1 00:00:04,795 --> 00:00:23,155 Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio quote 2 00:00:23,435 --> 00:00:28,315 Speaker 1: my main cancer unquote, the dying writer told the television interview, 3 00:00:29,115 --> 00:00:34,555 Speaker 1: I call it Rupert unquote. You and I, it turns out, 4 00:00:34,595 --> 00:00:38,395 Speaker 1: are paying a little over one quarter of Rupert Murdoch's 5 00:00:38,595 --> 00:00:44,235 Speaker 1: settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. Tax Law news yesterday that 6 00:00:44,315 --> 00:00:47,915 Speaker 1: Fox can deduct the settlement from its corporate income tax, 7 00:00:48,155 --> 00:00:50,915 Speaker 1: as calculated by the website the Lever. If it can 8 00:00:50,955 --> 00:00:53,755 Speaker 1: deduct the entire settlement, and it sure looks like it can. 9 00:00:53,955 --> 00:00:58,195 Speaker 1: Fox can deduct two hundred and thirteen million dollars out 10 00:00:58,195 --> 00:01:00,035 Speaker 1: of seven hundred and eighty seven and a half million, 11 00:01:00,035 --> 00:01:02,875 Speaker 1: two hundred and thirteen million dollars two hundred and thirteen 12 00:01:02,955 --> 00:01:07,595 Speaker 1: million taxpayer dollars. A little more of an explanation of 13 00:01:07,635 --> 00:01:14,915 Speaker 1: that in a moment first that quote. At the end 14 00:01:14,955 --> 00:01:17,915 Speaker 1: of March nineteen ninety four, a man you might have 15 00:01:18,035 --> 00:01:22,595 Speaker 1: heard of named Dennis Potter gave perhaps the most extraordinary 16 00:01:22,595 --> 00:01:27,075 Speaker 1: interview in the history of television anywhere in the world. 17 00:01:27,835 --> 00:01:31,995 Speaker 1: Dennis Potter, once a London newspaper reporter, was the playwright 18 00:01:32,035 --> 00:01:36,875 Speaker 1: of some television masterpieces, particularly The Singing Detective and pennies 19 00:01:36,915 --> 00:01:40,875 Speaker 1: from heaven, and weeks earlier, he had been diagnosed with terminal, 20 00:01:41,315 --> 00:01:46,155 Speaker 1: untreatable pancreatic cancer that had spread throughout his body. As 21 00:01:46,155 --> 00:01:49,155 Speaker 1: he was interviewed by Melvyn Bragg of Britain's Channel four, 22 00:01:49,555 --> 00:01:54,195 Speaker 1: Dennis Potter was dying. The interview aired on April fourth, 23 00:01:54,315 --> 00:01:57,635 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety four, and Potter died exactly two months and 24 00:01:57,675 --> 00:02:05,115 Speaker 1: three days later. The entire interview is indescribable in its honesty, 25 00:02:05,155 --> 00:02:08,875 Speaker 1: it's clarity, it's sincerity, and in vernacular that did not 26 00:02:08,955 --> 00:02:11,875 Speaker 1: really exist yet. In nineteen ninety four, in the Lack 27 00:02:11,915 --> 00:02:18,315 Speaker 1: of F's, Dennis Potter gave quote, one of the favorite 28 00:02:18,395 --> 00:02:21,955 Speaker 1: fantasy plots of a writer is a character's told you've 29 00:02:21,995 --> 00:02:25,275 Speaker 1: got three months to live, which is what I was told. 30 00:02:26,035 --> 00:02:30,235 Speaker 1: Who would you kill? You went on. I call my 31 00:02:30,355 --> 00:02:32,675 Speaker 1: cancer the main one, the pancreast one. I call it 32 00:02:32,835 --> 00:02:36,355 Speaker 1: rupert so I can get close to it, because that 33 00:02:36,475 --> 00:02:39,795 Speaker 1: man Murdoch is the one who if I had the time. 34 00:02:40,035 --> 00:02:41,595 Speaker 1: In fact, I've got too much writing to do and 35 00:02:41,635 --> 00:02:44,755 Speaker 1: I haven't got the energy. But I would shoot the 36 00:02:44,875 --> 00:02:51,275 Speaker 1: bugger if I could. Unquote March of nineteen ninety four, 37 00:02:51,955 --> 00:02:55,675 Speaker 1: America barely knew Rupert Murdoch. In March of nineteen ninety four, 38 00:02:55,715 --> 00:02:57,595 Speaker 1: he owned the New York Post and had made it 39 00:02:57,715 --> 00:03:00,795 Speaker 1: ryebald and dumber even than it had been before. He 40 00:03:00,835 --> 00:03:03,115 Speaker 1: had bought a bunch of the television stations owned by 41 00:03:03,115 --> 00:03:06,875 Speaker 1: the Metromedia Company and cobbled together a kind of low 42 00:03:06,915 --> 00:03:09,995 Speaker 1: grade fourth television network. It had the Simpsons and almost 43 00:03:10,075 --> 00:03:13,595 Speaker 1: nothing else. And by the night of April fourth, nineteen 44 00:03:13,675 --> 00:03:17,195 Speaker 1: ninety four, as Dennis Potter was heard telling the British 45 00:03:17,195 --> 00:03:20,955 Speaker 1: interviewer Melbyn Bragg, my main cancer, I call it Rupert. 46 00:03:21,235 --> 00:03:23,475 Speaker 1: If I had the time, I would shoot the bugger 47 00:03:23,515 --> 00:03:27,715 Speaker 1: if I could. By that exact hour, Rupert Murdoch was 48 00:03:27,755 --> 00:03:30,275 Speaker 1: already beginning to formulate plans for a twenty four hour 49 00:03:30,395 --> 00:03:35,515 Speaker 1: channel in this country to be named Fox News, with 50 00:03:35,835 --> 00:03:41,155 Speaker 1: ultimately the same kind of bitter, taunting, oxymoronic imbecility contained 51 00:03:41,195 --> 00:03:47,835 Speaker 1: in the phrase military intelligence. Back in the UK, Dennis 52 00:03:47,835 --> 00:03:51,875 Speaker 1: Potter was still giving his farewell address about the man 53 00:03:51,915 --> 00:03:54,635 Speaker 1: he would have shot if he had the time quote, 54 00:03:55,435 --> 00:03:58,555 Speaker 1: there is no one person more responsible for the pollution 55 00:03:59,315 --> 00:04:02,275 Speaker 1: of what was already a fairly polluted press, and the 56 00:04:02,275 --> 00:04:05,515 Speaker 1: pollution of the British press is an important part of 57 00:04:05,555 --> 00:04:08,795 Speaker 1: the pollution of British political life, and it's an important 58 00:04:08,835 --> 00:04:13,315 Speaker 1: part of the cynicism and misperception of our own realities 59 00:04:13,635 --> 00:04:19,515 Speaker 1: that is destroying so much of our political discourse. Unquote, 60 00:04:19,755 --> 00:04:24,195 Speaker 1: strong stuff from anybody, even from a dying man who 61 00:04:24,235 --> 00:04:28,075 Speaker 1: had equipped himself with a flask of liquid morphine from 62 00:04:28,155 --> 00:04:33,435 Speaker 1: which he swigged frequently. But March of nineteen ninety four, 63 00:04:33,595 --> 00:04:35,915 Speaker 1: just before he died, was not the first time Dennis 64 00:04:35,915 --> 00:04:39,515 Speaker 1: Potter had taken Murdoch on the Year before that same 65 00:04:39,555 --> 00:04:43,395 Speaker 1: British network Channel Four had turned over an entire episode 66 00:04:43,435 --> 00:04:47,395 Speaker 1: of its half hour series Opinions to Dennis Potter, and 67 00:04:47,475 --> 00:04:51,035 Speaker 1: he spent much of the time talking about quote that 68 00:04:51,475 --> 00:04:57,595 Speaker 1: drivel merchant, global huckster and so to speak, media psychopath 69 00:04:57,715 --> 00:05:02,795 Speaker 1: Rupert Murdoch. There is an avid, wet mouthed down market 70 00:05:03,035 --> 00:05:08,955 Speaker 1: slide said that began its giddiest descent the day marauding 71 00:05:09,075 --> 00:05:13,795 Speaker 1: Rupert Murdoch first left his paw marks on these shores 72 00:05:14,635 --> 00:05:17,955 Speaker 1: and dragged so many others towards the sewers, where too 73 00:05:17,995 --> 00:05:24,315 Speaker 1: many of his two craven employees have their natural Habitat 74 00:05:25,275 --> 00:05:32,595 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety four wise words, Sir, stand the test of 75 00:05:32,755 --> 00:05:38,635 Speaker 1: time nineteen ninety four, and Dennis Potter already knew nineteen 76 00:05:38,755 --> 00:05:42,755 Speaker 1: ninety four. And a dying man named the cancer that 77 00:05:42,795 --> 00:05:46,595 Speaker 1: would kill him named it Rupert. So it had an 78 00:05:46,595 --> 00:05:50,235 Speaker 1: identity he could hate, an identity he could fight against, 79 00:05:50,275 --> 00:05:53,915 Speaker 1: an identity he could exploit in order to publicly express 80 00:05:53,955 --> 00:05:59,555 Speaker 1: the menace he perceived Rupert Murdoch to already be. News 81 00:05:59,595 --> 00:06:03,115 Speaker 1: Corp is headquartered at twelve eleven Sixth Avenue in New 82 00:06:03,195 --> 00:06:04,995 Speaker 1: York City, on the west side of the atte Anue, 83 00:06:05,075 --> 00:06:09,075 Speaker 1: just north of forty seventh Street. Fox quote News unquote 84 00:06:09,075 --> 00:06:11,955 Speaker 1: has its studios there. I passed by them in a 85 00:06:11,995 --> 00:06:15,795 Speaker 1: cab yesterday. There's no docksing involved here. One side of 86 00:06:15,795 --> 00:06:19,235 Speaker 1: the building features gigantic posters of Tucker Carlson and Sean 87 00:06:19,275 --> 00:06:22,035 Speaker 1: Hannity and Ingram and Bear and some of the other 88 00:06:22,155 --> 00:06:28,115 Speaker 1: journalistic prostitutes who lie on behalf of Rupert Murdoch and 89 00:06:28,195 --> 00:06:32,515 Speaker 1: on behalf of themselves and for his profits and for theirs. 90 00:06:33,835 --> 00:06:36,835 Speaker 1: When NBC moved us to thirty Rock, which is two 91 00:06:36,875 --> 00:06:39,795 Speaker 1: blocks north, I was offered a series of offices. I 92 00:06:39,835 --> 00:06:42,235 Speaker 1: took the one in the southwest corner of the building, 93 00:06:42,435 --> 00:06:45,555 Speaker 1: so I could always look out my south window and 94 00:06:45,715 --> 00:06:48,555 Speaker 1: give myself a little heads up, a little warning time 95 00:06:48,755 --> 00:06:51,715 Speaker 1: for when the day finally came that News Corp Headquarters 96 00:06:51,715 --> 00:06:55,955 Speaker 1: began to attract or emit lightning, bolts and demons and 97 00:06:56,035 --> 00:07:00,315 Speaker 1: fire and brimstone, just like in Ghostbusters, or that day 98 00:07:00,355 --> 00:07:03,275 Speaker 1: when the whole building would transform itself into a giant, gleaming, 99 00:07:03,355 --> 00:07:07,715 Speaker 1: ghostly devil with hornes, urns and glasses and Rupert Murdoch's face. 100 00:07:09,715 --> 00:07:12,355 Speaker 1: On the east side of the avenue is a rather 101 00:07:12,475 --> 00:07:15,835 Speaker 1: nondescript building sold a few years ago for forty million dollars. 102 00:07:15,835 --> 00:07:19,515 Speaker 1: It's kind of the western edge of Manhattan's Diamond District. 103 00:07:20,355 --> 00:07:22,675 Speaker 1: I always thought they should remove all the windows from 104 00:07:22,715 --> 00:07:25,515 Speaker 1: the side that faces the Fox Headquarters across the street, 105 00:07:25,555 --> 00:07:29,795 Speaker 1: and instead cover those six stories with a giant engraving 106 00:07:30,755 --> 00:07:34,835 Speaker 1: of the words of Dennis Potter. And by the way, 107 00:07:35,155 --> 00:07:39,155 Speaker 1: Murdoch's settlement with Dominion has indeed come in part from 108 00:07:39,155 --> 00:07:45,115 Speaker 1: a generous donation by us, the taxpayers of America. As 109 00:07:45,155 --> 00:07:48,515 Speaker 1: this site the lever writes quote. Federal law allows taxpayers 110 00:07:48,555 --> 00:07:51,595 Speaker 1: to write off many legal costs, providing that they are 111 00:07:51,755 --> 00:07:56,235 Speaker 1: ordinary and necessary business expenses. The IRS has repeatedly affirmed 112 00:07:56,235 --> 00:08:00,635 Speaker 1: that for major corporations, paying out settlements is just part 113 00:08:00,675 --> 00:08:05,035 Speaker 1: of the cost of doing business. The math goes usly. 114 00:08:05,115 --> 00:08:07,995 Speaker 1: Fox reported net income of a billion two last year, 115 00:08:08,035 --> 00:08:10,355 Speaker 1: and it paid a combined state and federal corporate tax 116 00:08:10,435 --> 00:08:12,995 Speaker 1: rate of twenty seven percent last year. And if none 117 00:08:13,035 --> 00:08:16,515 Speaker 1: of the settlement with Dominion was covered by any insurance, 118 00:08:17,075 --> 00:08:19,635 Speaker 1: Murdoch would be able to write off the entire seven 119 00:08:19,755 --> 00:08:22,155 Speaker 1: hundred and eighty seven and a half million as just 120 00:08:22,355 --> 00:08:25,435 Speaker 1: part of the cost of doing business, and thus the 121 00:08:25,475 --> 00:08:27,915 Speaker 1: deduction would be twenty seven percent of seven hundred and 122 00:08:27,915 --> 00:08:30,515 Speaker 1: eighty seven and a half million, two one hundred and 123 00:08:30,555 --> 00:08:33,315 Speaker 1: thirteen million dollars courtesy. 124 00:08:34,355 --> 00:08:35,035 Speaker 2: US. 125 00:08:36,035 --> 00:08:40,155 Speaker 1: I can confirm tax deductibility, said Fox corporate chief communications 126 00:08:40,155 --> 00:08:43,035 Speaker 1: officer Brian Nick to the reporter from the lever, but 127 00:08:43,075 --> 00:08:50,955 Speaker 1: not the amount your tax dollars in action, So onwards 128 00:08:50,955 --> 00:08:54,315 Speaker 1: and upwards too. Smart Maattic and its lawsuit against Rupert 129 00:08:54,395 --> 00:08:57,635 Speaker 1: Murdoch for two billion, seven hundred million dollars, claiming it 130 00:08:57,715 --> 00:09:00,995 Speaker 1: was slandered just as was Dominion, and that Fox knew 131 00:09:01,035 --> 00:09:04,595 Speaker 1: it knew it with malice a forethought. And if Fox 132 00:09:04,675 --> 00:09:06,795 Speaker 1: settles that suit on the same terms at a little 133 00:09:06,835 --> 00:09:11,275 Speaker 1: less than half the demand we you and I, mister 134 00:09:11,355 --> 00:09:16,115 Speaker 1: and miss American taxpayer, we will underwrite another three hundred 135 00:09:16,115 --> 00:09:21,315 Speaker 1: and sixty four million dollars for Rupert Murdoch or emboldened 136 00:09:21,435 --> 00:09:25,075 Speaker 1: by Dominion, and the outcome there, Rupert Murdoch will not settle, 137 00:09:25,075 --> 00:09:28,035 Speaker 1: and we will get the other option. About smart Mattock, 138 00:09:28,075 --> 00:09:30,835 Speaker 1: a Fox spokesman stated to Sarah Fisher, the media reporter 139 00:09:30,915 --> 00:09:34,875 Speaker 1: at Axios, quote, there is nothing more newsworthy than covering 140 00:09:34,875 --> 00:09:37,755 Speaker 1: the President of the United States and his lawyers making 141 00:09:37,835 --> 00:09:41,755 Speaker 1: allegations of voter fraud. Freedom of the press is foundational 142 00:09:41,795 --> 00:09:45,715 Speaker 1: to our democracy and must be protected. Unquote. Not only 143 00:09:45,715 --> 00:09:48,395 Speaker 1: did Fox learn nothing from the entire Dominion case, they're 144 00:09:48,395 --> 00:09:54,435 Speaker 1: not even pretending to have learned. Rupert Murdoch headed into 145 00:09:54,435 --> 00:09:59,115 Speaker 1: the smartmatic suit, wrapping himself in the words of the 146 00:09:59,195 --> 00:10:02,315 Speaker 1: First Amendments, when he should be wrapped in the words 147 00:10:02,675 --> 00:10:07,755 Speaker 1: of Dennis Potter. There is no one person more responsible 148 00:10:07,795 --> 00:10:11,355 Speaker 1: for the pollution of what was already a fairly polluted press. 149 00:10:11,675 --> 00:10:14,315 Speaker 1: And the pollution of the press is an important part 150 00:10:14,355 --> 00:10:17,755 Speaker 1: of the pollution of political life, and it's an important 151 00:10:17,755 --> 00:10:21,435 Speaker 1: part of the cynicism and misperception of our own realities 152 00:10:21,435 --> 00:10:29,275 Speaker 1: that is destroying so much of our political discourse. He 153 00:10:29,395 --> 00:10:50,475 Speaker 1: named his fatal cancer Rupert. By the way, if you 154 00:10:50,635 --> 00:10:54,115 Speaker 1: saw a story attributed to Radar Online that in the 155 00:10:54,115 --> 00:10:56,395 Speaker 1: wake of the settlement with Dominion, Murdoch was now going 156 00:10:56,475 --> 00:11:01,675 Speaker 1: to fire Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Piro and Dan Bongino, No, 157 00:11:01,835 --> 00:11:05,555 Speaker 1: that's not what was reported. They were voting a media 158 00:11:05,635 --> 00:11:09,555 Speaker 1: columnist who was guessing that he would fire Bartiromo and Piro. 159 00:11:10,315 --> 00:11:12,755 Speaker 1: But why would he. He just settled that one point 160 00:11:12,755 --> 00:11:14,755 Speaker 1: six billion dollar case that was supposed to destroy his 161 00:11:14,795 --> 00:11:20,155 Speaker 1: company for effectively one thirty the original price. Dan Bongino 162 00:11:20,355 --> 00:11:23,755 Speaker 1: is gone, apparently not connected to the trial. No one 163 00:11:23,795 --> 00:11:26,835 Speaker 1: will miss him except for that beautiful line of drawn 164 00:11:26,835 --> 00:11:29,595 Speaker 1: on hare Stell. Ahead on this edition of Countdown, I 165 00:11:29,635 --> 00:11:31,715 Speaker 1: will return to the subject of Rupert Murdoch and what 166 00:11:31,795 --> 00:11:35,155 Speaker 1: was confirmed nearly a decade after the fact as the 167 00:11:35,235 --> 00:11:39,395 Speaker 1: day he personally fired me because I had followed his 168 00:11:39,715 --> 00:11:43,595 Speaker 1: rules and the people he hired to enforce those rules 169 00:11:44,115 --> 00:11:49,195 Speaker 1: to the letter. He fired me anyway. Also, Elon Musk 170 00:11:49,315 --> 00:11:53,595 Speaker 1: blows up SpaceX and Twitter on the same day and 171 00:11:53,675 --> 00:11:57,195 Speaker 1: then he tries to impress Lebron James with a valuable 172 00:11:57,235 --> 00:12:02,675 Speaker 1: gift worth nearly one hundred dollars. And Baseball's Oakland A's 173 00:12:02,715 --> 00:12:07,835 Speaker 1: are moving to the city of the future, Las Vegas, Nevada. 174 00:12:07,955 --> 00:12:10,875 Speaker 1: Are they bringing their own water? And I'll tell you 175 00:12:10,915 --> 00:12:14,275 Speaker 1: why you should not fall for the Ooh, it'll create jobs. 176 00:12:14,715 --> 00:12:27,195 Speaker 1: Confidence trick. That's next. This is countdown. This is countdown 177 00:12:27,395 --> 00:12:44,515 Speaker 1: with Keith Olberman. This is Sports Center. Wait, check that 178 00:12:45,635 --> 00:12:53,035 Speaker 1: not anymore. This is countdown with Keith Olberman in Sports. 179 00:12:53,155 --> 00:12:56,395 Speaker 1: Baseball's Oakland A's have signed a binding agreement, they say, 180 00:12:56,395 --> 00:12:59,155 Speaker 1: to build a new ballpark in Las Vegas, Nevada. And 181 00:12:59,235 --> 00:13:01,835 Speaker 1: although they say they have not moved to Nevada quite yet, 182 00:13:01,875 --> 00:13:03,955 Speaker 1: the expectation is they will play there by the year 183 00:13:03,995 --> 00:13:06,875 Speaker 1: twenty twenty seven, which means they will be lame ducks 184 00:13:06,915 --> 00:13:11,795 Speaker 1: in Oakland, presumably for the next three and a half seasons. Firstly, 185 00:13:11,835 --> 00:13:14,995 Speaker 1: of several points on this, baseball fans of every century 186 00:13:15,235 --> 00:13:20,915 Speaker 1: have not responded well to lame duck teams, as they 187 00:13:20,995 --> 00:13:23,795 Speaker 1: were widely rumored to be moving out of Boston after 188 00:13:23,835 --> 00:13:27,595 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifty two season. The Boston Braves drew two 189 00:13:27,715 --> 00:13:31,115 Speaker 1: hundred and eighty one thousand, two hundred and seventy eight 190 00:13:31,195 --> 00:13:36,835 Speaker 1: fans for total of seventy seven games. The eighteen ninety 191 00:13:36,915 --> 00:13:39,195 Speaker 1: nine Cleveland Spiders were stuck on the wrong end of 192 00:13:39,235 --> 00:13:41,995 Speaker 1: a system that allowed the same two brothers to own 193 00:13:42,075 --> 00:13:45,195 Speaker 1: both their National League team and another National League team, 194 00:13:45,235 --> 00:13:47,795 Speaker 1: the one in Saint Louis. Since Saint Louis was the 195 00:13:47,795 --> 00:13:51,435 Speaker 1: bigger market, the brothers moved all the good Cleveland players 196 00:13:51,715 --> 00:13:55,875 Speaker 1: from Cleveland to Saint Louis, including Cy Young, in hopes 197 00:13:55,875 --> 00:13:58,555 Speaker 1: of creating a mega team. In fact, it was a 198 00:13:58,555 --> 00:14:02,155 Speaker 1: disaster on both ends. Saint Louis finished fifth, and the 199 00:14:02,195 --> 00:14:08,235 Speaker 1: Cleveland Spiders home opener drew one hundred fans. Somehow, it 200 00:14:08,275 --> 00:14:11,875 Speaker 1: went downhill from there. They averaged one hundred and ninety 201 00:14:11,955 --> 00:14:16,075 Speaker 1: nine fans for their first sixteen home games. On June twelfth, 202 00:14:16,075 --> 00:14:20,115 Speaker 1: the crowd was fifty eight people. Soon, visiting teams began 203 00:14:20,155 --> 00:14:22,715 Speaker 1: to refuse to travel to Cleveland because it cost way 204 00:14:22,795 --> 00:14:25,835 Speaker 1: more just to get there than they could possibly earn 205 00:14:25,915 --> 00:14:29,595 Speaker 1: from their share of the gate receipts in Cleveland. Finally, 206 00:14:29,595 --> 00:14:33,955 Speaker 1: on July third, the inevitable happened. The Spiders stopped playing 207 00:14:34,115 --> 00:14:36,995 Speaker 1: home games. They went on a road trip on July 208 00:14:37,115 --> 00:14:39,675 Speaker 1: third and did not come home until August twenty fourth. 209 00:14:40,315 --> 00:14:43,355 Speaker 1: In fact, they played only eight more home games. Ever, 210 00:14:44,035 --> 00:14:47,635 Speaker 1: for the season, they won twenty games and lost one 211 00:14:47,715 --> 00:14:52,435 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty four. Las Vegas is also an interesting 212 00:14:52,515 --> 00:14:55,835 Speaker 1: choice to move to right now because worst case scenarios 213 00:14:56,075 --> 00:14:59,675 Speaker 1: had the city's main sources of drinking water the Colorado River, 214 00:14:59,875 --> 00:15:04,835 Speaker 1: Lake Mead, and Lake Powell effectively drying up within a decade. 215 00:15:05,075 --> 00:15:09,275 Speaker 1: So bring a bottle or flask, or an eternal supply 216 00:15:09,355 --> 00:15:12,675 Speaker 1: of both. Back to the baseball part, the A's are 217 00:15:12,755 --> 00:15:15,275 Speaker 1: quite the nomads. They have their origins in the original 218 00:15:15,315 --> 00:15:18,395 Speaker 1: Athletic Club of Philadelphia from the eighteen seventies. They played 219 00:15:18,395 --> 00:15:21,915 Speaker 1: as the Philadelphia Athletic in the Major League American Association 220 00:15:21,955 --> 00:15:25,555 Speaker 1: of the eighteen eighties. A new Philadelphia Athletics team joined 221 00:15:25,555 --> 00:15:27,435 Speaker 1: the new American League in nineteen oh one. They moved 222 00:15:27,475 --> 00:15:30,235 Speaker 1: to Kansas City in nineteen fifty five, and under the 223 00:15:30,355 --> 00:15:35,435 Speaker 1: dyspeptic owner Charles O. Finley, the A's threatened every winter 224 00:15:35,955 --> 00:15:40,355 Speaker 1: to move somewhere else. Finley negotiated with Seattle. He had 225 00:15:40,355 --> 00:15:43,075 Speaker 1: an overture with Milwaukee. He made a deal to move 226 00:15:43,115 --> 00:15:46,475 Speaker 1: the team to Louisville, Kentucky. Finally, in nineteen sixty eighty 227 00:15:46,555 --> 00:15:49,915 Speaker 1: actually did move to Oakland, but within nine years he 228 00:15:49,995 --> 00:15:53,075 Speaker 1: was moving elsewhere again annually. From nineteen seventy eight through 229 00:15:53,155 --> 00:15:56,035 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty, the A's were on the verge of moving 230 00:15:56,075 --> 00:15:59,595 Speaker 1: to Denver. In nineteen ninety six, due to construction at 231 00:15:59,595 --> 00:16:02,675 Speaker 1: the Oakland Coliseum, the Oakland A's played their first six 232 00:16:02,715 --> 00:16:08,035 Speaker 1: home games in, of all places, Las Vegas. One last 233 00:16:08,035 --> 00:16:11,195 Speaker 1: thing on this The coverage of the apparent move included, 234 00:16:11,315 --> 00:16:14,875 Speaker 1: as it always does, the perennial confidence trickster claim that 235 00:16:14,915 --> 00:16:17,275 Speaker 1: the new stadium in Las Vegas and the public money 236 00:16:17,315 --> 00:16:20,955 Speaker 1: spent on it will bring new jobs and improve the economy. 237 00:16:21,875 --> 00:16:25,035 Speaker 1: A prominent economist once explained to me that there are 238 00:16:25,035 --> 00:16:27,915 Speaker 1: lots of formulas and facts that explain why that's not true, 239 00:16:27,955 --> 00:16:30,475 Speaker 1: that just the jobs move from one part of a 240 00:16:30,475 --> 00:16:34,355 Speaker 1: city to another temporarily. But the easiest explanation is this, 241 00:16:34,955 --> 00:16:38,435 Speaker 1: if new stadiums actually made money for the people who 242 00:16:38,475 --> 00:16:42,955 Speaker 1: build new stadiums, the sports team owners would build all 243 00:16:43,035 --> 00:16:47,595 Speaker 1: the new sports stadiums themselves, because that's what owners do. 244 00:16:49,915 --> 00:16:52,075 Speaker 1: Two other baseball notes. The other shoe dropped in the 245 00:16:52,115 --> 00:16:55,795 Speaker 1: Max Scherzers Stickham controversy. He was suspended for ten games 246 00:16:55,835 --> 00:16:58,475 Speaker 1: and originally announced he would appeal, but then said when 247 00:16:58,475 --> 00:17:00,675 Speaker 1: he found out the appeal process was not to a 248 00:17:00,755 --> 00:17:04,275 Speaker 1: neutral arbitrator but to instead baseball executives, he decided not 249 00:17:04,355 --> 00:17:07,915 Speaker 1: to and will serve the ten days. His agent, Scott Boris, 250 00:17:07,955 --> 00:17:11,115 Speaker 1: had hinted at legal action against the rule. We'll see 251 00:17:11,995 --> 00:17:15,195 Speaker 1: and Madison Bumgarner, who made four starts in the twenty ten, 252 00:17:15,515 --> 00:17:18,155 Speaker 1: twenty twelve, and twenty fourteen World Series for the San 253 00:17:18,155 --> 00:17:21,355 Speaker 1: Francisco Giants as they won all three and he won 254 00:17:21,515 --> 00:17:24,675 Speaker 1: all those starts, and he made one five inning relief appearance, 255 00:17:24,715 --> 00:17:28,315 Speaker 1: saving the seventh game of the twenty fourteen series. Madison 256 00:17:28,315 --> 00:17:32,555 Speaker 1: Bumgarner was designated for assignment yesterday by the Arizona Diamondbacks, 257 00:17:32,635 --> 00:17:36,475 Speaker 1: essentially cut loose. Bumgarner injured his pitching shoulder in a 258 00:17:36,515 --> 00:17:40,035 Speaker 1: dirt bike accident in twenty seventeen. He left the Giants 259 00:17:40,035 --> 00:17:42,195 Speaker 1: for Arizona as a free agent in twenty twenty, and 260 00:17:42,275 --> 00:17:46,475 Speaker 1: since then he had won fifteen games, lost thirty two, 261 00:17:46,555 --> 00:17:49,035 Speaker 1: pitched to an ERA of five point two three and 262 00:17:49,115 --> 00:17:53,315 Speaker 1: a wins above replacement figure of minus point six Bumgarner 263 00:17:53,475 --> 00:17:56,475 Speaker 1: is thirty three years old. He may be claimed by 264 00:17:56,515 --> 00:17:58,795 Speaker 1: another team willing to take a chance, but it's pretty clear, 265 00:17:58,835 --> 00:18:03,515 Speaker 1: whatever happens, his Hall of Fame trajectory is irreversibly a 266 00:18:03,595 --> 00:18:19,595 Speaker 1: thing of the past. Still ahead on countdown back to 267 00:18:19,675 --> 00:18:23,435 Speaker 1: Rupert Murdoch. Trust me, I never hated him as much 268 00:18:23,435 --> 00:18:25,715 Speaker 1: as Dennis Potter did. But I hated him before I 269 00:18:25,755 --> 00:18:29,035 Speaker 1: worked for him. I hated him while I worked for him, 270 00:18:29,035 --> 00:18:33,395 Speaker 1: But I really hated him after he fired me, after 271 00:18:33,515 --> 00:18:36,355 Speaker 1: I did exactly what his people had told me to 272 00:18:36,395 --> 00:18:40,075 Speaker 1: do about a story concerning a sports team he owned 273 00:18:40,115 --> 00:18:42,835 Speaker 1: and was trying to sell things I promised not to 274 00:18:42,875 --> 00:18:46,035 Speaker 1: tell next first time for the Daily round Up, the 275 00:18:46,035 --> 00:18:48,755 Speaker 1: miss Grants, morons and Dunn Kruger effect specimens who constitute 276 00:18:48,875 --> 00:18:53,875 Speaker 1: two days worst persons in the world, The Brons Mike Lindell, 277 00:18:55,075 --> 00:18:57,795 Speaker 1: I'm not saying I feel sorry for any of these 278 00:18:57,875 --> 00:19:00,755 Speaker 1: wile e coyotes who tried to overthrow the government, who 279 00:19:00,795 --> 00:19:03,115 Speaker 1: are still trying to overthrow the government. But if I did, 280 00:19:03,555 --> 00:19:07,835 Speaker 1: it would be for this most brain damaged of the junta. 281 00:19:07,915 --> 00:19:11,595 Speaker 1: In August twenty twenty one, Lindell hosted a cyber symposium 282 00:19:11,915 --> 00:19:15,115 Speaker 1: as he called it in South Dakota, and the gobbledegook 283 00:19:15,155 --> 00:19:18,235 Speaker 1: he spat out that day was to him so obviously 284 00:19:18,315 --> 00:19:20,875 Speaker 1: proof that the Chinese had interfered with the twenty twenty 285 00:19:20,915 --> 00:19:24,235 Speaker 1: election that he said he would give five million dollars 286 00:19:24,275 --> 00:19:26,955 Speaker 1: to anybody who could prove that the material wasn't from 287 00:19:26,995 --> 00:19:30,395 Speaker 1: the twenty twenty US election. He called the contest proof 288 00:19:30,515 --> 00:19:33,275 Speaker 1: Mike wrong, and he said that any claims would be 289 00:19:33,275 --> 00:19:39,355 Speaker 1: evaluated by an independent arbitration board. One person entered the contest, 290 00:19:39,675 --> 00:19:44,115 Speaker 1: Robert Zeidman, a computer forensics expert from Nevada. He went 291 00:19:44,155 --> 00:19:46,515 Speaker 1: to Lindell management and said, this is not only not 292 00:19:46,555 --> 00:19:48,915 Speaker 1: from the twenty twenty US election, it doesn't prove any 293 00:19:48,995 --> 00:19:52,195 Speaker 1: kind of electoral interference anywhere at any time, and they 294 00:19:52,275 --> 00:19:55,315 Speaker 1: ignored him and refused the claim. So Zideman went to 295 00:19:55,355 --> 00:20:00,555 Speaker 1: the Independent Arbitration Board and it yesterday announced yep, Zeideman 296 00:20:00,595 --> 00:20:04,115 Speaker 1: had proved Mike Lindell wrong, and Lindell owes him five mil. 297 00:20:04,955 --> 00:20:07,355 Speaker 1: When Dell says now he's going to sue the arbitrator 298 00:20:07,395 --> 00:20:10,395 Speaker 1: over this, presumably he can just have his lawyers work 299 00:20:10,435 --> 00:20:12,675 Speaker 1: on it, the ones who are already defending him from 300 00:20:12,795 --> 00:20:17,435 Speaker 1: Dominion's one point three billion dollars suit against him. Punchline 301 00:20:17,755 --> 00:20:21,475 Speaker 1: the guy who proved him wrong. Zeidman, a Trump voter, 302 00:20:23,355 --> 00:20:25,715 Speaker 1: the bronze Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, chairman of the 303 00:20:25,715 --> 00:20:28,195 Speaker 1: Senate Judiciary Committee. Well he did it. He wrote Chief 304 00:20:28,315 --> 00:20:30,795 Speaker 1: Justice John Roberts, and just like I told you on Wednesday, 305 00:20:30,795 --> 00:20:33,955 Speaker 1: he invited Roberts or any other member of the Court 306 00:20:34,035 --> 00:20:37,715 Speaker 1: Roberts wants to send instead to appear at a quote 307 00:20:37,715 --> 00:20:41,515 Speaker 1: hearing regarding the ethical rules that govern the justices of 308 00:20:41,555 --> 00:20:44,995 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court. What rules. It's gonna be a hell 309 00:20:45,035 --> 00:20:45,835 Speaker 1: of a short hearing. 310 00:20:46,755 --> 00:20:47,195 Speaker 2: Rules. 311 00:20:47,955 --> 00:20:51,315 Speaker 1: There are no rules here. As I also mentioned Wednesday, 312 00:20:51,355 --> 00:20:53,115 Speaker 1: Durbin did not put this in the letter. But the 313 00:20:53,155 --> 00:20:58,235 Speaker 1: committee never considered subpoenas for Roberts or Clarence name your price, Thomas, 314 00:20:58,475 --> 00:21:01,555 Speaker 1: because despite the Democrats being in the majority in the Senate, 315 00:21:02,035 --> 00:21:04,675 Speaker 1: durban cannot get his committee to approve subpoena. It's because 316 00:21:04,915 --> 00:21:08,515 Speaker 1: Dianne Feinstein is out sick this year, and so the 317 00:21:08,515 --> 00:21:11,795 Speaker 1: Democratic Senate majority doesn't really exist. Because the Democrats brought 318 00:21:11,795 --> 00:21:16,715 Speaker 1: a flag football team to a knife fight. But our 319 00:21:16,755 --> 00:21:22,115 Speaker 1: winner is Elon Musk, not a good day for Elon yesterday. First, 320 00:21:22,155 --> 00:21:28,035 Speaker 1: Elmo's SpaceX rocket, the most powerful ever launched, blew up 321 00:21:28,555 --> 00:21:31,875 Speaker 1: four minutes after it launched. But as every reporter noted, 322 00:21:31,915 --> 00:21:35,195 Speaker 1: it was the most powerful ever launched, and they learned 323 00:21:35,235 --> 00:21:38,555 Speaker 1: so much from it, and it blew up, and it 324 00:21:38,595 --> 00:21:43,115 Speaker 1: was the most powerful rocket ever. Blow up. Hours later, 325 00:21:43,155 --> 00:21:45,715 Speaker 1: Emmy lou Musk finally fulfilled his threat to end Twitter's 326 00:21:45,795 --> 00:21:49,875 Speaker 1: verification system by eliminating the blue verified check marks and 327 00:21:49,915 --> 00:21:53,315 Speaker 1: transforming them into a paid feature that lets you write 328 00:21:53,755 --> 00:21:57,115 Speaker 1: unbearably long tweets I ain't reading all that. I'm happy 329 00:21:57,155 --> 00:22:01,275 Speaker 1: for you though, or sorry that happened, life hack. If 330 00:22:01,315 --> 00:22:03,555 Speaker 1: you had a blue check mark, you can't just replace 331 00:22:03,595 --> 00:22:06,795 Speaker 1: it with any other emoji check mark. Elton's too smart 332 00:22:06,835 --> 00:22:09,195 Speaker 1: for you on that one, but he did not look 333 00:22:09,435 --> 00:22:12,435 Speaker 1: long enough at this issue. As usual, just use one 334 00:22:12,475 --> 00:22:15,995 Speaker 1: of the white arrows on a grayish blue background emojis. 335 00:22:16,355 --> 00:22:19,155 Speaker 1: I think the slanted one that's pointed down to the 336 00:22:19,235 --> 00:22:21,675 Speaker 1: left that looks the most like a check mark. Used 337 00:22:21,715 --> 00:22:24,955 Speaker 1: that one. I'm doing that, and still the worst was 338 00:22:25,075 --> 00:22:28,035 Speaker 1: yet to come. While the Pope and Lady Gaga and 339 00:22:28,155 --> 00:22:30,435 Speaker 1: Trump and the New York City government all lost their 340 00:22:30,475 --> 00:22:34,915 Speaker 1: blue checks, and a rival account soon appeared claiming it 341 00:22:34,995 --> 00:22:37,635 Speaker 1: was the real New York City Government Twitter. The blue 342 00:22:37,675 --> 00:22:40,515 Speaker 1: marks on some other really big names stayed as they 343 00:22:40,515 --> 00:22:47,835 Speaker 1: were Stephen King, Lebron James, William Shatner. While Rando's insulted 344 00:22:47,875 --> 00:22:49,835 Speaker 1: the likes of Lebron, who had vowed never to pay 345 00:22:49,835 --> 00:22:52,035 Speaker 1: for his blue check mark, somebody broke the story that 346 00:22:52,115 --> 00:22:56,835 Speaker 1: Musk had offered them free or comped Twitter blue check marks. 347 00:22:57,315 --> 00:23:02,515 Speaker 1: MUCKs later tweeted, I'm paying for them, persutely? What is 348 00:23:02,555 --> 00:23:04,755 Speaker 1: wrong with this dude? What is wrong with them that 349 00:23:04,835 --> 00:23:07,795 Speaker 1: he thinks Lebron James is going to be impressed by 350 00:23:07,835 --> 00:23:11,595 Speaker 1: a free blue check mark worth nearly one hundred dollars American? 351 00:23:12,155 --> 00:23:17,915 Speaker 1: Who would be impressed by that? William Shatner. William Shatner wrote, 352 00:23:18,075 --> 00:23:22,355 Speaker 1: thank you, I accept thumbs up. Well, thank god Elon's 353 00:23:22,395 --> 00:23:25,835 Speaker 1: purpose in buying Twitter has been achieved. He has impressed 354 00:23:26,395 --> 00:23:33,715 Speaker 1: William Frickin' Shatner. Elon blowed up good, blowed up real good, 355 00:23:33,875 --> 00:23:38,915 Speaker 1: Musk two days worst on blue check mark. 356 00:23:39,035 --> 00:24:02,675 Speaker 2: Person and I. 357 00:24:02,635 --> 00:24:05,875 Speaker 1: Have changed jobs a lot, and seldom have the departures 358 00:24:05,915 --> 00:24:09,915 Speaker 1: included gold watches and going away parties At least not 359 00:24:10,075 --> 00:24:13,595 Speaker 1: going away parties to which I was invited. But in 360 00:24:13,675 --> 00:24:16,635 Speaker 1: forty three years in radio and television, I have only 361 00:24:16,715 --> 00:24:20,275 Speaker 1: actually been fired in the traditional sense of go clean 362 00:24:20,315 --> 00:24:25,115 Speaker 1: out your desk and get out twice. Once the order 363 00:24:25,195 --> 00:24:27,555 Speaker 1: was from a drunken radio executive who did not like 364 00:24:27,635 --> 00:24:30,155 Speaker 1: the fact that I was twenty one years old, and 365 00:24:30,275 --> 00:24:33,075 Speaker 1: he was overruled, and he was sent home with a 366 00:24:33,115 --> 00:24:36,715 Speaker 1: warning by his bosses hours later, and I was back 367 00:24:36,755 --> 00:24:40,835 Speaker 1: on the job forty eight hours after that. The other time, 368 00:24:41,235 --> 00:24:43,875 Speaker 1: when it actually happened, you're fired, clean out your desk, 369 00:24:44,595 --> 00:24:47,995 Speaker 1: that was unsurprisingly at the hands of Rupert Murdoch and Fox, 370 00:24:47,995 --> 00:24:52,635 Speaker 1: and I mean Rupert Murdoch personally, or so he claims. 371 00:24:54,515 --> 00:24:57,395 Speaker 1: When I finally convinced NBC News that I was serious 372 00:24:57,395 --> 00:25:01,075 Speaker 1: about no longer hosting its Monica Lewinsky Athon in nineteen 373 00:25:01,155 --> 00:25:04,315 Speaker 1: ninety eight, the head of NBC Sports, Dick Eversoll, had 374 00:25:04,355 --> 00:25:07,755 Speaker 1: an in genius solution. He knew his friends at Fox 375 00:25:07,875 --> 00:25:12,355 Speaker 1: Sports longed to have me front their version of SportsCenter, 376 00:25:12,835 --> 00:25:15,555 Speaker 1: and so he proposed the following NBC would give my 377 00:25:15,635 --> 00:25:19,835 Speaker 1: agent ten days in which to negotiate two deals, a 378 00:25:19,875 --> 00:25:22,915 Speaker 1: deal for me to go to La and host Fox 379 00:25:23,075 --> 00:25:27,795 Speaker 1: Sports News and Major League Baseball on Fox, and another 380 00:25:27,875 --> 00:25:32,035 Speaker 1: deal in which Fox would pay NBC one million dollars 381 00:25:32,555 --> 00:25:38,635 Speaker 1: for my contract, like I was a mediocre baseball pitcher. Amazingly, 382 00:25:39,515 --> 00:25:42,755 Speaker 1: it worked. I got what was then a record breaking 383 00:25:42,795 --> 00:25:46,755 Speaker 1: salary for any cable sportscaster. Ever, NBC got its million, 384 00:25:47,155 --> 00:25:50,195 Speaker 1: and maybe most startlingly, NBC then asked me to stay 385 00:25:50,275 --> 00:25:53,915 Speaker 1: on the air as a lane duck at MSNBC for 386 00:25:53,995 --> 00:25:59,475 Speaker 1: like six weeks. Curiously, throughout my career, no matter how 387 00:25:59,515 --> 00:26:03,515 Speaker 1: abrasive the exit, my lane duck employers have always for 388 00:26:03,555 --> 00:26:07,955 Speaker 1: some reason trusted me to stay on their air, even 389 00:26:07,995 --> 00:26:11,755 Speaker 1: though I was leaving in local news in Los Angeles 390 00:26:11,795 --> 00:26:17,235 Speaker 1: once I did this for three months. Anyway, At first, 391 00:26:17,555 --> 00:26:20,355 Speaker 1: going to work at Fox Sports was a delight. Their 392 00:26:20,395 --> 00:26:23,875 Speaker 1: news guys, the evil Roger Ales and his henchman John Moody, 393 00:26:24,155 --> 00:26:26,875 Speaker 1: pitched me on doing stuff for them, maybe co anchoring 394 00:26:26,875 --> 00:26:32,515 Speaker 1: with Bill O'Reilly. I'm serious. I passed sports. We spent money. 395 00:26:32,915 --> 00:26:35,955 Speaker 1: I worked with friends. I didn't have to talk about politics. 396 00:26:36,235 --> 00:26:39,955 Speaker 1: I could narrate highlights. I could do funny voices way 397 00:26:39,995 --> 00:26:44,915 Speaker 1: downtown Bang. I lived on the beach. I mean, my 398 00:26:44,955 --> 00:26:48,435 Speaker 1: next door neighbor was Hawaii. Every time there was a 399 00:26:48,475 --> 00:26:52,315 Speaker 1: newspaper story about ESPN, even though our ratings were terrible, 400 00:26:52,835 --> 00:26:55,115 Speaker 1: there was also my picture in it with a caption 401 00:26:55,355 --> 00:27:01,315 Speaker 1: like challenging ESPN. It was great, But then two things happened. 402 00:27:01,795 --> 00:27:04,955 Speaker 1: The Fox guy, who knew we needed five years at 403 00:27:05,075 --> 00:27:08,915 Speaker 1: minimum just to tie ESPN in the ratings, took me 404 00:27:08,995 --> 00:27:11,875 Speaker 1: to lunch one day and said, sorry, mate, mo missus 405 00:27:11,915 --> 00:27:15,275 Speaker 1: is moving back to England tomorrow without me, so I'm 406 00:27:15,315 --> 00:27:19,915 Speaker 1: going good luck. He was replaced by guys who replaced 407 00:27:19,955 --> 00:27:23,715 Speaker 1: the five year plan with a five week plan to 408 00:27:23,915 --> 00:27:28,195 Speaker 1: raise the ratings by literally one fifth of one point. 409 00:27:29,395 --> 00:27:32,155 Speaker 1: I left that meeting, in which they explained their suicidal 410 00:27:32,195 --> 00:27:36,115 Speaker 1: plan and revealed that my salary represented an unsustainable twenty 411 00:27:36,275 --> 00:27:39,635 Speaker 1: percent of their entire budget, and I called my real 412 00:27:39,715 --> 00:27:42,795 Speaker 1: estate agent and put my house on the beach up 413 00:27:42,915 --> 00:27:47,195 Speaker 1: for sale. Not long after, my doctor gave me a 414 00:27:47,195 --> 00:27:50,155 Speaker 1: physical and a warning, cut back on work and stress 415 00:27:50,195 --> 00:27:52,995 Speaker 1: and everything else, or you can have a heart attack 416 00:27:53,075 --> 00:27:56,275 Speaker 1: ten years from now. I told my bosses this, and 417 00:27:56,315 --> 00:28:00,475 Speaker 1: their response was to blackmail me. We have a clause 418 00:28:00,515 --> 00:28:02,555 Speaker 1: in your contract which allows us to send you on 419 00:28:02,595 --> 00:28:05,315 Speaker 1: the road once a week while you are still working 420 00:28:05,355 --> 00:28:08,075 Speaker 1: five days in the studio. We're going to enforce that 421 00:28:08,195 --> 00:28:11,795 Speaker 1: unless you kick back two thirds of your salary. They 422 00:28:11,835 --> 00:28:15,515 Speaker 1: put this in a document. There are, as the kids, say, receipts. 423 00:28:16,755 --> 00:28:21,835 Speaker 1: So I folded to blackmail because two thirds of three 424 00:28:21,875 --> 00:28:25,475 Speaker 1: million dollars a year is still pretty good. But I 425 00:28:25,555 --> 00:28:27,835 Speaker 1: kept doing the job. In nineteen ninety nine, I broke 426 00:28:27,835 --> 00:28:30,155 Speaker 1: a story that everybody laughed at that Michael Jordan was 427 00:28:30,235 --> 00:28:32,635 Speaker 1: unhappy in retirement and he wanted to come back to 428 00:28:32,675 --> 00:28:34,955 Speaker 1: play in the NBA, but instead of getting a salary, 429 00:28:35,155 --> 00:28:39,115 Speaker 1: he wanted an ownership stake in a team. Two years later, 430 00:28:39,915 --> 00:28:43,155 Speaker 1: he did exactly that. In two thousand, I got to 431 00:28:43,195 --> 00:28:46,235 Speaker 1: host the first Mets Yankees World Series, and hosting baseball 432 00:28:46,235 --> 00:28:49,035 Speaker 1: every Saturday on Fox was a pretty good gig. And 433 00:28:49,075 --> 00:28:51,035 Speaker 1: we were just gearing up for the two thousand and 434 00:28:51,035 --> 00:28:53,915 Speaker 1: one baseball season when I got a tip on April 435 00:28:53,995 --> 00:28:57,755 Speaker 1: twentieth that the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers had 436 00:28:57,835 --> 00:29:00,955 Speaker 1: unofficially put their team up for sale, and in fact, 437 00:29:00,995 --> 00:29:04,315 Speaker 1: they were talking to the old owners, the O'Malley family, 438 00:29:04,515 --> 00:29:08,755 Speaker 1: about taking the Dodgers off their hands, selling the Dodgers 439 00:29:08,835 --> 00:29:12,635 Speaker 1: back to the son of Walter O'Malley. This was a 440 00:29:12,755 --> 00:29:16,435 Speaker 1: great scoop, but it had great danger because the owners 441 00:29:16,435 --> 00:29:22,995 Speaker 1: of the Dodgers were Fox, my own employers. The next day, 442 00:29:23,035 --> 00:29:25,875 Speaker 1: after getting this scoop, I made about one hundred phone calls, 443 00:29:25,915 --> 00:29:27,555 Speaker 1: and sure enough I got the friend of a friend 444 00:29:27,595 --> 00:29:29,395 Speaker 1: of a friend of my agent to confirm that he 445 00:29:29,515 --> 00:29:33,995 Speaker 1: and his family were in preliminary discussions joining the O'Malley's 446 00:29:34,275 --> 00:29:37,755 Speaker 1: to buy the Dodgers from Fox. Two sources, great scoop, 447 00:29:38,835 --> 00:29:41,155 Speaker 1: and that night I reached out to my bosses and said, 448 00:29:41,235 --> 00:29:44,075 Speaker 1: what the hell do we do here? The story is solid, 449 00:29:44,475 --> 00:29:48,275 Speaker 1: The Dodgers are for sale. But look, this is your 450 00:29:48,395 --> 00:29:50,915 Speaker 1: candy store, and I do work for you, and if 451 00:29:50,955 --> 00:29:52,995 Speaker 1: you don't want me to report this, I'm obviously not 452 00:29:53,115 --> 00:29:55,555 Speaker 1: going to report it, and I'm not going to pouch 453 00:29:55,795 --> 00:29:57,635 Speaker 1: and I'm not going to give the story to somebody else. 454 00:29:58,875 --> 00:30:02,035 Speaker 1: My bosses replied, good for you. Why don't we all 455 00:30:02,075 --> 00:30:04,955 Speaker 1: get on the phone with the top Rupert Murdoch has 456 00:30:04,955 --> 00:30:08,875 Speaker 1: his own Personal News Corp Public relations department. Let's see 457 00:30:08,875 --> 00:30:13,115 Speaker 1: what he says. So on Sunday, April twenty second, two 458 00:30:13,155 --> 00:30:15,555 Speaker 1: thousand and one, we got Murdoch's own PR guy on 459 00:30:15,595 --> 00:30:18,195 Speaker 1: the blower, and I explained it to him. Now, mister 460 00:30:18,275 --> 00:30:20,635 Speaker 1: Murdoch has a policy about this. He never interferes in 461 00:30:20,795 --> 00:30:24,955 Speaker 1: editorial decisions, not even in sourced business stories, not even 462 00:30:24,995 --> 00:30:28,595 Speaker 1: if they involve him. So long as you make it 463 00:30:28,675 --> 00:30:32,195 Speaker 1: clear your sources are not from within the company, and 464 00:30:32,275 --> 00:30:35,035 Speaker 1: so long as you're confident in your sources, and so 465 00:30:35,155 --> 00:30:38,675 Speaker 1: long as you include our denial, you should proceed with 466 00:30:38,795 --> 00:30:43,635 Speaker 1: this Dodger story. That is what we are paying you for. 467 00:30:43,635 --> 00:30:48,195 Speaker 1: For a brief moment, I thought maybe I have misjudged 468 00:30:48,275 --> 00:30:51,435 Speaker 1: Rupert Murdoch. Well, it turned out to be a very 469 00:30:51,435 --> 00:30:55,715 Speaker 1: brief moment and a very wrong moment. I reported the 470 00:30:55,715 --> 00:31:00,955 Speaker 1: story that night, howls of denials. Five days later, though 471 00:31:00,995 --> 00:31:05,035 Speaker 1: the Long Beach Press Telegram newspaper had its own story said, 472 00:31:05,075 --> 00:31:09,435 Speaker 1: despite denials, Dodgers are for sale, with far more details 473 00:31:09,475 --> 00:31:12,475 Speaker 1: than I had, And that really was the end of it. 474 00:31:12,795 --> 00:31:16,115 Speaker 1: The team was unofficially for sale. Dodger fans who hated 475 00:31:16,115 --> 00:31:18,435 Speaker 1: what Fox had done to the team seemed happy, and 476 00:31:18,515 --> 00:31:22,595 Speaker 1: the vast stinking, pile of burning excrement that was Fox 477 00:31:22,635 --> 00:31:29,035 Speaker 1: and NewsCorp and Murdoch sailed on unperturbed, but Twelve days 478 00:31:29,075 --> 00:31:31,075 Speaker 1: after that, just before I was getting in my car 479 00:31:31,155 --> 00:31:33,995 Speaker 1: to go to the first Fox Baseball meeting for our 480 00:31:34,035 --> 00:31:37,675 Speaker 1: two thousand and one season coverage, the president of Fox Sports, 481 00:31:37,955 --> 00:31:41,635 Speaker 1: yet another Aussie, called David Hill, called my agent and 482 00:31:41,715 --> 00:31:44,875 Speaker 1: told her case, not doing any baseball for us this year. 483 00:31:45,115 --> 00:31:52,035 Speaker 1: Business decision click, end of conversation. Nothing else, no firing, 484 00:31:52,555 --> 00:31:55,195 Speaker 1: no get out, no clean out your desk, no announcement. 485 00:31:55,875 --> 00:31:58,915 Speaker 1: But then two days later they turned off my access 486 00:31:58,915 --> 00:32:01,715 Speaker 1: to the Fox computer system, and four days after that 487 00:32:01,755 --> 00:32:05,515 Speaker 1: they called and canceled my cable show. And then that 488 00:32:05,675 --> 00:32:08,835 Speaker 1: night I got two weird calls from Rich Sandomir, who 489 00:32:08,875 --> 00:32:11,995 Speaker 1: was the TV sports critic and TV sports business reporter 490 00:32:12,075 --> 00:32:14,915 Speaker 1: for the New York Times, And Rich asks me, so, 491 00:32:15,155 --> 00:32:17,875 Speaker 1: did you know you got fired by Rupert Murdoch personally? 492 00:32:18,715 --> 00:32:22,115 Speaker 1: And I said, with genuine astonishment that I not only 493 00:32:22,235 --> 00:32:26,035 Speaker 1: didn't know that, but even given my thoughts about Rupert Murdoch, 494 00:32:26,115 --> 00:32:29,035 Speaker 1: I didn't believe that. Well, that's what my sources at 495 00:32:29,035 --> 00:32:32,195 Speaker 1: Fox tell me. Apparently your Dodger story really pissed him off. 496 00:32:32,275 --> 00:32:35,875 Speaker 1: But really, and I said I had cleared it through 497 00:32:35,915 --> 00:32:39,435 Speaker 1: his personal pr guy, I don't know, Rich Sandomir said, 498 00:32:39,475 --> 00:32:41,955 Speaker 1: Apparently he was on vacation and he got back like 499 00:32:42,275 --> 00:32:44,155 Speaker 1: the ninth of this month, and he read all these 500 00:32:44,155 --> 00:32:46,795 Speaker 1: stories about the Dodgers being for sale and how Fox 501 00:32:46,835 --> 00:32:48,515 Speaker 1: Sports was the first to report it, and he called 502 00:32:48,555 --> 00:32:51,515 Speaker 1: up David Hill and he told Hill to fire you immediately. 503 00:32:52,475 --> 00:32:54,315 Speaker 1: So I told Rich, this is the first I have 504 00:32:54,435 --> 00:32:57,395 Speaker 1: heard of this, and I still don't believe it, even 505 00:32:57,435 --> 00:33:00,315 Speaker 1: though the day he mentioned May ninth was the day 506 00:33:00,395 --> 00:33:02,555 Speaker 1: David Hill had called my agent and told her I 507 00:33:02,555 --> 00:33:06,315 Speaker 1: would not be doing baseball for Fox that year. An 508 00:33:06,395 --> 00:33:09,595 Speaker 1: hour later, the phone rings again and it's Rich Sandomir again, 509 00:33:09,675 --> 00:33:12,635 Speaker 1: and he sounds shaken. I got it wrong. I don't 510 00:33:12,635 --> 00:33:14,835 Speaker 1: have any sources at Fox who told me Rupert fired 511 00:33:14,875 --> 00:33:19,115 Speaker 1: you personally. My source said that you were telling people 512 00:33:19,235 --> 00:33:23,195 Speaker 1: Rupert had fired you personally over the Dodger story. And 513 00:33:23,275 --> 00:33:27,755 Speaker 1: I gave Rich a sequence of well, kind of friendly 514 00:33:27,955 --> 00:33:31,275 Speaker 1: uh huhs, And I said, no, I didn't and know 515 00:33:31,875 --> 00:33:33,675 Speaker 1: You've never been dumb enough in your life to make 516 00:33:33,715 --> 00:33:36,515 Speaker 1: the mistake you're saying you just made. And he said, well, 517 00:33:36,555 --> 00:33:39,555 Speaker 1: I never said somebody at Fox said Murdock fired Joe. Okay, thanks. 518 00:33:39,555 --> 00:33:43,195 Speaker 1: By the next day they had me come into the 519 00:33:43,275 --> 00:33:46,555 Speaker 1: Fox building on Pico Boulevard and clean out my office 520 00:33:46,555 --> 00:33:49,515 Speaker 1: while a guard watched. And she was a really nice guard. 521 00:33:49,515 --> 00:33:52,635 Speaker 1: In fact, she brought donuts but a lovely way to 522 00:33:52,635 --> 00:33:55,675 Speaker 1: go out. As I packed, I thought more and more 523 00:33:55,715 --> 00:33:57,755 Speaker 1: of what had happened in the month since I had 524 00:33:57,795 --> 00:34:00,915 Speaker 1: gotten that tip about the Dodgers being for sale. As 525 00:34:00,955 --> 00:34:03,795 Speaker 1: I left the Fox lot for the last time as 526 00:34:03,835 --> 00:34:05,955 Speaker 1: an employee, I went back a couple of times to 527 00:34:05,995 --> 00:34:09,275 Speaker 1: attend table reads for the Simpsons. Table reads for the 528 00:34:09,275 --> 00:34:11,835 Speaker 1: Simpsons were much more fun than being an employee at Fox. 529 00:34:12,395 --> 00:34:14,435 Speaker 1: I called a couple of reporters I knew, and my 530 00:34:14,555 --> 00:34:16,755 Speaker 1: agent and some people in the business, and we tried 531 00:34:16,755 --> 00:34:20,035 Speaker 1: to put together a timeline that made some sort of sense, 532 00:34:20,875 --> 00:34:23,755 Speaker 1: because the slow motion firing thing. May ninth, you're not 533 00:34:23,795 --> 00:34:27,475 Speaker 1: doing baseball. May eleventh, your computer it won't work. May fifteenth, 534 00:34:27,475 --> 00:34:30,835 Speaker 1: your cable show is canceled. May sixteenth, clean out your office. 535 00:34:31,475 --> 00:34:36,955 Speaker 1: A week long firing made no sense until one reporter 536 00:34:37,075 --> 00:34:40,035 Speaker 1: friend said, you know, Fox called me and said, call 537 00:34:40,155 --> 00:34:43,555 Speaker 1: Keith up and provoke him, get him to call us names, 538 00:34:44,275 --> 00:34:46,515 Speaker 1: tell him about this story and that paper, calling him 539 00:34:46,675 --> 00:34:49,915 Speaker 1: washed up, get him going, And then it all clicked. 540 00:34:50,595 --> 00:34:53,115 Speaker 1: My contract ran through the end of the year two 541 00:34:53,115 --> 00:34:56,475 Speaker 1: thousand and one. Because Fox was firing me without any 542 00:34:56,515 --> 00:34:58,955 Speaker 1: cause or even claiming there was a cause, without any 543 00:34:59,035 --> 00:35:02,235 Speaker 1: violation of my contract or their rules. Because I had 544 00:35:02,315 --> 00:35:04,675 Speaker 1: left a trail of good behavior on the Dodgers store. 545 00:35:05,315 --> 00:35:08,195 Speaker 1: They were trying to enrage me and get me to 546 00:35:08,355 --> 00:35:12,515 Speaker 1: say something nasty that itself would be a violation of 547 00:35:12,515 --> 00:35:15,675 Speaker 1: my contract so they could outright fire me and keep 548 00:35:15,715 --> 00:35:18,915 Speaker 1: the money. And the money still on the contract was 549 00:35:18,955 --> 00:35:24,635 Speaker 1: about eight hundred thousand dollars. Now, after decades of contemplating this, 550 00:35:24,755 --> 00:35:27,835 Speaker 1: I am confident that I am no crazier than the 551 00:35:27,875 --> 00:35:31,235 Speaker 1: next guy, at least not the next guy in television. 552 00:35:31,555 --> 00:35:35,955 Speaker 1: But on my worst, craziest, least rational day, if you 553 00:35:35,995 --> 00:35:39,555 Speaker 1: said you have two choices, Alderman, you can blow up 554 00:35:39,595 --> 00:35:41,675 Speaker 1: these people who are firing you, and you can make 555 00:35:41,675 --> 00:35:44,995 Speaker 1: them look bad in a newspaper for a day and 556 00:35:45,035 --> 00:35:47,035 Speaker 1: then they'll fire you and keep all the money they 557 00:35:47,075 --> 00:35:51,955 Speaker 1: owe you. Or you can keep your big bazoo shut 558 00:35:52,235 --> 00:35:55,395 Speaker 1: for just seven months. You can keep the eight hundred 559 00:35:55,395 --> 00:35:59,075 Speaker 1: thousand dollars, and you can spend the summer doing whatever 560 00:35:59,075 --> 00:36:01,275 Speaker 1: the hell you want, and you can then spend the 561 00:36:01,315 --> 00:36:05,075 Speaker 1: rest of your natural life blowing these people up. If 562 00:36:05,115 --> 00:36:09,755 Speaker 1: that's the choice, I will always take the scenario that 563 00:36:09,835 --> 00:36:13,115 Speaker 1: gives me the eight hundred thousand dollars for doing nothing. 564 00:36:14,355 --> 00:36:19,715 Speaker 1: Always so. On January first, two thousand and two, after 565 00:36:19,755 --> 00:36:23,115 Speaker 1: the last Fox check cleared, I began making a professional 566 00:36:23,115 --> 00:36:27,475 Speaker 1: avocation out of attacking Fox News, Fox Sports, Fox Business, 567 00:36:27,595 --> 00:36:32,555 Speaker 1: Fox Murdoch, Fox O'Reilly, Fox, Tucker Carlson, whatever. And I 568 00:36:32,675 --> 00:36:36,995 Speaker 1: got the eight hundred thousand dollars. But they're lingered for years, 569 00:36:37,035 --> 00:36:39,915 Speaker 1: this kind of academic question of whether Rupert Murdoch had 570 00:36:40,075 --> 00:36:45,035 Speaker 1: actually fired me for having followed the rules set out 571 00:36:45,075 --> 00:36:49,995 Speaker 1: by his own personal pr guy. As usual, these things 572 00:36:50,075 --> 00:36:53,915 Speaker 1: resolve themselves when you least expect them to. Murdoch was 573 00:36:53,955 --> 00:36:57,435 Speaker 1: speaking at a Dow Jones conference in Carlsbad, California, on 574 00:36:57,555 --> 00:37:01,875 Speaker 1: May twenty eighth, two thousand and eight, seven years to 575 00:37:01,955 --> 00:37:04,155 Speaker 1: the month they got rid of me, and a story 576 00:37:04,195 --> 00:37:07,315 Speaker 1: came across the wire with my name on it. The 577 00:37:07,355 --> 00:37:11,075 Speaker 1: guy interviewing him at this conference talked about whether there 578 00:37:11,075 --> 00:37:14,835 Speaker 1: should be dissenting voices on Fox quote news unquote, like 579 00:37:14,915 --> 00:37:19,075 Speaker 1: that guy who was killing it on MSNBC Keith Olderman. Now, 580 00:37:19,475 --> 00:37:24,035 Speaker 1: Murdoch barked, if fired him five years ago. He was crizy. 581 00:37:25,675 --> 00:37:29,435 Speaker 1: Timing was off, but there it was Rupert Murdoch confessing 582 00:37:29,915 --> 00:37:33,515 Speaker 1: in front of a crowd that he fired me personally, 583 00:37:33,875 --> 00:37:38,555 Speaker 1: the red badge of courage in quotes. I wondered if 584 00:37:38,595 --> 00:37:40,155 Speaker 1: it still pissed him off that he had to pay 585 00:37:40,155 --> 00:37:42,155 Speaker 1: me the eight hundred thousand dollars when I didn't take 586 00:37:42,155 --> 00:37:46,915 Speaker 1: the grievance bait. Three years after that, Murdoch said it 587 00:37:46,955 --> 00:37:49,715 Speaker 1: again like I hadn't heard it the first time. On 588 00:37:49,755 --> 00:37:53,995 Speaker 1: February first, twenty eleven, Rupert Murdoch was interviewed by his 589 00:37:54,115 --> 00:37:57,835 Speaker 1: business talking had Neil Cavudo, who for some reason asked 590 00:37:57,915 --> 00:38:00,635 Speaker 1: him if he would consider hiring me to put me 591 00:38:00,755 --> 00:38:04,395 Speaker 1: on Fox News. Now we fired him once. We don't 592 00:38:04,395 --> 00:38:09,555 Speaker 1: believe even firing people twice. Kaboodo replied, you called him 593 00:38:09,595 --> 00:38:12,355 Speaker 1: a nut lad he was a nut on. Well, we 594 00:38:12,395 --> 00:38:15,555 Speaker 1: had him on late night Fox Sports. There was never 595 00:38:15,635 --> 00:38:18,475 Speaker 1: any such show called late night Fox Sports. But never mind, 596 00:38:18,835 --> 00:38:21,835 Speaker 1: Rupe went on, It was impossible I fired him. He 597 00:38:22,155 --> 00:38:28,075 Speaker 1: was crazy, fired me for following his rules, and I 598 00:38:28,435 --> 00:38:33,475 Speaker 1: was the one who was crazy. Finally, speaking of crazy, 599 00:38:34,035 --> 00:38:37,435 Speaker 1: I have had for sixty three nearly sixty four years now, 600 00:38:37,515 --> 00:38:41,795 Speaker 1: a love hate relationship with the name Keith. But did 601 00:38:41,835 --> 00:38:46,235 Speaker 1: you know that Rupert Murdoch's real first name is also Keith, 602 00:38:47,035 --> 00:38:51,955 Speaker 1: but that rather than call himself Keith, he voluntarily chooses 603 00:38:52,715 --> 00:38:58,515 Speaker 1: to call himself Rupert. I mean, sure, my name is Keith, 604 00:38:59,555 --> 00:39:19,075 Speaker 1: but at least my name ain't freakin'. I mean, if 605 00:39:19,075 --> 00:39:22,715 Speaker 1: you're not going with Keith and your other given option 606 00:39:22,955 --> 00:39:27,475 Speaker 1: is Rupert, try something less embarrassing from outside that field. 607 00:39:27,555 --> 00:39:33,595 Speaker 1: I don't know, like Elon. Elon Murdoch done all the 608 00:39:33,635 --> 00:39:35,635 Speaker 1: damage I can do here. Thank you for listening. Here 609 00:39:35,635 --> 00:39:37,675 Speaker 1: the credits. Most of the music was arranged, produced and 610 00:39:37,755 --> 00:39:40,435 Speaker 1: performed by Brian Ray and John Phillip Schanel, who are 611 00:39:40,475 --> 00:39:44,355 Speaker 1: the Countdown musical directors. All orchestration and keyboards by John 612 00:39:44,395 --> 00:39:47,995 Speaker 1: Phillip Shanel, guitars, bass and drums by Brian Ray, produced 613 00:39:47,995 --> 00:39:51,435 Speaker 1: by Tko Brothers. Another Beethoven selections have been arranged and 614 00:39:51,475 --> 00:39:54,795 Speaker 1: performed by the group No Horns Allowed. The sports music 615 00:39:55,035 --> 00:39:57,115 Speaker 1: is the Olderman theme from ESPN two, and it was 616 00:39:57,115 --> 00:40:00,155 Speaker 1: written by Mitch Warren Davis courtesy of the ESPN Inc. 617 00:40:00,755 --> 00:40:03,755 Speaker 1: Musical comments from Nancy fous The best baseball stadium organist 618 00:40:03,795 --> 00:40:07,715 Speaker 1: ever you today was Kenny Maine. Everything else is pretty 619 00:40:07,755 --> 00:40:10,595 Speaker 1: much my fault. So that's countdown for this the eight 620 00:40:10,715 --> 00:40:14,115 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty sixth day since Donald Trump's first attempted 621 00:40:14,115 --> 00:40:16,835 Speaker 1: coup against the democratically elected government of the United States. 622 00:40:17,275 --> 00:40:20,875 Speaker 1: Don't forget to keep arresting him while we still can. 623 00:40:21,675 --> 00:40:24,715 Speaker 1: The next scheduled countdown is Monday. Until then, I'm Keith Olderman. 624 00:40:24,755 --> 00:40:39,195 Speaker 1: Good morning, good afternoon, good night, and good luck. Countdown 625 00:40:39,275 --> 00:40:43,035 Speaker 1: with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. For more 626 00:40:43,115 --> 00:40:48,035 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 627 00:40:48,115 --> 00:40:49,915 Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts.