Hour 1: The Old Dogs (feat. Matthew Berry and ******* *****)

Summary

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The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: Hour 1 - "The Old Dogs"
Date: October 24, 2025
Location: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami
Notable Guests: Matthew Berry

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Episode Overview

This episode, titled "The Old Dogs," blends signature Le Batard Show banter about the sports overload of late October—World Series season, the NBA's opening fireworks, and South Florida's buzzing scene—with both comedic riffs and some surprisingly rich analysis. The crew discusses the Miami Cyclones, the acceleration of Lionel Messi’s legacy with Inter Miami, recent NBA games and transcendent athletes like Steph Curry and Victor Wembanyama, plus a visit from fantasy football guru Matthew Berry for a fast-paced fantasy/betting rundown. The mood is irreverent, high-energy, and filled with running gags.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Overwhelming Sports Slate (00:16–01:02)

• Stugotz opens with a lament about the sports calendar's glut, declaring, "Sports are bursting right now. World Series tonight. Basketball last night was nuts. Just totally crazy. Too much sports to get to, not enough time." (00:16)
• The crew quickly veers to Cyclones, their local jai-alai squad, before pinballing to NBA, NFL, and soccer talking points.

2. Miami Cyclones Banter & Magic City Fronton (01:01–04:43)

• Mike Ryan, Stugotz, Chris Cote, and Tony Reali recap Cyclones drama: forfeits, injuries, and hilarious made-up narratives.
• Mike: "We are top of the table...We had the game in hand. We tried to rest our star, then Manu's got a groin. Mighty groin that is." (02:12)
• Name drops: Udonis Haslam (serious, ever-present owner), Ray Lewis (loves pelota), and local business/culture color.

3. Messi’s Inter Miami Extension (05:31–08:44)

• Stugotz pivots to major local soccer news, calling Messi "the greatest player there’s ever been in soccer."
• Mike Ryan vividly describes Inter Miami’s announcement video: "He puts pen to paper...Boom. Reveal: it wasn’t an office—it’s the stadium. He’s sitting in the middle of it at Freedom Park." (06:14)
• Local skepticism about the speed of Miami stadium construction. Dan: "That stadium being built that fast in our city has to be one of the greatest miracles I've ever seen in construction in this town filled with scam and everything else." (07:28)

4. Stadiums Near Airports—A Miami Concern (08:44–09:27)

• Roundtable ponders the wisdom (and chaos) of major Miami stadiums built adjacent to airports, before Mike points out, "There’s a lot of stadiums near airports. Trust me, sitting in SOFI, those planes come in low." (09:12)

5. World Series & Baseball-Obsessed Listeners (09:27–10:06)

• Jeremy Bernitz bemoans that “the greatest athlete who’s ever lived” (Ohtani) is in another World Series, but public buzz is all but absent. "We just...don't care." (09:43)
• Tony Reali jokes: "So Wemby's going to be in the World Series?" (09:55)

6. Wembanyama & the Generation Gap (10:07–10:54)

• Tony marvels at how quickly hype flips for stars—LeBron fans now sound like Jordan fans defending their "era." "It's finally happened. LeBron fans have gone through the looking glass...become the old guys." (10:31)

7. Deep Dive: NBA’s Opening Nights & the "Old Dogs" (10:59–15:23)

Featured Games & Performances

• Thunder vs. Pacers: Amin and Tony Reali highlight the Pacers’ resilience sans Halliburton; shoutout to A.J. Mitchell for seizing his moment ("Two games, guy's balling." 11:35).
• Running joke listing suspiciously Harry Potter-esque player names—Johnny Furfy gets special attention: "Johnny Furfy from Kansas—oh man, it’s real...he dunks on hard." (12:51)
• Nuggets’ Aaron Gordon: "10 of 11 from three...but he wasn’t the story last night." (13:13)

Steph Curry’s Mastery

• Reali: “The story was old Wardell, Stephen Curry II. The old dog still got it...if it weren’t on late, everybody would be talking.” (13:25)
• Show marvels at Curry’s late-game heroics, especially his "call that timeout" to Denver’s bench after hitting a dagger three. "That’s ballsy, man." (14:27)
• Stugotz and Amin: Curry keeps getting even better, despite (or because of) age.

8. Fantasy Football/Bets with Matthew Berry (20:28–24:46)

• Berry delivers a rapid-fire segment thick with stats and actionable advice, blending fantasy and sly betting signals:
  • Cowboys have allowed huge fantasy QB games: "Five of seven have scored at least 24 fantasy points." (20:52)
  • Dallas opponent Bo Nix, Giants’ Jackson Dart as sleeper rush TD, strong trends for Breece Hall, Isaiah Davis.
  • Kate Otten as a sneaky tight end play with no Mike Evans for Bucs.
  • Stugotz revels in the realization: "I just realized why he's popular. This man's just giving away money for 10 years." (23:51)

9. Ongoing Basketball Theatrics: MVP Chatter & Transcendent Talents (25:32–40:41)

• Ongoing MVP race parody: Aaron Gordon, Wemby, Luka—everyone’s proclaimed the new favorite after one game.
• Steph Curry compared to “survival of the fittest” in pro sports, still conquering despite new super-athletes:
  • Tony: "He will continue to give us moments to the very end." (26:46)
  • Mike: "Is this a transitive property thing? If someone outperforms Steph Curry, are they MVP?" (26:56)
• DeAndre Jordan/Ayton tangent: market for “good locker room guys” (27:48–28:20)
• Amin predicts: "Wemby is an unprecedented player...people are starting to say he’s top 10 all-time if he just stays healthy." (32:04)
• Mike: "He may be the one that makes the court larger, because it's an unfair [advantage]." (33:35)

10. Athletic "Unfairness"—Wemby, Ohtani, and Wilt (34:15–42:52)

• Wembanyama versus Ohtani as the most “unfair” modern athletes, referencing physical gifts vs. failure rates in their respective sports.
• Tony: "When all these guys are gone...you're going to say that stat line...that doesn't make sense. Like a Wilt statline. And then you say, 'That’s not even his best game.'" (41:13)
• Wilt's most unbreakable stat: "48.5 minutes per game for a season—more than the length of an NBA game, because he played every minute and overtime!" (41:52)
• Famed Curry-over-Wemby photo analyzed as a "moment of human ingenuity" (42:41).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Miami stadium construction:
  "That stadium being built that fast in our city has to be one of the greatest miracles I've ever seen in construction in this town filled with scam and everything else. And Messi built it."
  — Stugotz, (07:28)
• Curry’s clutch moment:
  "Down three with seconds to go...he hits what’s a bad shot for anybody else. With Steph Curry...it’s not even a 'no, no, no, yes,' it’s a, 'Oh yeah, this one’s good.' He hits the shot and looks at the Nuggets’ bench and says, ‘Call that timeout.’ That’s ballsy, man."
  — Tony Reali (14:27)
• Old Guard vs. New Guard:
  "Let me tell you something about these old dogs. Steph Curry last night turned in a performance that, if it weren’t on late, everybody would be talking."
  — Tony Reali (13:25)
• On Matthew Berry:
  "In plain sight, this man's been giving away money for 10 years."
  — Stugotz (23:57)
• Athletic unfairness & Wemby:
  "When someone comes...and is going to be a top 10 player in the league ever if he just stays healthy...every game is possibly going to feel like Shohei Ohtani hitting three home runs and striking out 10."
  — Stugotz (32:31–33:00)
• On Wilt’s untouchable feat:
  "48.5 minutes a game for a season—there are only 48 minutes in an NBA game!"
  — Tony Reali (41:52)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening, sports glut & Cyclones banter: 00:16–04:43
• Messi’s Inter Miami deal & Miami stadiums: 05:31–09:27
• Baseball, Ohtani & Wemby generational talk: 09:27–10:54
• NBA breakdown & "Old Dogs" (Steph, Gordon): 10:59–15:23
• Fantasy rundown with Matthew Berry: 20:28–24:46
• Basketball antics & MVP takes: 25:32–33:35
• Wemby, Ohtani, Wilt comparisons: 34:15–42:52
• Curry over Wemby photo/discussion: 38:18–42:55

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Tone & Highlights

The episode flows with the show's trademark blend of informed sports nerdery, over-the-top analogies, inside jokes, and Miami local color. The panelists are quick to jump from statistical trivia to soundboard-style banter—often breaking up earnest analysis with a comedic hot take.

This hour is especially rich for listeners who love:

• The friction between old and new sports legends (Curry vs. Wemby)
• Miami-centric stories, local color, and stadium oddities
• Running jokes and fast pivots (from jai-alai to NBA mythology to soccer construction grifts)
• Real-time, actionable fantasy advice in Matthew Berry’s segment
• Playful skepticism about the next big thing and what truly qualifies as "unfair" in modern sports

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In short:
If you missed the hour, you missed a hilarious, far-ranging debate about who's taking over sports (and how the old dogs just won’t yield), plus genuinely useful fantasy tidbits, all colored by the unique Miami flavor that only the Le Batard Show provides.

Transcript

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats podcast.

[Chris Cote]

This episode of the Dan Lebatard show was presented by DraftKings. DraftKings. The Crown is yours.

[Mike Ryan]

Sound like that hurt.

[Tony Reali]

Hell, yeah.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Sports are bursting right now. World Series tonight. Basketball last night was nuts. Just totally crazy. Deep into the night, there's too much sports to get to, not enough time. But we start with the Cyclones. Because I've been wanting to get to the Cyclones all week and I keep getting knocked off the Cyclones. And you will not knock me off the Cyclones.

[Amin Elhassan]

Incredible basketball last night.

[Tony Reali]

Dan.

[Amin Elhassan]

Me and Amin are doing our own show. Steph Curry is back. AJ Mitchell for the Thunder.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Good. I wish. I wish that right now we had just Tony and amin going live 20 minutes after bananas last night. We're not there yet.

[Jeremy Bernitz]

The World Series is tonight.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

I know. We just got to. Damage is going to do the fourth hour on a Friday. We'll get there. Please get me.

[Chris Cote]

I don't think it's accurate, but that's happening either.

[Mike Ryan]

But still, check out football. America, Mica.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Cyclones.

[Mike Ryan]

Top of the table. Cyclones. You know, gritty team this year. We led by the una. Great draft pick.

[Tony Reali]

Led by AI.

[Mike Ryan]

No, that's how he plays. And that photo of El Barba grabbing his lower back.

[Chris Cote]

El Barba not even on our roster.

[Mike Ryan]

That's when her injury replacement got hurt and needed an injury replacement.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

We have not gotten nearly enough. Mike forfeited a game the other day. At the top of the table. Mike. But to protect.

[Amin Elhassan]

Are those dreads?

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, he dreaded his. His beard.

[Chris Cote]

You can see the heart, though.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, you could. You could. Because it's inflamed.

[Amin Elhassan]

I can see his gut.

[Mike Ryan]

Seconds later, he got a theragun to the lower back and was replaced by an active gigolo.

[Tony Reali]

You're dead.

[Mike Ryan]

The Magic City Fronton. We put the Magic in Magic City. But we are top of the table. We are coming off a tough loss. The fixture list has been tough.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Mike, you've been with this team through thick and thin. Chris doesn't show up to the games anymore as the owner. Mike.

[Mike Ryan]

He wasn't there when I was fighting with Unda.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

You were in the locker room fighting your star player and forfeiting a game.

[Mike Ryan]

Boss, I need to play.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Chris was nowhere to be found.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, he was. That's fair. But that was my job that day as gm. I was allowed to forfeit the final match because we had the game in hand. Then I tried to do the same exact move because Manu's got a groin. Mighty great Groin, that is. And I wasn't allowed to do it that time. And Hyrule had to go in there. Hyro, great draft pick. Look, we're going to have a say when it comes to the Battle Court Fall Championship, and that's all we wanted. Now, I'm not thrilled. Losing one to the Renegades, that's tough. That means you Donis has a banter advantage over us. I don't like that.

[Tony Reali]

Is he showing up?

[Mike Ryan]

He shows up to the game.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

He's a serious owner.

[Mike Ryan]

No, he loves. He loves. Bellota doesn't show up every game. No, he left a little early this time because we were that dominant.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

He's the owner of a team, and he's proud of it. He's a Miami economy. He's a Miami business, and this is one of his teams.

[Mike Ryan]

But we. We got to talk. And I'm like, you know, I got a very difficult. Bueno hasn't played a single match for us. He's out for the season. It's no bueno, Dan, but Robin came in as a taxi squatter.

[Chris Cote]

He better get a ring if we win.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, no bueno. I mean, he's still there fighting.

[Chris Cote]

No, I mean, Robin should.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, Robin will. Absolutely. If we win. Man, if we win, I will. There's only one championship, and that's.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

I was embarrassed.

[Mike Ryan]

Football Hurricane.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed. Last time I was there, Ray Lewis and Udonis Haslam wiped the floor with our team, with Meadowlark's team in a championship finale. That's the last time I was there.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

I'm a front runner.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, Ray Lewis was just there for fun. That wasn't even his team. Wow. He loved. He loves Pelota that much.

[Chris Cote]

Scouting.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah.

[Tony Reali]

When's the next game?

[Mike Ryan]

The next Friday game, I think, is in two Fridays. Correct me if I'm wrong. I think it's in two Fridays and.

[Chris Cote]

We have two in November.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, the Fronton is electric.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

You should have Damoshek there to wear somebody out. Talking about 90s pirates, baseball. That guy's hot breath.

[Tony Reali]

That was so funny. Mike was like, just say the name and watch him go.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

I've got to salute him.

[Mike Ryan]

He literally pulled the Tom Barrasso photo that was unreal.

[Tony Reali]

And then started going.

[Mike Ryan]

I thought we planned it.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Croqueta. He says it very well. David Sampson does not care.

[Tony Reali]

No, no, no.

[Amin Elhassan]

Caretta.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Yeah, Coretta lived here 20, 25 years. President of the Marlins in the middle of Little Havana was gon making it a booming Hispanic economy.

[Amin Elhassan]

Correcta.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

There's Just a pharmacy there in a 7 11.

[Amin Elhassan]

Now, Coretta, the same sad ones. Coretta.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

I want to get to the basketball, but I think I have to punish Amin for hitting me with a Ron Borges in the last segment. It sent me reeling and was not being a good teammate after he has worked very hard the last couple of days, flying between Miami and New York to be serious journalist guy next to Pablo during a federal investigation.

[Tony Reali]

I heard Colorado Avalanche and I thought about who was on that team. I remembered Adam Foote. Right? He was on that team, right?

[DraftKings Announcer]

Yeah.

[Tony Reali]

I remembered a couple other names. And then I said, oh, yeah, that's right. Ron Borges played there right after he left Boston.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

No, Ray Bourque is gonna sting with me for a long time. I felt that when I called you, I called, no, it'll sting.

[Chris Cote]

It'll sting with you.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, don't seize on him just because you're insecure.

[Amin Elhassan]

You couldn't say 88's June 127.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Before we get to the basketball, though, please get. Because I don't want to just skip past the greatest player there's ever been in soccer. And we talk about a time of greatness. LeBron, Shohei Ohtani Messi resigning in Miami. I don't want to just skip over it. And they handled the optics on it beautifully because they packaged him correctly with. With a commercial that's moving with good marketing.

[Mike Ryan]

Right? You guys haven't seen this, so I'll give play by play because this is largely video. So let's go and play it right now. But the. The club formally announced Lionel Messi's extension. It seems as though Messi will indeed finish his career with Inter Miami, which is just a wild statement. This is arguably the greatest player ever. So it starts with Messi sitting down in an office dramatically, dramatically reading the. The contract, presumably for the first time. I assume this is what he's going over all the details. This is how he does business. This is how goats operate, folks. He puts pen to paper on this table and he's about to look at the camera, very pleased with himself because he signed his famous signature on it. He looks straight to the camera and then, boom. We reveal that it wasn't an office. It was all a facade. It was just a curtain behind him. A drone shot pulls back the new stadium that he will unveil as an Inter Miami player. He is sitting in the middle of it. That's where he signed the contract at Freedom Park.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Wow.

[Tony Reali]

Can I ask a question? Are you guys not in the least bit Concerned that in a city where every construction project takes decades, it feels.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Like to complete this will be a miracle.

[Tony Reali]

This stadium is up this fast. Every time I land, it's a little bit more or it's a lot more completed. And I'm like, I don't like this.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, that's what the owner does for a living. And if you thought this was fast, you should have seen how fast their stadium up in Fort Lauderdale came together at Lockhart, because that was crazy.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Okay? If you're not familiar with what our swampland is and how many developers have gotten away with building quickly here, you know, with varying degrees of safety, do you realize the wonderful grift that the city of Miami, which is just sort of a way station between small Latin American countries and whatever the real America is becoming now America. That stadium being built that fast in our city has to be one of the greatest miracles I've ever seen in construction in this town filled with scam and everything else. And Messi built it. And Messi will get to building a stadium near the airport and getting soccer to Miami. He built it here. He built it off of whatever the Apple arrangement was. He's gonna get to a stadium built near the airport. When we can't build on anything, we've got no more room to put anything anywhere up, up, anywhere, except up. That right there is going to be the stadium that becomes whatever Ross's Stadium is worth. What to the Dolphins? $10 billion. Whatever Jerry's Stadium is worth to him, they. They got it to the stadium. In this town, that's a miracle. Our developers don't work that fast. Our construction people do not show up on time, except for across the street.

[Tony Reali]

Second question. Is this going to make airport traffic worse?

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Can't be safer.

[Mike Ryan]

I've been to SOFI Stadium, and you look directly up and you're like, oh, my God. That is an entire airplane that I see the silhouette of right over me.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

It can't be safer. Those kinds of lights around airplanes can't be argued as safer.

[Tony Reali]

In a weird way, Mike, I trust LAX more. That's saying a lot. LAX is one of the best.

[Mike Ryan]

SOFI is much bigger than this stadium. Raymond James is also near an airport. There's a lot of stadiums that are near airports. Trust me, if you've sat in SOFI Stadium and you hear just a gigantic buzz overhead, you are shocked at how low those planes are. Over so far.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Before we get to last night's basketball, because it really was majestic. And Eduardo Perez will be here to talk about the World Series, which also promises to be pretty great international.

[Jeremy Bernitz]

Thank God.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Jeremy, I felt for you today that baseball can't make the show with this World Series.

[Jeremy Bernitz]

The greatest athlete who's ever lived is about to play in a back to back World Series. He's going to start on the mound in game three or four. It's unbelievable. And we just. We don't care.

[Tony Reali]

So Wemby's gonna be in the World Series.

[Mike Ryan]

El Barba, he had three homers or like a pancita. Six innings, he said.

[Tony Reali]

And lying about it.

[Jeremy Bernitz]

He is amazing.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

We are watching, I mean, because Wemby, everyone is now saying after one game, oh, yes, mvp, watch out. He's going to take over the league. That's not fair.

[Tony Reali]

My favorite thing, but I did not see this coming. I got hit like a ton of bricks. Going on Twitter after game one of Wemby being amazing and seeing all the highlights and everyone like, oh, my God, he's incredible. This is a goat in the making. And seeing LeBron fans say, oh, look at them going crazy after one game. He wouldn't last a second in this era. And it was a highlight of LeBron, like, getting fouled by Danny Granger and like, I was like, oh, my God, it's finally happened. Like, the LeBron fans have now gone through the other side of the looking glass and have become the guys who are old and saying, this young guy wouldn't survive in.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Can you and Tony give me the best of what you got on basketball last night? Five minutes isn't enough time.

[Amin Elhassan]

So last night we had two great games. Obviously, the rematch of the finals yesterday between the Thunder and the Pacers sans Halliburton, but a lot of the Pacer guys stepped up. You want to start there really quick?

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Yeah.

[Tony Reali]

You know what, man? Like, a lot of people wrote off the Pacers like their season's done. They've just got to wait until next year. And they're competitive, man. They're scrappy as hell, man.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

And OKC playing two double overtime games, and it wasn't even the most fun from last night. And Tony fears Houston because everyone they have is very intrigued by the Houston Rockets.

[Tony Reali]

Before we move off of this game, I also want to shout out Tony, we're talking about in the secret show, right? A.J. mitchell.

[Amin Elhassan]

Wow.

[Tony Reali]

Never played last year as a rookie. This year, two games. The guy's balling.

[Amin Elhassan]

And that's what they needed, right? They needed another guy that can control the ball, control the pace of the game. Like, you can't just put everything on SGA shoulders. Even though.

[Chris Cote]

Especially.

[Tony Reali]

Especially without J Dub out there.

[Amin Elhassan]

Not with the wrist injury exactly, but looking at the. At the Pacer side of it. Benedict Matherin.

[Tony Reali]

Benedict Matheran.

[Mike Ryan]

Good. Really good. He's just making up names.

[Tony Reali]

No.

[Chris Cote]

Oh, Mike, you guys testing us to see if we've really been paying attention?

[Mike Ryan]

Well, that guy played in the finals, right? He had a game.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

You guys are going to dork out on basket. This is unfortunate.

[Tony Reali]

Teacher McCall didn't play either. I want to give. Mike. Mike, you may not know this name, but I'm guaranteed Johnny Furfy.

[Mike Ryan]

That's fake.

[Chris Cote]

They're gonna get us, Mike, eventually.

[Tony Reali]

He's white and he's white.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, it sounds white, but.

[Tony Reali]

And you know what Johnny Furfy does better than anything, Mike?

[Mike Ryan]

He's a fake player.

[Tony Reali]

He dunks on hard.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

What does Benedict Matherin sound like to you?

[Mike Ryan]

Well, I know he's black. Happen to know I saw one game, but Fury. Where did Furfy go to school?

[Chris Cote]

Sounds like a Harry Potter character.

[Tony Reali]

Where did Furfy go to school?

[Amin Elhassan]

Let's check it out.

[Tony Reali]

He's a second year player. I'll tell you what. In summer league, he dunked on this Bulls rookie, Noah Senye. And that was like the highlight of summer league because he dunked on him so hard. The face that poor Noah made was.

[Jeremy Bernitz]

Just like, played at Kansas.

[Tony Reali]

Oh, there you go. Johnny Fury from Kansas.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, man, it's real.

[Amin Elhassan]

Johnny Furfee, man, go take a look at him.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

But put on the poll at LeBatard show. Does Benedict Matheran sound like a Harry Potter character.

[Tony Reali]

But Tony, I wanted to talk about the second game.

[Amin Elhassan]

The second game is crazy.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

First of all, Aaron Gordon, 10 for 11 from three.

[Chris Cote]

From three.

[Tony Reali]

Yes. Yeah. 50.

[Mike Ryan]

He's the guy that dunks.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Aaron Gordon. I described him as the guy who dunks. Just takes alley. Oops. 10 of 11 from 3. And yes, he had 50. And he wasn't the story last night.

[Tony Reali]

No, the story was old. The story was old Wardell, Stephen Curry ii. The old dog still got it. I remember Dan was like, the old guys are just. They're gonna move on and we got new guys. And I'm like, man, let me tell you something about these old dogs. Because Steph Curry last night turned in the type of performance, Dan, that like, if it weren't on late east coast time, everybody would be talking.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

I mean, so this is mastery of the highest order. When we talk about the greats, we're watching. LeBron's giving his league over. Ohtani's amazing. I don't know who's better, McDavid or Mahomes? Like, we're talking about the greatest mastery in shooting. There's never been this. He's an unprecedented player in a sport.

[Tony Reali]

Where everyone argues everything. Who's the best player ever, who's the best powerful. The one constant is like, everyone knows.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Okay, but also Olympic hero and how does he make it from there? And also last night puts them to sleep when he's here. Still to remind you, don't forget about us, because we can be better than even Aaron Gordon on his best night.

[Tony Reali]

Down three with seconds to go in regulation, he hits what me and Tony talked about. Like, that's a bad shot for anybody else. Anybody else, That's a bad attempt. What are you doing with Steph Curry? It's not even a no, no, no. Yes, it's a. Oh, yeah, this one's good. He hits the shot and everyone's focused on the gyrating, hip, thrusting celebration that he did at the baseline. That's what kept getting rerun on all the shows this morning. My part of celebration I love the most is he hits the three pointer. He looks at the Nuggets bent and he says, call that timeout. Call that timeout. He demanded them to call timeout. That's ballsy, man.

[Amin Elhassan]

And he's what, 37 dog?

[Tony Reali]

He's getting better.

[Amin Elhassan]

He's getting better. He's aging like fine wine, but he looks like he's running out there like he's.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

It can't be getting better.

[Mike Ryan]

He's got gray hair now.

[Tony Reali]

I talked. I talked to his. His trainer.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

It can't be getting.

[Tony Reali]

And his trainer says he's better now.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

There's no such thing as better. Yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

Wait, no.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

Did you talk to his trainer? You didn't talk to him? Clear out.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Happen to know. You happen to know.

[Tony Reali]

He happens to know.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Great Scott. He happens to know.

[Amin Elhassan]

He happens.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Don't wave those fingers at me.

[Dan Le Batard]

Gather everyone.

[Mike Ryan]

Get the children.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

He happens to know.

[Matthew Berry]

So wise. What does Zyn give you? Not just smoke free nicotine satisfaction, but real freedom. Freedom to do what you love and choose your rewards. With Zinn rewards, you can redeem points for premium tech outdoor gear and gift cards to your favorite retailers. Find your Zinn and keep finding rewards that fit your [e-mail] rewards warning. This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

[DraftKings Announcer]

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[Matthew Berry]

Russ Springer Paul Sorrento Alvaro Espinosa Jeremy Bernitz Bud Black Chad O.J. julian Tavares Paul Assenmacher Alan Embry.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Jeremy, thinking he's whispering sweet nothings to me, is whispering right before we start. Do you know that the Dodgers have the top 3k per 9 inning guys in the history of big league baseball?

[Jeremy Bernitz]

Not even including Yamamoto, who's actually their ace.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

That's right, it is. It's a very good staff.

[Amin Elhassan]

I'm gonna be locked in tonight, Dan. You know, I'm a big Dodgers guy.

[Mike Ryan]

Big Dodgers guy.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Will you open your MMA hangout on Saturday by talking about the World Series? Will you do some. Maybe you should do some sports show that is not just mma. Maybe you should invite Jeremy to yammer about baseball over there to pollute your MMA audience. What are you. Tomorrow? Why not? Why? What do you mean?

[Chris Cote]

He said he might.

[Amin Elhassan]

I don't believe I might.

[Dan Le Batard]

Might.

[Amin Elhassan]

Depending on what Jeremy's doing, he might. He's a busy guy, but. UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi. It's an early start time for the MMA hangout. 2pm Start time Eastern. 2 to 5. We'll be hanging out.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

You're going to be right here. You're going to be in that seat. You're going to be in the studio right there.

[Amin Elhassan]

Literally sitting where you're sitting. The exact seat.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Live programming opposite mma, MMA and college football.

[Mike Ryan]

This is a card that you're going to want to watch. And if you don't watch it, you're going to want to watch Tony watch.

[DraftKings Announcer]

Exactly.

[Mike Ryan]

Because we got big, meaty men slapping some meat in this main event.

[Amin Elhassan]

It's the heavyweight championship of the world title on the line. Tom Aspinall versus Cyril Gone. And Mike found out. Cyril Gone, dog.

[Mike Ryan]

I saw the video from this. This photo does not do it justice.

[Jeremy Bernitz]

Wow.

[Mike Ryan]

Cyril Gone is. His name should be Cyril Gaines, because this dude is in impeccable shape. He's plus 300 in a fight.

[Amin Elhassan]

He looks like Miles Garrett.

[Mike Ryan]

He looks incredible. I can't wait to watch these big, meaty men.

[Amin Elhassan]

It's going to be a massive fight. So we've got that going on for the main event. UFC 321 MMA Hangout presented by Boost Mobile. Start time, 2pm in the Lord's time zone.

[Mike Ryan]

Aspinall is that good.

[Amin Elhassan]

Aspinall.

[Mike Ryan]

Aspinall is minus 400 over the guy on the right.

[Amin Elhassan]

I'm telling you, Tom, Aspinall is the best heavyweight of all time. In a couple years.

[Mike Ryan]

But did you see the body?

[Amin Elhassan]

Yes.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Mike, I appreciate you doing that on behalf of selling a fight. The idea of we've been watching fights throughout time where one guy is all jacked up and the other guy's just simply better and it doesn't. Stronger, faster. Yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

I mean, look at this guy. This guy is plus 300.

[Tony Reali]

The picture didn't give him justice. No, this guy's massive. Holy shit.

[Jeremy Bernitz]

Wow.

[Mike Ryan]

Big underdog.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah. But the chin, though, that's the issue. You know, just chiseled everywhere in the chin.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Okay, so everything you're doing here, it's just leering at men is all that we're doing.

[Tony Reali]

Thank you.

[Mike Ryan]

Welcome. Some meat.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

All right, let's bring in Matthew Barry. Give him as much fantasy information as you can. There's also a whole lot of good betting advice in here. I realized last time he was talking at me, too. Matthew Barry.

[Mike Ryan]

Stevenson.

[Matthew Berry]

Matthew Perry.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Matthew Perry. Matthew Barry. So let me get my pen. I got to write some of this down because there's some good betting information.

[Mike Ryan]

Stevenson to score that cash.

[Dan Le Batard]

All right, there we go. Hey, dan. Of the seven quarterbacks that faced the Dallas Cowboys this year, five of them have scored at least 24 fantasy points. They not only allowed the most fantasy points to opposing quarterback, that's three more points than any other team in the NFL so far this year. By the way, Bo Nix, their opponent this week is fifth in pass attempts per game. In four games as a starter this year, Jackson Dart has 35% of the Giants rushing attempts in the red zone. When they get in close, they use Jackson Dart more than you think. He has at least one rushing touchdown in three of those four games. Anytime touchdown bet might work for Jackson Dart this week. He's averaging over 21 points in his four starts this year, including a 23.6 game against the Philly Delphi Eagles the last time they played a couple of weeks ago. And every single game this year, the Cincinnati Bengals have allowed 16.9 fantasy points to a running back. Breeze hall is in fact a running back. By the way, so is Isaiah Davis. In case that's the most that's the nicest thing I can say about Breeze hall. But hey, so is Isaiah Davis. In case Breeze hall can't go Worth noting that as of this writing The Falcons are 7 or this broadcast I should say Falcons are over a touchdown favorite against the Miami Dolphins Dan in games that the Falcons win this year, the reason I the reason I bring up the Falcons are such heavy favorites in games that the Falcons win this year. Tyler algier averaging over 14 touches per game and over the last four weeks. No team allows more rushing yards per game to opposing running backs than your Miami Dolphins. They give up 143 yards a game five of the last six games Jacore Bill Crosby Merritt has been held to under 11 fantasy points. That includes both starts by Marcus Moriotis Florida who's going to make the start on Monday night. He has a 5% target share. So when you think about the fact that the Commanders are double digit underdogs on the road to Kansas City, I don't think Jacori Crosby Merritt has a nice game this weekend. Love the kid, but I bet It's a Jeremy McNichols game. Very quietly. Zay Flowers has at least eight targets this year in every game but two. Why do I bring up that number? Because this year wide receivers that have seen at least seven targets against the Bears are averaging almost 19 fantasy points per game. Of course all this is assumes Lamar Jackson is back. Only two teams this year allow more yards per game to the slot than the New York Football Giants. For the year, Devonte smith has over 60% of his targets from the slot. I don't think people realize that Smith is due for a very good game in all the games that Mike Evans has missed over the last two years. For the Buccaneers, Kate Otten, their tight end, has a 22% target share and averages over 14 fantasy points for gaining. There's going to be no Mike Evans on Sunday for the Buccaneers and they play the Saints who have allowed a touchdown to an opposing tight end in three of the past four games.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

The thing that I just realized and it's been of an epiphany for me, and I apologize that I hadn't seen it before today. The illumination of. Oh, Matthew Berry's just giving away money here on. He comes in here for three minutes and he just. I didn't realize. I didn't realize that this man is just giving away money when he's like, oh, Kate Otten. You got to go, Kate Otten. And I'm an idiot.

[Jeremy Bernitz]

This guy's good.

[Chris Cote]

Fantasy football Happy hour with Matthew Berry, weekdays, live on YouTube at noon Eastern.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

I just realized why he's popular. I just have.

[Jeremy Bernitz]

Just now.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

It just happened. No, because in plain sight, this man's been giving away money for 10 years.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, it's. It's not my boyish good looks, Dan. It's definitely not that.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Okay. But I didn't know it before now, so I'm. I'm sorry.

[Jeremy Bernitz]

This is why you play fantasy football, Dan.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

I'm. Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm an idiot.

[Dan Le Batard]

There is a lot of overlap between fantasy football dfs.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

But I saw you sneak. I saw you sneak in there at Anytime touchdown bet. And I'm like, that's not a fantasy thing. I heard that. That's not a fantasy thing. But anytime touchdown bet. Wait a minute. He's speaking code in front of me, and I've been not paying attention as he's giving away money for how many years?

[Dan Le Batard]

It's been a number of years. Long time. Been doing this a long time. And it's what I do for NBC on football night in America as well. You and I are both, you know, the crown is ours. Family.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

See you later. Matthew Barry, Hampton Farms nuttiest fan. I needed to get to that. I haven't had enough show. There's more basketball to talk about. Eduardo's coming on next. He doesn't want to talk.

[Chris Cote]

Can we talk basketball with him before Eduardo? Let's do Hampton Farms. Congrats to the BYU fans for making their president, Shane Reese, crowd surf this week. Just look at that. I mean, just. I would watch his wallet. I'm watching his wallet if I'm him. But that is our Hampton Farms winner. Check out Get Nutty with Hampton Farms, the official peanut of bowl season. Keep an eye out for Lucy at LSU if you think you are your team's nuttiest fan.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Don Lebatard.

[Chris Cote]

I mean, they used to call me Chris.

[Mike Ryan]

Karaoke stugats.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

That back row is bringing it today. This is the Don Levatar show with the stugats. I really don't feel like there's been enough room in the show today because I wanted to hear Tony and Amin talking about the Steph Curry shirt that. That Chris Cody is wearing. Because Steph Curry is here to still tell hockey and the young people, hey, still my league. I'm not just going to give it up to LeBron at the end. Or Aaron Gordon, for that matter, or Jokic.

[Amin Elhassan]

And we didn't even talk about the Nuggets. Like, the Nuggets look like a really good team, too.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Zaslow has texted me. He says Aaron Gordon has officially entered the MVP con conversation. He's going to keep us up to date here. Three different candidates after three different days. It was Wemby's, but it was Luca.

[Amin Elhassan]

Then Wemby, and now Aaron.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Now Aaron Gordon on Stephen Burger. No. But on Steph Curry's night, no, it's. Am I wrong?

[Tony Reali]

Can you be. You know, can you be an MVP leader if you're winless? I don't think you can.

[Amin Elhassan]

Good point.

[Tony Reali]

Two of his three names are winless.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Daz doesn't care what your opinion is. He has said Aaron Gordon has entered the MVP conversation.

[Mike Ryan]

Where would they be without him?

[Amin Elhassan]

Point differential.

[Tony Reali]

That's a good point. But also, who'd they lose to? The guy who should be mvp.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Steph Curry on Chris Cody's shirt. Don't forget his Olympic moments. He's got one of the. Like. He will continue to give us moments till the very end.

[Amin Elhassan]

Like, you're saying he can't get better.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

And he's getting better, getting better. Get out of here.

[Mike Ryan]

Is this a transitive property thing? Like the McGuffin? Like, if someone outperforms Steph Curry tonight in Portland, then they're the mvp.

[Tony Reali]

Like Highlander, huh? It's a kind of mad.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Chris Cody is now giving him the highest form of love, a love once only given to Tua. To look at him longingly and worship Steph Curry. Because it was Steph Curry's night.

[Mike Ryan]

Last night was the worst part of losing Louisville. Losing the McGuffin. It now resides in Kentucky.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

My father has arrived in the other room. He was told Eduardo Perez was going to be here. He is friend with the Perez's. Donnie Perez, Eduardo's father, who I once asked, do you ever pee in a shower? On behalf of. On behalf of this show? Tawny said he did not. His wife said he was lying.

[Tony Reali]

Foiled.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

I've just embarrassed an elderly Cuban hall of Famer. My father didn't believe Donnie Perez either.

[Mike Ryan]

Should DeAndre Jordan still be getting 3.6 million? He just signed with the Pelicans.

[Tony Reali]

He's a great guy.

[Mike Ryan]

He's a good locker room.

[Tony Reali]

He's a great guy, man. That's it. Look.

[Mike Ryan]

3.6 million.

[Tony Reali]

When it's like, oh, you should be nice. No, it's not because, like, of karma or whatever. It's because you might get paid $3.6 million just for being a great guy. Be a great guy.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

He was mocked as a laughingstock two days ago. He's being mocked on television as being bad at basketball.

[Tony Reali]

Who's mocked at basketball? He's a great guy.

[Mike Ryan]

He's great at basketball, right?

[Amin Elhassan]

What do the Pelicans need, by the way?

[Tony Reali]

You guys are great guys.

[Dan Le Batard]

They need a great guy.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

You guys cannot be talking about last night's basketball and end up on DeAndre Ayton for some.

[Tony Reali]

DeAndre Jordan. DeAndre Ayton.

[Amin Elhassan]

Now that one, they need to work on that.

[Tony Reali]

Oh, my gosh, Luca. I feel bad for him, man.

[Amin Elhassan]

Luca is not going to be happy.

[Tony Reali]

Lot of heartburn.

[Amin Elhassan]

Six games.

[Tony Reali]

Lot of six games. You added six games. It's funny. A buddy of mine who's in the league sends me a text and he says, this Aiden thing's not going to work. I said, yeah. I said, I got Luca killing him by Christmas. He said, Christmas. He said, halloween hasn't gotten here yet.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Put it on the poll at lebatard show. Is Luca gonna kill deandre Ayton before Halloween? Yeah, at lebatard show.

[Tony Reali]

I mean, frustrating. Beyond frustrating. He has all the tools, but like.

[Amin Elhassan]

Then doesn't at the same time.

[Tony Reali]

It's one of my great joys in sports. In basketball, I should say. Cuz that's my thing, right? Is when you know something about a guy. Not because it's insider information or whatever, but because you watch the guy a lot and then he gets to a new team and you realize that fan base knows nothing. They really don't know anything. And so the Lakers are like, oh, my God, we got our center. He's the number one overall pick. He can dunk, he can shoot jumpers. And I'm like, you guys don't know what you're getting. You don't know what you're getting into. And I said, I guarantee mid season, Luka's gonna want to kill him. And then I saw that first game and I was, I was like, mid season might be too far. Let's go Christmas. And like I said, my buddy said, Christmas, Halloween isn't here yet.

[Amin Elhassan]

Really quick on the defending champs. They're playing a lot of basketball. Are they young enough to just continue to Put the pedal to the metal and play hard every single day.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Double overtime, two first two games of the season taken to the end.

[Amin Elhassan]

A lot of young legs which is good. But this seems like a team that needs to get a little bit more of pace going.

[Tony Reali]

This is what I'm going to say what concerns me. It concerns me that it took you double overtime to beat either of those teams. A Houston Rockets team where they're just getting to know each other and a Pacers team that's missing its best player and obviously lost its starting center.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

So wait a minute. You're going to do concern me that the defending champion has won two straight games and it took double overtime against a finalist from a year ago that's without its best player and the Rockets that are supposed to be the best contender that people are learning somehow what Saguna is good. Yeah, he's the best player on the number two seed last year year and Houston got Kevin Durant.

[Tony Reali]

Oh, one of my favorite things by the way from opening night we didn't get to talk about is the way Reggie Miller pronounces Shingoon. He calls him Shane Goon. S H A N E space.

[Amin Elhassan]

The Gooner.

[Tony Reali]

G O O N. The Gooner is what I like to call them. But Shane Goon sounds like, right? What does Shane Goon sound like to you? Shane Goon to me sounds like a mid major college football coach who is like doing a great job with this program and is poaching by one of the Power 5 schools.

[Amin Elhassan]

Former D lineman, aren't you?

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

First name Shane. Last name Goon. G O O N. Yes. And not Sengun.

[Tony Reali]

Well, he's not Hispanic either though.

[Amin Elhassan]

I didn't know I'd like that. Yeah, Sengun.

[Tony Reali]

Sengun. That's how you guys say it.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

He was the best player on the number two Apertico.

[Mike Ryan]

Sangun Sounds like a dish. Give me some of that Mofongo and Sanguine.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

That isn't even the game we're talking about from last night. You can have your choose. Like I do think it's funny that ok KC is going to be an afterthought and still some of the storyline things that are going to captivate us.

[Amin Elhassan]

It's like the Western Conference has 19 different storylines the way that the east does not. But we didn't even talk about Wemby. Right? Like I asked. I asked, I mean privately. Is the Wemby thing for real or. Because I keep having this.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

How can it not be for real?

[Amin Elhassan]

I just keep having this resistance of like no no, not yet. It can't be.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

So, I mean, help me with the context of this because you and I agreed that Shaq underachieved for what he did. Wemby is an unprecedented player. And when, when someone comes who was it was Michelle Beadle or somebody. It was yesterday. Somebody said, no, Wendy's going to be a top 10 player in the league ever if he just stays healthy. Because clearly that's a level of mastery that. I never do this in sports.

[Dan Le Batard]

Rachel Nichols.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

I don't even do this to Shohei Ohtani. I don't say that what Shohei Ohtani is doing is unfair, that it like.

[Tony Reali]

Kind of feels unfair.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

No, I know, but I don't. I get it. But I don't have the same feeling that I do with Wemby. Well, wait a minute, minute. You're going to be so much better than that. Every game is possibly going to feel like Shohei Ohtani hitting three home runs and striking out 10. Because you can break all the statistics in this sport. When you go 40, 15 and zero turnovers, you're spinning the game on your finger.

[Tony Reali]

So I was asked this yesterday. It's like put into context how great that performance was. And I said he was guarded by the guy that we generally considered to be the best big man defensive player in the league. Right. If you had to pick pig out of everyone in the league. Who's going to guard Wembanyama? I want something, someone tall and long and agile and laterally agile can move around with Anthony Davis and he made him look like a fool.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Like he made a perennial defensive player of the year candidate who is the first of these seven foot unicorns who can almost guard anybody on the perimeter.

[Mike Ryan]

I have a prediction he's going to force the league to change something about its drastically. I think the athletes have long outgrown the dimensions of the court. He may be the one that makes the court larger because it's an unfair.

[Tony Reali]

Advantage to give him more space. I think actually, no.

[Mike Ryan]

I mean, he gets up the court in three strides, but Mike.

[Tony Reali]

So now you just made it harder for everyone else.

[Mike Ryan]

No.

[Amin Elhassan]

What about TJ McConnell? Mike? What about TJ McConnell?

[Mike Ryan]

This is the thing that I've been. Yes, think about him. He doesn't stand a snowball's chance.

[Tony Reali]

Yeah, but if you make the court bigger, you've actually help Wemby and hurt T.J. mcConnell even more.

[Mike Ryan]

Something needs to be done. This is what I warned you about.

[Tony Reali]

They're smaller.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Okay, can I just have the phone booth? Can I have the conversation with you guys, though, because baseball can't be. The thing about Ohtani that is so amazing is that he's making it seem routine and yet he very often fails. Like Ohtani spends a lot of time failing because it's a failure rate sport. What? Yeah. And he pitches. But I don't. I don't look at Ohtani and say that's unfair because baseball can't be made unfair. But it's just about the most unfair thing I've ever seen in baseball outside of maybe Barry Bonds when they had to walk him 134 times.

[Tony Reali]

Dan, one of the most unfair things in baseball my memory was the 1995 AL wild card series, Mariners, Yankees. Me as a Yankees fan, watching Randy Johnson feel like he pitched like 700 times that series. How is this possible? How does he do it?

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

So there are certain things in sports that when you see them now, make.

[Tony Reali]

Him hit home runs, Correct?

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

No, that's right. Randy Johnson's also up there, 6:10 and hitting three home runs, one out of the stadium. I'm not saying that what Ohtani is doing is anyway sane or it has any human reference point.

[Tony Reali]

You think it's fair.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

But I also saw him go 1 for 17 with eight strikeouts because the game is different. When I'm watching Wemby, it's like watching Shaq where I'm like, the dimensions of that are the human body. Not making it fair. That's too good. You can't have someone out there who's making the world's greatest athletes all look like they're sixth graders. There's a distortion of the physical body that makes it so that person is going to be someone who feels unfair.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, I never come back. You're like a hurricane. And you were all just like, look how fun. He's a monk. This is great. No, he is. He's destroying the game.

[Tony Reali]

You love to be fair. Dan. He shot 35% from three last year. He had a lot of games where it was not so incredible, not so impressive. So it's not. I think it's the same. To me, it's the same. It's just like, what am I supposed to do with this? That's the unfairness. Like a teenager. Me watching. Watching Randy Johnson pitch nine games in a five game series. How is this possible? What am I supposed to do with this? And everything has zero fatigue or anything. He's hit 99 every single time. The same thing with Wembanyama. It's like, it's not perfect all the time, but Enough of the time. It's perfect enough to make you feel helpless. And that's what Shohei Ohtani does. He can go 1 for 17 and have eight strikers. And I guarantee you there's not a single pitcher who face him like, this dude is whack. Like, there's always that fear of, oh, my God. In the same way that watching Steph Curry last night. We talked about it. Bad shot. But it's like, when it's Steph Curry, it's like, oh, no, this is how.

[Amin Elhassan]

We'Re going to lose to the Ohtani point, though, where the pitchers respect him so much, he's in the midst of a 1 for 17 slump and they walk him.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Yeah. To get to Mookie. To get to Mookie Bets.

[Dan Le Batard]

Right.

[Amin Elhassan]

It's like, oh, you're going to walk me to get to another guy who's probably a Hall of Famer in a couple of years too?

[Tony Reali]

Like, think about how crazy that is. That is.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

I am saying that the level of mastery is the same, but I view baseball. Tell me if I've got this wrong, because I understand what you guys are saying. Ohtani's previous game before that playoff game that was the best playoff game ever played, was against the Marlins when he broke all sorts of records and had some 10 RBI game with three or four home runs. One of them hit off an infielder. But it's like the greatest offensive game you have ever seen. That is correct. That is not what Wemby is doing. But I can see it from here.

[Dan Le Batard]

Like, what does that look like?

[Amin Elhassan]

If it's 40 and 15 and three with no turnovers, what does it look like?

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

But he's still physically growing. He is still young. And what cometh this way, if it's not already here, is the storyline of Ken Steph Ward off this spider person who Antetokounmpo was supposed to be when he was going to dominate and win all the championships. But this person can come and take all the championships in a way that I think is going to feel unfair, if not already. It's like a couple of games down the line.

[Tony Reali]

The thing I keep going back to, it's funny that Chris is wearing that shirt because that's such a cool moment from the gold medal game. That's not the coolest moment, though. The coolest moment is still three that he hit over Wembanyama. And that shot that we have, it's one of the great. It's a great photo of all time.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

It's a great photograph. They should Find it really is Photoshop. It doesn't look real. Well, but this is. But God Almighty. When you talk, I mean about like symbolically, where it is that survival of the fittest happens in sports. Steph Curry will forever be loved because what he does physically makes no sense in that sport. It requires a precision that he has not been gifted the way Wembanyama has been gifted. A body that is wholly unfair.

[Tony Reali]

But at the same time, you know what that picture also represents, Mike? It goes back to a name I said earlier in the show, Dr. Ian Malcolm, which is that life finds a way, right? You can see Wembanyama. Look at that. That ball is gone. And look at Wembanyama.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Look at the size of his hand.

[Tony Reali]

It's just crazy. But here's the thing. Wembanyama can have all that height and that agility and that offense and that IQ and that great personality and great teammate and everybody. And he still, he still can be bested by a dude who looks like a regular guy when we're watching him on tv.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Can we all just. I want the majesty of this photograph. Just look at Steph's eyes. And that is not the trajectory of a jump shot. No, he's looking into the cosmos.

[Amin Elhassan]

You can see the hoop from there.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

He's not looking at the hoop. There's not. He has to look straight up to an angle in the sky to throw it through seven stars. If you look, the amazing part of that photo is if this were the evolutionary chart, it'd be like, holy shit, you gotta be kidding me. I've gotta conquer the sport by getting over the greatest form of human evolution there has ever been in athleticism.

[Tony Reali]

Draw a line straight from his navel to Steph Curry's eyes. That's where he's at.

[Mike Ryan]

It's not often that recently you see a photo and you're like, that's an all time great photo. And everybody's reaction was that that photo was taken by Gerard Angelo Semilano and Ezra Shaw. Two photographers on one photo credit. That's crazy.

[Chris Cote]

The fan reactions behind are awesome because it's in France.

[Tony Reali]

That's the other part of this equation that we have to remember. It's in France. Behind enemy lines, photograph on treacherous ground.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, easy there. I make you choice.

[Jeremy Bernitz]

Ohtani had a game where he got to 50, 50 for a season. He was 6 for 6, 6, scored four runs, had 10 RBIs and three homers. And it's not the greatest game he's ever played because to go to the world series, he threw six innings, allowed two hits, struck out 10, and went 3 for 3 with three home runs.

[Tony Reali]

That's the part where it's not going to make sense. That's the other thing, Dan, is when you tell the story years later, decades later, when all these guys are gone, when, when, like I said, we have Shohei Jenkins Jackson playing in the, you know, wide receiver for the. For the Chiefs. One day, it's that you're gonna say that stat line of the 50 home run game. And it's like, that doesn't make sense. It's like a Wilt stat line. And then you say, and that's not even his best game. It's like me when I say Wilts. Wilt once averaged 50 points a game for a season. And I say that's not his most impressive stat. Do you know what the most impressive Wilt stat. Not that one. Not that one. It's a family show. Family show.

[Mike Ryan]

I was about to say it was that one.

[Tony Reali]

Do you know what the most impressive basketball stat that Wilt Chamber Chamberlain has? The one that will never be broken? Because I can see 50 points again getting broken. I can see 100 points getting broken. The one that will never get broken, ever. He averaged 48 and a half minutes a game one year. 48 and a half minutes a game for a season, Ladies and gentlemen, there are only 48 minutes in an NBA game. So that means he played every single minute and also every single minute of overtime. 48 and a half minutes. That is the one stat that will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever be broken.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

If you just put on this photo one more time on the screen, because I want to reference what Mike is saying when, you know you're having a historic sports photograph taken. It's not just the physical parts of it and it's not just the physics of it. The look on Steph Curry's face and his wrist. If you know anything about basketball, that is a photograph of human ingenuity.

[Mike Ryan]

It's a photograph.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

That'S human ingenuity on how does man survive when things around him get bigger, stronger and faster in a way that's physically impossible?

[Tony Reali]

Life finds a way perfect encapsulation for.

[Mike Ryan]

The US having it back then. But it's coming the.

[Tony Reali]

Okay, all right.

[Mike Ryan]

What?

[Amin Elhassan]

That's decontextualization.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Excuse me.

[Mike Ryan]

I'm sorry.

[Tony Reali]

Yes.

[Mike Ryan]

I'm a provocateur.

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

You're not sorry.

[Tony Reali]

You know, it's funny, I. For a video that I did. Oh. Actually enough for the Louvre heist. Video. I decided to add some elements and I threw in. I said, it's like it was almost as fast as me on Ninja Warrior. Going back and looking. I had to pull it up the screenshot when I did Ninja Warrior the first time, you know, every single nb, every single ESPN show other than First Take and sports. No Sports Anatomy. Every single ESPN show had me on. Every single one. Get up. Highly questionable. You guys, Mike and Mike. Every single show had that clip. It's. That's what made it one of the most watched clips ever. Because NBC typically never gets clips onto espn because the whole rivalry thing I.

[Amin Elhassan]

Did, that was the context of that and what we were talking about.

[Tony Reali]

Viral decontextual.

[Jeremy Bernitz]

You know anything about this, Trey? You said Savage.

[Mike Ryan]

I know nothing about this.

[Amin Elhassan]

Blake Snells about the shove tonight.

[Jeremy Bernitz]

Trey is average, starting Game 1 for Toronto.

[Amin Elhassan]

Don't even know who he is. Don't care.

[Jeremy Bernitz]

He made his. He made his professional debut earlier this season. He started the year in single A. Wow.

[Mike Ryan]

In April.

[Jeremy Bernitz]

Then he got to hi. A in May, Double A in June. AAA in August. Made his first major league start in September. First playoff start at the beginning of October. He's starting game one of the World Series.

[Tony Reali]

It's a real boy meets World Series situation, huh?

[Stugotz (Jon Weiner)]

Where's Eduardo Eduardito?

[Tony Reali]

You know, because Ben Savage starred in this show called Boy Meets World, and so he was like a guy who's a single A in the World Series. Topanga. Yeah, Topanga. Yeah. And Corey and all that.