Speaker 1: Welcome to the No Sports Report, a production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio Entree Fort Media. Small note this episode was
Speaker 1: recorded prior to the murder of George Floyd and the
Speaker 1: resulting global reaction in protests, which is the only reason
Speaker 1: it's not mentioned. Something to keep in mind while listening.
Speaker 1: My name is Jensen carp and I'm a sports fan,
Speaker 1: and just like you, I'm sad about the breaking news.
Speaker 1: Oh not the pandemic. I've been sad about that for months.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about no Taiwanese baseball teams offering a contract
Speaker 1: to forty seven year old Manny Ramirez after he announced
Speaker 1: he likes to play there in I know it's just
Speaker 1: Manny being Manny, but we already live in a fantasy world.
Speaker 1: Eighty two game baseball season, Basketball at Disney World, Brady
Speaker 1: to Tampa Bay, a primetime specialist, celebrities cutting their own hair.
Speaker 1: There's already a glitch in the matrix. Let's just go
Speaker 1: full acid trip. Let Manny play, Let, Manny play Let,
Speaker 1: Manny play. I'm gonna assume you're chanting with me, but
Speaker 1: even if you're not, I'm talking to fleets and sports
Speaker 1: industry professionals about what they're doing in quarantine, hoping to
Speaker 1: figure out if the fame is competing as much as
Speaker 1: I miss watching it. This is the No Sports report
Speaker 1: to become a professional athlete. The amount of dedicated work
Speaker 1: and focus training required is something most people could never do.
Speaker 1: I say this while eating a large bag of nacho cheese.
Speaker 1: Dorito's years of work go into achieving a dream that,
Speaker 1: in less than one percent of cases actually does happen.
Speaker 1: And if you're one of the chosen few live it up,
Speaker 1: the work is paid off. But what if you can't
Speaker 1: live it up because right now it can't pay off?
Speaker 1: What if you're stuck in a global pandemic, unable to
Speaker 1: participate in your first opening day, moving city to city
Speaker 1: and quarantine because you're a rookie pitcher who rightfully hasn't
Speaker 1: bought a house yet. And even though you had one
Speaker 1: of the most impressive starting pitture debuts in Cleveland, Indians history,
Speaker 1: taking them out at a rainy Fenway Park against David
Speaker 1: Price in two thousand nineteen, well that has nothing to
Speaker 1: do with coronavirus. And your story is still delayed in
Speaker 1: finding its fairy tale end. And sure, some people might
Speaker 1: think you have the best pickoff move in the majors,
Speaker 1: and you added an off speed pitt during the spring,
Speaker 1: and you're a dark horse favorite for a starting rotation spot.
Speaker 1: But what's it all worth if you can't actually celebrate
Speaker 1: the winds? These are all questions for today's guest, Zach Pleisach.
Speaker 1: We talked about being a pandemic nomad, his surreal first
Speaker 1: major League appearance, and the stuff your grandma collects. And
Speaker 1: I chat with Michael Jacobs, the director of Quimby's new
Speaker 1: series about Donald Sterling in the two thousand fourteen Los
Speaker 1: Angeles Clippers black Ball. All of this on the new
Speaker 1: episode of The No Sports Report. How from exactly that
Speaker 1: to accept press one? Hello Zach, Hey, buddy, I've noticed
Speaker 1: you've been moving around a little bit during quarantine. You're
Speaker 1: staying safe, obviously, but I want to know where you're
Speaker 1: currently hunkered down. I'm right now currently in northwest Indiana.
Speaker 1: I started off obviously in Florida, was in Cincinnati, and
Speaker 1: my family staring north this Indiana. So I had a
Speaker 1: send some time with them before I really head out here,
Speaker 1: you know, to get ready for the season that's gonna
Speaker 1: be coming up Staine hopefully. Yeah, So before that, who
Speaker 1: are you with my agent? See now that's the thing
Speaker 1: I had heard you were living with your agent, and
Speaker 1: I realized I need a new agent mine. I would
Speaker 1: never let me live with her, let alone. She sent
Speaker 1: me just an edible arrangement for Christmas. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna I'm in the wrong situation. Man. That's maybe she
Speaker 1: doesn't have the extra room fit. Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 1: I feel I feel jipped. Uh. You've been able to
Speaker 1: also see your teammate and your friend Mike Clevinger, which
Speaker 1: is more than most players have been able to do.
Speaker 1: So how have you been able to stay active and
Speaker 1: fit and healthy getting ready for this new season? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean at first it was we were down in
Speaker 1: Florida together, so it was nice outside. It was, you know,
Speaker 1: nice enough to be out and about. Obviously can't go
Speaker 1: in any public places, but we you know, had the
Speaker 1: outside ability to play catch in the street and you know,
Speaker 1: around some sprints or do some band work in the driveway.
Speaker 1: So I mean, at first, it was super limited to
Speaker 1: activity that was basically just like in her house and home.
Speaker 1: Idem Um. I had some weighted balls and some bands
Speaker 1: that I had, you know, just from spring training and
Speaker 1: things that I took with me to continue to train,
Speaker 1: and we were just using those things and really just
Speaker 1: playing catch, but weight listening kind of slowed down, which
Speaker 1: it normally would at that point of the year anyway,
Speaker 1: because we've been getting into the season. Um. But you know,
Speaker 1: like there still has to be a point of keeping
Speaker 1: that strength and making sure that you know, as we're
Speaker 1: moving forward, we're not regressing and work at least we
Speaker 1: get a positive direction sure, and and beyond working out,
Speaker 1: staying fit getting ready for baseball. While you're traveling doing
Speaker 1: these things, have you been able to watch TV shows
Speaker 1: or do any of the things these normal humans like
Speaker 1: me are doing. Yeah, I mean I've definitely been spending
Speaker 1: more time like with my family, and I've been watching
Speaker 1: a lot more TV um on my computer at least. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I've really been I've kind of been bounced around.
Speaker 1: It's like as soon as I kind of like get
Speaker 1: like settled in somewhere, like about time for me to
Speaker 1: make a different move, you know. So I'm just kind
Speaker 1: of staying a lot of my COEs. I don't have
Speaker 1: a house yet for myself, so that's really the next
Speaker 1: step for me, somewhere where I can actually punker down
Speaker 1: and get all my stuff, you know, packed in and
Speaker 1: have like a home base. But you know, at first
Speaker 1: is you know, I was with my friend and I'm
Speaker 1: with my agent and with my family, and you know,
Speaker 1: so I was trying to figure out what's gonna work
Speaker 1: best for everybody, you know. So, yeah, you are different
Speaker 1: than most people I've spoken to for the podcast because
Speaker 1: you've actually been having to move to different places. What
Speaker 1: has it been like traveling during this time. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean it's when I'm traveling, I'm just in the car.
Speaker 1: You know, It's I'm not like staying overnight anywhere, like
Speaker 1: you know, really coming in contact with anyone until I'm
Speaker 1: getting gas out of my car. You know. It's really
Speaker 1: the only time so um, when I'm When I was
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati traveling there, you know, my agent had a
Speaker 1: great set up with a gym and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: trainer and play this stuff to get my work in.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I mean there's just like a blessing from
Speaker 1: to be able to have that and make the most
Speaker 1: of it there. And I have you know, the prisoners
Speaker 1: to have a gym here at home, and me and
Speaker 1: my training together down in Florida's as good as it
Speaker 1: gets to because you know, we're pushing each other and
Speaker 1: we're you know, become a scientists on our body, I guess,
Speaker 1: so to speak, based on you know, mechanics and try
Speaker 1: to just reach our full potential and get the most
Speaker 1: out of ourselves. Yeah. I mean, I know it's kind
Speaker 1: of a cheap comparison, but I guess people that I
Speaker 1: know who have had to drive kind of far places
Speaker 1: say it does have a bit of like a walking
Speaker 1: dead vibe. Is like, no traffic on any freeways, the
Speaker 1: streets seemed pretty quiet. I mean, I guess I was wondering,
Speaker 1: was it much quicker for you than normal? Oh? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: actually that yeah, now that you say that, driving up
Speaker 1: from I'm you know, staying from the Panhandle of Florida
Speaker 1: to Cincinnati. You drive to Louisville, and I remember just
Speaker 1: going through that city at Louisville and it was an
Speaker 1: absolute ghost town of like the city of downtown. So
Speaker 1: that's not like dang, No one is really outside right now.
Speaker 1: Even on the roads, they're pretty open. I could say. Now,
Speaker 1: I feel like they're getting more um, I guess rush. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it seems people are starting to go outside at least
Speaker 1: a little bit. Now, I know, you have a brother
Speaker 1: that you're staying with that was a high school senior,
Speaker 1: younger brother, so did a bump him out to have
Speaker 1: his graduation cut short and not have a prom and
Speaker 1: and all the things you and I now barely remember,
Speaker 1: probably but meant a lot to us at the time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he was definitely bummed at first. You know, this season
Speaker 1: taken away from him his senior year high school, of
Speaker 1: his friends. I mean, that's probably one of the most
Speaker 1: memorable kinds of your life, you know, So for him
Speaker 1: it was it was hard at first, but you know,
Speaker 1: you know, we just kind of gotta keep our heads straight,
Speaker 1: you know, just you know, he knew that he's got
Speaker 1: to look forward to what's next in his life. He's
Speaker 1: got to take care of some things and looking to
Speaker 1: go to place somewhere, and you know what he has
Speaker 1: to do in order to do that, and just kind
Speaker 1: of with everything, you know, he's got to reorganize and
Speaker 1: a justice like everyone has to do eventually, you know,
Speaker 1: just adjust of what kind of gets done your way.
Speaker 1: So this is just something he realized he has been
Speaker 1: battling with. It's unfortunate, but yeah, he's he's good now.
Speaker 1: He was. He was definitely bummed before and he was
Speaker 1: playing sports. Is that what I'm under the impression his
Speaker 1: season was cut out? Yeah, he was a senior. He
Speaker 1: was I mean a picture. I'm sorry, he was a
Speaker 1: picture in the baseball team and they were about to
Speaker 1: start their season, I think top five. They were ranked
Speaker 1: in the state and had a lot of buzz going
Speaker 1: their way, had other good arms on their team and
Speaker 1: some other good players. So um, there was definitely some
Speaker 1: buzz before the season for their squad going into this
Speaker 1: this year. So yeah, I didn't even think of that really.
Speaker 1: I guess I just weirdly focused on prom but it
Speaker 1: is true. I mean he didn't even really get to
Speaker 1: see you know, the scouts didn't really get to come
Speaker 1: out all those things too. Yeah, I know, right, So
Speaker 1: now I think even I don't even think Scots are
Speaker 1: allowed to come watch guys during the squortancing time anyway.
Speaker 1: So it's like, yeah, crazy for those guys who are
Speaker 1: looking to go go play or get recruited or even
Speaker 1: you know, have a chance to get drafted, because it's
Speaker 1: kind of difficult. It's like you got to do it
Speaker 1: all over our phones now videos. Yeah, how hectic was
Speaker 1: it for you. You don't have your own place yet,
Speaker 1: you're looking into doing that. Obviously you're kind of new
Speaker 1: to the league. How hectic was it for you one
Speaker 1: day to be completely president focused on spring training and
Speaker 1: then the next trying to figure out where you're gonna stay. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's kind of like that's how it's been the past
Speaker 1: couple of years, Like trying to figure out where you're
Speaker 1: gonna stay, where you're gonna be. Everything, he's kind of
Speaker 1: up in the air. It's kinda gotta just whatever. You know,
Speaker 1: it's kind of blown your way. But um, you know,
Speaker 1: I didn't even have a place set up yet for
Speaker 1: the season. During spring training, I was kind of waiting
Speaker 1: to see where everything is playing out and you know,
Speaker 1: just moving along. I just had to see what's been
Speaker 1: going to be a good situation for me to get
Speaker 1: my training in and keep my mental good, you know,
Speaker 1: everything just being a good spot. So because I wasn't
Speaker 1: even looking forward, I have to it's my responsibility as
Speaker 1: starting pitcher for the Fluting Indians to prepare and keep
Speaker 1: myself ready for when we do have to go play.
Speaker 1: You know, it's not like we were I wasn't off
Speaker 1: during this time so I was moving around from with
Speaker 1: my teammate to my agent to my family. I was
Speaker 1: in Cleveland for a little bit and then I'm back home.
Speaker 1: Um yeah, and I'm just, you know, do what I
Speaker 1: gotta do to make the best of what we got. Uh.
Speaker 1: I guess too, Like I don't mean to to pour
Speaker 1: salt in the wound here, but you know it was
Speaker 1: gonna be your first pro opening day. Uh. Did you
Speaker 1: have sort of that whole process planned out in your
Speaker 1: head to walk out the call of your name, the
Speaker 1: whole thing. I mean, how big of a bummer is
Speaker 1: it to not have that? Yeah, for sure, I had.
Speaker 1: I had all that stuff ready. Uh it was. It
Speaker 1: was a bummer. I mean I wasn't sore set to
Speaker 1: make the team, you know. So it was definitely competition
Speaker 1: to the end. But looking looking forward to opening day, man,
Speaker 1: that's something you know, I dream about, um and hopefully
Speaker 1: you know, in the future sometime I'm able to experience it.
Speaker 1: But for now, you know, my opening days whenever we
Speaker 1: get our first game this year? Yeah, well, you you
Speaker 1: had a great strong eight and six under four e
Speaker 1: r a season. I know you said it was a
Speaker 1: battle to make roster, but you were obviously a favor
Speaker 1: to do. So, uh, you found your groove right away
Speaker 1: kind of coming in and and that's not easy to
Speaker 1: do obviously. Does this kind of does the pouse and play?
Speaker 1: Does it mess with your flow at all? No, honestly, Like,
Speaker 1: I don't think it has it all. Uh. I really think,
Speaker 1: you know, I've done as much as I could. I
Speaker 1: mean in the grand scheme of a season and in
Speaker 1: terms of reading guys swings and doing all that and
Speaker 1: understanding the league and what's going on, like that's part
Speaker 1: of it. Definitely we're gonna have to, you know, adjust
Speaker 1: as you play when we get going again. But you know,
Speaker 1: I feel like I've done everything and been blessed with
Speaker 1: the resources around me to be able to continue to
Speaker 1: train and just stay on top of my craft. You know,
Speaker 1: it's just more than work to me. It's something that
Speaker 1: you know, I've carried with me every day. So um,
Speaker 1: I wake up and get ready to work. So I think,
Speaker 1: you know, in the end, it's it's a bummer our
Speaker 1: games got pushed back, but you know, I think I'm
Speaker 1: really ready to play right now. So your major League
Speaker 1: debut was at the Storied, and I guess intimidating Fenway Park.
Speaker 1: Mookie Betts was the first batter you faced. You had
Speaker 1: a like a four hour rain delay. You still went
Speaker 1: five and a third innings. You gave up only one run.
Speaker 1: If any picture conservative survived this pandemic, it is clearly you.
Speaker 1: Is there a way you could go through? How difficult
Speaker 1: that day was for you? Yeah, that day was one
Speaker 1: I'll never forget. Just steven from the night before. But
Speaker 1: my agent has set up a fake dinner at Morn's
Speaker 1: and they catered us really nice. They must my agent
Speaker 1: must told him that I was pitching the next day
Speaker 1: and they were just pitching me good luck and being
Speaker 1: really cool. Had a great dinner, welcome to the next morning,
Speaker 1: and wanted just to get my mind off the game
Speaker 1: as much as I could and just enjoy the day
Speaker 1: and the experience of my my family. But I couldn't
Speaker 1: really hang out with my mom a whole bunch because
Speaker 1: she was stressed me out, probably just being stressed out herself.
Speaker 1: So I hang out with my brother and my agent.
Speaker 1: We got some pasta for lunch, and then my agent
Speaker 1: actually got me these white pair of lebrons that it
Speaker 1: just came out at fourteen lows and Tom at the shoe.
Speaker 1: So we were walking up and down Boston and it
Speaker 1: was kind of raining out, so was it being a day,
Speaker 1: you know, So we're just trying to find stuff to
Speaker 1: do and like make it right. But he gives me
Speaker 1: these shoes. He's all white, you know. I take them
Speaker 1: into the into my warm up and I'm running on
Speaker 1: the warning track. I got them all muddy, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: you know, this is when I can trash these shoes
Speaker 1: I just got Today. We're in the babies like we can.
Speaker 1: That's like, what are you supposed to do? You know,
Speaker 1: getting near this tomorrow? I didn't really know. It's so lost,
Speaker 1: just like being so president, you know. So ends up
Speaker 1: getting a gift from my agent. Took him in and
Speaker 1: got loose. Uh. Yeah, it came all the way to
Speaker 1: the game time. You know, it's probably missing out and
Speaker 1: that wasn't really raining, but it wasn't not raining, so
Speaker 1: like it was a question in the air if we're
Speaker 1: gonna play, waiting to see if the weather was gonna
Speaker 1: hold up, and so uh this kind of waiting game.
Speaker 1: I had to do a bunch of paperwork before the game,
Speaker 1: and like signing to your contract getting transferred over from
Speaker 1: trip to the big leagues, and I had to Puy.
Speaker 1: I had never met before like big league. Uh you
Speaker 1: know obviously our big league staff and other athletic trainers
Speaker 1: and pubbies ever met, and so that was all new.
Speaker 1: Everything is super new. You've never been the friend way before,
Speaker 1: so I was new too, So everything was just so
Speaker 1: new to me. I was just trying to absorb it.
Speaker 1: One of my warm ups, I'm just nervous as hall
Speaker 1: of hell, and my family and friends are standing behind
Speaker 1: like the guy I'm playing catch with, so that's the
Speaker 1: only thing I see when I'm playing catch, you know.
Speaker 1: So it was like welcoming, but at the same time,
Speaker 1: it's just you know, you don't want to overthrow one
Speaker 1: and then throwing the bleachers and everyone's watching. You know.
Speaker 1: That's like how I felt um going in you know.
Speaker 1: The first inning. Well, I was warming up next to
Speaker 1: David christ To, who you know, is as great as
Speaker 1: they get. You know, I was even watching some with him,
Speaker 1: trying to throw like him as a righty, but I
Speaker 1: know he's left seeing just being in that moment just
Speaker 1: throwing next to him too. It's almost a real So
Speaker 1: I get to the first ending. I throw my first
Speaker 1: pitch to Mookie Best and I yank get hard on
Speaker 1: the glove side. The ball felt like a tennis ball
Speaker 1: for real, and um, the next pitch is supposed to
Speaker 1: be down in a way and I missed like kind
Speaker 1: of up and in just trying to throw a strike,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm feeling like I'm throwing a golf ball.
Speaker 1: And then he rolls over the third thankfully, and I
Speaker 1: saw if I don't think he swings at that, it
Speaker 1: might have been a ball. And I don't know if
Speaker 1: I was gonna strike after that, so shout out to
Speaker 1: move to back, getting me see that first out, and
Speaker 1: then uh, ever's next that bat struck him out and
Speaker 1: that was my first strike out is the third guy
Speaker 1: set out, so you know, it's rain delay after that.
Speaker 1: So like an hour waiting around and running a bike,
Speaker 1: you know, text with my family, listen to music, trying
Speaker 1: to stay like cool and just kind of playing the
Speaker 1: waiting game to see what was going on. And luckily,
Speaker 1: you know, the stash were I mean, they trusted me
Speaker 1: enough to go back out there, even in the rain delay.
Speaker 1: So I went back out and got through five and
Speaker 1: me and they're coming back late that game and winning,
Speaker 1: so overall is a really good day. When I got
Speaker 1: taken out of again, there's a letter from David Probace,
Speaker 1: just a saying, you know, like I wish it would
Speaker 1: have been a better day for you, Good luck, sy
Speaker 1: and yeah as long in my career, and it's just
Speaker 1: really cool. It was just like one of those things
Speaker 1: like I'm actually here at the clash saxt uh. When
Speaker 1: you when you look back at it, is it like
Speaker 1: an out of body experience where you're sort of watching
Speaker 1: over you still remember, I mean obviously you know the details.
Speaker 1: Does it feel like you did it? Or does it
Speaker 1: feel like it was someone else? Uh? No, I mean
Speaker 1: it's definitely a moment that I won't forget. It felt
Speaker 1: like an out of body experience, I guess, But I
Speaker 1: mean I definitely can have vivid memories of throwing on
Speaker 1: the foul line and even getting on the mound and
Speaker 1: just being warming up in between anything. I knew exactly
Speaker 1: where I was. I could still see it, so it's
Speaker 1: something that would be stuff in my head first rest
Speaker 1: of my life. Did you end up with clean lebrons?
Speaker 1: Are you still have those dirty ones? Yeah? Honestly I
Speaker 1: got them cleaned up and they were good to go.
Speaker 1: So I'm just getting another pair of those shoes, the
Speaker 1: same pair after I had wrecked them. So okay, good.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say, someone's gotta take care of you there.
Speaker 1: During the off season, you added a curveball to your arsenal.
Speaker 1: Like I said, you're coming off a very strong season. Uh.
Speaker 1: In any other staff, you're you're kind of building up
Speaker 1: to be, you know, a two or three option almost immediately.
Speaker 1: But the Cleveland staff is stacked. How do you feel
Speaker 1: about your chances of making the team slash starting rotation
Speaker 1: are now? Well, I mean there's there's no promises. With
Speaker 1: how deep our staff, this is blessing for real. I mean,
Speaker 1: if there's not a lot of things like you should
Speaker 1: they have a deep pitching staff. So I mean that's
Speaker 1: definitely advantage we have. We have a lot of great guys.
Speaker 1: I mean, I feel really confident where I'm at with
Speaker 1: all my pitches and mentally physically, I'm in a great
Speaker 1: spot to pitch into big league. So, um, you know,
Speaker 1: isn't new who makes the decisions. So I just do
Speaker 1: my part and prepare myself as well as I can. Right. Well,
Speaker 1: that's great? Uh, you and I are both big tattoo guys.
Speaker 1: I have a bit less than you. I'm more of
Speaker 1: a pick and shoes spots dude, but you have great
Speaker 1: work on your sleeve and chest. Uh. With social distancing
Speaker 1: becoming a bit of the norm, I've asked this a
Speaker 1: couple of guys already. Do you see, like, how does
Speaker 1: tattooing go on? Like? Does do people have to be
Speaker 1: tested and then you're you're safe to go get a
Speaker 1: tattoo from that guy? What does it look like post pandemic? Yeah,
Speaker 1: tattoo artists are pretty much closed through July, so they're
Speaker 1: on backburners right now. I don't think people can get
Speaker 1: private apparently specially private sessions and put those guys out
Speaker 1: of business. So I think right now in a lot
Speaker 1: of states, it kind of depends. But um, yeah, I
Speaker 1: do have a lot of tattoos and it looks like
Speaker 1: it won't be getting anymore for a little bit. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I wonder if the future once everything's like, oh, I
Speaker 1: wonder if private is the way to go just but
Speaker 1: I mean I do think like if I'm going to
Speaker 1: be that close to someone for a few hours, in
Speaker 1: some cases, it's like I need to know that they've
Speaker 1: tested net ative, it would be it would be a
Speaker 1: whole thing. Yeah, I agree. So I mean who knows,
Speaker 1: uh well, moving forward to keep it positive? Is there
Speaker 1: anything you think that we've adapted to during this time
Speaker 1: of the pandemic that you think should stick around for
Speaker 1: when everything works out and we're back out in the wild.
Speaker 1: I think I hope no one's scared from everything that's
Speaker 1: going on, you know. I think it's becoming more aware
Speaker 1: of how to do your part more. You know, I
Speaker 1: think we as people need to start taking you know,
Speaker 1: responsibility for things that we do and how it can
Speaker 1: affect not only us in our future, but our generations
Speaker 1: to come. So, I mean, I think this is definitely
Speaker 1: just woke into the grand audience of all everyone. I mean, hopefully,
Speaker 1: you know, move forward, people just kind of learn how
Speaker 1: to do their thing and you know, kind of have
Speaker 1: a little more awareness to what good health is and
Speaker 1: how we can just better our whole planet. That's right,
Speaker 1: it's just a little bit of a rain delay, right,
Speaker 1: We'll come back, stay stay stay warm, all right. So
Speaker 1: I usually end these podcasts with a little bit of
Speaker 1: some suggestions things that can help you during the pandemic,
Speaker 1: so I wanted to give you a couple of them
Speaker 1: and see what you think. All right, First, theme parks
Speaker 1: have obviously been closed. They are one of the most
Speaker 1: I think damaged industries because you just imagine, you know,
Speaker 1: tens of thousands of people in one spot, and so
Speaker 1: they've been closed during the outbreak. Now whether or not
Speaker 1: they can reopen still up in the air. But Disneyland
Speaker 1: and Disney World is known for a very specific food
Speaker 1: and its recipe has always been a mystery until now.
Speaker 1: With everyone stuck at home and no chance of visiting
Speaker 1: the parks, they've released the coveted doll Whip soft serve.
Speaker 1: Do you know about the doll whip. I've definitely had
Speaker 1: it before, I'm not Why don't you tell me what
Speaker 1: they're about? Okay, So it is people for years have
Speaker 1: been obsessed with it. They serve it only near this
Speaker 1: weird tiki room that has like talking birds in it,
Speaker 1: and even when you've tried to do it at home,
Speaker 1: it never tastes the same, and people are like, oh,
Speaker 1: I gotta go get the doll whip at Disneyland. So
Speaker 1: they totally like just out of nowhere, went to the
Speaker 1: Disney blog and the Disney app and just posted the recipe,
Speaker 1: which is just three ingredients, vanilla ice cream, pineapple juice,
Speaker 1: and frozen pineapple chunks. That's it. That's it, that's all.
Speaker 1: That's it. I'm gonna go. I have to make a
Speaker 1: trip to the grocery store. I think it's see how
Speaker 1: mine will compare. They have to add sugar or something
Speaker 1: has to I feel like they're lying, but people can
Speaker 1: the suggestion just go over, bring a little Disneyland to
Speaker 1: your house, make some It's all viewable on the Disney
Speaker 1: Parks app. Great for a hot day. Um now, my
Speaker 1: other one is for you and your friends, teammates who
Speaker 1: want to catch up or whatever it is. It is
Speaker 1: a zoom poker game. So this this is a way
Speaker 1: to play poker, which, by the way, today I saw
Speaker 1: a photo of a casino that is trying some things
Speaker 1: out in Florida, and I will tell you it was
Speaker 1: a poker table and around the whole poker table was
Speaker 1: fiberglass and you can just put your hands in little
Speaker 1: holes in the fiberglass, like it's like your baby was
Speaker 1: just born and you want to touch it. Do you
Speaker 1: know what I mean? Yeah, I mean, but maybe I
Speaker 1: don't know, don't know if I trust it, but it
Speaker 1: looks weird. But I think an easy way is to
Speaker 1: just get on Zoom online handful of great online poker sites.
Speaker 1: You can download those apps and then set up a
Speaker 1: private table, send invites to your friends, and then use
Speaker 1: a second screen like an iPad to set up the
Speaker 1: zoom and then you're like calling each other all in
Speaker 1: the same room. You're just sitting there. And if you
Speaker 1: wanted to involve money, which is illegal, I do not
Speaker 1: at all suggest it. It would be easy to set
Speaker 1: up a venmo to collect the money, but I'm not
Speaker 1: encouraging that's I mean, it sounds like a lot of
Speaker 1: tablet different in your room. But I mean still as
Speaker 1: long as you're not catching your hand, I mean, it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter when their money agreed. Lastly, Uh, now, I
Speaker 1: know we all have we all have different families, uh,
Speaker 1: and we we've all grown up in different areas across
Speaker 1: the globe. But I do think that we all have
Speaker 1: or had similar grandparents. Okay, so grandparents are kind of
Speaker 1: one species. Their house smells like a mix of mothballs
Speaker 1: and cinnamon sticks. They always have worthers in their pocket.
Speaker 1: We know these lovable creatures. But the one thing I
Speaker 1: missed most about my grandparents are there chat keys. Do
Speaker 1: you know what chat keys are? Okay, they're like the
Speaker 1: little things around their house that are like insanely breakable
Speaker 1: and appear to be worth a bunch of money. Like
Speaker 1: my grandma had this crystal candy dish, and she had
Speaker 1: a curial cabinet filled with humble statues which are basically
Speaker 1: just these porcelain figures of like young boys and leader
Speaker 1: hose in opening a mailbox or like playing hop scotch.
Speaker 1: Do you know what I'm talking about? I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't think I do. Man, do you Grandma? Grandma?
Speaker 1: Did they have like like weird things. They collected it
Speaker 1: all like penguin statues or mugs. They have some collections.
Speaker 1: See now those are I can't get into all that
Speaker 1: right now. Well those are chos. So that's okay. You
Speaker 1: don't even need to get into it. You just need
Speaker 1: to know that those are chat keys. So when we
Speaker 1: when we reopen as a nation, I am suggesting that
Speaker 1: you take advantage of this with a store in Indiana.
Speaker 1: You can even do it there. The store is going
Speaker 1: to be called zach Plesack's knickknacks, okay, Nicknack, and you
Speaker 1: specialize in like ornate desk clocks that don't tell the
Speaker 1: right time or never could, or like commemorative spoons that
Speaker 1: celebrate stuff like NASA re launches and very fancy plates
Speaker 1: that look like Saddam Hussein owned them. Like it's just
Speaker 1: all the things grandparents have. I don't know if that's older.
Speaker 1: I'm kind of new. Two ways, honestly, my Adam make
Speaker 1: them like con join it started collaboration, right, Yeah, that
Speaker 1: doesn't make sense for you, like a drip collaboration like
Speaker 1: a streetwear thing. Yeah, I get it. Well it's a
Speaker 1: real look and don't touch type of store, so I understand.
Speaker 1: But but I I let you have that. But for now,
Speaker 1: I just want to thank you for coming on the
Speaker 1: show and I want you to stay healthy and I
Speaker 1: can't wait to see you out on the field. I
Speaker 1: for one to have you in the starting rotation, so
Speaker 1: I'm thrilled to get baseball back out there. Let's go, man.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you, and uh yeah go try Thanks for
Speaker 1: having me. After this break, my chat with Michael Jacobs,
Speaker 1: director of black Ball, the new Quimby documentary about the
Speaker 1: controversy over former Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Right now, Feeding
Speaker 1: America is working tirelessly to ensure our most vulnerable populations,
Speaker 1: like students who are out of school, the elderly individuals
Speaker 1: whose jobs are impacted, and low income families continue to
Speaker 1: have access to food and other needed resources during the
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen pandemic. The Feeding America Food Bank Network is
Speaker 1: committed to serving communities and people facing hunger in America,
Speaker 1: and their greatest need is donations and support of local
Speaker 1: food banks. This podcast is committed to donating a portion
Speaker 1: of the proceeds from the show to Feeding America, and
Speaker 1: we hope that you can join us in this effort
Speaker 1: to find out how you can help Feeding America dot
Speaker 1: org backslash COVID nineteen. Now here's my chat with Black
Speaker 1: Ball director Michael Jacobs. Michael, how's it going, ma'am good?
Speaker 1: How are you? I'm good. Well. First, I wanted to
Speaker 1: congratulate you on the release of the documentary. It is
Speaker 1: called black Bald. You can find it currently. I think
Speaker 1: in its first few chapters on Quimby, I assume there
Speaker 1: is not a better time in the universe ever to
Speaker 1: release a basketball documentary. Uh, did you have to rush
Speaker 1: it out after the success of the Last Dance? We did. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Originally we were slated to aar in June, and once
Speaker 1: the Last Dance rushed their you know schedule up, and
Speaker 1: once it became the cultural phenomena that it that it
Speaker 1: was going to be, um, you know, we had to
Speaker 1: get our our film series done much more quickly than
Speaker 1: we had anticipated. So we were really you know, making
Speaker 1: last minute changes and tweaks and um delivering you know,
Speaker 1: down to the wire here about a week and a
Speaker 1: half ago. Oh, I'm sure that's very easy to do
Speaker 1: in the pandemic, right right. I can't speak enough about
Speaker 1: the team of people working on this, you know, across
Speaker 1: all different facets, from the producers down to these post vendors. Um,
Speaker 1: it was. It was an extremely difficult set of circumstances
Speaker 1: on an extremely tight timeline, and they just did such
Speaker 1: a phenomenal job. Well, people who don't know it tells
Speaker 1: the story of the Wild two thousand fourteen season, in
Speaker 1: particular the playoff run of the l A Clippers, where
Speaker 1: the garbage person we know is Donald Sterling was outed
Speaker 1: for being a racist with a tape conversation my first question.
Speaker 1: I am a die hard Clippers fan since I was
Speaker 1: about seven years old. Uh, why would you voluntarily start
Speaker 1: watching this team so many hours when you had the
Speaker 1: choice not to? Right exactly, this was such a wolful
Speaker 1: basketball team, and you know, in a weird way, that's
Speaker 1: what made you know part of this story. You know. Obviously,
Speaker 1: of course Donald Sterling and his I love how you
Speaker 1: described him as the garbage man, this awful human being, um,
Speaker 1: who was in control of this team for too long,
Speaker 1: who made horrible decision after horrible decision, both personally and
Speaker 1: from a basketball perspective. He basically ran this team into
Speaker 1: the ground until things just sort of despite himself, turned
Speaker 1: you know around. But that's what makes our story, you know,
Speaker 1: all the more interesting, is that, like, this was a
Speaker 1: huge turnaround, and that you know, by two thousand fourteen,
Speaker 1: not only did he have a team of of you know,
Speaker 1: really competitive, top quality players, but they were storming into
Speaker 1: the playoffs. And so you know, it was important to
Speaker 1: us to make sure we go into that backstory to
Speaker 1: remind audiences that, like, hey, the Clippers weren't always like this.
Speaker 1: In fact, you people have probably knew much about them, um,
Speaker 1: and if you knew stuff about them. You you know,
Speaker 1: you knew that they were one of the worst franchises
Speaker 1: in professional sports. So the turnaround was so important to
Speaker 1: make sure that we you know, captured along with um,
Speaker 1: you know, setting the table for the quick Uh and Painful. Um,
Speaker 1: you know Demise after his tape came out. Quick and
Speaker 1: Painful is the other team name for the Clippers. Uh
Speaker 1: did you where are you? Where are you originally from?
Speaker 1: I grew up in Boulder, Colorado, And um, I went
Speaker 1: to high school in Denver, UM, So I'm a Colorado guy.
Speaker 1: So I grew up a Nuggets fan. UM. And you know,
Speaker 1: we had a you know, we also have not had
Speaker 1: great teams, and you know, there were eras there, especially
Speaker 1: when I was in you know, middle school and really
Speaker 1: up until high school, we were we were all so
Speaker 1: not a laughing stock in the same way the Clippers were.
Speaker 1: But it was hard to feel the competitive team. But
Speaker 1: then that the can be Ma Tumbo years came along,
Speaker 1: and you know we had a little, a little playoff
Speaker 1: run there and then of course now we're back in
Speaker 1: the mix. Yeah, you had to sit through the Lofonso
Speaker 1: Ellis years. I you've you you understand the plight, you know,
Speaker 1: the plate. It's funny because it's kind of mentioned in
Speaker 1: the documentary a little bit like if you're a Clippers fan,
Speaker 1: you you knew what you were ignoring, you knew what
Speaker 1: you were willing to do. And I actually am on
Speaker 1: record doing it because the Rolling Stone magazine had me
Speaker 1: write an article in the first year of Lob City
Speaker 1: about how excited I was, which was very nice of them,
Speaker 1: And in there I even say in a sentence, let's
Speaker 1: forget that our owners are racist. Like I actually used
Speaker 1: that sentence. And I guess did you run into that
Speaker 1: when you talked to fans that we were just woefully
Speaker 1: ignorant to how far it went? Number one, because I
Speaker 1: just assume all rich white guys are racist. Uh? And
Speaker 1: did we know it was? Did anyone know it was
Speaker 1: this much? I mean, that's such a good question, And
Speaker 1: I mean it's kind of a question, you know. I
Speaker 1: think everybody you know, who's a who's a fan of
Speaker 1: professional sports should ask themselves, you know, once in a while,
Speaker 1: is what am I supporting here? And what am I
Speaker 1: sticking my head in the sand about, you know? And
Speaker 1: I think, as you point out, like it was a
Speaker 1: little bit of a probably more than an open secret
Speaker 1: with Donald Sterling, right, And there were there was some
Speaker 1: very publicized transgressions prior to this tape, you know, and
Speaker 1: there was the anti discrimination settlement and there was Elgin
Speaker 1: Baylor's lawsuits. So there were these moments, um that we're
Speaker 1: on record that we're shameful, and it probably did make
Speaker 1: it hard for fans to be fans. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think it's fans we we turn away from a
Speaker 1: lot of stuff. And I think that's probably the other
Speaker 1: really important part of this documentary is setting it in
Speaker 1: in America, and because I think it just it forced
Speaker 1: the heads in the sand to look up and look
Speaker 1: around again, you know. And because we had an African
Speaker 1: American president, because we had the rise of the Black
Speaker 1: Lives Matter movement as a response to the shooting of
Speaker 1: Trayvon mart you know, because we had athletes, a new
Speaker 1: generation of athletes led by Dwyane Wade and in our case,
Speaker 1: Chris Paul and then of course Lebron James starting to
Speaker 1: be more aware and politically active. And so as a
Speaker 1: result of that, I think stands you know, we're just
Speaker 1: forced to start to pay attention again. Um. And for
Speaker 1: the better, right, But yeah, I mean I think we're
Speaker 1: all a little bit complicit when it comes to these
Speaker 1: things and and the sports we love and the ways
Speaker 1: that we want to and and of course we're it's
Speaker 1: not like you, as a fan, we're ever rooting for
Speaker 1: Donald Sterling, right, You're rooting for players and and this team,
Speaker 1: and so it's complicated. Yeah, it's very much, very much.
Speaker 1: So you spoke to Chris Paul J. J Reddick, DeAndre
Speaker 1: Jordan's post career Matt Barnes, which is my favorite Matt Barnes. Uh,
Speaker 1: Doc Doc Rivers. They all agreed to help with this story.
Speaker 1: I assume they've talked about it in their opinion maybe
Speaker 1: quote unquote enough. How did you get them to agree
Speaker 1: to doing the doc? Yeah? So, um, my producer Sam Widows, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, he had a relationship with Doc Rivers and
Speaker 1: and he heard Doc Rivers tell this story about the
Speaker 1: first time that the players had this you know, confrontational
Speaker 1: meeting with him after the tape came out, and then
Speaker 1: he convinced Doc to you know, put a little sizzle
Speaker 1: tape together and you know, once you know, he and
Speaker 1: my other producing partner, Chris Gary, you know, showed me
Speaker 1: the tape. I was like, if we have access to doc,
Speaker 1: you know, hopefully the rest of the guys will follow.
Speaker 1: And so, you know, Will Packer and his producing team
Speaker 1: were able to get Chris Paul to agree to sit
Speaker 1: down with us, and then Chris was really helpful and
Speaker 1: instrumental in getting some of the other players to agree
Speaker 1: to sit with us. And so he kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: once once he had had you know, once he um
Speaker 1: got for an interview and had a good experience, and
Speaker 1: we just sort of gave him the space to share
Speaker 1: his side of the story for the first time and
Speaker 1: just be good listeners. Um. He went on on a
Speaker 1: limb for us and reached out to DeAndre and JJ
Speaker 1: and said, I really think you guys should should sit
Speaker 1: down and and share this story. And and here's you know,
Speaker 1: an opportunity for the first time ever to just be
Speaker 1: given full control of the microphone about what happened. UM.
Speaker 1: So it just kind of, you know, the stars just
Speaker 1: kind of aligned. And like I said, that great producers
Speaker 1: who came together and just worked all the angles to
Speaker 1: get all these folks to sit down with us over
Speaker 1: a pretty tight timeline. And um, and then you know,
Speaker 1: once people started talking about this. I think it was
Speaker 1: almost a sense of relief that they were able to
Speaker 1: sort of share for the first time ever what they
Speaker 1: went through. And you know, obviously there is the lack
Speaker 1: of participation on Blake Griffin's behalf. Is it just that
Speaker 1: he I mean, he's sort of talked to death about it.
Speaker 1: Is that what the feeling you got was, Yeah, we
Speaker 1: reached out to him, um, but he had um he
Speaker 1: had just done Ramona Shellburn's um great podcast for ESPN,
Speaker 1: The Sterling Affairs, and so I he had communicated back
Speaker 1: to us that he had said enough, and so we
Speaker 1: just sort of left it there and and that's when
Speaker 1: we were able to get Matt Barns and like you said,
Speaker 1: that post career Matt Barnes retirement, Matt Barnes was permission
Speaker 1: to speak freely, which was which was awesome because he's
Speaker 1: just such an awesome personality and had such a different
Speaker 1: and interesting perspective, right because this is a guy who's
Speaker 1: faced some pretty intense you know, racism throughout his life,
Speaker 1: and he comes from a biracial background, and so he
Speaker 1: had a really really um interesting perspective to share about,
Speaker 1: you know, his experience both in life prior to this
Speaker 1: tape and then you know how the tape made him
Speaker 1: feel in his reaction to it. Sure, Uh, you have
Speaker 1: some appearances and expertise from some talking heads, from Bob
Speaker 1: Iger to Remember Brown to the mayor of l A. Uh,
Speaker 1: you got you got a big plethora of people. Did
Speaker 1: you get any interaction or reach out to Shelly Sterling
Speaker 1: or Vista Viana we're sort of the juicier aspects of
Speaker 1: this story going to be involved at any point. Well,
Speaker 1: we thought about it um, you know, and for a
Speaker 1: little while there we were, you know, in earnest considering
Speaker 1: it um. But at the end of the day, you know,
Speaker 1: Donald Sterling and said enough, you know, he had said
Speaker 1: his piece and he had made clear you know, who
Speaker 1: he was, and you know, so it didn't feel like
Speaker 1: it was going to add too much to the story.
Speaker 1: And then I think more importantly, we had just gotten
Speaker 1: so much really deep and personal storytelling on behalf of
Speaker 1: the players. You know, they really shared with us, you know,
Speaker 1: some some of these more uncomfortable experiences you know, in
Speaker 1: their lives about race again that that pregated the tape. Um.
Speaker 1: But then also just some of the ways that they've
Speaker 1: made them feel that they've never expressed before, and so
Speaker 1: we got a little bit of protective of that, and
Speaker 1: it just felt a little it didn't feel right to
Speaker 1: go out to the Sterling camp and get them in.
Speaker 1: And then we felt like, you know, I knew, of
Speaker 1: course that Donald was going to be plenty present in
Speaker 1: this film, right between the archival that tape itself. Um
Speaker 1: so there's really gonna be no mystery or curiosity about
Speaker 1: who this guy as it was. Um So, you know,
Speaker 1: we just sort of let it be and said, let's
Speaker 1: focus on, you know, making this just about the players
Speaker 1: and giving them full control of the microphone because they
Speaker 1: had never been given the opportunity to, you know, have
Speaker 1: that you know chance prior. Yeah, and I don't want
Speaker 1: to spoil a bunch for people, so I'll tell you.
Speaker 1: I am a lifelong Clippers fanatic, and I feel like
Speaker 1: I've heard or read everything about it, but I learned
Speaker 1: a bunch of new things. One of them was that
Speaker 1: Donald Sterling didn't want to sign JJ Reddick because he
Speaker 1: was too expensive for a white player. I had never
Speaker 1: heard that. It's nuts, right, I mean, it was one
Speaker 1: of those things that on set we were like, what's
Speaker 1: like it just added that extra layer of you know,
Speaker 1: this guy, you know, Donald's clear warped understanding of of
Speaker 1: of race and this idea of the ownership of others
Speaker 1: right as an owner. Um, it just it made it
Speaker 1: all the more creepy. It made it all the more
Speaker 1: layered and complicated. His whole view of race at large,
Speaker 1: just added this other dimensionality. When j J and Doc
Speaker 1: started telling us that, it was like, you know, A
Speaker 1: didn't really make sense of it, and I still don't
Speaker 1: get it. Was it because he's he's threatened by paying
Speaker 1: a white player this much that he feels like, you know,
Speaker 1: it's a different experience than what he what he pays
Speaker 1: as African American players, Or is it that this guy
Speaker 1: is so twisted up around the actual around race that
Speaker 1: you know, just paying this amount of money to a
Speaker 1: white player, you know, seems wrong on some fundamental level.
Speaker 1: It's just just really messed up a lot of layers. Uh.
Speaker 1: I noticed quickly as a big film school guy, you
Speaker 1: have these subjects looking directly at the camera, which means
Speaker 1: you obviously have an influence of Errol Morris. Was was
Speaker 1: the eye contact important for you? It was? Yeah? I
Speaker 1: mean I think both as um you know, as an
Speaker 1: interview technique, and really a desire to have a conversation
Speaker 1: right as the as the person you know, engaging in
Speaker 1: these conversations and and you know, having these conversations. I
Speaker 1: kind of wanted us to just be able to have
Speaker 1: those conversations directly and be able to look into each
Speaker 1: other's eyes and and you know, read each other's expressions,
Speaker 1: especially around sensitive subject her, and then yes, you have
Speaker 1: the I guess the benefit of that is that when
Speaker 1: the audience goes to watch it, then the subjects looking
Speaker 1: directly at the audience, So there's this feeling of direct intimacy.
Speaker 1: So I felt like the right tool for the project.
Speaker 1: Released in the newly launched content provider Quimby. Your episodes
Speaker 1: are going to be under ten minute intervals, right, and
Speaker 1: they recently were only available on your phone. They've changed
Speaker 1: out to the television. I've heard. Was it a challenge
Speaker 1: putting this heavy, racially intense show into those kind of parameters?
Speaker 1: It was, yeah, I mean, just in general, the challenge
Speaker 1: of of, you know, a story like this is making
Speaker 1: sure that it can hold together as sort of a
Speaker 1: ninety minute feature length documentary. Would that's about you know,
Speaker 1: this moment in time and these issues around race in
Speaker 1: America and this basketball and professional athletes story. But then
Speaker 1: also we really need to make sure that you could
Speaker 1: chop it up into these twelve chapters, all under ten minutes,
Speaker 1: and make sure that there was a really satisfying beginning, middle,
Speaker 1: and end um to each of the episodes. And like
Speaker 1: you said, doing that alongside these you know, conversations about
Speaker 1: about race and culture and and America it provided a
Speaker 1: really unique challenge. UM. But my editor, big shout out
Speaker 1: to Clayton Warfolk just such a fantastic job of making
Speaker 1: sure that we were able to include all those necessary ingredients,
Speaker 1: the contextual ingredients about you know, America and um and
Speaker 1: these real intimate conversations alongside you know, making sure that
Speaker 1: we stayed true our core narrative, you know, and our
Speaker 1: really strong pre built narrative about what happened over these
Speaker 1: five days. What was the for you most kind of
Speaker 1: crushing or cringe worthy moment you stumbled on for this
Speaker 1: story in series? I would say, I mean there were
Speaker 1: a lot right when you're dealing McDonald Sterling, there's a
Speaker 1: lot of cringe um, and you know, Sterling provided endless
Speaker 1: cringe and I think, um, once we got ahold of
Speaker 1: that white party footage, it was the because it's so raw, right,
Speaker 1: it's just um, you know, it's it's not well shot
Speaker 1: by home video footage, right, so it's almost it's just sloppy,
Speaker 1: it's poor framing. But as a result of that, you know,
Speaker 1: it's just this raw capture of this little world, right
Speaker 1: of Sterling's little world of all these people, um, you know,
Speaker 1: at this private party at his house where he's showcasing
Speaker 1: his players. And I used the word showcasing because that's
Speaker 1: the way that they described it, that they felt like
Speaker 1: they were sort of trophies to be showcased. And you
Speaker 1: can see the players faces and they're just so uncomfortable
Speaker 1: as he's sort of displaying his players to to this
Speaker 1: group of people that are I assume as peers and
Speaker 1: his friends, and it's just gross and it was really uncomfortable,
Speaker 1: and it was just one of those raw moments where
Speaker 1: you just sort of get a peek at um, you know,
Speaker 1: because the tape is so sensational, right, and the tape
Speaker 1: is such an obvious crossing the line of how this
Speaker 1: guy felt in such a lage bear cruise about who
Speaker 1: he was, um, but this footage of this party was
Speaker 1: just another dimension to that that to a certain extent,
Speaker 1: was just creepier, you know, and grosser. So that was
Speaker 1: for me, that was by far the most cringey. But
Speaker 1: there were plenty of crunching. I mean, his his interview
Speaker 1: with Anderson Cooper is a wow. You couldn't have written it.
Speaker 1: And not only that, the white Party stuff. It's like
Speaker 1: a documentary forget Out. It's like a Jordan Peel moment.
Speaker 1: It's so weird, totally it is. It really is a
Speaker 1: get out moment. You know, it just is so so
Speaker 1: so bizarre. Would you have thought without the distraction and
Speaker 1: don't play kate me here, was this a championship team?
Speaker 1: I don't think so. I think that maybe maybe maybe
Speaker 1: they would have got past okay see, without this distraction,
Speaker 1: I could also have seen them losing in game seven.
Speaker 1: Okay see, but I don't know if anyone was going
Speaker 1: to beat tan Antonio that year, right, Yeah, No, That's
Speaker 1: sort of how I feel. And I was at that
Speaker 1: game seven. I was also at the game five. I
Speaker 1: mean I was, I was watching your duck and thinking
Speaker 1: to myself, was I there? And then had to pretty
Speaker 1: much look at my calendar and I and I was,
Speaker 1: and I feel like I may have pushed it out
Speaker 1: of my mind the way I did my parents divorced.
Speaker 1: That's awesome though, that you've got to, you know, be
Speaker 1: at these games and sort of see that Lop City team.
Speaker 1: I mean, such a fun team and such an interesting
Speaker 1: you know, part of the Clippers history and the Laura
Speaker 1: now you know, and in a weird way, right, it's
Speaker 1: like lob City ends, and you know the Donald Sterling
Speaker 1: stain is is behind us, and now look at the
Speaker 1: Clippers now you know it is. It is almost a
Speaker 1: little bit of a fairy tale ending, hopefully for for
Speaker 1: you Clipper fans. Well, you can blame me if I
Speaker 1: jinxed it, I'll blame everyone in your opinion. You've talked
Speaker 1: to two players, experts, cultural analysts. You tell me, can
Speaker 1: the curse ever be lifted? I mean, if anyone can
Speaker 1: lift the curse, it's it's a man by the name
Speaker 1: of Doc Rivers. I mean, the guy is an incredible
Speaker 1: human being. You know, what a what a leader, what
Speaker 1: a coach um, what an awesome capable dude? You know
Speaker 1: who who I would never bet again. So I'm all
Speaker 1: in on doc you know, saying what curse? Yeah listen,
Speaker 1: I'll take it from your mouth to God's ears. Has
Speaker 1: there ever been a better year to be Todd Boyd
Speaker 1: also got hey the notorious PhD. I am happy for
Speaker 1: him getting his shine and getting his you know licks
Speaker 1: and wherever he can. He is an awesome, awesome guy
Speaker 1: and such a great articulate spokesperson on behalf of pop
Speaker 1: culture and race and the intersection of hip hop and basketball. Yeah, listen,
Speaker 1: I I took his class at USC. I'm a fan.
Speaker 1: I love seeing him and stuff, and he is clearly
Speaker 1: all over the place, uh this this year, So listen.
Speaker 1: I thank you for your documentary as a Clippers fan.
Speaker 1: Happy to have it out there. It's blackballed on Quimby.
Speaker 1: It gets released in these sort of small pockets, but
Speaker 1: they're really good and people will love it. And I
Speaker 1: just ask you one thing. How about NFL owners next? Yeah? Well,
Speaker 1: thank you man, And again I love the doc. It's
Speaker 1: awesome and I appreciate it. Thanks. I appreciate the No
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