WEBVTT - MIKE TIRICO (NBC): 19TH HOLE 0:00:02.320 --> 0:00:06.840 Storytelling from a three decade friendship and television sports with 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:12.240 the ultra talented, incredibly versatile Mike Tarrico of NBC. Our 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:15.640 conversation was what you might call far flung. We had 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:17.919 a lot to cover, We had a lot of laughs, 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:22.160 and re vered way beyond the obvious. Football. Talked about 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:27.400 the incredible breadth of unforgettable moments that Mike has broadcast, 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:33.000 from maybe golf's ultimate mental meltdown, the craziest finish in 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:38.159 Kentucky Derby history, a total serena shocker, and the final 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:42.760 game in the career of Kobe Bryant. God Rest his soul, 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:46.320 Kobe's last game. It was a game that it was 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:49.320 me Hub and Lisasualter's got to call in l A 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:52.639 and Kobe sat with us for a half hour at 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:55.120 five ashof as our producer Eddie had covered Kobe all 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:59.040 went back in his early days. Uh. We sat with 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:03.080 with Kobe for like twenty five to thirty minutes and 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:08.039 talked about career, life, everything else. And he really he said, 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:10.080 I don't know what I have in me tonight. I 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:13.480 don't you know. And he ended up having an incredible 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:18.080 game that you know, you were reminded the mentality of 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:21.960 the athlete and their mental approach to He knew exactly 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:23.720 how much he had in the tank, and if he 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:27.160 got going, he could he could get or sixty in 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:30.960 the tank. Right. What he did exactly exactly. You you 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:34.800 be said, you know, I hadn't I had it. I 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:38.080 had a dream. I was shaven, and I remembered my dream. 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:40.559 I thought, I thought Kobe could have like a fifty 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:42.679 sixty point kind of game. And he threw that out 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:44.760 like in the first quarter, and Kobe is going there. 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:46.600 I told you, I told you it was. It was 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:48.840 one of those. But it's the athletes that the athletes 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:51.120 who are so smart, and that's what I've learned to 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:54.840 appreciate about Lebron. He talked to Lebron about basketball. Oh 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:58.000 my gosh, it's a master class. He sees so much. 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:01.360 That's why he's an unbelievable assist guy, rebounder, and he's 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:04.120 made so many teams so much better over the years. 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:07.080 And that's what I feel so fortunate, is not just 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:10.400 being able to call the events that these folks have 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:14.800 been involved with, but to hear what makes them so great. 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:18.400 There's a lot more ahead and the privilege of covering 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:22.240 some of the greatest sports legends of all the time. Also, 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:27.120 there were some surprising turns in our conversation, like the 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:31.760 search for killboard. We talked funny about our twenty five 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:35.880 years working together at ESPN ABC, where of course Mike 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:40.680 was the voice of Monday Night Football, covered college sports, golf, tennis, 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:45.760 posted World Cups, and he reminded me we actually hosted 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:49.400 Sports Center together a few times, and he's got a 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:51.520 story he loves to tell about that. Of course, at 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:54.480 NBC Sports, since two thousand six, Team Mike has done 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:58.799 everything He's called NFL games, hosted Football Night in America, 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:02.040 covered the Triple Crown, racist the Stanley Cup, among other things, 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:04.880 and of course is now the prime time host for 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:08.360 the Winter and Summer Olympics. This was great fun. We 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:11.680 got to talk about why we're so grateful getting to 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:15.120 do the thing we love to do. Caught up with 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:20.760 Mike in America's most famous town for golf, and now 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:24.800 Mike Terko reporting from Augusta, which is a fabled place 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:29.040 for all who love and respect the sport of golf 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:31.440 as you do. So thank you for taking time, my 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:34.040 old friend and your master's prep to join us here. 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:36.600 I guess maybe I'm doing you a favor because this 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:38.920 is your quarantine day and Augustus, I'm giving you away 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:41.360 to kill an hour as you as you sit in 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:44.560 that lovely hotel room. Listen, this might seem remedial for you, 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:48.080 But for someone that has a love and a passion 0:03:48.120 --> 0:03:51.119 and a tremendous feel for the sport of golf, doing 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:53.160 what you've done so well for so many years, to 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:57.880 someone who doesn't have that stuff, describe the magic of 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:01.360 that place and the magic of the sport of golf 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:05.120 from an announcer's perspective, Why does it stir your blood 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:08.240 so deeply? Yeah? So, so let's just start with the 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:13.640 basic separation the four majors. The other three have been 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:17.279 in rotating locations, So the Open, the British Open, the 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:20.559 Open Championship, however you want to refer to, rotates around 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:23.359 what's called the ROTA nine different courses in the in 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:25.920 the British Isles, the U S Openers. We know some 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:29.360 years at Pebble Beach, some of your Shandekock, Bethpage, Black Oakmont, 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:33.040 Oakland Hills, moves all over the country right Tory Pines. 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:36.880 This year the PGA Championship scene, great courses around the US. 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:40.640 This is the one of the four majors that comes 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:44.320 back to the same place, so it starts there. Second, 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:47.720 it's the timing of it. It is April, it's springtime 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:52.080 in Georgia, and absent your pollen allergies, there's no place 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:55.160 better to be. I mean, everything is Do you have allergies? 0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:58.360 Do you have allergies? Of the flowers there? I'm I'm 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.400 a little bit. I'm not bad. Some people really get 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:04.400 knocked out with the oute. The pollen is so thick 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:08.719 and heavy because the blooming, it just it just everything explodes. Uh. 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:11.359 In this a couple of weeks stretch of early April. 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:14.719 So what what you've set? And this is honestly it's 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:17.440 pre climate change because now it's warmer in the Northeast 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:19.880 and the Midwest in April and late March than it 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:23.640 used to be. Uh. But in the days where you're 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:25.640 used to cold weather this time of year, you're just 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:29.640 getting that first fifty degree day, sixty degree day you 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:34.279 turn on AUGUSTA, and it looks amazing. I always challenge 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:36.760 people when they come here, if they're lucky enough to 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:39.719 be a guest in any way, or a patron who 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:43.720 comes to the event, go go find go find a cigarette, 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:47.159 but go find a piece of trash, go find anything 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:49.800 out of place, and you almost never can. It is 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:55.280 the most pristine, beautifully landscaped and manicured property. So even 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:59.240 if you're not a softie for just the visuals, this 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:03.479 place is the most beautiful, breathtaking, captivating place. And I 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.279 think the last part is the shots that happened here 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:09.720 over and over. It's the first major of the year, 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:12.800 so we've waited eight months usually since the end of 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:15.920 the major championship golf season, so there's pressure on the players. 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:19.120 It's your chance to make history. And the best players, 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:23.600 Nicholas Palmer, player Woods Watson, they've all one here. They've 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:26.360 all hit memorable shots going back to Sneed and Gene 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:30.800 Sara's and so it's all of that in one big place. 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:33.640 And when you come here, you enter through the gates 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:37.479 and it just feels different. There is a reverence to 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:41.200 the history for the history. Uh, there's an importance of 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:45.920 what has happened here over time. Uh, there's the feeling 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:48.279 that when you come here you have a chance to 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:52.160 be remembered forever for what you do Bubba Watson hit 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:55.760 a shot from way right of the tenth hole in 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:59.279 a playoff that is forever talked about. So whenever anybody 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:01.800 comes to the Mass they walked down by ten. I 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:03.520 think Bubba hit it here. No, it was here. Now 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:06.240 you hooked it around this tree. So those things last. 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:08.159 That doesn't happen to the other golf tournaments in the 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:11.800 same way. So all of that together makes it special. 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:14.920 And the thing I would say, Chris, for people, it's 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:18.280 hard to get here as a player, a caddy, a 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:21.440 member of the media, a member, or an invited guest. 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:27.000 But once you get here, you're treated so well. There's 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:30.080 no sporting event where the media is treated better the 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:33.160 players anything else. And you come here, if you're lucky 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:36.560 enough to come here as a guest of a member 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.840 and play, you're not treated any better anywhere else in 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:42.600 the world. So it really is the finest of everything 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:44.080 when you get here. And that's why I think when 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:46.880 we all get a chance to come back, you feel 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:49.000 you feel like it's a special week. You really do. 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:51.640 I've never been to the Master just the biggest sporting 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:53.000 event in the world. I've never been, and I've had 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.320 a chance. I won a charity silent auction a couple 0:07:56.320 --> 0:07:58.520 of times. I was all set up to go, couldn't 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:00.680 make it one of these years. So I'll have to 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:03.160 have to experience that, because even though I don't feel 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.800 golf in that way, I will never feel the same 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:09.239 about golf as I do about tennis or other sports. 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:11.080 I think I would get drawn in by just the 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:12.880 things that you described, and so I look forward to 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:15.160 doing that at some point. And I won't drink a mint, Julia, 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:18.040 because that's a waste of beautiful bourbon. But I'm gonna 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:22.080 enjoy the rest of the whole Master's experience, so I will. 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:24.520 I will say that right to your heart, and having 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.160 covered it with you for five years, I know what 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:29.280 what a what a fondness and affection you have for 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:33.800 the All England Club for Wimbledon, very very similar to 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:38.240 the point that they are private clubs that have a 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:42.520 very special membership, and they open their doors for the 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:44.960 fortnite for two weeks at Wimbledon for a week plus 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:47.120 here now with the drive chip and putt for the 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:49.840 kids and the women's amateur that happens this Saturday before 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:53.440 the Masters. Now they open their doors for ten days 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:55.720 in the in the Augustus case. Now for the rest 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:59.400 of the world, and when somebody competes, it's a little different. 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:02.079 As you know, the players have a different feel when 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:06.000 they walk onto the grounds of the All England Club. Uh. 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:07.719 They come out of that tunnel to the left that 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.360 you're a great bunker and they walk onto center court. 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:13.199 It's the same feeling when the players walk down from 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:15.679 the clubhouse to the first tea in Augusta. And the 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:20.640 clubs have actually shared uh practices, hosted each other uh 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:23.319 during their events as well some members from the clubs, 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:27.240 so they know and recognize each other's similarities. And I 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:29.520 think if you got here you would feel those Wimbledon 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:31.600 kind of vibes that you get when you go to 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:33.800 the All England Club. I think you're right. The difference 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:35.760 is one is tennis and one is golf, and golf 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:38.320 for me as a love hate relationship, you know, I 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:40.120 I play it badly. I think you have to be 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:44.480 a decent or at least an enthusiastic golfer to announce it. 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:46.160 It's not true of other sports. You don't have to 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:50.120 have played competitive basketball to call a basketball game or 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:52.640 football game. I think too too it helps in tennis 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:55.120 for sure. That that I played tennis golf, I'm not 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:58.280 nearly a good enough golfer or experience of golfer. I 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:00.640 could never do what you do and the and the 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:03.040 best golf announcers do, so I don't even try to 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:05.880 venture into that world. In fact, I came across my 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:08.040 golf bag here. It's in the laundry room. It's kind 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:11.080 of touched behind the dryer. I saw it the other day. 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:13.960 It's got an inch thick cake of dust on it. 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:16.760 That's how long I've been retired from golf. I kind 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:21.080 of I wrestle it. It weighs a hundred and fifty pounds. Obviously, 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:24.120 I've got six or seven more clubs than you're allowed 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:26.360 to have, three pairs of shoes, a thousand balls. Because 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:28.520 I lose some money during a round, I'm gonna get 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:32.280 it out and and sort of like gently unretired on 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:35.240 the driving range. But but we have never played golf together, 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:36.960 which is your loss because you could have taken money 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:40.600 from me. But but I've seen you play golf o No, 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:43.400 not at the Jimmy V. Have you not at the 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:46.880 Jimmy V, which I'm sure you did, But I remember. 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:49.360 This is like one of those like why do you remember? 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:52.760 That can make me look worse than I already made myself. Look, 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:58.760 I'm thinking unless, unless, I unless, I imagine this. Didn't 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:03.520 you do a pie in Cincinnati playing golfic? Yes, but 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:06.240 it only can I only had We didn't play a 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:08.560 full round. We had some shots. He hit some drives 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:11.600 and and I actually didn't choke. See at the Jimmy 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.640 V which he played and enjoyed, Charles Barkley brought his 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:17.120 entire gallery to my tea box off of their green 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:20.400 when they were adjacent. I Mike, I melted down. I 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:22.960 can now describe choking in a way that I never 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:25.960 could have before, because it was the worst choking experience, 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:30.480 athletic or otherwise, of my life. He falls on the ground, 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:33.120 laughing with a thousand people because I Scottish a tea 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:35.160 shot that gets a foot off the ground, hits off, 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:38.280 bounces off, the ball, cleaner goes and and my group 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:40.640 is mortified. I have to like try to play that off. 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:44.880 You put on that brave face, but you're dying inside, 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:50.080 dying so badly. I mean that event, that event, and 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:52.760 it's heyday. It's funny because I was telling people about 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:57.480 watching the NC Tournament, right, and uh, watching teams and 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:01.680 Cinderella's and all that. And now my on twenty or daughters. 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:05.120 You know, she's a teenager. She's in college now. So 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:08.319 so I've got two kids who have experienced the tournament 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:11.080 and loved the tournament for growing up with it, and 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:13.319 I'm kind of taken them back to, well, when did 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:16.440 the tournament really take off? Right? He started talking about 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:19.000 the magic and Larry Bird game in seventy nine, realist, 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:21.400 Oh my god, how long ago is that? And we 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:23.200 started talking with the Jimmy v Game and the V 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.040 Foundation and how all of us, uh really had a 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:28.760 wonderful time. And I just started telling someone. I don't 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:30.839 think it was the kids, just the stories about Jimmy 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:34.920 V uh in his last couple of years working in Bristol. 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:36.719 And you did a lot of those studio shows and 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:39.440 John Saunders did. I was doing more radio. I was 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:44.160 doing I'll Never Forget V's last night in Connecticut. He 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:47.360 felt really good after the show came up to the 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:49.319 news room hung in the back of the old news 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:51.680 room at ESPN with when you stepped up to the 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:53.520 news room, it was like on that one step up 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:56.000 for all the cubicles. Right. V stood in the back 0:12:56.280 --> 0:12:58.599 and held court with Saunders, and I was doing the 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:01.600 two thirty am I Sports Center with Chris Myers half 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:04.800 hour at that time. Uh, it was it may be 0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:07.640 the worst show I've ever done, because all we did 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:10.760 from twelve o'clock when when they came up until one 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:14.560 thirty two was listening to V tells stories and of 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:18.439 all the good people we've been around, Uh, nobody captivated 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:21.960 the room and told stories like Valvano. And that's why 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:25.880 the Jimmy V. Celebrity Golf Classic after he passed and 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:29.240 Raleigh was one of the most enjoyable weekends because it truly, Chris, 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:32.360 It's like one of those rare things that actually was 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:34.960 in the spirit of the person. Somebody says, then let's 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:37.160 do this in the spirit of so and so that 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:40.160 weekend was in the spirit of Jimmy V. And that's 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:43.240 some of them, some of my most enjoyable memories over time. 0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:45.800 Notwithstanding you Shank and went off the off the team 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:48.360 with the job. You got me smiling and thinking about 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:51.760 those memories. I mean, people will always remember the speech 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:55.160 at the SPS. Don't give up don't ever give up. 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:57.760 But we saw it on a nightly basis how inspiring 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:01.280 Jimmy was. Because what you just described is a great memory. 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:03.520 He was an agony as that was happening. You just 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:06.280 know that he was. We saw it in Bristol. I 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:09.200 saw it at the last final four sadly that he 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:12.120 covered and the pain was unbelievable in his back, and 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.400 he he was managing that and still being the life 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:18.319 of the party, still bringing the great energy. And I 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:21.200 think that that's what such a treasure Mike, about what'll 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:22.880 you've been lucky enough to do for a long time, 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:25.720 and I've known you for thirty years is working with 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:28.760 these personalities, working with these analysts. I think you share 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:33.680 my joy in working with those folks, building chemistry on 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:37.080 and off the air, and and the characters that you've 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:39.800 worked with the I'm just gonna throw a few names 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:42.640 out there. This just scratches the surface. But not only 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:44.560 are they great analysts, great at their job, but the 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:48.800 characters as human beings, Lee Corso, he Be Brown, Doug Flutie, 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:52.320 Nick Fouldo, Curtis Strange, all the golf guys, John Gruden, 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:56.840 Johnny Mack and Tennis among others len Elmore, Tony Dungee. 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:59.120 I mean we haven't. We'll get to the soccer guys 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:02.200 at the World Cups. But that that roster of people 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:05.520 that you've gotten a chance to work with, to bring 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:08.080 out the best in and then just to to learn 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:11.760 from them life lessons. I know you don't take that 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:15.400 for granted. Not, not not at all. And I loved 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:18.480 every second of it. Uh, it's so funny. So I 0:15:18.520 --> 0:15:21.080 was driving from Florida up to the up to Augusta, 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:24.040 and I called Carl Rabbits because we're coming up an 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:28.040 opening day baseball And you know, played hundreds of rounds 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:30.000 of golf with Ravy over the years when we were 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:32.520 living in Connecticut. He was working baseball tonight or in 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:35.880 the late night sports center around the same time. Our 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:38.480 kids were about the same age. So we get out 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:40.800 and play golf at nine in the morning, off no sleep, 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:42.520 and play in the afternoon. And so we played a 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:45.960 ton of golf together. And all of the people at 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:49.960 sports center, like you, like Saunders, like Linda, like Levy, 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:54.880 Dan Patrick, Keith, Jack Edwards doing some hockey. I've I've 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:57.440 run across Jack Edwards now more than a few times. 0:15:57.480 --> 0:15:59.680 Is now the TV voice of the Bruins, that it's 0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:03.280 like minds of the great story. Jack would always everybody 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:05.840 had their quirks of what they did at Sports Center, right, 0:16:06.600 --> 0:16:09.800 Gary Miller would take seven seconds to put his makeup on. 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:12.600 He would talk, he would tuck the tail of his 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:15.560 earpiece into his pocket. He'd like walked down on the 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:18.400 set with papers everywhere. By the way, look it looked 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:23.520 like he took seven seconds to do it. He plug 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:25.920 his I FP and do this with makeup real quick 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:28.360 and do like a great baseball tonight by an hour 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:32.000 with for an hour with Peter Gammett's. Jack would always 0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:37.440 bring a see through the clipboard to the set. He 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:40.480 keep his rundown on there whatever nots. Jack was super organized. 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:44.120 Jack brought that from local TV. And the earpiece that 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:46.120 we all have is called an I F B. Right, 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:49.480 So Jack had printed in large letters like on the 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:52.320 back of it like this no I F B. And 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:54.840 to this day, for some reason, I remember that. So 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:56.920 I saw Jack, like, do you still have your No 0:16:57.080 --> 0:16:59.760 I FB clipboard? He's like, how do you remember that? 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:03.680 But like all those characters and Sports Center, I think 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:07.680 and I'm curious how you feel it prepared me for 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:10.080 all the characters and all these other sports, you know, 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:13.639 because you had the straight guy, the funny guy, the 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:18.879 different person you were working with, their different sensibilities. Uh, 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:20.920 we do an NB, we do a sports center. Chris 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:24.120 Myers always wanted the NBA highlights. I wanted the NHL highlights. 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:26.359 We would trade highlights like if if I had like 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:28.879 the Lakers game for its, like, hey, what would you 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:31.439 can I'll give you too, Like the Kings of the 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:33.800 Canucks here and the Sharks if you want to slide 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:37.200 me over, like the Sacramento Clickers guys were highlights there. 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:41.000 We would swap highlights and like, hey, later in the show, 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:42.800 when we get down to like the d s, maybe 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:45.639 maybe we could just flew the director. You're gonna do this? 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:49.320 We we we we did to the producer and the director. 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:53.639 But like all all that stuff, everybody's different quirks, personalities. 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:58.000 I think prepared both of us for the large group 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:01.960 of people that we worked with as analysts. And it 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:04.840 has been, like, like you said, one of the great 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:09.359 thrills for me. Um like Hugh be the all time 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:13.600 MultiMate teacher, Gruden the ultimate coach. John just wanted another 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:16.040 team to coach and our Monday night football group from 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:19.159 director of producer around down the production assistant. He coached 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:21.320 all of us up and we all got a masters 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:25.639 and football. Being around John Jaws the quarterback position, there 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:27.520 are more things that I look at the quarterback position 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:30.800 still today that have been just drilled into my head 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:35.240 from Jaws. Doug Flutie, who wasn't by the numbers guy. 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:37.520 He's just a field guy. You know. The way he played, 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:40.920 ran around, made stuff happened. That's that's Doug. I love 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:44.000 the fact that we've been able to get to be 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:47.560 really close with all of those different types of people, 0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:50.040 and that's why we love sports. We love sports because 0:18:50.040 --> 0:18:52.359 of the great people. And usually the analysts are the 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:55.320 really good or the best at what they do, and 0:18:55.400 --> 0:18:57.960 getting the chance to hear how they tick, to see 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:00.919 what they do, and then to get them to trust 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:03.840 us a little bit that we're not gonna bury them 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:07.159 with something that's unfair. We're gonna ask him an honest question. 0:19:07.160 --> 0:19:11.080 We're gonna bring out the best in them for the viewers. Uh. 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:13.440 That to me, that's been the most fun of what 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:15.280 we get the chance to do on a regular basis. 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:17.480 All the analysts you work with in all the sports. 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:19.199 I'd like to ask you to rank them first to 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:22.480 worse now and I think the listeners would enjoy that. 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:26.680 Uh No, I mean some of the stuff not everyone 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:29.040 has been enjoyed to work with that. Everyone has been 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:32.240 brilliant and wise and effective and efficient. We know that, 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:34.040 but that's just part of the fun to you. Just 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:36.240 roll with it. I mean, we're on this topic, so 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:39.960 I'll jump uh to to the World Cup in South Africa, 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:42.680 which for us we share the idea. This was a 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:45.480 career highlight. I mean to be able to go be 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:47.960 a part of hosting that event. That's a country. The 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:49.480 mental lot to me, it's a sport. The meant a 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:52.159 lot to me, and the coverage was just top shelf. 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:55.679 Uh So, proud of everybody. But the characters, Mike, that 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:58.160 we get to share the sever come to it. These 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:02.240 are global rock stars, you know, Rude Hullett, Steve McManaman, 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:06.159 Jurgen Klinsman. I mean, Alexei lalas the token American on 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:09.800 that set, but all these guys who brought to the 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:14.760 set a completely different sensibility on the global sport there. 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:17.240 They're rock stars, rich people in their own right, and 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:19.360 now you've gotta make it kind and by the way, 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:22.639 language is sometimes it's not their first language English, so 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:25.960 you can make it all kind of work. And you 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:29.840 had no time before or between halves of a World Cup. 0:20:30.320 --> 0:20:33.520 But it's still that that sort of like tap dance 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:36.160 on the high wire, was so much fun. I'll never 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:38.439 forget kind of those moments on the set and off 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:41.240 the set at the World Cup, from from the very 0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:44.119 beginning to the very end, that that is right up 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:46.919 there for every part of it, with one of the 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:51.280 best professional experiences that I have ever or will ever 0:20:51.680 --> 0:20:55.119 have um lifelong friendships out of the group. But you know, 0:20:55.920 --> 0:20:59.560 you you were far more versed in soccer, far more 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:02.280 comfortab both with the sport. For me, it was somewhat 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:05.399 new bobbly obviously with us has. You know, he carried 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:09.080 the flag for soccer and ESPN for generations right going 0:21:09.080 --> 0:21:11.879