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CNN Live At Daybreak

Talking Sports with Dave Johnson

Aired November 01, 2002 - 05:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Michael Jordan has defied gravity many times and last night he defied age with an impressive performance against the Boston Celtics.
Dave Johnson, sports director of WTOP in Washington joins us by telephone to talk sports.

Good morning.

DAVE JOHNSON, WTOP RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning.

Indeed, he looked like the Michael Jordan of old, and that means young.

LIN: Yes. How old is the guy now? Is he 40?

JOHNSON: No, no, he's 39 right now. But he played about 29 last night.

LIN: Awesome. So it was a nice home opener then last night?

JOHNSON: It was. It was an unbelievable night. In fact, the Wizards beating the Celtics 114-61. Michael Jordan, coming off the bench now, had 21 points in 21 minutes. That's a pretty good ratio, and that big steal at the end of the first half where he just brought the house down. And the Wizards just really rolled from there. In fact, it was the worst lost in Celtics franchise history and historians know the Celtics have been around a while.

So Michael Jordan, again, 21 points in 21 minutes last night. The Wizards, this is the way he thought this team could look, but it probably even surpassed his own expectations.

LIN: Yes, that's pretty awesome when the boss comes out to play.

In the meantime, Cal Ripken, I hear he's interested in a front office job with the Orioles?

JOHNSON: Yes, there's a lot of buzz about this. The Orioles, of course, have been a struggling franchise. They used to sell out all its games. And now Cal Ripken, of course, he's retired, but he's not gone off into the sunset. He actually owns a minor league baseball team north of Baltimore and now he's expressed an interest in getting into the Orioles' front office.

And this is kind of like Michael Jordan, who was part of the Wizards front office. You've seen this in hockey with Mario Lemieux. So he has expressed an interest in being part of the Orioles front office. But so far the Orioles really haven't responded to that, as they have a lot of situations to deal with in their front office. They still have a general manager in place right now.

LIN: Oops. Who's going to be telling him?

JOHNSON: That's right. That's right.

LIN: All right, a little leak there.

In the meantime, the Redskins, are they ever going to settle their quarterback issues?

JOHNSON: Well, they have for this week, but that could change next week, so tune in. That's the way it works in Washington. But this, of course, is the big focus in the fall. I know there's something about an election coming up, but really the nation's capital is always focused on the Redskin quarterback situation. And Shane Matthews appears to be the guy, or is the guy for now, as last week he responded for the Redskins, played a wonderful game, and now will start this week against the Seahawks again. But he got a lot of help on the ground and with the offensive line.

The previous quarterbacks, Patrick Ramsey and Danny Weurffel, were pummeled and sacked a lot. Shane Matthews was only sacked once and had a chance to actually do some things. So he is the candidate right now, but we always have to check the polls with that in Washington because the quarterback situation can change and ha changed.

LIN: Right. Well, I'd much rather worry about a quarterback situation than a sniper on the loose, so.

JOHNSON: Amen to that.

LIN: Yes.

JOHNSON: And, again, it's the focus back in this town very much is on the Redskins, and, oh, yes, by the way, Michael Jordan still grabs some headlines.

LIN: Awesome.

All right, thanks so much, Dave Johnson.

Good to hear from you this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com








Aired November 1, 2002 - 05:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Michael Jordan has defied gravity many times and last night he defied age with an impressive performance against the Boston Celtics.
Dave Johnson, sports director of WTOP in Washington joins us by telephone to talk sports.

Good morning.

DAVE JOHNSON, WTOP RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning.

Indeed, he looked like the Michael Jordan of old, and that means young.

LIN: Yes. How old is the guy now? Is he 40?

JOHNSON: No, no, he's 39 right now. But he played about 29 last night.

LIN: Awesome. So it was a nice home opener then last night?

JOHNSON: It was. It was an unbelievable night. In fact, the Wizards beating the Celtics 114-61. Michael Jordan, coming off the bench now, had 21 points in 21 minutes. That's a pretty good ratio, and that big steal at the end of the first half where he just brought the house down. And the Wizards just really rolled from there. In fact, it was the worst lost in Celtics franchise history and historians know the Celtics have been around a while.

So Michael Jordan, again, 21 points in 21 minutes last night. The Wizards, this is the way he thought this team could look, but it probably even surpassed his own expectations.

LIN: Yes, that's pretty awesome when the boss comes out to play.

In the meantime, Cal Ripken, I hear he's interested in a front office job with the Orioles?

JOHNSON: Yes, there's a lot of buzz about this. The Orioles, of course, have been a struggling franchise. They used to sell out all its games. And now Cal Ripken, of course, he's retired, but he's not gone off into the sunset. He actually owns a minor league baseball team north of Baltimore and now he's expressed an interest in getting into the Orioles' front office.

And this is kind of like Michael Jordan, who was part of the Wizards front office. You've seen this in hockey with Mario Lemieux. So he has expressed an interest in being part of the Orioles front office. But so far the Orioles really haven't responded to that, as they have a lot of situations to deal with in their front office. They still have a general manager in place right now.

LIN: Oops. Who's going to be telling him?

JOHNSON: That's right. That's right.

LIN: All right, a little leak there.

In the meantime, the Redskins, are they ever going to settle their quarterback issues?

JOHNSON: Well, they have for this week, but that could change next week, so tune in. That's the way it works in Washington. But this, of course, is the big focus in the fall. I know there's something about an election coming up, but really the nation's capital is always focused on the Redskin quarterback situation. And Shane Matthews appears to be the guy, or is the guy for now, as last week he responded for the Redskins, played a wonderful game, and now will start this week against the Seahawks again. But he got a lot of help on the ground and with the offensive line.

The previous quarterbacks, Patrick Ramsey and Danny Weurffel, were pummeled and sacked a lot. Shane Matthews was only sacked once and had a chance to actually do some things. So he is the candidate right now, but we always have to check the polls with that in Washington because the quarterback situation can change and ha changed.

LIN: Right. Well, I'd much rather worry about a quarterback situation than a sniper on the loose, so.

JOHNSON: Amen to that.

LIN: Yes.

JOHNSON: And, again, it's the focus back in this town very much is on the Redskins, and, oh, yes, by the way, Michael Jordan still grabs some headlines.

LIN: Awesome.

All right, thanks so much, Dave Johnson.

Good to hear from you this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com