The Big Suey: What'd You Say? (feat. Ryan Blaney)

Hey there, travelers and dreamers. We all have that dream trip that we've been wishing we could go on.
But too often, life just gets in the way, whether it's work, family responsibilities, or in my case, and I'm sure many of yours, price. But your dream trip doesn't have to stay a dream any longer, because Priceline is here to help you book it, with millions of deals on hotels, flights, cruises, and rental cars.
That bucket list destination? Yeah, it's a lot closer than you think. You know, I've been wanting to go see the Pittsburgh Pirates for a long time at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
That's like at the top of my list of bucket list destinations of baseball parks around the country. And because I now know about the type of deals that Priceline offers, I may pull the trigger this summer and go see those pirates.
Priceline makes it easy and stress-free to book a flight and a hotel so I can go see my team play live. With millions of travel deals, like up to 60% off hotels, I know I'll be able to find great options even when I need to book last minute.
So don't just dream about that next trip. Book it with Priceline.
Download the Priceline app or visit Priceline.com to go to your happy price. Actual prices may vary.
Limited time offer. Terms apply.
Welcome to the Big Suey presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show? The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan Levitard podcast.

I'm sorry, I'm not going to apologize for that. In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging.
I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries if they're just there. That hasn't happened to you guys? I've done it.
And now, here's the marching man to nowhere, Fat Face, and the habitual liar. I was laughing on the way home yesterday because it is a particular kind of funny to speak to somebody who's not nicknamed Iceman and call them Iceman.
Like, of all of the nicknames, calling someone Iceman who doesn't go by Iceman is funniernier than just getting a nickname wrong like frank osola yeah i mean just it was ridiculous what i did yesterday restored my faith in humanity a little bit because i put that 100 on ai that's what ai said christopher bell's nickname was uh that is not just ai it was also wikipedia so we're joined now by maverick ryananey is with us. And I'm very pleased to have one of the most popular drivers around with us as Homestead Miami Speedway is hosting the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend, Sunday, March 23rd.
That is FS1, 3 p.m. And I wonder about this because, Zaz, I don't know how your ears are doing in radio.
I know that I, all of a sudden... My wife says my wife says bad yeah all of a sudden I'm asking my wife all the time to repeat things and I've got to imagine just given how loud he's only 31 years old thank you for joining joining us Ryan but I got to imagine that one of the many drawbacks that happened from doing a dangerous thing like this for a living this this has to affect your hearing, how loud all of this is, correct? What did you say? Yeah! That's why he's Maverick! That's why they call you Maverick! Very good.
Comedy, Iceman. Good job.
Man, you're 0 for 2. I'm actually Iceman.
But it's fine. No, thanks for having me, fellas.
I appreciate it. But yeah, I mean, it's loud, know no uh no thanks thanks for having me fellas um i appreciate it

but yeah i mean it's loud man i mean i've been doing this since i was nine years old i grew up

watching my dad race so i've been around the track forever uh and it does i mean we do the

best we can of like wearing in ears in the car stuff like that to try to just muffle some of it

but it does digress a little bit you see a lot of drivers that have retired they are on hearing aids

Thank you. in the ears, in the car, stuff like that, to try to just muffle some of it.
But it does digress a little bit. You see a lot of drivers that have retired, they are on hearing aids now, but it's just one of the drawbacks.
Did you have a choice in terms of what you were going to be other than a driver? Because any time I'm around you guys, everyone starts at eight years old and everyone inherits it from their family yeah yeah it's always what i wanted to do um just because i grew up around it and it was what i was most comfortable with just watching my dad do it i played other sports as a kid you know i love playing basketball i love baseball um but then i kind of had to come to a realization like i'm probably not going to make it i'm i have my father's genes i'm probably going to be 5'9 and like 140 pounds and racing is probably the best route for me um but my dad never like forced me to do it like he was always are you sure you want to do this are you sure you want to go to the next step uh so it was something that i just wanted to do what my dad did i got lucky that i was able to you know get the opportunities and make a living off of doing this. Do you have other places where you're an adrenaline junkie? I'll be honest with you.
Like, not really. I don't really have to search for adrenaline too often.
People ask all the time, like, oh, it's just is it just an adrenaline boost for racing cars? And like, not really. Like, you're not white knuckling out there all the time.
I think it's just what you're used to.

But I try to find things that are more like relaxing to me, like going, you know, skiing.

You know, I play a lot of golf.

Those are relaxing things to me where I can just kind of decompress and just like be out there and not really have to worry about too much. So I don't really search for adrenaline too often.

Do you drive too fast when you're away from the track? The opposite, complete opposite. I am a very slow driver on the roads.
I have nowhere to be quickly. I always tell people like, I get paid to drive really fast for my job.
And the only thing I get if I go fast on the roads is like a speeding ticket a fine or go to jail so it's like that the trade-off is not worth it to me my wife is actually the speed demon behind the wheel i kind of if she's driving we're getting to the place we need to go to quickly and uh i try not to be a passenger uh you know passenger driver i guess and tell her what to do but she's the speed a speed demon on the roads. I don't really get anything for that.
Do you have a number of tickets you've gotten? Like, is there a number that you would assign to how often you have broken the law while driving away from the track? I mean, everyone gets tickets, right? I mean, everyone does it. I haven't had one in a good amount of years.
I'll tell you you my last one i had uh was i was a junior in high school um and my mother put a stop to that right away uh the fear of mom got put in me after that speeding ticket because it wasn't a great one it was a it was a moment and um so after that one i've been very uh like i just think of my mom when i'm driving like I can't give it up wasn't a great one give me the details what were you doing you were going 175 miles an hour no i was going i mean it might not be impressive but to me it was bad it was uh uh i was going i was going 80 and a 45 uh you crazy person. It was not.
Yeah. Yeah, crazy.
I was a crazy guy. Yeah.
You're dangerous, Iceman. I passed the cop.
I came over this hill and passed him, and we locked eyes. And immediately, I'm like, oh, no.
So I literally just pulled over and stopped, and I waited for him to turn around. So I was already stopped by the time he even turned around and turned his lights on.
Do you ever get road rage when you're driving a regular car on regular streets or the highway? Sometimes I get a little annoyed with, with drivers on the road, like everybody, like, you know, people merging, kind of being foolish. I'll tell you what bothers me the most is uh no turn signals that really annoys me especially if you're like stopping in the middle of the road to turn and you don't put your signal on i'm like what what do you want me to do uh that that part really kind of grinds my gears a little bit put it on the poll please at levitard show what annoys you more a no turn single signal or somebody who has their turn signal on all the time? Because that's the problem we have in South Florida.
The problem in South Florida is old people who always have their turn signal on, but we also have the other problem as well. So I just want to know.
We have it all. Yeah, we have it.
Well, have you noticed? I don't know if you've been driving very much around Miami when you're not at Homestead, but it's gotten really bad down here. You're not going to be able to get anyone while you're here and you should travel by helicopter.
Yeah. Yeah.
I get down there today. I have noticed.
It's funny. We travel across the country.
Each state has its own like work as far as people driving and kind of what they do. You know, you got like the big cities like New York and stuff like that, where I don't know how people drive in New York in the city.
Everyone's just honking at each other. But then you got Miami, like you said, where, you know, people just are all over the place.
I would say no turn signal bothers me more. If you have your turn signal on, you probably have your music playing too loud and you forgot to turn your turn signal off.
I've done that before. But if you're still going and your brake lights aren't on, all right, you're not turning anytime soon, so I don't really worry about you.
It's been a hard-luck season for the 12 car this season so far. You've been having good cars and just – well, I guess the sentiment can be expressed best by Cal Scheisty on X when he tweeted out, can't wait for Homestead where Blaney will lead the first 266 laps and then get struck by a f***ing meteor on the last lap.
So I guess, Ryan, are you going to get struck by a f***ing meteor on the last lap this week? I tell you, if that does happen, I can't be upset about it. You know, that's a...
Hell of a way to go. That's an amazing scientific thing, right? A meteor coming and get you.
The odds have to be higher than getting struck by lightning on that one.'s like all right well if it was meant to be it's meant to be um i guess for our year it's been like a super scrappy year so far uh like you said last couple weeks haven't really gone our way but i've always related this sport just because i can relate to it the most is like a big wave like just you got you're going to be down a little bit and then you got to learn when you know you're riding the wave and you're and you're running really well you have to enjoy that stuff but like not let it bother you if you're sitting out in the ocean and no waves are coming at you or you're getting crushed by them it's just part of it and you just know that you're gonna you're gonna go race next week and you can try to do something different so we haven't really gotten too down about that i think that gets better as you get older and just understanding that you you know, there's sometimes nothing you can do and you just got to keep going. Well, you're the 2023 Cup Series champion and the runner-up last year.
So when, you know, some turbulence strikes, does doubt make an appearance or is your confidence so solid that you assign it to other things and it's not your fault? I think it's it's situational like um you know i'm not really like i don't lose confidence i've just never been that person um you know and so i try to just you know not let doubt get to me uh and i always just try to go back if things aren't going our way like you know we got to our whole team is really great at what they do. You know, all 15 guys that we got in our in our camp are amazing.
And and I have all the faith in them. You know, I feel like as a as a driver, like if you make a mistake, you know, just you, you try.
I try to learn from it right away. And I don't think you try to let doubt creep in your mind like, oh, I don't know if I can still do this.
Like, that's not a good way to think. So if those creeps, if those thoughts if those thoughts do kind of creep in it's like all right how do you get them out of here right away and just try to think positive and uh and if you do make a mistake how do you learn from it move on um that's like the best way that i've tried to learn over my years of doing this for so long you mentioned uh that you're not out there white knuckling it i I suspect that there's not a lot of emotion.
I

suspect that you're pretty disciplined about how you drive. Can thoughts make an appearance while

you're driving about other things? Or are you so focused that thoughts about other things can't be

allowed because you might hurt yourself? In moments, sometimes your mind will wander,

you know, but those are rare, you know, in like certain spots, like we're running around like Daytona or something, and you're kind of just saving gas and not really a lot of stuff going on. You might, you might think about other things a little bit, what you watched on TV, this new song you heard, but that didn't go on for very long.
So it's, it's that happens. I don't know.
I can't speak for anybody else. Maybe I'm a little, got a little like ADD or something like that, that I have to like, but sometimes I think about other stuff.
But it doesn't happen very often. You're so just engrossed in this, you know, competition that you're doing that you can't really let it wander.
So I would say like that's a 1% of the time that that'll happen. The nature of what you do is so competitive and obsessive compulsive.
When you actually sleep, do you dream of racing? Like, are there things that make appearances because you have to be obsessed with this? The only times I dream about racing is is like fears like one of my biggest fears is sleeping in and missing like the start of the race or missing practice i've had a couple of those dreams right i wake up in the dream and like cars are on the track and like i've missed practice or the race like that's the biggest thing of me being late but other than that i don't really ever dream about racing it's always weird stuff you know like normal dreams are but those are the only racing dreams i have because i think it's just like a big fear of mine because i have slept in before and i've been late uh that was way back in the day but uh i think that's that's the only thing that ever creeps in i don't know how common a dream that is for everybody but i found it to be a pretty common dream for people who have an enormous amount of responsibilities and constantly find themselves under a certain kind of stress we talked yesterday with christopher bell about the pressure that surrounds this particular economy so you love driving but what about everything else around it yeah there's a lot of stuff you know outside the racetr outside the racetrack that, you know, that you have to do. And, you know, it's, you know, being on a great plane with your partners, you know, and, you know, doing all the stuff off the track.
And I don't think people really realize, you know, a best of, you know, whether it's, I mean, a great example, like running through a weekend, you know, you'll get there on Thursdays or Fridays, usually have like a partner dinner on one of the nights. And then all race day, you probably have three to five, like partner appearances, kind of meet and greets, whether it's with, you know, customers of that sponsor that you got, you know, people who work for that company.
There's a lot of stuff you do right before you get in the car. And then even through the week, you know, I got to go to Raleigh next week to do a photo shoot for advanced auto parts you know so you're kind of constantly running around that stuff's important and i think i i got a good look at that growing up you know watching my dad have to do all that stuff so it wasn't just racing it's how do you also can connect to people that that help you out you know and then kind of honestly put up the money to get you on the racetrack right that sponsors your sponsors your race team.
So all that stuff is really important. And I've been really lucky to have great relationships with all my partners over the years.
And it's neat because you get to meet awesome people that have the same interest as you. They're race fans, and they love the sport.
And then they can, you know, ask you questions about kind of the inner workings of it. So it works out.
It's just part of the job and uh we're pretty fortunate to be able to do that so i never get to like oh i gotta go do this for a partner it's always excited because you're you're happy to have them with you what is the worst part of the life the worst part uh wrecking that's not that's a. That sucks.
Like, that's the worst thing ever. Some of them are, hey, I got a pretty good gig, man.
Like, I'm really lucky to do what I do. It's a privilege to be able to, you know, to drive cars for a living.
You know, but, and that's just part of it, right, is you're going to get in wrecks, and and some of them are gonna be worse than others uh but that stuff sucks uh whether that you kind of get a little hurt or just know that you know you you're done for the day uh so that is by far the worst part of it that's the only complaint i have about my sport is the wrecks uh don't feel very good there i started following nascar closely last season, and there have been really some spectacular looking yet really awful wrecks. And knock on wood, every time the driver gets out, gives a signal to the crowd that they're okay, and I'm astonished by that, all the signs that has gone into protection.
And then they show the camera inside, and I see the driver's neck get knocked around. I don't know if you ever get desensitized with the wrecks having the job that you do.
It's a part of the job. But does it ever change the feeling when you know you're about to wreck and you close your eyes for a brief moment and you're like, this could be it? Does that ever go away? I'll tell you, the worst wrecks are the ones that you see coming.

Like, okay, a good example, probably the hardest wreck I've had in the last year was,

right, we're at Daytona, you're riding around there in a big train,

and I got hooked in the right rear, and you go right head on into the fence, right,

going 200 miles an hour.

And that half a second, by the time you get turned, by the time you hit the fence,

it feels like an eternity, you know, because you know there's nothing you can do about this and you're just waiting for a big hit. Uh, those are the worst ones.
Um, by far, some of them, you know, happen a little bit quicker that you don't really expect it. But if you get to think about it before you actually hit, that's, that's the worst part.
But, uh, the safety side has gotten, you know, just in the last 20 years last 20 years i think it's gotten pretty amazing i mean there's still things that uh they need to get better but um yeah the ones that take the longest and i mean take the longest by like half a second a second you realize you're gonna wreck those ones uh usually are or bad because then you like you tense up you know and everyone's always like well you know if you're gonna get the car wreck just relax that's really easy to say uh if you've never been there it really is it's super it's super easy to say yes it might die just relax just relax yeah just relax it's fine you're about to just hit this fence at 70 g's you're fine just relax and it's like all right you've never been a part of before. Can you give us the most extreme example of you being a Star Wars dork?

I have Star Wars tattooed on my body.

That's probably a pretty extreme.

They don't wash off, for those of you who are wondering.

They're there for life, so you better be a fan of that thing for your whole life.

So I got a couple of Darth Vader tattoos.

So, yeah, I grew up.

My mom took me to go see Phantom Menace. I think it came out in 01 or 99 when I was like six years old.
And I was hooked ever since then. So I got to go to the The Last Jedi premiere, which I thought was good.
Think what you want in the movie. But it was pretty neat being in that atmosphere of like, you know, a Star Wars film coming out and I get to be the first to see it.
That's a very suck for you. So, yeah, I have a huge obsession with the franchise.
And it's been a little up and down lately, but I have hope for the future. So we'll see.
You knew better or know better than to try and insert any Star Wars theme into your wedding, correct? Oh, my wife knows better. And I know better now, too, because my wife taught me.
All the star wars stuff is pretty much taken down in my house before her and i got together i had a shrine and uh when she moved in she was like yeah we're gonna get rid of this

you have to put it somewhere else i would imagine that a nascar wedding if baba if you've got baba

as a groomsman i would imagine that uh a nascar wedding would be a a frolicking debaucherous affair i think any wedding is any wedding is excellent point of debauchery you know like i think i don't know what it is about weddings but people just go nuts it's like their free pass if they go to one or three weddings a year like if free pass to get absolutely belligerently drunk and no one judges them like i you know it's like all right yeah it's a wedding you can go do whatever you want it's fine but uh yeah we got married out in aspen uh my wife and i and a beautiful place and uh yeah it was it was a lot of fun so we did it right which was uh which was cool weddings though they, though. That was the only bad thing about the wedding is it was over before you knew it.
And then you wake up the next day, you're like, man, we planned this for a year, and now it's over. So let's go home.
So we had a good time. Put it on the poll, please.
Do you think that a NASCAR wedding is more debaucherous than the average wedding at Levitard Show.

In honor of our guest, the Maverick, Ryan Blaney, I put together a top five list that I think plays well.

This is top five guys in sports that can rock a cap.

He wears a cap well.

I appreciate that.

You're about to find out. Well, we don't know if he's on.

You don't know if you're on it, Ryan.

We'll find out.

Yeah.

Oh, okay. Number five.
Okay. Fernando Rodney.
Iconic. The best.
Iconic. I'm going to start wearing mine like that.
Number five. Number four.
Kyle Shanahan. Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah. Come on.
Back me up here. Flat brim hat for Kyle Shanahan is a go-to.
Your thoughts, Ryan? I like it. Yeah.
I got to meet Shanahan in Sonoma a couple years ago. Cool guy.
And, yeah. Rocking the ball game.
Number three, CeCe Sabathia. You're just doing it sideways.
Like, it's not even. I'm not.
Kyle Shanahan wears the flat brims. And number two, Jay-Z.
Strong. Obviously, ranked ahead of CeCe Sabathia because he can make the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee hat.
And number one, race day, Ryan Blaney. Oh, wow.
Congratulations. This is an older photo.
Ryan Blaney with the hair flipped out in the back. Yeah.
That is peak. Yeah.
No one is better than that. Yeah.
Long hair, full beard is pretty strong when it gets to November and I don't shave or cut my hair. It's a good one.
But, hey, I appreciate that. I feel like it was skewed a little bit, only because I was your guest and I was number one.
But I'm ranked ahead of a lot of great athletes, great coaches.

I appreciate that.

That really got my morning started off.

Congratulations.

The highest honor of your career.

You were the inspiration.

You could watch the number 12 team Penske Ford car as the NASCAR Cup Series hits Homestead, Miami Speedway.

It's this Sunday, 3 p.m. Eastern on FS1.

A pleasure, sir.

Thank you, and congratulations on all your success. Appreciate it, guys.
Thanks for having me. I had a lot of fun.
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But too often, life just gets in the way.

Whether it's work, family responsibilities, or in my case, and I'm sure many of yours, price.

Thank you. That's a dream trip that we've been wishing we could go on.
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Isn't that right, Dano? Smirnoff rules! Smirnoff rules! So while you're over there hosting your draft parties, you know one thing in particular you need. Well, there's two things that you absolutely need.
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I don't like Dano. And thanks to Smirnoff, God Bless Football is doing their first ever watch-along live stream in front of a live audience in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Woo-hoo!

Don Levitard.

What is the worst part of the life? Stugatz. The worst part of the life of what? This is the Don Levitard Show with the Stugatz.
I wanted to ask the group a few questions here. And the first one is I am asking everyone here, including basketball expert Jonathan Zaslow, to pronounce the name of the San Antonio Spur, who scored 34 points in fewer than 20 minutes last night.
And then during the sideline interview, brought out his good friend Flavor Flav to be a part of the shenanigans. Does anyone want to take a chance, a shot at this person's name? Sonaro is the first name, correct? Nope, everyone pulled back.
No, it's not. Sandro.
Okay, Sandro is the first name and the last name is? We've got nothing? We've got nobody here can name the Spur who scored. Wait, did you really do that? I did.
Sandro is the first name and then it's actually Sandro. That's right.
I misread my handwriting. That's what just happened.
Sandro Mamoukalashvili. That doesn't sound right.
Mamoukalashvili. No, that actually sounds right.
That sounds like I kind of nailed it, actually. Zaslo, you keep shaking your head.
I want you to try. How about that? I'm afraid of this one.
Don't be afraid. You're okay.
I'm with Sandro Mamoukelosvili. No, I can't say it.
I don't know his name. He was 13 for 13 from the field.
I'm sorry, 13 for 14 from the field and 7 for 7 from 3. That's a good game.
In fewer than 20 minutes. He was awesome.
Spurs are trying to lose games. I don't know if they would say he's awesome.
He was wandering around the locker room saying, I don't know what just bleeping happened. That's got to be a pretty good feeling, right? I don't, I can't imagine that there is stuff that feels much better in sports than feeling like you're six for six for three and taking that seven three and you just know everything is going to go in.
I've only felt anything like that one time in like an intramural basketball game I was playing in college where I just, you know, I was able to make four shots in a row. One of those nights, huh, Dan? Everyone still talks about it, Dan.
One of those nights. I can't imagine how good that has to feel to be wandering around after an NBA game saying that you don't know what happened.
I want more details about that pickup game. How old were we? What type of shots are we talking about? Put some respect on it.
It was not pickup. Intramural.
Thank you, Dan. At what point did you know you were in the zone? Were you wearing a headband? Did you take a heat check? Yes, I took shots from further and further out.
But what I remember about that game is how the shorts I was wearing and how short they were. And I'm pretty sure they were terry cloth because I'm pretty sure they were something like the material.
Scary terry. How dare you? How dare I wear Terry Cloth shorts.

To an intramural game?

What's wrong with you?

Did you do like the three goggles?

Put it on the poll at Levitard Show.

We were overmatched.

We did not have a very good team.

And I was the only player on our team.

We lost by a lot.

But I was making a...

You had to put the team on your back. You had the Horace Grant goggles yeah for a stretch they were coming out to guard me a little deeper than they would guard terry cloth shorts over there thick wristbands on both wrists knee braces that was that was when i was younger my father still hasn't let go of the fact that i was a hot dog as a soccer player when i was young wearing wearing headbands and wristbands, and he would always say to me, what are you doing? What are you doing? Why do you have to do that? That's generally not the aesthetic for that sport in particular.
And terrycloth shorts, usually not what you go with in intramural basketball either. Short, but I remember they were short.
Well, your passion for it. Short is back, by the way.
Short is back. Yeah, but this was the 90s.
Yes, Tony thank you i've noticed this i don't know when this happened but this recently i have noticed that very short ass hanging out of your shorts is back it's back in yeah but also baggy is back it's a weird time baggy is back in some cases yeah not in not in sports in hoops you cannot wear baggy shorts and go out there and play unless you're adam sandman my My favorite is when they show highlights of the 2008 March Madness, and you're like, what is this? Skinny tops, but they got capri pants? Tyler Haines, bro, is the ultimate example of this. The tightest jersey you've ever seen, and then pants down past his knees.
Blousey. Dan, we have an issue.
We've knocked it out the park with both of our NASCAR interviews. They both went so well, Iceman and Maverick.
Maverick went so well that we actually once again forgot to play Vroom or Vroom Vroom, which is a game that we've spent a lot of time in pre-production for. So we need to find another NASCAR driver named Goose, preferably, and play Vroom or Vroom Vroom, because these are really good questions.
I'm sorry that that has happened the last couple of days. I haven't really been buying in on Vroom or Vroom Vroom.
What is Vroom or Vroom Vroom? I'm glad that you asked. It's a game that we play with our guest.
And Vroom is just like, oh, you know, that's okay. Vroom is like, meh.
Yeah, I kind of like that. That's all right.
But Vroom Vroom, I really like it. You're in on that.
I'm good at that game. I love that.
I'm good at that game. Do you want to play the game with us, or you only want to play it with NASCAR drivers? Well, it doesn't make sense with you guys.
Well, are they just racing questions, or are there other questions? No, no, no. They're not questions about racing whatsoever.
Wow, that's how you get them. But that's how you get them.
But you don't, I mean, it went so well. NASCAR drivers' personality types, by the way, have come a really long way since I was a kid.
And it's something that these teams, they look for because his schedule is insane. With all these events, I mean, when you think about sponsorships in sports, a lot of people think about NASCARs.
They have obligations for like every single one of those on race week. They're doing interviews moments before they hop in the car.
They're doing interviews while they're racing. It's pretty crazy.
And they have to be good at it now. They really value that.
You have to essentially be an alien from another universe. You have to be like Verstappen level to not be marketable.
Well, this is something that I have found interesting in a couple of different places when it comes to how do you go about selling your sports and when you get to the most popular of sports, how do the burdens of fame make athletes or coaches be in a position where they don't want to be doing sales, which is what it is. So obviously in NASCAR and racing, it's the sport most associated with sponsorships and you have to take care of the sponsors.
But one of the reasons over the years that I have always objected to having college coaches on any form, television, radio, anywhere, is just because the whole job is sales. So much of their job is just to be a salesperson.
And so they just say anything that fits under the umbrella of sales. And it's not quite what that interview was, where you've got a willing participant who's answering questions honestly, as opposed to going to his sales talking points, which are meant to reach recruits.
It's one of the reasons that I hate talking to coaches so much, because I don't want to spend a lot of time in any place that I am talking to salespeople. Well, it's stock car racing.
So they kind of legislate parity within the sport. Some teams have more resources.
Some teams have charters and they've been doing this a long time and some teams are just better when they build out better pit crews. But what I'm trying to get at is there's not a lot that separates these drivers because all the cars are meant to be kind of equal.
You have faster cars, no doubt, but they're meant to be equal.

In coaching, what makes a great coach, I imagine,

the distance between, hey, can this guy sell our program?

You don't care about that so much.

Give me the best coach.

Give me a tactical advantage.

Yeah, give me some guy that can recruit,

and maybe his team is good enough that the program can recruit itself.

But in NASCAR, you need the total package.

You've got to be a good driver, absolutely, but have to knock these these media availabilities out of the park because we're trying to grow the sport and people forget like nascar is an immense weekly property you get four million people tuning into a race on average so far this season that dwarfs the nba when it comes to appointment television on the weekends when there's not nfl football going on, it's this right here, NASCAR. So you have to essentially be a CEO of your team because you're often representing them in public and you have to try to win new people over constantly.
Well, so he was a good talker. So they're all good talkers now.
All these NASCAR guys are all out there cutting good promos. My favorite driver, Kyle Larson, is probably one of the weaker talkers of the big

drivers. And that's because if anybody, Kyle Larson won a dirt track race last night, and now he's headed to Homestead.
He's the guy that is like Verstappen level. You have to be an insanely talented driver to overcome deficiencies in marketability, at least from what I've gathered.
I am a Johnny-come-lately to the sport, but it is night and day from when I was growing up watching these guys. Do you think

that most people listening to this

as sports fans are ever doing any kind of conscious watching of the college basketball coach when they're being interviewed, Bruce Pearl or whatever, and saying, that person's good at sales. That person's job is to be a sales person.
No, no. I don't think regular sports fans see it that way.
I think they, especially fans of the team, they just like seeing their guy on television. They like hearing from their guy.
And they love the idea of him going out there and sounding like he knows what he's talking about, like he's personable, like he's affable. I don't think they see it as everything that's coming out of his mouth is a sales pitch.
Well, but part of the job, I don't know what you would say it is, but whenever it is that these interviews are taking place, one of the things that's in play is very often, is that person qualified to be face and voice for our team. It's not just coach the players, right? Like obviously someone like Belichick was aggressively against that and football coaches don't actually have to do this because their sport is so popular.
They don't have to do sales. They have to do media obligations, I suppose,, there's no importance in them having any charisma

because the point is almost to get away from the microphones without showing anybody everything. But your sport is so popular that you don't have to do anything in the way of selling it.
But college sports, college basketball and college football, every time you're at a microphone, If you're a coach, you have somewhere embedded in your understanding, you may be talking to a recruit's parents while watching for the first time. And so therefore, what it is that you're doing has to be packaged a certain way.
And it's like prime example with Dion, right? Like Dion can go in, he knows he's always on, he's always on camera, he's always doing something with the idea of I'm going to get the next guy who can change the program that I'm at. I'm surprised, though, that more of them aren't more charismatic, right? Because when I run through that list of over 65 coaches that are now in the tournament, Bruce Pearl is that, Tom Izzo is that, it's a likability.
It's a charisma. It's slap you on the back,

hit you on the knee, and make

you forget that they're in sales mode because

they're

presenting as a leader instead

of a salesperson. I feel like the older guys

are the ones who are most charismatic in the

college basketball game right now, right?

Patino's good at

that. I wouldn't say

Rick Barnes is particularly good at that.

I think there's something about the hiring process

that kind of

Thank you. uh patino's good at that uh i wouldn't say rick barnes is particularly good at that i think there's something about the hiring process that kind of it diminishes that aspect of it it's such an incestuous business such a networking based thing guys they they have their career arcs they get taken from one staff to another and it's just all who you know i mean maybe the older guys are more charismatic because they've been around long enough to know that they have the security so they can just show their personality.
Reps, too. It's also reps.
Yeah, but it's just not often, when you get to the high level of running a big-time program in college basketball, they offer you the job. You don't necessarily always have to interview for it, so you don't have to peacock, and you just get fortified in your ways.
Are we calling Rick Pitino charismatic? Absolutely. I think he has a lot of charisma.
Have you seen some of the things that he's had people do to him under a table? I do not see what you guys are seeing. You don't think Pitino's a good interview? I haven't really listened to a lot of interviews with him, but when I see him at a press conference, I'm not like, oh man, that is a charismatic coach.
When you see him at a press conference, he's saying things like Larry Bird ain't walking through that door. He's got one of the most

famous lines ever. I'm not

saying he's, he might be a decent quote,

but just like, he doesn't ooze

charisma. He has charisma.

He's got a lot of charisma, Chris.

He's got risk.

Agree to disagree. Okay.

Does he know? Honestly, me too.

That doesn't really work in terms of the sports debate culture. Let's create a show, Agree to Disagree.
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