A Monumentous Moment For Pizza Crust Consumers | Hour 2

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: A Monumentous Moment For Pizza Crust Consumers | Hour 2

Date: May 22, 2026
Location: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami

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Overview

In this highly entertaining Hour 2 episode, the Le Batard crew dives into the intersection of sports, food, language, and pop culture. They riff on NBA playoff narratives, dissect the evolving structure of pizza crusts in America, and challenge each other's food takes and vocabulary skills. Amid the laughter, debates, and spontaneous toasts, they touch on deeper questions about analytics in sports, legendary athleticism in football, and the oddities of new tech like driverless cars.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Joy of New Music & The "Worth a Toast" Segment

• Dave opens with a rare moment of on-air happiness, celebrating Bleachers’ and Olivia Rodrigo’s new releases. He highlights the simple joy of waking up to new music from favorite artists ([01:49]).
• Notable Quote:
  • “I got to wake up and experience listening… while I was on my bike ride this morning… It’s an incredible feeling. I love being able to savor those moments.” — Dave [02:13]
• The panel banters about sponsored toasts, with tongue-in-cheek Cuervo integration ([02:44]).

2. NBA Playoffs Talk: Game Analyses & Knicks’ Title Hopes

• The crew reviews the previous night's Knicks game, noting how a smartly-called timeout stopped a comeback and lauds Josh Hart's performance and resilience despite initial struggles ([03:16]-[05:59]).
• Analytics Debate: Josh Hart’s viral comment on analytics is dissected:
  • “At a certain point, [analytics] are a lamppost to a drunk person. You can lean on them, but it won’t get you home.” — Quoted by Jeremy, attributed to Jay Wright via Hart [04:32]
  • The group agrees analytics are a tool, but feel and timing matter most in clutch moments.
• Knicks’ Championship Outlook:
  • Dan argues injuries out West could open the door for a healthy Knicks squad ([07:38]).
  • Notable Quote:
    • “I think the Knicks can win the championship.” — Dan [08:23]

3. Monumental Pizza Moment: Crust Discourse

• The show breaks into sustained laughter and debate over Josh Hart eating pizza in a press conference and Carl Anthony Towns' “crust or no crust” stance ([08:26]-[11:38]).
• Crust Preferences:
  • Towns: “Depends if it’s garlic.”
  • Panel debates if crust is flavor or carb-driven, discusses chain-pizza garlic and stuffed crusts (Dan: “It doesn’t wind up tasting like crust. It’s too soft.” [11:09]).
• Notable Quote:
  • “I never understand… when you’re eating pizza and you got homeboy who just leaves the crust on the plate. What the hell are you doing?” — Dan [10:04]
• Quick pivot to onion rings: invention of the “oneion ring” — a single onion ring in a fries order, dubbed “worth a toast.” ([13:25]-[13:49])

4. Food Hot Takes: Fajitas & Tiramisu

• Dave’s Dismay:
  • Fajitas and tiramisu both get roasted (“Fajitas sound great… then you take a bite… [It’s] not that good.” [12:32]; “Tiramisu is also overrated.” [17:17])
• Panel Response:
  • Lively debate over the merits of desserts (“What are you, a thousand years old?” [18:08]) and ordering skills (“I am the best you of food off of the restaurant menu I’ve ever known in my life.” — Dave [18:12])

5. Physicality in the NBA: Wembanyama & “Arm Play”

• Game Analysis:
  • Tony and Dan examine whether the Thunder were “physical” or “dirty” with Victor Wembanyama, referencing Charles Barkley’s broadcast take:
    • “You people at home and on TV talking about they were physical with Wimby. Man, y’all need to stop it. I’ve been kissed harder.” — Charles Barkley, relayed by Dan [20:52]
• Defensive Tactics:
  • Panel discusses player injuries, Hartenstein’s style, and the need for MVP-caliber games from Wemby for the Spurs to contend ([21:31]-[24:14]).
• Notable Wordplay:
  • Tony invents (or remixes) the word “monumentous,” leading to a dictionary deep-dive and group ribbing ([24:15]-[25:53]; [33:36]-[34:07]).

6. Quarterback Greatness: Aaron Rodgers vs. John Elway

• The group debates Rodgers vs. Elway as athletic talents, with Dave arguing for Rodgers’ unique skill set despite less “ring count” ([26:48]-[32:34]).
• Notable Quotes:
  • “[Rodgers] is the most gifted athlete, the most gifted quarterback of all time.” — Dave [28:36]
  • “Prior to Patrick Mahomes, [Rodgers] was the most outstanding talent I had seen at the position. Not the best quarterback—because it’s Tom Brady. But the most outstanding talent.” — Jeremy [30:18]

7. Speeding Athletes & the Waymo Era

• Nolan Smith Jr.’s 135 MPH Citation:
  • Group discusses athletes and their need for (literal) speed, the perils of driving fast cars, and the uniqueness of Georgia football’s “arrest” legacy ([34:47]-[39:41]).
  • “Miami produces quarterbacks and Georgia produces guys who get arrested for speeding.” — Dave [37:23]
• Waymo Anecdote:
  • Dan describes anxiety seeing driverless cars navigate flooded streets ([40:08]-[41:59]).
  • Dave’s analogy: “It’s sort of like a porta-potty… I would never, you know, sit down… never number two in a porta-potty. … If I was in the middle of nowhere and the only option I had was a Waymo… outside of that, there’s no chance.” [41:17]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Analytics:
  “You can lean on [analytics], but it won’t get you home.” — Quoted by Jeremy [04:32]
• On Pizza Crust:
  “Are you a crust guy?” — Tony quoting Josh Hart [08:36]
  “Depends if it’s garlic.” — Carl Anthony Towns, via Dan [08:41]
• On Food Orders:
  “I am the best you of food off of the restaurant menu I’ve ever known in my life.” — Dave [18:12]
• On Monu(men)table Vocabulary: “I bring words into the lexicon that maybe don't exist.” — Tony [34:00]

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Timestamps of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|-------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:23 | New music joy & “Worth a Toast” intro | | 03:16 | Knicks-Cavs playoff recap & Josh Hart praise | | 04:32 | Josh Hart’s analytics quote discussion | | 08:26 | Josh Hart’s pizza crust press conference moment | | 10:04 | Group debates pizza crust etiquette | | 12:32 | Dave’s tirade on overrated fajitas | | 13:25 | “Oneion ring” fast food idea worth a toast | | 17:17 | Tiramisu gets roasted | | 19:04 | Thunder/Wembanyama physicality debate, Barkley’s take | | 24:15 | “Monumentous” enters (maybe) the lexicon | | 26:48 | Aaron Rodgers vs John Elway as athletes; all-time QB talk | | 34:47 | Nolan Smith Jr./Georgia football speedsters | | 40:08 | Waymo (driverless car) anxiety & flooding anecdote |

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Tone & Language

• Playful, sarcastic, and self-deprecating
• Frequent friendly jibes and wordplay
• Hosts and guests riff on each other’s takes with warmth, intellectual curiosity, and the show’s signature irreverence.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This hour is a whirlwind of the sports world’s biggest moments, mouthwatering (and contentious) food takes, and the kind of delightfully offbeat humor only Le Batard and company can deliver. The episode is a tribute to fandom—of the NBA playoffs, of music, of pizza crust (especially garlic), and even of language itself, as the crew debates, invents, and roasts with abandon.

Transcript

[Dan Le Batard]

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[Dave Damachek]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Tony]

Never quite as it seems.

[Dan Le Batard]

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[Dave Damachek]

Have no fear.

[Dave]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Jeremy]

show with the Stugats podcast.

[Dave]

You guys were talking about the greatest albums of all time earlier and it got me thinking about something that allows me to instead of like throwing topics at you that nobody cares about.

[Dan Le Batard]

Good.

[Dave]

Am I. Am I good to just be like happy about something for a second?

[Dan Le Batard]

Is that cool with a time constraint? But sure. Okay.

[Dave]

Roy, do you have a music bed potentially for me to just feel happy? Yeah, that's perfect.

[Tony]

Thank you.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is a theme song. Yeah.

[Dave]

I want to feel some joy here because I experienced something this morning that is one of my favorite feelings, which is waking up and knowing that one of my favorite artists has new music out and knowing that I can like wake up in the morning and listen to it right at the beginning of the day. My my favorite band is Bleachers led by Jack Antonoff.

[Dan Le Batard]

Hold on. I'm being happy. Let me be happy.

[Dave]

Give me a minute. My favorite band is Bleachers and they have a new album out My I got engaged to one of their songs. My wife and I saw them on our 10 year anniversary and they have a new album out today and so I got to wake up and experience listening to that for the first time while I was on my bike ride this morning. And on top of that, Olivia Rodrigo, my Favorite pop artist right now has a new single out. And so I got to experience both ends of that coin. Not. Not just having the best music.

[Dan Le Batard]

Time's running for my.

[Dave]

My artist, but also another artist on top of that. It's an incredible feeling. I love being able to. To savor those moments, guys. I think that's ultimately worth a toast. And worth a toast is presented by Cuervo. All right, keep it fun. Keep it Cuervo.

[Dan Le Batard]

There you go. All right, Cuervo.

[Jeremy]

You're so lucky. That was sponsored by our great partners at Cuervo.

[Dan Le Batard]

Good job there, Cuervo. Less of a good job, Jeremy, but there's a means to an end.

[Dave]

All right, so even experiencing joy, not a thing I can do here.

[Dan Le Batard]

So tonight we have the Thunder and the Spurs. Game three as that series shifts to San Antonio. Before we get to that here, I do want to go back to last night's game. Last night's game was kind of a dud in the second half. Like, the first half was fun. It was tight.

[Tony]

But there was a moment where a lot of New York sphincters were very tight because all of a sudden you saw the workings, you saw the foundation of a comeback by the Cavs that Mike Brown smartly called a timeout and basically stopped Uncle Mo.

[Dan Le Batard]

Interesting using a timeout when it seems that one team may have a little bit of momentum.

[Tony]

Exactly right. And the game was at what, like 16 or 18 points, and all of a sudden it started getting chipped down. Chipped down. At one point it was seven. That's when Mike Brown called the timeout, said, hey, wait a second. I'm learning from Kenny Atkinson and making sure that I call a timeout to stop whatever's going on here. And then they end up to blow a. Get a 20 point lead.

[Dan Le Batard]

So the Knicks, they take a 20 series lead last night. But I don't know if you saw this after the game. Josh Hart. Josh Hart's meeting with the media. He's there with Carl Anthony Towns and Josh Hart. Not a big fan of analytics. We know analytics have taken control of sports. More information is usually a good thing. Josh Hart not really into it.

[Jeremy]

I'm never a huge analytics guy. At a certain point, they're a lamppost to a drunk person. You can lean on them, but it won't get you home. At a certain point, you gotta have a good feel for the game. I'm not gonna lie. That was Gerald's right. His quote, man. So shout out Jay Wright.

[Dan Le Batard]

Wait, hold up. No, we're not moving on from that.

[Jeremy]

That's a great quote.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, my God.

[Jeremy]

Analytics. Drunk lame poster to a drunk person. It ain't gonna get you on. You can lean on it, though.

[Dan Le Batard]

I was with Cal, so I ain't hear that.

[Jeremy]

You ain't even go to college.

[Dan Le Batard]

I. I agree with him essentially, you know, if we, if we get.

[Tony]

Which part Cat didn't go to college.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, yeah, obviously, but the part about it being, you know, you can lean on it, but it's not going to get you home. Yeah, analytics are good. Analytics are good for, you know, information tool, but analytics can possibly take into account everything that is going on in an individual basis. And yeah, I, in general, I agree with him.

[Tony]

Analytics said also leave Josh Hart open by like an average of like 10ft.

[Dan Le Batard]

He was great last night and he

[Tony]

hit five threes and was incredible.

[Dan Le Batard]

And he started off rough. I think he was over his first three last night. And it's like. And you could almost like you could hear the groans a little bit at the Garden cross. Oh, you've been terrible. You got bench game one. You're getting open shots now. You keep shooting, you keep missing. But he ended up being fantastic last night.

[Tony]

Yeah, hitting big shots, making big plays down the stretch, getting big rebounds. Like he did the. The typical Josh Hart thing that everybody loves in New York. And a lot of the analytics were like aur a sore Thompson. Like, let's let him shoot. Let's let him do his thing. And they try to do the same thing.

[Dan Le Batard]

Good job plowing through that.

[Tony]

Yeah, it's just try to do the same thing over with. With Josh Harden. Just didn't work.

[Dave]

Asar a swore Tormson.

[Dan Le Batard]

Now, this is a really loose team. Tell me a team is loose when Josh Hart brings an entire pizza. New York pizza. Everyone loves New York pizza. When Josh Hart brings an entire pizza into the post game availability there with Carl Anthony Towns, he had a very important question as Tony simmers on the pronunciation of Pistons forward A. Sar Thompson. All right, you. You sit on that, Jeremy. And wow, what kind of face are you making? What is that seething face?

[Tony]

Jeremy's not going to sit on anything, buddy.

[Dave]

You're right.

[Jeremy]

His bike. Listening to Olivia Rodrigo.

[Dave]

Yeah. Love a good bike ride in the morning.

[Dan Le Batard]

How about Josh Hart though, here? Very important. Great song, by the way.

[Dave]

Let me just interrupt you real quick. Really good.

[Jeremy]

You had your time. D. Dave.

[Tony]

Dave, go ahead.

[Dave Damachek]

I'm curious. I mean, the analytics thing, of course, they're, they're valid, but also they take away from future visceral joy of big time moments, big time playoff games coming through in pressure or failing in pressure. That's what analytics failed to really capture. Either way, the discussion that I think people are trying to talk into reality is that the Knickerbockers might win the title. Do you buy that?

[Dan Le Batard]

I do buy that. I mentioned this yesterday where I thought game two, all the injuries that are starting to take place between the spurs and Thunder I think is a pretty significant thing for New York. How could it not be if these two teams are going to play a seven game series, which they might. And look, we'll learn tomorrow if the Eastern Conference is going to be a long series or not. But what if the Eastern Conference is a short series and the Western Conference is a long series and you know, players continue to drop like flies out there already. Dylan Harper, d' Aaron Fox is hurt. What, what, what, what if players continue to Jalen Williams and then you have a healthy Knicks team that is there waiting for whichever team is left standing out west. Yeah, Dave, like I, I think the Knicks can win the championship.

[Dave Damachek]

Touches as. Touche, Sasha.

[Dan Le Batard]

So Josh Hart straight up eating pizza during the post game press conference. Very important question for call Anthony Towns.

[Tony]

Oh,

[Jeremy]

are you a crust guy?

[Tony]

It depends if it's garlic.

[Dan Le Batard]

Okay. Are you a crust guy? Is what Josh Hart asks Carl Anthony Towns and Towns responds with it depends if it's garlic crust. Now my first question there is, do you think Carl Anthony Towns is saying it depends if it's garlic crust? Because if it is garlic crust, he then is a crust guy. Or does that make him not a crust guy? Because my qu. My initial thought there is that he's not a crust guy if it's garlic because garlic gives you the breath. And he may be self conscious of that because he would have garlic on his breath.

[Dave]

I feel it the other way. I think he's saying like, depends if it's garlic because if not, that that's trash.

[Dan Le Batard]

You're saying it depends if it's garlic because garlic is great.

[Dave Damachek]

Yes.

[Dan Le Batard]

And then it's worth the extra carbs because I love garlic crust.

[Jeremy]

Interesting.

[Dave]

I don't know if. Sorry, Dave, let me interrupt you. I don't know if it's worth being worried about the carbs if you're Carl Anthony Towns. I think this is more a flavor palette type of thing. Some people just don't like eating the crust.

[Dan Le Batard]

Jeremy. Excuse me, Tony. How you doing over there? You all right?

[Tony]

Still not happy about the whole situation. Mike's writing it down. He's Going to give me a note at the end of the.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, that was tough.

[Tony]

End of the show, he's going to say, tony can't speak.

[Jeremy]

Which is true.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, that was. That was. You heard us there.

[Tony]

It was a great point.

[Dave]

Poorly delivered.

[Dan Le Batard]

No one's going to remember the point. I know pronunciation. I never understand. Dave. I never understand when you're eating a pizza and you got homeboy who just. He leaves the crust on the plate. What the hell are you doing? I'll never understand that. I'm. I've never done it in my life.

[Jeremy]

Wow.

[Dave Damachek]

That's people. That's people who choose to just survive instead of truly live like you and me do. That. That's why. That's why we get along. But what is. Go back for me, I'm aware of one, you know, mid pizza maker that does garlic crust. But is that a thing that has become universal and I'm not aware of it?

[Dan Le Batard]

I don't know.

[Tony]

Places offer garlic crust.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, I think most places offer. Especially the chains. They all chains do. Yeah, yeah.

[Jeremy]

See, this is why you need the sauce, the dip in it, the garlic sauce in this situation that you can dip maybe a bear crust into it.

[Dan Le Batard]

How, how do we feel about stuffed crust? The crust that has the melted cheese in it.

[Tony]

Love stuffed crust. Really love stuffed crust.

[Dan Le Batard]

Because for me, I don't do stuffed crust. It doesn't wind up tasting like crust. It's too soft.

[Jeremy]

You're a nasty.

[Dan Le Batard]

And no, no, no, I think you're on your own on this one. I'm not going to overreact to the really nasty thing you just said because you're having a hard enough day with your pronunciation from a Sir Thompson. But stuffed crust, that's the kind of pizza that I would leave the crust out. I would not eat that. That's not for me. Dave, how say you?

[Dave Damachek]

Well, listen, I think you touch on an interesting subject here. Some things sound better than they actually are. The sum does not equal the part. Cookies. Obviously, Girl Scout people know that one.

[Tony]

The girl.

[Dave Damachek]

The Samoa sounds good because it has everything in it, but when you bite it, it's mid. I've had a similar experience or had a. A realization recently. Fajitas sound great and I can get duped into them once every half decade or so on the menu. I'll look at it. That sounds good. All the stuff. Oh, oh, they're sizzling. Oh, I'm the bell of the ball. Look at that. Everybody. All eyes in the restaurant are on me as I get delivered. My, my, my, my. Plate with the smoke coming off of it. And it smells so delicious as it passes by every table. And how will I. As I. As I put my princely meal together? This. Maybe this one is going to have some green pepper in it.

[Jeremy]

No.

[Dave Damachek]

Maybe some onion. You know what? Maybe both. But then you take a bite of it and you're like, eh, it's all right. It's not that good. I should have just gotten a burrito.

[Jeremy]

Fajitas are top of the heap. When you're at a restaurant and someone else orders the fajitas and you're like, damn, I should have gotten fajitas second place. And I haven't been to Burger King in a while. But when you order the fries and I think they do this on purpose. They put the one onion.

[Dan Le Batard]

There's always one. They want to let you know what you're.

[Jeremy]

I guarantee you they do this on purpose because you're like, damn, I should have gotten some onion rings, too.

[Dan Le Batard]

The onion rings at Burger King are so good. And it's like they're telling you, you're missing out on this shit. What are you doing?

[Dave Damachek]

They don't lead with them enough. They should. It is the distinguishing feature from their arch rivals. Arch. Get it? The. That they should be celebrated. We have onion rings. They don't.

[Tony]

What are.

[Dave Damachek]

What are you even doing here? Right?

[Dave]

You should be able to order fries with the one onion ring. And the order should be called the oneion ring.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh.

[Jeremy]

Oh, now that's worth a toast. That's a great idea.

[Dan Le Batard]

Give him the liner again.

[Jeremy]

Can we read the liner again?

[Dan Le Batard]

Read that liner.

[Dave Damachek]

That's where the toast. All right.

[Dan Le Batard]

Onion ring.

[Dave]

Worth a toast. Is presented by Cuervo. Keep it fun. Keep it Cuervo.

[Jeremy]

Incredible.

[Dan Le Batard]

Incredible.

[Jeremy]

From now on, that's how you drive.

[Dave]

I got this.

[Dave Damachek]

Wow.

[Dan Le Batard]

Incredible.

[Jeremy]

Tony, you know that moment at a party or at a tailgate where everything just sort of clicks?

[Tony]

I know it.

[Dave]

Well.

[Tony]

It's usually when I show up, everybody goes crazy.

[Jeremy]

Yeah. You usually take all the credit for it, but it's because Tony usually walks in with Cuervo.

[Tony]

Walking like this.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cuervo is a thing that turns hanging out into this is the night.

[Tony]

It has that effect on people.

[Dave Damachek]

It does.

[Jeremy]

You usually take the credit for it, but again, it's the Cuervo effect. It's like that moment in a big game where everyone in the crowd just starts standing up, hooting and hollering. Keep it Cuervo.

[Tony]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Dave Damachek]

Tiramisu is also overrated.

[Jeremy]

He's right. Absolutely right. You are correct 100%.

[Dave Damachek]

Thank you. There, there. By the way, there are seven dozen versions of tiramisu. Sometimes it can be like in a pudding. Sometimes it's a cookie. Sometimes it's like a. A slice of cake. All suck.

[Jeremy]

What about.

[Dave Damachek]

They don't suck. They're all. They're all c. They're all about like a c. It's that powder. It's the cocoa powder. It makes you cough a little bit. What do I want that. I want to.

[Tony]

He's right on the.

[Jeremy]

He is right. It's about like having a beignet. Yeah. Yeah. You're always gonna have a little cough before. You don't like ladyfingers.

[Dave Damachek]

No. And I listen. I like good dessert. I like a flourless chocolate cake if you.

[Jeremy]

Ew.

[Tony]

What are you, a thousand years old?

[Dave Damachek]

What are you, old man? Yeah.

[Jeremy]

Bread pudding.

[Dave Damachek]

I'm a man with. With. With fine taste. By the way, the in the life resume. And everybody should put together their own life resume. At the top of my resume is best order of food I've ever known in my life. I've no one. I'm not talking top 10, not top five. I am the best you of food off of the restaurant menu I've ever known in my life. There is not. I'm top 10 remote control handler. I do some things great. I'm a great Connect 4 player, so on and so forth.

[Dan Le Batard]

But you lost in front of everybody.

[Dave Damachek]

What's that?

[Dan Le Batard]

You lost Connect 4 in front of everybody.

[Dave Damachek]

No, I didn't. What are you talking.

[Dan Le Batard]

Mike beat you.

[Jeremy]

Oh, I lost.

[Dave Damachek]

Oh, I devastated him. I humiliated him.

[Dan Le Batard]

Bad day for you, Zach, my boss.

[Dave Damachek]

Your punishment. Eating tiramisu and fajitas.

[Dan Le Batard]

So if I were to ask you, do you think that the Oklahoma City Thunder in game two were physical with Victor Wembanyama? Like, what would your initial answer to that be? Do you think? And, Tony, you're. You're. You're allowed to talk again, even though you mispronounce the sore Thompson very badly. All right. You'll be okay. You'll get over it. Would you say that they were physical with Wembanyama in game two? I mean, because Hartenstein, Harnstein didn't play very much in game one. He played a lot in game two. And he was very dirty. Would you say that they were physical with him?

[Tony]

I. I don't think he was dirty. I think he was physical, and that's

[Dan Le Batard]

what they needed for me. Well, he was dirty.

[Tony]

I think he was physical.

[Dan Le Batard]

Hardenstein wasn't necessarily dirty with Wembanyama, but when he's pulling the hair of Stefan Castle, what do you. Even if he didn't try to pull his hair, what are you trying to grab? Like, what are you pulling? That's not defense grabbing, you know, so it was weird.

[Dave Damachek]

Agreed.

[Tony]

But there was a lot of. A lot of elbows being thrown, a lot of arm play, a lot of, like, grabbing the arm and not letting him go.

[Dan Le Batard]

You know, about that arm play.

[Dave Damachek]

Dave, I do think that going back to Ricky Williams, if you have long hair like that and you're out there

[Dan Le Batard]

in a contact, but you're allowed to do that in football, I. I get it.

[Dave Damachek]

But you cannot really charge somebody if your hand gets tangled up in your wildly long hair. You can't then cry foul because somebody got tangled up in your web.

[Dan Le Batard]

But, you know, you're allowed to tackle in football and not basketball. Right.

[Dave Damachek]

I get it. I'm just. I'm making. I'm with you. That they were very. I think what you're getting at is that they were physical with him, right?

[Dan Le Batard]

I think so. So here's Charles Barkley, too. Here's Charles Barkley last night inside the NBA on espn. And I heard. I hadn't heard anyone say or give the opinion that Barkley had here. On the way they defended Wembanyama.

[Jeremy]

I watched the whole game.

[Dave Damachek]

Hey, nice.

[Jeremy]

Well, it's going back and forth between that and the hockey game. Not gonna lie. You people at home and on TV talking about they were physical with Wimby. Man, y' all need to stop it. I've been kissed harder. Hardenstein. I love Hardenstein, but he just put a body on Wimby. It wasn't overly aggressive. It just. He didn't hit. There was no excessive files. But for you people thinking that's physicality, y' all need to shut the hell up.

[Dan Le Batard]

I mean, the hockey has been really good. Dave. Like, you could understand him flipping back and forth between the hockey and the basketball. Right?

[Dave Damachek]

I mean, listen, I don't want to get up on Mount Pius, but I'm with Nick Wright on this. I do not get these guys. I love Chaz Barkley, obviously, but I do not get these guys celebrating the fact that they don't love watching basketball. It's just bizarre to me. That they consider themselves so untouchable that, that this is the declaration they can make. And like, so what, what are you going to do about it? Like, I don't know. I would love for you to be consuming the subject matter that we're all. That we're all indulging right now. How about that?

[Dan Le Batard]

I, I don't care that the series shifts to San Antonio tonight. I feel like, like I don't have a pulse whatsoever. What's going to happen in this game tonight? Like, this is the kind of series, to me, it does not matter if they're playing in San Antonio. It doesn't matter if they're playing in Oklahoma City. I think both these teams are going to be great. I think it's going to be a war the whole game.

[Tony]

The question is, is there going to be a guard that's going to be healthy and bring up the ball for San Antonio? De' Aaron Fox out talking about a high ankle sprain where it's gonna, it's gonna be hard for him to cut laterally. You got Dylan Harper, who's out with now an abductor. It's issue. We don't really know what it is. It's not a strain, it's not a sprain. We don't know. And Stefan Castle's had 20 turnovers in two games.

[Dave]

Wemby is going to need some legitimately legendary performances if they're going to pull off the series.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, you know, so someone asked me yesterday, right, if. If does when Banyama need to be. Does when Benyama have to have MVP performances in order for the spurs to win the series? And I'm like, yeah, I mean they're, they're going against the defending champs who have the back to back league mvp. They need Wembanyama to be the best player on the floor at least four times.

[Jeremy]

Been the whole thing all season, right? That's been the storyline headed into this series is can Wemby summon the MVP effort game in and game out to overcome what seems to be like the most overwhelming team in the NBA by a decent margin.

[Dave]

And the thing was that the spurs supporting cast has been really good all season. And so there was an elevation from Wemby and you were looking at it as like, okay, maybe this is a relatively even matchup. Look at the way that they played. But now with the injuries they've faced with the turnover issues that they have because they're playing against the defending champs, a team built to last. Like you're gonna need not just MVP performances. You're going to need some of the best individual playoff performances we have seen in a conference finals for them to be able to win this series.

[Tony]

And he did that in game one and two overtimes to do it. And a legendary performance. Three guys have done it, but they

[Dan Le Batard]

led most of the game. You know, it's. It's not like they came from behind and they won like they. They are in that game still, but

[Tony]

still, it took a monumentous effort from Wemby to even get that in double overtime. And like, there has to be. There has to be.

[Dan Le Batard]

Slow down, slow down.

[Tony]

I can't slow down.

[Jeremy]

Monument.

[Dan Le Batard]

It took a monumentous performance.

[Tony]

Yeah. Let's look that up, see if that's right. Because. Because there's words. There's words I remix.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, sometimes.

[Tony]

I'm saying there's words I remix. Sometimes. And it works.

[Dave]

Wiktionary.

[Dan Le Batard]

That might be good.

[Jeremy]

Isn't this.

[Tony]

Thank you, Roy.

[Dave]

Hold on. It doesn't seem like wiktionary believes it's a real word. Let's see.

[Dave Damachek]

Quora.

[Dave]

That doesn't help Merriam Webster.

[Tony]

Okay, hold on.

[Dan Le Batard]

What does she say?

[Dave]

No, that's momentous. Yeah. AI is doing like a non standard hybrid word combining monumental and momentous, but it's not generally recognized in standard dictionary.

[Tony]

That can't be true. Keep looking.

[Dave]

All right, Dave, keep looking here.

[Dave Damachek]

Pat Riley doesn't care that much. That's the good news.

[Dave]

Charlemagne. The God on Facebook says monumentous is not a real word.

[Tony]

What does he know?

[Dan Le Batard]

There you go.

[Jeremy]

Sorry, Tony. Yeah.

[Tony]

What was the point I was trying to make?

[Dan Le Batard]

Wow. You turned your mic off. All right, just get Mike from them. Just focus on. Focus on regrouping for the next few minutes.

[Dave Damachek]

Escalated.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. You'll be okay.

[Dave Damachek]

Monumentous move there by Mike Ryan.

[Jeremy]

Sorry. Sometimes you got to take the ball away from the starter. He didn't want to come out of the game. That's all right. I called the shots.

[Dave Damachek]

You took both his balls.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. Dave, you were fired up earlier this morning. So I saw yesterday on Twitter how the reason I was tipped off is because I didn't see it on television where the guys on ESPN were talking about Aaron Rodgers. All right. And you know Rogers, he claims it is his final.

[Dave Damachek]

He's back.

[Dave]

He's.

[Dan Le Batard]

He's gonna play for the Steelers again this year.

[Dave Damachek]

That's right. He's back, everybody.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's right. And he is. He has said it is his final year. And I saw the guys on espn, we're talking. I guess they were. Maybe Michael Wilbond was was not speaking as highly about Aaron Rodgers as WWE hall of Famer Ric Flair would expect Aaron Rodgers to be spoken of. All right, so Ric Flair got very, very upset. And apparently though you, Dave Damachek, you are a little bit upset as well.

[Dave Damachek]

Well, I'm not upset. I do point out all the time because we're caught in a weird place where the youngs like Tony to, you know, be prisoners of the moment on occasion. But the olds lionized the past to an irrational degree. And now John Elway, I guess counts. It's surprising to me that he's not an old timer. I guess he now, because I'm an old man, he's now in the distant past too. But Michael Wilbon asserted that John Elway is obviously a far better athlete than Aaron Rodgers is. And my reaction is what the hell are you talking about, old man? They're, they're, they're both high end athletes. John Elway was a supreme one, obviously he almost played for the Yankees, but Aaron Rodgers ain't no slouch. What do you, who do you think, who are you confusing Aaron Rodgers with? Peyton Manning or Tom Brady? Because those guys are tall drinks of water who could throw the ball. But they were not supreme athletes. Aaron Rodgers is quick, twitch as much an athlete as we've ever seen at that position alongside John Elway. Right, I, I got it.

[Dan Le Batard]

I gotta tell you, I don't agree. Like I'm.

[Dave Damachek]

Why, what does he lack other than height compared to John Elway?

[Jeremy]

Aaron Rodgers, I mean that's, that's part of it. Because the size and power John Elway, when he would scramble. Now Aaron Rodgers, I agree, especially when it comes to scrambling, evading pressure, throwing on the run, every bit the athlete that John Elway was when he's, you know, behind the line of scrimmage. But John had so many iconic moments and Aaron wouldn't really sacrifice his body because he didn't have the frame that John Elway had. And he played a different type of game. He scrambled to throw the ball, whereas John always scrambled to scramble most of the time. I think John Elway, it's fair to say, was a better athlete. He was, wasn't he? Drafted by the Yankees, Like I think

[Dave Damachek]

I just said that. And let me tell you, listen, John Elway is one of the all time specimens that ever play quarterback. Aaron Rodgers, I said this in October of 2010 before he beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl 45. He will retire as the greatest, most gifted quarterback we've ever seen. I stand by that. Now I was wrong that he will be remembered as the greatest quarterback of all time. Because what you're getting at, Mike Ryan, is that he didn't win enough times in January to achieve that banner. Nevertheless, I stand by what I said 15 some years ago, which is he is the great. He is the most gifted athlete, the most gifted quarterback of all time.

[Dan Le Batard]

Your summer starts now with Memorial Day

[Dave Damachek]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Jeremy]

Don LeBatard Witty we have a photo right here. If you can see in this photo with my daughter there I am pointing exactly to the point on the Stanley cup where it says, you suck ass Stugats. Right there.

[Dan Le Batard]

They engraved.

[Jeremy]

Really? It's like yeah, they got it engraved right there. It says Chris Whittingham sucks ass.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats.

[Jeremy]

I think Mahomes can probably take that mantle from him. I. I don't look when he was at the peak of his powers, Aaron Rodgers was my favorite player ever. And I would always say that ever. I love them too.

[Dave Damachek]

I love them too.

[Jeremy]

The very peak of Aaron Rodgers was prior to Patrick Mahomes, the most outstanding talent I had seen at the position. Not the best quarterback because it's easily Tom Brady. He put that away. But he was often undone by bad coaching. He always was surrounded by mediocre coaches

[Dan Le Batard]

who decided to return to that coach for one final season.

[Jeremy]

Not just the head man too. Think of all the lousy offensive coordinators that went on to be head coaches elsewhere that were absolutely absolute jokes that Aaron Rodgers kept employed by being so spectacular. I think his excellence kind of got in his own way because and also the packers not having this like cult of personality type owner that would say, what is this? What are we doing with Mike McCarthy after that NFC championship against Seattle, which is one of the more fireable offenses I've ever seen at that level. He gets to keep his job. Dave, what say you?

[Dave Damachek]

Well, I think Aaron Rodgers, if you're trying to evaluate the quality of the on field stuff, he has two of. I'm subjective as it is. He has two of the five greatest single seasons that a quarterback's ever had. And yeah, I mean, what it comes down to is this is what you're getting at. Ultimately, we're talking all around. It is. It's the ring count. I know people don't want to apply the ring count here. If he had one, or let's say two more, I think we would be talking about Aaron Rodgers as the greatest of all time, no matter how many Tom Brady did win. The difference is the funny paradox of Aaron Rodgers at 43 is he is still the name brand. He is still a first ballot hall of Famer. He's still in the conversation at least to be one of the five best quarterbacks of the super bowl era. It's what he suffers from though, is high end athleticism and the fact that it is now gone. Well, Tom Brady did it. He won the Super bowl of 45. Yeah, he never depended on high end athleticism. Aaron Rodgers did in his prime. Now that that's gone, it's almost like a prize fighter who doesn't fully grasp that he can't get to the edge like he used to. Or rather, even worse, he does know he can't and so he is making decisions based on that. He's about to take a smack. So instead he gets rid of the ball more quickly than otherwise might.

[Jeremy]

Yes, absolutely. Last year was painful to watch at times. He was wincing like Blaine Gabbard in the pocket because he knows he doesn't have it anymore. And so he gets rid of the ball super early and he avoids contact altogether. Not to hang in the pocket and get rid of. Rid of it maybe a little too early in an inaccurate pass, like he just bails on plays and it kind of jumps off the screen a little bit. That makes you. This is a little sad. But now that he is announced officially that this is his final season, I'm off that. I'm off all the stuff that all the baggage that comes with Aaron Rodgers. Now this season, for me, I'm not a ceilor fan like you. In fact, I'm far from it. But I'm an Aaron Rodgers fan and for me, this season is all about how many moments can you give me, how many times can you show that you got a dynamite throw in you in a big time moment? And I'm in on that. I like that as a storyline entering the NFL season.

[Dan Le Batard]

I think you're right. Put it on the poll, please. Was Aaron Rodgers wincing like Blaine Gabbard? Tony, are you prepared to contribute positively to the English language I am.

[Tony]

American Heritage dictionary includes monumentous. It appears in both older and modern texts, but at a lower frequency and sometimes with a slightly more literal or formal tone. So there is, you know, precedent for monumentous.

[Jeremy]

Ooh.

[Dave]

When he used precedent.

[Dave Damachek]

Right.

[Dave]

I'll give it to him.

[Tony]

All right, Dave, what say you?

[Dave Damachek]

I'm down for whatever you got to say there.

[Dave]

10 DAYTONI what a monumentous day for the show again.

[Tony]

I bring words into the lexicon that maybe don't exist.

[Dave]

Ooh, lexicon too. You know, flexing.

[Tony]

Maybe I remix them a little bit.

[Dave]

Well, flex it.

[Dave Damachek]

But there's usually like, you have an old soul.

[Tony]

Thank you, Dave. Thank you so much, Dave.

[Dan Le Batard]

Did you guys see. You know who Nolan Smith Jr. Is?

[Tony]

Boy, do we.

[Dan Le Batard]

Linebacker for the Eagles. He now this isn't something terribly uncommon with athletes who have very fancy and fast cars. He was.

[Tony]

Or George or alums.

[Dan Le Batard]

He was cited for driving 135 miles. Proud we powered through that thing in our throat. I didn't think anyone noticed. And it had me thinking. How fast are you going on the highway where you.

[Dave Damachek]

You.

[Dan Le Batard]

You then check the speedometer. Like we've all know. We've all been through this before, right? Where you're. You're on the. You're in the express lane and you're on the highway and you hadn't looked at your speedometer in a while. And then you look like, oh, I'm not talking about. You might get a ticket of a police officer sees you. I'm just like, oh, I. We gotta take our foot off the gas a little bit right now. This. It's a little bit too fast. Like. Dave.

[Dave Damachek]

What?

[Dan Le Batard]

You know what I'm talking about. You know what I'm saying?

[Dave Damachek]

I do know what you're talking about. Yeah. I think it's a product of how good your car is. I think that's where it starts. If you have a really fancy car, you can hit 100 without realizing you're doing it right.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, so is. Is. Is that what it is for you? You get. If you get to 100 when you're chasing.

[Dave Damachek]

I'm not a car guy.

[Jeremy]

When you're would be fake federal agents.

[Dan Le Batard]

Because every now and then I'll get. I'll get over 90. All right, boys. Got a need for speed.

[Jeremy]

And with flip flops on crazy.

[Dan Le Batard]

And if I. If I get to like.

[Dave Damachek]

He's wheeling down the Dave Matthews.

[Dan Le Batard]

If I get to like 93, I start to like. It's a little bit faster my liking. Let's. Let's slow Things down a little bit here. 135. I don't even understand how fast that could possibly be.

[Tony]

It's really fast.

[Dan Le Batard]

Like, I don't even know what that would look like if that, if that went by me on the highway. Like, sometimes Carl will go by.

[Dave Damachek]

By me.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm like, wow, that car must be going over 100. 100 is not even close to 135. 135 is so much faster than 100 miles per hour.

[Tony]

35 exact.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. No, yeah. Thanks, Tony. Like, you're all. You got this type of confidence now just because you found one dictionary that has the word the American heritage.

[Tony]

Yes.

[Dan Le Batard]

I mean, let's take it easy.

[Tony]

135 miles an hour is so fast that you, you wouldn't. If you're going 70, it's almost double your speed. So, like, that's where he was. He was in a 70 mile an hour zone, and he's doing 135 miles an hour like he is. And the question is, when you look at it.

[Jeremy]

Thank you.

[Tony]

It's almost double, a little less. Was he just going 135 miles an hour the entire time, or did he kick it and then all of a sudden a cop caught him when he was at his peak of how fast he was going. Like, where is he in Georgia that he's flying 135 miles an hour with no cars, with nothing?

[Dan Le Batard]

What?

[Dave Damachek]

He's in Athens.

[Tony]

That's.

[Jeremy]

That's a good.

[Dan Le Batard]

What is happening in Athens?

[Tony]

They have an autobahn you don't know about.

[Dan Le Batard]

He was on campus when he was cited. But what the hell is going on there?

[Dave Damachek]

This has been going on for at least five years now. How many Georgia football players have been arrested for speeding, you know, doing triple digits in the car? I mean, it's. It's really sort of, you know, hey, Miami produces quarterbacks and Georgia produces guys who get arrested for speeding. It's really weird.

[Dan Le Batard]

Do you think when the police officer pulls him over, he pulls up to the window, rolls down the window? Like, does the police officer even say, do you know why I pulled you over? Right. Like, that's always what they say. Do you know, like, I was pulled over a few weeks ago. Oh, fight through, choked up.

[Dave]

Get it? It's emotional. No, take your time.

[Dave Damachek]

Yeah, it was scary. It bummed you out. I'm not surprised that you're caught up in emotion here.

[Dan Le Batard]

I get choked up sometimes when I talk about, you know, getting pulled over by the police. I got pulled over like a month ago. I had no idea why he pulled me over. I was being honest. For the visual audience. The highlights are great. The highlights are great. They show me during my inner monologue. I mean, come on, I was born to wrestle. Anyway. 135 feels fast. So speaking.

[Dave Damachek]

Of course, you think when the cop pulls you over, this is the thing that happened. Remember when Cincinnati, when the Bengals just kept getting pinched over and over again and they used to always say. They would say, like, well, the cops are looking to make a name for themselves. I think, in fact, the exact opposite is true. If you're an Athens copper and you pull a guy over and you're like, oh, my God, it's a. It's one of the Bulldogs. I love watching you on Saturdays. They're not looking to make a name for themselves by arresting you. It's the exact opposite. So you really got to be doing something bad to. To get taken down to the pokey.

[Dan Le Batard]

Right, right. The football team, the Georgia football team probably gives most of these guys among the most joy they have in their lives.

[Dave Damachek]

Yeah, you got to look at

[Dan Le Batard]

how you feel about that, Mike.

[Jeremy]

Well, I'm sorry. I was looking up a set. What? I. I mean, I know I was. I was echoing his point, Dave, but there have been over 20 arrests since.

[Dan Le Batard]

What?

[Jeremy]

Yeah, yeah. 20 people associated with the Georgia's football program have been arrested for driving related offenses.

[Dave Damachek]

Isn't this the sort of thing that the NCAA used to step in on that when. When there was. When there was a pattern of bad behavior that. That the overlords would. Would, you know, threaten, you know, some sort of penalty against the school for this?

[Jeremy]

No, that's only Miami. I'll take the fine.

[Dan Le Batard]

So we. We're all over. We love any stories that involve Waymo. Right? We're all over these way mo's. That's the driverless car. I saw one yesterday. I. And whenever I see him, I can't help. But I always. I have to peek in the driver's seat because not all of them are driverless like most of them are, but in some places there is a driver. And I saw one of the ghost drivers yesterday. I saw a driverless one yesterday. And how about for a visual audience? How about this photo here of there's flooding in this city? I don't think it's in New York City. I know New York City's been dealing with some very, very serious flooding lately, but there is flooding in this city here. And the Waymo. Look at this drives. Dave. You see this drives straight head first. Nolan Smith, the Waymo drives straight into what, what looks like a pond, all right? Like it's total flooding on this street. If you're a passenger, like, you gotta be so nervous. You're this passenger in there, you know, you're going headfirst. You're going right into this massive flood. Dave, I don't know if you've ever been in the Waymo, but Mike, I don't know, man. It scares me. I've been in one before.

[Dave Damachek]

No, I, you know, Never say never. I would not. I'm not going to declare you'll never see me get into a Waymo, but it's sort of like a porta Potty, you know, the. I would never, you know, sit down, you know, never number two in a porta Potty. And you think, who would ever do that? Somebody in an emergent situation if, if I absolutely. If that. If I was in the middle of nowhere and the only option I had was a Waymo. Outside of that, though, there's no chance. What kind of daredevil in the year the Lord 2026, given the evidence we have, is jumping into one of those things. Give me five years, maybe 10 years and then I'll consider it. When I see thousands, hundreds of thousands and millions of people survive their ride

[Tony]

in the way when the government won't let you drive your car, you'll do exactly that.

[Dave Damachek]

That's right.

[Dan Le Batard]

Tony believes in five years from now that we're all going to be.

[Dave]

That was the big thing I missed last week where I just simply sat in awe listening to this show. It was monumentous.

[Tony]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Tony]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Tony]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Tony]

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