Brett Ehrlich (2:06)

Well, you know, when I got the invite, I thought it was an April Fool's joke because this is kind of a dream come true for me. And it wasn't until that moment that everything became real. So I'm happy to be part of it. Thank you for watching the Rotten Tomatoes Show. I we Always joke that we were minor league cable sensations. And apparently that's the truth. Thank you so much for watching in ought 8.

Mike Ryan (2:31)

I hate to break it to you, Brett, but this is an elaborate April Fool's joke. You're not on the show. We're not on air right now.

Dan LeBatard (2:36)

Welcome to Mystery Crate.

Mike Ryan (2:40)

But what's a dream come true? Because the reason I wanted to have you on is. I heard you. I've been fascinated by what's going on with the billionaires in this country. I've been fascinated watching what happened to Elon Musk and how his public Persona has shifted. And I specifically was very interested in the way talked about political comedy and Jon Stewart going after him and why it is that you love that as comedy more than any other kind of comedy. So thank you for joining us. But why is this a dream come true for you?

Brett Ehrlich (3:12)

I've been listening. I used to listen to you on the way to work every day. I follow everybody involved in your. I love just this pot of people who are not only covering sports, which is a passion of mine. Like my dad played football for UCLA, won the Rose bowl in 66. My cousins Bill Lee pitched for the Red Sox. Huge sports fans. All my life in our family, and then hearing people still kind of speak their mind and say what they want to say.

Dan LeBatard (3:37)

It's.

Brett Ehrlich (3:37)

It's, it's awesome. It's fantastic. It's a dream come true. There's tons of fans of you guys over at tyt.

Mike Ryan (3:43)

Well, thank you for joining us. Can you explain to the audience here what it is that you were saying before we get into the damage that Elon Musk is doing, Specifically what you like about the details of Jon Stewart and Elon Musk going back and forth.

Brett Ehrlich (3:59)

Just about the two of them going back and forth. It is the difference between a billionaire and a comedian. There is no better counterpoint to a billionaire than a comedian, especially a Nepo baby comedian billionaire like Elon Musk. This is someone whose dad could afford a emerald mine and bought it with money he got from selling a plane, which is a mad lib of the mad state of affairs of billionaire life. And then so, yeah, basically he did that and everybody said yes to this guy his whole life. And if you're a comedian, you're. You basically spend a lot of time in literal underground subterranean comedy clubs and people are saying no to you. And it's your job to get it right, to understand something fundamental about the human condition. And then if you do that long enough with enough different subjects, then you get to the level of Jon Stewart and you are essentially, you've been training your whole life for this. And Elon Musk has just been getting weaker and weaker as he's become more successful and more successful. Surrounded by yes men.

Mike Ryan (5:02)

Stuart has said that Musk's X algorithm has greatly acted in the warping of our democracy. And Musk responded by calling Stuart an extremely skilled propagandist disguised as a truth teller. What is the real damage done here?

Brett Ehrlich (5:21)

Well, I mean, the best is like the response from Jon Stewart who's like, well, you're just a really skilled propagandist, implying you're not even masquerading as a truth teller. Basically. In the wake of Joe Biden super bowl tweet getting more exposure and impressions than Elon Musk's, the reports were that Elon Musk like pulled together all of his engineering team to say, please make me cooler and more famous. Make it so people, whether they opt in or opt out of my tweets, interact with my tweets or not, fundamental things about the algorithm, they're supposed to signal to the algorithm, like whether your ideas are good. He's like, could you please do away with that and make it so that I'm in everybody's inbox because I'm rich, which makes me better. And we can just force feed my ideas as we masquerade, saying that this is a, you know, free exchange of ideas. The great marketplace of thought would really, it's. He's warping everybody's perception of reality. Because, you know, as soon as you go on Twitter on, on Twitter or X or whatever he calls it now, you're just surrounded by like the worst ideas you don't particularly like or agree with. And the only people who rise to the top of that are people who agree with Elon.

Mike Ryan (6:30)

You guys have seen that report, right? That 18 engineers were called in in the middle of the night because Biden had a Super bowl tweet that had more engagement than Musk's super bowl tweet. For people who don't understand, Brett, how is it that this has actually had an impact on democracy? How is it that this platform has this power and how is it that this person knew that this platform would have the power to actually bleep with democracy? Cuz I wouldn't have guessed at any time in my lifetime that there would be such a platform in America.

Brett Ehrlich (7:07)

So I just remember one time I got invited to lunch when I was working at Al Gore's Current TV by a guy who Wrote it the New York Times. And he was telling me all his secrets. We just kind of had a few beers and he was like, listen, when I write, when not him personally, but when people write articles, there's this phenomenon called 1, 2 trend. And basically if you can find two things that say the same thing, that's not an article. But if you get three things that say the same narrative, well then you're good to go, go ahead and print it. And Twitter is just always the fastest thing at helping you look what's happening now and then see what people are saying about it. And if you are the laziest, least common denominator type of journalist, well, you can just find those things super fast and throw them up there. And that is the kind of like self reinforcing dynamic of Twitter that helps not only get people who go to Twitter to see what's trending right now, so something's at the top. That's the narrative as soon as it happens. I don't know anywhere else where that happens because like either you're live, if you're live, you're like looking at Twitter to see and you're broadcasting just stuff on Twitter. It was like the fastest place to find out what's happening and what people are saying about it. And if you can get in charge of that, you're not only controlling Twitter, but you're controlling all the reporting on the subject that's breaking now, let alone like the source video from people who are there.

Mike Ryan (8:29)

Mike Ryan theorized something I had not heard before today. Have we killed April Fool's Day because of the amount of disinformation out there at this point, people are too careful and you cannot do April Fool's Day correctly anymore.

Brett Ehrlich (8:44)

Yeah, I think you can. You just have to. And I know this is harder to do now, like know the person personally and you have to like have small little micro interactions where you like totally ruin it for someone. But like on a macro level, the thing I've been saying for years is like we've never had so much access to so much information with so little idea as to what the hell is happening.

Mike Ryan (9:08)

That's a hell of a sentence put on our, on our tombstone.

Dan LeBatard (9:12)

And Brett, it's a coordinated effort, right? Like you had things like Photoshop and things in the 20 teens start making their way in there. Dan was constantly fooled by a shar that was swimming in a mall or on a street corner.

Brett Ehrlich (9:27)

But.

Dan LeBatard (9:28)

But once like the blue checks were a free for all and you had no idea if the person Was. I mean, Elon, as you mentioned, you tried to tout this as a news source and then he did away with the guardrail. That ensured that you knew that it was coming from an authentic source. This all seems by design, so you can't actually hold those who are lying accountable.

Brett Ehrlich (9:48)

Yeah. And then add to the sprinkle in that, like, him just wanting to be cool and like, that's it. Like, he just wants to be cool. So he's. He puts all that stuff together and you don't know what's happening. But you know that the people I see, like, I never inter. I used to like Russell Brand. Like, he came on the Rotten Tomato show. He was awesome. I blocked him, muted him so many times, he's still in my Twitter feed. But like, yeah, I. It's. It's rough, man. It's rough to find out what the heck's happening.

Dan LeBatard (10:15)

Hey, Roy, buddy. Yo. You know that energy shift when the game gets good and everybody all together in unison knows to stand up on their feet? Oh, absolutely, Mike.

Greg Cody (10:25)

Yeah.

Dan LeBatard (10:25)

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

Brett Ehrlich (10:32)

Oh, delicious.

Dan LeBatard (10:33)

It's the signal that says, we're not checking the time anymore, pal. It's when small talk turns into stories. Cuervo, man. It's that high five. A random stranger effect. That's right. The game is popping. You're hugging people you never met before. That's the kind of energy that Cuervo brings. It's so smooth, so delicious. That's the Cuervo effect. Keep it Cuervo. In sports, championships aren't one alone. The one with the right people around you. That's exactly what Intuit TurboTax brings to taxes. With Tobotax Expert Full service match with a dedicated tax expert who handles your taxes from start to finish. The experience is seamless. Start in person, finish online, move between both whenever needed. The dedicated tax expert keeps things updated every step of the way so nothing falls between the cracks. Think of it like having a great head coach with a solid game plan. The players are called, adjustments are made and the work gets done while everyone stays focused on what actually matters. And just like Gamefilm doesn't wait for business hours, neither do taxes. With TurboTax Expert full service, you can get any tax question answered at no extra cost. Even on nights and weekends during tax season, this is having someone in your corner running the whole operation and helping put points on the board. Get started@turbotax.com only available with Intuit TurboTax full service experts real time updates only in iOS mobile app folks, listen up.

Brett Ehrlich (11:59)

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Greg Cody (12:50)

Don LeBatard Baker Mayfield tearing up Tampa Bay 38 for 45 stum this is

Brett Ehrlich (12:59)

the Dan Levitar show with the St.

Mike Ryan (13:12)

One of the things that is happening is a number of different comedians like Theo Vaughn have gotten popular during this time. And Vince Vaughn appeared on Theo Vaughn's podcast. We got a Vaughn off here and they're talking about late night television. Here's here is Vince Vaughn. What are your thoughts here?

Dan LeBatard (13:31)

But yeah, because people want authenticity. Yeah.

Mike Ryan (13:34)

And I think that the talk shows to a large part became really agenda based. Yeah. They were going to evangelical people to what they thought, you know what I mean? And so people just rejected it because it didn't feel authentic. It felt like they had an agenda. It stopped being funny and it started

Dan LeBatard (13:50)

feeling like I was in a class I didn't want to take.

Mike Ryan (13:53)

But if you look at what happened

Dan LeBatard (13:53)

to the talk shows and why their

Mike Ryan (13:55)

ratings are low, it's got only to do with the fact of what you just said, which is they all became the same show.

Brett Ehrlich (14:01)

Yeah.

Mike Ryan (14:01)

And they all became so about their

Brett Ehrlich (14:04)

politics and who's good and who's bad. And it's like, imagine sitting next to

Mike Ryan (14:07)

someone like that on a plane. Oh, bro. You'd be like, how do I get out of this?

Brett Ehrlich (14:12)

I would fart right next to Holy

Mike Ryan (14:14)

cow, you fart your way out of it. There it is.

Brett Ehrlich (14:18)

The thing. This is what I don't like about those guys. I mean, I love Vince Vaughn. He's super funny. I love Theo Vaughn. He is the best at saying ridiculous things. Well, but like all this, it's just the criticism, so. Or the hypocrisy is so obvious. Like, so what's your counter argument from people who say that? It's a lot of people who are like, I'm going to tell you my political opinions. I just don't like yours because they conflict with mine. And I understand, man. Like, it's super cringe when you're watching like a late night TV show and someone like you just turned it on to find out, like, who's the star in the latest movie and you get some kind of like, political message that isn't well crafted. Like, if that happens, that's bad. But if the joke is good and the criticism is undeniable, then you're just complaining because you don't like the truth.

Dan LeBatard (15:07)

He's saying this on Theo Vaughn's podcast about, you know, talk shows becoming an echo chamber and propaganda machines.

Brett Ehrlich (15:16)

Theo Vaughans like we had. Yeah. And exactly. Well, he's just like a patsy. Right? Like, it's funny. Like, right before Charlie Kirk was killed, like, we had him on the show, on our show on Tyt a bunch, like, just to find out, like, what are your, what are your thoughts? How do they overlap? If like a generally like people first movement, like, what do you agree with that we say? And like, yeah, I, I don't know, man. Like all of those. I, I made a video afterwards or like right before he was killed where I was just showing all the manosphere appearances with all these right wing people who are trying to, you know, obviously being like, my skill is I don't sound like a politician. I'm still full of crap when I talk. I just am full of crap differently. I'm, I'm J.D. vance. I wrote a movie. I'm a chill guy. Right. Even though he's a robot. I saw him in a Walgreens at the, at the rnc and he, instead of walking like this, he walks with his hands forward like this. He's not a person. He's just good. He's better at masquerading as one than everybody else. And I said in this video, it's funny because Joe Rogan just said this out loud on his show. Like, I want those guys to keep talking to. Because when they're not there doing snow jobs on Theo Vaughn's show, they go back to their like, Turning Point USA conferences and their arguments are so Dorky. Like, it's Ben Shapiro going like, oh, look at this cover of this album with Taylor Swift. What's she doing? Her butts out. It's like, yeah, so you're telling Theo Vaughn, like, you don't like girl butts. What happens when they recognize that? Right? And all their arguments are like, listen. Like, they're oddly obsessed with. And they're wrong about sports stuff. Like, their main argument.

Mike Ryan (17:07)

That's the most offensive. That's the most offensive part.

Brett Ehrlich (17:10)

It's true. They're like, oh, my God, Travis Kelsey can now afford a ring because he's with Taylor Swift. It's like his podcast is worth a hundred million dollars. You guys just don't know that stuff. They're so dorky. And then everybody's going to catch on. And that's what's happening now.

Mike Ryan (17:24)

Happy half hour with Brett Ehrlich is where it is that you find him. We have a number of absurd headlines from the pop culture trough of headlines and debates. What else, other than this one has gotten your attention, which has gotten the most of your attention?

Brett Ehrlich (17:41)

I mean, the one thing that's happening right now is, like, the Kristi Noem situation with her husband. Basically, she's cheating on him with Corey Lewandowski, according to all the reporting. And now it's come out. Someone has leaked it. Not Kristi Noam. That he likes to dress up with, like, boobies and, you know, interact with adult stars online or whatever, which I'm fine with. I just think it's. I don't know why they're breaking up. They both like to play dress up in front of people. That's weird.

Dan LeBatard (18:12)

I was trying to read into what you were saying, because my first thought was, who benefits from this Chrissy Gnome? Actually, they're gonna be a huge. There's a huge portion of people that won't feel any empathy towards her at all. Right. But this does kind of help rationalize the affair that became so public during the congressional hearing. This is kind of like making her a sympathetic figure for the eventual book tour, I think, to a degree. So it wouldn't surprise me if she were behind this orchestrated leak.

Brett Ehrlich (18:43)

Oh, 100%. And also the quotes from her are like, I am devastated to learn this. Yeah, you're not even doing that narrative right. If you're learning this now, why did you sleep with Corey Lewandowski? If you. If you knew it before, it could motivate that. But it seems like you're just post hoc justifying your dalliance.

Mike Ryan (19:02)

Brett, thank you for your Maiden voyage on the show. It was good talking to you. We appreciate your time, sir.

Brett Ehrlich (19:09)

You don't follow any of us on social media, by the way. Yeah, you don't follow me on Instagram or Twitter.

Dan LeBatard (19:13)

What are you talking.

Brett Ehrlich (19:14)

You said all of us, but it's fine.

Dan LeBatard (19:16)

He follows me.

Brett Ehrlich (19:16)

Listen, I don't. What? I don't like, painstakingly check to see who's following me on Instagram, but you guys do, and so that takes you down a notch for me.

Mike Ryan (19:24)

You're pathetic.

Brett Ehrlich (19:25)

I'll go.

Mike Ryan (19:25)

Look, you embarrassed me in front of Brett. He's the director of the Young Turks Network. Thank you, Brett. I appreciate. You're pathetic, all of you. Looking at whether he's following you or not. I'm disgusted by all of you right now. Thank you, Brett. Good.

Brett Ehrlich (19:38)

Logan. Paul follows me.

Mike Ryan (19:40)

Thank you.

Brett Ehrlich (19:41)

That's not a surprise. If we knew more about our sleep,

Dan LeBatard (19:43)

what would we do differently?

Brett Ehrlich (19:45)

Would we go to bed at a

Dan LeBatard (19:46)

consistent time or take steps to reduce interruptions to our sleep? With Sleepscore, Apple Watch measures your bedtime consistency, interruptions and sleep duration. Then every morning it combines these factors into an easy to understand score from 1 to 100.

Brett Ehrlich (20:02)

So you'll know how to take the

Dan LeBatard (20:03)

quality of your sleep from okay to very high. Know your sleep score with Apple Watch iPhone 11 or later required.

Brett Ehrlich (20:12)

Your little one grew 3 inches overnight.

Dan LeBatard (20:14)

Adorable.

Brett Ehrlich (20:15)

Also expensive. Sell their pint sized pieces on Depop

Dan LeBatard (20:20)

and list them in minutes with no selling fees.

Brett Ehrlich (20:22)

Because somewhere a dad refuses to pay full price for the clothes his kids will outgrow tomorrow. And he's ready to buy your son's

Dan LeBatard (20:29)

entire wardrobe right now.

Brett Ehrlich (20:31)

Consider your future growth Bird budget secured. Start selling on Depop where taste recognizes taste. Payment processing fees and boosting fees still apply. See website for details.

Dan LeBatard (20:42)

K Pop Demon Hunters, Haja Boy's Breakfast Meal and Hunt Tricks meal have just dropped at McDonald's.

Brett Ehrlich (20:47)

They're calling this a battle for the fans.

Dan LeBatard (20:50)

What do you say to that, Rumi? It's not a battle.

Brett Ehrlich (20:52)

So glad the Saja boys could take

Greg Cody (20:54)

breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day.

Brett Ehrlich (20:56)

It is an honor to share.

Dan LeBatard (20:58)

No, it's.

Brett Ehrlich (20:59)

It is our honor. It is our larger honor.

Greg Cody (21:02)

No, really, stop.

Dan LeBatard (21:04)

You can really feel the respect in this battle. Pick a meal to pick a side.

Brett Ehrlich (21:10)

I participate in McDonald's while supplies last.

Greg Cody (21:12)

Don Lebatard, he called me on my own podcast. He called me full of shit, claiming that I'm faking interest in the solar eclipse.

Brett Ehrlich (21:20)

Well, you do do this. You love to just get excited about everything.

Greg Cody (21:23)

Okay, Junior Stugats. I had to school you and explain

Dan LeBatard (21:27)

to you he was gonna take you to Augusta.

Greg Cody (21:30)

I mean, I was 17 years old. Alan Sherry and I used to haunt the Bueller Planetarium.

Brett Ehrlich (21:36)

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugach.

Mike Ryan (21:44)

I want to get to something here because our looks like tournament is about to conclude and it has been resuscitated the listeners by writing funny. It's the. It's the hardest kind of writing that anyone does. By writing funny, the listeners resuscitated the looks like competition this year. It was a great tournament. And so what I have done to celebrate the listeners doing that is I have gathered all of our previous champions together in a room for a big. I want to have some pageantry around where it is that we're headed right now. So we've invited all our luminaries in the history of the looks like contest. These are the greatest champions in the history of Look Like. The goats. The goats.

Greg Cody (22:30)

Hall of Fame time.

Brett Ehrlich (22:31)

Goat of our tournament.

Mike Ryan (22:32)

Yes. That's what's what's been invited into the room to present our champions. And before I get to that, let's do a goat conversation, shall we?

Brett Ehrlich (22:42)

Let's do a go conversation. And it is presented by Frank's Red Hot. Make every dish the greatest. Eat the goat.

Mike Ryan (22:48)

You guys are not going to remember the first champion in the history of the looks like tournament. And he is no longer with us. But it was Lou Holtz, and it

Dan LeBatard (22:58)

was represented by Lou Holtz looks like a train conductor.

Brett Ehrlich (23:03)

Another game to play here is who voiced that? That one's pretty clear. But there'll be a few tricky ones.

Dan LeBatard (23:07)

Bob Lee, the goat.

Brett Ehrlich (23:08)

That was Bob Lee.

Dan LeBatard (23:09)

Is that the goat discussion we're having?

Mike Ryan (23:11)

Bob Lee also, he would be a goat voiceover guy.

Dan LeBatard (23:14)

Lou Holtz looks like a train conductor.

Brett Ehrlich (23:17)

I don't know how we got him to say yes to that.

Dan LeBatard (23:19)

Dude, I worked it for months. I'm very proud of that.

Mike Ryan (23:23)

Villanova. Who was the voice and the champion on Villanova?

Dan LeBatard (23:27)

Jay Cutler looks like the guy trying to break into a house on an alarm company commercial.

Brett Ehrlich (23:32)

That was 2016 champion right there with the lit hat.

Mike Ryan (23:36)

The voice.

Dan LeBatard (23:37)

Play it again. Play it again. Jay Cutler looks like the guy trying to break into a house on an alarm company commercial. Was that Kevin Winter? I don't believe.

Brett Ehrlich (23:45)

No, it's not Kevin Winter.

Dan LeBatard (23:47)

That's gotta be an anchor of some sort.

Mike Ryan (23:48)

That is a broadcast voice at ESPN that we were using, but I don't know. Was that Dan?

Dan LeBatard (23:54)

Dan Bongino?

Mike Ryan (23:56)

Yes, The Duke Davis.

Brett Ehrlich (23:58)

I'll text Billy.

Mike Ryan (24:00)

I don't remember that voice. Roy's got no, Roy's got no nominee here.

Brett Ehrlich (24:05)

No, it was definitely a Radio Sports center anchor.

Dan LeBatard (24:07)

I think that's ringing a bell.

Mike Ryan (24:09)

And the Duke Davis.

Dan LeBatard (24:11)

Sure, that. Yeah, sure sounds right.

Mike Ryan (24:13)

Yeah, I think I have his last name wrong though. I think he might have been Dan. The Duke. Someone else dark it. Double D. The 2018 champion was Villanova. That means this was the champion.

Greg Cody (24:24)

Jackie McMullen.

Dan LeBatard (24:25)

Looks like your mom's friend Carol.

Mike Ryan (24:31)

That's Hank Azarian. The 2019 champion was Virginia. Virginia was represented by Tony Saraguso.

Dan LeBatard (24:40)

Looks like the guy about to take a bite of a hot dog only to have it stolen by spider man swinging overhead.

Brett Ehrlich (24:45)

This one.

Dan LeBatard (24:46)

Daniel Baldwin. Daniel Baldwin. Daniel Baldwin.

Mike Ryan (24:50)

I thought that was actually Saragusa voicing his own.

Dan LeBatard (24:54)

Tony Saragusa. Looks like the guy about to take a bite of a hot dog only to have it stolen by spider man swinging overhead. It sounds so much like Alec. Let's just say It's Alec.

Mike Ryan (25:04)

The 2020 champion was the following.

Greg Cody (25:09)

Andy Reid.

Mike Ryan (25:09)

Looks like the small town sheriff that falls asleep while watching the prisoners wakes

Dan LeBatard (25:14)

up briefly to yell out who's there?

Mike Ryan (25:16)

To no one in particular.

Dan LeBatard (25:18)

And immediately falls back asleep while the prisoners continue to carefully reach for the jail cell keys dangling from his belt. Unreal.

Mike Ryan (25:26)

Amazing.

Brett Ehrlich (25:27)

Now that was fan voted because in 2020 there was no March Madness tournament. So that was voted by fans.

Dan LeBatard (25:32)

Thank God FSU would have won it. I mean, not thank God for Covid. Let me take that one back. Stop. Down. Rerack. Play on for me.

Brett Ehrlich (25:40)

Wipe. Snipe.

Mike Ryan (25:41)

Cue. Carl Ravitch was the voice on that one. That one was decided.

Brett Ehrlich (25:47)

That was definitely.

Dan LeBatard (25:49)

Are you kidding me? If it were Carl Ravitch, I would have flipped my lid.

Brett Ehrlich (25:52)

It's a play on for me.

Dan LeBatard (25:54)

Play on.

Brett Ehrlich (25:55)

How the hell is it a play on Tomato tomorrow.

Dan LeBatard (25:56)

If it were Ravi, I would have been wigging out.

Mike Ryan (26:02)

That's a bold faced lie.

Dan LeBatard (26:06)

Did somebody say lie?

Mike Ryan (26:08)

I was trying to do. I was trying to do fibula and I did it poorly.

Dan LeBatard (26:12)

No, we know, we know.

Mike Ryan (26:13)

2020 sounded like Dan Marino. 2021 champion Baylor was represented by Doug Peterson.

Dan LeBatard (26:21)

Looks like he specifically asked for full custody of the basement air hockey table in his divorce. Honestly, we should bring Go piss Mike back.

Brett Ehrlich (26:29)

I honestly tried.

Mike Ryan (26:30)

I forgot all about that guy.

Dan LeBatard (26:31)

That was great voice. One more time. One more time. Doug Peterson looks like he specifically asked

Brett Ehrlich (26:36)

for full custody of the basement air

Dan LeBatard (26:38)

hockey table in his divorce. That was an inspired choice. I worked on that one for months.

Mike Ryan (26:44)

Put it on the poll. Do you remember goat piss?

Dan LeBatard (26:46)

My, it's a tough get for you.

Brett Ehrlich (26:47)

Goat piss.

Dan LeBatard (26:48)

Yeah. Tougher than Bob Lee.

Mike Ryan (26:50)

We're not talking enough about Danner Hurley. Dan Hurley won the Looks like tournament in 2023 with his Yukon team.

Brett Ehrlich (26:59)

P. George look like your brother's friend Devin, who everyone just calls D. That's a great one.

Dan LeBatard (27:05)

I forgot that Champion Paul George look

Brett Ehrlich (27:08)

like your brother's friend Devin, who everyone

Greg Cody (27:10)

just calls D.

Mike Ryan (27:14)

That's a good group of champions.

Dan LeBatard (27:17)

Is it done? I never wanted it. Ten.

Mike Ryan (27:19)

That was it. That's. Those are.

Brett Ehrlich (27:20)

And we stopped for a couple years.

Mike Ryan (27:21)

All our champions gathered here today in order to welcome in the final four. You can also on Greg Cody's podcast, the Greg Cody show, featuring Greg Cody. He's going to perk up here because there's a recent Mount Greg 4, or what's it called?

Greg Cody (27:38)

The Mount Greg 4 Bracket Challenge.

Mike Ryan (27:41)

Greg 4 Great 4.

Greg Cody (27:42)

Greg 4, one word, capital F. And we're down to the Final 4, which is hoops against.

Brett Ehrlich (27:50)

Nobody knows.

Mike Ryan (27:51)

Nobody knows what this is. You can feel free to explain anybody what it is. Do you know what it is?

Brett Ehrlich (27:57)

You have to seem excited about it.

Mike Ryan (27:59)

Look, it can't be this, okay, Greg? It can't be. I'm only sitting here so that you promote my podcast. And then we promote your podcast and you don't know anything about your podcast. You're flipping through papers and you're like, I think it's.

Greg Cody (28:12)

You want to know.

Mike Ryan (28:13)

I mean, you can't. It can't be. I need you to promote my podcast. And then it's that kind of indifference when I go to you.

Greg Cody (28:20)

You want to know the final in nets versus hoops or pools versus 64.

Brett Ehrlich (28:25)

Give us the winners and all four, like, give us.

Mike Ryan (28:27)

Why have you checked out on the show? What happened? Are you tired after two days? You faded out? You haven't been listening for the last 20 minutes.

Greg Cody (28:34)

No, I have.

Mike Ryan (28:35)

What happened? What I went to. You sit around here waiting for me to give you the opportunity to promote your podcast. It's the moment that you're waiting for. I asked you about the Mount Greg 4 and just ruffle through some papers and you're like, what is this you're asking me about? Is it because you're tired at the

Greg Cody (28:53)

end of two days, full of energy?

Mike Ryan (28:54)

Are you bored by your own podcast? What is it?

Greg Cody (28:57)

No, I'm not. You can vote on these final four in the two semifinals. It's hair nets versus hoop. There it is.

Brett Ehrlich (29:09)

So the Winner of nets was hair nets because remember there were five, then nets moved on. The winner of hoops was.

Greg Cody (29:15)

Whoops, there it is. Which I always mistook.

Mike Ryan (29:18)

I don't regret asking about this.

Greg Cody (29:20)

There it is. The other two finalists in 64 versus pools, we have Nintendo. 64 versus, unfortunately, swimming pools.

Brett Ehrlich (29:31)

Swimming pools one.

Dan LeBatard (29:32)

Yeah.

Greg Cody (29:33)

I didn't want it to like to

Dan LeBatard (29:34)

call it the shower.

Greg Cody (29:35)

Second place was a pool of blood, which I campaigned for.

Dan LeBatard (29:41)

Don't go showering.

Greg Cody (29:42)

But the elect in that pool voted in swimming pools.

Mike Ryan (29:46)

What is the pools category?

Greg Cody (29:49)

Well, swimming pools one.

Dan LeBatard (29:51)

Yeah.

Brett Ehrlich (29:51)

So I think the category.

Greg Cody (29:52)

No, no.

Brett Ehrlich (29:53)

All right. Office pools. I can clean this up. The category was in general pools and he had top five pools which were. There we go. It's good.

Dan LeBatard (30:02)

It's getting late on a back to

Greg Cody (30:04)

back resources, pooling resources.

Dan LeBatard (30:07)

That was one option.

Mike Ryan (30:09)

Number two was another Greg Cody three and out.

Dan LeBatard (30:11)

It was a small pool of blood though, right? It was like a trickling down of blood.

Greg Cody (30:15)

Yes.

Dan LeBatard (30:15)

Which I would have voted for.

Greg Cody (30:16)

Greg Cody's got a punch punt when Ehrlich was on. I had to really refrain from doing a Joe Biden impression when Biden came up.

Dan LeBatard (30:27)

Glad you did.

Greg Cody (30:28)

Yeah. So I just.

Dan LeBatard (30:29)

Craig, let me get you back in your comfort zone.

Greg Cody (30:31)

Go ahead.

Dan LeBatard (30:31)

All right. Usually you can count on talking about you being the comfort zone, but we can't count on that today. I don't know if you watched the soccer yesterday. It was the final round of World cup qualifying. A lot of newsworthy stuff there in the US who doesn't have to go through this qualification process as a host. Played Portugal and once again embarrassed itself. And look, it wasn't but a few months ago in the fall of 2025, where you kind of had reason for hope, they had this five match stretch where they beat Japan, they drew against Ecuador, they beat Australia.

Mike Ryan (31:03)

You're giving up already.

Dan LeBatard (31:04)

They beat Padaway, they beat Uruguay and you had faith that, okay, maybe Pochettino's approach of not playing the stars and getting depth, maybe that's working.

Greg Cody (31:13)

Yeah.

Dan LeBatard (31:13)

And now the last few months of play from this team, as we're just two and a half months away from the World cup is listless.

Greg Cody (31:20)

Right.

Dan LeBatard (31:21)

This, this is pissing me off so much. Because we were looking forward to this World cup for so long, we thought this generation of players would give the United States a true chance to go deep in a tournament that they were hosting. And they look jaded by the overall experience. Like, what is wrong with this generation of players? They don't have an identity they don't have a mentality. They don't seem happy to be there. They don't seem to want to be there.

Greg Cody (31:45)

Yeah. And arguably their best player, Pulisic, hasn't scored a goal since December of 25.

Dan LeBatard (31:52)

He's playing like shit.

Greg Cody (31:53)

He's playing like shit. And I can't recall the last time they beat a team from Europe. I think they've lost six, seven games in a row against European clubs, which you sort of have to beat. And now all of a sudden, to your point, you wonder if they're going to get out of the group stage. They could. They could be a colossal fizzle in the World cup they're hosting. You're right. And they're favored to get out of the group stage.

Dan LeBatard (32:16)

Right, because it's an easy group. It's an easy group, but they got major problems here, from team selection to inspiration to creativity. They're playing the wrong guys. They should probably be doing a back three. They're not going through the right guy in attacking. Look, I don't want to sound like a broken record here, but the US mentality was always that of an organized back line and a counter attacking team to make use of our athletes. And this whole approach where we're going to try to play with Germany, the way that Germany plays, you get played right off the pitch. And you're not even that when you're going up against the likes of Panama.

Greg Cody (32:51)

Right.

Dan LeBatard (32:51)

Panama drags you into the mud and you don't have answers to it because you're. You're too busy trying to play Jogo Benito. This is stupid. This is stupid. Now the only hope, because I don't have hope for this manager. I was trying to couch my initial opinions on it, but he's a career. Pochettino is a career loser.

Greg Cody (33:09)

Were you high on him when they.

Dan LeBatard (33:10)

No, I was high on the aspiration that they went out and got a name. And I was hopeful that it would work. But I followed soccer for several, several decades at this point. Pochettino's a loser.

Mike Ryan (33:20)

Well, wait, did something. This recent loss is the one that broke you?

Dan LeBatard (33:24)

No, it's the performance against Belgium. Like the team just. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. There were generations that came and went that didn't have the opportunity.

Mike Ryan (33:34)

It still is. They're in an easy group.

Dan LeBatard (33:37)

It still is. And the only hope that I have is that there are adults in the room that realize that they have an easy path and knockout round. And then when it's a knockout round, it's a Whole new ball game. And that the hopes of a nation actually connect with them because this generation of players has been so difficult to. For any manager to connect to. You know, I don't want to. I sound like such a boomer. Spoiled, entitled brats, all that. But they play like it, they act like it. They run from accountability.

Greg Cody (34:08)

They.

Dan LeBatard (34:08)

They. What has this team ever accomplished? You know, I miss going into games against Belgium and games against Portugal thinking I had a chance. I'm tuning in to see how bad it's going to be.

Greg Cody (34:21)

Greg.

Dan LeBatard (34:21)

I have zero hope in these matches.

Mike Ryan (34:23)

Greg. I hate. Okay. Always as analysis. I hate. I don't think those people care or want to be there. How can he make that accusation before we have. We're less than 100 days from the World Cup. How. How can he credibly make the accusation as someone who cares about that sport? And it's not about Our players are bad. We've been mad at American men's soccer for the almost the entire time we've had America's men's soccer, except for one Landon Donovan goal that represents the excitement about United States soccer. How can he make that accusation? And you don't flinch on. Our players don't want to be there.

Greg Cody (35:08)

I don't feel as vehemently as Mike does, but their recent results beg that opinion. And at a time when you're looking for a tailwind, you're looking for some momentum to take into June, they've done the opposite. They've slumped. They've been a very bad team for a few months now. And it's just the timing is so bad.

Dan LeBatard (35:32)

We're not going to do this with World cup soccer where we psychoanalyze and say this guy's wrong for saying they don't care enough. That is recognized as analysis the world over for legit health clubs.

Mike Ryan (35:44)

But how can that be? Dan? I think Landon Donovan has said this before. Like it's. People are real.

Dan LeBatard (35:50)

People are.

Mike Ryan (35:50)

This isn't Mike being a guy on his couch with a beard.

Brett Ehrlich (35:53)

These guys don't care as he eats

Mike Ryan (35:55)

Cheetos out of his belly button. This is like something that being said by people who have played for the US Men's national team, who are now analysts. It's something that's being talked about very openly in the soccer world.

Dan LeBatard (36:07)

The way they play the game is such an insult to anybody that has invested anything in this program hoping for this World Cup. I was looking forward to this World cup the second that it was whispered as a possibility. Maybe. Maybe in 2002, we went to the quarters. But Mike, right in 2002, in Korea, we went to the quarters, and we were supposed to be building on that. The generation miss a World cup, and finally, we don't even have to go through the qualification process, thank God, because we're hosting. And this is just insulting to not think you have a chance.

Greg Cody (36:41)

They missed that maybe they needed to go through a qualification. You know, they got a free ticket into the World cup, and I don't think that's helped their preparation in the least.

Dan LeBatard (36:50)

I desperately want someone in that room to show me they care. I want to see a sense of urgency. I want to see a sense of acknowledgement of the history and how hard it's been for this program to get to the point that where it is right now, it's sucky right now. I don't have faith in the manager. I don't have faith in the players. I. I don't even like them.

Mike Ryan (37:10)

There it is. I don't like them, as his terms can be. It's sucky, and he doesn't like them. And it's about to get worse. You know what the rarest of things is? Mike has been very careful about where it is that he places his expectations, because to get excited about things is to get disappointed about them. More profoundly, this feels like a giant customer betrayal that you can't count on your team, even around the patriotism, to act like it's caring when you. You've been caring about the sport for 20 years, trying to build it up in this country to get to these games.

Dan LeBatard (37:44)

Dan and Greg, they could have these results and have in previous ramps up to the World cup, and I would still hold out hope and belief that the American underdog spirit when it comes to international soccer would prevail. This team has to show us that they are capable of doing that. So far, the signs are not there.

Mike Ryan (38:03)

You're out already.

Dan LeBatard (38:04)

I'm not.

Mike Ryan (38:05)

You sound hopeless.

Dan LeBatard (38:06)

We're a host nation. Funny things happen. But someone needs to wake up, someone needs to smack these guys across the face and say, what are you doing? You're wasting this opportunity. This is so huge for this sport in this country. We're all hoping that this could be a launchpad for everyone. We're all gonna make so much money if you just take this seriously and understand the situation, the gravity of it. And it doesn't seem like they do. What are you saying? And they play like they. They don't seem to understand it.

Greg Cody (38:36)

I mean, I appreciate his passion. I don't feel as strongly does. But I think the underlying thing that he's saying is absolutely, he's out.

Mike Ryan (38:44)

He's out.

Dan LeBatard (38:45)

Oh, you're trying to do that to me. I'll be rooting for them, but I don't believe right now, and I want to believe.