The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Big Suey: Decorative Lies

Episode Date: August 14, 2024

Dan, Stugotz, and Chris Cote were blown away from the conversation they had with Tua Tagovailoa at Dolphins camp yesterday and you'll hear that...sometime soon. Then, rewatching the best shows of all-...time, the potential of Ryan Tannehill returning to the Dolphins, and the Haason Reddick saga in New York. Plus, Pablo Torre is here to share his disdain for fake plants and explain how Charles Barkley can will his own market into existence. He also tells us the unbelievable story of massive corruption at the Paralympics with athletes faking maladies that he explored on Pablo Torre Finds Out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:01:17 you'll find out why our SUVs won more 2024 IIHS top safety picks than any other brand as of June, 2024. Find out what makes Mazda different at Mazda.ca. Welcome to the Big Sui presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show? The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan LeBattard podcast.
Starting point is 00:01:43 I'm sorry, I'm not gonna 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 fries 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. The two conversation, I want to under promise and
Starting point is 00:02:08 over deliver but I will simply tell you I haven't heard him that way before. Now it's not it's not that I have and it'll be either today or tomorrow that we end up getting that for you but I was a little bit surprised for a couple of reasons, and there's only one other time that this particular thing has happened to me with a professional athlete of any kind. When Edren James came out of college at the University of Miami, he was physically, obviously very much a man, but he didn't have very much personality coming out that he was willing to show people for, you know, wherever his distrusts lied. I was like, man, that's a super guarded person.
Starting point is 00:03:00 And then three years of NFL stuff happened to him and I met him and talked to him three years later and I was like, whoa, you have like really grown up. Whatever the intensity of the last three years have been, have been like really formative for you in a way that's substantive, that makes me go from thinking I was looking at a bit of a child coming out of college
Starting point is 00:03:23 to okay, three years of real world, i got money now and everyone's coming for me and i've got to compete against everyone to get better and i'm going to win the confidence that that's given you holy shit this is a different human being i'm talking to when to a came out of college before he was drafted on lincoln road there did like a corporate thing where i interviewed him for an hour in front of a bunch of people and dominique afterward pulled me aside and was like
Starting point is 00:03:50 your point eat their hand to work that was that was a crowbar that you had to use to get in there and try for an hour to get something out of to what i saw and heard yesterday was a different human being from that like the amount of confidence that that person has after whatever the fire of three years has been i was like holy shit he's not making me do any i don't have to do anything here he wants
Starting point is 00:04:16 to carry the conversation yes and he wants to say things i'm gonna guess a hundred sixty seven million guaranteed helps you with a lot of the confidence in all not only that but having a head coach who believes in you I think that's the big difference for two at least that's what I took away having a head coach that Absolutely wants you to be his quarterback because he thinks you're the best quarterback for his system It can be all of those things I'm not saying that having the money doesn't make you happier and give you more confidence happier Confident like when you're a rookie, you're like,
Starting point is 00:04:45 I don't wanna say anything that's gonna ruin it. And my career by just saying, because Dan is the guy who asks questions that makes people say dumb things and all that. But it's like $167 million and you give me Stu Gotts and Chris asking me to go ask away. Yeah. I mean, maybe that's part of it.
Starting point is 00:04:59 This was different. This was a different guy. I walked away, I told Dan and Chris, I want that guy to be my quarterback. I want him to leap me somewhere. You want anyone to be your quarter. Well, I have Aaron but I mean we're doing that thing of We're now we're overselling it So but I'm gonna keep doing it there were times in that interview where me Dan and Stu gots are kind of looking each other Like he's just going and we're like, this is holy crap. This is a two. I've never seen before. Mm-hmm
Starting point is 00:05:21 I mean took out Flores Spoiler alert. Spoiler alert. Not giving away. No, there's multiple answers there where I was just like, man, this is as interesting as I've ever heard him on this topic. We talk contracts tomorrow.
Starting point is 00:05:36 We're gonna air it tomorrow. Teaser. Yeah, you gotta do a better job. You can hear the whole tour interview tomorrow on the Dan LeBattard Show at 9 a.m. Eastern on Max, right, and on YouTube. You're asking a question? Like this is part of the problem.
Starting point is 00:05:54 It's the reason I don't promote anything that way, it's because I've always got a question, because I don't know when anything's gonna run about here. I don't know when anything's gonna be ready. Question mark. That's it, right. That's why I can't promote it differently than that. I'll wait around for it to be at some point aired.
Starting point is 00:06:10 I will just tell you that I was surprised by it. You can dictate that, man. You want it to air today, tell the people you want it to air today. Let's go. I also just imagine like watching NBC, watching a game, and then you see like LA Law on at some point this week, I don't know, stay tuned, check your local listings.
Starting point is 00:06:29 I was just told we can't do it today. Yes, Duganju, say dictate that. I'll be waiting to see if we got a gas bag in the week this week. I've asked for it 12 times and it comes in occasionally. Because you got Beetlejuice back there running the boards, just drinking head, man, salute. Call back.
Starting point is 00:06:45 I have a- That's a deep cut head man. Salute. Call back. I have a- That's a deep cut juju. I'm not gonna lie, I was like, who did he just call Beetlejuice? The thing that I was watching yesterday that I wanted to ask you guys about, because I haven't done this a lot in my life, where I re-binge watched something, because I liked it so much the first time.
Starting point is 00:07:09 I've done it only in my life with The Sopranos and now I am doing it in the middle of Succession and I think Succession is one of the best television shows of all time. But I also think that HBO has three shows i wouldn't put game of thrones in this category is many of you would but i think they have three shows that are best ever argument type shows all of them about crime families and all of them about a time that we were in the wire
Starting point is 00:07:43 the sopranos and succession i believe succession is indicative of the time we talk about people being angry rich people cuz rich people are house assholes and out and not altruistic and the difference between the haves and have nots is uh... probably the greatest problem that we have affecting all of our structural stuff that there's such a larger difference now between Elon Musk and the power that he can accrue and people who are
Starting point is 00:08:11 frustrated and struggling day-to-day trying you know peeing in in gallons for Bezos so that so that he could keep making more money not hard knocks huh not hard knocks no and i wanted to ask the group of you uh... how often will you go and read binge watch something and the reason i put game of thrones in a different categories just because i think of that is like uh... and and eight how hundred-hour movie or like well however they i don't think of that as a television show always suppose it has to
Starting point is 00:08:41 be considered a television show but these three that i'm talking about represent sort of a generation of time and a love that we have for understanding crime families. I'm a big rewatcher like I'll rewatch all my favorite comedies over and over and over again and just finish one and go back and have another in the holster for the almost the nostalgia of it it's like a comfort thing. But with dramas are different. You're talking about movies though, right?
Starting point is 00:09:07 Or you're talking about- No, I'm talking about TV shows. So like, for example, all of those shows Mike Schur has worked on, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Office, Parks and Rec, I'll re-watch those. Well no, whether it's New Girl or Veep or any of those shows. I'm re-watching Veep right now. Just got to, finally Richard Splett has arrived
Starting point is 00:09:24 and we are really picking up steam. What a great show. Highly recommend, especially in an election cycle. There's also comfort shows that you just put on all the time. Like Modern Family I've probably watched three times just because we're always watching. It's Seinfeld I feel like I've seen every episode. But in terms of like from start to finish,
Starting point is 00:09:40 I don't do that a lot. It's more just like the fun light listens. I've been doing it with Eastbound and Down. And it's, I forgot how great that a lot. It's more just like the fun light listens. I've been doing it with Eastbound and Down. And it's, I forgot how great that show was. That's so good. And Vice Principals, oh my god. Oh, that's next, that's next. Speaking of crime families on HBO, Righteous Jabbstones.
Starting point is 00:09:57 Oh yeah, hung. I rewatch shows whenever that show has a new season. Like Mayor of Kingstown, East, no, no, Mayor of Easttown. I'm talking about the Mayor of Kingstown. You're talking about the one with Jeremy Renner, right? The guy that he looks like Stu Gotts. I've rewatched from season one, once season three come out, so I do that with every show.
Starting point is 00:10:18 Oh wow. There's a Mayor of Kingstown and a Mayor of Easttown? Yes, Mayor of Kingstown is M-A-Y-O-R. Mayor of Easttown is M-E-E-R. E. E? Yes. That one's depressing, right?
Starting point is 00:10:33 That one, I have not gotten into that one. Kate Winslet? Yes. Yeah, it's pretty good though. You gotta watch it. But it is sad, right? It's very sad. It's gray.
Starting point is 00:10:42 Chris, I just wanted, there was a stray hung that shot through the conversation there. You guys don't pinch that one? Go back. I never heard of it. What? You don't remember hung on HBO? What about true blood with sucker stackers?
Starting point is 00:10:57 Sucker. Sucker. My wife makes fun of me because if I'm watching anything for Ten minutes or twenty minutes. It's just to watch one of these dark side of comedy dark side of the wrestling ring You love dark sides, man. It is It is 90s. Give me just just nostalgic 90s 90s thing for 12 minutes at a time. A lot has changed over the years, listening audience.
Starting point is 00:11:30 Hey, it's Mike Ryan. One thing that hasn't, the great taste of Miller Lite. Now, you know, over the course of our history doing this show, Miller Lite's kind of been there for the vast majority of it. And I have been a very public facing fan of the beverage. Why? Well, that's been up for debate
Starting point is 00:11:46 for a long time, pretty much since 1975. But one thing that is not up for debate? The undebatable quality and great taste of Miller Lite. The fact that it is only 96 calories. This is a beer that strips everything away that you don't need and holds on to what matters most. Less filling, great taste, a light beer that tastes like beer. You don't have to choose what you like best. Miller Lite has great taste and is less filling. Tastes like Miller time! To get Miller Lite delivered right to your door, visit MillerLite.com slash Dan, or you
Starting point is 00:12:16 can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories per 12 ounces. Fewer cows and carbs than premium regular beer. Don Lebatard! I ain't never met nobody in the world that's done hate on blues clues, bro.
Starting point is 00:12:31 Great nomination! Like who don't like blues clues, bro? If you don't like blues clues, you're a loser! Stugats! Look, you get one paw print, that's the first clue. You put it in a notebook, now what do you do? Blues clues, blues clues. Sit on the chair and think about it. This is the Don Lebathor show with the Stugarts.
Starting point is 00:13:00 Dave Hyde of the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, still making it in the columnist game, had a take, and I want you guys to tell me whether it's a good, good take, a good, bad take, a bad, good take, or a bad, bad take. All right. He says, yeah, it's to his team, but can I interest you in the backup, Ryan Tannehill? He's back?
Starting point is 00:13:29 Ryan Tannehill, he is, well, he's available. He's available in the league. We spent seven years here arguing whether he was a starting quarterback or not. I imagine Ryan Tannehill might look pretty good with these receivers, as a lot of people might look pretty good with this offense. Oh, Chris Cody shaking his head no.
Starting point is 00:13:49 I vote no. It's just like. PTSD. I don't wanna like, yeah, those feelings of just I've done that before and it's just. But it's your backup. It's your backup. Mike White's fine.
Starting point is 00:14:00 But Tuah doesn't play games sometimes and I never ever ever wanna see Ryan Tannehill wear a Dolphins uniform ever again., ever, ever wanna see Ryan Tannehill wear a Dolphins uniform ever again. I can't do it. Ryan Tannehill has led a team to an AFC Championship game. Stu Gotts, I don't care. Derek Henry led that team, by the way.
Starting point is 00:14:13 And I cannot. Tannehill played great in those games. It's a good take. I would, well, look at how upset we are. Visceral reactions. We're literally, I'm actually, like, I'm sweating just thinking about the idea of having to watch Ryan Tannehill quarterback my team again.
Starting point is 00:14:26 I can't take it. I understand that you have some post-Tannehill stress disorder, PTSD, but I would say to you that if I offered the general audience, hey, who do you want as the backup quarterback next year, your nine and four and you're gonna have your quarterback
Starting point is 00:14:45 miss three games. You want Mike White or you want Ryan Tannehill? A whole lot of people are going to go with the bigger name there. Tannehill, yes. A whole lot of folks are going to want the established product that has been a starter for a long time in the league and now is relegated to backup. I have always thought Mike White to be an upper echelon backup, no? Agreed, but never a starter.
Starting point is 00:15:08 Like not someone you think of as a starter, whereas Tannahill has spent a decade as a starter. Ryan Tannahill has thrown for 35,000 yards. He has thrown 216 touchdown passes. He's been the AFC champion. I take him as my backup. You can have him. I would love to have him.
Starting point is 00:15:23 All right, take him. I mean, I have Tyrod Taylor. I love that. I mean. I think he'd be better served right now in Minnesota with what they got going on with JJ McCarthy right now. That's a big loss for them. So I can see Tannahill stepping up for them. Stugats, we didn't get to this yesterday, and I regret not getting to it. What's going on with Hassan Reddick and the Jets?
Starting point is 00:15:41 What are the details there that are interesting to you? Asking for a trade away from Aaron Rodgers and Aaron Rodgers saying, hey, don't go. It's gonna be a fun ride this season. Like, what's happening there? So they did a, the Jets and Eagles traded because Redick wants an extension. He wants a new deal.
Starting point is 00:15:58 He deserves a new deal. He has four consecutive seasons of double digit sacks and a guy off the edge. He's the guy that hurt Brock Purdy two years ago in the NFC Championship game and had like two and a half sacks in that game and the Eagles went on to the Super Bowl that they eventually lost. But this is a guy who is 29 years old who the Jets traded for. They traded a third-round pick. They traded a third-round pick they traded a third round pick and it could become a conditional second round pick, but they did so, the Jets traded for them
Starting point is 00:16:30 with the idea of, hey, we're going to sign them to a long-term deal. And Reddick said he's not showing up to camp until he gets that long-term deal and the Jets are saying, no, we're not going to give you a long-term deal. Why'd you trade for them? Like I am with Reddick on this. Stay put, do not play, get your money. You have one chance to get paid. Over the last two years, I believe he has, he's tied for second in the league for most sacks of the NFL. That position is the second or third most important position in the game right now and he wants to get paid and
Starting point is 00:17:02 the Jets traded him to give him a long-term deal. And the Jets need that guy off the edge and they haven't done it. And so if I'm redic, first off, it's the Jets being the Jets, who does that? Who does that? Who trades for a guy who wants an extension? They get the guy, they make the trade and don't give him an extension.
Starting point is 00:17:19 And if I'm redic, I stay put. I don't show up to camp. It is an embarrassment what the Jets are doing to him. They traded for him with the idea of, hey, you're our guy, you're getting a long-term deal. Then he got there and they said no. Right, and he's racking up so many fines. Like his fines right now could feed a small village because goodness gracious. I think like, what you are 100% right. Don't trade for this brother. Knowing his position, knowing his situation, he only coming over here because y'all had a little under the table.
Starting point is 00:17:45 Like, you know when I come over here, I'm a wanted. And now they gonna back out. I salute him for staying out because you can get hurt. Like you see what's going on right now. You can mess up all your money in these training camp situations. So commend my brother Hassan, give him his money. I find fairly interesting, Sturgatz,
Starting point is 00:18:01 everywhere in the sport where you are noticing that basic human dynamics are gonna make an appearance. Oh, Burrow got his money. Now Jamar Chase wants his and isn't showing up. Oh, we're going to make Dak more secure? What's going on with CD Lam? Like we have seen, the Chiefs have taught us, right? You pay my homes, Tyreek's going to leave. Doesn't matter how good the team is, Super Bowl ready, doesn't matter how fun football is. Like Tyreek Hill told us we can win eight or nine championships in Kansas City.
Starting point is 00:18:40 Why can't we? That's how lightheaded he was and then he's like, get me out of here, because I see what the financial constrictions are and the wide receivers are going to want their money for making the quarterbacks. And I mean, I know you can speak to the very real pollution, toxin that money is that can corrode any amount of human relationships. I imagine we now know, right? J. Mon Green, Jordan Poole, that happened. That was money related. Well, no, it was because he called them
Starting point is 00:19:12 an expensive backpack for Steph Curry. According to Pablo, Torrey finds out, which is an excellent show. Expensive, though, is the key word there. Like, it's money. Yeah, I mean, I think, think like they say in every NBA fight it comes down to one of two things. Either money owed or a woman.
Starting point is 00:19:31 That's like every NBA fight like in the locker room that always comes down to one of those two things. And I think the reality is, this is the part I think fans don't get, you only have a certain window of time as a professional athlete to make as much money as possible. This is supposed to last me forever. I don't get to retire at 65 as a pro athlete,
Starting point is 00:19:53 and it's not realistic to say, oh, but then I'll be a coach after that, then I'll make a lot of money doing that, or I'll be a media guy after that, I'll make a lot of money after that. For most of these guys, this is it. And so yeah, you treat it with the desperation of someone who says, this is my last shot. I want to correct myself. He's tied for fourth in the NFL over the last four years in sacks. Daniel Hunter, who has 49, I think he's tied with him, he just got a two-year $49 million
Starting point is 00:20:19 deal. Reddick's going to make $13.5 million this year. He's like, how can you tell me I'm not? Right. And he's going to be 30. He wants dollars this year. It's like, how can you tell me I'm not? Right, and he's gonna be 30. He wants to get paid. He should get paid. The Jets traded for him so he can get paid. Right, and when it comes to Jamar Chase right now, he's on his rookie deal, and he's outplayed that, of course,
Starting point is 00:20:34 but he's in a position where I think that the owners could benefit from paying him now because his number is only gonna go up like that. If Jerry would've paid that man a couple years ago, he could've saved himself so much more money. But you gonna keep letting these folks hold out and they gonna get a bigger payday at the end of the road. Folks, the Dan LeBittard Show is sponsored by BetterHelp.
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Starting point is 00:21:40 Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash D-B to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash D-L-B. Don LeBattard. Pablo leads all of podcasting in reading while smiling. If you listen to ESPN Daily, he sounds like he's having the time of his life.
Starting point is 00:22:02 Stugats. Coming up next, I'm gonna tell you how the Savannah Bananas are changing things. Savannah Bananas. How do you know I'm smiling? That's how I find my vocal range. Sometimes I just say Savannah Bananas. Savannah Bananas.
Starting point is 00:22:20 This is the Dan Lebatar Show with the Stugats. Pablo, were you shaking your head no? You were doing so while Stugats was talking about Hassan Reddick. Is it because of what he was saying or is it because of what Chris Cody was whispering to you that you were objecting to? Yeah, fix your camera there. because of what Chris Cody was whispering to you that you were objecting to. Yeah, fix your camera there. Pablo Torrey Finds Out is the name of the podcast. What were you shaking your head no about? Me, I was just trying to get them to not catch the fact
Starting point is 00:22:54 that I am standing in a closet and my shirts are like two inches to my right. Okay, his closet has a window? I've got a lot of questions for Pablo Torre today journalism is made you know plants It is strange. Yeah, it is a strange closet that does not bake you hold on hold it Just just accused me of having fake plants. No I asked earnestly are they real are they both those? Yes, they look nice. They are they are very real both those. Thank you for acknowledging It's a fake plants are the worst.
Starting point is 00:23:25 They're the worst thing on the planet to me. Really? They are, yes, they are by definition. The worst thing, I mean. Yes, yes. Plants in reality are living things. They give you psychological benefits. They recycle and regenerate oxygen.
Starting point is 00:23:42 Fake plants are just decorative lies. They're fraudulent. How do you feel about mannequins? Mm. Uh. Uh. The devil's work, the devil's work. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:23:53 Second worst thing in the world. Because Pablo believes in human life and if you fake any kind of life, you're gonna outrage Pablo. Mannequin or mannequin too? That's right. Pablo, I wanted to include you on a couple Any kind of life you're gonna outrage Pablo. Mannequin or mannequin too? Pablo, I wanted to include you on a couple of the conversations that we were having here. One of them, Charles Barkley comes on here yesterday,
Starting point is 00:24:13 tells us that he could have gotten a minimum of 100 million more dollars from someone else, but wanted to go back to what felt like family, and a whole bunch of people called him a liar and said, bullshit. I asked everybody here why that was happening. Stugatz's theory is people are angry and broke and they don't want to hear about how much money
Starting point is 00:24:31 someone is making. Jessica had a different theory. Your theory is what here? My theory is that Charles Barkley has the ability to generate a market just by willing it into existence. And some of that does sound like a thing you should not trust, the power of a guy to do that. But I think for him, it into existence. And some of that does sound like a thing you should not trust, the power of a guy to do that, but I think for him it's real. I think his talent is one of the
Starting point is 00:24:50 scarcest resources in sports. And I also think that when it comes to Charles proving that there are markets for him, remember, I mean, look, I love, I love Charles. I know Dan, he's a friend of yours for decades now. Remember when he had that thing where he was like I think I'm going to the live tour now I was like oh that he can just sort of like reach across the world and grab money places and so it just so happens that with this NBA rights deal which we've covered super extensively on the sporting class obviously I think there's a lot of buyers who want to give Charles Barkley a hundred million dollars I don't think he's lying there I think that's actually just the reality of his
Starting point is 00:25:25 life. On Pablo Torre Finds Out, I've told you before that he finds an assortment of stories and attacks them vigorously with journalism and his curiosities. I couldn't help but laugh at your most recent episode, even though I don't believe it was comedy, the Paralympics are corrupt. There are cheaters throughout the Paralympics. Not a laughing matter. It's hilarious. It's hilarious.
Starting point is 00:25:56 I laughed so hard listening to that episode. Tell us the extent of the cheating in the Paralympics, because it's unbelievable to imagine people playing wheelchair basketball, and then at the end just getting up out of their wheelchairs and then walking on. That's amazing. It is darkly hilarious. It is darkly hilarious, admittedly,
Starting point is 00:26:20 and infuriating to so many Paralympians, because it is a massive, massive problem that is currently being litigated in German court right now because of an American Paralympian hopeful, who's like, I am a hand cyclist. And to Dan's description, he competes against people who when the race is over, get up and walk around, who end up having to, he sees social media posts of people
Starting point is 00:26:44 who are like, wait a minute, you're just living your life, not doing the stuff that I have to do. This is David Burling, American Paralympian, who is an above the knee double amputee, an Air Force vet who got in a plane crash. And he's like, I see you guys lying all of the time. And this is something that's beyond just one man. We talked to a class classifier the person who has to figure out which division you go into but the way i got into this because i am i'm again i'm numb to so many things at this point we've done mortgage fraud investigations fencing manipulation in the olympics match fixing um statistical inflation with tom haberstrow all this stuff but when i heard that there was a story about a Spanish gold medal,
Starting point is 00:27:27 Paralympic basketball team, where 10 of the 12 people had faked, had tanked an IQ test, had faked intellectual disabilities to get into the tournament. And they started blowing things out by 30. And then later were revealed to be totally fraudulent. I was like, that's a Johnny Knoxville movie. That is actually a thing that screenplays have been written about,
Starting point is 00:27:49 except it's just more ridiculous in reality. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, as you might imagine. Well, tell us more though on what is most outrageous to the Paralympians, because you're right to say that it's dark comedy and isn't going to be funny at all. These are hugely inspiring stories of overcoming. You watch the Paralympics, to God's and honest to God, almost every story that's not a cheater, you feel like you're not as strong as these people who are able to overcome and still do things that you might not have the will to train yourself to do in a pitiful, despondent state. The balls you must have to get up off your bicycle
Starting point is 00:28:30 and walk away in front of a guy who can't stand up. I mean, the balls, man. I'm not laughing. I think I am here to give you the blessing of the ability to laugh at the sheer absurdity of this while also being like, oh, this is massively f**ked up. Both of these things are true in this story. That's why I wanted to do this story.
Starting point is 00:28:52 And to the question that Dan had, the difficulty here is that the classifier, the job of a person at the Paralympics who has to fact check these medical disabilities, these impairments, these claims that I cannot do X or Y or Z. That job, I mean, what we talked to, what we investigated here, we talked to a classifier who's now retired, he used to be the chief classifier of two Paralympic Games. She said that she has seen people not just like lie on an eye test, but like take valium before one of these auditions basically where you got to prove I am actually what I claim to be. She has heard stories of people like rolling around in the snow to make it seem like they are even more impaired than they are. They have people,
Starting point is 00:29:38 I mean it's the anti-NFL combine is the comedy of this. You go in and try to prove that I am even worse than you think so they can tank the Result and get into a more favorable class because the Paralympics is about How do we match people up when the entire premise of this is disadvantage? And of course there are lots of I'll say it there are lots of Stu gots is in there who are like you know What I see an angle for me. Thank you. I see an angle for how I can win gold even more easily You know what, I see an angle for me. I see an angle for how I can win gold even more easily than I have any right to.
Starting point is 00:30:09 Pablo, I guess my question is, the difference between the NFL combine and this anti-combine is that in the combine, we're trying to see how fast someone can go. So you're trying to achieve that. How do you test for the non-negative, right? Like how do you check for something that's not there? Yeah, how do you prove a negative?
Starting point is 00:30:29 They have a couple of things. They ask for a doctor's note. And as anybody who has, I don't know, gotten a medical marijuana prescription in California over the last 15 years knows, not all doctors are the most rigorous fact checkers when it comes to, I have back pain. So there's just that as the first non-layer of defense. And then there is actually this audition. It's an audition is what
Starting point is 00:30:51 I call it. But you go and perform the sport in front of a volunteer because again it's the Paralympics guys and so the classifiers here are not like highly paid experts. They are people who want to help this incredibly inspiring, impressive event function. And so you have these people who are watching someone tell them, I can't do this. Look at me play basketball. Look at me swim. Look at me hand cycle.
Starting point is 00:31:18 And they watch them, it turns out, many times perform the theater of being even worse than they are. And so that is the classification process of the Paralympics to me is where all of the lawsuit strikes to the heart of that. It's gotten so bad where there are protests by other athletes. There is a hand cycle race that we report on where all but one person, the person that they alleged to be a cheater, they stopped racing mid-race. And that person just kept on going to signal, we are not on the same page as this. We need something to be done and no one will do anything.
Starting point is 00:31:55 And so the guy we interviewed, the protagonist of the story, he said, I'm gonna sue the International Paralympic Committee, the version of the IOC, the IPC in court because he sees this as something that has ruined the integrity of this entire enterprise. I can't believe some of what it is that you're reporting because it does seem like something a comedy scriptwriter would write. Yeah, it's South Park. It's a bit crazy. The outrage that I would have if I'd lost both my legs in war and then been an athlete better than all other wheelchair athletes reminds me some of what is happening around the gender women's boxing conversation. conversation because one is a one is a fake argument that is politicized and is just awful to watch happen and the other one's not going to get any attention as
Starting point is 00:32:55 an actual outrage you're going to bring attention to it but it's not going to go anywhere even though if i were to speak to anybody and say do you think it's fair that somebody is playing without legs and somebody else is faking to get into a wheelchair and then walking around and to win a gold medal like that is worthy of legitimate outrage. Yes and there's a key distinction and by the all of this speaks to what do we do when we're trying to regulate who's allowed to compete in a lower class of sport when it comes to performance that's the through line through the Algerian boxer story and the
Starting point is 00:33:32 Paralympics with the key distinction because I've reported now on trans controversies and now the Paralympics controversy which should be an even bigger controversy The difference here is that the stuff that people think trans athletes have been doing in America, the schemes of cheating and manipulation and lying and medical fraud, that's actually happening in the Paralympics and it's not happening over there. And you know that because the Algerian boxer story, it's funny when like I see Logan Paul and his lawsuit now, of course, against Twitter and Elon and J.K. Rowling and all of them.
Starting point is 00:34:11 But when Logan Paul, I believe, is saying this is the this is this is the purest form of evil watching this Algerian boxer punch a woman in the face. And then not long after says, well, I may have been trafficking misinformation there, I'm going to delete that tweet. It's like, OK, like face and then not long after says well I may have been trafficking misinformation there I'm gonna delete that tweet it's all like okay like we they don't actually know what's happening here and that's not even a trans athlete controversy that is a controversy that speaks to its own form of medical complexity that says actually maybe the whole binary between men and women on the level of sex and
Starting point is 00:34:44 therefore performance is actually a lot more complicated than anybody Wants to admit what it's not is the level of cheating and fraud as a scheme Because no one has reported that no one has provided evidence that there's anything like that happening there. That's happening in the Paralympics Absolutely brother Transition though keeping up with controversies. My sister Ray Gunn is getting accused of a lot of things across the nation and I have it figured out. Pablo, I got you on the line. I have I found out Ray Gunn is in the CIA and guess what? Think of Steve Martin and Pink Panther. She was sent to
Starting point is 00:35:23 the Olympics to retrieve the diamonds, the stolen diamonds, but guess what? The stolen diamonds, they're in this one room, and the only way to access that air-conditioned chute is the breaking contestants. And so they told her, they say, hey, we got a case for you, Ray. You're gonna have to go get the diamonds,
Starting point is 00:35:43 but bad news, you're gonna have to go get the diamonds but bad news you're gonna actually have to compete and she was like free all right I got it. We're distracted by her dance moves but we didn't even realize Australia got the damn diamonds back in the home city. What you think Pablo? You know it reminds me of another another theory that I have that I've been waiting to sort of like test on you guys Juju, especially What if okay? What if the number one overall pick in the NFL draft was given to a team? That had to win a game to obtain it
Starting point is 00:36:18 What about that theory? The two last place teams play each other for the number one pick. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's a pretty good idea Mm-hmm. We're good ratings in the Super Bowl. I'm telling well Pablo Torre finds out is the name of the podcast you should find it wherever it is you get your podcast You should find it wherever it is you get your podcast Did I miss something or did Tom Brady? Quietly debut as a broadcaster this weekend and no one had any kind of reaction to it on a preseason No way. Yeah, I saw him on the sidelines And I saw some people talking about him pot
Starting point is 00:36:59 That's why I'm asking the question did I miss it or not because I? Thought that Tom Brady, some people were talking about how Sean McVay, how great Sean McVay was, they mic'd him up for a little while and he just did a little bit of play-by-play and it was more informational than anything you've ever heard in play-by-play
Starting point is 00:37:15 because they were talking to an active coach and Tom Brady needs to get some reps in before he starts. Fox is saying they're waiting for the regular season for Tom Brady to start. Okay, so it didn't happen. It was a post of when he was in the broadcast booth last year and they posted it now, which then confused everyone on Twitter
Starting point is 00:37:35 into thinking they missed a preseason game in which he was the broadcaster. Okay, I also saw him walking on a field with Mike Silver chasing after him crazily. Yeah, it's that video. That could have been any time. Mike Silver's a crazy person. He spent his entire life chasing him.
Starting point is 00:37:49 That's exactly what Mike Silver has been doing. That is absolutely correct. Your experience with USA Basketball was what? Because I thought that that team, I thought that they team had put the standard so high that there wasn't gonna be a way for them to meet where it is that we expected them to be. And they somehow did it by playing close games. No, I loved, I am embarrassed to admit
Starting point is 00:38:20 how much I loved these games and how much I felt like one of those like sunglasses in driver's seat of their car, selfie, camera, patriot, avatars, crawl out of my body. As I was thinking to myself, now we get to watch these NBA players, these superstars play defense.
Starting point is 00:38:41 Now we get to see them at their full potential. Because when you have a near death experience like that, when your greatness is challenged like that, you get to see the best of these guys. And I believe that we saw the best of this version of LeBron and KD and Steph and all of these guys in a way that we just haven't really seen as often as the NBA would like us to think we've seen it.
Starting point is 00:39:01 And so I was like, this is the version of the, this is the basketball that I want more of. And I understand that this also is by definition an indictment of the basketball that we're otherwise watching. But I loved it that much. Pablo, can you find out why HBO Max was late to posting Hard Knocks last night? Because you get to watch it.
Starting point is 00:39:20 Yeah, I mean, look, I was, first of all, it's called Max. Second of all, I was upset because I was ready. I was so ready to come in and argue with Smeddy about Kayla Williams and stuff like that. Because as we know, she's a big beer fan. We think. And nothing. And what does it say about us as a society, Pablo,
Starting point is 00:39:38 where we are so beholden to streaming platforms that when something isn't uploaded, we all lose our minds. Is this where we all make fun of our own video team or is that gonna happen during the break? Tua, at some point in the next three months. See you later, Pablo. Summer's the best time to run the way you want. Dial it up with new challenges and programs
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