Hour 1: Knicks’ Parade Reactions, plus Taylor Twellman Talks USMNT/World Cup

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0:53Rich Eisen:See homedepot.com slash price match for details. 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. Missed 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. Hey, New York. I'm sorry it took so long. This is The Rich Eisen Show. James Dolan, he said at one point, when we win the championship, he turned into Oprah.

1:35Rich Eisen:You'll get a ring. You'll get a ring. And your wife will get a ring. And your girlfriend will get a ring. Or your mom will get a ring. Today's guests. Apple TV lead MLS analyst Taylor Twelman. Actor Hugh Jackman. Plus, latest news and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. That's right, everybody. Welcome to this edition of The Rich Eisen Show. I'm not the only greatest showman on this program. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. Hugh Jackman is joining us in hour number three in advance of his new movie, The Death of Robin Hood, which is definitely not the Robin Hood you know about growing up with. He's going to be on in hour number three.

2:18Rich Eisen:A great celebrity, true or false, all teed up for one of my favorites. He's never been on the show. Very excited about having him on. Taylor Twelman, who's been on before, he'll be talking about what the entire world's talking about, and that's the World Cup. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial right here on the program. There is a top five that I have and a top five that Chris Brockman's going to be. We have dueling top fives later on. Hey, now. And Judge TJ Jefferson will have to decide which one is better on the whole concept of which quarterback in the NFL is under the most pressure of this upcoming season.

2:52Rich Eisen:One of Chris Brockman's favorite subject matters, Good to see you over there, Christopher. How are you today? Good to see you. Good thing I slipped TJ and Mr. Beak's envelope before the show. Fantastic. And if the World Cup today, if the World Cup today sounds differently to you, it doesn't sound as crisp. Yeah, not as crisp. You're like, wait a minute. Wait a minute. It doesn't sound great. Mike Deltufo's here and not there. He's here. He's not there. Good to see you, DJ Mikey D. Yes, but tomorrow I will be on that USA match. Hey. I will be on that. Listen, you're very patriotic working faders.

3:25Rich Eisen:Good to see you over there, T.J. Jefferson. The candle's lit, sir. What's going on? It's not lit, is it? No, it's not lit. I was counting something. Human money. I'm above reproach, though. What do you count? Oh, I see. Keep it fair. Keep it fair. Keep it fair. Keep it fair. Okay, look at that. I'm above reproach. That was a fake bill he put in his pocket. Fake. Okay. It's real. Ladies and gentlemen, today is the day everyone's been waiting for in New York City for over 50 years 53 years again we every single time i talk about the knicks winning the championship i sound like the old woman from uh titanic i hate this team oh no sir not anymore over there no no that's the jets although they might be on the clock now 53 years we in new york city have been waiting for a particular canyon of heroes parade i'm throwing ticker tape in the old Canyon of Heroes.

4:21Rich Eisen:And yeah, I guess what John Glenn orbiting the moon or Neil Armstrong landing on it is akin to this Canyon of Heroes type of event. The New York Knicks having a parade and it started at seven in the morning. You could see that footage that we just popped up on the screen there. So it started at 10 in the morning Eastern time, but fans started pouring in. I mean, the subway, it took a half an hour to get this, by the way, is my nightmare. Being stuck in a New York City subway tunnel and stuck on the steps. I don't love nothing. You know, definitely. It definitely. I'll be straight up with you. It couldn't have smelled great in there.

5:02Rich Eisen:Yeah. I don't think. I smelled through the TV. Because, you know, New Yorkers in tank tops, which is what a jersey is, you know. Yeah. They weren't going Ewing style, which is a T-shirt underneath. You know, a lot of them. Sweatbands. Yeah. I'm very old, right? What's the temperature? When somebody's wearing a Bernard King number 30, that thing was when they took the summer camp. But because they set up many security checkpoints, I saw one photo and one video associated with it that the line at one security checkpoint ran so long that it collided with the back of another checkpoint on the other side of the parade.

5:51Rich Eisen:And those New York blocks are long. So checkpoints were running into each other. And listen, there's a reason why Larry David knows all about the chat and cut because we New Yorkers do that all the time. But this is it. I mean, it's so exciting. I have not seen anything from the actual parade itself. So I'm just going to react to it live. Go ahead and roll them in, Mike Hoskins. What are we looking at here? That's Clyde Frazier. Oh, wow. That's awesome. That's Clyde Frazier. Is that what type of car is that? I don't know. It looks presidential. It looks like something maybe he was in in the 1970s.

6:33Rich Eisen:It might be his own car. I don't think they had a parade, though, back in the 70s for them. They did not. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I heard it. That's what the Google machine's for. But let's check it. Okay. Rolling another one right here. So Clyde's there. It says no. They did not have a parade. My favorite Nick growing up, sitting shotgun in a blue convertible. Come on now. Bernard King is in a championship parade. And then the other guy that I grew up loving, look at Patrick Ewing. That jerk's my guy right there. I love it. Patrick Ewing is taking his victory lap that I wanted him to have himself.

7:08Rich Eisen:I'm getting emotional, guys. I'm literally tearing up. When I see Bernard King and I see Patrick Ewing, I think of me in high school dreaming of these moments. I get it. You know? Me in high school dreaming that the Knicks could win it all with Bernard King and then Patrick Ewing together, and that happened for half a season. You know? The Bernie and Ernie show is what I grew up with. Ernie Grunfeld, who, by the way, turned into a general manager of the Knicks. Right. You know? The Bernie and Ernie show. Could that happen? Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld. And here comes Ewing, and then Bernard gets hurt and is never the same again.

7:49Rich Eisen:Yeah, man. Let me see something else. Keep rolling them in. I'm just going to react to it. Jalen Brunson walking in the parade. King of New York. With the Larry O 'Brien trophy. This is what it's about. this is what it look at all the fans were just crushed up against the barriers yeah i can't wait to see the numbers on attendance i saw some photos last night of people in the they had grandstands set up along the streets already camped out i think they were planning on sleeping there overnight to not give up their spot well i woke up this morning geez like 4 30 our time and looked at the phone and already saw the photos of the crush of fans showing up at 5 in the morning Eastern, 6 in the morning, well in advance of this parade.

8:40Rich Eisen:I was up at 12.30 last night. I saw a girl's Instagram video where she was already trying to secure her spot. So what is that, 3.30? Yeah. She was securing herself a spot for the parade. It was dark out. there's nobody around I was like this is insane dark out nobody around sounds like half of my Nick fandom seriously I cannot believe this is happening I cannot believe it happened this year it was right around this time last year the Knicks are knocking on the doors of so many other franchises saying can we talk to your coach who wanted to be the coach we talked to your coach it was pathetic it felt pathetic we wanted you to get the job at one That's right.

9:25Rich Eisen:It's like you didn't have a plan after you fired Tom Thibodeau or before. Why'd you fire him? What are you doing over there? What's happening over there? Why would you fire this guy? And who's going to coach him? And then Mike Brown says, I'll take the job. And it's like, eh. And look at him now. King of New York, your money's no good in New York City anymore, sir. And it better be the same way in New Jersey and parts of Connecticut. Ever. In any establishment where a Knick fan resides, this man should never pay for a meal again. Letting dogs out. Oh, my gosh. He wore a 10 weeks T-shirt to the parade today in reference to James Dolan's speech that gives me 10 weeks of apparently this got cut out of the speech that was posted on the Jalen Brunson Josh Hart podcast site.

10:20Rich Eisen:Asking him, you know. Celibacy. Abstinence. yeah you know hey ag ac green won a championship i mean he did multiple yeah but that wasn't a yeah you know it wasn't it was it was the other 42 weeks yeah i mean ac didn't know what he was missing exactly he hadn't tasted the fruit chris i've always wanted to say this is kind of like when people crack on me about the cowboys it's like people who've never you know you know what i'm not watching videos of james dolan talking he's inspirational by the way i would but i mean on on the radio locally in new york where i wouldn't ever hit play on that because i'm like what is he going to say that's going to piss me off and i'm like now i can't wait to hear what's out of his mouth wow i know that that is i know somebody sent me a tweet um that was not on our somebody popped up on x I didn't see this.

11:17Rich Eisen:Somebody sent it to me. And it was a tweet that I sent almost seven years ago. No way. On June 30th, 2019. And what did it say? I tweeted out. With Durant and Kyrie choosing the Nets, it's time for James Dolan to look in the mirror and sell the Knicks. Yes. His utter and humiliating failure at handling a New York sports institution is now complete take the billions and go home jim is what i tweeted out that's how you felt hey and i that and that was tame compared to what i was saying in front of this microphone which yada yada yada may be a reason why the knicks are not facilitating a player to appear on this program i got a long memory there man you know i would hope but i'm i'm i'm like yeah dolan's talking about how he apparently Landry Shamit and Mitchell Robinson are the Knicks that might have to be let go because oh yeah yeah Dolan said he doesn't want to get he doesn't want to be in the second April well nobody wants to because that is so prohibitive in putting a roster together right and he's basically I'll cut a check as much as I can but I'm not going in the second April I heard that I'm like you're right and I'm like wait a minute what the hell is happening here i'm like inspired by what james dolan is thinking what is it cats and dogs living together that's what's happening bill murray and ghostbusters the knicks are having a parade in the canyon of heroes jalen brunson's walking around with the larry o 'brien trophy mikhail bridges brought his dog yes they're so damn likable they are it's great they're New York was mostly likable.

13:09Rich Eisen:Oh, and Hoskins put up that one thing that I did see from the parade that I sent before. This is a wild float to be seen in a New York City parade. The analytical float. Kenny Atkinson's in there, apparently. Wow. Why would you do that? He won the series 4-1. They're living rent-free in your head. Oh, wait a minute. That's AI-generated. Pardon me. Celebrate your day. Normally, I don't put up AI slop. You know that's not a real picture. You know that's AI. That's funny, man. They're living rent free. That's funny. That's funny. Oh, yeah, because tomorrow night is game seven of the analytics NBA finals between the Spurs and the Cavs.

13:47Rich Eisen:Not acknowledging this. See, that's where we're unlikable in New York. Yeah, you're riding high. The Knicks are not saying that. They're not. They're bringing their dogs to the parade. Who let the dogs out? I see somebody brought up Wemby today. Come on. why are you acting surprised by this guy over there like a celtic fan is always taking a high road over there the patriot fan like oh my god you need some oxygen over there taking a high road we go high oh is that right we go high i don't know i'll let you but you and the ducks on the boats went a little lower okay you know the two-year-olds who haven't seen a parade that his that's okay the knicks are having a championship parade today yeah you should enjoy that and by the way Does this conclude the six-day Micapalooza that's going down everywhere?

14:37Rich Eisen:I'm excited for it to be over. I'm not. I'm enjoying it. They're everywhere. That's carrying on through the summer. Oh, baby. It's forever. Are you kidding me? We're selling t-shirts. You're going to write it hard. RichEyesAndShop.com. Yeah. I got t-shirts. The I Am A 1A Dude t-shirt in various colors. The best free agent signing ever. various colors i might wear that on on future anniversaries with suzy you know what i mean they go new york go new york go t-shirt let's go rich eyes and shop.com i'm in it that's as close to the parade as i'm gonna get look at cat with a big ass stogie kid from jersey kid from jersey comes to the knicks and everyone's like oh remember you remember i had to sit here in this chair and I'm like hey Nick fans I said this this one I this one I nailed I got this one right remember I'm like hey listen Nick fans I know you loved Julius Randall I know he was the first guy right that gave you like a a green shoot out of the soil that everyone thought was so fallow okay and he was such a great Nick and everyone loved him and what he stood for in a self-made man for the Knicks.

15:54Rich Eisen:Brunson comes along and they send him along with Dante DiVincenzo. And who told us recently that oh, it's Jay Wright who told us that A-Rod and said we are taking Dante DiVincenzo for the Knicks if we are sending Cat to New York. He's coming in the trade. Knicks didn't really want to send him, but they're like, sure. And Knicks fans were like, what are we doing to bring Carl Anthony Towns here? And I'm like, hold on a second. love this guy. You're saying Nick fans question bringing one of the best top three centers in the league? They were questioning it because of who was sent away. They loved Randle.

16:35Rich Eisen:They wanted Randle to be in this parade. I understand. Carl Anthony Towns, a kid from Jersey. And I fell in love with him the minute he started trolling on TJ Jefferson. Like, just met him in two seconds flat. Immediately. I'm an Eagle fan. You're a Cowboy fan. Okay, great. This is how this is. I'm so happy for Carl Anthony Towns. One of my favorite Knicks ever. Every single one of these guys. Oh, man, I love a parade. Certainly like today. I love a parade. Parade days. By the way, this is how excited they are at City Hall. They're putting all the Knicks banners up there. Somebody decides to, I guess they must have looked at the preseason roster.

17:14Rich Eisen:Yeah. They put Dylan Jones's number up there. And he wore 33 last summer in the Summer League for the Knicks. cut before opening night. And by the way, you know who's number 33 is no longer worn anywhere? It's a retired jersey. I know that. You should know better. Do you think Ewing's going past City Hall and he's just like, wait, what? Who's Jones? Turn this around. So, I mean, everybody is just jumping at celebrating. Dylan Jones is like, what? Okay. Do I get a ring? Oh, my God. Hey, at least Momdottie's filling potholes there. it's all working the new york knickerbockers are champions of the world and having a canyon of heroes parade oh look at clyde wearing that get up he's the best walt fraser is in a canyon of heroes parade in 2026 this is what it's all about all right one of the speeches they're starting or they're not having i mean oh i oh i'm sure they're doing We're going to keep an eye on the proceedings in lower Manhattan.

18:25Rich Eisen:844-204-RICH, number to dial on the program. When we come back, let's talk about what the rest of the world is talking about, the World Cup. Group play is now started today in game two of groups, which means it's beginning to get real. If you did not get a point in your first match to open the World Cup, you best get one in game two. Right. Because if not, you know, don't leave your clothes in the hotel like John Tortorella did. Chechia Buono on South Africa. Thank you, sir, for that update. 844-204-H. Number to dial Taylor Twelman is going to join us next to discuss what we have seen so far. This is The Rich Eisen Show.

19:09Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show podcast.

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21:15Rich Eisen:Taylor Twellman spinning a curve in the zone for me to hit out of the Fenway over the Monsta. So, okay, I give you the floor. Greatest U.S. men's national team performance ever anywhere at any time in a big event. Taylor, yay or nay? If it's not 1A, it's 1B. I still go back to Portugal 2002. I get it. We were all, it was 5 o 'clock in the morning when it happened, if not 4 o 'clock in the morning. So the general public didn't have the attention. It didn't have the runway that the 26th World Cup has had. But that was Figo and Ronaldo, and you're up 3-0 15, 20 minutes in, right? So that was a surprise.

21:53The reason why I would argue with myself on that is this. for the last three and a half years, we've talked about the U.S. men's team being anemic, the U.S. men's team getting in their own way, the fact that we're talking about coaches and players' parents arguing after the 22 World Cup with Randall and Berhalter. We haven't really had a ton of positivity regarding this men's team since the World Cup ended in 22. And so you could argue three and a half years of just blah. So the magnitude of that performance to send a message knowing how many eyeballs would be on there, Rich, that's where I would say that still may be the best performance because they needed to make a statement that this golden generation of player that all of us have called it can recognize the occasion, for lack of a better word, but more so give you a performance that aligns with that.

22:47it's barely on one hand that I can give you that many times the men not the women the men have given you a performance that aligned itself with the occasion that's why if it's not 1a it's 1b

23:00Rich Eisen:but my man it's up there yeah I mean the women we all know have met moments over and over and over again and they've been dominant right they've been dominant in performances and the first half of of that match against Paraguay was dominant they they looked like the better team better coached crisper faster better smarter um you know the reina goal uh had what 23 touches that led up to it um and and just to see and by the way that goal uh brilliant goal i couldn't believe it i'm like wait a minute was that off the outside of his right foot and rich cathartic to think about it we just talked about the world cup in 22 was all about giovanni reina and his parents arguing with their best friends and Greg Berhalter and all of that nonsense in baby games.

23:47And so you saw that with Pochettino running about 55 yards to celebrate with the players. There was a lot of emotion behind the goal. Brilliant finish. That's who Gia Reyna can be. And that's who we should be. Now, I'll take this conversation to another level. I'd argue that has to be the standard that and I'm not talking about the scoreline, But I'm talking about the swagger, the movement, the energy, the ability to dictate an opponent that only gave up six goals in World Cup qualifying that include Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay. Paraguay only gave up six goals. That should be the standard by which the U.S.

24:30men should be judged. The scorelines are always going to be different. And that's why we love sports. You can play the best and lose a game 1-0. It doesn't matter. but the way they went about their business and you hit the nail on the head, that's the difference. That is the difference of them dictating the game and not being a team that had to react to the other team. That was as impressive to me versus scoring four goals against Paraguay.

24:58Rich Eisen:Taylor Twelman here on the Rich Eisen Show. I've got an easy follow-up question, but it's time for a hydration break. I need one. Very good. Oh, look at you with your apple. Hold on one second. My coach is calling me about my first hit. Hold on. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, you think so? Anyway, hold on. Yeah. I should wear pants for the next hit? Wow. Oh, man. It's a bit. Okay, cool. Yeah, I'll get back. Yeah. You got it, coach. Bye. Listen, Taylor, I appreciate the bit, but I mean, this is about hydrating. I can't have you cramp up in the middle of all this. What are we doing, Rich? Seriously. You know what?

25:31Rich Eisen:What are we doing? I didn't even sponsor that. We could have made some money off of that, right? Did you want to read something real quick? We easily could have. you could have made money and i just played the part of the bit and got nothing which is what i do really well this is for money right though hydration breaks correct oh god buddy i don't know see so there's two ways to go about this first off i'm watching the game in toronto last night and the temperature on the left hand part of my screen says 64 degrees and then it says humidity at 60 60 percent okay so but but why do i bring that up this did not start this tournament it started in 22 okay because it was 105 degrees outside sure and it is a real player safety issue absolutely the problem is now it's not about that this is capitalism and listen just own it just say it yeah here's my rebuttal and having done games with a million hydration breaks and I've done this a million times.

26:28Stay in the stadium. That's the hard part for me. If the hydration break is going on and you are giving me the coaches' conversations, the players, the tactics, the changes, it does not take away from the game as much as watching a Michelob Ultra ad with Christian Pulisic, Lionel Messi, and then coming back to the game. That is the Americanization of what that is. An hydration break that takes about 70 seconds. Rich, it's no different than an injury and a trainer comes on the field and they deal with that if you stay in there. That's why everyone is losing their minds because we're leaving the atmosphere.

27:07We're leaving the event. The broadcast. And then coming back.

27:10Rich Eisen:It feels like it's four quarters now. Okay. So if the broadcast stays put and maybe just keeps some vision on the floor. It doesn't take as much away. I'm telling you right now it doesn't. We'll see if that happens. Why don't you float that up the Pico Boulevard flagpole? I'll see what I can do. I'll see what I can do. I know the people there. Let's try and make this. Yeah, tell them it was Rich's idea, not Taylor's. Oh, and by the way, the first time it was used in 2022, where was that played? Yeah, Qatar. Ah, got it out of him. I was right. Got it out of him. You were right, Brock. I don't know.