The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 2: No Coffee No Workee

Episode Date: January 11, 2024

Bruce Feldman joins the show to discuss Nick Saban's retirement, the coaches he spoke to just before announcing he was stepping away, his legacy, and who might replace him at Alabama. Then, Mina Kimes... is here! She talks Bill Belichick and potential landing spots, Aaron Rodgers, and presents the crew with a gift. Plus, Mina previews upset cases in the NFL Playoffs in 15 seconds or less, shares her thoughts on Pete Carroll's retirement, and Jeremy issues an apology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to Giraffe King's Network. This is the Dunlabel Tarshall with the Stugat Spatcast. And I have not seen him in a long time. Bruce Feldman, as I remember, at ESPN, the magazine, was the king of ab work and core work, just ripped in terms of abdominal strength. He's the National College Football Insider for the Athletic and a sideline reporter for Fox Sports. So we will get his expertise here on Nick Sabin. It's good seeing you again, Bruce. Thank you for making the time for us.
Starting point is 00:00:46 Good to see you, Dan. That's a long time since those days of extensive core work. So, but I'm glad I'm remembered for something as positive as that. What was the core work? You want to go through it as you join us from heaven? Uh, yeah. I, it was just a lot of stuff where it felt like I'd wake up every morning and do a ton of, ton of core and a ton of abs where it felt like I'd wake up every morning and do a ton of corn, a ton of abs and everything else and realize there's probably more to life than abs. Yeah, there's college football.
Starting point is 00:01:12 That's the only other thing. And everyone here is super titillated by what's happened here with Nick Saven. So were you surprised by this? Was Alabama? How surprised was Alabama? You know, the timing was a little strange because this had been, you know, there'd been little rumblings about it, you know, here and there for time to time. And then yesterday morning, I was leaving the TV studio and I got a text from somebody going, heads up, I heard
Starting point is 00:01:37 Sabin might be retiring tonight. And I was like, whoa. And then I texted somebody else and they're like, yeah, there's some something out there, but they didn't know there was going to be tonight. You started making calls and then, you know, as you know, you don't want to be wrong on that story and was not able to get it until Chris Lowe was actually able to confirm it. And everything I had heard from people that I had tried to confirm it with earlier in the day was it wouldn't surprise me. And this is the kind of thing where they were like, I hadn't heard that yet, but then you started hearing more details about how, because there was bad weather around the country,
Starting point is 00:02:15 especially trying to get their players back to Tuscaloosa, that they were supposed to have a team meeting the day before. So this would have been on Wednesday, not yesterday, or on Tuesday, not yesterday, I guess. And so that didn't happen. And then it got pushed back. But he was talking to coaches about prospective jobs that he had to fill on his staff. So it was kind of crazy the way that played out the way it did. You mentioned that, and it's been reported that he approached yesterday like any work day he interviewed a coaching candidate and then five minutes later broke the news to his
Starting point is 00:02:52 team. I need to know the candidate that made Nick Sabin quit football all together. Supposed to be there were three actually that I know that he had talked to two or receivers coaches. One was a special teams coach. And I, you know, it's crazy because one of the, one of the guys said, it's weird. I'll be always be able to say that I spoke to Nick Sabin on his last day of work. But explain this to me, Bruce, that's super weird. Like, what are you doing?
Starting point is 00:03:18 It is. Like, how do you not know you're retiring later that day? Like, what is that? That's the part I really don't understand because one of the people I talked to about this, it was another coach who's close to Sabin. He said, you really kind of putting these guys out there and exposing them in a really awkward spot because as you know, when people interview for jobs, especially when they don't get them, when they're working for somebody else, they don't love it that it came out that they were sniffing around now one of the guys I talked to was one of those three was like yeah one of his his offensive coordinator had reached out to me we had a conversation he kind of downplayed it to the point like it wasn't like he was really interviewing for the job but what is he gonna say at this point
Starting point is 00:04:00 can you please explain to me what is happening with the analysis of Nick Sabin when we have a consensus that he is the best ever. And I don't know who you would put second or where you would put the distance between first and second. Who is the second best college football coach of all time? I don't know. Maybe it's bear Bryant. There's such a gap. And I think part of it, Dan, is because the sport is wired way differently now than it was in the days of bear Bryant, Joe paterno. You can go down the list of guys who, whether it's Tom Osborne, there's just a lot of other hurdles that you have to overcome.
Starting point is 00:04:45 First of all, now, you know, back 50 years ago, you could basically collect top recruits and have like 200 of them just to keep on your roster so somebody, your rival can't get them. Can't do that anymore. You're also dealing with another level of like entitlement and challenges that come with dealing with 18 and 19 year olds with social media and all these other headaches. Quite honestly, there are coaches, you know, I would say this and you know this era back in the 90s.
Starting point is 00:05:13 You know, Tom Osborne had stuff with Lawrence Phillips, especially where I think of one of those things where to happen in this day and age. The coach isn't able to keep the star player around or it may really come back on the coach. And so Nick Sabin was able to fly really close to the sun in a way that none of his peers have been able to do it. The other thing that I mentioned this today, one of the stories that I did at the athletic that got a ton of traction was a few years ago when it was known as like the Where's Dan
Starting point is 00:05:44 story. It was when Dan Enoes bailed out of being the offensive coordinator and Sabin couldn't find them. And it really the story got into how Sabin has this uncanny ability to keep replacing assistant coaches because if you go through the list of whoever has had a great run, it's usually a short run. And then when the staff changes or the dynamic changes, things start to fall apart. You know, even with Bobby Balden, he lost a bunch of really good assistants who ended up becoming head coaches. And then all of a sudden the balance changed. You know, obviously we know Miami, you know, it's up and down with who's there and who isn't there.
Starting point is 00:06:21 With Sabin, he was almost like placing guys who was like, yeah, that guy's a good coach, but I need to get him out of here. Let me get him hired someplace else. So it's not like, doesn't look like I'm firing him. I mean, it was just remarkable how he was able to balance it. And the other thing that I think speaks to, you know, his greatness was we did this three a few weeks back on what exactly went wrong with Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M. And one of the guys who worked for both him and Sabin had said, you know what, Jimbo didn't really want to hear from anybody else. He thought he had all the answers. Nick Sabin would talk to anybody because he was constantly trying to get better and constantly evolving and had this growth mindset
Starting point is 00:07:02 that is very different usually when people reach a certain level. So I think that's a credit to him and why he was able to stay ahead of everybody for so incredibly long. Do you have any insight as to why after this season, was there anything in particular that maybe swayed him? Do you think if there was any sort of different result in the postseason, maybe he'd have stuck around longer or do you think he just felt like it was time? I think he was a part of his age. It's also the college football calendar is so crazy right now. It's so manic in terms of how everything is crunched together.
Starting point is 00:07:34 You have the transfer portal, you have NIL. Those are newer things, but it's also, you know, used to be, you know, back and not that long ago, National Signing Day was the thing. It was an early February and then you moved on. Now it's just, it's an earlier signing period. Everything is crunched together. I think it's hard for him. I also think it was hard for a lot of people around him, you know, when I started calling
Starting point is 00:07:55 around to try to confirm this yesterday, something came to mind. I was at the Rose Bowl last week. And after the game, I was around the Michigan locker room waiting. And Sabin had just done his post game interview and he came from his press conference and he was in one of those little golf carts and he had to stop because there was a cluster of people in front of the Michigan locker room down the tunnel. And it was a little awkward and he kind of did this like pageant D wave and had this smile. And it was kind of like a almost like an awkward smile. And it was kind of like a almost like an
Starting point is 00:08:25 awkward smile. And it was not the expression. I was expecting like urban Meyer, you know, pizza box look where I was just totally defeated. And I was thinking back. I wondered, did Nick Saban know at that very moment, I've just coached my last football game and I'm moving off. Does he have any responsibility to have a succession plan and how is Alabama going to get rated now in terms of players leaving? I heard he's going to have some say so an input into what they do from here. And they'll have some good choices. But again, who's going to want to replace Nick Saban? The pool they're picking from, whether it's Steve Sarkisian who worked for him at Texas, Dan Laning who worked for him is now at Oregon, Mike Norvel at Florida State. A lot of those guys, they didn't, Steve Sarkisian replaced Tom Herman. You go to Alabama, you're going to replace
Starting point is 00:09:19 Nick Sabin. You're always going to be the known as the guy who replaced Nick Sabin. And I think if you think Ryan Day has a tough job because Urban Meyer went seven and O against Michigan. And even though he's like 60 and six all, you know, all time there and people on his head, imagine what it's going to be like if you're in Tuscaloosa. So I think that is a hard, hard deal for him going forward. And you know, it's like because of the way the portal is set up, there is a window now about a month where players can move around. That's why one of the reasons I was told the AD when he met with the players yesterday said, give me about 72 hours. So they're going to try to work really fast to have somebody in place. So their roster
Starting point is 00:10:01 and their commits do not do not start failing. I think a lot of people were expecting that Jim Harbaugh might be the name to announce he was leaving college football this week. Where does the save and news leave all of that mystery around the Michigan team? Yeah, it's definitely become a backburner thing. It was crazy, you know, obviously with, you know, first peak Carol, then save in a now bellicic. Those things have taken over. I mean, I still don't think Jim Harbaugh is coming back. I mean, especially now that he's won a national title. The one thing I've always heard from people who are close to Jim Harbaugh is that he really
Starting point is 00:10:34 longs to win a Super Bowl. He came close. His brother beat him. He restored his, his alma mater. He took down Michigan. I mean, took down Ohio State, you know, beat them three times dominated the nation. And Michigan and Michigan, perhaps Michigan as well as both of them took down somehow. Yeah, both of them ready and slip. Lucy, what were you laughing at in the middle of that? Tom Herman. Oh, just the general.
Starting point is 00:10:58 The general idea for placing Tom Herman that, uh, can you tell me as Nick Sabin, is he replaceable? Like, how does this one work? Because is that a good job? I mean, it's a great job in terms of the recruiting base, in terms of the resources. And the other thing I've heard this from people who've worked there is you have a direct shot to get whatever you want done. All these other
Starting point is 00:11:25 jobs, even if they're big jobs have some kind of bureaucracy, lack of alignment above. Nick Sabin has cleared that out. Now Nick Sabin probably never got told no, especially towards the end. If you go in there and you're not Nick Sabin, you may have a little more resistance in how things are, but I think that's going to be a big selling point, especially for the guys who have been there. And so, you know, on that point, it's a terrific job, but if you're Steve Sarkisian, you're at Texas, you just got them to the playoff. And you're still built to, you know, you got a lot of guys coming back. You've done some of the heavy lifting to get it out of the ditch.
Starting point is 00:12:02 I mean, I don't know if it's from this standpoint because money is, you know, whoever gets this job, you already have an insane amount of money that you're probably getting paid, or if you don't take it, you're probably going to, you know, the one thing I feel very confident about Jimmy Sexton is going to get a bunch of guys paid off of this in the next couple of days. I mean, that's that's Sabin's aging. He's also the agent of Kaelin DeBourre. He's tied with some of these other guys who who worked in Tuscaloosa. But just the idea of the shadow of Sabin. I mean, if you don't win a national title in like four years, are they going to be patient with you? It's a 12 team playoff making the playoff doesn't sound like such a great thing when it's 12 teams as it did when it was four.
Starting point is 00:12:43 I mean, this is a little like the LSU job, you know, Brian Kelly 110 games, first year of each saving. Yeah, that's great. But the last three guys who coached there all one national titles, Nick Sabin did it, Les Miles did it, Ed Ozeron did it. If you don't do it soon, they're going to run you out of there. And I think that absolutely holds true. If don't win big in Tuscaloosa pretty fast. Very quickly, because we're almost out of time. If I were hypothetically flight tracking, which airports should I look at around the country that may have flights incoming to Tuscaloosa? Those places are going to be very discreet, but I would say Dan landing at Oregon, you know, he's a G.A. under Nick Saban, coach under Kirby at Georgia,
Starting point is 00:13:24 he's got a massive buyout way bigger than it's been reported. We found out he's one. I think they have interest in I definitely think they have interest in C's, Sarkees, in a Texas. Maybe Mike Norvell, we know Florida State, you know, wants to leave, you know, it's own situation. Maybe Mike Norvell realizes that's a better situation for what I have here. I feel like Kalen DeBoer is a great coach. He just has no SEC ties. And I don't know how much that matters, but he has Jimmy Sexton now as an agent. And that could carry a lot of weight there. Deon.
Starting point is 00:13:52 I think Deon is a year away to be honest. If this had held hung on, you can't, I don't know if you can hire Deon after four and eight. Maybe if he goes, you can't, no, no, you can't hire him after four and eight. H Sarkeesian who was drinking on the job. Like drinking, like let's do that. That's the way to do it. A guy who was, who was drinking at work in the morning. I find no. Okay.
Starting point is 00:14:13 Good. But I think they're looking at him as the guy who just beat them in Tuscaloosa this year. That's all that really matter. No, no, it's out of the Boulder Executive Airport anyway. So, uh, Bruce, thank you for being on with us. We appreciate it, sir. Thank you guys Season's greetings everybody. It is Mike Ryan here to talk to you about Miller light But also here to talk to you about this festive season and how Miller time can make holiday time even better
Starting point is 00:14:36 I love this winter weather. It's great excuse to go outside and toast some wonderful memories with some friends Why don't you do that with an ice cold Miller light in your hand and in some parts of the country, you don't need a coosie. It just stays cold out there. How wonderful is that. Take a sip, my friends. Look around. Reflect on your year. You made a lot of good calls, and no call better than having this Miller light right now. A beer that is brewed for taste. You know it's triple hops brewed. They could have stopped brewing it twice with hops, but they didn't. They went that extra mile, and they brewed it with hops three times. The original light beer since 1975 and still the best one I'm talking about Miller Light, great taste, 96 calories.
Starting point is 00:15:13 Go to MillerLight.com slash stand to find delivery options near you or you can pick up some Miller Light pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Tastes like Miller Time, celebrate responsibly, Miller Brewing Company Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Don Lebertard. Just, you can't talk about double-digit national titles when every single call of you winning the national title. Sounds like this. Oh, there's a stepping checker running down this highlight.
Starting point is 00:15:36 It's a real, yeah. That's not true. Yeah. And there's a World War II veteran pitching into another white guy and he avoids another white guy. Oh my god Not a name the fighting Irish have done it again for the People got choppy checker Checker I'm sorry, man, I'm in bravin here
Starting point is 00:16:02 I'm sorry man. I'm in Provinear. It's a pretty cool rip. That's just a checker running down the side. He smells it differently. Maybe you didn't hear me correctly. His name is Tubby Chakas. Is an S at the end. I feel like that should be the largest of five.
Starting point is 00:16:18 And Chakas, it sounds like a college football name. This is the Dalle Batar show with the Stugats. The news is, how many of Fast and Furious? Never ever stops. I was on first take this morning and I always like being on first take on like breaking serious news days because you just never know what the debate is. Oh, not a little bit of who's who's greater saving a bellicic, yeah. Who is who is?
Starting point is 00:16:53 I said bellicic just because of how hard it is to succeed for that long in the modern NFL. Are we recording or are we just having? Yeah, we already started. They said, Blurz, it blurs the line. You never know around here. Are we recording? You know, having? Yeah, we already started. They said blur. It blurs the line. You never know around here. Are we recording? You know, it's we like the organic hello.
Starting point is 00:17:09 So what do you have back there that you're waving around Jessica? This is the present that Mina sent us for Christmas. We've got a present for the entire group. All right. Let's see. Is that right Mina? Who's it for specifically? It is for the entire group.
Starting point is 00:17:20 Yeah. You want to it's for the studio. All right. Let's go ahead and open it. Stand by. And while you're doing this, we will keep an eye's for the studio. All right, let's go ahead and open it. All right, I'll open it. Stand by. And while you're doing this, we will keep an eye on you.
Starting point is 00:17:28 And in the interim, Meena, I will ask you... Can I ask you a question that we debated earlier? Because Dan looked at me funny when I said that, personally, I felt that Washington is a better scenario than the Chargers. Even though they have a finished product at quarterback, they're picking number two, they have brand new ownership over there, lower expectations and a quarterback potentially on a cheaper contract. I think Washington's not a bad spot for Bill Bela check. Yeah, I think it kind of depends on in terms of those jobs, whether you want that total
Starting point is 00:17:59 blank slate and what your timeline is, because it's going to take a second in Washington, the defense was really bad this year. And for some reason, traded away both of their angadrushers instead of just one, want to sweat who's been awesome in Chicago and chase young. They do have the most cascabase in the NFL, you know, so there's stuff to rebuild with, but it might take time. As good as we think these top two quarterbacks are, you've seen many examples in the NFL recently of rookie quarterbacks are, you've seen many examples in the NFL recently of
Starting point is 00:18:25 rookie quarterbacks struggling at first. So again, like, you know, if I'm like a bellicick or I don't know, one of the younger coordinators who are being considered, there's a lot to like about that job, but it might take a second. And for ownership, I think you really need someone who you're going to hand over the keys because you're kind of starting from zero there. I will say the fact that they have a very good wide receiving core already puts them ahead someone who you're going to hand over the keys because you're kind of starting from zero there. I will say the fact that they have a very good wide receiving core already puts them ahead of where Carolina was, which is what came to mind.
Starting point is 00:18:51 I was thinking about a similar situation. We're going to do a little unboxing here, Mina. Okay. I'll do a little. But if you had to choose one from those two jobs, which one's better for Bella check? Just one word. Is it? I'd say the chargers.
Starting point is 00:19:04 Yeah, just because I think, you know, with the quarterback situation of our being resolved there. And I think he can fix the defense, even though they still have to add a lot of pieces. Defensively, he's been awesome. Since 2019, the Patriots defense first and points per game. There we go. No, you guys like it? No, worky. Yes, we love it. What a surprise. This is a great gift. Is it from your mom or is it from you?
Starting point is 00:19:30 It's from me, Jess, so you don't think it's crit. Jessica? Is Billy Gill here today because? Billy's not here today. Oh, no. Billy threw a couple people back here under the bus last week on Misbury Crate because he took the heat for that take, which was not really his. Billy threw a couple people back here under the bus last week on Miss Marie Kreme because he took the heat for that take, which was not really his.
Starting point is 00:19:48 I don't know who's taking it was. Probably. Also, nobody's owning it right now. Well, I thought you could put an extra, the, that fancy, I love a show machine you guys have. Mina, which is the best job for Bella check. Chargers are a different one. Like if you say, I believe he'll end up at blank.
Starting point is 00:20:05 I do like the chargers for him. I think he can fix that defense. There's still some talented players. They're in a really, like to Mike's point. They're in a really bad cap situation. They're going to have to let go of two of the big four, you know, both sides of the ball. But I think with Bella check, just given the lack of success, he's had over the last few years offensively with his hires and with the quarterback selection and then the players he's drafted, stepping into a team that of all of the openings clearly has the best quarterback situation makes a lot of sense. You mentioned sweat and I believe he led two teams in sack. Correct. That can not happen very often.
Starting point is 00:20:45 Which of the games this weekend is the one that's most interesting to you? Because I love Rams Lions. I believe one of those teams could absolutely get to the Super Bowl and one of them's going to have their season ended. Rams Lions is the one that I feel like I have the least feel for Dan. I think it's the hardest one to pick. More than Chief Stolfins in that weather. I think those are the hardest one to pick. More than chief stalfans in that weather. More than chief stalfans in that weather. Like that, that, that weather to me makes
Starting point is 00:21:10 chief stalfans impossible. No, it makes me lean chiefs. I mean, that and more so than the weather, there are all the injuries in Miami, which are just absolutely brutal at this point. With Rams Lions, like both of those offenses should be able to move the ball on both of these defenses. Both of these offenses match up well with these defenses. The Rams defense, not great at stopping the run, here come the Detroit Lions. The Lions defense allows the highest QBR in the NFL to quarterback, throwing to wide receivers. Well, the Rams have some wide receivers.
Starting point is 00:21:44 So for me, that one, it's hard to pick because of the sort of equality on that front. And also because both of these quarterbacks played very well this year, but occasionally we'll have the multi-interception game, the case of Stafford, as good as he's been. So if something like that were to happen, I think it would make this game hard to predict. And then there's all the juicy narratives going into it as well. We love talking football with you, but you're good at the societal stuff. So your, your viewpoint, most recently on Aaron Rogers as the first stopping place, the first stopping place of where he wanted to reveal more of himself to America when he was the state farm insurance man
Starting point is 00:22:21 was going to you to have a magazine story written about him. And then since then, everything has gone to shit. You know the cover of that story says, I think the title line is Aaron Rogers unmasked. It's from 20. Well, since then he did when I think at least one MVP. So it didn't all go to shit. I'm just saying from state farm and insurance agent to guy who wants to be seen by the public to now this is the way that he's seen. Yeah. I was thinking about this.
Starting point is 00:22:52 It feels like a million years ago Tuesday when he was talking because so many things have happened since then. But like when I was watching him, Dan, I was thinking about that question and I was thinking about I think a few weeks ago, you asked me what changed with him since he met him, and I sort of gave a throwaway answer part because I really hate pretending like I have unique insight into any athlete that I've spent like 24 hours with, you know, just because I did a story on him. So there's that.
Starting point is 00:23:20 But also I think I was like, yeah, you know, it seems like he spent a lot of time on the internet kind of waived it off. And I think that was a mistake on my part, or at least I regret it watching him, or regretted it watching him on Tuesday, because, you know, while him, I think it really drove home. What is that, Staker? Like what is the meaningful thing about the story that transplants sports, which is the sort of normalization of conspiracy theories. And I say that not to criticize Rogers character, whatever, but really just to kind of criticize the substance
Starting point is 00:23:57 of what he was saying to criticize the sources. He was throwing out. I mean, the names that he was bringing up, I don't know, Alex Barrett said, for example, the former journalist, so he said him his name. I don't know if you guys are familiar with him. He's a guy who's been consistently wrong, proven wrong about vaccines and their efficacy and their danger. He has been misleading in how he has used studies. I'm sure some of the same studies that Rodgers has read, the authors of those studies have refuted him. You could ask any credible scientist, Dr. Public Health expert,
Starting point is 00:24:27 and they would refute him. But when I was watching Rogers and he said his name, I wasn't surprised to hear it because the people who believe the things that I think Rogers now believes, they always cite the same people. It really is groups that kind of masquerading as independent thought. And it's not just on the fringes of society. I think, as evidenced by the fact, obviously, that one of our most famous
Starting point is 00:24:53 athletes is now believing some of these things. But I think a lot of us have people in our lives who have gone down similar, I know I do, rabbit holes, who are sort of tempted by the idea of feeling like they know something that the rest of us don't, who when they're met with skepticism or criticism as Rogers was, and I think this is at the heart of a lot of this, they doubled down. They're still having these debates while the rest of the world has moved on. And I feel like, you know, the fact that that's not just on the fringes is worth noting. And it's worth always checking those points when they're made and not just laughing them off the way we so often do because, you know, I understand that there's this inside baseball media aspects of
Starting point is 00:25:44 the story that are interesting to you and others and there's the rhetoric battle. But to me, like, well, nice, I was watching that. What I felt was at stake was none of that. It's this ongoing devaluation of facts and expertise. And that bothers me. And it bothered me that I didn't actually answer your question the first time you asked it, because I do think what he said was
Starting point is 00:26:06 emblematic of that. Sorry, that was like a monologue. That's okay, Mina. Aaron Rodgers has, he owns a lot of bad opinions. He also owns the Chicago Bears. Can you explain what the hell the bear strategy is and why they're keeping their head coach but firing their offensive coordinator and what they're going to do with Justin Fields, what are they doing, Mina? 50 seconds or less, Mina. They're keeping it because the defense really turned around and they did turn around. They were playing really good football at the end. However, I don't agree with the sit decision because whether you're seeing he would Justin Fields and going to your third offensive coordinator or you're drafting a guy, it restricts what
Starting point is 00:26:41 you can do offensively because you're not hiring an offensive coach. And also because of the candidates to our bailout, I mean, this is like an all time option or buffet of options, rather when comes to head coaching candidates. So to take with stick with Eber. Yeah, we lost it was fighting. The zoom was fighting. The zoom was fighting. He was trying to get there.
Starting point is 00:27:03 We've been getting hit. Well said. Yeah. Yeah. You froze on ebber flute. Yes. We'll come back with me. The kind of next Don Lebertard. I feel like we need to normalize saying the scientific terms for organs on the air. Like someone. Yes.
Starting point is 00:27:22 You know what? If someone takes a foul ball to the penis, we should just say he took a foul ball to the penis. Like, if someone, yes. You know what, if someone takes a foul ball to the penis, we should just say he took a foul ball to the penis. Say it. Stugats. That free kick hit him right in the cock a doodle do. This is the Don LeBathar show with this Tugats. ... ...
Starting point is 00:27:41 Are you ready to go, Mina? Yeah. As long as the internet seems good. Yeah. Okay, wild card football, baby. Yeah, all right. You're on, get psyched. All right.
Starting point is 00:27:52 These games. Okay, we're psyched. We are over there. We are going. We are psyched. So tell us why you're psyched, where you're psyched, how you're psyched. Tell us.
Starting point is 00:28:01 I think every single what? Okay, that's not true. Pittsburgh Buffalo is not good. But every single one of these games outside of Pittsburgh Buffalo is a good game. Every single one of these games, you can make a case for an upset start to finish. It is wall to wall bangers. If you asked me to make an upset, I think I could do it for every team.
Starting point is 00:28:22 Maybe not. I do it for Pittsburgh. I could make an upset case for Pittsburgh, Jess. All right, let's do this. 15 seconds at a time, make all the upset cases. We're going to give you only 15 seconds on each one. Oh, 15 on each. Not 15 on each. Are you ready to start? You seem pressurized right now. Go ahead and start. All right. All right. Let's. Are you going to queue up the, do you want me to queue myself up here? I want you to queue yourself up. Three. I'll keep it, I'll count down and then I'll give you 15 seconds and tell you where it's time. Three, two, one.
Starting point is 00:28:55 Okay. The Texans simply put CJ Stroud. He is the best quarterback on the field. He has stradded all kinds of defenses. He's been incredible under pressure. Obviously, the Browns defense is excellent. But if there was one young quarterback, I would trust to solve it. It would be CJ Stroud and Nico Collins. I don't think that, um, time splash. Oh, right. Sorry. Sorry. Yes. 15 seconds. Yes. I mean, Miami. Yeah. Um, here's the case for Miami. The cheese run defense is really bad. And it's a cold game. Yeah. They struggled and cold weather. But they still run the football really well. They run it really well to the outside, which is something that chiefs
Starting point is 00:29:25 has struggled to defend. I think Devon H&K could have a big day day if they commit to the run and come up with some creative solutions for what they have to do on defense. What's the next game? Buffalo. Buffalo Pittsburgh. Three, two, one. Aside from the, you know, maybe Josh Allen will go get the zoomies and turn the ball over, Pittsburgh is really good at running the football. They come out with multiple tight ends. They're ground in pound and the bill's defense does struggle a little bit to stop the run at times. Oh, gosh. Hey, man. You came in and look at her. She's getting better and she's proud of herself. Three. Do I have to give you the gamer? You got another game. Three. Packers. Two. We're on the packers. One. Okay. Everything I said about you just tried. You could
Starting point is 00:30:05 also play to Jordan love. I'll say this. The Cowboys defense while there are very good struggle to stop the run. Aaron Jones is back. Looks good. Got a lot of yards after contact last week. And I think that the Packers young group of skill players actually will be able to hunt matchups with Dallas. I think you were early there. I think you cheated there. Mike. I think I feel like you did three. With the maroon right now. Well, this is up to you actually three. Cleveland, Cleveland, all right. Eagles box.
Starting point is 00:30:31 He never prematurely splashes three, two, one. I've watched the Eagles lately. I don't really need to say anything else. That's it. Yeah. I mean, that's good. It's excellent analysis. I've got to admit it.
Starting point is 00:30:44 Skip the game. Didn't we? I did skip. Did you do the Browns? I mean, that's good. It's excellent analysis. I've got to admit it. Skip the game. Didn't we? Did you do the browns? I don't think you did. Did you do the, you did a metzer? The Texans are the under oh my bad. Oh, the lines, the Rams Alliance. Rams are underdogs. Yeah. Three, two, one. Jared Gough struggles under pressure. This Rans pass rush is actually heated up. It's not just Aaron Donald. The young players, Kobe Turner, Byron Young have been getting after the quarterback and the other side. Matthew Stafford at his peaks is playing as good as any quarterback in football. And as I said earlier, I don't think the lion's secondary is answers for those receivers.
Starting point is 00:31:15 Are there any more games? Did we miss it? That's it. That's it. That's the last. Okay. Thank you. Go ahead, Chris Cody. With the dolphins into what do you think about them this off season doing what the Rams did when they had Jared golf realizing we have a fine quarterback? Is there a court, what I'm asking the question is, is there a quarterback out there that the dolphins could make a move similar to what the Rams did to get Stafford? Like who is their Mac. Kurt Cousins, even though I think he's a free agent.
Starting point is 00:31:41 It's not Kurt Cousins. I mean, the thing with two unstaffered and golf is the analogy would be like, okay, Sean McVeigh wanted a quarterback who he didn't have to scheme up offense for, who could create on his own, who could whether it was, you know, an extended place or just the straight dropback game, which is where the Rams offense went when say acquired Matthew Stavrett, he would just get an empty and dissect defenses. Does Mike McDaniel want a quarterback like that as good as his offense has been with Thua? I think it really depends on who's available because there really aren't many quarterbacks who have Stafford ceiling who are capable of doing everything he did. No one comes to mind, but the thing is you
Starting point is 00:32:24 never know with the NFL somebody who gets surly and one out, I don't know. But when I look around the league, I don't see a similar option for Miami, certainly not one who presents an upgrade. It's definitely not Kurt Cousins, who was much more like to a then Stafford. Mike Grine was making the argument on behalf of Pete Carroll being the big retirement yesterday because we're underselling and under appreciating that he won titles in the pros and in college and just got engulfed by Sabin and Bella check.
Starting point is 00:32:51 You're a Seattle fan and I was shocked. I was shocked by him being let go. Were you? I was shocked and I can tell you a lot of people in the building were shocked as well because P. Carole wanted to stay. This wasn't a mutual parting of ways. He as recently as Monday or Tuesday was talking about how he still wanted to be the coach. I was shocked because, you know, Jody Allen is the owner now. She is mostly cited with Carol.
Starting point is 00:33:23 You remember the split with Russell Wilson, all the reporting around that choosing between Pete and Russ and John, who's their GM John Schneider. But I wasn't totally shocked when you sit back and you look at why this team has struggled and struggled as they've been to the playoffs. They went to the playoffs the year after Russell Wilson. but why they have fallen short, especially compared to the Rams and the Niners. And it felt like every year it was inevitable that those teams would beat them. It was because of the defense, which is P. Carel's side of the football. It's interesting, right?
Starting point is 00:33:56 Because with Belitex case, it was because of the offense, which is not his side of the football, but he aired in the player he picked and the coaches he brought in. Pete's side, the defense has been bad for like six years now. Ultimately, the defense is why they're not in the playoffs. I may have made fun of just as a stealers, but they will stand all over Seattle in a very humiliating loss. So I think when you look at it through that lens, you can understand why ownership thought, okay, well, we've given you six years to turn around this defense. We've given you trades, you trade for Jamal, you trade for Leonard Williams, you draft up and with a spoon, and it still looks bad. And so I think, you know, think about that
Starting point is 00:34:38 way. It makes sense. One of my favorite moments in Meena Kimes history and in show history was us going like twelve minutes beyond where the clock found acceptable when she was in a mall in Minnesota on a zipline giving a take waiting to get the payoff that ended up sounding the football take on a zipline ended up sounding like this to be made a dad's restaurant in the forest. And I like the dog is in the little exact the answer. I'm so happy to be able to find a new one. Ah! Ah!
Starting point is 00:35:09 Ah! Ah! Ah! He hides. Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Starting point is 00:35:17 Ah! He's still one of those. He hides. It is amazing that there's no video of this. There is not, but we are. Like a blurry screenshot. Juju, juju, juju. Juju had a great idea though.
Starting point is 00:35:29 Juju suggested that it's a Super Bowl because there's a zip line over downtown, you know, Fremont Street that we should have a mean of kinds, give a take, football, zip line challenge. The best take wins some sort of prize on a zip line. You were terrified there, correct? I, I, I'm afraid of two things. I feel like maybe I should reveal this on the internet. One is spiders and the other is heights. I hate, I get, why don't I have my free? Like someone's going to drop a spider on my front door. Oh, God, please don't do that. Nobody may owe me a spider. I do not like heights. I could be at like a rooftop party and you would find me dead center in the middle.
Starting point is 00:36:07 I will stay far away from the ledge. I hate looking down. I hated every second of that. I don't know why I agreed to do it. And I'm just glad it's not on video because I'm surprised I didn't pee my pants, honestly, because I was so afraid the whole time. I don't understand this fear of spiders. Just kill it.
Starting point is 00:36:23 No. Get it out. It's a primitive fear, Chris. It's such a little tiny thing. The way they move is upsetting. That's what it is. It's the multiple legs all moving at once. I just don't like that.
Starting point is 00:36:36 Do you want a documentary on the engineering for a spider web? You ever see these things work? You're always like, you ever wonder, how did you get the thing right over me? I'm sure that's a documentary you You would spend a lot of time. I'm sure. I'm sure.
Starting point is 00:36:47 I'm sure you would spend two hours on a documentary of that kind with that is the content. Jeremy, you wanted to offer Mina an apology because Billy did betray you. Billy publicly said, snitch, he said that you were the one who criticized, that you were the one who criticized Mina K, that you were the one who criticized Meena
Starting point is 00:37:05 Kymes. Let's, uh, let, give me a moment. Meena, first of all, we don't know each other that well. So I want to issue this apology because when we all saw, um, the sign behind you, you made fun of it. Just admit it, dude. We were all, Chad, no, we were all chatting back here. Um, and as one of the young people on the show, I would just like to issue an apology on behalf of Lucy for her totally making fun of you. Oh my God. Oh, that is not how that happened.
Starting point is 00:37:34 I don't know what you're talking about. Oh my God. So Jeremy said, that's a very millennial side. And I agreed. Okay, I'll say that. I did agree, and I'm sorry. But then I said, we should make Billy ask about it. That's exactly what happened.
Starting point is 00:37:47 And he did it and that's his own fault. He's not a person to me. How old is Jeremy? I'm 28, on the line. Aren't you a millennial? You're not a, you're a zoomer. You're a millennial. I'm in between, technically.
Starting point is 00:37:59 There's like that three-year gap where you can kind of claim one of the other, born in 1995. Anyway, this is room in the show. Jeremy, go sit, go sit in Kansas City and don't ever come back. Like just go sit. Yeah, you know what? I deserve it.
Starting point is 00:38:09 I'm out. I've been trying to tell you millennial. He said I ruined the show. He did put it on the pole. Please. I had Lebitar show. Did Jeremy ruin the show? What was your favorite story?
Starting point is 00:38:21 I mean, we got 20 seconds left. Just your favorite story from yesterday, all the sports shit that happened. 10 seconds. Oh my God. I mean, the peak bell, saving stuff, all dropping within the span of 24 hours. Like, I know I was just, I started this with like a long, very, a preaching monologue about conspiracy theories, but that's what, where my conspiracy theories would be. Like, do these all guys all together? Are they on a chat? Did they all just suck?

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