Episode 238
JON ROOT - Caitlin Clark Assault: Inside the WNBA's War Against Their Own Superstar
Jon Root is a conservative sports commentator who built his career as one of the youngest hosts in major professional sports before joining Turning Point USA. In this conversation, he exposes the increasing politicization destroying American sports culture, from Pride Night mandates to the shocking treatment of WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark. Root reveals how woke ideology has infected everything from player empowerment to the racial targeting of the league's biggest draw, while calling for a return to sports as America's great unifying force.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Pride Nights evolved from marriage equality celebrations to drag queen performances targeting children
- Caitlin Clark receives unprecedented hatred despite being the WNBA's greatest economic asset
- "Load management" culture disconnects millionaire athletes from working-class American fans
- Christian athletes are leading a quiet revival through bold faith declarations
- The NBA facilitated a suspicious trade sending Luka Doncic to the Lakers
- Sports card collecting has returned as a major investment opportunity
CONNECT WITH JON ROOT
- Website: https://www.jonrootlive.com/
- X: https://x.com/JonnyRoot_
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/JONNYROOT_
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JONROOT
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Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:Hello and welcome to the Will Spencer Podcast.
Speaker B:This is a weekly interview show where I sit down and talk with thought authors, thought leaders and influencers who help us understand our changing world.
Speaker B:New episodes release every Friday.
Speaker B:My guest this week is John Root.
Speaker B:John built his career in sports and entertainment through his personality, work ethic and sports knowledge.
Speaker B: In: Speaker B:Host and digital reporter, becoming a Bay Area fan favorite.
Speaker B:He also produced Off Days, the most viewed video series in Sharks history.
Speaker B:Due to the over politicization of sports, John joined Turning Point USA as a contributor hosting Breakaway, which is non woke sports talk, and TPUSA Live, which is daily political news and entertainment.
Speaker B:A strong conservative grounded in Christian faith, he creates an outlet for conversations not seen elsewhere in sports media.
Speaker B:John believes sports brings people together and views his career as a blessing while continuing to work with major brands, teams and networks.
Speaker B:John Root, welcome to the Will Spencer Podcast.
Speaker A:Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker A:Appreciate you, man.
Speaker B:I've really been looking forward to this conversation.
Speaker B:I've enjoyed since I've gotten to know you and follow you, your outspoken stance on many issues related to sports and also faith as well.
Speaker B:And there's a lot going on right now for us to talk about, which is, which is perfect timing in many ways.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, it's definitely a crazy time.
Speaker A:And a little bit more background on me too is, I mean, I worked in sports because it was an outlet away from politics and it used to be a lot of fun and not as polarizing and divisive.
Speaker A:And then I eventually got canceled.
Speaker A:So my, you know, path to try to work for a major network was gone.
Speaker A:Then I worked for Turning Point and in the conservative circles, you know, they have a certain thought about how much is it worth talking about sports.
Speaker A:And then you see the women's sports issue that we can chat about too, that like, you know, sports are a cultural driver and there's a lot of people that are actually pretty bold about their Christian faith in sports and it seems like, you know, maybe we can call it a revival that's happening in sports, so to speak.
Speaker A:And now I get to talk about all this stuff independently.
Speaker A:I can't cancel myself and I, I mean I love being as bold as I am and God's given me an amazing platform and then I get to meet people like you.
Speaker A:I mean it's, it's awesome what I get to do.
Speaker B:Well, I, I, I appreciate you being outspoken on these things because I've never been a giant sports fan myself.
Speaker B:Like, I enjoy watching sports when it comes up.
Speaker B:But one of the things that I think all of us have noticed is the increasing politicization of sports, whether it be on the field or off the field.
Speaker B:And it seems like we can't just enjoy a good sporting competition anymore without it being, you know, being something to push political values through us.
Speaker B:Woke political values.
Speaker B:And it's, it's incredibly frustrating because where are we supposed to turn to get away from the crazy?
Speaker A:Well, and then even right now, just look at what's.
Speaker A:What Pride Nights have turned into.
Speaker A:Yeah, Pride Nights.
Speaker A:I feel like in general, I've never as a Christian, supported Pride Night.
Speaker A:But I also, when I worked for some of these teams, they respected the fact that anytime as an in arena host, as a personality for the team, I said, I'm not going to be involved in any ad reads, any sort of promotion of this.
Speaker A:I'm not going to wear the gear.
Speaker A:I'm not going to promote that stuff.
Speaker A:And it was respectful.
Speaker A:But now it's gotten to a place where you have to wear that jersey player.
Speaker A:And if you don't wear that jersey or put Pride tape on your stick or, you know, become an ally of the community, you're a hateful, bigoted, homophobe, transphobe, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker A:But it start Pride Night started out as a, let's just say, celebration of marriage equality.
Speaker A:Now you're seeing drag queens that are just flaunted in front of kids at games.
Speaker A:The New York Mets, they just celebrated their Pride Night.
Speaker A:And during the national anthem, they got a cutaway on the big screen of the Pride flag.
Speaker A:And then they got two dudes making out that they're showing on the jumbotron.
Speaker A:It's become just debauchery.
Speaker A:And obviously we can talk about the race, like the race war that's going on that's just so nonsensical.
Speaker A:DEI is infused in sports where certain teams can actually get compensation for hiring a minority coach.
Speaker A:You know, like, this is crazy stuff that's going on in sports.
Speaker A:And for me, I feel God's given me a platform to speak against these things because sports has the ability to bring us together maybe unlike any other outlet out there.
Speaker A:And I mean, just Even look at 9 11.
Speaker A:I know this is a long little speech I have right here about sports Will, but please, people look to sports to unify.
Speaker A:They want to go to a game after something like 911 and be like, wow, I might not have voted for George Bush or care about the guy or, like, Republicans or politics in general, but him throwing that first pitch, just an absolute dart right down the middle.
Speaker A:Everybody can be like, I felt patriotic that day.
Speaker A:I felt like I could come together with my fellow Americans and enjoy a baseball game.
Speaker A:I could enjoy a football game.
Speaker A:And I feel like that's what we need to get back to.
Speaker A:But media isn't helping.
Speaker A:A lot of these woke athletes like Steph Curry, woke coaches like Greg Popovich and Steve Kerr, LeBron James.
Speaker A:The list goes on.
Speaker A:And Simone Biles.
Speaker A:I know a lot of people are familiar with that situation recently.
Speaker A:I mean, sports has become really polarizing.
Speaker A:But at the same time, maybe for the first time in a long time, maybe within.
Speaker A:Maybe within the last decade, we've seen the most pushback and conversation around these things when leftist media was trying to squash it for a long time.
Speaker A:So it's tough, but maybe we're seeing a turning of the tide.
Speaker B:Well, let's.
Speaker B:Let's talk a little bit about that pushback, because I remember there was the.
Speaker B:Was it the Los Angeles Dodgers player who was forced to wear the Pride hat, but put the Genesis verse on it?
Speaker B:And I saw that.
Speaker B:I'm like, fantastic.
Speaker B:I'm glad he did that.
Speaker B:And then I got to thinking about, like, wow, he must have gotten some major pushback, you know, from maybe from the administration, you know, the baseball administration, like MLB as well, from his own teammates.
Speaker B:Like, is that.
Speaker B:Is some of that percolating in the background?
Speaker A:So what we've now gotten to, what I brought up earlier, is basically, Christians are put between a rock and a hard place, and Pride nights in general.
Speaker A:I don't think anybody should be forced to wear LGBTQ Pride gear at all.
Speaker A:And if you refuse to it, that doesn't make you a bad person.
Speaker A:I mean, I don't think it's as good for sports.
Speaker A:I don't think it's good for kids.
Speaker A:I don't think it's good for society in general.
Speaker A:But let's even go back years prior, there were multiple players on the Tampa Bay Rays that decided they weren't going to wear Pride gear at all, and they got annihilated.
Speaker A:And this was during Biden's presidency.
Speaker A:And I think that was actually, you know, maybe set a standard for what Christian athletes should do.
Speaker A:And then other Christian athletes, like James Reimer, the backup goalie for the San Jose Sharks a few years ago, ended up saying, I'm not going to wear it.
Speaker A:And then, you know, just, respectfully, I don't hate anybody.
Speaker A:And then let's fast forward to Clayton Kershaw.
Speaker A:This is about a couple years after the Dodgers celebrated the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
Speaker A:So people are, you know, that maybe rings a bell.
Speaker A:If it doesn't, they are a radical, blasphemous group that does a, like, Jesus drag show at Easter in San Francisco, and they were getting a community service award.
Speaker A:They were being honored, honored by the Dodgers.
Speaker A:And there was a big protest.
Speaker A:And for me, during that time, I was saying, okay, the.
Speaker A:Dave Roberts, the manager of the Dodgers, calls himself a Christian.
Speaker A:He didn't say a word, nothing.
Speaker A:And he didn't like.
Speaker A:And he wore all the pride gear.
Speaker A:And actually, Clayton Kershaw, who I'm very thankful and I think should definitely be supported for what he wrote on his pride hat this year, actually wore the pride gear that season.
Speaker A:And I'm glad to see, you know, courage begets courage.
Speaker A:You understand that, Will.
Speaker A:I understand that.
Speaker A:Anybody watching and listening.
Speaker A:So I don't mean to be dogging on Clayton, but, you know, there was a time where I think he could have made an amazing stand in a really tumultuous time, and he decided to cower.
Speaker A:But there was another pitcher, Blake Trinen.
Speaker A:But in general, I know this is a lot of backstory with this stuff, but it seems like it's now coming to a place where it's like, yes, Clayton Kershaw, this is what we've been asking for you to do.
Speaker A:This is what the Bible calls you to do.
Speaker A:And in general, there might be the people that say, you know, he shouldn't have wore the pride hat at all.
Speaker A:It's like, yeah, I can.
Speaker A:You know, I can definitely agree with that.
Speaker A:But the fact that he was able to point people to Scripture to say, hey, we're not, like, reclaiming the rainbow.
Speaker A:You know, God didn't give this symbol up.
Speaker A:He didn't give up this symbol of his covenant that he'll never flood the earth again.
Speaker A:The rainbow has always been about God, and it's been designed by God.
Speaker A:And marriage is designed by God and made by God, and we need to respect his perfect order.
Speaker A:And luckily, we're starting to see athletes, you know, point people back to Christ.
Speaker A:And even simple gestures like that, I think, are really important.
Speaker A:And though Clayton Kershaw has seemingly kind of been a cowardice in years prior, I'm really, really thankful that he stood up for what the rainbow actually represents.
Speaker B:And I've noticed that there have been a number of other athletes who, when they win championships or win big games, particularly championships, they're not afraid to get on the microphone and say, I.
Speaker B:I give thanks to my Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:They say that, and they really seem to mean it.
Speaker B:And what a statement that is for a world that hates Christ to begin with.
Speaker B:But also in the political environment where we're in, where people are being forced to wear pride flags like, no, I'm going to stand up, and in this moment, when everyone's watching, I'm going to make a profession of faith.
Speaker B:It's incredibly inspiring to see that.
Speaker A:And I think it gets the wheels turning for a lot of people that are like, wow, you've been waiting your whole life to win a Stanley cup, to win a Super bowl, to win a World Series, to win a college football national championship.
Speaker A:And your first thought is giving praise, honor and glory to your Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.
Speaker A:That gets people thinking like, wow.
Speaker A:Like, you're doing this for more than just yourself, more than just your team and your family in your community and your state and the previous players.
Speaker A:You're doing this for the person that deserves all the glory.
Speaker A:And it's so, so cool.
Speaker A:It fires me up anytime I hear that stuff.
Speaker A:I gotta pause the tv, rewind if I can't rip it offline.
Speaker A:And I'm telling, like, my wife and I are watching the game or with buddies.
Speaker A:It's like, I gotta record this and I gotta put it out there.
Speaker A:And that stuff goes viral because people are resonating with that.
Speaker A:They're like, this is awesome.
Speaker A:These are the people I want to point my kids to and say, hey, win or lose, this is who I want to see you be like.
Speaker A:And then obviously we can get in the conversation.
Speaker A:There's the naysayers that are like, well, I guess God liked this team so much more.
Speaker A:And it's like.
Speaker A:But that actually does lead to an interesting conversation that it's like, no, actually.
Speaker A:Here's a ton of other clips of players and coaches giving God the glory and the honor he deserves in defeat, in really tough defeat.
Speaker A:And I.
Speaker A:I love seeing it.
Speaker A:And then even shout out to my buddy, Spencer Danielson.
Speaker A:He's the head coach for Boise State football who had an unbelievable run to the College Football Playoff last year.
Speaker A:They had Ashton Genty, who got runner up for the Heisman.
Speaker A:I thought he deserved the Heisman.
Speaker A:No offense to Travis Hunter, but Spencer Danielson, I mean, he was talking about Jesus every single interview.
Speaker A:And then when they won the Mountain west championship, it's like this stuff.
Speaker A:And obviously you can.
Speaker A:You can understand how excited I am because I'm Excited right now.
Speaker A:I love is so, so amazing to see athletes who have these amazing platforms point people to Christ.
Speaker A:And that aspect of sports I think is something worth, you know, fighting for.
Speaker A:And I hope the people out there that are like, I'm sick and tired of the wokeness of sports.
Speaker A:So am I.
Speaker A:I feel like that's why we need to amplify these voices and the people that we don't like are the face of the NBA, the NHL, mlb, you know, maybe start amplifying some of these other voices and, you know, have these people go viral.
Speaker A:It's, it's really cool to see and I, it fires me up.
Speaker B:You mentioned something that I wanted to just divert into it for a moment because I think it's a great question.
Speaker B:It's something that the atheists and secularists always say, like, you know, both sides are praying to God to win.
Speaker B:Like, does God pick favorites?
Speaker B:You know, does God really care who wins versus the, versus the Browns versus the Bears?
Speaker B:Like, and let's, let's address that because it's, I mean, I think the question has a goofy, silly aspect to it, but I think that there's actual some, some real potential for theological depth in there as well of what's actually going on.
Speaker A:And as Christians, we're supposed to do everything to the glory of God.
Speaker A:Everything.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:And it gets down to this place where it's like, well, does God play favorites?
Speaker A:And in general, now we're seeing both in victory and defeat, players and coaches saying, I thank God for the opportunity.
Speaker A:I thank God for giving me a body that's able to compete at the highest level.
Speaker A:You know, when people are talking about professional sports or an incredibly high level, when they're talking about college sports, and it gets people's wheels turning to be like, oh, okay, like, so you're saying your identity is not in being a football player, your identity is in Christ.
Speaker A:And that no matter what, God does deserve the glory.
Speaker A:And that God is not punishing a team because they're not as close to him, they're not praying as much or they're not as moral as the other team.
Speaker A:We start to get out of that aspect and I think hopefully pointing people to what Paul is saying.
Speaker A:What is faith?
Speaker A:It's a race.
Speaker A:And we're supposed to run that race to win.
Speaker A:And we are supposed to, like, not everybody is going to be running the race of faith and have the same abilities, opportunities as others, but you are going to put in your full effort and you're going to do everything to the glory of God.
Speaker A:A lot of us that have played sports even just work out in general, we will see other people that have better bodies than us, better metabolism than us, but we definitely know the people that, though they might have some hiccups, you know, physically, biologically, they're working their butt off and they're.
Speaker A:They're doing everything they can to the best of their ability.
Speaker A:And hopefully that starts pointing people to faith where it's like, oh, that starts to make sense.
Speaker A:Like, no matter what, I'm not saying that, oh, God must not love me because we didn't win this game, or God doesn't love me because I wasn't able to hit that big shot.
Speaker A:And those kind of conversations, obviously, you know, sometimes social media isn't the best place to have those, but there have been a few of those where they're like, oh, now that I've.
Speaker A:I've tried to, like, troll you to say, oh, no athletes, you know, thanking God after they lose, now I'm seeing multiple videos and now my wheels are turning.
Speaker A:Now I'm maybe interested in this Jesus thing.
Speaker A:Maybe I am, as Brandon Lake would say, the bubba out there that's going to go to church, but hopefully that church is not going to dumb down their worship for you, you know, and it gets people interested in, like, oh, I got a Christian friend or family member and maybe I should look into that athlete's faith and everything.
Speaker A:So it does lead to a lot of really good discussions.
Speaker A:And hopefully people start to realize that these athletes are doing this for more than a paycheck, more than the accolades.
Speaker A:They're doing it for Jesus.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:There's something very real about physical gifts.
Speaker B:I think it's difficult for people who are not athletes to conceive of not just the amount of work that athletes put into, say, become a professional, but the amount of just gifts that the average person doesn't have.
Speaker B:Like, I think about.
Speaker B:I think it's at the NFL combine where they have this overlay where they show the average.
Speaker B:They show a running back doing the 40.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And then they overlay it with the image of like an average person doing the 40.
Speaker B:So you can see how an even.
Speaker B:An average fit person.
Speaker B:And it's like literally night and day, like, they're almost superhuman in their ability.
Speaker B:And when you hear someone like that talking about their faith, even in defeat, you know, like, I used my gifts, I practiced my faith, I was very sincere.
Speaker B:And we didn't win today because that was God's choice.
Speaker B:But the willing submission to that and to recognize that God is sovereign and he has his reasons, I think truly inspires faith in people who don't just associate faith with victory because you can lose in faith as well.
Speaker B:And that's part of it.
Speaker A:Well, and that gets into the gospel aspect of, you know, what are Christ followers Promise, hardship.
Speaker A:Like, it's.
Speaker A:It's going to be hard.
Speaker A:And I love the.
Speaker A:If anybody's seen the Babylon be where they had, like, basically this is what atheists thought the disciples would be doing.
Speaker A:It's like, no, we should do is we should steal the body and then we should fake all this.
Speaker A:And then everybody's like, yeah, so we become, like, rich and famous.
Speaker A:No, we're going to die brutal deaths.
Speaker A:And it's like, it's so good.
Speaker A:Because the gospel aspect of, you know, we're going to be persecuted, we're going to suffer and, you know, but we do that for the sake of Christ.
Speaker A:Like, we don't go out there and, you know, try to preach some sort of, like, poverty gospel or just, you know, look to get persecuted and, you know, whipped in the streets, so to speak, and online.
Speaker A:But, you know, we are going to go through hard times if we're truly following Christ and standing up for his word and, and our Lord and Savior.
Speaker A:And hopefully people start to realize that too, where, you know, what there is the ultimate victory you might not see.
Speaker A:As, you know, obviously, you got plenty of prosperity gospels out there that say, like, you know, if you pray enough or you give enough, you're going to receive tenfold.
Speaker A:And you got the Paul whites out there that say that, and Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, get people out of that theology to be like, no, like, ultimately, we're doing this for Christ.
Speaker A:And though we might not see the materialism that would essentially make things more comfortable living the American dream, we're fighting for eternity, and that is in perfect relationship with Jesus Christ in our heavenly bodies.
Speaker A:No more pain, no more suffering.
Speaker A:And hopefully people start to realize that.
Speaker A:And that's why I think there's even times where, you know, I don't.
Speaker A:I don't have, you know, physical ailments myself.
Speaker A:But there is times where, you know, some athletes and people we know that might not even be athletes, there's some of the most joyous, humble, giving people, and they can't even walk or they can't even run like they used to, and they're still like, you know what?
Speaker A:This is what was meant to happen.
Speaker A:And I can't wait to be in my heavenly body, but I'm going to make the most out of the body that God's given me.
Speaker A:And I'm not going to moan about all this stuff, and I'm going to make the best out of it.
Speaker A:And I think that's why, you know, there's even people like my friend Justin Peters.
Speaker A:I was just on his podcast and, you know, I was talking about my time at Turning Point USA and everything.
Speaker A:And he's got a great testimony.
Speaker A:Like, he's.
Speaker A:He's got a major physical ailment.
Speaker A:And he got to the point where he realized God's not going to heal me, and that's a part of my testimony.
Speaker A:I think that stuff is beautiful, and it can almost make even more of an impact than someone that is totally physically intact.
Speaker A:But when we have athletes that are the upper echelon, like you talked about, even some of these offensive linemen are faster than the average individual.
Speaker A:And these guys weigh like 340 pounds and they're 6 6.
Speaker A:But they realize that it's a blessing to have the body they have and be able to play a kid's game for a living.
Speaker A:And they give glory to God for it.
Speaker A:And I think it means a lot.
Speaker B:I think that's ultimately one of the reasons why many people enjoy sports is that they.
Speaker B:They recognize something that is objectively clear that they cannot do.
Speaker B:That doesn't necessarily in itself have a moral value.
Speaker B:Like, sports is physical performance, right?
Speaker B:And it's not.
Speaker B:It's not immoral, it's not necessarily amoral.
Speaker B:But I can watch someone throw a shot put or whatever, and, like, I can just appreciate it for what it is without having to assign it some cosmic kind of value in the same way that art or something like that does.
Speaker B:And there's this great leveling that we can all appreciate that and look at someone who's capable of doing something by God's grace, by his gifts to them that we just are.
Speaker B:That we admire, and we can look at God's glory in that.
Speaker B:And to hear more athletes, especially in such a challenging political environment, stand up and say, no, this is the truth.
Speaker B:This is who I am.
Speaker B:This is what I believe.
Speaker B:And to start to bring those values back into this conversation, I think is so necessary because there's just.
Speaker B:People just let that go for a long time, and they let pride flags show up, and they let DEI show up, and they let, you know, equity and all these different other things show up.
Speaker B:It's like, no, no, I'm going to stand with my gifts for these values in front of everybody on the biggest stage.
Speaker B:And I think that should inspire all of us to do it in our own ways.
Speaker A:And then that's where we can get to even comparing to the Simone Biles versus Riley Gaines situation.
Speaker A:You know, am I able to like, are you gonna put this on YouTube?
Speaker A:Can I use certain words or is that gonna demonetize you?
Speaker B:Is that I, I, I, I usually put it on YouTube, so I don't know what, I know what the words are.
Speaker A:So, like, I think in general, like, I try to be careful too, with, if you're throwing this stuff on YouTube, I don't want, like, obviously what it comes down to is there's unfair competition in women's sports.
Speaker A:Oh, that's what we're seeing.
Speaker A:And we know that what is happening from a foundational level, it is anti God.
Speaker A:And people like Simone Biles, they're talking about competitive equity.
Speaker A:Sports are not about diversity, equity and inclusion.
Speaker A:You know, like, even from a young age, you know, boys and girls sports is still unfair.
Speaker A:But when we definitely get to that higher competition, it is wildly unfair, and it will always be unfair.
Speaker A:And if you have one of the biggest female athletes in the history of sports, in the history of the world is saying she's fighting for competitive equity.
Speaker A:Competition is not about equity.
Speaker A:Sports are about meritocracy.
Speaker A:The best athlete wins the goal, the best team wins the gold.
Speaker A:The best athlete is going to get that roster spot.
Speaker A:The best coach should be getting the coaching position.
Speaker A:And when we get down to, like I was mentioning earlier, there's something called the Rooney Rule in the NFL.
Speaker A:They implemented this rule where every single NFL team needs to not hire, but interview.
Speaker A:At least, I'm pretty sure it's at least one minority, whether that is an ethnic minority or a female.
Speaker A:And they can get compensation just like the New England Patriots did for hiring Gerard Mayo because he's black.
Speaker A:I can't think of anything more demoralizing than thinking, am I just getting invited to this interview because of an immutable characteristic?
Speaker A:That is so stupid.
Speaker A:That's not what sports are for.
Speaker A:Sports are about meritocracy.
Speaker A:And what do kids learn?
Speaker A:And we all learn when we play sports?
Speaker A:Sportsmanship, teamwork, foundational aspects of life.
Speaker A:That for a long time, employers are like, you know what?
Speaker A:You played high level sports.
Speaker A:I actually want you to be a part of my team.
Speaker A:I want you to be a part of this company because you know what it's like to be selfless.
Speaker A:You know what it's like to be on a football team.
Speaker A:I played D2 football.
Speaker A:Nothing to write home.
Speaker A:About, you know, nothing amazing.
Speaker A:I played it Azusa Pacific, but I loved it.
Speaker A:And I understood what it was like to sacrifice for a team that the 11 guys on offense and defense are only as good as their weakest link.
Speaker A:You can have 10 guys on defense play unbelievable.
Speaker A:But if that cornerback is asleep, that guy just ran a streak down the sideline and caught that 50 yard touchdown pass.
Speaker A:Everybody else did their job, but you were the weak link and now it makes the whole defense look bad.
Speaker A:So hopefully people start to understand that sports need to get back to that.
Speaker A:And then even from just a viewership perspective, we are so sick and tired of hearing, you know, stuff like what we're seeing in the wnba, like the race conversation and pettiness and jealousy that we're seeing in that league is absolutely insane.
Speaker A:I've never seen a league trying to sabotage the ability to be profitable for the first time in the history of the wnba.
Speaker A:I've never seen a company or organization try to sabotage their, you know, basically their money bag.
Speaker A:Caitlin Clark.
Speaker A:It is absolutely insane what we're seeing, but it does.
Speaker A:Again, as much as I hate it, hopefully it leads to an inflection point that maybe all this race talk is stupid.
Speaker A:Maybe there is.
Speaker A:All this talk about white privilege is a load of nonsense.
Speaker A:Maybe sports are about meritocracy.
Speaker A:Maybe people like Caitlin Clark because she's done stuff that people have never seen in the WNBA and people have never seen in women's college basketball.
Speaker A:That's what it's about.
Speaker A:And that's why, obviously, like, I'm still appreciative that God's given me a platform to speak out against this stuff because hopefully during this time, we won't look back years from now and be like, wow, I really wish I would have said something.
Speaker A:And if I would have said something and pushed back against the talking heads at espn, maybe we wouldn't be, you know, watching another broadcast where, you know, it's.
Speaker A:Everything is just so racially infused and everything, and especially to.
Speaker A:To another degree is the women's sports thing where, you know, there's a lot of people pushing back.
Speaker A:Riley Gaines is a good friend of mine and congratulations to them.
Speaker A:They're pregnant with a, With a baby on the way.
Speaker A:That's so exciting.
Speaker A:But there's a lot of people working really hard to fight against the, the racial nonsense that's being talked about, the inequality in sports when it comes to men and women in sports.
Speaker A:You know, there's.
Speaker A:There's a lot of craziness going on and it's A.
Speaker A:It's a crazy time.
Speaker B:Well, I'm glad you mentioned Caitlin Clark, because there's a video going around right now.
Speaker B:I'm going to try and share my screen and.
Speaker B:And we can.
Speaker B:We can watch it.
Speaker B:Dave Rubin posted this, and this is a pretty.
Speaker B:This is a pretty shocking video.
Speaker B:He said.
Speaker B:Dave Rubin says the WNBA has their Michael Jordan and they're kicking the S out of her.
Speaker B:These, quote, ladies should be booted from the league today.
Speaker B:So we'll just watch this real quick.
Speaker B:There's not going to be any sound, but maybe you can.
Speaker B:We'll.
Speaker B:We'll take a look at this clip and then you can walk us through what's going on.
Speaker B:So she takes a shot.
Speaker B:Push, bang.
Speaker A:Wild.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Absolutely wild.
Speaker B:We'll just watch it one more time.
Speaker B:Just.
Speaker B:Oh, craziness, craziness.
Speaker B:So maybe, maybe, John, you can, you know, as a.
Speaker B:As a professional sports announcer, maybe you can.
Speaker B:You can walk us through, you know, what.
Speaker B:What you saw there, what's happening in that clip.
Speaker B:It's just.
Speaker B:I've got a lot that I could say, and maybe I will, but I wanted to get your take first.
Speaker A:So first and foremost, people need to understand that for the first time ever, the WNBA is being talked about.
Speaker A:And the only reason the WNBA is being talked about by the masses, we're not talking about just like the.
Speaker A:The small, dedicated fans that they've had, you know, for.
Speaker A:For their decades of existence.
Speaker A:The only reason it's being talked about is because of Caitlin Clark.
Speaker A:Caitlin Clark set the record for most points scored in college basketball, men or women.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker A:She was shooting?
Speaker A:Yeah, she was shooting.
Speaker A:And I know one guy, Pistol Pete, was up there for a long time.
Speaker A:That's one of my favorite basketball players of all time.
Speaker A:Was definitely not alive to see him play.
Speaker A:But she was hitting threes from the logo.
Speaker A:I know she was cliffs.
Speaker A:She was shooting deeper threes and still does, but deeper threes than Steph Curry.
Speaker A:And Steph Curry is the most amazing shooter I have ever seen, and I think maybe the world will ever see in basketball.
Speaker A:She is like the Steph Curry of women's basketball.
Speaker A:And also at the same time, Dave Rubin's correct.
Speaker A:She is the Michael Jordan.
Speaker A:There are more people watching some of those games like you just watched.
Speaker A:The Indiana Fever is what Caitlin Clark plays for.
Speaker A:And the Connecticut sun, which is, I think, bottom three teams, maybe the worst team in the wnba.
Speaker A:Some people are watching that more than they're watching the NBA Finals.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:She like.
Speaker A:She's like, they're moving games from WNBA Arenas to NBA arenas.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's crazy.
Speaker A:Like the.
Speaker A:What she's doing from even just a economic and financial standpoint, Everybody think of Tiger woods.
Speaker A:Twenty years ago on the PGA Tour, Tiger woods brought so many people to golf.
Speaker A:And not just brought people to golf because he was just like an interesting personality.
Speaker A:He dominated.
Speaker A:You know, Caitlin Clark is doing stuff you haven't seen.
Speaker A:And then now this comes down to.
Speaker A:And I know this is another long background.
Speaker A:She has received more vitriol and hatred than I have ever seen someone receive in sports.
Speaker A:And if people are out there and are like, whoa, you know, she got the rookie treatment last year and you know she's going to get, you know, roughed up.
Speaker A:There was, you know, WNBA legends like Dan and Taurasi that are just like, yeah, you know, she's in for a rude awakening.
Speaker A:You know, they're going to get beat up a little bit, like that's going to happen from the veterans.
Speaker A:But now what we're seeing is this stuff stems from jealousy.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And some of it, I do believe, stems from hatred.
Speaker A:Some of it actually is racial.
Speaker A:What is going on in the racial conversation is insane.
Speaker A:But now what you just watched is when she was originally guarded at the beginning of that.
Speaker A:That clip was someone she played against in college.
Speaker A:She gets poked in the eye.
Speaker A:Then she gets bumped by that same player that poked her in the eye.
Speaker A:Caitlin Clark shoves her away, Nothing crazy.
Speaker A:And the Marina Mabry comes in and Dexter, yeah, this is your cash cow.
Speaker A:And know what happened.
Speaker A:The chick that decked her did not get ejected from the game.
Speaker A:It shows incompetence from the highest level of the wnba, not protecting their greatest asset they will ever have and maybe sports will ever have.
Speaker A:You know, once LeBron James, I'm.
Speaker A:I think Colin Cowherd said this.
Speaker A:If people are familiar with him from Fox Sports, I think.
Speaker A:I'm pretty sure he said it.
Speaker A:When LeBron James and Steph Curry retire, Caitlin Clark will be the biggest athlete and the most famous basketball player in all of basketball.
Speaker A:She will sell more jerseys, she will sell more shoes, and she will create more conversation and have more of an economic impact than any other basketball player.
Speaker A:And I think a lot of people were like, that's.
Speaker A:That's true.
Speaker A:And then Caitlin Clark, she's got.
Speaker A:She got cheap shotted last season.
Speaker A:She got blindsided by a chick that was playing on Angel Reese's team.
Speaker A:She got poked in the eye from a chick named D.J.
Speaker A:carrington who had some extra long nails and poked her in the eye last year.
Speaker A:Like, so this isn't just like a one off situation.
Speaker A:She's actually getting beat up.
Speaker A:And we're now at a place where the WNBA needs to address it.
Speaker A:But the WNBA is terrified that they'll come to the defense of a white athlete while she is in a black league.
Speaker A:That's where all this race conversation comes in.
Speaker A:And it is so sad.
Speaker A:And I wish there was better people in Caitlin Clark's corner because what she ended up doing during the off season is she talked to Time magazine and she admitted she had even a little bit of white privilege and she bowed down.
Speaker A:She bowed down to the mob and, you know, did the whole like, thankful for the black women that came before me and everything.
Speaker A:It was, it was stupid.
Speaker A:It was really dumb.
Speaker A:And I think Caitlin Clark does a good job of taking the high road, but I think she starts to, needs to start to realize that she doesn't need to be a culture warrior.
Speaker A:And I think maybe if she goes the Michael Jordan route, where Michael Jordan was famous for saying, republicans buy sneakers too.
Speaker A:If anybody watches the Michael Jordan documentary on Netflix, there was a lot of people that were angry at him that he wasn't endorsing specific political candidates.
Speaker A:I think people like Spike Lee were really mad with, at him.
Speaker A:And I, I could be wrong on this, but even people like Al Sharpton, if Caitlin Clark goes that route, she might need to speak to some things like, you know, men and women's sports that I think would be her voice.
Speaker A:If she brought that up, it would be way more impactful than any other athlete speaking up.
Speaker A:And, and I wish she would be courageous with that.
Speaker A:But I, I think we're starting to realize that there's a major culture, cultural significance behind what's going on with Caitlyn Clark and not just how amazing she is.
Speaker A:Setting records.
Speaker A:Rookie of the year last year.
Speaker A:And the last thing for you, again, I know these are long things.
Speaker A:People watching might be like, I, they're like, I have never heard somebody talk about the WNBA this long in my entire life.
Speaker A:The last thing, last thing I have for you is you still, sports media in general is, the vast majority is crazy liberal.
Speaker A:And last season, Caitlin Clark had one of the most amazing rookie seasons in the history of sports.
Speaker A:This is not me overhyping this.
Speaker A:Look at the stats, look at the impact.
Speaker A:She was not the unanimous rookie of the year because one person, one person decided to vote for Angel Reese.
Speaker A:And that's where it comes down to is just, they need to give their flowers to the black athlete.
Speaker A:They need to give Their flowers to the chick that actually won a national championship.
Speaker A:And hopefully we start getting to this place where the WNBA starts figuring things out.
Speaker A:The refs actually start controlling the situation, because the conversation happening online is only going to push more people to Caleb Clark side and away from supporting the WNBA as a whole or really any of its other players.
Speaker B:Yeah, I took a look at that clip.
Speaker B:I was aware that.
Speaker B:That I guess it was in the off season that Kaitan Clark, who I've only seen highlight reels of, and I've watched them like, that's like she's.
Speaker B:She's drilling it from the log.
Speaker B:Like, that's.
Speaker B:That is a thing.
Speaker B:I remember Steph Curry back in the day.
Speaker B:You know, people say he got cheat codes.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So she got the same codes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And I remember hearing that she had said, you know, that she has some amount of.
Speaker B:Of white privilege.
Speaker B:And I was like, okay, I guess I understand why you said that, but I wish you hadn't.
Speaker B:But then I look at something like that, and I was.
Speaker B:I was going to post this, but I wasn't sure of my facts.
Speaker B:But if we were to see that same kind of play in the NBA, men and women are the same.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:We're equal.
Speaker B:If we were to see the same kind of play where, like, strip race out of it and just make it all men, they can be purple for all I care.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And you had a star player get poked in the eye, shoved, and then decked.
Speaker B:What would happen to the.
Speaker B:To the male player who decked the other male player?
Speaker B:What would happen to that guy if he just sh.
Speaker B:Hard shove onto the.
Speaker B:Onto the floor?
Speaker B:They get fined.
Speaker B:They'd get ejected.
Speaker B:They'd probably get suspended.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:For just.
Speaker B:For doing that.
Speaker B: particularly troubled by this: Speaker B:Like, it was just like we just went on.
Speaker B:Like you said, she didn't even get ejected.
Speaker B:I did see it.
Speaker B:Maybe she got fined or something like that.
Speaker B:But if men and women are the same, why aren't we equally applying the rules here?
Speaker B:That's a flagrant violation of sportsmanlike conduct.
Speaker B:But we're supposed to overlook it.
Speaker B:Why?
Speaker B:Like, do we really believe that men and women are the same?
Speaker B:Of course, we don't actually believe that.
Speaker B:Of course we have to protect, you know, the DEI and all that, but it just, It.
Speaker B:It was such astounding hypocrisy laid bare right there because they would never tolerate that in the NBA.
Speaker B:Never, ever tolerate that.
Speaker B:Even for average players.
Speaker A:And what you'd see in the NBA, too, is you would see a just scuffle.
Speaker A:Maybe even more than that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And then that's where.
Speaker A:That's what you see in sports as.
Speaker A:As men.
Speaker A:Like, I've been in plenty of scuffles.
Speaker A:And then afterwards, like, really after the game, you're dapping each other up, showing them good game, and you leave it on the field, and that's it.
Speaker A:Like, I mean, you had some, like, really crazy sports moments.
Speaker A:I have.
Speaker A:And other people where it's just like, that's just sports.
Speaker A:But with the women here, what we're seeing, again, it comes down to pettiness and jealousy.
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker A:And then the craziest part was Caitlin Clark got a technical.
Speaker B:No, she didn't.
Speaker A:They actually gave her a technical foul for what happened there.
Speaker A:And, like, you can't explain that.
Speaker A:But at the same time, too, Marina Mabry, that decked Caitlin Clark, wasn't kicked out of the game, you know, and that those are kind of things if.
Speaker A:And I mean, this is maybe a stretch, but for people to understand from a political perspective.
Speaker A:I'm from California.
Speaker A:I now live in Phoenix, Arizona.
Speaker A:But I see a place like San Francisco that has allowed so much crime and debauchery to just go unchecked.
Speaker A:And that's what happens from even a political standpoint and a crime standpoint is you are now telling people you can steal as long as it's, you know, less than, you know, 500 bucks or 800 bucks, whatever it is, in San Francisco.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And then now and again, I know this isn't apples and oranges.
Speaker A:You're probably gonna be like, john, you're making, like, too much of a political point for this.
Speaker A:I think it's similar in the sense of, you know, this is undisciplined children.
Speaker A:So if Mabry is able to do this to Caitlin Clark, and people have been doing this since she entered the league, other.
Speaker A:Other players.
Speaker A:Who's to say another players could be like, well, you know, if I can get away with a cheap shot again against this chick that I can't stand is actually getting the limelight, even though she's the only reason I'm on the chartered flight to Indiana when I had to take.
Speaker A:When I had to take, you know, coach for the last, you know, decade playing in the wnba, they'll be like, yeah, I'll.
Speaker A:I can get away with it, and I will.
Speaker A:What's the WNBA going to do when Caitlin Clark actually gets injured?
Speaker A:Yeah, because she was injured.
Speaker A:For about two weeks, she hurt, and that was not because of somebody cheap shotting her.
Speaker A:You know, some of it's just like, sports are tough.
Speaker A:It's physical.
Speaker A:But if she actually gets hurt, the WNBA is screwed.
Speaker A:They're done.
Speaker A:She's.
Speaker A:She's the only reason that people watch games.
Speaker A:She's the only reason that people are interested in seeing.
Speaker A:The only reason they're interested in seeing these other players is when Caitlin Clark is playing them, whether they're actually buying tickets to go to the game or watching on tv.
Speaker A:And that's it.
Speaker A:And they just have to own up to it.
Speaker A:And still, at the same time, we can celebrate athleticism and athletic feats, but people are drawn to the WNBA because of Caitlin Clark, and that's what it is.
Speaker A:And I just recognize it.
Speaker A:Who cares if she's white, black, purple, whatever.
Speaker A:Like, people.
Speaker A:We didn't have this conversation with Tiger Woods.
Speaker A:People weren't saying, like, yeah, you know, I just, I.
Speaker A:I really feel like supporting Tiger woods just because he's black.
Speaker A:It was interesting that a black guy was, you know, really taking, you know, half black, half Japanese, I think, and Filipino.
Speaker A:But in general, it's like he was just transformative to the sport.
Speaker A:He was so fun to watch.
Speaker A:And that's what.
Speaker A:Hopefully people seeing Caitlin Clark, that what she's doing is transcending race, transcending just athleticism and financials, everything.
Speaker A:I mean, it's.
Speaker A:It's really cool to see.
Speaker A:And hopefully people start getting out of their racial, racial idolatry and just start accepting, maybe I should just enjoy watching this chick play basketball.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's the thing that strikes me about that clip is that there's something about that that feels personal.
Speaker B:It's not just like stuff happens on the field.
Speaker B:Men's tempers get heated and we get some conflict.
Speaker B:But it's not personal.
Speaker B:That clip, looking at that feels personal.
Speaker B:And that's.
Speaker B:That's ugly.
Speaker B:And I don't like that when I see that in men's sports.
Speaker B:I don't like.
Speaker B:I like it even less when I see it in women's sports.
Speaker B:But that's not what it's supposed to be.
Speaker B:You know, again, like, you can watch Bait, like every, every baseball season, there's always one bench clearing brawl.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:But, like, hopefully it, it doesn't start some vendetta between the two players.
Speaker B:Although that has happened in the past.
Speaker B:But it never really feels personal.
Speaker B:It feels like something that happened just on the field that day, and then they go on about Their lives that felt personal.
Speaker B:And I appreciate this because I hadn't realized that I can't think of a single figure in any professional sport right now whose name I've heard as much as Caitlin Clark.
Speaker B:Now, I don't follow sports.
Speaker B:Like, I just see what kind of surfaces.
Speaker B:But you're right, I hear Caitlin Clark's name mentioned positively.
Speaker B:And if you were to ask me about pro football or basketball or like, okay, but Rory, Rory is one of the golfers.
Speaker B:Like, I don't mean to show my ignorance.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:Didn't he.
Speaker B:He just won the Masters.
Speaker B:And I saw that clip and that was pretty powerful.
Speaker B:As he's walking off the 18th hole, like, fighting back tears, I'm like, yeah, that, that, like, so I know his name.
Speaker B:But there are so few stories of elite athletes these, these days, it feels like it absolutely gets drowned out by the political conversation, by the drama.
Speaker B:And so here, now we have an athlete who's actually achieving at the highest level and doing incredible things.
Speaker B:And what surrounds her is just trying to drag her down like in the crab bucket.
Speaker B:And it's baffling to me.
Speaker B:And it must be extra hard for you as a man who's worked in professional sports, as a sports fan, just to see, is it low caliber of play?
Speaker B:Is it, you know, coaches and teams being distracted, like, what is it?
Speaker B:There must still be good players.
Speaker B:But no one's really doing the Michael Jordan or Larry Bird thing anymore or the, you know, a rod thing.
Speaker B:I don't, I don't see that as often anymore, but maybe that's just me.
Speaker A: , especially what happened in: Speaker A:There's a lot of people that, I mean, we were.
Speaker A:Everybody was home and we were looking for an outlet away from the craziness of life.
Speaker A:All the COVID conversation and, you know, crazy politics and, you know, you know, friends and family are getting sick and we don't know what's going on.
Speaker A:And then we turn on the TV and the WNBA is doing a boycott for Jacob Blake.
Speaker A:The NBA is canceling games and promoting Marxist Black Lives Matter.
Speaker A:You know, the NFL is pushing some of that same nonsense too, where it's like anti police rhetoric.
Speaker A:And people are like, this just feels like another politics news outlet.
Speaker A:I want to watch Patrick Mahomes do Patrick Mahomes things.
Speaker A:I want to watch, you know, Steph Curry, even though I can't stand his politics.
Speaker A:I just want to see him shoot the lights out from three all game.
Speaker A:And what we got was a lot of networks, athletes, coaches and organizations preaching to us nonsense.
Speaker A:And people were like, I can't do it anymore.
Speaker A:I can't see guys kneeling for the anthem anymore.
Speaker A:They don't even seem proud to be Americans.
Speaker A:They're just a bunch of spoiled brats that are making millions of dollars and trying to preach at me and tell me about what it means to be a good person and that I need to, you know, hate America, you know, forever or at least for a time.
Speaker A:Like it was a weird time.
Speaker A:And I think now we've gotten to a place where the NBA brand took a major hit.
Speaker A:And the, the NBA brand is, is very liberal.
Speaker A:And then the most liberal left wing sports organization or sports league is the wnba.
Speaker A:I mean, I mean you have some of the craziest, wonkiest people, especially in their fan base.
Speaker A:I mean, it's just a ton of lesbians and a ton of left wing activists.
Speaker A:And then the NFL, it'll always be the cash cow for Americans.
Speaker A:Americans are willing to give the NFL more of a longer leash.
Speaker A:And Major League Baseball, it'll be a full different conversation that would bore you and your audience.
Speaker A:Talking about how the MLB just does not know how to market itself and they haven't given the opportunity for people to watch their product.
Speaker A:And they've had broadcasting rights issues.
Speaker A:And you know, for a time before Shohei Ohtani, like, do you know who Shohei Otani is?
Speaker A:Have you heard that name?
Speaker B:Japanese pitcher.
Speaker A:Yes, Japanese pitcher and DH for the Dodgers.
Speaker A:But if I asked people a couple years ago who Shohei Ohtani was, like, people that just like maybe dabble in sports, they'd be like, yeah, probably kind of heard of him, he's the Babe Ruth of our era.
Speaker A:Like he is like what he's doing.
Speaker A:He just hit 50 home runs, 50 plus home runs and stole 50 plus bases last season.
Speaker A:No one's ever done it, you know, but.
Speaker A:And that's where there's a lot of great athletes.
Speaker A:But another thing too is I think sports, I think especially American sports are struggling because how many American born sports stars are there?
Speaker A:There's not a lot really.
Speaker A:I think that's something too that like people sure bring in the race conversation, but in general, people like, look at what happened with the Four nations hockey Tournament.
Speaker A:People like cheering for their country and it brought a lot of people together that might not even care about hockey.
Speaker A:And it was great animosity and competition.
Speaker A:But a lot of these leagues, the NBA, you know, who are some of the biggest stars Luka Doncic, Shay Gilkers Alexander, who's on the cusp of winning the NBA Finals and just won the mvp.
Speaker A:You got, yeah.
Speaker A:Nicole Jokic, Luka Doncic, sga, You know, and then Major League Baseball, there's a lot of foreign stars and I think that's where leagues are kind of struggling a little bit right now.
Speaker A:And that's why I think more people are kind of drawn to the NFL.
Speaker A:It's like you got that American born star and you know, I think that might not be the biggest aspect of it, but I think it's another factor that plays in as well as politics that have really turned people out.
Speaker A:And not saying that people don't want to watch international stars, but you know, there is a little bit of a disconnect with the international stars playing in an American sport.
Speaker A:Again, it's not the biggest thing, but I think it's an interesting factor.
Speaker B:I never would have, I never would have considered that.
Speaker B:But it makes sense.
Speaker B:Like American football is just not popular around the world.
Speaker B:It's kind of like it doesn't make sense to many people around the world.
Speaker B:Like you kind of got to be an American to get it.
Speaker B:And you're, you're right.
Speaker A:Super bowl is like a holiday.
Speaker A:It's like a holiday here.
Speaker A:And like around the world people are like, ah, like whatever.
Speaker A:Like more people watch Premier League, they just.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:But I, I can care less.
Speaker A:And there's a lot of people in America that do like the Premier League, but in general, like the Super Bowl's always going to be way bigger.
Speaker A:And that's what's always interesting.
Speaker A:It's like we're in that specific ecosystem and American sports thrive in certain ways that other sports won't.
Speaker A:And you know, it's, I think it's an interesting aspect that's not talked about enough.
Speaker B:No, I think you're right because there, I mean there is a big conversation happening right now around immigration, although the conversation is more about illegal immigration.
Speaker B:There is something to be said about, you know, of course I fully appreciate and respect athletes around the world who achieve at the highest level on earth.
Speaker B:Nothing to take away from that.
Speaker B:But I can certainly understand how there's something very different about like, hey, we are Americans and there is something about being American that is unique.
Speaker B:And while we are, well, happy to invite people to come over and compete, who are we and can, in a way, can we have something for ourselves?
Speaker B:And that's, that's a controversial idea.
Speaker B:I know, but I mean it shouldn't be And I can understand how it would be impacting probably baseball first, because baseball has always been very international with Puerto Rico especially and Japan lately, and then basketball with Eastern Europe.
Speaker B:But American football, like, that's, that's our thing.
Speaker B:And, but, you know, part of that is no one's going to grow up around the world playing American football.
Speaker B:Like, you're not going to get to an elite level playing American football because who are you going to compete against to race to that level.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:And that's where people can hopefully start to understand this conversation more through the lens of.
Speaker A:Let's go back to Shohei Ohtani.
Speaker A:Like, I still, to this day I wish there was people in his corner and people, you know, might get upset at me for this.
Speaker A:But like, you need to learn English.
Speaker A:You need.
Speaker A:If he learned English and actually took the proper time to learn English, he would connect with fan bases here in America so much more because he's, he still has an interpreter.
Speaker A:Like, he's been in the league for, he's been in the league for a decade, I'm pretty sure.
Speaker A: decade because I think he was: Speaker A:So like, but pretty close to it.
Speaker A:And it's like, I wish there would be people in his corner.
Speaker A:And it's tough learning English.
Speaker A:It's tough learning another language.
Speaker A:But I think even Christian Pulisic, he's our, the captain of our U.S.
Speaker A:men's National Soccer team, he plays over in Europe and I'm pretty sure he plays for a German team.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:And like, I'm not a soccer guy or a football guy, however you want to say it.
Speaker A:I'm pretty sure he did part of his post game presser maybe a couple months ago in the native language, praise God.
Speaker A:And I think that stuff, I think that stuff goes a really, really long way.
Speaker A:And if we're just going to kind of switch, like Shohei and Christian Pulisic, how a fan base can be like, oh, you know, I appreciate that effort and I feel like I can connect more with this person because they're integrating into the society that this sport is in.
Speaker A:And again, this isn't like the biggest issue, but I feel like that helps with marketability.
Speaker A:And I think maybe as we see a shift in culture, not just in politics, but in the workforce, but in sports, to be like, all right, maybe this DEI stuff and talking about race all the time and having people like LeBron James, Steph Curry, Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr, they're not helpful.
Speaker A:And once these guys age out and retire, that's Maybe going to be beneficial to the sport because people are going to be like, you know what I'm watching, you know, Anthony Edwards.
Speaker A:And I really don't know where he's at politically.
Speaker A:Like, it's like, I'm sure he's like, he's not a Christian and I.
Speaker A:I don't agree with him morally.
Speaker A:And he's done some, you know, you know, kind of wonky stuff and even some evil stuff when it comes to coercing some chick to get that he knocked up to get an abortion.
Speaker A:Can people get past that and just celebrate them as a basketball player?
Speaker A:I mean, there's times where still, you know, we need to speak up about things and speak up, you know, courageously.
Speaker A:But there's going to be other athletes to be like, I don't know what their politics are, and I kind of appreciate that.
Speaker A:And I'm just watching them and enjoying them.
Speaker A:And I'm able to separate the art from the politics if they do bring up any aspect of politics.
Speaker A:But people are sick and tired of the LeBron James's.
Speaker A:They can't stand it.
Speaker A:Like, this guy thinks he is so morally superior than everybody else and thinks he's doing something unbelievably courageous and people can't stand it.
Speaker A:There is a reason that he has millions of haters.
Speaker A:There's a reason that people can't stand LeBron James and they look forward to, as they did this year when he got knocked out in the first round, even though he was able to, you know, slyly get Luka Doncic on his team in one of the most lopsided trades in the history of the National Basketball Association.
Speaker A:People like that he got booted in the first round and they enjoyed watching the NBA playoffs from there.
Speaker B:Okay, so.
Speaker B:So I heard about this, but I didn't follow it.
Speaker B:Maybe can you give me a little bit of background of what happened there?
Speaker B:I just remember that the trade happened to Doncic and.
Speaker B:And everyone was all up in arms about it, but I didn't really dig into what was going on and what people were upset about.
Speaker B:But I did managed to pick up from the tenor of the conversation that something shady had happened that it shouldn't have happened.
Speaker B:But I couldn't figure out why.
Speaker B:Like, I was like, what's.
Speaker B:I could.
Speaker B:I didn't dig in to figure out what the angle was.
Speaker B:Do you want to.
Speaker B:We can just keep it between us.
Speaker B:Do you want to tell me, like, what happened there from your perspective?
Speaker A:Basically, in layman's terms, Luka Doncic is the Most exciting and yeah, he's the most exciting and probably the best biggest young superstar in the NBA.
Speaker A:He just took his team or his former team, the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals last year.
Speaker A:And then the Dallas Mavericks decided that, you know, he's like kind of overweight and we're not willing to pay him, even though he just took our team to the NBA Finals.
Speaker A:And someone like that would be or should be in an absolute blockbuster trade.
Speaker A:He is an unbelievable player.
Speaker A:And sure, maybe he's like his, his weight was a little bit of a problem, but it's like, look at or Nikola Jokic has definitely got a weight issue, but he's balling.
Speaker A:No one's bringing up like, what's going on with him weight wise.
Speaker A:But Luka Doncic didn't get shopped around.
Speaker A:Usually that's what happens with these superstar players is multiple teams are interested.
Speaker A:And then we found out that no other teams other than the Lakers knew that Luka Johnson was going to get traded.
Speaker A:It just happened between them.
Speaker A:That doesn't happen.
Speaker A:And then LeBron James tried saying that he didn't know about it.
Speaker A:And the worst part is not just, oh, that he got traded.
Speaker A:He got traded for nothing.
Speaker A:He got traded for Anthony Davis, who's an aging superstar who is like a China doll and constantly gets hurt.
Speaker A:And you would expect like maybe like three or four first round picks.
Speaker A:Like if people want to look up that Desmond Bain, who's never made an all star team, he just got traded for another player.
Speaker A:And four first round picks like Luka Doncic should get maybe one of the biggest trade halls that we've seen in NBA history.
Speaker A:But it was like for nothing.
Speaker A:It was almost like they're like, he doesn't mean anything to us.
Speaker A:Just, just take him.
Speaker A:It just seemed like some of the most shady stuff I've ever seen in the league.
Speaker A:And I think 100%, I'll put the tinfoil hat on.
Speaker A:LeBron James is going to retire at some point.
Speaker A:They also would love the, I think the, the big dogs at the NBA would love to see LeBron somehow get another ring.
Speaker A:And LeBron seems to always team up with some of the best players in the NBA.
Speaker A:But once LeBron retires, you know, they want the Lakers to still be on the map.
Speaker A:And who's going to keep them on the map?
Speaker A:The biggest young superstar in the NBA, Luka Doncic.
Speaker A:It was just, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Speaker A:And especially as we see other trades happening in the NBA.
Speaker A:It was so lopsided.
Speaker A:It Just.
Speaker A:And for no teams to hear about it, it's a really shady.
Speaker A:And I think that's another thing that actually hurts the reputation of the National Basketball association is people saying, is this an inside job?
Speaker A:Like, they're like, I'm not a conspiracy theorist.
Speaker A:I'm not like some big like conservative conspiracy theorists like Alex Jonesy, NBA fan, you know, like.
Speaker A:But this is weird.
Speaker A:And I think that's what it came down to.
Speaker A:And then actually the Dallas Mavericks, I think they had like maybe less than a tenth of a percent to get the first overall pick in the NBA draft.
Speaker A:Guess who got the first overall pick?
Speaker A:Dallas Mavericks.
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker A:Like, it starts, it starts to become too much of a coincidence and it's weird stuff.
Speaker A:And I think that's another thing that, that hurts the credibility of a league like the NBA.
Speaker A:It's weird.
Speaker B:So the NBA facilitated a low ball trade for a superstar to go to a brand name team to sort of take up the mantle of LeBron James and.
Speaker B:But this wouldn't have, it sounds like it wouldn't have happened without the NBA league, you know, meddling to facilitate it.
Speaker B:The Mavericks wanted to offload their star player and then they just, they pulled some strings and made it happen.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, honestly, there's a lot of people out there that have been covering the NBA for a long time and they have the inside scoop on stuff and they'll try to discredit, you know, basically the way that you and I have described it, But I think 100% that's happened.
Speaker A:I mean, it's just, I think it's definitely an inside job.
Speaker A:And it is, I, it's unprecedented what we saw and it's, I think it was just 100% thievery what, what we just saw.
Speaker A:And I think that's where the NBA is, is scared right now that a lot of people aren't watching the NBA Finals, though.
Speaker A:I've, I've enjoyed the playoffs this year, actually maybe more than, you know, anything over the last, you know, five years or so.
Speaker A:Even being a Warriors fan, you know, I've had a lot of great years watching my team.
Speaker A:I think they want these big market teams to do really well because they think that's actually going to be, you know, what's best for business and get people to watch, to watch again.
Speaker A:But at the same time, I think it hurts their credibility.
Speaker A:And I think what happened was an inside job with that trade.
Speaker B:You know, I grew up during the era of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Steve Nash, Charles Barkley, like that was my, that was my childhood.
Speaker B:Jose Canseco and Mark McGuire.
Speaker B:You know, Bash Brothers.
Speaker B:And the Bash Brothers.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Actually, actually, hold on just a second.
Speaker B:I want to show you something that I, that I haven't, I haven't gotten this out on the podcast yet before, but I'll show you.
Speaker B:Hold on.
Speaker A:Let's see it.
Speaker B:This, this is a Nolan Ryan rookie card.
Speaker B:This is.
Speaker B:No way that's a real deal Nolan Ryan rookie card.
Speaker B:You can see I've gotten in Inch Thick Fletc.
Speaker B:It's just.
Speaker A:Are you gonna get a Graydon?
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:No, I suppose I could, but funny story about this card.
Speaker B:So I was like, I don't know, maybe 812 years old, something like that, and my uncle had a big box of old baseball cards, and he's like, you can pick any, like, three or five cards out of this.
Speaker B:And so I, I, I happened to like Nolan Ryan at the time, and so I just, I saw that card and I picked it.
Speaker B:At the time, the card was worth like a hundred bucks, something like that.
Speaker B:With my, with my, with my baseball card.
Speaker B:Was it Beckett?
Speaker B:Beckett Baseball Card Value Magazine?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then after that, he got his 300th win and his 5,000 strikeout, and this card went, went crazy in terms of its value.
Speaker B:And so my, my uncle has never forgiven me for that.
Speaker B:But, like, but this is, it's, it's super cool.
Speaker B:I just have it back here chilling in my studio.
Speaker B:It's the real deal.
Speaker B:Even the.
Speaker A:I don't know if you could see well, but I, I mean, I collect cards.
Speaker A:I even show you there.
Speaker A:Like, I have a, a bunch of my card collection here.
Speaker A:I've been collecting cart collecting cards ever since I was a kid.
Speaker A:And I got back into it over this last year and, you know, I kind of got back to the childhood love.
Speaker A:And it's a big business, sports cards.
Speaker A:And, you know, there's, there's a lot of people that, if anybody's unaware, like, now there's like, big products that come out that drop, and then there's people that actually do, like, box breaks, and people buy into that, and they're like, there's a rookie that I want to, you know, get on this team.
Speaker A:And it's kind of like, you know, you're gambling essentially because you don't know what's in the box.
Speaker A:And you can potentially get a big card if you're like, I'm gonna buy the Houston Texans for this amount of money.
Speaker A:And than, you know, a lot of, like.
Speaker A:And then in general, like, there's a ton of big business behind sports cards.
Speaker A:And it's been super fascinating learning more about that.
Speaker A:And I mean, two, I don't know, I'd look up for you to see, you know, if it's in really good condition, you know, if you get it graded by, by psa, you know, that can.
Speaker A:That obviously just only skyrockets in value, you know, based off the grade that it's going to get.
Speaker A:But I think it's like, sports cards are fun.
Speaker A:That's another thing that I think gets kids, like, really into sports again.
Speaker A:And, you know, there's obviously big business behind it, but at the same time, there's, you know, a lot of fun for kids that are just like, they just want to rip open pack, open a pack like we were when we were kids.
Speaker A:And we have no idea how much these things are worth.
Speaker A:And they're maybe not even worth anything, but it's like, oh, I got my favorite player.
Speaker A:And you know, I have, I have some cards like that, you know, when I was a kid, but cards are a blast.
Speaker B:They are.
Speaker B:I mean, they were a huge deal when I was a kid.
Speaker B:Like when I was, you know, when I.
Speaker B:People loved them, kids loved them.
Speaker B:And then the market kind of blew up and then it crashed really hard as all these different manufacturers came in.
Speaker B:But it sounds to me like baseball cards, sports cards are coming back now, which I was.
Speaker B:I mean, I've seen.
Speaker B:I saw something on Twitter about it, but I didn't pay much attention.
Speaker B:But it's actually, it's actually kind of cool to hear, so.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's cool.
Speaker B:Go ahead.
Speaker A:It's like, it's a piece of.
Speaker A:It's a piece of art and it's.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's a piece of history.
Speaker A:And that's where people can start to look.
Speaker A:They're like, you know, there's obviously was a time where there was so much overprinting and now you have, you know, variations of cards.
Speaker A:You got autograph cards and you know, those things that become, you know, basically life changing for people.
Speaker A:Like, I know for me, I actually ended up, you know, buying a Caitlin Clark card and, you know, got it graded and it's a 10.
Speaker A:And you know, it's like you buy that card for.
Speaker A:Which sounds crazy, a couple hundred bucks and now it's worth, you know, with a 10 grade over a thousand and amazing.
Speaker A:And if Caitlin Clark keeps playing well and she wins an MVP or a championship, just like Nolan Ryan, you know, you have some of those accolades, you know, those, those blow up and some of These can actually be way better investments than the stock market.
Speaker A:Obviously you're, you're still, you know, gambling with, you know, how well these guys go.
Speaker A:But it is kind of crazy to see how like Shohei Otani cards have blown up, Aaron Judge even and some of these other players.
Speaker A:It's like, yeah, you hold on to them, you know, you're going to see a bigger, bigger return on investment than you would with like going with Apple or, or something like that.
Speaker A:Obviously don't take all my financial advice but you know, the numbers, the numbers are the numbers where you can kind of see like hey, over the last year there's been a bigger, you know, price increase for these cards and certain cards and certain players.
Speaker A:It's pretty cool to, to witness and, and look into.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I, I think thinking back to, I'm, I'm.
Speaker B:That's super awesome to hear.
Speaker B:And I think back to my childhood watching sports and it seemed that back then and maybe, maybe this is true, maybe it's a nostalgia thing but I just look back on, on older games and there was a, it wasn't that the games weren't excellent or the players weren't amazing.
Speaker B:But I think there's a way that sports today has become way more sophisticated and savvy that it.
Speaker B:And self conscious than it used to be.
Speaker B:Like I go back and I watch old NFL games and the guys are rugged and they're playing in the snow and it's just like a really, it's a, it's a really gritty kind of game.
Speaker B:You watch the NBA and it just, there seemed, there was like a, an endearing lack of self awareness to sports that sports today now has.
Speaker B:Like athletes are far more conscious it seems of being superstars and image management and like you know, the fashion show walk as they walk into games and I don't, I don't think that's a good, I don't think that's a good development.
Speaker B:Egos are always going to be a problem at elite level sports.
Speaker B:But this kind of like Travis Kelce's fashion show before the super bowl or something like that, like you know Tom Brady as well and like there's a way in which that can kind of be cheeky or fun but there's a way in which it just seems to have lost some of its youthful innocence.
Speaker B:I think that makes it hard to engage with and maybe that's why people aren't watching the NBA because it's like this isn't just, this isn't just a fun kids game.
Speaker B:Anymore.
Speaker B:This is big business.
Speaker B:Billions of dollars, egos, images on the line.
Speaker B:And that takes something away from the purity of it.
Speaker B:If every play you're thinking about, oh, is this going to get me on the highlight reel versus, like, I need to win for my team?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Cause I think that's multifaceted.
Speaker A:There's times where, you know, I think I've really enjoyed athletes being able to show their personality, you know, maybe through their style.
Speaker A:And then there's other times where it's like, that style is stupid.
Speaker A:People need to look up Kyle Kuzma.
Speaker A:Look up Kyle Kuzma.
Speaker A:He's worn some of the wonkiest, weirdest stuff I have ever seen.
Speaker A:But at times, it's like, you know, what?
Speaker A:I can kind of appreciate, you know, in a sense, that this has become a fashion show.
Speaker A:But it does get to that place where it's like, you know, this.
Speaker A:This is fairly egocentric, and there's a lot of individualism in sports.
Speaker A:And then we can go into the style of play, which is another thing that's really hurt the NBA.
Speaker A:That's things that's actually hurt every single sports league.
Speaker A:The NBA.
Speaker A:Now it's like, well, what's a travel?
Speaker A:You know, what's a foul?
Speaker A:Because, like, guys are flopping around as much as.
Speaker A:As much as I made, like, Luka Doncic, he flops.
Speaker A:You know, LeBron James is the king of the flop.
Speaker A:That guy is a physical specimen, and he flops around like he's a European soccer player.
Speaker A:It's crazy.
Speaker A:But at the same time, too, it's just like SGA that plays for the OKC Thunder.
Speaker A:You know, he.
Speaker A:He gets called a free throw merchant because he seems to draw a lot of fouls that just don't really seem to be fouls.
Speaker A:And, you know, the nitty gritty and physical aspect of the game, you know, seems to be long gone.
Speaker A:And then you go to the NFL, it seems like you even put a fingernail on a quarterback.
Speaker A:Again, as much as I like Patrick Mahomes, and as much as I, you know, maybe I didn't like Tom Brady because of what he did to my Falcons in the super bowl, but I always respected him.
Speaker A:You know, you put a fingernail on those guys, and it is an unsportsmanlike penalty.
Speaker A:It's roughing the passer, and people get really upset that it seems like, you know, the aspect of the game that really drew us, you know, from a physicality standpoint and a style of play standpoint, it's kind of ruining the game.
Speaker A:And it's ruining the experience.
Speaker A:But at the same time, we have the most talented athletic physical specimens we've ever seen in sports.
Speaker A:So that's where people are like, come on.
Speaker A:Like, we see these feats of athleticism that are crazy.
Speaker A:Like, if you had people that are able to rise from the dead that played in the ABA and they could see how these guys are playing in the NBA now, they'd be like, what?
Speaker A:Like, it's crazy.
Speaker A:It's crazy stuff.
Speaker A:But there is an aspect of hyper individualism that does lead to things like load management.
Speaker A:Load management is a term that's used for players, specifically in the NBA, that just kind of decide, you know what?
Speaker A:I just want to take the day off.
Speaker A:You know, like, it's a long season.
Speaker A:Just, like, I'm not hurt.
Speaker A:I just kind of just feel like taking a day off.
Speaker A:And then, once again, I can't believe I'm doing.
Speaker A:Two mentions of Colin Cowherd on the podcast here, but he had another interesting point where he said the NBA and NBA athletes are losing the everyday American, similar to the Democrats.
Speaker A:Because you guys are telling these people where there's a father that has worked overtime for the last month or two just to afford to have his family of four or five just even get into the arena, and then he needs to buy them food and drinks, and then he finds out that his kid's favorite player just decided, I'm just going to sit out.
Speaker A:Just don't feel like playing.
Speaker A:Oh, this season's 82 games, it's so long.
Speaker A:And we're seeing that.
Speaker A:Like, that's a major disconnect from the everyday American, just like the Democrat party is seeing a disconnect from the everyday American in the way that they run things in not only their policies, but their campaigns.
Speaker A:And that, I think, comes from a lot of selfishness.
Speaker A:Like we talked earlier about.
Speaker A:What are some of the amazing things that you learn, foundational aspects of life that you learn in sports?
Speaker A:One of it.
Speaker A:One of them should be selflessness, because the vast majority of us have either been around team sports or played team sports ourselves.
Speaker A:And we can understand that how you practice and how you play, you know, is more than just about yourself.
Speaker A:Obviously, we eventually want athletes to get to the point where they're doing it for Christ, whether you're a young athlete or a pro athlete.
Speaker A:But this individualism and selfishness is definitely hurting sports.
Speaker A:And I think they're seeing a major disconnect between fans and players, especially since players are only going to continue to make more money and I totally understand.
Speaker A:And final word on this one is that these are valuable assets.
Speaker A:You don't want to just go see Patrick Mahomes get beat up.
Speaker A:Your franchise player, you know, maybe the second greatest quarterback in the history of football, you know, get hurt unnecessarily.
Speaker A:But there is times where it's like, you play a tough sport, quarterback should be able to be hit.
Speaker A:Basketball players, you still play a physical sport.
Speaker A:You shouldn't be flopping around like this and do a better job of being an actor than you are being a basketball player.
Speaker A:And that's hopefully where people are starting to realize that you need to hold these leagues to account and say, like, what we're seeing here, we don't connect with.
Speaker A:And we are the ones that are actually, you know, paying big money to go to these games, buy these subscription packages so we could watch the games.
Speaker A:And then that leads to an hopefully more selflessness.
Speaker A:But still, at the same time, these guys are big brands, so I wouldn't expect much change, but hopefully we start to see a little bit of a cultural shift when it comes to the style play and those kind of things.
Speaker B:I'm glad that you mentioned the selflessness, because what an incredible blessing from God.
Speaker B:Not just to have such physical gifts and the opportunity to cultivate them and the health to enjoy them, but also to have thousands or even millions of people who just want to watch you play a game.
Speaker B:And the mindset, I mean, I understand the pressures that are on every professional at an elite level.
Speaker B:I get it.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:Like, I understand just what a toll pro sports takes on the body of even someone who plays who's healthy throughout their entire career.
Speaker B:Like, it's.
Speaker B:It's a.
Speaker B:You expend your body for the love of a thing, but to just to have the attitude where it's like, you know what?
Speaker B:I feel like taking a day off when it's like there are people that want to see you play.
Speaker B:Like, you've been given an incredible gift to have the opportunity to have the kind of career and make the kind of money that, like, only a small fraction of people will ever get.
Speaker B:And you only get it for a short time.
Speaker B:Like, you're at 35, 40, like, you're probably not going to be Tom Brady playing until you're 42 or 43, right?
Speaker B:So, like, and so the idea that someone would say or that players would consistently say, yeah, I'm just going to take a night off tonight, it seems to be kind of like squandering a gift of people's attention and their loyalty and their enthusiasm and their fandom.
Speaker B:It just again, I like that you called out the selfishness because there's a lot of that to it.
Speaker B:While acknowledging the challenges of the profession.
Speaker B:Like, you get to play a game for a living, like, bring your all, bring it, show up.
Speaker B:And yeah, I mean, I see all these things as maybe connected in a way.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And people might be thinking like, well, is this actually like good for their body?
Speaker A:Because John, if you're bringing up that they are very valuable financial assets, you know, this and this help protect their body.
Speaker A:I haven't seen and nothing's been presented that shows that this is actually healthier for specifically, we're even talking about NBA players that load management helps them.
Speaker A:I think we're seeing more injuries than we ever have before.
Speaker A:Obviously that can get into training and, you know, aspects.
Speaker A:But specifically correlated to like even look it up, load management is not leading to healthier players.
Speaker A:It's leading to a lot of injuries and it's leading to then these players actually being a disservice to not only their pocketbook, but the fan base and importantly their team because they decided to make a selfish decision and just sit out and like, hopefully leagues are going to start cracking down because this also comes into an aspect of.
Speaker A:We're in an era of player empowerment.
Speaker A:They have players have more power and more say than they've ever had.
Speaker A:And there's a good aspect to that.
Speaker A:And then there's also the aspect where they can be like, I just don't feel like it today, coach, and you can't tell me to play and I've built up enough sweat equity and have a big enough fan base to where I can get away with this.
Speaker A:And I know there was even times where I've said there again, like a disconnect with everyday Americans.
Speaker A:There are people out there grinding and they could never take a day off.
Speaker A:They could never say to their boss, just don't feel like it today, boss man.
Speaker A:It's just, I don't know, just doesn't feel like one of those days they probably get fired.
Speaker A:They get fired.
Speaker A:It's load management today, boss man.
Speaker A:Like, sorry, like, you know, I just, I need a personal day.
Speaker A:I mean, you can maybe get away with that if you're a liberal and you're like, yeah, I'm just really going through a lot of Trump derangement syndrome today and I need to take a break.
Speaker A:They could probably give you that day off, but if you're going to be like an athlete and be like, yeah, just nah, nah, I can't do that.
Speaker A:Like, all right, great.
Speaker A:We'll find somebody that wants to be here all the time.
Speaker A:Good luck.
Speaker A:And then you can't provide for your family.
Speaker A:Like, those are the disconnects that we're talking about.
Speaker A:And these guys are not playing enough games to where it's like, all right, maybe that kind of makes sense.
Speaker A:You know, they're getting, they're getting.
Speaker A:There's some tough stretches and you know, even anybody that is, you know, you know, you've done plenty of traveling, Will.
Speaker A:And like, yeah, so they might be in chartered flights, you know, private flights, and it's kush.
Speaker A:But, you know, it still gets tiring.
Speaker A:But at the same time, like, these guys aren't playing games 82, 82 days in a row.
Speaker A:You know, like, these guys have plenty of time to recover.
Speaker A:They have some of the best doctors and physicians in the world around them.
Speaker A:So, yeah, this whole idea of I just want to take a day off, it's not working for the health of the player, and it's definitely not helping with the connection to the fan base.
Speaker A:It doesn't work.
Speaker B:So where do you see, bearing in mind everything we've talked about, whether it be woke politics, load management, player empowerment, selfishness, all these different patterns.
Speaker B:Where do you see all this going?
Speaker B:Because I, I look at this and I'm like, this is not sustainable.
Speaker B:Like, I can't see this running out 5, 10 years and sports having the same place in American society that they once did.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It just seems to be a losing kind of battle where, yeah, people will always watch, but the enjoyment won't be there.
Speaker B:I especially appreciate how you brought up how expensive, expensive it is to go to games now.
Speaker B:Not only the tickets are expensive, but parking and food and beverages.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's quite endeavor and like, so I might as well watch it on TV and then be bombarded with woke advertising.
Speaker B:Like, where does, where does all of this go?
Speaker B:Or I have.
Speaker B:I have no idea.
Speaker A:And even too, it's expensive to watch sports on TV.
Speaker A:Like YouTube TV seems to raise their prices every single year.
Speaker A:And then if you're out of market, you gotta buy.
Speaker A:You know, it's not.
Speaker A:There's like NBA league pass and then there's, yeah, Sunday ticket for the NFL.
Speaker A:And then you need to get prime to watch Thursday games.
Speaker A:You'll need to get peacock at times to watch some games.
Speaker A:Like, it gets really expensive.
Speaker A:But I think what leagues need to realize is I'm not asking for leagues to Become like about like super conservative.
Speaker A:That's we're not looking for the pendulum to swing where it's like talk about a bunch of conservative cultural issues, right?
Speaker A:We just want sports to be a as apolitical as possible.
Speaker A:We do not need to talk about sexual identity DEI and race relations at nauseam, like stop it, it doesn't work.
Speaker A:And I believe, I truly believe people on the left, right and center are saying, you know what, I might agree with some of these politics at times, but I just watch sports as an escape and I don't want to be lectured to.
Speaker A:And if I wanted politics, I will go to msnbc, cnn, Fox News, Newsmax, News Nation, whatever.
Speaker A:I don't go to sports to get this nonsense.
Speaker A:I don't need it and I don't want it.
Speaker A:And hopefully what we're realizing too is with as much of a crazy place as X is, it is a bastion for free speech to where people can push back against the nonsense that we're seeing from specifically sports leagues and players and even networks, places like ESPN have so many crazy liberals running around and trying to make everything about race, people are over it.
Speaker A:That's why ESPN is failing the NBA.
Speaker A:Like we talked before, it's hurt, it's hurt its brand.
Speaker A:So they need to realize that politics, all this politics infused and we're talking about left wing politics, it doesn't work.
Speaker A:People, people are over it.
Speaker A:And hopefully we're going to see more maybe middle the road politically.
Speaker A:Media members find their way into press conferences and working for teams and outlets to where they can actually just report on the game and maybe not gaslight us through politics at times.
Speaker A:And I think at the same time too Christian athletes have an amazing opportunity to shift the culture in sports.
Speaker A:There's a bunch of athletes, look them up.
Speaker A:There's an amazing brand called, I think it's called Jesus One apparel W O N and then they have team specific Jesus One shirts and there's a lot of players, like a bunch of players from Ohio State's football team that won the national championship.
Speaker A:We're wearing those.
Speaker A:A lot of guys in the mlb, like one of the guys, one of the pitchers and probably the best pitcher, the San Francisco Giants, you know, obviously a crazy liberal area.
Speaker A:He did a appearance on Lob Network and immortal Jesus One, you know, kind of in the San Francisco Giants lettering, T shirt on the broadcast, you know, these kind of things.
Speaker A:We need to elevate those Christian athletes.
Speaker A:We need to say, you know what God is in every aspect of society.
Speaker A:And it seems like There's a lot of bold Christians in sports.
Speaker A:Elevate the CJ Strouds, the Brock Purdy's, Jonathan Isaac.
Speaker A:And as much as I may disagree with my, my buddy Harrison Butker on religion, when it comes to, you know, me being a Protestant and him being a Roman Cathol, he is an awesome guy that stands up for a lot of truth and is a really good dude preaching a ton of good stuff, you know, And I think he's an athlete that, you know, I would love to see elevated more.
Speaker A:And hopefully, you know, leagues and teams and outlets and brands realize that the woke mob is not powerful.
Speaker A:Last thing I'll say is even if we go back to Caitlin Clark, when Nike decides to grow a pair and finally come out with a pair of Caitlin Clark shoes, those will sell better than any shoes since Michael Jordan.
Speaker A:But they are afraid right now to upset athletes like Aja Wilson, who is a black athlete that talks so much about black empowerment stuff.
Speaker A:But when companies realize, you know what, forget it.
Speaker A:Caitlin Clark is the biggest sports star in the world right now.
Speaker A:The biggest sports star we've seen maybe in a generation, maybe since LeBron James, that we need to come out with a pair of shoes.
Speaker A:This is about what the consumer wants.
Speaker A:Leave the politics to the side.
Speaker A:Let people enjoy it and stop allowing the woke mob to dictate how you run your business.
Speaker A:And I think from there we'll hopefully see a shift.
Speaker A:And hopefully anybody that was watching this, I hope it was interesting because I know there's plenty of times where I can go off on sports.
Speaker A:And will you and other people might be like, what language is this guy talking right now?
Speaker A:I have no idea who these people are, what he's talking about.
Speaker A:But I love sports and I would very least hope that sports is a place where people can feel like is a really good outlet away from politics and the craziness of life.
Speaker A:Or you could go to a baseball game and be like, I don't feel like I should worry about bringing my kids here.
Speaker A:Like, they're pushing some nonsense.
Speaker A:I'm here to watch some amazing athletes drink a beer, have a hot dog, enjoy time with my friends and family, and that's it.
Speaker A:Like, I hope that's where we can get sports back to as much as possible.
Speaker B:Amen, brother.
Speaker B:I'm right there with you.
Speaker B:And certainly I've greatly appreciated this.
Speaker B:I appreciate everything that you talk about because you open the door for me to have a greater appreciation of sports through your passion and your enthusiasm.
Speaker B:And so, like, I love watching sports.
Speaker B:I Enjoy it.
Speaker B:It's never been something that I've been as enthusiastic about it as you are, but your enthusiasm is infectious, and you're.
Speaker B:You talk about sports the way I want to hear them talked about.
Speaker B:You see things the way that I see them.
Speaker B:And so for that, you provide a doorway into enjoying sports that I don't find anywhere else.
Speaker B:So I appreciate you, and I appreciate everything that you have to say.
Speaker A:I appreciate it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Again, God's given me an amazing platform and.
Speaker A:And, you know, it's.
Speaker A:It's crazy with his sovereign plan.
Speaker A:You know, I would have never expected being where I am and, you know, being able to speak about these things, you know, without getting canceled again.
Speaker A:You know, like, I have the ability to make a living to talk about things that I really enjoy and, you know, connect with great people like you, and it's.
Speaker A:I really, really enjoy it.
Speaker A:And I hope that people will join the fight for sports, you know, even from the level of, you know, women's sports, what's going on there?
Speaker A:Like, even simply, you know, sharing something to your Instagram story can spark a good conversation.
Speaker A:Obviously it's, you know, a heavy political time where things can get crazy, but, you know, these are things we should fight for, especially for the next generation.
Speaker A:I think sports, again, can be a major cultural driver and again, always on my platform, I am willing and able to promote Christ being glorified in sports, and I think it'll continue to resonate.
Speaker B:With millions of people, and I agree with that, and I see that every day from you, and I appreciate it.
Speaker B:So maybe we'll just close on this for people listening.
Speaker B:What can.
Speaker B:What can they do?
Speaker B:What can they do in the sports that they watch?
Speaker B:The things that they say, like, how can they participate in bringing sports more in the direction of what we've been talking about or bringing it back to something that it was in a previous era.
Speaker A:I think people need to realize, like, for example, if you're living in the San Francisco Bay area, that's where I was born again.
Speaker A:That's where I was living before I moved out here.
Speaker A: here to Phoenix, Arizona, in: Speaker A:They're having a thing called a fellowship night.
Speaker A:Teams have, like, Faith and Family night.
Speaker A:So it's basically their Christian night, but it's not a stadium wide, celebrated thing.
Speaker A:All the athletes don't need to wear crosses on their jerseys like they do for pride.
Speaker A:But there's times where you can actually reach out, you know, maybe even as a season ticket holder and a fan and be like, why can't we just call this Christian night?
Speaker A:Like, why can't we just call this Christian night?
Speaker A:It's not a big deal to have like a stadium wide thing, but I'd appreciate, you know, the ability for the Christian athletes on the team to be able to boldly say, like, hey, Christian night is coming up.
Speaker A:Not just like fellowship night and using, you know, vague language with these things, but again, like you as a sports fan out there listening and watching, you have a lot of power.
Speaker A:Teams and organizations and leagues are shifting what they're doing because they're realizing that what they're doing isn't working.
Speaker A:And it's not like every single team needs to have a crisis king night, you know, or like, you know, put that, put that in their bio that it needs to get to a point where it's like, hey, let's get back sport to sports.
Speaker A:They're an outlet away from politics and the craziness of life.
Speaker A:It's a unifying outlet and I want to get back to that place.
Speaker A:And there is a lot of power there.
Speaker A:And I would say too, you have the ability to make a huge influence online.
Speaker A:Even if you were just like a micro influencer, some of the conversations you have with just your couple hundred followers can actually make more of an impact than sometimes like Will and I can have.
Speaker A:You know, sometimes I just don't have the personal relationship.
Speaker A:Like, I might have a good amount of people that follow me, but I just can't have that personal relationship that you guys do.
Speaker A:And at the same time too, please do everything you can to amplify Christian athletes, leagues, teams, organizations and networks will continue to take note that, you know, this is cool.
Speaker A:Like, this is actually something that resonates with fans and the other stuff that we're pushing, it doesn't.
Speaker A:So I hope people know that, you know, they don't just need to sit back and hope that things get better.
Speaker A:There's actually some actions you can, you can take and you know, for anybody that follows me, I always appreciate the support.
Speaker A:You know, it means a lot.
Speaker A:I make a living on, on social media.
Speaker A:So like, anytime people interact with my stuff, share, follow, like, it, it means a lot to me and my family as I continue to move forward and try to figure out, you know, this crazy life of an independent content creator.
Speaker A:So it's a blessing.
Speaker A:And I hope more than anything, sports can be a place where you can go to a game and say, I had a great time with Joe over here, I met Susan over here, they interacted with my family.
Speaker A:I couldn't tell you what their socioeconomic background is, no idea how they voted, don't know where their sexual identity is, but they were rooting for the A's and they were rooting for the Diamondbacks, and I had a great time.
Speaker A:That's what sports should be about.
Speaker A:And I hope we can get back to a place like that where we can really lock arms as Americans and have a great time watching sports and digesting sports and interacting with sports.
Speaker B:Amen, brother.
Speaker B:What a beautiful vision.
Speaker B:Wonderful.
Speaker B:So where can people find out more about you and what you do and how can they, how can they support you?
Speaker A:You guys can follow me on X and Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker A:Those are where I post a lot about sports, faith and cultural topics.
Speaker A:And it's onnyroot.
Speaker A:If you want to find out more about me and, you know, what I've done throughout my career, some other content and conversations that I've had, you guys can go to johnrootlive.com wonderful.
Speaker B:Thank you so much, Sean.
Speaker B:This has been excellent and very inspiring doing Manuel.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:It.
