The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: Best of DLS: 15 Minutes of Miami Inventions (feat. Jim Rome)
Date: December 26, 2025

Episode Overview

Broadcasting from the Elser Hotel in Downtown Miami, Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, and their crew dive into a wide-ranging, tongue-in-cheek exploration of Miami’s contributions to cultural and technological invention, sports banter, and radio goofiness. The episode’s main theme is a playful, crowd-sourced effort to define what—if anything—was actually invented in Miami, quickly devolving (as only the Le Batard universe can) into debate, mockery, and confusion. The show is peppered with calls, running gags, and special bits, including Frank Caliendo’s hilarious Jim Rome impression and a segment with Stan Van Gundy reminiscing about NBA all-star antics and an embarrassing sports knowledge confession from Dan.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Did Miami Actually Invent? (03:19–20:14)

• Premise:
  The crew spends a chaotic 15 minutes inviting callers to suggest "things invented in Miami," quickly discovering that actual innovation is hard to pin down.

• Recurring Gags:

  • Miami’s Civic “Inventions”:
    • Pitbull (as a civic product, not an invention)
    • "We invented cocaine" (05:32)—to which Dan retorts, "Our downtown is built atop a foundation of it, but we did not invent it."
  • Blurring Brands and Inventions:
    • Burger King, Carnival Cruise Lines, Pollo Tropical constantly surface but are dismissed as brands, not inventions.
    • Stugotz: "I'm having a difficult time believing that we don't have a single great inventor or invention of Miami." (05:15)

• Notable Call-ins & Disputes:

  • Amazon/Jeff Bezos:
    • Caller: "The inventor and founder of Amazon went to Palmetto Senior High in Miami, Florida." (06:22)
    • Stugotz: "That's not really an invention. The guy made a store." (06:35)
  • Fire Rescue & Medical Tech:
    • Caller: "Fire Rescue Department invented fire rescue here. And... [EKG] telemetry, also invented here." (07:48)
    • The panel debates the legitimacy. Stugotz skeptically says, "We didn't invent rescuing people from fires. Cavemen invent...I mean, anyone who saw someone in a fire said, I gotta get that guy out of the fire." (08:00)
    • The EKG telemetry technology is given a bit more respect.
  • Facebook:
    • Hawk: "The co-founder of Facebook... went to Gulliver Prep." (08:23)
    • Stugotz: "It's an electronic yearbook. Yearbooks have been around forever." (08:33)
  • Sunscreen/suntan lotion debate:
    • Multiple callers and texters argue over whether sunscreen was invented in Miami versus Austria, with repeated checks of dubious online sources. The group can’t agree on the difference between suntan lotion and sunscreen.
    • Don LeBatard, exasperated: "Suntan lotion and sunscreen are two different things." (11:15)
    • Stugotz: "This is like inventing the cigarette, right? They thought it cured everything. And now we know. Maybe not the greatest invention." (12:02)
  • Miami slang—“Dog”/“Dawg”:
    • One caller claims, "the slang word ‘dog’, like, ‘hey, dog’… originated down here." (16:48)
    • The group is skeptical but amused.
  • Actual Innovation:
    • Cordis Corporation’s drug-eluting stents (12:28)—the group agrees this is a worthy invention, albeit with their usual irreverence.
    • Advantage Systems’ efficient cooling technology and Citrix's GoToMeeting software (15:12) get rare acknowledgment for substance.

• Meta-humor:
  Hawk: "Someone pointed out we invented bad radio." (14:03)

2. Frank Caliendo as Jim Rome: “10 Questions” Segment (23:27–30:14)

• Bit Premise:
  Dan plays "10 Questions" with Frank Caliendo, brilliantly impersonating sports talking-head Jim Rome. The segment is a mix of absurd, meta-sports media jabs, and Caliendo’s wordplay.

• Memorable Quotes:

  • On being evil:
    • "I am definitely not full-fledged evil. More like the Anakin Skywalker of broadcasting. Roman Skywalker." (Dan/Frank as Jim Rome, 24:02)
  • "My verbiage is my lightsaber. Hey, Le Batard, look out. Let me cut off your hand with my verbiage." (Jim Rome, 24:19)
  • Dan: “Give us a take that sucks.”
    • Jim Rome: "Le Batard is cool." (26:00)
  • "I want to say thwarted at the same time as overthrown. Who cares if I mash two words together? … I am Romakin Sky Thunder." (26:18)

• Segment Tone:

  • Over-the-top, rapid-fire puns and pop culture references (“bow to the wow,” “chromekin is back”).
  • Parody of sports radio’s faux-epic tone and self-seriousness.

3. Stan Van Gundy Segment: NBA All-Star Anecdotes & Dan’s Embarrassing Admission (34:29–44:43)

• Dan’s Confession:

  • Shares a “shameful admission”: “Yesterday I’m watching a press conference and my honest reaction to it—I can’t believe I’m saying this—my honest reaction was, ‘wait a minute, Bernie Bickerstaff is black.’”(34:33–35:58)
  • The rest of the panel jokes through the awkwardness, Stan Van Gundy tosses in an anecdote about NBA owners not recognizing famous players.

• Stan on All-Star Game Coaching:

  • The challenges of coaching the NBA All-Star Game: “You want to make sure you’re fair to everybody with the minutes. You don’t do any coaching, it’s just… a very hard thing to do.” (39:23–39:58)
  • Stan describes a bench moment where assistant coach Brendan Malone almost ordered a hot dog mid-game, which was the highlight of his All-Star Game experience. (44:05–44:43)

• Alternative All-Star Game Ideas:

  • Stan floats the idea of having retired legends coach the teams: “Let Oscar Robertson and Bill Russell coach a team… the head coaches don’t want to do it.” (42:01–42:58)

Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• "That's not really an invention. The guy made a store. He just opened a successful store."
  — Stugotz on Amazon/Bezos, 06:35

• "Pitbull's mother invented Pitbull."
  — Don LeBatard, 05:23

• "We didn't invent cocaine. Our downtown is built atop a foundation of it, but we did not invent it."
  — Don LeBatard, 05:35

• "This is such clichéd sports radio."
  — Stugotz, 11:23

• "Do whatever I want. Great. I am Romakin Sky Thunder."
  — Frank Caliendo as Jim Rome, 26:18

• "Yesterday I’m watching a press conference and… ‘wait a minute, Bernie Bickerstaff is black.’"
  — Don LeBatard, 34:33–35:58

• "On the bench and he was going to do it. I thought he was going to grab… the waitress service and order a hot dog sitting on our bench. That was the highlight of my All-Star Game in Dallas."
  — Stan Van Gundy, 44:40–44:43

Highlights by Timestamp

• [03:19–20:14] Miami Inventions Call-In Chaos
  "Did we invent anything, or are we just good at brands and bad radio?"
• [23:27–30:14] Frank Caliendo/Jim Rome Bit
  “My verbiage is my lightsaber... Let me cut off your hand with my verbiage.”
• [34:29–44:43] Stan Van Gundy NBA and Admission Segment
  • Dan’s shameful "Bernie Bickerstaff" admission
  • All-Star coaching as a curse
  • The hot dog on the bench saga

Tone and Style

• Irreverent, fast-paced, full of inside jokes, digressions, and self-mockery
• Collaborative “bit building” — everyone riffing on the same theme until it collapses
• Candid, with the kind of “too honest” moments the Dan Le Batard Show is famous for

Takeaways for New Listeners

This episode is a classic example of how the Le Batard crew blend sports, Miami culture, and absurdist radio into something uniquely entertaining. The hunt for Miami's "real" inventions delivers plenty of laughs, even as it comes up empty. The show’s riotous energy, quick-witted banter, and willingness to lean into awkward, uncomfortable truths create a memorable listen—whether you care about Miami, inventions, or just want to hear grown men squabble about mango salad.