The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 1: The Rattling Skype Call
Date: November 3, 2025
Location: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami
Hosts: Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, Mike Ryan, Tony, Chris, Jeremy
Episode Overview
This episode blends the show’s usual irreverent banter with in-depth sports discussion, spotlighting the highs and heartbreaks of recent sports events, from the World Series and NFL to the NASCAR Cup Series. The crew examines the emotional investment of sports fans, coaches' buyouts, and pop culture oddities, all interspersed with quick wit, layered jokes, and classic group chaos (including an infamous Skype ringtone that sets off the hour’s vibe).
Key Discussion Points & Insights
The "Rattling Skype Call" Opens the Hour
- A jarring Skype ringtone interrupts the show's start and prompts existential jokes about the universe and time.
- Dan: “The universe already ended. We’re just living in its echo.” (01:06)
- Tony: “What year is it?” (01:05)
- The crew's tech issues set the tone for the typical Le Batard Show absurdity.
Mike Ryan Ruins His Son’s Survivor Pool (03:06–07:56)
The Survivor Pool Story
- Mike Ryan recounts how his teenage son, deep in an NFL survivor pool with $17,000 at stake, seeks his advice.
- Mike steers his son away from picking the Ravens (who win), and toward the Packers (who lose), costing the boy a shot at the pot.
- Mike: “My son sends me a text message, and all it says is, ‘You’re a terrorist.’ That’s all it says. He’s calling me a terrorist, extreme.” (03:28)
- Stugotz: “That field goal must have been like a stab in the heart.” (05:12)
- Tony jokes Mike now owes his son $17,000 if his kid’s planned picks would’ve succeeded.
- Reflections on the wisdom (or lack thereof) of giving teenagers that much money:
- Stugotz: "17 years old, I would have been doing so much ignorant shit with that." (06:47)
- Tony: “That’s like a million dollars.” (07:02)
Fired Coaches Living the Dream (07:19–10:08)
- The panel muses over the enviable lifestyles of coaches who are fired but walk away with huge buyouts.
- Stugotz: “Everyone dream get fired.” (07:19)
- “If I’m Brian Kelly, I’ve got all types of performers over. Like, I’m Paul Pierce, just living my life on a live stream.” (07:56)
- Stugotz riffs: “You give me $54 million right now, I will quit on the spot. ... I’ll walk to the airport.” (09:03)
- The show satirizes how quickly sympathy for fired, wealthy coaches can disappear.
World Series: Instant Classic & Emotional Rollercoaster (10:21–16:10, 18:13–30:36)
Game 7 Drama, Player Heroics, and Blue Jays Heartbreak
- Deep dive into the Dodgers vs. Blue Jays Game 7, painting it as possibly the greatest World Series ever.
- Dan: “The Dodgers threw $300 million out there in the final innings of Game 7... everyone’s supposed to say, hey, this sport’s okay?” (10:21)
- Chris explains why Yoshinobu Yamamoto was MVP:
- “Blue Jays offense against Yamamoto: 2 runs in 17 2/3 innings... against every other Dodgers pitcher: 32 runs in 56 1/3 innings. That’s the difference.” (11:59)
- The heartbreak of fans and why it makes sport unique:
- Mike: “If I’m a Blue Jays fan, I really question why I care about sports... It makes me question why we care about sports when that ends up being the end result.” (13:04)
- Stugotz: “That heartbreak sets the tone and gives it a texture and a patina... you only get it in sports. You can’t get it from fiction.” (21:25)
- Mike: “My life is over.” (22:22)
- Dan and Chris discuss how Toronto’s bottom-of-the-lineup, contact-hitting roster construction might change baseball:
- “Tim Kurkjian... said the Blue Jays might have changed the sport forever.” (14:03)
- Dan: “Guys just taking pornhacks up top there.” (14:38)
- Stugotz: “That’s what I thought I heard.” (14:51)
- Chris breaks down improbable heroics:
- Miguel Rojas, who barely played, hits a key homer.
- “It was so improbable that he would play the type of role he did... it kind of feels like baseball is the only sport where that specific thing happens.” (23:19)
- Stugotz ponders the $17,000 survivor pool loss vs. life as a fan: “Football: cruel beast. Sometimes it gives, sometimes it rips away.” (15:07)
The Agony of NASCAR: Denny Hamlin’s Lost Title (18:13–23:51)
- Dan tells the story of Denny Hamlin, a NASCAR star who loses a sure championship due to a freak flat tire and pit strategy.
- Dan: “He’s basically the Buffalo Bills of this sport—won damn near 60 times, but never won a Cup Series championship.” (18:21)
- “He found a way to look crestfallen with a helmet on. That’s hard to do.” (20:01)
- Stugotz: “Them’s be the brakes. Get it? Like in a car? Brakes?” (20:44)
- The show connects Hamlin’s heartbreak to the emotional texture only sports deliver.
Baseball’s Strange Rules and Heroics (24:26–28:50)
- Bemoaning “ground rule double” quirks, discussion of home field finals, and calling out the peculiarities that gave us Game 7.
- Mike: “I hate that rule. The ground rule double.” (25:32)
- Chris: “You’re taught, throw those hands up as soon as you see that ball stuck.” (26:01)
Super Teams, Rules, and the Meaning of Sport (25:15–28:01)
- Stugotz doubles down that super teams are good for baseball: “They make you tune in... Not just to root against them.” (25:15)
- Chris argues every pitch in Game 7 felt weighty—contrasts it with dramatic legendary series (Cubs-Indians, Yankees-Diamondbacks).
Pop Culture and Pickle Predicaments (30:55–36:37)
Train Trouble and the "Pickle" Segment
- Tony brings back “The Pickle” with a real-life dilemma: on a crowded Miami train, should he lean toward the guy with bad BO or the woman with overwhelming perfume?
- Tony: “Do I lean over to the guy that smells like shit, or do I lean into the lady [with] too much perfume?” (31:46)
- Consensus: “Give me the tear gas.” (32:07)
- Sidebar: wild stories of riding between subway cars in NYC as teens.
Movie Titles: “Live Die Repeat” vs. “Edge of Tomorrow”
- Banter over which is the better (or real) title.
- Stugotz: “I will never acknowledge that name.” (35:11)
- Tony: “Because you’re edging.” (35:26)
- Dan: “Well, call it ‘Edging,’ then.” (35:28)
Top 5 Jewish Actors Millennial Women Love (37:42–40:46)
- Chris unveils his list in response to a new Netflix show:
- Dave Franco, Max Greenfield (“Schmidt” from New Girl), Jason Segel, Adam Brody, and Andy Samberg.
- “Never met a woman... who didn’t have a crush on Andy Samberg.” (40:32)
- Stugotz and Dan riff on who they’d pick as their “OC” (offensive coordinator).
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “You’re a terrorist.” — Mike Ryan’s son, after being talked out of a winning survivor pool pick (03:28)
- “That heartbreak sets the tone... you only get it in sports.” — Stugotz on sports pain (21:25)
- “He found a way to look crestfallen with a helmet on. That’s hard to do.” — Dan on Denny Hamlin’s loss (20:01)
- “Guys just taking pornhacks up top there.” — Dan on Blue Jays’ hitting style (14:38)
- “17 years old, I would have been doing so much ignorant shit with that.” — Stugotz on big winnings (06:47)
- “You give me $54 million right now, I will quit on the spot.” — Stugotz on coach buyouts (09:03)
- “Do I lean into the guy that smells like shit or... lady with too much perfume?” — Tony’s subway Pickle (31:46)
- “Because you’re edging.” — Tony and Dan, movie title word play (35:26)
- “Never met a woman... who didn’t have a crush on Andy Samberg.” — Chris (40:32)
Timestamps for Key Segments
| MM:SS | Segment | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------| | 01:05 | Rattling Skype call; existential riffs | | 03:06 | Mike Ryan’s Survivor Pool disaster | | 07:19 | Fired coach fantasy; buyout lifestyle jokes | | 10:21 | World Series in-depth, Yamamoto’s heroics | | 13:04 | Why be a sports fan? Blue Jays heartbreak | | 18:13 | NASCAR’s Denny Hamlin loses title | | 21:25 | Sports heartbreak vs. fiction – texture in fandom | | 23:16 | Heroic & improbable World Series performances | | 24:26 | Ground rule double controversy | | 25:15 | Super teams in sports | | 30:55 | Tony’s “Pickle” on the train | | 35:11 | “Edge of Tomorrow” vs. “Live Die Repeat” | | 37:42 | Millennial Jewish actors list, pop culture riffing |
Tone & Style
The episode is packed with rapid-fire riffs, self-deprecating quips, layered sports analysis, and inside jokes typical of the Le Batard Show. The humor is playful, sometimes absurd, with real emotion and cultural perspective—reminding listeners that both the agony and joy of sports are universal, energetic, and always ripe for comedic dissection.