The Doug Gottlieb ShowOn a Thursday edition of The Best Of The Doug Gottlieb Show: Doug reacts to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's comments about his league's split with ESPN at the end of this season.
On this version of "Don't Call It A Throwback, Thursday", Doug and the crew focus on the sports year of 2003.
Doug welcomes new UNLV head basketball coach Josh Pastner onto the show to discuss the challenge of turning things around in Vegas and the landscape of college basketball.
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlieb Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday three to five Eastern twelve two Pacific on Box Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Doug Gottlieb Show at boxsports radio dot com, or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR Boom, What Up America, Doug Gottlieb Show, Fun.
Sports Radio. I hope you're having a great day.
The Doug Gottlieb Show broadcast live every day from the ti rac dot com studios tire rag dot com. Well you get there, unmatched selection, fast free shipping, free road has a protection over ten thousand recommend installers tyrac dot com the way tire buying should be. Hey, welcome Inmortant. Hey I just I hadn't said anything yet, but I appreciate it. I do, in fact appreciate it. I want to get to something which I find to be fascinating, and I want to point out that we're supposed to as sports radio hosts have absolute answers.
You know, they're the best ever. They stink they should be fired.
Should But I think that doesn't mean I am radical interests politically. But that doesn't mean that I'm a radical centrist in my sports takes. It just means that I don't radical center doesn't mean I'm always very much in the middle. It means I don't. I don't carry the obligation to always side with one side. Does that make sense? And again my turn for it is radical centrist. You know, best way, easiest way to to express it is I have some views that you would say, like if you just heard that one view. I believe the death penally should absolutely be a form of punishment that to exist, be like, wow, you are a right we were. I believe very much in universal health care, and I think the system, well not perfect, that we have is way better than what we would have if it was simply privatized. WHOA, you're a left winger. No, I have my own opinions that are not that are not tied to any one political party. Now, I think my sports opinions are more gray, right gray. I'm not doing the Jordan Lebron. I believe that in my lifetime, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player I've ever seen. I'm not even sold that Lebron James at his peak I would want to have on my team above that of Larry Birder, Magic Johnson. On the other hand, I just saw Lebron James hit a game winner at age forty years old, thirteen points and thirteen rebounds, right or something like that, Like he had an amazing kind of all around game and his ability to be this amazing for this long. I don't know if that's greatest. He's had the greatest career ever. And you're like, wait, you're using semantics. No, I'm just talking reality. His overall length and depth and quality of his career is better than anyone we've ever seen. I don't actually think there's an argument for it, right. So you're like, wait, are we gonna talk Lebron and Jordan It?
No, we're not. We're gonna talk major League Baseball Like what okay? Stick away? Yes?
So about I want to say, two weeks ago, ESPN announced they're opting out of their contract with Major League Baseball opting out. And I'll get to why this is such an amazing case study in a moment, but first let me start with this.
Rob Manfred was on with Chris Russo's Who's out?
Okay, And I've had Mad Dogs back when he was first on ESPN. We were not friends. We don't have a relationship. Doesn't mean we're enemies. He just I don't know. I mean, I don't know how much he knows I exist. I only know that he is the He and Mike Frandcessa are the godfathers of what we do. Mike and the Dog and I used to come back to New York with my dad, who's from New York every summer and we would listen to Imus in the morning and Mike and the Mad Dog in the afternoon.
So I have a great respect for the fact that.
He he is a he's a pathfinder, he is a trendsetter. He is a trailblazer. Trail blazer in the world of sports radio anyway. Chris Russo interviewed Rob Manfred and he said this in regards to Major League Baseball ending its relationship with the ESPN after the season.
Be a surprised. We keeled over when he ESPN said that we're going to opt out of the contract.
Or just see it coming.
Well, I didn't have to see it. I could read it. I mean, you know, there were leaks going back a year. You know, unfortunate that that was the mode of communication.
But you know, so nobody from me, ESPN picked up the phone and said, Rob, this is what we're thinking about, not bothers you.
Well, we I mean, eventually it got to the point that they told us what they were thinking. But we had been reading leaks for over a year, but that phone call took place, and that that's unfortunate. It did not help the conversations.
Yeah, it did not help the conversations.
ESPN leaked it out that hey, we might be and I think they were testing the water to see what anyone's reaction would be. Manfred had his own dissatisfaction with the ESPN's coverage.
There was a level of dissatisfaction on our part. It started, you know with the end of Baseball tonight. I think if you watched ESPN and I do you know where we appear on Sports Center in the morning, there were issues.
I can answer to that better than anybody. We only did one segment today, an opening day Major League Baseball, So if anybody can mention it, you're talking to me.
Yeah, And you know, look, there was a level of dissatisfaction that. Having said that, you know, did we want to be partners with him, Yes, but you know, taking less money not going to happen. And look, I'll say this publicly because I said it to them. You know, they stepped up for the NBA, they stepped up for football, you know, stepped up for this one. And to come back to us and say, you know, we want to cut you.
That's a good point.
So you felt hurt, Yeah, you felt hurt.
Well, I look, I thought it's a you know the fact that and and dog does the leading questions in it, because what you're supposed to say is how did that.
Make you feel?
I felt hurt, Dougie, But instead you felt hurt kind of leads that leads the witness. So whether or not we get into the interviewing style of MATD. Dougars or not doesn't really matter. Here's what does matter. My brother was in the Mountain West conference.
This is.
Fifteen oh twenty years ago, and the Mountain West moved away from ESPN and went to I think it was Altitude at the time. They also moved their conference headquarters to Denver. And those two moves, the Mountain West went to the Witness Protection Program, that's what they as they call it, and those words rang in my head when I took a job at CBS Sports because a lot of my games while covering the NCAA Tournament, working on Selection Sunday and the Final Four were on CBS Supports Network, which was previously known as at least when I was at ESPN the Witness Protection Program, right, nobody watched it, and ESPN they do they will do this. Right, if you've noticed, there was no hockey on Sports Center until ESPN got hockey back as part of the package, and suddenly hockey's on it. The WNBA, the women's NCAA tournament, they're all over ESPN. Why, Well, One, there's a push for women's sports within Disney, and secondly, they're a rights holder, and Rob Benford rightfully complained like, hey, we're been a rights holder for years and Major League Baseball never discussed. Now ESPN would probably say, hey, why would we promote something that our numbers say people don't care to watch the problem is that you're doing that with the WNBA and with women's college basketball pre and post Caitlin Clark.
Right.
So there's a lot to it. There's a lot going on. Here's what's what's really.
Interesting to me and you guys can Jay Stu.
You've been in this business as longer, longer than I have, so you can tell me if this is not interesting to you, what happens to Major League Baseball?
Now?
They're not on ESPN. Now, it used to be, well, you're on Sports Center. Everything was about Donna Nunt. Donna Nunt.
People don't.
People don't watch Sports Center anymore, not with the same fervor like we used to watch. What it was Keith Ollman and Dan Patrick, that's what we grew up on. Even even Steve Levy and John.
Anderson don't get some Kenny Maine and John Butcher Gross.
Kenny Maine, John Butchercross. Heck, even the again, last fifteen years they've been in LA. I'm not sure if you if you saw this as an industry thing, but they just shuddered ESPN Sports Center in LA. They're moving Sports Center back to Bristol. So the point is that, again I don't know the answer, but it used to be if you weren't on ESPN, you might as well not be on sports television because outside of the big events, everybody just watches ESPN. Now I know that a lot of peop people in their MACHIESO, I will watch you guys got it anymore?
I don't. That's not true.
That's just not They got all the sports, but they don't have baseball. Like that is crushing to Major League Baseball, one would think. So Again, I don't know the answer. Does this crush Major League Baseball? Does no one care? Are there's no opining four hats? Because as we've stated previously, and I know that people are slow to come around to it, baseball has done a great job of reinvigorating the sport. It's more athletic, it's more watchable, it's quicker, it's better than it's ever been. And some of the ratings reflected some of them don't because we're still kind of stuck in that baseball is boring. It's super old. It's the past time keyword past second word time. And I think it's going to be really interesting to see what happens because it one will signify where baseball is in the landscape of sports. Is it really still among the Big three?
And two? Does ESPN matter as much as it used to? Right?
NBC now has a ton of sports, so does Peacock, Fox Sports and Fox Sports One have a ton of sports. Okay, CBS and CBS Sports Network, they have a ton of sports. Amazon has sports, Netflix has had the NFL. ESPN is still the home of sports ish. But if you don't have Sports Center, or if people don't watch Sports Center with the same fervor, when everybody gets their highlights off the phone and not always off of VESPN, what happens to it?
I don't know.
I'm just interested. I've been a sportsman my whole life. I used to wake up every day and watch Sports Center. One of the greatest thrills of my life was being on both the Am and the six o'clock, the eleven o'clock, the one am sports Center, especially this time of year. This was my time of year, and that was where I grew up as a sportscaster, as a college basketball analyst.
It was great. And I don't know the answer, but I'm an interested party.
And Rob Benfrid's right, everybody else they're spending more money on w NBA, NBA, NFL, college football, college basketball, women's college basketball. They want to pay less for Major League Baseball. That was them saying we're out our numbers. Tell us this doesn't work, and hockey went away from ESPN and hockey died.
Does the same thing happen to baseball?
This is the best of the Done dot Leaf Show on Fox Sports Radio.
What Iout You Do?
I Got leave show Fox Sports Radio Coming to you to the tyrack dot Com studios, tyright dot Com. What we get there and unmatched election, fast free shipping, free road as protection. Over ten thousand recommend in stallers. Tyright dot COM's way tire buying should be welcome in the do Doo Do Doo do? We got so much to get to. Oh yea yuy yoe yuy yuy yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo.
Dude do do do do doo?
Uh?
Okay, I love this part of the show. I tease Jay stew about it, but I tease him because I actually really liked this part of the show because you know, we all have that thing that we'd like to do, maybe even in our jobs, but we don't get to do right like I think that Jason Stewart would love, like there's just a part of him that would love to be am a like morning rock station guy because that's and he kind of makes fun of it when he goes, Thanks Doug, all take it from here. No, that's not it. Thanks Doug gonna take it for he does that that deal, That's that's great. I've done most everything I I actually do. Secretly wish I had the skills of Sam where I could play the drops all the time. There's something is it called a shortstop? What is that little box that I used to have one or whatever, but like.
A hot hot in box, hot keybox.
Replay yeah, replay machine, right, and I used to have one at one of my previous stops. And I think I think the reason it hasn't been offered up to me is because, you know, yeah, I'm like a little kid, you know.
I'll quote I'll quote our our boss Don Martin, my man. As soon as you give some hosts that replay, it just becomes silly madness.
Now.
Uh, Matt money Smith might be the greatest, the greatest manipulator of the replay machine in the history of radio.
Agreed. Him and Petros are pretty wacky with that stuff. My wife to my wife to night, night to night. A lot of people don't know what we're talking about, but they are hoo to those two.
They know they are who action match action much hold on, we're like not even pressing drops for just yelling things.
This is what I'm talking about, my man.
And then there's one of Petros who's.
Like, ah, over and over again, we're not even on in LA. We're making we're quoting the best sports show in l A that no one can hear outside of l A.
So digitally available, please access it.
People might recognize Petros because he does some games with f S one for college football and he's on jumps on two pros.
And it doesn't matter because he plays relatively straight. Who doesn't love Petros?
He's a hoot.
He's he's and he's honestly super super talented as a as a college football analyst. Anyway, if we want to get to the like original great drop, and this is I think pre dating or maybe early on Jay stew in your tenure with Rome, because when Rome used to do a local radio in San Diego, they used to have people call in and order a drug test for people and there was like a ping in the cup sound Did you guys do that when you were there? That was a great That was a great drop. And you have people come in and like Rome first time long time. Uh, a drug test for Steven A. Smith for saying that had Lebron James put his hands on him when they were arguing about Brownie, he would have gone, he would he would have you know, he would have what is it, thrown hands? Is that the expression thrown hands at him?
Yeah?
Drug test?
Do you want a drug test? Drug? Drug?
Drug?
Anyway? Now that's not the drop.
Let's uh, that was stephen A.
Let's get the too. Don't call it a throwback.
Don't call it a throwback Thursday.
All right, Doug, I want our listeners to go back to two thousand and three. Rewind the clock to two thousand and three. Now, what were you doing in two thousand and three? I want each of you listeners to think of what you were doing with your headspace, was where you were in your wife, in your career. And then I want to introduce something that happened around this time twenty two years ago. Freshman out of Syracuse, Carmelo Anthony put the at the time named Orangeman on his back and carry them to Jim Beheim's first and only national championship. Carmelo Anthony had an amazing tournament that of course eclipsed in the final four when he beat Texas with thirty three points on twelve of nineteen shooting. He would go on to beat Roy Williams and Kansas in the next game.
Again, you talk about Kansas and Roy Williams, Oh, what's eracuse?
And Jim Bay.
Are you doing the hands too? Doesn't? He kind of wave his hands around a little bit, kind of like a little like kind of a pageant wave, but he's like, Oh, it's all the enthusiasm.
Doug wo Do you remember most about that two thousand and three NC Double A tournament other than Carmelow.
Well, there's two parts to it.
One, Oklahoma State led that circus team by I think seventeen points at the half in Boston Garden had lost. Secondly, was I never watched the game. That's the only tournament I never watched the game. I was in France playing for kmon Front. It was after my first season of covering college basketball. I had a midday show in two thousand and two in Oklahoma City and into early two thousand and three I called the Whack Championship game, which I believe was feeding the Tulsa and Nevada and I was driving down I forty four head back to Oklahoma City, where we had purchased our first home in Edgemere Park, Oklahoma City shout out to Edgemere Park, and I got a call from my then basketball agent, Michael Siegel, who said, if you leave tomorrow you can play in Portugal First Division. You'll go to the playoffs, and if you wait till the end of the week, then you go to France. There's a Pro B team trying to move up to Pro A. Their point guard got hurt and it just be a month, but it would be able to get you kind of back in. You'd be Pro A next year if you want. I had started working for a guy named Larry Bastita and Oklahoma City, who is the head of.
I think it was a Cumulus station back then. I don't remember.
Anyway, wwl's a sports animal, and I felt like I couldn't leave, like without saying goodbye or telling him I was going.
So I was like, I'll take the one. At the end of the week, I went.
To France and this little pub that I got all my meals at for free playing for my club, they had Eurosport and I watched highlights of that tournament. I didn't actually watch that tournament. I did know the Oklahoma State one only because when I got back, it was one of the first things I watched was the entirety of the Oklahoma State game where they had a big lead against Syracuse in the NCAA tournament and on linked to lose in the second half.
Well, what you did miss was a guy, a little named guy named Dwayne Wade leading Marquette I think into the Elite eight, and he would be in the same draft class with Carmelo Anthony, who shared the draft class with Lebron James, arguably the greatest draft in the history of the NBA two thousand and three. That would happen three months later in June, Isaac. When you think back to two thousand and three, what comes to mind.
The Steve Bartman Cubs deal. Oh yeah, but one other thing, because this is where my salacious mind goes the phrase it's Rollin'.
It's rollin'.
Brief.
Alabama head coach Mike Price was hired and then fired shortly thereafter because of what I just said. But in all seriousness, when you think about it, that incident back in two two thousand and three, was a huge sliding doors incident for college football history because it's set Alabama football on the path to Nick Saban. Lady's name was Destiny. Literally, her name was Destiny, or perhaps that was her stage name.
I don't know.
I'm happy, I'm happy as hell. Please welcome Destiny.
Hey, I love it here.
By the way, Dwayne Wade took him all the way to the Final four that year with Marquette. Look that up. Wow wow, I can say this USC football was in two thousand and three. They were right in the middle of their sweet, sweet sweet run with Pete Carroll and Carson Palmer handing off to Matt Liinert and Reggie Bush. There and look at where they all are now. We got Pete Carroll coaching the Raiders. I mean, this guy is going to coach to Lee Croakes a lot of energy. But they had it home in there. Colisseum, I mean listen, I'm not even from this area. Isaac helped me out here. The coliseum was back to the gills. They took off the tarps.
It was one a to the Lakers as the hottest thing in townfl right in the NFL teams right, celebrities all over the sideline at practice. It was like a neighborhood festival. You had a list celebrities at their practices back in the day, Back.
In the day.
This is something I don't recall. It was. Sorry, it was a split national championship, I guess between and LSU LSU winning the BCS and Southern California taking the AP. I believe has happened.
Still bitter about that, Okay, Sorry, Jason mcke Steve McNair shared the MVP award. I didn't know this happened. Steve McNair of the Tennessee Titans shared the MVP award with Peyton Manning. That was the year that the Patriots went back to the Super Bowl to win their second of three in four years. Two thousand and three.
Okay, two thousand and three then became my first year doing national sports radio. I did the NBA Draft on ESPN Radio and that draft was pretty good, right, some guy named Lebron James Dwayne Wade previously mentioned, Chris Bosch, Carmelo, Anthony Darko Milliset, who I played against when I was in Israel from Hemo, from Vrazik and then anyway, I mean two thousand and three was.
Aaron fing Boone, right, and Aaron.
Boone and Grady Little leaving Pedro in in that game too well.
He took him out.
Pedro put the jacket on, shook the hands, and then put him back out for the seventh inning, where he went over one hundred pitches and that's where all h double chopped sticks broke loose. Was the Aaron Boone home run in the fourteenth inning.
I want to.
Say it was the thirteenth inning. I'll look it up for you real quick. But it was against Tim Wakefield and it was I think on the first pitch, if I'm not mistaken.
Yeah.
Think that's the thing about knuckleballs is occasionally they don't move, and when they don't move, they do move over the fence.
Yankees would go on to lose to the Marlins, led by Josh Beckett. Dontreu willis a very young Miguel Cabrera who would start a Hall of Fame career.
Also Moises Alu Right of the Cubs. No, he was of the Marlins back then.
No, Mois A lou was I think a part of the ninety seven World Championship team. He was a part of the Cubs for the Steve Bartman Cutch.
Yeah, I think he was. Oh he was on ninety seven. Okay, no, can you check that. I think Alu was on the Marlins.
I could be wrong. Again, my baseball knowledge is not nearly yours.
I'm saying Alu was on the ninety seventeam. He went to the Cubs, and he was the one we here to go to the Cubs.
He was with the Cubs from two thousand and two through two thousand and four.
He was with the Marlins.
Only that's what I said. I just said he was with the ninety seven Cubs.
No, no, no, he was with the ninety seven Marlins.
He was with the Cubs. That's what I said. He was with the ninety seven Marlins. God, you guys keep screwing it up. That's a joke.
I remember they did an interview with Moyses Slou. It was like a sixty minutes focus piece and he he had headphones on and Mike Wallace was like, what song are you listening to right now? And moys A Salou said this one?
Oh go shoot, okay, so let me tell you about the song.
So I'm still a banger, So.
It is still a banger. So let me tell you about this song.
Okay, So when I played in France, we played against PSG Racing that's Tony Parker's old team and Tony Parker's old team, and it was in Paris, and they had a DJ during the game, and literally every time I dribbled the ball of the court, that song was playing. And it's really hard to play basketball when you're not getting down to the song. You're like dribbling to the beat, like that doesn't really.
Go on that a little too slow. Maybe you got a double diimate.
Right, Yeah, yeah, great song.
You recently went to a concert with him?
Right about recently? It was in when did I go to Israel last?
Was that?
Oh?
Okay, twenty twenty one, twenty twenty one, right, I think, or twenty twenty two when I last went to Israel.
Yeah. I took Harper, my daughter, to go see fifty cent and that's pretty awesome. Yeah.
She was like, I know a couple of these songs, because when I first said, hey, we're going to see Fiddy, she was like, I don't.
Know who that is?
What?
Well at the time, she was like sixteen years.
Old, but he's I like, Fitty a lot, and uh, I don't know. He was way out. He was way in front of that.
Did he was way in front of the diddy thing.
He seems like a good dude, like he's like, I don't mess with that stuff. So I'm a fitty fan.
He was shot like ninety I know, but he left that clearly. He clearly upsets somebody in his life.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well I don't really. Uh, we're not going to dress the number two song that year. I'll just tell people it was Ignition by R Kelly. I'm not going to play it because I'm not a fan of his anymore. I think it's a.
Great song though.
It's a great So.
No, that's not his best song by far.
In my mind.
No, no, no, you must erase his catalog from your brain.
I believe I Can Fly is his greatest.
It's an awful song.
What all right? I wanted to show Wait.
Wait wait wait wait wait wait cut the music on this?
What?
What Wayne? What world is like again? It's a great No, that's not it.
I know I'm not playing like we need I'm music.
By the way, Ignition, the remix Ignition is a great song. Regular Ignition is fine, but neither compared to I Believe I Can Fly. I Believe I Can Touch the sky.
So cheesy, good song, overplayed cliche. Now he's in jail. Let me share the number three song?
What again?
Like?
Whoa wait wait, I need a ruling here, so you wait, Sam, Do you agree with that that ignition is a better song than I Believe I Could Fly?
Man, I don't even know. I think that the most the most popular song you ever had was I Believe I Can Fly. He was in movie. I think got overplayed. It got over again.
It's not overplayed because it's his best song.
It is his best song. I agree with that. I agree is more of like a club song. But again, uh.
R, Kelly is playing for it's also a baby making song. Let's be hon I don't know.
Yeah, but here's a here's the number three song in nation, which I've been actually kind of jonesing to play for a while. Now here we go. Oh yeah, Sean, Paul, come on, shake nache, get busy. That's the song. Yeah, there you go. It's a good song, too, good club song.
There we go.
Now no, no, all right, gentlemen, let's get our popcorn and take a trip to the Movietweb has the greatest movies of two thousand and three.
Typically, Well, remember I was out of country for a little bit, and then I moved cross country h to Connecticut. But I did then once I moved to Connecticut, then I had no time to ever watch TV because I was or go with the movies because I was working at night. But there was a couple interesting ones, right.
Uh.
The number one movie was Finding Nemo.
Still haven't seen it. What when people talk about Brandon Nemo, I just want to say Finding Nemo, but I have not seen Finding Nemo. I was a let's see, I was like a sophomore in high school. That was for babies, for children children.
Okay, what about Pirates of the Caribbean.
Have seen Pirates of the Caribbean. I love sailor movies. I'm a fan of Johnny Depp in general, but I don't think Taylor movies. Yeah, like, well, you know, Master in Command or like you know, like old boats and ships and stuff. But I'm not a you know, Pirates of the Caribbean was good.
It wasn't.
It didn't.
It's not on my all time face, but it's a good one. It's a big obviously huge money maker.
Who is the who is the female lead?
Oh?
Man, I want to say it's Kira Knightley, who's got like, yes, ten times more teeth than you should have in your mouth.
She's she's a shark. She's made.
But she was incredibly hot in that movie. She's there.
With a lot of tooth.
Yes, I kind of confuse her with Natalie Portman.
But I don't know.
I mean, yeah, I mean whatever. I mean, she does have a lot of teeth, like she could take one out and no one would missed. I always thought her teeth are like a sorority photo, you know, where everybody's trying to cram in there.
You know, she was made to eat corn on the cob.
Other movies Lord of the Rings, which I've never seen, hard to finish because so long.
I always fallow.
Asip was like the third installment, right was the last one? Yeah?
Yeah, I think so.
I've never watched any other one is like nine hours long. I saw it in theaters and there's like an extended cut that I think is like five hours long.
Pause.
Yeah.
Elf is two thousand and three, which my son Hayes believes is the greatest Christmas movie.
Ever, I just saw l for the first time this past holiday season.
Well, uh, it was it was, Hays asked. We watched Will will Ferrell's son play basketball. This is a couple of years ago, and Will told us that that was his most embarrassing movie to make because he didn't think it was funny because he was running around New York City and yellow tights and nobody laughed.
But it's just a movie.
So x Men United, Bruce Almighty. That was back when Jim Carrey was funny. Doesn't mean like he's funny anymore.
Steve Carell was in that too, and then he had did the sequel.
Yeah, and that is don't call it throw back Thursday.
Don't call it a throwback Thursday. Fox Sports Radio had the best sports talk lineup in the nation yet. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app.
It's the Gotlib Show here on Fox Sports Radio. And it's pretty cool to be joined by a good friend of mine, a guy who we kind of discussed a little bit earlier on the show. You know, just when you're going through a tough season like we went through, it's incredible to look down and see somebody saying, hey man, I've been through it.
I got your back.
And the new head coach at the UNB Running ReBs is Josh Pastor. He joins us in the Doug Gotlib Show on Fox Sports Radio. Josh, how are you, Doug?
How are you doing you? You've been through this, as you know, just a year ago, so you understand how hectic everything is chaotic and you're just moving at such a fast pace. Obviously at the spot that you were at, you got the much later than than I did, so you were really put at a disadvantage on that for you personally. But you understand how fast and chaotic and just it's a whirlwind when you when you take over.
Okay, So the big question is you have wife, you have kids? Right when you ask them right, what was what was the what's the conversation like in the pastor household?
How did you approach it?
Well, there's two things. Number One, I got four kids, and I got three daughters and a little son, and my fourteen year old daughter and my twelve year old daughter. When I told them, like my wife, we were so excited. Obviously my little son, he does he's three, so he doesn't understand my nine year old daughter was so excited, but of course my fourteen and twelve year old they get a little upset they're up there because they're leaving their friends. You know, it's you know, like that's all they've known is Atlanta is Atlanta, Georgia, and their entire you know world is that's where they were been at. And so as you know, Douget's you see it on their face and you feel bad. Well, we get here yesterday because we flew in yesterday morning, see the press conference, do the press conference. And by the time the end of the day, like they really changed, like they were kind they started getting a little excited to that this is kind of cool and and and so that made me feel better because you know how it is, Doug, when your kids and they're young, they do not only understanding about moving. And so as the day went on and even this morning, they totally softened up and gotten from where they were really sad like about moving to now really excited about what the the opportunity to uh to move and see the place here in in in Las Vegas, And so that makes it easier for me. The the other thing is I love my family you'll understand this, Doug. I love my family so much, but I you know, they're here with me, but it was they need I needed to get them back on the plane back to Atlanta because it was so hard to start working and trying to do everything when they're you know, because they they require a lot of They're in a brand new place in a quick twenty four to thirty six hours and they were sitting at the hotel and they're, hey, Dad, we're hungry. What are we doing? I'm like, and you can't even answer their calls because you're trying to recruit and deal with everything at that current time. So it will actually get me some space right now that really focus on what needs to be done job wise, in lock in on all what needs to be locked in.
As you know, Josh Pastor joining us.
He's the head coach of you and LV the running ReBs, and you obviously a part of that nineteen ninety seven Arizona national championship team. Previous to that, Previous to that, UNLV and UCLA had won national championships on the West Coast. What's the challenge like to get UNLV back. I don't know if you'll get back to that level, but get back to where you have national prominence.
What's that challenge like?
Yeah, no, Look, I mean every job's hard, there's no every job is. There's challenges in every job. To great thing about this job is you just mentioned Doug. It hit a long, storied, tremendous history, not only nationally and globally, but especially as you know, as well as anybody up and down that West Coast. I mean, when you think about UNLV and you have those four letters on your shirt or you talk about UNLV, I mean it's a global name. People know UNLV. Obviously, Las Vegas is becoming the epicenter for not only the sports industry when you think about it, but it's obviously for the entertainment industry again, not just in the United States of America but globally, and so there's a lot here and we've got to get back to you know, Look, it's how do you ignite and re energize and have the excitement and the enthusiasm again, all those things have to go hand in hand, and it starts with Look, you got to recruit, you got to get a stay together, you got to win games, but you've got to get the community back. You've got to get the fan base back, and you've got to roll up your sleeves and get in the trenches to rally everybody. To do that. I think the style of play is critical, as you know this you just mentioned it is to run in rebels. You know, they are used to on the offensive end, playing very up tempo for the you know, and and on the defensive end, they want to see you get up underneath the guys, change, you know, using your trying to use your defense to move in things, opportunities in the offensive end, all those type of things to play with that pace, that speed, that tempo, that exciting brand of basketball, and obviously the most important thing is you got to win. I mean, we all know that that's that's that's the deal. But look, Doug, we're in a great basketball league. You know that the Mountain West is a great basketball league, just really good coaches, really good players and so. But UNLV is in a position to have an opportunity to to be you know, re energized and pete to get back to the n C two tournaments and compete and win championships. I mean, that's the goal, and you don't have to do it where you know things are different now, where you don't have to you don't have to wait five or six years to do it. Things can be so fast to quickly turn things again. Not easy, not easier said than done, because there's a lot of challenges. But that's the thing is you can move at much quicker pace than ever before to try to bring it back that quickly.
Okay, so let's talk about that because we have seen some coaches two years fired, three years fired. And I know, I think every job and every build is different unto itself. What's a reasonable expectation for you know, for you and olv.
Well, look, I mean you're right. I think the climate has changed now these days, Doug, I think you would be the first to agree with it. I mean, it's just a different world. We're in the fast paced of college athletics are changing it at every evolving speed. So I don't think people are waiting anymore for five, six, seven years to turn things around. It's got to be quick. So all I know is, you know, instead of putting a timeframe on it, all I know is my mind, I want to do this next year like as quick as possible. Whether that happens, I mean, look, you got to go get it done. You've got to get on the floor. You've got to go get the great players. There's no guarantee of anything, as you know. As well as that, I mean, you've got to go compete, and the other team wants to win too. But I didn't come here to try to have a long process. And it's going to be a you know, a five year deal that you know, people aren't going to want to hear that. It's got to be. They want to see changes, and they want to see changes quickly. And I understand that, and I think you have to accept that. And it's sort of like Doug, it's like the it's it's like the climate of college basketball. If you're complaining and upset about the rules and about the nil or pay to play as I like to say, or the portal, the transfer portal or whatever else that if you're complaining about that, you're going to get left behind, like to be. You've got to accept it, deal with it. You got to be ready to adapt change. Change in real time. I mean, there's things moving in college athletics that is moving so fast it's literally in real time. So all those things go hand in hand. I just think that's the new era and the new wave of what we're of, what we're in. So, you know, to sum it up, I'm as excited as can be. I love kind of the new model right now. I mean now being in for his first couple of days, I actually love it. I mean, if you think about it, Doug, I remember all the times, and you know I've recruited a lot of guys. I can't tell how many times I would spend four five, three years, three four or five years chasing guys, recruiting guys, spending more time on them than being with my own family, and then at the end they choose where else. The great thing about this profession right now, you just streamline everything. Instead of a three four year, three four year deal that you you're so exhausted trying to get a guy, now it's a three or four week deal at the most. You try to figure it out. Yes, you got to make decisions much quicker, but talk about not wasting time and being way more efficient. I think this way is way better.
I do too. But then there's also the element of do you know what you're getting right?
Because you know it's like you make you make the call, you make the connection, you like the kid, you like what you see on Synergy, you like what you see on tape.
You're like, well this wait? That was that?
Was it?
What do I not know? Right?
And whereas previously and I know that at at Memphis and at Georgia Tech, it wasn't you weren't transfer you But previously, you know you wanted the guys that took transfers. You want to know, oftentimes have recruited them out of high school and come in second, and then you come in first when when they transfer?
What what?
What do you think of your challenges of really knowing out knowing what you're getting in the transfer portal?
Well, Doug, I mean you're you're exactly right that that is probably the downside of it. You don't one hundred percent know. I mean, obviously, it's if Cooper Flag goes in the portal, I think we all know what you know who Cooper Flag is, and you don't have there's not a lot of mystery on that. But there's a lot of guys out there that could be did in the portal and you're not sure. So, Doug, evaluating is so important more so than ever, and you and a lot of the evaluation now has to be done via film because a lot of the guys on the portal, you're gonna you know, you're gonna have to watch them on the film and really study their game via film. So you've got to be really good with your eyes. I think that's a big deal, is being good with your eyes. And uh so, I think that's part of it. Yes, there's I think another area that's not easy is and Doug, you're dealing with it, like, hey, you see a good player, like what's the money value? And what's the value? I mean, is he is it seventy five thousand? Is it one hundred thousand? Is it three hundred thousand? You know that's you your that's not easy, you know what I'm saying. What's the market out there? So trying to I think those are the two things that make it tough in the quick turnaround of it. I think those are probably the negative of it, negative of it whereas whereas but but on the other side, there is not a lot of wasting time. And I think you would agree with that, and you've been around it, you know how it was before you're I mean, Doug, you would spend three four years trying to get a guy to come to your school, and and you wouldn't know where you stood have because you know, you're dealing with so many others and maybe you get in the top five, then they take five official visits and then they make an announcement. You get what I'm saying. I mean it literally, And when you lose a kid like that, you are crushed because you were like man all the time and there it was crushing. Now you're just literally dealing it in within weeks.
What what about the challenge to being in Vegas? You know, I do know that it doesn't matter now in regards to sports, gambling and monitoring that, managing that because everybody's got that issue when you're a college head coach. But it still is Vegas. It's the entertainment capital of the US. There's always something to do, always something to get into. And you know, it is like there's gonna there's gonna be a kid that that comes to Vegas and uh has other maybe other off the court intentions.
If you will, how do you how do you how do you forecast and for shadow of that?
Well, I think the first thing he said, I think when regarding the gambling issue, I think, yes, obviously people know laws Vegas with the casinos, but you just said it best. I mean you don't you you can gamble on your phone now, I mean and and so uh, it's it's so globally, you know, almost done all over the world now via the cell phone at any point. And what I would tell you is, I think it's really important you've got and this is whether this is at UNLV or any school in America, educating about about the possible dangers of gambling. Obviously, forget about just what's not allowable by the law of anything with regards on your team, but just in general, being being educated on the on the dangers of it, of what it could lead to possibly and I'm not talking about anything against federal level, but what it could lead to, how it could be self destruction and if you end up being a gambling problem, all those type of things, and that's for another time and play. So I think education is really important on that. And I think, look, I would also tell you that education on just you know, doing I don't care if I was when I was in Memphis or Atlanta or or here. We're talking to our guys, Like there's just certain times of the day at night, you don't there are certain places you don't know what to be at. You're asking for trouble. So you know, I don't care where that is, whether that's in Las Vegas or or in Vermont. You know, there's there's just issues. You can get yourself in trouble if you're not if you're not being smart. On the other hand, and I don't know if there's a better place in the world to want to play basketball and being able to be seen by the NBA people by having to be able to be seen by the connections that you can meet and the opportunities that could come from it. Being in the West Coast here in with the weather, how many I mean literally, whether it's practices or games, the amount of nbai's coming through your gym of practices and games literally on an everyday basis, there's probably no other place like that in any college team. And then you know, how many times do you see for even in portal guys you know you might get them for a year or two. I mean, this is a great place to be at and because you know, sometimes maybe in back I think back in the old days. They might say, well four or five years there, and man, you might only have a guy for a year or two. So I think it's all positive. I think there's great things about this city. Is awesome and has grown expanded, and there's a lot of people moving in here to live here full time. It's different than what it was in the you know, you know, maybe twenty years ago. This city is is gorgeous, is growing, is blowing up. I mean, it's the epicenter of sports and the entertainment world is right here in Las Vegas and you can be part of that when you're playing for the UNLV running Rebels.
Last thing, how have you changed your voicemail message yet? Because you like, for people who don't know, Josh is famous for his voicemail message right, always in positivity, but always you reached Josh pastor ahead basketball coach at.
University of Memphis or at Georgia Tech. Have you changed the voicemail yet?
The voicemail? I changed my voicemail pretty much every month of a real positive message, and so I have a new message on there. I actually just did it the other day. So it's people call me all over the world and they will and they before they call me. A lot of times they'll say coach or just I don't answer, I need to pick me up to hear a positive message, because they just want to hear my voicemail message. I've got the same cell number for my whole entire life, and so it's a it's it's a way of that. I really truly believe in that in that way to live, and I've lived that way, and it's it's it's how I understand how preciousness of what I believe in life and positive and positivity, and that's just kind of who I am and what I'm about, and so I try to give it, give it all my voicemail to allow people to maybe get a pick me up here or there, and that's if that helps some people, that's that's a great thing.
Josh awesome. I'm super happy for you and for your family. Get back in the portal, get yourself some players, and we'll talk soon.
Okay, Thank you, Doug. Appreciate you so much.
