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Speaker 1: I love the Olympics. I love them as a kid,

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Speaker 1: and I still remember some of the huge personalities that

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Speaker 1: came out of those games. I remember Dick Fosberry in

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Speaker 1: nine eight he invented this new way of doing the

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Speaker 1: high jump called the Fosberry flop, where he land on

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Speaker 1: his back, and I recently read he's almost seventy years old,

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Speaker 1: which quite frankly kind of freaks me out. But I

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Speaker 1: remember Peggy Fleming, Olga Corvette, so many great athletes, and

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Speaker 1: of course, as a little girl, I was most interested

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Speaker 1: in gymnastics and figure skating. So imagine my delight when

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Speaker 1: I got to MBC in the early nineties and started

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Speaker 1: working on the Today Show and I was told that

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Speaker 1: I got to cover the Olympics in Barcelona. My daughter

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Speaker 1: was a little baby. She and my husband came over

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Speaker 1: and stayed for about a week and it was so

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Speaker 1: much fun. And that was the beginning of my Olympic extents.

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Speaker 1: I covered eight Olympics in all, and one of the

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Speaker 1: great things about covering the Games is I got to

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Speaker 1: see all these incredible cities. Athens, I got to go

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Speaker 1: to as I mentioned, Barcelona, or as they say, Barcelona,

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Speaker 1: And I also really loved Sydney because the people in

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Speaker 1: Australia are so friendly and so nice, and they'd all

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Speaker 1: gather around the Today Show set and they'd scream azzazazi

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Speaker 1: Oi Oi Oi. Covering the Olympics was really a positive

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Speaker 1: experience for me because it was a happy thing to

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Speaker 1: cover and these athletes had worked so so hard and

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Speaker 1: this was their moment to shine. These are some of

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Speaker 1: my Olympic memory, sort of smattering of them through the years.

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Speaker 1: But we also asked you to tell us your best

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Speaker 1: Olympic memory and why, and here's what you had to say. Hi,

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Speaker 1: my name is Michelle Ducepara Ferrell. I'm actually UM, an

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Speaker 1: Olympic alumni, member of the nineteen eighty four women's gynastics

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Speaker 1: team and UM. Of course, one of my most indouble

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Speaker 1: memories of my childhood was watching Nadia scores first perfect ten,

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Speaker 1: which just celebrated its fortieth anniversary of it happening. Another

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Speaker 1: hand Dan, look at that? Why did they hand Dan?

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Speaker 1: My name is Susan Chapman. I live in Christinity, Florida.

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Speaker 1: Nineteen seventy two, I think seventeen year old OGA Corp.

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Speaker 1: But did a couple of moves that are still repeated

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Speaker 1: today that changed the course of the sport forever and

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Speaker 1: the excitement of Gordon Annis was the announcer I think

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Speaker 1: was the Chris Jankos did facts, So you're right to

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Speaker 1: the other bar. Has that been done before by Earl? Never,

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Speaker 1: not by any human that I know of. I mean

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Speaker 1: this Oscar from Phoenix, Arizona wanted to share one of

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Speaker 1: my favorite Olympic memories. We always see the triumphs, but

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Speaker 1: the heartbreak of Garrick Redman in the nineteen nine two

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Speaker 1: parcels one of games, who was unable to finish this

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Speaker 1: and it was joined by his father, definitely stands out

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Speaker 1: as one of the most emotional, human and touching moments

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Speaker 1: of the Games. One of the best things about covering

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Speaker 1: the Olympics for me was having the opportunity to co

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Speaker 1: host the opening ceremony with Bob Costas. I did that

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Speaker 1: a few times and we had so much fun. Now

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Speaker 1: Bob has covered more than a dozen Olympic Games. He

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Speaker 1: started out as the late night host in and he's

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Speaker 1: his name has really become synonymous with the Olympics, so

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Speaker 1: he kind of makes me look like a piker covering

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Speaker 1: only eight. I think Bob is a living example of

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Speaker 1: the boy scout motto be prepared. So I wanted to

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Speaker 1: talk to him about that, but also learn how he

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Speaker 1: got interested in covering sports. So Bob Costas is with us.

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Speaker 1: Hey Bob, we're so excited. Hi Katie, let's talk about

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Speaker 1: your career. How did you get started. Well, when I

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Speaker 1: was a kid, like many kids of my generation and

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Speaker 1: every generation, I was fascinated by sports, and as tried

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Speaker 1: as it sounds, it was a connection between me and

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Speaker 1: my dad and the other kids that I grew up with.

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Speaker 1: But maybe unlike most of them, I was also as

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Speaker 1: interested in the broadcasters as I was in the games

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Speaker 1: themselves and the athletes. To me, the games weren't the

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Speaker 1: same without the soundtrack. And I grew up in New

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Speaker 1: York in the late fifties and in the sixties when

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Speaker 1: many of the greatest announcers of all time were plying

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Speaker 1: their trade in New York. And these guys weren't just

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Speaker 1: competent announcers. And I say guys because for the most part,

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Speaker 1: although there are more women now, there are originally no

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Speaker 1: women's sports broadcasters at that time. Uh, those broadcasters didn't

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Speaker 1: just do a competent job. They did a lyrical job.

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Speaker 1: In many cases, there was almost a melody to a

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Speaker 1: good broadcast, and the as of them had a literate

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Speaker 1: touch without being pretentious. They gave you the notion, the

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Speaker 1: understanding that they were men of the world, at least

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Speaker 1: to some extent, that they had interest beyond the game,

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Speaker 1: and they could weave some of those observations in to

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Speaker 1: give the broadcast a little more texture than ball one,

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Speaker 1: strike two, or there's a person down or a touchdown.

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Speaker 1: And their mastery of that craft was fascinating to me.

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Speaker 1: And that's when the notion of being a broadcaster first

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Speaker 1: took hold. And that's what happened to me. I was

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Speaker 1: going to say you you became a master storyteller and

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Speaker 1: a sports fanatic, because I think there are very few

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Speaker 1: people in broadcasting, in my opinion, who are as sort

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Speaker 1: of seamless, fluent and eloquent as you are in almost

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Speaker 1: every situation. And I'm assuming that you weren't at Syracuse

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Speaker 1: even studying communications or really sports and news. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: you study a lot of other things that were helpful

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Speaker 1: to you in your career. What were those things that

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Speaker 1: contributed to your ability to be a critical thinker and

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Speaker 1: to express yourself so well, well, you know, I've always

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Speaker 1: been a reader, and I've always been someone who was

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Speaker 1: interested in pop culture in the biggest sense. Um, I

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Speaker 1: think there's a part of me that's probably an old soul,

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Speaker 1: but I was interested in what was going on at present.

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Speaker 1: But I was also interested in history in the most

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Speaker 1: classic sense, but also the history of pop culture, and

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Speaker 1: a lot of that just seeped in and I retained

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Speaker 1: of the portion of it. And then as I watched

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Speaker 1: and listened to people on radio and television, I always

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Speaker 1: admired those who had a certain mastery of language, the

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Speaker 1: red Barbers of the Vincecullies, who would never miss a

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Speaker 1: beat on what was happening in the game, but at

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Speaker 1: the same time would fill in all the little brushstrokes

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Speaker 1: along with the broad strokes. Know what the weather was

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Speaker 1: at the ball game, or what the atmosphere was, and

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Speaker 1: you'd find out some interesting story about a ballplayer's hometown

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Speaker 1: or something that happened the night before while they were

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Speaker 1: out to dinner in this city or that, and that

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Speaker 1: that to me made it a fuller picture. It wasn't

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Speaker 1: just the primary colors it It had a texture to it. Bob,

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Speaker 1: could you tell us a little bit more about your

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Speaker 1: relationship with your parents. I remember reading that sports in

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Speaker 1: general and baseball in particular, was a way for you

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Speaker 1: to connect with your dad. Yeah, my father was a

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Speaker 1: colorful character. He was very smart, he was charismatic, he

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Speaker 1: was people of an older generational understand this reference. He

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Speaker 1: was a runyonesque kind of character. But he was also

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Speaker 1: a compulsive gambler, which led to some exciting and interesting

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Speaker 1: and numerous circumstances, but also to some heartache because very often,

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Speaker 1: no joke, the mortgage would be writing, or our ability

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Speaker 1: to pay it would be writing on whether or very

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Speaker 1: stressed out by that bos I stretched out, Oh yeah,

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Speaker 1: oh yeah, yeah, the whole the whole family was stressed out.

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Speaker 1: And very often my mom, who was the sweetest woman

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Speaker 1: you could ever hope to meet, and my younger sister

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Speaker 1: two years younger than me, they would leave and go

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Speaker 1: to the neighbor's house or go to grandma's house. But

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Speaker 1: I would stay and watch the games with my dad,

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Speaker 1: and there was a lot of tension writing. He made

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Speaker 1: a pretty good living for a guy in the nineteen sixties,

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Speaker 1: but you know, we lived in a house that he

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Speaker 1: bought for nineteen thousand dollars on the g I bill,

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Speaker 1: and it was not unusual at all for him to

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Speaker 1: have three, four or five thousand dollars worth of action

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Speaker 1: going on a weekend. So those bets went well, terrific

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Speaker 1: that those bets went less well, then we couldn't pay

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Speaker 1: the mortgage. And I remember going with him, and this

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Speaker 1: is kind of how we bonded. I remember going with

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Speaker 1: him once to a donut shop in Brooklyn, was around

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Speaker 1: nineteen sixty six, and he was going to meet the bookie.

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Speaker 1: So there we are sitting at the counter and a

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Speaker 1: guy who looks like he was sent in by Central Casting.

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Speaker 1: He's got a fedora on, he's carrying a pinky ring.

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Speaker 1: He looks like Nathan Detroit. Nathan Detroited would be charitable.

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Speaker 1: He looks like a guy who might be mob connected,

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Speaker 1: but on the other hand made the Detroit might have

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Speaker 1: been too, But he was. He wasn't as handsome as

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Speaker 1: Marlon Brando, let's put it that way. But nonetheless I

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Speaker 1: remember him saying, hey, that your boy. But yeah, he

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Speaker 1: goes nice boy. He says, you drink milk, And I'm

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Speaker 1: thinking to myself, I'm fourteen years old, No, you smicked.

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Speaker 1: I drink tequila. Yes, I drink milk. And the guy

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Speaker 1: goes give the kid a glass of milk and a doughnut.

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Speaker 1: And then while all this stuff is unfolding, he slides

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Speaker 1: a paper bag across the counter to my father and

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Speaker 1: after a few little pleasantries, were back out in the

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Speaker 1: car and under a street light in Brooklyn in nineteen

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Speaker 1: sixty six, my father counts out fourteen thousand dollars in

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Speaker 1: one hundred dollar bills that he had just collected from

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Speaker 1: the bookie because he had been on a winning streak. Now,

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Speaker 1: in that moment, despite all the anxiety and heartache that

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Speaker 1: came at other times because of his gambling, at that moment,

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Speaker 1: I'm thinking, my father is one of the coolest guys

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Speaker 1: in the world. The other dad's on the block, just

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Speaker 1: mow the lawn on Saturday. This guy, this guy is

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Speaker 1: living a life of danger and adventure. And in moments

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Speaker 1: like that, what would happen is he took the money

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Speaker 1: and he went and bought a Ford Mustang, which, as

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Speaker 1: you remember, with a really cool car. I remember going

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Speaker 1: with him and he does the usual things, you know,

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Speaker 1: he's lifting the hood, he's kicking the tires and I

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Speaker 1: remember distinctly the salesman said, is it a little out

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Speaker 1: of your league? And my father reached into his pocket

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Speaker 1: and he had this giant load of bills. He goes, no,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna bleep in buy it cash if I bleep

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Speaker 1: and decide to bleep and buy it. Um so, And

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Speaker 1: he didn't say. To be clear, now there was no

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Speaker 1: senser involved. Did that mess up your attitude toward money?

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Speaker 1: I mean, I would think that growing up with a

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Speaker 1: father like that and having that much stress didn't make

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Speaker 1: you a compulsive saver. Did it affect your attitudes? I'm

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Speaker 1: not a thrifty guy. Um. I think that if you're

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Speaker 1: lucky enough to have some money, to use it to

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Speaker 1: enhance your own life and the lives of others. I'm

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Speaker 1: not that much for material possessions, but I'm big on experiences.

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Speaker 1: So if you can you can help someone have an

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Speaker 1: enjoyable time, or if you can do something with your

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Speaker 1: family or people you care about that I'm not looking

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Speaker 1: to die with the highest possible that we're you know,

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Speaker 1: we're lucky enough to not have to worry about that,

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Speaker 1: which is quite a contrast to the way I grew up.

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Speaker 1: What it did affect was by attitudes toward gambling. UM

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Speaker 1: in the past when I've covered some boxing, which I

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Speaker 1: haven't done that much, but a lot of the boxing

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Speaker 1: when I was at HBO was either in Las Vegas

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Speaker 1: or an Atlantic city. I could walk to it this

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Speaker 1: know a hundred times and never stopped. I'm just walking

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Speaker 1: right through and go into my room. UM. And I

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Speaker 1: never gambled as as an adult, UM, because I saw

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Speaker 1: what it did to my dad. But at the same time, UM,

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Speaker 1: it connected me to him. And when I was young,

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Speaker 1: really young, like nine, ten years old, he would give

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Speaker 1: me the keys of the car, not to drive it

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Speaker 1: around the block because I could barely see over the

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Speaker 1: except to hope that through the crackle and static, maybe

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Speaker 1: you could pick up far away radio broadcast. So when

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Speaker 1: games were and if the atmospheric conditions were just right,

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Speaker 1: and if I calibrated the dial like a safe cracker

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Speaker 1: and hit just the right spot. Maybe I could pick

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Speaker 1: up these out of town broadcasts. And those were my

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Speaker 1: first reporters jobs, because I'd go back in the house

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Speaker 1: and I would not only tell him what this score was,

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Speaker 1: but i'd a bellowship. I'd say, well, clement A single

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Speaker 1: to right, and Stargell doubled. Clement A scored Star was

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Speaker 1: at second Skinner single, he scored to nothing, Pirates bottom

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Speaker 1: of the fourth, and he papped me on the head.

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Speaker 1: Of course, I'd only do that if I knew his

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Speaker 1: bet was on the Pirates. If he bet against the

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Speaker 1: him that I couldn't get it, but I couldn't find

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Speaker 1: it because I didn't want to put up with what

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Speaker 1: his possible reaction would be to the fact that he

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Speaker 1: was losing a thousand dollars. Bob, you're talking about fighting,

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Speaker 1: and not that long ago, you and I actually went

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Speaker 1: to the funeral of Muhammad Ali, and I know he's

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Speaker 1: somebody you deeply admired. I'm just interested in and sort

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Speaker 1: of what that experience was like for you, because it

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Speaker 1: was a real treat for me to see this very

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Speaker 1: interesting conglomeration of people, including Don King, who really had

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Speaker 1: you figured for someone else? Altogether? Tell that story because

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Speaker 1: it was very funny. Don King comes walking in. He's

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Speaker 1: in his eighties now, he's a slightly diminished version of

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Speaker 1: Don King, but he's still unmistakably Don King, with the

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Speaker 1: outrageous hair and the the outfits that he's waving his

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Speaker 1: American flags and he's greeting everyone. Lennox lewis, former heavyweight

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Speaker 1: champion of the world, not la most of the Today's Show,

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Speaker 1: blah blah. And he gets to me and you're standing

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Speaker 1: right next to me, and he goes, Michael J. Fox,

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Speaker 1: he wanted his picture with you, and you said, very

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Speaker 1: very gently, don no, I said Mr King, Mr King,

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Speaker 1: Mr Kings pok Costice, and he, without missing a beat

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Speaker 1: in a millisecond, pivots and says Bob cost this greatest

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Speaker 1: commentator in the world. Don knows no shame. That was

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Speaker 1: quite an event. And I'm just curious now that some

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Speaker 1: time has pass, um, what do you remember most about

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Speaker 1: that day other than being with me and having much together.

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Speaker 1: Of course that's at the top of the list. Um. Well,

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Speaker 1: when when you've got a range of people that goes

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Speaker 1: from former heavyweight champions of the world, and Jim Brown,

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Speaker 1: who's a much respected figure, and Billy Crystal and President Clinton,

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Speaker 1: but also includes Chubby Checker, who you know. I've known

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Speaker 1: Chubby Checker for forty years. Uh, And remember being eight

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Speaker 1: or nine years old when the Twist was a big hit,

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Speaker 1: and I guess the Chubby and Mohammed were close. I mean,

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Speaker 1: the number of people that eventually came into Muhammad Ali's

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Speaker 1: orbit was was fast and the kind of arc of

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Speaker 1: his life. He wasn't any one thing. Was he this

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Speaker 1: angry and too many Americans frightening and polarizing figure and

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Speaker 1: to other Americans deeply inspiring and ages figured, Yes he was,

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Speaker 1: and was he ultimately a figure of reconciliation and unity

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Speaker 1: and brotherhood. Yes he was, which didn't negate what he

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Speaker 1: was earlier in his life. His life just had an

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Speaker 1: extraordinary art to it. And when you think of this

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Speaker 1: guy who was once not only arguably the greatest athlete

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Speaker 1: in the world, certainly the greatest boxer in the world,

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Speaker 1: but the most physically beautiful athlete, the most fascinating and

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Speaker 1: charismatic to watch, the most outspoken, humorous and entertaining, and

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Speaker 1: then he ends his life with virtually no mobility when

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Speaker 1: once he was the very definition of athletic grace, and

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Speaker 1: no ability to verbally express himself when once he was

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Speaker 1: the most valuable of of athletes. There was something very

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Speaker 1: poignant about that, and yet, with the help of his wife, Lonnie,

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Speaker 1: he still managed to be a public figure in a

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Speaker 1: way that had some dignity to it. The whole art

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Speaker 1: of his life is unline that of any other athlete.

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Speaker 1: I remember Bob doing a piece with Michael J. Fox

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Speaker 1: about Muhammad Ali, and that was very moving to see

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Speaker 1: them join forces. And I think he got a lot

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Speaker 1: of courage from Michael J. Fox, because I think there

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Speaker 1: was a period of time where he was embarrassed to

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Speaker 1: appear in public and he didn't want people to see.

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Speaker 1: You know that he had become diminished from this disease.

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Speaker 1: And I think all the things that he's done for

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Speaker 1: Parkinson's research and all the inspiration he's given people who

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Speaker 1: are dealing with the disease. My father died of Parkinson's

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Speaker 1: and so I became very interested in sort of the science.

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Speaker 1: I think he sort of died as he lived. I mean,

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Speaker 1: he was incredibly committed to this cause and I think

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Speaker 1: very very inspiring to so many people. We're going to

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Speaker 1: take a quick break and we'll be right back. Thanks

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Speaker 1: again to our sponsors. Let's get back to the interview.

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Speaker 1: Let's talk about the Olympics. Bob, You've been the primetime

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Speaker 1: host for every Olympics on MPC since n you were

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Speaker 1: the late night host of the Games. Do you ever

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Speaker 1: get sick of the Olympics? Be honest, no, um no,

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Speaker 1: I don't get sick of them. No matter who some

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Speaker 1: days succeeds me. That person, if they're a thinking person

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Speaker 1: I assume they will be, is not going to agree

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Speaker 1: with every aspect of it. It's just too vast. There

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Speaker 1: are parts of it that are going to appeal to you,

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Speaker 1: arts of it where maybe if you were making the decision,

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Speaker 1: you might emphasize this rather than that. But in the

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Speaker 1: big picture, being the host is not only an honor,

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Speaker 1: it's an important responsibility because so many hundreds of thousands

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Speaker 1: of people work really hard to produce these pieces and

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Speaker 1: to put everything in place. You owe it not just

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Speaker 1: to yourself and to the audience, but to all your colleagues.

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Speaker 1: Do the best possible job. But are there lines when

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Speaker 1: I say to myself, you know what this particular thing

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Speaker 1: isn't my cup of tea, or if I was running it,

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Speaker 1: I'd do it this way, of course. But of the time,

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Speaker 1: you know, I'm well aware that no one else has

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Speaker 1: a better position of broadcasting during those three weeks than

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Speaker 1: I do. And you do such a great job. And

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Speaker 1: I think that people probably have no idea of how

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Speaker 1: much preparation is involved in this, particularly when it comes

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Speaker 1: to you. I mean, you are just immersed in all

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Speaker 1: things Olympics. I mean, you know everything about every athlete,

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Speaker 1: every event. It's ridiculous. I mean, are you just reading

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Speaker 1: Olympic material from the time you wake up till the

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Speaker 1: time you go to bed and no offense? But that

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Speaker 1: sounds kind of boring your poor wife. Well, here's here's

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Speaker 1: what happens before over Olympics. You're doing preparation, at least

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Speaker 1: in a general way in the months leading up to it.

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Speaker 1: For example, with Brazil, I'm aware on an ongoing basis

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Speaker 1: of all the issues and obstacles that they face and

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Speaker 1: the controversies. But about a month before the opening ceremony,

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Speaker 1: you go into a lockdown mode and you take all

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Speaker 1: of the research that uh, the outstanding research department has

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Speaker 1: prepared and you start pouring through it and you close

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Speaker 1: everything else off. But one thing that's really become important

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Speaker 1: for me over the years is I learned fairly early

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Speaker 1: on what you don't need to know. You don't have

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Speaker 1: to know everything about or even the name of every

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Speaker 1: hurdler from Bolivia or platform diver from Peru. That's what

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Speaker 1: the people at the venues are for. And if those

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Speaker 1: athletes become a story, the research department is so good,

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Speaker 1: and now with everything digitized, you can get it so quickly.

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Speaker 1: But as long as you're someone who's able to take

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Speaker 1: a briefing quickly, and you know this from your days

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Speaker 1: on the Today Show or as the Network news anchor,

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Speaker 1: some stuff can be scripted and planned, and other stuff

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Speaker 1: just comes up and you have to take it, take

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Speaker 1: a quick look at it, and use your experience to

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Speaker 1: make some sense of it and get it out there quickly.

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Speaker 1: Over time, you develop those muscles and you're able to

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Speaker 1: do it. You have to be a quick study and

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Speaker 1: incredibly fast on your feet. You know. I want to

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Speaker 1: talk about Rio because having covered so many Olympics, and

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Speaker 1: many of them have been fraught, I guess at the

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Speaker 1: onset and usually these cities rise to the occasion. But gosh,

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Speaker 1: I feel like Rio is under more pressure than any

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Speaker 1: other city that that I've watched through, you know, the

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Speaker 1: Olympics that I've been aware of or at least involved in.

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Speaker 1: Rio faces such an array of issues. The pollution, the

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Speaker 1: political term, well, the financial crisis, the zeke of virus,

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Speaker 1: the venues and the infrastructure, and also security. When you

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Speaker 1: say to yourself, look, if they don't have enough money

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Speaker 1: to pay the police and security forces when they've got

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Speaker 1: to ask the federal government for nearly a billion dollars

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Speaker 1: in additional cord, can we be sure that everything will

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Speaker 1: be as fully buttoned up as it should be. And

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Speaker 1: in addition to the kind of terrorism that people worry

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Speaker 1: about at any big international event, um, Rio has a

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Speaker 1: problem with just general crime, street crime. You've got to

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Speaker 1: be very careful if you visit what areas you venture

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Speaker 1: into and what you stay away from. Are you worried

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Speaker 1: about the athletes? Are are you concerned a about the

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Speaker 1: security of the people covering the games? And are you

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Speaker 1: worried about the athletes as well? Given gosh, where we

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Speaker 1: seem to be in such a volatile, uh scary time

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Speaker 1: all around the world, not just in the United States.

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Speaker 1: What they have told the athletes is, if you stay

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Speaker 1: in Olympic housing, then we'll have it secured. If you

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Speaker 1: choose to stay elsewhere, then you're on your own. You've

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Speaker 1: got to get your own security. And I don't want

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Speaker 1: to be Debbie Downer here, but it's worth noting that

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Speaker 1: the athletes in sports where the Olympics are not the pinnacle.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's great to play on the Olympic basketball team,

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Speaker 1: but Steph Currier, Lebron James would rather win the NBA

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Speaker 1: titled than win a gold medal, or Serena Will's rather

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Speaker 1: win Wimbledon than win an Olympic gold medal. So a

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Speaker 1: great number of these basketball players, golfers, tennis players have

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Speaker 1: already announced their intention to skip these Olympics, and most

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Speaker 1: of them have very rationally said, look, even if the

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Speaker 1: risk is low, it's not a risk that I'm willing

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Speaker 1: to take now. If you're a pole vaulter with a

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Speaker 1: chance to win a gold medal, and you've trained for

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Speaker 1: this for four years and this is your one big

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Speaker 1: turn on the international stage, then that risk is more

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Speaker 1: than worth it. But those who have other options, I'm

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Speaker 1: not surprised that they've decided this to take a pass

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Speaker 1: this time. No real masters for pole vaulters, is there No.

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Speaker 1: I mean, with the Olympics, it's at best once every

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Speaker 1: four years, and maybe for some of these competitors it's

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Speaker 1: once in a lifetime. And most Americans don't pay that

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Speaker 1: much attention to Olympic sports outside the context of the Olympics.

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Speaker 1: So these competitors stepped out of the shadows and into

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Speaker 1: the biggest spotlight for just that a couple of weeks,

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Speaker 1: or in the case of some events, just a few

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Speaker 1: minutes or a few seconds. I think probably the biggest

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Speaker 1: story coming out of the Olympics in the United States

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Speaker 1: is the concern about Zica. And you know, the Brazilian

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Speaker 1: health minister says that the odds of getting it are

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Speaker 1: very low because it's happening during the South American winter. Uh.

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Speaker 1: And yet you have a number of athletes who are

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Speaker 1: deciding to skip it, as you know better than we do,

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Speaker 1: largely because of this disease um you have. You have

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Speaker 1: a number of men who are participating who say that

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Speaker 1: they're going to preserve their sperm and advance of going.

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Speaker 1: How are you doing that? I think I'm at a

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Speaker 1: stage of life where it's not a factor. How how

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Speaker 1: big of a crisis do you think Zekea represents. Well,

429
00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:02,280
Speaker 1: I'm not a doctor, I don't play one on TV.

430
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:06,159
Speaker 1: It does seem credible to me that it being winter

431
00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:10,280
Speaker 1: near the equator, UH, that the risk would be diminished,

432
00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:13,200
Speaker 1: the mosquito population is diminished, and that if you take

433
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:19,000
Speaker 1: uh proper precautions, the chance of it is relatively low.

434
00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:22,919
Speaker 1: But no one can guarantee that there's no chance. And

435
00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:24,960
Speaker 1: you can't blame someone from not wanting to roll the

436
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:28,320
Speaker 1: dice if they're a female athlete. Most of these athletes

437
00:25:28,359 --> 00:25:31,880
Speaker 1: are obviously people in the prime of their lives. They're

438
00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:35,320
Speaker 1: sexually active, many of them are apt to become pregnant

439
00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:38,360
Speaker 1: or considering and starting a family whatever may be. Or

440
00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:42,520
Speaker 1: as male athletes, that could affect their their partners or

441
00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:46,200
Speaker 1: potential partners. So for them to be concerned about it

442
00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:49,200
Speaker 1: makes makes perfect sense to me. When you look at

443
00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:53,879
Speaker 1: sort of the highlights and low lights of your Olympic experiences,

444
00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:57,000
Speaker 1: and I'm sure there's so many, and you must write

445
00:25:57,040 --> 00:26:00,360
Speaker 1: a book about this at some point, but up were

446
00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:03,640
Speaker 1: some of the moments that are seared in your memory

447
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:08,600
Speaker 1: that you know you still think about today. Well, we

448
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:11,200
Speaker 1: talked about Muhammed Ali a moment ago, when he lit

449
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:15,280
Speaker 1: the cauldron as the final torch bearer in nineties in Atlanta.

450
00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,639
Speaker 1: That was such a sunny moment because virtually no one knew,

451
00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,560
Speaker 1: including me and dick Enberg on the opening ceremony. We

452
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:24,040
Speaker 1: might have guessed it, but no one told us that

453
00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:26,200
Speaker 1: it was going to be Ali. And they had practiced

454
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,240
Speaker 1: at one time at three o'clock in the morning, I'd

455
00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:31,080
Speaker 1: say fewer than twenty people actually knew that it would

456
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,159
Speaker 1: be Mohammed Ali. In the way they staged it, he

457
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:35,960
Speaker 1: stepped out of the shadows and into that spotlight when

458
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:38,760
Speaker 1: Janet Evans, who had the torch before him, handed it

459
00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,359
Speaker 1: to him, and there was a moment or two of

460
00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:44,760
Speaker 1: silence while it kind of sank in to the crowd watching,

461
00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:47,919
Speaker 1: and then there were almost audible gasps followed by this

462
00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:52,879
Speaker 1: deafening applause. It was surprising, it was touching, it was

463
00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:56,360
Speaker 1: exciting because of his presence, but it was also even

464
00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:59,080
Speaker 1: though he lived another twenty years after that, I think

465
00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:04,119
Speaker 1: that was the moment of reconciliation for him on the

466
00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:07,280
Speaker 1: world stage. There were so many aspects to that that

467
00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:11,160
Speaker 1: when I'm asked, what's my most memorable Olympic moment? Even

468
00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:13,640
Speaker 1: though I could rattle off another twenty. That's the ones

469
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:16,800
Speaker 1: at the top. Were there any other athletes that just

470
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:22,560
Speaker 1: inspired or moved to you? Yeah, And sometimes they're big

471
00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:28,760
Speaker 1: winners and sometimes their relative footnotes. When Kathy Freeman lit

472
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 1: the torch and then also won her event at the

473
00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:37,199
Speaker 1: Sydney Olympics because of her Aboriginal background, there was a

474
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:42,639
Speaker 1: story there that was meaningful and inspiring to Australians and

475
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,199
Speaker 1: which could be told and understood by the rest of

476
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:50,679
Speaker 1: the world. And her performance she won resoundingly emphatically. But

477
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:52,679
Speaker 1: then you have other moments, and you and I have

478
00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:54,840
Speaker 1: covered them, but we could list dozens of them. Will

479
00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:58,760
Speaker 1: just give you one. In ninety two in Barcelona, there

480
00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:03,560
Speaker 1: was a marathon her from Mongolia named Pambo Tool, and

481
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:08,080
Speaker 1: the Ambo Tool had zero chance to win a medal um.

482
00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:10,760
Speaker 1: He came there with the idea of just representing his

483
00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:14,119
Speaker 1: country and finishing on top of it all, he was

484
00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:19,200
Speaker 1: legally blind. The marathon finishes in the main Olympic Stadium,

485
00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:21,720
Speaker 1: which and it's always the last day of the Olympics,

486
00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:25,440
Speaker 1: and the closing ceremony takes place in the Olympic Stadium too.

487
00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:30,800
Speaker 1: The Ambo tool came staggering towards the Olympic Stadium not

488
00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:34,960
Speaker 1: minutes but hours after what officials thought was the very

489
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:39,000
Speaker 1: last competitor had finished. It took him like seven hours

490
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:42,560
Speaker 1: to run the marathon, but he managed to finish. And

491
00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 1: when he got to the entrance of the Olympic Stadium,

492
00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,280
Speaker 1: security at first stopped him, like who is this guy

493
00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:50,320
Speaker 1: and what is he doing? And after it was made

494
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:53,320
Speaker 1: clear what was happening, they cleared a path for him

495
00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:55,960
Speaker 1: to get to where the finish line would have been.

496
00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:58,680
Speaker 1: And right in the middle of a closing ceremony with

497
00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:03,120
Speaker 1: all the hooplah and pageantry, this guy came staggering across

498
00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:06,280
Speaker 1: the finish line and he had accomplished what he came

499
00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:10,800
Speaker 1: there to do. And when asked about it afterwards, he said,

500
00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:14,120
Speaker 1: my country didn't send me here to win a medal

501
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:16,960
Speaker 1: because I had no chance. The only thing I could

502
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,440
Speaker 1: do was finish. And if you're not touched by that,

503
00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:23,400
Speaker 1: you've got to check your pulse. You know, there are

504
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:28,320
Speaker 1: so many great stories, and one Olympics in particular was

505
00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:32,800
Speaker 1: marred for you personally because of an eye infection. You

506
00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:37,760
Speaker 1: got how how how how bummed were you when you

507
00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:41,240
Speaker 1: had to sit out in two thousand fourteen because you

508
00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:45,000
Speaker 1: was it officially pink eye? What happened to you? Exactly

509
00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:48,680
Speaker 1: how pink I is to viral conjunctive itis, what the

510
00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:53,160
Speaker 1: common cold is to a really bad case of influenza. Um,

511
00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:56,840
Speaker 1: So I had viral conjunctive itis, they hoped. I woke

512
00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:59,280
Speaker 1: up the first day that we're going to be on

513
00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:01,560
Speaker 1: the air, felt perfectly fine. When I went to bed,

514
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,160
Speaker 1: woke up, looked in the mirror, my left eye was

515
00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:07,120
Speaker 1: red and virtually closed, and I'm thinking, what the heck

516
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:09,880
Speaker 1: is this? So I go in and the NBC doctors

517
00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:11,880
Speaker 1: take a look, and at first they thought it was

518
00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:14,880
Speaker 1: some kind of bacterial infection. They give me some antibiotics,

519
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:17,280
Speaker 1: They tell me it'll be gone in like three days.

520
00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:19,880
Speaker 1: But by three days it had jumped from my leftot

521
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,760
Speaker 1: in my right, and now both eyes were all red

522
00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,320
Speaker 1: and inflamed. And they knew at that point that it's

523
00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:29,000
Speaker 1: a viral. So with something that's viral, all you can

524
00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:31,200
Speaker 1: do is make the person feel more comfortable, but it

525
00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:35,520
Speaker 1: just has to run its course and the problem. Here's

526
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:37,600
Speaker 1: how I felt if it had been my first or

527
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:40,120
Speaker 1: second Olympics. I think I would have been crushed, but

528
00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:44,880
Speaker 1: because I've done so many Olympics, I really wasn't crushed personally.

529
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:49,080
Speaker 1: But I felt a professional responsibility to all the people

530
00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:51,320
Speaker 1: who worked so hard to put on an Olympics, and

531
00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:53,720
Speaker 1: you're the guy carrying the ball for them. So I

532
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:56,120
Speaker 1: tried to be as professional as I could about it,

533
00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,240
Speaker 1: and anyone who recalls it fairly knows that the only

534
00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,360
Speaker 1: references I'm me to it were very brief, kind of

535
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:07,000
Speaker 1: self deprecating, hopefully humorous remarks. I just was afraid that

536
00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:09,480
Speaker 1: I was creeping out most of America, and in fact,

537
00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:12,800
Speaker 1: maybe I was, but here it became part of the story,

538
00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:15,680
Speaker 1: especially in a social media age, and no matter how

539
00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:19,520
Speaker 1: professionally tried to be, and no matter how self deprecating

540
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:21,120
Speaker 1: he tried to be about it, people are going to

541
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,480
Speaker 1: do with it what they will. And then after five

542
00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:25,880
Speaker 1: or six days, it got to the point where my

543
00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:28,560
Speaker 1: eyes were so light sensitive. That's when I had to

544
00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:30,720
Speaker 1: step aside because I couldn't be in the studio. So

545
00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:33,160
Speaker 1: for six days I'm in a dark and hotel room

546
00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:37,280
Speaker 1: with various things over my eyes, washed claus and dipped

547
00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:40,600
Speaker 1: in one solution or another and taking whatever they told

548
00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:43,160
Speaker 1: me to take, and by I don't know, the six

549
00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:44,880
Speaker 1: or seventh day, I was able to come back and

550
00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:48,640
Speaker 1: kind of stumble through what remained of the Olympics. But

551
00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:53,240
Speaker 1: for about two months after the games, my eyesight was compromised.

552
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:55,760
Speaker 1: My prescription kept changing. I couldn't read the newspaper. It

553
00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:58,040
Speaker 1: was really hard to call baseball games because I couldn't

554
00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:00,360
Speaker 1: see out of the distance. And it was probably around

555
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:05,120
Speaker 1: June or July before it finally stabilized. Well, we're glad

556
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,640
Speaker 1: that it did, and that that you're all better. And

557
00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:10,600
Speaker 1: you mentioned social media, and I guess they had a

558
00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:14,200
Speaker 1: field day with this, which is sort of shitty when

559
00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:17,200
Speaker 1: you think about how miserable it must have been for you.

560
00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:21,360
Speaker 1: But social media can be even more than sort of shitty,

561
00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:25,719
Speaker 1: and you experience that with your remarks about Caitlyn Jenner

562
00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:30,680
Speaker 1: when she got the Arthur Ash Award. Yeah, the backlash

563
00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:33,440
Speaker 1: wasn't too terrible. It came from certain quarters and then

564
00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:36,080
Speaker 1: in other places, like it was like, hey, he's saying

565
00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,280
Speaker 1: something that's just common sense. But what happened with Caitlyn

566
00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:43,240
Speaker 1: Jenner was this. Dan Patrick has a radio show which

567
00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:46,560
Speaker 1: I go on from time to time, and he just says,

568
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:50,000
Speaker 1: what do you make of Caitlyn Jenner winning the Arthur

569
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:53,880
Speaker 1: Ash Award at the SPS? Now, I don't think the

570
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,240
Speaker 1: SPS are really worth that much attention. They're clearly made

571
00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:01,440
Speaker 1: for TV event and a promotional vehicle for ESPN, and

572
00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,680
Speaker 1: they're welcome to it. But the only two things that

573
00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:08,800
Speaker 1: redeem it are the Jim Belvano Award and the Arthur

574
00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:12,800
Speaker 1: Ash Award, because they stand for something. And my point was,

575
00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:16,720
Speaker 1: and I took pains to make this clear, I support

576
00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:20,000
Speaker 1: Caitlin Jenner in her decision. I certainly hope we're moving

577
00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:23,840
Speaker 1: toward a more tolerant and compassionate society, for people are

578
00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:26,840
Speaker 1: free to choose their own path in life, and we

579
00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:30,680
Speaker 1: treat them with respect and dignity, and so I'm all

580
00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:33,760
Speaker 1: for it, and I recognize that it takes a measure

581
00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,120
Speaker 1: of courage to do it. But at the same time,

582
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:41,440
Speaker 1: the Arthur Ash Award is supposed to represent people who

583
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:46,600
Speaker 1: have used their position as athletes two get beyond just

584
00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:51,760
Speaker 1: those achievements, and up until that very moment, Bruce or

585
00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:55,120
Speaker 1: Caitlyn Jenner had never done that. So what I said

586
00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:57,960
Speaker 1: was what they should have done, would have been A

587
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:01,800
Speaker 1: brilliant stroke would be to have Caitlyn Jenner. Because of

588
00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:04,560
Speaker 1: her visibility, and it is television and you're trying to

589
00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:07,400
Speaker 1: bring eyeballs to set, why don't you have Caitlyn Jenner

590
00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:11,520
Speaker 1: present the Arthur Ash Award to Renee Richards, who had

591
00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:16,360
Speaker 1: been Richard Raskin underwent gender reassignment surgery I think in

592
00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:20,120
Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies while still an active tennis player, then

593
00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:23,839
Speaker 1: played as Renee Richards against whoever her contemporary where she's

594
00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:26,200
Speaker 1: still alive and in her eighties. You could have had

595
00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:29,880
Speaker 1: Caitlyn Jenner make the speech that she made, which was lovely,

596
00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:33,799
Speaker 1: and at the same time present the award to someone

597
00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:37,960
Speaker 1: who actually represented what I took the Arthur Ash Award

598
00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:41,959
Speaker 1: to represent. But some people just think in a binary way,

599
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:45,160
Speaker 1: and so to some people, how you feel about Caitlyn

600
00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:48,000
Speaker 1: Jenner receiving the Arthur Ash Award is a litmus test

601
00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:50,520
Speaker 1: of how you feel about the rights and dignity of

602
00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:54,760
Speaker 1: transgender people. Well, if that's how some people think, um,

603
00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:57,040
Speaker 1: I guess there's nothing to do about it. Do you

604
00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:00,440
Speaker 1: think if it were this year and Caitlyn Jenner was

605
00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:03,880
Speaker 1: up for the award, you would feel more comfortable given

606
00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:10,279
Speaker 1: that she has given voice to many transgender people and

607
00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:15,880
Speaker 1: sort of I think increased understanding of the whole issue

608
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:20,480
Speaker 1: to a whole generation of people. Yeah, somewhat. I think

609
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:23,600
Speaker 1: the very first thing that Caitlyn Jenner did to take

610
00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:26,880
Speaker 1: a step in that direction actually was after she received

611
00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:30,520
Speaker 1: the award, when she made the speech. There's no hostility

612
00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:32,960
Speaker 1: in my in my take, he asked me the question.

613
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:34,880
Speaker 1: I gave him what I thought was a well considered

614
00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:38,680
Speaker 1: answer under the circumstances. But there's still if you if

615
00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:41,400
Speaker 1: you want to parse it, there's a difference between the

616
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:45,360
Speaker 1: experiences of Caitlyn Jenner, who had a five million dollar

617
00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:49,839
Speaker 1: reality series waiting for her, and a well thought out

618
00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:53,640
Speaker 1: kind of rollout of this cover of Vanity Fair up

619
00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:57,640
Speaker 1: from the mistake in the book. Reality show interview with

620
00:35:57,719 --> 00:36:01,080
Speaker 1: Diane Sawyer. I'm not criticizing any us, but this is

621
00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:06,880
Speaker 1: hardly typical of the experiences and the obstacles that a

622
00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:12,040
Speaker 1: transgender person is likely to encounter in going forward. Bob,

623
00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:14,680
Speaker 1: Before we wrap up, I have to ask you about

624
00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:19,840
Speaker 1: the other great competition dominating the media at this point,

625
00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:22,840
Speaker 1: which is, of course, the presidential campaign. Do you know

626
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:26,480
Speaker 1: Donald Trump and what do you make of his role

627
00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:32,000
Speaker 1: in this extravaganza. I have known Donald Trump, not well,

628
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:35,000
Speaker 1: but that acquainted with him since the nineteen eighties. He's

629
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:38,720
Speaker 1: always had um some relationships sports. He owned a team

630
00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:42,960
Speaker 1: in UH the old USFL, which posed the challenge briefly

631
00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:46,280
Speaker 1: to the NFL. So I've encountered him at charity events

632
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:49,319
Speaker 1: and whatnot, and I must say that he was always

633
00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:54,120
Speaker 1: extremely friendly and nice to me. We never talked politics,

634
00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:57,920
Speaker 1: We talked sports and television. I have not caused paths

635
00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:01,000
Speaker 1: with him, probably in the last three years or so.

636
00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:04,399
Speaker 1: What do you think about his candidacy and sort of

637
00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:08,359
Speaker 1: what it has symbolized I think, or what it has

638
00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:12,799
Speaker 1: told us about the state of our country. Well, I

639
00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:18,440
Speaker 1: think it comes about because of a confluence of events. Um,

640
00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:24,080
Speaker 1: there's some similarity with Bernie Sanders candidacy in that UH

641
00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:27,759
Speaker 1: at the root of it, the gut reaction is discussed

642
00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:32,600
Speaker 1: or impatience with politics and government and business as usual,

643
00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:36,719
Speaker 1: and that's understandable. Depend there's also the aspect of a

644
00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:41,400
Speaker 1: celebrity culture and left and right wing echo chambers on

645
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:47,320
Speaker 1: cable television. We live in a post factual universe where anything,

646
00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:50,880
Speaker 1: even if it doesn't check out. That supports your gut feeling.

647
00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:53,920
Speaker 1: You'll find a place that will echo that, and it

648
00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:57,280
Speaker 1: will reverberate. And it doesn't just apply to Donald Trump.

649
00:37:57,320 --> 00:37:59,080
Speaker 1: It's hey, if I agree with it, if I like

650
00:37:59,239 --> 00:38:01,480
Speaker 1: him or her, I don't want to hear anything that

651
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:05,360
Speaker 1: differs from that, and anything that supports my viewpoint. It's true.

652
00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:07,800
Speaker 1: I don't have to check it out. It's it's amazing.

653
00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:14,239
Speaker 1: Daniel Patrick moynihan, UM Senator, intellectual long gone but famously

654
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:17,200
Speaker 1: once said, you're entitled to your own opinion. You're not

655
00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:20,399
Speaker 1: entitled to your own facts, but these days you are.

656
00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:24,080
Speaker 1: We live in a post factual world where at hominum

657
00:38:24,080 --> 00:38:27,560
Speaker 1: attacks and baseless assertions, no matter where they come from,

658
00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:31,320
Speaker 1: pass for insight and pass forward legitimate arguments. And I

659
00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:33,520
Speaker 1: don't think on balance that that can be good for

660
00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:37,680
Speaker 1: the country. I'm curious, as somebody who consumes media and

661
00:38:37,719 --> 00:38:42,160
Speaker 1: of course understands media as much as you do. What's

662
00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:46,960
Speaker 1: your take? Was he given too much airtime while the

663
00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:51,000
Speaker 1: other candidates weren't because it was basically good for the

664
00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:55,160
Speaker 1: bottom line. To some extent, that has to be true.

665
00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:59,320
Speaker 1: He moves the needle news or what passes for news

666
00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:03,160
Speaker 1: is business, just the same as any other television program

667
00:39:03,239 --> 00:39:06,480
Speaker 1: is UM And except for a few people trying to

668
00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:10,479
Speaker 1: hold the line and uphold standards, UM, it's not going

669
00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:13,239
Speaker 1: in the direction that that you and I grew up

670
00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:18,319
Speaker 1: approving of an aspiring to Well, I'm that happy note

671
00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:24,279
Speaker 1: going to hell in a handbasket. Good night everybody. Bob.

672
00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:26,799
Speaker 1: It's always great to talk to you. It's always so

673
00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:30,879
Speaker 1: wonderful to hear your insights, and you're quite a rock

674
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:33,839
Speaker 1: on tour. By the way, Thank you. Let's let's see

675
00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:35,839
Speaker 1: how much trouble you and I can get in over

676
00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:40,040
Speaker 1: this one. Yeah, anyway, Bob, I hope I get to

677
00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:42,200
Speaker 1: see you soon. Thanks so much for taking the time

678
00:39:42,239 --> 00:39:47,160
Speaker 1: to talk to us today. Thanks Katie, Thanks Brian. So

679
00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:50,800
Speaker 1: as you can see, Bob can talk about everything and anything,

680
00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:53,680
Speaker 1: not just about sports, and that's why I love having

681
00:39:53,719 --> 00:39:57,799
Speaker 1: conversations with him, because I'm always dazzled by his eloquence.

682
00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:01,120
Speaker 1: He's going to think that's really weird for me to say,

683
00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:03,759
Speaker 1: but it's true, Bob. I'm sorry. I can't wait to

684
00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:06,440
Speaker 1: hear what he says about Rio because it's been plagued

685
00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:09,360
Speaker 1: by some significant problems. You have to feel sorry for

686
00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:11,720
Speaker 1: the city in a way, because they're dealing with Zeka,

687
00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:16,120
Speaker 1: the economy, crime, and apparently the Olympic village itself is

688
00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:19,040
Speaker 1: having some problems. So I hope everything works itself out

689
00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:33,440
Speaker 1: by the time they say let the Games begin. By

690
00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:35,920
Speaker 1: the way, I just made an appearance on this really

691
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:40,359
Speaker 1: fun parenting show called The Longest Shortest Time. I love

692
00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:42,880
Speaker 1: the title because I feel like it is the longest

693
00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:46,160
Speaker 1: shortest time having daughters who are twenty five and twenty

694
00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:49,239
Speaker 1: and having no idea how that happened. But you can

695
00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:51,439
Speaker 1: go listen for a little peek into my personal life.

696
00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:54,240
Speaker 1: I talk about what my mom did when she found

697
00:40:54,239 --> 00:40:57,120
Speaker 1: me making out in a guy's basement when I was

698
00:40:57,200 --> 00:41:02,000
Speaker 1: sixteen years old, mortifying, and how I'm dealing with my

699
00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:08,800
Speaker 1: impending sixtieth birthday. So you can find The Longest Shortest

700
00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:11,839
Speaker 1: Time on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

701
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:16,920
Speaker 1: We want to thank Gretta Cone and the Right Reverend

702
00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:20,920
Speaker 1: John Delore for producing the show. Thanks to Mark Phillips

703
00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:25,560
Speaker 1: for our terrific theme music. David Herman mixed this episode,

704
00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:30,120
Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. Please subscribe, rate, and review

705
00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:33,960
Speaker 1: the podcast. That's what helps other listeners find the show

706
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:41,360
Speaker 1: and we'll talk to you next time. When my baby

707
00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:46,959
Speaker 1: smiles at me, I go to Rio de Janeiro. Okay, Grett,

708
00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:48,880
Speaker 1: it's gonna find a way to use that. By the way,

709
00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:51,200
Speaker 1: I do have a good voice for radio. I think

710
00:41:51,480 --> 00:41:53,880
Speaker 1: you do have a good voice face for radio too.

711
00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:58,960
Speaker 1: I have a voice for print. No, that's not true.

712
00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:03,719
Speaker 1: That's funny. M