Michael Wilbon
American commentator
138
APPEARANCES
13
PODCASTS
Oct 26, 2026
Tony KornheiserHOST
What are your thoughts about that and what you've got coming up? Because you've got a tough one.
14 MINS LATER
14 MINS LATER
Mike WilbonGUEST
And there were looks around the copy editors saying what, because first of all, they weren't listening.
19 MINS LATER
Tony KornheiserGUEST
We're actually thinking about it and talking about it, and we gradually get to the point where we're confident
Michael WilbonGUEST
And, and, and when you grew up in the Midwest, that includes a, a heavy, heavy, heavy dose of Notre Dame and Michigan.
Michael WilbonGUEST
They're not any good, and I wonder what's gonna happen there, um, after this season.
Michael WilbonGUEST
And it, it, and people can't, there's no, "Oh, what Notre Dame didn't do, how did they fail?" I d- don't wanna hear it.
Michael WilbonGUEST
I'm not gonna say to you they were, you know, tight, everyday tight, but they shared the town.
6 MINS LATER
Michael WilbonGUEST
Like, what are our aspirations? What are our ambitions? If we can beat Michigan State, Iowa, Rutgers...
Michael WilbonGUEST
Or in order, Michigan State, Rutgers, Iowa, and Illinois, and even if we lose to Oregon and Ohio State, if we go nine and three, what does that mean? I mean, it, it basically, it still keeps you...
Michael WilbonGUEST
It, it, it makes other people pay attention to you, other kids who might be in the portal, other recruits, um, other soon-to-be-fired NFL coaches who might be looking for a gig.
Michael WilbonGUEST
Like, what are our aspirations? What are our ambitions? If we can beat Michigan State, Iowa, Rutgers...
Michael WilbonGUEST
Or in order, Michigan State, Rutgers, Iowa, and Illinois, and even if we lose to Oregon and Ohio State, if we go nine and three, what does that mean? I mean, it, it basically...
Michael WilbonGUEST
They, they, they're so unorthodox, but there's such energy about it and creativity about it.
Michael WilbonGUEST
And I don't know Venable from, you know, Adam, other than looking at what he's doing.
Michael WilbonGUEST
Um, uh, obviously [laughs] a very bright man of Princeton, uh, at- two sport athlete.
Tom WaddleHOST
Because I- they're, they came from a, you know, you know, an, you know, a place where no expectations existed for them.
Michael WilbonGUEST
They, they, they're so unorthodox, but there's such energy about it and creativity about it.
Michael WilbonGUEST
And I don't know Venable from, you know, Adam, other than looking at what he's doing.
Michael WilbonGUEST
Um, uh, obviously [laughs] a very bright man of Princeton, uh, at- two-sport athlete.
Tom WaddleHOST
Because I- they're, they came from a, you know, you know, an, you know, a place where no expectations existed for them.
Michael WilbonGUEST
Well, Tony, on the 100th year anniversary of the original football stadium opening at Northwestern in Evanston, 100th year anniversary, we opened a new one.
Michael WilbonGUEST
You know, I'm learning and getting favorites in Montgomery, and I, I'm getting favorites, but I haven't...
Michael WilbonGUEST
I s- I didn't start watching the White Sox till September, so I'm not gonna sit here and act like I'm some, some expert on the White Sox.
6 MINS LATER
Michael WilbonGUEST
You know, I'm learning and getting favorites in Montgomery, and I, I'm getting favorites, but I haven't...
Michael WilbonGUEST
I s- I didn't start watching the White Sox till September, so I'm not gonna sit here and act like I'm some, some expert on the White Sox.
6 MINS LATER
Jimmy TrainaHOST
Do you remember the idea of the show being pitched to you and what appealed to you about it? What made you say yes to it in the early days, 25 years ago?
Michael WilbonGUEST
And said one day, he was with Tony and me at the Washington Post in our offices in 1998.
Michael WilbonGUEST
And he said, one day I'm going to be somebody at the network and I'm going to be involved with programming.
Michael WilbonGUEST
And I remember Tony said, the next thing that's going to happen is you're going to get fired.
32 MINS LATER
Michael WilbonGUEST
I don't wanna sound ungrateful, and it was, it was, what was, what was really good going in, I know you asked me on Thursday, you said you, "You think you have a chance?" I, I do think we have a chance.
Michael WilbonGUEST
And, 'cause I, I really thought, um, I had told my, my dear friend Jeff Niantic, who you know, who's a Hoosier, Niantic texted me before the game.
Michael WilbonGUEST
He says, "You gotta, you, you, you think you're gonna win, don't you?" And I said, "31-24." I said, "I, I, but I think we're gonna have a chance." And that's exactly how it played out.
Michael WilbonGUEST
And Cignetti, as he's walking off the field, says to the sideline reporter, "I told you people all week Northwestern is good." There, and he, and he essentially says, "They're where we were two years ago." And he said it multiple times and meant it.
10 MINS LATER
Michael WilbonGUEST
And for somebody who grew up in the news business, um, [laughs] you know, Walter Cronkite.
Michael WilbonGUEST
I mean, e- every- everything that I consumed at that age from, from the time I became aware of news...
Michael WilbonGUEST
And I was a news junkie by the time I was eight, nine years old, straight through Watergate and all of that, st- into college.
7 MINS LATER
Michael WilbonGUEST
And for somebody who grew up in the news business, um, [laughs] you know, Walter Cronkite.
Michael WilbonGUEST
I mean, e- every- everything that I consumed at that age from, from the time I became aware of news, and I was a news junkie by the time I was eight, nine years old, straight through Watergate and all of that, st- into college, um, Walter Cronkite was some part of that.
Michael WilbonGUEST
I probably sampled what was going on in nightly news, but he, he was the heavyweight.
7 MINS LATER
Michael WilbonGUEST
So, yesterday, I said to Kelleher, what's the deal this week? Are there games? And he said, yeah, starting like Friday with you at Indiana.
8 MINS LATER
Marc SilvermanHOST
Well, you have any, uh, uh, Cubs thoughts here? How you feeling about, uh, where they are right now?
Michael WilbonGUEST
You know, the health caught up with the pitching staff, and the bullpen changed the season, and we don't have anything reliable.
Michael WilbonGUEST
You don't have to have a great back anymore, but you better have a really good back.
Michael WilbonGUEST
And Manunga is young and full of piss and vinegar, as they used to say in the old days.
Michael WilbonGUEST
And if those two guys are healthy, now you need a third guy who's on practice squad or something.
Michael WilbonGUEST
You're going to need a third guy that you can go to at some point midway of your season when people get, you know, bumps and bruises.
8 MINS LATER
Marc SilvermanHOST
You have any Cubs thoughts here? How are you feeling about where they are right now?
Michael WilbonGUEST
I, I watched, uh, a ton of tennis right from day one, two Sundays ago, uh, right through the semifinals, semis.
Michael WilbonGUEST
Right through the semis Friday night, uh, and Thursday night and Friday night, and enjoyed it, loved it.
Marc SilvermanHOST
How fired up, Wilbon, on the college front, how fired up were you over what happened with the Michigan game?
Michael WilbonGUEST
Tell me that I didn't see what I saw? And I've talked to enough people who have told me who work in sports, either in broadcasting or in Clock management.
Michael WilbonGUEST
And they're like, dude, we're talking about if there's a difference, it's not a second or two.
Marc SilvermanHOST
How fired up, Wilbon, on the college front, how fired up were you over what happened with the Michigan game?
Michael WilbonGUEST
Tell me that I didn't see what I saw? And I've talked to enough people who have told me who work in sports, either in broadcasting or in Clock management.
Michael WilbonGUEST
And they're like, dude, we're talking about if there's a difference, it's not a second or two.
Tony KornheiserHOST
How do you decide what to watch, and how would you say you divided up the pie?
Michael WilbonGUEST
I love it when you do this every year because I know like you, both of us, this is like one of our favorite weeks of the year.
9 MINS LATER
Scroll for more appearances