Hour 1: Stop Being a Poop

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Speaker 11 This is the Dan Labatar Show with the Stu Gats Podcast.

Speaker 2 There are many reasons that Zaz is shooting up the

Speaker 2 radio airwaves at ESPN Radio, and it's because he knows what good radio is and goes back and harkens back to a time

Speaker 2 at different time in content. And as he walked out of the studio, as Greg Cody said, absolutely not, I will not do that.

Speaker 2 Uh, Zaj just muttered under his breath, that's good radio. You should absolutely test and quiz his knowledge of how many people that he works with.

Speaker 2 Uh, is he willing to say, After just saying, I know all their names, he comes in here more than ever, comes in every day and uh, or twice a week, and is claiming he knows everyone's name out there.

Speaker 11 We are definitely doing that.

Speaker 13 We're not doing it, no, we're not doing it because I decide that.

Speaker 14 Whoa,

Speaker 1 oh, snap!

Speaker 13 Whoa, Okay, and first of all, when I said I know everybody's name in there, I meant in there.

Speaker 13 Okay, now I'm going to admit

Speaker 13 there might be one or two people in the back room.

Speaker 1 Let's find out who they are. We're going to learn.

Speaker 1 We're going to learn.

Speaker 1 It's not going to happen. This is a bar by Greg.
I like that.

Speaker 1 He is in charge here of himself. My decision.

Speaker 2 But we just mobilized all of Metal Art. Billy on an Anarchy Wednesday was ready to go around the office as a game show host.
What do you mean, mean, no?

Speaker 1 What? Falsehoods.

Speaker 15 I would never portray Greg.

Speaker 13 Billy's on my side, and I appreciate that. I'm marshaling support right here.

Speaker 8 Grand marshaling. Yes, thank you.

Speaker 11 I like how Greg was referring to just this side of the room. He knows that.
Like, how ridiculous would it be if you don't know everyone's name in this room right now?

Speaker 1 Well, that's what I'm saying. You know, back at least 15 years.
Oh, that's what you're saying.

Speaker 13 I don't brag. I mean, you know, I only speak

Speaker 13 when it's a fact, Jack.

Speaker 8 You know,

Speaker 8 all right, so let's do this.

Speaker 1 So, Ford and Speaker, I'm gonna walk out there. If no,

Speaker 15 if we were to do this,

Speaker 15 how should we do it? Well, no,

Speaker 15 if we were to do this,

Speaker 15 I think that just grabbing someone and saying, Greg, what is their name, might not be fair to you because of lighting, camera, stuff like that might be hard to tell and differentiate.

Speaker 15 There's two fuentes, you know, it's confusing. So, should it be a thing where it's like multiple choice, where you have three people, and Dan says, which one of these is Ethan?

Speaker 15 And then you have to decide

Speaker 15 if Dan says something like okay

Speaker 15 Ethan and then Greg says okay Billy move over to that person this table stand next to the person and then they reveal their name no no

Speaker 1 no

Speaker 1 all right we're doing this stop being a poop no whoa

Speaker 1 where was that going where did that what that language didn't need to escalate till there guys I have no idea what he was originally going to say I'm worried I know

Speaker 1 no I meant what I meant don't be a poop

Speaker 2 I want some help here as opposed to the lack of help, which is what I'm presently getting by all of you. I'm trying to help.

Speaker 2 Okay, you're trying to help, but you're doing it in the worst way possible, which is speaking a language your father does not understand, which is you are my boy, you are my son. Stop badgering me.

Speaker 2 I don't like it on our podcast when you do it. Thank you.

Speaker 1 In defense of Chris, it's not the worst way possible. The way that he corrected himself initially, the original word would have been the worst way possible.
You have no way.

Speaker 11 It starts with a P rhymes. You'll see.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 13 It's actually not what I mean.

Speaker 1 Wait a minute.

Speaker 2 I thought people pooped all right all right you know what hold on a second zaslow zaslow what you just did there is totally unacceptable we need subtlety in those moments we like that is not the you could have left something to the imagination zaszlo i mean that's what i said rhymes with yeah okay not helpful How did he skate on a penalty?

Speaker 2 Well, I can't figure out the board here. They said they gave me a whole bunch of new penalties, and I'm looking, and all I see is Billy Corbyn's board, so I had to bail on the penalty.

Speaker 1 It's a late call. So

Speaker 1 keep it page two.

Speaker 2 Yeah, no, I've hit all seven of the pages, and they told me that it was all ready to work, and none of it works.

Speaker 13 Look at Dan hitting his microphone. Unprofessional.

Speaker 2 Regardless,

Speaker 2 you have offended Greg Cody

Speaker 2 has been offended by the way his son behaves because his son is disrespectful, more disrespectful than most. Right.

Speaker 13 Than most sons.

Speaker 2 No, I didn't say that.

Speaker 2 Than most people who think of your father in a more highly regarded comedic way than the way that you speak to him when you're undercutting him and trying to get him to do something that absolutely is the best thing for the show.

Speaker 2 That's what I'm talking about. But the way that you approach him makes him stubbornly say, No, you can't do it without my help, kid.

Speaker 7 Dad, will you please do this for us? That doesn't work.

Speaker 1 You got to go Billy's route.

Speaker 2 No, you don't know your father at all. You got to go Billy's route.

Speaker 13 I'm not taking a quiz. I'm not doing a multiple choice.

Speaker 2 Let's do a lineup. Let's do a criminal lineup.

Speaker 1 I'll get three people in here. Get three.

Speaker 13 Okay, I'm not playing. You guys don't understand.

Speaker 1 Okay, we can do that.

Speaker 1 I don't know how to make it. I am crystal clear, Greg.

Speaker 1 Thank you. The tone in your voice is

Speaker 1 very serious.

Speaker 13 I'm not doing this.

Speaker 15 I get the feeling Greg doesn't want to do this.

Speaker 13 Okay, if there's one or two people in the next room whose name I'm not sure of, that's on me. It's okay.

Speaker 1 Okay, they shouldn't be.

Speaker 11 No, we're going to tell you the name.

Speaker 2 But it's okay.

Speaker 1 I'm not doing that.

Speaker 2 Okay, there has to be a way that we can persuade you, some angle that we can persuade you for the comedy and the content of this when we're telling you, Greg,

Speaker 2 it's no kind of crime that you wouldn't know the names of two of the people in there. Like, it's okay.
Like, it's not. It's not okay with me.

Speaker 1 Greg, do you trust me? Yeah, you trust me. All right.
Yeah. You're right.
Okay.

Speaker 15 All right.

Speaker 15 I'm going to issue two people. Hold on.

Speaker 14 No, no, no. Just trust me.
No, no, no.

Speaker 1 No. Can you trust me?

Speaker 2 You can sit it out while you're in it. You can sit it out.
Just let us, like, please, Billy, let me.

Speaker 12 Just trust me. Can you trust me?

Speaker 1 No. All right.
Just

Speaker 15 take that as a yes. I'm going to take that no as a yes.

Speaker 13 You could bring my wife in here.

Speaker 1 Oh, look at this.

Speaker 11 The lineup is here.

Speaker 1 All right, we have three people in here.

Speaker 13 Greg.

Speaker 1 No, you could bring my wife in here right now, and i would not play along with which one is mike fuentes of these three people okay obviously those three i know which one is mike fuentes

Speaker 1 trying to make it easy for you come on you cannot play this game

Speaker 1 you can play this game a b or c which one is mike you got a b c which one is mike fuentes

Speaker 1 rose is mike fuentes

Speaker 1 i'm not i'm not

Speaker 1 there so i'm not playing this game okay

Speaker 1 plus I hate that music.

Speaker 13 Okay, don't start annoying me. I have the right not to go along with a bit.

Speaker 1 This is going to go poorly.

Speaker 13 Thank you, Mike.

Speaker 1 I tried to end this, right?

Speaker 13 Mike is the only one who kind of understands

Speaker 1 the dip.

Speaker 13 Which one right now? Mike Ryan.

Speaker 2 Which one is Mike Fuentes?

Speaker 13 I'm not playing this game.

Speaker 13 Okay? I don't know your name right now.

Speaker 1 Which one's Mike Ryan?

Speaker 1 Which one's Mike Ryan? The guy on the far right who keeps insulting me.

Speaker 2 But you are playing the game.

Speaker 1 You're just getting

Speaker 11 I mean, is it possible he doesn't know which one's Mike Fuentes?

Speaker 1 Thank you. The guy on the far right is

Speaker 16 exactly right.

Speaker 2 Tony.

Speaker 1 Okay, Tony's the tall one.

Speaker 13 No, I'm not playing this game.

Speaker 1 Nope.

Speaker 13 I'm digging the music, though. It's growing on me.

Speaker 1 You said you hated the music.

Speaker 13 I'm like it now. It's growing on me.

Speaker 2 Hold on a second. Let me see which one of these.

Speaker 6 I'm playing no and

Speaker 2 all right. Hold on a second.
Let me see.

Speaker 1 Minor penalty, two minutes for tripping the entire show.

Speaker 1 That could be anybody's penalty. No, that's great.
That's friends, penalty.

Speaker 13 It's yours for trying to get me to do something I don't want to do.

Speaker 1 Minor penalty, two minutes for tripping the entire show.

Speaker 1 This is five on three now.

Speaker 2 Get out. You got to get out.
You're not helping us do the show. We need your help to do the show.
It's a clearly good bit to do, no matter what your embarrassment is.

Speaker 2 And it's not like you're revealing to any of the the mike fuentes who were in there that you absolutely know their name by tricking us by trying to say hey rose over there i know mike fuentes but they threw in a ringer they threw in somebody in there i wasn't going to be able to name i don't think he pointed at the right lady when saying rose

Speaker 2 we had him cornered and and billy billy has never resorted never resorted billy every Every time he's dealing with Cody, he has never resorted to just trust me. This will be good.

Speaker 2 Just do you trust me?

Speaker 2 You were trying to help him so much, and he will not help us do the show.

Speaker 2 As if now everyone in there thinks, oh, yeah, he clearly knows my name.

Speaker 5 So now everyone knows that he didn't know some of the names, but he didn't play a lie. It's just so annoying.
Well,

Speaker 15 I have some reporting from the back over there because this is just kind of like a different environment.

Speaker 15 You've sent Greg over to the penalty box, but we have a barber there who thinks Greg is there for a haircut today. So it may be a while before Greg gets back.

Speaker 1 He needs a haircut, actually.

Speaker 2 So he he gets rewarded. There they are.
There's Lucio. Ah, good to see Lucio.
Yes, Lucio is in doing haircuts today. So now Greg Cody gets rewarded for that behavior.
That's okay, great.

Speaker 1 That sort of background. His hair got darker, huh?

Speaker 1 Oh, come on. Oh, come on, man.
Come on, man.

Speaker 1 What is that? Jeez.

Speaker 1 That's typically not how it works.

Speaker 2 How long has it been since you've seen Lucio? How long? Has it been?

Speaker 1 COVID. Clearly, COVID.

Speaker 2 A couple shades ago. That can't be a greeting.

Speaker 2 You cannot see somebody for the first time since the pandemic and salute them with your hair got darker.

Speaker 15 Greg knows he's about to get a haircut.

Speaker 1 Oh my God, he knows. He's just going to put it around his neck.

Speaker 2 He needs a haircut. And yeah, Lucio's here giving out haircuts.
Now, yeah, he should get a haircut. He's a mess.

Speaker 2 Chris, that video, can you get for me the video of your father falling into the bushes, please? Because not since, I can't believe we're giving away this video for three for free. free.

Speaker 2 If you watch your hand, his hands, during the video of him trying to get to his phone, his hands show you that he's as drunk as he's ever been. That's not age.

Speaker 2 That's the three old fashions after whatever day drinking he had to do to get through that dinner. Can you give me the video that, how many, how many...

Speaker 5 This was 2017, Notre Dame Miami week, like the best week in Miami history. We went out with Marty Smith to, where'd we go?

Speaker 3 We went to Coconut Grove.

Speaker 5 Yeah, we hit the grove and

Speaker 2 yeah, my favorite. All right,

Speaker 2 don't we need to do something around the Miami-Notre Dame game this year that feels a little bit like that to bring back the old vibes of whatever.

Speaker 2 This is your dad drinking what that ended up with him in the bushes, that ended up with you charging people. How much money did you make the evening?

Speaker 1 Not enough.

Speaker 5 Because I didn't buy enough shirts. I bought like 100 shirts thinking like, oh man, I might not sell all these.
And we sold out in like 15 minutes. I could have bought like 500 shirts.

Speaker 2 All right, so there was a video of your dad drunk and falling into the bushes. Forgive me.

Speaker 1 What are you doing?

Speaker 2 Forgive me for Andrew Schultzing this.

Speaker 9 Did you fall?

Speaker 1 Here it is.

Speaker 1 Oh my dad, Greg, you're gonna hurt yourself.

Speaker 1 What are you doing?

Speaker 5 You can hear my concern.

Speaker 1 You also sound pretty sauced up.

Speaker 1 Give me your hand.

Speaker 8 Give me your hand.

Speaker 1 Give me your other hand. Hold that other.
Oh, phone.

Speaker 8 My God.

Speaker 1 All you did was drink beer. I know.

Speaker 1 No.

Speaker 1 Oh, he's actually getting a haircut. That's all he does.
Those are the moments, man.

Speaker 11 That's my first time seeing that. There's like an element to that where you could hear it's a son who really doesn't like what they see from their father.

Speaker 2 Oh, no, no, wait a minute.

Speaker 5 I hear me being like a concerned son.

Speaker 13 No, it's Aslo.

Speaker 2 Watching a video. I hear, yeah, I hear the same thing.

Speaker 1 I don't know what he does.

Speaker 2 No, I hear the same thing Billy does, which is, oh my God, what a golden opportunity.

Speaker 2 A drunken, rambling, rampaging cody in the wild let me present my best side to the audience as i know i'm embarrassing my father who drunkenly is now crawling through mud while tinkling all you do is drink beer no no he no it was me saying all you did tonight even though i think i'm wrong about that because i remember people were like buying him shots he ripped a few shots yeah i don't know why i said that your father

Speaker 2 Should be a much better drinker than he is because he doesn't eat. That's his problem.
So much practice. Like he's got the requisite Malcolm Gladwell 10,000 expert hours.

Speaker 2 He should know the order so that that doesn't happen to him. And when you shout in that video, and this part was shocking, this is just beer.
We've seen worse.

Speaker 2 We have seen, Greg Cody.

Speaker 11 Wait, how many beers is that, you think?

Speaker 2 Well, first of all, it's a day of it. It's 14 beers, whatever, 16 beers.

Speaker 1 He didn't adhere to the old adage. Beer before, liquor, never been sipper.
Of course.

Speaker 5 The first part is that often when he's drinking like this, like dad, you eat before? Like, that's you had a good, you know, foundation. He's like, yeah, I had a lunch.

Speaker 5 Like, he just thinks eating lunch will get him through a night of drinking.

Speaker 1 Liquor before beer?

Speaker 11 You're in the clear.

Speaker 2 All right, so Greg Cody is in the other room. Greg Cody is refusing to play our game, but Greg Cody is rewarded instead of a penalty.
This is infuriating. That's such bullshit.

Speaker 11 We had a great radio bid. He was so obvious.
All right. Can you name everyone in the office? Instead, no, I'm going to get a haircut.

Speaker 1 You get it, man you get it

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Speaker 12 Don Lebatard.

Speaker 11 Baker Mayfield tearing up Tampa Bay. 38 for 45.

Speaker 12 Stugats.

Speaker 1 Shred him.

Speaker 12 This is the Don Lebatar Show with the Stugats.

Speaker 2 So now he's in the other room, and Lucio's great at this. And Lucio is going to clean him up, and he's going to come in here looking spectacular.
But this is not a punishment. This is a reward.

Speaker 2 It's obvious a reward. We were just done talking about, we were just done done talking about Greg Cody.
He's been told all his life, Lauria or Boppy? Who do you look most like? Greg Cody?

Speaker 2 What's the answer to that question? We're going to get some pictures together so that people can see the resemblance. What's the answer to that question?

Speaker 2 Do you get more people saying you look like Lauria or Boppy?

Speaker 1 Pretty equal, actually. I would say those are the big two.

Speaker 13 Lyndon Baines Johnson, probably a distant third. Only Mike.

Speaker 2 Who is the person, the name of the person cutting your hair?

Speaker 1 Lucio.

Speaker 2 Oh, he's willing to play the game when he knows the names. There it is.
Oh, we've got him. We've got him cornered.
So now he's willing to play the game. We're closer.
Billy, good work.

Speaker 2 Good effort by you.

Speaker 5 Dad, you used to get Tom Cruise, right?

Speaker 1 What?

Speaker 5 Didn't people used to tell you you look like Tom Cruise?

Speaker 1 Oh, yeah, back in the day.

Speaker 13 Yeah, very much so. All right, let's go.
That was in college or whenever it was.

Speaker 2 Put this on the screen now, please. Here's a young poppy.
Here is a disheveled Greg Cody. And here is former Marlins owner, Jeffrey Lauria.

Speaker 2 We see the resemblances. Roy, look at Roy nodding his head vigorously.

Speaker 12 Yeah, we're not smooshed together, yeah.

Speaker 2 Okay, so they look similar. Look similar.

Speaker 1 That's crazy.

Speaker 13 That shirt I'm wearing used to fit me at one time.

Speaker 2 Well, the way that we're talking about Greg Cody's drinking, again, his son did profit, but not enough because he could have sold many more t-shirts with the promise of a video that before had to be paid for to be seen.

Speaker 2 And only those people saw that video to embarrass Greg Cody. This video I'm maintaining of the birthday dinner in his hands is the drunkest Greg Cody I've ever seen.

Speaker 2 Just the wobbling sausage hands that come with the old-fashions after you've had eight beers.

Speaker 2 And the question I have, and I don't mean this to be an interrogation, what kind of day drinking did you do to get through the awkward socializations you didn't want to partake in of a bunch of office workers who worked for your wife that you didn't particularly want to have a party with for seven hours while also celebrating her?

Speaker 13 I don't keep track. You know, I don't count beers.

Speaker 13 My wife might. I don't.

Speaker 1 You know, could have been a couple. I don't know.

Speaker 1 A couple or or three.

Speaker 16 Thank you for everything you're giving me with me.

Speaker 5 Yeah,

Speaker 2 you want to penalize it more.

Speaker 1 You want to take a nap? Makes that big fancy.

Speaker 2 He's going to come out of there looking beautiful.

Speaker 1 I'm getting my haircut. Yeah, okay.

Speaker 13 That's my priority.

Speaker 1 I rarely can.

Speaker 13 That kind of thing, you know, I'm getting a haircut.

Speaker 1 Distracting.

Speaker 2 Turn his microphone off. Fine.
Thank you.

Speaker 15 We have some exciting breaking football news for you, Dan, if you want it.

Speaker 2 I do want it after asking you some hard knocks questions. But

Speaker 2 do you think the news? Well, it's your day, so which way do you want to go here?

Speaker 15 Let's go with the news first, if you want.

Speaker 8 Yep.

Speaker 15 Oh, wow. NFL News, it never stops.
Dan.

Speaker 1 What happened to Roy? Roy, were you just going to be able to do that? He's got Billy Corbin's hot box.

Speaker 15 There's a lot going on here.

Speaker 1 Haircuts and such. Actually, they have to look for the thing.

Speaker 2 Let me see. Dan.
Play one of those Billy Corbin things randomly. I love this town.

Speaker 15 The Dolphins are activating Darren Waller off the pup list.

Speaker 1 Oh, come on.

Speaker 15 Darren Waller is officially out of retirement now.

Speaker 2 Why? Oh, come on.

Speaker 1 I mean, it's just.

Speaker 9 Play a practice.

Speaker 1 Well, he's got to make the team.

Speaker 15 Well, he's on the pup list. Now he's not on the pup list and let the dog out.

Speaker 1 He's got a couple of days to make an impression and earn a roster spot here.

Speaker 15 There's no chance he's not going to make the roster out of this show.

Speaker 1 I think there's plenty of a chance that he doesn't make the roster, yeah. He hasn't played in several years.
He hasn't even been available during the preseason.

Speaker 1 I think there's a big chance he doesn't make the roster.

Speaker 2 I was really excited about this as an opportunity because it's the only kind of talent that would be available to the Dolphins at that position that would be a game-changing Gronk type. You guys do.

Speaker 2 The story of Darren Waller, if we're examining it, wherever it runs through addiction and depression and things he's talked about with things that he's struggled with, both the mental illness part of football

Speaker 2 that ends up with New York having, you know, the worst shooting we've seen in 25 years because somebody comes out and says, football check my brain.

Speaker 2 I'm going to shoot myself and not kill myself this way. I need my brain checked.
There's something wrong with my head. This game's dangerous.

Speaker 2 You saw the ESPN report about how many people are playing in pain and limping toward an earlier death than the rest of us because obviously our most popular game is like chewing up its bodies.

Speaker 2 It's what we celebrate every Sunday. Missed you, pal.

Speaker 1 It's great fun. This is you being excited about Darren Waller being activated.
It's great fun.

Speaker 2 It's great fun.

Speaker 1 I want to believe. What do you got in the AFC South?

Speaker 2 Look, I want to believe that Darren Waller can overcome just the public shaming of his breakup being celebrated by him in a music video and everyone tearing up his insides on vulnerability because he dared to make something artistic around a relationship that seemed like it had a ton of volatilities in it that everyone seemed to be fascinated by.

Speaker 2 And he showed us. This is a reclamation project who with the Giants, with Daniel Jones, football became so hard.
It looks so easy to him as a raider. He's a game-changing tight end.

Speaker 2 He is a majestic physical talent.

Speaker 2 But I don't know where his head is, and I want to believe that somebody who wants to be great again can be that kind of great again in an offense that, you know, if you get Tyreek Hill speed, you will get

Speaker 2 another Goseki. Like he'll be better than Goseki if his body's right.

Speaker 1 Ross Dwelly is available and he's familiar with this offense, though.

Speaker 2 I can't believe you guys sucked me into this. That was such a good trick you played on me.

Speaker 1 Us? Breaking news.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that Darren Waller, you just knew it would suck me into talk sports and mental health because this is a total reclamation project.

Speaker 1 I mean, he is atop the depth chart provided on ESPN.com, but that is because I have literally never heard of anybody else at that position on this team.

Speaker 2 Okay, so let me ask you between, in the discrepancy between where it is that Mike and Billy land on, is he going to make the roster? Okay?

Speaker 2 Because the Dolphins looked for a discounted scrap heap thing.

Speaker 2 This is the only game-changing thing like this is available. I don't know, Noah fan.

Speaker 2 You're talking about a tight end who, in a bad offense with the Raiders, was an easy thousand yards because

Speaker 2 he cannot be guarded by linebackers. He cannot be defended.
But it was years ago. So he goes to New York, and I expect him to be great.

Speaker 2 But the day ball Daniel Jones thing runs everything there right into the ground. So what does he become physically? Is he spent at 32? Well, how old is he?

Speaker 1 He's not that old.

Speaker 2 Is that physically and mentally spent in that sport where you can't get it back?

Speaker 1 He looked pretty spent the last we saw him, which was years ago.

Speaker 2 And it was in New York, which I would argue could ground anyone to dust. And Daniel Jones has now survived.

Speaker 2 If you saw how they were playing offense

Speaker 2 with the Giants under Dayball, they didn't have anything else. It's some of the worst receivers in the league.

Speaker 1 I really believe you when it comes to this Darren Waller thing. It is an interesting story, but I think he's got to prove to the team that he can be healthy.

Speaker 1 The book on him was that his body was always broken, and then out the gates, his body is not in football shape, which I guess could be understandable unless he'd been plotting a football comeback, and teams knew about that, which clearly the Dolphins did.

Speaker 1 And then you got to wonder, was he held out to get into football shape? It feels like, and I know he's not going up against a lot of great competition.

Speaker 1 It feels like he's got to prove to the franchise and to football watchers everywhere, football Americans, that he can go still.

Speaker 2 Okay, so walk me through this part of what it is I just saw happen this offseason, which I thought was actually interesting, the financial and business interests at play.

Speaker 2 Don't know the difference between requesting a trade and demanding a trade, okay, but that's now something that's in the NFL, and I'm not used to seeing that, whether it's Micah Parsons or anybody else.

Speaker 2 I'm not, what's the distinction between the requesting McLaren? McLaren is being discussed as requesting a trade, right? But Micah Parsons is demanding a trade.

Speaker 2 And with the Rams, Stafford is, that situation is still fluid, right? So what's he, he's neither requested nor demanded a trade, but he's in play for every team in the league.

Speaker 1 Well, I think other teams, he was almost traded this offseason before the Rams decided to settle on him. And the Rams are actually, you know, if you look at the NFC favorites, they're up there.

Speaker 1 They got Super Bowl buzz. I think the thing with Stafford, too, is the same stuff that's kind of surrounding Waller.

Speaker 1 Well, physically, this is a guy that has just gone through a lot to get himself ready for football.

Speaker 2 But when you say physically ready for football, okay, because Stafford is one of the toughest human beings there's ever been.

Speaker 2 Like that for him to play that way through whatever it is that he has played through, there is nothing.

Speaker 2 I mean, guys, the Detroit machine was ready to be that when Stafford was there, but he was the only one ready to be that.

Speaker 2 And because they lost so much, they built everything they have now so that we could laugh at Man Campbell when he's here and he's some kind of genius because he's over there with Jared Goff of all people.

Speaker 2 Stafford built all that. That was all left for him.
And then when he gets traded to the Rams, we'll still argue. He's a top 10 quarterback, still a top 10 quarterback.

Speaker 2 It's amazing his body still works.

Speaker 2 He should be a torso.

Speaker 2 if he had legs he'd kick you he also still built it because they got a return for him including their starting quarterback which is crazy none of us none of us saw any of what was happening in detroit but imagine they re they reclaimed all things jared goff because of the the the pile of things that they got that made them great at every position so the dolphin so that the detroit lions would no longer be a laughingstock

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Speaker 2 Holidays?

Speaker 3 Fun. Holidays as a dad?

Speaker 1 Tough.

Speaker 3 Travel, gifts, matchy pajamas. Don't get me started on matching pajamas.
It's hot in Miami. My wife says, why don't you want to do this with us? My daughter's crying.

Speaker 1 Anyways, school parties, hosting a family.

Speaker 3 Next thing I know, I basically put Christmas on my credit card and have no idea what I spent where.

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Speaker 1 Folks, the leaves are turning. The weather's getting a little chillier.
That means the football games are more important. That means football time should be Miller time.

Speaker 1 Game day hits different with a Miller light in your hand. From jaw-dropping touchdowns to fantasy heartbreaks, my fantasy season's over already, but you know what makes that better? Miller time!

Speaker 1 It's the beer that's been there for every moment. 50 years of great taste, simple ingredients, and that iconic golden color you can spot from across the room.
And here's the kicker.

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Speaker 1 So whatever your game day looks like, remember Miller time is always a good time. Miller Light, great taste, 96 calories.
Go to millerlight.com slash stand to find delivery options near you.

Speaker 1 Or you can pick up Miller Light pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time.
Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

Speaker 12 Don Lebatard.

Speaker 1 Greg, how's your birthday going so far? I invented it.

Speaker 16 It's going fantastic. My wife and I are staying home tonight.
We're watching the debate on TV.

Speaker 13 We're going to do something special for David.

Speaker 16 It's a nice day for me so far.

Speaker 12 Stugats.

Speaker 1 That sounds like not a super nice night.

Speaker 15 The debate. Old people love that shit.
Yeah.

Speaker 8 That's exactly right. Yeah.

Speaker 16 That's exactly right.

Speaker 1 Old people do love that shit.

Speaker 1 And I'm old now. I can't deny it anymore.

Speaker 12 Now, this is the Don Lebatar show with the Stugats.

Speaker 2 You guys said earlier in the show, who's the face of the league? Is Jerry Jones the face of the league? Hard Knox is doing the Bills. And I ask you this for the future of the league.

Speaker 2 That show is a bore. Well, but this is why I ask you this for the future of the league.
It should not be. Like, you say say that show's a bore.
The Buffalo Bills need to be one of your storylines.

Speaker 2 They've got a unicorn and a quarterback, but he's kind of interesting, and that's all they've got.

Speaker 1 He's dating a Hollywood Starlet.

Speaker 2 That's correct. But whatever the Bills got, it ain't it.

Speaker 2 It ain't what makes them. Like, the Bills should be.
You are going to see in this Netflix documentary about the Cowboys how far personalities can carry you in that league.

Speaker 2 The Cowboys have lived off this so long that they've eaten up even the broadcasting stream. Romo gets the jobs.
Aikman gets the job. Jason Witten gets the jobs because they know how to play media.

Speaker 2 Buffalo Bills, he's gonna, your quarterback's gonna date a Starlett and he's not and he's gonna be the MVP, but he's not gonna be here for face of the league. He's still talking about Jerry Jones.

Speaker 2 Like, what is your Buffalo team doing on personality that's not making people buy in when you've always been a loser? People should be rooting for you.

Speaker 11 Oh, I don't know that it's necessarily that they don't have personality.

Speaker 11 I think it's that we've seen in recent years, and most specifically last year with the off-season hard knocks with the New York Giants and how that blew up with the Saquon Barkley stuff and the general manager, where teams are not allowing stuff to get out anymore.

Speaker 11 Like, this hard knocks, it's a bore. And in the past, they were showing you the electric personalities.
They were showing you interesting stuff. I don't think teams are interested in doing it.

Speaker 11 It's a struggle every year to get a team to agree. And then the NFL just forces the show on you.

Speaker 15 And what do you want? You want Josh Allen to be doing a bunch of Coke like the Cowboys in the 90s? Like, what do we want from him here?

Speaker 11 Yeah, and that Cowboys documentary. Like,

Speaker 11 I'm looking forward to it.

Speaker 15 It's probably really, really good.

Speaker 11 Those guys aren't in the league anymore. Like, they're not in the league.

Speaker 12 So, hey, we'll talk about whatever you want.

Speaker 1 Yeah, but Jerry is. We already have the revelation.

Speaker 11 But Jerry's already said before. Jerry's already said that he loves it, that he wants the controversy and he wants the spot.
Like Jerry admits to you in one of the previews for this documentary.

Speaker 11 Like he's the odd one in this case.

Speaker 15 I think like times have changed too. And like we know that they're probably not letting a lot of this stuff out.

Speaker 15 So after the first episode, one of the things that we all like took away from it was we found out one guy goes drifting and he takes his young kids and he puts them, you know, shotgun while he's there drifting.

Speaker 2 And another guy in the offseason going hunting 11-foot pythons and everyone in here was like how'd the bills let that get out like why did they let that on tv that looks really dangerous and things they shouldn't be doing why was that on television so even us while we're saying like this is boring we're like the the interesting things that they put out there like ooh they shouldn't have put that out there that seems dangerous i want to examine the idea that the buffalo bills didn't make the playoffs for 17 years and wherever it is that america's team should reside nowadays, it doesn't have to be cocoa tagbuild, but MVP dates, starlets, maybe not Taylor Swift, but in terms of whatever fame is supposed to be there, but is in the championship hunt and can go the next step to stardom if you just want to be fun and interesting.

Speaker 2 And everyone would say they love Josh Allen's personality, but carry a team through this storyline of knocking off the Eagles and the Chiefs. They should be someone America's rooting for.

Speaker 2 I think they are.

Speaker 1 Remember, the narrative when we looked,

Speaker 1 we were looking like for a few months there, it could be Lions Bills, and everyone got excited about that storyline outside of maybe division rivals.

Speaker 2 Okay, so, but where storylines reside in the future of sports when the NBA is going to take you to 11 o'clock at night? And where it is, this league has to sell its properties.

Speaker 2 The Bills are one of its shiniest items.

Speaker 2 They should be one of the big tickets on let's sell this thing to you as interesting so that you follow the storylines of this season.

Speaker 1 And I think in their defense, they have, effectively. He's the MVP of the league.
I should correct myself. He's married to a Hollywood starlet.
He is one of the faces of the league.

Speaker 1 He plays a really exciting style. He's often in the dialogue.

Speaker 2 And yes, on top of everything else, hugely fun to watch as a team.

Speaker 2 The thing that I wanted to bring up with you guys, though, when it comes to interesting and truth-telling and how Hard Knox would become a diluted property that can't even sell you one of America's shiniest things.

Speaker 2 While I was away, I don't know know how much you guys talked about, the idea

Speaker 2 that the NFL

Speaker 2 bought 10% of ESPN. And so what was Disney's biggest moneymaker at the time that John Skipper was there,

Speaker 2 ESPN, and was in the journalism business back then because Skipper insisted that it be so,

Speaker 2 That change for that dollar amount and that ownership changes content forever through the life of that contract. The NFL will not be a silent partner with the ESPN.

Speaker 2 They are now more in business with ESPN than they've ever been.

Speaker 1 They have been a stock, they're a stockholder, they're a shareholder.

Speaker 2 And what happens as soon as they get through the door, and I don't know if these things are coincidence or not, but oh, the documentary on Colin Kaepernick that Spike Lee was doing, yeah, we're not doing that anymore.

Speaker 2 And so I don't actually know what the facts of that are. Spike Lee can't even speak, and I don't know what it would cost to buy that man silent.

Speaker 15 But TMZ reported they canceled the project a year ago.

Speaker 1 I think last summer.

Speaker 2 I don't know any of the backstory here.

Speaker 1 I will say, it's well chronicled how long ESPN and the NFL have been talking to one another, trying to orchestrate this deal. It's been literally years.
So I'm sure that was a talking point.

Speaker 2 So what is about to happen now, and it's been like it's been fun to watch and interesting to watch.

Speaker 2 And I don't know how well it's been covered, but basically, ESPN before this was basically a marketing arm for the NFL with also journalism coverage.

Speaker 2 But the the deal was: we'll pay you a lot more than the big network so that we can run your programming all day long, all your highlights.

Speaker 2 It's not even the Monday night game that's that valuable, though it's valuable.

Speaker 2 It's that all week long we can run all your footage and it'll do in the offseason, and we can just be an infomercial for football at all times. America will love it, it'll make it bigger than ever.

Speaker 2 You guys have seen what's happened to baseball and hockey when they weren't on ESPN. Partnership, this partnership, a giant one.

Speaker 2 And it was amazing, interesting, and sad for me to see,

Speaker 2 oh, wow, the NFL network now gets to create its own thing that they already had, sell it to ESPN.

Speaker 2 We all love Red Zone, and this thing will become bigger and bigger than it's ever been, but far less interesting in how we're going to cover it and where it is we're going to get on the insides of how things get made so that hard knocks can continue to be hard knocks and so that we can get an honest actual version of the Colin Kaepernick story told through Spike Lee's eyes because I really would have liked to have seen that without it being bought.

Speaker 1 I think that's a straw man. Far less interesting.
What's the most interesting thing about NFL coverage? An NFL ESPN studio show that features Mina Times?

Speaker 1 It is vanilla. on purpose.
Everyone mines their corporate partnerships. And you may be right in saying that, well, now that they own 10% of ESPN, that's just only going to increase.

Speaker 2 Well, that's not partnership anymore. That's ownership.
Yeah, that's not partnership.

Speaker 1 Yeah, well, they were owning them. Remember, like the whole concussion investigative report thing? This was before the ownership stake, and ESBN took a step back in the name of their partnership.

Speaker 2 What's the straw man?

Speaker 1 That I don't, I don't think that there is really interesting NFL coverage to begin with. It's not.

Speaker 1 What's interesting about the NFL coverage?

Speaker 2 So you don't believe that, just this Netflix documentary. Keep in mind, this is Jerry Jones who's comfortable with it.
He's the one who's comfortable with it. 30 years have passed.

Speaker 2 No, but they're not going to, they are not going to, I don't imagine that they will explore in any real way how it is that Michael Irvin almost killed a teammate with a pair of scissors to his neck.

Speaker 1 30 years ago. You're never, you weren't going to get like, you're not going to get that as it's happening.

Speaker 2 But I'm saying you can get all of that information if you have documentarians and information sources that aren't in bed for ownership on how the things are getting made.

Speaker 11 I think the stuff you're referring to there is, for instance, the stuff that Pablo has uncovered in recent weeks. ESPN wasn't doing that anyway.

Speaker 1 They're not going to do that anyways.

Speaker 1 I'm sure if an Aaron Hernandez thing happens again, heaven forbid, they will cover it.

Speaker 1 Mina's done a couple of interviews on this in terms of we, you're mindful, like the NFL was owning ESPN well before they owned ESPN.

Speaker 2 No, but Mike, that's not, you're doing, I get it. I get what you're saying there.
But it wasn't in writing. It wasn't ownership.
Here's a 10% stake.

Speaker 2 You believe that, you believe the NFL is going to, you believe Don Van Nada is still going to be able to do what he's been doing over there?

Speaker 1 I mean, I think what has he been doing?

Speaker 1 He's done a great profile piece on Jerry Jones that seems to like Don Van Nada. And if Jerry Jones didn't like Don Van Nada and want to welcome him in, there is no story.

Speaker 1 Jerry Jones showed Don Van Nada what Jerry Jones wanted to.

Speaker 2 You don't believe the coverage of the NFL is going to change on ESPN because the NFL has a 10% stake as a stockholder and is, I'm assuming, the greatest minority stockholder there is on the world's strongest sports network.

Speaker 1 I certainly don't think anything on the day-to-day changes.

Speaker 1 I think there may be a story off in the future that may be embarrassing to the NFL that ESPN may not shine a light, but this is a league when it's covered on cable television.

Speaker 1 It's Dax Contract and Tim Tebow and Michael Parsons.

Speaker 2 I think you're being naive, though, about how it is that these power deals are made on information going into the America we're about to go into.

Speaker 2 These are not dumb people in Jerry Jones and Bob Kraft who got the power of this league.

Speaker 2 And now the power of this league includes a 10% stake in something that makes the NFL network and ESPN not part. They're not just business partnerships.

Speaker 2 The NFL owns 10% of you.

Speaker 1 I think Zaz is on the money. ESPN just wasn't doing that stuff for a decade plus, maybe even longer.
When we worked for ESPN, we knew the influence and power the league had.

Speaker 1 We'd hear about it from our bosses when we were talking about a topic too much. It would be feedback.
It wasn't don't don't talk about this, but you were aware. Does anyone care?

Speaker 2 I ask you this question sincerely.

Speaker 1 I don't think so. Man, I don't think so.

Speaker 1 No, I got red zone still here.

Speaker 1 I get what you're doing and signaling the alarm bells as to what could happen, but it doesn't affect the content machine on the day-to-day because the day-to-day content machine already carries water for the NFL.

Speaker 2 So, you say it doesn't affect it day-to-day, and you'd be right, but a shrug of the shoulders on Spike Lee was making a Colin Kaepernick documentary that had Colin Kaepernick's participation in it and would have been

Speaker 2 something that would have been deeper than most things made on the subject. That was killed, and non-disclosure agreements were signed on that to buy Spike Lee's silence.

Speaker 2 You shrug your shoulders on the entirety of what I'm presenting.

Speaker 1 Societal shift. It may have happened either way.
Look what's happening with the Smithsonian.

Speaker 2 A museum that doesn't do enough about the future.

Speaker 2 The boldest take of the week is here. Are the calls any better than they've been?

Speaker 12 Yeah, Chris previewed them before the show.

Speaker 1 He's

Speaker 1 got a good batch. I like it.
I don't believe you. No, Yeah, we're lying.

Speaker 2 The telephone number is 305-486. GOTS 305-486.
GOTS 305-486-4689.

Speaker 9 The Boost Mobile BOTIS Take is presented by Boost Mobile, the newest 5G network in the country.

Speaker 18 Hey, this is Lou on a Walk on a Golf Course. If you're an average golfer, stop pretending you know how to read the green and just three-putt it and move on.

Speaker 20 Hey guys, this is Jeff from Jacksonville, aka Tu Ball, calling on a mobile. mobile.

Speaker 20 My hot take is that no coach in professional sports history looks more like his team's mascot than Dan Campbell looks like a lion pawing up in the streets.

Speaker 2 Hey, this is JR in Minnesota on my work desk phone.

Speaker 18 My hotline hot take is there's pickled eggs, there's pickled herring, there's pickled beans, there's pickled peppers.

Speaker 7 Why is a pickled cucumber called a pickle?

Speaker 18 I'll hold for your response so we can do Vikings win-loss for the season season after.

Speaker 19 Hey, this is Pete on the toilet. My boldest take of the week is that anyone ordering tacos from Chipotle needs to grow up and order a burrito.

Speaker 1 Pay the teachers.

Speaker 21 Hello, it's me, Mario, Mario Principal, looking forward to another season of college football. Woohoo! What's going on, guys? This is Paul calling from Texas.

Speaker 6 My bold take is there are no really good Christmas albums.

Speaker 13 Signing up with this one.

Speaker 18 Hey, this is George from Tallahassee. First time long time, here's my limited take Chris Berman.

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Proximo, cuervo.com. Please drink responsibly.
Cuervo.