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- [00:02]
Dan Le Batard
You're listening to giraffkings Network.
- [00:12]
Stugotz
You know that sound? It's the sound of money hitting your Venmo account. A friend paying you back. Or maybe it's getting cash back from your favorite business when you pay with the Venmo debit card. Or it's realizing you can pay with Venmo at checkout at thousands of brands. Now there are so many more ways to answer the question, what's your Venmo? Download Venmo today. The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A. pursuant to license by MasterCard International Incorporated. DOSH cashback terms apply. You know that sound? It's the sound of money hitting your Venmo account. A friend paying you back. Or maybe it's getting cash back from your favorite business when you pay with the Venmo debit card. Or it's realizing you can pay with Venmo at checkout at thousands of brands. Now there are so many more ways to answer the question, what's your Venmo? Download Venmo today.
- [01:02]
Ron McGill
Thanks.
- [01:02]
Stugotz
The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A. pursuant to license by MasterCard International, Inc. DOSH cashback terms apply.
- [01:11]
Tony
This is the Dan Levator show with the Stugats podcast.
- [01:43]
Ron McGill
All right, coming in to meet the legendary Tony here at the legendary Arbiters, baby. Tony. Tony, man, how you doing?
- [01:50]
Mike
Good to see you, Ron.
- [01:51]
Greg
This is hollow grounds.
- [01:52]
Ron McGill
It is hollow ground.
- [01:54]
Greg
Your name is on the wall.
- [01:55]
Ron McGill
Well, you know, what?
- [01:56]
Greg
Did you pay for it?
- [01:57]
Ron McGill
I spent a lot of time here, man. High school days. This was the stomping grounds. We come in here and we rag on the Columbus guys.
- [02:02]
Greg
Where'd you go to high school?
- [02:03]
Ron McGill
Miami. Palmetto. Palmetto.
- [02:04]
Greg
Okay. We're already bitter rivals from the beginning because I'm a killing guy.
- [02:07]
Ron McGill
Oh, big cat trophy. I'll have you say that I won it every year that I went to school. Really?
- [02:11]
Greg
I didn't win it once. The reason why Tim Hardaway Jr. Stopped me every single time. Can you take us back to the beginning?
- [02:18]
Billy
Yeah.
- [02:19]
Ron McGill
I was born and raised in New York City. My father was Cuban, my mother from Colombian descent. My first language was Spanish. And I purposely forgot Spanish. I was looking. Yeah. Yeah. I purposely forgot it because I just thought that was. That was, like, a bad label for me because it gave people a reason to make fun of me. Right. I never played a sport in my life. Okay. It wasn't until in high school that the coach pulled me out of the hallway and said, hey, Ryan, you're Gonna play basketball. And I laughed at him. I said, they're like, have you seen me walk? I mean, come on. It's ridiculous. And we went to the tryouts. You know, you look through the tryouts, and then they'll pin up the people who make the team on the list. And I go up there, and then I see my name on the list. I see these guys who didn't make it, and then I'm ridiculed even more.
- [02:56]
Greg
Right, you got there because you're tall.
- [02:58]
Ron McGill
I got there because I was tall, you know, and I went up to the coach and said, coach, you're killing. I don't even want to be on this team. It's just making things worse for me. I don't forget what he told me he said at the time, because I was so tall. He said, ron, you can't coach height. It's true.
- [03:11]
Greg
I still can't, by the way.
- [03:12]
Ron McGill
I'm going to take the time and invest in you. And that coach, he's probably the single most important person in my life outside of my immediate family.
- [03:19]
Greg
How did you get from the trajectory of good at school playing sports, giving you the confidence in sports? Left turn, animals. Like, where did that come from?
- [03:28]
Ron McGill
Animals were the focus from the very beginning. The left turn was sports was getting to be accepted into society. When I was a kid, there was one show, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, and there were two co hosts in that show. There's a guy named Marlon Perkins, another guy named Jim Fowler. Jim was the guy who did the crazy stuff. I mean, Jim was jumping out of helicopters on top of caribou. He was, you know, rappelling down mountains, grabbing condors with one hand. I saw the guy catch a jaguar in the Amazon with a throw net. I'm like, that's what I want to do. I want to be that guy. And when you have a job, if you love doing what you do, you're really not going to work.
- [04:02]
Greg
Yeah.
- [04:02]
Ron McGill
And I mean, that's the reason why I've been at the zoo for over 44 years, is because, dude, I. You know, when you get paid to do things that people pay to do, you know, I just got back from two weeks in Africa.
- [04:12]
Greg
Yeah, an incredible trip.
- [04:14]
Ron McGill
I mean, I've traveled around the world.
- [04:16]
Greg
So you go from working with other animals in a capacity that lands you on Salo Gigante with Don Francisco.
- [04:21]
Ron McGill
It's true. I was literally at the zoo as a zookeeper, walking in the normal day, a normal day. And I was doing, I think, a presentation about an animal. And this guy, Don Francisco, who I don't know who. I have no clue who he is, right? He comes up to me, and it's kind of a heavy accent. He goes, I would like you to be on my show. I said, okay, they will watch your show. He goes, I have a show out of Chile, and I'd like you to be on my show. I go, okay, it's an English right? He goes, no, no, in Spanish. I go, well, I don't really speak a lot of Spanish. He goes, no, no, I teach you.
- [04:53]
Greg
And nobody in your family spoke Spanish?
- [04:55]
Ron McGill
My father. My mother always spoke Spanish. So I heard it, okay, But I didn't speak it. I literally put it in the back burner. And he goes, I'll teach you. I had no idea what this show was. I got home, I told my parents, I said, listen, this guy, Don Francisco. Don Francisco.
- [05:11]
Greg
It's like Big Francisco.
- [05:13]
Ron McGill
This guy is like the D. Number one Hispanic television star in the world. And I'm like, what? So he invites me on the show. I don't even. I tried to do some research on the show. There was a whole lot of Internet and stuff back then, you know. And the thing comes across to me like a combination of let's Make a Deal, the Gong Show, Oprah, Phil Donahue and some other crap. I'll put together 13 hours of insanity, okay? There's a bunch of girls out there that doing the coochie coochie dance. And there's stuff going on in the show that would never pass on American television. You know, you got women that are really very scantly clad. So it was just one of those things. I went, oh, my gosh. But that guy became the greatest mentor I've ever had when it comes to television, when it comes to the public. And he taught me something that's so very important, that is never take yourself too seriously. And there's so many of us, even in my profession, especially in my profession, where they get all hung up on things, you know? One of the things I've learned on Dan's show is that, Dan, you gotta learn to laugh at yourself, man. Because if you don't laugh at yourself, you're not enjoying life. And don't force me that. He goes, look at me, Ron. Every Saturday, I go out there and I make a total jackass out of myself. And it's true, he did. He put on these goofy hats. He'd do these stupid dances. He looked like an idiot, but he was making people happy. He always wanted me to Kiss the models. He had the models come over and go. I go, no, no, no. I always show my ring. And that was part of his shtick.
- [06:33]
Greg
How did you, again, not speaking Spanish, go to an all Spanish show?
- [06:36]
Ron McGill
He would talk to me and wait for me to screw up. I would try. I would say a word. I would never say it right. He goes. And that became part of the shtick of the show, right? Chilean accepted. He would tell me after I started improving my Spanish, he would literally say, don't approve it too much. I'm not inviting you back. The stick of the show is to make fun of your Spanish, right? And he would go. Afterwards, he'd go in his dressroom. He goes, high five. He goes, that's what we want to do. We want to have that kind of rapport. Back and forth.
- [07:55]
Greg
You've been recognized in a lot of places. What's the most special place to you.
- [08:00]
Ron McGill
That you've been recognized? For me, I guess the most special place is Cuba, the homeland of my father. I went back there doing some conservation work against the backlash of county officials who gave me all kinds of shit about it. And I was very thankful to a Herald columnist who defended me. Fabiola Santiago defended me. She said, he's going there for conservation. Conservationists. You know, the animals in Cuba are not Democrats, Republicans, or Congress. They're political. They're part of the heritage of all of us. Anyway, to make a long story short, I'll never forget, I go into Little Havana. So I'm walking down the streets of Little Havana. People are yelling my name, Tony from the balconies. People are coming down the stairs, and they're coming, and they're giving me food they don't have, Tony. They're offering me things that they don't have in their own house. They just want to take a picture, picture. And I go. And they go, el Paquete. I go, el paquete? What the hell is El Paquete? They got this whole business over there, Tony, where they had these thumb drives, and these guys are like little Blockbuster Video stores, little incognito in the corners, where they had the thumb drives, where these people are, like, pirating the show. They get it to these guys, and then they rent out the thumb drives. And people watch some of the guys every single Saturday part of La Pate. It's all over Cuba. I mean, when they say the Cubans resolve always, I mean, it's unbelievable. I look at the cars. I went, the old cars. I'm going, oh, my God, that's Beautiful, classic. I want to have it. Let me look at the engine. I open up the hood. It's like a bore engine. Exactly. Put together with rubber bands and paper clips from all kinds of different engines. These people are so ingenious in what they do. It was so rewarding to me because I got to be honest with you, Tony, I'd never been to Cuba. And I remember my father, who had since passed away, thinking he was New York. When I went to New York under little Cuba, that's the way he spoke. When I went into Cuba, I realized, no, he was Cuba. I saw my father's face in every one of those faces. When they came to me and said all this stuff, these are all the terms my father used to use. I said, wow, this is where my roots are here, Tony. They would invite me into their little bodegas and give me food and they wouldn't not take my payment. I had to throw the money at them. How can you do that when I know you're strong? When you have nothing, you have nothing, you have nothing. And that makes me proud, makes me proud of my heritage. So that's probably the most meaningful to me now as the most surprising recognizability of the sabo. He got the show, that guy Jim Fowler on Wild Kingdom. He became one of my biggest mentors. Wow.
- [10:37]
Greg
It's like meeting Dan. So like the same way that you have that with Jim Crow, where you're sitting there watching TV as a kid, I have that same moment where Dan, where I'm watching him on PTI or whatever and I'm looking at him and then now all these years later, we're.
- [10:51]
Ron McGill
Working together, you're part of the crew.
- [10:52]
Greg
And he's. And he's one of my mentors, one.
- [10:54]
Ron McGill
Of the most down to earth guys. And he's the one who taught me all this stuff. And of course he was a huge international star. So I asked him to go down with me to Panama to work on this Harp Eagle project. And we had to go way into the rainforest in the Darien, which is on the border of Panama and Colombia. It's not a very safe area, but it's incredible forest.
- [11:10]
Greg
A lot of people.
- [11:11]
Ron McGill
Exactly.
- [11:11]
Tony
A lot of bad.
- [11:12]
Ron McGill
A lot of bad people doers there. So we had to take a dugout canoe for four hours down the river to get to this village of these indigenous people. I mean, these people living in the forest. Like no electricity, no nothing in the forest. Women, bare breasted, stuff like that. So I got the GPS to go there and Jim's with me. After four hours, we finally get to the riverbank where the village is, and. And the chief comes out. Guy just in, literally, a loincloth. He's wearing nothing else. From a movie. From a movie. This is the same thing as in a movie. Comes up. He looks at me, and he goes, roma ghib. You're like. And I'm not. Now I'm sure I'm being caught. Now I'm sure there's a candy camera here. What's going on here? And Jim looks. Oh, come on. I'm the one who's being punked here because Jim's the international star. I paid this guy to do this. Ron McGill. And who's Jim Fowler, right? And I realized he goes, we walk with this guy into the village. As we're walking in the village, they got a television set up there that's rigged in one way or another to a car battery with a satellite dish. And they rig it in such a way that every Saturday, it was like movie night for the entire village. Salvador Higano.
- [12:30]
Greg
Oh, my God.
- [12:31]
Ron McGill
Tony. One of the greatest rewards I've had in my career was they couldn't believe that I was there because they see me on this show. And then I said, let's. Let's make a video, you guys. And when I got back, I showed it to Don, and he put it on the show, and they saw their own video. And to this day, that village is the most famous village in Panama because through are the indigenous people that were on Salvante. Wow. And it was just. And. And that was. It was a great reflection on Don Francisco, too, because he said, this is what my show is all about. Yeah. This is what my show is all. And this shows you how we can connect, you know? So for me, listen, dude, I have lived such a surreal life. I say this.
- [13:06]
Billy
Really have.
- [13:06]
Ron McGill
I'm not.
- [13:07]
Greg
I'm not saying that to Blue Smoke.
- [13:08]
Ron McGill
Like, Tony lived an incredible life, except for you kicking my ass in basketball. But anyway, other than that, you know, the bottom line is, if I stepped out of here and died, no one should shed a tear for me, because I have lived way beyond any dream I could have ever imagined. I've got incredible wife, incredible kids, incredible friends. You know, I say it. I've said it on the show. My favorite saying in the world is that life is not measured by the number of breaths that we take. It's measured by the number of times your breath is taken away.
- [13:35]
Greg
Yeah.
- [13:35]
Ron McGill
Breathtaking moments define the quality of your life.
- [13:38]
Greg
Thank you, man. Thank you so much.
- [13:41]
Ron McGill
Hand me a hot dog.
- [13:53]
Greg
Thank you for watching Tony tonight.
- [14:00]
Stugotz
You know that sound? It's the sound of money hitting your Venmo account. A friend paying you back. Or maybe it's getting cash back from your favorite business when you pay with the Venmo debit card. Or it's realizing you can pay with Venmo at checkout at thousands of brands. Now there are so many more ways to answer the question. What's your Venmo? Download Venmo. Today the Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A. pursuant to license by MasterCard International Incorporated. DOSH cashback terms apply.
- [14:30]
Dan Le Batard
When you think about businesses that are selling through the roof, like Mattel, Heinz or Skims. Sure, you think about a great product, a cool brand and brilliant marketing. But an often overlooked secret is actually the business behind the business making and selling. And for shoppers, buying simple. For millions of businesses, that business is Shopify. No one does selling better than Shopify. Home of the number one checkout on the planet. And the not so secret secret with shop pay that boosts conversions up to 50%, meaning way less carts going abandoned and way more sales going. So if you're into growing your business, your commerce platform better be ready to sell wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling on the web, in your store, in their feedback feed, and everywhere in between. Businesses that sell more sell on Shopify. Upgrade your business and get the same checkout Heinz uses. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com, all lowercase go to shopify.com butard to upgrade your selling today. Shopify.com.
- [15:31]
Stugotz
You know that sound? It's the sound of money hitting your Venmo account. A friend paying you back. Or maybe it's getting cash back from your favorite business when you pay with the Venmo debit card. Or it's realizing you can pay with Venmo at checkout at thousands of brands. Now there are so many more ways to answer the question, what's your Venmo? Download Venmo. Today the Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A. pursuant to license by Mastercard International Incorporated. Dosh cashback terms apply.
- [16:00]
Chris Cody
Don Lebatard the elephant went into a 711 and bought a pack of cigarettes. But my question to Ron is this Stugach.
- [16:08]
Billy
That joke didn't really land the way you wanted it to, did it? We all just stared it all.
- [16:13]
Tony
This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugach.
- [16:28]
Unknown
That's right. It's time for against the Spread. And it's brought to you by our friends at DraftKings. DraftKings. The Crown is yours. Mike, kick us off.
- [16:39]
Mike
Headed out to the ice. I like the way that the Washington Capitals have bounced after this four nations break. Alexander Ovechkin with a Hattie in his last game.
- [16:48]
Ron McGill
Bounce back.
- [16:49]
Billy
They bounce back. You're happy how they bounced back?
- [16:51]
Mike
No, I liked how they bounced on that thing.
- [16:53]
Billy
Okay.
- [16:54]
Ron McGill
All right.
- [16:54]
Mike
Yeah. Calgary Flames coming over from. From Canada. It's a road trip. And honestly, the Capitals are just playing really good hockey. I'm a fan of them. They're probably gonna get cursed by the President's cup curse. It's looking that way, but I like them tonight. Minus one, not a Trump curse. The President's Cup. It's a thing.
- [17:10]
Dan Le Batard
No, the Trump Cup. It was the Biden Cup.
- [17:13]
Tony
Is it no longer the Biden Cup? Does it change names?
- [17:16]
Ron McGill
Wouldn't it?
- [17:17]
Dan Le Batard
It's the President.
- [17:17]
Tony
Well, it was invented under minus 1 and a half.
- [17:20]
Mike
CAPS. Again, the spread.
- [17:23]
Tony
Billy, bring us home. I'm gonna take the Ducks plus one and a half against the Sabres. The Sabres are in last place in their conference. Now, granted, they had a big win against the Rangers last game. 8 2. And they would have covered against the Preds also, where they won 64 if that was a one and a half point spread. But I'm 20 when I go Ducks this year, so.
- [17:44]
Billy
One and a half goal, not point. One and a half goal.
- [17:47]
Tony
No, there's points in hockey.
- [17:49]
Mike
It's a goal.
- [17:50]
Tony
And then there's minuses in the.
- [17:51]
Mike
It's a puck line.
- [17:52]
Tony
Okay, I'm sorry. Bouncing on over here.
- [17:54]
Stugotz
Anyways, I had your back.
- [17:55]
Tony
Yes. Geez Louise. Ducks fly together. I'm going to take the Anaheim Ducks today plus one and a half against the Buffalo Sabres against the spring.
- [18:05]
Mike
I like how they bounce after the All Star break. Nice little performance against Boston. They're actually not a bunch of points in the playoff standings.
- [18:13]
Tony
Yeah.
- [18:13]
Billy
I liked it better when Tony and Ron McGill were not friends. I liked it better when they were enemies and Ron was blocking his shot. But I do like that Tony celebrated. One of our most popular guests ever. And it is happy birthday to him. I don't care. Good luck. 65 years old, Ron McGill. Is that today? Is it this week? What are we celebrating? Are we celebrating you today? Greg, go ahead and pick up your thermos. Good work by you.
- [18:47]
Ron McGill
We were never enemies. Tony and I were never enemies. We were competitors.
- [18:52]
Billy
I mean, I got old okay, well, yeah, you haven't played basketball in a while. Is this your birthday today?
- [18:58]
Ron McGill
It's Friday, actually.
- [19:00]
Billy
Okay, well, happy birthday. This week we will. We will celebrate it here with you. How are you feeling your age? Are you feeling vibrant? Are you feeling decrepit?
- [19:09]
Ron McGill
Well, I'm no longer playing basketball, which kind of sucks, but, you know, listen, I wanted to stop before I, you know, ruptured an Achilles, blew out a knee, did something that would be horrible to try to recuperate from at my elderly age.
- [19:23]
Billy
Can you, can you walk us through here, Ron? What it is that you're most excited about coming up in your travels? Because I don't know how much more traveling you intend to do to foreign and exotic locales, and I don't know what's left on the bucket list either.
- [19:38]
Ron McGill
Well, I'm going back to the Galapagos in May, which is going to be a great trip. To Galapagos is always a great adventure. Then I'm taking that big expedition to Australia in June where we're doing the documentary with wplg, you know, Christy Krueger. And then I'm taking the family to Patagonia, Chile, Argentina, the glaciers, everything out there in October. So it's a busy year.
- [20:00]
Billy
Billy, you offered very little there.
- [20:02]
Tony
Just warning, be careful in Australia if you want to get to 66, you.
- [20:05]
Billy
Know what I mean, here in a second.
- [20:07]
Tony
What are you talking about, Ron? I mean, geez Louise, you guys had a dinner the other day that you put up all these pictures, and we're celebrating you today. It's not until actually Friday. Like, that's birthday, birth week, birth month.
- [20:17]
Stugotz
What is this?
- [20:18]
Ron McGill
Guys, guys, I prefer not to celebrate the day at all.
- [20:21]
Tony
Oh, I know.
- [20:21]
Ron McGill
We can tell my wife put together, and in hindsight, I'm really glad she did because some of my closest friends were there, and I didn't think all these people would travel from different corners of the place to, to come to this wonderful get together that we had. And I felt very privileged that I had so many good friends there. So I was a great surprise. But normally I don't celebrate my birthday. I don't. You know, I think once you get over 40, those, those birthday things are done.
- [20:43]
Mike
Do you feel fortunate that your birthday landed on the 28th and not on le.
- [20:47]
Ron McGill
Yeah, I missed it by half an hour, Mike.
- [20:49]
Mike
Wow.
- [20:50]
Ron McGill
What do you do then? Well, you know, then what? I'm six or five. Whatever that's gonna be, you know, not the math. Sixteen.
- [20:58]
Tony
Not even close. But that's fine. He's an animal guy.
- [21:01]
Dan Le Batard
Wow, Chris Cody just schooled you on math.
- [21:03]
Billy
I mean, it's not fun.
- [21:03]
Dan Le Batard
That's a tough look.
- [21:04]
Mike
Ron, the largest shark ever tagged is now off the coast of Florida. Do you care to revisit what you have said about sharks? Showering them with praise? Defend your shark propaganda when they are actually death machines.
- [21:17]
Ron McGill
So, so, so Mike, let me ask you something. What does the fact that the largest shark that has been tagged is off the coast of Florida mean anything? He's here to. Has anybody proven that that largest shark has done any damage to anybody?
- [21:30]
Mike
No, but that's convenient because you don't know what lies beneath the surface. Like for example, in Australia they have an abnormal amount of drownings. Criminals and criminals. It seems as though they're kind of like trying to skirt the law a little bit, which does not play well into their reputation. But these drownings, how do you think that ends?
- [21:48]
Ron McGill
You know, Mike, you look at things through such a different lens all the time. You need to take the fogging off the lens. Australia is an incredible country. It's a great country. It's got phenomenal wildlife. Yes, seven out of every 10 snakes there are deadly. But how many people come across them?
- [22:06]
Mike
Ron, if you're in chest high water off the coast of North Florida and I say, Ron, the largest great white shark ever tagged is just a couple yards away from you. What are you doing?
- [22:18]
Ron McGill
I'm probably going to get out of the water.
- [22:19]
Mike
The defense rest really, Ron, I saw.
- [22:23]
Tony
A story, I saw a story of Turks and Caicos where a tourist like last week had her hands bitten off because she tried to take a picture with a shark in like very shallow water.
- [22:32]
Ron McGill
Well, what does that reflect on? You know, I'm so sorry she lost her hands. But listen, but common sense just isn't common anymore. And I don't know what's happening in this world. Right? And I think a lot of this stuff is being driven by the stupid social media. Don't get me started in the social media with these people putting their backs to alligator to take selfie. Trying to pet a freaking bison in Yellowstone. I'm tired of stupid. You can't fix stupid. The way you fix stupid is you get rid of it. And some of the animals are doing it for us.
- [22:59]
Tony
People have it coming is what you're saying.
- [23:01]
Ron McGill
Darwin's hand stupidness has its pitfalls.
- [23:05]
Billy
A woman lost both her hands to a shark.
- [23:08]
Mike
Yeah, yeah, but if that was a tuna, she'd have two hands because sharks are dangerous. The problem here is the shark people not the people.
- [23:15]
Unknown
How do you lose both hands? I feel like if there's a shark, I'm keeping my hands separate. You're not getting both of these things.
- [23:21]
Mike
Well, if you hold the phone the way Greg does.
- [23:25]
Billy
If you're just trying to take a picture of the shark, and then the shark eats both your hands and the phone.
- [23:30]
Mike
There's an age where the tipping point is to take a photo. You use both hands. You use both hands to also shine a light on your menu.
- [23:36]
Ron McGill
Yeah, this is a classic example of how social media has driven people to stupidity.
- [23:41]
Dan Le Batard
Ron, I have a question. If you remember something several years ago, our makeup artist revealed to me this morning that she met you at a Miami, sort of like children's animal festival several decades ago and asked you if the Chupacabra was real, and you gave her an assurance that no, it was, in fact, not real. Do you remember that?
- [24:00]
Ron McGill
I do remember that. You know, I became kind of a really bad guy there for a while, because back in the Chupacabra, I wish you wouldn't be phrasing things like several decades ago. It makes me sound like a fossil. But having said that, you know, when the Chupacabra craze started, it was all fun and games, and then all of a sudden, people started having rifles on their front porch and in the front of their house, and they were ready to shoot the Chupacabra. And that's when it became dangerous. Listen, you know, we got. We got the skunk ape. We got Bigfoot. None of these things have ever been, you know, accused of harming anything. We had the Chupacabra that was now killing livestock. It was killing animals. It was sucking the blood and sucking the organs out. People were afraid, and that was stupid. And this is all just playing on this fictional character that came up. I said, hey, listen, don't you guys find it coincidental that Chupacabra is only found in Hispanic neighborhoods? Is it a racist animal? Why is it only going to the Hispanic neighborhoods? Why isn't it found anywhere else? And where's the proof of this stuff? And then when I finally proved it, I said, listen, you know what the next animal that the Chupacabra kills did? You guys say, oh, look at the Chupacabra did here. It sucked all its blood out, took all its organs out. I want to take that animal live on television. We brought it on the. On the new news live. We cut it open at Jackson Memorial Hospital doing an ecropsy. And guess what? It was full of blood. It was full of its organs. And it showed that the two little bites on its neck were not a vampire, but a dog that had bitten it and strangled it and killed it that way. Because that's what dogs do when they become feral. All right? And then all of a sudden, all the people that were making money off of selling the bumper stickers about the Chupacabra and selling the T shirts of the Chupacabra, and the radio stations that had all the lyrics and sticks going on all of a sudden started losing all of their little clicks and attention because the Chupacabra was proven to be false.
- [25:36]
Billy
That's story. You eradicated the myth of the Chupacabra.
- [25:40]
Ron McGill
Personally, and I'm proud of it.
- [25:42]
Billy
That's unbelievable. How am I just learning this now? That Ron McGill proved forevermore ruined the myth of the Chupacabra. Ruined it by going to a hospital.
- [25:51]
Ron McGill
And providing proof on the 12 o'clock news. And one of the reporters got sick, vomited when we cut open the goat. And she saw the blood and the guts come out.
- [25:59]
Billy
That's great television. Great television, Ron.
- [26:02]
Ron McGill
It was great television. It was great talk. But it proved to these bulls who are all caught up in this. Oh, my God. You know, I remember when I first went out there, the police were out there, the news stations were out there, and I said, oh, no, no, this is. This. This dog. These are all dog tracks. And then, you know, unawela taba, she was over there on her porch. She goes, no. And all the cameras went right to her because here is this, you know.
- [26:28]
Billy
Well, she's saying in Spanish that the thing had giant wings and was breathing flames like y.
- [26:35]
Chris Cody
Probably was, Ron.
- [26:36]
Ron McGill
Yeah, well, they captioned that on that. That came on the news, and they put the little caption so they subtitled for her about, oh, my God. It had the right eyes and the big wings. And I saw it fly away myself with my own two eyes. It exists. So who's not going to believe Grandma Abuelita, okay? Instead of the goof, Ron McGill from the Zoo, who's trying to put some common sense into people. But no, common sense doesn't sell bumper stickers. It doesn't sell fear. It doesn't sell T shirts. So that's what they went with. That's the society we live in today. That's right, Daniel. That's right. Close your eyes and shake your head.
- [27:05]
Billy
That's exciting. I know.
- [27:06]
Ron McGill
Tribute to that crap.
- [27:07]
Billy
No, but he probably would be in.
- [27:08]
Ron McGill
One of the big giants.
- [27:09]
Dan Le Batard
He definitely did. I remember.
- [27:12]
Tony
Wings. Yeah.
- [27:13]
Mike
Related to the Chupacabra. If you had to bet on one of these mythical creatures that have been rumored to be in existence, like Nessie, Bigfoot. Yeah, the yeti, the Chupacabra, which do you think has the most compelling evidence? And if you had to bet on being the most real.
- [27:33]
Ron McGill
Yeah, it would have to be something in the ocean because we have not been able to explore the ocean. I mean, you know, we've done some, some minor exploration, but when you think about the capacity, the, the size of the ocean, the depth of the ocean, places that we have not been able to go, I wouldn't be surprised for some mythical beast. If you want to quote, unquote, Megalodon. Existing. Existing down. Yeah, existing down that low, you know, and a place that still has yet to be. Listen, we know less about the ocean than we know about the moon, guys. So in the ocean, I would have a much broader open mindedness regarding, you know, a mythical creature that could possibly still exist there.
- [28:10]
Chris Cody
Ron, you've been to Africa how many times? 50, 55?
- [28:14]
Ron McGill
54?
- [28:15]
Chris Cody
Okay, you know all about safari tours, the legality of it, the responsibility of it. What's your reaction to this headline? New Jersey man sues safari tour operator after rampaging hippo killed his wife in Africa.
- [28:28]
Ron McGill
Horrifically tragic. I feel terrible for that person. But anyone who goes to Africa, at least any responsible tour operator, makes it very clear. You sign a waiver that says, listen, you're going in with dangerous animals again. Guys, this is not the safari ride at Disney. You know, Dan knows that. Well, Dan's been next to me. Well, these animals come right next to us. If you don't act properly, if you get charged, these are things that can happen. Now Dan's probably thinking back. Hey, Ron, why don't you tell me this could have happened back then? I did tell you that could happen. Probably not going to happen, but it's a risk we take. It's a risk we take when we get in our car every day we drive, drive to work. How many people are getting killed every day on the road in car wrecks?
- [29:03]
Billy
Guys, it's not a risk that I'm going to be driving in my car and get hit by a buffalo. That's not a risk, Dan. I don't have that risk.
- [29:09]
Tony
Sounds like Ron said she had it coming. Also.
- [29:11]
Billy
That's also.
- [29:12]
Ron McGill
I did not say she had it coming.
- [29:14]
Tony
Yeah, you're an animal apologist. Like all these animals are out here murdering people and you're finding excuses why it's okay for all of Them a carver was fine. The sharks biting people. They deserve it.
- [29:25]
Ron McGill
Animals are defending themselves, defending their character, not sharks. People would stop threatening them.
- [29:30]
Tony
Sharks are invading our land.
- [29:32]
Chris Cody
Hippo does what a hippo does.
- [29:34]
Tony
Ever heard of land sharks?
- [29:36]
Ron McGill
Wow.
- [29:36]
Tony
Billy, fins up.
- [29:38]
Unknown
Ron.
- [29:39]
Tony
Ron, which animal would you like to kill? You?
- [29:41]
Unknown
We've done this. I think, with them.
- [29:44]
Ron McGill
If it had to be any animal, it'd probably be one of the big cats, a tiger, lion, because it just bite you in the neck and it's over very quickly.
- [29:49]
Unknown
Is that over quickly?
- [29:51]
Ron McGill
Let's talk about something better. Hey, hey, Mike, how about those Cyclones, brother? Whoosh, whoosh. How about those Cyclones? Whoosh.
- [29:57]
Mike
You saw. Did you watch yesterday?
- [30:00]
Ron McGill
I did not watch yesterday.
- [30:01]
Mike
We got a dub.
- [30:01]
Ron McGill
We won.
- [30:02]
Mike
We beat the defending champ, Chargers.
- [30:04]
Ron McGill
Those guys were rocking. Listen, you did a great job in that draft, brother. Those guys came back.
- [30:09]
Unknown
Hear that, Billy?
- [30:10]
Ron McGill
The Cyclones are for real.
- [30:12]
Unknown
They're back.
- [30:12]
Mike
You're an inyaki guy, huh? How about inyaki, number 69 in the program, but not 69 in your hearts?
- [30:18]
Ron McGill
Yeah, number one. It's fantastic to watch these guys play because finally they're playing some offense instead of this, you know, Bali back and forth, wait for somebody to make a stupid mistake. These guys are starting to take chances. They're going in at it. No more. Patty cake was great.
- [30:31]
Unknown
Ron, I want to play a game with you called animal cruelty or funny. It's a. We're at. We're at a horse ranch here, and there's a human wearing a horse head, and he takes it off, and the horse gets really scared and runs away. The horse thinks he's talking to a horse, and then the human takes off the mask, and then the horse says, hey, you're not a horse just runs away. Horrifying practical joke that animal cruelty or funny.
- [30:56]
Ron McGill
I'm going to. I'm going to lean towards cruelty.
- [30:57]
Unknown
Oh, come on.
- [30:58]
Stugotz
That's good.
- [30:58]
Billy
That's good comedy.
- [31:00]
Tony
That dumb horse. That's a unicorn head.
- [31:01]
Dan Le Batard
That horse should know the horse is in distress. Sad.
- [31:04]
Billy
So that's it, is it?
- [31:06]
Ron McGill
Got a little stress there. And anytime you stress out an animal for the sake of humor, I call that animal cruelty.
- [31:11]
Unknown
See, once again, I was defending animals.
- [31:13]
Billy
How about this. How about this video here of some birds you show? You tell me these birds are circling a tombstone here. Does this feel haunting to you? What's the same game?
- [31:23]
Stugotz
Animal cruelty?
- [31:24]
Ron McGill
No, these are turkeys that are kind of going after each other. It's part of this whole.
- [31:30]
Unknown
Oh, they're playing tag. It's the lamest game of tag ever.
- [31:33]
Chris Cody
How's Harris feel?
- [31:34]
Ron McGill
It's just. It's turkeys. Turkeys do these things. That's not animal cruelty. That's actually kind of funny because that's nothing that was inspired by us.
- [31:42]
Billy
Ron, happy birthday.
- [31:43]
Mike
It's a euphemism for the election.
- [31:45]
Billy
Thank you. Good seeing you, Ron. I do. I do enjoy Greg saying, how does Harris feel about that? I'm guessing that Harris doesn't love that his or her tombstone is circled by turkeys. Is being frolicked on by turkeys.
- [32:02]
Ron McGill
Ron. Hey, send me that graphic, man. I like that graphic. Thanks for working on that graphic. I like it. Send it to me so I can save it for my scrapbook.
- [32:08]
Tony
Thanks, Ron. First of all, happy birthday. Also, I was at the zoo the other day, and I don't mean to cause trouble for you or, you know, make people not want to go to the zoo, but I was in the aviary and there was a large bird that was like on the steps going up to, like, one of the levels in the aviary. And I was with my daughters and my wife and I was walking down. So I thought I'd be like the brave dad that just like walks past the bird. So it kind of like shoes away, flies away, whatever we can go. And it pecked at me and luckily I didn't get hurt because it pecked at my sock. But you have some out of control birds in that aviary. They're just pecking at people if they try to walk by when they're on the, you know, the walking path. What should I have done in that case?
- [32:45]
Ron McGill
Peck back, peck of dirt, you know, continue walking. It's not a fatal peck. Probably a little startling, but, you know, I'll write a memo and address the issue and see if we can have some kind of disciplinary action against that bird.
- [32:57]
Tony
All right.
- [32:58]
Unknown
I always sit out the bird aviary. I'm like, not for me. I'm good.
- [33:01]
Billy
Ron, good seeing you. More than 150 false killer whales have washed up on the coast of the Australian island state of Tasmania. What does that mean? None of them are expected to survive.
- [33:12]
Ron McGill
That's usually what happens when these whales beach themselves. There's something wrong either physically with them or something in the environment. It's almost like. It's almost like a form of suicide in a way. And, you know, it's a tragic thing, but these, these beachings with whales have happened across the millennium and nobody really knows why.
- [33:31]
Billy
A charming dismount.
- [33:32]
Ron McGill
Just thank you so much for that. Happy note to end on my.
- [33:35]
Tony
What's a false killer whale like accused but not convicted.
- [33:39]
Ron McGill
I'll talk to you guys next week.
- [33:40]
Billy
See you later, Ron. Good seeing you, as always.
- [33:45]
Mike
I wanted to ask him about the Luka Doncic defensive metrics. You see their third in defense since the acquisition. Who had that?
- [33:53]
Billy
That doesn't seem like something that would be sustainable.
- [33:57]
Mike
It's surprising that in this small sample, it's been third.
- [34:00]
Billy
Wouldn't everyone simply assume that if Luca and LeBron James at 40 are going to be on the court at the same time, it's going to be very hard to find any defenders in the world who are going to make that a good defense that you can't. That you can't hide. The oldest player in the league and. And everything that they did to Doncic that made Dallas decide, among other things, though, we can't have that playing defense in the final.
- [34:24]
Mike
I would say it would be impossible to hide for a game. They've. They've hit it for multiple games. I would have thought that there's plenty of places you could attack them. I want.
- [34:32]
Billy
I wanted to ask you guys something because I'm assuming. Now, I know defense has always done poorly in the NBA in terms of how it's measured by the novice, but I'm assuming when you have Anthony Davis, that you have a better chance of being good defensively than if you don't have Anthony Davis and the Lakers. I think everyone can agree with that, even if they don't know anything about defense. The thing I wanted to ask you about Anthony Davis is that if any of you have seen that he has a new show on Max. Anthony Davis foul play. It is a prank show about birds. It is not about birds.
- [35:13]
Unknown
Are you pranking me?
- [35:14]
Billy
I am not pranking you. There is a new show that I.
- [35:17]
Unknown
Assume had to be a playoff brow. Something I can't believe that it was.
- [35:20]
Billy
Off of, I'm assuming before he was traded to the Maps, I'm guessing this was all put together in some sort of production deal on the side with the Lakers. Hey, Anthony Davis, you've shown very little personality over your career. You want an entire prank show? Sure, we'll just. We'll just put your name on it, make people think that you're more famous than you actually are.
- [35:39]
Unknown
In his defense, we didn't really know much about Aston Kutcher before he did his prank show.
- [35:43]
Billy
Well, I want. The thing I wanted to ask you is. I don't feel like you can go wrong with a prank show. I feel if you give me a prank show, I'll watch it for nine minutes.
- [35:53]
Chris Cody
Sure.
- [35:54]
Billy
I'll give you one prank of a chance to get me with a prank show. A prank show always works.
- [36:00]
Unknown
Does it not feel like my dad could not host the.
- [36:04]
Billy
He's teaming up with impractical jokers. He is teaming up. That's part of what it is that they're doing on Max's foul play.
- [36:12]
Mike
I've done some digging and I found perhaps a player that you could pair with LeBron and Luka to make it a good defense. Now, they've been the number one scoring team and they've also had the number one defense over the last 17 games and they've been third since trading away Anthony Davis. However, there's this player, Jared Vanderbilt, who is essential to their defense because they have a defensive rating of 110.7 with him on the court, but one of 116 points without him on the court. So when he's on the court helping their defense, it certainly hides the. The issues that you would assume would be there with LeBron at 40 and Luka.
- [36:45]
Dan Le Batard
And he gets pranked in episode one, apparently. Do you think Anthony Davis thought that the trade was part of the prank show when he found out about it?
- [36:53]
Chris Cody
That's a good question.
- [36:53]
Unknown
Is this the pilot?
- [36:55]
Billy
I only saw episode one, so I don't know if there are more. It was with. With D'Angelo Russell.
- [37:00]
Dan Le Batard
I heard Cameron Brink was in it too.
- [37:02]
Billy
Yes.
- [37:02]
Dan Le Batard
By heard I mean I just read that in the Sports Business Journal.
- [37:05]
Billy
That is. That is correct. I am not willing to say that Vanderbilt is the reason that they are good at defense. I'm going to say it's because they played Charlotte in the first game.
- [37:13]
Mike
They also played Denver.
- [37:14]
Billy
That. That was. Well, that one was confusing to me because I saw that jokic went like 2 for 7 from the field and had 12 points.
- [37:21]
Mike
When Anthony Davis is supposed to be.
- [37:22]
Billy
The guy that I'm like, what the hell? I didn't even understand that box score. I didn't. When I saw that is the worst game in a box scorer I've ever seen Jokic have. Like, it was. It was 12 points. It was two for seven. And I'm looking through minutes trying to figure out was he hurt? Like how. How is there a game Denver played in that Jokic only gets seven shots and misses five of them?
- [37:42]
Mike
I am. That is the outlier, though. I think part of the explanation and why their defense has been so good is Hornets Trailblazers, Jazz twice. Oh, that would certainly Boost that defensive rating.
- [37:55]
Chris Cody
It should be called Anthony Davis highbrow humor.
- [37:59]
Unknown
That's what I was looking for. Something like that.
- [38:01]
Billy
That's pretty good actually. That's better than foul play they got into.
- [38:04]
Ron McGill
Shouldn't it be low Brown?
- [38:06]
Mike
It's a prank show.
- [38:07]
Unknown
It's a low brow.
- [38:08]
Billy
But they needed a low brow. They needed a brow. Do you know how uninteresting you have to be as a sports star for the only information for Chris Cody to have about your personality to be your single eyebrow, like just to play as a Laker? This is what I think of Anthony Davis. I think he will be criminally under regarded. The legacy of Anthony Davis because he had to be number two to LeBron James. I think him healthy is a number one. But he got undone by what happened with organizationally with the Pelicans. That has since happened to Zion. And like Anthony Davis is a number one. I can win a championship with Anthony Davis as my number one. But because he played next to LeBron, I think he'll forever be under regarded as a basketball player. Even though like I can make the argument that that guy is. Is a top 50, top 75 talent of all time.
- [38:59]
Dan Le Batard
He was such a star in college though, when we used to actually talk more about men's college hoops. Such a star. I don't know.
- [39:07]
Mike
It's on the. He was on the ruffles bag.
- [39:11]
Billy
He doesn't have a lot of personality though. It's. We're. We're stuck on the eyebrow. A single eyebrow.
- [39:16]
Tony
But maybe that's on us though.
- [39:20]
Unknown
LeBron sees something.
- [39:21]
Mike
Yes. And.
- [39:24]
Stugotz
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- [40:35]
Mike
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