Bill Robertson

Bill Robertson, the original co-host of Behind the Game, makes his triumphant return after a two-year stint on the LIV Tour — Liquor, Ice & Vodka — for a special episode with Patrick Klinger and Dave Boden.

The trio tackles their favorite sports topics from the recent World Cup and the impact of NIL on college athletics to their ultimate dream sports dinner guest. Expect plenty of opinions, laughs and a few debates along the way.

Behind the Game is presented by KLN Family Brands, proud producers of Wiley Wallaby Licorice and NutriSource Pet Foods.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

The play on the field, of course, and the items is just one part of the course. Behind every game are the people hard at work so we can enjoy the actor. They're the owners, administrators, act, broadcasters, and vendors to bring the game to life. Me, would you go behind the game with Patrick Claire and Dave Bowden?

SPEAKER_02 0:24

Welcome to Behind the Game, presented by KLN Family Brands, makers of the best licorice on the planet, Wally Wallaby. Also make great products for pets as well, nutri-source pet food. Check them out. I'm Patrick Klinger, president of Agile Marketing Partners, alongside me a man whose athletic career peaked in sixth-grade kickball, Dave Bowden. He's been living off those highlights ever since.

SPEAKER_04 0:52

That's not entirely true, Patrick. I won the uh rec league volleyball champion mixed doubles or mixed volleyball in Madison, Wisconsin when I was in college. So that was the peak of my athletic career. I stand corrected, Dave. Never happened again.

SPEAKER_02 1:09

And look who's back at the desk after three years on the Live Tour. That's liquor ice vodka. Bill Robertson, the original co-host of Behind the Game, back visiting uh from South Carolina. Great to have you back on Behind the Game, Billy.

SPEAKER_03 1:28

Thank you so much. It's great to be with both you guys.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Really fun to be here. You know, guys, we're just gonna riff on sports today. We really don't have any specific topic, but sports always provides a lot of fodder for discussion. So we're just gonna talk about whatever comes to the top of our heads today. And I'm gonna start it off and we'll talk a little bit about the World Cup, which you know concluded maybe a couple of weeks ago. Um, got a lot of attention, obviously was hosted here in the United States. Uh, do you think the World Cup will have this sort of impact on the growth of soccer that um I think the game hopes it will?

SPEAKER_03 2:11

Well, for me, uh I had played four years of high school soccer and I love the game. Uh, it's hard for me to watch a whole game because of the pace, but the athleticism that goes on these days is amazing. And watching the World Cup, I watched the U.S. games most importantly, and then I watched a little bit of the semis in the finals. I think it's a great event. I think it helps spike the interest in the sport. I don't know if in the U.S. it's ever going to reach the peak where it does in Europe and other places. Just my opinion.

SPEAKER_04 2:44

I know it got a lot of people watching that wouldn't normally, me and family and friends included. Um, and I would expect it will drive a lot of interest in the U.S. men's national team coming here later in the year. They probably would have had interest anyway, but with the World Cup and seeing all the coverage, um, I think there'll be a carryover effect at least for a little while.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

Yeah, I think so too. You know, there were a lot of people who were watching soccer who never would have, you know, ever taken the time to watch the game. I I think it it did, you know, help us understand why the game is so popular around the world. I have a challenge with it growing in in the United States in so much as you know, I watch these guys, they get touched and they fall and they look like they've been shot by a sniper, right? You know, as soon as they're touched. And you know, in this country, we love the NFL, and you know, guys get hit and they want to pop right back up and and get after and show that they, you know, they're tough soccer. I love the game, but you know, that's the that's one part of it that I don't particularly enjoy.

SPEAKER_03 3:50

Well, one other thing is for me, watching the U.S. team was important, and I'm glad they got as far as they did to the round of 16. Um, but I had never really watched Messi play. Um, I grew up in the era of Pele, and I remember seeing Pele play at Met Stadium, playing against the New York New York Cosmos, playing against the Minnesota Kicks and the North American Soccer League, and that was big time at its at its height. It never really translated after a year or two in that league in Minnesota, but I know that soccer is growing. It's a lot of fun, but to see a athlete like Messi play at the highest level at his age was incredible, and that's what makes sports so unique.

SPEAKER_04 4:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

We're in the uh the heart of the Major League Baseball season right now. You just returned from a trip to Los Angeles where you went to Dodger Stadium for the first time.

SPEAKER_04 4:47

Yeah, went to uh Dodger Stadium as uh with my son, part of our tour of stadiums uh that we do every year, and uh Dodger Stadium, which I know you've been to probably many times, um, is one of the old school stadiums now. Yes, you know, after Fenway and uh Wrigley Field. So it was fun to go out there, fun to see Shoey. Um kind of wondering your thoughts on the impact, um worldwide impact to the game that he's had, because when we were in Los Angeles, um it was amazing the crowd both nights uh that were there for Shoey. I mean, that's every other person has his jersey. Uh, there's people from around the world, there's languages, you know, all through the stadium. It's uh it's kind of amazing what we're seeing right now.

SPEAKER_03 5:38

It is. Though uh one thing about Dodger Stadium, uh, when I used to go, it was the place where you had to go early to get in. And then people left early, as they said, in LA fashionably early to leave because you couldn't, there's only a couple exits out of a 40,000-seat stadium. But it is beautiful. Um, Shoei Atani is an amazing athlete, um, probably one of a generation kind. Uh, he was with the Angels first and did really well. Um, but he has taken the game to a new level. And I think the the the world baseball classic that's held in March, similar to the World Cup, has grown to an extent because of him. And I think it's all because of him and what he has done for the game. And he is a phenomenal role model. He's kept his nose clean uh and has done everything the right way. And I think that's why the game continues to grow on an uh international basis for MLB.

SPEAKER_02 6:39

You know, um it's widely expected that there will be a lockout in Major League Baseball after the season, in large measure because of teams like the Dodgers who are just loading up the team. I I I I didn't see I I heard recently that the payroll is somewhere nearing a billion dollars. I mean it's incredible. How does a a team like the Minnesota Twins or the Kansas City Royals or the Cleveland Guardians, how do you compete with that?

SPEAKER_03 7:12

Well, I I would say this that uh it's clear to me that baseball needs some kind of salary level of, I hate to say cap, but there has to be some level to make it fair for the teams like the Minnesota Twins, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cleveland Indians, the teams you just mentioned to succeed. Because when you get to the trading deadline, which we saw on Monday, and the Dodgers are the ones that pick up the two uh last two years Cy Young award winner in in uh School Bowl from Detroit, um, and they just keep adding more talent and more talent, and that's really tough to compete with. And a team like Tampa Bay or Milwaukee have these great farm systems that do so well, and they can only compete so long until these players have to leave. So, my opinion is Major League Baseball needs to have some kind of level for all teams, and if you go over that, you pay a significant fine, and the Dodgers may pay those significant fines uh to continue to try to grab those players, but they have to even it out.

SPEAKER_04 8:18

So, baseball, just to bring something to mind, we were chatting about uh briefly before we started today, uh, topical, but uh a little twist on baseball, a little different. The Savannah Bananas are here in town for this weekend. Um, they're taking the town by storm. The tickets for the three games at um Target Field were only available via lottery. And I know there was a lot more people in the lottery than received tickets, uh, and they've sold out NFL stadiums around the country uh with their kind of crazy brand of baseball. Um thoughts on that and just uh the impact uh and is it one of those things like anything that's good for the game of baseball is good for the game of baseball?

SPEAKER_03 9:10

I do agree with that. I read the owner's book um about how he got started and what his thought was, and he was more interested in watching how fans reacted after every pitch and every out or every hit. Um, that was what he thrived on. He said the game needs to move faster, it needs to be fun and exciting, and I think it's helped grow the game a lot. Um it is somewhat like the Harlem Globetrotters of basketball in in some respects, but for them to be able to sell out uh nationwide, worldwide when they go on tour, now they have an ESPN deal as well, and they're on television a couple times a week on a national level. So it gives them a great platform. I live in South Carolina and near Savannah, and you can't get tickets, you can never get tickets. So that's the question I have is how how are they going to spread this out further and let more fans and more families get to the ballpark?

SPEAKER_02 10:09

I think the the products are really vastly different, right? You know, major league baseball is steeped in tradition. Um was America's pastime. Uh maybe you could argue, some would argue maybe still is, though I I think the NFL has certainly surpassed it. Uh Savannah Bananas, it's it's sheer entertainment. I mean it's that's what it is. If you if you're going to watch the best players in the world, you're gonna go to a major league baseball game. If you just want to laugh and be entertained for a couple of hours, Savannah bananas are it. They've done a masterful job of creating that that experience. Uh, but I think they're two really very, very different things.

SPEAKER_04 10:52

I know uh uh this is especially true, probably for you, as Patrick was so kind to point out. You know, I wasn't maybe the athlete that you were growing up. I'm not quite sure about you either, but um but one of those things back in the day was you'd grab your glove and bat and go you'd go play baseball on any park, field, street, wherever you could do it all the time. And I'm not sure you see that much anymore when you talk about the game. Um can the bananas help that just by getting people with a ball and a glove? Uh, can can there be more for you know from Major League Baseball? Or what what do you think might drive a return to that? Maybe it's just too many screens now, and there's not the interest.

SPEAKER_03 11:42

I think there's a lot for young boys and girls to do now. And they're on their headsets and on their computers and uh their phones a lot. Um, and then you have sports like soccer that's growing, and then you have sports like lacrosse that's grown. So people have gravitated to other summer activities, along with the sport of golf and tennis and all that. You have a lot to choose from, even though you did have those before. Um, it's just made it more challenging. Now, baseball television ratings have gone through the roof, they're way up this year. And I'm surprised with a lot of them on these streaming packages, how teams are able to make it all work, not only financially, but also to get more eyeballs, because I thought it would be much harder when you knew that games were on ESPN and they were on your local regional sports cable network, and that's where you got your games. And now you have to really know where they're at to watch. So something has to happen there for it to begin. But driving in, um, I can say this that looking at the baseball fields, um, there weren't many people as we were driving from South Carolina to the Twin Cities. We didn't see a lot of people playing baseball. We saw people playing basketball, we saw a lot of runners, but we didn't see very few people playing baseball. So something has to give, Dave.

SPEAKER_02 13:05

Yeah, I you know, I I don't think we're going back to those days, honestly. I think I think the the number of distractions that exist, I I think you know, parents are much more fearful of letting their kids out of their eyesight.

SPEAKER_04 13:16

That's true.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

Um, you know, when when we were kids, you know, you did grab a bat and a ball and you know, maybe some paper plates or frisbees or something and set out as bases and you made your own rules and and you played un until dark. Uh and your parents trusted that you were going to be okay. And I I think that piece combined with the fact that there just are so many distractions, the screens are probably a leading cause of kids not getting getting together, throwing those neighborhood games together in somebody's backyard. Um I I fear that those days are long gone.

SPEAKER_04 13:55

Hopefully they're playing backyard baseball or something on line. That's what my son did, among other things going out, and he's a huge baseball fan, so maybe um maybe that's part of the saving grace with some of the video games and stuff anyway.

SPEAKER_03 14:11

Well, if you weren't playing baseball up at the field, you were playing wiffle ball in your back all that, and you don't see that anymore, very little of it. So I hope they get back to that because it's they consider it one of the greatest sports of all.

SPEAKER_04 14:26

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 14:27

So sports betting did not get over the finish line again in Minnesota. I think we're one of 11 states in the country that don't offer sports betting, at least legalized sports betting. What are your opinions on betting? You know, it's I you know on one hand, you could say, well, you know, the the genie's out of the bottle. It's not going back in. This is the way it is. You know, we're why are we one of the few states not allowing it? On the other hand, we're seeing some of the ramifications that are coming from people investing a lot of money in gambling.

SPEAKER_03 15:07

Well, there's no question that there's a lot of investment by the casinos and others getting into the gaming industry. Um, it's huge. Um, I'm not much of a gambler myself at all, very little. Um, if I would if I were to do that, and when I was a commissioner, I I had an oath and I had to sign a letter that I would not gamble on anything, including fantasy sports or anything. So there was a I've seen you sweat over two-foot putts that might cost you five bucks. Yes, I miss those. Um, but for me, uh I think it's it eventually will get done here in Minnesota and it it will get done in all all states. It just has to because you can't have some states doing it because people will figure out ways around that. They already are. Um, I think Minnesota should again take another hard look at that for next year and get get that done so you can bet at the casinos or or a place that there is a station for betting on sports. Yeah, how about you, Dave? What do you what do you think?

SPEAKER_04 16:09

Well, I you know, I do think it's already led to and will continue to lead to um actual issues or certainly questions about the integrity of games. That's what worries me, especially with uh betting on the results of every pitch in every play live in real time. And you know, it would be hard for a player to throw a game, to lose a game. Um but it wouldn't be all that hard for him to miss a free throw or swing at the first pitch or you know, something like that. So I do worry about that implication, and I expect we'll probably see some problems. But like you say, it's uh that that genie's out of the bottle. Probably should be legal in Minnesota as well as other places to do. And just as we were talking about it, talking about kids playing baseball and video games, maybe uh maybe we're old school and thinking about it a little bit different. And our our day, either you played or you listened to the radio, or maybe you'd watch TV to see a game or go to a game. Um maybe just the way all these games are being delivered to younger generations is through all these other things: esports and video games and uh you know gambling apps where people are building, you know, fantasy teams online and tracking all their players on the time. And I guess in some ways they're consuming the sport differently. I don't know, maybe it's a whole different way to look at it.

unknown 17:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:51

What I find astounding is how the leagues have changed their perspective on gambling. When I was in baseball and you were in in baseball and and sports, I mean the teams and the leagues shied away from, not only shied away, they insisted you have absolutely zero connection. You know, to your point earlier, you you had to sign paperwork that said you wouldn't gamble. Well, they've gone 180 degrees now. It's it's you know, they're in bed with the devil. Um you know, casinos and and game gambling apps are investing millions of dollars with teams. And the teams are embracing it. And of course, where previously teams weren't allowed to go to Las Vegas. You know, none of the leagues wanted to have a team there. Now they're all going to Vegas. So it's money speaks, it certainly has in sports. Um I think there have been some unintended consequences of gambling in sports, but you know, it's we're not turning the clock back. This is this is what it is.

SPEAKER_04 18:59

Do you think it's I mean it's and this is um gone down into the college ranks as well, maybe not the gambling quite as much, but the uh the money. And now with NIL and being able to pay players, essentially college sports have turned into a professional financial undertaking. Maybe it did a little bit before under the table, but now it's that's just that uh, you know, obviously huge implications. What are what are your thoughts about where we're going with that or how sustainable is what we're seeing?

SPEAKER_03 19:33

Well, it used to be you had uh five years to play four, and then you could sign in an NBA contract after three years of playing, you had to play three. Now you can play, you know, all the legislation and the uh laws have it, so you can jump to the pros as quickly as you want to. But but what I'm seeing now is the trend of the bigger schools and the bigger sports are paying these athletes a lot of money, uh, somewhere in the neighborhood of one to four million. And and that's the better players. And some are getting a quite a bit less, but getting their college paid for and a little something. And they have to make a determination if they're drafted, whether they're making more money in college, or they're gonna jump into the pro ranks where there's no guarantee. And then they have to figure out if I get hurt in college, uh, and my the money I'm gonna make in the professional ranks is gonna be different or gonna be more challenged. So it's really, I think it's hurt the sport a lot, but it's one of those things that you can't put the toothpaste uh back in the tube once this is once this happened, uh it's exploded. And there's no more, it's not about giving away free burritos or free hamburgers to to players, it's about big time money and how they can capitalize on it.

SPEAKER_02 20:52

Yeah. You listen, I don't begrudge a young person from getting them the money that they can because frankly, most of them are not going to go to the pros, right? And this is their one shot to make some money and good for them. But it has turned them into mercenaries. There's no question. They're bouncing from program to program to program based on a paycheck. Uh and going to class for many of these programs. I mean, these kids don't go to class anymore. They show up at a college, they get paid, they play. It's a professional sports at a different level. Um and it's a little sad. Um on Tuesday, I was invited by the University of Minnesota women's basketball team to come in and speak to their players. And it was all in uh an effort to get them in front of business leaders that can polish their skill, create their own brand, and help them get even more NIL money. Um so, on one hand, it's great because they're they're really helping these young ladies uh be able to interact with. business people and you know polish them have a polished uh presentation on the other hand um you know a lot of it is designed to lead to getting them more money and the more money they can get the chan the better the chances are they're gonna stay have you seen we've seen uh things that have happened you know with uh haves and the have nots and the pros and the colleges and I'd worry that we're going that way even more with this but then you see Indiana in football come win the national championship out of nowhere and maybe it expands the playing field as long as you can find somebody with big money.

SPEAKER_03 22:50

Well and and Indiana as an example had Mark Cuban funding their football program and their basketball program who's a multi-billionaire um uh but you're right that the more alums that are involved in this and and then they're asking for some say in what goes on and that's another whole challenge. So it'll be interesting to see how college sports evolves and how much there's all this talk about the Big Ten where we're we're at right now and the SEC breaking off into their own right just the mega yeah and how is that going to affect schools like Winona State Minnesota State how's it going to affect Cal State Fullertons of the world you know how do they ever survive uh that has that become pure college athletics and the rest of them are uh this NIL transfer portal move move to the best offer I get um it has definitely changed um and it's a big business yeah yeah absolutely so um random question one rule in sports that you would change and you look across the landscape at at all sports you change one rule what would it be that's that is a good question Patrick I well I'm thinking that uh somewhere in professional football and college football that um a field goal over a certain amount of yards becomes uh either four points or five points make a big change there I think that would really spice up the game quite a bit and make kicking even more important than it already is yeah you know for me what it would be that you can take your golf ball out of a divot if it's in the in the fair way as you know I'm passionate golfer I think we all are you hit a great shot it's down the fairway you walk up to it and the ball's sitting in a divot that hasn't been replaced that I would change. But I know you you already moved the ball out of a divot.

SPEAKER_02 25:12

No no no here's the problem it's never in the fairway.

SPEAKER_03 25:15

Yeah I believe picking it up and throwing it should be allowed if you had an opportunity to have dinner with three sports figures would they be well I know that uh for me um growing up Harman Killibrew was the man and I've met him a few times you know him very well knew him very well when he was living and I thought he was the most ultimate sports person he he was like my idol growing up so I'd say Harman Killibrew would be one the other would be uh the NBC sports announcer who I admired Kurt Gowdy for many years he covered everything from Olympics to the Rose Bowl to uh the Final Four and Major League Baseball and the NFL he did all those at one time and I would love to be with him and then I would probably ask uh Paul Molliter uh the former Cretan High School Hall of Famer and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer to join that group it's a good one.

SPEAKER_02 26:24

How about you Patrick top of my list right now would be John Anderson who we just lost uh a couple of weeks ago legendary baseball coach at the University of Minnesota and um I'd I'd give a lot to have another dinner with John because he was just a you know incredible human being um Carman Killigrew you know one of the nicest human beings I've ever met you know regardless the fact that he was a brilliant baseball player hall of famer just a gentleman in every sense of the word and um you know the third one would be a challenge I I think someone like Jim Nance for me would because he's covered so many sporting events uh I I think you think just remarkable stories to to share yeah I might uh I I like that uh idea and when you mentioned um Kurt Gowdy I was thinking along the lines of broadcasters and the one that comes to mind for me uh growing up as a St.

SPEAKER_04 27:29

Louis Cardinals fan is Jack Bach baseball announcer and he did lots of other TV sports as well and Super Bowls and things like that but um my son and I when we're on our baseball trip just this year as we have in other times sometimes we'll talk about things in the old days right for me and at that time you guys know this listening to sports on the radio was your kind of your sole primary soul connection to sports. And so these guys like Jack Buck you grew up with and it was not just baseball it's like that's what I had to listen to every night going to bed before school and everything all through the year.

SPEAKER_03 28:09

So I think talking to some of the old school ball baseball guys really give you a little piece of Americana that maybe is lost a little bit absolutely and there's plenty of them yeah right everybody's got some guys we're down on the final minute so make your your answers uh efficient what's one sporting event that everybody should attend at some point in their lives well you guys have been to a lot of them so I'd yeah well I just say this for me a seventh game of the world series uh I I don't believe I could top that um but for me the other one and I've never been and I'm going to go at some point here is the Masters and I want to go uh so those would be the two things I would tell people yeah I certainly think the Masters would be one because I have not done that I know you have um I'd love to go to a seventh game that's a great example any seventh game um NCAA Final four it's it's one of my favorite sports the NCAA tournament is fantastic although I worry about sitting in the upper deck at a basketball game.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

Yeah and I'd I'd say the Masters as well hard to beat that. But you've done it. I have hey that was a quick really quick half hour thank you Dave thank you Billy welcome back thank you thank all of you for watching Behind the game presented by Kale and Family Brands we'll see you again next month.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

Behind the game is produced by Alan and Sharon Miller directed by Mary Dolkey live audio mix by Sharon Miller technical and post production services provided by Egan Television. This program was recorded at Egan High School the views and opinions expressed on this program are solely those of the producers andor the persons appearing on the program and do not reflect the views and opinions of ETV or those of District 196 schools.