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A
Welcome to Pablo Torre finds out. I am Pablo Torre. And today we're gonna find out what this sound is.
B
Hey, Noah, what's happening? Former NBA basketball referee Tim Donaghy here to wish you congratulations for getting that.
A
Chode certificate right after this ad.
C
You're listening to DraftKings. I feel like I come across as like, a transparent person, but Dan, you know that I'm. I'm not at all.
A
Thank you. Thank. This is Dan. We should promote this as, like, the big tease of this episode. Mina Kimes finally reveals how much she is not telling you.
C
Well, I'm.
D
I'm.
C
Yeah.
D
Pablo Torre finds out.
C
Are you gonna find out you know, stuff? Oh, I know because you know me.
A
I mean, the. Look, I'm not calling for anybody to get hacked. I'm just saying on the list of people who should be, should be, you.
C
Are literally doing what Trump did in that one debate where he was like, China should hack. Was it Biden or something? You remember Russia? He was calling.
A
I just want all those hackers to. To stand down and stand by or whatever it was.
C
I'm not the one with the search history that I don't want to reach.
A
It to a man. Yeah, we should stop talking now, actually.
C
Who would have the worst? And so clearly you of this trio.
D
You are. But you are so well con. You are well concealed.
C
I've realized that to protect my mental health and do my job in a way that makes me happy, I have to be very deliberate about how much I share and what I share, both in terms of information and also in presentation, which is kind of what you're talking about, Daniel, on different platforms, on social media, on podcast, on television. You're getting very different approaches from me.
D
I hate it. I hate it for her, though, Pablo. I hate it for her because the best her. The best her is the goofiest, freest. That doesn't have to think about that at all when televised. Doesn't have to think about. Doesn't have to give a consideration to the presentation. Is just being herself.
A
What Mina is saying is that if you don't. If you don't like her on her around the horn, then you don't deserve her on a zip line yelling at Dan Lebatard, giving football ticks. I guess that's what helps. I want to say thank you to both of you guys. It's the holiday season. Mina has a child, Dan. I feel like one of his kids now working at Meadowlark Media, and I thought that I would usher in the first topic of today's. Show by giving both of you this special gift.
E
Hi, Dan and Mina. So Pablo tells me congratulations are in order. Mina, congrats on the newborn son. I love babies and I hope that you guys cherish this little new one and, you know, just have a blast and be great parents and whoa, Dan, congrats on founding Meadowlark Media.
D
Which is.
E
Which means that this expensive ass cameo is work expense. Well, I guess you all achieved your dream, so go Seahawks.
D
I saw. I saw that on. On John Oliver. I hadn't seen the story before that he was holding a baby and someone asked him, is that your baby? And the response was the most sinister of responses, which is not yet. It's not my baby. That man is such a threat to democracy as a general symbol that they will soon be stealing our babies while we're laughing at. Isn't it cute? What a liar he is. Let's give him some more. Some more money.
A
That's right.
C
Is it easier to laugh at him now that he's not in Congress, though, and that he's not actually like, a present threat to like. Or is it. Is there a word like, there's sports washing, eco washing. There should be like, a cameo Washington cameo washing him when we laugh at him and say, dance, dance, monkey, dance. You know, which is basically what Candy.
D
Oh, but it is, Pablo. It's offensive. This man has a broken cameo. He's one of the most popular ever because everybody wants to treat him as a joke, but he's ultimately cashed in on all the lies.
A
I paid him. You paid him $400 for that? This is. This is the. Stop. This is exactly the story that I wanted to talk about, is how I'm supposed to feel about how much I love the fact that, yes, we paid Jorge Santos for.
D
We don't love that fact. One of us loves that fact. One other of us does not love that fact. I don't want to be funding that man, so. And I don't want to be funding him in at that price. Get us a discount. At least. Make that. Make the price a joke. Make that the funny joke.
A
So I want to point out a couple of facts about the video that we just played. Number one, for people who are not watching on YouTube or the DraftKings network, he's just sitting in his car, like, knocking this out. I requested this. He got back to me in an hour.
D
So he's just not churning through, not trying, just. It's an atm, of course, to buy more Botox. He is stugatz at the highest elevated form of politics.
A
Well, the second fact is that in his Stugazian way of just being very familiar, he assumed that you guys are the parents of Mina's child. I don't know if you clocked that he was congratulating Dan on Mina's son. So there is just that fact of the matter, you know?
D
Well, and. And Metalar, I mean, it can be argued that Metal Arc was birthed somewhere around the three of us. The idea of Meadowlark right here, the. The birth of it is somewhere around. Just empower creatives to be themselves and they'll figure it out. And he's better than all of us at Cameo. None of us will make as much money as he does at Cameo.
C
What I'm about to say is probably going to make this mood in this zoom profoundly uncomfortable. But just seeing Pablo in between me and Dan, I do feel like if we had a son, it might look like Pablo. Like if you did one of those.
D
Face mash acts now, it's really uncomfortable. Yes, she's absolutely right about that. In fact, you need to do that face mash app so that people can see it will be Pablo that you would be. You would be. Yes, it's uncomfortable, but she's not wrong.
A
It's just my face. You're saying we got to get into special software. You're just. It's just my face.
D
No, no, it's not just your. No, it's not just your face, Pablo. Hers is her face. This is why it's not just your face. Hers is thin and radiant. Mine is red and bloated. When you combine them, we get your very full face.
A
Full.
C
I'm also Asian. Dan is Latino. There's a little that is blown up.
D
Torre. Pablo is you. I. Pablo Torre is a Spanish name. It's a Spanish name.
A
Three very ethnically confusing people hanging out together, wondering what we all look like if we cross bred is a nightmare of the party that George Santos does represent. Incidentally, bring it back. And I do want to. I do want to bring it back to George Santos, which is somehow more comfortable than the previous conversation we were just having. For me personally, because I. I was thinking, Mina, to your point, like, he's just. He makes me laugh. And. And he's a congressman from New York State. And so I believe there are people, real people, whose lives were made worse materially by the fact that he was the most flagrant liar in the history of American politics by certain standards. And yet his salary as a congressman, which is, generously speaking, let's say six figures. He's made more than six figures in three days just doing this. And so what I'm left with is, is the idea of I would 100 million percent watch a George Santos reality show. I would do that. I challenge you to say that you wouldn't. I will also point out that he. The reason I would watch it is because he used our American political system in a way that totally degrades it, but is legitimately something that makes me laugh out loud. And is he. He's Trumpian in that way where I'm just like, tipping my cap and also consuming the content and also on some level, aspirationally mourning democracy, but mostly enjoying it for now.
C
I mean, there are aspects of this that feel novel, and then there are aspects of this that are very much not new. In fact, we had a vice president candidate who parlayed her run into a reality show, Sarah Palin, like, that happened. Like, so, like, the idea of, you know, that, that politicians are entering this space and. And maybe I'm not talking about her intentions, but, like, what happens next is fame. It's lurid. It's reality tv, whatever. That's not new. The direct to consumer nature of Santos, what he's doing, that is new direct. This is something we talked about, actually, when we talked about OnlyFans. There's some, like, kind of parallels here, which is, you know, will people pay for this? Do they want this? That feels new. And then, of course, you know, he is extreme. I mean, he literally is, I think, the first person expelled from Congress in quite some time. The nature of what he's doing feels very new in the sense of, like, he is a specific type of celebrity that has overtaken the American entertainment sector. So naturally, one of those celebrities would make it to the highest, you know, halls of the land or whatever, which is that he is famous for wanting to be famous.
A
Basically, yes.
D
Can you guys help me with part of this? Because I don't want to be a scold. Nobody wants this. It's much easier to laugh than the fear for the fall of democracy. But when Mina says those things are not new, she's absolutely right. And obviously capitalism is not new. But what feels new to me that he's an avatar for is just keep leaning into the shameless. You can topple the rules, you can topple the integrity of the offices. You can topple and gerrymander district lines. You can. You can accrue real power. If your superpower is just, I can absorb any form of shameless. And then Monetize it. Like, I'd prefer to laugh at that. It's more comfortable to just be like, isn't this funny? But like, symbolically it's not funny given where the country is, given where the world is.
A
Well, also textually it's not funny on the level of I'm looking@the justice.gov website and reminding myself, so what, what did George Santos do? Allegedly? And it's like, oh, he was charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, false statements, falsification of records, aggravated identity theft and credit card fraud. I'm like, okay, that's bad counterpoint. There is this video of him proto cameo sort of style where he roots on the Mets.
E
Hey guys, today's opening day. As a good old Mets fan, I know you guys aren't going to be playing until April six back home, but in good old fashioned, let's go Mads.
A
He's not entirely in on why he's funny, right? And so it's this line of he is a clown and he's also beclowning us. But mostly the entertainment value to me is he doesn't totally get why I'm laughing. And the more that he is going to become self aware, the less funny it is. But for the time being, I'm like thirsty like Avatar for the utter desperation for a con, for, for attention in the attention economy. It's, it's farcical and funny to me and I'm trying to train myself to realize it probably has peaked like this might be. Probably is like sell stock in George Santos right now is kind of where I'm, I'm leaning at this point. Mina.
C
Yeah, it feels temporary in a way. And that's, I think part of the reason why I'm maybe not as horrified or nervous about him. But again, you know, you can point to other political figures who I probably would have said the same thing about and I was wrong. But you know, this feels like a 15 minutes situation for the reason you said too. I think because of the like very specific nature of why it's so funny does it feels like it can't last.
D
But Mina, if I may, I did. I mean, and Pablo debuted his show with this particular shame of mine. I was laughing at all of these same things about Trump and also pointing out, and this one's important to me, also pointing out, hey, he's not actually funny. He's only unintentionally funny. Like he's not a comedian, but his base thinks he's funny. And so what it then becomes is me, liberal elite Laughing at Trump as he takes the country from me because I'm laughing at him and how dumb he is. He's not actually clever enough to be funny, but his constituency is like, nah, he makes you look like a fool. He's funnier than you are. He is funny.
A
Wait, Mina is. Is grinning devilishly and I don't know why.
C
Some of his nicknames are kind of funny. I. I just.
A
I don't aggregate now. Now we release the texts.
D
Fair enough.
A
Now we release the texts.
D
Fair enough.
C
Go look at the. There's a giant Wikipedia page for just the nicknames and there's a lot of deep cuts and ones that haven't made it to the mainstream.
A
Sloppy Steve for Steve Bannon is objectively pretty accurate. Or.
C
Oh, God, there's some real bangers on.
D
No, you can. You can find. There are.
A
Actually not sure if I. If I want to co sign the ones I find most hilarious. Meatball Ron was good.
D
Meatball Ron, but he tried out to Sanctimonious first and it fell flat and then it. He.
C
He stuck with it.
D
Meatball Ron is funny.
A
Yeah. Yep. Yep. I want to point out, though, Wacky Omarosa. I'm like, yeah, I can't really dispute that. I would. I should point out that.
D
Spent a lot of time on that one. Did he. Wacky Omarosa? Did he work workshop that around the White House for a little while?
C
None of them are, like, particularly clever. Also, like.
D
But no, he connects there. Guys, I'm serious about this part of it. You understand why the liberal elites who aren't running around with guns are laughing at this stuff while it's connecting with others. And those others are feeling laughed at by not just people who are making them feel intellectually inferior, but also look like us. And they've got a leader who's telling them these people are dangerous. These people who are laughing at you, they're the rapists. They're the people from other countries who want to take your country. And to them, it's not a joke. To them, it's not like to them it's like, no, let me go grab my gun. This guy's got my back.
C
Danny Downer.
D
That's a good one. That's a good one, Danny. Darkness. Yes.
A
Damn. Yeah, I'm trying to think of one for Mina. Hold on, Dan. Let's workshop this. We can't let her. Let her win this game. Be one and.
D
Oh, she always wins, though. What would we go? Would we go some maladjusted Mina. Just maladjusted Mina. That's if I was trying to harm her, I was trying to cut her or something.
A
Messy, messy, messy. Mina describes what her texts are actually like, but not actually like her as an organized person. Hold on.
C
That's how you're going to segue to the. The private life discussion.
A
Oh, oh, oh. Wait, wait, wait. Oh.
C
Meanie Mina. The Meanie.
A
Meanie Mina.
D
Oh, you're. Oh. Oh, my God. Pablo. Do you know how much money we would make if we got on Cameo? Mina's real feelings about some people in the industry.
A
I believe that if Mina were to do that, she could at least charge as much as Brian Cox. Hi, I'm Brian Cox. I play Logan Roy. And if you want me, I will tell you to off in a very uncertain manner. So, Brian Cox. 689 bucks, Daniel. That's the market rate for one of the great stage actors. Thespian. Thespians of all time.
C
You know who's not winning is Cameo, by the way, because there's a great. Sorry. Sapna Manishwari, a friend of mine did a great article for the Times about the rise and fall during the pandemic. They were valued at like $1 billion and had 400 employees. Now they have. They had to fire, like, the vast majority of their staff. The. And it's because they couldn't get a listers to do it.
A
Oh, oh, hold on. Counterpoint. I believe that disgraced former NBA referee Tim Donaghy is an a lister.
B
Hey, Noah, what's happening? Former NBA basketball referee Tim Donaghy here to wish you congratulations for getting that chode certificate. I know it's been a big thing for you to do, and you got it done, my friend. So congratulations. And I know Vegas bumped up the odds of you getting laid up to plus 4,000. All the best. And hopefully your buddy Alex will help you get that taken care of.
A
Oh, my God. That was a chode certificate.
D
I got it. Yes, the choed certificate. Yes, we got that. I hope Metal Arc wasn't paying for any of the other videos that you showed there.
A
Tim Donaghy, luckily, is only $40, so, you know, a real bargain.
C
That's why you don't want to be on Cameo because you're basically allowed, like, you're revealing how popular you are.
A
Your own value is horrifying to me.
D
Mina the meanie would kill at Cameo. Like, if she was just offering not just her reading what you want, but her giving you embargoed secret thoughts on how she really feels about certain people, that would.
C
You're making me Sound like such a hater. I am not that much of a hater.
A
That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That was mendacious Mina. Just that.
C
Miserable Mina is what Trump would call me if we were debating.
D
Yes, that's right.
C
There's miserable Mina again. Like, I would be like. Well, actually, here's a bunch of facts, ladies and gentlemen. Miserable Mina. Am I right? And the crowd would go wild and you would see. See me melt, like, just into a puddle on stage.
A
All right, Mina, what did you bring us today to. To.
C
Yeah.
A
To spite the premise of. Of your misery.
C
Okay, well, this is a story about someone who I do not foresee granting cameos anytime soon or interviews, and that is Shohei Ohtani. So a little backdrop. We are right now in Shohei Ohtani's the Bachelor era because it is his free agency. He is meeting with teams. They are courting him to offer him hundreds of millions of dollars. But he and his camp would not like you to know which teams he is meeting with. How those meetings are going. Really? Any details about him, which seems to have irked some in the sports media on first take, Notably, both Stephen A. Smith and Chris Russo complained about this.
F
The fact that we're even discussing this is a complete joke. This Ohtani scenario. Sweepstakes, you know. Do you know when he won the mvp? He wouldn't even tell you what his dog's name was. What is the big secret? Geez, he's a free agent. He's talked to six teams. Giants. He was in Dunedin with the Blue Jays out. Obviously, Roberts does that. I mean, the Cubs are in the mix. The Angels. What is this? The atomic bomb?
C
Our colleague, Buster Olney. My colleague, sort of Pablo's colleague, Buster Olney wrote a column about how it was bad.
D
It's my colleague. My colleague, too. I don't have to be at ESPN to be a colleague of his. He could be my colleague, too.
C
Okay. I don't know. I don't know why I felt the need to clarify that.
D
I mean, all you did there was box me out. I work at espn. Pablo, you still work at espn. Buster works at espn and Dan doesn't.
A
That was that.
D
That's what you did. He's our colleague.
C
Danny Downer strikes.
D
Buster only our. Our colleague. Go ahead. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
C
Every time we say it. Can you. Can your fine producers do a wa.
A
Wa.
C
Sound effect?
A
Absolutely.
C
Whenever we say Danny Downer.
D
Okay, let's see. Hold on a second. Like.
C
Yeah.
A
Wow.
C
People are angry. People are not angry. But the point that Buster made, and I think this is what I find interesting, because I do think it's a point that you can see both sides of, is that it would be better for baseball if Ohtani was a more public figure. He mentions in his column that Ohtani accepted the MVP award. He saw this with his dog. When they asked him for the name of the dog, his camp said, we're not ready to reveal the name of the dog. And then I went back and read some coverage of Ohtani and his approach to the media in Los Angeles or Anaheim, and he is unusually reticent. He limits his availabilities. The Angels protected him, I think, which is something he liked about playing there. So, you know, I don't think Ohtani personally owes anyone anything. So I want to be clear. My interest in this is not coming from a place of indignation. I think that's kind of ridiculous. But I do think you can have a discussion over whether it's bad for baseball that its brightest shining star is not a public person. Because, you know, like, that's. That's not an unreasonable stance to take.
D
I think the part that's most interesting to me is I'm always fascinated by the cultural differences in all sports, but especially this sport where I've seen Latin players come in and struggle with some of this stuff, but the Latin player gets imprisoned by you. Don't be too flamboyant. Don't get misunderstood in your second language. Don't be too loud. This one was interesting to me because. And I'd like you guys to speak to this part of it. It's not merely that culturally, there are some privacy differences between how we cover media stuff in both countries, in Japan and here. But more interesting to me is whatever level of privacy he wants for his personal life in matters of business and how public business deals are in. In America and Japan, like these. The sacred contract of business where Ohtani is from, like, we have no respect for it here. And so you're asking something of him. He is more likely man. Hideki Matsui came over here and was comfortable with his porn collection. To me, this is something that is more dangerous in public business. In public is something that I can't speak to the cultural differences. I just saw it with Ichiro. He would not say anything publicly about anything because he was afraid of offending a sponsor because business matters are to be respected.
A
I imagine that in Japan, where he is an enormous star as well, he has been stealing for and stealing in the sense of S T E L, like hardening himself against the pressures from the outside that demand to know more, you know, And I don't know if this is just like a Asian athlete thing, but I will bring another Asian athlete into the conversation, which is that Jeremy Lin, who has his own fandom, of course, abroad, specifically in China. He announced at the beginning of this year, ok. That he had been married for two years and no one knew this. He released an Instagram post. I considered myself friends with him. I no longer do after realizing that via Instagram. But the point is, when you have a fandom, when you have an army of people who are demanding access and it's scary. I get why Shohei Ohtani is looking at the cost benefit and just saying, look what you guys get off on. I don't. I have a different sort of a kink. Privacy, to me, is something that I enjoy in a way that must be unrelatable in a world where for us, literally our economy is attention. And he's saying, I don't need any of that money because the stuff I'm getting is not affected by any of the things that will make your lives and your businesses boom. I'm good.
C
I think different people, certainly different athletes, are more private than others for very different reasons. Like, Dan, I hear what you're saying about sort of they likelihood that there are, like, cultural factors with regards to putting your business out there or, you know, business in general. But it seems very clear to me that Ohtani, it's not just about business. This dude doesn't want anything about himself out there. The dog is the funny story, right? Because it's such an innocuous, charming thing. That dog, by the way, is like the cutest dog I've ever seen. You should go look at the picture.
A
Very expensive.
D
But, Mina, is it him that's protecting the privacy of himself or the dog there, or is the economy of his people all around him not wanting? I don't know whose choice that is because he's worth so much money and the. The business of him is so strong. Is he protect. Is he the one asking for that protection or is it just naturally gathering around him?
C
It's impossible to know, obviously, but he doesn't come across when he is interviewed as somebody who's like, dying to reveal things about himself in a way that would make me think, oh, his. His camp is all, you know, they're crazy. You bet we can make fun of them. Like the fact that his camp didn't want to reveal that detail that they're being so cloak and dagger about this. It is funny. It is okay to say, hey, this is a little bit ridiculous. Of course he's meeting with the Dodgers. You don't have. We don't have to, like, turn it into, oh, my God, David Roberts. What a gaffe. That he revealed. They had a meeting with him. No, they had a meeting with him. That is funny. But as far as why in particular, he is private, you know, and I was saying, like, there's, like, different reasons for that, I suspect, because this is something I have noticed in general with public figures who are private. Marshawn lynch is one who really comes to mind. It is the Kawhi Leonard. Sometimes it can just be your personality. I feel like that's kind of the case with Leonard and into some degree, Marshawn, based on conversations I've had with people who know him. But also, I think there's a fear of misinterpretation. I know for me personally, that's why I am a private person. We were talking about this at the beginning is I'm always afraid if I say something, it might be taken out of context. It could be used against me. And naturally, I do think that fear of misinterpretation is probably exacerbated by cultural differences in his case. But, you know, I think for certain athletes, that fear will lead them to do business and treat the media a certain way. And fear might be the wrong word. Wariness, perhaps appropriately. And I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case here.
A
But I think there is, and there is, by the way, a bit of a Venn diagram overlap. Right. Then in terms of, like, the use of a translator and why you do it. Some people do it to protect themselves. Other people do it to evade media responsibilities. So certainly Latin players have. Have enjoyed some of those strategies as well. But I'll point out that at a certain point, when you become so conspicuously private, you dare people to want to find out stuff. Right? Like, that's strategically. This is where I caution against the strategy.
D
You can caution against it, but whoever his role model is here, like, Ichiro kept his business. His business. And Ichiro came before Ohtani, and may not have been quite what Ohtani is, but it was similarly big in both countries, and he controlled the narrative. He did tighten the grip such that we don't. We never got to know Ichiro. We don't know anything about now. It was a different age. It's not the Internet age, and it's not now where you're daring people. But what you just said is interesting, Pablo. Latin players. I remember with El Duque Hernandez, he had a translator, but didn't need one. He was observing a lot. But it was a big controversy in New York. Why, why won't he just learn the language? Learn the language. And, and Cashman and the Yankees wanted him to speak. They didn't want him to be using a translator and it was a thing. But you're absolutely right when you say they're afraid of sounding dumb in their second language. They're afraid of being misunderstood. But it's not just the words. Mina here, what you're saying is any bit of information can be misunderstood. Even the name of a dog can be lost somehow by a fearful camp in whatever it is. The bridge that we don't cross across the Transati, you know, across this language barrier. It's a barrier, but it's not limited to language.
C
I think to drill down on the dog thing, because I think it is really interesting. Like why, why would you not release that in accuracy, detail? I would suspect that, like if the dog's name got out. This is so ridiculous. Pablo Palliatori finds out, you gotta figure, make that your mission.
A
I'm on it. You know what?
C
I don't think it would. The, the reason why they, this camp probably would not want that to get out is not because the dog's name is like Hitler or something.
D
That would be bad.
A
I would also not want to reveal this for the record.
D
That would. Yes, that would make sense. Yes, that would be bad for everybody involved. It would be bad for baseball.
A
Would be. Would not disclose that either way.
C
It would be a signifier probably to the athlete that the. His representatives are talking to people. So he might. You look at that and say, well, yeah, right.
A
Like, yes, yes, there is.
C
It is like when I was, when I was young and I had a diary, I didn't have a lock, but I would put like a single hair on top of it to see. And then if my brother had broken into my room to read the diary, the single hair on the diary is the dog's name.
A
Manipulative Mina.
D
Misery. The movie Misery. Misery. Mina.
A
What a move, Dan. Mina is talking about laying a trap in the forest of her own house, hoping that someone falls into it. Daring someone to go for the thing that she is, for the bait that.
C
She has laid as the daughter sister of an older brother. It's a. It's something I don't think you guys would understand. Oh, you just unlocked a core childhood memory that I Had suppressed, which is, I was on a soccer team growing up where the coach had a German shepherd named Adolf.
A
Yeah, see, I, I would not have disclosed that if I was that coach either.
C
The first time we heard it, I remember all of the parents and the kids just being like, wait, what you got?
A
If the only way to even begin to have a dog named that is to have it be like, like what's one of. One of those ones that can't like get on a curb, like needs to be lifted to be put on a curb.
D
Oh, a miniature Maltese. Yeah, yeah, a teacup Maltese.
C
I think he said it was a family name at one point. We don't believe Adolph is one of those names where if you look at name popularity, obviously it falls off of. It's like a win probability chart for a team that loses. Like it just completely falls off. Obviously for good reason.
A
That's what a metaphor.
D
I'm going to tell you a funny story. I want to tell you both a funny story about a teacup Maltese. One of my greatest fears with a former girlfriend was her going out of town and like Christopher and the Sopranos, me sitting on the teacup Maltese and killing the Teacup Maltese. So I had a great, no, I'm not kidding you when I tell you I had a great fear that I was going to kill that animal. And so sometime one time I was walking this tiny, tiny animal and around the corner comes a big dog and grabs it by the head, grabs Bella by the head and throws her up in the air. And I did a six year old girl's horror movie screen scream while the dog was in the air because my greatest fear had been realized in that moment. That animal's head was in a bigger animal's mouth and I was as scared as I've ever been.
C
Did you catch it?
D
Well, no, I was just too busy screaming. I was too horrified and screaming. I didn't catch it. Got thrown up in the air and fell on the ground and was not killed, but could have been killed on my watch.
A
I heard an amazing rumor because I actually have been like asking around about Ohtani's dog name. The rumor I've heard, okay, is that Ohtani's dog's name? The reason they're not saying it is because the dog's name is the name of one of the teams he is considering.
C
Stop. Dodger. The dog's got to be named Dodger.
D
That's a good reason. It is a good reason. It's a good reason not to give the dog's name.
A
Pablo, Tori finds out.
C
You don't understand, by the way, what it's like being a sister. This people are always like, oh, Amina, how do you deal with all the hate online and the abuse? And I'm like, my brother, we used to put his farts in a jar and leave them in my room.
D
Does that work?
A
Yeah. Does that scientifically work?
C
No, it doesn't work. It's the stupidest thing ever. But I just use that as an example of the, like, being a younger sister to an older brother is like living in Saw, just horror traps at every turn.
A
I would like to disagree, but I'll point out that me and Dan simultaneously were like, wait a minute, could we do that?
D
Is that, is that, is that physics? Does that work? Is that.
A
I mean, I'm going to try now. I'm going to. We're going to find out.
D
There was an article on awful announcing the headline was how Gen Z is Killing Sports Media as we Know It. And Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe reacted by saying, it's been over for a while now. You know, I miss when there were real smart people who were sports fans. And it became old guy yelling at clouds. And then the Internet turned on Shaughnessy and said, get out of here, journalist guy. We're taking over now. And made him feel like an, you know, an old man with a mop for a head. And so this is where we are with how some of this stuff is covered. Young people get to be the, the reason that things are popular. But what I wanted to read from this article, that felt to me like this is time passing me by. What I'm about to read to you as an old timey journalist, more like Dan Shisy than whatever it is that's happening at the parts of the food chain that scare old media with young people. For the last two decades, beleaguered sports media execs and veterans have bemoaned about how millennials consume sports content. We read blogs and not game stories. We get our highlights on social media and don't watch tv. We listen to sports podcasts and turn off sports talk radio. But in due time, the challenge of capturing millennials will seem like the good old days. We may not pour over the box score on the next day's paper, but that's because we've already seen it. We enjoy sports just like our parents. The difference is we consume content differently. Today, the challenges are much more existential and problematic. What if young people don't like sports at all? And then it goes through at length how we're different generationally. I don't really have a question for you guys. I'm just placing in front of you the idea you guys are younger than me and you've been making fun of me about being old for a while. And so here you, you occupy the space best equipped to do the translation or be the bridge between what I am or what Dan Shaughnessy is and what young people crave from their sports coverage.
A
I was simply leaving space for our producers to insert the downer sound because I assume that was obviously what there it is.
D
I appreciate you say downer sound. Look at here. Maybe America's next great sports support section will be found in some form on Twitch or ign. Don't just say goodbye to long form writing, say goodbye to the written word altogether.
A
So, Mina, I, I, I'm curious how you think about this as somebody who also is still getting away with plausibly being young while also inside feeling very, very old in ways that make me honestly, psychologically more Lebitard than whatever imaginary person is our collective phobia in this industry. But I do caution against seeing young people as so categorically different a species. And therefore it reminds me of the story we did on Sharon Tell many moons ago. I even forget due to my own age who exactly I was talking to about this, but it was the idea that, oh, young people can get scammed online at a rate actually greater than the old people people. And we sort of imbue young people with this power because they are young that that sort of papers over all of their stupidities. And I think there's a difference between us not understanding the direction things are going. And I confess I wish I knew more about the direction things are going. But Mina, I also want to point out that like, to make them into the boogeyman is to also, I think, give them a compliment that they have not yet earned, which is admittedly the oldest thing I could possibly say.
C
Yeah, well, I must say, you know, I think Dan very artfully tried to avoid demonizing young people when you were talking about sort of the changing nature of both sports and sports media in terms of consumption. You're just saying, you know, you're not sure you understand it in terms of like, how do people these days? How does the next generation watch sports when they're looking for commentary? What is the nature of the commentary? What are the platforms they're going to for that commentary? All of these things are like radically changing in a way that I share Dan's I Wouldn't say confusion is the wrong word, but I feel like there's a lack of clarity right now around the entire space that makes it hard for us to project. Like when people ask me the question, like, where do you see yourself in 10 years or even 5 years, I always say I don't know. Because the places people are going to right now to hear sports commentary, which is what I do for a living, are changing so quickly. And the way you make that commentary is also changing. It's very hard for me to look out and say this is what we're all going to be doing. I don't think we thought the three of us would be in this format.
A
Exactly years ago for exactly.
C
You know, but as to like, what the next generation actually wants out of sports, I don't think that it's fundamentally changed that much, to be honest. I think they still want the same moments and narratives and takes and discussion and deeper analysis. But how they want that delivered is something that I'm not sure, like we're all trying to figure out. And when you, Dan, when you, when you, when you read that column about how, you know Washanasi saying it's not the written word, I don't know if that's true necessarily. I don't think it's accurate to say young, you know, like the Zoomers only consume news via like 10 second sound bite. That feels like old man yelling at the cloud and feels inaccurate to me.
D
But let me read some of these numbers to you and you tell me what you take from this Pablo. Like what is accurate and what is inaccurate. The numbers are dire. According to a new study, only 58% of Gen Zers say they enjoy live sport. That figure aligns with other data about our beloved Zoom Zoomers. Only 23% of Gen Z say they're passionate sports fans compared to 42% of millennials, 33% of Gen Xers, 31% of baby boomers. More concerning, 27% of Gen Z said they dislike sports altogether compared with just 7% of millennials, 5% of Gen Xers and 6% of baby baby Boomers. There are myriad possible explanation. Youth sports participation is way down. Kids are now addicted to video games in virtual world virtual worlds. TikTok is melting everybody's brain. But the fact is young people aren't digging traditional sports these days. The idea of sitting down at a predetermined time to watch a three hour game seems so outdated. That's different.
A
So I concur that this is something in the C suites of all of these sports, they are very aware of and they are very afraid of. But I would draw, I would draw a straighter line towards just the general fragmentation of everything as opposed to a specific allergy towards the product that we loved and got taught by our parents or whoever it is, indoctrinated us into the cult of sports. Mina.
C
Right.
A
Like that feels if you were to sub out, I don't have the numbers on this, of course, but sub in movies, television shows, anything. The Internet broke up and siloed everything in a way that prevents the authority of institutions, foremost of which in media was sports, let alone journalistic institutions and media itself. It just sort of shattered all of it and scattered it across the floor.
C
Yeah, it's the death of monoculture is like what you're talking about. Sports, you know, have inhabited that space in a way that like there used to be like certain movies and television shows. And as everything is fragmented, they're suffering from the same thing, which is not that the younger generation, it's. There's not, I don't think there's anything inherent to the products necessarily that is turning them off. Although, you know, maybe there's some polling that shows, you know, like the lack of youth participation and then concerns about like broader size issues, health, things like that might matter. But I really think more is they just have more stuff to do and things to look at. And so naturally, when you have, you know, a generation of people who are interested in like a ton of different things and have a ton of different things at their fingertips, they're going to consume the big things a little bit less. And that doesn't feel like it's changing anytime soon.
A
Oh, correct.
C
So there might be a world in the not so distant future where sports are still incredibly popular. Taylor Swift is still like something of a incredibly popular. They're still like, you know, big movie franchises that do Barbie, whatever. But it, the, the dominance isn't as assumed as it was in the past.
A
And so what we're left with, I think if we're looking to our crystal ball collectively, we're left looking at this.
G
Hey, Danielle, this is Stugat on cameo. This was sent by your husband to be here maybe now your husband Phil, he said we're to going getting married this weekend and he wanted to surprise you, his future wife with a cameo. Can you tell the white getting married to me? Well, listen, let me tell you something. Anyone who knows Phil, and I've known him forever, and no one knows Phil better than I know Phil, okay, knows that he is going to be the best husband, father, okay? The best friend that you'll ever have in the world. A faithful, honest, never going to cheat on you, never do a bad thing to you, Work hard, support his family. I mean, I am telling you, I know Phil, and there are few people who know Phil better than I know Phil.
D
He is so tired of playing that character after 20 years that he is giving the bare minimum effort on. All right, I'll give you your public lies, but I'm just going to move my hands around and look totally bored while I do it. Give me $79.
C
He is sitting in a chair. He turned on a light, but you can only see, like, half of his face.
D
Not trying, not trying. It's just held his hand out. Here he is. Have you ever seen in Key west when a monkey jumps off of someone's shoulder and runs and grabs a dollar and then runs and runs back? He's not even running. He's getting someone to turn the cameo on for him. And he's just laying there. And that's the lazy circus monkey at the very end of his act.
C
We started the show with the Santa Story, talking about sort of how, like, these ridiculous characters have suddenly achieved power in various spheres. What would be the equivalent for stugots in sports? Would it be like if they made him. Like, if he had actual power, would that be the closest thing in our world?
A
Oh, my God.
D
If he had. Well, he's got. He's got a lot of power. He's got a lot. But that's how he uses it.
A
The power to sound drunker as he continues to speak over the course of one minute is a power that you two can. Can sample for $150 is what that cost.
D
$9.
C
Charging $150.
A
He's done 220 of them for that.
D
And complaining that he's not making enough money.
A
Yeah. The commissioner, the Commissioner of the NCAA, John Wiener. @ the end of today's episode of Pablo Torre finds Out, it's time to say what we all found out. Who wants to go first?
D
I found out on Pablo Torre finds out where the root is. I am a founder. I'm a founder, a company. I found out that my company funded a professional liar that isn't Stugot and paid him $400. And I'm offended by that. On behalf of the company and the country that Pablo Torre had that expense allowed by whoever is in charge of.
A
The money around immediately expensed.
C
I found out that Pablo Torre, who loves double entendres, and innuendo draws the line at me, pointing out that he looks like the the child of me and Dan. That was the first time I've ever seen you look uncomfortable.
D
His discomfort was wonderful. I don't know what happened there. And they're going to be able to have so much fun with the computer images of that. Like it's going to look like that.
C
I do want to see what our face is mashed together. It looks like now.
A
Dan. That's my discomfort. What I found out is that I live in fear of the people who Photoshop images for. Pablo Torre Finds out yes, and speaking of the people who work for me torture me on a regular basis. Pablo Torre Finds out is produced by Michael Antonucci, Ryan Cortez, Sam Dawig, Juan Galindo, Patrick Kim, Eli Lohman, Rachel Miller, Howard Howard, Ethan Schreier, Carl Scott, Matt Sullivan, Chris Tominiello and Julia Warren Studio engineering by RG Systems Post production by NGW Post theme song by John Bravo thank you to the Big Lead for calling us the best sports podcast of 2023, even though we've existed for like three months. We'll talk to.
Date: December 8, 2023
Host: Pablo Torre
Guests: Mina Kimes, Dan Le Batard
This episode of "Pablo Torre Finds Out" dives into the nature of public versus private personas in modern sports and politics, the bizarre rise of George Santos as a “Cameo celebrity,” and how shifting media consumption is reshaping sports fandom. Featuring signature wit and banter, Pablo, Dan, and Mina riff on everything from athlete privacy to generational divides in sports media, with a helping of self-roasting and a critical look at what’s genuinely funny (and dangerous) about shamelessness in public life.
On Persona Curation & Privacy:
On Shamelessness and Monetizing Infamy:
On Political Celebrity Culture:
On Trump’s Nicknames—‘Is it ever clever?’:
On Ohtani’s Privacy—and the Mystery of the Dog:
On Generational Change in Sports Fandom:
On Cameo Self-Worth:
On Sibling Warfare & Youthful Traps:
The episode balances irreverent wit with genuine introspection, as hosts navigate tricky questions about privacy, shame, monetization, and the future of fandom. Whether dissecting the weirdness of Santos’ post-congressional hustle, debating Ohtani’s right to secrecy, or wondering who’d fetch the highest price on Cameo, Pablo, Dan, and Mina openly confront the blurred lines between news, entertainment, and self-parody in a fragmented world.
For listeners: If you want sharp, self-aware humor, media critique, and pop culture commentary with your sports, this episode serves it up, face-mash jokes, $400 scandals, chode certificates, and all.