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CNN Live At Daybreak
Talking Sports with Chris Cotter
Aired November 29, 2002 - 06:51 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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Time to talk sports now. Chris Cotter of the "790 The Zone" is back here with us in Atlanta to give us all of his sports news. We want to talk hoops, of course, this morning. Michael Jordan has been saying this is it for him. Is he going to live up to this last promise to retire, not that we want him to but, you know?
CHRIS COTTER, 790 THE ZONE: Right. Well, actually, it might actually be a good thing. I think it is a good thing. It's a good thing for basketball, it's a good thing for the Wizards. Michael Jordan said last time he was 99.9 percent -- of course he came back. So that one tenth of a percent was just enough for him to come back. He said yesterday after practice he's a hundred percent sure that after this year he will retire. And I think it's good for a couple of reasons.
It's good for the Wizards because he's trying to get them to learn how to win. It's a very young team with Kwame Brown and the like. So he's trying to get them to learn how to win, much like he did with the Bulls when he first got into the league. He learned how to win with that team and they went on to win six championships.
CALLAWAY: Right.
COTTER: So that's what he's trying to do. The other thing is he is turning 40 years old this February.
CALLAWAY: Oh, that poor old man.
COTTER: So I mean when you go through the rigors of playing an 82 game schedule every year, it takes its toll on you. And for him, his minutes have been decreasing. He hasn't seen as much time on the court. So he's saying this is my last year, play me as much as you want to play me, you can wear me down, I don't care. I'm going to make a push to make the playoffs this year.
And so everyone's going to see a lot more of Michael Jordan and boy, I tell you what, that's a hot ticket. When he comes to the Wizards.
CALLAWAY: Yes, got to watch him.
COTTER: It's an expensive ticket, yes.
CALLAWAY: That's right.
All right, we've got to talk quickly about Dallas losing, messing up the winning streak there they had.
COTTER: That's right. They were shooting for a record last night, 15 in a row, 15-0. Only two other teams in NBA history have ever started 15-0. The Pacers, though, beat them last night. So now they're 14-1 and still, though, I love the Mavericks and I love their ownership, Mark Cuban. I think he does it right. He wants to win. And he's an individual owner. He isn't a corporate owner, which I think affects the team in terms of being able to get the players that they want and being able to market.
So I love Cuban. I love the Maloof (ph) brothers in Sacramento and I love in football, too, what a guy like Arthur Blank (ph) is doing with the Falcons.
CALLAWAY: We've got to talk college basketball a little bit, speaking of Indiana.
COTTER: A lot of these early season tournaments like they go in Maui and play or Alaska.
CALLAWAY: Right.
COTTER: Or the pre-season NIT. And the big news so far in the early going of this college season has been the resurgence of Indiana and North Carolina. Now, Indiana was a surprise team last year in the final four, but I think a lot of people thought it might be a fluke. New coach Mike Davis now has his own recruits there, a lot of freshmen really contributing. And North Carolina, similarly, you had Matt Doherty, who's been a coach there for a couple of years. But really, really under fire at North Carolina for having won only eight games last year. And that program has really taken a fall.
But every new coach in college needs a couple of years to get his own players in there and this year Doherty has his own players, his own recruits, a lot of freshmen stepping up, and Carolina shocking second ranked Kansas here the other day. They look impressive early on.
CALLAWAY: Hey, Chris, I know it's a busy time for you.
Thanks for coming in again this morning.
COTTER: As always.
CALLAWAY: How many days in a row are you working, about 14?
COTTER: I can't even count that high.
CALLAWAY: All these days.
COTTER: But I'll tell you this, though, you might be going shopping after you get off here today, I don't know.
CALLAWAY: No, going sleeping.
COTTER: Oh, I was going, you know, the guys are just going to grab their remote control and some turkey sandwiches...
CALLAWAY: Drink beer.
COTTER: Turkey ala king, turkey alamode for desert and get that remote and watch football.
CALLAWAY: All right, Chris, thanks for the cooking ideas there.
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 29, 2002 - 06:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Time to talk sports now. Chris Cotter of the "790 The Zone" is back here with us in Atlanta to give us all of his sports news. We want to talk hoops, of course, this morning. Michael Jordan has been saying this is it for him. Is he going to live up to this last promise to retire, not that we want him to but, you know?
CHRIS COTTER, 790 THE ZONE: Right. Well, actually, it might actually be a good thing. I think it is a good thing. It's a good thing for basketball, it's a good thing for the Wizards. Michael Jordan said last time he was 99.9 percent -- of course he came back. So that one tenth of a percent was just enough for him to come back. He said yesterday after practice he's a hundred percent sure that after this year he will retire. And I think it's good for a couple of reasons.
It's good for the Wizards because he's trying to get them to learn how to win. It's a very young team with Kwame Brown and the like. So he's trying to get them to learn how to win, much like he did with the Bulls when he first got into the league. He learned how to win with that team and they went on to win six championships.
CALLAWAY: Right.
COTTER: So that's what he's trying to do. The other thing is he is turning 40 years old this February.
CALLAWAY: Oh, that poor old man.
COTTER: So I mean when you go through the rigors of playing an 82 game schedule every year, it takes its toll on you. And for him, his minutes have been decreasing. He hasn't seen as much time on the court. So he's saying this is my last year, play me as much as you want to play me, you can wear me down, I don't care. I'm going to make a push to make the playoffs this year.
And so everyone's going to see a lot more of Michael Jordan and boy, I tell you what, that's a hot ticket. When he comes to the Wizards.
CALLAWAY: Yes, got to watch him.
COTTER: It's an expensive ticket, yes.
CALLAWAY: That's right.
All right, we've got to talk quickly about Dallas losing, messing up the winning streak there they had.
COTTER: That's right. They were shooting for a record last night, 15 in a row, 15-0. Only two other teams in NBA history have ever started 15-0. The Pacers, though, beat them last night. So now they're 14-1 and still, though, I love the Mavericks and I love their ownership, Mark Cuban. I think he does it right. He wants to win. And he's an individual owner. He isn't a corporate owner, which I think affects the team in terms of being able to get the players that they want and being able to market.
So I love Cuban. I love the Maloof (ph) brothers in Sacramento and I love in football, too, what a guy like Arthur Blank (ph) is doing with the Falcons.
CALLAWAY: We've got to talk college basketball a little bit, speaking of Indiana.
COTTER: A lot of these early season tournaments like they go in Maui and play or Alaska.
CALLAWAY: Right.
COTTER: Or the pre-season NIT. And the big news so far in the early going of this college season has been the resurgence of Indiana and North Carolina. Now, Indiana was a surprise team last year in the final four, but I think a lot of people thought it might be a fluke. New coach Mike Davis now has his own recruits there, a lot of freshmen really contributing. And North Carolina, similarly, you had Matt Doherty, who's been a coach there for a couple of years. But really, really under fire at North Carolina for having won only eight games last year. And that program has really taken a fall.
But every new coach in college needs a couple of years to get his own players in there and this year Doherty has his own players, his own recruits, a lot of freshmen stepping up, and Carolina shocking second ranked Kansas here the other day. They look impressive early on.
CALLAWAY: Hey, Chris, I know it's a busy time for you.
Thanks for coming in again this morning.
COTTER: As always.
CALLAWAY: How many days in a row are you working, about 14?
COTTER: I can't even count that high.
CALLAWAY: All these days.
COTTER: But I'll tell you this, though, you might be going shopping after you get off here today, I don't know.
CALLAWAY: No, going sleeping.
COTTER: Oh, I was going, you know, the guys are just going to grab their remote control and some turkey sandwiches...
CALLAWAY: Drink beer.
COTTER: Turkey ala king, turkey alamode for desert and get that remote and watch football.
CALLAWAY: All right, Chris, thanks for the cooking ideas there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
