctional Tampa to win more. He had control of the offense and offensive coach and weapons. Russell Wilson went to Denver for the right reasons. It just didn't work out. They had they had better players. But let me criticize the NBA for this. Kevin Durant left winning to go play with a friend. Lebron left four straight finals for business. Kyrie left winning to be the man, and Mello left winning in Denver, which he did a lot of for a city. And at one of the reasons I think fans really like the NFL is because the players feel like all they care about is winning, not being the man, not playing with friends. If Mahomes left the Chief to the Jets to play with a friend, he would be laughed out of the league. It would be insane because your chances of winning is that. When players talk about, you know, KD you're a casual I'm like, dude, sometimes you guys treat winning casually. Well, Can I push back on that please? Okay? So Durant, though, also left Oklahoma City purely for winning and got crossed for it. Got you didn't, I'll give you credit, you didn't, but in the bigger picture got crossed for it. Lebron left Cleveland to go to Miami. Yes with friends, yes weather, yes all that, but also to win. Went back to Cleveland and one and yes, going to Los Angeles. There were a lot of side benefits to it, but he believed he could win there and he did. So you know what I mean. It's not like Lebron's gone anywhere and not I think the distinction I would draw as this, I think the true NBA superstars either you know, sometimes correctly and sometimes incorrectly, believe where I go, we will win. So I might as well go to a city I want to be in. I might as well play with my friend because I am going to be the reason that winning that you know that winning happens, so I should be able to do it, and you know wherever I want to do it. I also think I think that there's I think the NBA has a few significant kind of structural issues that I don't have the immediate fixed too, but one of them if you do want kind of a more spr at out stars, and you do want the stars to have less leverage. Actually, I do think that one of the problems they have is the capped individual max contracts puts a lot like teams can't offer more, they're actually not being I talked to a GM once and I was like, why do you think these teams, you know, kind of cowtow to the certain players sometimes and he goes, well, he goes, you know, for the true superstars, they're all underpaid and so you have to pay them in extra stuff, either influence or how you treat them or all these things. He goes, if you know, if a guy's worth seventy million, if you're paying him seventy million. Oddly enough, his argument was, you actually have more control because it's like, hey, we paid you your actual market value, we expect to get X, Y and z. But when a guy's worth seventy million and you're capped out at paying him thirty five, and then he's like, I don't want to play him back to backs and I want my buddies to be able to write on the team flight these things, It's like, well, damn it. We can only offer you what everyone can offer you, So whoever says yes to it is then going to get you know what I mean, It's gonna sometimes get the free agency decision. So I actually think sorry about that. I actually think oddly that individual player cab has caused a lot of these issues because everyone's offering the same amount and no, and it also makes it to where you can't just say, hold on, I want I want to offer Jannis eighty million dollars and see if he can turn it down. And if you do that, then there wouldn't be super team. So I think that's one of the issues, but I don't think that's changing at any point. All Right, buddy, that's forty five minutes. That's more than we could have ever asked for. Nick Wright co host. First things first, Also, he has his podcast What's Right with Nick Wright. You, Bruce Are and Kevin Wilds are so infinitely likable in the chemistry. So Jason McIntyre, who's now my show, I feel very lucky. I've had Joy and McIntyre back to back. Both make me laugh. And McIntyre we had a really we had more highest rated month in January Colation. Yeah, thanks, and which is kind of cool because FS one and every other cable networks lost thirty percent of their subs over the last six years, so it doesn't make any sense. And you know, Jason asked me about two weeks ago. He so it's like, what do you think we're doing really well? Why? And I said, because we like each other and because people just want to hang out. They're not sitting there with a notepad. Oh oh, he made a mistake. Oh, people want to feel like your people they'd hang out with. And when I watch your Guys show, it looks like if you gave each of you a cocktail and a bar stool. It's literally shit talking among friends and it's horrific. Well, that's very very kind of you. We obviously are very fortunate to have you. As you know, we couldn't ask for a better leading I am, we've been. It's a hell of a leading and so that's been wonderful. And by the way, I'm not listening. I don't have access to the data, but in your highest rated month, I would imagine your highest rated segments were Tuesdays around one pm Eastern when I come on with you. That make its just power pack fifteen minutes. But the show has been a ton of fun and we the podcast I do with my son, Yes, as of a couple days ago, hit a hundred thousand subscribers on YouTube. We've been doing it less than a year, so that's pretty dope as well, and I so I appreciate that. And I can't wait when I fly in on Wednesday to Arizona. So as soon as I land, I'm gonna come see you, because you got a little shin dig going, So I'm gonna try to make it before it closes up shop. Yep. The Volume party in downtown Phoenix. As always, Buddy, it's great seeing you YouTube. Talk to later come the volume. Make sure to check out The Draymond Green Show. I brought Draymond Green into the Volume because one of the more entertaining voices in sports, unique perspective understands behind the rope. Also chops up with guests like Gary Peyton, Zach Levine, Tracy McGrady. Make sure download The Draymond Green Show wherever you get your podcasts, only on the Volume podcast Network.