Dan Experienced The Purest Form of Panic | Hour 2

Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show — “Dan Experienced The Purest Form of Panic” | Hour 2

Date: August 3, 2026
Location: Live from the Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami

Episode Overview

In this lively installment of the Dan Le Batard Show, the team explores the theme of panic—from Dan’s real-life experience of losing his dog under chaotic circumstances to memorable sports-related moments of anxiety. The discussion organically evolves into conversations on sports figures surviving crises, scandal and power in soccer and college sports, and a signature round of playful banter leading into a new game. The episode is a rich blend of storytelling, sports commentary, cultural critique, and irreverent humor.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dan’s Pure Panic: The Dog Escape Story

(00:37–18:12)

• Dan opens with reflections on the idea of panic in sports and real life. He admits to rarely feeling true panic, but this weekend was an exception.
• The Panic Event:
  • Dan’s dog, Early, escapes his heavily secured 100-year-old building during a plumbing emergency that sends brown water throughout his apartment (05:17).
  • Dan’s wife, Valerie, is panicking over the flooding; amid the chaos, the alarm spooks Early.
  • A video shows Dan’s dog—without a collar—getting onto a private elevator, arriving at the lobby, and exiting with a stranger who does little to intervene (04:23).
• Debate over Responsibility:
  • Chris Cote and Mike Ryan rib Dan about blame:
    • Chris: “If I'm assigning blame, number one goes to Dan. Number two goes to dog. Bad dog. Don't scare daddy like that.” (11:17)
    • Dan defends himself and shifts some (good-natured) blame to Valerie and the stranger, “Memph Bleek” (11:44).
• Dan’s Panic Reaction:
  • Dan sprints through the streets of Miami, still fully dressed from his day, asking everyone if they’ve seen a black dog (12:03).
  • He finds Early in a nearby restaurant kitchen being fed potatoes by staff who’d already called Animal Services (17:19).
• Reflection:
  • The experience reminds Dan of previous moments of pure panic, particularly while on assignment in China with Michael Jordan, when he lost all his notes before a flight (18:12).

Notable Quotes

• Dan Le Batard [00:37]:

  “You hear all the time in sports some form of, ‘Is it time to panic?’ ...This weekend I felt genuine panic, genuine panic in a way that I had not experienced in a really long time.”

• Chris Cote [11:44]:

  “You can't say he did nothing wrong. He did nothing. And that was wrong.”

• Dan Le Batard [17:19]:

  “I find my dog in the kitchen of a restaurant eating potatoes... Our dog was about to be sent [to animal services]. ... The dog found riches outside.”

---

2. When Panic Hits — Real-Life and Sporting Moments

(18:12–21:40)

• Dan relates his dog incident to other moments of panic—both his own and those his colleagues have experienced.
• Mike, Chris, and Ryan Clark share instances of panic. Ryan’s is notably relatable and humorous:
  • Ryan Clark [20:22]:

    “Within the last six months I was driving to Miami ... and felt the turn in your stomach of like, oh, I’m going to have diarrhea and I’m 30 minutes away... That is a panic anyone can relate to.”

---

3. Chris Bosh’s Health Scare and Reflections on Vulnerability in Sports

(21:03–24:24)

• The crew shifts to Chris Bosh’s recent admission that he nearly died from another pulmonary embolism in January, underscoring the ongoing risks he faces and his battle to stay healthy.
• They reflect on how Bosh’s career could have further blossomed, paralleling the evolution of big men as shooters in modern basketball.
  • Dan Le Batard [21:43]:

    “It’s still jarring to me to know that LeBron’s still playing ... And I don’t know how you think Chris Bosh’s game would have aged, but I’m guessing he would have ... had the ability to evolve with the sport.”

  • Chris Cote [23:58]:

    “The game seven against Boston, he had 19 points and they were all huge... That game seven was sneaky hard. Everybody remembers the LeBron James game six ... I had panic that entire day.”

---

4. Soccer Power, Scandal & European Fan Might

(25:05–30:13)

• Big Soccer Stories:

  • Pochettino gets a contract extension as USMNT coach (25:07).
  • The crew analyzes the international backlash to FIFA’s Gianni Infantino and the Trump family’s attempt to buy up a portion of the World Cup for profit.
    • Dan:

      “The offense that the rest of the world took to, ‘What do you mean Trump’s family is going to be buying a portion of the World Cup?’ ... Infantino evidently is not actually immune to shame.” (26:12)

  • Mike Ryan predicts Infantino will lose his job, seeing the European soccer fan base as the most powerful in sports.

• Fun Naming Debate:

  • Dan asks for the most “Mafioso” name in sports, nominating “Johnny Infantino.”
    • “Johnny Infantino: is the guy in charge of this, do you think he’s a mafioso who’s corrupt? ... that’s his name. His name is Johnny Infantino.” (29:04)

---

5. The “Save College Sports” Act and the Corruption of Power

(30:29–33:47)

• College sports’ new proposed legislation:
  • Chris and Dan break down the Save College Sports act, written by and for the benefit of the Big Ten, SEC, and Notre Dame — with Notre Dame inserting clauses that effectively protect and promote only their interests.
    • “In order to join a new conference, you need to act independently for five years. That wasn’t put in there for UConn. ... it’s Notre Dame.” (31:12)
• The hosts discuss the absence of labor (player) representation and liken the current moment to a major threat to college athletics’ future.

---

6. Sports Gambler Expressions, Banter & New Game Segment

(33:47–end)

• Language & Expressions:
  • Light banter about phrases like “bet your ass” and the comparative value of body parts when wagering.
• Debut Game: Guess Michael Wilbon’s Opinion
  • Chris introduces a new recurring segment where the team guesses what Michael Wilbon’s opinion will be on random topics, starting with the Savannah Bananas baseball team (35:05).
  • As predicted, Wilbon is cantankerous and anti-mascot, reinforcing his image as “an old man yelling at a cloud.”
    • “He works in the industry of fun and games. But Wilbon is against mascots and people having fun at games.” (37:22)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dan Le Batard [08:04]:

  “If I got on an elevator and there was a dog there, I would not simply walk out of the building with the dog. That dog can’t get out of the lobby unless it’s following that guy.”

• Dan Le Batard [18:12]:

  “The last time I’d felt panic like this...was when I was in China with Michael Jordan...I realized that all of my notes from the trip, I had lost them somewhere...I had to go back to a market in China where no one spoke English in order to try and find where all of my notes were.”

• Chris Cote [31:12]:

  “Here’s the poison pill. In order to join a new conference, you need to act independently for five years...That seems like five spots, but realistically, it’s only Notre Dame.”

• Dan Le Batard [37:22]:

  “He works in the industry of fun and games. But Wilbon is against mascots and people having fun at games.”

---

Important Timestamps

• 00:37 — Dan introduces the concept of panic and begins his dog story
• 04:23 — Video analysis of the elevator incident
• 11:17 — Blame game and debate over responsibility
• 12:03 — Dan describes his frantic search for Early
• 17:19 — The rescue: finding Early in a restaurant kitchen
• 18:12 — Dan’s China panic anecdote
• 21:03 — Chris Bosh’s health scare and discussion of vulnerability in sports
• 25:05 — Soccer news: Pochettino’s contract and FIFA/Trump World Cup controversy
• 30:29 — Save College Sports Act breakdown and criticism
• 35:05 — Introduction of the “Guess Michael Wilbon’s Opinion” game

---

Tone and Style

The episode reflects the irreverent, witty, and conversational energy the show is known for. There’s a seamless blend of humor and seriousness—whether in recounting absurd personal stories, critically analyzing sports power plays, or lampooning beloved sports media personalities.

---

Summary:
This episode is essential Le Batard—funny, honest, slightly chaotic, and deeply insightful about both human nature and the world of sports. It’s a must-listen for fans of the show and a perfect entry point for newcomers looking for sharp cultural commentary wrapped in relentless, original banter.

Transcript

[Ad Read Announcer]

This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it, ready to make anything online make sense. There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required compatibility and availability various 18 plus.

[Chris Cote]

You are listening to the Dan Levatar show in partnership with the DraftKings Sports act now live in all 50 states.

[Dan Le Batard]

You hear all the time in sports some form of Is it time to panic? Is it not time to panic? Is it time to press the panic button? Is it not time to press the panic button? This weekend I felt genuine panic. Genuine panic in a way that I had not experienced in a really long time. And it made me think in sports of the idea of is there a right time to panic? It's always terrible to panic. Correct? Like there's, there's never. Is there. Is there ever a good time to panic?

[Chris Cote]

Yeah, I think there's times that panic meets a moment. You want to be Joe Cool, but you know, I think there's what you think. Poise.

[Dan Le Batard]

I just think there are degrees and panic is the worst of them. And if you're making emotional decisions while panicked, like nobody wants be panicked and you don't want to be making decisions while panicked, you're not clear eyed and stuff. But I was this weekend genuinely panicked and I will tell you the story. And the panic. The panic has me sprinting in the streets for I'm going to say a non stop seven minutes.

[Chris Cote]

What does it make rib back of?

[Dan Le Batard]

Why would that cause me panic? Why would that.

[Mike Ryan]

Why would.

[Dan Le Batard]

You're making a fat joke there.

[Mike Ryan]

Why would sell out?

[Dan Le Batard]

Why would. Why would the. Because they sell out. Because the McRib sells out. You think is the reason that I'm panicked? Cheap joke.

[Chris Cote]

Limited time.

[Dan Le Batard]

Beneath you. I live in a very small building and a very, very old building. Okay. It's. The building I live in is more than 100 years old. And I, I did not think that there was a circumstance because I have an elevator that only opens in my foyer if I'm the one using the fob to get the elevator to come to my foyer.

[Chris Cote]

Sounds like a private elevator.

[Dan Le Batard]

I did not. It's sort of private, right? I would say it's sort of private because it rarely opens. But sometimes there's. There are some people somehow and I'm not Really sure how this happens. I'm gonna.

[Chris Cote]

You send countless emails.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's no, nobody answers the emails because it's an old building that's poorly a

[Chris Cote]

hundred year old building, et cetera. You sent countless emails. You've had zero of them returned.

[Dan Le Batard]

There are often people in the foyer delivering packages or just randomly drunk people. Because the building I'm in has a lot of Airbnb. It's basically a hotel. Very few people live there. Many people are. But I simply did not think because of all the fobs, all the sensors that it requires to get in and out the various levels, I did not believe there was a way. And I'm going to show you guys this video for my dog to get out of the entirety of my building. Okay. I did not think it was possible for my dog to escape my building because there are so many doors and locks and fobs everywhere. But let's play this video and you guys will see a video video that was horrifying to me. And I'm going to tell you how it is that this happened. Because you see that my dog, without a collar, by the way, my dog, which I don't think can get away here, has now taken an elevator by himself.

[Mike Ryan]

He didn't even push a button.

[Dan Le Batard]

There are no buttons. That's correct. The elevator shouldn't move. It shouldn't go anywhere but somebody on a floor.

[Chris Cote]

Who's this?

[Dan Le Batard]

That's right. That is Desus Jay Wheeler.

[Chris Cote]

Memph. Bleak.

[Dan Le Batard]

A random person gets on with my dog. And I will tell you that my dog was unusually friendly in that circumstance. And now this person. Now keep in mind that's the lobby. So he still shouldn't be able to get out. There are still doors and stuff. That, that, that, that guy did not

[Mike Ryan]

seem to care at all.

[Dan Le Batard]

At all. That person is responsible for my dog escaping.

[Chris Cote]

You're responsible for your dog escaping, but

[Mike Ryan]

for the audio audience. So the dog's in there alone. Another guy walks in and then they go down to the lobby and you. If a guy was like, oh, there's a loose dog here, let me. And the dog. And the guy just lets the dog walk out of the elevator.

[Chris Cote]

You ever see Little Rascals? Sometimes dogs just do their own thing. I could see this guy one wandering into. I'm sure he's like, wow, this is a little weird.

[Mike Ryan]

You got to at least be flagging security if you're this guy. Like, hey, there's a dog here. I don't. This isn't me. I don't know where this dog goes,

[Chris Cote]

this is the dog's thing. The dog takes the elevator, knows exactly where to go.

[Mike Ryan]

It is a rich dog move to just like go down solo.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm going to explain to you guys what happened here as you guys are very comfortable blaming me for this. Here are the circumstances that resulted in this happening. As I'm getting home, my wife is in a total panic because a sprinkler system has busted and our house is filling with brown water. So she is running around with buckets and garbage cans because a pipe has burst and now there is brown water, worst type of water running into the house.

[Chris Cote]

100 year old building.

[Dan Le Batard]

So I come in and there is an alarm going off and my wife is panicked. And my first instinct is the dog. It's gonna bother the dog's ears. The dog's hiding somewhere in the house. Where's the dog? Where's the dog?

[Mike Ryan]

Dan's playing hide and seek in the house and the dog's in the lobby.

[Dan Le Batard]

The dog. No, no, wait till, wait till I tell you what happens here. No, no, no, the dog's not in the lobby.

[Chris Cote]

Wait, how did. The dog surely is in the lobby.

[Dan Le Batard]

I did not think.

[Chris Cote]

How many security breaches are there.

[Dan Le Batard]

I did not think that there was a way for this dog to get out of this building. Otherwise the dog would be wearing its collar with its telephone number, its address and everything else. I did not think that this, that what happened was possible, which is Valley. Valerie's distracted and the alarm has spooked the dog because the alarm will not stop going off. I think the dog is hiding in a closet. Hide. Trying to hide from the sound somewhere. Can't find the dog. Now, I don't know how long the dog's been gone for. Because I asked Valerie, I'm like, valerie, where's. Where is Early? And she's like, what do you mean he's not here? And I'm like, what do you mean he's not here? Where is Early? How so? Now I'm running up and down the stairs.

[Mike Ryan]

On first situation. Early's late.

[Dan Le Batard]

Early's lost. If the dog's name was found, it would be who's on first?

[Mike Ryan]

It's early.

[Dan Le Batard]

Where's found.

[Chris Cote]

Well, who shot John?

[Mike Ryan]

You could argue early was late for dinner.

[Chris Cote]

I don't blame the guy.

[Dan Le Batard]

I do.

[Chris Cote]

I don't blame the guy.

[Dan Le Batard]

I do.

[Chris Cote]

Well, the guy doesn't say, like, if he's wrecking. If he's someone that lives there all the time and he recognizes the dog, that that would help but from what best I can tell, you mentioned that there's a lot of Airbnbs. This dude's just passing through.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, but what do you guys do if you get on to an elevator with a dog?

[Chris Cote]

I'm probably feeling it out. Your dog was wagging its tail. So then I'd probably ask. This is kind of strange. And I feel it out, because that could be a mean looking dog. You never know.

[Mike Ryan]

It's not like the dog wandered on while he was there because then you know where the dog is coming from. He entered the elevator. This dog could be on any floor, according to this guy. So I'm with. I think it was a smart move.

[Chris Cote]

I don't know anything about this dog.

[Mike Ryan]

Write it down. And I would just tell security. I would be like, hey, security, I don't know who this dog is.

[Chris Cote]

Surely security would notice when the dog comes out of the elevator.

[Dan Le Batard]

You guys are reacting in a way that I would not react. If I got on an elevator and there was a dog there, I would not simply walk out of the building with the dog. That dog can't get out of the lobby unless it's following that guy right out the door into the street. That door, the front door does not open and the dog does not have an ability to get out unless that guy let him out. That guy, I.

[Chris Cote]

He doesn't just use a fob. How do you get in the elevator?

[Dan Le Batard]

That's a good question. I don't know why the elevator opened on our floor. I'm still confused by everything that happened there. That includes my dog being in the foyer because everything was in such a panic that the doors were open to my house because Valerie was waiting for people to get there with buckets and garbage cans and everything else.

[Mike Ryan]

To you and Valerie's credit, you guys seem to have trained this dog. This dog was not panicked at all. It wasn't like some dogs. You would be like, where's my owner? I don't know. Like your dog was just wagging his tail when this guy walked in. Just, just moseyed out of the elevator, like not a care in the world.

[Chris Cote]

I could see this, this gentleman that wandered into the elevator just minding his business, thinking that, I guess this is a thing in this building. There's the rich building, there's the elevator dog. He seems pretty happy with it. Seems like he has a better idea of where he's going than I do.

[Dan Le Batard]

Chris, you're making this up. You think a lot of rich buildings have a lot of stray dogs wandering around?

[Mike Ryan]

No, it's called, like, it's a rich elevator.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is not a rich building, and it's not a rich elevator.

[Chris Cote]

Not a straight dog.

[Dan Le Batard]

It is a rich dog.

[Chris Cote]

It's not a stray dog. The last thing I'm thinking, I was like, wow, this. This dog came from the street. That's not something I'm thinking. I'm thinking, like, oh, this might be the building dog.

[Dan Le Batard]

If it is the building dog, I believe it has to stay in the building. And if it is the building dog and you're in a tourist area, once you've let this dog out, as this dog was let out, this dog is running into and around traffic, like, all around traffic. This is not a neighborhood. This is a touristy area.

[Chris Cote]

This is classic Disney dog movie behavior. This is how, if you've ever watched Homeward Bound, that's how they got anywhere. Like, they just look happy and they find someone that's holding a door ajar. Like, this is how they get anywhere.

[Mike Ryan]

It is wild how little this guy reacts to the dog at all. Like, you'd think there'd be at least a pet like, oh, there's a dog in here. He just. He acknowledges the dog, keeps texting, and then just walks out the elevator. Like, he didn't even see the dog.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm legitimately stunned that my dog behaved that way with him, because my dog does not do well with others like this.

[Chris Cote]

You're lucky, because he could have gotten your ass sued.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's correct. That. That to me, when. When I saw the elevator moving. First of all, right, because the dog's not pressing the elevator. Otherwise I should just be able to press the door. It opens and my dog comes back to me because there's not that much traffic in the building, especially this time of year. It's just a quieter time of year. And I'm one of the few people that's in the entirety of the building. The idea that this human being allowed this to happen with the dog.

[Chris Cote]

You're talking about yourself.

[Mike Ryan]

See, I don't think we know, because I think if that guy exits the elevator and calls attention to security of, like, hey, there's a dog here. Like, then I feel like that's all he really. I'm with you. If that guy just exits the elevator and leaves and doesn't mention the dog to anybody, that's a jerk move by this guy.

[Chris Cote]

If I'm assigning blame, number one goes to Dan. Number two goes to dog. Bad dog. Don't scare daddy like that.

[Dan Le Batard]

You stay with your own.

[Chris Cote]

Number three Whoever's working the lobby of your building, you have to have security there.

[Dan Le Batard]

I can't be on the top of your list. Valerie might be at the top of your list. I'm getting home, and the dog's gone. Like, how's that my fault?

[Chris Cote]

Valerie deserves way more blame than Memph Bleak. Memph Bleak did nothing wrong. He was kind enough, and he's just. He's just doing ment.

[Dan Le Batard]

Bleak. Your sentence is too long. You can't say he did nothing wrong. He did nothing. And that was wrong. Like, he didn't say anything.

[Mike Ryan]

Security.

[Chris Cote]

Where's security in all of this?

[Dan Le Batard]

He had to have let the dog out. Hold on. This is about to get worse, okay? Because you guys still don't have the me running around for seven minutes dressed like this. Full sprint.

[Chris Cote]

Oh, that's a. That's a sheer panic.

[Dan Le Batard]

Full sprint because the dog doesn't have a collar. The dog's never been out. The dog's not finding his way home, and the dog is around streets where there are cars and has no experience being off a leash in anything other than a park. And I don't know how long he's been gone. So as I'm running full sprint down the street, I'm asking the people who are running restaurants and everyone else, have you seen a. Have you seen a black dog look crazy? Of course. And I'm dressed in, like, pants. I'm dressed. I am dressed in a way that doesn't look like.

[Mike Ryan]

Good thing he had pants on.

[Dan Le Batard]

Exercising. It does there. Everyone else out there who's running is exercising. I'm running past them fully clothed. Fully clothed. Faster than Kirk Cousins.

[Chris Cote]

I'd like to see a video that,

[Mike Ryan]

like, me scurrying for a sausage.

[Chris Cote]

All right, so there is. No, not that fast. So we've established that the dog gets out, presumably follows this gentleman out the front door. You don't have security station there because that's, like, the last line of defense.

[Mike Ryan]

And if you're the only person in the building, the security guard be like, hey, I know that.

[Dan Le Batard]

The reason security's not stationed there is because we've got brown water flooding into our apartment. And they've been coming up and down, up the stairs. Evidence.

[Mike Ryan]

Water.

[Chris Cote]

This happened like, have you ever seen Baby's Day Out? This is. This is kind of like Baby's Day Out.

[Mike Ryan]

A bowl of cereal that guy makes.

[Ad Read Announcer]

This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web. Like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it, ready to make anything online make sense. There's no place like Chrome. Check responses, setup required. Compatibility and availability various 18.

[Mike Ryan]

Bonjour, compadre.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's the Priceline negotiator.

[Mike Ryan]

How do I negotiate so many great travel deals? My greatest gadget, the Priceline app. It's got hotel deals, flight deals, rental car deals, all of those deals in a bundle deals, game day deals, concert trip deals. No one deals more deals than Priceline. Hold your horses, there's more. The app lets you filter hotels by neighborhood vibe, star level, and amenities like pools and spas and beachfronts and. Wait, I'm not done. Stop cutting me up. Priceline.

[Dan Le Batard]

Dan Levatar. Put a finger in there. But if you tell anyone, I'll deny it.

[Mike Ryan]

Mike.

[Ryan Clark]

Ryan.

[Dan Le Batard]

Don't just stare at it, eat it. This is the Dan Levatar show. I can't remember the last time that I was this panicked, because I knew, as is the case with abductions, inside of 24 hours. Like I've got just a few minutes to figure out where it is. This dog is of dog abductions in 24 hours.

[Mike Ryan]

You have that data or is that huge?

[Chris Cote]

Human abductions. I'm just picturing human abductions early

[Dan Le Batard]

24 hours.

[Chris Cote]

What are we talking about, Dane? Supplying cold case rules to this caper.

[Dan Le Batard]

You gotta find lost people, abducted people, lost dogs, abducted dogs, pets.

[Chris Cote]

It's a second Joe Mantegna reference here in 20 seconds. Baby's Day out. And what's that missing person show that he was on?

[Dan Le Batard]

You gotta find them pretty quickly. And I don't know how long the dog has been gone because I don't know how long my wife has been dealing with the fact that the sprinkler system has busted open. And I just don't know what kind of time I have. And I don't have the dog chipped. Maybe I should have had the dog chipped. But I have a collar for the dog that would allow anyone to call me if I have the dog.

[Chris Cote]

It doesn't have another failing in the Levitard house. You're pointing a lot of fingers. And yeah, this is unfortunate. And the leaky pipes, ultimately. All right, Building first, because of the leaky pipes in the security that left their post. You shouldn't do that. Then Valerie and Dan Lebatar. Then dog, bad dog. Then Memphis.

[Dan Le Batard]

Mike, I can't be Blamed if the dog has escaped before I've gotten home.

[Mike Ryan]

All right, you're not to blame. You want Valerie to get the full blame here.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, I don't want Valerie at the top of the list either, but Valerie's closer to the top of the list than I am.

[Chris Cote]

Yeah. Yes, I agree. How'd you find the dog?

[Mike Ryan]

Give us the happy ending.

[Dan Le Batard]

So I'm sprinting all over the place. Yes, that's correct. Black dog, Black dog, Black dog. Yelling early. That's not a game. But also breathless.

[Chris Cote]

You see a black dog.

[Dan Le Batard]

24 hours.

[Chris Cote]

You have to fight early. Have you ever criminal minds. You notice on the phone with your

[Mike Ryan]

assistant, I need help.

[Dan Le Batard]

You know the history of abductions.

[Chris Cote]

You got a real baby, stay out

[Dan Le Batard]

situation for the first 24 hours.

[Chris Cote]

Fern Troyer was a sod double instead of the baby. Wasn't actually a baby.

[Dan Le Batard]

Too soon. I'm sprinting all over the place. Big Rip is back in a. In a full on panic. Whereupon I find my dog in the kitchen of a restaurant eating potatoes. I'm crossing traffic. He's crossed the street.

[Chris Cote]

Like entire potatoes.

[Dan Le Batard]

No, he's being fed potatoes by somebody who's called animal services because there's been a strange dog there for a few minutes and our dog was about to be sent. I mean, I guess we probably could have found him through animal services if we called immediately and said, has anyone turned in a black dog in this area? But now what's happened to punish both me and rawr. The dog is. That's what the dog thinks is available when he goes outside that he did not know was available before that rich dog. So now the potatoes, the dog doesn't eat like that.

[Chris Cote]

They don't have carbs in this house.

[Dan Le Batard]

The dog found riches outside. The dog eats gourmet meat, but only gourmet meat. Some blueberries and some carrots. He's never had potatoes. I wanted to lay on the kitchen of the floor and be fed potatoes there breathlessly. The dog was laying down and they were just dropping potatoes on the floor.

[Mike Ryan]

The dog scalloped potatoes.

[Dan Le Batard]

The dog's never allowed to eat like that. When's the last time you guys have felt full blown panic like give me, give me the situation. I don't think it's something that most people experience very often. So I assume you're going to remember the last times that you have felt anything like feels like full blown panic. Because the last time I felt like. What's funny about the story I'm about to tell you is this is the Last time I'd felt panic like this, this is a great half sentence, was when I was in China with Michael Jordan because I was in a market. ESPN the magazine had sent me to a tour with Michael Jordan where I was going to six places in seven days with him. And one of them was China. And at the end of my trip, right before I was supposed to catch my flight, I realized that all of my notes from the trip, I had lost them somewhere. I had turned over the hotel room and so everything that ESPN had just paid for at the beginning of me, like trying to prove myself at espn, I had lost all of my notes to the entirety of the trip and now had to go back to a market in China where no one spoke English in order to try and find where all of my notes were because I had misplaced the entirety of my notes. And so it would have been the last time that I felt a full blown, just panic. Where I need. Before my flight, I need to find something. And so I'm so elevated that I have a hard time, you know, with clarity and thinking straight. Because you don't want to make any decisions while in those markets in China.

[Chris Cote]

Well, we know it didn't start there, so continue on, play on.

[Dan Le Batard]

Any panic from you guys? Do you guys have.

[Chris Cote]

Can you even remember Reed's marching down the field? Yeah, but you know who gave his

[Mike Ryan]

life for us, right?

[Chris Cote]

Oh, Motore. He died for us. Exactly right.

[Mike Ryan]

Anytime you're calling for a video we

[Chris Cote]

don't have ready, I'm looking at preview. Yeah, it's a different sport.

[Dan Le Batard]

So you guys can't even remember the last times you felt the kind of sports related.

[Chris Cote]

No, no, no.

[Dan Le Batard]

Like real panic, nonsense panic.

[Chris Cote]

I haven't lost a dog or, or a child. I'm usually responsible.

[Ryan Clark]

Within the last six months I was driving down to Miami and was in rush hour traffic and felt the turn in your stomach of like, oh, I'm going to have diarrhea and I'm 30 minutes away. I'm an exit. And the panic of just like you got to hold this in and you got to not have that happen in the car is a real panic that I have felt in the last six months. It was. I was sweating.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's a good one. And if you make me think about it, I have also felt similar panic says. Has everyone listening to this. I imagine that is a panic that anyone can relate to.

[Ryan Clark]

Also at the disco.

[Dan Le Batard]

A couple of stories here that I want to get to in sports that I don't know if people know that Chris Bosh says he nearly passed away in January. He says, I had an episode. I almost dropped dead pretty much, and came back to life. I'm not joking. I had another pulmonary embolism. It was in January this past year. I was in the hospital for a week. But take your medicine. So I'm taking my medicine every day, taking care of myself every day and watching it. I mean, no symptoms came either. So, yeah, you got to deal with it for the rest of your life. I thought I was past it. I'm not. So I'm just making sure I stay on top of my regimen.

[Chris Cote]

So he stopped taking his meds? That's what it sounds like, yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

He got lax, as I imagine is pretty easy to do if you've had a scare and time has gone by and you don't think you're a week away from the blood clots that can kill you. It's still jarring to me to know that LeBron's still playing. And I don't know how you think Chris Bosh's game would have aged, but I'm guessing that Chris Bosh would have, if not for this injury, had the ability to evolve with the sport the way that some of the better shooters in the league as big men have evolved in the sport. And he basically, I'm going to say, lost 10 years of his career while also fighting for his life, because I think he could have played into his late 30s, just stretching the floor and being out there at least as long as Dwyane Wade was till the end, like. So it's still surprising to me to have someone like Chris Bosh be that kind of mortal, that kind of vulnerable because of, you know, he was one of the highest forms of evolution that you saw in that sport, with the ability to play a game that people his size usually are not able to play.

[Chris Cote]

Not only that, Dan, remember, he. He got hurt with a core muscle injury, and then all of a sudden came back in that Boston series shooting threes. So even in progression from series to series, it was like, boom, he's shooting threes now.

[Mike Ryan]

We're like, whoa.

[Dan Le Batard]

Chris Bosh, during that last championship run against Boston, bailed them out at home when they were totally scared by making threes that we didn't want him taking a season before that. Like, the whole sport sort of shifted right there with a couple of corner threes that if he misses Miami loses to Boston and the blueprint gets broken up as a failure. If he doesn't make those threes, like, famously in a game seven against San Antonio. He scored zero points but secured a big rebound. But that whole blueprint breaks apart in the most fragile of ways. If Chris Bosh comes back and doesn't merely have the ability to make corner threes that weren't a part of his game before that playoff season.

[Chris Cote]

The game seven against Boston, he had 19 points and they were all huge because he was kind of struggling up until that point. That game seven was sneaky hard. Everybody remembers the LeBron James game six because you want to talk about sheer panic. I had panic that entire day. I still haven't right. I'm not right. It's been, yes, it's been like 10 years and I'm still not right. From the week that was this episode

[Ad Read Announcer]

is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it, ready to make anything online make sense. There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required compatibility and

[Dan Le Batard]

availability various 18 down levitar Mike Ryan's in there and he's the one with a baby. He's the one who's gotta like worry about what the future is. And Mike Ryan bet on DraftKings because Mike Ryan bet on us. This is the bet you're afraid of doubling down on? Putting up a billboard in Edmonton. Mike Ryan.

[Chris Cote]

I care more about Matthew Tkachuk than I do my daughter.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar Show. A couple of soccer stories that I want to get to. Pochettino has agreed on a new contract to be the head coach of the men's national team through 2030. Whittingham and others are saying it's the right, right decision given the commitment shown here by everyone involved. Any objections? Are you hearing any criticism nationally about this?

[Chris Cote]

It's a pretty good job to have if you're Pochettino too. He's getting paid a ton of money, but I'm sure he has language in his contract that should he want to and should another club be interested. Remember, there were reports out there that he was meeting with AC Milan just before the World cup, that if a club comes a knockin', he may go back to the club game. But right now those offers aren't there. So it's an easy decision for him and quite frankly, a pretty easy decision for us Men's soccer too.

[Dan Le Batard]

The bigger soccer Story. And we talked about this briefly last week, and I thought the mainstream media did a really poor job of covering it, given what it is that the story was. But the idea that Infantino and the Trump family were basically working in plain sight to sell a portion of the world World cup for profit in a way that was unseemly, triggered such backlash. And it wasn't media backlash. It was not. Not in the States, it wasn't. I should, when I say mainstream media, I should say states, because this was a big inter. It was a giant international story. The offense that the rest of the world took to. What do you mean Trump's family is gonna be buying a portion of the World Cup? They shamed the unshamable. Infantino has had to walk it all back. I'm sure they'll try to do all sorts of in the shadows, but at least publicly, they're not going to get away with selling the World cup to the Trump family or Trump associates. Infantino evidently is not actually immune to shame. He's not immune to pressure. It stands. What we learned with that Super League is something that now stands, which is European soccer fans have real power. They have more power than baseball fans in this country who don't want that scubal trick trade going through. European soccer fans, when they get pissed off, leaders start backpedaling because they know that that customer base is passionate enough to withhold its dollars. And it's not to be trifled with.

[Chris Cote]

The only thing close to it that we have in the United States isn't consumer protections. It's not even forms of government. It's SEC message boards and boosters that can stop Greg Sciano from getting hired. Yeah, this is not surprising. What was surprising was it was an all time he check from Infantino. But here's what I think is going to end up happening. I think Infantino is going to lose his job because of this. And I think it was so brazen in the Kushner aspect of it. You, you, you add a dash of Trump to this and, excuse me, it makes it even way, way, way more unpopular. But make no mistake about it, it's not the, this isn't dead and buried. This is not dead and buried for FIFA. I think part of this, if I were to read into some of the initial statements from CONCACAF and all, that was like, well, we don't like how this went down because there wasn't a bid process. We don't like how this, like, okay, this is value. We like $40 million. That's a hell of a payout. We can do some form of this, but we don't like Johnny Infantino running the show and negotiating this whole thing in a back room. And I do think it's. It's not the first time they're gonna deal with private equity. It's not the first time that they're going to have to come out with strong statements publicly. I think the greatest offense that Johnny Infantino had was not looping everybody in.

[Dan Le Batard]

Can I request from you guys, all of sports names, all of sports history at your disposal. Give me a name that gives off Mafia corruption more than Johnny Infantino. Just in the take all of the names you've ever heard in sports and I go all in with the name Johnny Infantino. Is the guy in charge of this. Do you think he's a mafioso who's corrupt? Just. That's his name. His name is Johnny Infantino.

[Chris Cote]

So just Italians?

[Dan Le Batard]

Nope. This particular. Particular one with Johnny on the front end. Because I don't know a lot of Johnny.

[Chris Cote]

Johnny. What about Vinnie? It's not Johnny, it's Johnny.

[Mike Ryan]

What about.

[Chris Cote]

What about Vinnie?

[Dan Le Batard]

Vinnie's pretty good. Any Vinnie. I don't think Vinnie Testaverde is as good as Johnny Infantino in terms of a corrupt mafioso.

[Ryan Clark]

But Vinnie Pasquantino,

[Chris Cote]

when set blatters like this guy's brazen set bladder not though Vince Ferragamo.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

Not as good as Johnny John, but Ferragamo Strong is pretty strong. Mike mentioned message boards and college football fans. I don't think maybe they're. Maybe they're second place, but it's not a particularly close second to the power of the European soccer fan.

[Chris Cote]

No. I think American sports fans should take more of that attitude. They should take more of that attitude. Certainly with the ticketing industry down here, here, they should do more. They should. They should really threaten people with their dollar. They should really test their voices. We're just so broken by the system over here.

[Dan Le Batard]

The thing that I wanted to bring up though, that is in front of the outraged Reddit board sec, college football fan, is the Save College Sports act that is presently in front of everybody because you have a great deal of power and money and you've got obviously with where it is that the rules are and aren't here. You've got a lot ability to corrupt this where you have all of this power and money, but not a lot of leadership. Not even corrupt leadership. Just an absence of leadership that you need around this power and money so that you don't have Notre Dame sneaking in here to create a system that isn't quite saving college sports.

[Chris Cote]

No, it's saving the Big 10 sec in Notre Dame because it was written by the Big Ten, SEC and Notre Dame, so they benefit the most from it. And yeah, you mentioned Notre Dame. I don't think most people are aware how influential Notre Dame was to this entire process. Notre Dame put in quite the poison pill to protect their interest and hurt other teams. Are you guys aware of this? No. So that part of the Save College Sports act bill caps conferences at 19 teams. The Big Ten presently has 18. The ACC I think has 17. I think there's 16 in the SEC. All right, that's okay. If these other power programs from other conferences come available, that, that, that seems like five spots or thereabouts. Here's the poison pill. In order to join a new conference, you need to act independently for five years. That wasn't put in there for UConn. There you're going to have this open market and, and, and conference realignment with one spot in the Big Ten and only one team, realistically with the opportunity to move to that conference and get that money and benefit from the rules that the Big Ten is writing for the rest of college football. It's Notre Dame. So, yeah, Miami doesn't like it and it's got real traction in the Senate. Probably going to die out in the House because they'll run out of time. I mean, hate for the NCAA and college rules seems to be bipartisan, but it's got real momentum with the Senate. I think it puts a lot of teams in a difficult position, not just Miami, because there is a hard cap that will be instituted with no wean off period. And that leaves about 30 programs well over the cap with no real solution attached to this. If it was written by the Big Ten and SEC in Notre Dame, bet your ass it benefits those conferences and that program the most and doesn't actually benefit the labor all that much because they are trying to put forth a CBA that is not actually bargained collectively. The players do not have a representative in the room. When Donald Trump invited all those power brokers from college football for his little conference, they asked the question, why isn't there a player rep here? Oh, there's an agent. There's an agent here. This, this, like everything else will be fought and like everything else, the NCAA will lose. But this is the single biggest threat to the labor and to the other programs that are not lucky enough to be in the Big Ten, in SEC or Notre Dame.

[Ryan Clark]

That We've had thus far Timofey Mozgov, the Russian mob.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's pretty good. Put it on the poll at Lebatard show. More corrupt Mafioso Johnny Infantino. Just by name. Just by name. Name. Johnny Infantino or Timothy Moskov. When you bet your ass, Mike, is that the most valuable thing that a human body can bet? Because do we need to change that expression? When you're betting your ass, I feel like that's a. It's a major bet to bet your ass, but it's not the most valuable of the body parts, is it?

[Mike Ryan]

You can bet your bottom dollar.

[Dan Le Batard]

You're betting your bottom or your bottom dollar. It's still your ass, though. Like the betting of the ass. It. I don't understand that. I do understand that expression. But it's not the most valuable of. Of the body parts, right? Like if I said you bet your penis, men would react to that. Is it.

[Mike Ryan]

Is it rather bet my ass.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's a smaller bet, Correct? A larger bet, but a smaller bet or surface area.

[Mike Ryan]

My heart.

[Chris Cote]

No, you want to keep the heart.

[Mike Ryan]

That's why I don't want to bet.

[Chris Cote]

Just one of the things. When Dan asks us the origin of. It's. It. It's some sort of donkey.

[Dan Le Batard]

It might be. Let's. Let's look that up. And in the interim, Chris Cody has dried his fingers long enough. He has consumed enough sausage here that he wishes to debut a new game. Are you guys ready for a new Chris Cody exclusive game?

[Mike Ryan]

Dan, I've been wanting to play this for a while. Michael Wolbon is one of my favorites. So I want to start a new game around here. It's guess Michael Wilbon's opinion about this. Now, the first installment today I will give you the topic and then we will play the Open. Here we are going to guess what Michael Wilbon thinks.

[Dan Le Batard]

Hold on a second. Don't tell us what it's about. Play the Open before you tell us what it's.

[Ad Read Announcer]

Okay.

[Mike Ryan]

Time to play a new game. It's sweeping the nation. It's called guess what Michael Wilbon's response will be to this. What do you say? Shocking opinions, unexpected answer.

[Chris Cote]

You know about those.

[Mike Ryan]

Answer. Shocking revelation.

[Dan Le Batard]

You know about those revelations.

[Mike Ryan]

I can't believe he said that.

[Chris Cote]

What he say today, that needs to be longer. Yeah. Today by about five more minutes, we

[Mike Ryan]

are hearing what he has to say about the Savannah Bananas.

[Dan Le Batard]

Tony, I'm not.

[Chris Cote]

I'm not acknowledging that banana stuff.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm not.

[Chris Cote]

They can sell out Wrigley Field from

[Dan Le Batard]

now until the cows come home. I'm not down with that. You'd be the only one.

[Chris Cote]

Look up. Cows come home.

[Mike Ryan]

All right.

[Chris Cote]

I love this segment.

[Dan Le Batard]

We need to leave a little more space though there for us to guess on the subject.

[Chris Cote]

Not surprising you at all.

[Dan Le Batard]

Shocking opinion.

[Mike Ryan]

It could have been anything because he

[Chris Cote]

said the bananas, so we don't know what that meant. I love it.

[Mike Ryan]

Unexpected answer.

[Chris Cote]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

But it's not at all.

[Chris Cote]

It's always expected.

[Mike Ryan]

Stay tuned.

[Chris Cote]

But he doesn't surprise you at all with this opinion. And he blames other people and he's like an old man yelling at Cloud.

[Dan Le Batard]

But there needed to be more of a pause. There needs to be more. We need to set up the subject matter for the audience and then together not be shocked at all. We don't have to take all of the sting out of it immediately by having him object the same way he always does to mascot.

[Mike Ryan]

Shocking opinions.

[Dan Le Batard]

He's got no time for nonsense. He works in the industry of fun and games. But Wilmot is against mascots and people having fun at games.

[Ryan Clark]

So till the cows come home is because of the slow plot. Back to the milking shed. And if you look for the origin of you bet your ass it comes from bottom dollar change to bottom change to ass. There's also bet your bippy, as we know from one David Sampson. Also Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the Yakuza.

[Mike Ryan]

Unexpected answer.