Greg Cote Celebrates Dave Hyde Being Laid Off | Local Hour

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: Greg Cote Celebrates Dave Hyde Being Laid Off | Local Hour

Date: June 10, 2026

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Episode Overview

Broadcasting from the Elser Hotel in Downtown Miami, Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, Greg Cote, and crew gather for a local hour that is at once irreverent and heartfelt, centered around the shocking news that legendary South Florida sports columnist Dave Hyde has been laid off by the Sun Sentinel after 36 years. The episode weaves together the team’s signature banter with pointed commentary on the state of journalism, reflections on a fading era, friendly professional rivalry, and a live tribute to Dave Hyde—featuring his own presence, perspective, and humor.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Layoff of Dave Hyde & Greg Cote’s (Faux) Victory

• Initial Reactions (01:31-04:12)

  • Dan prompts the group’s reactions to Dave Hyde’s layoff, sparking the episode’s main theme.
  • Mike: “I guess not surprised, but didn't like it. I think Dave Hyde's fantastic. He had been really good to me over the years and yeah, I guess it's disappointing but not surprising, right?” (01:38)
  • Greg Cote insists he harbors no joy over Hyde’s fate, but the group leans into playful conspiracy, suggesting Greg is secretly triumphant.
  • Running joke emerges: Greg as "the last cowboy standing."
  • Greg Cote: “All right, yeah, I am the last cowboy standing. Although I'm sitting right now cuddled up next to our wife.” (02:56)
  • Satire: Tony mock-thanks the Sun Sentinel for their “courage” in laying Hyde off.

• Deeper Context (09:45-13:08)

  • Dan reveals Hyde was let go a month short of his 65th birthday after 36 years—“Let the man retire and don't lay him off.”
  • Greg Cote: “Dave had an epic career. It should have ended better for him... He deserved better.” (10:34)

2. Journalism’s Demise and Nostalgia for Sports Writing

• Press Box Legends & Shifting Landscape (13:08-16:13)

  • Le Batard and company lament the market forces and digital transition that are making traditional sports columns—and their authors—obsolete.
  • Dan Le Batard: “...the idea of reading is practically extinct. The idea of people writing something long form... it doesn't have the value it used to have.” (12:45)
  • Mike and Greg discuss the loss of “voices you want to read” after big games, and the futility of sustained “subscribe to newspapers!” campaigns.
  • Critique: paywalls are driving away audiences; the new model requires content to be immediate and everywhere.

• Meritocracy of New Media (24:51-25:58)

  • Dan Le Batard: “If you give everyone a microphone, the audience will choose. That's the marketplace. It's actually how free market capitalism works... you better be damn special if you’re showing up 14 hours later in the morning.”
  • Tony, Juju, and Trista’s post-game reactions are posited as the new “next-morning column.”

3. Sports Fandom and Regional Identity

• Hockey and Florida’s Rise (04:54-08:31)

  • Dan and the panel bemoan Canada’s loss of hockey dominance to “hockey-come-lately” Sunbelt teams: Vegas, Carolina, Tampa, Florida.
  • Dan Le Batard: “All of it’s offensive, if you, like, invented hockey and you see it overrun by all these regions that are, you know, hockey come lately.” (05:16)

• Heartwarming Hockey Moment (06:57-07:57)

  • Dan shares a viral, emotional video of Carolina’s goaltender Brandon Bussey with his parents, noting how media can inject “sweetness” into sports coverage.

4. Live Tribute: Dave Hyde Joins the Show

• Hyde’s Entrance & Perspective (33:07-42:54)

  • Dan welcomes Dave Hyde on-air with sincere admiration: “You are a master professional in this craft. One of the best writer, reporter combinations that we’ve ever seen in sports writing, not just in South Florida, sports writing of any kind.” (33:07)
  • Dave Hyde: Wryly jokes that his happiest day was when Dan quit writing columns: “One of the great days of my career, actually, was when you became successful in radio and quit writing because... I didn’t have to get up every morning and read your column and think, God, I should have written that.” (33:56)
  • Admits to initial sting over the way he was let go, but recognizes the business decision: “They were ordered by the hedge fund company that owns our paper to cut salary. And I had the biggest salary... I was the decision.” (36:05)
  • Hyde: “...the Sun Sentinel, when I went there and Dan, at the start of your career and Greg and you were in the prime. We had 29 people, you know, in the sports department right now there's eight. So that tells you where... What's happened to newspapers.” (38:20)

• On Legacy, Gratitude, and Missed Rituals

  • Dave Hyde: “The great thing about this job is you get to meet excellence... Pat Riley, Jimmie Johnson, Don Shula... and to me it was always, how's excellence work and attention to detail of the Pat Rileys...” (40:42)
  • Hyde admits he’ll most miss the camaraderie of the press box.
  • Hyde: “I finally got on the Le Batard show... It just took me getting fired.” (41:46)
  • Greg Cote: “...You've been a beacon for my entire career, just about.” (42:06)
  • Dave Hyde: “I started at the Herald and Greg’s desk was right next to mine, and I would watch him... he was very organized and meticulous... Unfortunately, that didn’t rub off on me.” (42:18)

5. Inside Miami Sports Journalism Culture

• Photo and Staff Reflection (43:05-):
  • Old Miami Herald staff photo prompts stories about legendary colleagues and editors, reflecting on both newsroom chaos and support systems.
  • Dan Le Batard: “So this is one of the great staffs of all time in Miami Herald history. Dinosaur sounds are not appropriate...” (43:28)
  • Greg and Dan recall John Wolin, their formidable first boss, and give an affectionate, humorous aside about office personalities.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Greg Cote: “I reject the implication of my inner voice.” (02:03)
• Greg Cote: “All right, yeah, I am the last cowboy standing. Although I'm sitting right now cuddled up next to our wife.” (02:56)
• Tony (mocking): “Thank you, sentinel, for having the courage... Courage, yes. Encourage to do the right thing. Honestly, it should have been done years ago.” (03:23)
• Dan Le Batard, on journalism’s decline: “...because as an industry, you are dying the dead.” (11:24)
• Mike: “There are certain voices right in major sports markets... after a big game, there are certain voices that you want to hear from and that you want to read from. And we are getting, not just in this market, but it's less and less in these big markets...” (13:08)
• Dan Le Batard: “The idea of reading is practically extinct.” (12:45)
• Dan Le Batard, to Dave Hyde: “You are a master professional in this craft. One of the best writer, reporter combinations that we’ve ever seen in sports writing.” (33:07)
• Dave Hyde: “The big problem here, Dan, admittedly, is Greg wins, right?...You are great. Rivalry is done with and you win.” (34:23)
• Greg Cote: “I can’t count on two hands and two feet the number of times... my immediate boss said to me, ‘Hey, Hyde wrote such and such today,’ which was always code for, ‘sure wish you would have had that column.’” (34:49)
• Dave Hyde: “The great thing about this job is you get to meet excellence.” (40:42)
• Greg Cote, to Dave Hyde: “You've been a beacon for my entire career, just about. And I really appreciated you.” (42:06)

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Key Timestamps

• 01:31 — Reaction to Dave Hyde’s layoff begins
• 02:56 — “Last cowboy standing” riff
• 03:23 — Tony’s “courage to lay him off” mock-tribute
• 04:54-08:31 — Discussion shifts to hockey, Sunbelt teams, and regional pride
• 10:34 — Greg Cote’s heartfelt ode to Hyde’s career
• 13:08 — Market forces and journalism’s transition dissected
• 24:51 — The audience as arbiter: meritocracy of new media
• 33:07 — Dan Le Batard introduces Dave Hyde to the show
• 34:23 — Hyde and Cote publicly lay their “rivalry” to rest
• 35:52-37:26 — Hyde details the mechanics and sting of his firing
• 40:42 — Hyde on the privilege of covering South Florida sports legends
• 41:46 — Hyde jokes about finally making the show, post-layoff
• 42:06-42:18 — Mutual tributes: Greg and Dave on their working relationship
• 43:05 onward — Nostalgic and humorous reflections on their newsroom days

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Episode Tone & Takeaways

The tone expertly balances the show’s trademark sarcasm, running bits, and affectionate ribbing (“Greg wins!”), with vivid sadness and nostalgia for the vanishing world of local sports journalism. The long-form reflections—punctuated by the presence of Dave Hyde—serve as both celebration and eulogy for the craft, its rituals, and the sense of community it fostered. Listeners are invited to mourn, laugh, and remember, while also recognizing the realities of media’s evolution and the demands of the modern audience.

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For those who missed it:
This episode provides an entertaining yet poignant snapshot of the transformation and loss in local sports journalism, honoring Dave Hyde’s remarkable career, delving into the competitive yet collegial Miami press box culture, and wrestling with the broader themes of adaptation, relevance, and belonging that face everyone in the media landscape today.

Transcript

[Dan Le Batard]

This is what everyone's talking about.

[Tony]

Everything's on the table.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is what champions come to take.

[Chris Cote]

This is what everyone came to see. No do overs, no second chances, no

[Dan Le Batard]

more Mr. Nice Guy. This is winner take all.

[Greg Cody]

The NBA Finals Continue on ABC and

[Dan Le Batard]

the ESPN app

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Dan Le Batard]

was your reaction to seeing Dave Hyde say that he had been laid off by the Sun Sentinel?

[Mike]

I guess not surprised but didn't like it. I think Dave Hyde's fantastic. He had been really good to me over the years and yeah, I guess it's disappointing but not surprising, right?

[Dan Le Batard]

Am I led to think that Greg Cody's secretly happy about Dana being laid off?

[Greg Cody]

I reject the implication of my inner voice. And I was surprised, if we're being honest. Would not have been surprised had he just said I'm retiring. Very surprised that the Sun Sentinel had the audacity to lay him off to me was surprising.

[Mike]

Is it true, Greg? There's a rumor going around. I don't know all the context, but there's a rumor going around that when someone arrived here this morning, they saw you in this room by yourself on the phone and you said we won.

[Greg Cody]

I cannot confirm that. I cannot confirm that at all. I've got, you know, that's. I have nothing to do with that. So.

[Tony]

Oh, we had bloody to do with it.

[Greg Cody]

What's going on here?

[Tony]

The last cowboy standing.

[Greg Cody]

All right, yeah, I am the last cowboy standing. Although I'm sitting right now cuddled up

[Tony]

next to our wife.

[Greg Cody]

I should be on a horse Gave

[Tony]

her a nice spoon from the back, said, honey, we won.

[Greg Cody]

All right, inner voice, you're fired. I want a new inner voice.

[Tony]

What am I, Dave Hyde? Oh, God, what a great day.

[Greg Cody]

All right, this is going off the rails. I have nothing but thank you, sentinel,

[Tony]

for having the courage. Courage, yes. Encourage to do the right thing. Honestly, it should have been done years ago. We could have called this race long ago. On, the man did what needed to be done.

[Greg Cody]

Okay. Hey, that's what I'm talking about.

[Heckler/Caller]

Wfat

[Dan Le Batard]

the hockey man, the Panthers not being in this. It hurts to watch what is happening in the hockey as it elevates to another level. And I just can't imagine what it's like to be be in Canada and watch Tampa and Florida. Now Vegas overrun the sport.

[Hockey Fan]

Somebody call for a hockey man?

[Heckler/Caller]

Yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

How are you feeling about Jordan Stahl today?

[Hockey Fan]

I hate his ass. This is totally unfair to the Florida Panthers legacy. In retrospect, we'll look back on this and say that we're on borrowed time.

[Dan Le Batard]

Dude, will we? Because what we're watching.

[Hockey Fan]

Oh, God, I hope so. This sucks.

[Dan Le Batard]

What we're watching. And when I say what we're watching. The ratings are pretty spectacular.

[Hockey Fan]

It's on network television.

[Dan Le Batard]

That was awfully close to the mic.

[Hockey Fan]

It's not an apples to apples comparison. The last one was on tnt. Everyone wants to mention the ratings. It's, you know, it's just more bullshit propaganda.

[Dan Le Batard]

There was some heartwarming video. I think I can make people love Carolina by just showing the human connection between a goal and his parents. I believe that I can make you love Carolina with a little bit of sweetness. Would you like a little sweetness with your hockey?

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah, I like that kind of stuff.

[Dan Le Batard]

Can you guys get for me the video? We will get to Greg Cody here in a second and we will get to all the Knicks stuff. But here is your winning keeper. Last night, the series is tied to two. You're with me, right on this, zaz that Canada has to be suffering deeply to watch just Tampa. Tampa wins the championship. Florida wins the championship. And now playing for the championship is Vegas and Carolina. And all of it's offensive. If you, like, invented hockey and you see it overrun by all these regions that are, you know, hockey come lately.

[John Wolin]

You invented hockey.

[Chris Cote]

Be better.

[John Wolin]

It's such a pain. It's such a misery. Be better. Your teams suck. They get to the finals, they lose.

[Greg Cody]

Like, who cares?

[Mike]

It's every year at this point, though, you know, it's like, oh, my God.

[Dan Le Batard]

But you say it's Every year. But I'm talking about the specifics of the team. It's one, it's one thing if the New York Rangers are beating you or the Islanders are beating you. It's Vegas, it's Florida, it's Tampa, it's Carolina. Like Canada looks down at these places and say we go down and visit those places wearing socks and flip flops, we walk on the boardwalks and then we go back to our icy tundra where we invented the sport of hockey. It's like, go ahead and give me all the ones that are smaller to you in feel that would be more offensive to hockey traditionalists than the four I'm mentioning. Tampa, Florida, Vegas, Carolina.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah. Like if Arizona was still a team, they're Utah now. But you're right, San Jose maybe seems silly, but yeah, those are the teams, the Sunbelt teams. And then you're thrown in Vegas, who's only been a team for what, nine years?

[Dan Le Batard]

All right, I'm going to try and sweeten this up. Here's Brandon Bussey. He's the goaltender for Panther Lifer for, for Carolina. And he. This is after he has won and he is shown video here of his parents. Really neat to see both your parents, Robin, Lisa, your fiance Mary here as well.

[Chris Cote]

There's some great reactions and then as you can imagine in the crowd. So I just wanted to see this. What do you think?

[Brandon Bussey]

Oh, that's,

[Dan Le Batard]

that's pretty special.

[Brandon Bussey]

So the other reason why I'm able to do what I do right now, their sacrifice means everything. And yeah, they're, they're the best.

[Greg Cody]

Just the fact that they're here watching

[Dan Le Batard]

this in person, I mean, what does that mean to you?

[Brandon Bussey]

I mean, flying east coast Vegas in one day or this morning is a lot. It means a lot. I can't believe you guys just did that to me on tv.

[Mike]

So I love it. But let's not act like flying east coast to Vegas is like we're going to Australia.

[Greg Cody]

I know. That's what I was smiling at. The idea that he's so shocked that his parents would come to see him

[Dan Le Batard]

on that first class flight.

[Greg Cody]

They didn't walk there and they didn't hitchhike. I mean, come on, what are you doing here?

[Tony]

Let's just move further away. Let's go outside.

[Greg Cody]

The other thing is I float this to I know such a good movie. I know a couple of Canadian friends of mine and anytime you say, ah, Canada hadn't won anything since 1993, they remind you that, that half of the players in the League are Canadian, including the Stahl brothers. So Canadians are still winning the Stanley cup, but just not for a team front.

[Tony]

Oh, happy day.

[Dan Le Batard]

Perfect.

[Greg Cody]

That's not a technicality. I mean, that's. It's the truth.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's not a technicality. But what I want you to keep doing is to just power through and keep talking instead of acknowledging at any point that anything is happening with your inner monologue, no matter how annoying it's getting. Well, you did. Yeah. You did it very well, though. You did it that time. You did it very well. Okay, so you are actively now in a monologue in dangerous territory with Greg Cody. He is seething, and this undercurrent is dangerous this early in the show. Chris Cody, you've seen this. You know what it is to deal with this. We are playing with fire. I know you love it, but we're playing with fire right now, okay? Because we've started the show in a way that is aggressively going after Cody. When Cody wants to celebrate his friend and one of the original sports journalism.

[Mike]

Celebrate. I walk by him. He muttered under his breath, I'm the one who knocks.

[Dan Le Batard]

Who won?

[Tony]

We did.

[Greg Cody]

Okay.

[Dan Le Batard]

Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun Sentinel has been laid off after 36 years, a month short of his 65 birth. 65th birthday. I laugh only because of the cruelty in it. Like, let the man retire. Let the man retire and don't lay him off. Like, work out some sort. I'll talk to him about this in about 15 minutes because we do want to celebrate him around here and not just because Cody won at the end. Cody is still writing. He will enjoy that next column.

[Larry Dorman]

But.

[Dan Le Batard]

But right now, Greg, what are your honest feelings? Because we've put you in a bad position so far, and I think we. We've endangered the fact that we're about to lose you for the rest of the show emotionally if we don't let you talk about your friend.

[Greg Cody]

Dave had an epic career. It should have ended better for him. He. He didn't get the ending he deserved. And that's all the fault of. Of the erosion of journalism and newsprint journalism. And the Sun Sentinel should be ashamed that they didn't find a way to let the exit be on his terms and not a financial decision. You know, Dave's a great guy. I know we like to kid on this show that he and I are enemies or whatever. We're not. We're friends. And I'm honestly proud to call him a colleague and a friend that I've respected for a long time. He's great at what he does. Hard to put that in the past tense already. And it's sad. I'm sad that it's ending for him. And I'm sadder the way it's ending. He deserved better.

[Dan Le Batard]

I want to put this in the context of the day, okay? As Stephen A. Smith, who once did what Dave Hyde did, feuds with our president in a way that somehow cheapens both of their professions. And Pat McAfee reportedly will get $60 million for doing what does in what is a truly unprecedented, amazing sports journalism story. You have seen, though, over the last 25 years, all of the ways that journalism has been kicked out the door. And so this represents the market speaking to me. And it's cold and it's cruel, but it's the kind of stuff that happens when, as an industry, you are dying the dead. Because this is not a disrespect that an any newspaper in my lifetime would have abided at this point in the career of a man who has worked this hard and this long for a newspaper and wherever it is that these connections are between the employer, the employee, and both of their relationships with an audience. So your thoughts here are what zaz as you see the collapse and the contamination of something that is represented by Dave Hyde. Because we've moved on, the people have spoken, commerce has spoken, and these things are no longer going to be allowed to exist. The idea of reading is practically extinct. The idea of people writing something long form and having the attention span to sit down and read, it doesn't have the value that it used to have.

[Mike]

There are, there are certain voices right in major sports markets. And this, this is true about radio as well. It's radio and it's print media where after a big game, there are certain voices that you want to hear from and that you want to read from. And we are getting, not just in this market, but it's less and less in these big markets that these people are still around not because they're dying, but because, you know, the business is changing in radio and in print. And Dave Hyde's one of those guys who I used to always want to read after the big game. And the thing that's weird, though, also to me is, you know, after, after he's let go yesterday, you know, you'll get from a bunch of the newspaper guys, this is why you gotta support newspapers. Please sign up subscription, whole deal. Newspaper guy's been saying that for 15 years now. It's not helping, clearly. Like, it's not helping, you know, like, it's still dying and people are still losing their jobs.

[Greg Cody]

Right.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's not just still dying, though. It's dying because of the paywall.

[Greg Cody]

Yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

Like they're asking you to pay for something that used to be for free, and you can't really do that. Like, there aren't many examples in the history of business.

[Tony]

Maybe start a podcast where that works very well, a successful one with Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth I

[Greg Cody]

don't even know that song.

[Mike]

That's Pharrell.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. You know that song?

[Tony]

Because I'm happy.

[Greg Cody]

Oh, that. Yeah. Happy. The happy. All right.

[Dan Le Batard]

He's saying you're happy because Dave Hyde was laid off.

[Greg Cody]

Yeah. And. And can I make it clear that it. That's not the truth? I mean, come on.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's your inner monologue. That's not you. It's clear. It's obviously. It's obviously satire. It's obviously sarcasm.

[Tony]

Dave Hud was very fair, well respected. Second place. It's not a bad thing.

[Greg Cody]

It's a medal.

[Tony]

Silver, even. Long career writing about sports. Biggest game in 20 years.

[Larry Dorman]

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

[Mike]

I know it.

[Greg Cody]

Well.

[John Wolin]

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

[Larry Dorman]

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

[Greg Cody]

Walking like this.

[Larry Dorman]

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

[John Wolin]

It has that effect on people.

[Greg Cody]

It does.

[Larry Dorman]

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

[Hockey Fan]

Keep it Cuervo.

[Greg Cody]

Keep it Cuervo, baby.

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[Dan Le Batard]

Don LeBatard is there back in my day.

[Greg Cody]

There is actually.

[Larry Dorman]

What are you not gonna tell anyone? Wait a minute, you guys, Guys, it's a Tuesday.

[Dan Le Batard]

Stugats. Here's your guide. Greg Cody with Back in My Day.

[Greg Cody]

Okay, here it is. Sorry, adultery.

[Hockey Fan]

For this one.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with his two gods. The thing that Zaz said about you used to get up in the morning and want to relive what you felt the night before because you didn't want to let it go. Sports is so unique this way. It's just a really rare thing that something that happens on your television is so important that you then want to, if you win, consume everything afterward. And if you lose, you turn it off and run away because you don't want to see any of it. And there's just not a Lot like that. And the commerce of it to me is fascinating because the writing about sports has been very lucrative and the transition to talking about sports is very lucrative. That number on McAfee $60 million a year. There's never been a story like it in the history of sports journalism. It doesn't exist from Punter to that. And it represents also a overturning of the tables at ESPN in a way that this used to be important. The Dave Hyde's writing elegant things with the dinosaurs. You know, enjoying the fossilization of important sports. Societal journalism. Has been replaced by a T shirt cannon and a loud noise and jumping into a pool. Because television is entertainment, but in it, and I don't think anybody actually suffers this part in it, the dinosaurs go extinct. A thing that mattered to me and Greg and Once Upon a Time to Stephen A. Smith goes extinct under the weight of we don't want your paywall. Give it to us fast and dirty. We're addicted to fast and dirty. We don't have time to sit down and write. Read a magazine piece that took you seven months to write. Don't have time for it. Give me what's on YouTube right now. The algorithm says I need to be fed and young people dictate all of this stuff and young people are reading less.

[Tony]

Clock shuts upon the hour and the sun.

[Greg Cody]

No, I mean, Dave and I talked on the phone yesterday. I called him right after I heard the news. And one of the things that we talked about was how we people like Dave and I are forced to reinvent ourselves. You can't just write newspaper columns and call that your full time job. You have to lean into a mic you have.

[Mike]

He'd been doing radio like I think he was on with Joe Rose once a week for a while now.

[Greg Cody]

No, I know, but that's what we're talking about though, you know, and that's why I'm on this show and why I have my own podcast. I can't just be identified as a sports columnist for the local paper anymore because that's dying on the virus.

[Dan Le Batard]

Let me ask the all of you, Tony and the rest, okay, I know you care about me and so sort of ancillary because you hear me talking about it so much, you're sort of forced to care about some of this. But do you care that this is something that is going this way? Do you care that you've lost the very small thing of. There's someone in the morning I want to read after my favorite sporting event. It's a tiny thing over breakfast. I cannot tell you the connection it's made with me with. In this city from 30 years ago, who from a different time where the dinosaurs roamed the earth, where it still matters. Still matters in New York to pick up your paper the next day and see that they're going after Wemby, that your newspaper is going, all your newspapers are going after Wemby.

[John Wolin]

Good paper, good sports section there. But Dan, to your point, I'm looking at it. I'm like, man, I've been yearning for the nostalgia of the early 90s and everything is moving so fast now. Everything is so divisive, everything is just so terrible that I look back and I'm like, man, were things a lot better back in the day? When I was a kid, my dad was reading you and Greg Cody on a Saturday morning and he would open up the paper and I would sit there and be like, what is that?

[Miller Lite Advertiser]

What are you doing?

[John Wolin]

It's, oh, I'm reading about the sports that happened the night before. And I'm like, really?

[Greg Cody]

They do that?

[John Wolin]

So, like, all these things flood back all the memories. And now it's like, all right, Greg's gonna write a column, but it's gonna come out tomorrow when I can go on YouTube and somebody's breaking down the game two seconds after it happens. Like me and Juju and Trista do the moment after the game, you know, final game, game three ends.

[Larry Dorman]

But Greg Cody and Dave Hyde still exist. They do. And you still get that. Oh, morning. I got to see what the reaction. I got to see what the leading voice in my market has to say. It's just a different medium. I go to podcasts and YouTube to watch coverage of my teams. And it's not the written word, but it's still leading voices in the industry. And a whole new generation has those very same connection points. The way that you romanticize the newspaper, I bet you that's a way that a 19 year old on his way to college right now romanticizes a podcast covering the Texas A and M Aggies.

[Greg Cody]

And it's also important to remind that print journalism is more than that now, because we're online as well. Granted, there's a paywall in most cases, but if Hyde and I are at a 1pm Dolphin game that ends at 4. Our columns are online by 5:30 or something. Like, you don't. If you want to read what we've written, you don't have to wait until the next morning and, you know, go take a newspaper off your line.

[Dan Le Batard]

I think it's Interesting what Mike is saying. It is incumbent. When I lament or am sad about it, it's not because I blame the consumer. The consumer gets to be right. The consumer has spoken. And newspapers didn't keep up in a number of different ways. The Internet surprised them. But what Mike is saying is right. First one up after the game is the one that people get to. And you don't wait for an hour and a half for somebody to write something for the next day, never mind an hour and a half later.

[Mike]

Because young people must think that's crazy, right?

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, but not only that, though. Like, this is the meritocracy of what's happened with the Internet. If you give everyone a microphone, the audience will choose. That's the marketplace. It's actually how free market capitalism works. Like, this is actually a meritocracy. The. The audience will tell you who's worth going to. But you better be damn special if you're the person who's showing up 14 hours later in the morning. Like, your analysis has to be so much better than everybody else's because we've sped everything up so much that 14 hours later, the story's done. We've moved on to whatever the next thing has happened in sports. Because what is eaten up newspapers most of all, I think is attention deficit disorder. It's like the addiction of I need something right now. The adrenaline spike of I'm addicted to. Put this in my veins right now. I don't wait for anything anymore. Bezos is sending it to me as soon as I want it. And. And, you know, Josh Pate is going up on the Internet immediately after college football Saturdays.

[Miller Lite Advertiser]

To Tony's point, it's really a product of, like, what we even felt here, right? Which is Tony going up with Juju and Trista after these games is because we didn't want to feel like the newspaper the following morning, only reacting to it later on. We needed to have a voice right after these games in the big moments. That's why we're doing what we're doing.

[Mike]

I think, I think part of.

[Dan Le Batard]

I think.

[Mike]

I think that should frustrate people like myself who, you know, grew up reading Dave Hyde and have been a fan. It's kind of bullshit that he, you know, that it ends like this, like, you know, like Edwin Pope got the good ending. You know, Dan, at least you're. You stopped writing when you decided to stop writing regularly. It feels like you're going to be able to. I don't know. You know, it feels like you're Going to be able to stop when you want to.

[Dan Le Batard]

Not. Not if he hangs up much longer. He won't. Like this will happen to him too. Like what's he. I don't know why he thinks that he'd be immune from this in. In whenever the time.

[Larry Dorman]

I understand the lament and I grew up reading you guys. I'm genuinely. I'm doing a bit.

[Brandon Bussey]

Like.

[Larry Dorman]

I'm genuinely sad that Dave Hyde's career appears to have an end. But also you guys had the advantage. You guys built your audience and you could have pivoted earlier but you stuck with the writing. Greg had to evolve and start a podcast to remain relevant. Dan went to radio there. There were other avenues afforded to you. When ESPN started hiring all you writers to build a base and you got a leg up on. On guys starting this from the grassroots. Some people did that. Some people tried and just weren't good at it. Again, meritocracy.

[Greg Cody]

See, I think what happened to Dave. I think about it in my own orbit. Because you have to if you're in my situation and it's professional mortality that's in play here. The Sun Sentinel did Dave wrong. I have a very good relationship with my immediate boss. I don't think the Herald would ever do that to me. But I don't know.

[Dan Le Batard]

Your immediate boss doesn't have anything to do with this. We'll get to Dave here in a second, but let's introduce him with some fanfare here. Can we celebrate? A. A legend here in South Florida is leaving the Sun Sentinel again against his wishes. Which is crazy to me. A month before his 65th birthday. Go ahead and intro Dave correctly.

[Heckler/Caller]

36 years I've stayed at this place. The South Florida sun has set sail. Goodbye I swam with the dolphins with swaggering grace Perfection seven two and Shula's my guide. But out of these questions that I've had to ask, there's one interrogation that makes my head throb. A dinosaur lingers and I'm so aghast. How does Greg Cody still have a job? Cause I didn't trade Marino. And what in the hell does this guy know? And why is he still gainfully employed? He should have been finished faster than Patino. At least I didn't trade Burrito.

[Greg Cody]

How does the Dave Hyde tribute song end up being about me? Not that I object to that.

[Larry Dorman]

Summer always hits different once the big game starts stacking up. Now you've got finals games on every other night, baseball's rolling all week, racing on the weekends, and suddenly everybody's looking for an excuse to get together. The other night, a buddy texted me, we've got the game on come through. I figured I'd stop by for maybe an hour. That was optimistic. Next thing you know, everybody's locked into the game and we're all part of the coaching staff. Somebody's yelling at the ref, somebody else is suddenly an expert on pitch strategy, and nobody's even pretending they're leaving early anymore. It's one of those nights where you take a sip of Miller Lite, look around and realize, yeah, this is exactly what summer is supposed to be. That's why Miller Lite is always part of these nights for me. It's clean, refreshing, easy to drink when it's hot outside, and perfect for long nights hanging with friends, watching games. An all American summer starts with an all American beer Miller lite. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Hello listeners.

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[Dan Le Batard]

of mui on July 10th mo you will board my boat and restore the heart of Te and here we go. The journey begins. See her light up the night in

[Greg Cody]

the sea she calls me the ocean chose you.

[Tony]

Let's go save the world.

[Dan Le Batard]

I got your back. Chosen One. Disney's Moana Boats. Next. His name is Heihei. His name is Yum Yum. When he goes in my Tum tum in theaters July 10th. Rated PG. Parental guidance suggested. Don LeBatard.

[Greg Cody]

He has been great. He's made great hires.

[Larry Dorman]

I said all we've said all.

[Greg Cody]

He said all. Everyone has heard.

[Dan Le Batard]

Everyone.

[Mike]

First I heard any of this.

[Dan Le Batard]

Greg, everything you're saying, it's all been said, okay?

[Greg Cody]

You gotta understand one thing stugats. Me maximum.

[Mike]

That's right.

[Greg Cody]

Until I say it, it hasn't been said. Boom. Okay. Understand that you're the mayor. Until I say it, it hasn't been said.

[Larry Dorman]

Me Maximum.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugach. I thought me maximum would enjoy that. It took a dark turn.

[Greg Cody]

Look, he is cigar.

[Dan Le Batard]

Look, he is retired with a cigar that is unlit. Dave Hyde, welcome to the program. I will tell you what I have not told you privately because we have not spoken. So I will just tell you in front of everybody how much I admire you, how much I've admired you since the beginning. You are a master professional in this craft. One of the best writer, reporter combinations that we've ever seen in sports writing, not just in South Florida, sports writing of any kind. And it was a pleasure to work alongside you all of these years. And I, like Greg Cody, found myself infuriated in a way that you would not allow us to be because it seemed wrong as punctuation that you wouldn't get to choose your way out from someone you had worked that long for. So thank you for joining us during this time. Why are you happier about this than we are?

[Dave Hyde]

Well, I'm going to make it a good, good day, right? I mean, that's my. That's my choice. But I appreciate your words. You know, I loved. One of the great days of my career, actually, was when you became successful in radio and quit writing because it made meant I didn't have to get up every morning and read your column and think, God, I should have written that. You know, so Greg, I really wasn't worried about Greg.

[Larry Dorman]

You know,

[Dave Hyde]

actually, the big. The big problem here, Dan, admittedly, is Greg wins, right? I mean, he outlasted me, you know, and longevity is, you know, you got the crown now, Greg, I have to give it up to you. You are great. Rivalry is done with and you win.

[Greg Cody]

All right. Thank you, Dave. I appreciate that. Well earned by me. No, I'm just kidding.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's what he's been saying all morning.

[Greg Cody]

We're just kidding. Believe me. I can't count on two hands and two feet the number of times over the years that my immediate boss said to me, you know, very casually, hey, Hyde wrote such and such today, which was always code for, sure wish you would have had that column. You know, it was a great. It's been a great friendly rivalry that we've had, and I think there's a mutual respect there. I'm going to miss Dave. I'm going to miss seeing him in press boxes and chatting with him and. And lamenting about the demise of our industry, which is now underlined.

[Dave Hyde]

Yeah, I mean, part of the great joy of our jobs was the press box. That's what I'll miss, you know, but, you know, come on, I'm 65. We all known people in the last two decades. It just seems every year the press box gets thinner and thinner. And so, you know, I've always thought

[Dan Le Batard]

it got fatter and fatter.

[Dave Hyde]

Well, actually, it probably did with Internet people. You know, I'm talking to the newspaper. Thinner and thinner.

[Dan Le Batard]

The mechanics of the ending. What is worth sharing there in terms of our indignance on your behalf, that there had to be a better way to do that, so it felt a little more like you were choosing it.

[Dave Hyde]

Well, I mean, you know, there's no great secret to it. They. They were ordered by the hedge fund company that owns our paper to cut salary. And I had the biggest salary. And so it came down to do they fire me or do they fire a couple, two or three people, basically? And, you know, they, you know, Greg had people in his corner standing up for him. I obviously didn't at the end, but, you know, I'm 65. To be honest, I was close to the finish line anyways. And so. So, you know, it's kind of liberating in a way in that, okay, I want to do some things and have some things in the work. If they pan out, and if they do, then this will be a great move.

[Dan Le Batard]

The book is Swagger that he wrote most recently with Knicks courtside fan Jimmy Johnson. That's the book he did most recently. Just one more question on the. The Mechanics, though, of 65 years old, you don't feel hurt or disrespected that your company should have cared about you more than that? As a longtime employee, it would be a fairly natural reaction, I think, for anybody to have.

[Dave Hyde]

Absolutely, yeah. I mean, that is natural. And I would have hoped one of my immediate Bosses. A couple of people made the decision, would have stood up for me and said what's best for the paper. And I think they were more human. And they said, let's get rid of one person rather than two. And so. But you know, for so long I had great people standing up for me and at the end I didn't. And that's how it works sometimes in any career.

[Greg Cody]

Dave, before you came on, I was talking about how this for me is a lesson in professional mortality because I have to think of your situation in the context of mine. And I don't know that your boss standing up for you would have done much good. I have a great relationship with my immediate boss, but if the people above him and the people above them want me out, I'm going to be out.

[Dave Hyde]

Yeah, well, I think this worked. The company said, or the hedge fund said, you have to cut this much money. And one guy took the buyout and evidently they had, you know, that wasn't enough. So then they have to make a decision. And I was the decision. So, you know, again, the Sun Sentinel, when I went there and Dan, at the start of your career and Greg and you were in the prime. It was. We had 29 people, you know, in the sports department right now there's eight. So that tells you where. What's happened to newspapers.

[Dan Le Batard]

I am told here that we have some awards. Somebody just ran in here. I'm not sure exactly what we're doing right now. This is a lifetime achievement award. What kind of award award is this? Thank you. We've got multiple awards. We've got this first one here is for Dan. Dan, what is this for? Dan? What do you mean? It's for Dave. It's for Dave.

[Greg Cody]

But to Dan.

[Miller Lite Advertiser]

What's it say?

[Dan Le Batard]

Dan, it's for Dave.

[Mike]

It's for you to present to him.

[Dan Le Batard]

Okay. I thought I was presenting both of them. I'm only presenting this one. Okay. I thought it was a lifetime achievement award. And this is better than Dan?

[Greg Cody]

Yep. Yeah. Prestigious award.

[Mike]

That's a good award.

[Greg Cody]

Yeah, that's a big award. Everybody wants that one.

[Mike]

That's a good one.

[Miller Lite Advertiser]

We have another award here.

[Dan Le Batard]

We have another award where Greg. Thank you, Olivia. Greg, this is for you to award here. It's a lifetime achievement award for Dave Hyde of the Sun Sentinel.

[Greg Cody]

Okay, Dave, this, this is an award not as prestigious as the other one, but this is an award better than Greg Craig, which I didn't know, but

[Mike]

that's a good one too.

[Greg Cody]

All of your readers are. Are nodding their heads Right now. Yeah. So this is your. Well, it's heavy, man. This. This trophy. That's a big award.

[Dan Le Batard]

It seems like you disagree with that award. It seems like I've never heard a presenter.

[Tony]

Heavy. That's my blank.

[Dan Le Batard]

I. I've never heard a presenter present an award and say, I'm not sure I agree with this.

[Greg Cody]

Oh, did I say that?

[Mike]

Speech.

[Greg Cody]

Oh, I. I didn't know. Speech.

[Dan Le Batard]

Not from you, Greg. He was so ready to give a speech. Dave, what are for here? In all of the years, almost four decades, what are the things in South Florida sports that you're most grateful for? The things that you leave here saying? Yeah, these are the things that moved me.

[Dave Hyde]

Well, there were a lot of events that moved me. The great thing about this job is you get to meet excellence. Okay? You meet the Pat Riley at the top of his career. You meet Jimmie Johnson and get to know him or Don Shula or I did a book with Dan Marino, too. So you get to meet and ask questions that other people just don't get to ask and get to know these guys in a way. And to me it was always, how's excellence work and attention to detail of the Pat Rileys or the thinking big of Riley's or Jimmie Johnson just thinking completely different. And that was the best part of it to me, other than the people you meet in the press box, you know, and that. And that's. That was always part of the fun. But, you know, I was thinking before I came on here, I finally got on the LeBatard show. I finally did it. And that was. That's a career achievement. It just took me fired.

[Dan Le Batard]

Usually it's hello, then goodbye. This time it was goodbye, then hello. That's not the way that normally works. His first appearance at the sun on the show comes with his last appearance in the Sun Sentinel. Dave, thank. Thank you and congratulations. Greg, any more words here for your friend as our friend as he leaves?

[Greg Cody]

Yeah, Dave knows how I feel about him. Nothing but respect, admiration. You've been a beacon for my entire career, just about. And I really appreciated you.

[Dave Hyde]

And vice versa to you guys. You know, I started at the Herald and Greg's desk was right next to mine, and I would watch him. He was very organized and meticulous. And as a young reporter, I can still look at him at the end of the day, cleaning off his desk, putting everything in order, and I'm a complete slob. Unfortunately, that didn't rub off on me. Dan, I thought you were the best. The ability with words, not just spoken not just written, which is all I can do, but spoken, which is what you've gone on to do. Great. So two great friends I got to meet along the way.

[Dan Le Batard]

Thank you, buddy. We love you and we appreciate you, and it's a sad day. Don't try it and make us happier about it.

[Dave Hyde]

Thank you.

[Dan Le Batard]

All right.

[Tony]

Nice chatting with you.

[Miller Lite Advertiser]

Can we get that photo back on the screen that we were just showing? Because how about that swagger from Greg Cody? I asked if this is a real photo or if it was AI Because Greg looks that good.

[Mike]

Who are these people?

[Greg Cody]

That's my Tom Cruise era.

[Miller Lite Advertiser]

You look incredible.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's Dave Hyde, Greg Cody, and John Wolin sitting.

[Greg Cody]

I don't know who's standing on the top left to right is Sean Powell, Larry Dorman, and Gary Shelton.

[Dan Le Batard]

So this is one of the great staffs of all time in Miami Herald history. Dinosaur sounds are not appropriate. John Wolin.

[Tony]

Sorry.

[Dan Le Batard]

John Wolin was not one of the writers. He was an exceptional editor, and also the first time I met him, was introduced to him. This is funny. This is actually funny for the audio audience. Okay. The person on the lower right sitting next to Greg Cody is a little person. And when I was in college, this was my first editor. And so he would wake me up screaming, yelling into the phone, something. Because you would say he was hostile, aggressive, and from a different dinosaur time, Correct?

[Greg Cody]

Yes. Yeah. Very acerbic, to say the least.

[Dan Le Batard]

So. But I. But I never. I had never met him. Right. So for two years, this person is talking to me, and I'm imagining some lumberjack swaggering through an office or whatever. And so I'm introduced to him one time in the Miami Herald. He is sitting. Sitting at his desk, but he's sitting in a chair like the one that I'm sitting in.

[Dave Hyde]

Right.

[Dan Le Batard]

And so the sports editor points to the back of the chair, which I can't see that anyone is sitting in the chair because the back half of the chair doesn't have anyone in it and says, you know John Wallen, your boss. Right. And he's pointing to what I think is an empty chair, because I've imagined somebody who's 6, 8, 300 pounds, and instead, the chair is larger than him. And it doesn't look like there's physically anyone in the chair there. Somebody's got to tell you he's a little person. No.

[John Wolin]

Did he turn the chair or no.

[Greg Cody]

Yes.

[Larry Dorman]

Yes. Give me the heads up there.

[Dan Le Batard]

It was. It was shocking. Yeah, Tony, that was exactly my. Like, I thought it was some sort of practical joke. I'm like, is it April 1st? Why is this person pointing to a chair saying, my boss is a chair, an empty chair?

[Columbia Advertiser]

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