The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Big Suey: They Should be Ashamed of Themselves
Episode Date: January 22, 2024Patrick Mahomes is pretty good, huh? The crew talks Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and how tough it must be for Nick Sirianni to fire his friends. Then, did the Bills blow it or did the Chiefs win it?... It's time to criticize the fake punt to Damar Hamlin. Also, Stugotz dismisses Kyle Shanahan. Plus, Tony tells us about a funny moment from his MMA Hangout, and Jess and Dan speak about another blow to the Sports Illustrated brand with massive layoffs incoming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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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 LeBatard podcast.
I'm sorry, I'm not going to apologize for that.
In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging.
I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's 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,
that face and the habitual liar. The Crown is yours. Gambling problem, call 1,800 Gamber. Agent eligibility restrictions applied. Foybear prohibited. See DraftKings.com for details.
Stugots just laughed and muttered under his breath.
Mahomes has more playoff wins than Aaron Rodgers.
This is not even the completion of his sixth season, right?
It's five and a half.
Yeah, he's 28.
Yeah, and also him and Kelsey have more playoff touchdowns than any combination ever more than Brady and Gronk more than Montana and Rice.
That's crazy.
It really is.
I want to ask you guys something because I think this is a little bit crazy too in where it is that we're putting the standard even though I understand where we're putting the standard.
I think the Cowboys have three straight 12 win seasons and McCarthy's job looked like it should have been in jeopardy.
And Siriani was 10 and won five weeks ago,
and I don't think any of us could have imagined
the possibility of him being fired from there.
But now Adam Schefter's reporting,
and this one's got some qualifiers on it,
because Adam Schefter's not getting out there boldly with,
while there's nothing official, and conversations are still ongoing, on it's to God because Adam Schefter is not getting out there boldly with while
there's nothing official and conversations are still ongoing it's
trending towards Nick Siriani remaining the head coach of the Eagles with
changes expected at the defensive coordinator position was that a fake
Schefter because it was pretty good I feel like there's legs yeah I tried at
the beginning and I lost confidence in it.
That was good.
It was good.
You got this.
Nothing official.
Yeah, it's so good.
Conversations are still ongoing.
It is trending towards Nick Siriani
remaining the head coach of the Eagles,
with changes expected at the DC position.
And the thing that I wanted to ask you is,
because this was interesting to me,
he might be pressured to fire his offensive coordinator and his defensive coordinator.
These people might be his close friends.
He is spending more time with them than his family.
They have huge commonalities.
They're spending 16, 18 hours a day together.
It's all lunacy, what these people do for a living.
And your coaching staffs become your friends.
And when ownership comes and asks you to fire your friends, it's hard to do.
When you're in a position of strength, like a Bill Belichick, you can fight.
But when you're Sirianni and the choice is you or your friends.
Your friends are going.
You or your...
McDermott just made that choice.
And I'm asking you, how does that one feel?
Because Chris Cody was let go at ESPN.
And then we left here in our last two and a half years
after freedom that Monday where I sounded crazy,
I had to protect people from getting fired.
Stugatz has gotten in some hot water.
I've got to protect him from being fired.
When you cannot do it
Because you don't have the power when you're siri on and you have to protect your own job
What do you imagine those complications are like if these people are your legitimate friends if they're people that?
You have relationships with and now they expect you to fight for him because when it comes to Chris Cody
Your father Chris told me something. I did not know on that South Beach session I did with him
which is that when you were let go he says to me, Dan will figure something out.
And I'm like, well, that's interesting that you would feel that way because that's hard
to do to just figure something out there.
If Sirianni's got to make a choice, it's me or them and they're telling him, they got
to go or you're going to lose
your job too. A guy who's said to be in power no longer actually has power. He's powerless
there. What does he do to protect his friends? The answer is he can't. Now I don't know how
close he is to those people but you're going to become close over that time period when
you're enduring whatever it is they've endured over the last three years.
Don't you think those coaches in that profession,
they understand?
Like they understand.
They do.
This is not unique to Nick Siriani.
Right.
No, it happens all the time.
What does Nick Siriani do?
Say, no, I'm gonna protect my guys
and then lose his job and then they all do?
It happens all the time.
I'm talking about what gets hidden behind the scenes
when Schefter's been reporting on this and my guess is that some of this stuff hasn't
happened already because Sirianni is fighting for them and he's losing.
My guess is that that's how that happens behind the scenes. Yes it's the most
common thing in the world in that profession for ownership to step in
and say I need changes look at how the look at ownership do you know how
rabid Philadelphia fans and entitled they are and what, I need changes. Look at ownership. Do you know how rabid Philadelphia fans and
entitled they are and what they expected this year? Somebody's blood has to be in the street.
And these are your friends. And you're like, well, I know what happened there. And it was my
linebackers couldn't cover anybody. That's not my offensive coordinator and defensive
coordinators fault that my linebackers were shitty and they couldn't cover anybody and everyone in the sport could see it but there has to be blood
in the street when your fan base is howling and I feel for those people when
they're in those positions and it has to be that overt and I would tell you that
even if you understand the profession it could damage a friendship it can damage
a friendship if they don't know that you fought for them hard enough if you
can't go back to them and say, this is what I told ownership,
and they told me, if I do not do this, then I'm fired too.
Who almost got fired after freedom?
We've all been kinda wondering this instead.
Just out of curiosity.
I'll keep that to myself.
It was more than one person.
And I was almost fired, huh?
Well, you know that.
I do.
And why are you acting as if that's some sort of surprise? And I was almost fired, huh? Well, you know that
Why are you acting as if that's some sort of surprise
Pepper related or yeah, of course. Oh, why do you think I sounded so crazy that Monday?
Just that Monday Mike was gone
Mike was almost gone. Yes. Oh
I wouldn't have worked out. That wouldn't have gone well. No.
We were both almost gone for anybody.
Imagine having a second freedom four months later because that happened and then you left your own company because of Mike to start another one.
That's right.
For 48 hours that time.
That is correct.
Double or nothing. Oh, I That is correct. Double or nothing.
Oh, I like that.
Freedom, double or nothing.
I love that not even a single person has suggested,
hey, we should do that again.
They've suggested, but it's been met with such angst
that it's been swiftly dismissed.
You think that Cleveland or Roostle has that rap on it?
Definitely.
Definitely.
Definitely.
Speaking of angst, have you guys considered it all?
Because I thought about this.
I have to go to jury duty here today.
I have to leave early and go to jury duty.
And there is the possibility.
Well, thank you for your service.
There is the possibility that I could get in a trial that's
so long that I can't get to Las Vegas. Like like I suppose it's possible as part of my civic duty
And what I wanted to just ask you guys in terms of angst and things that can happen that can cause problems
Have any of us considered the idea that we're throwing a pool party at what can be 20 degree weather?
If not cold plunge
Can we get back to you on jury you jury duty though?
I love that visual of you walking in there. It's like that show. What was that called?
jury duty jury duty, yeah
If James Mars, what if you're in that show?
What if it's season two and you walk in there and it's like a lot of weird shit going on here?
What if you're the actor in it now wait a minute you did do that fake shifter?
What if you're the actor in it now? Wait a minute. You did do that fake shifter Uh-huh. Wait a minute
Are you filming season 2? Why is your jury duty like things so late? Isn't it normally at like 8 in the morning?
Mm-hmm. I got a late one Dan. There was one time where it's like, oh you have to show up at 2 o'clock
I was like for what and then like 30 minutes later like, oh, you know what canceled what's going on didn't Mike have it last
We get any came he's like, yeah, there was there was no cases today. What's going on over there?
I was there for 30 minutes. It's all willy-nilly news.
You're done. Valerie got one too. It's weird.
You don't know.
They're sending out one right after I do that one.
Are they targeting us? Oh my god, like love is blind but jury duty where it's all couples
as jurors.
It's a funny thing to have something that is a civic duty
where you're protecting freedom and justice and democracy
and nobody wants to do it.
You should be disqualified just by being the biggest leaky faucet
in the room. You should not be allowed to be.
I thought she was going to stop at just the biggest.
You want to be selected though, right? I mean...
I'd like to miss the Super Bowl, yes.
Yes, I would like you guys to go alone.
Ian's looking at the defendant trying to raise eyebrows.
I'm trying to see if I can commit a crime
where I lose my actual freedom and end up in jail.
Some sort of scandal, because you guys
haven't considered the idea that it might be 10 degrees.
Contempt.
You can just lie and say you still have your,
we'll never know.
That's true.
I'm shocked that two guys hasn't tried that one yet.
I'm getting to it.
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Don Lebatard!
Tonya, kids, you don't really realize
how much time it just adds to your day.
And how little they bring to the table.
They bring nothing to the table.
Nothing to the table.
In fact, you have to bring the table physically to then.
But I wanted to go to Flanagan's before for you know what I would do I grabbed my keys
I had hop in my car now there's seven different bags. You gotta take it in 35 minutes to go to playing again
Stugots
Move everything around all of a sudden you can't leave knives everywhere like I'm used to put it on the pole gear
Well at LeBatard show is there anything lazier than an infant?
This is the done LeBatard show with this two guys
I'm having trouble trying to sleep
Cuz once again chief's knocked me out
as Casey drives the defense tries but they will never stop the throw to
Kelsey from Palo Alto
Eliminated, this is three
Times the chief's ended are years short our kicks are wide
my face is dumb
is this the end of our window
cause the calcium and pyrmones
if Come on.
If Diggs just comes down with that catch, and we'd be talking about that throw forever,
in the wind, in the wind that would knock a 44-year-old,
a 44-yard field goal wide, in that wind,
he makes that throw to a receiver who wasn't open. we're gonna be talking. I'm watching on television right now
It's about the did the bills blow the game instead of the chiefs winning it you got to count for the wind when you're a kicker
It's a great question by the way
The at least just aim left if you're a bills exactly right
It's like when you're a golfer who slices the ball
Aim left the middle of the fairway. You got to know you're out there you're a golfer who slices the ball. He aim left, you go right in the middle of the fairway.
You gotta know, you're out there practicing, Dan.
They were saying it before the game.
They're having real difficulty here, hitting them over 50 yards.
Just kick it.
That was Jim Nance's fault though.
Right as he's about to kick.
AJ, I asked McDermott before the game.
He says, I don't trust anyone more with the game on the line than Tyler Bass.
The old jank.
He was saying that as he started making the kick.
Do you guys understand what an absurd throw that was
he made to digs?
It was 60 yards in the air.
I'm telling you I stood up.
Apparently Chris was jerking off.
Huh?
If you missed earlier in the show,
I refuse to say what I was doing.
No explanation needed, thank you.
Just let it sit there.
Just let it sit there in its discomfort, please.
We appreciate you trying to defend yourself.
Mike said the other day about the only contribution Mike
made to a show the other day was I masturbate five times a day
and he had to eat that.
He had to eat that after he said it.
That he said it and he was making a joke
and he couldn't explain it and he had to live with it.
For easy. I had a boy on a protein.
Do you guys understand how hard it is to win the media game in that sport?
When you're Josh Allen, you make that throw.
A throw Buffalo would have remembered forever and now we'll get forgotten.
And now it'll only be we've got a new Scott Norwood.
We've got a new field goal miss her in that city
That never wins ever anything that city that has such regional pride in that team still gots the bills are the best thing
They got yeah, the bills the only thing they've got the bills sabers and not just sports wings
I'm talking about the bills are the source of the most regional pride even though they've been laughed at maybe because
most regional pride even though they've been laughed at maybe because they've been laughed at and this quarterback brought them hope again and he made that
throw in that situation and it would have knocked off Mahomes and Kelsey it
was the throw that you need to make to knock off a champion and you made it and
Diggs who reportedly has been unhappy there all year has the worst game of his
life digs who was brought there to make Josh Allen that,
to make that play for Josh Allen,
the whole season falls apart and the biggest surprise,
Billy was rooting for them.
I don't understand.
Why?
I mean, what do you mean why?
Nice story.
Billy, what do you mean why?
I have this new found friendship also with Christine Leasy.
We talk a lot now.
I wish her good luck. She was just me, good luck on the Dolphins. Of talk a lot now. Wish her good luck.
She wishes me good luck on the Dolphins.
Of course she's sad.
People are crying.
Oh my God.
Well, she was on with us and she said when Billy made the comment about Josh Allen's face
that Billy was dead to her.
That's true.
So you've revived that friendship now?
I've made it my goal in life to get on her good side. I cannot imagine how badly Buffalo Bill's fans
will feel for a month.
Like it's not, this one's not going away.
Never mind today, they're going to have a feeling
in the pit of their stomach.
They're gonna wake up with that today
and it's going to feel something like actual grief.
They should be used to it by now, honestly.
I have some medicine medicine Bill Belichick
Bill's Bella check you're gonna offer them a gummy
I think like the digs thing was bad and the miss field goal was bad, but oh my god the fake punt
That was awful egregious when they drew that up. They're like it's gonna be Hamlin in a big spot. This is gonna be awesome
Didn't really work out that way.
No.
I can't believe they did that.
I cannot believe they went for it like that with him.
If you're gonna go for it, do it with Josh Allen.
Do it with Lockers.
I don't know.
Giant quarterback, that's amazing at picking that stuff up.
They should have Josh Allen always out there
on their punt team.
So it's like, ah, he's here. Would have been a giveaway, but I mean so I think they were saying that as it was happening
There were there were ten guys on the field. Is that what it is?
That it's just an automatic go for it if there's a man advantage and the sideline said let's let's go and the ball landed with
tomorrow hamlin
Why man bunch of Monday morning quarterbacks here.
If that works out, you guys are all like,
wow, this is the greatest play in the history of football.
Yeah, those bumps.
But it didn't.
It's super didn't.
It's super didn't.
And they're really, I mean, the Chiefs also
were one fumble into the end zone away from running up
the score right there.
Like, that was super lucky that the bulls even had a chance.
Yeah, they got totally bailed out. are so right though Chris if it had worked
that's like an esp for play of the year it is play of the year result on that
that's a really risky move it's super wait a minute you think you'd be on here
today criticizing the bills I would be like I can't believe I just want to be clear on this so the bills win the game and'm Lin. Don't hold it. I'd be like, I can't believe they did that.
Well, I just want to be clear on this.
So the bills win the game.
That's not what I'm saying.
And they did a free punt that succeeded.
You still have them winning the game for this type of political.
That's the moment that the sports media is going to have
perspective and be like, you know what?
I know you got the result you wanted, but process was bad.
No, no, no.
I'm talking about that.
With that guy in particular.
What Tampa Bay did when they went for two,
when they're trying to come back,
that's the type of situation where they didn't get it and people play the result like why did you go for two?
The bills doing a fake punt in that situation
I get it the chiefs had ten people on the field and they thought they had a mismatch there
But it was a badly designed play. I'm not just playing the result like that's a really risky place to go fourth and five and try
To get a first down deep in your own territory did Baker seal come back player of the year last night with that DeMore Hamlin
No, he had a tackle on a punt well
I think the voting for that's done already right doesn't that end of the regular season probably what's a hamlin, right?
I feel like you you fire make term it if they even if they get that you fire McDermott, right?
Do anything what did the Hamlin with a two tackles is your what's a comeback? You fire McDermid, even if they get that, you fire McDermid, right? They didn't do anything.
What did they handle it with?
You had two tackles this year.
What's a comeback?
All right, we're not doing the show.
Well, from the beyond.
Don't want to do that.
We're not doing it again.
We're not doing it again.
Billy, you're saying that you...
I have them third on mine.
You fire McDermid?
And Rogers didn't even come back,
and I still have Eric Rogers at it to more of a hamlet.
Really?
Well, Flacco's on there.
Has to be.
What do you have to come back from?
Because like it's just being bad is a thing that you over over came yourself. Yeah, you're just bad Yes, bad the couch death. They're all on the table in this one. Do they do they franchise Baker?
What are you like? What do you do there? They got a lot of free agents coming up?
I know Evan's being another do you think they chose toMar Hamlin to be the guy to do that carry?
Because he was the best one for the job or they were going for the moment?
That's why I'm saying you fire him.
No, because what Chris was saying before. Not a time for moments.
McDermott, exactly right. You're playing for a Super Bowl not for an SB and that's what he was playing for in that play was an SB.
And that is not what you want when you're a head coach. No, if you're gonna go for it there, exactly, Josh Allen.
You know what Belichick does?
He either goes for it with Josh Allen
or he punts and plays defense.
That's what he does.
Doesn't go for moments.
We've talked a lot about Mike Evans today
and it brought up something that I saw
Booger McFarland tweet, which was that,
Mike Evans is a first ballot Hall of Famer
that you wouldn't put in your top five
at the wide receiver position if you made a top five list. So I thought maybe you wouldn't put in your top five at the wide receiver position
if you made a top five list. So I thought maybe Stugas could do a top five first ballot hall of
famers that you wouldn't put in your top five in their position group. And then there's an
opportunity to spin that into five more top fives because then you could name the top five receivers.
And then you could have like 30 people being listed in one segment, Stu. So I would like you
to please work on that.
On it. Andrew Hawkins makes the argument that Mike Evans is the best receiver of this generation
because for 10 straight years he's had thousand yard seasons and he is excellent. Like nobody would
dispute his unstoppable excellence, but he also drops balls quite a bit.
He's confusing, yeah.
Yeah.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Can't have a worse play outside of Cadarius Tony
than what Mike Evans did early in that game.
Well thank you for bringing up Cadarius Tony.
What was the sponsorship he had here?
Test switch, energy drink.
And what was his stat line in that game?
Because I think McCollardman came up yesterday and almost had a stat line to rival it
Are you ready Stugatz? Yeah, Cole Hardman stat line this one this beats Josh Allen's great throw this this beats Demar Hamlin's
fake punt one carry for negative one yard
one catch for two yards to fumbled
Only one loss though. It was a big moment in the game too.
That is correct.
That is a shitty stat line and he is advancing
and Josh Allen is not because
Stefan Diggs could not catch that ball.
And Patrick Mahomes.
And that, he's pretty excellent even as we see.
I think
this is the most doubted version of this team the last five years I think
it's actually a surprise that they that they won that game because I don't
believe many people have a great deal of confidence betting against the chiefs
the last four or five years when their favorites.
Yesterday they were a two and a half point underdog
and I think people were scared to bet them
because of how they looked all season.
We remember what it looked like them losing
to the Raiders at home like that.
They looked done.
Their offense didn't look like it could travel anywhere
and do anything.
It's one of the reasons I say this is a great opportunity
for Patrick Mahomes Dan because when you talk about like Tom Brady and some of those guys
some of the all-time greats they've all done it with teams that you don't think
are the best version of that team and he's doing this on the road against I
guess the two quarterbacks in that discussion for best quarterback in the
game. He I mean he just did it against Allen has a chance to do it against the
Marjax. Well let's let's discuss this for a second because I think
we all agree that this is a good and fun final four. I think we'd also agree
with the following. In the AFC you have the two quarterbacks we know we're
stars by themselves and in the NFC you have two quarterbacks that you wonder
if it's the system that makes them that. And San Francisco, eked by one of the quarterbacks,
I think we all agree, oh, that guy's a star.
That guy's going to be a star.
And that's the youngest team, playoff team
that's been in 50 years, two gods.
Crazy.
Green Bay's going, Green Bay going into San Francisco.
And you seeing San Francisco weakened,
weakened the moment Debo leaves the game.
We all, all of us see it at the same time
if they do not have
mcaffrey debo and trite williams all of them brock perty is going to suffer by
degrees in a way that patrick mohamms doesn't as his receivers dropped three
hundred plus yards and passes but that's that on the forty nine or still
gots
that they're one and thirty now
because they won this one they now have the one
they're one and thirty when shannaahan trails by five or more points headed into
the fourth quarter
that something no one will ever say about my homes
you will never say
my homes is not someone i fear in the fourth quarter
because i just gave you the stat
right that he's eight and two and playoff games when he's down seven or more
kyle shanahan is now one and thirty you the stat that he's eight and two in playoff games when he's down seven or more. Kyle Shanahan
is now one in 30 if he trails by five or more and he just did it to save his season because
two gods would have come after Shanahan all over again on you fraud. You do all you are is this
system guy who can do it with an undrafted or the last pick in the draft. You could do magic and
stuff. But when he's late in the game, and it's a fourth quarter,
and you need a quarterback to be Joe Montana,
or Steve Young, and not Garoppolo,
your system falls apart
because your quarterback's not actually that good.
He can't do the things that Lamar Jackson
and Patrick Mahomes do.
I'm still tired of Shanahan, even though he won.
Like, enough, enough of he could do it with this quarterback,
he could do it with that quarterback,
he did it with Garoppolo.
He's doing it with Brock Purdy.
He's done what?
Here's what he's done.
He hasn't won a Super Bowl with any of them.
Not any of them.
He hasn't won a, I am so tired of Kyle Shanahan,
never being on the hot seat, always being anointed
as this guy who can get it done with any quarterback.
Well then get it done, because he hasn't gotten it done.
Eight weeks ago, Brock Purdy was the MVP.
Eight weeks ago, four weeks ago.
Four weeks ago.
If that's not getting it done,
I'll take not getting it done,
because that seems like it'd be fun.
Get it done with a good quarterback.
What?
I believe that he has these quarterbacks around,
Brock Purdy, Jimmy Garoppolo,
where if he doesn't get it done,
it's because his quarterback wasn't good enough.
It's never Kyle Shanahan's fault. It's always he didn't have a good enough quarterback.
So you think he would rather have an excuse than a Super Bowl win?
Yep.
Put it on the pole, Juju. Would Kyle Shanahan rather have an excuse than a Super Bowl win?
So he's, if he wins with one, he's a genius and good for him, but if not, it's never his fault.
So he's choosing to not have a good quarterback intentionally.
Yes.
Billy.
I don't know.
He traded Trey Lance.
I mean.
That's right.
That was the good quarterback.
To the Cowboys.
He tried to get a good one.
Listen, he doesn't get criticized for that.
I mean, he traded all his draft picks up to get Trey Lance and he blames it on John Lynch.
It's never his fault.
Stu Gotts is in good position here, but he's also in trouble.
Lamar Jackson, he says win a Super Bowl.
Kyle Shanahan, he says win a Super Bowl.
He's a win away from being in the Super Bowl again.
They're in the NFC Championship game.
We'll win it.
But he's in trouble though, because you've heard me say
this before, you've heard it a lot from me.
You've heard me talk about the critic always gets to be right
because there are so many other people every year that lose than the one who wins. And then he just moves
to the next one. Like if Lamar Jackson wins, he'll just go right over to Kyle Shanahan.
It is a bad spot for him though because if he loses to Dan Campbell when he's a genius
and everyone looks at Dan Campbell like kind of like a fool, that is he's going to look
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Don Libertard.
That kind of thing.
I love that sound.
Is that a bassoon?
What is that sound?
It's a tuba. Isn't it a tuba? Huh? It's a tuba. Isn't it to be I believe it to you sure?
I would be very interested to find out really let's get a musicologist on I think it's a bassoon
I love woodwinds. Yeah, who do we know that's who's the music version of Ron McGill that we could have on I think it's a
Bafoon to hear that sound and
To idea stoo guts. I mean I heard that and I think I was the butt of that joke that was Billy
No, no prior to that. I'm I'm going in
Yes, keep up then
This is the done levitarar Show with the Stugat.
Tony, how did your MMA watch party go?
Beautifully. We had an amazing time over at the Taurus and Coconut Grove. We had a bunch of people out there hanging out watching the fights.
The fights were good. One was very good. The Dupla C vs. Strickland fight, I think, was the best on the car, which was built supposed to be that way.
But we had some fun along the way
Dan a lot of people rooting for Strickland to lose there did he or did the judges it was tight
Let me let me say it was very tight. I think duplicy had enough
Damage on Strickland cut him in the forehead cut him in the eye that it looked like he won the fight
But it was very close
Can you guys play for me a clip that I hope embarrasses somebody from Tony at the fight
Did your parlay fall apart because you bet a giant favorite and the giant favorite loss
So Taylor asked me he's like hey, who do you like on this card?
What's your lock of the night lock of the night right?
I'm like Mike Malott's really good Neil Magney is kind of a journeyman in the welterweight division like this is the fight right now
That if you want to throw all your money on you want to bet Mike Malott at to this point point, Dan, the video we're going to show you, at this point, Mike Malott has been winning all three rounds,
taking Neil Magney down, he's got super ground control, he's been killing them all fight.
Minus 375 favorite.
Minus 375 is a favorite, yes.
And Tony's on the card, by the way.
And Tony's the guy you asked. Tony's a trusted voice in the MMA community.
He has a dedicated following of fans
that he brings with him anywhere he goes.
Thank you.
But this was 15 seconds out of the fight.
We got 15 seconds left in third round.
Billy, why are you laughing immediately
after you say that and then covering your laughing mouth
with your hand?
It was falsehood.
Because it sounded like sarcasm.
What do you mean falsehoods?
Everyone saw it, you're on television.
Well, if I'm gonna be honest,
it's because I found a printed out pitch
that Tony had for a show and that was a line from it that I memorized
And was throwing out there to see if anyone noticed and no one noticed
Cuz nobody saw that would have seen that Carl saw it like you're trying to sabotage me from within puppy
We're already winning don't worry about it. Don't worry about it
I mean it is deck speak right a trusted voice like it was a really somebody else created it was a really good line
Oh Chris found it you hate Tony falsehoods. I did not hate Tony. We don't have to worry about that
That's not sure we're having fun at the MMA hangout Billy of course didn't go didn't want to be supportive
That's fine a clock and night on a Saturday. You'll be okay. You'll live anyways
Here's the clip of a minus three seventy five favorite getting pinned down with 15 seconds left
And we are hoping to God that he survives these 15 seconds because if he does, we'll win the bet. If not, this
is what happens.
No way. Keep it up.
15 seconds.
Stay with us.
Fuck.
How much money did Taylor lose? How much money did Taylor lose? Lewis's face is hilarious
there. He's like 15 seconds, we got this shit.
That's my fault, right?
That's my fault.
Chris, how do you feel about this awkwardness?
Because Billy just leaned into you covering his mouth.
Well, because Chris showed me the print out.
So that's why.
Oh, it was here the other day.
Yeah, that's why I did it just for Chris
to see if he would notice, but he didn't notice.
Poor Taylor, can I just say, Taylor has some bad beats.
When we went and did that FIU game,
he went to cover the game,
like to get video of it for the show or whatever,
and he told us that morning, he's like,
I bet everything on FIU.
And I was like, oh, Taylor.
He gambles recklessly.
Quite recklessly. And I don't even know how, we're not at a D oh, Taylor. He gambles recklessly. Quite recklessly.
And I don't even know how, we're not at a Drafking state.
He won big on the Packers, he had the Packers,
I think, plus six or whatever, so they covered,
he was big, he wanted to go out and double the money.
That's his strategy.
If I win a bet, I'm putting it all on the next bet.
And if I win that bet, and so if he gets five bets in,
he gets a big chunk, but then it all goes away quick.
But when does it end?
Where's the end to that?
He loses it.
He ends Mike Malott on his back,
getting punched by Neil Magdy
for a substantial amount for Taylor.
But it's a no-win proposition,
because you're going to eventually lose it all
if you're just betting everything you've won
every single time.
Jessica, you are probably the only one here
who cares about something that happened
on either Friday
or Saturday, like me, and the rest of the group, I don't believe I will get to be interested
in this.
I have no idea what it is.
Where I was, a whole lot of people, when the news came down, a whole lot of people reached
out to me because a lot of my friends work in journalism and have worked in journalism,
and it's just a hugely interesting, and weakened time in media. Stugatz, the entire media
industry is crumbling. CNN is having in-house fights about whether or not
to air parts of a speech from the leading Republican candidate who appears to be
running for president at least in part to just stay out of jail. And in the little sports sphere where we reside,
about 10 days ago, the sporting news,
which I did not know, still existed.
I had put it on the poll at Levitard Show.
Did you know the sporting news still existed?
What a run.
The sporting news let go of a few riders
as a precursor to sports illustrated just basically ended. They've had an
assortment of embarrassments that include AI articles and being a vitamin
company and they've ceased to be anything other than a brand name that for
70 years was the gold standard in the profession that I have always cared about most in 70
years of excellence. Sports Illustrated dominated the sports media field and showed you sports
and athletes in a way that people have not seen them before and the damage done over
the last five years has erased three quarters of a century of work.
People don't understand and I understand why they don't.
It's because of age, but how big of a deal
Sports Illustrated was when me and Dan were growing up.
Like that thing coming to your mailbox once a week,
you would run to your mailbox to get that thing.
I would personally flip to the back page
because Dr. Z's NFL breakdown was one of the greatest things
I've ever seen in print. It was
amazing. They dominated a field that is now extinct. Magazines is never mind. Never mind
journalism or media. Magazines are basically dead and they like I said, they were the best.
The best at this thing that is now, if not in, if certainly endangered, right on the cusp of
extinct and sports illustrated now basically extinct in it sports illustrated only in name they
will not be doing good sports stories that that make kids who who like help
sports illustrated made me want to read and made me want to write well it
remains to be seen I think what exactly will happen next but what happened on
Friday is that sports illustrated staff the writers and the people that work on the website and for the magazine
received an email that either they were laid off that day and that was their last day of work or they had 90 more days and then they would be laid off
and these are all members of the SI Union that we started in 2019 when sports illustrated went up for sale
and was bought by ABG Authentic Brands Group
and then licensed to Maven,
which is now called the Arena Group,
which can be a little confusing
because they both start with A.
But it's a pretty standard owner-operator agreement.
Arena Group pays for the license from ABG
and produces the magazine and runs the website.
So, Arena Group recently was,
the majority stake was bought by the guy
who founded Five Hour Energy,
his name's Minoche Bargava, I believe is his name.
And he had a really weird all staff meeting
a few weeks ago where he just seemed like
he did not like what was going on there.
And there's reporting on this, you go read the details.
It sounded very bizarre.
As many bad things have happened, and as many bad managers
and CEOs have led sports illustrated over the last four
years, this was very concerning.
And so now, a few weeks later, the entire staff
has found out that they will no longer have jobs in three
months.
And I believe that this is all part of a power struggle happening between Arena Group who
runs the magazine and ABG who owns the magazine.
So I don't know exactly what will happen next.
I do know that because of the union, I think Sports Illustrated has existed longer than
it probably would have after the initial sale in 2019 because a huge
chunk of the staff was laid off in 2019.
It's almost incredible that the magazine has even been able to exist since then.
They laid off the entire copy desk, for example, in 2019 before people that bought sports
literature were like, oh, maybe we need those people.
Maybe we actually need a copy desk to run a magazine.
It was just very unorganized and messy from the start
because I do not believe that ABG cares or even wants to pretend to care about journalism
or any of the stories that made Sports Illustrated an iconic brand.
I think that they simply want to put the Sports Illustrated name on things that they can sell,
like vitamins and like a hotel, a throw blanket, like whatever the thing is.
And-
Not words.
Not storytelling, not journalism, not things that,
you know, aren't going to make you friends with the leagues
that you cover, or friends with the athletes
that you wanna be in business with.
I think that they just really care about selling merchandise
with the sports illustrated name,
and journalism is like an unfortunate byproduct.
And I think that, management is very threatened by the Sports Illustrated Union and
threatened of what happens when a lot of employees can come together and say,
we are not being treated with respect. We are not being paid the wages that we deserve.
We are being told to do work that we're uncomfortable with that has corporate influence. I think that getting rid of the Union is actually a pretty calculated move because like I said, I don't know what will happen next
I don't know if sports illustrated will continue in some form with contract workers after the three months is over
I don't know if there will continue to be a magazine written by people that weren't part of the Union
I'm not exactly sure how this will shake out
I do know that the union negotiated for recall rights,
which means that if you were laid off
and the company tries to hire someone
for the same position within a certain time period,
they have to hire you first or at least interview you
and ask you if you want your job back.
So I don't know exactly what the future holds
and I don't think anyone really knows
because like I said, I think this really comes down
to a power struggle between these two groups of people
and trying to figure out how they can continue
to make money off of sports illustrated
without actually giving any sort of a shit
about quality work and quality journalism
and the things that made sports illustrated
a valuable brand name to begin with.
This was a union you helped form.
Correct, yeah.
And honestly, like there's no more galvanizing force
in your workplace than, hey guys,
we're all gonna get laid off.
We're gonna lose our jobs, we're gonna lose our healthcare,
and not to mention this iconic brand that, for many of us,
was our dream jobs.
You dream of working for a company like Sports Illustrated
when you wanna work in sports media.
Certainly when I was hired by Sports Illustrated,
I felt like, wow, I've really accomplished something
in my career.
And many people feel that the first time I ever had
a magazine story published, I mean,
I bought like 50 of them the next day
and just gave them to all my friends.
In fact, I have them in a storage container somewhere
because it was so cool.
I have one framed in my bedroom right now.
It's just a really cool place to work
in something that feels like an accomplishment.
And so we felt really threatened in 2019 that that this could all go away because we've heard
what the people that bought the company are saying about it
and what they wanna do.
And none of these things really mesh
with what we're trying to accomplish,
which is create stories that audiences will like
and cover sports and cover things in a way
that's fun and interesting.
And so while I blame management over the last decades plus
for not being able to figure out a way
to make sports illustrated,
basically like fumbling what's an iconic company
by not being able to modernize it and make it profitable
in a way that kept people's jobs safe.
I do believe that the current owners and operators
of sports illustrated deserve a ton of blame
and honestly should be ashamed of themselves.
I don't know, Stugatz, what makes me sadder, right? That a childhood thing that
taught me to read and write expires or that the people listening to this don't
necessarily care, that media keeps dying right and left and no one seems to care.
But Stugatz is proud of you for finally being ashamed of something there. Way to
go, Jessica.