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- [00:01]
Announcer
All right, kicking things off with Smirnoff, the official vodka sponsor of the NFL and the number one vodka in the world. Chris Cody, you're here smearing off.
- [00:08]
Dan LeBatard
Wow.
- [00:08]
Announcer
You're on the money with Smearnoff.
- [00:11]
Dan LeBatard
Chris, do you know what goes great with Smirnoff?
- [00:14]
Announcer
Yes, but I'm really talking about the game day fit. The style's gotta match the vibe.
- [00:17]
Chris Cote
Fair enough.
- [00:18]
Announcer
All right, here's the deal.
- [00:19]
Dan LeBatard
Game day is everything.
- [00:20]
Announcer
And that's exactly why your fit has to match the occasion. Starting this December, Smirnoff is giving fans 21 and over the chance to score limited edition Smirnoff commission merchandise from some of today's top creators and including Kayla Jones, Gavin, Matthew and Aleli Mae. Here's the kicker. One lucky fan will take home the grand prize, a trip to the biggest game of the offseason. Plus, one fan will win a laylie May's one of one game day jacket.
- [00:43]
Sponsor Voice
Wow.
- [00:43]
Announcer
The merch will be dropped on select dates from December to January 21st. And it's all courtesy of what brand? That's right, Chris. Fans 21 and over can head to Smirnoff Socials to learn how to sign up. And don't forget to grab a bottle of Smirnoff vodka, number 21 at your local retail. Please drink responsibly. Smirnoff number 21, vodka distilled from grain, 40% alcohol by volume. The Smirnoff Company, New York, New York. Please do not share with anybody under legal drinking.
- [01:07]
Dan LeBatard
Hate Smirnoff.
- [01:08]
Announcer
No purchase necessary. Must be legal. US resident, 21 or older. Sweepstake starts 12:15, 2025 at 12:00am Eastern and ends 1:23, 2026 at 11 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds p.m. eastern. See official rules at program website.
- [01:19]
Sponsor Voice
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- [02:48]
Dan LeBatard
Brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast Smart move being financially savv. Another smart move having State Farm help you create a competitive price when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer, availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state. This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats podcast.
- [03:24]
Chris Cote
Something that I've been eager to do here for a while and I wanted to start it with someone who's become a good friend in adulthood. I don't have a lot of friends who have become friends. When I've gotten later in life, I wanted to talk to people who are real good with their standards and with craftsmanship about how to stuff how they do, what they do, how they care, why they care, and Dan Patrick has been very caring about what he makes for a long time. He's a maximum professional. Nobody has anything bad to say about Dan Patrick. He's a pillar of integrity and what he does he in the I'm going to say the last incarnation of his professional life is Very different from the other things that he did before, and it's the most similar to the thing that we do. I've told you before that Dan Patrick is an inspiration and has granted us permission to have producers talk and do what we do the way that we do. So by way of introduction, Dan, thank you for being on with us and thank you for doing this. I know you don't like to talk about some of this stuff, but your standard is something that has been very impressive to me for a long time, and it seems like it's an unforgiving one. It seems like Joy might get lost somewhere in the way that you try to get to better all the time. And I don't know how often you achieve what you want to achieve. So let's start there. How often do you leave your show? What percentage of time do you leave your show feeling like your best was good enough?
- [04:57]
Dan LeBatard
No. Never. Never. No, I can't do it. I. It just feels like I'm giving in. And I was reminded of this. I had Dan Hurley, the UConn basketball coach, on, and he said, I'm just going to go as hard as I can for as long as I can. And basically, I hope I don't die. And while I don't take it to that degree, it's. I got to go as fast as I can as best I can for as long as I can, and then I'll be done. I don't. I. It took me a long time to savor some of this stuff that I've done, and I. I just worried that if I stopped or slowed down, you know, Satchel Page always said, don't, you know, slow down. Somebody will catch you. Or don't look up your shoulder back.
- [05:47]
Chris Cote
Yeah, don't look back. Someone might be gaining on you.
- [05:49]
Dan LeBatard
And I. In this business, this is a tough. You. You eat them in the process of going up the ladder, and it eats you Coming down the ladder. I just. I just never wanted to stop and go. That was pretty good.
- [06:03]
Chris Cote
I've learned a lot from you, though, but I think that I can learn from you here by not doing what you're doing, because it seems like that would get in the way of savoring. You just said that you just recently got to some more savoring. How'd you get there?
- [06:19]
Dan LeBatard
My wife. She's the one that keeps reminding me that you got it. There's small victories, I said, but there's a bigger war at stake. You know, it's not. You win a battle, you win a battle you win a battle, enjoy that. And I don't see that. I, I just see that this is, this is daily. This is hand to heck hand combat. But it, but it served me. It's. I don't recommend this. I don't recommend this at all. And I passed it on to one of my children and I can see it. And I have to tell her to remind her, hey, slow down, enjoy, savor. Like, I get to do this. I don't have to do this. I get to do this. And even today, I never sit still during commercials. Like, I have to walk all the way around the building. Like, I'm. I'm out outside. I mean, I just have to keep moving. I just worry about just staying stationary. And I walked outside and it was about, you know, 10, 16 in the morning and it's raining. And I just like, it's one of those moments where you go, I'm still. I get to do this for the most part. Trying to appreciate the next two and a half years of doing this live radio and TV show.
- [07:36]
Chris Cote
For those of you who don't know, he will be retiring in two and a half years, allegedly. I'll believe it when I see it. I believe he will have a need to do something somewhere. Because if you get this much of your identity from something, it's pretty hard to put it down. Can you explain to me where all that comes from? Like, have you done the introspection on why it is you are that way?
- [07:58]
Dan LeBatard
I really don't, I really don't know, other than middle child. I mean, my mom, to her deathbed, thought I was just lucky. She wouldn't say that. I would, you know, was great. She would just say, you're. You were lucky. You're lucky. And, and so in your mind, you're like, God, am I? Which it's not true, but I think I've. I was always trying to impress my mom. Sometimes you try to impress the people who don't matter to you. But my mom, of course, did. And then I realized, no matter what I did, I'm handing out the super bowl trophy. And I called home, called and talked to her. She said, who picked out your tie? And I went, damn, I just handed out the Super Bowl. So. But that's the kind of family that I grew up in. In a lot of ways, they kept me grounded. Nobody was put on a pedestal. Even now, I was always looking for some kind of acknowledgment, recognition. And you know, damn it, I'm going to get it. Until I realized That I didn't need it or I didn't really want it, but it allowed me to have that carrot that I'm chasing, and I'm going to continue to do it.
- [09:13]
Chris Cote
I thought your dad was the one that was hard to please.
- [09:19]
Dan LeBatard
No. No, it. I mean, my dad died when I was 25, so he never got to see any of this. He took great pride and love in anything we do. My sisters were cheerleaders, two brothers who were football players, and then myself and my other brother basketball players. And he tried to be there for all of our events, but he was not. He was not hypercritical. My mom was. She was tough, but that's who raised us from, you know, time I was 25 on. When your dad dies at a young age and your mom doesn't have any money, there's no retirement, there's no insurance. All of a sudden it's, you know, Amber alert here. Every. All hands on deck. Now all of a sudden, the. The dynamic has changed, and everything was about a job and holding onto the job and savoring a job, working hard at the job, and, you know, so you kind of. It kind of got ingrained in my head of don't take it for Grant anything for granted and keep going.
- [10:22]
Chris Cote
Do you realize, though, that you don't give any of that off? You're such a polished television person. I don't know how much anxiety there is there, but no one would ever see it unless they were in your home.
- [10:36]
Dan LeBatard
Oh, yeah, it's all internalized. I mean, I. I'll be around my guys, and I'll. I can't say. We can't let these small things. I mean, they can't fall through the cracks. I mean, we have to do this. It's little things, but I want them to understand those little things because we focus on the big things, and in this business, the little things can really trip you up. But other than that, I mean, they know that I. I want it to be great. I think I'm. I'm difficult to give a compliment to, and therefore, I don't know if they, like, they'll say, hey, that was really good interview. I'll go. I mean, I'm already on to the next thing. And so maybe we. We don't. We don't even go through the machinations of. Of doing that.
- [11:18]
Chris Cote
Are you good at giving compliments?
- [11:20]
Dan LeBatard
Yeah. Yes, because I know what it can feel like.
- [11:26]
Chris Cote
But you're not receiving them right, or you're not showing people who are. You're not doing very Much in the way of receiving.
- [11:33]
Dan LeBatard
Yes, but it's, I got to the point where it didn't matter. Like, you're looking for it, you're waiting for it, and it, and it wasn't coming. And therefore you just become kind of numb to it. This goes back to being a middle child. I was just kind of in the then, nobody cared. I mean, there's six kids. Nobody cares. You know, it's like, where's Dan? I don't know. He'll be home. So I think that's kind of how I see myself in the sea of broadcasters or radio shows. Like, we're in it.
- [12:09]
Chris Cote
So what happens to you as you look at your daughter and see that she has this particular chromosome, the Dan Patrick I care too much chromosome.
- [12:19]
Dan LeBatard
I just see how tense it makes her, or the inability to relax with something or savor something. She's a perfectionist. And I just know what that is. I know that feeling. And my wife can't relate to that, even though I say, you should be able to relate to it, because that's how I am every single day. And then, you know, my one daughter is just, she's maniacal at work ethic. I mean, but I, there's nothing you can do. I have turned it down. You know, the volume is down to around a 7. It was at an 11 for a long time at the mothership, I never stopped. I volunteered for everything. Miss birthdays or anniversary. I mean, it didn't matter. I was, I was going to do it. And part of that is imposter syndrome. It's like, God, they're going to figure out one day I'm not very good, but I'm going to build up so much house credit that they can't get rid of me.
- [13:19]
Chris Cote
You don't still have imposter syndrome, do you?
- [13:23]
Dan LeBatard
Oh, I think there are times when I, I have, I've turned down a couple of things recently, just happened last week where, you know, one was a TV show and one was a sporting event. And I, I, I said, ah, I don't think so. I appreciate it. I don't think so.
- [13:42]
Chris Cote
And it was doubt. It was doubt in your ability at this age to meet your standard, which you never meet anyway.
- [13:48]
Dan LeBatard
So. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And my wife says, why don't you take a risk? And I said, no, no, no, no, I'm good, I'm good. I like other people, give it to younger people to do it. I don't know if I can do it. Great. I don't know. And so my Doubt comes in with being great. Is that great? Because you know your standard is high. Whether, whether it's received that way or perceived that way, it's. It's high. You want to be great every time. Like, you know, you have somebody on get done with the baseball commissioner or Dan Hurley and you go, how. How did we. Did we do something? All right, good. Okay, that, boom. Then we move on. Now I go back to Covid. We did so many great shows during COVID because we had to. Creativity, workmanship, camaraderie. And I've never been prouder of the show because we had to create stuff out of thin air for three hours. And it's live.
- [14:53]
Sponsor Voice 2
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- [15:42]
Dan LeBatard
Done.
- [15:43]
Sponsor Voice 2
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- [16:01]
Announcer
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- [16:04]
Sponsor Voice 3
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- [16:04]
Announcer
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- [17:09]
Sponsor Voice
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- [17:13]
Dan LeBatard
You know what I'm going to be.
- [17:14]
Sponsor Voice
Doing on Christmas Day? And it's going to be watching Marty supreme. Because I didn't even need to know that critics were calling Marty Supreme a.
- [17:22]
Dan LeBatard
Full throttle masterpiece and the best movie of the year. I already knew that was going to be the case.
- [17:28]
Sponsor Voice
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- [17:42]
Chris Cote
Don LeBatard what is the worst part of the life?
- [17:46]
Dan LeBatard
Stugats. The worst part of the life of what? This is the Don Levatar show with the stugats.
- [17:58]
Chris Cote
Well, what are you aiming for, though? Because I'm aiming for laughing, thinking, moving. I'm aiming for connection with the audience in those places. What are you aiming for?
- [18:11]
Dan LeBatard
I don't know. It's probably those. I love to laugh. I have fun with it. I have maybe a different sense of humor. But I want you to think. I want you to have some kind of reaction. I want you to remember something from an interview from a segment.
- [18:30]
Chris Cote
When you think of perfectionism, because it's a blessing and a curse, I imagine you think you've arrived at the place that you have because of that perfectionism. But it is also a curse. How is it a curse? And what else does it give you other than the feeling that it's responsible for your success? Your standard is the reason that you have had the success you have. Your standard is the reason why you are an unusual talent. Even if you may not always know you're an unusual talent.
- [19:00]
Dan LeBatard
I just know each day I come in and I have the same feeling. I have the same butterflies, you know, when the theme music comes on, get out of the gate, set the tone, have some thoughts you know, don't be afraid to take a left turn. Be well researched. Have a start, a middle, a finish. Incorporate everybody. When you've dried out a topic, move on. Know when it's time to move on. So it's. It's a variety of things every single day.
- [19:32]
Chris Cote
You make it look easy. Tell the people how prepared you actually are.
- [19:38]
Dan LeBatard
Oh, boy, I'm over. I'm overly prepared. But, you know, Paulie, my producer, is great when I say, what do you think? And then he'll give me two or three things. I'll always ask, research. Give me some things that you guys are interested in. I have younger guys who work in the back. What are you interested with this guest? And they might go, we don't know who Tim Robbins is. I said, well, he is Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption. And then they'll offer up something, and sometimes they don't. But I love a democracy. It's a dictatorship when I turn on the microphone. But it's a democracy. When we prepare and we'll vet out, does that guy make sense? Does that guess make sense? Is that topic worthy? And that's the fun part of it, is I've got a dartboard, and it doesn't matter where I'm throwing the dart. We're going to have a topic, a guest, and that's every single day. And there's a great freedom. The. The best thing I have when I left ESPN is the freedom to do what I'm doing. I'm in partnership with iHeartRadio, and I'm in partnership with Peacock and NBC, but it's really just us. There's 12 people that work on this show. I don't have somebody over my shoulder. I don't have somebody who is, you know, calling me into an office. And, you know, that's the reward, I think, for everything that I went through prior to this.
- [21:15]
Chris Cote
What's it like working for you?
- [21:17]
Dan LeBatard
I would like to think I'm a great boss. I around everybody. Talk to everybody on the air, off the air. Want to make sure that you're good. Want to make sure that your son's doing well playing soccer. Your daughter's at Wake Forest. Your daughter's playing high school basketball. Your son just started playing basket. You know, I mean, that's. That's what I should be is. I'm the boss. I'm hr, I'm a friend. I'm the host of the show. And to build those French. Because building those friendships builds the camaraderie that you hear and see on the air.
- [21:56]
Chris Cote
Oh, but I imagine that you are demanding and I imagine that it would be pretty crushing to disappoint you.
- [22:02]
Dan LeBatard
Yes, yes.
- [22:04]
Chris Cote
And if those things are so, that might make you a personal boss, an accessible boss, but that would be a boss that would always or would often create something that, if, if it's not fear, that fear of disappointing you. I don't know how else to describe it. Right. Like if, if your standard is so high that you rarely meet it, I imagine it would be very hard for your employees to meet it as well.
- [22:29]
Dan LeBatard
No, I don't hold them to the same standard. I, I just want them to be as great as they can be. I want you to have a high standard. I want you to be somebody who's hard to satisfy. With the show that we had. I move on quickly from these things because I have to. I, I just want them to enjoy what we're doing. They'll never have an opportunity like this. They'll. They'll never have a boss like me. They just won't. And I tell them that because this business is a chew you up, spit you out business. Loyalty is optional. And I just want them to come in and want it to be the funniest, the most serious, the most important, the most research the most, the most, the most, the most. Do the best you can.
- [23:20]
Chris Cote
I haven't struggled with imposter syndrome, but now that we talk about this, I would say that the only place that I've ever had in my career where I know I'm meeting my standard, and if I'm meeting my standard, then I feel like I'm meeting just about anybody's standard. It's in writing. It's when I write. When do you feel that? Because I imagine when you were doing SportsCenter, it was the biggest show in America. It was pioneering. You were doing it with Olbermann, I would imagine you might feel that. But you were doing it with somebody who I'm guessing you thought was more naturally gifted at television than you were. And now you're being a grinding car carpenter next to somebody who's, who's just an obviously very talented off the cuff artist in Keith Olbermann.
- [24:10]
Dan LeBatard
Yeah, I thought I was kind of a bricklayer and meanwhile, you know, he's carving out statues. But in my mind, I'm like that. I, I just never took it for granted. I always wanted to be better. And there were certain things that I did better than Keith and, And vice versa. But I also knew I had to find a way to Compliment him. How do I, you know, if he's Lennon, I'm McCartney. Now, once again, that's just an analogy, not our place in history. I'm just saying that there's opposites, but opposites work when they're together. May not work when they're not on the air, but on. On the air. He was such a great teammate. And so my. My goal every night was, how do we make this great, must see tv? It felt like there were two people, it was just Keith and myself, and we were doing something on an island that management didn't fully embrace, appreciate. But we knew we were doing something that was different and changing the business, and we knew that it was resonating. That was an exciting time. But then you get to that point where you're being acknowledged. Now the game begins. It's like the first time you become an All Star. Well, the pressure now is the second time you become an All Star. Not the first time. And just that first time where you get recognized, and it's like, okay, it's on.
- [25:44]
Chris Cote
But when you would leave those shows, would you also not have met your standard? Was it different than the radio show is?
- [25:51]
Dan LeBatard
I watched every single Sports Center. I did right after I did SportsCenter. And I was looking for the things I didn't do well or didn't do right. I was looking for subtle nuance. How did I look? How did I sound? Timing. Timing of, you know, with a home run not getting in the way of a high, you know, all this stuff. All this stuff. So, no, I did not appreciate it because I. I was maniacal, and I didn't want somebody to take my job. And Keith had the great line one time. I mean, I'm. I'm really grinding after every. Right after the show, I walk right into the control room. I get the big tape, I go upstairs and I go through the entire show. And Keith walks by at one point and he says, you got the fucking job. And then he kept walking. And it helped me relax. I would time it out. If Greg Maddox threw a pitch and Bonds was going to hit a home run, I wanted that ball to get to the bat. It had to get to the bat. And then I go, gone. I wanted to have the timing of it. And it was down like crazy, down to a split millisecond. You know, Maddox with the pitch gone. Bonds is 47th, 122 RBIs. Giants lead, 42. Like, the cadence was what I wanted. I wanted it melodic. And, you know, I got way. I was way in under the covers with this. But that's the only way I knew how to do it. I had no other way other than do it great. Do it the best you can. And then because you don't cheat yourself, you got this opportunity five years prior to being on SportsCenter in Dayton, Ohio. Don't have a job in TV and I'm thinking about, I'm going to stay in radio. Didn't get the weekend job in Dayton, Ohio. Go to see an ex girlfriend in Atlanta. Hey, bring a resume. Tape CNN's hiring. I couldn't get hired in Dayton. Now I'm gonna get hired at cnn. And then I did. And then six months later, I replaced Oberman in New York as the New York bureau reporter. Five years later, I'm sitting next to Bob Leon, SportsCenter. Maybe my mom was right. I am lucky.
- [28:19]
Chris Cote
Well, she was right about that tie. It was shit. What you're describing sounds like a plague, though. You understand that, right? The way that you're describing this, even though it results in great success and probably fulfill, but not necessarily joy, it sounds like a bit of a plague the way that you are describing it. Because if you're doing SportsCenter with that kind of timing, you're doing the best show. It's a pioneering show, and yet you're noticing all of the mistakes. And every night you're noticing all the mistakes. And you're never going to be perfect and you're never going to meet your standard. That sounds like not good enough is going to be the undercurrent on just about everything you're doing.
- [29:02]
Dan LeBatard
We didn't get good feedback from management. That didn't help. I mean, now many, many years later, they all take credit for it. But back then, they, they didn't want us to be successful. It was weird. And I've said this before, a man, you know, member of management said, we don't want another Berman. And that meant they didn't want somebody to be successful who they couldn't control. And I thought, why wouldn't you want somebody? Chris Berman is the founding father. Espn, yes. Bob Lee and Tommy. But without Chris there, there's no espn. And I thought, that guy has put in the time and the sweat equity and I mean, to make this place stand out and, and not be, oh, that little network, you know, it became more than that. And Keith and I were able to ride, you know, those coattails, inhale some of those fumes. But management, they wanted everybody to be the same. The four letters are more important. And I realized that now that. That was another problem. You know, you're. You're looking for acknowledgement that was never going to be there.
- [30:17]
Sponsor Voice 2
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- [31:16]
Sponsor Voice 3
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- [32:17]
Announcer
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Chris Cote
SimpliSafe. Don LeBatard, while there's nothing official and conversations are still.
- [33:31]
Dan LeBatard
Ongoing. Was that a fake shifter? Because it was pretty good. I feel like there's legs.
- [33:36]
Chris Cote
Yeah. Tried at the beginning and then I lost confidence in.
- [33:39]
Dan LeBatard
It. Good. It was good. You got.
- [33:41]
Chris Cote
This. Nothing.
- [33:42]
Dan LeBatard
Official.
- [33:42]
Chris Cote
Yeah. So conversations are still.
- [33:44]
Dan LeBatard
Ongoing.
- [33:45]
Chris Cote
Stugats. It is trending towards Nick Sirianni remaining the head coach of the.
- [33:50]
Dan LeBatard
Eagles. This is the Dan Levitar show with the.
- [33:52]
Chris Cote
Stugats. That was one of the most stunning things to me about being there. Realizing that it was a production company run by producers who weren't actually very good at producing the things that would stand out in protection of the four letters, the brand. The first conversations I had with an ESPN executive of any kind were about brand protection. And I just kept saying to that person, like, I don't care about that stuff. Like, that's just not. It's. Why would I care about that stuff? That's not, that's not interesting. And I, I really was stunned that as a production company run by producers, they weren't better at arming their talent with, you know, with things that would make them produce better things. It was.
- [34:51]
Dan LeBatard
Weird. Well, I had a couple of really good producers. Mike McQuaid, who's now running ESPN.
- [34:57]
Chris Cote
He'S great Mike McQuaid is. It took too long for him to get to where he got it.
- [35:02]
Dan LeBatard
Espn. And he worked in the mailroom. Norby Williamson, less great mailroom. But they were great at producing the 11 o' clock sports center. Great. My favorite McQuaid story. I don't know if I ever told you this, where he's going to pick up. He would pick up people at the airport. You know, he's starting out as a runner, basically. And he's told to go pick up John Walsh at the Radisson Hotel. John Walsh, you know, the genius behind SportsCenter. He's albino. So McQuaid, you know, they're like, you can't miss him. He's an albino. Well, Mike goes over to the Radisson Hotel and goes into the lobby, there's an albino convention going on. He goes, they're all albinos. When he called back, I just. I just love that story. But, I mean, we were in the middle of nowhere. Bristol, Connecticut. You got a McDonald's of friendlies that closed down, but you're kind of running a good portion of the sports world, you know that every single night. And it was. It was exciting, it was fun. It was you. We're making it up as we go along. Management wasn't well versed. We weren't well ver. You know, we're just figuring it out all along. I. I mean, I was with Oberman for five years. I mean, we never had arguments, never had fights. Nothing. A total team effort. But I. I knew it was going to end. And I was really disappointed because I'd never get that again. Didn't matter if I was, you know, with Kenny Maine or Bob Lee. It just wasn't going to happen. And they were all really good anchors, co anchors. And it was sad. It was first time where I was like, God, I'll never get that back. But Keith. Keith was done. Keith had other things that he wanted to accomplish. And I just remember one day I thought, oh, God, I'm going to be the old guy on SportsCenter. Like, I looked around and I was the old guy on Sports Center. And then I started doing the six o', clock. And I go, that's where they put the old guys. And that's when I realized I had stayed too long. And I was 50. I had. I'd stayed too long. And I remember coming home and telling my wife, I said, I gotta get my ass kicked. She goes by who? I said, me. Either I've outgrown ESPN or ESPN's outgrown me, but I gotta. I gotta do something. And. And that kind of set in motion, like, a. A myriad of things where you're going. I got four kids, like, what am I gonna. I gotta challenge myself. What am I gonna do? And I remember I was leaving, and I wanted to do the Olympics. Dick Ebersol had always wanted me to work with NBC. And I. So I'm leaving espn and. And then they said, you can't do TV for six months, they wouldn't let me do the Olympics. And I was like, oh, boy. Game on. Game on. So I started doing some radio. We were doing it in my attic out of my house for three years. But it was maybe the best three years I've had in the business because it brought us all together, literally in my attic, every single morning. My wife's getting kids out to school in her bathrobe. And I got Fritzi and Seaton and Paulie going up the back stairs, and you're doing a national radio show. And forever indebted that those guys took a chance because they were, you know, Fritzi was established at the mothership, and Seton was. Paulie was working for Tony Stewart as a producer on his radio show. But I'm asking them to take a leap of faith, and I wouldn't have done that if I was in their situation. But they, you know, they did it. And I mean, that's the true. I'm going to take, you know, Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid. I'm going to jump off the cliff. And they did it, and they're still with me all these.
- [39:23]
Chris Cote
Years. What a magical transition you made into something that ultimately you end up being prouder of than even the biggest sports television television highlight show that there has ever been. And you mentioned figuring out, figuring it out as you went along. I've told you this story before, and I've told others this story before of being stunned, just shocked. I'm walking through the bowels of the Miami Heats Arena. I don't know you very well. I know who you are, but I don't know you at all. And you look at me, who is just sort of starting his radio career, and you say, I can't do what you do. I couldn't do what you do, which, of course you could. But what was happening there? Was it a matter of opinion giving, of being the person who's a taker, who has to be a hot taker, who has to be interesting every day for three hours without a script? Like what was happening there that you would say such A thing. Because I remember looking at you and being just like, what the fuck is he talking about? Like, how can he possibly think.
- [40:28]
Dan LeBatard
That, that I have great admiration for writers, great writers on deadline writers, columnist guys who are writing after a game, an event. And I guess I could, I mean, I write columns every day live on radio. I mean, we, we, we do columns every single day. But I, I, it was my way of complimenting you, that you can have an idea, have a start, middle and an end. You can take a stand. You weren't afraid. And I think it was just me with great appreciation. I read so much, I read so many newspapers when I was at CNN and espn. A constant, constant, you know, all the great writers and columnists. I just wanted to consume it and understand it and appreciate it, the written word. And I think it was just my way of saying, I can't do what you do. That doesn't mean I couldn't learn to do it or you can do what I do. It was just my way of sort of a drive by compliment. You know, where you're passing the collection plate at church and you put money in it. That's all it was. I've just put money in the collection plate and, you know, move.
- [41:44]
Chris Cote
On. That's, that's what a compliment sounds like from Dan Patrick. No wonder I missed it. I didn't even, I didn't, I didn't even realize it was a compliment. I, I assume that what you were saying is having to be someone who's interesting for three hours is what I, what I assumed you were saying at the time, that, that you would have some difficulty as, you know, you're, you're doing an hour show at the time on television. It's polished and it's great, but you don't have to have three hours of thoughts on things that are different from everyone else's.
- [42:19]
Dan LeBatard
Thoughts. But I'm, I'm complimenting you on being a columnist, not a radio show.
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Chris Cote
Host. I didn't even know that because, because at the time I, because at the time I was already transitioning in my career. You were, you were already doing some of what it is, I think you were doing that. How long have you been doing your show? You've been doing your show longer than I've been doing this one. Right? You've been doing, you've been at it more than 20 years.
- [42:42]
Dan LeBatard
Correct? Well, I did it at the mothership for quite a few years and I've been out on my own, I think now, 18.
- [42:49]
Chris Cote
Years. It's what you're proudest of. Right. The thing that you built after leaving.
- [42:56]
Dan LeBatard
Espn.
- [42:57]
Chris Cote
Yes. Is your greatest professional pride.
- [43:00]
Dan LeBatard
Right. Well, because it wasn't based on four letters. You can hide behind. You can lean on those four letters. Espn, I didn't have that luxury. I just knew I wanted to do it in a way that reflected my personality at espn. You're. You're kind of, you know, yelling down the rabbit hole. It's. Let's bring in this analyst from ESPN to talk about this show on ESPN and then this analyst to talk about this game on it. So it wasn't what I love doing. And that is it could be a variety of topics and a variety of guests. I remember when I started at ESPN Radio, they wouldn't let you have anybody on who wasn't ESPN because I wanted to have Peter Gammons on and I wanted to have Rick Riley on, and then they didn't want that. I'm like, why not? We keep sending the same message to the same people in our audience. Let's expand this. And they fought me on that. They didn't want you to take phone calls. Fought me on that as well. And I always vowed if I got out and I started to do it again, I was going to do it in the way that I wanted to. I was going to have fun. It was going to be reflective of my personality. But I would say that in my broadcasting school. Broadcasting school might be the most important thing I've ever done because you're truly changing lives. At Full Sail university, we have 240 grads in a little over five years who are in the biz, in sportscasting, broadcasting. They're either on the air, behind the scenes. So 240 graduates, that is changing somebody's life. And I always wanted to do it. I just thought that, you know, I. My name attached to this. Getting the right people, the right faculty, the right person on the ground. Gus Ramsey worked with me at ESPN and teaching you, it's, it's. You're preparing for the SAT. Well, you're going to get 1500 on the SAT. I'll guarantee you that. It's the other hundred that's up to you. But that's probably the proudest that I've ever.
- [45:08]
Chris Cote
Been. I'll let you go on this note. When you think of the things about your show that make you proudest, the 20 years you're retiring in two and a half years, what is it about your show that gives you the most personal pride? When you allow yourself the moment.
- [45:26]
Dan LeBatard
To feel personal pride I wanted to create a voyeuristic TV show on radio. I didn't. I kind of, in my mind, conceptualized, okay, what if I have cameras all over the place? I don't know what that. That's going to cost, but you get to watch us during the show. You get to watch us during commercials. It. It is on tv, but we. We don't acknowledge the cameras because it's a radio show. It has to stay a radio show. And I just thought, but, you know, I can. I can do a cooking section. I can do something on the golf simulator. We can throw footballs, we can shoot basketball, we play pickleball on the show. All of these things that I could incorporate product and still have fun. I don't want you just sitting. You do a radio show, you just kind of sit. I want you moving and having integration. You know, it's live. That. So that part of it. I'm. I'm very proud. I. I see a lot of these other shows and I know they're trying, and I take some pride in that, but I. That's what I really wanted to do is I wanted to create something visually stimulating. Everything you see on the show is mine. Things that I've collected for 42 years in this business. I have press passes from covering the Celtics against the Rockets in the NBA championship with Larry Bird. I kept everything and I thought, now I can put it on display. And I. I think I'm a interior decorator or set designer in another. Another universe, because I love it. I. I like. I have police patches that are right in front of me. I change them up all the time. I got all kinds of tchotchkes here, but I love it. It's. I. If you notice things, great. If you don't notice it, that's fine. But I love that. But I think at the core, I always wanted to have a great sounding radio show. And I tell my. The Danettes, it has to sound great. It's not look great, it's sound great, and then it'll look.
- [47:48]
Chris Cote
Great. That's the way you care. He changed the game multiple times and multiple ways. Thank you for spending this time with us. Love you.
- [47:56]
Dan LeBatard
Buddy. Love you too, Dan. Thank you.
- [47:58]
Chris Cote
Man. Thank.