The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Big Suey: First-Time Caller, Short-Time Rangers Fan
Episode Date: May 29, 2024A de-aged Chris Wittyngham returns to our show for a segment at WFAT as he holds onto his New York Rangers fandom due to pure stubbornness over the Florida Panthers trade for Matthew Tkachuk. (Side no...te: Jeremy here. Is THAT what we would all look like if we left the show? Dan and Skipper, I hope you're not reading this, but you may have a mutiny on your hands if that's how good our skin could look without the stress of this place...) Then, we take a look back at some of the most inept moments of Angel Hernandez's career before Amin explains the latest news surrounding Bronny James, Billy roots for a family to fall apart, and a NBA Draft conspiracy theory emerges. Plus, the Top 5 Teams LeBron Has Given a Nod To and the Top 5 Most Athletic Presidents in U.S. History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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You're listening to DraftKings Network.
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.
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 fries
that 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.
W-F-A-T. and the habitual liar. WFAT!
One of the things that has happened over the last three years or so, Stugat,
is through a whole set of circumstances away from work and around the building of a business
that I've just, you know, people have heard me lament how it is that I've just
sort of had difficulty summoning enthusiasm
for just about anything because of what the last
three years have been.
But there have been a couple of strange places recently
where something has gotten stirred,
and I'm like, how did that get there?
I'm reacting unreasonably to that
as someone who's 55 years old
and has been a little bit dead inside for a bit.
Joe Mauer, Hall of Fame?
No, but it's close to that.
It's one, the sheer rage I feel unexpectedly
and with a lack of self-awareness
when I watched the game give my analysis
and then I'm accused of not having watched the game.
Like the anger that it summons in me.
Those 10 points again.
Is uncommon, but also, and this one really surprised me,
I didn't see this coming from any angle.
Chris Whittingham's face, just its arrival,
used to make me smile.
But he has taken such a horrible heel turn here where he is doubling down so
stubbornly on his anti-panther takes that he is now becoming full-blown
rangers fan yet he had betrayed everything we are he has left the nest
we are all loving and proud of him he's dawning a blue sweater right now and
he's just decided to do the
worst of things, which he's become a Rangers fan. He's actively rooting against the Panthers.
He also has a perfect face, very smooth skin. You need a blemish on your face somewhere.
Overrated. He has de-aged considerably in the last however long it's been since he left.
It's like the opposite of what happens when the president takes office, right?
He left office and then he just de-aged.
When he was here and had to work with Stugatz,
his face was blemished just from the stress
of having to deal with all of Stugatz's lies.
You need a mirror, I mean.
And Winningham, Winningham, I'm sorry,
did you leave because of me or Stugatz?
The whole thing really.
How is it that you have arrived at being a Ranger fan
because it's infuriating?
I would say considerable stubbornness.
Let's start there.
I'm a very stubborn guy.
I get my heels dug in and I got my heels dug in
when the Panthers were
3-1 down in the first round of last year's playoffs. I realized at some point in last
year's regular season that I just didn't want the Panthers to win anymore. And then once
we got through the playoffs, as each time they kept advancing, it became worse for me.
And my friends started hounding me more and more about this, then I realized I'm just gonna dig my heels
in even more and then I've moved to Connecticut
in the last six months to work for CBS.
I'm very close to Madison Square Garden,
it's a quick little jaunt over on the Amtrak to Penn Station.
And so I can go to go see my local team
and I've decided that the New York Rangers
are gonna be my Spike team.
And now I've invested like $400 in spite
It's great. What do you would you agree that the epitome of your stubbornness is your continuing?
wrong loud wrong take on the Kachuk uberdo trade
Yeah, I would say that's the epitome of it
But also I mean what he's got he's got a goal in this round one goal in this round
Before that he had an empty netter empty netter a goal in a defeat I mean what does he do in these playoffs all this guy does is bully the opposition it's the most
tedious thing to watch when you watch after every every single time that
there's a puck cover there's an elbow there's a punch in the that there's a puck cover, there's an elbow, there's a punch in the face, there's some words, I love nothing more, nothing more than Chris Kreider last night grabbing that
guy's mouthpiece and chucking it in the stands. I wish you would do it every single time. I wish
you would run out of mouthpieces. It actually bounced back. It was ridiculous. If it went into
the stands it would have been a game of conduct. Chucking it into the stands. Yeah. Yeah. This is,
I mean you've already outlined it so there's no. Yeah. This is, I mean, you've already outlined it,
so there's no gotcha.
This is the most stubborn thing I've ever seen.
And what's weird is, like, yeah, we hound you now,
but we've been trying to get you back.
And you know, the second you throw your hands up, say,
I'm sorry, I was wrong about that, we welcome you back.
We would take you back.
Yes, we would.
Yes, you were a part of our circle.
Cause then you'd make me celebrate Kachuk things
and I don't want to.
I don't like the guy.
I will never like the guy.
You cannot make me like the guy.
If I said right now, okay, you know what?
I'm back with the Panthers.
I'm in.
You're gonna make me like the guy.
I don't want to.
Don't make me like him.
And don't make me like the coach either.
Cause I don't want to either.
But Witte's local team just won the Biden Cup.
So he's doing better.
And we just got a split away from home in this big Eastern Conference.
Getting outplayed the entire time. Getting outplayed who cares. Let's talk about the
results. We got the results and also outplayed. There have been three overtime
games in this series. How do you define outplayed? The only game in
which there was a decisive margin
was game one and the decisive margin came from an own goal
and an empty netter.
Like, there is, there has been no decisive margin
in this series.
It has been incredibly tight,
both goaltenders have been brilliant,
and like, two of the overtime games went to the Panthers,
two of the overtime games went to the Rangers
and one went to the Panthers.
Just, they're fans, it's sick with their team
through thick and thin, and you were one of those fans.
To have your hill to die on be Jonathan Hubertow.
Just gross.
Who stinks.
Awful.
Who's just, who's regarded as the worst contract
in the league right now.
All this for Jonathan Hubertow.
It's not like they built you a stadium and bilked you
and sold off the team and had a fire sale. It's not any of that. Jonathan Huuberto. It's not like they built you a stadium and bilked you and sold off the team
and had a fire sale.
It's not any of that.
Jonathan Huberto.
Even Huberto said it was a good trade.
I don't think it's just about Huberto.
I'm gonna be honest with you.
I mean, I feel like there's more
of an indictment on you guys.
You drove this guy away from his own hometown team
to root against them to lose,
and it is an indictment on him.
We didn't make him.
Well, he's telling you,
you guys have annoyed him
to the point that he wants to watch his hometown team lose.
I think he vocalized that this happened something,
this was something internal.
You made him move to Connecticut to get away from this.
He was a Panther fan last regular season.
This wasn't something that happened after the trade.
Like he still was rooting for the Panthers
throughout an entire season.
I have photographic evidence of him going to a game with my wife and my daughter.
I didn't mean the gender reveal there.
I'm sorry about that.
My wife and my child.
And I went with Chris Whittingham to a Ducks game and we were rooting for the Panthers
and then something after that, it went off the rails where just Matthew Kachuk drove
this man crazy by proving without a shadow of a doubt that his Hilda Dion is a fallacy
It's Jonathan Huberto. They made a great trade
But it wasn't just it wasn't just the trade of Matthew Kachuk for Jonathan Huberto
It was I'm telling you guys it was that first game broadcast of last regular season when Paul Maurice and the entire
Broadcast crew tried to tell me that everything you just watched for the last two years was
Nonsense hockey that could never win and blah blah blah, blah, and we've gotta be more physical,
we gotta play playoff style hockey from day one.
I really like that team.
I really like watching them.
I really like going to every game.
I don't like watching this team anymore.
This team's not fun to watch anymore.
Oh, you say that?
You're getting outshot by 100, five v five.
Are you watching the Rangers play?
Because you're leaning into that style right now.
Mike, we try to play. We try to pass.
Try to play.
We try to create chances and we're being overwhelmed right now a little bit.
We're going to create them.
That first period last night.
Don't try, don't try to create chances.
Actually create that.
Well, they were shots on goal.
They were Lebrowski has more points than Mika Zabinijad. Don't try to create chances actually create that Rossky has points and because of been a jet
Goal
Keep flinging the puck at the goal. Yeah, that's
I'm telling you what happened here, and it happens like I'm telling you look at the video of winning him
Okay, the Mecca is what happened to winning! The Mecca can get anyone and it got Chris Whittingham.
They lost that game!
It doesn't matter, you had fun.
To the Panthers! They lost that game!
The atmosphere last night? How can you guys defend what the Ammer whatever arena provided last night in terms of atmosphere?
No, stop it. The first two periods, like the Rangers fans are the ones making all the noise you can tell that arena was
tight well I would say so is New York before you guys got that overtime win in game two
Yeah get his ass Chris so like we had as you know did you guys have a fun time at game two watching your team lose?
up until
We did have a fun time
I just love you know what's happened
There is a bunch of annoying New Yorkers
that have moved down here, and to even the odds,
we just sent your ass.
He is, he's doing very well with the condescending tea.
It's a great character to make a point
and then sip the tea with him.
And I think you're wearing makeup, asshole.
If anyone else wanted to be with him.
I think you put on some foundation for this hit.
Yeah, I do that.
You got foundation on you.
He is wearing makeup.
He's being accused of-
Pot-Tenille situation?
That is, well, I mean, I'm under lights.
I got an Italian T-zone.
What's his excuse?
That is a filter.
It's a filter.
Yeah, there you go.
He is copped to it.
There it is.
I mean, someone- That's a pro.
Via Twitter is writing,
please find the one of many clips of Ameen
talking about his son playing basketball
or his twin getting mad at Billy Gill
for a gender reveal that he's revealed
multiple times is nasty work.
Yeah, let's keep talking about it, Dan.
I really want this to continue to be a topic
on the show today.
I really love that.
I love you and Mike hearing me in the breaks
saying, God, yeah, I really don't like talking about that
and saying, you know what would be funny?
If we just keep talking.
I didn't hear you say that.
We acknowledge what happened awkwardly on the air.
I didn't hear you say that.
Did you say that?
I mean, I didn't hear it either.
My bad, I didn't hear it.
What are their names?
This is the sort of tension that has made me de-age.
To be fair, I only revealed that I had a d*** there.
I'm moving to Connecticut next.
You're welcome.
But we'll be at the next Rangers game together.
Winningham, you are doing things with fandom that I don't think are allowed.
I don't think you're...
Put it on the poll, Juju.
I love a tech show.
Are you allowed to go from being a Panther fan to a Ranger fan in one year?
Well, Witty, what happens if the Panthers advance to the cup and they play a team for
the Western Conference?
Are you going to root for the Panthers?
What are you going to do?
No, he's going to root against them.
God, no.
Ever?
If only he had a recent experience to borrow from.
He was rooting for the Knights.
Man.
Yeah, I'm going to go to fanatics.com, see what Dallas Stars gear is on discount, and
that'll be the gear you see me in next time.
Are the Dallas stars winning that series
I don't really watch hockey if I'm being done with this guy. I
Love that. Well, and if we're being honest for the first time the reason he left the company is because he has 13 grid of death
Punishments he owes and he didn't want to pay any of them. And so he just left the company
How did witty leave and turn into Stu gots? I don't understand
It's a great path upward.
Yes.
Next thing that Witte will do is not write a book
and get a bunch of money from our listeners.
You might want a refund.
You're not getting a refund.
I don't care if you ask for one.
I don't care if you get the money.
I'm coming to get it back.
Stugatz, I contributed to a chapter.
How is it not being published yet?
November, December, holidays.
That's how we do it in the book world.
You keep saying no refunds while people are sending us proof that they've already gotten refunds
They want because they want the book. They don't want the refunds. I'll get in November
I mean, that's what it's coming out, but they're getting their refunds now
They won't get it in November if they're getting their refunds, right? Well, I'll send them a book and charge them double
I mean, there you go. No book for them
Yeah, they're asking for a refund write them off the list no longer eligible for a book and charge them double. I mean, there you go. For me. No book for them. Yeah. If they're asking for a refund, write them off the list. No longer eligible for a
book. Weddingham, good talking to you. Not really. Yeah, not
really. Get out of here. If you guys want to watch today, the
UEFA Europa Conference League final, Fiorentina taking on
Olympiacos. I'll be on the call on Paramount Plus.
Backstreet's back. Alright. Since the dawn of mankind, If you want to check it out. style or just celebrate Wednesday with burgers and dogs. I love Miller Lite.
Every single time my team plays on television, I am sitting behind that television screen
with a Miller Lite R3.
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beer that strips away everything you don't need and holds on to what matters the most.
With the Miller Lite in hand, grilling doesn't just taste great,
it tastes like Miller time.
To get Miller Lite delivered right to your door,
visit MillerLite.com slash Dan.
Or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer.
Celebrate responsibly.
Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
96 calories per 12 ounces.
Hoo!
Don LeBretard. Yeah, very bad.
Imagine if someone told you you couldn't have a Corvette.
Stugats.
I'm a grown ass man who's not filthy rich.
I can't afford a Lamborghini.
Well, I probably can, but that's beside the point.
Hey!
Wow!
Wow!
Wow!
Wow!
This is the Don Lebatard Show with the StuGats.
Yesterday we celebrated the reign of incompetence over umpiring that ended with Angel Hernandez's
negotiated retirement.
What are you shaking your head about Billy?
Sad day.
It is.
Heartbreaking.
I was sad about that.
He will be bringing his bad judgment back
to Pembroke Pines here and being a blight on South Florida in retirement. Very few people
in the history of incompetence have been allowed to work for as long signaling the strength
of an umpires union that is really a reason to root against unions.
I'm not, no I'm not anti-union, I'm just saying this kind of incompetence.
Anti-Umpire union.
I'm anti this kind of incompetence
being rewarded for three decades.
Where everybody in the sport was like,
this guy's bad at his job,
nobody here respects his judgment,
why is he allowed to be a judge for 30 years?
When all of us can agree on nothing except Angel Hernandez is bad at this.
Finally, they run him off yesterday, negotiated settlement that is filed as retirement that
needed to be immediate.
Couldn't wait a day, couldn't wait till the end of season.
Just right away, get out and let's just play some clips here.
Give me an assortment.
We have an assortment of things he's gotten wrong
uh... both audio and video of people going crazy because he's been terrible
he's especially bad behind home plate
but he's bad all over
He's throwing on again, and he had zero issue with getting thrown out
Making it very clear you've missed an inside outside up and down
Kyle Schwab are thrown out
Being punched out by Angel Hernandez. I feel like you guys are gonna miss him. I already do. Thank you
This was good for baseball the clips on Twitter like the clips on Twitter of just boom
Terrible call after terrible call.
I literally have nothing to talk to Mike Schur about anymore.
He was good for our show, yes.
We're going to be worse off as a show
when the robots get here and we can no longer
do the age old thing in sports
of just complaining about the refs and umpires.
Give me another clip, there are thousands.
the refs and umpires give me another clip there are thousands What in the world?
Three pitch strikeout all balls.
Looked like a strike to me.
That's how, I mean look, when I grew up, the strike zone was ankles to letters, you know
what I mean?
There you go.
Angels stayed true to that.
All of those pitches were far outside.
Give me another one of just incredulous players and announcers.
Don't do it, Angel. just incredulous players and announcers.
Don't do it, Angel. Fringe and thistle.
Oh, man.
And a strike three call on a pitch that Yadi Elf.
But it gives you that edge.
I mean, I would have swung it all over.
Yeah, it's a great job framing by that catcher. But it gives you that edge. I mean I would have swung it all over.
It's a great job framing by that catcher.
Check with the...
He's at third base.
Let's see that one from a side angle.
That's so great.
Putting him in a bad spot.
Put it on the poll please, Juju at Levitard Show
and I'm sorry for being slow to this
Huber don't is more like it. Yes or no because
Greg Cody I wanted to get that in there. He was anti Huber dough and so he made him
Uber don't yeah tried to sneak that in
Billy I
Thought that perhaps I could get some opinion out of you on everything that
is happening here with not LeBron James, but the reports that Brawny has declined workouts
for everyone except the Lakers and the Suns.
Stugatz has a list of top five teams
that LeBron has given a subtle wink to.
Yeah, a nod, Dan, a nod, yes.
I'm sorry, a flirtatious nod, not a wink,
just a silent communication.
This report, though, I'm assuming.
It's absurd, the Bronnie report is absurd.
Bronnie, we've been told back and forth,
one, he's this great prospect, but then he wasn't a great prospect, then back and forth, one, he's this great prospect,
but then he wasn't a great prospect,
then it was like, ah, he's a little kid,
leave him alone, don't talk about him,
he's just a kid, why is everybody hyping him so much?
Because you told us to, LeBron, that's why.
Now you see his stats and like,
oh, he could be in the NBA draft after a season,
maybe he should stick around a little bit longer
and get a little bit better at basketball
before he goes to the NBA, right?
But no, he's gonna come out here
after averaging what, 4.8 points a game,
which isn't ideal.
Clutch points though.
Then there's talks about where he's gonna go in the draft.
Clutch manager.
He scores at the right time.
But he doesn't wanna be like known for being LeBron's son,
which is insane, right?
So you would think if you don't wanna be known
for being LeBron's son and just like an appendage
of LeBron going wherever LeBron goes,
then you'd go to any team that drafts you, right?
No, because 10 teams invite you to work out
and you said, no, I'm not gonna work out for eight of them.
In a league that you don't belong in
and you're only gonna get into
because of who your father is.
But you don't wanna be known for being your father's son.
It's insane.
I feel like yesterday we went beyond the whole,
because there was talk out there, Dan, in the office
about how they feel bad for Brawny.
Feel bad for Brawny that he's going through all this.
Why?
Because his dad put him through this.
His dad is getting him into the NBA,
which he probably shouldn't be in.
He's averaging 4.8 points in college.
First round pick.
Why would he be a first round pick in the NBA
when you average 4.8 points?
Why are you in a position to be turning down teams
that want you to play for them
when you average 4.8 points in college
and you've decided after one year,
that's enough, I'm ready for the NBA.
Don't forget he's three inches shorter
than they told us to.
That's another thing.
That's another thing.
I understand, I feel bad that he's 19 years old
and he's going through this
But like you're not making this any easier
Why are you doing this?
Why don't you work out for everyone that wants you to work out for them if you don't want to be just known as LeBron
Son go play for another team get drafted wherever you get drafted
Don't just pick your dad's team and your dad's friends teams in Phoenix. Like what are you doing?
Yeah, I mean I wanted to ask you about that stuff
because it seems as though LeBron and Rich Paul,
the leverage is Phoenix, right?
That's what they're angling for to,
it doesn't seem like, Udonis has said,
he's flatly not leaving Los Angeles.
Ishbia is being used as a tool here
as the radical owner who will do anything to get attention and the
friendship with Durant and playing with that transaction stuff. What do you mean LeBron
could end up with Durant and Booker and everybody else? This was a purposeful leak. It's a strange
story to come out that Bronte refuses to work for anybody in workouts except for the Lakers
and Sons.
See the weird thing is I think what Rich is doing
is he's being an agent.
He is trying to get his client the best possible situation.
So he talked about, I believe he went on
Cam and Mase's show and said,
we're not doing a two way deal.
And he's saying that as an agent who does not think
that that is in the best interest of his client
for several reasons of the restrictions of the two-way deals.
He has no problem playing the G League,
but it's not gonna be on a two-way deal.
It's gonna have to be on a full NBA salary.
Those are usually done with second round picks, right?
Yeah, well, I mean, or, but there are some-
He doesn't wanna do them.
He wants a pick in the first round.
Well, no, there are second round picks
that do get full salaries, that aren't two-way players.
Rich is doing all of this
because he's like, I'm trying to get the best options and scenarios for my client. The problem
is his client is the son of his most famous and most powerful and best client. And so
everything that happens to Bronnie is seen through the lens of Uncle Rich and Daddy LeBron
are trying to game the system when the reality is this is what any agent
would try to do for a player if they had the ability
and the leverage to do it.
Would a player of his skillset,
should a player of his skillset be declining workouts?
But again, if my agent says to me,
I can get you drafted in the first round
and we don't have to work out for all these things.
But he's gonna get drafted in the first round
not because of him. but it doesn't matter
Why would he but if he wants to make himself independent from his father?
He doesn't Billy doesn't right I hope Portland drafts him. I hope they draft him at seven your move LeBron
You're gonna go to Portland. I hope to draft him at seven. You know what's funny. I hope pop drafts him at eight
Oh LeBron you always wanted to play for me
Buddy come to San Antonio.
That's a good spot, though.
I'll tell you what the worst case scenario would be
is that he gets drafted by Phoenix
because then LeBron's got a real tough decision.
I hope he goes to Utah.
I gotta take minimum?
Oh, I hope he goes to Utah.
That's the only path to LeBron, right?
A minimum contract?
Well, either that or convince the Lakers,
hey, so Bradley Beal. I mean, you're only taking Brawny if indeed you want LeBron, right? A minimum contract? Either that or convince the Lakers, hey, so Bradley Beal.
I mean, you're only taking Brawny
if indeed you want LeBron, right?
Or if you think LeBron's gonna go there.
As a first round pick?
Otherwise you're not taking Brawny.
As a first round pick, sure.
Yeah, but my point is, if Phoenix takes Brawny
with a first round pick, Phoenix is hopelessly capped out.
So LeBron's got one or two decisions,
either to find a way to hypnotize the Lakers
into taking the poo poo platter from Phoenix,
or you could sign for minimum.
You could come over here and just play
for tens of millions of dollars
under what your market value is,
and then LeBron's gotta make the decision,
like wait a second, how much do I love my son?
That's the thing, you need to test LeBron's
love for his son right here.
If you're one of these bad teams that's never gonna get LeBron,
you test his love for his son.
And you test all this bullshit that he's been saying,
oh, my dream is to play with my son.
Really?
You wanna play in Detroit with your son?
So you test LeBron and you don't try to make your team better.
Exactly right, yeah.
You test his love for his son.
Don't you guys find it interesting that everyone's saying
that this is one of the most,
this is not a great NBA draft, right? there's not a lot of great prospects in this draft
and yet this is like the big enigma of the draft and this is gonna be driving
all the conversation are there any conspiracy theorists out there who think
that this might be something that LeBron as well as the NBA have cooked up cooked
up to bring attention to a draft that not many people would care about. I've heard worse theories.
It's a perfect story and I'm surprised that it's such a perfect story that up to bring attention to a draft that not many people would care about. I've heard worse stories.
It's a perfect story and I'm surprised that it's such a perfect story that it has resident
anarchist Billy Gill.
Orlando at 18 would be great.
I hope you love Disney World LeBron.
It's a playoff team.
That's going to be a great situation for LeBron.
LeBron James is not going to play for the Orlando Panthers.
He didn't play for the Dodgers.
Let's be very clear about this right now.
He played for the Cavaliers.
Yeah, because he was born there. But he's from Akron.
I mean, if he were from Kissimmee, it'd be a different story.
And we told you, we told you, Coach Biggerstaff is coaching for his job, and you guys laughed
and scoffed at us when we told you that.
Monaco.
Kissimmee is a good comedic choice there as a word.
What's the difference between Kissimmee and St. Cloud? Because they're always paired together.
It's like Minneapolis, St. Paul, twin cities.
I've never heard, wait, what is the other city?
St. Cloud, yeah.
I've never heard of St. Cloud in my life.
The lesser of the two.
Anyway, sorry, Dan.
You guys go to Disney a lot.
I am surprised.
That is South Florida, Cuban right there,
going to Disney a lot.
Don't get me started on celebration.
You are normally an anarchist and you are sitting here rooting for the establishment
I'm looking for a family to fall apart apparently that too. We just have a woge bomb that
That plays into this conversation that we're having David Fisdale is returning to the Phoenix Sun Wow
smoke smoke smoke.
Oh, wow.
You know what they say about when there's smoke?
There's fire.
Smoke bomb.
You are normally an anarchist.
I would think that you would enjoy somebody
who otherwise doesn't have any value
dictating to the system how it is it's going to go
just because he's the son of somebody who's trying
Desperately to change the way the power dynamics work in the system if I'm gonna be honest with you
It's really the Ethan of this all that drives me crazy because Ethan's out there telling me I should feel bad for Brawny and like no
Buddy, I don't feel bad for Brawny. That's not what's going on here
Everybody's trying to make us feel bad for Brawny because he's in this impossible situation
that he has put himself in.
He's in this position because of him and his father.
He shouldn't even be in this position.
But we have to keep hearing about it
because of a position he's put himself in
and then we're like, I don't know.
This doesn't all seem to be adding up.
It's like, whoa, he's a kid, don't say that.
He's a kid.
It's like, well, hold on a second.
He should be interning somewhere. That's what 19-year-olds do.
They intern somewhere. They get ready for their sophomore year of college and they say, you know
what, I don't want to, I don't know what I want to do with my life. That's what he should be doing
at 19 years old. He can intern for the Suns next year. Get some minutes. In the media relations department.
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Don Lebatard.
He has been great.
He's made great hires.
I said all of it. We've said all of it. He said all of it. We've said all of it. He has been great. He's made great hires. I said all. We've said all of it.
He said all of it. He said all of it. First time I heard anything this great.
Everything you're saying, it's all been said. Okay, you gotta understand one thing.
StuGuts. Me maximum. That's right. Until I say it, it hasn't been said. Boom.
Okay, understand that. You're the mayor. Until I say it
This is the done libertar show with this two guards
Isn't it true though that Ronnie is in the situation he's in because of his heart ailment largely?
The 4.8 is due to him missing most of the season coming back.
It's an average.
The average 4.8.
It's not like they get all your points and they average it out amongst all the games
and it combined and went down to 4.8.
Yeah, but the heart thing definitely affected his status.
And he has since been medically cleared.
Yes. Now before the heart issue, before the 4.8,
he was definitely considered a pro prospect.
Only by his father.
Four people watched him play.
A man would always talk about the actual pro prospects
and they weren't as bullish.
Yeah, I mean, he was a well-recruited player,
but he wasn't a blue chip.
He wasn't like...
He was a second or third round, right?
He was a second round pick.
I was going two rounds.
Right, that's why I stopped.
He was.
He was.
He was a third round pick.
You didn't stop though at the right time.
You stopped a couple of steps late there.
Which by the way, it's not his fault
that he's not as good at his father, obviously.
I think that's one of the reasons that people feel bad.
No, one person is.
Because it would probably be very hard
to be LeBron James' son, even though, I agree, Billy,
a lot of this LeBron himself has projected
before his son was old enough to make his own decision.
So there's a lot of stuff that he's now kind of grown into.
Even though he is technically an adult,
he's still very, very young.
And the guidance he's getting is largely from his father
and the other agents and stuff that his dad knows,
and maybe it's hard to make decisions
independent of what other people in your family
think of your head.
Which should be grateful.
I mean, he should.
That his dad is willing to do this for him.
He is going to make a kid who is averaging
four point five points per game,
no business being a lottery pick in the NBA,
he's gonna make him a first round pick.
Which by the way,
What a great jump he's made, dad of the year.
LeBron's opt out three days after the draft
is simply incredible.
Cause then he gets, do I wanna go there?
No, I'm going back to LA.
He controls it.
The announcement that he's going to be a free agent
was more muted than it normally is,
but that the guy who is both the youngest player to ever make an all NBA team and the oldest player to
ever make an all NBA team that he still has this power that can just over on the
side create both economy and interest around his son where I'm guessing the
majority of the audience who is the name prospect by leaps and bounds that you know in this draft
a week draft
whether you like it or not
it's the son of lebron james with just collateral interest on the side another
clutch management economy of how do we create value over here for something
that might not have value on
the fumes of what LeBron is. It's a good conspiracy theory if you think some
people are in cahoots. It's super interesting to think of the league
needing to transition out of the LeBron years and the way that it goes younger
is by wondering will he go to Phoenix and team up with Kevin Durant
and all of a sudden, basically,
Bronnie becomes Theonis Antetokounmpo.
Theonis Antetokounmpo.
But hold on a second.
Theonis Antetokounmpo, that's a fine.
The league has so many young stars,
you don't need to rely on LeBron and Bronnie
to be getting the attention at this point.
You should be focusing on the league.
I mean.
I agree, Billy.
I don't wanna have the ratings conversation,
but they're struggling to create new marquee stars.
That's why the John Maran thing kind of caught them
in a moment where we were like, wow,
we were ready to make this guy the face of the league.
There is definitely the big blue button meme
in NBA media where you slap the LeBron button
and immediately there's amplified attention
to whatever you're doing because he's the greatest player of all time.
You guys just weren't old enough to remember
when Jordan retired how thirsty the league was.
Which time?
Yeah.
The second time.
Second time.
Now after 98, the league was desperate for,
just give me something, anything.
The first time too.
They made Penny, I mean Penny was a great player.
Great hill.
Yeah.
But it's like, They're all dying to make those guys. But the second time because we really thought, They made Penny like a I mean Penny was a great player great hill
But like the the second time because we really thought like the first time like oh my god He retired so early the second time was like oh, yeah, this is it. He just ended it on the perfect hit the shot
It's it. That's it. He's not coming back
And so this search for anything was so severe and then what ends up happening is he comes back a couple years later, plays for the Wizards,
and this is right after 9-11, it's like,
Michael Jordan's gonna save us from 9-11 economy dips, right?
And by the way, he did.
The team that led the league in road attendance that season
was the Washington Wizards, even though they were terrible.
This is where LeBron is headed.
He's gonna be like a traveling man.
He's gonna end up playing for like 17 different teams,
just saving the league on attendance and ratings alone.
I just wanna be clear.
Did you say he saved us from 9-11?
So what did it sound?
No, no.
The economy.
Help bring the economy.
The economy and the air.
The math.
Jordan brought the economy.
This is a Dan LeBotard show.
You could say,
everyone knows.
Like, Jordan saved us from 9-11.
Just go ahead, run with it, and say it happened in Monaco.
Yeah.
Everyone knows it was the George W. Bush pitch.
Right.
I thought it was the drive.
Oh, two-seamers.
Now watch this drive.
That shit was heat right down the middle.
Man, honestly, we've talked about it before.
When you consider the pressure, that is one of the greatest
athletic feeds I've ever seen.
No doubt.
Top five athletic presidents in history.
Let's do the top five list of Zugatz's teams
that LeBron has nodded at.
How tall was Abraham Lincoln actually tall,
or was he tall for the time?
You might have to put Trump in there.
He was like 6'4", wasn't he?
And he also had a big hat.
Big hat. Bad spatial awareness by Lincoln, though.
Trump's a good golfer.
Gerald Ford was a Michigan football player.
He was. He was, yeah.
Was it Reagan, an athlete as well?
He was an athlete.
Also an athlete.
Well, he played George Gip.
Also an athlete.
He played George Gip in the New Rockne All-American.
The Gipper.
Win-win for the Gipper.
Do you have any OLIs here, Stugats?
Top five teams that LeBron has just sort of nodded to.
Looks like Abe was 6'3".
They wrestled.
Oh, we got this first pitch now.
I think they gave heights that were lies back then.
They weren't fighting.
Oh, and we don't do that anymore.
I think they did it more back there with presidents.
I think they did it back with the measurement systems
on presidents.
Top of the bump too.
Anyway, there's no front of the mound here.
Where's the gods?
Did you Google this?
Because there is a list.
I did not.
Yeah, yeah.
I feel like Teddy Roosevelt.
The Dallas Observer put together a list.
He was all about the road.
Gerald Ford was indeed number one.
Good pitch.
They put Obama number two.
A bit of a meatball though for me on
if there was a bad if there was a bad in there that was not
home run derby pitch i would have invited gw to go pitch my home run derby the next season because
it was right down the middle and it was yeah man the derby pitch luckily they imagine josh hamilton
and george w bush in the same home run der. They listed bona fides as to why these presidents
deserve to be on this list.
Number two is Obama.
He led Occidental in scoring.
On purpose though.
Oh no.
Dwight Eisenhower was a linebacker slash running back
at Army.
And he hurt a knee tackling Jim Thorpe.
Damn right he did.
George H.W. Bush was a left handed first baseman
that led Yale to the College World Series in 1948.
And?
Yeah, and Ronald Reagan played the Gipper.
Thank you.
So was he an actual athlete?
Did he play football?
Did he play baseball, Ronald Reagan?
Jimmy Carter played baseball and ran cross country in Navy. Huh.
See all these guys playing for schools
that are not known for their athletic exploits.
I need someone who played somewhere like,
who played at Michigan Jump Fork?
Yeah, that counts.
So the Dallas Observer, to close out their list
is George W. Bush and his bona fides
is the pitch at the World Series.
That's right.
It was such a different time that I will tell you,
even though Stu Gatz can be forgiven
for remembering that as heat,
even though it was just a lollipop
that he served up over home plate.
At that very time, I thought, right around then,
you know what?
You know who'd make a good president?
Rudy Giuliani.
Jesus Christ.
He had a moment. Cold open for SNL. He had a moment.
Cold open for SNL.
Oh, a leadership.
Y'all were over there.
People that lived in New York were not on the same wave.
Yeah, no, definitely not on the same wave.
Jessica might.
America's mayor.
She might say that, but the fear after 9-11
was such that anyone who ran into that breach
and seemed like a leader,
we were willing to latch on to,
independent of almost anything else.
That's why Jordan came back.
Yep, saved us.
I also like how you said the fear after 9-11.
There was definitely a fear after 9-11, fear of terrorism,
but also a fear after 9-11 in New York City
of being any ethnicity other than white.
That's correct, which was part of what it is
that Jay-Anne was leading. America's mayor. Yes, that was part of what it is that Giuliani was leading.
Yes, that's part of what it is that Jessica was objecting to
because a lot of people in New York
did know about the whole Giuliani and Trump thing,
but it caught some of the rest of America off guard,
including me because I'm telling you, him,
Giuliani going into the rubble
and being one of the first to go into the rubble fearlessly was an act
that many of us took as that person isn't going to,
25 years later, be an insane person outside Four Seasons
towing with hair dye running down the side of his face.
Not outside.
Landscaping.
Landscaping, exactly.
Whatever.
Four Seasons towing sounds better than landscaping.
Sounds even worse.
Four Seasons Orlando sounds better than landscaping. Sounds even worse.
Four seasons Orlando sounds even better.
And that baby looked like it had a blast there by the way.
Do they have a four seasons in Monaco?
I'm just asking.
Summer vacations come up.
There's a two seasons in Austin.
We stayed there once.
You want to talk more about the gender of your children?
Oh no.
Wow, that's a lot.
Stop it.
Come on, man.
More work for everybody else.
Wow, man.
Congratulations, Dan.
They love you even more now.
Top five reasons, top five nods
that LeBron has given various teams.
Number five.
San Antonio Spurs.
They have two picks, they have the fourth pick,
they have the ninth pick, they use the fourth
on a player that will help them be better.
They use the ninth on Brawny, they get LeBron.
Brawny, Braun, Wemby, Pop, no JJ Reddick.
Number four.
Number four, Memphis. John Marant is back next year, Dan. They draft-
Thank you.
Bronte at number nine, fire their coach and replace him with JJ Reddick.
Number three.
Oklahoma City.
Loves the GM. One seed in the west, put him with SGA you get Bronte you get JJ
Reddick you win a title sounds like what a pro wants mmm number two the Cavs
Vickerstaff is out JJ is in and what a story Cleveland's favorite son comes
home with his son you got one better than that? The Knicks. That's the worst. Backstreet's back.
Alright. Since the dawn of mankind we've cooked our food over an open flame and
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Every single time my team plays on television, I am sitting behind that television screen with a Miller Lite or three.
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Hoo!