Hour 1: Michael Kosta Is a Lucky Loser

Summary

Summary of "Hour 1: Michael Kosta Is a Lucky Loser" - The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
• Host/Authors: Dan Le Batard, Stugotz
• Episode: Hour 1: Michael Kosta Is a Lucky Loser
• Release Date: February 27, 2025

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1. Introduction of Michael Costa and His Journey

The episode kicks off with Dan Le Batard and Stugotz introducing their guest, Michael Costa, a multifaceted personality known for his stint on The Daily Show, his background as a former professional tennis player, and his venture into stand-up comedy. They highlight his new book, "Lucky Loser," which delves into his unique transition from sports to comedy.

Notable Quote:

• Stugotz [01:21]: "Michael Costa: Of the Daily Show. The former tennis player, a stand-up comedian. He's got a new book out, Lucky Loser. It's available to pre-order now and you can get it everywhere. March 11."

2. Loneliness in Tennis vs. Comedy

A central theme of the conversation revolves around the loneliness inherent in both professional tennis and stand-up comedy. Michael shares his personal experiences, illustrating how each career path presents its own set of solitary challenges.

Notable Quotes:

• Michael Costa [02:01]: "I actually think being a comedian is lonelier. You... can end up alone in a hotel room after a performance, having a great story but being all alone."
• Stugotz [03:03]: "What is that act that you're turning into a career? You're a man who works with words for a living."

3. Competitiveness in Both Careers

The hosts and Michael delve into the competitive nature of both tennis and comedy. While tennis demands relentless physicality and constant monitoring of performance, comedy requires creativity and the ability to stand out in a saturated field.

Notable Quotes:

• Michael Costa [03:32]: "Tennis is nearly impossible. It's a nonstop calendar year, the physicality of it. Comedy is tough, but you can make money playing bowling alleys the rest of your life."
• Michael Costa [06:01]: "I'm 100% competitive. My dad used to challenge us to race up the stairs when we were kids. But in comedy, you have to back out of that competitiveness. It’s exhausting."

4. Transition from Tennis to Comedy

Michael elaborates on his shift from professional tennis to comedy, driven by financial struggles and the emotional toll of constant defeats in tennis. He recounts how he began writing jokes to escape the pressures of tennis, which eventually led him to perform stand-up.

Notable Quotes:

• Michael Costa [13:22]: "I was out of money when I used to play professionally. I started writing jokes to get my mind off tennis, and eventually, I took those jokes to open mic nights."
• Michael Costa [15:04]: "I signed up for an open mic and took my binders of jokes. My first joke was called 'Crotch Karate,' and it was terrible then and still is now."

5. Insights into "Lucky Loser"

The discussion shifts to Michael's book, "Lucky Loser," where he introspectively explores his journey from aspiring tennis pro to successful comedian. He reflects on the importance of embracing failure and how his first ambition shaped his resilience in comedy.

Notable Quotes:

• Michael Costa [12:04]: "I wrote Lucky Loser because it's a fascinating story of how I went from dreaming of tennis glory to finding success in comedy. It's a lesson for young kids: have a dream, but be prepared to pivot."
• Michael Costa [16:32]: "When I share my story, whether you're into sports or not, people connect and learn that failure can lead to unexpected successes."

6. Critique of Sports Representation in Media

Michael and the hosts briefly touch upon how sports, particularly tennis, are portrayed inaccurately in movies. Michael criticizes upcoming films for misrepresenting the technical aspects of tennis, underscoring his passion for authenticity in sports storytelling.

Notable Quotes:

• Michael Costa [17:00]: "I saw a trailer with a character using the wrong grip on a serve. If you're going to depict tennis, at least get the basics right."
• Stugotz [17:00]: "As a tennis outsider, watching shows like 'Challengers' was actually cool, but Michael had his reservations."

7. Closing Remarks and Promotions

As the episode nears its end, Michael promotes his book, "Lucky Loser," available for pre-order and announces his upcoming comedy tour. The hosts reiterate the key themes discussed and encourage listeners to check out Michael's work.

Notable Quotes:

• Stugotz [21:06]: "Michael's new book, Lucky Losers, available to pre-order now everywhere you get your books and ebooks on March 11th."
• Michael Costa [21:27]: "I've had to undo a lot of competitiveness in comedy. Now, I just want to hang out and share laughs without comparing segments."

8. Ad Sections (Skipped)

The transcript contains several advertisements for Venmo, Carvana, and NYX Cosmetics. As per the summary guidelines, these sections have been omitted to focus solely on the content discussions.

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Conclusion: In this episode titled "Michael Kosta Is a Lucky Loser," Dan Le Batard and Stugotz engage in an insightful conversation with Michael Costa, exploring his transition from the competitive world of professional tennis to the creative realm of stand-up comedy. Through personal anecdotes and reflective discussions, Michael shares valuable lessons on resilience, the challenges of different career paths, and the importance of embracing change. His book, "Lucky Loser," serves as a testament to his journey, offering inspiration to those navigating their own professional transformations.

Transcript

[Dan Le Batard]

You're listening to giraffkings Network.

[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.

[Michael Costa]

Wow.

[Dan Le Batard]

What's up? I just bought and financed a car through Carvana in minutes. You the person who agonized four weeks over whether to paint your walls eggshell or off white bought and financed a car in minutes. They made it easy. Transparent terms, customizable, down and monthly. Didn't even have to do any paperwork. Wow. Hey, have you checked out that spreadsheet I sent? Dinner options. Finance your car with Carvana and experience total control financing subject to credit approval.

This is the Dan Levator show with the Stugats podcast.

[Stugotz]

Hey, look, there's Michael Costa.

Hey.

Of the Daily Show. The the former tennis player, a stand up comedian. He's got a new book out, Lucky Loser. It's available to pre order now and you can get it everywhere. March 11. I did not know. I should have known. I did not know that he was a former professional tennis player. That seems like a very lonely way to make a living.

It sounds even more insane to say, man, it's such a hard, competitive, lonely way to make a living. Let me be a stand up comedian instead.

Yeah. Yeah. That's what he chose. Michael, thank you for joining us.

[Michael Costa]

Thank you.

[Stugotz]

Which of those careers is lonelier?

[Michael Costa]

Oh, that's a great question.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's a good question.

[Michael Costa]

I also love that I came in right after the dookie bomb T shirt for sale that maybe, you know, that stumped me. That question stumps me. So, so good first question. I actually think being a comedian is lonelier. You because. And I actually talk about this. I have this crazy night in Edmonton when I'm a brand new comic where these girls call my hotel room right after I performed and they say, hey, can we come upstairs to your room? And Tom. Foolery ensues and the next day I'm all alone and I have this great story that I want to tell everybody. But you're at a best Western in Edmonton alone. Whereas even when I played tennis and Sometimes you were sharing a hotel room with competitors and with you at least could pull a guy aside and say, check this out.

[Stugotz]

Do you think that one of the careers is harder than the other or more competitive than the other?

[Michael Costa]

I think tennis is impossible, is nearly impossible. It's a non stop calendar year, the physicality of it. I think comedy is tough, but you can make $144,000 a year playing bowling alleys the rest of your life pretty easily. I think if you, if you're willing to do the. The armpit joke and the. Can I get a volunteer from the crowd and do the, you know, the. Whatever this. That.

[Stugotz]

What is that? What is that act that you're turning into a career? You're a man who works with words for a living. I don't know what it is you're describing.

[Michael Costa]

Of course, only I would pick to do an act out on a radio show. But you get the volunteer from the crowd to come out, they put the arms through your armpits, and then you say, oh, we're, you know, we're cooking, we're making an omelet, and it's their arms and your.

[Stugotz]

Great gag.

[Michael Costa]

Great gag.

[Stugotz]

14 grand a year, you say, yeah, probably bowling. A bowling alley tour. 14 grand.

Whose life is it anyways?

[Michael Costa]

One of my first gigs, I was doing a bowling alley in a basement in Michigan, and I was bombing so hard that my feet were sweating and I could hear the people above me bowling strikes. And it was this amazing, this amazing dichotomy of success and failure so close to each other.

[Stugotz]

Put it on the poll, please. At Lebatard show, have you ever been so embarrassed that your feet begin to sweat? How competitive is the Daily show hosting? You guys are friends, but obviously that's a prime platform. So how does that one work? I imagine you all want it.

[Michael Costa]

I appreciate that question. That's a, That's a stupe question. Because before we were pushed up to co hosts or a host, whatever you want to call it, we were all in the same camp, right? We were all correspondents. We were all, hey, great piece to you. Hey, great piece to you. That was good writing. High five. You know, and then we could all kind of get together and bitch about the actual host that was above us, you know, it stayed remarkably friendly, I think. I don't think anybody would deny that being in the chair is a tremendous honor and is something we all want. I think what helped is with this, rotating host Jon Stewart has Mondays. The rest of us, myself, Desi Lydic, Ronnie Chang, Jordan Klepper, take Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday on a rotating. I think what helped is we won the Emmy for best late night, and it kind of put everyone's egos. It gave us what we all wanted, and that helped with the competitiveness. So I thank the Emmy for that. Where is it, you ask? It's in my kitchen on display.

[Stugotz]

I did not ask that question. But I do want to know how competitive you are, because I imagine whatever it is that made you a professional tennis player. I know comedians are competitive, and the standup comic world is competitive. So how weirdly competitive and unreasonably competitive are you?

[Michael Costa]

Yeah, 100%. You know, my dad used to say, at the bottom of the stairs, who can get up first? And there's four kids. I mean, what? Well, that's an unnecessary challenge, you know? And I'm. I'm 6, and I'm getting elbowed by my sister because my dad just said, go. Who. Who gets up there fastest? Extremely competitive. Extremely competitive. When I entered comedy, I quickly realized I had to back out of this competitiveness. I couldn't watch a show that I was also on, hoping my competitors would fail so I would look funnier. That's a miserable way to be in sport. It's accepted, it's encouraged, it's a necessity. But in the arts, it's exhausting. Dude, it's okay if Dan goes up and has a great set, and then I go up and have a great set, and we're different, and we're both funny. So I've had to undo a lot of this competitiveness, and it's exhausting being competitive. Man. I just want to, like, high five and hang out with you guys and not go, who had the best segment on the Le Batard show today? That's. That's. That sucks.

[Stugotz]

Well, it's you. You're also our only guest. I'm shocked at how much. How many former tennis players that I know, like, they just hated tennis, and they excelled at it, and they. They hated it. Did you hate it while you were trying to succeed at it?

[Michael Costa]

Yeah. You know, I always thought it was BS When Rafael Nadal would win, win, win, and then he would go, I just love this sport. I just love this sport. And it's like, are you serious? Because Andre Agassi says he hates the sport. Everyone I know has tennis trauma. I talk about a kid in this book who cheated me when I was 11. I still wait for the C train, hoping I run into that kid. I mean, I'm 45. I'm 45. Years old. I have children. It really affects you. And I think the reason there's so much hatred to the sport is at a very young age you're thrown in these highly competitive problem solving situations alone. I also think that's why it's such a great sport for kids to play is they learn how to navigate the world and unfairness. I, I needed more love for the sport to be more successful. I was losing a lot and was out of money. That's a tough recipe for tennis success. But now, after a break from the sport. I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it. I also play once a month. I get one hour court time, run around. You know, it's a nice reminder that I was actually good at something.

[Stugotz]

Well, then you might be aware of the discourse right now going on with us Tennis. The nothing major pod has put up a bracket of the most handsome male tennis players going on. Now, now there's.

[Michael Costa]

I did not see that there was.

[Stugotz]

Some bracket luck going on there because I don't actually think their final four is a true most handsome final four. So I'm going to run four names by you. You pick one. In terms of attraction, these are active men.

[Michael Costa]

Men.

[Stugotz]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tommy Paul Taylor, Fritz, Matteo Barantini or Lorenzo Musetti.

[Dan Le Batard]

And we're doing women next.

[Michael Costa]

Yeah, I'm sensing that's a joke. Let's hope it is.

[Stugotz]

It is.

[Michael Costa]

Although with the WTA, some. You could call some of them handsome. Let's take this opportunity for me to mention.

[Jeremy]

Amen.

[Michael Costa]

I miss what she said. What did she say?

[Stugotz]

She has a character that's a sexist, bane, misogynistic. Perfect.

[Michael Costa]

Jessica, it's nice to meet you. You're very funny. You make me laugh a lot. Let's take this opportunity to mention that Musetti has a rap album.

[Stugotz]

No.

[Michael Costa]

And you should be able. You should be able to find it on Spotify, Mead's laptop.

[Jeremy]

Faster than I've ever seen in my life.

[Michael Costa]

Yeah. Am I right?

[Stugotz]

I'm looking it up right now.

Wait a minute. That's a terrible question to ask because.

[Michael Costa]

Because there's. There's two active ATP players that rap. The Canadian Dennis Shop of Olive, and I believe it's Lorenzi Mussetti. He might have a single.

[Stugotz]

Look, Magnifico. That's his.

We've really gotten stuck in the quicksand here. We can look it up. It'll be easy enough. You can continue though.

[Michael Costa]

You know, I went and watched Bear Teeny lose a couple years ago at the US Open and it was remarkable that 96% of the audience was women, young women, divorced women, newly married women. I mean, it was. It was remarkable. So what are we asking? Is Michael deciding who's the most handsome?

[Stugotz]

I just want your feedback as I decide that it's obviously Tommy Paul.

[Michael Costa]

I think Tommy Paul is an excellent, excellent handsome man who wears a shorter short. And I do appreciate that. Yeah, I think this whole baggy short thing, tennis, you got some of the best legs of all sports. What are you doing?

[Stugotz]

Yeah, Barentini, though, is a dish. Not looking good for you, though. I did Google and AI's overview on this is there is no information about a music album by tennis player Lorenzo Musetti.

[Michael Costa]

I might be thinking of. I might be thinking of Sonego S O N E. If you keep doing.

[Stugotz]

This, if you keep doing this, if you're just going to go through the whole.

[Michael Costa]

Dan, I'm sorry. I said it was. I said it was so much confidence. I was certain it was true.

[Stugotz]

But then. And then it was weird to watch the confidence leak out of you. And then you asked the question, am I right about that? When you were asking us a question that we didn't know the answer to.

It is.

[Michael Costa]

I have to. I have to, have to. I have to admit that when I came, before I came on the show, I didn't brush up on Lorenzi Musetti's bio.

[Stugotz]

Okay, fair enough. You came on to talk about Lucky Loser. Why did you write it?

[Michael Costa]

I wrote it because it even surprises me that I'm here now as a comedian and I kind of had to recap what the hell was going on. I love tennis. That was my dream, and it didn't happen. I made $11,000 over four years. My career high ranking was 864 in the world, which is still my email signature. And I got hired in the Daily show, was starting to have some comedy success, was starting to sell tickets, was starting to tour, and I just. And I was also about to have a kid and I was like, I need to figure out how we got here. Because it surprises me even when as a kid, all the posters on my wall were tennis players. I think it's a really fascinating story, and when I share it with people, whether athletics or not, they pull from it and they connect. And I think it's a good lesson for all the young kids out there. Yes, have a dream, but you're probably going to fail at it. So if you can try, if you can try to learn something from that first dream, odds are it'll help you with Your second profession or career?

[Stugotz]

Michael, what was the thing that made you say, you know what? I'm going to try my hand at professional comedy?

[Michael Costa]

I was out of money when I used to play professionally. You know, you win, win, win. As a junior in College, we won four Big Ten championships, University of Illinois. I won something like 80% of my matches in college. You get to the pros. All I'm doing is losing. Every week I'm losing. The tournament starts on Monday, and my Monday at 2pm I'm out of the tournament. You know, it's like, so what do you do with six and a half days when you're in Ziwantinejo, Mexico, playing a $10,000 future? And if that city sounds familiar, it's because that's where Andy Dufresne escaped prison to wow in the Shawshank Redemption. That was my first pro tournament. So I started to write ideas that were funny, interactions that were funny. I wanted my mind to get out of tennis just for an hour. And when I finally wrapped up and I was living with my parents in Michigan and I was hired as the assistant coach at University of Michigan, I had these binders of jokes. And I had a month before the team reported and before my life was going to be over as a college coach as it is. And I signed up for an open mic and I took these folders of jokes. And my first joke, which I describe in grave detail in the book, was called crotch karate. And I went around the audience and I pretended to karate chop them with my crotch. And it's bad then and it's bad now.

[Stugotz]

I just love the idea, like, this was the birthday of a great comedy.

Why do you have binders filled with jokes? What were you doing? Clearly, you were doing something.

[Michael Costa]

That's true. I don't know if anything said crotch cruddy in those binders. It wasn't until later that I started to really dig into the binders to go, maybe you should use this stuff and stop trying to assault your audience.

[Stugotz]

But why. Why the binders, though? What you were thinking about it. It was something you wanted.

[Michael Costa]

Yeah. Oh, sorry. Yeah, Yeah. I just, you know, for one, it was a way to get my mind away from tennis. But, yeah, I. I guess deep down, there was always this passion for comedy. I mean, when I was 10 years old, that was Johnny Carson's last hosting night. I begged my parents to stay up late. I watched it. That's the Garry Shandling show. These things made me feel something I'd never felt before. But when you Grow up in Michigan. Show business is not an option. You don't even. It was all a fantasy. And so I wrote some stuff down and then when I actually had an opportunity and thanks to stand up comedy. It's much like tennis in the sense that you can sign up. You, Dan, can sign up for an open qualifying tennis professional event if you want to. You probably will lose early, but there is an open forum. There's an open forum to be a stand up comedy. So I had the jokes, I guess I had a passion for comedy and that's what started. And once I did it, then I was screwed. Then you're screwed because you've tasted the sweetness, baby.

[Stugotz]

I'm curious. For me, I worked in basketball for 10 years in the NBA and then obviously covering basketball. Whenever I watch a movie that's about basketball, all I see is just like, that's not how any of that works. This is awful. Right? Last year, challengers came out, did very well. It's about tennis. I, as a tennis outsider, was like, oh, that's really cool. As a tennis person, how inaccurate or how far fetched is that story?

[Michael Costa]

I saw two seconds of that trailer and Zendaya, Zendaya, Zendaya, whatever her name is, had the wrong grip on the serve. And I said, get this shitty movie out of my face right now. If you're going to try to serve with a semi western grip and then not even change over to an eastern or semi western for the forehand, get this crap out of my face right now. By the way, RIP Gene Hackman, one of the, One of the greatest college. Excuse me, one of the greatest basketball roles that I can remember.

[Stugotz]

Well, I feel like people here find Hoosiers overrated.

[Michael Costa]

Oh, I'm sorry. Okay.

[Stugotz]

It's how you feel about challenges is how I feel about Hoosiers. Like that's not how any of that works.

That wouldn't even be in his top 10, I don't think. Put it on the poll at LeBatard show. Is Hoosiers in Gene Hackman's top 10? Michael's new book, Lucky Losers, available to pre order now everywhere you get your books and ebooks on March 11th. And you can get tickets now for his Lucky Loser comedy [e-mail]. you mentioned that you wrote the book about how did we get here. So before you came on, I was talking about how the news anchor is dead. And I remember when it happened, actually, when Jon Stewart became. Became America's most trusted newsman, replacing all of the previous network anchors. America said that they wanted their news from a comedian. How did we get here?

[Michael Costa]

Yeah, that's, that's a great question. And you know, one of the things that fascinates me.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's a good question.

[Stugotz]

Or Morning Zoo.

[Michael Costa]

Doing this show is great, but I never know what's coming through my, my headphone.

[Stugotz]

Well, I wish that hadn't been. I feel like we could have done that better than.

[Jeremy]

No, that's an all time good sounder.

[Stugotz]

Yeah.

[Michael Costa]

It's amazing how many people stop me and say, you're where I get my news. And I go, you know we're on Comedy Central, right? You know that we don't, we don't uphold or have to be upheld to any journalistic integrity. I think, yeah, you know, what's that great movie where the news anchor loses his mind? Work Network. You know, I think that's a great synopsis. I wish our news channels were publicly funded. They weren't for profit. I think every time I see a lower third on CNN or Fox, I go, they're just doing that. So we keep watching. It doesn't really seem like they're trying to inform us. There is a trustworthiness with comedy. There's a trustworthiness with comedians. There's this thought that comedians tell the truth. I always think it's hilarious when comedians get held to a higher standard than a politician or an elected official. But I do think people enjoy that they're coming to see us and we'll make them laugh. Oh, and also I learned that Donald Trump just signed an executive order that you can't swirl vanilla and chocolate ice cream today or whatever it is. So. Good question. It's a good question. Might not be a simple answer. I'm just trying really hard to not be a slap dick on your guys show today.

[Stugotz]

Are you somebody who is trying to laugh to keep from crying at the daily news events that are happening that make America shake? And why is my voice still going like that?

[Michael Costa]

Yeah, it is a really tricky time. I can easily get my mind into. Everyone relax. You're overreacting. There's a checks and balances of this system. American democracy has been in motion for 270 years. This isn't the first egomaniac we've had as president. And I can easily get my mind into. This is the beginning of authoritarian rule. Comedians can and will be locked up. Free speech is pretended to be put on a pedestal. But anytime you criticize this guy, you're done. The number one media, social media platform is in the pocket of the, you know, So I can go both ways. I don't know the answer. All I know is comedy is a good way to fight and resist until they shoot us.

[Stugotz]

Excellent dismount. Thank you. Thank you, Michael. Good talking to you Again. A reminder, the name of the book is Lucky Loser, and it's available to pre order now and it'll be available everywhere March 11th. Pleasure talking to you, sir.

[Michael Costa]

Thanks for having me.

[Stugotz]

Was your answer Musetti, though? Was that the final?

[Michael Costa]

My answer is Barentini.

[Stugotz]

Yeah.

[Michael Costa]

And also in that Netflix documentary, he wins in five sets and he's in the cold tub and he calls his grandparents and they're watching live in Italy at like 3am and it is just. It is a tear. It's a. He's not just a handsome face. He's also a good guy. I want that to be my dismount.

[Stugotz]

All right. I preferred your previous one, but you get to choose, sir. Thank you. Nice. Nice talking to you.

[Michael Costa]

Thank you. Bye.

[Stugotz]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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Yeah, sure thing. Hey, you saw that car yet?

[Michael Costa]

Yeah, sold it to Carvana.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, I thought you were selling to that guy.

[Michael Costa]

The guy who wanted to pay me in foreign currency, no interest over 36 months.

[Stugotz]

Yeah, no.

[Michael Costa]

Carvana gave me an offer in minutes, picked it up and paid me on the spot. It was so convenient.

[Dan Le Batard]

Just like that.

[Michael Costa]

Yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

No hassle?

[Michael Costa]

None.

[Dan Le Batard]

That is super convenient.

Sell your car to Carvana and swap hassle for convenience.

[Michael Costa]

Pick up.

[Dan Le Batard]

These may apply.

[Stugotz]

Don Lebatard.

If Daniel Day Lewis did it, you'd be jerking off all over yourself.

Oh, come on.

Yeah, I would be aggressive Description.

I mean, what is it? What is that?

I'm just saying.

That's just saying.

[Michael Costa]

What?

[Stugotz]

That's mean. Daniel Day Lewis does something. I see that photo of Daniel Day Lewis looking like Lincoln before he's about to start filming. Lincoln, and you know what I do, Amin stugats. I jerk off all over myself. That's what I do.

Lincoln, who you outed the other day.

Don't make this a rejoin.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Lebatar show with the stugats.

[Stugotz]

Amin, I wanted to talk to you about the numbers that came in on Luka and the Lakers versus Dallas and the fact that 2.5 million viewers, which seems like a small number to me, but it represents a giant number for the NBA in regular season now, even though it's a million less than White Lotus did for its second episode.

Okay, These HBO numbers that they put out, all of these are fudged beyond belief.

Make sure to check us out on Max.

Yeah, they're fudged on the other side. It's actually more people are watching and like they're just being too modest with those numbers. No, Dan, that number sounds big to me because everyone knew Dallas wasn't healthy and the game wasn't in Dallas. So I think those things dampen what could have been. I mean, if you gave me either of those things, either a full strength Mavericks team or have them be hurt. But this game happens in Dallas. I think the numbers spiked.

It was also a late game though, wasn't it?

[Jeremy]

10, 10 Eastern.

[Stugotz]

So that's a real good number. The part that I wanted to talk to you about though, it's a real good number. For the time, it doesn't seem like a real good number, but I question all the number days. But the thing that I wanted to use that to discuss is all of the smearing and leaking that the Mavs are now doing privately. And one of the leaks. Right. I saw that a lot of people were making fun of this was the general fear of Luca's physical deterioration because he likes the beer and the hookah too much. Those two things combine. And while I know a lot of people are looking at that and saying to themselves, this is a ridiculous way to smear a professional athlete who is as great as that one is, I gotta be honest, if you're someone who likes the beer and hookah a little too much, I don't trust you as much as I would as an athlete either. I'm just saying. I'm not gonna say it's a. It's a lot less. But if you like the specifics of the beer and the hookah too much. I'm not even talking about liquor. I'm talking about beer. That you love to drink beer and you love to hang out with the hookah. I am also going to have a question about whether to give you the supermax by one degree that I wouldn't have had if you didn't like the hookah and the beer.

[Amin]

You have had my dad around here for 20 years.

[Stugotz]

That's correct. And I've seen his deterioration. I've seen that he's asking when he comes in this week, why do I look 10 years older than 89 year old Jane Fonda?

Dan, it's funny. When I saw the infographic saying mavericks are concerned because Luca likes beer and hookah, I said you could just replace the word Luca with a mean and nothing would change. It's exactly like, oh, wow. Yeah.

Do you do the person who likes beer and hookah too much, do you not just generally, whatever their occupation, do you not say that probably is somebody who's not giving 100 doll all the time.

No, I say that person is worthy of applause. Right. Everyone needs to compensate this person even more richly than he's already being compensated, because it turns out this is what he's doing. He's giving you this excellence on beer and hookah. How do you not pay him? How are you not impressed by his brilliance?

[Dan Le Batard]

Aren't beer and hookah, like, the most benign of the vices? Of all the things you can smoke, hookah, and of all the things you can drink, beer.

[Stugotz]

Yeah, agreed, agreed. I'm not. I am not disputing that they're benign vices. I'm saying they come with a certain stigma that I attach to that person doesn't want to work that hard. They're not. That's not. That is not a person who is type A competitor that these. I'm willing to use beer and hookah as something. Just those specific things. As somebody who might care slightly less about their work than the person who's got a heroin addiction.

Go ahead, Jeremy.

[Jeremy]

I view that as someone who has a massive 100% effort when they're at work and likes to unwind, because if they were someone who wasn't giving 100% effort, who was sloppy in their lives, who wasn't together, they'd have a worse vice, beer and hookah. At the end of the day, you've given 100% effort that you need to. Now you want to unwind and let loose a little bit, and that's the worst you're doing. To me, that's like, the best of the vices.

[Stugotz]

Okay. Again, though, I do not want to turn this into something that makes beer and hookah some sort of terrible affliction. I'm just saying that I could have told you, based on looking at his body, that he loved beer and hookah, and it's because of something I'm doing with beer and hookah. Like, that's not Luca. That's hookah. That's what I'm doing. I'm doing with you, everyone. Anytime I walk on Lincoln Road and I see somebody sucking from one of those bongs. What just happened? Sucking as a verb caught you off guard.

[Amin]

Oh, is this better than overeating with Zion? Like, what would you rather have, a star that eats too much or a star that gets after the beer a little bit?

[Stugotz]

I'm hanging out with the hookah.

Put it on the poll at Lebatard show. Get the state of the day music for that reference that you just made on Zion at Lebatard show because we have a stat of the day that Zion related but put it on the poll at LeBatard show. Which is it that you fear the most? Is it the athlete who is eating too much or beer and hookah?

[Dan Le Batard]

Start of the day, start of the day. It is the start of the day. Start of the day, Start of the day. It is the start of the day. Start of the day, Start of the day it is the start of the day. Start of the day, Start of the day. It is the start of the day.

[Jeremy]

Zion Williamson has actually been a completely dominant force while he plays in the NBA. He is the third fastest active player in the NBA to reach 5,000 points in his career, only behind Luka Doncic and LeBron James. And a separate stat from Owen Phillips. He's the most double teamed player in the entire player tracking era. The gap between him and the next closest person is equal to the gap between the second most double teamed player and the 100th most double teamed player.

[Stugotz]

I mean, that's a quiet bust that's happened in New Orleans. Like where you're wondering if the Knicks would even want him. No, I'm just saying the rep. I'm saying reputationally he doesn't listen in terms of success.

He doesn't listen to you.

[Dan Le Batard]

He was looking at his slides.

[Stugotz]

Yeah.

[Jeremy]

Why is he talking to you? You asked why would we give this guy a platform? And he went, oh, you know what, you're right.

[Stugotz]

You talked. He stopped listening.

[Michael Costa]

Fair.

[Stugotz]

I checked my watch, Jeremy. I'm sorry.

[Jeremy]

It was a good stat.

[Stugotz]

How many watch jokes are you guys going to make? Watch Zion. His reputation is in total tatters. Crazy like in total, like. So it's shocking. So you're giving a stat of the day that is shocking because it's factual in nature. But in terms of if I say word association in the league to bust right now, it's either him or Joel Embiid that's gonna come up because of what the expectations are for these people. Because you know how physically dominant they can be.

That's the problem. That's what makes them of dilemma because the basketball is unquestioned. There are so many guys they get hurt or they don't achieve and we're like, yeah, okay, you didn't end up being what we thought you would be. And so it's easier to cut ties. Think of Markelle Fultz. It was easy to basically give up on Markel Fultz. It was easy to give up on Anthony Bennett. It's easy to give up on Andrew Wiggins, it's hard as hell to give up on Joel Embiid and Zion Williamson because when they do play, they are legitimately historic. Some of the greatest basketball ever, right? What Jeremy just talked about, for him to be the most double team person already shocking is that being in the.

[Amin]

Post, that has to be misleading. Is it because he doesn't dribble the ball up that like his. As soon as the ball's thrown down to him, that's when he gets doubled.

[Stugotz]

If you throw the ball to Zion Williamson in the post, there are no other options for you as a defense. You must send help. It cannot be guarded one on one.

It is harder, Chris, to, for instance, Curry. It's hard to double team him because he's moving off ball so much. They do try to trap him. But then like, how often do those instances happen? Number one, number two. I suspect the other part of this is Zion is not as great a passer as say, Jokic or LeBron. So the penalty for double teaming him as a defense is much lower than it would be to double team Jokic, for instance. So yeah, there is some stuff there. But still for him to be number one and for the gap between one and two to be two to one, like it speaks to this guy's seriously something that teams fear. Right, but. But he's not out there. The other stat you gave is he is the fastest to 5,000 in terms of games played.

[Michael Costa]

Sure, right.

[Stugotz]

If we count days. No way.

[Amin]

What was that noise?

[Stugotz]

That wasn't me. Who did it?

It was me.

It's been an active day. I've caught three of them.

I was like, what's happening to my microphone? I thought it was me.

[Amin]

An alligator in studio.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah.

[Stugotz]

The gurgles inside of Dan's tummy have really been picked up by Mike Sine.

Yeah, it's coffee on an empty stomach is what's happened there. Can you guys tell me when you think. Because Ben Simmons is somebody that I forgot there, because that's probably the top of the list on somebody who's got the reputation of being a bust.

He got to a max deal. But when you consider who was drafted after him. Ayton, I think you can lump him in that class too.

I wanted to ask you guys, were you guys aware. Put it on the poll, please. At Lebatard show. Did you know Max Scherzer was a Blue Jay at LeBatard? The reason I asked the question is because the quote that he just had, which was amazing, it's just a great quote. It's like part Blade Runner and part something you'd expect to hear in the year 2050. Max Scherzer said, quote, can we just be judged by humans? Because he doesn't like this electronic robot umpire thing, like a lot of the people don't. Can we just be judged by humans? I saw that football. We haven't talked about this today. Football is now going to electronics. They're going to use the chains, but the chains are going to be a backup. The. The main technology that they're going to use to officiate is not going to be human. Do you guys want to lament the idea of can we just be judged by humans? The. The longing to be judged more imperfectly than perfectly hot take.

The chains have always been the backup. The referees just spot the ball, and whenever they're not sure, they bring out the chainsaw.

Okay. But the chains are how it is that we're used to doing the finality of the measurement. And they basically just changed the rules because Josh Allen lost.

So we're off the chains.

Now give me the sound of the Major League baseball umpire who is also a bit bothered by the idea that the electronics are coming.

[Amin]

I love this. This is in minor league baseball. They are doing. You can challenge balls and strikes. So there's a pitch that's challenged, and then the call is told to be right or wrong, and the umpire announces that call.

[Michael Costa]

Good breaking ball just misses.

[Stugotz]

Brett Sullivan going to challenge.

[Michael Costa]

Brett has been expert at the ABS system. The call is surprisingly correct.

[Amin]

So a couple weeks in, and we already have sarcastic umpires taking victory.

[Stugotz]

I want my NBA refs to do that. I want them to give us some.

[Jeremy]

Editorializing and looking right into the camera the way that they do after the challenge calls when they have to explain just. I was right.

[Stugotz]

Billy Kennedy, who was. Who was repping the game last night, he's a guy that delivers so funny. He does a great job of delivery. Billy, I'm looking at you right now. I need you to start doing this. Be more sarcastic when you announce whether the call is upheld or overturned.

[Amin]

Surprisingly, I was right.

[Stugotz]

Shockingly, I am still. I know we complain about officiating all the time, but I'm stunned at how accurate baseball umpires act. Actually are. When I see that tiny box and how precise that tiny box is and how often they get the call right when you're an inch outside of the strike zone. I know we noticed the mistakes, but the humans on at least plate umpiring, I have found, outside of Angel Hernandez, most of them do it correctly.

[Jeremy]

It's pretty amazing considering you'll still have, like, a Hall of Famer in Giancarlo Stanton swinging at a pitch that's like two feet outside because he can't recognize that it's a slider. And yet these. These umpires are const. Able to right out of a pitcher's hand, be able to know where the break is going to go, not be fooled often by which pitch is coming in so that they can properly tell by inches whether or not a ball is just on the black or not.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's.

[Jeremy]

It's as impressive as some things that actually happen on the field.

[Amin]

And then you miss one call and I'm like, oh, come on, blue.

[Stugotz]

Get your head out of your ass.

Get. Are any of these umpires former players? They should be awesome hitters, right? If they can see it that well.

[Jeremy]

You would think so. It just like a catcher, though, right? Like catchers you would think would be.

[Stugotz]

The best hitters in baseball.

[Jeremy]

But the answer is no.

[Stugotz]

But the answer to his question is also no. There aren't a lot of major league players that are umpiring. I don't know that there are any.

Because now I'm thinking about it. Imagine Barry Bonds as a plate umpire. He'd see it all. He'd be like, oh, that was a strike. Like, what are you talking about? Go ahead, do the replay. Waste your call.

I don't.

[Dan Le Batard]

Why would you become an ump, though, if you made like 10 million bucks playing baseball?

[Amin]

As. I think the hard part is hitting the ball, though.

[Stugotz]

Yeah.

[Amin]

Just watching it come in, probably a little easier.

[Stugotz]

Yeah.

[Amin]

It would be funny to see an umpire's knees buckle on a curveball, though.

[Michael Costa]

Just like, oh, shit.

[Amin]

Thought it was a fastball.

[Stugotz]

Plate discipline is important, though. But there is that other part of having to make the contact. Yes.

At the small object with a very narrow object.

[Jeremy]

A lot of major league players from the earlier part of the 1900s then became umpires. I'm looking at a list here of about probably 20, 25 guys. And the majority of them, it was that they were umpires from, you know, 1925 to 1947, after playing in the early 20th century.

[Stugotz]

Just think of the Barry Bond's ego deciding that what he's going to do with his life after his career is travel around the country and be calling.

[Jeremy]

Balls and strikes, judge other hitters.

[Stugotz]

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