00:00If you look at the wildcard standings,
00:02there's just one back.
00:03But this is from a tweet from Ben Dominich,
00:06who I think is a political guy,
00:07but he tweeted,
00:10despite their offensive production,
00:11the Washington Nationals have the third worst attendance in the league.
00:15Maybe this is because of things like buying an $11 hot dog
00:19and being told that it's not allowed to eat at a bar table.
00:24The learners should be ridden out of town on a rail.
00:28So pretty opinionated.
00:31But the third in attendance is something,
00:33that's not necessarily just on the learners.
00:36You can put it on the learners and $11 hot dog,
00:38but to me that's kind of standard.
00:40It's fans just not buying in yet,
00:42and they're not believing in the team,
00:45but maybe it's time to start buying in.
00:47It's a new regime.
00:48We have Paul Tiboni on the show every Wednesday.
00:51He's got a new manager.
00:53You may not know all of the players yet.
00:56It takes some time,
00:57but this team's playing good baseball.
00:59They've won 16 games in May.
01:01They've won their last three series.
01:04Like, it is time to start taking them pretty seriously,
01:08and they're doing it with a minuscule payroll, too.
01:11That's one thing that would worry me,
01:12if you're a Nats fan,
01:14is that maybe behind closed doors,
01:16the owners, the learners are like,
01:18well, we're getting pretty good results,
01:20and we're not spending a lot of money
01:22with this new regime that's in here,
01:24with Butera as the manager,
01:25and Paul Tiboni as the president of Baseball Ops.
01:28Maybe this success that they're having
01:32emboldens them in basically saying,
01:34we don't have to spend $150 million,
01:38or $300 million like some of our NL East division rivals,
01:43like what the Mets are spending,
01:44what the Phillies are spending.
01:45I might be worried about that if I'm a Nats fan,
01:48that they see what's happening with a relatively small payroll,
01:52and they feel like they can do it kind of on a shoestring budget.
01:57I don't think they think they could win a World Series like this.
01:59I think they think they could keep the franchise reasonable
02:04until they sell it.
02:06I think they're going to sell the team they want to sell the team.
02:08That's all they care about.
02:09I want to hear from Nats fans,
02:11because I think there's some hesitance to buy in.
02:161-800-636-1067.
02:18If you look at yesterday,
02:21I mean, it couldn't have been a better day.
02:22This year was awesome.
02:23The weather was awesome.
02:27135 game.
02:28They had 24,000 in attendance.
02:30What would you expect?
02:32I think when a team's going good, maybe 30.
02:35Okay.
02:36I'm not saying have to sell it out, but...
02:39No, but that's against quality opponents in town.
02:42The Padres are, what, six games over 500.
02:45Beautiful weather.
02:46It's a weekend.
02:47Team's winning.
02:48Yeah, I would think 28,000 to 30,000 would be more kind of in line
02:52for what you'd expect for a game like that.
02:541-800-636-1067.
02:57Are you buying into the Nats?
02:59And if you're not, what's it going to take?
03:01Because right now, the Washington Nationals, and I get it,
03:05there's another 100 games to go.
03:08They're one game out of the wild card.
03:10Usually when a team is in the playoff mix, there's excitement.
03:15I mean, we were grasping at the caps at the end of the season.
03:17I don't think anybody thinks they're real,
03:20even though they're one game back now,
03:21I don't think people really think push come to shove.
03:24But why not?
03:25That they're real playoff.
03:26James Wood isn't going away.
03:28C.J. Abrams isn't going away.
03:30The Stars, yeah.
03:30I just think, on the whole,
03:32they don't think that it's a real playoff contender.
03:35And this team seems to be doing everything on the margins right.
03:40Right?
03:40So, when, you know,
03:43they'll have somebody pitch for the first inning
03:48because they look at the lineup.
03:49And they're like,
03:50well, we don't want a regular starter starting here.
03:52He'll come in in the second inning.
03:54And, you know,
03:56whether it's stolen bases,
03:57being more aggressive on the bases,
03:59all kind of these little things seem to add up.
04:03And, you know,
04:04you read about,
04:05I mean,
04:05I listened to the hitting coach on Grand Danny's show.
04:10Very impressive guy.
04:11They seem to be doing like,
04:13I'm not saying that the previous guiding coaches didn't prep them,
04:17but it seems like they're prepping more.
04:19I just think that they're like a marginal.
04:21Like, I'm thrilled that they're competitive again.
04:24We have them on, right?
04:26We're monitoring at my house.
04:28But they're a marginal playoff team at best.
04:31Even in the best case scenario,
04:32they'd be a marginal playoff team.
04:33Weren't they a wildcard team when they won the World Series?
04:35Yeah, but there was a lot more hype.
04:36They were winning.
04:37They would go to the playoffs every year.
04:39It's just a different vibe now.
04:41Right?
04:41But the point is,
04:42maybe you've got to start buying in.
04:43It's too early.
04:44So 60 games is too early.
04:45Well, they've caught people by surprise.
04:47They've been bad for seven or eight years.
04:49The public's not really buying in yet.
04:52They're a marginal.
04:53No one thinks they're going to win anything of note.
04:56So it's great,
04:58but this is more of a,
04:59you've got to be,
05:00you've got to pop more for,
05:02I think,
05:03to get the kind of reaction you want.
05:06There's been fan base erosion since the World Series.
05:09This is a bandwagon town.
05:10We love winners,
05:12but they're not quite there yet.
05:14They're, you know,
05:14they're fringe.
05:15They might be a fringe playoff team.
05:17That's not good enough for this area.
05:20That would be my answer.
05:21And you have two studs in the lineup.
05:22They're not going anywhere.
05:24James Wood and CJ Abrams.
05:26Now people start freaking out like,
05:28oh,
05:28they're going to end up trading them in a couple years.
05:32Maybe that'll happen.
05:33Here's how you get,
05:33here's how you get a attendance bump.
05:38James Woods hits like,
05:39I don't know,
05:40six home runs in six straight games or something.
05:44You know,
05:45maybe they win like 12 straight games.
05:48They got to do something extraordinary.
05:50Put them over the hump.
05:51Because they're just a fringe team right now.
05:54Breaking out of a seven or eight year malaise.
05:58But maybe they've found their winning formula.
06:02To an extent.
06:03But this town,
06:05you got to do better for this town to pay attention.
06:071-800-636-1067.
06:09Are you buying into the Nats?
06:11And if not,
06:12what's it going to take to buy into the Nats?
06:14All right.
06:14Let's go to,
06:15let me see here.
06:16Let's go to Matt in Woodbridge.
06:18Matt,
06:19what's up?
06:20You're on with the Jones.
06:22All righty.
06:23Thanks for hearing me.
06:24Sure.
06:25I'm excited about watching this team.
06:27There's nothing better to me than like the,
06:29you know,
06:30the movie,
06:31the major league,
06:32the young,
06:33scrappy team that builds themselves and crawls out of the basement.
06:36Right.
06:37They're not on TV.
06:39How would you generate any buzz or excitement?
06:42Well,
06:42it depends on your service.
06:43They're on my TV.
06:45Jerry Jones and Ted Turner would make it hard to watch their TV.
06:49No,
06:50I have cable with extra sports channels,
06:53Big Ten Network,
06:54NFL Red Zone,
06:55all this.
06:55And I can't get it.
06:57I'm supposed to spend extra $11 a month.
06:59When they won't spend a million dollars on a first baseman.
07:03Yeah.
07:03Matt,
07:04what,
07:04what,
07:04what,
07:05what's,
07:05what cable service do you have?
07:08Xfinity.
07:10Why don't you kind of a big one?
07:12Okay.
07:12It's a big one.
07:13It's a big one.
07:14It's a big one.
07:14You can get it,
07:15but you're right,
07:15but you have to pay extra.
07:16Why don't you get,
07:17I have direct TV,
07:18uh,
07:19not,
07:19not the dish,
07:20the streaming service.
07:21I bet you it's a very similar cost and it comes,
07:23it's included.
07:24Why don't you just switch service?
07:27They're not willing to spend no matter what.
07:30I'm just saying it could be a net even.
07:32It would be a net.
07:33It would be even.
07:34I'm going to change all my cable to accommodate people that are not trying to win.
07:40It's been three years of this.
07:42So I'm supposed to jump on the bandwagon and I'm supposed to help them out.
07:46They won't even help.
07:47You don't have to help them out.
07:47I'm just saying,
07:48if you want to watch him,
07:49you can,
07:49you just don't want to.
07:50Yeah.
07:50But a lot of people are like that.
07:52He doesn't want to bend over backwards.
07:53He doesn't bend over backwards.
07:55You make one phone call and you could switch it.
07:57It's probably for the same cost.
07:59But he's locked in.
08:01Would you change your cable today for one phone call?
08:02I did it.
08:03No, you wouldn't go through that.
08:04I did it.
08:06I did it.
08:07Yeah, but for years,
08:08you also used to pay for two services.
08:10I know,
08:10but I pay for one.
08:11Yeah, that's not normal in America.
08:13He's not the only guy.
08:14Thank you for your call.
08:15This is a tweet from Brett.
08:17He just doesn't want to deal with it.
08:18The TV deal is a thing.
08:20We can't watch the Nats on our Verizon cable bill anymore.
08:23My son and I watch other games.
08:25We're losing the emotional attachment
08:26and getting to know the players
08:28because they aren't on TV
08:29when we're making dinner.
08:30I guess I don't understand
08:32the emotional attachment people have
08:34to their TV provider.
08:35Switch providers.
08:37I think a lot of people are just locked in.
08:39Yeah, yeah.
08:39I think that's just kind of silly.
08:41Open your minds.
08:41You do it with your phones occasionally.
08:44You do it with other bills.
08:46Just switch your TV provider.
08:48It's a phone call away.
08:52I don't understand the emotional connection.
08:54Or you keep your provider
08:55and you watch them on the app.
08:58I begrudgingly got the app.
08:59Okay, you can do that too,
08:59but you have to pay for that.
09:00Yeah, you got to pay for that.
09:01Right, right.
09:02You get used to your TV provider.
09:04I begrudgingly got the app.
09:06I think Cakes did the same thing.
09:07I tried them all.
09:07I don't have any allegiance anymore.
09:11Whatever has the channels I want,
09:12that's what I'm going to get.
09:14I don't want to pay more.
09:16I'm not paying more.
09:17It's part of the basic service.
09:19Let's go to Tailgate Ted.
09:22Tailgate.
09:23What's up, bud?
09:24What's going on, guys?
09:25What's up, man?
09:27I'm happy that the team's doing well,
09:29but as a fan,
09:30I don't have faith in this ownership.
09:33Let's just say they actually can make a run
09:35to invest the money
09:36to be buyers of the deadline.
09:38They probably won't.
09:40It's hard to.
09:40They probably won't be big ones.
09:41It's hard to care about them.
09:43And I want to support you.
09:44I'm going to a game on Wednesday
09:45just because it's a day game
09:46and it's something to do for work
09:48and I get to hang out with my boys.
09:50But other than that,
09:51they're an afterthought.
09:52I went to the Defenders game
09:53at Audi Field yesterday
09:54when they played at noon
09:55and the Mets played at 1.30.
09:57And I'd say the Defenders
09:58probably had a better turnout
09:59than the Mets game did.
10:00And it's UFL.
10:03It's kind of a joke
10:04of a footballer.
10:04It's something fun to do
10:05with your guys.
10:06How many people were
10:07at the Defenders game?
10:10I was in the beer section.
10:11The government's packed there.
10:12It's just,
10:13I mean,
10:13it's more of a fun experience.
10:15Yeah,
10:1510 beers,
10:16so he's double counting
10:17the crowd,
10:18I would guess.
10:20That's it.
10:20Audi, right?
10:21Yeah,
10:21Audi.
10:22It's not going to fit
10:23as many people.
10:24Yeah.
10:24Was it 15,000?
10:25It was a great idea.
10:26I'm going to see
10:26if I can find
10:27the UFL box score
10:29to see how many they had.
10:31I don't think
10:31it's going to be
10:32close to 24,000,
10:33but to his point,
10:35if people are making choices
10:38and they're choosing
10:38the Defenders
10:39that's taking out
10:41from the Nationals,
10:43they don't even have box scores.
10:44It's early in the run.
10:45If you want to chime in,
10:46800-636-1067.
10:50So 80 games?
10:52How about 100 games in?
10:53After 100 games?
10:55No, no.
10:56I'm saying early in the run
10:58it's going to take
10:59a couple years.
11:00Okay,
11:00a couple years.
11:01I don't think
11:01you're going to get that right.
11:02What if they made
11:02the playoffs this year?
11:03I don't think
11:03people would show up.
11:05People would show up
11:06because it's an event town.
11:07It would be an event.
11:09But to build
11:09the brand loyalty
11:10to get the consistent
11:1230,000 a night,
11:14it's going to take years
11:15of competitive baseball.
11:16All right,
11:16we've got a bunch of people
11:17that want to chime in.
11:18Hold on,
11:18we'll take your calls next
11:19at 1-800-636-1067.
11:23Nationals,
11:24two games above 500.
11:25If you actually look
11:25at the wildcard standings,
11:27they're one out
11:27of a playoff spot.
11:28Are you buying in?
11:30And if not,
11:31why not?
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