Hour 2: Dan's Tobacco Story

Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: Hour 2: Dan's Tobacco Story
Date: April 6, 2026
Summary by Section with Timestamps

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Episode Overview

The second hour of this episode, broadcasting from Miami's Elser Hotel, delivers the classic Le Batard blend of sports insight, irreverent humor, personal anecdotes, and pop-culture discussion. The crew, including Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, Mike Ryan, Tony Reali, and others, debates the NCAA men’s basketball championship, LeBron’s Memphis comments, the legacy of the “Jailblazers,” the new “Untold” sports documentaries, and provides wild Talladega tales. Dan’s infamous chewing tobacco story makes a hilarious comeback, while the group’s banter keeps listeners entertained and informed.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Against the Spread – Picks and Banter

[01:02 - 02:13]

• Picks for NHL and NCAA basketball are discussed.
  • Sharks vs. Blackhawks puck line trends (home team covering).
  • Michigan vs. UConn – Zach suggests taking Michigan -6.5.
• The crew roasts Tony’s energy and Zach’s delivery, setting the tone for chaotic, comedic sports talk.

Notable Quote:
"Tony, Jesus, get your shit together today, please." – Mike Ryan [01:31]

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2. Dan's Chewing Tobacco Story

[02:13 - 04:22]

• Dan shares a vivid, embarrassing childhood memory: pestering his dad (who had a habit of opening groceries pre-purchase) to let him try chewing tobacco.
• His father, frustrated, gives in and hands Dan tobacco in a Winn Dixie, then returns the pouch to the shelf, with no instructions on using it properly—leading Dan to accidentally swallow it.
• The group erupts in laughter as Dan claims, “You can imagine how weird it was for him because I was 46 years old.” [04:18]

Notable Quote:
“…the swallowing of tobacco is something that is very unpleasant.” – Mike Ryan [02:13]
“You can imagine how weird it was for him because I was 46 years old. Yeah.” – Dan Le Batard [04:18]

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3. NCAA Tournament & “Looks Like” Game

[04:22 - 07:57]

• UConn’s dynasty run and how rare it is for a team to reach three finals in four years.
• Speculation on whether Arizona’s old-school style (few threes) could be viable today.
• The crew plays their trademark “looks like” game, likening NBA and sports personalities to everyday characters in a comedic round-robin.

Notable Quotes:
“It’s just John Wooden territory.” – Stugotz [05:23]
“Adam Silver looks like a newly opened chapstick.” – Stugotz [06:31]

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4. LeBron’s Memphis-to-Nashville Comments

[08:25 - 18:49]

• LeBron’s flippant suggestion to move the Grizzlies from Memphis to Nashville triggered social media backlash, especially from Black Memphis fans.
• The group plays the original LeBron audio and discusses issues of racial optics, NBA player privilege, city loyalty, and how stars like LeBron sometimes lack awareness of fan culture.

Key Points:

• LeBron equated Memphis with inconvenience for players, failing to acknowledge cultural and racial implications.
• Rich Paul and LeBron later try to backtrack, but as Tony Reali says, “There’s zero self-awareness…about why black people would be upset…” [17:12]
• Draymond Green, Anthony Edwards, and other NBA players have complained about Memphis hotels, but didn’t call for relocating the team.

Notable Quotes:
“For LeBron to get out there and try and stump…for Memphis fans to lose their team…he looks awful saying that. I’m sorry.” – Tony Reali [11:04]
“…he’s allowed to say that the team should move out of Memphis…and I'm allowed to say he’s a dick.” – Tony Reali [12:25]

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5. The Value of Scoring in the NBA

[20:00 - 21:22]

• Discussion about Joe League’s 50-point game: is 50 still a sacred number in the NBA, or is 60 now more impressive?
• The crew debates which statistical milestones remain significant as high-scoring performances become more common.

Notable Quote:
“60, the new 50.” – Zach Lowe [20:09]

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6. “Untold” Sports Documentaries & the Jailblazers

[21:34 - 28:48]

• The crew critiques recent “Untold” sports documentaries. The Lamar Odom episode gets praise for its unfiltered look at addiction, while the Florida Gators episode is slammed for being sanitized.
• The “Jailblazers” (early 2000s Portland Trail Blazers) documentary prompts reflection on past media portrayals of Black athletes and how cultural biases colored narratives.
• The panel debates whether the Jailblazers were as wild as legend claims or just victims of stereotypes.

Notable Quotes:
“No matter your god, whether it's Yahweh, Jehovah, Christ or Kobe.” – Dan Le Batard quoting Lamar Odom [24:44]
“Having an honest subject is a big part of it, folks.” – Stugotz [28:48]

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7. Talladega Road Trip Antics

[36:44 - 39:47]

• Stugotz shares gleeful plans for a group RV trip to Talladega with crew members and Miami friends.
• Wild descriptions of Talladega infield party: music stages, barter-system bars, and an open-air gentleman’s club.
• Tony Reali, a Miami native with no NASCAR background, is dubbed “Talladega Tony” as they prepare for the adventure.

Notable Quotes:
"It’s the best party in NASCAR. And I cannot wait to go with Eagle Eye, NASCAR Nate..." – Stugotz [38:56]
"You can fit like 17 magic kingdoms inside the infield at Talladega." – Stugotz [39:28]

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8. Viral Baseball Mishap: The Homer Off the Center Fielder’s Forehead

[39:57 - 41:51]

• The crew marvels at a bizarre video: a ball bounces off a center fielder’s forehead and goes over a massive fence for a home run.
• Laughter and amazement at the physics involved, and concern that no one's checking if the player is okay.

Notable Quotes:
“Do you think it’s possible for a human being…to have a fly ball hit his forehead…at an angle that makes it go over the center field fence?” – Dan Le Batard [40:03]
“Is he okay?” – Mike Ryan [41:43]

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Memorable & Representative Quotes

• “You can imagine how weird it was for him because I was 46 years old.” – Dan Le Batard, on his childhood chewing tobacco story [04:18]
• “LeBron is saying they should lose their team.” – Tony Reali [12:25]
• “60, the new 50.” – Zach Lowe [20:09]
• “You can fit like 17 magic kingdoms inside the infield at Talladega.” – Stugotz [39:28]

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Episode Highlights by Timestamp

• 01:02 – Picks segment, jokes about Tony’s energy.
• 02:13 – Dan’s chewing tobacco story.
• 04:22 – NCAA men’s basketball contextualized, “looks like” game.
• 08:25 – LeBron’s Memphis/Nashville controversy and panel reaction.
• 20:00 – Is 50 still an iconic NBA number?
• 21:34 – Review and critique of “Untold” sports documentaries.
• 36:44 – Plans and antics for Talladega NASCAR trip.
• 39:57 – Center fielder forehead home run video.

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Tone & Takeaways

The show flows with its trademark blend of intelligent sports breakdown, exaggerated characters, affectionate ridicule, and Miami flavor. Dan’s self-deprecating humor and the team’s playful roasting keep things light, even as they address deeper issues—especially around race, media narratives, and athlete privilege. The episode is rich with inside jokes but accessible for new listeners, especially with stories like the tobacco mishap, LeBron’s Memphis gaffe, and the surreal baseball home run.

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Final Thought

For listeners who missed the episode, this hour delivers not only sharp sports analysis but also the show’s unique ability to turn personal humiliation, pop-culture events, and oddball viral clips into something revealing and hilarious.

Transcript

[Tony Reali]

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[Dan Le Batard]

Against the spread is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings. The Crown is yours. Roy. What do we got?

[Chris Cote]

All right, we got Blackhawks tonight. Big game for the Sharks. Six straight losses after a road win for the Blackhawks. And in this matchup between the Blackhawks and Sharks, the home team has covered the puck line in six straight games. So go with the Sharks. They need this one. They are the favorites at a goal and a half against the spread.

[Tony Reali]

Tony.

[Zach Lowe]

So let's go with the national championship tonight. Michigan versus UConn. The Wolverines are getting minus six and a half. I'm getting them on DraftKings sportsbook.

[Mike Ryan]

Tony, Jesus, get your shit together today, please. The microphone's right in of me. Front. Front of you.

[Zach Lowe]

Minus six and a half. I'm going to take Michigan against the spread against Yukon, who's, you know, getting to the last of their deep breath.

[Stugotz]

Compose your thoughts.

[Zach Lowe]

Destiny run ends tonight.

[Dan Le Batard]

My boy is rattled water.

[Zach Lowe]

I just can't. I can't get a word out. Everybody wants to jump down my throat.

[Tony Reali]

Don't be a.

[Dan Le Batard]

Get throat out.

[Stugotz]

You know, I'm not a cuck. That's his gimmick.

[Zach Lowe]

Michigan -6 and a half against his friend.

[Mike Ryan]

Thank you, Tony. Appreciate you.

[Zach Lowe]

No, you don't. No, you don't, by the way. No, you don't.

[Tony Reali]

Not today.

[Chris Cote]

You do not.

[Stugotz]

Appreciate it. Get some fresh air.

[Mike Ryan]

Appreciate you trying to power through. I didn't say I was going to appreciate you. In general, I appreciate that you've tried to power through when clearly you're falling apart. I want to show the video audience something that the audio audience will understand because the swallowing of tobacco is something that is very unpleasant. I have told you guys the story before here of the one and only time that I had chewing tobacco. I was bothering my father. My father had a bad habit of. He just walked through a grocery store and he would just grab things off the shelf and if he wanted to open them, he would open Them. And it was rude and criminal bad habit.

[Tony Reali]

Isn't that just stealing?

[Zach Lowe]

I mean, if he pays for it, it's not criminal.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, no, sometimes he would, sometimes he wouldn't. But one of the things that. That I was bothering him about for years because he coached me in Little League baseball. Why are you rubbing your hands together, Roy?

[Chris Cote]

I'm waiting for the joke at the end. The punchline's coming up.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, okay, the punchline is coming up, but this is a real story, and it's a true story. And it's the one and only time that I had chewing tobacco. I don't remember why, but it had to be because Major League baseball players had huge chores of tobacco in their mouth. I was bothering my father for a long time about wanting to chew tobacco. Finally, he gets fed up for after. After years. And while we're walking through a Winn Dixie, he grabs off the shelf a pouch of tobacco and takes a little bit out of it and sticks it in my mouth, but doesn't explain to me that I got. I can't swallow any of this. Like, doesn't explain to me how it is to do it. And then just takes the packet and puts it back. Back in the shelf. Not just committing a crime, but also guilty of terrible parenting. But he was just fed up that I was bothering him. So you can imagine how weird it was for him because I was 46 years old. Yeah.

[Stugotz]

Yeah, we did it. Yeah, the good stuff.

[Mike Ryan]

So here is video of Craig Counsel chewing tobacco poorly.

[Dan Le Batard]

And we've all been here. He's in the dugout, and he just gets that gagging. The gagging.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, you can see the sickness on his face is afterward, like, you can see that the nausea hits him fairly immediately.

[Tony Reali]

Did he look worse than Tony sounded?

[Mike Ryan]

I don't think it's possible for.

[Dan Le Batard]

He tried the quick grab, like, for

[Mike Ryan]

anyone to look worse than Tony sounded. Let's update our tournament here. We finally got our finalists. UConn is back in it. Can you guys look something up for me? When's the last time it hasn't happened this century. Right. That a team has played in three championships in four years in college basketball. In men's college basketball. That's what's. I think that maybe Kentucky did that last century, like in the 1900s. Not. I think. I'm not. It's a fairly amazing achievement that Dan Hurley is back in this game again with this team.

[Stugotz]

It's just John Wooden territory.

[Mike Ryan]

I mean, three of four years. I think. Think Kentucky did it in the late 1900s. But I don't, I don't think it's happened this century.

[Stugotz]

So you're the late 1900s is the 90s. You're gonna go with late 1900?

[Mike Ryan]

Yes, that's what I was doing. Late 1900 sounds like it's longer ago.

[Stugotz]

You could have just said the 90s.

[Mike Ryan]

No, but I wanted to make it sound like Adolph Rupp and then boys. I wanted to make it sound like it was in the black and white

[Stugotz]

days when it could have gone 90s or 20th century. But you went late 1900s.

[Mike Ryan]

Yes, I did. Yes, that is what I did. That row shouldn't be critiquing anything. I'm saying.

[Stugotz]

No, I'm not critiquing. I'm just. Just asking.

[Mike Ryan]

So our tournament, Illinois is gone. UConn dragged them pretty good. They were trailing throughout the game. That means that this is now gone from our looks like tournament.

[Stugotz]

Tony Reali looks like the overzealous owner of an Italian restaurant who always greets you at the door with my favorite couple when you walk in.

[Mike Ryan]

UConn, if you do not remember, was from the loaded Adam Silver conference. So this plays for the title.

[Stugotz]

Adam Silver looks like a newly opened chapstick.

[Mike Ryan]

Arizona, can you look up something else for me because I believe that Arizona is at taking threes. I'm stunned that Arizona made it as far as Arizona did with that style of play because as I don't know if you were watching them very much this year, but they took the third fewest threes in the sport. You have to be extraordinarily strong, physically strong and athletic to play in today's basketball when there are 340 some odd teams and you take the third fewest threes of anyone playing Division 1 college basketball. Jeremy, can you look up for me please what the other two teams were that shot fewer threes than Arizona because I'm sure they're nowhere nothing programs. For Arizona to not shoot any threes is a weird place and way to play today. That means this is now gone from our tournament.

[Stugotz]

Jonathan Zaslow looks like an off duty

[Mike Ryan]

mime and Michigan is favored to win, favored by six and a half tonight. That means that this is favored to win our tournament.

[Stugotz]

Michael Smith looks like the high school

[Tony Reali]

teacher that motivates his students by sitting

[Stugotz]

in a chair backwards.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's a warranted 7.5-point favorite. Michael Smith over that.

[Mike Ryan]

So it's not gone up to seven and a half.

[Zach Lowe]

Oh, is it down six and a half?

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, it's down a little bit.

[Tony Reali]

Getting minus six And a half.

[Mike Ryan]

We have said several times now that it was minus six and a half. And you decided to make it getting seven and a half. That's what you decided to do with your microphone time.

[Dan Le Batard]

I mean, it was seven and a half yesterday. What do you want from me? It's gone down a little bit

[Stugotz]

tougher, Jeremy, to be the best in the room when he's not speaking.

[Dan Le Batard]

What did I screw up there?

[Mike Ryan]

What did I say? Well, I think you. I think Zaz accused you of saying that Michigan was getting seven and a half.

[Tony Reali]

No, he knows who I was talking about.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, that's what he was saying.

[Zach Lowe]

Don't point back at me. I was gonna say, don't look at me. You off duty.

[Stugotz]

Mime.

[Mike Ryan]

The story in professional basketball that got more attention than I was expecting this weekend. But I guess when it's LeBron James, everything around him gets a great deal of attention. So he just said, matter of factly, as the oldest player in the league who has stopped caring about how some things are received, so he lets it fly a little bit more than people in his position usually do. He just basically said, let's move the team from Memphis with no appreciation for the basketball tradition and the love of that team that there is in Memphis, and just said, let's move it to Nashville. Let's get the Grizzlies out of Memphis and move them to Nashville. So the first thing I'd like to do is play the sound, the original sound that now has Rich, Paul and LeBron James doing some backtracking so that we have the full context of what the backtracking is. Because. Because I don't want to change some of the facts here on what the controversy is with a confusion afterward as we try to fix things. Because one of the things that's happened that I'm sure that LeBron had not accounted for when he was this flippant with this opinion is a whole lot of black people are looking at him and saying, lebron, like, how do you not understand how black Memphis is and that Nashville is less black than Memphis? And what you've just done here is just moved a team that has an allegiance and a tradition in its community to a place that is more whitewashed than Memphis. And so here's the Original sound from LeBron.

[LeBron James (clip)]

At 41 years old. You think, I want to do that shit? Being in Memphis on a random ass Thursday, I'm not, like, the first guy to even talk about in the NBA. Like, we all, like, you guys have to move. Just go over to Nashville, you got the. You got Vanderbilt over there. You got the nascar. You got a stadium. Don't they got a hockey team, too?

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, Predators. Predators.

[LeBron James (clip)]

Like they got everything.

[Mike Ryan]

Doesn't look like LeBron's gonna be on

[Tony Reali]

the Grizzlies anytime soon.

[Mike Ryan]

So Grizzly fans out there.

[LeBron James (clip)]

Yeah, they know their only Chance was in 2003 if they would have won the lottery and I might have pulled a Eli Manning and not showed up.

[Mike Ryan]

That's a guy who left Cleveland and went to the big cities of Miami and LA and now has no time for some of these outpost places in the NBA. I wonder what he has to say about Oklahoma City and having to go there on a. On a Tuesday or a Wednesday.

[Stugotz]

They can do something about it.

[Mike Ryan]

So, Zaz, what are your thoughts about that sound before we get to the backtracking?

[Tony Reali]

I just, I think it comes off incredibly pretentious, you know, from. From a fan perspective, me being a fan. Thank God this has never happened to me here as a Miami sports fan. But losing your team is obviously the worst thing that could ever happen to a sports fan. And for LeBron to get out there and to try and stump for the city of Memphis, for Memphis fans to lose their team, by the way, it's not like Nashville is a 15 minute drive. It's several hours away from Memphis. It is not the same market. So to call for a team to lose a city to lose their team, because billionaire LeBron doesn't want to stay in a Hyatt, by the way, I don't think what's wrong with a Hyatt, but because LeBron doesn't want to stay in a Hyatt on a Thursday night, that's his rationale, that the team should move out of Memphis? He looks awful saying that. I'm sorry.

[Stugotz]

Now, it should be noted, this is a thing amongst NBA players. LeBron mentions that a little. A little bit. I think your issue is not just what he's saying. I'm actually enjoying the, like, the rare bit of honesty from LeBron because a lot of the stuff that's said about LeBron is, oh, he's a phony.

[Tony Reali]

Well, he is.

[Stugotz]

He's a faker. And I guess he's given people the opportunity to say that because he's kind of backtracking a little bit. But in that moment, he's incredibly honest. I kind of like that side of LeBron.

[Tony Reali]

Oh, he. He's allowed to say that the team should move out of Memphis, and I'm allowed to say he's a dick. For wanting a team to move away from the city and a fan base. Like it's a lousy thing to say. Can you imagine Patrick Mahomes coming out and saying, buffalo boy, the weather, Nothing to do there. Bill should move like it's the face of the league. It's the most powerful athlete in our country. Forget about Other players are saying the same thing. They're not LeBron. LeBron is saying they should lose their team.

[Dan Le Batard]

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[Chris Cote]

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[Stugotz]

hey, Roy, buddy.

[Chris Cote]

Yo.

[Stugotz]

You know that energy shift when the game gets good and everybody all together in unison knows to stand up on their feet?

[Chris Cote]

Oh, absolutely, Mike.

[Stugotz]

Yeah. You've been at many big time sporting events. You know that moment quite well. That's what it's like when you take your first sip of Cuervo.

[Chris Cote]

Oh, delicious.

[Stugotz]

It's the signal that says, we're not checking the time anymore, pal. It's when small talk turns into stories. Cuervo, man. It's that high five. A random stranger effect. That's right. The game is popping. You're hugging people you never met before. That's the kind of energy that Cuervo brings. It's so smooth, so delicious. That's the Cuervo effect. Keep it Cuervo.

[Mike Ryan]

Don LeBatard.

[Tony Reali]

I've never stepped foot on that campus. I. If you told me right now, your life depends on it. Go to Santa Fe University and just, just, just take a picture.

[Stugotz]

Stugats.

[Tony Reali]

I would die. I don't know where it is.

[Chris Cote]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the stugats.

[Mike Ryan]

This is only the story that it is because of who's saying it. There's no second place here. Like, Steph could say it, other people could say it, but nobody makes it this story the way that LeBron makes it this particular story. I have not heard the background track. So play for me what it is that Mike is saying here, which is he is now trying to dilute it a little bit how people have taken those comments. What do you mean taking?

[LeBron James (clip)]

People been upset about the fact that Memphis was looked at as a team. That, you know, probably black people in Memphis, right? Compared to like Nashville, for example. So people say, I don't like black people. No, you didn't say that. But there were people who were wondering why Memphis was targeted. Like, no, Milwaukee was too. Did I miss that one, too? They didn't see that. Not as much time as, well, 41 years old. It's two cities I do not like playing in right now. That's Milwaukee. And that's what is the problem. I don't like going home either. And I'm from there.

[Mike Ryan]

What is People.

[LeBron James (clip)]

People are ridiculous.

[Stugotz]

Just took a shot at Cleveland, too.

[Dan Le Batard]

Little shot of Cleveland at the end there.

[Tony Reali]

So first of all, there's zero self awareness, apparently why black people would be upset with what he said there.

[Stugotz]

The optics of no self Awareness, the optics of him talking about Memphis while playing golf with making a bunch of white guys laugh.

[Tony Reali]

And that's to name all the white things that Nashville has hockey, F1, NASCAR. He mentions Vanderbilt. Okay, so there's no. No self awareness about why black people. And I'm not going to speak for black people, but why they.

[Mike Ryan]

Like, his team is black, though. The Vanderbilt that he's got on his team is a black man.

[Stugotz]

Let's let Zazzle speak for black people and then.

[Tony Reali]

And then go on.

[Zach Lowe]

Zez.

[Tony Reali]

No, I already said not to speak for black people. All right, but then you get the whole. I don't like mill. I don't like the city of Milwaukee either. I don't like going back to Cleveland. He didn't say move the Bucks. He didn't say move the Cavaliers. Like, he doesn't address at all. He's allowed to not like Memphis. He didn't ask for any of these other cities to lose their basketball teams. So it's like he's out there gaslighting everybody about what they're upset about.

[Mike Ryan]

Draymond Green and Anthony Edwards have also ripped Memphis hotels as being dirty and some of the worst in the NBA. But they didn't use that to say they should lose their team because I'm sleeping in dirty hotels. I do think that this is just big city privilege at this age. This superstar doesn't want to be visiting any of these smaller cities.

[Zach Lowe]

The infrastructure of Memphis is not great if you're an NBA player. Like, I've talked to multiple NBA players that have said the same thing.

[Tony Reali]

All right, Spends one night there, makes $50 million a season to play basketball. Wow. I gotta stay in a Hyatt.

[Mike Ryan]

I mean, come on, let's listen to Rich Paul. Rich Paul is doing this podcast with Max Kellerman, and I look forward to seeing how Max creatively gets around the fact that Rich Paul can't say certain things anymore because he's been burned a couple of times. Let's listen to what Richard LeBron's agent has to say about this.

[Dan Le Batard]

Again, there's people in Memphis that don't

[Mike Ryan]

want to be in Memphis. Yeah.

[Stugotz]

There are people in New York who

[Tony Reali]

don't want to be in New York.

[Mike Ryan]

And guess where else LeBron don't want to be? Akron.

[Tony Reali]

Right?

[Mike Ryan]

He's from there. Yeah. You don't want to be there. He just outgrew it, which is fine.

[Tony Reali]

Right. Again, not even come close to addressing what people are upset about.

[Mike Ryan]

You have, though, speaking on behalf of black people. You are. You are.

[Zach Lowe]

You did do that. I heard you do it.

[Mike Ryan]

You're a race war expert. As we have, as we have said before, Iran, it's not cool, just not

[Tony Reali]

cool to lose their team. Because I don't want to sleep on

[Mike Ryan]

Hyatt Cooper flag over the weekend. Had 50 points as a 19 year old. And while I want to enjoy the things that are amazing that happen in sports, I also do want to ask you guys, because basketball has very few numbers that matter. And 50 used to be one of them. Is it still. No, it doesn't matter anymore.

[Zach Lowe]

60, the new 50.

[Mike Ryan]

Put it on the poll at LeBatard show. In basketball is 60 the new 50. And also give me the other numbers in basketball that matter, please, because if you're going to take that one, I don't know how many more we have. The numbers in sports are something that people, I'm going to say, are crunching more than ever, wouldn't you say? There's more numbers crunching going on with fantasy leagues, measurements, arithmetic, than you've ever seen happen in sports and basketball. If you take away that number, what's left? What number is left? Because I am poo pooing the performance when I shouldn't be 19 years old. Scoring 50 is crazy.

[Zach Lowe]

Not only that, he had 45 after that, he scored 96 points in a matter of two games.

[Stugotz]

Well, yeah, that the Heat fans can rest easy knowing that instead of that, they got the worst beat down in NBA playoff history.

[Tony Reali]

That's not the way it works.

[Zach Lowe]

That's exactly how it works.

[Stugotz]

That's exactly how this one worked out.

[Zach Lowe]

We've been talking about that for two, three years.

[Tony Reali]

Does that mean because the Heat, if they would have missed, they would have

[Zach Lowe]

had the same exact pick that was their pick. So you're saying exclusion, then what are you saying?

[Stugotz]

That's how taking your chance in the lottery works. Sometimes you get lucky.

[Tony Reali]

It wasn't the Heat's pick. It was the Mavericks pick.

[Zach Lowe]

Okay, and what happened? Who should have been there?

[Tony Reali]

The Mavericks. The Heat. The Mavericks. The Heat.

[Mike Ryan]

Amino Hassan is gonna join us here to do his weekend observations in the next hour. And one of the corrections that he made of me correctly last week is when I said that Untold, the Untold series on Netflix is one of the last places where good sports documentaries are being made. And the correction that he made is not all of them are very good. And he's right, because many of them have traded being good. The University of Florid is the greatest example of this. That was a shitty documentary and it was made only because they wanted to get access to Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow. And it probably did very well, even though it was a profoundly shitty documentary that whitewashed a whole bunch of stuff that you can't just gloss over if you're trying in any way to get somewhat close to the truth. But the one on Lamar Odom's really good. And I was not aware of just how dead Lamar Odom was, like, how many seizures he had, the coma, how many heart attacks that he had. And they get in there and what Khloe Kardashian was dealing with, trying to take care of somebody who had descended into the worst kinds of drug addiction. But one of the things that Lamar Odom did just catch casually, that made me laugh during the documentary. And I didn't think I was going to be laughing when he was talking about infant death syndrome and where it is that it took him. But he's like, no matter your God, whether it's Yahweh, Jehovah, Christ or Kobe. And the way that he said it was not just charming because he's got the kind of charm that the best drug addicts have where you want to believe them, you hope to believe them, but they are such drug addicts, in his case, that they overdose with gluttony and excess in a way that is just vastly destructive. And I'm telling you guys that this is a documentary worth watching. I don't know if the Jailblazers one is worth watching. I do know that everybody was trying to get that documentary, and it ends up getting made for whatever the trades of access have to be made so that you run the risk of telling a more diluted story. Do you guys like this as content? You're basketball fans. Do you? The Jailblazers story is something that people have been wanting to tell for 20 years because of how close that team came to winning the championship. They almost knocked out Jehovah in the conference. Those were the conference finals, right? Where 2000, the Lakers on the road were down double digits at a time that that meant something, being down double digits. And that team could have won the championship, even though it was as publicly flawed a team as any that has ever existed in basketball and would have been a deeply unlikable champion because of. Of everything around them. But I am interested in hearing and seeing how bad their behavior actually was, or whether it was just weed and technical fouls that got represented in a different time as that team's out of control, they're smoking so much weed, and Rashid can't stop getting technicals. Like, were they out of control? I don't. I know that Portland had a problem with them, but I don't actually know. I don't remember if I was colored by the time and missed some things because I had blind spots about how that team was covered because there was the occasional arrest. But it may have been just because they were black dudes and there was weed and technicals.

[Tony Reali]

Yeah, I remember it being a real conflict with the city. You know, it's one thing to have a team that there's this perception of behavior, drugs, that kind of deal. Usually in a big city, you're not going to really get the fan base to care so much. But from what I remember, like, the city of Portland didn't exactly agree with the team that was representing them.

[Zach Lowe]

I think what's cool about this conversation is that we have two different generations. Right? Like, Zaz remembered it vividly. Watching these guys understanding, hey, like, something is not right with this team. They're just like, crazy and out of control, whatever. And like, at 2000s Western Conference finals, I would have been nine years old. So I'm watching this as like, oh, Kobe, Shaq. But then these guys, like, who are these guys?

[Tony Reali]

What are they doing?

[Zach Lowe]

Like, what's the deal? And my dad was like, oh, they call them jailblazer. I was like, what? But it says trailblazers on the thing. So it's like watching them and getting to relive and maybe look back with the sensibilities of now towards the past and maybe look and be like, hey, weren't they maybe that bad?

[Mike Ryan]

Even back then, there was a generational difference in how it is that that team was absorbed. Even in Portland, that was a rebellious team. And young people love man basketball has done so much with the young rebel who's coming up, whether it's Allen Iverson or someone else that is anti authority. I don't remember Bonzi Wells being a bad dude, but I remember him having the reputation of really bad dude. And that wasn't. That's not my experience whenever I've interacted with him, but it was public perception. Do you guys have interest in this Lamar Odom story? Because just the Khloe Kardashian part of it is fascinating, the choices that he made there because he wanted to be somebody in ways that are vanta glorious and empty.

[Tony Reali]

I'm not sure that I have interest in the Lamar Odom one because I think it's gonna make me. I rightfully so see Lamar Odom in a much different light. Than I want to remember.

[Mike Ryan]

You will not be surprised that he tried cocaine for the first time in Miami.

[Tony Reali]

Like I like, I have really fond memories of the one year, believe it or not, just one year, but it was highly impactful for a Heat fan, the one year that Lamar Odom spent here in Miami in 2004. And like, I have a. I have really good memories of Lamar Odom. I obviously know from afar the things that he did and went through, and I feel like it's going to make me sad.

[Mike Ryan]

That's one of the reasons that Mike Ryan expects so much from this Heat team. You get Lamar Odom, you polish him up, and you get Shaquille o' Neal in exchange for Lamar Odom. That seems like a million years ago, the aggressive doing of that. They went 42 and 40 that season. Miami fell in love with that team.

[Tony Reali]

What a team. What a team.

[Stugotz]

Really wasn't afraid to make a deal

[Mike Ryan]

that hurt a little bit and they traded for Shaquille o'. Neal. But I, I am telling everybody listening to this unt been hit or miss. I don't know if you guys have been following this series. It's a great idea.

[Stugotz]

I stopped following because of the misses. The Florida one was so egregious. There's no consistency with the filmmakers. So you'll have on one side of the spectrum, Marty Fish's Untold, which was spectacular and honest. And then you realize that the whole premise can be manipulated depending on who's telling the story and who's behind making it. And that's what made me go out on the entire concept. Now this seems having an honest subject is a big part of it, folks.

[Dan Le Batard]

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[Stugotz]

Don LeBatard in terms of Heat fans, you're the most irrational of us right now. What's the pivot?

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, irrational stugats.

[Mike Ryan]

How am I irrational? You don't hear your voice. If I were making a cartoon thing that was meant to symbolize irrational, that's

[Dan Le Batard]

the voice I would give premise.

[Chris Cote]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugach.

[Mike Ryan]

The fact that they got Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian to talk about things. Okay, I'm just going to give you a handful of the details in here that are sort of rich. Lamar Odom is on his deathbed. He is dead. He's been dead for three days and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, someone who hasn't been in his life for a long time, his father just shows up seeing what's him, what's his, what do I get here? And eventually they have to just run him off because so many people are just showing up at the hospital. They give him a pair of sneakers and a place to stay for the night. But.

[Tony Reali]

So he showed up to see what he can get because his son was dying.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah. Hadn't been in his life for. For a real long time. And then got bought from the storytelling in here for $100 pair of sneakers and a place to stay for the night. Where just one of the details here that will take you inside of this. Like, generally speaking, right. The reason these documentaries get diluted and become something that isn't the truth when you exchange it for access is because the people involved are ashamed of something and want to polish it for your perusal. This is not that like you're getting the gory details. Whatever Lamar Odom wants to get from this, it's not because it's not embarrassing to him and it's not because they're not covering the subject matter that you would be interested in if that's the case.

[Zach Lowe]

And I'm into watching it. If it's a sanitized version of Lamar Odom's obviously publicly dirty life, I don't really care about that. Like, I wanna see the dirty stuff.

[Mike Ryan]

It's the dirty stuff. And it is the trade that. Not very dirty.

[Tony Reali]

Rotten.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, dirty and rotten. It's the dirtiest and the most rotten of the things that happen with drug addiction, which we've been talking about a lot lately regarding the Tiger woods thing, the other thing, and I know you guys talked about this some on Friday, but I am just curious. Wherever it is you make your appraisals of human beings with defining acts. Tiger woods has had a long, storied career and he's got an awfully complicated life, off of the course in terms of how people receive him. And as Mike Ryan pointed out last week, as he goes through this very human frailty, there are a whole lot of people who are rooting for him, who are trying to support him despite his demons. But I will tell you that I found it wildly off putting to see a video of him with the police just saying, yeah, on the phone with the president. Like, just so unnecessary. And it reminded me of Stu Gotz telling the story of on the air very early in our days doing this, saying, I've got a dinner with Dan Marino. There's no other way of saying that. I'm like, you could have just said you had a dinner. And in this particular case, what was he trying to do?

[Stugotz]

He was trying to get away with it.

[Zach Lowe]

Trying to get out of it.

[Stugotz]

Yeah, he was trying to get out of it.

[Zach Lowe]

Really simple.

[Stugotz]

And you can kind of tell from like the body cam also. So, like, it is. It may be reckless, but made the point. A lot of people, especially in that area, huge Tiger fans rooting for Tiger. And this was not one that he could get away with. I mean, Tiger woods has the kind of charm that would lead me to believe, like, him being Tiger woods has gotten him out of, you know, sticky situation occasionally, but that that's not only

[Mike Ryan]

not charming when being Tiger woods isn't good enough, that you have to say to try and get away with it, that you're on the phone with the President.

[Tony Reali]

That's what I'm.

[Stugotz]

He flipped the vehicle in a residential neighborhood. You can kind of tell like from the video, the cops are like, you can't get away with this.

[Mike Ryan]

But you're calling. You're calling Donald Trump in order in that moment to tell the police to

[Stugotz]

not arrest you if you're desperate. Danny's high direct access.

[Mike Ryan]

But how is that.

[Dan Le Batard]

Remember, he is dating a Trump.

[Stugotz]

Yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

Like I see in a sticky spot, I call my father in law. I'm just saying, like, you know, Donald

[Stugotz]

Trump's former daughter in law. Yeah. I'm not surprised. In fact, when this first broke, I was like, I'm surprised Tiger didn't do that. I was actually giving him credit for avoiding that.

[Dan Le Batard]

Like, damn it.

[Stugotz]

And then it was like the first thing he did.

[Mike Ryan]

Let's watch this.

[Zach Lowe]

Say, good.

[Tony Reali]

Just keep you down here with us, please.

[Stugotz]

Yeah, I was talking to the President.

[Dan Le Batard]

That hand flip is the most egregious thing to me of just this, like, I'm just no big deal here.

[Mike Ryan]

I was talking to the President, but you can't hand the phone over the police officer, like, what?

[Zach Lowe]

He'd already finished talking.

[Dan Le Batard]

He doesn't even want his phone. He's just like. Cuz apparently at the start of this video, he's way down there. It's just like, hey, you gotta be down here near us.

[Mike Ryan]

That is ugly in a way that Chris is saying it's just the hand gesture, that the hand gesture is dismissive. But you do realize that Tiger woods and LeBron James, these people live in a galaxy that's unlike any of the galaxies. I mean, we do know this, unlike the galaxies that we live in. So that being in Memphis on a Thursday is something that you do not wish to do with your stardom and having to deal with police officers applying rules to you and your reckless life is not something that you wish to deal with. When handing. When making a call to the President of the United States, that makes me think, yeah. That what he was trying to do there, there. He's trying to show me something. And I'm having the opposite feeling on whatever it is that he thinks he was trying to accomplish there. It's the exact opposite. Mike, when are you and Tony leaving for Talladega? What are the details of this trip? Are you going to be in an rv? And what do you think is going to happen with Tony in Talladega?

[Stugotz]

So last year, I went to Talladega for the first time. It was one of the greatest sporting things I've ever done. And this year, Cuervo is sending me and Tony along with my friends, and we've added to the crew. Dan, of course, you know, you have nascar. Nate that's going college. Mike is going. Eagle Eye is going. And of course the watermelon man is gonna be there as well. Tony is now joining this illustrious crew. We've Gotten a big rv. I just got a touchdown.

[Zach Lowe]

A beautiful one, by the way.

[Stugotz]

It's a Rambler. Just show me. The video.

[Zach Lowe]

Looks incredible. Talk about a rambler.

[Stugotz]

Palatial. And DK's hooking it up. I just got final word. It looks like we got a slip on the back strip. And now all we need is the Cuervo to have ourselves an incredible time. And I am so ready for Tony, who does not like NASCAR one bit. He's not a NASCAR guy.

[Zach Lowe]

Not a NASCAR guy as of yet.

[Stugotz]

It's not part of his sports repertoire. But I cannot wait to introduce Tony, a very Miami dude with no real sense of what's going on with the left turns into Talladega. That's swimming in the deep end, folks.

[Zach Lowe]

Talladega, Tony, I'm ready. We're gonna go and dominate.

[Mike Ryan]

Dan. Are you guys all staying in the rv?

[Stugotz]

How many people are going?

[Mike Ryan]

How many does it. How many does it.

[Stugotz]

It's gonna be Eagle Eye, NASCAR Nate, college, college Mike, 10 day Tony, myself and the Watermelon Man.

[Mike Ryan]

Roy, you're laughing at me for using cabin as a verb there, but an rv houses. What? What does it sleep?

[Stugotz]

The Rambler. Everybody's got a bed, including the Watermelon Mike.

[Chris Cote]

Some cots.

[Zach Lowe]

No, no, no cots.

[Stugotz]

God, no cots.

[Mike Ryan]

How many does the RV sleep? I want to hear more about the rv.

[Zach Lowe]

A dozen.

[Stugotz]

It could sleep up to nine. We don't have that, as you know. And that includes myself, 10 Day Tony, NASCAR Nate, College Mike, NASCAR Nate, and the.

[Dan Le Batard]

Can I come?

[Mike Ryan]

Which parts are you looking forward to?

[Stugotz]

Talladega Boulevard, Dan? It's a special part. I once went to Talladega Boulevard. Well, I've only gone once, and I tried to pay with cash and they said, we don't do that around here. I'm like, what?

[Mike Ryan]

Como what?

[Stugotz]

No, we're not allowed to actually charge you. You just pay whatever you want. It's kind of like a barter system.

[Tony Reali]

What?

[Stugotz]

There is like seven live music stages that are all built that week. There was an open air gentleman's club. There's a sports bar in which you pay them 50 bucks and you get NHL playoff hockey on. It is the best party in NASCAR. And I cannot wait to go with Eagle Eye. NASCAR Nate.

[Dan Le Batard]

Who else?

[Stugotz]

College Mike, 10 day Tony, watermelon Man Tony.

[Dan Le Batard]

You learned the song yet?

[Zach Lowe]

Talladega.

[Chris Cote]

There you go.

[Stugotz]

You're gonna work it 35 times a day.

[Zach Lowe]

It's all in the infield, right?

[Stugotz]

That's where the party is at Talladega, people Have no idea. Like, you can fit like 17 magic kingdoms inside the infield at Talladega.

[Zach Lowe]

There's no way you're lying.

[Stugotz]

It's huge.

[Dan Le Batard]

Including.

[Stugotz]

You're gonna see you. When we walk around and we take the walk from the rv, it's gonna be you. It's gonna be NASCAR and Nate.

[Mike Ryan]

Who else?

[Stugotz]

It's gonna be Eagle Eye, it's gonna be me, it's gonna be College Mike. And leading the charge is gonna be the Watermelon Man.

[Mike Ryan]

I'd like to go back for a second because I don't believe that we or the country at large is talking enough about either Joe League center fielder who had a home run go off of his forehead. I will again point out the impossible to improbable physics of having a ball at an angle hit you on the forehead. I'm going to say this again, okay? Just without the audio audience being able to see the video, I'm going to say, do you think it's possible for a human being who is 20ft from the warning track to have a fly ball hit his forehead at an angle that makes it go over the center field fence? Could you guys, if I had said to you, all of you, without showing you this video, do you believe it is possible that I can ever, in the history of baseball or video show you a video that hits a center fielder on the forehead 10 to 20ft from the warning track and goes over the fence, would you have said, yes, it's possible that you have a real video that is not AI doctored?

[Tony Reali]

Why didn't you just catch it?

[Dan Le Batard]

It's amazing. There's so many parts of this video. One, how high the fence.

[Zach Lowe]

That's 15 foot fence.

[Stugotz]

That might be the craziest part about this is how high the fence.

[Dan Le Batard]

People just listening to this are thinking of like the Fenway park, like a little wall, right?

[Tony Reali]

It's closer to being the Green Monster

[Dan Le Batard]

than it is closer to the Green Monster than it is a small wall. And another thing we're not talking about is how much, much pain the center fielder is in. Because I feel like the Conseco one. He doesn't even feel it. No big deal. This guy holds his head, is in extreme pain and no one's checking in on him.

[Mike Ryan]

Is he okay? Do me a favor, Chris, tell the guest bookers right now to get me that center field. Look at him, okay?

[Dan Le Batard]

Tell real pain.

[Mike Ryan]

Tell the guest bookers right now. I want to see that welt.