Hour 2: Not At All What I Was Trying To Say (feat. David Samson)

Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Hour 2: Not At All What I Was Trying To Say (feat. David Samson)

Date: April 9, 2026
Guests/Regulars: Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, David Samson, Chris Cody, Greg Cody, Mike Rubello, Jonathan Zaslo and assorted voices

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Episode Overview

Broadcasting from the Elser Hotel in Downtown Miami, this hour finds Dan, Stugotz, David Samson, and the usual cast winding through a rapid-fire, chaotic tapestry of sports humor, media critique, and on-air blunders. The core theme is embarrassment—particularly dissecting Jonathan Zaslo’s on-air gaffe with basketball coach Dusty May—and the unique dynamic of public workplace failure. Woven in are musings on baseball’s youth movement, the increasingly analytic nature of sports, and a shot at media culture from inside and outside the ESPN universe.

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Key Discussion Points & Segments

1. Funniest Sound of the Week Contest

(00:26 - 02:58)

• The show kicks off with a chaotic montage contest where the crew nominates and plays “funniest sounds” from past recordings, including Papi singing, Tony botching a championship intro, and a haunting rendition of “Luol Deng.”
• The highlight is Zaslo’s now-infamous question during a live stream: “Coach, did the winning feel better than losing in the Final Four with FAU?” setting up the segment’s comedic throughline.

Memorable Quote:

• “Did the winning feel better than losing in the Final Four with FAU?”
  —Jonathan Zaslo (02:02)

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2. Deconstructing Zaslo’s On-Air Blunder

(02:58 - 07:44)

• The team gleefully unpacks Zaslo's question to Coach Dusty May, debating what he actually meant, whether it was valid, and why it was so awkward.
• Both playful and relentless—the group replays and mocks the question, with everyone lawyering up to defend (or roast) Zaslo.
• Chris Cody insists “winning is better than losing,” while David Samson tries to inject nuance.
• Greg Cody points and laughs at Zaslo, then leaves Zaslo to “stew in the worst mistake of his career.”

Quotes:

• “Not at all what I was trying to say.” —Jonathan Zaslo (02:30)
• “You keep lawyering up for Zaz. That’s not what happened. Your client doesn’t want this defense.” —Dan Le Batard (03:06)
• “There hasn’t been a single championship where I’ve been like, well, this sucks, because let me tell you something that sucked: losing to Indiana.” —Chris Cody (04:17)

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3. Workplace Schadenfreude and Show Culture

(07:44 - 10:49 and 16:15 - 18:13)

• The show pivots into whether it’s ever okay to revel in a colleague’s mistake.
• Samson blames Dan for cultivating an “attack culture” for on-air errors, framing it as both a show driver and a source of fun.
• Greg Cody’s overt delight (“Leonardo DiCaprio meme”) at Zaslo’s flub is scrutinized.

Quotes:

• “You created an atmosphere where you want that to be the reaction… so it would not be Greg who would have a problem. It would be you, Dan.” —David Samson (17:15)
• “That’s the whole plausible deniability. You create the atmosphere and then revel in the atmosphere.” —David Samson (18:13)

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4. Baseball: Youth Movement, Contracts, and Analytics

(09:25 - 13:01; 25:55 - 34:36)

• Samson explores MLB’s embrace of young talent, noting lucrative contracts for players like Connor Griffin and Chourio, and the risk teams assume for PR hits.
• Pushback on big contracts for unproven players: “I love paying people for performance. I don’t like throwing away money.”
• Discussion of analytics taking over all aspects—roster selection, pitch calling (see below), and even sleep monitoring.
• Mad Dog Russo’s rant about the Marlins catchers no longer calling their own games (26:20) leads to Samson’s clarification: more than just Miami, it’s analytics shaping the future.

Quotes:

• “You will get a better result if you take pitch calling away from the catcher and let him focus on receiving... That’s just analytics.” —David Samson (28:29)
• “You can’t fight City Hall. There are no more human beings making decisions.” —David Samson (31:00)

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5. The Tipping Incident: Beer at the Ballpark

(20:12 - 21:12)

• The team weighs in on how much to tip for an obscenely expensive beer at a ballgame. Samson says he just “drops the 20” on an $18.50 beer for expedience, sparking playful judgment.

Quote:

• “I don’t want the dollar bill that was given by the last schmuck who was online. So I’m just dropping the 20, taking the beer, and going.” —David Samson (20:39)

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6. Baseball Managerial Protocols: Sandy Alcántara & the Ninth Inning

(31:49 - 34:14)

• Recap of the recent Marlins’ game: Coach McCullough pulls Sandy Alcántara early.
• Samson criticizes the optics—not the actual decision. The correct “theater” would let Sandy feel part of the process. Instead, McCullough makes a “rookie” mistake by signaling to the bullpen before reaching the mound.

Quote:

• “You’re supposed to give your player that opportunity… you don’t put your right hand up when you’re going out to get one of your stars.” —David Samson (33:14)

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7. ESPN, Wokeness, and Dan’s Power (or Lack Thereof)

(36:09 - 38:23)

• Samson and the crew address recent media coverage about “wokeness” at ESPN and Dan's supposed influence, pushing back against right-wing articles.
• Chris Cody: “We are the living embodiment of how much little power Dan actually had. In the end, the only power we had was to not get fired. And that went away the second John [Skipper] left.” (37:27)
• Playful, public-domain-music-backed parody of Dan’s “power” and the media depiction of his tenure.

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8. Aging Sports Legends & Augusta

(39:37 - 41:13)

• Light segment observing the frailty of Jack Nicklaus at 91 during the Masters.
• The group reflect on the shock of seeing legends grow old, using Nicklaus’s and Tom Watson’s appearances as comic fodder.

Quotes:

• “Are you surprised that age finally caught up to Jack Nicklaus at 91? What are you talking about?” —Inner Monologue Voice (39:53)

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Notable Quotes - Attributed & Timestamped

• “Did the winning feel better than losing in the Final Four with FAU?” —Jonathan Zaslo (02:02)
• “Not at all what I was trying to say.” —Jonathan Zaslo (02:30)
• “You keep lawyering up for Zaz. That’s not what happened. Your client doesn’t want this defense.” —Dan Le Batard (03:06)
• “There hasn’t been a single championship where I’ve been like, well, this sucks, because let me tell you something that sucked: losing to Indiana.” —Chris Cody (04:17)
• “You created an atmosphere where you want that to be the reaction… so it would not be Greg who would have a problem. It would be you, Dan.” —David Samson (17:15)
• “That’s the whole plausible deniability. You create the atmosphere and then revel in the atmosphere.” —David Samson (18:13)
• “I love paying people for performance. I don’t like throwing away money.” —David Samson (11:23)
• “You can’t fight City Hall. There are no more human beings making decisions.” —David Samson (31:00)
• “You’re supposed to give your player that opportunity… you don’t put your right hand up when you’re going out to get one of your stars.” —David Samson (33:14)
• “We are the living embodiment of how much little power Dan actually had. In the end, the only power we had was to not get fired. And that went away the second John left.” —Chris Cody (37:27)
• “Are you surprised that age finally caught up to Jack Nicklaus at 91? What are you talking about?” —Inner Monologue Voice (39:53)

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Memorable Moments

• The show’s gleeful, multi-layered teardown of Zaslo’s question to Coach May—played no fewer than three times and dissected to bits.
• Greg Cody pointing, laughing at Zaslo’s mistake, and leaving the room (07:20 - 07:43).
• David Samson’s grumpy, transactional take on tipping for ballpark beer (20:12 - 20:39).
• Samson’s high-detail, almost pedantic breakdown of “correct” managerial behavior when pulling an ace pitcher (31:49 - 34:14).
• The playful parody musical segment skewering media depictions of Dan’s “power” at ESPN (38:02 - 38:44).

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Conclusion

This episode weaves humor, sports inside-baseball, and blunt workplace psychology into a tapestry only the Le Batard Show can: post-morteming a co-host’s gaffe turns into existential questions about media, sports analytics, empathy, and the merciless pursuit of content. Workplace failure is both the joke and the theme—the show manages to be both an inside joke for super fans and an accessible, honest meditation on the increasingly data-driven (and publicly embarrassing) world of sports and media.

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Transcript

[Dan LeBatard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats podcast.

[David Sampson]

David Sampson has been waiting patiently for us, as he always seems to be. Nothing personal is the name of his podcast. He is always punctual. He never misses. He will continue to do his show like a buzz saw, even if there are small insects in the room. And he will exterminate them with his

[Chris Cody]

hands in order to massive animal. Damn.

[David Sampson]

Stay on track. I have some sounds to play for you, David and I, from the week, and I'd like you to decide what is the funniest of the sounds. And I think Zaz just topped it with what just happened with Dusty Mae. But give me your first nominee. Chris. Cody, what kind of context does this. This sound require?

[Greg Cody]

None. Just Tony being an idiot.

[Inner Monologue Voice 1]

Crazy 3 time champ belt champion.

[David Samson]

That's not that bad at all, actually, now that I think about it.

[David Sampson]

Okay, so next. Yes, that's.

[David Samson]

And then. And then my nominee.

[Greg Cody]

Just know months down when this all comes. When the.

[David Samson]

What is it?

[Greg Cody]

The roosters.

[Chris Cody]

Well said.

[Greg Cody]

Well, let's get this. There it is.

[David Samson]

The roosters come home to roost when that happens. It's a good one. Hey. Okay, next.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Okay. Yes.

[Chris Cody]

He's taking this seriously. He's writing stuff down.

[Greg Cody]

All right, we got Poppy singing during our live stream.

[David Sampson]

Buy me some peanuts and crackers. Yeah.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

I don't want to be late for the.

[David Samson]

Leader in the clubhouse.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

I don't want to be late for the game. It's not one of the lyrics.

[Greg Cody]

And then of course, Mike B. Lu all dang.

[David Sampson]

That's not funny.

[David Samson]

Okay.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

It's haunting.

[Greg Cody]

It's a classic, though. Goosebumps every time.

[David Sampson]

That is haunting. So what. What is the winner according to David? We also though, have a late arriving nominee here because Jonathan Zaslo.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

We just had Dusty Mayon.

[David Sampson]

He just won the championship of college basketball.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

And this is what Zaz him coach.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

Did the winning feel better than losing in the final four with fau?

[David Samson]

What a great question. Wait a minute. That. Zaz, that is amazing because I assume what you were saying is the expectation was not there to get to the final four, and what an unbelievable journey just to get there. So does losing in the final four. You're still so happy.

[David Sampson]

No.

[David Samson]

And when you win a championship with a team that already was supposed to win, you know, that may not be as happy.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

Not at all what I was trying to say.

[David Samson]

Great question.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

So, I mean, thanks for trying to snuff it out, but that's not at all what I was.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

What happened? I. I need to. I Need to understand. Take me through, please. A deconstruction of what happened. You waved me off. You. You.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

I knew I had a good one.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

He waved me off. And you asked him this?

[Jonathan Zaslo]

Coach, did the winning feel better than losing in the Final Four with fau?

[David Samson]

I get it.

[Mike Rubello]

Do you?

[David Samson]

Sometimes it's better to lose late with someone you expected to lose early than it is to win late.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Not what he was asking. You keep. You keep lawyering up for Zaz. That's not what happened. Your client doesn't want this defense.

[Chris Cody]

And also, no, it's not.

[Dan LeBatard]

David.

[David Samson]

Yes,

[Chris Cody]

I feel strongly about that. I'm like a dog with a bone. Winning is better than losing.

[David Samson]

How do you feel about losing in the championship game with the Hurricanes?

[Mike Rubello]

Awful.

[Chris Cody]

One of the worst days of my life.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

I would have preferred.

[David Samson]

No, no. Would you have preferred Notre Dame to be in there instead of you?

[Chris Cody]

No, but I prefer winning it.

[David Samson]

It's not the question, Mike. No, no, no.

[Chris Cody]

That's exactly the question. It was exactly the question.

[David Samson]

There are many times that you outperform your expectations when you overshoot the goal, and that has to give you some satisfaction. Sometimes when you win, it's ho hum you. You know, it's time to make the donuts. And there is a chance that Final Four with FAU was as good an experience for him, if not better than winning. The guy told you on air, hey, I smiled at the stage. I did a little tear at the red light, but now I'm recruiting, trying to fill out dollar bill signs to see who my roster is, and then I'll figure out whether I had fun. You're right back on the hamster wheel, baby.

[Chris Cody]

Having a magical season, surpassing expectations, defying the haters, and making it to the national championship game were all consolation prizes. That made me feel a little bit better on one of the worst days of my life. There hasn't been a single championship where I've been like, well, this sucks, because let me tell you something that sucked. Losing to Indiana. It's still. I am forever changed with how much that sucked.

[Inner Monologue Voice 1]

Was the Dusty May question better than this question?

[Jonathan Zaslo]

The packers win or the Bear lose? Bears lose.

[Chris Cody]

I can't believe we're getting into a

[Mike Rubello]

debate as to running.

[David Samson]

That's just a stumble.

[David Sampson]

Well, the best. The best part of it, though, Mike, is that Sampson continues to lawyer up on behalf of a defense that Zaz does not want.

[Inner Monologue Voice 1]

Zaz, you already pled guilty.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Zaz did not meet, did not have any of that nuance.

[David Sampson]

And I'd like to deconstruct for a moment. What happened here? Because again, I have the ball. I'm dribbling. Zaz's role in the show. He's in radio professional. He's very good at this is I get in the driverless car and we're gonna drive and I do hijinks. That's what I do. That's my. That's my role.

[Chris Cody]

What he was trying to say, I think was what felt better making it to the final four with FAU or winning the championship. I know you say, all right, so

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

play it again and we will get. We will get the deconstruction.

[Mad Dog Russo]

What are you trying to say?

[David Samson]

I think I know what he's trying to say.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

He can speak for himself, even though he can't speak for himself. And he can't be trusted to speak for himself because sometimes when he does this happen.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

Coach, did the winning feel better than losing in the final four with fau?

[Inner Monologue Voice 1]

Zaz, I think I know you're trying to say. What you're trying to say was like the high of the win was better than the low of the loss.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Yep.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

Did winning feel better than losing felt bad? That's what I was trying to ask.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Yeah, but of course.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

No, not of course.

[David Sampson]

A lot of times.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

A lot of times the losing feels worse than the winning feels good.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

That's a good question.

[Chris Cody]

Okay, like, that's a yes. The what you feel, what is a stronger emotion? The pain of losing or the joys of winning? No, there's a good question in there somewhere.

[Mad Dog Russo]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

I did a poor job conveying that.

[Mike Rubello]

I'm concerned that Zaz has lost a step.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

David, before we get back to you, I have to get to this because this happened and Zazzle, like, I'm not going to say he.

[David Sampson]

He didn't whimper it during the break. Okay.

[Inner Monologue Voice 3]

But we're.

[David Sampson]

We are all this a loving Dan.

[Chris Cody]

Oh, that's another Greg Cody first.

[David Sampson]

It is a Greg Cody first down.

[Inner Monologue Voice 4]

I agree.

[David Sampson]

But you guys will be amused by. Greg left the room for a second and says, and their rivals and nemesis. And Greg can look it down his nose at the journalist that Zaslo isn't. But immediately after, what I'm going to say is perhaps the worst career of Zaslow's, worst mistake of Zaslow's 20 year career champion coach. What I saw next to me was Greg Cody in the middle of that,

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

immediately point at Zaz and burst out laughing the way your worst enemies would at the time of your greatest failure. Points and laughs, pointed and laughed and then left the room. And then left the room for Zaz to stew in the worst mistake of his career when Zaz doesn't want to be an idiot in front of the championship coach.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

My two interactions with Dusty.

[Mad Dog Russo]

Man.

[Chris Cody]

In a waymo.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

And I'm asking a question nobody understands.

[Dan LeBatard]

Great.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

Cody's pointing and laughing at me.

[Mike Rubello]

Don't take it personally.

[David Samson]

Zaz. He forgot about it already.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

No.

[Chris Cody]

Okay.

[David Sampson]

But a colleague. Samson, you have no shortage of experience with people in the workplace not liking you.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Rooting for your. Rooting for your failure.

[David Sampson]

No.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Rooting for your failure.

[David Sampson]

Do I have that wrong?

[David Samson]

Make no mistake. Everybody's rooting for everyone's failure in every atmosphere.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Okay.

[David Sampson]

That's not harsh. That's not.

[Inner Monologue Voice 1]

That might be true when I'm karate chopping Chris's neck and when he messes up.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Forget.

[David Samson]

What a sentence.

[David Sampson]

Forgive me because Chris Cody did. I made a mistake there. Chris Cody just pointed out in his previous incarnation, I think David Daly was running into people who did not like him for whatever the reasons are at work. Do I have that wrong?

[David Samson]

I think you'd have to speak to people who worked for me. I think that in fact we had a good front office. I think we had a ton of people. I think you're talking about people who didn't know me. Now that continues to happen, except much less now because people just love you so much and the glow of Lerd and nothing personal in the show that you've stood up. People somehow want to talk about that more than the old stuff.

[Inner Monologue Voice 3]

That's sarcasm.

[David Samson]

You can't be my inside voice, Mike. I have not earned that and you don't know me well enough. We have not been doing this.

[Inner Monologue Voice 3]

That's the way that one landed. Time for self reflection. Maybe we should make him a villain again. That's a good go to

[David Sampson]

David. Your thoughts on early baseball storylines from the first 10 days of the season that merit conversation or interest?

[David Samson]

I'd like to talk about young players. I'd like to talk about the value and the way fans are all into free agency and all focused on who's going to get who. And now what you're seeing is a lot of players that you may not have heard of. And they are draft picks, they are developed and they are helping teams all over the place. And it is a young man's game. And we've said that many times in the NBA and with the NFL and in baseball, there are waves of really good young players. And it's easy early to say. There is a new wave that's even Better than any of the old waves. The difference now is that the new waves are getting paid. The old good waves had to earn it each year to keep the wave going. These guys have thrown away their surfboards. They don't need to ride any more waves because they've got guaranteed. Whether it's Connor Griffin getting 140 million or the brewers are given, you know, 90 million to Cheerio, it's just flowing in a way that I did an analysis on this morning's Nothing Personal. On the amount of money that's wasted by teams in order to get the PR hit of. We signed a guy. And that is the biggest storyline of early in the season.

[Mike]

Yeah. We hate it when players get money.

[David Samson]

No, that is not right, Mike. Okay, okay. Inside voice with no information. I want players to get paid who earn the money. It's fine, Mike. You and your inside. Oh, I got a new toy. Let's do an inside voice. And by the way, why is it so squeaky?

[Mike]

Because it's our voice.

[David Samson]

You sound like Elmo.

[David Sampson]

What does your inner monologue have wrong here, David?

[David Samson]

I. I love paying people for performance. That's it. I don't like throwing away money that is not for performance. And what the Pirates did is they assume that Connor Griffin will be at top of the arm, of course, but

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

David may not Chops our ass.

[David Samson]

It. I did you say chaps my ass as he said.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Which Chaps my ass?

[David Samson]

Nothing. Chaps. No, but I don't use that expression. New York Jew.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Oh, that's the thing. I forgot that happened from our watch party. That. That didn't. Be careful, Chris Cody. Chris Cody. I knew we'd forgotten something funny that happened at the watch party. And it was. Chris Cody's accidental introduction of David Samson was so.

[David Samson]

Dan. I have a story about that moment. It's possible that I have people in my life who are not Jewish. It's possible I have people in my life who are not baseball fans. It's possible that someone may have been watching the live stream and asked after the fact. I didn't know that. What I've heard at a bar mitzvah is also played at a baseball game.

[David Sampson]

I didn't either.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

I don't know why we selected it as organ music for you.

[David Sampson]

Chris Cody denied that he did that on purpose.

[David Samson]

Assumed, Dan, that you guys are the experts.

[David Sampson]

No.

[David Samson]

And so that she didn't have it wrong because you had it right. And that's the beauty of your platform, is you can spew whatever crap you want based on nothing. Listen to people just believe it.

[Dan LeBatard]

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[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

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[David Samson]

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[David Sampson]

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[Greg Cody]

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[David Sampson]

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[Mike Rubello]

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[David Samson]

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[Chris Cody]

Oh, it's a good call.

[Mike Rubello]

Thank you. And plus, it doesn't matter who's hitting it. Like, you're not tailoring it to a particular name. You know, all that jazz. You know, you don't got to do that.

[David Samson]

Oh, that would be a great call.

[Inner Monologue Voice 4]

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[Mike Rubello]

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[David Samson]

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[David Sampson]

Listen to me. Okay, I need to go back for a second here because I need a ruling from you on just workplace etiquette. Zaslo made the worst mistake of his career. I have video proof that his colleague and teammate, Greg Cody. Please put that up now. Greg Cody saw Zaslo at the height of his misery. And Greg Cody, right there, you can see Greg Cody delighting in pointing at

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Zaslow, laughing right at his face with his.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

I would never do that.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

That is a Leonardo DiCaprio meme that enjoying someone's failure. That's a T shirt right there. Enjoying Greg Cody schadenfreude. At your worst mistake, Greg Cody was not only finding it funny, was radiant with delight because you had made such a terrible error.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

David, would you ever do that if one of your colleagues, if somebody you worked with, they made a mistake, a very public mistake, would you point and laugh at them in the moment?

[David Samson]

Have you ever been in a clubhouse?

[David Sampson]

Yeah.

[David Samson]

And I would say, Dan, here's an issue. You should have. You created an atmosphere where you want that to be the reaction. You want people to attack other people's mistakes because you find that moves the show. But so it would not be Greg who would have a problem. It would be you, Dan.

[David Sampson]

I'm the fire starter where you create the culture.

[David Samson]

No, I'm not going to lay off because I'm not going to blame Greg for doing what he thinks his boss wants him to do.

[Mike Rubello]

Thank you.

[David Samson]

Because you so badly want everyone to have no patience, whenever there's a verbal tick or a mistake that you pounce on it and clip it and tape it and show.

[David Sampson]

I'm going to put up Greg Cody

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

again on the screen here. This is an unusual amount of delight. I don't know how I'm getting blamed. I don't know how I'm. How is it possible that this can be a reflection on me? I wasn't doing that when that happened to Zaz doesn't have the recollection of me doing this in his face.

[David Samson]

That that's the whole. Plausible deniability. You create the atmosphere and then revel in the atmosphere.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

I create an atmosphere where a professional broadcaster of 20 years can ask a championship coach, does it feel better to win than to lose?

[David Samson]

Yes, it's exactly the atmosphere that you create every day for four hours, sometimes eight.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Is it the worst mistake of your professional career?

[Jonathan Zaslo]

I mean, one time on the Miami Heat broadcast, I did my intro, you know, as. Yeah, you know, tonight, Heat 7:30, bad news for. And right there, I forgot who they were playing. So it was just a long pause.

[Chris Cody]

Can I text Tobin? Someone has this audio.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

I mean, I'll break out into a cold sweat. If you were able to get that,

[Inner Monologue Voice 1]

how'd you find it? Were you looking for papers? Were you ruffling? Did you not look up at the scoreboard?

[Jonathan Zaslo]

The problem was because in my script, I forgot to change the name at the heading, so I knew it was the team from last game. It's like, holy shit, that's not what we're playing tonight. And it was like a real. At least a five second pause, which is obviously an eternity.

[Greg Cody]

Bad news for whoever we're playing tonight.

[Mike Rubello]

Just say the other team.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

Thanks, Greg.

[Inner Monologue Voice 1]

Should have said opponent.

[Mike Rubello]

You're not wrong by saying the other team.

[David Samson]

That's a professional.

[Mike Rubello]

Thank you, David. He gets me.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Yep. That would have been better if he had thought to do that in the moment. Bad news for the other team. But that's not. But that's not really his catchphrase. Like, his catchphrase is to be bad news and then know the name of the team that they're playing because it's on the court in front of him. Because he's giving you access to the game that no one had.

[Mike Rubello]

Yeah, you got to think quick on your feet, Dan.

[David Samson]

So, Zaz, do you still copy paste? Is that still your thing after that mistake? Because that's a copy paste mistake.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

Obviously it's a copy paste. Yes. I don't remember, but I made sure that that mistake did never happen again.

[David Samson]

Well, you stopped the copy paste, then maybe.

[David Sampson]

David Sampson, you get a $18.50 beer at a baseball game. What is the tip that you are giving the bartender

[David Samson]

$50? Just leave the 20.

[Inner Monologue Voice 3]

Someone's going to agree with us.

[David Sampson]

No, it's just going to be me.

[Chris Cody]

For.

[David Sampson]

For handing you a beer. For handing you a beer.

[David Samson]

I just don't. I don't. I'm in and out. I want to hurry up and get back to whatever I'm doing or start drinking it. I don't want to wait for him to fumble in the roll of quarters to pick up the two quarters and licking his fingers while touching the quarters. I certainly don't want the dollar bill that was given by the last schmuck who was online. So I'm just dropping the 20, taking the beer, and going, we are a

[Mike]

man of the people.

[David Samson]

Was that the way. It's not. Yes. I'm trying to support servers, Mike. God, that inner voice pisses me off.

[Mike]

I just live in your head.

[David Samson]

Whatever. That's the answer, Dan.

[David Sampson]

That's a good show. I'm just telling the both of you right now, David and his inner monologue. You. You arguing with Mike. You arguing on behalf of bosses and billionaires as he argues on behalf of labor as your inner voice. It's a good show.

[Mike]

You think I'd back up the labor? I'm way worse than what David says. You don't even want to know what's going on up in here.

[David Sampson]

I do, though, so badly.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

The business demon. That sounds like David's inner monologue. That makes the evil machine.

[Mike]

I sold half our brain to private equity. There is a Saudi sheik sitting right next to me.

[David Samson]

That sounds like me in college on a website.

[Mike]

Now would be a great time for me to have an Arabic voice.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

No, no, no, it would not have been.

[David Samson]

No, it would not.

[Mike]

I know the headlines

[David Samson]

now. You guys don't deal with headlines very much.

[Mike]

We got his ass. Also, we didn't listen to the start of the show.

[David Samson]

I heard it. Believe me, I heard it. Dan getting all angry.

[Inner Monologue Voice 3]

Get him away from this topic. Ask him about movies.

[David Samson]

I thought you were gonna say, ask him about Outkick.

[Inner Monologue Voice 3]

Oh, Elvis documentary.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Zendaya. Oh, yeah.

[Inner Monologue Voice 3]

Say Zendaya.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Drew Ski.

[Inner Monologue Voice 3]

Robert Pattinson. Spoil the movie, even though you know it's wrong to do. Spoil it anyway, like we always do.

[David Samson]

I was supposed to see the drama yesterday. Dan and I spent the day with my daughter after doing shows, and I told her and her nurse a lie. And I'm admitting it now because I just didn't feel well. I was upset. It had been a long day, so I said that it was sold out, but there were so many seats that it was a joke, but I just wasn't in the mood because it's a whole thing to go to a theater and see the movie, and. And I've been feeling horribly guilty about it, and I've had horrible stomach aches. I was up at 3am thinking about it. Like, I didn't give her that opportunity because of my laziness. And it was going to be the drama on 86th street and 3rd Avenue. It's funny you mentioned that, Mike. It's like, you know that story.

[Inner Monologue Voice 3]

Well, not much we can do with that.

[David Samson]

Yes, there can. Tell me I'm not a bad person.

[Inner Monologue Voice 3]

Explore the deep, dark crevices of his depression. Mine it for our audience and ascend to new heights. Do it you know you want to.

[David Samson]

I do.

[Inner Monologue Voice 3]

It's kind of pretty bad.

[Chris Cody]

It's.

[David Samson]

Dan. Dan. I'm hanging on by a thread here, buddy.

[Mike]

Yes, we are. I think we shaved.

[David Samson]

Her too much when she grabbed the beard. Okay, can we move on? We got 10 more subjects to talk about.

[David Sampson]

The drama that Jeremy was all excited about. I don't know the backstory here you guys have had. I've been having a conversation that I've been excluded from on. On why it is that Jeremy, There's a plot twist in a.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

It's an intense plot.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah. I would have to direct people to the post game show from yesterday where we spoiler alert the hell out of it. And we finally get into the discussion because this film is a conversation piece. And I know David mentioned that there were plenty of seats. This. This film has been a hit. It already made back its budget. And I think a film like this has staying power because this is going to be a film that leaves people talking because you could put yourself in this situation. It's a good conversation piece,

[David Sampson]

but I don't know anything about it.

[Inner Monologue Voice 3]

Yeah, that seems to be a problem.

[David Sampson]

And I don't know about your enthusiasm about it, nor why David would want to talk about it or. Or whether David would spoil it.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

Well, David, do you know the twist?

[David Samson]

I know. I know there is a twist, but I was just saying that I have a stomachache because of the guilt I feel about what happened yesterday. But, yes, it is a movie that I have to see and someone tried to spoil it and I did not allow it. So I haven't read anything about it.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

You would never guess the twist. It's pretty unimaginable.

[David Sampson]

All right, so you were. You were on with us during the live stream and you were lamenting an assortment of analytics that have come to the game. This isn't even one of the major ones, but I want to play for you. Sound mad dog. He is mad because the Marlins catchers are just taking the calls on what pitches to have pitched from the dugout. So they're not calling their own game. And this is infuriated Mad Dog where

[Mad Dog Russo]

they let the pitching coach and the manager call every pitch. The catcher can never call it. Look at this. Every pitch he's got to look over to see what the manager or the pitching coach wants to call for a starting pitcher. This is this weekend at Yankee Stadium. I mean, this is ridiculous. These are the Miami Maulers. They stink. They win 70 games. Every pitch he's gonna like. How about let the catcher call the game. Let the catcher learn how to know how to frame and figure out a ball game every pitch. And not only that, The Yankees walked 30 times. They had 30 base on balls.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

What is this music?

[Mad Dog Russo]

In the history of the.

[Inner Monologue Voice 1]

Yeah, he's angry, Dan.

[Chris Cody]

Why is this scored by the Dust Brothers?

[Mad Dog Russo]

Thanks to the manager McCullough and his pigeon coach who doesn't let the catcher call the game. 30 walks. Let the young kid learn how to catch. Let him learn how to fake it as he screw up a pip out of his timing, framing it back, nowhere to throw a 3:1 curveball. I mean, I couldn't believe. Could you imagine Gary Carter, Yogi Berra, some of them great bench Johnny Bench,

[Chris Cody]

ufc intro ass music that sounds like Fight Club when they're making soap.

[David Samson]

Couple of things. There are three teams who are doing that now, not just the Marlins. So I assume that you edited that part out or he forgot to mention that, but there are three.

[David Sampson]

You don't assume that. You're assuming that he doesn't know that. Say what you mean.

[David Samson]

I'm assuming that that was an anti Miami and I'm having PTSD over someone in the national screen doing something anti Marlin when in fact it has. It's not just the Marlins. And he didn't know what he's talking about. It's not the pitching coach or the manager. It's the assistant pitching coach who gives the signs. And on top of that, it's because of what the president baseball operations wants. It has nothing to do with Clayton McCullough, the manager. So nothing about what he did was based in any accuracy. Now, we can debate the merits of whether or not we agree that what is happening today with live BP right out of the shoot and spring training, with way more front office involvement with lineups and moves during the game, with calling the pitches from the dugout, we can debate whether that is good or bad for the development of a player. But what has been discovered is analytically you will get a better result if you take pitch calling away from the catcher and the study that's required to take call a game away from the catcher and let him focus on receiving the ball and on hitting the ball. That's just analytics. I happen to like when catchers call a game, but I always blame pitchers when there is a mistake, not catchers or managers because pitchers need ownership over what pitch they throw. And I don't like it when pitchers throw a pitch that gets hit for a home run and they say, listen, I didn't, I didn't feel good about, you know, the curveball there. Well then don't throw it right now

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[David Samson]

Don Levatar Taytas Stugats Tae Toss this is the Don Levatar show with the Stugats.

[David Sampson]

These objections that you might have, it's only going to be more and more scientific and more and more analytic over the next five years. Right. These are good advancements. I'm going the the shaving of all inefficiencies so that you're almost making some of these incredible athletes into predictable machines. Like we're going to keep doing that until we distort the entirety of it. Right.

[Chris Cody]

Or until they're machines.

[David Samson]

Yeah, it's happening now when we're monitoring their sleep, their intake. It's why I enjoy when players do steroids and say oh, I didn't know what I put in my body. I had no idea that was a problem. They know everything that goes in their body because it's part of a plan. Literally like a meal by meal, day by day plan of what they do and telling a player that he's not ready to play today. And we're not going to start you because you rolled over more than usual last night and you did not get the sleep that you normally get. There are all sorts of, look what the Marlins do now, and it's just analytics. They're not playing their left handed hitters, who won them a game last night against left handed pitchers. You know, I've got a great objection against that. So. But that is the future. You can't fight City Hall. There are no more human beings making decisions. And either you're used to it and ready to deal with it, or you're not.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

David, during our livestream a couple nights ago, we were on the air when McCullough came in and took Sandy out in the ninth inning after giving up the one hit. And then he walked De La Cruz, although it looked like he was pitching around him. What did you make of, of him taking Sandy out in that moment and then Sandy after the game saying he'd like to be part of the decision making process there?

[David Samson]

Well, your, your pitcher's never part of the decision making process. That's number one. But number two, what Clayton did wrong is he went to the bullpen before he got to the mound. He raised his right hand as he was walking to the mound. What you're supposed to do is go to the mound and make it look like you're having a discussion, make the person feel like he's a part of the decision. And then after a discussion, then you put out your right hand and you call for the.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Come on.

[David Sampson]

That's funny, right? That's funny, right? We're going to agree. That's weird, right? We're going to agree that the manager coming out to take the Cy Young winner and doing it on one side of the foul line instead of the others because he doesn't know the right time to do it so that he could do Sandy. The courtesy of we're going to discuss this before I just choose it for you, right? Like that is such a rookie mistake as to be laughable in terms of the management of people.

[David Samson]

I found it funny and it caused Sandy to say after the game that he didn't like the decision, he respects it, but he wanted an opportunity to say why he wanted to stay in the game. And you're supposed to give your player that opportunity, which is why you teach the manager, the new managers, you don't put your right hand up when you're going out to get one of your stars. If it's some sort of foray bullpen guy you don't care about, you can do it on the damn dugout steps. And I'm fine.

[David Sampson]

But that's funny as an unwritten rule. What just happened there? He just deconstructed that Sandy controversy. Well, but, but, and, and it's respect that he deserves.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

He's better at what he does than anybody in the organization. Is it what they do?

[David Samson]

Exactly. That's exactly my view of. That whole thing could have been avoided if Clayton had gone to the bullpen correctly. And you know, live and learn, he will do that better next time. But they discuss before the game whether or not Sandy at what number of pitches against what part of the lineup will be allowed to go in the ninth inning and what happens if there's two runners on. And so all of that again, it's decided. And that's how Clayton stood up and went so quick. But you don't tell Sandy that in advance. So ironically, the players themselves are not aware necessarily at all about all the decisions that are made pre game.

[Mike]

We would have traded Sandy four years ago.

[David Samson]

No, we would have signed him. We would have traded him at this deadline though.

[Mike]

Say that again. That's funny.

[David Samson]

God, you're funny, man. One little new toy, one little budget buster and all of a sudden Mike's gone gangbusters.

[David Sampson]

I'd fund the hell out of that show. An hour a day. I'd fund the hell out of that show. You arguing with your inner monologue about business and sports things. That is a great conversation for Mike Rubello.

[David Samson]

David, stop it. He was a total throw in. I don't even. I like Mike, but he was a toad. We got two of the top five prospects in all of baseball. Just zip it. Enough of the. Neither worked out. Sorry.

[Mike]

Memories right here next to me.

[David Samson]

That's why you don't sign them to long term dealers before they work out. You guys. If it's unreal, it's unreal what you give oxygen to and it's unreal what you don't.

[Mike]

Did you notice my shirt? That was one of those free T shirts we gave away.

[David Sampson]

I think that I would like Chris Cody to look in the public domain music and get me music as cool as Mad Dog Russo has for his opinions. Because I will now entertain the opinion that Samson would wanting me to talk about whatever he said about stains organization. But I need the right music and I need the help of inner monologue David and inner monologue Dan so that any Anything that gets aggregated gets aggregated our way instead of anyone else's way. Because Sampson's been wanting to talk about something here. Do you think I'm afraid of discussing something with you? Do you think that I have some fear about discussing some topic that Stain and his organization wrote about?

[David Samson]

I think that when I send you possible things to talk about and you ignore it for multiple weeks in a row, there must be a reason. And I respect you and what you've decided to talk about. But for you to talk about, like, what you did first hour, say, I got to talk about it. Okay, whatever. Decide whatever you want to talk about. We follow your lead. You create the culture, and then you get upset when there's a stop or an error. It's totally fine. We know you, Dan, and we love you. And that's it.

[Chris Cody]

So you're talking about, like, the article that was on the heels of Clinton Yates being let go about, like, how the all the agents of woke are gone from ESPN and Skipper's mission to make ESPN a woke machine. That that is now gone, and they are now built in the image of Laura Rutledge and Pat McAfee.

[David Samson]

That article. Well, yeah, but the point. But really the biggest part of that was all about Dan. That it was the power of Dan at ESPN was really quite miraculous. And you could say that it was him combining with Skipper. You can say that it ended when Skipper left. But the fact is that Dan got to create an entire world, and ESPN and Disney decided that world doesn't work for whatever reason, and they cratered that world. And now people are still writing about it, and Dan wants to believe it's not the case, so he doesn't want to talk about it.

[Chris Cody]

Bad faith. People are writing about it as, like, some kind of victory. Like, nobody likes talking about ESPN WOKE culture more than that enterprise that it's built on a hypocrisy. It's how dare these people infuse politics and their views into sports when that. That's the entire business plan of that operation. It's not a good faith discourse. And we are living. We are the living embodiment of how much little power Dan actually had. In the end, the only power that we had was to not get fired. And that went away the second John left.

[David Samson]

How much little power.

[Inner Monologue Voice 4]

I am the fire starter. How much little power I have. Drew, drink me in, breathe me in. I have the music behind me from the public domain as I fight Mad Dog in the modern age. Come get some magafee. You too, Rutledge.

[Chris Cody]

That one was a weird one.

[Inner Monologue Voice 4]

I'm the fire starter. Come see how little more power I have. I have so much little more power. I gave it to Asians and blacks.

[Dan LeBatard]

Thanks.

[Inner Monologue Voice 4]

Come fight Magafee on Trump's lawn, where their real combatants fight on behalf of freedom.

[Greg Cody]

3.

[Mike Rubello]

Well, belt.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

I have three belts. And a man who says, wake up

[Inner Monologue Voice 4]

and smell the coffee. And another who says, you can't fight city hall. Come get some McAfee. I like my army.

[Chris Cody]

If we had power, it would have been Sugachi jumping into the pond at Augusta instead of Bert Kreischer.

[Inner Monologue Voice 4]

And Pat.

[David Sampson]

It would have been me shirtless. If I just followed skipper into the bed.

[David Samson]

You've done it. You've done shirtless. For ratings and for clicks.

[Inner Monologue Voice 4]

I have.

[Chris Cody]

You can't do that at Augusta.

[David Samson]

No.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

The Masters is going on right now. Tom Watson is out there.

[Chris Cody]

Oh, he teed off. And Jack Nicholas, that was tough to see. He always seemed so ageless and. And I guess 90 age, probably. That makes sense that age would catch up with a man, but at 91. Yeah. I wasn't prepared for that.

[David Sampson]

Put it on the Polar. You.

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

Are you surprised that age finally caught up to Jack Nicklaus at 91? What are you talking about?

[Chris Cody]

No. Did you see him? It was jarring. It was a bit jarring.

[Jonathan Zaslo]

I saw it.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah, I know. He's 91, and Jack has always kind of been like an ageless wonder. It was. It was. It was really jarring to see.

[Inner Monologue Voice 1]

Have you seen anybody 91 before?

[Chris Cody]

I've seen somebody 90 before. It was Jack Nicklaus. He didn't look like that. So I guess 91's a tipping point.

[Advertisement Voice 2]

Yeah.

[David Samson]

I believe Mikey had surgery. I think he just had carpal tunnel surgery because I was jarred as well. But there was. There's a story behind it, Mike. So at 92, I think he'll be better.

[David Sampson]

Isn't there. That can't be true. Isn't there video of Jack Nicklaus sending some sort of rocket into the crowd on the right side from, like, two or three years ago? But I was talking about Tom Watson.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah, yeah. And I was just adding to the point. Yeah, Tom Watson. We didn't get to see the shot, but whenever I see Tom Watson, I think about those ptis that you were filling in where Tom Watson gave you three glorious shows.

[David Sampson]

That was when I had so much less. More power.

[Mike Rubello]

That's right.

[Chris Cody]

I hate that you seized on that. Felt wrong saying it.

[David Sampson]

There is Greg Cody laughing at Zaslow,

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

and I decided to invest in someone who asked the championship coach, does it

[David Sampson]

feel better to win than to lose?

[Inner Monologue Voice 2]

He's still laughing at you.