Rich Recaps His Return To SportsCenter

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1:24Rich Eisen:Our number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air right here on this Terrestrial Radio Network, Sirius XM Odyssey, and of course the Roku Sports Channel. We're pleased to be here in Los Angeles, California. Our number two of the program includes an in-studio visit from Trevor Baptiste, the New York Atlas face-off specialist who's in our green room, going to come out. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial right here on this program. I've got to be honest with you, and I'm always attempting to do so. I am buzzing this morning. I am overwhelmed with emotion and appreciative of the reaction to my appearance on SportsCenter last night on ESPN after the Monday night football game.

2:09Rich Eisen:First time in 22 years that I've hosted the program. afforded it to me, this opportunity afforded to me, courtesy of the executives at ESPN and Disney. Dave Roberts is an executive there who has been all over this show and me for the last couple of years, for a few years, trying to get us. And he was the one who suggested to me, in support of this show's move to Disney Plus on September 2nd and the ESPN app and ESPN Radio as well. And by the way, a lot of you who are listening to us right now will be able to hear us on the station you're listening to us right now in the fall. And our Sirius XM station is going to switch to the ESPN station starting September 2nd.

3:06Rich Eisen:And those of you who have been kind enough to watch us on the Roku channel over the last three years, guess what? Disney Plus is available on the Roku platform. So we'll still be available to you to watch. But to promote our move, Dave Roberts said to me a few weeks ago, do you want to do a sports center? And that's like asking to use the Disney Plus parlance, a princess, if she wants to build a snowman.

3:41Rich Eisen:I mean it's a rhetorical question you know what I mean the answer is yes I've only been thinking about it for 22 years thinking it would never happen I mean it's that simple I've I have dreams I've had dreams about it sort of like you always dream about being in an old job well my old job Happens to just be SportsCenter. And yesterday was like being in a dream. An absolute dream. And I'm looking at this photograph of me sitting on a SportsCenter set, and I'm just getting choked up looking at it. I can't believe it. It's wild. It is nuts. And the idea, you know, it's not like I'm reinventing a wheel, but the idea that I had for this program was to lean deeply into the nostalgia.

4:48Rich Eisen:And while I was away last week, I Zoomed with the producing team that ESPN fixed me up with. Tom Delacorte is somebody who was part of the producing team last night. And he said to me, I handed you shot sheets years ago. I want to get some other names out here. Evan Anderholm, Andrea Pelkey, Brian Kimberly, the director last night. The four of them were Zooming, and I said to them, would you mind if we use the old SportsCenter music and graphics and I write an old school open to the program? That's me writing it right there. Wow, look at me at a computer. By the way, I don't mind the posture right there.

5:41Rich Eisen:I'm feeling pretty good. I'm feeling pretty good about it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, what was in the bowl there wasn't very healthy. Listen, and the answer that I got back was, it's funny, Tom says, it's funny you mention the old school music and the graphics, because we thought, we were just talking about when you're saying hello at the top, that we have the lights down like the old school sports center where you bring it up and you say hello, so it kind of plays into it. Let me see. and I'll be straight up with you because I'm still working through the past and I thought to myself is it possible that some of the old ways of doing things wasn't like you know yeah let's do the old way of doing things but the old way of doing things that would be like that's not what we do around here anymore so we're not doing the old graphics anymore that's gone it's in mothballs you're just coming out of them not the graphics rich not the music rich not any of that it's in that vault in indiana jones right in the back yeah it's been put away put away with the arc you know and i uh i got a part of me was like oh please don't say no to this please don't kick it up and it comes back no the answer came back with Tom Delacorte he he texted me a video of his computer screen he's like got the music and I hit play and I the animation I'm getting choked up I saw it and I'm like wow this is going to happen and I am going to freaking dive in cannonball in this old school hot tub time machine and i'm gonna i'm gonna do it like the old way and they they the producing team was so all in on it so all in on it i did not know that when we were going to do the highlight of the monday night game that we followed that they were going to play the chris berman nfl prime time music didn't know that they surprised me with that didn't know that they were going to well i knew going into the show monday night but i didn't know at the time throughout the weekend they were going to start digging into some old sports center music i mean uh and sports center commercials didn't know that they were diving into my old shows to find an old moment that might stick out had no idea that I did the highlight of Mo Lewis blowing up the innards of Drew Bledsoe and out trots Tom Brady.

8:43Rich Eisen:And you're just like, and here comes Tom Brady. Yeah, of the University of Michigan. No one's ever heard of this guy. I did that highlight on the Sunday Night Sports Center of Week 2 in September of 2001 after the NFL came back from, we all know what happened in September of 2001.

9:03Rich Eisen:It was awesome. It was a dream. I can't believe it happened. Susie was at home with the kids. Oh, I was texting her. She videoed the show open. And she showed me today, hey, this is what it was. And I hadn't seen it back yet. And her commentary with the show open on the TV screen at home, she was just like, I can't believe this. This is surreal. I mean, because that's why I met her in the newsroom. Our children are ESPN children, but they'd never seen dad in his natural habitat. Yeah. And I never thought it would be possible again. I'm choked up. I'm getting emotional about it. You should. Yeah, man.

9:46Rich Eisen:Don't hold back. You definitely should, Rich. Come on. You know, and obviously me, I said, we got to take a moment and talk about Stu. Oh, man. I don't know how you got through that part. Well, because, again, I'm just going to be so honest with you. Throughout the 22 years of me watching from out here at NFL Network, where, by the way, let's not take anything that I'm saying, saying that I lament any of the last 22 years. Please understand. I hope it's not coming across like that at all. No, not at all. It's just, you know, the way I was born into this business ripped away. unceremoniously very much so and for 22 years I'm out here loving life on NFL Network loving life with Susie out here in Southern California loving life with you guys doing this show but I'm looking and I'm like oh there's Dan and Keith doing SportsCenter oh that's good I mean I would like to do that didn't get an invite didn't get a call, didn't get anything and

10:58Rich Eisen:now that I get a chance, Stuart's gone. You know, cancer robbed all of us of Stuart and me in particular of an opportunity to do a show with him one more time. So we set up a chair. This was all conscious decision. Let's put the chair. And again, beautifully shot and directed, just pulling out, showing the chair, showing Stuart literally looking over my shoulder. I mean, come on. I mean, this is the commercial break beforehand, I guess. And I was trying to pull myself together. And then just the reaction. It was amazing. From people feeling just as emotional about seeing all of this stuff. This hit a chord.

11:45Rich Eisen:I can't, I mean, you're telling me, because you know I'm not on X anymore. Yeah, I was following along. I just came out of the toxicity. I was reading comments last night And it was universal how everyone was feeling They were feeling just like us They were proud and happy And excited and it was like a jolt Of feel good energy That we kind of all needed And I heard From so many Of my old friends and colleagues Berman Sent a text beforehand Greenberg Sent a text beforehand re-sent a text beforehand during the show during a commercial break look down he goes a hundred dollars if you make a hello and you and you give larry beale credit and you did and i did at the end and i said on the air a hundred dollars he texted me after the show money well spent Shapp Fowler Bob Lee sent me a text saying catering on Kizzles K-I-Z-L apostrophe S which is a local establishment in Bristol who else Shapp and Dan Patrick chimed in an hour before the broadcast with one word nervous Nervous.

13:09Rich Eisen:Question mark. And I told him, I said, guess what? I'm like, time doesn't change. And he responded with like a smile or whatever. And I'm like, guess what? And part of this process is, you know, I want to find out the exact date of my last sports center and with whom. And they told me it was May 28, 2003, and it was with Dan. And so that was part of the top 10 list, the top 10 moments, NFL moments, you know, since I left ESPN and since I was with NFL Network. And they put a shot of Dan behind me and Dan from that set behind me. Steve Levy reached out. How did it feel to be back in the chair? I'm like, it felt great.

13:56Rich Eisen:I texted him. I'm just glad I didn't have to talk about Matthew Stafford's disc. And he texted back the gift that keeps on giving. So it brought like all of us back together because we feel a certain kinship from back in the day. And last night was a nice dose of nostalgia that clearly fans appreciated. And Rich, they played the clip. I've heard you. You've told this story to us many times about how Dan had to talk you into doing the commercial. Were you getting demoted? Oh, yes. And I was like, I don't think I've ever seen that. Oh, they played it first. It was the first one. It was the first thing they saw.

14:39Rich Eisen:But me being sent down to the minors. And I used that to lead into Paul Skeen saying, clearly he's never going to be sent down to the minors. And yes, Dan, because I was very upset. Why choose me to be the one sent down to the minors? And Dan's just like, it's the comedy. Just go with it. Gus is on the line? Yes. All right. One of the best SportsCenter producers in the history of the great show, Gus Ramsey is on the line. You there, Gussie? You there, buddy? Rich, I am here, sir. How are you today? This is great. How fun was that, right? I mean, it was fun. It was fun. Let me tell your audience something that they don't know, and then let me tell something that you don't know.

15:18Rich Eisen:Okay. Did you know? We had to say that. Did you know? Did you know? Okay. Okay. Sorry, Gus. Go for it. What you did last night was not easy. Just because you've been on television for the last 22 years, It is not the same job, what you did last night, compared to what you do every day with your great show, with your guys, and what you do every Sunday during the NFL season. It's a different animal. And for you to slide right in there after 22 years and make it look like you have been doing the show every day for the last 22 years, as a guy who runs a sports broadcasting school and tries to teach people how to do this, it was remarkable how seamless all of that was.

15:58Rich Eisen:Thank you, Gus. Second point, you know, your guys there told you how Twitter reacted. You got a bunch of texts from fellow on-air people. There's an ESPN Old Timers Facebook group page. And the other group of people who were moved by last night were the former employees and people who were there in the late 90s, which, you know, for a lot of us was the heyday of SportsCenter. and the number of people who were emotional just from the old tees rolling and you tracking it, that was emotional for people on top of the stew stuff and all the other stuff. But there's so much appreciation for the people who were in the trenches with you back in the day that just the fact that you could do an old school tease and make people cry is pretty remarkable.

16:49And I never stay up past minute anymore, but I did. And my wife is usually asleep by nine o 'clock, and she did. And when you did the tribute to Stu, we're both sitting in bed crying, and she goes, that wasn't fair. And I said, yeah, but it was damn beautiful. So congratulations on an incredible evening, sir. Thank you, Gus. And it was awesome for everybody. Wow.

17:12Rich Eisen:This is making my day, Gus, that you, you know, from you, it's the highest praise possible. And, of course, you know, I called Gus beforehand to tell him I was going to do a Stu tribute. We went over. I just want to make sure that I got the catchphrases. I wasn't missing anything. Because, Gus, you work with Stu back in Orlando in his local TV days. So this means the world. It means the world. I texted the daughters and his ex-wife, Kim, and let them all know that you were going to be doing that and made sure that they all got to see the clip, whether they stayed up last night or got to see it today.

17:51and they were certainly very appreciative of you doing that as well. Yeah, I heard from Susan.

17:55Rich Eisen:Thank you. I heard from Susan Scott as well in the commercial break. I'm dropping a Pookie and Ray Ray. That was fun. Don't forget the NM. Pookie, Ray Ray, and them. Love you, Gus. Thanks for sharing that. Thanks, buddy. See you, Gus. Bye, Gus. Put up the tweet. Susie found this one. From JO tweets, I've got a fever. And the only prescription is more saxophone was the response to one of the many tweets about the show. I mean, there's just thousands yesterday. I was having a good old time afterward. We were watching some show and I'm just like, what are you doing? I'm like, oh, I'm reading all the Twitter about Rich.

18:36It was everybody was just loving it.

18:38Rich Eisen:Listen, and accuse me of caping. I don't care. But I just want this to be pointed out. that the number of people that think that ESPN, when they take something in, is going to ruin it. I saw a bunch of that too. They're just going to ESPN it or whatever. I asked for the old music, the old graphics, the old everything, and the answer was, what else do you want to do? What else do you want to do? they leaned into it as much as I did with a team of lead pipe wielding professionals who wanted to do it just as badly and just as well. Yeah. And I swear to you, inside the NBA is going to be the same thing.

19:27Rich Eisen:I feel it in my bones, which is why I mentioned it. Like, could you imagine if Stewart? Yeah. Oh, was there with those guys? Right. Mm-hmm. Yep. And Stuart, with those guys, Stuart, I'll say it too, I heard from Ernie Johnson as well. You know what I mean? Like Breen, it's just all a broadcasting family that's been around a while. And the most important part too, again, on top of, forget my personal stuff, which I shared and with Susie. It means a lot to us that we, us, Susie, yours truly. It means a lot to us that I could share this with our children we could share it with them my nephew jack schuster who was a little baby walking down the aisle he saw his uncle do this stuff in his natural habitat for the first time but above all the fans your guys reaction as fans the people that i've heard from who are like it made me feel great and to share that that's what broadcasting is to to to do something that connects with the viewer and the listener in a visceral way that is similar to you and also collectively to a group of people like what a what a blessing to do that blessing and the neat thing is it's i'm not going anywhere they know where i live and where we're gonna live is with them i got a feeling rich ain't gonna be the last yeah you know what here's to the next but but for the if that is the case and i don't presume anything but for the first time in 22 years it's exactly what i dreamed of yeah i dreamt of a moment that a collective group of production staff can do together for you, the fan.

21:40Rich Eisen:And the fact that it's as big of a conversation as it appears to be is just the cherry on top. You know, the other day when we were talking about my car, Brockman said to me one time, he goes, nostalgia is the most powerful drug in the world and it it's a can be a negative thing but it can also be a very positive thing and last night was positive powerful nostalgia through the roof well you know the whenever i get emotional about sports as well i call it's about the marking of time yeah and um of all the people over the last 22 years have come up to me with their kids and say you You know, I've told my kids, you know, you used to put me to sleep.

22:24Rich Eisen:You and Stuart, two in the morning. Or, you know, when I take my kid to school, I tell my kid, you know, this guy, Stuart, used to put me on the school bus. That's true. And the fact that we all collectively in that boat last night got to hear the saxophone and the open and all that sort of stuff. All right. I've said my piece. 844-204-RICH. We can't talk about this enough. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm happy. Then I'll keep talking about it. Very good. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. When we come back, let's talk with Trevor Baptiste, New York Atlas face-off specialist. And PLL is part of the ESPN world as well.

23:10Rich Eisen:Don't go anywhere.

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24:48Rich Eisen:Back here on the Rich Eisen Show. We're sitting here on the Roku Sports Channel. The radio audience will rejoin in just a split moment. But for the first of two times, let's welcome in from the New York Atlas face-off specialist himself, Trevor Baptiste of PLL Lacrosse. Good to see you, sir. How are you? Appreciate it. It's great to be here. Good to see you. I'm honored to be here. What do you have there? I'll have a stick for you. You're bringing me a stick. Hey, nice. You got something to fight TJ with now. That's right. Yeah, you've got your kendo stick. My kendo stick. I've got my warrior, what, fat boy.

25:24Rich Eisen:Yeah. I've got my warrior fat boy. Yeah. That sounds, you know, not mutually exclusive, right? Warrior fat boy. Yes. It doesn't usually, the tours don't go together. Yeah. Yeah. So the shaft is kind of made for people who throw a lot of heavy cross checks. So it's actually reinforced. So that's like the reinforced shaft. so you know i don't know now we're practicing it's a mark yeah it leaves a mark yeah so fantastic for the strong guys all right um by the way uh the new york atlas going to face off against the winner of the maryland whip snakes um and uh philadelphia water dogs in the semifinals in september 1st and a win in the semifinals sends atlas to the championship for the first time in club history yeah yes congratulations on the opportunity that you have in front of you here Thank you.

26:12Rich Eisen:How do we make this cash, Trevor? Let's be honest. Yeah, we're excited. You know, I think that for our team, I think we've been really talented over the years. And I think especially last year, we had a heartbreaker in the semifinals. So I think we're posed really well to take care of business. Okay. Yeah. And so do you just sit back and watch the Maryland-Philadelphia game and figure out how that works? Exactly, yeah. So because we were first in the Eastern Conference, we get a top seed. Yeah, we get a we get a buy into the semifinal. So we get to watch them this weekend. They play in Minnesota.

26:50And, you know, hopefully they really get after each other. Well, you know that I'm required to ask you who you want. I don't think I think we're we're we're excited to play anybody. OK, very good. Except for the opportunity.

27:01Rich Eisen:Ladies and gentlemen, Baptiste is here on the Rich Eisen Show. The New York Atlas face off specialist. Again, the Atlas, a top seed in the Eastern Conference of the PLL, and they're waiting to see who wins between Maryland and Philadelphia to try and get to the PLL championship for the first time in club history. How does one become a face-off specialist of the year, like you've been five times? Yeah, I think the face-off position is tough. It's a part of the field that two guys are doing the same thing against each other, So it turned into like an individual aspect of the game. And, you know, you do a face-off every time you score and at the start of the game, at the start of each quarter.

27:43So it's a possession-centric game. If you can win a lot of face-offs, you can control the ball and put your team in a great position to win the game.

27:50Rich Eisen:So when did you, how do you know that you have this sort of ability? Like how do you get into it is what I'm saying. I think it's different for everybody. for me like I started playing attack then I got switched to midfield and then and in high school we needed somebody to take the face off um and back then you know it was really just anybody who was athletic who was tough could pick up the ball you know hop out there and play uh and then now the game has become a lot more specialized so you're seeing guys really take the initiative to to make that their position at a younger age right but for me I just kind of got thrown into it you know and and I had a knack for it.

28:29I had a knack for it. How did you get into lacrosse period? So I grew up in North Jersey, so lacrosse was pretty popular. Where in North Jersey? Denville, New Jersey. Mike Del Tufo. West of Livingston. Thank you, sir. There you go. Nice. Exactly, Mike. Yeah, yeah. My father taught in Denville.

28:45Rich Eisen:What did your dad teach in Denville? School for... Oh, that was your opportunity to say lacrosse. Oh, my brother played lacrosse and was all state. Frank? No, Anthony. Okay. Oh, nice. All right. He's awesome. Back in the 70s. That's awesome. The goalie. Pardon me. I didn't mean to turn MDT into the GPS. We're New Jersey. Come on, we get it. That's right. I get it. I get it. So you're growing up in North Jersey. Yeah. Growing up in North Jersey, played football growing up. And a lot of my friends that I played with, they played lacrosse in the spring. Yes. Didn't know much about it, but they're like, Trevor, you got to come out.

29:19You got to come out and play. What did you play in football? I played running back. Running back. Okay. Yeah. So that was, you know, I love the game and football talking about. Lacrosse was something that I did in the spring. That was that was fun. You know, I was just hanging out with my friends. Sure. Wasn't very good to start out. And I'm sure as you'll see, as you use that as you use that stick, it's tough to get going, you know, to learn how to catch and pass. But, you know, I stuck with it and I fell in love with the creativity of the game. You know, it's a game that, you know, you could tailor your game based on your skill set.