Hour 1: Amin's Method Acting (feat. "Kash Patel")

Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz—Hour 1: Amin’s Method Acting (feat. “Kash Patel”)

Date: February 23, 2026
Recorded live from: The Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami
Hosts: Dan Le Batard, Stugotz
Featured guests: Amin Elhassan, Mike Ryan, Ethan, (Amin as "Kash Patel")

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Episode Overview

This episode is a quintessential Dan Le Batard Show hour, mixing irreverent sports talk, sharp political observations, and meta commentary on American fandom. The main themes circle the aftermath of Team USA’s dramatic hockey gold, the problematic blending of sports and politics as seen in the viral moments from the US men’s hockey locker room, and larger societal moments where those spheres collide. The group also riffs on locker room culture, sports movies, and the ever-shifting nature of public perception regarding athletes, politicians, and media.

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Breakdown of Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Team USA’s Olympic Win and Culture Clash (01:26–05:59)

• The group reacts live (and somewhat drowsily) to Team USA men’s hockey thrilling finish, interspersed with jokes, disbelief, and stream-of-consciousness play-by-play.
• Locker Room Aftermath: Outrage and amusement over FBI Director Kash Patel partying in the locker room, including Matthew Tkachuk hanging his gold medal around Patel’s neck.
  • Amin Elhassan: “Just like, morally, from a diplomatic standpoint, we do not deserve this.” (03:04)
  • The crew discusses general surprise at “how cool everybody is with the current situation and that person in particular” (Amin, 05:56) and why, in this political moment, the lines between sports and state are blurred intentionally.
• The immediate debate: Is this government overreach? Mere fandom? A violation? Or just an inappropriate but inconsequential moment?

2. Amin’s “Kash Patel” and Satirical Interlude (06:13–07:59)

• Amin leans into a deadpan impression of “Kash Patel,” delivering comic gems:
  • Amin (as Kash): “I was on FBI business in Milan and it just so happened they had a hockey game going. So you can bet on that.” (06:13)
  • Pokes at plans to hit Miami club “11” for more “FBI business.”
• The conversation lampoons the normalization of political officials in sports moments, the potential for future embarrassment, and the shifting standards of what is considered inappropriate.

3. Sports and Politics: Can (or Should) They Be Separated? (08:00–14:28; 16:28–23:25)

• Clips are played of the men’s US team talking to Donald Trump in the locker room, and everyone reflects on what it means—historically and as spectacle.
• Notable quote (Dan): “The director of the FBI chugging beers in the locker room, I’ve never seen that. Not Republican, not Democrat, not…I've never seen that.” (23:25)
• Extended discussion on “the Doc Rivers Press Conference Laugh”—over-the-top deference to whoever holds power in a group or institution.
  • Dan: “That was the Doc Rivers press conference laughter and you can bet on that.” (09:00)
• The crew wrestles with America’s desire to see sports as a pure, apolitical refuge, but acknowledges both fans and politicians continually break that barrier.

4. “Patriotism,” Locker Room Dynamics, and Shifting Norms (17:26–20:52)

• Ethan and Amin express conflicting feelings: joy at the representation by a Jewish, Pride-supporting player (Jack Hughes), but also disappointment at how “the right” has monopolized expressions of patriotism:
  • Ethan: “It feels like the right sort of hijacked the concept of patriotism, and it was cool to see someone on that stage who happens to line up politically with where I am...express that patriotism.” (18:39)
• Both lament how challenging it is for dissenting voices (players or fans) to speak up without causing a backlash or being labeled unpatriotic/snowflakes.

5. Sports Media, Virality, and Political Clout (32:08–41:36)

• The panel pivots to Josh Pate’s interview with Trump on a sports platform, analyzing the motives (“It is a massive thing. And we live in a time where that economy of attention is more important than ever…” — Dan, 32:27) and the consequences for both the guest and the host.
• They discuss how, with traditional gatekeepers gone, the incentives for viral moments—even if problematic—are higher than ever.
• Commentary on Trump’s sports “hits” and how political figures use sports platforms to soften or broaden their appeal.

6. Legacy, Regret, and the New Normal (25:48–31:46)

• Speculation on whether the players in the viral locker room pic will regret it in years to come (“Is that going to be a thing, you know, two years, five years, 20 years from now?” — Mike, 25:48).
• Dan notes that societal shame or disavowal is much less prevalent today: “Now everything is denied. Deny, deny, deny. It'll be 10 years from now, these people can be convicted and sent to prison and these guys are still going to be like, it was all a vast left wing conspiracy.” (26:38)
• Amin observes: “I don't think this administration's going to age particularly well.” (31:46)

7. College Hoops Nostalgia & Lighthearted Finish (42:04–end)

• The show shifts to a lighter, classic mode with Georgia Tech and college basketball nostalgia, dropping references to Kenny Anderson, Chris Jackson, and others.
• Dan: “You go [to The Varsity] once, and you never go again. Everyone I went to school with...you go once, you never go again.” (42:36)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Amin (on politics in sports): “This administration makes it incredibly difficult to separate the two. They are very smart about how they use sports to normalize themselves as personalities and officials.” (05:18)
• Dan (on the ‘Doc Rivers Laugh’): “It’s just the boys. That’s the point of those shows. It’s like, hey, imagine the locker room if it were on TV, even though it’s nothing like the locker room. But that’s what people want to believe.” (09:57)
• Ethan (on representation in sports): “It was a special, probably the best moment for left-leaning American Jews in sports since Sandy Koufax.” (12:28)
• Dan (on shifting standards): “The job that you have as a high ranking person in the US government is you have to comport yourself with some modicum of decorum. Even if they're all doing it, you gotta go, ha ha, good job guys. Even if you want to.” (24:02)
• Amin (on locker room dynamics): “The implication is you have to let Kash Patel in. You have to roll with it, even if you're not comfortable because being against it causes a scene.” (28:14)

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Important Segments w/ Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |---------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:26–03:18 | Live reactions to Team USA goal and postgame chaos | | 04:15–06:13 | Kash Patel in the locker room, discussion of propriety and politics | | 06:13–07:59 | Amin’s method acting as Kash Patel pokes fun at the moment | | 08:00–10:24 | The locker-room laugh, Doc Rivers comparison, and how power works in sports settings | | 12:28–13:29 | Ethan celebrates Jack Hughes as a symbol for left-leaning Jews | | 17:26–19:35 | Are politics and pride mutually exclusive? How patriotism gets portrayed in sport | | 23:25–24:55 | Dan draws the line: “FBI director chugging beers in the locker room—I’ve never seen it” | | 25:48–31:46 | Will these moments age poorly? Is denial the new norm in politics and fandom? | | 32:08–41:36 | Josh Pate’s Trump interview, sports media’s viral attention economy | | 42:04–44:50 | College hoops memories and closing nostalgia |

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Summary & Tone

• Style: Candid, self-aware, frequently veering from serious analysis to absurdist comedy, with plenty of inside jokes and cultural references.
• Underlying message: The show both revels in and mourns the inescapable interconnectedness of sports, politics, and identity in 2026 America. The crew uses humor and personal experience to grapple with the complexity of patriotism, spectacle, and dissent, all while giving room for the everyday joy and argumentation that comes with being a sports fan.
• Signature lines: “You can bet on that.” “Doc Rivers press conference laugh.” “It’s just the boys.”

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Useful for:

• Listeners seeking a multifaceted discussion on contemporary sports/political culture
• Fans wanting context for the Team USA story, the viral Patel photo, and the echoes in sports media
• Anyone interested in how one of America’s most distinctive sports podcasts navigates the blurred lines between games, government, and fandom—often with a smirk and a sigh.

Transcript

[Dan Le Batard]

Close your eyes. Exhale. Feel your body relax, and let go of whatever you're carrying today.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, I'm letting go of the worry

[Amin Elhassan]

that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, my gosh, they're so fast. And breathe.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, sorry.

[Amin Elhassan]

I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order.

[Producer/Announcer]

1-800-contacts.

[Amin Elhassan]

Spring break isn't what it used to be. It's better this spring. Stay three nights and get a $50 Best Western gift card. Life's a trip. Make the most of it at best Western. Visit bestwestern.com for complete terms and conditions. Nothing brings people together quite like Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games. From NBCUniversal's iconic storytelling to the innovative technology across Xfinity and Peacock, Comcast brings the Olympic Games home to America, sharing every moment with millions. When Team USA steps onto the world stage, people aren't just watching, they're cheering together. This winter, everyone is all on the same. Team Comcast, proud partner of Team usa. This is the Dan Levator show with the Stugats podcast.

[Mike Ryan]

There it is.

[Amin Elhassan]

There it is. There's the first goal. Do something. No, do something. Oh, and we got a goal. Kale at one.

[Mike Ryan]

Three and a half.

[Amin Elhassan]

Miller lights deep.

[Dan Le Batard]

Okay, I think it's.

[Mike Ryan]

I think it's really good, but I

[Dan Le Batard]

haven't seen the whole thing yet.

[Amin Elhassan]

How did that not go in? Oh, my God.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, my God.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. What the hell?

[Ethan]

I did not realize face offs were a team Sport. Did Charlie McAvoy just make that save?

[Mike Ryan]

Baldy, Matthew and Hughes.

[Amin Elhassan]

You think, though, that you think those three are going to start off overtime for the Americans?

[Guest/Advertiser]

Remember, it's just three.

[Amin Elhassan]

The puck has dropped. And here we go. 1955 right now. Wide open shot. This is one. It's over,

[Dan Le Batard]

Luke.

[Ethan]

Who's here?

[Amin Elhassan]

Dan Lebatard has joined us from the Dan Lebatard Show. Dan, you got to see that goal. What do you think? Let Dan talk. Shut up, Ethan. Go ahead, Dan.

[Dan Le Batard]

How. How does Ethan feel comfortable yelling what he thinks I'm going to say when I neither saw him nor am awake enough to know what even happened because I just texted you guys, what's the link? And Roy wrote me back. The game's over, Dan.

[Amin Elhassan]

Jack Eel was your boy, Conor. Helu was your boy. I can't believe we do not deserve this. Just like morally from Like a, just, like a diplomatic standpoint. We do not deserve this.

[Dan Le Batard]

But, oh, the irony.

[Amin Elhassan]

Will I take it? Go Saints. Go Saints. USA golden generation.

[Dan Le Batard]

Ethan.

[Amin Elhassan]

Shut up, Peter. Shut up. And talking.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, it really has. It surprised me, even the level of pride that Americans all over, coast to coast seem to be feeling about this. And in fact, over in Milan, some Americans were celebrating, not just Jack Hughes, he was carried around the Olympic Village by his teammates last night. They threw it on real good, I imagine. And did you see in the locker room, though, immediately after that, that the director of the FBI was in there drinking with him and spread singing and whatever. And Matthew Tkachuk put his gold medal around Cash Patel's neck. And a lot of people react to. Cash Patel is tweeting about it. A lot of people are angry about it. They think it's a violation of. Of his position. What did you think about that, Mike?

[Amin Elhassan]

You know, he's a known hockey fan. He's been at Ovechkin's record breaking performance. He said seven months ago that he was going to be there and it wasn't an empty threat. He's a big hockey guy and a hero.

[Mike Ryan]

No violation. Not. Any concerns about his.

[Amin Elhassan]

No, we're so. Well, this one, whereas in previous years, might actually be a news story of him using taxpayer money. Taxpayer money to get himself over there. It's just, you know, a Monday morning blurb.

[Mike Ryan]

Do we want to see clips of this? In case anybody hasn't seen what we're talking about here, the audience.

[Ethan]

Yeah, our video team's looking at it right here. This is just.

[Mike Ryan]

Let's go, Larkin.

[Ethan]

Oh, just.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah, and I'm sure a lot of people that would like a certain segment of the population to stick to sports are going to be totally quiet on this.

[Mike Ryan]

Right, right. Separation of church and state and very many people. I understand you've been talking about this a little bit late, Mike Ryan, that this has come up in your world, that sometimes people don't do a good enough job of separating sports and politics.

[Amin Elhassan]

That's because this administration makes it incredibly difficult, too, to separate the two. They are very smart about how they use sports to normalize themselves as personalities and officials. And in that sport and many other sports, you kind of have to take it on the chin because you also respect your right to say things. And it's just a. It's just a part of the deal. I wish, you know, it wasn't using taxpayer funds. And I'm just, personally speaking, I'm not super cool with how cool everybody is with the current situation and that person, that person in particular. But it's just times like these in America that you just gotta. Gotta roll with it, I think.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, yeah, let's. While we're talking all around that we have him here with us as it happens this morning, probably still a little hungover. It's Cash Patel. How are you? Congratulations to the nation, not just to you.

[Dan Le Batard]

Thank you. And I don't see what the big deal is. I was on FBI business in Milan and it just so happened they had a hockey game going. So you can bet on that.

[Mike Ryan]

It was at the bottom of that beer bottle. The FBI business.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, you know, I have to drink cuz I am thirsty. And that's all they had in the locker room because they won. So you can bet on that.

[Mike Ryan]

I wonder if this will be a plague six months, six years from now that Matthew Tkachuk put his gold medal around Kash Patel. Do you think that history will remember that moment?

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, if you think that's the only moment history is gonna remember, just wait till I get to Miami and, and go to 11 tonight for the party that just happens to be next to some totally real FBI business downtown Miami that I have to do.

[Mike Ryan]

You're in Miami now though, right?

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, you can bet on that.

[Mike Ryan]

All right. I was making sure because didn't know you might be drunk and not didn't know where you were yet.

[Dan Le Batard]

Sometimes looking at a map can be

[Ethan]

confusing for me in terms of it aging poorly. Like you're asking about Dave. Like these people don't know. Like it's already aged poorly. You know what I mean? Anyone who's sitting here yucking it up and laughing at jokes that the president's making about not, you know, oh, I've got to invite the women's team to the White House to like, those sensibilities aren't going to know that the things that they're doing right now are going to age poorly in the eyes of history.

[Dan Le Batard]

There's a women's team. I didn't bet on that.

[Ethan]

We do have the clip if you

[Mike Ryan]

want to play for the audience of

[Ethan]

the men's US Team talking to Trump in the locker room after the game. Let's play that.

[Producer/Announcer]

Let's see it.

[Amin Elhassan]

We'll get the cash and we'll get the military to get you guys over. I'm going to.

[Mike Ryan]

Boys are going to the state of the union.

[Guest/Advertiser]

The nice thing about being president is

[Amin Elhassan]

I can tell you, you don't have to worry about the weather or land.

[Mike Ryan]

We don't Care if it's snowing, if

[Amin Elhassan]

it's a west blizzard, be sailing through that just like you did in the ice. Thank you, Mr. President. Now we'll do it at the White House. What would really be cool, and we'll

[Guest/Advertiser]

do the White House the next day.

[Amin Elhassan]

We'll just have some fun. We have medals for you guys.

[Guest/Advertiser]

And we have to.

[Mike Ryan]

I must tell you, we're going to

[Amin Elhassan]

have to bring the woman's team. You do know that. I do believe I probably would be impeached. Okay.

[Dan Le Batard]

On the podcast Cinephobe, Zach Harper Minal has an Anthony Mays. They have a repeating bit called the Doc Rivers press conference. Laughter which is when someone says something that is only mildly amusing, but everyone who is beholden to them laughs hysterically, like Eddie Murphy in his prime. I do believe that was the document Rivers press conference laughter and you can bet on that. Jeremy. I'll see you in Valhalla, brother. Okay, I gotta stop doing this. My eyes are hurting.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah, I don't think the camera does it justice.

[Mike Ryan]

The best. The best Doc Rivers laugh that you get is on NFL pregame shows when. When they're talking about a matchup and they're like, I think that the. The ex running back will say, I think the guy who's the X factor in this one is the star running back of that team. And they. And then they. And then they go, like, you would say that as a running back. And so true.

[Amin Elhassan]

So true.

[Mike Ryan]

I always defend running back.

[Dan Le Batard]

I love that, man. It's jocular, right? It's just the boys. That's the point of those shows. It's like, hey, imagine the locker room if it were on tv, even though it's nothing like the locker room. But that's what people want to believe. They want to believe that this is exactly what locker room culture is like. And I've been very fascinated with this concept of people wanting to believe stuff because I watched Begonia yesterday, finally, with my dad.

[Amin Elhassan]

What'd you think?

[Dan Le Batard]

Loved it. Yeah, that's a movie. Don't talk to me about one battle or one. Oh, that's a. That's a movie.

[Mike Ryan]

Don't start. There's no reason for you to take a shot at the better movie. Begonia was very good.

[Amin Elhassan]

It was not a movie.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's not a better movie. I'm gonna tell you why. Because it's. It's not a bad movie.

[Mike Ryan]

It's not a great movie. It's a great movie.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's not a great movie.

[Mike Ryan]

It's a great movie. That five years from now, 20 years from now, Amin and everybody else will be talking about the greatness of the enduring classic that is one battle after I found it to be like Boogie Nights. No, it is going to be one of those movies. There's no way. There's no way. Dave, the more you. 20 years from now, we're going to remember Jack Hughes. We're going to remember one battle after another.

[Dan Le Batard]

Please. No way.

[Amin Elhassan]

Good points.

[Mike Ryan]

Thank you. So wait, so to go all the way back, Tony, we're not going to remember Jack Hughes. I didn't even remember his name. I had to look it up.

[Dan Le Batard]

Tony, remember from yesterday is Jack Hughes. Is Jack Hughes a good hockey player?

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah, he's. He's.

[Dan Le Batard]

What does he play?

[Amin Elhassan]

New Jersey.

[Dan Le Batard]

Okay.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah. He's not the better of the two brothers, but he's.

[Dan Le Batard]

There's another brother.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah. When Hughes was unbelievable this tournament.

[Dan Le Batard]

Wow. Okay.

[Amin Elhassan]

He's the one that's very, very drunk.

[Ethan]

Who's the guy that would have gotten left off the team if Goudreau was still with us? That's what I was doing when I saw that. I was, I was doing the cynical thing of like, is the last guy on the roster sitting there being like, wow, I wouldn't be here.

[Amin Elhassan]

Damn, bro. That's crazy. What? My brain did not go there at all. Why would it?

[Dan Le Batard]

My mind did. Chris.

[Ethan]

I mean, when you're celebrating Chris, mine did it.

[Dan Le Batard]

But now that you said it, now I'm thinking about there's a Team USA

[Ethan]

roster and they're like bringing a guy in. The last guy on the roster has to be like, oh, I guess I wouldn't be here.

[Amin Elhassan]

That's just wild.

[Dan Le Batard]

There was a replacement guy or. No, the guy passed away a while ago, right?

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah, he was killed.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah.

[Ethan]

An accident. Thinking about Seth Jones more. If they're the last guy on the roster. Right. They replace Seth Jones. So maybe the second to last guy.

[Dan Le Batard]

Second to last guy.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, the defender, the worst defender is

[Ethan]

definitely saying, I'm only here because Seth Jones forward.

[Amin Elhassan]

That's probably a better conversation to have.

[Ethan]

It's just a natural thought.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, you gotta think about it. Sometimes you think about stuff like that. Don't. Don't do this to them. Guys.

[Ethan]

The thing with Jack Hughes, that was exciting for me personally as a left leaning Jew born in Florida who loves sports. I got to see myself in the Olympic gold medal winner, Jack Hughes, because this guy who has been pretty publicly open minded, was very supportive of. Of Pride Nights in the NHL. Jewish kid scoring the, the gold medal Winning goal. The golden goal. It was a special, probably the best moment for left leaning American Jews in sports since Sandy Koufax. Folks, listen up. Quick break in the action. Are you counting down the days until payday? Instacash from Moneylion can help you access up to $500 of your hard earned pay early. There's no interest, no credit check and no monthly fees. So you can manage those in between expenses with less stress. Download the MoneyLion app and link your qualifying bank account to see what you qualify for. Moneylion make money easy. Instacast is subject to terms and eligibility requirements.

[Mike Ryan]

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[Amin Elhassan]

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[Guest/Advertiser]

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[Amin Elhassan]

Don LeBatard World War Three Stugats. We're gonna get that off the World War Three colon. Our group chat has a pretty good feeling about this one. This is the Dan Levatar show with the stugats.

[Mike Ryan]

It's funny you say that because it does seem to me that the argument always swings back and forth about can't you just leave politics out of this and just stick to sports? This is what Mike Ryan has been talking about, obviously for the last couple of weeks quite a bit and has been in the news for doing it. And it always goes, whichever side is doing it, you don't like it. The rhetoric always becomes that you only like free speech when it's free speech you like and I, you know, you know, saccharine or otherwise. That is what should be great. The big takeaway from this should be that Jack Hughes is talking about why he supported the gay pride movement in the NHL a couple of years ago when a lot of guys weren't that he's a bar meets VO and all the rest of it. And then the right wants to celebrate the way that the Tkachuk brothers want to celebrate maga. There is room in this country for both things, right?

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah, it's just, you know, it's not a great situation which you see that moment and you scour the Internet to see if like their ideology aligns with yours so you can feel better about it. It's just an unfortunate state of where we are, especially when politicians themselves are injecting themselves into these events.

[Mike Ryan]

It's the attack on and I saw some, I Did see some people, sorry, libs, that you hate this. Who are you going at? Who hates this? Who is upset by what just happened there? But it is the unnecessary, unforced attack on some portion of the country as though you're getting us. And I do think that when you push back that it's inappropriate for Cash Patel, which it is, in terms of what his position is in the country. It is directly inappropriate on a piece of paper. You should not be doing that.

[Amin Elhassan]

But.

[Mike Ryan]

But it is. You're soft, you're a snowflake. This is what you care about and all of that. And you feed into that conversation and entrench the sea. This is what they're worried about. They're so unpatriotic that they can't even let this guy enjoy his moment.

[Ethan]

Part of the joy that I had in finding out some of what Jack Hughes's politics were was how proud he was to be an American representing the United States on that stage. Like, just because you're not caping up for Cash Patel, being in the locker room afterward or excited about the words that Donald Trump is sharing with that team and them yucking it up afterwards. Like, I love being an American. And to have someone who lines up politically, ideologically with me express that patriotism, it feels like the right sort of hijacked the concept of patriotism. And it was cool to see. See someone on that stage who happens to line up politically with where I am, at least on a couple of things. By the way, I don't know his full thoughts on everything, but it was. It was nice to see someone who said, hey, I was raised in a household that supports Pride Nights, that thinks, you know, it's great to be an American on that stage.

[Amin Elhassan]

It kind of speaks to how effectively the right has co opted being a patriot and the love of the flag and how true and how the left hasn't really done a great job in fighting that punch. They've just allowed for one segment of political beliefs to be more American, to feel more American, relatively unchecked. Which is weird because I. I love this country so much. I love supporting them in international sport. I am willing, more than willing, to look over political leanings and be happy for whoever is representing that banner. You know, within reason. I don't think any of these guys are overtly political. And I was able to enjoy that for what it was a sporting event. In a time where, you know, we all have our mixed feelings about where the country is. It was cool to have one thing that was a rallying Cry left and right and alike. And it. I understand why we're there. I'm part of the reason why we perpetuate it. Because it's very difficult me for me to separate the two when politicians are directly involved. But it's kind of sad because the miracle on ice geopolitically, there was a bunch going on. We were the good guys. It was a great story and everybody was aligned with that. And like anything these days, this one's a little bit more complicated.

[Dan Le Batard]

We haven't talked about the real bad guys in this story. The security people at the arena. Who let this dude in with no credential. You just gotta let a guy waltz armcato. Who the hell cares, man? This is team staff only. You can't just waltz in here. You gotta have a credential or something. Hell, you saw the women's team. They sitting in the stands.

[Amin Elhassan]

You.

[Dan Le Batard]

They got their credentials around their neck. It's not just like, hey, I want a gold medal, I should get in anywhere. Like, no, no, no. You still have to have some sort of access and stuff here. And these guys sleep at the job. Just let anybody in. It could have been me with this hat and this jacket. They would have been like, well said he was Cash Patel. Who are we to say no, we

[Mike Ryan]

should send Amin in the Cash Patel costume to somewhere that Cash is going to be 11, see if anybody can tell the difference.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, he said he was going to be at 11 tonight if.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, there you go. That's right.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah.

[Ethan]

I'll do a FBI Jacket's a little

[Amin Elhassan]

on the nose though.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, you know, I gotta let people

[Amin Elhassan]

know how else we're a USA like hockey sweater.

[Dan Le Batard]

Hmm. With the FBI hat though.

[Amin Elhassan]

I see.

[Dan Le Batard]

I need to let people know it

[Amin Elhassan]

is actually him method acting the Cash Patel bit because he is trying to make going to 11 part of his job.

[Dan Le Batard]

What I mean, I like, I just assumed that you guys would want me to do something for the show and I would sacrifice.

[Ethan]

Nobody's asked him. He's taken it upon himself to do extra work.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, no, they told us that like having a great motor and like. Initiative. Initiative.

[Amin Elhassan]

You should take a private jet. Initiative.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, there you go. That's the word I have.

[Mike Ryan]

I really have no issue with me going to 11. Nick Bosa. Except for, you know, I guess I can express some issues with it, but in a vacuum, at least Nick Bose is welcome to tout whatever political.

[Amin Elhassan]

Whatever.

[Mike Ryan]

Whatever presidential candidate he wants on. On Sunday Night Football. End of the game, as long as I'm allowed to Push back with my opinion or other players are allowed to push back with theirs. And that's really the core issue is that it's sort of a cartoon version of patriotism. It's just not cartoon. It's great to just get behind it unironically. And USA won a big time sporting event against the team that was considered to be the best in the world and we won and all of that. It's equally patriotic though to raise a fist with a black glove because you're allowed to do that in the United States or representing the United States and somehow you're the bad guy if you're doing that and not doing the cartoon version of like usa, USA endlessly. That is why the right wins over the left in that argument.

[Dan Le Batard]

Can I, on a serious note, can I just make this distinction? Team wins a gold medal. President calling them on speakerphone and congratulating them, saying we're coming to White House, whatever. That's normal. That happens all the time. The director of the FBI chugging beers in the locker room, I've never seen that. Not Republican, not Democrat, not. I've never seen that.

[Mike Ryan]

But the perception is you're a snowflake if that's what you're complaining about. He just loves hockey and he loves the USA and he's enjoying it. You would do the same if you were in his boots is the sort of logic that's applied to this.

[Dan Le Batard]

So the counter to that isn't about what I would do if I were in the same position. It's position meaning they're available with the team. The counterargument is the same position, which is the job that he has. And the job that you have as a high ranking person in the US government is you have to comport yourself with some modicum of decorum. Even if they're all doing it, you gotta go, ha ha, good job guys. Even if you want to. Cuz it's the same thing. If President Obama, when like 2012 in the London Olympics, they won the gold. If Obama was there in the locker room shaking everybody's hands, okay, Obama was in town, good job. If Obama chugs a beer, that's not a good look.

[Mike Ryan]

But beyond just that, that no matter when it happened in any era in the last 250 years, it would be inappropriate. The extra layer of it here though is what's specifically happening in this country right now and what you're embracing and who you're embracing. And that kind of connects with the Josh Pate interview of the president that it's not just a garden variety. This was a great moment for our country. And you know, if you can't get behind that, what kind of patriot are you? It's. You're embracing. You know who you're embracing right now? Matthew Tkachuk. You know, if you were taking a picture In January of 1974 with Richard Nixon, you probably didn't want that photograph floating around by the mid-70s. By 1980, you were probably ashamed of that. And I do wonder, is that going to be a thing, you know, two years, five years, 20 years from now?

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, we talked about this on the show. What if Watergate had happened today, Nixon would still be president.

[Amin Elhassan]

Oh, I mean, obviously.

[Dan Le Batard]

So that's the difference between your example and example of these guys, Tkachuks doing this. Right. Wow. Having a.

[Mike Ryan]

The T really gets in the way.

[Dan Le Batard]

It does. The reality is the idea that they will feel shame at a future date only works if you are operating with the 1970 kind of mores of yeah, we realize that someone's done something wrong and we all agree that was wrong. Now everything is denied. Deny, deny, deny, deny. It'll be 10 years from now, these people can be convicted and sent to prison and these guys are still going to be like, it was all a vast left wing conspiracy. And they're not going to, they're not gonna come back and say, wow, I was really on one back then.

[Amin Elhassan]

We'll see with this president. It's already swung. Remember after January 6th, Coca Cola was putting out statements about how that display was un American and wrong and he was kind of already cast aside by Fox News. And then it took two years and he found himself back into the conversation and all of a sudden supporting him wasn't as third rail, but there was a couple of years there where post January 6th, you wouldn't touch this guy with a 10 foot pole.

[Dan Le Batard]

But that was all within the climate, I think of post 2020, which is like this racial reckoning. And so like all the brands, because that's all it is. The brands don't care. Coca Cola doesn't care.

[Mike Ryan]

Right. But they're right, they're riding the climate.

[Dan Le Batard]

Right.

[Mike Ryan]

So it's going to swing back. So based on that, it inevitably does swing back. Right.

[Dan Le Batard]

I don't.

[Mike Ryan]

And then what do you say when it swings back? Not just in like, yeah, the other party is now running the country. It's not going to be that. It's going to be, man, these trials are grim. I mean, potentially it is like, oh man. Under his watch. That's what was allowed that. That's why those files were never released. He's the one that you definitely want the photographs that you yucking it up and chugging beers with that guy. I mean, six months or six years

[Amin Elhassan]

from now, I'm sure there are some players in that locker room that feel some type of way about it and wish they weren't put in that position,

[Mike Ryan]

but you can't say anything about it. That's what I'm getting.

[Amin Elhassan]

The implication is you have to let Kash Patel in. You have to roll with it, even if you're not comfortable because being against it causes a scene. And then what you're hoping for to not be your situation, you've just projected onto your teammates, onto the general manager, onto all the staffers that probably really love this.

[Ethan]

That's also the difference between what happened at the beginning of the Olympics, which is all of these American Olympians expressing concern about what's happening here, and getting on by the Vice President of the United States as individuals. There is a big difference between standing up in a team environment when, say, 75%, even if we, if we want to be generous toward, you know, the group of guys who wouldn't have been so happy with what's going on there. Say it's 75% of your, your clubhouse, your locker room is cool with what's going on. It's tough to be the dissenting voice in that situation after you've celebrated, you're with your teammates. It's, you don't want to be that guy. But it is, when you listen to. It's not just, hey, the president is calling. Of course the president is going to call. That makes a lot of sense for the president to call after a big moment like that on a huge stage in a rivalry game for something that hasn't been done since 1980. It's the fact that halfway through, he's cracking jokes about having to invite the women, who probably doesn't want to invite because he thinks they're too old and

[Amin Elhassan]

they had the better tournament. Like, they played exceptionally better than the US Men. I mean, they only allowed two goals during the entire tournament. And, oh, I'm going to. I'm going to have to invite them to the White House, otherwise I get impeached.

[Dan Le Batard]

No, no, this goes back to the Doc Rivers press conference laugh. It's like you got. This is someone who, of power and authority, who we've got to be on good terms with. So I'm going to laugh even if the joke isn't funny.

[Mike Ryan]

But when it's. But when it. I'm telling you, man, when it is about wrapping yourself in Old Glory. And if you push back on that, while it's a completely valid thing to observe, Roy, that, man, that's a weird crack to make against the women who are a dynasty in their sport to make that crack. But if you bring that up, you're going to hear from people about. You can't. Why are you such a snowflake, Roy? Why can't you get behind. This is a great moment for the country.

[Dan Le Batard]

I want to go back to the.

[Mike Ryan]

Is the reaction. I'm not saying. I'm not. I'm living in the world that exists, not the one that I.

[Amin Elhassan]

Then I will have to deal with it. I'm going to surprise you. Like, for me, this one didn't even register on the threshold of, like, wow, the politics is really ruining this moment. Maybe it's because the moment was so unprecedented in my lifetime. Maybe it was something that we were chasing for so long. I truly. Or maybe it's because I built up a little bit of a callous like Cash Patel. It ain't going to really register with me now. You know, Chelsea, Chelsea, Club World cup on the stage, Donald Trump being there presenting the championship and being in team photos. I'm like, this one's making it difficult, I think, when. When you consider the balance of how much politics has been injected into sports. Yeah, I wasn't crazy about the looks and of that video, especially the shot that he took at the women's team. But all in all, I'm like, this one, we can. We can survive this one, we can enjoy sports still. And it's a shame that, you know, I understand why a lot of people don't feel that way.

[Mike Ryan]

I agree with you. Obviously, I agree with that sentiment. What I'm saying is, is it going to put a stink on those guys, given what may go down in the next year or three Forecast. Yeah.

[Amin Elhassan]

I don't think this administration's going to age particularly well.

[Mike Ryan]

It's not like Obama was in the locker room yucking it up. Like, I can't believe I was with Obama after what we now know about Obama. Obama.

[Amin Elhassan]

It's part of, you know, the Josh Pate thing that we discussed last week. I was just like, as a Josh Pate fan, as a fan of that show, I'm also a little bummed. Like, dude, are you sure you want to do this? You want.

[Dan Le Batard]

But you know why he's doing it and have a. You know why.

[Amin Elhassan]

I know what his intentions were. I know what he said, what he advertised this interview in terms of, like, what it was going to be about. It was going to be an nil discussion about college football. And the president certainly has opinions there and has power to do something about it.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's not about that. It's not about that. It's the same reason all those comedy podcasts had them on before the election. It's not about. A lot of people falsely say, oh, these guys are all mag. I'm like, they're not. They just want the views you have the president on. It is a massive boost regardless whether people love him or hate him, regardless of whether your fan base loves that president, hates that president. It is a massive thing. And we live in a time where that economy of attention is more important than ever and reaches to a grassroots level. It used to be there were the gatekeepers, and we always talk about gatekeepers in a bad way, like, oh, stop gatekeeping. But the reality is it also insulates the individuals from that impulse of just anything for attention. But now that we've removed the gatekeeping of broadcast television networks and all that stuff, and it's literally any guy with a camera and a microphone, if I have the right connections, I can get the guest on. And now my show can be a thing. At that point, your boy Josh Pate is not thinking, oh, wait, does this, Am I Sports Washington? He's thinking about, oh my God, this is it.

[Mike Ryan]

That's right.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is how we crack over with Pardon my take and LeBatard show and Bill Simmons pod. That's how I break through.

[Mike Ryan]

And Football America.

[Producer/Announcer]

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[Dan Le Batard]

willing to do a Trump or a Biden.

[Amin Elhassan]

That's not true, Dan.

[Dan Le Batard]

Okay, Tony, you can catch a thousand impersonations.

[Amin Elhassan]

That's not bad, man.

[Ethan]

Terrible.

[Amin Elhassan]

Pretty good. St. Yours is terrible.

[Dan Le Batard]

You just got to get a little

[Amin Elhassan]

redder, a little pinker.

[Mike Ryan]

You're right there, man.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yours is not that. You're biting me.

[Mike Ryan]

What do you mean?

[Amin Elhassan]

Oh, his is good.

[Ethan]

That's actually not bad.

[Amin Elhassan]

Not terrible.

[Ethan]

That's not terrible.

[Amin Elhassan]

We gotta come together. Little Southern, little George Bush in that one. This is the D. Lebatar show with the st. I get it, and I understand why people applied that scrutiny on the on the front end. I wanted to believe Josh Pate when he said, this is not gonna be a political discussion. I'm gonna ask him about nil and college football and how we shape that. I listened to the interview this morning on my. On my way was shorter than I thought. Pate actually explained why the president. He said things changed with the schedule. And I will say that it wasn't a political discussion. I think Peyton. Now, I don't know how much was edited, but there was one moment where Trump patted himself on the back about the job that he did with Venezuela. But even for Trump, who meanders and rambles a lot, like, he didn't inject a lot of that into the conversation, there also wasn't college football. It was actually really embarrassing because there was one soft toss to the president, like, what would you do about this? And he started rambling about how the Gamecocks are good and the NFL Kickoff Rule, and it was just bad.

[Dan Le Batard]

Like, he's really hot on that NFL Kickoff rule.

[Amin Elhassan]

All he talks about, he was playing his football hits. But then, like, the very next question is like, you know, what'd you talk about on the golf trip? And he blew up Urban Meyer spot, who said it was a bipartisan conversation about. About college football. Instead, like, Trump was like, yeah, they were asking me about Iran, which was funny, but there was nothing there in terms of substantial nil opinion. Did you think there was going to be? I thought so after Josh Pate taped it and said that's what the conversation was going to be. I have the full list of nine questions here. It was more like, hey, how do you hire the people that you hire? What have you learned about being president twice? The Lincoln Bedroom story. Tell me about that. So at the end of it, we got an interview that no doubt will raise Josh Pate's profile, a profile that is. Well, that's ascending.

[Mike Ryan]

I am curious about that because like I just said to Roy, you've got to live in the world that exists, not the one you wish were true. And I feel like a lot of the people that I've seen online going at Josh Pate in advance of this, were kind of hoping this is going to. It's going to damage your career. He also dismissed, like Amin just said, oh, no, Josh Pate understood this is going to enhance my.

[Dan Le Batard]

I've never heard of Josh Payton until this page.

[Amin Elhassan]

Also dismissed the critiques that he got from people on that side of the aisle saying, how are you normalizing this person? He dismissed a lot of those criticisms as criticisms generated by bots, which wasn't the greatest look. Also not how the bots are working lately. But, yeah, Trump got what he Wanted, too, which was a sports platform, normalizing him and bringing an audience to Josh Pate. And all in all, I.

[Mike Ryan]

And you're a snowflake if you complain about that arrangement. That's my point.

[Amin Elhassan]

Right.

[Mike Ryan]

You cannot make noise about that or cash Patel or otherwise, or be attacked by a large percentage of the country as being soft or a snowflake or unpatriotic.

[Amin Elhassan]

But it didn't achieve anything other than that. Just maybe. And to the skepticism that Amin is applying to it, maybe that was the goal at the end of the day, but it was just. It was a bad interview with a rambling, meandering interview subject that actually didn't know anything about college football and didn't have anything to say on the matter. And Josh Pate didn't accomplish what he set out to do in terms of the gambit of we're gonna have an nil discussion. And that's why you take the president on. This guy is very powerful when it comes to reshaping the sport. And you didn't get any of that.

[Dan Le Batard]

He could have on himself for 22 minutes, literally, as long as he said, I got President Trump on. That's all it is about, man.

[Mike Ryan]

And by the way, Trump does get something out of that. Beyond that, like all the brocasts, the comedy brocasts from last year, two years ago, he did to the people he wants to play to, specifically in Georgia, talking about how Gunner's a great QB and he loves Gunner and he loves Nick Saban. Gunner's a great QB and he loves Herb. Well, mission accomplished then. Yes, he played the greatest hits there.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah. There's a reason why they picked the varsity in Atlanta, Georgia playing in that state, which is an important state for the midterms, and there's a reason why they pick Josh Pates.

[Mike Ryan]

But the bottom line, what's most important, though, is that we make sure we separate sports and politics. Do you see this? The last 10 minutes of conversation have fed entirely what the stated thing, you people with your taking a knee during the night.

[Dan Le Batard]

We got.

[Mike Ryan]

Why can't we. We want an escape, don't you know, from the real world. That's why we watch sports. And the last 10 minutes of this show and a lot of the conversation since that gold medal game is about Cash Patel's presence in the dressing room and so on.

[Amin Elhassan]

This is a lot of politics on the show today, even for me.

[Dan Le Batard]

Am I to believe that they did this at the varsity on North Ave.

[Mike Ryan]

They did believe it.

[Dan Le Batard]

Let me tell you right now, as a Georgia Tech alumni.

[Amin Elhassan]

I don't think it's the one in North Ave. It was in Rome. It was in Rome, Georgia.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, that's Atlanta. Metro guys. Probably worse.

[Amin Elhassan]

It was not on North Ave. So it was in Rome.

[Dan Le Batard]

I went to the varsity at North. Everyone who goes to Georgia Tech as a freshman, you're like, you gotta go eat at the varsity, man. That's what we do. You go. You're like, oh, my God, I gotta go eat at the varsity. Eat at the varsity. And then you realize your bowels are JV because you are going to be yourself for days.

[Ethan]

Not good.

[Dan Le Batard]

It is not good. Sorry. It's bad if you work at the varsity. My bad. But no, it's. Everyone knows.

[Amin Elhassan]

It's just close by.

[Dan Le Batard]

You go once, you go once and you never go again. Everyone I went to school with, you go once, you never go again.

[Mike Ryan]

Ramla Rack from Georgia Tech.

[Dan Le Batard]

Hell of an engineer.

[Amin Elhassan]

Something.

[Dan Le Batard]

I drink my whiskey clear. I'm a rambling, gambling. Hell of an engineer.

[Mike Ryan]

Hey, Bruce Dalrymple. Mark Price. John Salley. Right?

[Dan Le Batard]

Give me a Little Lethal Weapon 3 there, if you can. Can you. Can you give me a little Lethal. No.

[Amin Elhassan]

Bobby Crimmins.

[Dan Le Batard]

Kenny Anderson. Oh, no, Dennis.

[Amin Elhassan]

Oh.

[Mike Ryan]

Kenny Anderson is. I don't know why we're talking about this. In February of 2026, Kenny Anderson still in the conversation for the best single season I've ever seen a college basketball player have of any player. He was point guard. He was. That you see with your own eyes

[Amin Elhassan]

because Pete Maravich had three seasons.

[Mike Ryan]

I didn't see Pete Maravich.

[Amin Elhassan]

I didn't know how old you were.

[Mike Ryan]

I'm not 81 years young. My goodness.

[Amin Elhassan]

Tony.

[Mike Ryan]

Pete Marovich. Sheesh.

[Dan Le Batard]

What was Oscar like at Cincinnati?

[Mike Ryan]

Now that. That was a basketball player. Triple double ever, every night.

[Dan Le Batard]

Except back then we called them three twos because we didn't have words like triple or double.

[Mike Ryan]

What are.

[Ethan]

What are the great college basketball seasons in recent memory? Jeremy just said kemba.

[Dan Le Batard]

Kevin Love. Kevin Love that one year. Michael Beasley.

[Amin Elhassan]

How recent is recent? What are the rules? 25 years.

[Ethan]

You know it.

[Mike Ryan]

Entry.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah. Mello.

[Ethan]

Mello is OD, obviously, right at the top.

[Amin Elhassan]

Ben Simmons had an incredible season. He was just not that good. The team wasn't good.

[Dan Le Batard]

Iverson. Iverson. Yeah. Iverson, sophomore year.

[Mike Ryan]

Chris Jackson.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, that's a good one.

[Mike Ryan]

At lsu.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's a good one.

[Mike Ryan]

And he. You know, that's one of those ones that, when you look back, how do. It's sort of like when you look at some of those Clemson teams. That never got over in football. LSU had Stanley Roberts, Chris Jackson, Shaquille o' Neal, and Shaq.

[Producer/Announcer]

Yep.

[Dan Le Batard]

How did that.

[Mike Ryan]

Why was that? Why did they go undefeated? Why didn't they just beat everybody by 98 points every night? It's crazy.

[Dan Le Batard]

Because Dale Brown was a bag man and not a coach. That's why. Shout out Coach Brown.

[Ethan]

I can think of one more. Sally Untouch.

[Amin Elhassan]

He's going to win MVP of the day of the year.

[Mike Ryan]

All right. I thought we were wrapping up there. I'm sorry. I was looking at the clock there. I thought saying Saliento ju was. Was a good way to go out.

[Amin Elhassan]

Nailed it.