The Big Suey: What's The Omni Ever Done? (feat. Dianna Russini)

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Welcome to the Big Sue,

presented by DraftKings.

Why are you listening to this show?

The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan Lebatard podcast.

I'm sorry, I'm not going to apologize for that.

In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging.

I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's prize if they're just there.

That hasn't happened to you guys.

I've done it.

And now, here's the marching man to nowhere, fat face, and the habitual liar.

This episode of the Dan Levittard show is presented by DraftKings.

DraftKings, the crown is yours.

Diana Roussini is coming to us from a hotel lobby in Manhattan at the owners meeting.

She looks like an intrepid reporter right now.

Zaslow and Cody have spent the entire break arguing about whether or not the Dolphins.

Whether or not the Dolphins quit or not on Sunday.

I am really wondering what the score would have been if they had quit.

Like, everyone looked at the scoreboard when they saw Cleveland won 31-6.

If they did not watch the game, they're like, oh, that was a team that wasn't trying on the other side.

If that's what happened at Cleveland.

But we'll have Diana settle this for us.

As incidentally, RG3 says on the Dan Patrick show that the Miami Dolphins need to blow it all up.

They need to fire McDaniel and they need to get rid of 202.

And Bill Cower and others are saying, yeah, the Dolphins quit on Sunday.

Your assessment here, Diana?

Yeah, I think we all saw it.

I don't think anyone watched that game and thought that Mike McDaniel even wanted to be out there in the rain and in the cold.

He looked miserable just being the head coach.

So we'll just start with him on the sideline and obviously the ridiculous sunglasses.

And he just looks like

for a coach that I think had so much potential and is still a really bright guy, he just looks like it's spinning a little bit out of his control.

Maybe not even a little bit.

I think a lot of it.

I think the pressure of all this is mounting and the players.

are unfortunately left with a lot of questions and not getting a lot of answers.

They will tell you over and over in Miami.

And the people I talk to there, they're trying to figure it out.

They're trying to get the right people leading these meetings.

The name Anthony Weaver, the defensive coordinator, his name has come up.

He's come up in league circles for the last few seasons as somebody that can is a leader of men.

And to me, that's just what the dolphins look like they need right now.

I understand what they're doing here, right?

I talked to some people on Monday after that game about, all right, making changes, right?

What do we got?

Well, you know, when are you guys going to fire Mike?

Just give us a heads up.

And they continue to say the same thing, which is we're not, we're not doing it because ownership believes that he can still continue to turn this around.

That's obviously Stephen Rossell's opinion.

And we all have varied ones.

Deshaun Watson is the worst contract in the league.

Is Tua second worst?

Who's second worst?

What's the second worst contract in the league?

I mean,

Tua is up there.

I think Trevor Lawrence gets thrown in there a lot when you talk about bad deals.

Look,

I understand

what the Dolphins were doing with Tua.

And when they did it, I don't think any of us from a salary standpoint were really criticizing him that much.

I know I wasn't.

I thought it was a fair

deal for him.

And if you remember at the time, the concern was less about his play and more about the injuries, right?

It was more about whether or not he could stay healthy on the field and was this really worth the risk, which is why I had always thought that for my, like, Chris Greer and this organization needed to make sure no matter what happens, no matter how much they're paying their starter, they better have a really good backup plan in place.

And guys, the theme of this season more than ever, more than ever, and nobody wants to hear it because it's boring, but the teams that are doing well have quarterbacks that are part of good programs with good coaching and good support.

And at one point,

I would have said the Dolphins were one of them.

At one point, I believed in what Mike McDaniel and Tua were building.

And this has really veered into a territory now where it seems like there is no hope left, that they really can't turn this around, despite the fact that ownership.

Everyone did believe, though, Diana.

Everyone believed like you did when they were at the top of the offensive power ratings.

Like that's where the belief came from.

We saw Tua be better than any of us thought that he was.

Exactly.

But

there is a major disconnect between Tua and his coach.

That is quite obvious.

They're literally doing it publicly.

What did we really expect, though, on Sunday?

And I'm calling myself on that, out on that as well.

I did not go into that game going, oh yeah, the Dolphins, they'll get through this.

I mean, I criticize the Eagles left and right because of their drama.

And you can do it and know that they're still going to perform because they're that good and they've got the right leaders.

That is not Miami at all.

And I don't understand.

Look, I will never be one to sit up here and go, yes, change is needed, fire coaches in season.

But when it starts to look like this,

when you're losing the locker room and you're losing effort, just basic effort, I don't know how they can just be okay with it.

And I was here listening to you guys talk about ownership before.

And for those that are watching the show right now, you can see I'm sitting in a hallway.

I'm literally at the owner's meeting in Midtown Manhattan right now, where all the owners are upstairs, including Stephen Ross,

having just mandatory meetings that they do every fall.

That's a side entrance of a hotel if I've ever seen it.

For real.

It really is.

This is a shady one.

Diane, are you sitting down too?

People are walking by you and they're way taller than you.

Are you sitting down?

Yeah, I'm like on a chair.

What do you think you're imagining that sad chair?

That looks like a chair looks expensive.

I was gonna imagine you traveling.

Do you guys want to do like a true, like, like

do the fake elevator face?

That's funny.

If I sat, most of the owners would be that height anyway.

They're not that tall.

You can sit down.

Don't worry about it.

Um, I'll sit down.

So, which, by the way, small observation that I make because this, this is so bizarre what I'm doing.

So, for those that don't know, what I do is I'm sitting in the lobby while the owners are meeting.

And then, when they break, they're going to come down, maybe get some water, have some food.

Some of them are going to leave.

And there's no setup interviews.

Nobody's saying, Okay, Stephen Ross, you're now going to sit with the athletics, Diane or Cini.

He's just walking.

And I then have to go chase him

and ask him for an interview, which I will be doing right after we talk here to see what is the direction of this organization.

So it's a little bit of a weird scenario and a weird situation because they don't want to talk to you.

I don't really want to talk to them, but I have a job.

And this just happens all afternoon.

So this is kind of, you guys are catching me at the perfect time because they're meeting.

So I'm not really missing anything.

But, you know, the commerce, the bigger, wow, you're right.

I really look smart.

People look gigantic behind me.

Diana, you look so tiny.

Oh, these are important.

These are big office people.

They're very important.

Ask them if they think the dolphins quit.

Cody, what do you have for Diana?

Diana,

everybody says the dolphins quit.

You just refer to them.

You just refer to them having a lack of effort.

When you say things like they quit or they didn't show effort, is the final score always enough or do you need evidence on the field?

I'm wondering what you saw in that game on the field from Miami that told you they quit.

Who did you see with a lack of effort in that game?

I don't even think it's about Miami as much as it's about the Browns.

Like, if you're going into Cleveland and you're not even able to put up a decent fight against an okay team that, you know, outside of their defense, which is exceptional.

Like, I think we can all agree that they're the best part of the Browns.

It's why they're able to even stay alive.

We're talking about Dylan Gabriel as the quarterback, a rookie who I didn't know that much about him coming into the draft, right?

So

look, I want to believe in Mike.

And every time he steps up to the podium, pointing the finger at himself, I mean, they're actually all pointing a finger at each other, but

why did we expect effort?

Like, did you think that performance was

filled with a bunch of disciplined players that came in with a really good game plan

that were going to lean into the skill sets that they have, which we could probably do a whole segment of what are the Miami Dolphins good at right now?

I don't know.

Greg, what would the score have have to have been for you to concede?

And I'm not, again, I'm not saying they quit.

I'm just asking you what.

I feel, Greg, I feel like you're trying to say that

you think that my opinion that they weren't making effort is wrong, that that was just bad football, that they were trying, but they just are not very good.

Yeah, you just think they're bad.

Of course, I think there was effort in that game.

I think it was

a bad team losing to a bad team,

a bad team beating an even worse team.

I'm not accusing you of anything.

I'm anybody who says, ah, they quit, anybody who says, that was a lack of effort by that team.

I always say, what on the field, beyond the final score, what on the field did you see?

What player on the field did you see quitting?

Now, when Jimmy Butler was almost leaving the heat, there were analytics that showed Jimmy Buffett.

I don't find an example of like, you know, a corner just giving up and not even attempting to make a tackle.

Or, no, no, I don't, I don't think we're at that part of the season where guys know that it's done and they're just, they're just, you know,

you hear this all the time where guys in the locker room will tell you, like, yeah, no one was even trying because they don't want to get hurt.

This guy, this one's in a contract year.

He's not willing to take a risk.

Hello.

No, it's okay.

Did they offer you something?

What was that?

Let's go.

Cup of coffee?

Because I missed a rubber.

I mean, what did you have for Diana?

Well, it just seems to me that the Dolphins.

Dolphins Time.

Wow.

Yeah, about five minutes past on Dolphins Time.

That is time on the Dolphins.

I want to go back and watch the game.

Time.

Time.

One more.

Time.

Called it.

Diana.

That's time that I think.

Because now I want to give better examples.

Time.

Diana, trust me.

I had a great question, but it's time.

So we got to go on something that's different.

So you missed.

What is the time thing?

We're only talking about

it.

Time.

Time said we can.

Tap it out.

No more dolphins.

Yeah.

They're a pathetic joke of a franchise.

This is echoing in the lobby of the Omni.

See, I don't have headphones on.

No.

I forgot to bring them.

So now I'm going to go.

Okay, well, okay, I'll whisper the question.

See how many ever done it?

Diana, Diana.

Danny,

you mentioned that the owners will come downstairs for refreshments, and that's when you'll sidle up.

Is that Lewis Riddick?

How do you sidle up?

What's your opening line to gain the confidences of an owner?

Okay, actually, I need your opinion about something.

So,

because I only see the owners three times a year, roughly, I always think the most professional approach is always to reintroduce myself, right?

No matter what.

Even the ones that I've known for years to just, hey, how are you?

Just Diana Rossini.

Yeah, they're old.

Just familiarity and also to remind them that I'm not just a fan or a person that works for the league.

So they're aware that they are talking to a journalist and that what we talk about is probably going to be written about, or I'm going to talk about it.

But I've noticed a little trend yesterday when I was doing this where I think they get offended that I introduce myself as if I'm underestimating their recall.

So then I got a lot of like, yeah, I know.

And I'm like, wait, I was just doing that because I know you meet a lot of people.

You're very important.

My face is very boring and bland.

And, you know, I look like six different people in the lobby right now.

Diana, the problem is it comes off as fake humility.

Like, oh, you know, it doesn't.

She's trying to be courteous.

I know what she's trying to do.

I see what you're saying.

I know what

Diana Rossini, but I know you know who I am.

Like that.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Like, kind of like, hey,

my brain.

My brain does not go that way.

I want to.

I should probably be a a little bit.

What a great self-assessment from you.

Wow, I'd like to be arrogant, but I'm not.

I can't.

I can't.

Not even self-as arrogant.

I can't even try fake humility.

No, it's just humility.

Aspiring vigor.

I don't know what I want to be, but I can tell you this version doesn't work.

So, no, it's a good question.

Look.

I watch these TikTok videos about how to improve small talk

because the

they say they, the professionals at small talk, say the worst thing you could do in a conversation is to go hey dan how are you worse subconsciously your brain shuts down and you're now no longer interested but if i make an observation about you physically or i'm aware of something you're working hey dan uh you know how's that project going or you know let's just say i'm trying to think of a owner who i start like i showed i saw um charlotte jones who is lovely to talk to and i hadn't seen her in a while and i went right up to her and said hey charlotte diane she's Oh, how are you?

She did it.

I just went back.

Has life since Micah?

I just went right into it.

Nice.

Oh, you know, so you're also in the awkward position, though, of meeting all of these people.

And it's so transactional, you need something.

They don't, right?

And so that makes the whole thing awkward.

Yes,

but I enjoy this event more than most

because owners don't care, right?

Coaches lie,

players lie.

The owner, I'm sure the owners lie too, but they just say, I talked to Woody Johnson yesterday.

Did you see what he said?

Yeah, you were there.

I didn't even ask him about Justin Fields.

He just said,

like, he's like,

can't complete a pass, you know?

Like,

who wants to hear what I have to say about Justin Fields?

The whole time I'm sitting there listening to him, I'm thinking, he's not wrong.

Like, is it good for the locker room and for the Jets players to hear their owner basically say that their quarterback stinks?

No.

But he's thinking what every other Jet fan is thinking and saying it.

So, so yeah, Dan, I'm with you.

Like, it definitely feels a little transactional, and they know I'm only talking to them because I want to hear about the state of their team.

But there's owners like

Carly Ursay, who is not someone I would have been chasing down a few years ago, whereas their team's doing well.

So they want to stop.

The Teppers, right?

Like, usually they're sprinting down the hallway.

Today Today they stopped, right?

Because their team's at above 500 for the first time since 2019.

Their season's over.

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Don Lebatard.

I want to address Tony and all men who would wear that shirt in public.

Stugats.

Don't do it.

This is the Don Lebatar Show with the Stugats.

Diana, Diana, this is a compliment.

I believe your teeth to be real.

But the teeth whitening routine, what does it look like here?

Is this a contrast with the tan?

What are we doing?

Wait, the teeth, mine?

Yeah, your teeth are very white.

Hey, look good.

It's so funny too, because I drink so much coffee and I don't do the straw thing.

All the girls do the straw thing so you don't get the stain.

Yeah, but what are we doing?

Whitening strips?

No, Ken bought this charcoal.

Like, it's like a black toothpaste.

And we've been using that, which is weird, right?

Like, why are my teeth whiter if I'm brushing them with a black?

Did you get it on IG?

Because I got the purple one for my IG.

No, the purple one's bad.

Purple one's bad is bad.

Purple one's bad.

Why?

Purple.

Buddy, it removes yellow.

I got the powder that I put on top of the toothpaste.

You guys got that one?

It's like a powder that you sprinkle on top of the toothpaste and then you brush it.

Let me see your grill.

It's the grill.

I think you need to do the chip.

The reason why the lighting looks this way is because I saw my former camera crew from ESPN.

We call him Jimmy the Greek, and he's like a legend at ESPN.

And he always, his job basically, like he knows nothing about football.

Like I could call Jimmy over here and be like, Jimmy, name one quarterback.

and he'd be like, No way.

He thinks his job is to just make sure that you're lit.

So, that's so.

He helped me out.

So, an old, an old colleague, uh, giving us some help.

I told him I was coming on here.

So, he's like, Oh, absolutely.

He loves you guys.

Powder on the toothbrush.

Just put it on your finger and do this.

Put a powder on the

I've never heard of that.

It's cocaine.

I'm just really excited about dental hygiene.

I don't understand what you guys got.

Let's speed her up too while we're at it.

Let's speed her up with the music that will get through as much

football information as we can.

The Russell Wilson-Sean Payton beef, where Sean Payton was hoping that Russell Wilson would stay the Giants quarterback, said so publicly, didn't want to see Jackson dart, and Russell Wilson called him classless and not surprising, and then said, hashtag, let's ride.

Let's ride.

I love it.

How mad did he have to be for him to come at a character and be a human being?

What a great, I am not a big clatback person.

Like, just ignore it.

Good for us.

Well, hit him with with a bounty, though, too.

A bounty joke.

How did you feel about that bounty joke in the middle of that?

Sean Payton's going to come back.

There's no doubt.

He'll find a way.

I'm surprised Sean didn't hop on Twitter.

He's a Twitter.

He's got Twitter fingers.

This is the first public dub for Russell Wilson in a long time.

Like, I feel like everyone is just kind of on his side here.

It is, truthfully, though, it is kind of a known thing in the league that there are some coaches that have worked with Russell Wilson and Sean Payton is certainly one of them who just did not like the experience at all.

And a lot of it is for the reasons why we criticize him as a show and as a journalist.

So just sometimes I just think that the authentic version of him is the best.

And I think it's really hard sometimes for him to be that all the time, which is why we're all like, all right, Russ, like it's okay to show that like you're not happy with, you know, a head coach disrespecting you.

Stand up for yourself a little.

You mentioned the Ursays, the Colts, that whole thing is real, right?

I don't think anyone expects that to beat Kansas City, but you better stop underestimating that.

Yeah, I'm past doing that.

I was kind of like, okay, this kid's turning back into a pumpkin soon.

It's going to happen.

It's going to happen.

It's Daniel Jones.

I've watched enough Giants football in my life.

But even just talking to Carly Ursa about why they went with Daniel Jones and just even his demeanor, so funny to hear how she describes.

She's like, he's not like say a lot.

He doesn't do a lot.

He just goes out there and plays and he's tough.

And that's all that matters.

But I think with their defense and perhaps maybe some additions they make of the trade deadline, if they do that, they're looking at corner and they've got this offense humming, right?

You could make an argument.

They potentially have a coach of the year in Shane Seichen.

They've got an offensive player of the year in Jonathan Taylor.

They've got a comeback player of the year in Danielle Jones, right?

You've got a lot of good things happening in ADD.

You don't say that a lot.

Would you be surprised if the Patriots won the AFC East?

No, no.

If you told me this in August, I was like, no way, they stayed.

They have been really impressive.

I think Josh McDaniels has done an exceptional job with Drake May.

I think Drake has always been talented.

You talk to anyone in football that was looking for a quarterback in that draft.

They're all, everyone was high on Drake, despite some of the things out there.

I think there's some reports that some teams didn't like.

Every team liked Drake May.

I just think the fact that the Patriots have been able, that Josh McDennis has been able to replicate some of the success that we saw early with Tom Brady already.

And I'm not there yet being like, oh, this is the Brady Patriots yet.

But, you know, this is a team that's doing it right.

They've got the right head coach.

They've got the right OC.

they've got the quarterback.

All good things for them.

Here's what May's doing, though.

It's not just the 21 of 23 that was better than any completion percentage Brady had.

It's not just throwing the ball downfield better than any second-year passer ever has.

They had a spy on him in Tennessee, and he's still running all over the place.

He ran for 90 yards last year against Tennessee.

That guy, like, if people think that's a pocket passer, he's got great pocket presence, but he runs like crazy.

Like, he will, he'll run bigger and better than Mahomes will.

Yeah.

Um, Chase Daniel, my colleague on, uh, excuse me, my co-host on Scoop City, he, he's like, he reminds me of Philip Rivers a little.

He's got a little Philip Rivers in him.

Uh, personality, no.

Personality is like a little Eli.

He reminds me of Eli Manning.

By the way, next time Drake May does an interview post-game, close your eyes and tell me you don't hear Eli.

Like, it's like identical to me in my ear.

But in terms of play, yeah.

And

the toughness and, you know, when I think about the type of quarterback that I know Vragel wants, one thing he loved about Tannehill, I know you guys are going to debate me on this,

was his toughness in Texas.

That was the one thing they loved.

Well, he was tough.

Nobody would debate that here.

He was tough.

He was very

proven

that.

And, you know, I saw Robert Kraft yesterday, and

he's glowing.

Diana, do you think the Patriots are going to be a buyer at the deadline?

I feel like if they had like one alpha wide receiver, they'd be a team that could be a winner in the AFC.

jul a j brown

no

billy's not joking waddle

not now we'll see um

no i i i think defense i think if they're gonna make a move you gotta speed it up gotta speed it up

i'm kidding it's a tough question dan she's trying to think dan no thinking i'm i'm you know what i'm doing i'm going through my text messages in my head of like what was the last thing i was told about what the pass are doing um no it's the patriots are making calls on defense.

I don't get the sense they're going running back, going receiver, but but I'm with you.

Like, I could like that would be awesome.

Like, they're not doing it, but let's say the same sort of move, like Chris Olave or something, but they're trying to work out with him.

Diana, our very own Mike Ryan, reported yesterday exclusively that Marcus Freeman, although he's a target for Penn State in Florida, he's rather, if he's gonna leave Northern Dam, it'll be for the pros.

Have you heard anything in the pros about interest for Marcus Freeman?

That would be his preference.

Uh, the Chicago job last year was a particular interest.

Yeah, that I remember working on that story.

And at the time, I can tell you, everyone was saying the same thing to me, which is Marcus wants to be where he is.

Like, he loves where he is.

That's not my question.

My question was: is there any interest in the pros for Marcus Freeman?

I don't know yet.

At this point, I'm not sure if the Titans are a team that would want to go in that direction or if even the Miami Dolphins.

The name I am keeping an eye on is Sarkeesian.

Curious to see if he wants to do that move.

That's something that would interest him, perhaps.

Just you made me think college.

So, so no, I will get back to you on the Marcus Freeman thing.

That's not it.

I know the bear, there was somebody in a very high-ranking position with the Bears that really wanted Marcus last year.

But Marcus Sal didn't want them at the time.

Diana, if the Dolphins are offered blank for Jalen Waddell, they should consider it.

Like in terms of like

trade value?

Yeah.

Fourth round.

Diana, Super Bowl odds are really indecisive right now.

The perception is there's no super team.

What right now is your Super Bowl matchup?

Kansas City Chiefs.

They've been the most chill organization all fall.

I can't get a person there to tell me that things are not good.

Everything is, and this isn't like positive poly stuff too that sometimes you get from teams.

Like, they're like, we're going

and and from the nfc and and we see it every uh the detroit lines detroit lines are

they're building on this i i good why is your reporting so much different than everyone else's on bill belichick when you said on nick wright's show uh they tell me this is the happiest they've seen bill in years he feels like the students are actually buying into what he's doing

Because I did a lot of digging on it and I talked more directly to the people involved to find out what's going on.

Like, Like, what do you guys want?

What are you, are you happy?

Are is this where you want to be?

And, and, you know, the people there tell me that that is what it is.

And,

you know, Belichick's camp will tell you that you have to be around it to understand it.

And I had a colleague of mine around it on Friday night when they played Cal.

And there is definitely a little bit of that.

Like, it's not as bad as it may seem.

Do I think it's good?

No, I don't think it's good.

But I do think there's a lot of people in the NFL, in the college base, on this planet who want to see Bill Belichick fail.

And everyone has their own reasons.

It's not my job to figure what those are out.

I am just telling you that there's always two sides to things.

And it's not just Bill is trying to get out or Bill is miserable and Bill's a bad coach.

There are some good things that are happening there and he wants to be there.

She's the senior NFL insider for the athletic, the host of the Scoop City podcast.

She's joining us from a sad side side adjacent hotel lobby.

And she will do anything for our show.

Thank you, Diana.

We appreciate it.

An echoing lobby where the strangers looked at how she was shouting because she forgot her headphones.

We will get to the useless sound montage in a second.

When she mentioned Chris Olave, I meant to mention this, I think it was two weeks ago.

He had some play where I did not understand how he caught it.

I did not understand how he stayed upright after he caught it.

And as soon as he did both of those things, someone came over and just punched the ball cleanly out of his hands, even though he had made a great athletic play.

Just somebody wound up and just punched the football directly.

You saw the league.

They're sending memos.

You better not punch the ball fine, but don't go punching players.

Nobody said anything about punching players.

They're going after the ball.

You miss, you punch a player.

You with this terrible tip.

You can't just punch a player.

It's after the Lions Chiefs game in which there was actual punches thrown.

I think you're misinterpreting that.

I'm not not misinterpreting anything.

You can't just throw haymakers at the guy who's carrying the football.

You can hit the ball.

Yeah, you can.

What if I miss it?

Yo, well,

you're going to tackle him anyway.

What's the matter?

Kyron Williams got punched in the face a couple weeks ago.

Cost him the game.

Stop punching people.

Stop boxing.

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Don Lebatard.

He, for some reason, would do a Gary Stevens impersonation of the offensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins and the University of Miami.

Go ahead.

Do you want to do that for the people?

Your Gary Stevens impersonation?

You want to give people some of that?

30 years in the making.

Stugats.

What?

Who needs me?

Oh, that.

What?

You got my whole life.

You're going to go to Buffalo and win with Bernie Pomaly.

Who needs me?

This is the Dal Abatar Show with the Stugats.

Get the useless sound montage here.

Get it going so that we could laugh together at how uselessly people analyze the football games on Sunday.

Everything we said we didn't want to do did occur.

I think he did everything to lose the game.

We just have to do what we have to do to go win these games.

Thank you, Lord, for putting me in that position and choosing me to be the quarterback of this team.

We're going to be so excited anytime we win a game.

Guys want to do good every time they're out there, right?

Tip your hats to New York.

Those guys that found a new juice.

We lost a game.

That was upsetting.

We came in to play to win the game.

He was cool as a cucumber and went out there and did his job.

When you win, you can usually coach a little bit harder.

You guys took the foot off the gas at all when you had this 19-point lead.

No.

Take it one game at a time.

We celebrate the wins, celebrate the heck out of it just now.

And the resilience of this group, the focus, the toughness to finish when we needed it, guys making plays.

I mean, I am who I am and I don't change.

We're going to find out who and what we're made of.

It's important we don't let the euphoria of a win like that cloud the things that need to get cleaned up tomorrow.

Great fight, grit by our guys.

There's some grit there.

They didn't quit.

Yeah, we won't be defined by this performance, but it certainly was disappointing tonight.

They're figuring out how to win.

They're figuring out how to practice.

You win a game like that, it's like the best thing ever.

My first time you sort of win in a game like that.

I thought the guys did a great job of being able to sleep on the plane.

Two formulas that generally will equal immediate loss.

I mean if you can sleep it.

The only thing we can do is go back to work.

Yeah, 60-minute game.

So just like everybody else in that in there, you know, we got to look inward first.

If you're saying it's not me, it's you.

Me and the boys are over there.

I see one of them kind of counting.

I'm like, you know what?

It's probably best we don't do that because a lot of numbers, you're going to have to count.

But it was funny.

We were talking this week about, I was like, it's your revenge week this week because he was in Atlanta.

and then sure enough He's like on like whatever early in the game He's like all right.

Here we go And I was like revenge week.

Here's what gives me hope as I go through these weeks is man just exactly how they come out on Wednesday in practice and then how they come out on Thursday and practice same with on Friday when tomorrow comes and it's not tomorrow yet plans are plans man.

Our philosophy is always gonna be do whatever we gotta do to win games every single time.

We just gotta stick together.

Doing right longer and that's that's our definition of finishing.

We're always truth tellers on Monday.

It was good.

He definitely owes me some money.

He uh fell down on those passes at like the two-yard line, so he wanted to run them in.

You know, we talk about practice, performance, equal in game reality.

I thought that came to life today.

We say we want to win games, so we have to do the things necessary to win games.

Yeah, no, I definitely, I got your question, and you weren't wrong, so

I hope we can still be friends.

But we have an NFL opponent and game next week.

Just trying to maneuver everything and trying to build a collection of guys to kind of bring along with me.

And I got to be able to kind of be able to multitask, if that makes sense, be able to do that.

And while doing that, kind of

continue to get

whatever it was last year and the years prior for myself to get going again.

If I'm being totally honest, I have not been myself since confusing Ray Bork and Boston Globe columnist Ron Borges.

But McVay brought me back by complimenting the way his guys were sleeping on the plane.

Yes.

Those guys slept on the plane on the way to the Jacksonville game.

They did a great job

of sleeping on the plane.

It's not the easiest thing to do.

You remember when Chip Kelly was going to change the Philadelphia Eagles because he bought them smoothies and heart monitors and he was going to monitor their sleep?

Sean McVay made sure that his Rams slept correctly.

Yep.

Nobody sleeps like the Rams.

I thought the guys did a great job of being able to sleep on the plane.

Do you think he walked up and down the aisle?

It's like, nice.

They look so good.

Who's awake over here?

That's good sleep.

That's a good sit right there.

That's good sleep.

Who's good?

Last night,

Amin was made nostalgic.

I wonder how old he felt when all of the players playing in the games were interviewed about their memories about the NBA on NBC, and none of them knew anything and laughed in the face of the interviewers, except for Anthony Edwards, who simply said, Michael Jordan.

That's what I remember from NBA on NBC.

They bring Michael Jordan out.

I seem like I'm the only one that was disappointed by Insights into Excellence just being a one-hour interview with Michael Jordan.

Well, what were you expecting?

I was expecting something a little more like Tom Brady if you're going to give him some that kind of money.

Like, I'm not saying you got to go to production meetings, but you're not going to just do a taped one-hour interview that you're going to splice out over the remainder of the season.

Zaz, Dan was expecting Michael Jordan to let us know that Tari Eason needs to step it up.

And also Kaysen Wallace has been a great piece of energy for the Thunder.

They had Carmelo and McGrady to do that.

Are you comparing Carmelo and McGrady to the greatest player in the history of the game?

The man who's middle, I will attend.

Did you guys see their tech issues at the start?

I'm not going to lie.

That made me feel good.

Ah, not so easy, is it?

I like to see when big programs...

Carmelo.

Tech issues.

Carmelo, can you put on a shirt and tie?

Oh, what are you doing?

Carmelo.

Enough with you.

This isn't a podcast.

Look at your eyes.

It's NBA and NBC.

We have a backwards flex fit.

That's right.

Flex Fit.

You know what?

I'm positive.

That is the second consecutive day.

Black brought me up.

A runner-up Heat Championship shirt.

Okay, first of all, I have a lot of positive feelings about the Miami Heat's 2020 run to the NBA Finals.

I know they didn't win.

Back-to-back days.

And I have the opposite

shirt and a backwards

flex fit.

I'm glad you brought this up because I was on the Miami Heat radio, not even television, radio broadcast for 12 years.

He was wearing a suit.

I wore a suit.

That's not true.

Look at me.

Look at me.

This is how I want to dress.

You think I wanted to wear a suit every day, but I wasn't here on TV, but I dress, I dress for the occasion.

Carmelo, it's not a podcast.

Put on a suit.

Everyone in there has a colored shirt.

Two-time champion broadcaster.

Dan, a lot of people were praising Carmelo for dressing in a way that offended Jonathan Zazzlo, apparently.

And to all those people, I'd like to say, you're welcome.

Let's

give credit where credit's due.

Pay tribute to the Trailblazers, the icons, the people people who blazed the path That's right to allow Carmelo Anthony to wear that on an NBA broadcast

Who are those people?

You're looking at them

Okay, you're taking credit for t-shirt pioneering not t-shirt Explain yourself a mean not t-shirt when I got there They were all dressed like they were going to a funeral hard bottoms and suits and ties and we were talking about sports seriously and I came in with the bomber jackets and the Jordans on and next thing you know everyone started wearing sneakers with their suits and then they became oh we don't have to wear a suit And now everyone's like, oh my God, look at Carl Millantha.

He's so cool.

I'm like, I did that 10 years ago.

And you guys called me crazy.

You can't be taking credit for this for taking.

Dan, he's a trailblazer.

You're talking to a trailblazer of television, Dan?

Pioneer.

You took the blazer out of Trailbreaks when you brought the sports and sports coat.

Pioneer.

I mean, even Michael Jordan dressed up for the occasion.

And he didn't even leave his living room.

I did like those shoes.

Those shoes were like Vanta white.

You think when he saw Tarico had white shoes, he's like, no.

I've got whiter shoes.

He went back into his closet and got some shoes to one-up him.

By the way, how great was that story?

Oh, dude, the story while he's wearing shoes wider than Roussini's teeth.

But yeah, Dan, did you hear the story?

Now, you're familiar with the meme, the Michael Jordan meme, F Those Kids?

Yes.

Okay.

Well, apparently it's a lie.

Because he cares about it.

He stays at a Ryder Cup owner's house, whatever that means.

The guy who owns the Ryder Cup is what he said.

And you say the greatest basketball player ever, and you're right, but the greatest basketball player ever still gets trotted out like a show pony to shoot free throws when you own the Ryder Cup.

He doesn't own the Ryder Cup.

It was

okay.

The best part is that he asked him, have you picked up a basketball?

He goes, not in years.

And he has one follow-up.

Really?

Actually, last month I shot a free throw.

You said not years.

And then 10 seconds later, you're like, actually, last week I shot a free throw.

Chris, you know what I just heard from you right there?

Mike Torico, journalist.

Most podcast hosts are like, okay, let's move right along.

Not Mike Torico.

Stayed in it, hit him with the follow-up, right?

Hold him accountable.

Michael Jordan comes back and says, you got me, Mike.

Tells the story.

And then, like, oh, he's got, if you didn't watch, Michael Jordan goes, Let's hear it.

Let's do it right now.

We have the sound.

We have the sound.

Okay.

I haven't picked up a ball in years.

No, come on.

Just like walk past.

There's got to be a hoop somewhere at your place.

You don't see a hoop anywhere around here, eh?

I don't.

Seriously, it's the last time you picked up a basketball and shot it.

I was at the Write-A-Cup a month ago and I rented a house from

the owner.

Sure.

He came over to do pictures.

He had grandkids

and I was meet and greet and thank him for allowing me to stay in the house and he had a basketball court.

He says, I want you to shoot one free throw.

I said, really?

I already paid for the, I already paid for the house.

I like that you got to see me.

So when I stepped up to shoot the free throw, that's the most nervous I've been in years.

Stop it.

In years.

Stop it.

Come on.

And the reason being is those kids heard the stories from the parents about what I did

30 years ago.

Right.

So their expectation is 30 years prior, and I haven't touched the basketball.

I hope you switched it.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Are you supposed to believe that he rented that house?

Come on.

Wasn't that funny, Tarico?

What?

Why would you?

Why wouldn't he have rented the house?

If you have a chance to have Michael Jordan staying in Europe, you don't charge him?

Is he low on money?

That's who I would charge the most.

Of course, you don't charge him.

He's staying there, Gratis.

Greg's right, though.

That's the thing.

The richer you are, the more famous you are, the more free stuff you get, Dan.

Right?

Yes.

I'll give it to you free if you give me a free throw.

If you go out here and shoot a free throw for me,

my kids are there.

What do you think they're there for?

Come on.

Dan, I googled who owns the Writer Cup.

It is co-owned.

50-50 partnership between between the PGA of America and Writer Cup Europe.

Okay, thank you for that.

So they don't own the house he was renting.

The PGA asked him to make a free throw.

You thought a guy, like one guy, owned the Ryder Cup?

I thought

I thought Michael Jordan lived in such a stratosphere that one guy owned the Writer Cup and was.

He was Writer Cup, like Cooper Cup, like Ryder Cup.

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