Hour 2: I Happen to Have Heard (feat. Jessica Smetana)

Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Hour 2: I Happen to Have Heard (feat. Jessica Smetana)
October 22, 2025

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Episode Overview

Live from the Elser Hotel in Downtown Miami, this episode features Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, Jessica Smetana, and the usual cast (Mike Ryan, Greg Cote, Chris Cody, Amin Elhassan) diving into an eclectic hour: wild travel stories, debates on college football and coaching rumors, bizarre sports traditions, and the eternal question—can you trust LeBron’s injury reports? The group balances inside jokes and pop culture riffs with sports analysis, with Jessica Smetana as the episode’s key guest voice.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Travel Mishaps: The Bus that Wasn’t a Plane

[01:37–07:00]

• Greg Cote’s Infamous Notre Dame Trip

  • Greg tells a story about booking a one-stop “flight” to South Bend, only to discover the second leg was actually a bus (not a plane) departing directly from the airport gate.
  • Jessica doubted the story’s truth until discovering that American Airlines recently started an air-bus service: “I was about to text him and tell him what a liar he was, and then I decided, you know what? Let me just Google this first. Sure enough, American Airlines started this service three weeks ago. You’re one of the first ever customers.” (Jessica, 04:00)
  • The crew jokes about assigned seats on the bus, first-class tickets being downgraded, and the absurdity of the experience.
  • Memorable detail: The boarding pass showed a plane symbol, not a bus, leading Greg to call it “false advertising” (05:24).

• Cultural Reference Battle

  • Banter breaks out over old TV references, especially involving “The Honeymooners” (“That’s a Jackie Gleason joke!”—Dan, 08:00), highlighting the generational humor gap.

2. College Football Carousel: Notre Dame Hopes and Marcus Freeman Speculation

[08:51–13:50, 17:39–20:37]

• Russell Wilson v. Sean Payton Gossip

  • Brief digression as Mike Ryan shares an unverified rumor about Russell Wilson buying an empty luxury suite, then failing to flip it“—I do trust this source that told me Russell Wilson had an entire box and then after being benched, tried to sell the box and found no takers.” (Mike Ryan, 10:15)

• Notre Dame’s Post-USC Outlook

  • Jessica predicts ND will be favored the rest of the season, and that any loss would be a “tremendous disappointment.” (Jessica, 11:04)
  • Mike and Jessica discuss Marcus Freeman’s performance, with Jessica defending his record in big games but acknowledging November injuries as a key concern (11:39).
  • Greg Cote: “It doesn’t matter, though, what Miami… Notre Dame just wins the rest of their games, they’re in, and if they lose a game, then they’re out.” (12:01)

• Is Marcus Freeman Leaving?

  • Debate ensues about the perception of Notre Dame as a “stepping stone” job for coaches. Mike notes programs like the NFL, Florida, and Penn State coveting Freeman, but adds, “If Notre Dame does lose another game… then it’s kind of a green light for his agents to take some of these conversations a little bit more seriously.” (Mike Ryan, 13:27)
  • Jessica says the rumors are likely posturing for raises and doesn’t think Freeman is looking to leave, but admits, “We’ll see.” (Jessica, 13:37)

• Can the Pope Save Notre Dame Football?

  • Coy banter about whether the Vatican or the Pope would financially intervene if Notre Dame needed to massively outbid other schools for Freeman:
    • Chris Cody: “If they call the Pope, will he open the coffers?” (19:46)
    • Jessica: “Maybe, maybe Pope Leo’s open to it.” (17:50); ultimately, she questions whether the appetite exists for $15 million/year contracts, even if the money is available.

3. The “Holiday Bowl in Saudi Arabia” and Changing Economics of College Football

[20:37–22:42]

• Jessica explains the Holiday Bowl exploring a possible move to Saudi Arabia for the financial payout, as the bowl game strained after COVID-related cancellations.
• “It sounds like the ACC pretty quickly shut it down, but they were exploring that.” (Jessica, 20:45)
• She laments the diminishing prestige and shaky finances of non–New Year’s Six bowls in the playoff era but expresses hope that bowl traditions survive: “I never ever want to see these bowl games go away. I would be devastated…” (Jessica, 22:34)

4. Texas Tech’s Tortilla Toss Controversy

[22:42–25:22]

• The Big 12 now threatens penalties for Texas Tech fans throwing tortillas. Their AD, Kirby Hocut, is quoted taking an oddly serious tone, leading to jokes about sneaking tortillas in pants and “discarding” them at the gate.
• Jessica: “The visual of that is very absurd to me.” (25:00)
• Amin ponders the food waste and segues into a side conversation about stray cats in his neighborhood.

5. Catholic Church, the Pope, and College Football—Satire Meets Social Commentary

[26:10–27:44]

• Greg Cote proposes the Pope as ND’s next coach, envisioning the regalia as a TV spectacle. Jessica dryly dives into the contemporary divides among Catholics:
  • “A lot of Catholics lately have been like, well, the Pope’s being a lib, so we don’t like him. Actually, the whole thing about feeding the poor we believe to be optional.” (Jessica, 27:12)

6. Television, Awkward Comedy, and Malls

[28:16–31:49]

• Jessica and Chris Cody rave about Tim Robinson’s new show “The Chair Company,” noting you have to know the right audience to recommend it.
  • Jessica: “It’s a mystery, but it’s also a comedy. There’s perfect amounts of goof and also intrigue.” (Jessica, 29:15)
• Banter about malls, the experience of secondhand embarrassment in Tim Robinson’s movie “Friendship,” and the fundamental need for R-rated comedy in theaters.

7. New Phone Number Mix-ups and Miami Stadium Critiques

[31:49–33:38]

• Chris Cody admits not realizing he’d been texting Jessica on her new number for months, thinking she’d blocked him.
• Jessica calls Hard Rock Stadium overrated: “It’s in the middle of nowhere… They had plastic in the nachos that we got.” (Jessica, 32:59)

8. LeBron the Liar? Reckless NBA Speculation

[36:52–44:22]

• Is LeBron Faking His Injury?

  • Greg Cote accuses LeBron of exaggerating an injury for leverage: “He’s in world class shape… He doesn’t have an injury keeping him out of games… He has an injury that your grandmother has. All right?... This is straight out the LeBron playbook.” (Greg Cote, 37:22)
  • Dan and Chris debate if it’s unethical or just strategic, with plenty of snark about LeBron’s ego and contract status. Dan: “Time to throw away journalistic credibility and get reckless!” (Dan, 38:37)
  • They reference similar situations from LeBron’s career and group chat drama (Anthony Davis discovering his trade via group chat).
  • Amin asks, “What would be LeBron’s incentive for faking an injury so late in his career?” (Amin Elhassan, 42:15), with Mike and others speculating about contract leverage and making teammates miss him.

• Other NBA Tidbits

  • Jimmy Butler makes all 16 free throws in game one, sparking a running bet with Steph Curry on free throw percentage.

• MVP Race Banter

  • Luka Doncic’s hot start (“Right now, Luka’s got to be at the front of the MVP conversation.”—Greg Cote, 38:08)
  • Chris Cody, Mike Ryan, and Greg discuss new Rockets star Sengun as this season’s breakout (“He’s an all star. That guy is good.” — Mike Ryan, 44:30)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Greg’s Bus Trip:

  • “I pull up, I could actually do it. I still have the boarding pass. And on the boarding pass, there is a symbol of a plane, not of a bus, of an airplane.” —Greg Cote (05:04)
  • “I have never heard of this in my life. There is no way that he did this… Sure enough, American Airlines started this service three weeks ago. You’re one of the first ever customers.” —Jessica (04:00)

• On College Football Fan Experience:

  • “If they lose a game, it would be a tremendous disappointment. And if they win out, they will probably be in the College Football Playoff…” —Jessica (11:04)

• On Financial Realities at Notre Dame:

  • “If they call the Pope, will he open the coffers?” —Chris Cody (19:46)
  • “I think they have the money to do that, obviously doesn’t mean they have the appetite to pay someone that much money.” —Jessica (19:59)

• On the Bowl Economy:

  • “This kind of demonstrates the financial strain on a lot of these bowls in the 12 team playoff era. And I never ever want to see these bowl games go away. I would be devastated…” —Jessica (22:34)

• On Catholic Church & Social Issues:

  • “As Catholics, you’re supposed to be like, yes, the Pope. What the Pope says… But those things don’t seem to be important to a lot of Catholics right now.” —Jessica (27:12)

• On LeBron’s Injury:

  • “He doesn’t have an injury keeping him out of games...He has an injury that your grandmother has. All right?...This is straight out the LeBron playbook.” —Greg Cote (37:22)
  • “Time to throw away journalistic credibility and get reckless!” —Dan LeBatard (38:37)

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Memorable Timestamps

• 01:37 — Opening of the main hour; Greg’s bus/flight travel debacle.
• 04:00 — Jessica fact-checks the bus story; rare airline innovation revealed.
• 08:51 — College football/Russell Wilson gossip.
• 11:04 — Jessica on Notre Dame’s schedule & playoff hopes.
• 13:27 — Will Marcus Freeman leave? Coaching speculation gets real.
• 20:37 — Holiday Bowl to Saudi Arabia? Jessica on the state of bowl games.
• 22:42 — Texas Tech tortilla throwing controversy explained.
• 27:12 — Jessica on Catholics, the Pope, and contemporary faith debates.
• 29:15 — Jessica recommends Tim Robinson’s “The Chair Company.”
• 31:49 — Chris Cody’s awkward confession about texting the wrong number.
• 36:52 — LeBron’s “injury” skepticism and reckless NBA speculation begins.
• 38:37 — “Reckless speculation” jingle cue after Greg’s LeBron accusation.
• 44:22 — NBA MVP race, shout-outs to Jimmy Butler, Luka, and Sengun.

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Tone & Style

Consistently playful, irreverent, and fast-paced. The hosts and guests drop sharp pop culture references and exhibit the show’s trademark blend of sports, random personal anecdotes, and biting humor. Jessica’s laconic expertise and willingness to fact-check her own skepticism fans the group’s creative riffing.

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Summary

This hour epitomizes the Le Batard Show’s controlled chaos: part sports roundtable, part comedy writers’ room, with Jessica Smetana providing sharp college football insights and charming self-doubt. From Greg’s travel mishap and flights that turn into bus rides, through heated debates about Marcus Freeman and ND football’s soul, to LeBron’s mysterious absence and Texas Tech’s renegade tortilla tradition, the episode is as much about the absurdity and humanity in sports as it is the scoreboards themselves.

Transcript

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This is the Dan Levator show with the Stugach podcast.

[Dan LeBatard]

Jessica thinks Zaz is a liar. Zaz thinks LeBron is a liar. We'll get to the lies in a second, but I just want to tell you guys a quick story. I heard Sean Penn tell the other day a funny story. As he was training for the movie Cops, Sean Penn was going out on, you know, he was going out on drives with officers. He was. He actually ends up in a drug bust where he's doing some of his. The things that he's learned where he's got a gun out, he's got it on his head.

[Mike Ryan]

What is that that you're doing?

[Dan LeBatard]

He's.

[Greg Cote]

I think it's like this.

[Mike Ryan]

You're talking about having the flashlight and the gun so, like people can see stuff.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yes, that's what I'm doing. I'm doing the flashlight and the gun. And he's been trained to also do the quick peek around the corner. And it's a quick peek. And if you see a gun, you shout gun. But the way that you can do the quick peek, nobody's reflexes are fast enough to shoot somebody who's doing a quick peek.

[Chris Cody]

So we're talking about childhood friend of Charlie Sheen, Sean Penn.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah, Sean Penn. Yes.

[Chris Cody]

Okay, got it.

[Dan LeBatard]

Sean Penn is training for the movie Cops, and they've got five drug dealers who are on the sidewalk on their knees. And the other cop hears Sean Penn shout gun after the quick peek. And so they bring in reinforcement. There's a helicopter, everything else. And Sean Penn is terrified. And then he realizes on his second quick peek, it was his reflection. He was seeing his own gun in the reflection. And all of the other cops were making fun of him because they were brought in by helicopter. And everything else just because he shouted gun at his own gun.

[Amin Elhassan]

Amateur.

[Dan LeBatard]

We all would have done much better in that spot, I'm sure. Jess, thank you for joining us. Why is Zaslow a liar? What are the specifics of his story that do not ring true? That he had a two stop for flight or a one stop flight?

[Greg Cote]

Oh, it was one stop, first class.

[Dan LeBatard]

Flight to South Bend that stopped in Chicago that he thought was a plane on the second leg and was a bus on the second leg.

[Jessica]

I listened to this story yesterday, and I was like, there's just no way. I have never heard of this happening. I have never heard of this in my life. There is no way that he did this. I just don't believe it. And I was about to text him and tell him what a liar he was, and then I decided, you know what? Let me just Google this first. Sure enough, American Airlines started this service three weeks ago. You're one of the first ever customers.

[Chris Cody]

Congratulations.

[Jessica]

This motor coach from.

[Greg Cote]

But thank you.

[Jessica]

I was listening to this.

[Amin Elhassan]

Wow.

[Jessica]

And my first thought was, there's no way he left from an actual gate at o'. Hare. There's no way he left from inside the terminal.

[Greg Cote]

Yes. And pulled up to a terminal in South Bend.

[Jessica]

It's. It's unbelievable that this happened.

[Greg Cote]

I don't believe that's a hilarious detail.

[Amin Elhassan]

Vindicated.

[Mike Ryan]

They drop you off at the South Bend airport?

[Greg Cote]

Yes, at the terminal. I arrived at the gate in South Bend.

[Jessica]

I asked so many people who go to Notre Dame games for work on a regular basis, former students, I said, have you ever heard of this before? They all said, no, there's just no way. And I said, how did he book this without knowing that it was a bus on the second leg? And they said, well, to be honest, that part is believable from everything you've said about this guy. So credit to you.

[Greg Cote]

Okay.

[Jessica]

Making the story more believable. First of all, I said, he's like a Miami sports radio guy. They're like, I guess. Yeah, makes sense.

[Greg Cote]

First of all, whoa. Second of all, if you pull, I pull up, I could actually do it. I still have the boarding pass. And on the boarding pass. Yep, that was exactly the bus. And on the boarding pass, there is a symbol of a plane, not of a bus, of an airplane.

[Mike Ryan]

It's.

[Greg Cote]

It's like.

[Jessica]

It's.

[Greg Cote]

Is that false advertising?

[Chris Cody]

Did you see what it was written on the door? It says, operated by land.

[Greg Cote]

I know, I know, I know. That's the new, like, service it's called, and it says American Airlines. Jess, here's the thing. Why was I seemingly the only one confused when I was walking onto the shuttle bus? Everyone is going to their assigned seats, and I'm literally saying, who the hell cares about an assigned seat? We're taking a shuttle. It's going to be 30 seconds to our plane. I was the only one who apparently had no idea.

[Jessica]

I'm sorry. This is genuinely one of the funniest travel stories that I've ever heard. I kept waiting for it to be like, oh, and then we went to the plane, and it was a small plane. Oh, but no, like, you went all the way to South Bend Airport. I think it's so, so funny. It's probably one of the least efficient ways to get to South Bend.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, it's. It's. But it certainly is if they don't take you to a bus station and for some reason, they then take you again to another airline gate in the.

[Jessica]

I mean, I guess so you can, like, rent a car. So I read about this, and there's. There's doing this at a few smaller regional airports now, including. There's, like, an o' Hare connection that goes from o' Hare to Rockford, which is, like, a really big city outside of Chicago and Illinois. There are a few. If you fly into Philadelphia, they'll take you to smaller cities inside Pennsylvania. So I understand, like, the gist of it. It makes sense. If you don't want to rent your own car at o' Hare and drive yourself there, or if you don't want to, I guess, just get on another plane. Because the flight from o' Hare to South.

[Greg Cote]

No, I do. I want to get on another plane. I really do.

[Mike Ryan]

It's surprising, folks.

[Jessica]

It's amazing.

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Dan. Dan.

[Greg Cote]

Here is my boarding pass. I still have it. Chicago, South Bend. Is that a symbol of an airplane or a boat?

[Dan LeBatard]

Levitard Show. Because I don't know the difference between an airplane and a bus at Levitard Show. Put it on the poll. Have you ever bought a flight and ended up on a bus.

[Jessica]

Dan's like, this is not a first class ticket. I cannot read this. I got where you were going.

[Chris Cody]

Chris, the only way your story could have been funnier is if the guy next to you is selling shower curtain rings.

[Dan LeBatard]

The problem, or one of the problems with Zaslo's story is that is a first class flight. He is full. That is. You just can't end up on a bus when you've got a first class flight. That doesn't make any sense.

[Greg Cote]

There was no in flight service either. If you were, there was no. Like they used to call them. Stewardess. What is it now?

[Chris Cody]

Attendant. Flight attendant.

[Greg Cote]

Yeah. Flight attendant.

[Mike Ryan]

Did your tray have to be in.

[Jessica]

The air Money, though.

[Amin Elhassan]

Was Ralph Cramdon driving the bus?

[Chris Cody]

Reference. I got it.

[Greg Cote]

I mean, that bus driver online.

[Dan LeBatard]

That's a Honeymooners reference.

[Greg Cote]

That bus driver.

[Chris Cody]

No, that's not a no. Just because you don't get the reference doesn't mean it's a bad. I got it.

[Dan LeBatard]

1950S bus driver on television. Jackie Gleason joke.

[Chris Cody]

And it was rebooted with Cedric the Entertainer in 2005.

[Amin Elhassan]

Ralph Gramdon, not Jackie Gleason.

[Chris Cody]

He's right.

[Dan LeBatard]

He's not right.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah, Jackie Gleason was the bus driver.

[Dan LeBatard]

Played Ralph Kramden in the Honeymooners, a television show that ran from when to when. So that we can just have live back in my days with him talking about the origins of television.

[Chris Cody]

Dan, I'm not sure you're familiar with how acting works. See, the actor isn't actually a bus driver. He's portraying a character who is the bus driver. So Ralph Kramden is the answer there. Jackie Gleason was just a guy who worked there.

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[Amin Elhassan]

Well, originally, but it went into the 60s.

[Chris Cody]

Syndication.

[Dan LeBatard]

Jessica, College football and all things college football are something that. It's an area of expertise for you. But I wanted to talk about what happened with Russell Wilson and Sean Payton before we get into the meat of the college football talk. It hasn't been often that Russell Wilson calls someone classless in public. I think a lot of people sided with Russell Wilson on this one rare win for Russell Wilson publicly.

[Jessica]

Oh, absolutely. Ever since that stupid Netflix movie with Kevin James as Sean Payton. Dan, I've been like, how are we just brushing past this whole. What? I mean, it was a ridiculous movie.

[Chris Cody]

Of course it was ridiculous as a. What are we doing?

[Jessica]

Okay, I'm glad we're in agreement. I mean, it's just absurd for Sean Payton to take shots at Russell Wilson. Who's like no one's favorite quarterback at this point, but absolutely justified in going after him on Twitter. And the let's ride at the end was a perfect comedic chef's kiss of a retort from Russ. So yeah, I'm team Russell Wilson. That was just mean. Like, what's the, what's the point of that?

[Mike Ryan]

I happen to have heard from a singular person and not verified with someone else that Russell Wilson bought a premium luxury box for that game thinking that it was going to be his triumphant return to be Sean Payton. And then he got bench and couldn't flip the the luxury box.

[Chris Cody]

John Elway told you that.

[Dan LeBatard]

So what is that? I happen to have heard.

[Mike Ryan]

You have heard a little piece of gossip that I wasn't able to verify with multiple sources from a singular person. But I do trust this source that told me Russell Wilson had an entire box and then after being benched, tried to sell the box and found no takers.

[Chris Cody]

I don't trust this source.

[Amin Elhassan]

Wow.

[Dan LeBatard]

Wow. Happen to know is two sources happen to have heard from a single source is a less. It's a diluted form of reporting.

[Mike Ryan]

That's why it doesn't have imaging untrustworthy source.

[Chris Cody]

I would say the Notre Dame USC.

[Dan LeBatard]

Game that you were at, Jessica, you felt you were not at it. Oh, I'm sorry.

[Jessica]

No, I was. I was in New York watching it, just biting my nails the whole time. It was terrifying. But it was so fun. Exhilarating, I would say.

[Dan LeBatard]

And your thoughts now on USC's I'm sorry, Notre Dame's remaining schedule, I think.

[Jessica]

That they're going to be favored by a lot of points in all the remaining games. And, and so if they lose a game, it would be a tremendous disappointment. And if they win out, they will probably be in the College Football Playoff, even though Miami not holding up their end of the bargain last weekend. Dan. But we'll see, we'll see how Miami's end of their season shakes out too, because they don't have that many more difficult games on their schedule either.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, you can't take those for granted in today's college football era to say, well, they're going to be a big favorite for all of them. In fact, Marcus Freeman's lost plenty of big games as a big time favorite, but that was the toughest.

[Jessica]

He's lost more of those games than he has like the ranked games. I would say that's like. But to be fair, a couple of them, the Marshall game in the NIU game were both like season home openers early in the season. These teams under him have tended to get better throughout the year. I think the only issue now is once you get into November now you have way more players getting hurt, but that's across all of college football.

[Greg Cote]

It doesn't matter, though, what Miami like, yeah, Miami lost. So maybe the win, you know, or the loss to Miami doesn't mean as much for Notre Dame. But Notre Dame just wins the rest of their games. They're in, and if they lose a game, then they're out. Like, it doesn't really matter.

[Mike Ryan]

As just highlighted they lost to niu. So if Miami loses the rest of their games, it won't necessarily stack up to even that loss. And it didn't end up mattering because Notre Dame went all the way to the College Football Playoff final.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah.

[Dan LeBatard]

Where are you, Jessica on Mike's contention that Notre Dame fans don't like hearing very much that the Notre Dame job might be a stepping stone job for Marcus Freeman?

[Mike Ryan]

Well, that's how they're processing it. I'm not applying that. Like they can.

[Jessica]

I don't think that's true.

[Mike Ryan]

Like, I'm not applying that. Even though it happened with Brian Kelly, where he left them for an sec. And I understand why fan bases get bothered, especially a program so tradition rich like Notre Dame and a team that literally just competed for a national title. I find it flattering that the NFL is interested in Marcus Freeman, that the Florida Gators and Penn State, two big programs, our dream number one candidate is Marcus Freeman. What Diana said is right. By the way, when we had Diana earlier, J asked her specifically about the Chicago Bears interest is Marcus Freeman's a bit different than all these other coaches that are a little dirtier when it comes to these things. He is about his team when he is with his team, if they are in it. And they. The problem last year with the Bears was Marcus Freeman kept winning in the College Football Playoff. And he was like, keep that away. It does. Although it work in line with what I'm hearing, that if Notre Dame does lose another game this season, if that happens to happen, then it's kind of a green light for his agents to take some of these conversations a little bit more seriously.

[Jessica]

Yeah, I mean, I, I don't. I don't know. I, I'm not, I'm not plugged into that world. This is just a lot of it is also posturing to get raises. So I, I mean, I hope he doesn't leave Notre Dame, but we'll see. I don't. I don't know what you want me to say.

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[Mike Ryan]

Howdy listeners. It's Mike Ryan and Chris Cody. Hey everyone. Hey Chris. We love hanging out so much. You were at my birthday the other day.

[Dan LeBatard]

You're old.

[Mike Ryan]

You know what I saw in your hand?

[Chris Cody]

What?

[Mike Ryan]

A can of Miller. Whether it's a can, whether it's a bottle, a draft pour of Miller Lite. The draft pour. You see that beautiful iconic color.

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[Greg Cote]

Oh, so good.

[Mike Ryan]

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[Jessica]

Hittin different.

[Mike Ryan]

From jaw dropping touchdowns to fantasy heartbreaks. It's a beer that has been there for every moment. 50 years of great taste, simple ingredients and that iconic golden color. That coldness, Chris, that.

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That icy coldness.

[Mike Ryan]

That icy coldness. The original light beer since 1975 and still hitting different five decades later. Miller Lite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

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[Greg Cote]

Don LeBatard Jaz.

[Mike Ryan]

You can't talk about double digit national titles when every single call of you winning the national title sounds like this. Oh, there's, there's Chubby jacket running down the sideline. If the audio. Yeah, that's not true. Yeah. And there's a World War II veteran pitching into another white guy and he avoids another white guy.

[Dan LeBatard]

Oh, my God.

[Mike Ryan]

Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish have it again for the eighth time of it playing white people sts.

[State Farm Announcer]

Chubby Checker.

[Mike Ryan]

Sorry, sorry. He's black. He's black. And I was like, what's a white named Chubby Checker? I picked him. Like, I'm sorry, man, I'm improv in here. This is a pretty cool rib.

[Dan LeBatard]

Running down the side.

[Mike Ryan]

He spells it differently. All right, his name is Chubby. Maybe you didn't hear me correctly. His name is Chubby Checkers. There's an S at the end.

[Greg Cote]

I feel like that should be the largest of five.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, Chubby. And I just try to check it. It sounds like a college football name.

[Greg Cote]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stucats.

[Chris Cody]

I have a question for you asked this earlier. No one on the show could answer me. If Notre Dame needs to pony up extra money to keep Marcus Freeman, can they call the Pope and the Vatican and say, open up the coffers?

[Jessica]

Well, I think he went to Villanova, so I'm not sure. And like, you know, there's different, different Catholic orders running both schools. So I would say it's a maybe. But if that's something that they have to do, like maybe, maybe Pope Leo's open to it.

[Chris Cody]

He's a Chicago guy, isn't he?

[Mike Ryan]

It does lead to a legitimate question, which is Brian Kelly presumably left for a couple of different reasons, but also he did get a raise in leaving Dallas U. And money could have been one of the answers as to why on earth would he leave Notre Dame when he had such success there.

[Jessica]

I think that is the main reason that he left. I think Notre Dame did not want to pay Brian Kelly. This is just me guessing I'm not like reporting this, I think that. But Notre Dame had a long and very successful relationship with Brian Kelly that came with a lot of things that, you know, lose some tough losing seasons, embarrassing things, him screaming on the sidelines, him not ever getting the team to the place where they could beat in Alabama or Georgia. Obviously it's a different era of college football now and I think Marcus Freeman coming in when he did is much better positioned to beat those teams. I think there's way more parity in college football now. I think a lot of the advanced analytics bear that out. And I would say most importantly, the school is more aligned with athletics now than they were when Brian Kelly was the coach. I think they're more committed to actually helping the football team do things to win games without, you know, obviously sacrificing their identity, etc. Etc. That's what Notre Dame would tell you. But I think that it's sort of hard to compare apples to apples because I do actually. I have seen a much bigger commitment from the school with Marcus Freeman and trying to make him successful than they ever kind of were with Brian Kelly.

[Mike Ryan]

So, like, I guess the really efficient question for me is if it gets to the point where schools are offering and think they have a legitimate shot at getting Marcus Freeman for $15 million, will Notre Dame climb up to that salary, make him the highest paid coach in the sport to keep him, and.

[Chris Cody]

If they call the Pope, will he open the coffers?

[Jessica]

I don't know. I mean, Mike, who knows? I don't know.

[Mike Ryan]

Maybe.

[State Farm Announcer]

Yes.

[Jessica]

I mean, they signed him to a huge extension last year. Clearly you don't want to see him go.

[Greg Cote]

But also, oh my God, who knows?

[Jessica]

I mean, if you were asking me to speculate on like Notre Dame's financial acumen in this situation, like, I think they have the money to do that, obviously doesn't mean they have the appetite to pay someone that much money. And I think a lot of these college coaching contracts are a little bit absurd if you're talking about coaches getting 100 million dollar buyouts to stick around in 10 years. And we have absolutely no idea what college football is going to look like in 10 years. But also Marcus Freeman's current contract does. Public speculated that he's paid among the three highest paid coaches in college football. So I mean, I, I don't know. We'll have to wait and see.

[Dan LeBatard]

Speaking of money, what did you make of the Holiday bowl? Exploring the idea of a college football bowl game in Saudi Arabia.

[Greg Cote]

Come on.

[Jessica]

Oh man, this was one of those things that came out of some of the public records requests I believe from North Carolina. And from my reading on the topic, the Holiday bowl has a bit of a financial strain because of the two games being canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID So they are looking to recoup some of that and be a bowl that can offer a higher payout to teams and would get more money if they did play in Saudi Arabia. It sounds like the ACC pretty quickly shut it down, but they were exploring that. The other part of it that's sort of funny is that the Holiday bowl gets money from the city of San Diego because it has an obvious big economic impact on the city when they host the bowl game. And so if that were to be the case, if they were to move the game, they would have to give that money back. Of course it's not really that much money in the grand scheme of things, but it is sort of demonstrate like the financial situation of a lot of these bowl games that have become a lot less prestigious now that there's 12 teams in the playoff. And you know, the Holiday bowl used to be a game that was, was two of the better bold bowl eligible teams would play and had a lot of good ratings in that bowl game. It was more one of the higher tier, like premium tier bowls really. And yeah, yes, Greg, really, I remember that. I mean it's not like, I mean it's. Yeah, the one in San Diego.

[Amin Elhassan]

I mean it's not holidays.

[Jessica]

It's not a New Year's six bowl obviously. But it's also not like, you know, the Bahamas bowl or one of these other smaller, smaller team bowls. It'd usually be like two. I think pack 12 is and ACC are the two teams in the Holiday Bowl. Anyways, I digress. I think the point is that this kind of demonstrates the financial strain on a lot of these bowls in the 12 team playoff era. And I never ever want to see these bowl games go away. I would be devastated if we didn't have a full bowl slate in the, in the postseason. But I understand that things are different now. Things are changing pretty rapidly.

[Ad Voice]

Texas Tech has a ridiculous controversy going on. They have the Tortilla throw which is adorable. We celebrated earlier this year with the Hamptons farm nuttiest fan. But apparently the Big 12 wants them to stop. They're going to threaten penalties. Texas Tech having one of their best seasons in a long time. Their head coach, we're about to play this sound gave a way too serious press conference about Tortillas.

[Mike Ryan]

This is Kirby Hocut. Their ad former stakes are too high and we need to help not risk penalizing our team again for, for, for throwing tortillas. Simply, let's not do it. The situation is on me. I leaned into this of throwing tortillas at the beginning of the football season. Now I must ask everyone to stop and I must ask our staff to enforce it on game days. I don't know why I think that's funny. Why is his hair so dark?

[Greg Cote]

How did he lean into it? Like, what did he do?

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, he's reading also, I think earlier.

[Ad Voice]

In the year he was pushing back on the Big 12. Be like, how come he had, he had the interaction with the coach where.

[Greg Cote]

He'S like, what do you want me to do?

[Jessica]

He was the only. I think he was the only Big 12 athletic director to. To vote no on penalizing the tortilla tossing in the off season, which he did like, as a stand. Like, I want to protect this tradition. But yeah, now that the Big 12 decided there's going to be 15 yard penalties if you throw stuff on the field. The situation has continuously escalated since the Kansas game a couple weeks ago, which we talked about last week. There was an alleged pocket knife being thrown, which now very clearly was not thrown by fans. They believe that it dropped by a Kansas coach on the sideline. But still the, the fines have continued to escalate. And so now the athletic director is like, no one can do this anymore. I imagine there will be more tortillas than ever thrown this upcoming weekend. But I, I also thought it was funny because, Chris, to your point about, like, the seriousness of it, I read in the Athletic that they're offering to let people discard their tor. Their tortillas at the game by giving them to, like, officials who can disp Them. So it's like, I guess you smuggle the tortilla in your pants. That's what people do. And then you get there and you have second thoughts and you're like, yeah, I shouldn't do this. I don't want to get ejected or banned from athletic department events. So I'm going to take the tortilla, my pants, and hand it to an usher.

[Ad Voice]

Nice and warm for me.

[Jessica]

Like, the visual of that is very absurd to me.

[Ad Voice]

I do love a microwave tortilla.

[Chris Cody]

I do love a microphone cough.

[Dan LeBatard]

Cody. Cody's gotten away from the cough button. The cough got him so much that he let his.

[Mike Ryan]

Let me back up.

[Ad Voice]

Oh, we didn't hear it.

[Amin Elhassan]

Is that a tortilla? In your pocket or you're just happy to see me? What a waste of food, by the way. What a waste.

[Jessica]

Tortilla in your pocket. Or are you not happy to see me?

[Amin Elhassan]

Right, That's a good point.

[Dan LeBatard]

Soggy, damp tortilla in your pocket.

[Amin Elhassan]

That's the food bank. Food bank goes, no, thanks. We're not that.

[Ad Voice]

Is there a food that you'd prefer to seen throw at stadiums?

[Amin Elhassan]

I don't like the idea of wasting food like that. You know, people are starving all over my neighborhood.

[Ad Voice]

I would give over your neighborhood.

[Amin Elhassan]

Straight cats in my neighborhood.

[Chris Cody]

What?

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah, we have stray cats problem in our neighborhood.

[Ad Voice]

Some lady in my dad's neighborhood collected all the stray cats and had them fixed.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah. Against their will. But you do.

[Mike Ryan]

Against their will.

[Amin Elhassan]

You do it for the. The.

[Greg Cote]

You think the spay or the neuter is sometimes with the will of the animal.

[Amin Elhassan]

Oh, yeah. Well, you ask the animal, and if they don't answer you, you go ahead.

[Ad Voice]

And they say, meow.

[Dan LeBatard]

Remember the no comment that the lion gave us earlier?

[Amin Elhassan]

Thank you.

[Dan LeBatard]

When we were talking about it.

[Amin Elhassan]

Thank you very much. By the way, a quick comment. I respect Amin trying to get a serious answer about the Vatican contributing to nil and buyouts and stuff like that. If Notre Dame has an opening, why doesn't the Pope coach Notre Dame? Because I picture him on the sideline in full regalia with the big pointed hat, the whole bit. It would be a great draw. Great television draw. Fans would love it. What's he doing in the Vatican?

[Mike Ryan]

I don't think now you're asking the right questions.

[Amin Elhassan]

I don't think the Pope works real hard. I think he's got time to coach a football team.

[Mike Ryan]

What's in the coffee, Greg?

[Chris Cody]

Imagine the endowment growth if the Pope was the head coach, the boosters were coming out of the woodwork. Every Catholic in the world.

[Jessica]

I don't think you guys really are that plugged into the ongoing. I don't want to use the word schism here, but the ongoing disagreements that a lot of Catholics have over the last two popes, it may be very alienating. The Pope should. I mean. Well, I don't want to get into too much here about.

[Dan LeBatard]

You've already said too much. You've already said too much.

[Jessica]

As Catholics, you're supposed to be like, yes, the Pope. What the Pope says, you know, that is what we believe to be true. And a lot of Catholics lately have been like, well, the Pope's being a lib, so we don't like him. Actually, the whole thing about like feeding the poor we believe to be optional. So I don't know, maybe you guys should just not be Catholic anymore. Because when I grew up, the reason that I have Catholic guilt is because of the things that I was taught about, like Catholic social teaching and, like, helping people in need, treating your neighbor as thyself. But those things don't seem to be important to a lot of Catholics right now.

[Chris Cody]

Jessica.

[Jessica]

That would be quite controversial.

[Chris Cody]

Jessica, I care about you. You're talking right now like a character in a Dan Brown book who's going to get killed very soon.

[Jessica]

Wait, I mean, oh, my God, this Louvre heist of the J. The Jewels. Did you not think immediately of the Da Vinci Code?

[Chris Cody]

Of course.

[Jessica]

It was so good.

[Chris Cody]

The first thing I thought about was Rudy Gobert not being able to guard the high pick and roll. But then. Then I thought about Dan Brown, and I realized that it wasn't a Dan Brown story because there wasn't enough misogyny in it.

[Jessica]

Oh, that's such a good point. You're right.

[Dan LeBatard]

Surely you and mean have connected over Adam McKay's project, the Chair Company, right?

[Chris Cody]

We have, Dan. And don't call me Shirley Amin.

[Jessica]

Did you watch episode 2?

[Chris Cody]

I am all the way caught up.

[Amin Elhassan]

That was good.

[Chris Cody]

So Leslie Nielsen doesn't It's okay. Is that what it is?

[Jessica]

I love the old references that I actually understand. The thing about Tim Robinson shows like, I think you should leave and Detroiters is I feel like I can't recommend them to everybody. I feel like I have to know you well enough to know if you're gonna, like, really think it's funny or not. And I feel that way about the Chair Company. I've been very reserved in recommending it to people because I know that there's a lot of people that will watch that show and say, this is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. But I'm sitting there watching it, and I am laughing so hard at it. I think it is so funny. It is a. A Tim Robinson scripted series on hbo. Max or hbo, I think we call it. Do we call it hbo? I don't know.

[Chris Cody]

It's HBO Max.

[Jessica]

HBO Max. Okay, cool. It's a mystery, but it's also a comedy. There's perfect amounts of goof and also intrigue in it. And Tim Robinson sort of playing the same character he always plays, but just with more. I think, with more depth than. Than in some of his skits.

[Chris Cody]

So, Jessica, the interesting thing about this, as opposed to his prior show, is it's shot like A thriller suspense show. Yeah, it's not even. Even. I'm not just talking about.

[Jessica]

It's not like a sitcom.

[Chris Cody]

It's not a sitcom. It's down to the music, down to the. The camera angles and the shots. It's all shot like a. Like a Who done it, basically. So there's. If you're not paying attention or if you didn't know anything about him, you go in, you're like, why is this such a silly. Why is it. Why are they acting silly? Am I supposed to laugh here or not? But if you know, Tim Robinson's hilarious, and it's very funny. The other funny thing is I thought the name the Chair company was going to be like an analogy to something or a metaphor. And it turns out to be very literally about a chair company, not the one that he works at. He makes malls. Which, by the way, Jessica, was the last time you were at a mall.

[Jessica]

It's been a really long time since I've been in a mall.

[Chris Cody]

I think you've been in a mall, you just probably didn't realize it.

[Amin Elhassan]

Mall gore.

[Jessica]

I don't think I've been in a mall.

[Chris Cody]

No, you've been in a mall. You just didn't realize it. Probably. That's because they don't look like malls anymore.

[Jessica]

Is this a mall? Am I in a mall right now?

[Chris Cody]

I think you're in a mall right now.

[Dan LeBatard]

Now the restaurant. The restaurant is a mall. Zaz was creeped out. Zaz was creeped out by Friendship, the Tim Robinson movie. He's made anxious by the awkward comedy. Really, it's just Robinson and Nathan Fielder who are doing this incredibly awkward comedy.

[Greg Cote]

I mean, I watched Friendship on my plane ride to Europe, what, a week and a half ago? And five minutes in. Like, I'd never seen any of Tim Robinson stuff, but I know the. And it is my kind of humor. But five minutes into the movie, I didn't know if I was gonna be able to get through it because I get very bad secondhand embarrassment. And there were times in that movie Friendship where I thought I was gonna have to hit the pause button and just go walk up and down the aisle and cool off.

[Chris Cody]

Oh, man, I got to see that with my good friend Michael Ryan right here, who got me advanced screening passes to it. And it was like, Mike, it was such a great environment to watch with people. I don't know.

[Greg Cote]

It's a good movie.

[Chris Cody]

Have you watched it with people as opposed to.

[Ad Voice]

Maybe that' cuz I watched it alone in my living room and I was just like, okay, I kind of know what they're trying to do here.

[Greg Cote]

No, I enjoyed the movie. It's just like, I. I was very uncomfortable.

[Mike Ryan]

Sharing in the awkwardness with others, though, is an experience, which is why we need to bring our rated comedies back. Jack.

[Chris Cody]

Speaking of awkwardness, I do have an awkward confession I need to make to Jessica. Jessica, we've been texting for a couple of months now. We talked about Lethal Weapon. We talked about, like, oh, you're excited about this show. I'm like, oh, I love it. And. And up until this morning, I had no idea that that was you and you had changed your number. I just kept.

[Jessica]

I texted you over the summer, and I was like, this is my new number.

[Chris Cody]

I kept looking for context clues, and I couldn't find them. And I was like, okay, I'm just gonna keep having this conversation as if I know who I'm talking to.

[Jessica]

Okay, so what gave it away this morning?

[Mike Ryan]

So Amin was asking me, look, I keep getting a message from this number, and I have no idea. It's like. It's a. I'm like, read me the number. Maybe I have them in my contact list.

[Ad Voice]

What is it, Mike?

[Mike Ryan]

And then he started rattling it off. I. I'm like, this has been Jess the whole time, and he had no idea. He thought you were pissed off at him.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah, that's the other thing. I've been texting you on your old number and all.

[Dan LeBatard]

She's not.

[Chris Cody]

They're green bubbles. I think she's blocked me.

[Jessica]

Jesus. I mean, I would. I. First of all, I want to know what gave it away? Was it when I was like, hey, Hard Rock's not even that awesome. They're just like that.

[Chris Cody]

That narrowed it down. I was like, okay, hold on now, farts. Hold on.

[Jessica]

On Hard Rock Stadium. Like, oh, it's a sports mecca. It's in the middle of nowhere.

[Chris Cody]

It is a dump.

[Mike Ryan]

Easy. South Bend.

[Jessica]

They had plastic in the nachos that we got.

[Ad Voice]

There's plastic everywhere.

[Mike Ryan]

There's plastic in people's balls. Exactly right?

[Jessica]

No, those are microplastic. This was a macro plastic. This is the kind of plastic you have to get removed by a surgeon because it's lodged into your.

[Ad Voice]

Probably better, right than the micro.

[Mike Ryan]

That's why I lost $6 on the valuation.

[Amin Elhassan]

No extra charge.

[Dan LeBatard]

Put it on.

[Jessica]

The scientists are sure, like, what the microplastics are doing yet, so I would still.

[Mike Ryan]

I can guarantee they're not good, because they're not supposed to be there. Yeah, says me.

[Ad Voice]

I don't know a lot by Tony.

[Mike Ryan]

I can guarantee microplastics in my balls bad.

[Chris Cody]

I think they're great.

[Jessica]

Ivermectin can we do Tony's top five? Like health related?

[Mike Ryan]

We could.

[State Farm Announcer]

It'd be a great list.

[Dan LeBatard]

Check out her weekly Notre Dame Podcast.

[Mike Ryan]

The Democratic Shutdown Stops.

[Dan LeBatard]

Finally, the guy the Echoes with Mike Golick Jr. Again, weekly Notre Dame podcast. Jessica, thank you.

[Ad Voice]

Bye.

[Mike Ryan]

Quick break here to talk to you about the official ticketing partner of the Dan LeBatard show, folks, it's Mike Ryan. You know how much I love this product. I use it frequently. I'm often buying tickets on the secondary market and for me, game time has always been the best place to go for NFL tickets, concert tickets, comedy shows. It's just the best. Here's why. Zone deals Favorites Panoramic seat views the lowest price guarantee where GameTime will credit you 110% of the difference. I love that thing. GameTime's ticket coverage. Your purchase is covered with the most flexible customer service policy in the ticketing industry. Get all those guarantees, pal. Join what many in our show have already done. They download that Gametime app because Gametime guarantees you can trust you'll be getting 100% authentic tickets on time and at the best price. Price plus fees are always included, so what you see is what you pay. Take the guesswork out of buying NFL tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use code DAN for $20 off your first purchase terms. Apply again, create an account and redeem code dan for $20 off. Swipe tap ticket. Go download the Gametime app today.

[State Farm Announcer]

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[Mike Ryan]

Don Libertard.

[Amin Elhassan]

I heard that. As a woman faking pain. I didn't think that sounded real. I really didn't.

[Dan LeBatard]

You know, it was not fake. It was in no way fake.

[Jessica]

You can spot a woman faking it.

[Mike Ryan]

Stugats.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yes, I can. Jess Expert. I've been married 40 years.

[State Farm Announcer]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the stugats.

[Dan LeBatard]

I wanted to get to the LeBron story. That took us a half hour to get to the LeBron story where Zsas thinks LeBron's a liar. I know it's after being called a liar by Jessica, and I guess Jessica has now walked that back. You have proven to her because you're credible and a journalist and a lawyer and a judge and a race war expert, you have once again proven to be someone who is credible. Your story was true. Are you reporting something on LeBron or do you have an opinion about LeBron lying?

[Greg Cote]

I have an opinion. I have an opinion which I think is correct. All right, Dan, he. He's in world class shape, this guy, all right? He spends millions of dollars on his body, every. On fitness. He spends millions of dollars. He doesn't have an injury keeping him out of games till mid November, apparently.

[Ad Voice]

Apparently.

[Greg Cote]

Which then they're going to reevaluate. Okay, he has an injury that your grandmother has. All right? Like, I don't care that he's 41 years old. 42 years world class shape.

[Dan LeBatard]

Sciatica stinks.

[Greg Cote]

I'm sure it does hurt when you're. When you're a grandma. Okay, there is no way this is straight out of the LeBron playbook is what this is like last night, the Lakers losing, even though Luca looked awesome, by the way.

[Mike Ryan]

MVP season.

[Greg Cote]

Right now. Right now, Luca's got to be at the front of the MVP conversation, okay? Right now. Yes, that's right. Right now, Luca, he's at the top of the MVP conversation. LeBron, this is straight out his playbook. He loves that loss last night. LeBron would love more losses because then. Oh, look who you need to return. What are you alleged.

[Dan LeBatard]

What are you alleging Here. Are you alleging he's withholding services?

[Greg Cote]

Yeah, I'm alleging super passive aggressive behavior. That's right.

[Dan LeBatard]

Right. Time to throw away doll journalistic credibility and get reckless.

[Mike Ryan]

Here is something we like to call reckless speculation.

[Chris Cody]

You're good.

[Greg Cote]

Oh, you don't want me. You're not, you're not centering the team around me anymore. I'm not the number one guy. You don't want to give me a multi year deal. Okay, let's see what we look like when I have to be re evaluated a month and a half into the season with an injury that your grandmother had.

[Ad Voice]

Has.

[Greg Cote]

Get out of here. It's straight out the LeBron James playbook.

[Chris Cody]

I'm not going to go as far as to say he's faking the injury. I, I, as someone who's dealt with back issues for years, it happens. It doesn't matter how much you do. Not like I do a lot. But still. But I will agree with you on this. Inside he's not going to admit it, but inside he's like, yes, definitely. Crumble without need.

[Greg Cote]

Definitely.

[Dan LeBatard]

Didn't you have gout?

[Greg Cote]

Yeah, I'm not in world class shape.

[Amin Elhassan]

That's an old person body.

[Greg Cote]

I'm not LeBron.

[Mike Ryan]

We know this. I don't hairline.

[Greg Cote]

I don't spend millions of dollars on my body every year. He has sciatica and he's going to be reevaluated in a month.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah. That's weird. That's weird. You'd think that number one, if he were younger, he probably wouldn't have it, but you'd probably be more incentivized to play. Play. This could also be a low key thing that he get. He gets on the same page with the front office. Hey, let's wait and see. This is kind of like player maintenance a little bit potentially. No, hold on.

[Chris Cody]

I just remembered something. So Steve Nash had sciatica, right? That that was why Steve Nash, when he'd be on the bench, he'd be lying on his back. Seems like LeBron's sitting on the bench probably not a good thing for sciatica. Two and a half hours.

[Greg Cote]

Just nothing wrong with him.

[Dan LeBatard]

Wait a minute. The reason actually that I would say that that is imprudent. It's not even the unethical idea that he would be faking injury in order to just lie and collect money and load manage. The reason that it's not wise is Luke will take that team and go 17 for 27 without him out there for the rest of the season like that. Not having to share usage rate with LeBron James is the best Luca that there is. Like he doesn't. If he doesn't have to share the ball with anybody, he will go 17 for 27 in every he plays the rest of the season.

[Greg Cote]

But they need to win. Like if they're losing, who cares?

[Chris Cody]

By the way, how long before they. They go full metal jacket on deandre Aiden? Yeah, they're putting bars of soap and socks.

[Greg Cote]

He stinks.

[Chris Cody]

I was like, dominate.

[Greg Cote]

They won like Dan, that team minus LeBron, like that.

[Mike Ryan]

That team's not that good playing team. There was. I mean, you Want to call LeBron a liar? The New York Post had an article that was interesting that might lend credence to the this. There was a Laker group chat that had all the Lakers players in it. Anthony Davis was on that team. Anthony Davis was traded from that team and announced it to the group chat. Now, what we know about this trade and what we assume is that this was coming.

[Chris Cody]

Do you have Anthony Davis's actual words.

[Mike Ryan]

From the group chat? Yeah, in the group chat. Well, I'm not going to say all the words. Did these guys just trade me?

[Chris Cody]

You said these guys.

[Mike Ryan]

You didn't say guys. Oh, and LeBron, WTF. Okay. After Anthony Davis left the group, caught him off guard.

[Chris Cody]

Wait, he said that after he left the chat?

[Mike Ryan]

The way that I understood the article was did these guys just trade me? Anthony Davis leaves group chat. LeBron James, WTF? In front of all his teammates. It's got.

[Greg Cote]

It's got to be hard to be a phony all the time. It does. It has to be hard, Greg.

[Amin Elhassan]

What would be LeBron's incentive for faking an injury so late in his career?

[Mike Ryan]

Getting paid for a figure.

[Amin Elhassan]

Every game he plays is a gift. Why would he fake an injury?

[Greg Cote]

Give me more money. Give me multi year contract.

[Mike Ryan]

He doesn't view it the same way Joe Flacco does.

[Greg Cote]

You think my time's up right now? All right, let's see how you do without me.

[Mike Ryan]

That's the incentive? Getting paid the same amount of money to not play and prove a point?

[Chris Cody]

Well, I don't even think it's to not play. I think it's to prove the, the point. It's about you need me. Oh, you don't think you need me? Watch this.

[Greg Cote]

I'm not the number one option anymore. I'm not the guy you should come to with all the decision making questions. Okay, let's see how you do that.

[Mike Ryan]

But take into account what we just said about how we assume LeBron James was behind the scenes understanding that Rich Paul's client Anthony Davis was going to get moved. That that establishes some sort of buy in that we're getting away from Anthony Davis and we're bringing in Luca now. I'm not. I'm not putting it past LeBron to be like all about that move and then once it happens, to use it as a point of resistance. Resentment for the Lakers. Is that what we're alleging? Because they don't mesh together. Him behind the scenes forcing Anthony Davis out and bringing Luka in to help him win a championship and then being upset when Luka arrives to the team, being a younger superstar, being the very clear and obvious face of the franchise going forward. How does this mesh?

[Chris Cody]

Seems very familiar to the story from your own Weitzman of him being very pro. Russell Westbrook outlast and behind the scenes, kind of like, get him out of here.

[Mike Ryan]

Get me Curry.

[Chris Cody]

Irving.

[Mike Ryan]

You saw what I was doing. I was asking the question for the audience. But I know what he's doing. He's playing Boshaich.

[Dan LeBatard]

The thing that we're not talking about from last night in talking about everything from basketball last night is that it is in game one. Interesting to watch Golden State when Jimmy Butler wants to go get 16 free throws. Makes all 16 free throws. Says after the game that he's bet Steph Curry that he's going to shoot better from the line this year than Steph Curry. Why are you waving him off?

[Mike Ryan]

Game one. Game one. Talk about sciatica. That guy's backs out in like two weeks.

[Greg Cote]

Right now, though, Jimmy Butler's in the MVP conversation.

[Mike Ryan]

Not as. Not as high as Luka, though. Don't even dare. You agree or you don't agree?

[Greg Cote]

He's got. I don't agree. He's got to be in the conversation.

[Mike Ryan]

He's in the conversation. Not number one, though. Shangun ahead of Jimmy Butler.

[Chris Cody]

The Gooner.

[Mike Ryan]

The Gooner. I'm back in basketball this season. He is an all star. That guy is good. That guy's great.

[Greg Cote]

MVP race right now. Tight.

[Mike Ryan]

And you know about that sengun.

[Chris Cody]

Not that tight.

[Dan LeBatard]

The Rockets are getting rewarded for taking.

[Ad Voice]

The team needs a point guard.

[Dan LeBatard]

The Rockets are. They have so many young. So many young players from just dumb.

[Mike Ryan]

Everybody's six'11. The entire team is six'11. Just got six'11 guys running around all over the place. Howdy, listeners. It's Mike Ryan and Chris Cody.

[Amin Elhassan]

Hey, everyone.

[Mike Ryan]

Hey, Chris. We love hanging out so much. You were at my birthday the other day.

[Dan LeBatard]

You're old.

[Mike Ryan]

You know what I saw in your hand?

[Chris Cody]

What?

[Mike Ryan]

A can of Miller. Whether it's a can, whether it's a bottle, a draft, a pour of Miller Light. Oh, the draft board. You see that beautiful iconic color. Oh, the cold right away.

[Ad Voice]

The ice coldness to it.

[Greg Cote]

Oh, so good.

[Mike Ryan]

Yes, Chris, the ice coldness to it. Oh, whether you're hanging out with me on my birthday because I'm old or you're at a game, you know that Miller Light just makes every special time a Miller time. That's how you make the special times, by making a Miller times. Game day just hits different with Miller Light in your hand, hitting different from jaw dropping touchdowns to fantasy heartbreaks. It's a beer that has been there for every moment. 50 years of great taste, simple ingredients and that iconic golden color. That coldness, Chris, that.

[Ad Voice]

That icy coldness.

[Mike Ryan]

That icy coldness. The original light beer since 1975 and still hitting different five decades later. Miller Lite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 California calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

[Ad Voice]

I see coldness.