Hour 1: 49ers Punk the Rams Reactions, plus John McEnroe Talks US Open

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1:24Rich Eisen:Weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Mutual agreement by the coaches. They know it's over. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. DeBarkis Robinson. DeBow brought it down. Mike Evans. Touchdown 49ers. Today's gasps. Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young. Actor Paul Rudd. Plus, latest news and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

2:23Rich Eisen:That's right, everybody. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show on a very busy Friday. John McEnroe is slated to join us in about 20 minutes time to help kick things off. Steve Young in our number two. Paul Rudd in our number three is it's the fantasy football season in full swing. It's going to be a lot of fun. 844-204-RICH. Number to dial love looking down at the phone lines while the show is opening and seeing all of them light up. There's so much to discuss. On this What's More Likely Friday on Disney +, the ESPN app, ESPN Radio, Sirius XM, Channel 80. Hello, Christopher Brockman. Hello, Rich.

2:57Rich Eisen:How are you? Jason Feller is in the chair today. Good to see you. Is that candlelit over there already, TJ Jefferson? It's like I'm lighting it now and it smells really good. Oh, my God. Good to know all that. All right. So there is so much to discuss here on this very solemn day, the 25th anniversary of 9-11. And again, what a night in New York City. It will be two American men going for the finals in the U.S. Open just next door to where staging was taking place for first responders 25 years ago. And it's going to be a remarkable night. And we'll remember all of that. John McEnroe is going to be joining us, as I mentioned, in about 15 minutes time.

3:41Rich Eisen:Let's talk about the Melbourne game. Melbourne. Got to love the fact that all of us American announcers were like, let's see what's going on down under. But let's pronounce Melbourne, Melbourne. Fun. But as we all know, the old saying in the National Football League, on any given Friday that's really a Thursday, anything can happen. We have been talking about the Los Angeles Rams. Whose house? And they were actually doing that down there in 100 ,000-year-old cricket stadium. Listen, we have been talking about it, and rightfully so, team had the reigning MVP. Team went ahead and added a 25-year-old stallion of a cornerback in Trent McDuffie.

4:34Rich Eisen:Team added the reigning defensive player of the year coming off of 23 million sacks in Miles Garrett. that lit the pilot light under Aaron Donald to say I'm coming back and we're all in the media I think rightfully falling all over ourselves because we're waiting for football to be played and that is an amazing addition of talent to a talented team already and we stopped talking about the defending Super Bowl champs and the San Francisco 49ers who arrived early and stayed up late. And the team that arrived late looked like they never arrived at all. That's a fact. Because the Niners and the Rams looked like it took a while to get their footing last night or tomorrow morning in Australia.

5:39and sure enough, Mike Evans showed up, said, I'm here. Here, coach.

5:46Rich Eisen:And he scores a touchdown. Yeah, he did. And down goes Dijon scribbling in what looked like an Achilles injury but may not be one, thank goodness. And then Debo Samuel's like, I'm here again. Debo. George Kittle says, I'm still here. Christian McCaffrey had a cracker of a game, apparently. What? We'll describe that in a second. Oh, man, TJ, just wait. Just wait on that one. Just wait. It's so good. He didn't score because, you know, Brock Purdy was winging it around also to Demarcus Robinson. And Brock Purdy comes up with the first three touchdown pass season opener. for the San Francisco 49ers since Colin Kaepernick did it to open the 2013 season.

6:44Rich Eisen:That happened. And Nick Bosa says, I'm back. And Fred Warner says, I'm back. And Raheem Morris says, I'm here. And Kyle Shanahan's like, my mustache is gone, but I'm here. And the 49ers put the bang thing on the ramps. You know who else has said, I'm here? Trent Williams said I'm here. Again, we are – I do not apologize for going off the Cliff, Thelma, and Louise style about what the Rams did this offseason and what the Rams can do from here on out. I'm not going to apologize for that. I won't. I did it. You should. And I think I was right. I should apologize for it. No, I said you shouldn't. Okay.

7:28Rich Eisen:I'm not going to do that. But the 49ers showed up and showed out and showed what can be done against this team. Aaron Donald's not there yet, but showed what you can do. Certainly against an opponent that you know very well. Even though there's a lot of new players there. But they showed you, if you've got an all-world left tackle, and there's Myles Garrett, that's a good start and then you've got an all world running back you've got an all world wide receiver you got an all world pass rusher and you got an all world middle linebacker and you got an all world coach you got a defensive coordinator that everyone loves to play for all world tight end all world tight end thank you you can beat anybody And I guess we in the media kind of forgot that.

8:34Rich Eisen:And the 49ers had to go halfway around the world to remind us. That's a fact. Because they were the better team. They had the better plan about how to get there, clearly. Clearly. Because the Rams looked tired. They did. They didn't look themselves. Yeah, definitely looked tired. They looked wiped out. You know, Miles Garrett left the game talking about his health and how he was more thinking about that, that he wasn't playing free enough. Yeah, said he wasn't 100%. You know who makes you feel that way, that you're not playing free enough? Trent Williams, who, by the way, will go to the Hall of Fame first ballot like Miles Garrett will.

9:25Rich Eisen:And Steve Young, who's on this show at an hour or two, has been telling us over and over and over again, hey, Brock Purdy, use your legs. He did that to escape the pocket, sometimes to get first downs with his legs. And then that second half opening drive, my goodness, just take it right down the field on the Rams and say second half kind of like the first. And that second half, they punked the Los Angeles Rams. No other way to put it. So at the end of the day, one game in, we were wondering, Chris, there was even an overreaction Monday segment, if I'm not mistaken, about will the Rams, the Rams are going to be undefeated when they see the Seahawks in week 16.

10:19Rich Eisen:That's right. And then we also had conversations about when will the Rams lose their first game, assuming they won't show up in week 16 undefeated. Well, one game. That's it. That's it. That is it. And the Rams are 0-1. And the Niners are 1-1 up on them because that's a division win. They'll see them again later on. But for the moment, this team on offense, 8.2 yards a catch, 205 yards receiving, 5.8 yards per carry. Kalon Black out of Indiana. I mean. Look at this dude. Listen, all you have to do is just watch the Hoosiers last year. and clearly is going to be utilized by Kyle Shanahan in a way that spells McCaffrey, who is now 30.

11:18Rich Eisen:But you could see certainly Cooper, who chose McCaffrey in his first pick of his fantasy draft, yelling and screaming at the screen as if Kalon Black was stealing something from him. I was right there with him. I understand that. But when the third quarter started, it was the McCaffrey show. Yeah, first two carries, 10 yards each. Right. And when you throw for three touchdowns, as Brock Purdy did, and it is not McCaffrey dependent, that's what the Niners are looking for, to be straight up honest. Certainly in week one of a long marathon, when you could sprint in Australia, and the other team seems like they are, quite frankly, jet lagged.

12:05Rich Eisen:and Purdy found three different receivers, none of them named McCaffrey. That's the good stuff, and that's how Kyle Shanahan strolls to the podium as a victorious head coach. I always knew what day it was. I was trying to show how confusing it was comparing it to people at home, but I learned the days when we got here were one ahead. Now I'm ready to go back into the future. I think it's Thursday at home, and it's Friday here. My son plays on Friday, so somehow I'm going to land over a day later, but still be able to make his game on Friday. So it's pretty cool. It worked. The strategy worked.

12:42Rich Eisen:I mean, the game worked. You know, I mean, win or lose, I knew everyone was going to make a big deal about that for either team. You never know how much that factors into it. You just try to do the best to prepare for three and a half hours. I like how we prepared. But more importantly, I liked how we played. How they played. Yeah, sleep tight. The Niners sent that post out. And as you know, was that Kittle making that? That's funny. Can you pop that up one more time? I hadn't seen this right there. That is definitely not Kittle. That's Fred Warren. And so, you know, as we all know, that is the signal in San Francisco that the game is over that has been patented by Steph Curry.

13:26Rich Eisen:Right, right. So. Well, the Rams did that tick and nap celebration after the pick. I'm sure it was, you know, a little rubbing salt in. No doubt. Because this rivalry is, it's a fun one. Northern versus Southern California. Niners and Rams. McVay and Shanahan. They started the same year. Year 10. For both of these guys.

13:53Rich Eisen:And the Niners are now 8-2 in the regular season. on the road against the Rams. And 49er fans love to troll on Rams fans that their road games are really home games. So I say that to set up this last soundbite from Kyle Shanahan. And the way he says at home, you got to wonder if he means back home in the United States, or he's really just referencing the fact that the Niners feel at home when they're on the road against the Rams, no matter what hemisphere they are in. In terms of seeing the red, it was like both the games that we play versus the Rams at home in California. You know, it was a little different with the cheering and stuff.

14:43Rich Eisen:I think, you know, they got to get a little used to how we do it, when to and everything like that. But the coolest part was hearing how the crowd's seen the songs throughout the game. That really stuck out and wish we did that more in the U.S.

14:57Rich Eisen:gotta love it they don't like each other at all and now the seahawks and the niners have a game up on the rams just one weekend how about that now then we'll hit the rams later on just wrapping up the Niner gang here. You gotta be loving this. Their next three are home. In the field of genes, Miami, Arizona, and Denver before they visit Seattle and then have a Monday night home date with Washington before visiting Atlanta and then a bye. That is some potential good eats for them in front of them. But any given, let me make sure, Sunday or Monday, after any given Friday that's really a Thursday, you could see you can't just roll the footballs out.

15:53Rich Eisen:Because we just assumed that's all the Rams needed to do, and the Niners were like, yeah, no. Yeah, no. Emphatically. That really wasn't from the second half. That thing was a wrap. Certainly, by the way, when the Rams try to counter down 10, and they're stopped at the one-inch yard line. what a remarkable run that was yeah i thought puka got in but then you can't can't run a quarterback sneak with your 38 year old who can barely move and then you know the niners gumption to go 99 yards to come back that was the game right that was the game right there and it really uh was something what a great way for the niners fans to celebrate a an international week one w against the rams when we come back johnny mack will join us here on the rich eisen show in advance of a massive semifinal on the men's side that's going down tonight.

16:47Rich Eisen:Johnny Mac, when we return on The Rich Eisen Show.

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18:06Rich Eisen:Join our fight at HyundaiWarriors.com. the rich eisen show podcast this has just returned we're chopping it up with the hall of famer john mackenroe getting set to call a big big day and night of matches at the u.s tennis center out in queens new york on a very solemn day to say the least which will hit in a second so john um you just referenced in the tv side of things that that Ben Shelton, Carlos Alcaraz match of for the ages. What would you tell people who, you know, couldn't stay up that they missed? John. They miss a lot of electricity. You know, I've talked said this before. Anyone listens to me when I call a match.

18:52Carlos Alcaraz has been my favorite player to watch the last couple of years. He can do anything and everything. And he oozes charisma. I don't know how he does it. It looks like he loves being out there. I was ready to kill people, strangle you. A different mentality, but it didn't work as well as it worked for him. But it's just so great to have him back on the tennis court. He missed four and a half months, missed the French, missed Wimbledon. We weren't sure he was going to play here. So this was great for the game and then allowed Ben to do his thing and show what he's made of, show what he can do.

19:27He returned better. You know, he's not known as a, you know, a great ground stroke or a big returner. He did that better than ever. The serve's one of the biggest in the game. Alcaraz was doing anything and everything. He got sick. He was clearly fatigued. He hadn't played a match of this length. So it was an incredible match to watch to see guys dig that deep. You know, that's all you can ask for in sports is two players finding, you know, a gear that maybe they didn't know they had. And Carlos hasn't played in so long. He wasn't sure what he was going to be able to do. And Ben, I'm sure deep down, he hadn't beaten Carlos.

20:03He'd lost all three matches. Carlos is the greatest 23-year-old player. I'm throwing in Federer and Dahl and Djokovic at this time. He's better than anyone I've ever seen. So this was a hell of a win for Ben Shelton. There's no question about it. So hopefully it will propel him into a Francis Tiafoe, because I love Francis too. He's beat, you know, I used to call him the hugger, because he seemed to be more interested in everyone loving him, which, by the way, everyone does love him. But he finally got himself in the type of shape he needed to get in to contend with the top guys. There he is hugging Mickelson, which was very cool.

20:39Because Mickelson was up two sets and served for the match. But he's become more of a killer on the court, which is awesome.

20:45Rich Eisen:Well, before we get to that, just lingering on that epic match that Shelton won to gain Friday night's opportunity, that when was the latest you ever walked off a court ever, anywhere? The latest I ever walked off a court, I believe it was at the U.S. Open. I lost to Michael Chang the one time I lost, and then damn him in a five-setter. We finished about 130. So that was not even comparable. This was the latest finish ever. I commentated in a match way back when, when Andy Roddick played El Inouye, who you referenced that we called. And I think that went to like 3 or 4 in the morning in Australia.

21:27And the latest match ever to finish was 4.30 in Australia. Leighton Hewitt played it. I think the Rams, by the way, made a big mistake. You know, I've been to Australia 40 times. You can't go there and back in a day. You know, I tried that. As a commentator, you can get away with it. As an athlete, you know, guns blazing. You know, I tried everything there because, you know, get there as late as possible. Yvonne Lendl, my great rival, would get there a month ahead of time. I'm like, that's too good. You know, I want to be at Christmas at home. And it may cost me, but you got to give yourself a week like the 49ers did.

22:03Rich Eisen:Yeah, I was going to actually end the interview that way, but I love that. So you saw the way that the Rams showed up. You tried that once where you tried to go to play in the Aussie Open last minute? No, last minute for an Aussie Open would be a week before. Right, got it. last minute for the seniors tour was the night before i was willing to wing it there john mackenroe here on the rich eisen show and then just to put a button on it because you did mention uh earlier before the radio audience joined us that it's bad for the sport bad for the the game to grow it and get it in front of everybody to have something and in the middle of the morning like that new york time what would the fix be if you could wave the mackenroe wand and fix it.

22:46It's a tough call because, you know, they try to get one woman and one man's match out there. And if you're going to have two sessions and one starts at 7 o 'clock and the first ball is not the 720 and that match, you can't control the length of that match. It causes problems. You know, the women were playing after the men at times. They want to, you know, they've got the equal prize money. They want equal time. Well, guess what? They would have gone up. Venus Williams went on the court after midnight. I mean, that's crazy. She's 46 years old. She's playing, I would presume, her last U.S. Open, and they're throwing her out there and everyone's left.

23:23So it's a shame I maybe put one match. I mean, I love playing night matches. This is when it all started for me in 1978 at Flushing Meadow when I played, you know, guys like Ili Nostasi at night. It was crazy scenes. I love the energy at night, but you can't do this. So here's the suggestion for the men. It won't happen, but two sets all, you play a 10-point breaker instead of a full fifth set. That's the compromise because you hear people complaining, blame two out of three. I think one of the good things about the men's game, it differentiates the majors and the other tournaments, that it's best of five, but that's a big ask to come back.

24:02Let's say tonight, for example, let's say Zverev plays four hours against Khachanov, and whoever wins, it's over at 7-ish, 7-15. The match gets delayed. Tiafoe versus Shelton. They don't go on to 8-8-30. That match goes four hours and saves ends at 12-30. Earlier than 3-30, yes, or 1, but they got to come back and play Sunday at 2 o 'clock. That's not much time. You may recall this, Rich, if you've been covering tennis for a long time. We used to have to play the men's semi Saturday and play the finals Sunday. what kind of bs did these people come up with not allow us that one day to recover

24:46Rich Eisen:john i i i gotta be honest with you um you mentioned of course i remember that super saturday i grew up in staten island and the rule that was inviolate in our house is that we we're just weren't going to watch television during dinner like that's it we're all going to sit around but the one time my parents would wheel the black and white television from my brother's room into the kitchen was for super Saturday because we didn't want to miss it that that was my that was growing up and of course you being a New Yorker it was big when you got out there for that but I understand why you wouldn't want to play Saturday and then Sunday I mean that's kind of nuts too I guess yeah so so here's what you know uh that one super Saturday the most famous one I finished at 11 20 against Jimmy Connors a five setter uh the next day I had I played four o 'clock.

25:37Yvonne Lendl, I played earlier in the game, one, seven, six, and the fifth. Let me know when I'm boring your, you know,

25:43Rich Eisen:no, go, please, not at all. And what happened was, as I walked in, I woke up that morning, I was so stiff, I felt like I could barely move, and I got to the courts eventually, and I walked by the training room, and I saw Yvonne trying to stretch, and he couldn't get below his knees, and I thought, maybe he feels as bad or worse than I am. Maybe I can pull this off, And if I can get this done in two hours, I can beat him. And that's what happened. The next year, Yvonne played Jimmy Connors. Jimmy had sprained his ankle. He won in an hour and 30 minutes very convincingly. I went five sets against Matt's V-Lainer in the hot part of the day.