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🔥Upside Chat: Dr Ron Dick, Duquesne University, Ex NBA/NCAA Exec on ESPN's Job Cuts, Victor Wembanyama, the NFL draft, Aaron Rodgers, the NBA Playoffs & NBA draft.
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🔥Upside Chat: Dr Ron Dick, Duquesne University, Ex NBA/NCAA Exec on ESPN's Job Cuts, Victor Wembanyama, the NFL draft, Aaron Rodgers, the NBA Playoffs & NBA draft.

This week we had the honor to interview again Dr. Ron Dick, associate professor of sports marketing at Duquesne University in the school of business. Ron also worked for 20 years in sports, including 15 years in the NBA with the Sixers and the Nets, and then five years in the NCAA.

📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on the job cuts at ESPN, the LIV golf league looking to launch a women league. We also talked about the NFL draft, and Aaron Rodgers’ trade to the Jets. We also touched on the NBA playoffs, the NBA draft, and the French prodigy Victor Wembanyama. Lastly, we talked about the 2024 Paris Olympics and the Senators that are expected to be sold for a reported $1B.

🚀Best Quotes: Here’s some of the key discussion points and best quotes from our conversation with Ron:

  • On the recent job cuts at ESPN:

    • “I think the company all encompassing ESPN is its mother’s station, ABC and Disney, and that's like taking money out of your left pocket, and putting it into your right pocket. I got a feeling the layoffs at ESPN in particular has to be because of so much of the cutting of the cable cord, which is becoming more commonplace than ever before. We need the internet at home, basic TV, and then we all go to our streaming devices”.

    • “And with ESPN, one of the frustrations of it is all this yelling at each other and screaming, with Stephen A. Smith, and all the back and forth with the different people. I don't enjoy watching that. I really don't. I do not enjoy the arguing. It's just really annoying. So I don't watch it”.

  • On the LIV golf league looking to launch a women league:

    • “I would believe there's no reason why we can't explore the LPGA, the Ladies Professional Golf Association, the way they did the PGA. And that is an area that the Saudi Arabia group is weakened: women's rights, one of the many. I think this would show concern, and this would be perceived to be very positive that they would go down this road and if Greg Norman says it, he seems to be the leader of the Liv, then, yes, I believe that they will do it”.

    • “And the funny thing about the PGA, when they had the Masters recently and the green jackets and everything, it looks like a lot of these so-called guys that get labeled as the LIV guys, no matter how many decades they played in the PGA, they do a couple years in the LIV, and they're like the LIV guys. The LIV guys did very well, in the top 10”.

    • “So I don't see where that hurts LIV at all. So there seems to be this back and forth. The money has gone up for the PGA guys. They are getting paid more now than they've ever been and I think it's because they've been pushed out of their comfort zone, the PGA, to try to match or get close to the salaries that the Saudis are offering at the LIV”.

  • On Aaron Rodgers’ trade to the Jets:

    • Now I think that the Packers did much better than the Jets. And it's time to take a look at this guy I love that they drafted a few years ago and see if he can be the NFL quarterback they thought he was going to be. The drama surrounding Aaron Rogers was getting really stale and old”.

    • “And I thought the Jets’ General Manager and the head coach, I think they really bit their tongue well and they coddled him all through the media. And I haven't lived in Wisconsin 21 months. I can tell you that the media there is nothing like the media in New York City. If he doesn't produce in North Jersey, the New York media media will slice and dice him apart, and I don't know if he's ready for that”.

    • “He says things like, relax, when the team loses a couple games. That's not going to sit well with the media or the fans there. They don't relax. They relax and drink a Miller beer in Wisconsin, but they don't do that in north Jersey and New York City. So I think he will crash and burn there”.

    • “And they're in a really tough division and they're in a very difficult conference, the AFC. So I don't see this going well at all. I think if I was the Packers I would turn the page, and move on. You had a lot of success with him and Brett Favre and you got your championship. But it's time to see what else is out there”.

  • On the NBA playoffs where he expects the Denver Nuggets to win the NBA title this year:

    • “So you've got the six seed Golden State against the three seed Sacramento Kings, and at the series of side two, two each team won the two games on their home court. So you've got the more, the younger, more talented team against the veterans that are very difficult, that had had a ton of success”.

    • “Yeah, there is an old saying which is, be careful about the heart of a champion, which are the Warriors here. They don't lack confidence, that's for sure. So who do I think is going to win that series? I wouldn't bet against the Golden State Warriors right now. I think they will find a way to win, even if it's a game seven on the road in Sacramento”.

    • “And then Denver's the top seed and they just closed out the Timberwolves. So you got some really good teams in the west. Whoever comes out of the west is going to be strong. I think they'll probably be favorites in the NBA finals. I think the western teams will probably be the favorites. So in the east, you're looking at the Boston Celtics”.

    • “I think the Sixers are going to the finals this year (…) This time it is going to be Denver against the Sixers in the finals. You heard it here first. Those are good teams. And I think Denver will finally win an NBA championship. That'll be big for them”.

  • On the French prodigy Victor Wembanyama:

    • “He's going to get selected by the Orlando Magic. I think the magic are going to take him”.

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