Local Hour: Clicks & Prayers (feat. Greg and Roy)

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Chris, is your father late again today?

It seems so, but he's been stressed this week, so I can text him.

What has he been stressed about?

He threw at me, I'm 71 years old.

He covered a hockey game, he did two shows, and he may have brought up that he's only paid for twice a week here.

I don't know.

That's something between you and him.

Billy, what are you laughing at there?

I was just, I'm not super

following the Panthers yet.

So, it was the hockey game three days ago?

It was Tuesday night.

Yeah.

Well, you know, it takes time to 71.

That's, you know, big age.

So, we've talked before about like the self-awareness on people people when it is in sports that they realize they need to retire.

The old defensive end for the Dolphins, when he was playing for the Raiders, Trace Armstrong,

he'd watch himself on film and he'd be like, ooh, I've got to quit.

Your dad saying I'm 71

when being asked to work a day after we had a meeting about caring.

Like you're he seems ready to retire.

In his defense, I didn't see him in that meeting, though he may not have heard it.

No, but I'm just saying in general, he should do what he wants.

He is 71, but once you get to the point that you say, I'm 71, as a way to not want to work, perhaps it's time you retire.

But he's been saying it since like 67, though, right?

Like, he's, I'm 68 years old now.

I'm 69.

I can't keep doing this.

But 71 doesn't change all that much.

Is he tired?

Because the hockey season just started, so what's he headed for?

He didn't have time to shower.

Like, he was already too tired to shower after the first hockey game of the season.

So where are we with him?

Like, we're watching the end of this career, correct?

We're going to broadcast the end of his career if he's already saying I'm 71 and I've worked twice this week.

He has to recover from a five o'clock hockey start two days ago.

That's what's being alleged, I think.

Like, get him on the phone.

Is he coming in?

Do you know it?

Because I know your father over the years.

Like, once he starts with this, he's liable to just not show up.

Wait, so he missed game two, which was last night, right?

Because like Roy left at like noon yesterday.

He's like, got a Panthers game.

We're like,

what?

Like, why do you have to leave so early for a hockey game?

Roy, uh, Roy wore that jersey that Rose gave him to the hockey game, right?

Because Roy seemed to

that was a big question.

I wish Roy was in so we could ask him because we were debating back here, is he going to wear that or not?

Because, like, it's a great commercial for his hockey show, but then there's also like no jerseys in the press box.

So, we were kind of conflicted.

Remember, this is a guy that told us and admitted that he picked his daughter up and walked into school in full hockey gear during one before one one of his training sessions.

We actually are going to be able to ask Roy because I think he's not coming in for the show, but he's coming in for his show later.

Yes, that's right.

So there's that.

I think he wore a jersey with a blazer on top.

It's a good look.

This is business.

I'm guessing that he was very happy and very proud of what Rose gave him yesterday.

It was a beautiful jersey that she had made that celebrates the hockey show.

I'm guessing he wore it to the Panther game.

You guys don't agree with that?

You guys think that he...

Roy, since I've known him, has been the only person here who would be willing to wear his last name on a jersey at a sporting event.

None of you would do that.

No, there's no one else in the history of this company who would actually do what Roy does 10 years ago.

His back, his name is on the jersey on the back, and he proudly wears it out.

None of you do that.

No, we're grown-ups.

Yeah.

I mean, the oddest thing he does.

We have to, we will.

I don't have to.

There's never a scenario I have to.

Well, sometimes, like, you're gifted a jersey.

Like, we played a media softball game once where the Marlins gave us jerseys with our names and a number on it.

So, that I wore for that day.

Haven't worn it.

It's still in my closet.

I saw Billy at College Game Day a couple of weeks ago, and he was wearing a Gil FIU jersey.

That is fair.

I did do that because I wore what I did was I was wearing the Miami Vice Edition jersey, but it had my last name on it.

I had to decide what to wear.

My dad was so nervous when I was going in an FIU jersey to college game day.

He's like,

take that off right now.

People are going to be fighting.

I'm like, they are not going to be fighting me about an FIU jersey.

Nobody cares.

I can't believe it.

He was worried for your safety.

He was worried that I was going to be an irritant at college game day because I was explaining to him, like, you don't understand.

People go and you just represent.

It's a celebration of college football.

You go, you take a banner, a flag of whatever college you're representing.

It's not a big deal.

And I was also like, they're playing like Gators.

There's going to be so many more Gators fans and like FIU people that are trying to get it.

He was worried about hooligans?

Like the college is a bad person.

he was worried about

I think he was worried about me potentially inciting hooliganism by chanting paws up at people as I walked by them.

I'm with Billy's dad on this.

You don't wear another jersey.

When you're going to a game, you have to.

When you're going to a game

with two teams, you wear those two teams.

No, it's college game day.

That's a different situation.

Maybe on the day.

College game day.

Maybe.

And they're in my hometown.

They came.

It was a big one.

FIU had a big one that week.

They lost.

So your father was worried that you would go.

He wore an orange shirt, and I was offended.

I said, What are you wearing?

What am I wearing?

What are you wearing, sir?

Sweaters on, face off, now the time is here.

Listen up as you're changing on the fly.

Hip checks, hip picks, you're gonna make them cheer.

Got the boss to turn Friday night.

Now it's time for action tonight.

It's gonna burn this barn right up.

Slapshot will light the lamp so nice.

Let's go for a break away on the chase.

Here's a cup.

We'll be standing on our heads till we need a match and our ice.

Hockey is back, Jack.

We run a weird company here, so I don't know if Greg Cody is showing up for work.

Please call Roy.

I'd like to ask him if he wore the jersey to the game last night where the Panthers became 2-0, and Marshand continues to cement himself as a Florida legend whose name we don't know how to pronounce.

Don't know if it's Marchand or Marchand.

We'll probably figure it out before he's done.

Jeremy, the wokest among us, is offending how many different groups of people today with his costume?

How many different people is he attempting to offend?

It's at least three.

Yeah, it's weird.

We should have thought this one through.

It's actually a little funny that it's happened to Jeremy.

Oh, it was a wild card.

He chose it.

I did.

I don't think he knew what he was choosing

at the time.

I think that he thought he was choosing one thing, but certainly he wouldn't have chosen something that was at least partially blackface, right?

Like, oh, I mean, we don't want to say that part out loud.

You can put black face paint on without it being blackface.

It's part of my face for the audio audience.

I remember that by the red.

Remember that Cardinals fan?

What about the yellow?

All right.

Everybody.

And the weird ponytail that he has for some reason, too, that birds do.

Video team, please put up the comparison of the guy who went viral, the Cardinals fan.

Please help me.

Help me.

Okay, so there he is.

There is the punishment.

I also hate that one, too.

Yeah.

Yeah, that one makes me feel a certain type of way.

That guy, that guy's hat is also red when he leaves the stadium.

That's what should be.

Jeremy looks like he stormed the Capitol, if we're going to be honest.

There's multiple groups and races that are.

You can't be both offended on that end and then also say I look like I stormed the Capitol is a derisive thing.

Pick a side.

Well put, Jeremy.

You hadn't considered the consequences of your punishment, but I do salute you for.

No, I'm pretty sure I know the consequences.

I have my face painted as a cardinal.

I'm not going to have you talk down to me on societal issues today, pal.

Greg Cody, is he coming in?

Do we know him?

He's got a text.

He's not coming in.

He'll hop on Zoom soon.

What?

And that's all he'll give us.

He was not in the car.

Wait.

He just skipped?

He's scheduled to work today.

He is.

He's 71.

That's what he's.

His argument is I'm 70.

It's a good argument, honestly.

But I think we need to finally have a conversation with your father about whether he's thinking about retirement.

Because once you're telling people who are relying on you, I'm 71, I'm simply not coming in.

When did he inform us of this?

Just now?

Just like it wasn't even the courtesy of doing it last night.

He's tired at the end of a work week, so he's not coming in.

Last time I spoke to him was Wednesday, and he did mention to me, oh, you need me Friday, huh?

I only get paid for two days a week, but I'll see.

I'll see if I can make it work.

Now here we are.

He couldn't make it work.

He couldn't make it work.

But does he not take into account that while we only pay him for two days a week, there are often times we don't get either of those two days.

Like he's not, he's only doing it when it's more than two days because it's an average of two days a week that we're paying him for, but he's very often not here.

at least one of those days, sometimes two of them.

Like, for example, when it's just, hey, cruise, we're going on a cruise.

It's not vacation time.

It's not when anybody's going on vacation.

It's just, I wanted to go on a cruise.

Why?

Because I wanted to drink 15 beers a day on a cruise ship bar tab instead of in my garage.

Magic package.

15 is putting it like.

Also, unlimited vacation.

I mean, we're starting to see what happens, but you tell people that and then they start taking advantage of it.

Starting to see what happens when that is happening.

Do you guys get vacation?

I want to talk about one of the games last night and not the one that everyone's going to be talking about, because I assume everyone's going to be very worried about the Eagles, and start talking about the personality change of the New York Giants, which is a little bit fun.

And a nice little

fumigation on everything that New York sports have been, that they've got a Giants team with a couple of personalities that you could get excited about.

But the game I wanted to talk about yesterday, as the Dodgers continue to play what is a totally unfair baseball game.

They have an overwhelming all-star team, and they've underachieved this year because it's the best team ever assembled.

And I know we can sit here and argue about what is the actual end results best team.

A Mariners team won 111 games, but in terms of star talent

and roster construction, there has never been a baseball team as good as these Dodgers.

And the game they played against the Phillies yesterday and the series, the Phillies are a really good baseball team.

Lozzardo pitching with Snell pitch for pitch

is something close to a miracle because Snell's a good deal better than Lozardo.

But that series was very well played.

And the pitchers in that series are extraordinary.

So that even an all-star team like the Dodgers has all sorts of trouble scoring runs.

But before we get to the error at the end, because I really was hoping that was a series that would be won instead of lost, because it was really quality baseball.

Schwarber and Harper and Castellanos or Castellanos, these are not chokers.

Trey Turner, they're not chokers.

The pitching is extraordinary in baseball.

And what the Dodgers have, where they could go to Glasnow, who's an ace, and they could just throw him out of the bullpen because they've got just aces all over the place, made it.

So you have to play.

perfect baseball against that team to beat them.

And this is the situation that they got into where they're fighting over every little run, okay?

Before the ending, this is what happened, and it's why it's impossible to play the Dodgers.

Maybe baseball happens to the Dodgers, but this is why it's impossible to play them.

Luzardo got knocked out because they got Freddie Freeman, and Freddie Freeman hit a double, and Freddie Freeman's their third-best player, third-best hitter.

I like Mookie Betts better.

I like Otani better, but we can argue about it.

Freeman's exceptional.

In the inning, where the Dodgers are down 1-0, and you got to do everything right against this team, they've got runners on second and third, and first base is now open and the guy pitching for the Phillies they're bringing the best reliever in baseball in the seventh inning it's a high leverage situation and they know the Dodger top of the order is coming up in a second they've got first base open what do you guys do it's Duran he throws 99 mile an hour sinkers he's not a hittable person but first base is open and Otani's coming up Otani is one for 17 in the series with eight strikeouts because the Phillies pitching is really good too it's not not because Otani's a choker.

It's because this happens in baseball.

You can have four or five bad games.

He's one for 17 with eight strikeouts, and Duran is as good a closer as there is in the game.

What do you do, guys?

It's lefty against lefty on Otani.

What do you do?

He's one for 17.

First base is open.

You walk him.

I wouldn't have, but I understand that they did because.

Well, then what happened?

Well, so they walk him, but the reason I wouldn't have walked him, I got lefty against lefty.

I've got the best reliever in baseball, and Otani's struggling in the series.

But the reason I wouldn't have walked him, they're two outs.

The only reason I wouldn't have walked him is because now you're leaving no margin for error on the next hitter who is Mookie Betts.

It's Mookie Betts.

He's been bad lately, though.

Like, it's, I think it's the curse of Billy Pixie in fantasy, but like, he was not good this season at all.

And Luzardo, by the way, you said before, like, pitched the gem, like, he has it in him.

Like, he was a highly, he was a highly regarded prospect.

And when they traded him, the Marlins traded for him from the A's.

Like, he struggled a little bit, but he lived up to it the last couple of years.

And he had a great game last series also.

The reason the Phillies traded for him is because he has the potential in that arm.

He's not Snell.

He's never going to be Snell.

He went pitch for pitch with Snell.

He'll never be Blake Snell.

He's Snell like every other Snell season where Snell seems to like just take off sometimes.

Yeah, he's very up and down.

What happened?

What's the right answer?

We're getting there in a second because this isn't even how the game was decided.

It's just how the Dodgers got the game into extra innings.

You say Mook De Betts hasn't been that good.

Okay, I'll grant that to you.

But what Mook De Bets does is he's got extraordinary plate discipline.

And what I've now done to my great closer is I have the bases loaded and you can't make the mistake against Betts.

So now it goes to a 3-2 count and you can hear that place going crazy.

And Betts has such extraordinary plate discipline that he takes a pitch that everyone else in the league would have swung at.

You're not looking at a bases-loaded situation in Dodger Stadium wanting to be the hero and taking a pitch that's at your chest when the reason the Chapman's good this season is because everyone in the league is swinging at that pitch now, every single person.

And Betts lays off it to tie the game in a game you cannot make a mistake in because one run is going to decide it.

Duran's first career bases loaded walk.

And just to go back, it was Sanchez was the lefty lefty that had been in, and it could have potentially been in that bat with Otani.

But Duran is a right-handed pitcher.

So it was a righty against a lefty.

Their idea was, we don't want to let Otani beat us with two runners on.

In that scenario, don't let him get hot and approach back.

So now you definitely walk him.

Yeah.

What's the answer?

They walked him.

They did?

Was that the right move?

Well, then they walked bets and the run came in.

Oh, okay.

Moogie's hitting 385 this round.

Small sample, though.

Forgive me.

You got that right, Jeremy.

It was righty, righty-lefty as well.

And I understand why you walk Otani there because everybody in the world probably would have walked Otani there, but you're not allowing for one for 17 with 18 strikeouts.

And this is the best pitcher he's going to face.

Like, there's not someone better than the guy he's struggling in this series.

And this pitcher who's throwing 99 mile-an-hour sinkers.

What you've just done to yourself is you've created the situation where Betts' plate discipline can can beat you because you can't make a mistake.

You've got when the 3-2 pitch is coming, Betts knows that it's going to be something near or in around the strike zone.

It's not going to be in the dirt.

It's going to be around the strike zone.

And he tempted him with the most tempting pitch and Bets laid off it.

That's the best argument for pitching to Otani is there's just so much more strikeout in his bat.

And when you have a guy in Duran who is so capable of striking out hitters, you saw Otani later in the game strike out against Lozardo.

If you approach that at bat the right way, you can get that strikeout.

Now, righty against lefty, it is a different thing, but Betts is a guy who has not only that plate discipline, but not nearly as much swing and miss.

And so the probability just goes up, even if he just puts the ball in play and it's an error, you're putting yourself behind the eight ball.

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Don Lebatard.

Punctuate this segment with what is your strike three call.

Strike one would be, strike!

And then you stand up and you give a good point to the right.

Stugats.

That's same for strike three.

But strike three, you get down low, you got your hands behind the catcher.

All right.

The right arm goes up into the air.

Yeah!

And then you finish it with the punch.

The right arm flings way up into the air.

And you finish the body.

I wish everybody's aware of that.

The audio's great.

This is the Don Lebatar show with his two guys.

It might have been a good thing to pitch to Atani because he's had this thing in the last couple of

bats where he wants to crush the ball every time he gets a pitch and he wants to play Hero Ball.

Where I'm like, I'm taking this ball out.

And it happened in Lozardo at bat where he's just taking massive hacks.

And he's like, first pitch, I'm trying to hit it out of the way.

All right, but my point on all of this, because I'm micro-analyzing something here that isn't even what people are going to look at as deciding that game or that series or ending the Philadelphia season.

The reason that I'm doing it, though, is because there is against that baseball team, an all-star team, an international all-star team.

Those are not the best players in America.

Those are the best players in the world.

That is an international baseball team.

And what got decided at the end was a dribbler.

from a home run hitter and it wasn't the Dodgers winning the series.

It was the Phillies losing the series series because Kirkering, Orion Kirkering, made a mistake with the bases loaded in extra innings.

And I was feeling late in that game.

You tell me if you guys ever feel this for a fan base.

You felt it when it's your team.

I felt bad for the Phillies the entire extra inning scenario because you're on the road and now your fans are in a room where the water's rising and any one of the Dodgers ends your season with a swing.

You're watching the bottom of innings when you haven't scored in the top of innings and they've got a one-game lead in the series.

So as the pressure rises on a team you have to play perfect baseball against because they're better than everyone,

it's the best roster ever constructed.

Bajes, Cuban player, shipped in last year, like hasn't played much,

hasn't played much major league baseball.

He comes up with the bases loaded and he hits a dribbler.

This is a home run hitter.

He hits the ball the least you can hit it.

Kirkerine made his pitch.

Like he made the pitch he wanted to make in that spot.

But this is a home run hitter in a lineup filled with home run hitters as the Phillies are watching and their fans are watching.

Any guy can end our season with a swing.

Like when is the last time?

I guess you guys felt this during a little bit during game seven of the Stanley Cup playoffs against McGregor last year?

Because

McDavid, excuse me.

Yeah.

That was two years ago.

When's the last time you guys felt like your season could end in a moment?

Where you're watching something you deeply care about and you're the bottom half of an inning from a team at home.

Like, I really felt bad for Phillies fans watching that because they're playing this team, and any swing can end this season of great expectations after having several seasons ruined that had great expectations.

I guess it happened with the Panthers, too.

Eastern Conference semifinals against Toronto

when they went down 2-0 in game three.

That's why the fourth line got to finish the season because they played so well in that game.

That game went to overtime.

That was a little nervous-nelly.

Opening day 2017, Ian Happ.

The reason that that doesn't qualify is only because there were more games after that.

Your season would feel like it ended, but it hadn't actually ended.

Down 03, I mean, that's tough.

Down 03 is not.

Your season's immediately over.

I went from hoping this team was going to make it to the World Series to one swing and I'm finished.

It's just a pressure that I,

as someone who considers himself weak in these circumstances, it's a pressure I would not want on me because here's what happens late in the game.

And

I really do have to get credit to Kirkering for the way that he talked about this because he is somebody who will have a name in Philadelphia now that will be associated with.

A moment got really tense for you.

We had great hope.

And you simply choked.

Like this is identifiable in his own voice, obvious choking from what happened.

The pressure of a moment got to him and he did something that nobody does.

He says afterward that the pressure of the moment got to him.

So the bases are loaded and the Dodgers, you can hear in the sound on the call, the way the dribbler goes back to the mound and all of a sudden, 60,000 people in Dodger Stadium are rising up and you can hear the noise and the pressure.

The play there is you pick up the ball and you throw it to first base.

Real Muuto, his catcher, is pointing to first base.

Don't throw it to me.

Just point, he's pointing to first base.

And Kirkering just chokes on the moment and throws the ball home, throws the ball home poorly.

And the game and the season is over and it's your fault.

And what happens to him is he immediately bends over, sick to his stomach.

And if he could have, he would have just thrown up right there on the field because of how bad he felt.

Because it's as identifiable as a choking moment.

We talk about choking moments all the time.

You never see them this obviously where a guy simply panics.

I feel like in baseball, though, when you bobble a ball and you just have this panic of, oh shit, I need to go quicker than a normal routine play.

Like, I mean, I'm not going to do the thing.

I've played.

Like, I can relate to that panic of just like, oh, shit, I made an error.

I'm not thinking anymore.

And you just throw it out of the way.

I talked for seven minutes earlier this week in that series about a wheel play the Dodgers ran because they're not going to panic.

Oh, and it was beautiful.

They're not going to panic because their guys

have been in this situation every postseason for 13 straight postseasons.

So they get the benefit that Jeter got, where if I'm always playing here, it feels like just another game.

The pressure doesn't get ratcheted up to a place that suffocates me.

But can we hear Kirkering in his own words here?

I'd like to just hear, you just never, tell me the last time you guys after watching someone choke saw the athlete raise his hand and say yep I choked

off my foot

just kind of once that pressure got to me I just thought it was a faster throw the JT a little quicker throw than trying to crossbody at the price so

just

throw yeah did you did you hear them calling telling you to go to first at all or were you just in the moment that you wasn't even just in the moment yeah can you can you see JT pointing in that moment or is it just kind of looking up?

Just kind of looking up, just be ready again.

I mean, a lot of guys at Norman DM.

He was one of the first ones there.

Scored the guys.

So you even know when

just keep your head up.

It's lost mistake.

Just baseball.

Sh happens.

And just keep your head up.

You're being good for a long time to come.

It's not my fault.

Just had opportunities to score.

Just keep your head up.

Have you guys heard an athlete say before, once that pressure got to me?

Just like that.

Once the pressure got to me.

I don't hear that very often.

I don't hear that level of self-awareness very often.

Usually the bravado of the moment makes it so that you mask that, you hide, you try to lie, you lie your way around that.

I wasn't scared.

I wasn't worried.

Something Tua is going to say in the next couple of weeks.

I'm telling you right now.

That guy is a real chatty Kathy now with all of his fears and every, oh, that guy is better than me.

I don't care if I throw five interceptions.

Oh, the moment's too big for me.

Like, oh, I don't remember what happened yesterday.

It's coming, I'm telling you, with this Tua, I don't think I've turned on him yet, but we're headed in in that direction.

$300 not well spent on that frame.

We've got Roy and Greg Cody.

They are both here bombing in from home.

I've been told that Greg Cody is irritated that we're calling him because he's 71 and he's very busy and he has a lot to do today.

So I'll start with Roy.

Roy, how

did you, did you wear, did you wear the jersey to the lovely jersey that Rose gave you?

Did you wear it to the Panther game yesterday?

No, I plan on doing that on Saturday.

So why?

Why did you not wear it yesterday when you were already wearing it?

No, because I'm wearing it today for the hockey show, and I just decided, you know what, I'm not going to wear it today.

I'm just going to save that for Saturday.

Are you going to the press box?

Yes.

Don't they have like a no-jersey policy?

Yeah.

It's not a National Hockey League team.

I'm not really cheering.

It's not like supporting Ottawa.

I'm playing anymore.

Maybe.

Okay.

Or underneath, possibly.

Underneath.

Wear a shirt on top.

Yeah.

Yeah, sure.

I'll do that, Billy.

Thanks.

Greg, what are your thoughts on this?

Roy Bellamy, who may at one point in the Panther Arena have a dedicated place named after him,

the Roy Bellamy Legendary Memorial Press Area.

What is your ruling as a journalist on whether or not Roy is allowed to wear a jersey in the press box?

Well, I'm working behind the scenes to get Roy on the media hall of fame that you see as soon as you leave the elevator and go to your seat.

What kind of jersey is he wearing into the press box?

It is the hockey show.

It's a hockey jersey, but it's not of a team.

It's of his own show.

And when you say you're working behind the scenes, is your only effort there to be behind the scenes and not actually doing anything?

Because I don't believe that you're working behind the scenes.

You're not working in front of the scenes today.

You're not working.

Well, I am.

I'm working very hard.

I just happen to not be on your show, so naturally everything is centric around you.

So you assume I'm not working.

I'm working very hard today, which is one of the reasons why I couldn't be in the studio with you.

I think it's fine for him to wear a shirt promoting the hockey show.

If I want to wear a Greg Cody show podcast hat on my head, I'm going to do it, and nobody's going to say anything.

Roy, how are we feeling about Jeremy's overall look?

I don't know why.

Well, I got a feeling why.

I don't like it.

I think I'm thrice offended.

Yeah, that's.

Good luck, Jeremy.

What is he, a Cardinal?

Wait, Roy, wait.

Yes.

Don't you thank you.

Wait, look at the hair, though, Roy.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's a...

That's not good, man.

That's not good.

It's not good.

Of all people, he's supposed to be an ally.

It feels appropriated.

It does.

Roy, thank you.

I still don't understand your jersey wearing habits.

I thought if you didn't wear it yesterday, you wouldn't wear it at all.

Instead, you're saving it for Saturday.

It's a big game Saturday, Dan.

Okay.

Yes.

Last night was a nice one, too.

2-0, the Panthers now are.

They ruined the life of Rick Tockett and his

great hockey name.

They ruined the Philadelphia Flyers' opening debut of the illustrious Rick Tockett because Brad Marchand is now a local legend, beloved by all, including an arrogant and wrong Mike Ryan, who has to walk back all public comments.

Already did.

We buried the hatchet.

I don't think he should forgive you, honestly.

That's all right.

That's his prerogative.

He's our rat.

I don't believe that the audience should forgive you either.

Roy, thank you.

I have some more questions for Greg.

Greg, you stay there.

Appreciate your time.

And it was a lovely jersey that Roy, that Rose made for you.

Thank you, Rose.

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Don Lebatard.

You don't remember the idea?

I was probably like, that kind of thing.

Something.

Okay, no.

The home run call was that kind of swing, that kind of thing.

Stugats.

Oh, it's a good call.

Thank you.

And plus, it doesn't matter who's hitting it.

Like, you're not tailoring it to a particular name.

You know, all that jazz.

You know, you don't got to do that.

You just got to go.

Oh, that would be a great call.

Oh, that's a good one.

That kind of swing, that kind of thing.

This is the Don Lebatar Show with the Stugats.

Greg, why aren't you in today?

You weren't scheduled.

Scheduled, that's funny.

Well, first of all, Dan, I know you don't like major in math or anything, but...

I'm paid now to be on the show twice a week.

And you may recall I was on the show earlier this week for two days.

And so the third day I consider to be sort of optional.

I'm not paid for a third day.

I love you and I love being on the show despite conversations like this one.

But I was just very busy today.

And so I said to my son, Christopher, the other day, I just can't be in Friday.

I got to do this, this, and the other.

And he was fine with it.

And so here we are.

You said I'm 71.

That's what you said.

I'm 71.

Yeah, well, that's one of the reasons.

I'm trying to cut back on work, not increase my, okay, not increase my work level.

But today happens to be an extra busy day.

I've got a, right around the corner from this, I've got a book-related Zoom interview with Ron McGill.

There's a deadline approaching for that book, and so that's weighing on me.

I've got a Greg Cody show, a major podcast interview coming up right after McGill.

And so I'm just very busy today, Dan.

You know, the world world doesn't revolve around you and your show as much as you'd like it to.

Larry Little?

That's correct.

We have Larry Little, the Miami legend, the Dolphins Hall of Famer, on our next podcast episode.

And I'm really looking forward to that.

I've known Larry a long time.

I don't know him super well, but I know him well enough to really admire him.

It is funny to hear you say that the world revolves around me when you did some very basic math there that forgets some things.

I pointed this out before you came on with us, which is, yes, you're paid to work twice a week, but what about all the weeks when you don't actually work and just go on a cruise and we don't get the two days?

Oh, you mean the weeks that I actually dare to have the vacation that I'm entitled to?

I'm just saying you don't work twice a week every week.

You often don't work the two days every week, correct?

No, that's not true.

I think if you do the research on that, you'll see that ever since I made my new deal to basically increase from one day a week to two, I've been religious in my ardor to fulfill that and be in twice a week.

And normally I would do a third day if possible, but this is just a day that

it didn't work out for me on this end.

If I had a staff, if I had a chief of staff like you do to organize, tie up all my loose ends and do all this and that and the other, then there wouldn't be this problem of miscommunication.

I was arguing before you came on here that once you're saying I'm 71 and by Friday I'm tired of working, that's around the time that you should start thinking about what retirement looks like.

No?

No, because I'm really enjoying my life right now.

And my job, jobs, plural, are a big part of that life and I want to continue doing it as long as I'm healthy enough to, which hopefully will be well into the foreseeable future.

But at the same time, you do have to cut back on certain things.

I'm going through

a bit of a health situation right now, and

it's just difficult

to do everything I can.

Where did that come from?

Sorry, Greg.

Thoughts and prayers.

Yes, yes.

Well, no, it's nothing that serious.

It's nothing I want to talk about right now, but

it's just genius for us.

Wow.

These are things that weigh in.

A bit of a health situation is what you're hitting us with at the end.

A bit of a health situation.

Nothing serious, but thoughts and prayers.

No, no thoughts and prayers.

No, I don't want

actually.

I don't want thoughts or prayers.

What you want are thoughts on this work.

If we gave you views,

views?

Downloads?

Yeah, I want clicks, clicks, prayers.

I calm about it.

I want podcast downloads and thoughts and prayers in that order.

I think David Cross is the comedian who says instead of thoughts and prayers, like incantations and chanting or something.

So for Cody, should it be clicks and views?

Just thinking

clicks and views.

You'll get like in lieu of flowers, please donate to this podcast.

In lieu of flowers, please download Cody's podcast.

That's exactly right.

Exactly.

Please read my NFL week six picks in lieu of thoughts and flowers.

Week W-E-A-K.

I saw what you did.

I think you're not coming in because you had your worst week ever with picks and you've been derailed by it.

Like you've been, you are weaker today and weaker this week than you normally are because you had your worst week ever picking games.

Yeah, I was four and ten straight up.

I rallied a little bit.

I had a few dogs with the points, so I finished seven and seven against the spread.

But I will tell you this, there were an NFL record tying six games last week in which a team with a double-digit lead blew it and lost, including the Chiefs and the Dolphins and four others.

I was on the wrong side of all six of those games.

So my four and 10 could very easily have been 10 and 4.

I don't make excuses for a bad week, but that was an extraordinary situation that I was on the wrong side of when six teams blew big leads.

It doesn't happen.

I mean, it was record tying.

Thank you, Greg.

Appreciate the time.

Appreciate you

taking this weekend to rest so that you can be strong and give us your two days a week next week.

We will talk to you next week.

That's all I live for.

Thank you, Dan.

The game last night, the Giants blew a double-digit lead and then won the game late because everyone is talking today in football about the fact that the Eagles have a legitimate problem.

They're the worst second-half team in football offensively.

It's empirical.

It's not up for debate.

They're 32nd in all the categories of they can't score in the second half.

And on top of that, they've got that boring play everyone hates that they ran four straight times and it was the last time they scored in that game.

It injures their players.

It injures other players.

Nobody wants to watch it.

There's 11 minutes of game action in an average NFL football game.

It ain't three hours.

It's 11 minutes.

When you do the tush push four straight times, no one likes that except Philadelphia, right?

There's no one watching football, no one watching sports who likes to see four straight rugby scrums, one of which the officials, again, can't officiate correctly because it should have been fourth and six or fourth and goal from the six instead of the one because they jumped too early again.

Is there anyone outside of Philadelphia who doesn't want that eradicated and all turned to dust because it's dangerous, it's illegal, and worst of all, it's

boring.

Like it's unbelievably boring to have, you got 11 minutes of game action and they're giving you four plays where you're just really, you're going to take half the quarter and this is what you're going to do.

You're just going to fart your way up the field a yard and a half at a time because you've got some sort of play that nobody likes.

I just don't like that we're talking about banning something that one team is excellent at.

Yeah.

It seems unfair.

And I understand it's boring, and I understand the arguments for it.

And I do think that ultimately you will get your way.

But I like that there's this thing in the sport that is nearly unstoppable that people hate because it's going to set up a moment where their season is on the line and someone is going to stop it.

And it's going to be absolute scenes.

It's been stopped before.

It doesn't actually work every time.

It works at a 90-plus percent clip, but it has been stopped.

But I'm talking about a big moment.

I'm asking you guys, do you believe that anyone wants to see that play run four straight times so you can watch what had been an exciting offensive football game?

Surprisingly exciting because the total in that game was 40, because no one expected scoring because the Giants are good at defense and because Philadelphia is bad at offense.

It's the last scoring the Eagles did in that game was to run four straight plays that left players strewn on the field.

You'll agree with me that it's a dangerous play, correct?

The tush push?

More dangerous than even football.

I mean,

it looks violent.

I don't know if anyone's done a deep dive.

Maybe Pablo can get on it.

People are getting hurt, Mike.

Like, it is a place, it is a place that people, that Eagles get hurt and people get hurt in football all the time.

Agreed?

I don't know if this specific play has more.

I'd like to see the numbers on that because that would help me.

That would help change my mind.

If you could prove to me that this play is more dangerous than other plays, I'd come around on it.

And I understand that.

I'm kind of like a dissenting voice here.

I understand why people don't like it.

I kind of like it because people don't like it and it's just something that can't be toppled yet.

Visually, it looks like people are getting hurt because of the way that things are lined up, right?

Like you have the guards super in and then like submarining underneath the defensive lineman, which obviously arms and legs could get caught.

you know, in different things.

It just feels like the Eagles run it and nobody really gets hurt on their team.

Can I make a prediction?

I think in the next few weeks, we're going to see a play action.

No, they did it already.

Two weeks ago.

Damn it.

Two weeks ago, they ran it easily into the end zone by just handing it to Saquon Barkley.

That was a good idea by me, though.

Yeah, it was.

Ahead of my time.

Ahead of my time.

I'd enjoy seeing them throw to that Frankenstein Goddard out of that.

He had a good game.

You guys do understand when I say whenever a league, I get your point, Mike, why stop a play that only one team is good at?

But you do understand that whenever the the sport suffers from an entertainment problem aesthetically, what they do is they change the rules.

Like, that's throughout sports.

I could have made the argument that when Michael Jordan was playing against the Pistons and they were just dragging everything into the mud, and later after that, Pat Riley was ruining things by making a bunch of Knicks games,

81 to 80 games.

Basketball changed all its rules.

According to the league's internal data, there was a 0% injury rate on the tush push last season.

Is that right?

Yeah.

0%.

According to the NFL, which I mean...

To help contextualize, oftentimes there is a clock management aspect to this, and we cannot ignore the possibility of players faking injuries on this to stop the clock.

This play is available to everyone in the league.

I'm with you.

But they're excellent at it.

Now, what I would like is to see the rules actually enforced a little bit better on this because it seems as though, in part, they're better because they're getting away with stuff.

I don't like that.

I like a straight up play.

But Buffalo was the second best in the league.

They did this a lot.

And in a playoff game against the Chiefs, they famously got stopped and it was a big-time moment.

So I'd like to see this run its course and someone stop it before we talk about like, let's get it away because it looks boring.

I don't like that either.

Changing the rules just because one team is really good at something.

So Buffalo's not good at it because they're good at it.

Buffalo's good at it because their quarterback is so big and strong that he can do some of the things that Jalen Hurts can do with his lower body because they say that Jalen Hurts squats, what do they say?

He squats 600 pounds or something.

I'm not sure if that's

in it.

Yeah, I don't.

Yeah, they're good at it because they're good at it because the body types and the superstars that they have on their team, the same way that Philly's good at it, because they have a really good offensive line, and Jalen Hurts seems to be really good at this play.

From an aesthetic and waste of time perspective, it's almost like having to throw pitches on the intentional walk.

Now you just put the guy on, right?

So from an aesthetic perspective, it's, hey, if you have a quarterback whose athleticism and size can allow him to QB sneak for a yard, that feels different than what this is, where you're wasting time and you're just doing this thing that's boring forever.

Falling forward, no.

It's such a loser.

I can't believe, I'm shocked.

We're having this conversation.

I am not a loser.

No, no, no.

A day after they get smoked because I understand if they win the Super Bowl again and no one can stop it and it's like, oh, there's a no, like there's a path to beat beat this team, they look flawed right now.

This is why I'm bringing it up, though, because what they did, the most successful, the last time they had success last night is when they did that four straight times and made everyone in America hate them for reasons that didn't have to do with winning.

It had to do simply with, that's no fun to watch.

I've got 11 minutes of game action and I'm watching that for half a quarter.

Four straight plays where they're going from the four-yard line to the goal line because

it's just watching a farm farm machine turn up churn up a hard chart churn up a harvest for no good reason they never scored again after that they did nothing in the second half after that

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