00:00Valenti Enrico, Mark Ryan in for Mike all week long.
00:05Great to have you guys with us.
00:08Over the next four hours today, we've got a team here and the disrespect is simply overflowing.
00:16And I'm curious, am I the only one bothered by this?
00:21There is a would-be top 10 pick that is struggling to maintain his top 10 pick status.
00:29We will get to that.
00:32One of you is doing your A-level best to chase your dreams this year.
00:40And, well, we're going to do our A-level best to help you.
00:45Along the way, we've got your blitz, we've got your fun, we've got your topics, and we've got so much
00:52more.
00:53248-539-9797 is where you guys can get to us on the show.
00:57But we open today with this.
01:02Rich Eisen returned to SportsCenter the other night.
01:08And, you know, it's interesting.
01:10There was like a shake-up.
01:11The National Network was carrying Rich Eisen.
01:14Then he was going back to ESPN.
01:16I guess the biggest question is why, but go ahead.
01:18Right.
01:19He was going back to ESPN.
01:20Well, he now works for ESPN again because they bought the NFL.
01:23I know.
01:24Or media.
01:24NFL media.
01:25Not the NFL.
01:26Sorry.
01:26And I will say, I will say when he left ESPN for the NFL Network, I remember thinking that's a
01:32huge mistake.
01:33And it wasn't a mistake at all.
01:35And it was actually really good for his career.
01:38And then he parlayed being the face of the NFL Network into having a top five or top ten national
01:43show that's also syndicated on TV.
01:45I just remember thinking to myself, why would you leave that brand for like a league experimenting with its own
01:53network?
01:53And it worked out.
01:55And now he returns to where it all began.
01:59Rich Eisen back on SportsCenter.
02:01Now, on the all-time list of SportsCenter anchors, okay, he was up there for me.
02:07Craig Kilbourne was up there for me back in the day.
02:10Rich Eisen.
02:11Good call.
02:12Craig Kilbourne.
02:12He was awesome.
02:13Yeah, he was.
02:14He was freaking great.
02:16I like when Eisen and Stuart Scott did their shows together.
02:20Stuart was the all-time GOAT.
02:22Have you seen the 30 for 30 on him?
02:24I have not.
02:25You got to see it.
02:26It's an absolute tearjerker, man.
02:28Stuart was, you know, not only did Stuart do a lot for a culture, but he did a lot for
02:38everybody.
02:38Like, I mean, I was in college at the time, and I would race back to watch his SportsCenters.
02:44Yeah.
02:45And I just thought like the as cool as the other side of the pillow and all that stuff that
02:50he did.
02:50And I'm like, I didn't know you were allowed to say stuff like that on the air.
02:52Well, he was.
02:53Yeah.
02:53He just took the liberties of nobody said you couldn't.
02:57So I'm going to say that you can.
03:00Right.
03:00Yeah.
03:00No, I like Stuart Scott.
03:02Well, in that documentary, it goes into how like they threw him on ESPN2.
03:07And ESPN2 was trying to be this young, hip, cool network.
03:11And people thought it was BS because he was plenty good enough to be on the mothership.
03:16But they like the older suits were scared to put him on.
03:20Right.
03:21So on the all-time like SportsCenter anchor rankings, I got Stu.
03:25I got Craig Kilborn.
03:26I got Dan Patrick.
03:28I got, yes, Keith Olbermann, although one flew over the cuco's nest with him a long time ago.
03:33But him and Dan.
03:35But it was him and Dan Patrick together.
03:37That dynamic.
03:38That worked.
03:39That dynamic.
03:40Because they balanced each other out.
03:41Right.
03:42The dynamic together was awesome.
03:46But, Boyz II Men says it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.
03:49I decided to spare you singing that.
03:51Aren't you grateful?
03:52Yeah.
03:52I almost went into song there.
03:56He's back at SportsCenter now.
03:58And like it's come full circle.
04:00He has a little bit less hair now than he used to.
04:03And to be honest, he didn't have a whole hell of a lot of hair then either.
04:06But a little less hair now than he used to.
04:08I think, is there a hair on Rich Eisen's head anymore?
04:11He's back hosting SportsCenter.
04:14Now, that's fun.
04:17That's exciting.
04:18I'll tune in to that episode.
04:22What is the thing you miss most about the way sports used to be?
04:28Right?
04:29What is the one thing you miss most?
04:32And can I lead us off with SportsCenter itself?
04:36You can.
04:37And you missed the name, at least for me, was Charlie Steiner.
04:40Oh, fantastic.
04:41And the infamous commercial, Follow Me to Freedom!
04:45What was the best SportsCenter commercial?
04:48Well, there was a bunch of that.
04:50But no, and his old thing was, I think it was him that said, and he's day-to-day.
04:55But then again, aren't we all?
04:56We're all day-to-day.
04:57Yeah.
04:58We're all day-to-day.
04:58How many of those lines do you do?
05:01You know, I want to say it was Olbermann who said, that's three to two to one if you're
05:06scoring at home or even if you're alone.
05:08I dropped that, Enrico.
05:10Nobody knows what I'm talking about.
05:12Nobody knows what I'm talking about.
05:13But it used to be, we all know games aren't played in paper.
05:16They're played inside TV sets.
05:18Right?
05:19All of the different lines that they had.
05:21One guy said, and the player, oh, Kenny Mayne.
05:24I've had him on the show before.
05:25Kenny Mayne.
05:26And the players are gay.
05:27Which means the players are happy.
05:29Right.
05:29After they won.
05:30Right.
05:30And there were things that they could get away with that no one else could get away with.
05:36Stuart Scott, his famous thing, especially when he was doing basketball, he would always
05:39say, and he messed around and got a triple-double from the song from Ice Cube.
05:44So yeah, he would always say that.
05:46And you know what?
05:47He messed around and got a triple-double.
05:49The clean version of what the song is.
05:52Yeah.
05:52The clean version of what the song is.
05:54So we're asking you guys, with this kind of full-circle moment for Rich Eisen going
06:00back to SportsCenter, by the way.
06:02And, I'm sorry.
06:03Yeah?
06:05Charlie Steiner will always be my favorite.
06:08If you haven't seen this, folks, just you two.
06:10Can I guess it?
06:11Can I guess?
06:11Go ahead.
06:12Carl Lewis.
06:13Yes.
06:13Yes.
06:13He kept pulling his ear.
06:15He kept pulling his ear, man.
06:18I think the reason why I like those SportsCenter anchors, they were real.
06:23Yeah.
06:23They seemed like real people, not the cookie-cutter people that there are now who came straight
06:29from Syracuse Broadcasting School.
06:31These guys just seemed like, you know what?
06:34This is how it should be.
06:36And he cracked up and could not stop laughing.
06:40Do you remember what he said?
06:41He goes, that was the National Anthem written by Francis Scott Offkey.
06:51Yes.
06:54All right.
06:55I'm done.
06:55We got to keep it together.
06:56We got to keep it together.
06:57When is the last time any of you guys actually sat down to watch an entire SportsCenter?
07:04Has anything become less relevant?
07:06The last time Stuart Scott was on the air?
07:07The last time Stuart Scott was on the air.
07:09Yeah.
07:10You're right.
07:10I haven't watched, I think, yeah, I haven't watched a full SportsCenter in a long time.
07:18I think SVP is the only guy they have that has any sort of credibility these days.
07:23Remember, it used to be like-
07:24I like his bad beats.
07:25Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:26Like, if you were on SportsCenter, you reached the pinnacle.
07:28Now you're on SportsCenter.
07:29I have no idea who you are.
07:31SportsCenter, it's like almost a jumping off.
07:32You know what?
07:33SportsCenter, to me, it's like what, you know, Yo MTV.
07:37I mean, MTV.
07:39No, no, no.
07:39Like, just MTV, period.
07:41Yeah.
07:41Where it used to be about the videos.
07:43Well, they stopped making it about music.
07:44Right, and it was just like, okay, well, why do I care about these groups of people?
07:48And why do I care about that?
07:49I just want to see videos.
07:50And, yeah, that, to me, it was an evolution that changed.
07:53And the same with SportsCenter, where that's where you went to find out whatever it was.
07:59It was, you know, Chris Berman, you know, for the whole after football.
08:04And you kind of, because there was no cable.
08:06So, him, they would give you the highlights of what happened in all the different games.
08:11And he had a nickname for everybody.
08:13What was your favorite one?
08:16It was Eric's be sleeping with the enemy.
08:20Mine was Braves, Atlanta Braves second baseman, Jeff Blouser.
08:24What was the name?
08:26Jeff See-Through Blouser.
08:28How awesome is that?
08:30Right?
08:31I will say that six days a week and twice on Sunday.
08:34I will say that.
08:35So, for me, one of my things that isn't what it used to be is SportsCenter itself.
08:41That used to be a religion.
08:43You would watch the 11 p.m. one.
08:46You would watch the 8 a.m. one.
08:48Sometimes we're the same.
08:49Sometimes you'd watch it over.
08:51It's not the same.
08:52And I kind of feel like baseball, they haven't gotten with the times.
08:56You know, no one wants to see the highlight of every single game anymore.
09:01You got to give us topics, man.
09:03You got to keep us engaged.
09:05Does anyone in the NFL, everybody watches the Steelers and the Browns.
09:10In MLB, no one gives a rip if the Pirates are playing the Guardians.
09:15Nobody gives a rip.
09:16It's not your job to solve everybody's problem.
09:20No, no.
09:20I get you.
09:20Steelers and Browns, maybe about a quarter of this show watches that game.
09:25I don't think anybody else is watching the Steelers and Browns.
09:28Oh, you're watching that game, Rico.
09:31I'm watching ice cubes melt.
09:35Really?
09:36I miss SportsCenter, y'all.
09:39I mean, like, let's go around.
09:40David, the last time you watched SportsCenter, it's an entirety.
09:44In its entirety, one an hour.
09:45In its entirety?
09:46Oh, that's a long time ago, probably before I had kids.
09:49And my oldest is 15 now.
09:51But that tells you how long ago that probably was.
09:53So at least 15 years.
09:5415 years for you?
09:56Longer than that.
09:57I mean, in the entirety, you may be like almost 20-some years.
10:04This thing was an institution.
10:07You can get everything you get from SportsCenter, or used to get from SportsCenter,
10:11everywhere else now.
10:12I can get it somewhere else.
10:14I don't need it.
10:15That's right.
10:16So we ask you guys as we open today,
10:18what's the thing you missed most about the way things used to be?
10:22In honor of Eisen going back and hosting yet another SportsCenter,
10:26finally getting eyes on that show for the first time in, well,
10:29according to this show, over 15 years.
10:32248-539-9797 is where you can get to us.
10:36Valeni Enrico, 97.1.
10:38Guys, you've been on the...
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