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Thank you, everybody, for your feedback.

So far this week. It's very helpful. We're still working out a workflow and I don't want to bore you by saying that because it's already becoming a cliche around here. But we have pivoted to digital, which is to say we have been forced to pivot to digital because they'd taken away an hour of our national. We didn't ask for any of them. We didn't ask for any of this and they didn't ask us for any.

This is B.S., but we wanted to deliver this for you guys and quite honestly, for selfish reasons, keep our foothold in this digital marketplace because we are the biggest sports radio show ever in the podcast format. What we want to do here today, just so you understand, because we know some of you have been discombobulated because you're used to a familiar flow. You get your stuff the way you get it and it's been altered again. We did not ask for this.

In fact, ESPN did not ask us to give you this bonus content. If it was up to ESPN, I think all we'd be doing now, based on how they've made my schedule with highly questionable, is just the two hours on radio, which, like you, we find confining and uncomfortable and watch some of the corporate stuff that I've been trying to get off of me.

And we've done plenty of explaining on why we decided to do this. Let's set up today's show, OK, thank you. When Dan said this is B.S., by the way, this is not B.S. This is the local our B.S. big city. That's coming up next. And it's a long form conversation with Bomani Jones about college football. And you're probably wondering, wait, is this what big school is going to be? Yes and no. Not every day.

It's going to be different. I know we're coming on the heels of an Aaron Rodgers interview that was sort of the same formula.

But look, they're talking about college football. I'm worried about that being dated. And with the heat playing today and the NBA playoffs, I want to make sure that I don't push that and kick that can down by the end of the week when everything can change. So a very great conversation between Bomani Jones and Dan Leveton about college football is today's big story. But on this local hour that you're listening to right now, Dan once again joins me in our interview with David Samson.

There's some good stuff. Yeah, there's some really good stuff, some real revelatory stuff. I mean, per tradition with David Samson, he's always dropping some interesting nuggets.

This one probably more than usual, which means a lot because usually he's good for a few. So that'll be the local hour as it is every Thursday. Sometimes we'll be here, sometimes the entire shipping container will be here. Sometimes it'll just be me.

We are not sure as we go forward what you're going to be getting from the local our and big suey every day. We don't know, but we like that unpredictability. And what we're telling you is that today what you're going to get is too much. Make me with Sam sent me with Bomani. The conversation with Bomani. Mike is exceptional. Like you're not going to get that college football conversation anywhere. But if you don't want that, we understand.

We want you to support everything we're doing. But if that's not what you want, you can just do the radio show or something else and you can watch the Heat game with us. We're trying to give you guys more and more and better and more. And so you could watch the Heat game with us on Twitch. Lieberthal and Friends is the hand.

I'm feeling better about the content that we're putting out. Quite frankly, I think what we're doing on digital is better than the national show just because, look, we're still finding our footing in this new format to our format. It kind of feels, at least for this week, we're trying to show up three hours worth of spots into two hours of programming. It's a little weird, but I think what we're doing in terms of our daily output is better.

I feel really good about this week of shows despite the unholy technical difficulties and the workload.

We will streamline it, though. OK, but we're telling you the next couple of hours here a really strong if that's what you want. David Samson with some really great stories.

Sounds like we're apologizing or it really does. But they're coming after us, Mike. They have not been patient. We're three days in and they're already complaining. They do not like changes. They do not like changes. And they're coming at you probably directly, because I'm I'm super sensitive of that. I like to think I'm self aware. The Reddit community has been oddly supportive for them. They're happy with what they're going there all.

But they see what's happening. They see the macro.

Oh, yeah. No, they're they're backing us up here. They're backing us up. I know there's some conspiracy theories that this is all the work. Guys, I can honestly tell you we're doing all this stuff. We don't have to do the local our we don't have to know we're doing it for you. We're doing it for you. And your support of us will help us. We're also doing it for ourselves, OK, because I like that part.

Ranking hell, if it could go higher. I'd like for it to go higher, and I just found it difficult to continue to maintain that podcast ranking if we were just a two hour show every day.

Enough explanation. Here is the local hour with David Samson, followed by Bomani Jones, followed by two hours of radio, followed by you could watch the Heat game with us on Twitter. Oh, you forgot the post game show. There's a lot today.

Hey, we got really positive reviews last week for the David Samson Show because Dan Levitan made an appearance on the David Samson show for the first time in over a year. It was really well received. And I'm happy to announce Dan Liberty is back with David Samson and myself. However, there are certain things that happened during the recording that the audience didn't hear and won't ever hear. Dan makes things awkward and he's leaky faucet tired. And those are the perils of doing shows with Dan Levitan.

And I felt really guilty about it over the last week. And I want to take this opportunity to once again in a public forum, apologize deeply to David Samson for the position that we put. I feel really bad about everything that happened. It Dan is always making things awkward. So from the bottom of my heart to you and those who I offended. And there's a drive deep to left field by Castellanos. I am sorry, David.

We've got to talk about what this was last night, because I don't know that everyone listening. It's very early, so they might not know what happened. And I've got a thousand questions just about the logistics of what PR is doing. While over a live mic, he Thom Brennaman uses Cincinnati Reds broadcaster. A homophobic slur does it very casually spits it in a way that makes his apology feel insincere when he says this is not who I am, I'm a man of faith.

It came very easily to him, that slur. And then during the night game, he had to apologize and he was awkwardly apologizing, probably worried that his career was over, as it might be and probably should be.

And maybe as you're hearing this, depending on when you're hearing it and he's apologizing and then he feels the need in the middle of the apology, bad time for a home run. Just a terrible time. So, Samson, you were in PR calamities occasionally. So first of all, what did you find fascinating about everything that was happening there? Well, I was picturing exactly what was going on in the front office, what was going on at Fox, Ohio, and what was going on a big fox, because he's also an NFL broadcaster.

So everyone is going into full operation. And his agent as well had to get ready with the statement, which he didn't release a statement until the middle of the night. So it took way too long for them to come out with a second statement. Hold on. Hold on, Dave, if I may.

So you got a double header, Royal Cincinnati. The Reds haven't played a meaningful game in about 15 years. The only thing anyone knows about the Reds is Joey Votto. But the Brennaman family, this is the son. The game was handed down as a broadcaster, correct. From his father. Like this has been in the family for a long time, the broadcasting of baseball games. And so they're playing these doubleheaders. They're seven innings. Everyone's tired, delirious, exhausted.

Old people are having trouble with the technology, none of which excuse is anything but over a live mike. This is how it happens, because he just doesn't know that he's on the air and he uses a homophobic slur. Continue. I just wanted to get the audience updated because it took so long for the apology to come, because they had to react. They had to wait for it to be absorbed by the audience. Did I just hear what I heard then?

They had to wait for somebody to catch it and it started to spread. And then they've got to apologize. They should have handled it faster than that.

Yeah. So what you what you didn't say is he did not have the right to apologize on air. I was asked immediately last night what I would have done as president. The team, No. One, I'm walking into the booth and pulling him off the air, period. Hard stop not giving him the microphone to have a chance to apologize, because I know that that is not going to reflect well, both on the organization or on him, because he's had no counsel.

He's had no ability in the middle of a game to figure out the depth and seriousness of what he said. And when you say that he's a long standing family, I don't undersell it. He's been himself a huge, huge broadcaster. He was the broadcaster for the twenty three World Series National League Championship against the Cubs. He and Al Leiter called those games. He was obviously very pro cubs. Mickey, I don't know if you remember that series.

Yeah, it was a joke what Tom Brennaman did in those three.

Let's hit pause on what happened last night, if we could. And I know it's hard, but yes, when Tom Brennaman Word Association and I'm not like the commentator Hatzius guy was like that with Hubie Brown until I started realizing that's how Hubie Brown talks every game. The only time it ever jumped across my screen that a commentator was clearly rooting against my team was thousand and three spot duty for Joe Buck as he was doing football. Thom Brennaman calling that NLCS against the Chicago Cubs.

He so desperately wanted the Cubs to win. I don't know what his problem was with you, with your franchise. And I'm wondering if you guys discuss internally that, hey, what is this guy's deal?

So we discussed it with MLB at the time because we actually were not interested in having him call the games.

We were upset always to have Joe Buck, you always bothered baseball and bothered us as teams that football was his number one and that football won the day in a conflict because that's not how it should be. And I understand that. So the money side of it, I understand the business side. The NFL is a big a bigger property, but I always felt like baseball was the ugly stepchild when we get the second fiddle. But Brennaman has had a long, storied career, comes from a background family.

So I don't want to hear a positive excuse. You didn't know the mike was hot. There's a rule you learn when you are in the media or you're a public facing person. The mikes always hot. It doesn't matter whether you're on the air, off the air. The mic is. All right.

Hold on a second. Look, I want to be clear. I rarely think anyone should be fired that what happened yesterday was a fireable offense, period. I imagine you walk into that booth and immediately follow him. I'm simply explaining how it is. We get to a place where this guy is allowed to have a microphone and apologize during a home run call because of everything happening with his family and because it's a chaotic situation that baseball finds itself in with these games.

And so I'm just sort of explaining how we arrive in a place where this could possibly happen. I'm not excusing it and I'm saying flatly it's a fireable offense.

Yeah, it's not that that chaotic, actually. So we have people, whether they're interns or people in the PR department, they're listening to both the radio and the TV broadcast of every game, whether it's home or away for that very reason, because we need to get them information. If there's some sort of player move or something going on that we want to get out to our fans during the course of a game where there's some sort of announcement that we need to get out or whether there's an issue that happens exactly like this, we need to know it in real time.

So let's pretend that no one in the Reds organization was paying attention. But in this day and age, it was out within five seconds. There was literally a video of it. So what would happen is there'd be a PR person who would go to our head of PR Lazlo, who would walk right into our suite, would tell me what would happen. I would take one minute to breathe and then I would go to the booth and I would pull them off period.

So what they didn't do is they didn't realize fast enough that in this day and age, forget cancer culture, forget all of the other social unrest that's happening. When you make a homophobic slur, it's game over. It's the second and a half real, if not the third rail, to being an outright racist, even back in the Jimmy the Greek days. Right. I mean, there's certain things that when you say it, it's apologizing. Doesn't matter.

So then they for whatever reason, Tom Brennaman thought. That the number one rule when you are have a crisis is you call either your agent or your PR person. He went right into an on air apology. You couldn't have had time to get any advice. And the apology itself, forget the home run call, which you explained perfectly in the middle of his apology, there was a home run by Nicasio House, which he called announcing a four nothing lead.

It was unbelievable. Hey, Tom Brennaman is a professional is listen, OK, hold on just a second, because we will pick up just bookmark exactly where you are. We were talking earlier this week while we were watching the Marlins broadcast because we thought it was uproariously funny. They brought on the curator for the Negro Leagues Museum celebrating 100 years of Negro League Baseball, which by itself is awkward because calling that a celebration is weird because we're celebrating that black people weren't allowed to play with white people a hundred years ago.

But as the curator is talking, there is an argument on the field and Mattingly gets ejected and the announcers were simply afraid to interrupt him. Brennaman Brennaman just barreled through like he's doing the somber, sincere apology. And then he just feels the need to do play by play on a solo homer that made a Royals Reds Game five nothing. And it was funny.

And don't forget that deep drive to left field the ball lands in the judgment free zone. Was that sponsored? Like, what's the judgment? Free zone.

Sured judgment free zone in credible really was if this were Inkerman. Yes, we would. All this is any powers. This is Brockmeyer. It's satire. The way this played out was incredible. And I think David's play in Pull Him Out is the right call because the apology was bad. He apologized to his bosses and said, that's not who I am and leaned on religion. And the last thing that he did was apologize to those he offended. That should have been No.

One with a bullet.

David, it's page one of the crisis PR handbook. You go right to the people that you offended and you talk about what you're going to do to make it right. And that's what's coming. And that's what happened. Three hours later, he then released a statement talking about the LGBTQ community, saying that he would never want to offend them, etc.. Of course, this morning, he said and last night during his apology said there are people who will back up the type of person I am.

You never say that an apology. That's that's a mistake, obviously, because this morning Curt Schilling backed him up, saying that Tom Brennaman is just so neat.

And I mean, he wasn't lying. There were people that would back him up, just people that would make you a little bit uncomfortable. I mean, it's it's just it's going to be remembered forever this time. Brennaman moment. It's a really hard sell, Dan, to tell me that's not who you are. When you were caught in a moment that was off air, who you are on air. It's not really who you are, who you are off air is who you are.

Just a terrible apology. And maybe, look, you have to extend the benefit of the doubt to the Reds or maybe you don't. But this is a shell shocked moment. Who prepares for something like this, David? Oh, wait.

We actually have you do prepare for things like that. So when you're when you have workshops with your PR people, we actually have templates ready for all sorts of things because we want to be nimble and ready and quick. So we have stuff when there's racism, when there's sexism, when there's sexual harassment, when there's a trade, when there's a firing. So we thought through all of these things. Now, once in a while, indeed, you go through the tragic, the tragedy.

But in twenty sixteen, you're not necessarily prepared when a player of yours passes away. But you certainly are ready for when a broadcaster or someone who represents your organization says something that's offensive.

How can you say you're certainly ready when they clearly weren't ready? Like it's not. I think about this. OK, as bad as the live mic moment is, it gets made all the worse because now you have the unbelievable funny that makes it go viral. Beyond the slur, beyond the controversy. You've got the parody of this looks like something that would be written in Kenny Powers and it's made worse. It becomes something that echoes beyond your average slur, like guys in the NBA have been fined for using that word.

It comes and goes. But this moment went viral because of how awkward the whole thing was.

Where are we on the signs of aging when you refer to a show by its main character, but not its actual name, David.

All right. Eastbound and down, whatever. I just wanted to tell people like who was the racist homophobe in that show was Kenny Powers.

I mean, you're the type of guy that called Sacha Baron Cohen, just Borat the entire time, right? Isn't that what he is? Did you see oh, are you excited by this? There was video captured of Sacha Baron Cohen dressed as Borat, doing one of those car on a flatbed type of shots. Borat seems to be making a comeback.

He was filming something. Borat was filming something and was caught by somebody who happened to be driving next to him.

He actually just has a house payment with Isaula for Where's the loser game show, always bringing it back.

Listen, the question you're asking about Tom Brennaman that we should be talking about is can you get past this when you build up enough career credibility that you can get past something like this if he's a young.

Did you get the Charlotte Hornets broadcasts yesterday talked about or nothing personal? Did you read what he did? No.

Yeah. I don't know that story. This is a crazy story. He tweeted out the N-word and blamed it on auto. Correct? I don't know about you guys, but auto correct is usually a word that you use often. So that was another terrible apology.

David, he then got let go. So he suspended is going to is going to get let go is a tough day for broadcasters. And I got into it with some people on social media saying, you know, the letters are right near each other. And I said, listen, I went on my phone and I tried to get it to auto correct to the N-word to see if that's even possible. My phone went to Nigeriens, as in people who live in Nigeria, because I would never use that word ever.

And so there are certain things that you just don't recover from, no matter what your built up goodwill is. And I'm afraid Thom Brennaman is in that category. And I felt for Marty Marty last night, his father, Hall of Fame broadcaster, had to do a statement as well. He calls up the newspaper and said, listen, I as a father, I am so sad for my son. But what he said is so out of pale and unforgivable.

And it's just it's a tough day. And the other thing Tom Bradman had to do before apologized on the air, which is why he shouldn't have done it in this case. If he's got kids, you've got to call your kids and alert them as to, hey, what I did, what's going on, because they're going to start getting on social media. Maybe I'm just talk about what happened with my kids because it happened way too often. So that was always an instinct, which I didn't have in the beginning and I learned to have, which is, hey, kids, there's going to be a situation here and it's coming out in about five seconds, let's say there.

What's the most awkward situation that you yourself ran into there when you had to explain something to your kids?

I had to call them after my Miami. Wow. Must Miami affected you that bad? Oh, no.

I know it didn't affect me, except I knew that it would be an issue for them. It used to be before social media. What the first trade we did in Florida when we traded Cliff Floyd, my kids got bullied in school over that. And it was a pretty good teaching moment because I explained to the kids at the time is that's insane. You can say to them, that's the job my father has. I don't even know Cliff Floyd is because Cliff Floyd went public saying they never told me we were traded.

I don't know if you remember that it was eons ago and he just went crazy. But the mass Miami thing was a situation where they were older and social media had started.

Hold on a second. Do people even know this story? Because I feel like this is super inside baseball. Well, the mass Miami story, people know because they're listening to the show. But for those that are uninitiated, David Samson went to Mass Miami. I believe this was Dan's birthday celebration mass Miami. It was in Wynwood. And in the late moment, David Samson told a booing audience the sale price of the Marlins and bleep you met with some laughter.

Some people got it. And some people were right to be offended. I was bothered by it because the optics were terrible. David, you take it from here.

Yeah. So listen to me. It was all part of an attempt when you entertain here. Here's the thing. When you're in the business, we're in some some hit and some miss and nothing hits with everybody and nothing and some things miss with everybody. Although it's funny the Thom Brennaman did not miss with everybody. So there are people who agree with that slur and agree that it's OK to say that. So I guess it's OK to say that nothing messes with everybody and nothing hits with everybody.

And I did not at the time believe I was with Pablo right after. And I was laughing about it because while they were booing, they were then asking for pictures and autographs. So I didn't think anything of it. But it became a pretty big deal when people thought that I was offending tax payers and the people in Miami, which I certainly was not trying to do. That was definitely more toward Derek Jeter, which I've been very consistent at with his incessant whining and complaining about the price he paid and my laughter that he was just stupid enough to pay it.

That's what I thought it was.

So how did it work? Your kids reached out to you or you reach out to your kids? So I reached out to them because I knew that that was going to be an issue and I told them what happened. And it didn't go great with one out of three. It was. Yeah, whatever. Dad, that's you with two out of three was. You have to do better than that. That is embarrassing and that impacts our lives with our friends and our family, can you and you may have covered some of this because I didn't hear every minute that you did with Mike Ryan over the last year.

But can you explain to the audience how it is that you got that price up with GITR to the place that you did where it started? I know you've talked some about how you involved A-Rod in that, which I thought was pretty funny. Can you explain to us where the money started and how you got it to one point two billion dollars, which we've since learned? It's not worth one point two billion dollars.

Well, when you say you've since learned, I don't know what I mean. Well, Jeter since learned.

How about that? I mean, I know you're going to say he paid one point two billion, so it's worth one point two billion. But he's since learned it's not worth one point two billion.

See, I think that the lesson he's actually learned is that he couldn't make it.

It wasn't as much my fault and Jeffrey's fault as he thought. So what I sold to him was getting rid of us was an automatic increase in the value of the franchise and in the operating budget. And fans will come, by the way, it's the exact same thing that's going on right now with the Mets. And Jeff Wilpon is using A-Rod in the exact same way that I used A-Rod. It is literally he's playing from the same handbook that I did.

When you've got Jeter, who wants a team, and he was Jeter made a big mistake during the course of buying the team when he thought that buying me drinks and getting me drunk and and getting me to his house, introducing me to Havana, thinking that I actually gave a crap about any of that, he invited me to his private club in New York. I can't remember what it's called, but there's one in my it's a it's a you join it Soho House.

Yes, that's exactly what it is. And it's like this thing where you feel like you're part of the in crowd. Apparently, if you can go to this place, those are his signature moves he was using, man.

He was really wining and dining you. He didn't know what he was dealing with Diddy. He had no idea.

So it was perfect. Right. So I came in and I would say, yes, every time he wanted to meet, I would take every call and say and respond to every text. I would schlep to Tampa. He showed me his house. We we had his chef make dinner for me, lunch for me and my kill with Hannah walking in at a completely choreographed time. I mean, it was all so funny and so meant to make me feel as though I was part of this world, which I never was and don't want to be.

But it was all for the purpose of getting him to believe that he was buying a distressed asset. And A-Rod is just an example of a guy who has such a great ego and such a desire to reclaim his reputation and be in the room where it happens that he's willing to be irrational. And that's what's going on with the Mets right now. And he and Jennifer Lopez have formed this amazing business partnership. And let's not kid ourselves. It is a business partnership and they are trying to get this Mets team, but it's not going to work.

But how did you put them against each other? And where do the starting price start with the Marlins? And how did it get to one point two billion?

So remember, back then it was not just A-Rod and Jeter. We also had Mitt Romney's son, Tagg Romney. Mitt Romney, the former presidential candidate. He had he has a son named Tagg Romney who wants to buy a team that's newground.

So talked a little bit more about the Romney's and you probably would want answering that question directly. Yeah.

So I, I don't talk much about the Romneys because I respect them as a family. But Tagg was he was the son trying to get out of the shadow of the dad. And he was trying he spent the whole time trying to buy the team, talking about the fact, you know, Mitt's not involved in this. But meanwhile, we're talking to Mitt and Mitt is obviously behind everything that's going on. But Tagg in his name is Tagg, and he's a fine guy, but his name is Tagg, but his name is Tag.

His name is actually Tag. Actually, it's funny you say that. I have no idea if that's his actual name, but he said call me Tagg. So and when he submitted an offer, his ID sign tags. So I would I never checked his birth certificate. So they they were the Hatfields and McCoys with the Bush family. Jeb Bush also wanted to buy the team so Bush and Romney hate each other, Jeb and Mitt. So what I did with Bush and Romney is the same thing that I did with Jeter and with A-Rod is stated, I would say to Bush all the time, listen, just so you know, Romney's in this and they really want this.

Meanwhile, Romney had no thought that the team is worth more than five hundred million dollars. His first offer for the team was like five hundred million dollars instead. That's about as much as we can give because he looked at the books. But to me, that was enough to go to Jeb Bush and say, hey, Romney is close. So it's what I did with Jeter because A-Rod is so good at going public and I was so good at going public, talking about all the times that I would see Romney.

It's and like with George Moss, the new owner of Into Miami, I gave him a hug during a Marlins game with the cameras on on purpose because I needed Jesus group. And Bush is good. To think that Moss had the inside track to get the team, so all it is is just playing one side against the other and you raise the price, raise the price, and you keep saying, I suck at my job. When you take over, you are going to get naming rights.

You're going to get a better TV deal. I showed him the TV deal I negotiated. I said I didn't even hire a consultant. I'm a disgrace. I didn't have the money to hire a consultant, so I did it myself. But this is a joke. Meanwhile, they don't have a new TV deal. They don't have naming rights and they're despondent beyond repair. And I'm laughing.

George Moss, how serious was that? He is the head of the soccer program down here. So you tell us what in terms of his money, his legitimacy as it came to trying to buy your baseball team. So interestingly enough, we made a decision to sell a team to George Moss instead of Derek Jeter because George Moss said that he would go to one point two billion dollars and that was the minimum that that we wanted to take. And I had my questions and I sat him down and said, I'm about to call Rob Manfred the commissioner, and say that we want you to have the team, not Derek, but for you to have the team, you have to show proof that you can actually get the money together.

And he played around and played around while it was he was negotiating. And then when I said, we want you to have the team, but here's the proof you have to give. He never could do it. You never had the money. And I just had to make sure that that never got out. Because the big issue is that if Jeter knew that Moss didn't have the money and this is after Wayne Rothbaum, who's another name, who we got involved, who's been involved in other teams since then, who who's a value shopper, we had to make sure that there was at least one non-value shopper at all times.

So Oremus, when he segued into Miami, he's a real estate guy. That's a real estate play. He's a businessman. He has a lot of his money tied up in a company called Mastech. So he's not very liquid at all. But he he so desires to be an owner that he decided to go soccer. But the truth is, he doesn't care about soccer no matter what he tells you. Mike, I'm so sorry to tell you that is a straight real estate play.

And I know that they botched their business ops higher, they totally botched it and granted, this is a terrible time to start any business, let alone an expansion team and one that's dependent on especially MLS, because in stadium revenue is massive for that sport, because their TV deal isn't great English language. They don't draw. There's a lot of look at me with the ownership group. You have David Beckham, you have a smile that lights up a room.

You have an owner that knows the power of being David Beckham and he's attracted all these very powerful people to invest. No one's more look at me in that group than we're hamos. And when you stack Hormoz up against some of the other owners, doesn't really have the bona fides. You just revealed that he didn't really have the money to go through with that deal. But his investment, save that inner Miami deal, his millions saved that deal. However, there is a notion that the ownership of Vyner, Miami and particularly maybe more Hamos need to be kind of taught how to be an owner.

This isn't as easy as everyone thinks. Everyone thinks that I know sports and I'm going to change it. I know what fans like. And you're a testament to how you think. It's easy. It's not.

So I spent a lot of time with David Beckham's representatives when we wanted them to play at Marlins Park. As a matter of fact, we wanted to build that stadium right to the west of Marlins Park. And it turns out that David Beckham, he's really not I mean, this is horrible to say, guys, but he's not interested in Miami. He never was interested in Miami. Know what he was interested in was the option that he held to get a team at a twenty five million dollar number that was so below par.

Therefore, he did everything he could to get the money and him to pretend that he's moving to Miami and being a big part of it and that he's going to find a way to market.

Because when we made an offer to get involved, because we did well, we made it engines on David Beckham doing the following five things, none of which you would agree to do.

Hold on a second. Hold on before you get to the five. So you guys made an offer and you were talking at one point about putting those games in Marlins Stadium.

Correct. In Marlins Stadium and Marlins Park, but also building a stadium. We were going to be the ones to build to the west of Marlins Park in the West Plaza. Wow. We would have done we have done the eminent domain to get rid of the houses right there on I think it's Seventh Avenue or Eleventh Avenue.

Why can't you have the capital in? And it was an interesting business opportunity because MLS buy ins now we're like two hundred million dollars. This guy had the cheat code. As soon as you buy into MLS and have a franchise, the franchise is already worth a half a billion dollars. So it's a great business opportunity when you have someone like David Beckham who has this unprecedented.

Give us those details on on making the offer for that.

So the detail is that Beckham had the right to get the team at that price, but then needed to put money in to get a stadium done. And Beckham was never putting a penny of his own money in ever. That's back in the day he got Marcelo Claure. And I met with Marc Anthony about this, who knows, Marcel Claure. And this was a lot going on. It's been going on for years.

Marcelo, Marcelo Claure. He was CEO of Sprint. I believe he owns a team in Bolivia. He's a very wealthy man, but he's one of these like more silent partners of David Beckham's group. He actually has more bona fides on Oremus, but he's he's more quiet about it.

He wrote the first cheque way back in the day when Beckham was kissing babies with the mayor and the mayor was kissing Beckham. Remember when he was announced with all this great fanfare? Well, I'm the one who had told Anthony and Chloé that the money they were spending on all these crazy stadium thoughts, including the stadium that they were going to do north of Marlins Park, remember, with that land option, that it just that wasn't going to happen. You can't build it without parking.

It's simply not going to work. The commonality of interest that we could do at Marlins Park, because we already have the public infrastructure, we have the permitting. Everything was good to go. But to me, it was all dependent on David Beckham actually being here.

What were the five things? What were the five things? So he had to commit to appearances both on game days and off game days to a minimum number of days in Miami to be the public face of the franchise.

Forget running the football side of it, forget choosing colors and forget signing players. I'm talking about from a marketing standpoint, three had to stay completely out of the way when it came to all construction because we had gone through Marlins Park and we wanted to be a very streamlined situation because we were going to be responsible. And then the fourth thing was that he couldn't have an entry of his option and get points in the team for zero, which is what he wanted, because what he thought he was bringing to the table was on David Beckham, which what Derek Jeter thought he was bringing to the table, which is how he got the deal.

And it turns out that doesn't mean squat. And we knew that at the time. So he wanted ownership of the team, which I think he now has four zero investment, which it just the numbers don't work that way. And then we had a deadline by which they had to agree that they were going to play at the Marlins Park site. But remember, they hated the Marlins Park site because they viewed it as a I think the word they used was a squaller, a terrible place because of what the Marlins had done and getting public finances.

You guys would run into that. And on the surface, everything that you're saying is absolutely true. But the counterargument to that is what I'm bringing to the table is basically a 75 million dollar value by getting this expansion team as a part of my contract for just twenty five million dollars.

Yeah, and that's very nice. But that's that doesn't get the ball rolling. Right, because that's nice. That's a nice discount that you're getting. But he wanted to keep that entire discount for himself and have everybody else buy in already added two hundred million dollars to Jesus.

Good Lord. Your back. Right. Is everything all right? You're like Greg, Cody and Strogatz with all that phlegm. So are you still the owners of this team if you guys solidify that investment? Because that sounds like expansion, like are you guys still the owner of the Marlins? If you if that deal had closed.

So we had no idea that. I had no idea that Jeffrey would sell the team. He was interested in expanding and building sort of the empire. And then his life changed and he called me and said, sell the team. That came as a complete surprise. I mean, people think that he and I because we used to be related or that somehow I knew everything that was going on in his head when he called and said he wanted to do something on the business side, I had to do it.

All right. I wanted to ask you something last week, but the conversation went in a different direction. You've obviously sold the Marlins. You're doing nothing personal. You're in media now. But because of getting that stadium, which is a massive achievement, are you still being reached out to by professional sports teams on the business side, a team president role? Or are you sort of persona non grata because of all the PR that comes with you? No, I think that it's different, I've actually made it very clear publicly from the beginning that I had an 18 year career running the team and I don't want to.

That's the first thing I actually said to my agent when I started with CBS. I said, he said, are you here just as a way to get into baseball or get into another sport? Because those guys are really boring and they don't move the needle on the air because they're not willing to say anything. And the reason that I'm willing to work with you is it seems like you're willing to say anything. If we can repopulate your Google, you may have a career here.

Let me know. No, I'm not interested at all. Let me ask you a different way. Has anyone reached out to you since the Marlins sale? Three different organizations, and because I've got relationships with old owners and I speak, I speak to many different owners and I enjoy it because I learn a lot from them. They're interested interesting men and business people. But I've always been clear. I loved what I did for 18 years. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

What do I have left to do?

Who were ready on everything? Who is the strangest of the baseball owners? It was it was a family run business, and I wasn't part of the family, though, I felt part of the family because I loved him. But none of it is strange when you what happens at owner's meetings? There's a lot of cross pollination. So everyone is always posturing because you're always where you are temporarily if you don't have the same last name as the owner. So presidents are always sort of hobnobbing around.

How do you think someone like Dombroski goes from team to team and that it comes from networking and sort of being inside the game and that's why there's so much recycling. But I never wanted to be that because you can't be good at this job. And I know a lot of executives who are doing what I do and they stink at it because they're just not willing to actually take a stand. How can you be good at this if you're not willing to take a stand?

This is a rare situation for you because you answer questions. It's why we have our uncomfortable affiliation with you. You didn't answer that question. I asked you who the strangest owner was.

Yeah, I'm not going to tell you that because it would be offensive to you said that you were close to saying it.

You were close to and then decided not to say, you know, people have a funny thing about me and you, Leveton. They think and this goes from Jeffrey to my family to people who have handled me from a PR standpoint. They think that you get me to say stuff that I otherwise wouldn't say.

You rarely don't answer questions, though, like you, you don't do that slippery dance that you just did on that question with us. Usually usually this is why I tell people they think that you're dishonest. I'm like, this dude is not a liar. Like when he talks publicly about these things, he's giving you unvarnished truth. But a lot of people think that you're a liar. You're not someone who can be outsmarted in an interview.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. David Samson is our guest. David Samson, once again, I have to apologize for my co-host, Dan Leadbitter. There's a deep drive bit left by Castellanos. I am so sorry about him. It was very obvious what you were doing. I thought you answered the question. You gave even a nugget that it was a family deep drive by Kasyanov's. Sorry for the digression. Let's get back to the main sports story of the evening, which is Tom Brennan.

And these are great jobs to have. There's only one of those jobs in every market, but easily replaceable. Tom Brennaman said as much that I don't think I'm ever going to don these headsets ever again. Is he done?

So let me tell you what's funny about what's going on right now at Fox. I think secretly they're super happy they can terminate him for cause because right now they have so many college analysts and play by play guys who were under contract, who have no games to call with the cancellations that they can slot someone in right now to take over for Brennaman on NFL, who's already they don't have to do a new hire at all. They can repurpose someone who they're already paying.

So do you think it's possible? Because I totally do, because I can totally picture this know, sinister.

You sound basically he doesn't forget 2003. He cannot even let go of. He can. He's got this giant smile on his face. Yes, of course, it's possible that in a cost cutting move, everything that happened yesterday, someone at Fox is grateful because they get to save that Brennaman money. Yes, of course. What do you mean? Do I think it's possible? Yes, of course. I understand the business and I understand the people in your business now know it's our business and their business.

There are people who are waiting for you to do something to violate your contract.

They read your contract. Exactly what termination for cause is. They're listening to every word you say. They're giving reports to the higher ups and saying, hey, no, not today.

I think you had known you had some. I should read that. I should read that more carefully because I don't believe they're listening to everything we said.

Let's close out with your review. We hadn't done one in a while. I'll hold on a second before you get to the close out on the review, I had just one more follow up, because most people, when they are allowed into St. Petersburg, are asked to leave their cell phone at the door because he is private about that home and what it is you told us you were there. First question, was your cell phone confiscated upon arrival?

Nor did I get a goody bag. What was the house like? What can you tell us about saying Petersburg and where does it rank in terms of most amazing homes you've seen size wise? Because I'm told it's very large.

It's yeah, you can see it from it's where Tom Brady lives. You can see it from the bay right now or from the intercoastal. Whatever it is, it's beautiful. It's Bountygate. It's in a great neighborhood. Listen, this is not about his home, right? I he just offered to try to and it's very intimidating. I mean, let's face it, when you are with Derek Jeter, if you are the type I get why he does what he does.

Because when you live your life able to intimidate everyone and get what you want every minute off the field, it is very hard to imagine that there's someone who will not fall under your spell. Bruce Sherman is under his spell still, and that's. It works that he gets five percent of the team for not putting in any money, so I don't blame him for thinking that I would be under his spell because it's a learned behavior. It's imprinted in his brain.

But and I did nothing to dissuade him of that. I asked I said to her, my God, this is so beautiful. Can I look around? Right. So that was all purposeful. He just had and he never knew me before. But anything worth anything worth talking about in the home?

One thing you remember, any detail that stuck with you just sort of touring the home, not that you would be impressed by these things, but just one thing where you were like, oh, that's interesting or that's ornate or that's excessive. I'm trying to think that, hey, chef can certainly cook healthy good food, I'll tell you that. And so I would say I always was told that he didn't like baseball. And so and I never knew I'd never known him before.

Remember? People say that Derek Jeter doesn't watch baseball. I think he said I don't watch baseball. So I did find it strange when we got there, every TV was on baseball. So that was I didn't know. I took note of that. Now, maybe he changed because he wanted to buy the team and was getting involved. Maybe he watches baseball every night now. But I remember reading and we never I never talked about it with him, but I remember reading someone saying that he doesn't like baseball, if you ever heard that before.

I hadn't heard that before. That's the first time I'm hearing that.

I think it's true. Let's get to our review now. I do have two people on the zoom right now that have taken my advice and recommendation and have watched Kingdome. But we won't do Kingdome again for a review. The floor is yours. David Samson, what are you reviewing this week? Host of Nothing Personal.

I'm going to review a movie that very few people have seen, but it has stars in it. And one of them is Richard Gere. One of them is Laura Linney. One of them is Rebecca Hall. And one of them is Steve Coogan, the the director from Tropic Thunder. Yeah. Lost his head.

So they got the spoiler alert. You, by the way, there's no spoiler alert for Tropic, it wasn't just his head that he lost. He stepped on a grenade, but his head was still intact.

But on the ground, by the way, Robert Downey was in blackface in Tropic Thunder. Spoiler alert.

I don't think I actually thought that that had enough context as to work as a spoof. I don't think that movie could be made today.

But I thought that particular absurdity as a spoof might have had enough nuance in it to at least test that balance.

Also, seeing that it's always sunny in Philadelphia, it seems as though the only only way you can get away with it is if it's a play on white people. Usually historically, blackface is used to make fun of the people.

That's how I interpreted that role in Tropic Thunder. Making fun of white people, black people is making fun of white people.

Did you take so man is making use for you not to say, oh, that's that's a horribly offensive movie in retrospect.

So Solman with C. Thomas Howell. You're saying it with Tommy Chung's daughter. That's offensive because of what it talks about in terms of getting into school and affirmative action.

First of all, that was a bad movie. Second of all, it was poorly acted. And third of all, they didn't have the subtlety and nuance of actually showing you, hey, we're making fun of white people here, not black people.

And given the time that it was made, you can sort of tell what the elevator pitch was for that movie. And it was and is layered as Robert Downey Jr.. S character in Tropic Thunder. David?

Oh, I just think it wasn't as good a movie. And that's that's was the difference. Right. What are you reviewing?

I'm reviewing the dinner somehow. Richard Gere, who is this is a major actor, Rebecca Hall, who I love, Laura Linney, who is beyond belief, did a movie where it's all it's the four of them at a dinner, basically the entire movie. And it's about a screwed up relationship between two brothers. And it's about what to do when your child makes a mistake. And do you cover it up or do you not a mistake that could ruin his career.

I was fascinated by the subject and disappointed by the writing and the acting. But the concept is unreal and it's very pertinent to today with Marty Brennaman and Tom Brenneman. What do you do to protect your child when your child does something that does not deserve being protected? And in the dinner, the son did something that is inexcusable and it's a crime. And the parents had a discussion of do we save his life? And these are powerful, rich people who have the ability to make it go away.

And what do you do? And that is a issue that some people grapple with. And I found that interesting. But no one had heard of this movie. I found it by accident. And I was surprised, given the star power, that no one had heard of it. And the subject matter. Thank you, David, we appreciate your time again, if you want some content that is unfiltered, you do not hear executives this way find that nothing personal podcast.

We always appreciate the time, sir. Thank you.

Have a good one.