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00:00Welcome back. I say back because now we go 2 to 6 Eastern, weekday afternoons, so turns out you're late
00:08if you're just tuning in.
00:09But thank you for doing so, nonetheless.
00:12It is our pleasure once again to welcome Al Michaels to the show here on the West Her Hotline.
00:18It's been seven years. Incredible to me since we first connected with Al and he's been so generous with his
00:25time.
00:25He'll be in Orchard Park Thursday night for the Amazon season debut and to open another new stadium, Al.
00:32Really? I mean, enough already with these new stadiums with Al Michaels on the call.
00:38Come on. How many is it at this point?
00:41This will make ten.
00:42Ten.
00:43This is fully one-third of the stadiums that exist in the NFL.
00:4832 teams, of course, but SoFi is shared by the Chargers and the Rams.
00:52And Medlife is shared by the Giants and the Jets.
00:56So this will be number ten.
00:58I'm bringing my big scissors to provide the ribbon.
01:02And away we go.
01:04Is any one of them the most memorable for some maybe interesting reason?
01:10Well, I think there were a couple.
01:12Well, the first one that I opened up, and when I say opened up, it's the first regular season game
01:21to be played in these stadiums,
01:23even though they did host some preseason games, as you guys did, too, to try to get the stadium in
01:29tip-top shape.
01:30So the first one would have been in 2001.
01:35We did Giants at Denver.
01:37And all I can remember about that one, besides the fact that Christian McCaffrey's father, Ed, broke his leg, was
01:44that was September the 10th.
01:46So everything gets lost in the shuffle of what took place the next day.
01:50But the following year, we opened up Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, and that was the year that the Patriots had
01:58come out of nowhere when Tom Brady had taken over.
02:01They win the Super Bowl.
02:03So not only did they open up the stadium, but they put the banner out there for everybody to acknowledge.
02:11They are the champions.
02:12And also it was the first game in a seven-year run for me and John Madden.
02:20So that was the first game that we did together, and off we went through the 2008 season.
02:27And then the other one that would really stand out, guys, is SoFi, which opened up in Los Angeles during
02:36the pandemic.
02:37So we did the Rams against the Cowboys with no fans.
02:42So that was the oddest one of all.
02:45And, of course, the only good thing about that, we didn't have to beat any traffic.
02:49So there you have it.
02:50Those would be the top three.
02:52The thing I remember about that game, and I'm not just trying to kiss up to you by saying this,
02:56is I know that I had the under and it won in that game, Dallas.
02:59Dallas and the Rams.
03:01I don't remember the stands being empty, but I remember that was under the number.
03:04You know, it strikes me, Al, as you're laying all that out, like Denver, there's a new stadium coming there
03:11already.
03:13You know, there's all kinds of ways to look at how long you've been in the game here, but that's
03:19one.
03:19I mean, you know, that was state-of-the-art brand new, and now they're on to a new one
03:23already.
03:24I don't know, mate.
03:25Is that out on the horizon for you?
03:26Like, I want to do this long enough to get to Denver's new place one more time.
03:31How about that?
03:31Well, you know, you make an interesting point because, you know, they build these stadiums, and you think they're going
03:37to last 40 or 50 years.
03:39But now the shelf life has become something like 30.
03:44So here we are, which is, you know, less than 30 years before they'll open up a new stadium in
03:50Denver.
03:51They had the old Mile High, and then they built, you know, Invesco or whatever it was called at that
03:57particular time.
03:57And it's kind of funny how, you know, you look at stadiums like that, and then you look at, like,
04:03Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
04:05Now, they're going to build a new stadium the way it looks right now.
04:08But think about this.
04:09The designs for that stadium were what was created in the late 60s, and Arrowhead opened in 1972.
04:21And they'll still play a game in there tonight.
04:25Now, there are better stadiums.
04:26There's no question about it.
04:27But, I mean, kudos and hats off to the architects and the people that had that in mind.
04:33And don't forget, Kansas City, Austin, they did something that no other city had done.
04:37They had built separate baseball and football stadiums, and they're both still going.
04:43So you think of it right now, it's kind of a crazy thing how, you know, Kansas City got it
04:48totally right back, you know, over half a century ago.
04:51And you've been in both of those stadiums for very famous events, you know, many times.
04:56Denkinger, right?
04:57That was, you were on that game in Kansas City?
05:00Of course.
05:00Yep.
05:01Yep.
05:01Game 6, 1985.
05:03Oh, yeah.
05:03And the Bills stadium, I've always heard, and I think because we had a round of construction, obviously, in the
05:09Bills' new place,
05:10which you'll be there for the inaugural regular season game, like we're talking, I always had heard that it shared
05:18design elements, the Bills' old stadium with Arrowhead.
05:22And it's only like a year apart that it opened.
05:24The Bills' place opened in 73.
05:26So very similarly, and we're just, you know, we just got out of there.
05:29So did you ever think you'd see a new stadium in Buffalo, Al?
05:36I knew that I had to see one or the team would have moved.
05:39Yeah.
05:40And you guys, you know, you're on top of it.
05:42You understand the fact that, you know, when that stadium got, you know, older and older and people began to
05:48think about, you know, maybe it's time to move a franchise.
05:52Buffalo was always either at or near the top of the list.
05:56So, as you guys well know, I mean, there was a lot of talk about if any team was going
06:01to move, that would be the one.
06:03So I knew that sooner or later, they would have to get a new facility.
06:06And, of course, here it is.
06:08And fortunately for Western New York and Buffalo and the Bills' mafia and all the rest, they can move into
06:14the new playpen on Thursday night.
06:16You were here in 2007 with John Madden, the one visit the two of you together made to a Bills'
06:24home game.
06:24When New England beat them 56-10.
06:27And that was the undefeated Patriots' regular season.
06:31And Bulldog brought up earlier that I would say, and maybe I've mentioned this to you in our conversations in
06:36the past, that Al Michaels is never coming back.
06:40Like, it just seemed, the Bills thing, it seemed so lonely.
06:42We talked to Peter King one day, kind of about they're playing games in Toronto once a year, and where
06:48is this headed?
06:49And I don't know if this is exactly the name of the town, but he said something like,
06:53Well, at some point, you've got to recognize that, like, Castle Rock, Colorado has a bigger population than you guys.
07:00Something like that.
07:01I mean, he wasn't being condescending.
07:03It was just sort of like matter of facts.
07:05Like you basically just said, you've got to figure something out at some point.
07:09And they have.
07:09And I think, I wonder how you'll think of this when you get here.
07:14Amazingly to me, the old stadium is already dust.
07:18Like, they leveled it.
07:20It's gone.
07:21Like, they played there last year, and you'll go out there, and you'll have memories of being in Rich Stadium
07:25and the other names over the years many times.
07:28And you look across the street, Al, and it's not there anymore.
07:30It's really surreal.
07:33It is, and it's a good thing, though, because, I mean, Rich Stadium, it served its purpose, but you guys
07:40know you've been to other stadiums around the league, and they're vastly different.
07:45But I think, you know, I mean, to me, it's going to be a very exciting night to see this
07:49come to fruition.
07:50I never wanted to see that team leave.
07:52Look, I remember, you know, I was a big AFL fan back in 1960, and so I know all about
07:58the history of the Buffalo Bills.
08:01And I think you guys and I, I think, may have talked about this in a visit either last year
08:07or the year before.
08:09The first NFL game that I ever did, ever, was a point-to-point telecast in 1971, Bills at Minnesota.
08:19And even the NBC station didn't carry the game in Buffalo because they were carrying the American League or National
08:27League baseball playoffs.
08:29So we got farmed out to a UHF, and I don't know how many people saw that game, but it
08:35was the Bills at Minnesota.
08:37You had, I know, Bud Grant was the coach at Minnesota at that time.
08:41I think Norm Seed was the quarterback.
08:44And the Bills, and you guys and I have talked about this, the Bills featured O.J. Simpson and Al
08:50Cowlings.
08:51That was how I broke in in 1971.
08:55Crazy.
08:56O.J., who you would, of course, come to know pretty well, Al, over the years, right?
09:00Of course.
09:00And Cowlings as well.
09:01They were both neighbors.
09:03Interesting.
09:04Okay.
09:05Lest anyone think, I didn't know that you were...
09:08Lest, of course.
09:11With Al Michaels.
09:13Well, it's no coincidence that you're getting a good team here again now.
09:17I mean, that goes hand-in-hand with the primetime schedule.
09:21What a start yesterday, Al, for the Bills.
09:23A wild win in Houston.
09:25And Josh Allen, I mean, I sometimes just don't have the words.
09:29Just continues to amaze.
09:32He's unbelievable.
09:33You know, I mean, look, he's already won, what, a couple of MVP awards.
09:36I mean, his resume has everything, but you know what?
09:40It's everything but the Lombardi.
09:42And Detroit comes off a crazy game as well yesterday.
09:45So two teams providing great escapes.
09:48But I'm looking forward to it.
09:49You know, and Josh actually spends a good part of the offseason out here now
09:54after his marriage and belongs to the same golf club as I do.
09:58And on a couple of occasions this past summer,
10:01a ball would go whizzing over my head from some other fairway tee box.
10:06And, of course, who hit it?
10:08Our man.
10:10You know what?
10:11He's such a great guy.
10:12He came right over and apologized.
10:14I said, come on, man.
10:16You know, you missed me by 10 feet.
10:18No problem.
10:21The onus is on the hitter, Bulldog.
10:23We just had this conversation when we were playing in a work event
10:25and got hit into.
10:26Like, listen, you've got to come over.
10:29At least you've got to make sure everything's okay.
10:31It doesn't surprise me that Alan would.
10:33You know, he seems like sort of good in that way.
10:37Yeah.
10:37How much – well, I don't want to ask it the way I first was going to here
10:42about how fair do you think it is.
10:44How much or not at all do you hold the Bills not making a Super Bowl
10:49against the quarterback at this point?
10:52I mean, he's maybe – you know, we want to hope maybe halfway through his career.
10:57And not much more than that, hopefully, for us.
10:59And he can stay at this level.
11:01But they haven't gotten there yet.
11:02And the defense carries a lot of the blame, largely for, I think,
11:06one playoff game that was so egregious, that 13 seconds game in the divisional round
11:10at the end of the 21 season.
11:13But there have been – you know, he's got the ball in his hands.
11:15There's a minute and a half or two minutes to go.
11:18And they haven't been able to get it – you know, get the touchdown they needed
11:23to get to the next round.
11:25I don't know.
11:25How much of it do you think he carries?
11:29There are 32 teams in the league.
11:32So at the end of the year, one team is happy and 31 are not.
11:37So I look at it that way.
11:39You've got a 3% chance of lining up lifting the Lombardi trophy.
11:44You guys and I both know there are about 500 things that go into creating the
11:50result of any particular game.
11:52And it's easy for people right now to say, well, you know,
11:56the Rams lost in Australia because of their travel situation.
11:59Maybe that gets factored in.
12:02But there are 500 things that happen in a football game that determine the outcome.
12:07The Bills have been on the bad luck end of, you know,
12:11the game in Kansas City obviously is incredible.
12:14I am forever linked to, God bless him, Scott Norwood, right?
12:19You come that close.
12:21You come that close.
12:23But that's why we love football.
12:24That's why we talk about it.
12:25That's why there's always an overreaction every Monday because people say, well,
12:31if this would happen and that would happen, yeah, I'd go back to what I call
12:35the rule of 500.
12:36There are that many things or more that determine the outcome of the game.
12:40So when it comes to Josh Allen, he is blameless in terms of the fact that the
12:46Bills have not won a Super Bowl.
12:47I mean, who else would you rather have behind the center at this particular time?
12:53Al, do you regret not being picked for that Australia game?
12:56Would you have wanted to make that trip?
12:58You know, that's one of the few places that I wanted to go.
13:04And we were bidding for it in the mix at Amazon.
13:08So I was hoping we would get it.
13:09But nope, save myself that six-an-hour flight.
13:12Just have to get there on my own someday.
13:14But no, that's a place, you know, I've been to much of the world.
13:18Of course, going back to my years at ABC, wide world of sports.
13:22And it truly was wide world of sports.
13:24I mean, I got to see just about everything.
13:26But that's the one spot I'm missing, that and New Zealand.
13:28So yeah, I would have loved to have done it, sure.
13:31And I mean, you were working professionally in Hawaii.
13:34So I mean, you probably logged a few miles in your career.
13:40Not daunted by a trip to Australia.
13:43You know, like you've almost seen it all.
13:46Will you travel tomorrow?
13:49Yes, I'll be flying in tomorrow afternoon.
13:51Yep, she'll be there by 8, 9 o'clock tomorrow night.
13:54And I'm going to get ready on Wednesday, have our meetings.
13:57And off we go.
13:59What are you guys hearing about the field?
14:01What's the skinny there right now about the conditions?
14:05Yeah, I don't know.
14:07I'm, I think, curious and apprehensive, I guess.
14:12Because, I mean, they had to tear it out and replace it.
14:16And I don't know.
14:17I mean, there's been some reporting on it.
14:20There are turf experts that are saying, like, I wouldn't let Josh Allen on that field.
14:24So I don't know.
14:25I'm, I think nervous is maybe the way I would describe myself in thinking about the field.
14:31Will it be better than War Memorial?
14:33I think we can hope.
14:35I think we should expect.
14:36I might have to ask you that question.
14:37But there were, there were big, Al, they were having practices in there.
14:41You know, open practices were the first of, well, the first event was an open practice.
14:45And, like, hunts of turf were coming up.
14:48Yeah.
14:48So they needed to act, and they did, and hopefully it took.
14:52And that won't be the case.
14:54But I'm worried about it being a story.
14:57Yeah, I saw the video.
14:59So let's hope for the best.
15:01I mean, it goes, just to close here, if you don't mind.
15:04It goes back to part of our earlier conversation.
15:06But it's a grass field, and it's open air, at least mostly.
15:13And, you know, Cleveland's planning on a dome now, and Kansas City, and Nashville next year.
15:18And, I mean, it won't be too long before this new place, which hasn't even officially opened yet,
15:24might seem like a throwback.
15:25Because, I don't know, what Pittsburgh does someday, or...
15:28New England.
15:29New England, I know.
15:30Or, what are they, don't they bring their field in and out?
15:33Whatever.
15:34Like, to have an open air grass field in Buffalo someday may stand out.
15:40It may.
15:41You know, and I'm all for it, because I like, you know, football that's played in a natural environment.
15:45Green Bay, I can never see Green Bay doming that stadium.
15:50It's just too iconic.
15:51Chicago, who knows?
15:53I mean, they're going to move to Hammond, Indiana.
15:54Nobody has any idea.
15:56But the way it is right now, you guys know better than anybody that these stadiums need to be,
16:04available and conducive to holding concerts and other events.
16:09And so, that's why here in Los Angeles, you know, where our weather is as good as it is any
16:14place in the country,
16:16that SoFi has a roof.
16:18Granted, it's a translucent roof, at least, you know.
16:21So, at SoFi, if you play a day game, it looks like a day game.
16:24We don't know there's a roof here.
16:25Like, that's the same thing they are doing now in Nashville, as far as I'm aware.
16:31Kansas City has that in the plans.
16:34I think Cleveland's going to be the same type of thing.
16:37It's that translucent roof.
16:38So, you can have not just eight or ten games a year in that stadium.
16:42That stadium's got to be available for a lot more events.
16:45But I'm happy that Buffalo is still holding its ground and providing, you know,
16:53the types of memories that we know when we watch old, you know, films of the National Football League.
16:59It's different.
17:00It's cool.
17:01And that's why people still love, love, love snow games.
17:05And, of course, you know, you'll get to provide a few in the new stadium.
17:09Yes, I hear you say you love the elements.
17:11Well, you're coming up here in September.
17:13It's 70 and sunny today.
17:14Like, you're going to have it pretty easy, I hope, anyway, this week.
17:18Minnesota, another one.
17:19You watched Minnesota Bulldog yesterday and just how bright it is.
17:21Yeah, I don't know what the roof is, but there's that whole wall of windows
17:24that just there's so much natural light in that stadium.
17:26Pretty cool.
17:27Oh, for sure.
17:29Yeah, in those stadiums, night games or day games look like day games.
17:37I mean, you see the sun.
17:38I think Indianapolis was one of the first, but they kind of messed it up a little bit
17:42because of the grading that it's a retractable roof.
17:46Retractable roofs are okay for me, too.
17:48But you know what?
17:48The stadiums that built the retractable roofs barely use them.
17:52Right.
17:52You rarely see the roof opened up in Dallas.
17:55You rarely see the roof opened up in Houston.
17:59Yeah.
17:59And, you know, to me, either it's natural or you now go to what everybody's going to.
18:07It was that translucent situation so you can have concerts and all of the rest in those
18:12stadiums.
18:12But I'm happy that Buffalo is able to hold the ground because, you know, games in Buffalo
18:16should look like games in Buffalo and not in some, you know, hermetically sealed, you
18:22know, kind of what would you call it?
18:25A hermetically sealed tent or something.
18:27Ballroom.
18:27Yeah.
18:28I'm happy.
18:29Yeah.
18:29Right.
18:29Exactly.
18:30Exactly.
18:31It's always such a thrill to have you on.
18:33We didn't get to any hockey today, which is something.
18:35We didn't.
18:36No.
18:36We haven't got to any hockey.
18:37How about them Sabres, though, huh?
18:38How about it?
18:39How about it last year?
18:40Out of nowhere.
18:41It caught fire.
18:42It was so tremendous to have that back after, you know, kind of an apathetic last decade
18:48or more.
18:49No question.
18:50No question.
18:52No, maybe, you know, all we were missing around is Jessica Pagula winning the U.S.
18:58On Prime Thursday night for the Bills and Lions.
19:06I always like, you know, if we have a couple minutes after he hangs up to sort of like,
19:11sort of bask in it.
19:13Yeah.
19:16You know, smoke a cigarette, you might say.
19:18Right, I know.
19:19Right.
19:23It feels just sort of normal now.
19:25Let's make it an annual event.
19:27Which is, you know, which is great.
19:29It's really, really, really nice.
19:31I remember the first time we did that being like, oh, my God.
19:34I was so nervous.
19:35Talking to Al Michaels.
19:36And this time, now I'm being cheeky with him.
19:38Right.
19:39Right?
19:39I mean, come on with all these stadiums.
19:41You're just showing off at this point.
19:45I like the point about Denver.
19:46To be able to open a stadium in the same city more than once.
19:51Right.
19:52I don't know what the time.
19:53I imagine it's got to be three years out down the line here.
19:56But, you know, maybe he gets there.
19:58He's 80.
19:59It'd be really something.
20:01Yeah.
20:03I shouldn't have referred to that World Series game just by the umpire's last name.
20:08You know, that's not really.
20:09That's what it's famous for.
20:10The missed call.
20:10Don Denkinger.
20:11Right.
20:12You know, that happens sometimes.
20:15Games are famous for the mistake.
20:19What is the mistake again?
20:21Is that?
20:21Is that?
20:21Call it first base.
20:22Is that Herbeck?
20:23No.
20:24No, that's a different thing, right?
20:25Yes.
20:26It's the Cardinals and the Royals.
20:27Right.
20:27Okay.
20:28Right.
20:28And the Cardinals, it's game six.
20:31And the Cardinals are three outs away, like ninth inning with the lead.
20:36And he misses a call at first.
20:37The Royals win the game.
20:39And then the next game, I think the Royals won 11 to nothing.
20:43So.
20:44Tough one there.
20:45Like, if I'm that umpire, I so hope the Cardinals win game seven.
20:49Can I do it?
20:50Can I sort of give one back?
20:52I guess that's not how you do it, but.
20:55All right.
20:56Let's break.
20:56We have Deion Dawkins today at four.
20:58He'll join us Mondays throughout the season.
21:01And Sal Capaccio will be with us at five.
21:03We're two to six now.
21:05Mike Schoep and the Bulldog.
21:06Hope you enjoyed Al Michaels.
21:07It's a great treat for us.
21:08This is WGR.
21:10This is WGR.
21:10This is WGR.
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