Scott Simon talks with NPR Sports Correspondent Tom Goldman about basketball, football, and golf.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Brexit, shmexit (ph). It’s time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: The Warriors snap a losing streak, but there’s still a cold chill in the locker room and on the bench. And are Da Bears b-back (ph)? NPR’s Tom Goldman joins us now from – are you in your brother-in-law’s wood shop in Eugene, Ore., Tom? Is that true?

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: I have turned off the skill saw for a few moments, Scott, where I’ve been working on a full-life sculpture of you.

SIMON: (Laughter).

GOLDMAN: Similar to the David, although clothed.

SIMON: Oh, oh. Well, thank you.

GOLDMAN: I’m here. I’m here for the holidays. And what better place to talk sports than a wood shop? So let’s do it.

SIMON: Right, efficient and all that stuff. Listen; that match play, or whatever you call it, last night between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, which Phil Mickelson won in extra holes, or however you say it – two of them went home with $9 million between them. Is this a real sports event?

GOLDMAN: No. It’s pretty made up, Scott. The golf, apparently, wasn’t that good either. And I say apparently because I didn’t interrupt a second of my Black Friday to watch. And I say that as a golf lover and a golf watcher…

SIMON: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: …But not this one.

SIMON: And a great golfer, yeah.

GOLDMAN: Yeah, right. Well, thank you – hardly that. Let’s clarify the money, though. It was winner-take-all. So Phil made off with the 9 million.

SIMON: Oh.

GOLDMAN: He did donate part of it to charity, including a fund for children who lost a parent in last year’s Las Vegas mass shooting. This event was in Las Vegas, so some good came out of a silly event. Bah humbug. Wrong holiday, but bah humbug.

SIMON: Well, it’s coming up to the right holiday.

Golden State Warriors ended a losing streak last night. But prior to that, they’d lost four games in a row, unprecedented since the great Steve Kerr became head coach. He’s the smartest, most decent man in sports, if not the country at this point. But does mediating this undiplomatic dispute between Draymond Green and Kevin Durant need a Gandhi?

GOLDMAN: There’s an image for you. I think it might need a little something extra. You know, we’ve learned what, reportedly, was at the heart of the recent spat that led to Draymond Green’s suspension – the spat with Kevin Durant. It appears to be something more than just creative tension between two very creative basketball players.

Green reportedly made a comment in reference to Durant’s anticipated free agency at the end of the season and his possible departure from Golden State. According to Chris Haynes, respected NBA writer, Green said something like, we don’t need you. We won without you. Leave.

You know, Scott, that’s the kind of comment that can linger and poison the chemistry on a team. But if any coaching staff can deal with this, though, you have to think it’s the Warriors’, and especially Kerr, as you say, a very bright man who really understands the psychology of uniting a group of very talented athletes who have very huge egos.

SIMON: Yeah. He has more championship rings than he has fingers, if I’m not mistaken, between the six with the Chicago Bulls and the five in…

GOLDMAN: That’s right, yeah.

SIMON: Yeah, no, unless he’s grown extra fingers, and I wouldn’t put that past Steve Kerr.

Listen; have you noticed the Chicago Bears won their fifth consecutive game, albeit it was only against the Lions? But they are now 8-3 despite having a highly uninspiring quarterback who is out, and they had to go with a lackluster substitute. But, boy, that defense. (Growls) They even scored the winning point.

GOLDMAN: Yeah. (Imitating Scott Simon growling).

SIMON: And it’s against everything that football is supposed to be. What? Yes? They have me on the bench sometimes to inspire players. I just go. They come back after the play, and I go (growls).

GOLDMAN: You sound like…

SIMON: Yeah? Sorry.

GOLDMAN: You’re a Monster of the Midway. You are that, Scott.

You know, this defense is for real, ranked in the top 10 in the NFL and anchored by the very active and fearsome pass rusher Khalil Mack. Offensively, the Bears are not in the same class as the Saints or the Chiefs or the Rams – those three teams are kind of defining this new NFL surge in offensive play.

Still, the Bears, as you say, are 8-3. They’re leading the NFC North division. It’s looking – they’re looking to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2012, and perhaps the playoffs for the first time since 2010. Looks like Chicagoans won’t have to spend the winter just waiting for the Cubs to come back in the spring.

SIMON: Tom Goldman, thanks so much.

GOLDMAN: You’re welcome.

Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Sports fans have gotten used to exorbitant prices for food and drinks at stadiums. They know they’re a captive market. But could the stadiums be missing out by charging too much?

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

It’s so inevitable that it almost feels like a law of physics; the price of hotdogs and beer at stadiums goes in one direction, up – except, maybe, in one place – Atlanta. Last season, the Atlanta Falcons brought the prices of food and drinks way down. Nick Fountain from our Planet Money podcast went to a game to find how that’s working out for them.

NICK FOUNTAIN, BYLINE: The first question I have is, have people even noticed? So I ask the first person I meet, Zena Smarr (ph), tailgater.

Can I talk to the grill master real quick?

ZENA SMARR: (Laughter).

FOUNTAIN: I asked Smarr, have you noticed that the food is cheaper? And she’s, like, oh, yeah.

SMARR: Much cheaper.

FOUNTAIN: But she’s not buying more inside.

SMARR: Old-time tailgaters, you know, we’ve got to tailgate. So by the time we go in the game, really, we’re full.

FOUNTAIN: Stadiums, like airports and movie theaters, are captive markets, places where one seller has a monopoly and no one can undercut them, which leads to high prices and also some workarounds.

Did people use to sneak in more food?

SMARR: I don’t know about the food.

FOUNTAIN: Like – oh.

SMARR: Now, the alcohol (laughter).

FOUNTAIN: If you’re like me, you probably thought the reason stadium food prices are so high is because the teams just want to wring every penny out of fans. But that’s only half true. I head up to the front office to meet Rich McKay, the president of the Falcons. And he tells me the way stadium food usually works is teams hire a food company to do everything and then have almost no say after that.

Could you complain about – I don’t know – warm beer?

RICH MCKAY: Yes, you can complain. That’s all you do is complain. You don’t – it’s – nothing happens as a result of it.

SHAPIRO: The reason is big multinational companies compete for these contracts. And the bidding gets intense. The company that wins usually ponies up millions, sometimes tens of millions of dollars upfront and then splits the revenues from the sales with the team. And so, according to Greg Beadles, the COO of the Falcons, before a single Bud Light is even poured, those companies have dug themselves into a big hole.

GREG BEADLES: So for them to get their money back, there’s only two sides of the balloon left to squeeze. And it’s food quality; let’s buy the cheapest food that we can. And let’s charge as much as we can. And maybe, like, you know, a third is labor; let’s have as few people as possible to make all of this happen.

FOUNTAIN: That’s why it takes so long to get a hot dog. That’s why the hot dog costs so much, and that’s why it might be cold.

BEADLES: That’s right, exactly right.

FOUNTAIN: Not too long ago, the Falcons were building a new stadium. And they were rethinking everything, including ticket prices, which they raised. And they thought, why don’t we rethink food a little bit? And so they got rid of the whole revenue-share model. Now they get to control food and beverage – the quality, the number of cooks and the prices. And they’ve dropped prices a lot. Like, they sell $2 hotdogs, $5 beers and $2 sodas with unlimited free refills.

UNIDENTIFIED FANS: (Cheering) ATL.

FOUNTAIN: How’s it working out? I head up to the nosebleeds past this guy…

UNIDENTIFIED VENDOR: I got the cold beer. You tell everybody, I’ve got the cold…

FOUNTAIN: …And meet David Collins, plate full of snacks.

DAVID COLLINS: Hopefully, we can pull it out. But the defense, man – we got to get better on defense. Oh. And as I say that, we got a pick – yes. Woo. (Clapping). Woo. That’s why I love these guys, man. That’s why I came here, to watch this.

FOUNTAIN: Collins came all the way from New Jersey for the game. He’s a big Falcons fan, sees them when they play in Philly.

COLLINS: My brother’s an Eagles fan. They suck. I go to the games with him. And last time they played in Philly, it was ridiculous. Like, I paid, like, almost $40.

FOUNTAIN: On what?

COLLINS: On just beer, a burger and, like, popcorn. It was ridiculous.

FOUNTAIN: And today you have – what? – a burger, fries and a soda – a big soda?

COLLINS: This is the second time I actually bought food. Like, I’ve never bought more than food one time at a stadium. I love it. I love it.

FOUNTAIN: The Falcons have blown through their sales expectations. They’re selling 53 percent more product than at the old stadium. And other teams have noticed – big teams, like the Ravens and the Lions. They’re dropping prices, too. The one regret the Falcons might have is the free refills on soda thing, as evidenced by Collins.

How many refills did you do today?

COLLINS: This is the second one.

FOUNTAIN: The second one and there’s still a lot of game to go. Falcons fans are refilling their sodas, on average, 3.7 times. The Falcons say that, at that rate, they’d be happy if they’re even breaking even on soda.

Nick Fountain, NPR News, Atlanta.

(SOUNDBITE OF LOUIS LOGIC’S “STREET SMARTS”)

Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.