Hour 1: Balogun will play for USA!

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0:40Rich Eisen:From outdoor shades to room darkening blinds, finding the perfect fit is easy. Get free samples, expert design help and professional measure and install services or DIY with confidence and support every step of the way. Shop up to 50 % off site wide plus huge savings on door busters right now during the 4th of July mega sale at blinds.com. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us 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.

1:19Rich Eisen:Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash richeisenshow and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. Oh my God, you guys are my favorites. This is The Rich Eisen Show. The one and only. Rich Eisen. I know what I'm talking about. That's the headline. The Rich Eisen Show. With guest host, Brian Weber. I mean, honestly, he's brilliant. Brian Weber. I've got a long resume. Google me, it saves time. From The Rich Eisen Show's studio in Los Angeles. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Brian Weber. Welcome to the program. Always an honor to sit in for Rich and the fellas coming off the long holiday weekend.

2:02Hope you had a great Independence Day. The countdown, the first touch in Seattle, underway for the biggest game yet in the history of American soccer and World Cup play, taking on Belgium tonight in the Emerald City. And everything changed yesterday with the bombshell from FIFA announcing that American star for Lauren Balligan is eligible to play tonight. We'll go through the fallout. We'll get your reaction. I normally throw the gimmick early in the program that phone calls are taken selectively because I've learned through experience most of you would rather talk to Rich than the substitute teacher, but given the range of opinions on this topic because we're all soccer experts now, There's outrage.

2:52There's jubilation. Pick up the phone, especially in this first hour because we're wide open, just me and you, for the initial 60 minutes, 844-204-RICH, 844-204-7424. If you want to hit me up on social media, your best bet is the X platform, B.W. Weber, Weber with two Bs. No guest until hour number two when we talk NBA with Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press in 20 minutes. I'll focus on the latest decision for LeBron where will he be taking his talents this time and coming up in 45 minutes now that Travis Kelce I'm getting emotional because it was the wedding of the century picked up his wedding ring on Friday and according to People Magazine Rich Eisen was in the house at Madison Square Garden what are the chances he'll win another Super Bowl ring with the Chiefs this year we'll get there coming up So if you have endured my act over the years and if you were with us on Friday, no days off, no days off, even on a holiday on ESPN Radio.

4:00And I'm Brian Weber, in for rich, hop aboard at 844-204-7424. It probably came through, especially on the day before Independence Day. I don't have much of a life. And maybe, arguably, that's why I'm compelling to a degree as a fill-in host. But it may not come as a surprise to you that I spent the majority of my Saturday. Yes, there's a T in there. Mapping out a monologue that was going to be filled with outrage. How can corrupt FIFA keep our, yes, because it's all about Team USA, our leading scorer off the field? This makes no sense. And then yesterday, like the rest of the American sporting populace, I was stunned.

4:50And I've been doing this longer than my enthusiastic delivery would suggest. It's rare that I'm even mildly surprised anymore. I was flat out stunned that FIFA did the right thing. And then I had that weird brain freeze. Am I going to have to go into the studio across all of the great affiliates on ESPN radio? Or if you're listening on the app or Sirius XM channel 80 or tune in, however you're enjoying this audio experience. Am I going to have to do the unthinkable and say, I support FIFA? And thankfully, there's enough nuance here that I don't have to do that because my head would explode. and that would literally be the definition of trying to do the impossible.

5:41Before we go through all of the nuance and how we arrived at this monumental decision, first, let's hear from a man who was benefited by FIFA, quote-unquote, doing the right thing. As you might expect, Marisa Pochettino, head coach of the U.S. men's national team, was thrilled that his leading scorer would not miss any additional time on the pitch.

6:04Rich Eisen:We were punished enough against Bosnia and Segovina to play with 10 men, 30 minutes, in a decision that was complete unfair. But it's not only because I am the head coach of the U.S. men's national team, I need to defend my side. It's only because I think it's 100 % or 99 % because of some people. 99.9 % that we all, you know, agree that was an unfair red card. Pochettino making big money, reportedly$6 million a year, and earning every dime of it with the results so far of the U.S. men's national team. But he's not just going to be a shill to earn that paycheck. If you know anything about the beautiful game, and I know just enough soccer to be dangerous, and I'm not going to read my resume anymore.

6:56That bet has gotten even tedious for yours, truly. Here's a soccer lifer in Pochettino who played for the World Cup for Argentina, who has had success across the world as a head coach. He knows right from wrong. And even if you're a casual fan, when you watch the incident occur in real time, Wednesday night, Santa Clara in the San Francisco Bay Area, and here's where it gets murky because we say, well, there was no intent when Balogin got tangled up with the player from Bosnia, Persicovina. That's not important. That's not significant. It's about the act itself because, as we talk about, say, with a flagrant foul, how can you figure out intent?

7:42Unless you've got a mind reader at 1-800-MISS-JACKIE available, it's about the action itself. And as we watched, because the ratings are spectacular, Anybody with a TV these days is watching soccer, especially in the United States. As we watch that unfold, the reaction across social media was justified. I didn't even think it was a yellow card in real time. Now we go to VAR, everything's slowed down, and the impact of the contact is magnified. The red card upgrade was ridiculous. But as Pochettino points out, there was a penalty. After all, I know it feels like ancient history coming off the long holiday weekend.

8:24And I'm Brian Weber, always receptive to having a conversation with you on the Rich Eisen Show. 844-204-RICH, 844-204-7424. United States had to play a man down for a big chunk of that game. And it was a credit to their tenacity and teamwork and resolve that they didn't blink. In fact, they picked up another goal to win that game 2-0. So we were spending all of the time leading up to today wondering how does the United States account for the loss of their leading goal scorer. And we were not the only people as media types and soccer fans who were running through that equation. That's what Belgium was tasked with, with their game plan, because they spent until yesterday when they found out that everything had changed thanks to FIFA.

9:18They were getting ready with all of their training to face a United States team that wouldn't have ballgain and presumably would count on the face of American soccer and Christian Pulisic and other folks like Ricardo Pepe to be more instrumental in the attacking third. And that's just a fancy way of saying offensive soccer because you can chop the field into thirds like anything else in life. Breaking down the pitch is the name of my podcast. It's available only on the ESPN radio app. And then FIFA, I still cannot believe the words are coming out of my mouth. I'm like Fonzie, another contemporary reference, when he was forced to say I'm sorry or is wrong.

10:00FIFA was right. Out of nowhere, we get this justification from among the most corrupt sporting organizations in the world. And I'm saying that with a firm stance, knowing lawyers could get involved. But I don't have to be Bob Lee or Jeremy Shep or flash journalistic credentials to point out that FIFA has had many questionable actions and decisions over the years when it comes to integrity. Suddenly, yesterday, the Sunday surprise, they invoke Article 27 of their Code of Discipline, which now every soccer fan is going to rep with a T-shirt, especially if you're attending the game tonight in the Emerald City.

10:46And without getting bogged down in the minutia, essentially, it gives FIFA the power to step in and say the red card is suspended. If you care about the rest of the details, Baligan, that is, is it faux Baligan, is in a probationary period. So is there precedent for this? Not in the World Cup, but if you track the road to the biggest international sporting event in the year, leading up to what's going on here in 2026, towards the end of last year, in the quality round of play, one of the biggest stars in the world, Ronaldo got ticketed with a red card and was going to have a three-game suspension.

11:32And then thanks to Article 27, FIFA stepped in and said, no, he is on probation like Balogun. And what do you know? A marquee name for a soccer power was allowed to play. And it's a directly analogous situation here because FIFA always protects its stars and nations that are politically powerful and we can read into that on a couple levels because it does reflect the United States ascension onto that next tier behind the true soccer powers like France and Argentina and Spain and England at least small sample size in this tournament and undeniably points out the star power of ball again now if you want to get into a different slant on this certainly it's a bad look for the white house to get involved but two things can be equally true the outcome was right because the red card should never have been in force in the first place maybe a yellow card and again i don't want to pretend like i'm a soccer expert but It's been such great theater, and I watched all of last night's dramatic back-and-forth epic match between Mexico and England and another goal for Harry Kane.

12:58And the atmosphere was sensational. The audio bleeding through the TV on my couch felt like I was dealing with the altitude of Mexico City. But as we had a few days to try to process what happened to Balogun on Wednesday night, everybody went to social media to point out that there was an incident involving the great Messi in Algeria in which he was much more physical. And he did not even get a yellow card. Why? Because he's Messi. And superstars have a different set of officiating standards than the Ham and Eggers. So that's another sign that the U.S. has taken a major step forward in that our best player is getting respect from FIFA.

13:43Well, that's one part of how we got to this run up to this hugely significant game tonight between the United States and Belgium and Seattle. The other part is process. And this is going to get really boring, so let me do it pretty quickly. But since I was lucky enough to be with you on Friday, I was going through some of the quotes from Pochettino when he was talking to reporters the day before. And they filled him in because it was so ambiguous that in the World Cup, there's no appeal process for a red card. And he's rightfully pointed out that every other league in soccer has a direct protocol.

14:21But FIFA is always going to go FIFA and soccer often goes soccer. following day in the afternoon it became official the United States learned from FIFA that in fact there's no way the balligan was getting on the field tonight the red card would be enforced and then everything changed on Sunday so the process is flawed and I think however you see this situation anybody who is fair-minded just wants transparency and consistency and that's what you never get from FIFA. You get the sense that they're making it up as they go along. And I'm not even going to do the ignorant American rant about what is offside.

15:04We're better than that. We've all learned enough about soccer, even those of us in the media who are faking it to a degree. So what's it all mean? We'll let you know coming up to start our number two of the show. We'll talk a little bit of tactical soccer. I'm not qualified to break it down in granular detail. We'll do that tomorrow. Looking forward to our conversation with Danny Higginbottom. You've heard him call World Cup games for Fox, and you see him on the MLS and Apple TV, a former player in both the Premier League and MLS. But coming up in hour number two, yes, the return of Balogun changes everything, but what about things from the Belgian perspective, and should we be much more mindful of what they can do on the attack?

15:48This will be, without question, the most skilled offensive team United States has faced so far. But with Balogun eligible to play, there are no excuses. With it all in front of Team USA, this is a match they have to win to keep the momentum going, not only in this tournament and maybe the impossible dream of competing for a title, although I think that's still a stretch because I think we lose to Portugal or Spain in the next round, the quarterfinals on Friday. But it's been all set up perfectly for the United States, thanks to FIFA, through a terribly opaque, convoluted process that from a distance has lacked integrity.

16:33I'm Brian Weber. I never thought I would get on a soccer soapbox, but here we are. Hit me up on the X platform, B.W. Weber. Weber with two Bs just over a half hour from now. We'll use Travis Kelsey tying the knot to start the countdown to kickoff for the NFL season with training camps opening up two weeks from tomorrow. Where should the Chiefs be slotted amongst the balance of power across the AFC? Coming up, we continue to wait for LeBron, who is certainly going to take his time because he loves the attention to make his free agent decision, which landing spot would provide the best ending to his incomparable career.

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19:34Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show podcast. We'll be back with you as the afterglow of Independence Day continues. It's a Monday edition of the Rich Eisen Show. I'm primarily saying that to remind myself what day it is, because when you're filling Hackey Magoo during the summer, all these days run together, especially because Friday was the national holiday. Coming up, we're talking LeBron James, what his decision should be in terms of the most compelling story to end his brilliant career, what the timetable could be. And then just over 25 minutes from now, because I get all of my information from People Magazine, if you have the clout to have your periodical and a big word Monday position next to the grocery checkout clerk, That means you are top shelf.

20:32Literally, you're right there above the crossword and Sudoku stuff. People Magazine reporting. And you can go to Rich's Instagram account, the Rich Eisen, among the dignitaries with his lovely bride, Susie Schuster, who you hear all the time filling in here on the Rich Eisen Show, among the football community gathering for the nuptials between Travis and Taylor. We'll use that as a catalyst to talk about the Chiefs as we get closer, thankfully, to the start of training camps across the National Football League. More soccer conversation, top of the hour. You want to weigh in, hit me up on the X platform, B.W.

21:10Weber, Weber with two Bs. And if you throw me a follow or just peruse my account, you'll see my latest attempt at being clever. Now, I have to explain it's trying to be clever. I probably failed. But you might have seen this in other circles because I don't have the millions of followers like Mr. Eisen does. Former FIFA president, Sepp Blatter of all people, tweeted, and I retweeted it with my tagline, irony is indeed dead, that red card shouldn't be overturned because of political pressure. Now, he's not wrong. But it's the classic line of consider the source. We're talking Sepp Blatter. and I'm going to tread lightly because lawyers are always listening.

21:55Let's just say you could Google SEP and corruption and get a lot of results. And as we pause the soccer conversation for now, I will frame it this way, and we'll get back to it to start the second hour of the show. Why did the decision take until Sunday? Why did the White House reportedly have to get involved? And how would we feel, USA, USA, if the situation were reversed? I think there would be unbelievable outrage. Speaking of lawyers, every lawyer in every jurisdiction would be running to every courthouse to try to get some kind of injunction. And this is not officially over. Belgium has appealed the decision.

22:38Now, good luck getting any sort of clarity before game time tonight in Seattle, but there's still a tiny chance that Belgium could have their way and keep Valian off the field. LeBron James is brilliant in so many different ways. He is the greatest basketball player of them all statistically. I'll skip the tired trope that I'm old Michael Jordan was better. The numbers tell the story from the standpoint of longevity. and production, the all-time leading scorer in the history of the NBA. He's also masterful at monopolizing attention. So, as we prepare to go through the pecking order of potential landing spots for the King as he continues to weigh the pros and cons of where he wants to end his career, let's start first by hearing from ESPN senior NBA insider Shamsarani addressing the possibility of the Warriors landing LeBron on Get Up.

23:39This is a true free agency process because so much has changed, right? There's the fluidity that comes with it, with information. A few days ago, the Sixers didn't have Jalen Brown. So now they do. They did it in stunning fashion. And so now they have to be on the radar of LeBron James. And so where does that fit them? And then the Cavaliers, the Heat, they're two teams that are known quantities. The Warriors going into free agency. They dreamt up a grand plan of Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, LeBron James. But the big domino with them is trying to get a player like an Anthony Davis. So you can bring in LeBron James and Anthony Davis as a package deal.

24:17Short of that, they're not really looked at right now at the top of this list. But things can change. And some of the things that could change involve the Washington Wizards. And if you were around on Friday, and I realize most of you had better things to do than listen to a substitute host on a rare Friday off, hopefully you're sticking it to the man today by maximizing your weekend. Believe me, I know all about supersizing. That's why my avatar on the X platform is a photo taken circa 2005. I was on the air when a marginal move was announced, although I'm based in Southern California, as Rich is, so it had a little bit more resonance here.

25:02The DeAndre Ayton experiment that was an unmitigated disaster for the Lakers finally ended with the word he'd been traded to the Wizards. If you want to connect the dots, that would imply the Wizards are more open to moving Anthony Davis. And if Davis is going to go, all points collectively suggest that the logical destination would be the Golden State Warriors. But we're back to the if game. So why don't we start by establishing what LeBron's goals might be just by taking him at his word and his mouthpiece, his agent, Rich Paul, who has his own podcast because everybody has a show, but it certainly gives us clarity when it comes to the mindset of his client because it's not me relying on Shams or Brian Wintors to interpret the brain stress surrounding LeBron.

25:59It's his actual people. And the word that keeps being reiterated time and time again is happiness. And the goal is to maximize happiness. So let's also think about the big picture. before LeBron informed the Lakers he'd be taking his talents elsewhere. He went on a reunion trip with the 2016 Cavs, the team that rallied from that 3-1 deficit to stun the Warriors. Although Draymond Green, a potential future teammate of LeBron, had a lot to do with it, you'll recall. Unable to control his emotions, got suspended for a game. Everything changed along with the Andrew Bogut injury, but we'll save that for my other podcast.

26:39the way things used to be with B-Web. Available on the ESPN Radio app. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich. You can hop aboard at 844-204-RICH. That's 844-204-7424. So if LeBron was tapping into sentimentality with his teammates from that championship that won it all a decade ago when they gathered in the scenic confines of the south of France, does that suggest that he's looking to go down that road? And that means it's the Cavs go home again. And you can't beat maximum happiness by the ability to return to the area you grew up and put them in position potentially to contend for another title. Because lost in the debacle that was the Eastern Conference Finals as the Knicks steamrolled their way past the Cavaliers, as they did in the previous round, sweeping the Sixers, as that team got unbelievably hot, as you know.

27:39Cleveland did make it to the conference finals, which is a minor achievement. And I say minor based on how poorly they played. But if you start the year and say, okay, I'll give you the conference finals, you'll take that, especially because the Cavs have been the top seed in the East the year before and flamed out in the postseason. So it was marginal improvement. They took another step. Now you might think about, okay, LeBron back to Cleveland, that makes sense psychologically. The friends and family aspect, what about fit and situation on the floor? Just as I can never defend FIFA, even when they got the right outcome through a terribly flawed process to get Balligan back on the field tonight, I cannot, if I have any functioning brain cells left, defend James Harden in the playoffs.

28:30You are what you consistently do, and you can't spell disappearing act without Harden. I think you could. There's some letters in there available, like Scrabble. You know the point I'm trying to make here. He goes MIA any time it is a critical situation, and what's bigger than the postseason? But Harden, at this stage of his career, is more of a facilitator. If you care about counting numbers, I know you kids are all about analytics, stacks up the old school assist tally. So if LeBron was insulted by the reality of what had become his circumstance with the Lakers, not only their third option on the floor based on scoring, but their third option financially because they made it clear to him their priority, as it should have been, was to make sure.

29:19And there was a market, surprisingly, for Austin Reeves. Remember, he becomes the first undrafted player, although he could have been drafted by the Pistons, but said I'd rather hit the market. Undrafted player ever to get a max deal. So if you're LeBron and you have a supporting cast around you and you're thinking, okay, well, I'm not going to see the ball that often. I'm also not a financial priority for this team. Let me go to a place where I can achieve both of those goals. So we're talking happiness of going home. We're talking at this stage of his career, never going to be the alpha he was, but at least the second option, it would be Donovan Mitchell, LeBron, and Harden.

30:01Now, you could say, oh, there's not enough basketballs out there. It never seems to work, but these guys are pros, and they understand the cohesive aspect of the game. It always does work to a degree when the superstars get along. So I think it's clearly Cleveland, and I'm not a prediction markets guy. You can look on your own free time as to what the general consensus of the sporting crowds are. But if we're talking personal fulfillment and we're talking about basketball fit, it's Cleveland. Golden State, as Shams laid out, makes a lot of sense from that happiness standpoint because LeBron and Steph are tight.