Hour 1: The Fix Is In (feat. Pat Forde)

Summary

Summary of "Hour 1: The Fix Is In (feat. Pat Forde)" – The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Release Date: December 9, 2024

In this episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, hosts Dan Le Batard and Stugotz engage in a lively discussion featuring Pat Forde, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, centering around the recent changes in the college football playoff system and its broader implications. The conversation weaves through various facets of college sports, NFL insights, and spirited debates, enriched with humor and candid exchanges.

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1. Expansion of the College Football Playoffs

The episode kicks off with a deep dive into the expansion of the college football playoffs from a traditional bracket to a 12-team format. Dan Wetzel provides his perspective, advocating for the expanded playoff system:

Dan Wetzel [03:18]: "I just think there's more interest, more involvement. [...] I just think there's more interest, more involvement. And then the playoff itself, I think is going to be awesome."

He highlights the increased fan engagement and the opportunity for more teams to compete for the national championship, citing specific games that have spiked interest across various conferences.

2. SEC vs. ACC: Assessing Conference Strength

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around the competitiveness of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) versus the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Pat Forde argues that the SEC's dominance is being challenged:

Pat Forde [06:17]: "I think the SEC was a bunch of pretty good teams and I don't think the ACC is bad at all."

Dan Wetzel echoes this sentiment, emphasizing that the ACC isn't inferior and that the playoff decisions reflect a balanced competition:

Dan Wetzel [05:33]: "Yeah, you can. That's why one of the reasons I thought SMU deserved to be in the game and maybe even Miami deserved to be."

This segment underscores the shifting dynamics in college football, where traditionally dominant conferences are facing stronger competition from others.

3. The Fix Is In: Playoff Selection Controversies

The conversation takes a contentious turn as Mike Ryan presses Dan Wetzel and Pat Forde on the integrity of the playoff selection process, suggesting potential collusion:

Mike Ryan [06:52]: "You're saying the fix was in. You're right there. Say it. Say the fix was in."

Despite Dan Wetzel initially denying direct involvement, the hosts engage in a playful yet pointed exchange about whether behind-the-scenes influences affected the playoff outcomes:

Dan Wetzel [06:52]: "No, I'm not saying the fix was in, but the setup was there to get Alabama."

This back-and-forth highlights tensions and differing viewpoints on how playoff spots are allocated, hinting at broader controversies within college sports governance.

4. NFL Insights: Rams, Bills, Josh Allen, and Sean McDermott

Shifting focus to the NFL, the hosts analyze recent performances and strategic decisions. Pat Forde criticizes Sean McDermott's coaching decisions, linking them to Josh Allen's Super Bowl aspirations:

Pat Forde [20:13]: "Sean McDermott is going to be the reason Josh Allen doesn't win a Super Bowl."

This assertion sparks a debate about coaching strategies, fourth-down decisions, and their impact on a team's championship potential. Mike Ryan challenges this viewpoint, discussing the complexities of real-time decision-making in high-stakes games.

5. Big Ten Championship Game: Oregon's Surprising Victory

The hosts reflect on the unexpected outcome of the Big Ten Championship Game, where Oregon clinched a victory, despite recent changes in conference alignments:

Dan Le Batard [36:04]: "Oregon won the Big Ten championship their first year in the conference. [...] Doesn't seem fair, does it? Doesn't seem fair."

Stugotz and Mike Ryan express skepticism about Oregon's inclusion in the Big Ten, debating the competitive balance and the future implications for the conference:

Stugotz [36:37]: "Oregon may have won that game, Dan, but that was not Big Ten football."

This segment delves into the challenges and controversies surrounding conference realignments and their effects on traditional rivalries and competition levels.

6. Coaching Decisions and Player Performance

The episode also touches on individual coaching decisions and player performances. Mike Ryan criticizes James Franklin, highlighting frustrations with his record in critical games:

Mike Ryan [34:00]: "James Franklin's a fraud. He's not good."

In contrast, another host defends Franklin, showcasing the polarized opinions that often surround coaching evaluations in sports.

7. Host Interactions and Humor

Throughout the episode, Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, and Mike Ryan engage in humorous banter, playful teasing, and light-hearted moments that add levity to the intense discussions. For instance, the hosts joke about Pat Forde's podcast setup and interactively debate topics like fantasy football statistics and game-day decisions, making the conversation entertaining and relatable.

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Notable Quotes:

• Dan Wetzel [03:18]: "And then the playoff itself, I think is going to be awesome."
• Pat Forde [06:17]: "I think the SEC was a bunch of pretty good teams and I don't think the ACC is bad at all."
• Mike Ryan [06:52]: "Say the fix was in."
• Pat Forde [20:13]: "Sean McDermott is going to be the reason Josh Allen doesn't win a Super Bowl."
• Dan Le Batard [36:04]: "Oregon won the Big Ten championship their first year in the conference. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"

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This episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz offers a comprehensive exploration of contemporary issues in college football and the NFL, infused with expert opinions, spirited debates, and the hosts' characteristic humor. Listeners gain insight into playoff dynamics, conference competitiveness, coaching philosophies, and the unpredictable nature of sports outcomes.

Transcript

[Dan Le Batard]

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[Stugatz]

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[David Sampson]

The Dan Levator show with the Stugatz podcast.

[Mike Ryan]

I am delighted, Stugotts, to bring on an old fashion journalist. All over the American media, they keep slicing these guys down, but not Pat. Nope, nobody's taking him down. Senior writer for Sports Illustrated out here still doing the good work with Wetzel. Another one of these guys still waving the journalism flag, but I gotta help him. Pat, your backdrop. We can see part of your house. We can see. We can see behind the Sports Illustrated thing. We can see that there's a painting back there. We need to, we need to crop that. We need to get somebody to help you so that. That looks like it's a tighter.

[Stugatz]

I can see part of the picture. Ye.

[Dan Wetzel]

You know, look back in the newspaper days when you were at the Miami Herald and I was at the Louisville Courier Journal. There were no backdrops, there was no video, there was none of this. I'm out of my element.

[Stugatz]

Sorry.

[Mike Ryan]

It's okay. But you're out here. It's okay. That's all right. We got to get him some help. I think we need, we need to put a tapestry behind him, get some metal arc backing just to give him a little, you know, sports illustrates. Hit hard times. Two guys, right? Pat Ford, he's out here carrying the journalism flag here very strongly.

[Stugatz]

They don't have an extra inch of backdrop.

[Mike Ryan]

One of the last remaining good soldiers out there and he's watched a lot of college football. And so I'd like to get his historic perspective here on whether these changes are good for anybody other than made for television wonder and extravaganza that. That these 12 games are just making football bigger and bigger and bigger because we must.

[Dan Wetzel]

Well, I mean, there's certainly that element to it. We like gigantism, right, in American sports. But no, I think this is great. I love a 12 team playoff, Dan, because you got more fan bases involved. Think about this last weekend where a lot of people are really interested in the Boise State UNLV Mountain West Conference championship game. A lot of people were hanging on the edge of their seat to see SMU against Clemson. You go back, you know, a couple of weeks earlier, there were 20 teams still involved in whether they may go to the playoff. Whereas in years past we're looking at, you know, five or six for four spots. And so I just think there's more interest, more involvement. And then the playoff itself, I think is going to be awesome. We get campus games, those are going to be great. We get extended a quarterfinals and semifinals. I mean, it's all going to go on too long. I mean, we're not finishing till January 20th and I wonder how many people will still be interested by then. But I love the run up to this point and I think the first round is going to be awesome.

[Stugatz]

I think it's been great as well. But I'm wondering, pat, of the 12 teams that made the playoffs, how many of those 12 have a realistic chance of winning the national championship?

[Dan Wetzel]

I would give at least more than half. I would.

[Stugatz]

Really?

[Dan Wetzel]

Yeah, yeah, look, I think it's pretty wide open. I mean, Oregon's really good. Deserve to be number one and the favorite and all that. But after that, I mean, look, the number two seed is Georgia, which we've seen just like all over the map. They've played terribly at times, they played great at times. Notre Dame could be really good, but haven't played against a really quality opponent in a while. Penn State probably good. Texas maybe good. You get on down the line. Arizona State. Does anybody.

[Mike Ryan]

We're supposed to know. You're supposed to be an expert. What do you mean? We played A bunch of games. What do you mean? Maybe good, maybe good, maybe good, or maybe at the end I got it all wrong about the sec. Georgia's not actually any better than Georgia Tech.

[Dan Wetzel]

Yeah, well, that's the truth. Did you watch him play each other? 8 overtimes and Georgia was lucky to get the game even into one overtime there.

[Mike Ryan]

So then could I not extrapolate that the top of the ACC might in some ways be as good as the top of the sec? Because we've been overstating how good the top of the SEC is.

[Dan Wetzel]

Yeah, you can. That's why. That's why one of the reasons I thought SMU deserved to be in the game and maybe even Miami deserved to be. I'm sorry, in the playoff. Because I think the SEC was a bunch of pretty good teams and I don't think the ACC is bad at all. At the top, I think those three Clemson, Miami, smu, but then beyond that, Duke, Louisville.

[Mike Ryan]

But explain to me what happened here at the end, Pat, with smu. Because what Clemson did was it bailed all the parties out on espn and the SEC has bought a three team, three loss. Alabama team is going to get in. It bought everyone out when they had to put Clemson and SMU both. Otherwise, would they have?

[Dan Wetzel]

No, I don't think so. If Clemson misses the field goal, obviously they're out and Alabama is in. Or if SMU wins the game. If Clemson wins by 14 points, I think they probably have the excuse to put in Alabama and to knock out smu. So the ACC threaded the needle. It had to thread. They needed a close, competitive, good game that Clemson won. So that happened. But look, the setup was there. I'm not saying the fix was in, but the setup was there to get Alabama.

[Mike Ryan]

You are saying the fix was in. You're right there. Say. Say the fix was in. You're right. Just say it. These are trying times for Sports Illustrated and the American media. Just say it. Just. You can't be out here. You can't be out here with nuanced takes, Pat.

[Stugatz]

He can.

[Mike Ryan]

Those don't win anymore. Nobody's going to listen to the PODC College Football Inquirer with Dan Wetzel and Ross Dellinger. If you're out here with the Nuance podcast. That's not how you keep up with the kids, Pat.

[Dan Wetzel]

Oh, that take. When I. When I. When we record the podcast, that's when I'll declare that the fix is absolutely.

[Mike Ryan]

Thank you.

[Stugatz]

That's how you do it.

[Mike Ryan]

They. They were so close to fixing the whole thing and Then Clemson got in there and now smu. Nobody wants to see SM you play. Everybody wants to believe that what they thought about SMU before the season is what they believe now, which is that SMU is not good enough. I don't understand we bother playing the games.

[Dan Wetzel]

Well, that's the point, right? We actually let them play and discover. Oh my gosh, preseason rankings are dumb and preconceptions are dumb and every SEC team is not better than every other team. So that's, that's the beauty of it. You know, And I will say on, on that podcast, our podcast, I picked SMU to win the ACC before the season. They didn't quite get it done, but they justified how good they are. Got a bunch of players from the Metroplex, they're well coached and I say real.

[Mike Ryan]

I told you so. You gave us their Pat, but he was.

[David Sampson]

But he's wrong.

[Dan Wetzel]

Weeping that they.

[Mike Ryan]

Wait a minute. But what you just do there, Pat. Pat just did. I knew SMU was better, but I didn't know they were that good. And then they were less good than I thought they were going to be and I got it wrong.

[Dan Wetzel]

Kind of covered all the bases.

[Stugatz]

Yeah, that's how you do it.

[Mike Ryan]

No, but that's bull. That's total bullshit from Pat. 40. He got it wrong and he's claiming he got it right when he got it wrong.

[Billy Gill]

I don't know, it sounds kind of smart to me. Dan.

[Mike Ryan]

Yes. What do you make?

[Dan Wetzel]

Got it almost right.

[Mike Ryan]

That's close. That's close enough. In today's journalism age that makes you a truth seeker to get it almost right. What about Nick Saban saying no coach should have any complaints about his circumstances being in or out of the playoffs?

[Dan Wetzel]

Yep. He made a little bit of a half hearted defensive Alabama and the SEC and then ended up with came down on that line of. Ah, well, you lost too many games. He's right. And I think that, you know, really in his heart of hearts, Caitlin DeBoer will say, yeah, he's right. Because they got stomped by a mediocre oak Oklahoma team late in the season. Everybody saw it. I mean you can't. If you didn't make a 12 team playoff. I'm sorry, I don't feel that sorry for you. It's just not that there weren't 12 great teams. I would say there were maybe 10, maybe a lot.

[Mike Ryan]

I don't feel sorry for you.

[Stugatz]

Are you sorry or not?

[Mike Ryan]

I'm sorry, but I don't feel sorry for you.

[David Sampson]

Then classic SM.

[Mike Ryan]

Which is it? 40. Which is it.

[Dan Wetzel]

Sorry? Don't feel sorry.

[Stugatz]

You don't feel sorry, but you're not sorry.

[Billy Gill]

I'm more confused.

[Mike Ryan]

Clearly. I'm more confused than I was when I started.

[Billy Gill]

He's apologizing for the fact that he does not feel bad for this.

[Mike Ryan]

He's not sorry.

[Billy Gill]

He's not sorry he feels that way.

[Dan Wetzel]

Thank you for the interpretation.

[Mike Ryan]

Apologizing for being sorry if he's not sorry. This liar close to being almost right.

[Stugatz]

What can you tell us about. Because my source, Taylor, is telling me that Belichick to North Carolina, it seems like it's going to be a done deal. What can you tell us about that story? Belichick to unc.

[Dan Wetzel]

It's fascinating. I know that enough other people have dropped out because they don't think they get it. They're going to get it. And Belichick is. Or they just think the place is wildly dysfunctional because you do have trustees and boosters that are basically kind of doing their own satellite search outside of the athletic director, Bubba Cunningham. So the fact that we have a lot of coaches dropping out and that.

[Mike Ryan]

Can'T be his real name.

[Stugatz]

Terrible name for an ad.

[Mike Ryan]

That can't be his real name. It's not Bubba Cunningham.

[Billy Gill]

Terrible name for an ad. Great football name. Bubba Cunningham.

[Mike Ryan]

What you're saying there is not true. That's not a real name. You made that up.

[Dan Wetzel]

It's a real name. The hilarious thing, if you meet him, he's a little kind of like bookish, intellectual guy, but his nickname is Bubba. It makes no sense.

[Mike Ryan]

Pat, thank you for being. Appreciate the time. You can listen to his podcast, College Football Inquirer with Dan Wetzel and Ross Dellinger. He really is keeping up the good fight on behalf of journalism.

[Stugatz]

And don't forget the next episode. Dan, the fix is in.

[Mike Ryan]

That's right. We're going to get you better at this, Pat. We've got to get some I. Pat, if you do this, I will promise you our listeners will go and download everything you're doing. You have to promise them, though, that you're going to claim publicly, you're going to put down your journalism credentials and you're just going to claim the fixes in doing it.

[Dan Wetzel]

The fix is in. And the backdrop will be fixed also.

[Mike Ryan]

All right, Excellent, good, excellent work. We will have you back on to celebrate your victory.

[Pat Forde]

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[Stugatz]

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[David Sampson]

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[Mike Ryan]

You were that kind of sad this morning, taking the barrage of anger from Stu Gotz because you hadn't booked him enough interviews. I. The only reason I keep bringing this up is because you not are throwing a big party on Thursday. You're doing it and I want people to support what you're doing because Stugots has not made this easy. Stugotts.

[David Sampson]

Well, you know, I. Well, yeah, you know, this is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats.

[Mike Ryan]

I believe we have talked enough college football. Samson's still furious with us. He's prowling like a very small Shih Tzu around the offices. Can we go to him? Because this is the big story of the day. Stu got. We have not gotten to football. My God, how fun was it to watch Josh Allen and the Rams. How fun was that game?

[Stugatz]

Yeah, we have not gotten to the NFL. Shame on us.

[Mike Ryan]

We haven't gotten to Yesterday, the Giants had an interception. I only tell you this because it had been 11 games since they had had an interception. I only tell you that because it had never happened before in the history of the sport where a defense had gone 11 games straight without an interception. When people are throwing a football all over the place they were due.

[David Sampson]

Can I tell you a bone I have to pick with with the Josh Allen situation? So Josh Allen yesterday had a three rushing touchdown game, three passing touchdown games. Something no one has ever done before, right? He had, I think, an average like over 50 fantasy points for a quarterback. And then you get the stat that comes out and says Josh Allen had the most stats in Fan or the most fantasy points by a quarterback since 1950. There was no fantasy anything in 1950. He had the most ever. We're not going back and retroactively giving fantasy points to quarterbacks for games that they had in 1950. That's not a thing.

[Billy Gill]

I mean, you can do that, though, because we have the box score stats. You just go ahead and calculate fantasy points.

[Mike Ryan]

Is this just you trying to segue into your listener league? Because you're dying to talk.

[David Sampson]

Oh, I forgot about that. Our listener league, you mean. Dan, we were part of it this week.

[Mike Ryan]

I did play.

[Stugatz]

How'd you do?

[Mike Ryan]

I don't know how I did.

[Stugatz]

You don't know how you did?

[Mike Ryan]

I didn't check the results. I picked the team, though. I. I picked the team. I had Kyler Murray. That didn't go well. I had the Eagles defense.

[Stugatz]

You didn't do well? Yeah, I didn't.

[Mike Ryan]

I don't. I don't know where I finish.

[David Sampson]

Well, Dan, you can check out our weekly contest. You go to dkng co Smirnoff. Presented by Smirnoff, the world's number one vodka. Please drink responsibly. Give them your phone or just open up. You know how to open up the app. You can see where it is. You go. You go to, you know, your contest, then go to recent and it'll tell you what place you finished in. Dan, I was in 495th place when I was on stage yesterday. Yeah, 495. And I said, I'm going to need a big push in this 4:00 window. I got that push. I finished in 59th just out of the money. But, man, Josh Allen, he's. He's a good football player.

[Mike Ryan]

He. You would want to have him yesterday. You've come around on Josh Allen. Okay, so I do want to talk about this Rams game because Mike Ryan loves those half points. And Mike Ryan couldn't shut up yesterday about how much he loved the Rams in that game. Because I think we can all agree on this. Football's wacky enough. College or pros. But the Rams, they can beat anybody if they're healthy. Yeah, no, but. Because it's not just that they can beat everybody. It's also. Oh, wait a minute. I'm just watching a play against Buffalo. And Cooper cup is not really open. There are two Bills there, and he's got a touchdown. And they're both injured because they've gotten so precise at that. That Puka Nakua, we're going to use up his body to see if we can spend all of this body on getting him all the Cooper numbers. When both of us or all of us have watched that team and been like, how are those receivers putting up those kind of numbers which make us serenade Puka with his song because he was exceptional yesterday.

[David Sampson]

His name is Cooper good at running curls but when his hammy got a tear he saw Puka standing there his blade diminished Hostile take over Nakua hopped into the car McVay has maybe found a star and then Matt Stafford threw him 25 and two oh, there's a brand new kid in town out of BYU they call him Puka Puka Nakua his quarterback is not named Tua Nakua fantasy assassin it's the time to cash in yeah, don't need the glow none.

[Mike Ryan]

Of you would be surprised if the Lion's reed gets lost. The Rams. None of you.

[Pat Forde]

I remember what happened week one when those two teams got together and the Rams were reasonably healthy. That's why I'm going to keep doubling down on this NFC West. There's really good teams in that. We saw San Francisco kind of wake up. They're down to their maybe four string running back now, but they're going to get production from that position. It stinks what happened to McCaffrey. But these are good coaches. There's talent there. There's players that have done the winning. And in a one game sample against the Detroit Lions, when the Detroit Lions don't have this loss that we all agree, they desperately.

[Mike Ryan]

You all agree? I don't agree with that. You guys think the Lions need to lose the game? I don't agree. No.

[Stugatz]

The Lions need a loss. They desperately need a loss for the playoffs.

[Mike Ryan]

Not the Chiefs though. The Chiefs don't need a loss.

[Stugatz]

The Chiefs don't need a loss.

[Mike Ryan]

Just the Lions. Just the Lions. They, they can't, they can't go in as a one loss team is what you guys are arguing. They cannot go in on a winning streak that makes the expectations that they've won 16 straight or whatever it is.

[Stugatz]

Yeah, they, they, they desperately need a loss and they really do. And I will tell you as it relates to the Bills and game, that game is on. Sean McDermott, I, I said this during God Bless Football, so I'm telling you right now, he is going to be the reason Josh Allen doesn't win a Super Bowl.

[Mike Ryan]

What do you mean? You said this on God Bless Football. You're giving us a recycled take here.

[Stugatz]

It needs to be said.

[Mike Ryan]

It was said over there. It doesn't need to be said over here if you already said it over there?

[Stugatz]

Well, I said it. I said it.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, you're going to say that it's on McDermott, but this is what I would ask you. How many coaches in the league have the pedigree and the confidence and the job security to do what it is that McVeigh did when he's up 38, 35 and it's 4th and 3 and he's like, I'm not kicking a field goal here. And then losing to Josh Allen, running right back down the field. I'm going for it on 4th and 4 because I trust my quarterback. I don't want to be leading by six. I'm going for it. You tell me all the coaches in the league because I don't have a lot of them. I. For all this fourth down math that we're now doing, there are only a few, four or five Harbaugh and Campbell guys who I actually trust with. No, I'm going to do this because I trust my offense and I trust my guys every time. Right. And I'm not doing field goal football anymore.

[Billy Gill]

Then we had the situation yesterday in the Dolphins game. Remember, the Dolphins are marching down the field and it was fourth down and say, hey, should they kick it or should they go for a touchdown? And we opened the poll up to the audience and there was a coward in the back with a ginger beard.

[Mike Ryan]

Got to go for one.

[Dan Wetzel]

There.

[Billy Gill]

Kick, kick. No, first you said kick the field goal. They went for the touchdown. They got the touchdown. Now they're down two. You go for one or go for two. Everyone in the crowd says, go for two. There's one coward in the back with a ginger beer that says go for one.

[Mike Ryan]

A lot of time on that clock. Lot of time on that clock.

[Billy Gill]

This is my favorite part. They go for for two. They get the two. You know what this coward does? He says he wasn't in.

[Mike Ryan]

Look, there was a lot of time left on that clock. You guys were all taking the easy stance. I was doing the difficult decision.

[David Sampson]

They would have missed overtime by a point.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, they could have got the ball back.

[Stugatz]

It would have cost them the game.

[Mike Ryan]

Billy Sanders missed an extra point. But Sanders, who you hate and I now associate, anytime he misses, I just look for wherever you are in the world.

[David Sampson]

AFC player, special teams player.

[Mike Ryan]

I was just going to say Sanders has the longest active streak in the league of made field goals. You've got the most consistent kicker in.

[Stugatz]

The entire league going because Billy has an eye on him.

[David Sampson]

I mean, he's feeling the pressure. Things picked up after we offered to help him move out of town.

[Mike Ryan]

Remember, correctly, if. If I were writing. Tell me something about this here. If I were writing comedy before the season, Stu Gots, and I said, you're never going to believe what I'm going to do here. This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to pay a broadcaster $375 million, and he's going to have no experience in being a broadcaster. I'm going to put him on the biggest game because he's a winner guy and he's winner, and everybody wants to be around a winner. But I'm going to give him so much power that he's going to buy a portion of the Raiders. And because of that, he's not going to be in the production meetings where he can be as prepared as any of the other announcers who are doing this professionally. And as an added bonus, on a really important game that's a lot of fun late in the season, you know what's going to happen. He's going to lose his voice very early in the broadcast. Would I be writing comedy? Would I be writing how it is that things could go wrong for Tom Brady? How many other announcers have you seen try to slug their way through a game with a voice that they have lost because Tom Brady's voice didn't work correctly yesterday. He fought the entire game, but it was totally distracting. A game that was otherwise really worth watching.

[Stugatz]

It's really not the voice you're paying for. It's the presence. I mean, the funny thing is, is.

[David Sampson]

I actually thought it was his best game when he could get the words out.

[Stugatz]

He. He did seem to. He's. He's finally getting the note of. He blasted McDermott.

[Mike Ryan]

Stop talking before the next play.

[Stugatz]

Like, that's really the only note.

[Mike Ryan]

And he finally seems to be getting.

[David Sampson]

A little better at that.

[Stugatz]

What McDermott did was egregious, and Brady called him out for it because they had three timeouts left and it was first and goal. You do not run a running play there, there. It all has to be passing plays. You either catch a touchdown or you drop it and no time goes off the clock. He cost his team a chance to win the game, and that's what you can't do as a coach. You cannot cost Josh Allen, who is out there doing the things that he's doing, getting you back into the game. And because of your boneheaded decision at the end of the game, that's the reason Josh doesn't win.

[Billy Gill]

Now, Stu Gods. I just want to confirm what you said earlier. You said the Bills will never win a championship as long as Greg McDermott is their coach.

[Stugatz]

Sean, same this.

[Mike Ryan]

So which did he say? Which? What. What are you asking him? I mean, you. You get in.

[Pat Forde]

I think it was a means mistake.

[David Sampson]

No, it's fine.

[Mike Ryan]

It was.

[Stugatz]

I'm saying that Josh Allen will not win a Super bowl as long as Sean McDermott is his head coach. Yes. Major penalty.

[Mike Ryan]

Five minutes for stumbling.

[Billy Gill]

Well, I didn't stumble. I just got it wrong. I said it kind of smoothly.

[Mike Ryan]

Don't be with Samson. Samson wants to talk. Soto, go. Go listen to whatever it is I want to talk. I'm going to tune in. You know what I'd like to do right now? I'd like you to sit in the penalty box with David Sampson, and I'd like him to give you all of his Soto information that he didn't get to give us earlier in the show. What is. I mean, I don't need you back now. You can just go.

[Billy Gill]

Just really quickly. What you just sentenced me to do, that is the ingredients for humble pie.

[Mike Ryan]

Okay?

[Pat Forde]

It's.

[Mike Ryan]

It's supposed to be a punishment.

[David Sampson]

So then does Amin come back and give us all of Samson's thoughts on.

[Mike Ryan]

No, I want to hear. I want to listen in on what it is that Samson has to say to Amin while they sit in the penalty box together. But do you guys not find it funny that Brady lost his voice and fought through the game? And we can talk about all the details in that game. To me, the takeaway as the Bills lose is holy. In the era of Lamar Jackson WINS all the MVPs, man, how is it that this guy gets to romp through secondary secondaries looking like more of an athlete than everyone he's playing against when I know the kind of athlete that Boces are and Watts are and Miles Garrett is and the people who are chasing him bout and Max Crosby. Like, how is it possible that this guy just gallops through secondaries, he's going to throw for touchdowns, he's going to run for touchdowns, and it's going to hurt to tackle it. Like, nobody's going to want to tackle him.

[Chris Cote]

I've been totally screwed by Boris in this very regard, where you think that he doesn't have the years, but he does. And then you try to get information, but it's collusion, so you can't. And so you're in a position. Amina, are you listening? And then. And then you're Hello? I can't get the show to listen. Just two minutes. You're in here. So then the question is. No, but I. Okay, but just two more minutes. If Steve Cohn has information about.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, I don't really want more information. Money. Well, this is the thing. This is the thing. Help me out here with the tensions around this show. And every time David Sampson appears for a week, this is the. This is the tension I have. And it's. And it really is philosophical. I'm telling you that what he does with John Skipper and what he does daily on sports business is fascinating. But I keep getting told at every turn that while we talk about money all the time in sports and Soto will come and change everything about how we talk about it, that people don't want to talk about stadium deals and collective bargaining agreements, that when we actually get into the weeds of what the business of this is, people don't actually want to know what it means that the Dodgers are deferring a billion dollars. A billion dollars.

[Chris Cote]

Everything around Citi Field. And that's where the money is. The casino getting rid of the chop shops. That video we saw earlier in the show of the guy being upset, I think it's just. Stay with me. Think about the deal, the return on investment that Steve Cohen's looking at. The team's worth more. It's an absolute deal that makes sense. But getting the.

[Mike Ryan]

He's so fascinated by the business of this. Do you realize it's Boris? I. Well, I drove in. I drove with him and Coca, his producer, and they were asking me, what is the easiest day for you? And I'm like, Monday. It's a light lift. We don't have to do anything. And they're like, oh, we don't talk about football at all. Football barely makes our show on Monday. And I'm like, you're doing it all wrong. Everything you're doing is wrong. He's like, but we're doing business. Business. We're talking business. And Soto. The Soto deal broke. And I'm like, you gotta talk football. You gotta. They look like there's one key ingredient in this space. 1. Just talk football. And he wants to talk about the business of Soto, and he's more qualified to talk about it than just about anybody in the business that's got a microphone.

[Pat Forde]

It's weird. The show's called Nothing Personal, and it's Total personality.

[Chris Cote]

Before you put that in your brain, you don't realize this impacts basketball. All the contracts that are done with players who stink. It's now infecting baseball. But there's a cap in basketball, not in baseball. It's incredible, actually, how cool it is. I. I think what we should be discussing is, is baseball ahead of basketball or behind? Because I could argue now it's actually ahead.

[Mike Ryan]

So Carolyn Davidson sold the nike swoosh for $35 to Phil Knight. And what I'm asking you is, how does she feel about that now? Is it a source of pride as she walks around and it's on every show?

[Stugatz]

It's not a source of pride. Like, are you. Are you asking if she's thinking about it every single day and it's gnawing at her? Kind of like that loss that spoad. I mean, is it.

[Mike Ryan]

Is it a black mirror episode of how you haunt an artist or graphic designer? You sell their work for $35 or you buy it for $35. You make it ubiquitous, but everywhere you go, you're being reminded and haunted by the terrible business decision that you made. It's a. It's an episode. I'd like, if she's still with us, I would like to speak to her about how it is that she experiences selling the nike swoosh for $35.

[Pat Forde]

Just get a nice little trauma pump from her sicko or just.

[Mike Ryan]

Or just fine with it. Because the artist can say, you can't put a price on being a ubiquitous.

[Pat Forde]

Symbol, that you should be the most identified branding in the world.

[Mike Ryan]

And Phil Knight was ahead of everybody on Mike Ryan gets to buy his quarterback in NIL. Like Phil Knight was getting college football cheap 15 years ago when he making the play calls from the skybox.

[David Sampson]

I believe she gave them credit for giving her, like, her first big break. Also, she got 500 shares at the time and then got like splitting and stuff like that. It ended up being 32,000 shares, which is about $3 million.

[Stugatz]

And I've confirmed she is indeed still alive.

[Mike Ryan]

I'd like to speak to her. What do you think Mike Ryan of Lane Kiffin tweeting, God, if this wasn't look at me, Louie, he was congratulating Georgia on winning the conference, and he's like 57 and 4 since 2020, only four losses. That's amazing. Three to Alabama, one to Ole Miss. Olene Kiffin out there reminding you that in the last four years, it's only Alabama and him that have beaten Georgia. But if not for one of those bad officiating calls in an eight overtime game, we might all be saying that Georgia Tech is just as good as Georgia.

[Pat Forde]

Well, remind him that he lost to two teams that lost to Miami and Louisville by a combined 50 points.

[Mike Ryan]

Let's check in with Lucy Rodine. She was off roading at the Big Ten championship. What did that look and sound like.

[Dan Le Batard]

When Rose was pepper sprayed last week? A lot of things happened. We laughed, she cried. And something we really didn't talk about enough was not because of Rose getting pepper spray, but the events that occurred before the Big Ten championship game now looked completely different. Ohio State is not here. Penn State is. And you can tell Ohio State fans bought up, like, all the tickets for this game. Clearly didn't need them anymore. So everyone's just really happy to be here. They weren't expecting any of this. Tickets are going for, like, $20. Vibes are odds. Vibes are odds. Did you ever think you'd see Oregon playing in the Big Ten championship game?

[Stugatz]

No, not. No.

[Mike Ryan]

I thought it would be in the Rose Bowl.

[Dan Le Batard]

Did we think we would be here?

[Mike Ryan]

We did not. No. But here we are.

[Stugatz]

Not a chance.

[Mike Ryan]

No, not at all.

[Dan Le Batard]

What was your reaction when Michigan beat Ohio State?

[Mike Ryan]

Static. Ohio State. We don't give a About Ohio State.

[Stugatz]

They're so.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, my God.

[David Sampson]

Ohio State joke. Thank you.

[Mike Ryan]

Thanks to them over there. Thanks to them over there. Yeah.

[Dan Wetzel]

I think it's the first time we've.

[Mike Ryan]

Ever rooted for Michigan, ever. I was doing the happy dance. It was a good way to start today. Ohio State sucks. I hate Ohio.

[David Sampson]

I was in a house full of.

[Stugatz]

Buckeye fans, and I went nuts, man.

[Mike Ryan]

It was great. I've got so many friends that are Buckeye fans. And it was speechless. It was like, oh, my God. What in the hell just happened?

[Dan Le Batard]

Were you taunting or were you nice about it?

[Mike Ryan]

A little.

[Billy Gill]

Both.

[Dan Le Batard]

Were you happier about that or the fact that you guys would be in the Big Ten championship game?

[Mike Ryan]

Ohio State lost. The fact that Ohio State lost. We hate Ohio State. State. That's a tough one. I want to say the Ohio State loss because it's. It's a big one.

[Dan Le Batard]

Very nice bunch here today. Everyone's been incredibly friendly, which is not what we're looking for. It's bad content for everyone to be nice. Now I have a take. The Big Ten needs Big Ten west fans. The vibes here, they're not hitting the way they do when Iowa's here. Who cares about the game? We make tailgate content. I haven't seen anybody throw up yet today. Nebraska. Iowa. We need them here. I love seeing Iowa lose by 40. It's awesome, and we're very good at it. I think if Iowa were here, everyone would be having a good time.

[Mike Ryan]

I don't know about that. Don't like Iowa.

[Dan Le Batard]

Why?

[Stugatz]

Not a fan of them?

[Dan Le Batard]

Why?

[Mike Ryan]

Just haven't been for years.

[Dan Le Batard]

Why?

[Mike Ryan]

I just don't. Why are you from Iowa?

[Dan Le Batard]

Not going to answer that question. We've never done anything wrong. We're very lovely, nice people. Iowa may lose by 45 in this game, but everyone be having a good time. We'd be out in the streets in the tailgates with the people. These two fan bases, they can't do smells really bad.

[Mike Ryan]

James Franklin's a fraud. He's not good.

[Stugatz]

I'm a James Franklin fan.

[Mike Ryan]

I'm a Franklin fan. He's really good at winning 10 regular season games and then he'll just lose the games that matter.

[Billy Gill]

James Franklin's going to show the world.

[Mike Ryan]

Today that he can win the big game.

[Dan Le Batard]

You guys boo James Franklin at the game or no?

[David Sampson]

Of course.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah. He's a nice guy. He's a nice guy. Michael Franklin, we ride or die with him. He wins this game. We love him. If he loses, he's horrible. It's a love hate relationship.

[Dan Le Batard]

Can you just tell me about the sign you brought here today?

[Mike Ryan]

Pretty much. Ohio State sucks. And the last time that they beat Michigan was pre Covid. Ryan Day is the greatest acclamation to the Michigan Wolverines of all time. Ohio State do not fire Ryan Day.

[David Sampson]

Ohio State sucks. They are garbage. The only thing that is fun to.

[Mike Ryan]

Do in Ohio is leave. All jokes aside, they've been really nice. I love Oregon. It's awesome there. It's one of the best states ever, by the way. It's very pretty. Pennsylvania sucks also. Penn State sucks. They don't deserve to be here. Everyone thought Ohio State would be here. I wish that they would so that it would be a good game.

[Dan Le Batard]

But why are you wearing shorts though?

[Mike Ryan]

That is.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's like super valid of them to have brought up.

[Mike Ryan]

I mean, it's just not that cold. Penn State fans out here arguing that middle of Pennsylvania is better to live in than beautiful coastal Oregon. Who the wants to live in Oregon? Let's be real here. Who wants to live in Oregon? Lots of people. They're delusional. And no one is moving to central Pennsylvania as a retirement destination.

[Dan Le Batard]

No one is moving to central Pennsylvania to retire.

[Mike Ryan]

The amount of people retiring to northern coastal Oregon to retire, it's not a lot, but it's not zero.

[Dan Le Batard]

Do you think Oregon belongs in this conference or no?

[Mike Ryan]

They don't. We're about to prove them wrong tonight. They do not belong here. Yeah. Hey, welcome to the Big Ten. We'll show you the door out.

[Dan Le Batard]

So there you have it, Dan. Oregon won the Big Ten championship their first year in the conference. Their first year. Some teams have been there a really, really long time and haven't done that yet. Doesn't seem fair, does it? Doesn't seem fair.

[Stugatz]

Lucy Rodine, Iowa correspondent I gotta tell you, Oregon may have won that game, Dan, but that was not Big Ten football.

[Mike Ryan]

That's true.

[Stugatz]

It wasn't.

[Mike Ryan]

That's you. 45, 37.

[Stugatz]

I need 17 seconds.

[Mike Ryan]

Goal line, third and two all game. Come on, everybody block better than them. What's going on with all these neon colors running up and down the field? The way Oregon's been playing football. Football out west. What comes this way? We're all about the snow. You can't come in here this time of year and just gallop all over the field.

[Stugatz]

Who are these fast kids?

[Mike Ryan]

What is happening around here? It's about beef and blocking. Football. Can you please get for me? Because Lucy did a great job again all season. Those are harder to do than you can imagine. Is why more people don't do them. But she failed this week because there wasn't enough pepper spray and there wasn't enough road. Couldn't stop. This song was stuck in my head all weekend.

[Pat Forde]

Couldn't get rid of it.

[Stugatz]

Ohio, no mistake.

[Mike Ryan]

Such drama. You lost.

[Stugatz]

That's the deal.

[Mike Ryan]

The video clearly shows with my eye almost blinded There's Harry and Lucy laughing Baby, I can tell you that I'm pissed They rose with the spray oh she sounded like a crucial stepped on reveals yeah Even though Rose was in June There's Harry and Lucy laughing Even though I wasn't doomed There's Harry and Lucy laughing.

[Pat Forde]

Howdy, folks, it's Mike. And guess what? It's Miller time. The holiday season brings around lots of joy and also lots of family. Lots of family gatherings at your home. You're inviting people in there and you want to make sure they're happy. Why don't you make their time at your place? A Miller time. Pass around that beautiful white can of triple hops brewed Miller Lite and watch the smiles adorn those faces. Make Miller light the official drink. The official beverage of your holiday get together. You know why? Because it is a perfect beer for the holiday season. You'll take a sip, you'll look around and you'll think immediately, yeah, I made the right call. It's got tastes that you can depend on. No games, no gimmicks. Just great beer for people who like beer, making memories at year end gatherings Tastes like Miller time. Go to millerlite.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Fewer calories and carbs than premium regular beer.