Hour 1: Greg Gives Chris an Ultimatum (feat. John Isner)

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I'm gonna ask you, Chris, what's your favorite game day food? Smirnoff! Not your favorite game day drink. What's your favorite game day food? Smirnoff!

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Speaker 2 Smirnoff off belongs in that mix because if you're tailgating or hosting or just sitting there checking your fantasy lineup every 30 seconds, you need Smirnoff! Otherwise, it's not a real game day.

Speaker 2 They've been doing it since 1864, which is, I don't even want to do the math.

Speaker 6 It's a long time.

Speaker 2 It's like when Greg Cody was born. They're award-winning.
They make cocktails super easy and they're all about bringing fans together. So yeah, we do game days.
That's their thing.

Speaker 2 And if you're over 21, you should too.

Speaker 1 Why, Chris? Smearing off.

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Speaker 15 This is the Dan Labatar Show with the Stu Gats Podcast.

Speaker 16 I've been asking, go ahead and keep typing. Don't let us.

Speaker 15 I didn't know you were starting.

Speaker 16 You ended this last segment.

Speaker 16 The countdown usually is where.

Speaker 17 Oh, you didn't have your headphones on. Okay.
Okay.

Speaker 6 His team rankings are due today, guys. He is a deadline.

Speaker 15 You could clue me in that we're starting how high do you have the dolphins? I'm not telling you

Speaker 19 you're gonna be top like fifth on that guy.

Speaker 15 I happen to have my rankings open in front of me, but it's top secret information.

Speaker 17 I bet you I'm at 14.

Speaker 6 No, it's too high like 17.

Speaker 16 No, he's it's it'll be in the top 15. He would never go against his team that you don't think 17 there like throw people off like there's just no way he's going under the midway point.

Speaker 16 I guess it would be 16. There's no way.

Speaker 15 Okay, first of all, the rankings that I have now, which Christopher probably purloined and illegally looked at, are not the official final rankings.

Speaker 17 I'm going to come in there and help you with something. I'm not going to look at your screen.

Speaker 12 No, this is not happening. No,

Speaker 16 I assure you.

Speaker 16 I promise you that there's no way that he puts the dolphins in the bottom half of the screen.

Speaker 12 You're not doing anything.

Speaker 24 17 is just enough to throw the people off the scent, right?

Speaker 25 There we go.

Speaker 12 We got to wait in a second. Oh, no.
They're going to be elbow scrapped.

Speaker 25 No! They're going to be elbow scraped.

Speaker 26 He's furious.

Speaker 18 Okay.

Speaker 15 I'm going to tell Christopher right now. Whoa.

Speaker 15 If you reveal on the air where the dolphins rank, I am going to be genuinely pissed at you. You do not do that.

Speaker 15 You're getting into my business now.

Speaker 15 Seriously, he better not do that.

Speaker 15 Okay, he steals my computer, breaks the whole screen.

Speaker 12 There it is.

Speaker 16 There it is. He's left you with just a keyboard in his

Speaker 16 head. He took your dignity.

Speaker 12 Just looking.

Speaker 15 Don't say anything about it. I'm serious.

Speaker 15 Okay, I'm going to tell you this right now. Are you hearing me? If you say that on the air, I am not hosting the draft party Thursday night.

Speaker 1 Wow. Period.

Speaker 15 Do you understand me?

Speaker 15 Do you understand me? The draft party will not be at my house Thursday night.

Speaker 23 You got an average of the money.

Speaker 15 If anybody on this show reveals where I have the Dolphins ranked or anything else about my rankings, I am not hosting the draft party Thursday night. Take that to the bank.
I'm saying it all my life.

Speaker 17 You have so many tabs open.

Speaker 15 I'm saying it all my life. I will not host the draft party Thursday night if anybody says anything about my rankings on the air.

Speaker 11 Greg's standing on business right now.

Speaker 18 He's talking to you.

Speaker 16 And now I want to push this because, among other things, I want Chris to actually take that to a bank.

Speaker 16 I want him to go to a bank and say, listen, my father, see what the teller's reaction is when you say, my father has threatened that if I...

Speaker 15 Take that back. Give me back my computer.

Speaker 24 Jack. Jack.

Speaker 6 Avery Johnson's father thinks this is aggressive.

Speaker 17 I may have exited out.

Speaker 19 I hope you have it saved. Oh, no.

Speaker 16 1440 is the password.

Speaker 25 Oh, no.

Speaker 17 All right, I'm going to bring it back in.

Speaker 27 I'm scared.

Speaker 16 No, no, just hold on to it for a second. I'll stay here.

Speaker 1 Dan, you can't see our view.

Speaker 24 This is not.

Speaker 2 This is a bad idea.

Speaker 16 I have seen him yell at Christopher this way since Christopher was four.

Speaker 16 When he starts throwing around the Christophers, I don't need to see the front of his face to know that he's serious.

Speaker 16 And the greatest of all the threats, when he threatens not to host a draft party, when it's the center of his life, he doesn't want to take away that draft party. That's what he wants to be.

Speaker 16 But he will. But he will.
If you reveal that the Dolphins are 14 instead of 17, if you reveal that and take away his paywall thunder,

Speaker 16 really, you're just spoke to me in sign language.

Speaker 16 No, it wasn't even sign language. He did not waste words.
He just did Keanu Reeves the Matrix and summoned you over with a finger because he didn't want to waste the breath of having you test

Speaker 28 his rage anymore.

Speaker 16 He's just sitting here with nothing but a keyboard and I got to tell you it looks pathetic.

Speaker 21 I want my laptop back.

Speaker 15 I'm not the least bit amused by this. I'm not kidding in how angry I am.

Speaker 30 I know you're not.

Speaker 16 Okay, and this is what I'm going to do.

Speaker 12 Give it back, please. Okay.

Speaker 32 Dan, stop stopping us from giving it back, please.

Speaker 16 I am going to. No, I'm going to send them both to the penalty box.

Speaker 30 I'm not going to the penalty box.

Speaker 25 But together, I'll bring this. I want my computer right here

Speaker 25 before I do anything.

Speaker 15 No, I'm not going to the penalty box until I get my computer right here.

Speaker 16 You can bring it to me. This is fine.
This is good.

Speaker 15 No, you can bring it to me.

Speaker 16 Craig, you're going to stop that now.

Speaker 12 No. Okay, yes, you're going to stop.

Speaker 30 No, I'm not.

Speaker 16 You're going to stop that now.

Speaker 15 No, no, I'm not.

Speaker 15 I'll leave. I'll go home if you want me to with my laptop, but I am not going in the penalty box until my laptop is connected to my computer.
My son is this is not your fault.

Speaker 15 My son has gone over the line here. I am genuinely upset.

Speaker 30 We know.

Speaker 15 Okay, so how about make it right?

Speaker 28 Yeah, you're listening.

Speaker 32 Instead of continuing the joke, it's partly Dan's fault.

Speaker 7 It's ridiculous.

Speaker 16 It's partly partly my fault

Speaker 16 that we're not able to have fun with Greg Cody's rankings of 14 or 17.

Speaker 15 That's right, because they're serious to me.

Speaker 15 Okay, Christopher, if I don't have that computer here in three minutes, I am not hosting the draft party Thursday night.

Speaker 33 Put the clock up on the screen.

Speaker 33 Please do it.

Speaker 16 Do it. Lewis, put up a clock on the screen that gives us our three minutes here.

Speaker 15 And please do that. And Christopher, you send out a notice to the rest of the league saying that the draft is going to be at your house because of what what you did.

Speaker 16 Give us a second to gather ourselves here for the nature of this threat, okay? Where's my three-minute hold on a second?

Speaker 28 All right, you're going to start it.

Speaker 12 Don't wait till 30 seconds.

Speaker 30 Just go in there. No, no, no.

Speaker 16 I need the dramatic tension of the three minutes, please.

Speaker 12 We have, of course, ample tension. Yeah, I got it.

Speaker 30 I'm good on tension. No, I want it a little more.
Can I guess who Mike Fuentes is?

Speaker 11 Okay, again, listen to what's happened, Greg.

Speaker 16 Let's play now. Billy, that's a good idea.

Speaker 16 Let's play the game right now. Does Greg know the name of everyone in this office? Let's let's this is how you make things.

Speaker 33 Chris

Speaker 25 hand his computer.

Speaker 12 It's on the screen.

Speaker 15 245.

Speaker 12 Oh boy.

Speaker 16 I don't do you guys understand what this threat is?

Speaker 28 I don't totally understand.

Speaker 7 It's a big draft party that's happening Thursday. Greg has been gracious enough to open his home to the CPI draft.

Speaker 15 If Christopher thinks I'm kidding, I am not.

Speaker 16 He doesn't think you're kidding.

Speaker 1 No, I think he does.

Speaker 16 No, he does not.

Speaker 16 We are in a tense situation, though, and we're stuck in it.

Speaker 16 Like, the discomfort is real it is awkward and we are now on the clock and it's very dramatic it's down to almost two minutes i know it's 215 which means he's still got a little bit of time

Speaker 18 now uh i

Speaker 15 i cannot express to you how serious i am about thursday night all right yeah no

Speaker 30 no

Speaker 15 on my life greg i am not hosting this draft party thursday night if i don't have that laptop have we revealed anything i don't care i'm giving you an ultimatum You now have a minute and 50 seconds.

Speaker 16 It's, yeah, it's a minute 49 now.

Speaker 16 This is

Speaker 15 been.

Speaker 15 I've never been more angry connected with this show.

Speaker 12 Ever.

Speaker 15 A minute and 38.

Speaker 2 We put up the LSU photo, please.

Speaker 14 Oh, my God. I don't care.
Oh, my God.

Speaker 15 That doesn't make me nearly as mad as what's happening right now.

Speaker 15 Anyone who thinks that's me is an idiot.

Speaker 15 A minute 20.

Speaker 15 Minute 15. It has to be in my hand before it goes to all zeros.

Speaker 23 In my hand.

Speaker 15 A minute eight.

Speaker 15 See, Christopher thinks I'm kidding about not hosting this draft party. Okay?

Speaker 15 On my life. On my granddaughter's life.

Speaker 15 On my granddaughter's life. I am not hosting this draft party unless I have that computer.

Speaker 16 Why does this keep escalating?

Speaker 26 Who else's life is he going to take before the end of this?

Speaker 16 Again, I remind people as a discomfort sweeps over the room dramatically that this is the difference between the Dolphins being ranked 17th and 14th.

Speaker 16 And I'm guaranteeing you, it's not going to be in the bottom half of the league.

Speaker 34 And the only way it's going to be in the bottom half of the league is if he changes it.

Speaker 16 The way that he just alpha this room is the single most impressive thing I have seen Greg Cody do since he had a funeral

Speaker 16 for his 30-year-old deck shoes.

Speaker 16 Look at the tension in the other room there, Greg.

Speaker 3 Good.

Speaker 15 There's tension in this room too, emanating entirely from me.

Speaker 9 I'm fanning it a bit.

Speaker 30 I'm participating.

Speaker 12 You would never.

Speaker 21 Well, wait a minute though.

Speaker 16 First of all, you will not tell me that this is not good.

Speaker 12 You will not tell me that.

Speaker 28 And I'm watching, Mike's hiding behind a plant.

Speaker 16 And the rest of you, I can see your faces, but what he has just done is old man strength. What you just saw was him telling you, as he's told you for a little while, I got stamina.

Speaker 16 And what you could do is you can go to an old-fashioned bank and you can tell them that he's not hosting that draft party if you,

Speaker 20 I still want you to do that.

Speaker 16 I want you to go to a bank and find a teller and see what their reaction.

Speaker 16 I just want to see an assortment of of tellers what their reaction is and i wonder if there's some sort of crime that you could be committing that they will make you like a bank robber or something because you're just weirding out people and you're going to be escorted out by security do you care at all that uh you look at look at what that room looks like right now do you all of them have been reduced to nine-year-olds fearing a father and a grandfather's uh wrath you have you have reopened the scars here on oh come on we were just playing with somebody that we respect and like why Why are we arguing this way about the fact that he was waving a keyboard at us?

Speaker 24 Because

Speaker 15 I didn't hear a lot of respect and like in what just happened.

Speaker 15 I certainly didn't feel any respect for my son.

Speaker 16 The respect that you did not feel that is accurate for you not to feel is a respect for a top 20 list of rankings.

Speaker 15 It's a top 32.

Speaker 18 It's

Speaker 25 30.

Speaker 20 Any hack could do 20.

Speaker 15 Who does the top 20 rankings?

Speaker 36 It's insane.

Speaker 8 Before the seasons are ridiculous.

Speaker 8 Folks, the leaves are turning. The weather's getting a little chillier.

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Speaker 14 Don Lebatard.

Speaker 30 I'm not going to apologize.

Speaker 38 I wouldn't expect you to apologize. Then you're a giant infant.

Speaker 23 Okay. You have no control over your emotions.

Speaker 38 You have no control over your emotions. When you're calling someone you know an idiot, I don't deserve it.

Speaker 23 Okay. I don't deserve it.
And you're a fool for saying it.

Speaker 25 Okay.

Speaker 9 Stugats. You're a fool.
Yeah, I was kind of following you.

Speaker 25 You're calling somebody an idea.

Speaker 30 Oh, you're locking in right now? You're locking in on us?

Speaker 12 Yeah. All right.

Speaker 31 Let's drop the gloves, pal.

Speaker 25 Let's drop.

Speaker 3 You should be thanking me.

Speaker 4 For what? Every day. For what? For what I've done around this character.
And the second shit gets real for you, you want to come at me and call me a fool?

Speaker 3 Huh?

Speaker 12 Jeremy, no, no, no. Seriously.
Jeremy. Seriously, pal.

Speaker 4 I've added 10 years to your career.

Speaker 14 This is the Dan Lebatar show with the two guards.

Speaker 16 So, in football, we've got Kenny Pickett going to the Raiders. We have Amari Cooper going to the Raiders.

Speaker 8 Can't do that shit. My parents divorced.

Speaker 21 What?

Speaker 12 Who your show?

Speaker 16 Well, you put something in the middle of it here that is a bit hospital.

Speaker 15 Oh, I put it in the middle of it. That started with me.

Speaker 12 You're acting like we revealed it.

Speaker 15 When someone stole my laptop, that's me?

Speaker 7 You're acting like it was revealed.

Speaker 12 We did it like it was revealed.

Speaker 15 What was revealed?

Speaker 24 You said a number that is much too close to the number well that's just guessing i don't remember what it was see anything you won twelve thousand dollars yesterday oh damn it

Speaker 16 you revealed the number i didn't hear it and he's pointing it out i didn't hear the number

Speaker 16 What is the number he said?

Speaker 23 Now he's mad again.

Speaker 21 I'm not going to say this.

Speaker 16 Did any of you hear the number that Chris said?

Speaker 27 It's 17, Dan. I told you already.

Speaker 15 Whatever number he said will not be where the dolphins are.

Speaker 25 Wait a minute.

Speaker 24 No, wait, now the number's changing?

Speaker 1 Maybe. Oh no.

Speaker 15 Depending on how accurate he was.

Speaker 18 You know, it's ridiculous.

Speaker 15 You're messing with my livelihood when you do stuff like that. Yes.

Speaker 9 Yes.

Speaker 33 Okay. And, you know,

Speaker 15 you're thinking of the show first, which in that seat, I get it.

Speaker 25 But

Speaker 15 I almost wish you hadn't brought it back so you would have seen how serious I am about not hosting the

Speaker 12 draft.

Speaker 25 You can't do it anyway.

Speaker 30 Oh, my God. You want to take it again?

Speaker 12 You want to take it again.

Speaker 24 Seriously. You want to take it?

Speaker 39 You'll do something else to piss me off.

Speaker 15 And you'll be sending out a group text and you'll be hosting that draft.

Speaker 29 Put up the hospital photo.

Speaker 17 No, I'm kidding. Don't do that.

Speaker 5 I like the Kenny Pickett topic.

Speaker 25 Let's do that.

Speaker 8 It was a good transition. And the Amari Cooper thing.

Speaker 25 Hold me.

Speaker 27 That's how, like, Jacoby Myers, you do what now?

Speaker 25 We're going to get a Mark Cooper.

Speaker 16 The hospital photo is as mad as I've ever seen him before this, but the hospital photo is something that we showed only because he had already shown it on social media. Like, he provided it for us.

Speaker 15 No, no, no, no. I provided it to my social media followers.

Speaker 24 Yeah.

Speaker 12 You made it public, though.

Speaker 17 That's putting it out public. Okay.

Speaker 11 What does a picket trade mean for Should Be?

Speaker 6 If you tweet out a photo, you can't be upset.

Speaker 24 It's Gabriel.

Speaker 18 That's fair.

Speaker 12 Who's QB2?

Speaker 16 But this is an anger that I don't know that I've seen from him before. He says you're messing with his livelihood.
I don't believe that that's true.

Speaker 16 I i don't believe that his livelihood would be impacted in any way whatsoever if you revealed that number i don't believe that there will be uh more subscriptions to the miami herald to get to that paywall but okay he's entitled to feel that it escalating from he was willing to give his life and then he just gave up your daughter's life as well that's where the game ended for me it i mean

Speaker 12 yeah

Speaker 15 because i needed to inform you how serious i was i was aware no you weren't i don't think you were feel like we all were Greg.

Speaker 33 No.

Speaker 28 Mike was hiding behind a plant.

Speaker 15 I don't think Christopher honestly thought that I would stand firm and not host that draft Thursday night.

Speaker 17 You don't think I can tell when you're really upset?

Speaker 15 Can I tell you? You can come back very soon with the leftover.

Speaker 16 Okay, that was my fault.

Speaker 16 I just want to examine for a second before we move off of this.

Speaker 32 Please.

Speaker 30 Just, well, I don't want to move off this part, though.

Speaker 16 It's such a funny threat to get to the height of rage and say, you're going to have to host your own party. I'm going to pull the party.
I don't think Chris particularly cares. I don't know.

Speaker 16 I know you care about that.

Speaker 16 I know you care about that as a threat. That threat was something meaningful to you, but it wasn't, it clearly wasn't working as a threat.

Speaker 23 It's like one text.

Speaker 17 Hey, we're having it at John's house now.

Speaker 25 Well,

Speaker 12 I don't like this. Okay.

Speaker 6 What does that draft party mean to you, Greg? Just so we have an understanding, because it seems as though they're not taking this seriously. Like, it would just be a text text to change things.

Speaker 15 I mean, I enjoy the league. It's a keeper league, which is itself a pain in the ass, but I enjoy the league.

Speaker 16 I feel like you're punishing yourself with that threat, though, that you want to host that party. And if you don't get to host that party, the punishment is greatest for you.

Speaker 15 No, no, that's not true. Christopher asks me to host the party every year.

Speaker 23 You have a bigger house than I do.

Speaker 12 Okay.

Speaker 15 And I'm happy to do it, but in the build-up to me hosting the draft, you don't want to piss piss me off.

Speaker 17 You know what? I feel bad for what's happened here.

Speaker 22 Let me set you up to talk about this more.

Speaker 14 It is time now for a weekly update on our favorite team, Rex Lobos.

Speaker 35 Ooh, look at that.

Speaker 16 They're trying to cheer you up.

Speaker 12 Rick Cody.

Speaker 40 This is makeup sex right here.

Speaker 24 Just did your draft on Saturday.

Speaker 25 You got a good draft.

Speaker 18 I haven't memorized my lineup yet.

Speaker 12 He's not ready for a Lobos up.

Speaker 18 He's not ready for a Lobos.

Speaker 25 You stay ready, Scott.

Speaker 16 You're spraying it on me. All right, so hold on a second.

Speaker 30 There, will you now honor

Speaker 27 minor penalty? Two minutes.

Speaker 29 Murdering the show with your bare hands and a dismemberment kit in cold blood.

Speaker 25 Murdering the show with a dismemberment kit, with your bare hands in cold blood.

Speaker 16 That's a two-minute penalty for you.

Speaker 12 Yeah, because...

Speaker 29 He was a victim of a crime.

Speaker 33 Thank you, Billy. That's okay.

Speaker 30 We're victim blaming.

Speaker 16 And now that he's shown everybody who's boss, because he,

Speaker 16 look, it's only happened one other time where Dominique just refused the penalty. You have to respect the system here, even though we've disrespected you.

Speaker 16 Your rage has subsided, and perhaps you can respect the delayed.

Speaker 29 You can leave the laptop. Just leave the laptop.

Speaker 15 But the way to make up for what just happened is to send me to your ridiculous penalty books. That's a good way to make me happy.

Speaker 16 Well, I'm sorry we're not making you happy, but...

Speaker 12 He's going to go to the kitchen.

Speaker 17 What are we talking about here?

Speaker 16 Rage-fueled 20 minutes where I can see everybody's scorched eyebrows in the other room because I felt like he was yelling at you the way that he yelled at you when you were five.

Speaker 16 Like it was just a completely unreasonable escalation of things.

Speaker 18 That's right.

Speaker 17 I've seen that yell many a time.

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Speaker 3 Tough.

Speaker 20 Travel, gifts, matching pajamas. Don't get me started on matching pajamas.
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Speaker 14 Don Lebatard.

Speaker 12 You owe me everything.

Speaker 3 You owe me everything. You have added 10 years to my career.
I have. This man has.

Speaker 3 You haven't.

Speaker 31 That man.

Speaker 3 Who the hell are you?

Speaker 9 Stugats.

Speaker 3 I am.

Speaker 3 Who the hell are you?

Speaker 3 Should be banking. Bullshit.

Speaker 3 You're a rude young man. You're a fool.

Speaker 3 You're a fool.

Speaker 25 I already called you a fool.

Speaker 3 You can't tell me. You're an idiot again.
It's a fool.

Speaker 31 You're an idiot for dismissing how much I've helped you.

Speaker 14 This is the Don Lebatar Show with the Stugats.

Speaker 17 Dan, we have John Isner here.

Speaker 29 This is very exciting.

Speaker 17 This segment is brought to you by Comcast Business, powering the engine of modern business with advanced networking and security solutions.

Speaker 16 What kind of introduction is that for John Isner? We've been wanting to talk to John Isner forever. John Isner's a hero of ours.

Speaker 32 Usually he's the guy taking part in something that's dragging on too long.

Speaker 18 Big High Live fan.

Speaker 28 That is correct.

Speaker 16 John Isner, this is very exciting. We have not gotten to speak to you before, but we have spoken of you for a long time because

Speaker 16 your serve is the most majestic thing that any of us have ever seen in tennis.

Speaker 16 So

Speaker 16 thank you for joining us. We appreciate it.
It feels like, I don't know if we've talked to you about this or if I've read about this because

Speaker 16 thank you for joining us, as I said.

Speaker 39 Yeah. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 27 How long is this question?

Speaker 11 Longer than your matches?

Speaker 36 Yeah, this is a long one. Spit it out.

Speaker 16 Your physical advantages, is there a way that physics allows you to serve better than anyone else in the sport?

Speaker 36 Well, yeah, absolutely. I'm able to create angles when I was playing that most of my opponents aren't able to pull off.

Speaker 36 You saw that a little bit last night with Riley Opelka, although he lost, of course, to Carlos Alcaraz last night. He's about my height and he can create some serious angles when he's serving.

Speaker 36 So when you're almost seven feet tall playing tennis,

Speaker 36 the serve is 100% going to be your best weapon. And if it's not, you shouldn't be playing tennis at all.

Speaker 16 I should mention that he's won 16 ATP Tour singles titles. He's the tallest top 10 player in history.

Speaker 16 Your history, when did you know you were going to do this as a career?

Speaker 36 Oh, that was that wasn't until my junior year of college. I didn't have pro aspirations.
And typically in tennis, like bigger players take much longer to develop.

Speaker 36 It just takes a lot longer time to grow into your body. So that was definitely the case for me.
In my junior year in college, I got pretty good and decided that.

Speaker 36 you know, I didn't want to work a regular job. So I pursued professional tennis after my senior year.

Speaker 36 i mean i still i went to all four years of school at the university of georgia and and had a long pro career after that so uh going to college was was critical for me but it actually like some players when they leave high school they face a tough decision whether to turn pro or go to college for me it wasn't tough at all i i had to go to college i just wasn't good enough do players or fans get mad at how you play tennis because you're so singularly uh excellent at aces

Speaker 36 yeah uh players do and that's a good thing that's what I wanted.

Speaker 36 I wanted them to get mad and get frustrated because that's basically when I knew I was doing my absolute best out there is when frustrating my opponents, when they can't get a racket on my serve and they don't have much rhythm.

Speaker 36 That's typically when I was playing my best ball.

Speaker 36 Sometimes I would even feel uncomfortable out on the court, but at the same time, I needed to realize that my opponents were feeling more uncomfortable than I was.

Speaker 36 Fans alike, big servers, we're affectionately known as serve bots, as Mike Ryan definitely knows about that term and yeah like fans like to poke fun of us as like being serve bots but like what do you want us to do right like kick a serve in and rally 30 balls with Carlos Alcraz it's not going to happen so yeah but really I mean most of that rage comes from you know the Twitter spaces and stuff like that so it's really not in real life I think at tournaments fans are um are much nicer I should tell the folks that we're in the middle of the U.S.

Speaker 16 Open here, the first round, and it's been interesting so far. Isn't it joining us from the U.S.
Open. And have you seen what happened with Medvedev?

Speaker 16 I know we have hotheads throughout the sport, but where you've got a match point and the photographer seemed to feel really bad about what happened there.

Speaker 16 Your thoughts on what happened there where Medvedev is just going crazy?

Speaker 36 Yes. So I have a bit of a different take.

Speaker 36 First of all, I don't think that photographer's credential should have been revoked. He clearly made a mistake.
He clearly felt awful about it.

Speaker 36 Kicking him out of the tournament, I think that's a bit harsh. If I was the umpire, I think the letter of the law, he made the right call.

Speaker 36 But in that situation, when Medvedev was already losing his mind, that's much easier said than done when you're watching this match

Speaker 36 from TV. He should not have awarded Bonzi a first serve, just knowing that Medvedev would lose his SHIT

Speaker 36 if

Speaker 36 he got a first serve. So I think he should have just let it be.

Speaker 36 It's just a four or five second delay.

Speaker 32 No one would have complained if they just if he just let it go um and just said second serve uh john medvedev since blowing it against center at the aussie is a totally different player this is a guy that um was thought to at once be challenging the kings of the sport and i believe this is his third first round exit in a major in his last four attempts it's manifesting i mean he's always been a hothead but he's breaking rackets he's doing bj signs to to opposing players

Speaker 32 is this is he long for this sport? It feels like

Speaker 32 that might have been it.

Speaker 36 Yeah, he's losing his mind. I mean, three first-round losses in a row for a guy like Daniel Medvedev, who's made lots of slam finals, has won a grand slam.
This one, the U.S.

Speaker 36 Open, it's been number one in the world. He's just losing his marbles.

Speaker 36 I think, truthfully, he's just mentally exhausted trying to chase perhaps at the front end of his career, Jokovich and Rafa, and maybe even Fed a little bit.

Speaker 36 And now, towards the mid to late part of his career, Center and Alcara has come along. And and just the prospect of him winning a big tournament has just become a lot more challenging.

Speaker 36 And I think that chase has just worn him down. But also, you know, he's a big guy and he plays, as y'all know, he plays 13, 14 feet behind the baseline.
He's big and he's skinny.

Speaker 36 And maybe his body's just wearing out on him a little bit because he plays such a physical game out there,

Speaker 36 moves so well for his size, but he's very wiry. And just maybe his body's taking a little bit of toll.

Speaker 36 It definitely does seem like he should take a break, put the rackets away, mentally refresh and, you know, try to come back strong next year.

Speaker 15 Boris Becker said Medvedev needs professional help. If you're a friend of Medvedev's or a family member, would you tend to agree?

Speaker 36 I don't know about professional help. I think he would need to, in my mind, he would need to

Speaker 36 just

Speaker 36 sit down and talk with those closest to him, his wife, his coach, his trainer.

Speaker 36 I think just putting the rackets away and not focusing on the next tournament and having to practice. And he's got two kids, I believe.

Speaker 36 Just spend time with your family and don't focus on tennis and realize in my mind, like that dude's made a crap ton of money. He's been very successful.
Life is all good.

Speaker 36 Take a break from it and then come back and he should be all right.

Speaker 16 You played 17 years, so can you explain to us physically what it is that Jokovich is doing, having had a career longer than 17 years? What is this?

Speaker 16 Do people even understand what this sport does to the body?

Speaker 36 Yeah, it's brutal. I mean, especially when you, for the most part, we're playing on hard courts, which is very, very tough on your body.
So what Novak is still doing is otherworldly.

Speaker 36 I mean, he's 38 years old right now.

Speaker 36 And of course, he's playing a limited schedule, but like for his ridiculous standards, he's been the fourth or fifth or sixth best player in the world, like to date, having not played many tournaments this year.

Speaker 36 It's just crazy. But for him, as you get older, you certainly have to pick and choose your spots.
And obviously, he's just focused on the Grand Slams. He wants to get to number 25.

Speaker 36 But he's, in my mind, the most dedicated and professional player I think our sport's ever seen. Like everyone works hard on the court and off the court.
You know, Rafa is a great example of that.

Speaker 36 But I think what Novak does off the court with his diet and his sleep and his habits, he's a bit like Tom Brady in that regard.

Speaker 36 And that's why he's the greatest of all time, just like someone like Tom is. I hate to compare two GOATs like that, but they take care of themselves so well.
He's so strict on his diet, his hydration.

Speaker 36 He sleeps in a hyperbaric chamber. I mean, he's sort of obsessive about his recovery.
And that's a big reason why he's still doing what he's doing at 38 right now.

Speaker 36 Having played all these matches in his career, it's very remarkable. In my mind, he's one of the greatest athletes of all time.

Speaker 36 Not just tennis players, we know that, but I think greatest athletes of all time. He's remarkable.

Speaker 16 How is he different from you in terms of being obsessive, compulsive about taking care of himself? Because I would assume that you were similar.

Speaker 16 You're all looking for edges wherever it is that you can get them, and you spent 10 years in the top 20.

Speaker 36 Yeah, I was very dedicated to my body. I mean, I just did a lot of things.
I took care of myself.

Speaker 36 Being so big, I have to spend a lot of time in the gym to keep myself healthy and keep myself feeling strong.

Speaker 36 I don't know. I mean, he knows his body like better than anyone.

Speaker 36 knows their body. He knows exactly what to put into it.
Early on in his career, he figured out that gluten was not for him. He's a vegan.

Speaker 36 He has his own supplement company that he promotes and drinks and just like everything he does, like he just knows exactly what fuels him perfectly. I was very good in that regard.

Speaker 36 I like to think I was one of the best, but Novak just takes it to another level.

Speaker 6 What do you love being able to do now, John, that you couldn't do while you were an active player?

Speaker 36 Oh, well, I like being on the other side of tennis. I'm doing some work for ESPN during the first week of this.
So it's certainly less stressful, but truthfully, like I miss it a lot.

Speaker 36 Like, I would prefer the stress of waking up and having a match and having those butterflies and having to warm up and stretch and get your body ready.

Speaker 36 The feeling of winning a match at a grand slam and then knowing you have the next day off to just totally chill and try to recharge is something like I seriously miss because these are the these tournaments are obviously the the pinnacle of a of our sport.

Speaker 36 And you know, you don't get that anymore when

Speaker 36 you're retired. I get my fun out of sports with a hockey chat that I'm in with Mike Ryan.
And I'm even in a tennis chat as well that he's the commissioner of the chat.

Speaker 21 Highlight chat. Don't forget about highlight.

Speaker 36 There's a highlight chat. That's an unbelievable chat.
There's a chat about pickles. Yeah.

Speaker 29 That's a good one.

Speaker 4 Yo, my movie to yourself, pickles.

Speaker 36 Yeah, so anyway, I think the pickle chat's my favorite one. Anyway, so I'm always going to stay tethered to the sport of tennis and just tethered to just sports in general.
I'm a sports nut.

Speaker 36 I like to talk about it. But it's very fortunate.
I mean, I had a good career. I was an American.
I've got a lot of cool opportunities because of that. And one of those is this week at the U.S.

Speaker 36 Open being able to talk about this tournament.

Speaker 16 But just to be clear, when you say that you miss it a lot, the chats about pickles and high-li, they have not replaced what it is to play the longest match in Wimbledon history.

Speaker 16 Like, you haven't been able to recreate it with the text chats?

Speaker 36 Williams. Not quite.
The High Lye chat is closing that gap, though.

Speaker 18 Okay, very good.

Speaker 36 That's a special chat.

Speaker 36 I'm a Cyclones guy for life now.

Speaker 16 Okay, yes. The owner is Chris Cody.

Speaker 16 This is his father, Greg. You walked in on him.

Speaker 39 Is that Greg?

Speaker 39 Yes.

Speaker 36 Is that Greg of the Mick overrated take?

Speaker 12 Greg, thank you.

Speaker 23 Yeah.

Speaker 21 Gotta be famous for something.

Speaker 16 Venus Williams is playing at 45. Greg Cody has had some opinions on that.

Speaker 16 She was

Speaker 16 playing in the U.S. Opener.

Speaker 33 She was.

Speaker 15 Yeah, I mean, and she apparently looked,

Speaker 15 I didn't see the match, but she drew raves for her match, even though she lost. I give her all the credit in the world.

Speaker 15 You know, one of the hardest things to do, and maybe you can relate to this, John, when you age as an athlete, it's tough to know when to retire and how to retire because it's so much of who you are.

Speaker 33 And for her to still be doing it at 45,

Speaker 15 mad respect and love for what she's done.

Speaker 28 Mad respect. Mad respect.
Mad respect.

Speaker 16 You were mad before because of the disrespect.

Speaker 15 Well, it's too easy to say, ah, has been, you know, know when to retire, you know, get out and let the younger people do it.

Speaker 15 If she still wants to play at 45 and can be competitive, I give her all the credit in the world.

Speaker 36 No, I'm with you there. I think for me with Venus, it's easy to gear up for Washington, D.C., where she played a few weeks ago, and Cincinnati, which she played two weeks ago, and the U.S.
Open.

Speaker 36 Her ranking's nothing right now. She's like, I don't know what she's ranked.
It's super, super low, 700, 800 in the world. So what is she going to do from this point forward?

Speaker 36 Does she want to go down and play Challengers? Does she want to go to Asia and play the Asian swing? So that's tough to do at 45, especially when you've been so accomplished like she has been.

Speaker 36 Obviously, when you get to play on Arthur Ashe Stadium in a night match, I'll come back for one match for that for sure because you can't replicate that feeling of playing in that court under the light.

Speaker 36 But it's not all glitz and glamour on the tour. It certainly is at the U.S.
Open. So it's a lot more difficult once this tournament ends and you look at what...

Speaker 36 the rest of your tournament schedule looks like.

Speaker 16 I would think that tennis, though, might be something, and I don't know whether you're missing the routine here as well, just the form of what your life used to be but tennis is so lonely and eats up so many of your childhoods that I would imagine that after 17 years there would be some relief on finally like I

Speaker 36 get to rest a little bit this has been a really lonely pursuit Yeah, no, like for, for me, for sure, like that, that rest period has been nice, but like, I still miss it.

Speaker 36 I get to recreate my childhood, a sense, like through my children now, which is, which is very special.

Speaker 36 And maybe they'll go on the tennis journey that I went on as well, which I would love for them to do. But definitely, like, rest is nice.
My body isn't beat up as much anymore.

Speaker 36 And, you know, it's life's all good after tennis. But when you play for 17 years, as you mentioned, Dan, it's like you become so routined and just so ingrained.

Speaker 36 You wake up and you ask yourself the question, like, how am I going to get better today? Even if you're not practicing on that day, you're still trying to get better, get your body better.

Speaker 36 And that's what you don't have when you retire. So it becomes difficult.
It was a difficult adjustment for me.

Speaker 36 And I think a lot of athletes, not just in tennis, face that, of course, when they retire.

Speaker 32 John, you have one of the healthier relationships with tennis out of all the former pros. You're hosting the nothing major, co-hosting the nothing major podcast.

Speaker 32 You're constantly covering the sport.

Speaker 1 Is that because you were a sort of late bloomer in the sport?

Speaker 32 You kind of got really good at it later because there are other tennis players already that hate tennis now. And that seems to be the norm.

Speaker 36 Yeah, you know what? I always said like midway through my career and towards the end of my career that you wouldn't really see me on the tennis tour after I after I retired.

Speaker 36 Clearly, I didn't hold myself to that.

Speaker 36 I just quickly realized that, I mean, this sport for me, it gave so much to me. And there's still a lot of opportunities I can gain from in the sport of tennis after I retired.

Speaker 36 And our podcast has been a great way for us to stay relevant because unless you're an all-time great, very quickly forgotten on the tennis scene.

Speaker 36 So our podcast has been great to keep us relevant in that regard. And again, like be able to talk talk tennis in New York City for ESPN, like that's really cool.

Speaker 36 So these great opportunities that have come my way, I've jumped at the opportunity to do them. And hopefully I can continue to do this for quite some time.

Speaker 36 I really do enjoy it. You work with some great people and it's a lot of fun.
You get treated great.

Speaker 36 And so I think a lot of people would trade positions with me right now to be able to, I guess, wear a suit and talk about a sport, which I should know a lot about.

Speaker 16 Again, the podcast is called Nothing Major. The U.S.
Open continues today. First round men's and women singles on ESPN.
Do you agree with Mike Ryan's assessment? If I said to you,

Speaker 35 I'm polling all former players now.

Speaker 16 What's the percentage that hate tennis?

Speaker 36 I don't think it's as

Speaker 36 severe as Mike maybe said. I would say, I'd give it 40% that like don't have the healthiest relationship with this game because it just, this game can torment you.

Speaker 36 I mean, you have, you know, so many tough losses and so many horrible nights of sleep after a tough loss.

Speaker 36 But I think overall, the good definitely outweighs the bad. So, yeah, there's some, there's some good friends of mine.

Speaker 30 That's a high number, though, John.

Speaker 16 I mean, that's a high number.

Speaker 36 That is a very high number.

Speaker 36 This game can be tough.

Speaker 36 Mike and I have some friends in the tennis world that don't love the sport. I like it, and I'm still very happy

Speaker 36 to be a part of it.

Speaker 32 John, how much of that is this generation, both on the women's side and in the men's side, they went up against generational talents that hung on to the sport at unprecedented ages?

Speaker 32 And how much of that was not just the sport and the loneliness of the sport breaking them, but the fact that they're trying to conquer the unconquerable.

Speaker 36 Yeah, I think for

Speaker 36 the top of my head, like you name some European players, like if you guys would know, like a Thomas Burdich is an unbelievable Czech player who's never able to win a grand slam because of those three.

Speaker 36 I mean, like for me, like I consider myself lucky to play in the same era of those guys, but it's not like I was getting like thwarted by one of those three guys at every single grand slam in the quarters of the semifinal.

Speaker 36 So I don't have like, I don't have that, that feeling, but certainly a lot of of players do. There are a lot of incredible players.

Speaker 36 David Ferreira of Spain without Rafa probably has a Grand Slam on his resume and might be in the Hall of Fame, but he doesn't now. There's a heck of a player, ridiculous career.

Speaker 36 But those players were very selfish. And the top two players in our game right now, of course, and Center and Alcraz, are also selfish.

Speaker 36 They're going for eight straight Grand Slam wins between the two of them here at the U.S. Open.

Speaker 16 We've got less than 30 seconds left here, but I just want you to entertain a hypothetical with me. If I put you in

Speaker 36 your prime serving to john mcenroe bjorn borg boris becker uh all of these people uh what would happen i mean i can i can hold my own with my with with my serve i actually saw some highlights of rod labor playing on grass years and years ago he was an absurd athlete so i think even a guy like labor would do well in in today's modern game but yeah you got to favor of course the the greats like johnny mack and no you did

Speaker 36 over someone like myself although having said that i could definitely hold serve against those two and make them make them sweat a lot.

Speaker 16 Isn't it? You would embed tennis balls in their forehead. Thank you for being on with us.
We appreciate the time. The name of the podcast is Nothing Major U.S.
Open all Week.

Speaker 16 ESPN Men's and Women's Singles. First round on ESPN.
Thank you, sir.

Speaker 36 All right. Thank you, guys.
See ya.

Speaker 39 Go clones. Go clones.

Speaker 36 Go clones. Let's go.

Speaker 16 Greg Cody is still rapidly enraged.

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