FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 13th, 2020

BRAD KESELOWSKI ON NASCAR’S RETURN; DAVE ROBERTS ON MLB SEASON; BRIAN KELLY ON NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL — QUOTES FROM TODAY’S LUNCH TALK LIVE WITH MIKE TIRICO AND THE RICH EISEN SHOW ON NBCSN

 “I don’t know if you could pick a tougher track.” – Brad Keselowski on NASCAR’s return at Darlington

“I do think there is a clear advantage to an organization being able to come together and have business as usual and a ramp up that we wouldn’t have (in Los Angeles)…I would rather teams open up all together.” – Dave Roberts on difficulties surrounding MLB’s return resulting from state-by-state differences

“If there are students on our campus, we’re playing football.” – Brian Kelly on Notre Dame football

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 13, 2020 – Mike Tirico hosted today’s episode of Lunch Talk Live on NBCSN and was joined remotely by:

    • NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski
    • San Jose Sharks D Erik Karlsson
    • NBC Sports national NBA insider Tom Haberstroh
    • ESPN Sunday Night Baseball play-by-play announcer and MLB Network host Matt Vasgersian
    • Motocross and supercross racer Ken Roczen

 

The Rich Eisen Show followed Lunch Talk Live on NBCSN, as host Rich Eisen was joined by:

    • Pro Football Hall of Fame LB Ray Lewis
    • Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly
    • Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts
    • Actor James Marsden from Netflix’s “Dead To Me”

 

Following are highlights from The Rich Eisen Show on NBCSN:

Ray Lewis on Michael Jordan’s leadership style: “A lot of it comes from what he didn’t have or what was taken away from him. He didn’t have a plan B…There are certain leaders that were built with one mentality.”

Lewis on his message to teammates: “Are you going to blow a coverage? Absolutely. Are you going to forget stuff? Absolutely…But I’m talking about pure effort. Pure effort, and that’s what my standard was. I’m going to set this bar so high, that when you look at your leader, this is the way your leader leads.”

Dave Roberts on the importance of baseball coming back: “It’s our season right now. I think it’s an opportunity to gain some market share back from football and basketball and to be in American’s homes across the country.”

Roberts on discussions within each MLB organization: “Each manager has worked closely with their training staffs and the front office (in the past), but no more than at this time. It’s certainly way bigger than just baseball…You can’t start baseball to have it shut down, so we have to get our ducks all in line.”

Roberts on competitive issues surrounding differences in governmental guidelines between states: “You’re talking about state-to-state, you’re talking about the government officials as far as giving us the green light and what we can and can’t do…I do think there is a clear advantage to an organization being able to come together and have business as usual and a ramp up that we wouldn’t have (in Los Angeles)…I would rather teams open up all together.”

Brian Kelly on upcoming 2020 football season: “I think we’re going to play. I don’t have the definitive, 100% (answer) but things are trending that way…At the end of the day, the decision will be made by our (University) President and Board of Trustees, not the football coach…We are prepared. We know there will be challenges and probably some setbacks, and as long as we’re aware of what they are and how to deal with them…I think our University wants to have (a season)…If there are students on our campus, we’re playing football.”

Kelly on testing protocols being discussed at Notre Dame: “We have a document that is getting closer and closer (to being completed) because we are getting more answers around testing capacity…We have to overcommunicate with parents.”

James Marsden on participating in fantasy football: “The obsession comes with the fall season and anything productive I was going to do goes out the window…(Chris) Evans, Jeremy Renner, (John) Krasinski (are in the league)…It’s about as annoyingly Hollywood as it can get.”

Following are highlights from Lunch Talk Live on NBCSN:

Brad Keselowski on resuming the NASCAR season at Darlington: “I don’t know if you could pick a tougher track.”

Keselowski on iRacing and using simulators during NASCAR’s break: “The problem is, if you had success with the some of the simulators or the internet events, you build almost a false sense of confidence. That false sense of confidence, when you get on the real race track, can be a big problem.”

Keselowski on staying in shape as a NASCAR driver: “I think the biggest thing is trying to find the right relationship between having some mass, having some body fat — but of course you don’t want to get too large, too lethargic — and getting too small where you will burn out in a 500-mile race.”

Keselowski on having a new crew chief for the first time in over a decade: “It is a pretty natural fit. It would be like if we were a football team and the defensive coordinator became the head coach.”

Keselowski on missing live sports: “Thankfully NASCAR will be back first, and I think that is huge moment for us as a sport, but I do miss my other sports.”

Erik Karlsson on keeping busy during quarantine: “My daughter is seven months now, so it has been a whirlwind with that. I think that has been a blessing too, to have this time to spend at home. I don’t think that is going to happen again.”

Karlsson on the Sharks: “Obviously this year has been a tough year. It hasn’t really gone the way anyone expected even though I don’t think it reflects how good of a team we do have. I think that something good is going to come from it…I am hopeful that when we come back and start the next year, things are going to be very different.”

Karlsson on his health and recovering from injury: “I am good. I don’t think that the thumb injury was anything major…Right now it feels great.”

Karlsson on the possible return of the NHL: “As of right now, I don’t know what the point is for us to come back if they are going to play us five games and be away from our family and friends and put ourselves in that position for pretty much nothing.”

Tom Haberstroh on the NBA’s potential return: “(The players) are all unified in saying they want to play basketball, which I don’t think is a surprise that these stars want to get back to playing basketball in a safe and healthy environment.”

Haberstroh on the finances behind a potential NBA return: “I think the elephant in the room here is under what financial circumstances because this week has been circled on the calendar on the players union side for weeks. Friday, May 15th, is the first day that players will be having a 25% pay cut in their paychecks as a result of this pandemic.”

Haberstroh on when the NBA might announce a return: “I think they are going to drag this out until the last second because I think they need to gather information, [which] is at a premium right now…What I am hearing is that in mid-June, they are going to have to come to a decision on whether to give the green light or not on the rest of the season.”

Haberstroh on what would happen if there is a positive test: “How many positive tests are okay? How many positive tests are not okay and where that line is is going to determine so much…There is a lot of gray area here that needs to be ironed out.”

Matt Vasgersian on MLB and the players association working out a deal to return to baseball: “I am pretty optimistic that the two sides will work this out…I think the players want to get out on the field just as bad as the owners do.”

Vasgersian on the plan for MLB’s return: “Everybody is going to stay geographically centered in their part of the country…with the idea of getting in as many games in as possible.”

Vasgersian on experimenting with game rules to ensure quicker games: “Getting games played is important. So, you are starting the extra innings, for example, with a runner at second with an eye toward getting the game finished, instead of these 19 inning marathons. This is the time to green light all that experimental stuff.”

Vasgersian on calling games in a stadium with no fans: “We have all had to work under stranger circumstances…Whatever it takes to get games in. I am willing to broadcast them that way if they are willing to play them that way.”

Ken Roczen on keeping himself in shape: “I took some time off and it actually helped my body. No matter when we start back up racing…there is going to be a lot of racing all in a row.”

Roczen on when supercross might return: “Right now they are thinking about May 31st…Hopefully we are going to know today or tomorrow…I am definitely ready whenever we are ready to go.”

–NBC SPORTS–