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Dan LeBatard
You're listening to DraftKings Network.
Mike Ryan
This episode is brought to you by AWS. Amazon Q Business is the generative AI assistant that can securely understand your business data, summarize results and streamline tasks. Learn what Amazon Q Business can do for you@aws.com learnmore this episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime. There's nothing sweeter than baking cookies during the holidays. With Prime, I get all my ingredients delivered right to my door, fast and free. No last minute store trips needed. And of course I blast my favorite holiday playlist on Amazon Music. It's the ultimate soundtrack for creating unforgettable memories. From streaming to shopping, it's on Prime. Visit Amazon.comprime to get more out of whatever you're into.
Dan LeBatard
Shadow Show.
Greg Cody
Shadow Show.
Dan LeBatard
Shadow Show.
Greg Cody
Shadow Show.
Stugatz
Shadow Show.
Billy Corben
Shadow Show.
Dan LeBatard
Shadow Show.
Stugatz
Shadowing it. Shadowing it.
Dan LeBatard
Eventually I want to get to the point where we start one of these and Greg Cody already has his headset on and is ready to go and we then start sharing and spilling secrets to the audience in the Shadow Show. That's where I want to get eventually. But the reason I am excited today right now is because I've got original show right here. I got Mike and Billy and I got Chris and we've got Roy. We sent him out on remote. We got Greg Cody and we got Stugatz. Like this is the crew that people love the best from the beginning and over the last few years we've brought on a lot of voices that has made this a very crowded holiday party in a new space that we've already outgrown. So outside the doors we've got Lucy and Amin and Jeremy because everyone's here for the holiday party. And I want to know with honest answers from our crew in here, how do you guys just feel about the office holiday party as a construct, as a thought, I'm asking the audience this and I'm asking you this. Like in your workplaces out there, do you enjoy going and then being with the co workers? Do you have a company where that is something you want to be doing in your free time or does it become a responsibility and an obligation? Everyone rather be home with their families and not have to go to a holiday party? What's the honest answer here?
Greg Cody
I wish it were closer.
Billy Corben
You're asking this the day of the holiday party. I love holiday parties. I like celebrating a year that was even if some places it's difficult, it's kind of like hey, we made it through. It's a time for optimism. I like Gathering with folks. I typically don't. We spend a lot of time we with one another here and we don't spend a lot of time away from the office together. So to be able to have a drink and lighten the mood and listen to some music, exchange some gifts, it's a great time.
Dan LeBatard
That sounds lovely. Does everyone experience it that way? Do the people listening to this? Because the reason I asked the question is because I would love to be building a company where people get together at the holiday party and it is a rip roaring affair where everyone's got their arms around each other because they love working together so much. That would be wonderful.
Stugatz
On. No, I'm just kidding. It's just a joke.
Dan LeBatard
It's not a joke though. They're not joking. You're not joking. I could dream on and that dream will never come true for me.
Stugatz
I think the holiday party has a bad rap. I think at a lot of companies, big companies especially, the holiday party is sort of an obligatory, obligatory thing that's dreaded in this case. You know, it's a. It's a fairly small crowd. The only weird thing about today is that right after the show we have like a white elephant gift exchange and then hours later we reconvene for the party. So the logistics of that make it a little difficult, but I'm looking forward to it.
Dan LeBatard
It's really. It ends up being two holiday obligations on a work day.
Stugatz
That's right.
Greg Cody
Right.
Chris Cote
I feel like it's really just a chance for the employees to assess. How well are you taking care of us? Oh, this is where the holiday party is. Oh, there's an open bar.
Dan LeBatard
Oh, the food is included.
Chris Cote
Like at my wife's one last night. That's what employees are doing. They're assessing, they're looking around.
Dan LeBatard
Do we know what ours is? I'd like to know whether ours is going to be an open bar. I don't know as we sit here.
Greg Cody
So you're judging. It's like a state of the company, basically. Right.
Billy Corben
But I do love the location. It would be a location that I'd probably be at tonight regardless, because there's a huge Panther game on. And this is my favorite part of Watch hockey.
Greg Cody
The wild Capri of Kirill.
Billy Corben
The Thrill Capri of take the over 1 1/2 points every game. This guy should be the hard trophy winner. An unbelievable player that we're not going to get to see in the Four nations cup because he's Russian.
Dan LeBatard
I'm going to be serious when I say this. Crimes stu Gotts came in here today, and with Cody, they commiserated. And Stu Gotts arrived at the conclusion that the holiday party should be closer to him at Landlubbers. He wants it. I mean, he's. He's mad that we're doing something in Broward Plantation.
Greg Cody
Landlubbers, lefties, Billy's anywhere.
Billy Corben
You had your. You had your run with Primetime Media Group. We had plenty of Broward days. It's the holidays. A time for peace, for love, for presence. And do I have one for you. It's Poppy's fifty Shades of Christmas. You're welcome.
Roy Bellamy
At the touch of the leather, I quiver and gasp. He walks around me again, trailing the crop around the middle of my body. He has a small groove or carvings. I'm going to put this. His fingers trail between my buttocks, spreading oil instantly. The plug starts to vibrate down there. It feels alien, full, forbidden, but oh, so good. As my body explodes, I'm nothing but sensation everywhere. This way, he murmurs. And abruptly he leans over, releases my hands and pulls me. All right, so I'm practically sitting on him.
Billy Corben
Thank you, Papi. See, Greg? That's how it's done.
Roy Bellamy
Deliciously slowly, again and again.
Billy Corben
All right, time to start the show.
Dan LeBatard
Foreign.
Roy Bellamy
This is the D? Levatar show with the Stugats.
Dan LeBatard
Do me the favor, please. Video of putting a camera, training it, training it on the other room there so I can see who is gathering here for the holiday party. Because I just saw a whole lot of people out there. We've got Lucy out there. We've got Jeremy out there. Izzy is out there. So we've. We've got. We've got a lot of people we can use today at our disposal. Roy. Roy is at Dolphin Mall. He is Santa Roy. It is a Roy drive. He is. I don't know how he would feel about me. Put him up on the screen, too. Video. I can see here in the preview that Roy is there. Yes, he. There he is. And so I'm excited to see. I want to call him Stoic Santa, but Roy doesn't want me to make him mirth. Help me help Roy as he gathers at Dolphin Mall. I am promising right now, as we escalate this toy drive, I am promising everyone that I will match the number of toys given by all of our audience here.
Greg Cody
Wow.
Dan LeBatard
I will. I will match.
Lucy
So you're going to buy the exact same toys?
Dan LeBatard
No, I'm just going to make a quick estimate, and then I'm going to get the amount of money that I need to make that Quick estimate. Double the amount of toys that we're giving.
Lucy
When's the last time you were in a toy aisle? I'd love to go toy shopping with you.
Greg Cody
Yeah, that'd be fun.
Dan LeBatard
You know what? We could do that. We could do that and make content out of it. You meet you and me doubling the output of the audience at toy shopping. Let's do that.
Greg Cody
We'll have Billy get roped in.
Lucy
Yeah. It's my last day this year, so get that done.
Billy Corben
Today was your idea.
Dan LeBatard
It was your idea. You said.
Lucy
No, no, I said I'd love for you to do it.
Dan LeBatard
You said you'd love to go shopping.
Lucy
Yeah, I would in theory.
Stugatz
No, you should do it then, instead of writing a check. Anybody can write a check.
Dan LeBatard
Yeah.
Stugatz
You need to be hands on in the toy store, picking out every gift.
Greg Cody
Find some bogos y for every taka toy that is brought to the. You know, to the toy drive. You need to go find a taka toy.
Lucy
I like that. A scavenger hunt where you match toy for toy. The exact same toy. And your charity is not done until you found the exact same toy.
Dan LeBatard
I see the delight in stugat stirring to life and giving me work and expenses. And I love charity. Yes, I know. You just. I see just a general enthusiasm of getting me to do more work, to get more money spent. I see it on you. It delights you.
Greg Cody
It's really just you at a toy store, right?
Dan LeBatard
Yeah. That's not what's happening here. What is going to happen is I'm telling the audience I can't false promise this. There are rules to this. I'm telling the audience that if the audience stuns us with coming to Corner Coffee Monday through Friday, 7am to 2pm here at the Ulcer through tomorrow, or if they go out to Vivo at the Dolphin Mall, a mall where you can buy toys. I'm saying that whatever your generosity is, you have the ability to hurt me here with what I'm offering. You have the ability to make me have to buy thousands and thousands of dollars in toys. If the audience, and I fear our audiences support. If our audiences do the labyrinth degree of difficulty of having to, at 10am to noon on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, show up at Dolphin Mall or at the parking lot of a Flanagan's that is closed and bombard us at the last minute with toys. Because I've hastily organized a toy drive that the company is not equipped to handle at the moment. And the company would have preferred not to have this the week before the holidays. When everyone is mailing it in. Everyone is done this week. No one is trying this week.
Greg Cody
You've got your foot on the gas.
Dan LeBatard
And I'm like, toy drive. We got to make kids happy. It's urgent. Greg Cody is here in one of the best holiday sweaters I have ever seen.
Greg Cody
Amazing.
Stugatz
My books in the way here.
Greg Cody
Yeah.
Stugatz
Back in my day.
Greg Cody
Well done.
Stugatz
New book. It's getting in the way of my sweater. It's a Miller Light sweater. We love Miller Lite a little too much.
Dan LeBatard
That's not true.
Billy Corben
We like it responsibly.
Dan LeBatard
Yes.
Stugatz
I gotta. I gotta learn the art.
Dan LeBatard
I like that. I actually like that as a look for all the beer commercials. There are. Greg Cody is a Miller Light spokesman saying, I like Miller Light a little too much is a great.
Billy Corben
No, no, it's not.
Lucy
It's not.
Billy Corben
Please stop.
Lucy
Right?
Billy Corben
Responsibly.
Greg Cody
Thank you, Mike.
Stugatz
You can have both.
Dan LeBatard
You can love a sponsor so much that you over love a sponsor.
Billy Corben
Not with this sponsor.
Chris Cote
Figuratively.
Billy Corben
Please stop.
Greg Cody
Yes.
Dan LeBatard
Greg Cody is trying to bring back the phrase maniac. We think that the phrase maniac has just all but expired.
Stugatz
It has. It's a phrase from my ute and I credit. I don't know if anybody out there old like me. Remember, it's Mad magazine and Alfred E. Newman. That was one of their catch words. Catchphrases was maniac. It was very popular in the 60s. If someone was acting crazy and you wanted to, like, criticize them, but in a funny way, you are a maniac. You're acting like a maniac. People don't say that anymore. I want to bring it back just like Groovy Jack.
Dan LeBatard
Okay, Billy, why are you laughing? Are you laughing because Greg Cody Tuesday has gotten off to a limp or an uproarious start?
Lucy
You know, it's just he's is kind of taking a little bit to get into his. His groove. But we'll get there.
Stugatz
I'm mailing it in like you said before.
Lucy
Come on.
Greg Cody
Mailing it.
Stugatz
Somebody give me a stamp. It's almost Christmas. What am I doing working here? I'm in a Christmas sweater. I should be Christmas partying right now.
Dan LeBatard
You're doing two obligatory Christmas parties today. Two obligations that everyone has gathered around for. Put it on the poll, please. Juju at Lebatard show. Do you like the company office party? Yes or no? Do you like, go and then also put on the poll at Le Baton show? Company off office party. Time of great enthusiasm and dreams or horrible obligation? I just. Because I don't I don't know. I don't. You, you look. God Bless Football is taking a beating this football season. They have carried us, they have worked hard, they're flying coast to coast. They are trying to make money.
Greg Cody
My body hurts.
Dan LeBatard
Yeah. Stugach is claiming that his body feels like an NFL players does at the end of the season. Worse, they're killing themselves for you to make more and more content where the biggest content machine that there is just belching out content every day. And Billy and Stu guys do God bless football and they're tired, they're exhausted. I don't, I don't. I don't want to speak for them, but I don't know that they want the general mirth of two office parties today.
Lucy
Well, I'll also say this for the people who like God Bless football and for those that hate it too. Doesn't matter. Gonna be dark the next couple weeks on this show. God Bless Football will not. Because it's a playoff time for college sports and for the NFL. So you're still gonna be getting your Mondays and Fridays episodes.
Greg Cody
Yeah.
Lucy
For God Bless Football. We're not gonna abandon you here. Height of football season. Also, you can vote for us@SportsPodcastGroup.com if you'd like. Best football podcast. We're up against the Kelsey's and we're up against Mina and we're up against a number of people. So please vote for us because we have stiff competition last year and last year. We love you guys, but you failed us. We didn't even medal last year. So I don't want to blame you like Dan's blaming you guys if the kids don't get toys this year. But if you want us to win, you're have to vote for us. And if you want those kids to have a nice Christmas, you have to donate toys because not. Dan's not donating a damn thing lets you donate. That's how it works. Match or nothing.
Dan LeBatard
I am going to double whatever it is that the audience produces here. And we're going to be doing it for the next couple of days. Today and tomorrow it's Dolphin Mall. It's 11, 401 N. 12th St. And it's from 10am although he's already out there. Chris, can I go to Roy at Dolphin Mall? And is he okay if you asked him if I make him a stoic clause?
Chris Cote
Let's ask him.
Stugatz
Dan.
Chris Cote
I have not asked him.
Dan LeBatard
All right. Thank you. Roy, how are you doing out there? You look like you're filled with mirth. It Is nice to see. The backdrop is very professional. You're giving off Christmas spirit in your eyes. How is everything out there?
Jeremy
Ho ho, ho mo fos. Everything is all right right now. Just waiting for everybody to show up with their new and unwrapped toys here at Vivo at Dolphin Mall. I've already gotten started with this bluey plush doll and this football for the kids.
Dan LeBatard
All right, thank you. We're looking for athletic balls and equipment, Dolls and Barbies, remote control cars, Nerf toys, board games, play food, tea sets, jewelry, craft kits, cologne, perfume, building toys, Legos. The mall is right there.
Chris Cote
That cologne just falls out of the sky.
Dan LeBatard
It really does.
Greg Cody
Yeah, it's weird.
Dan LeBatard
It really does. Every time stops me as well. It does. It is. The perfume and cologne is strange. I don't understand why that's in there, but it's in there. High schoolers gift cards, right? They're not just little kids. They're not just toddlers. We.
Billy Corben
They're often forgotten.
Dan LeBatard
Christmas comes for all right? Because we forget. That's. That's the real stink of the holidays that you often forget the teenager because you're busy buying toys for the kids.
Billy Corben
Heartbreaking. Everyone wants a cute little one and they have the 13 year old.
Greg Cody
Let me say this though. The 13 year old, the teenagers, they forget about you. They stop caring about the holidays and family. They go through a phase. I'm telling you, they'll come back in their 20s, their mid-20s perhaps, but they don't care.
Billy Corben
Well, I was.
Greg Cody
They don't want to be at the holiday thing with the family. They don't care about you. They just want cash, Right?
Billy Corben
Yeah.
Dan LeBatard
He rolled through that.
Billy Corben
Mike talking about.
Dan LeBatard
He rolled through the fact that you were talking about kids who don't have parents. And he weighed it.
Greg Cody
Teens are teens. It doesn't matter. Damn. Parents are no parents.
Lucy
So what. What age group do you buy gifts for? Stugat? Since there's obviously the like void in the middle that you don't need to.
Greg Cody
Buy for you, usually before the age of 12. And then I start buying them again after the age of 21.
Lucy
So 13 to 20.
Greg Cody
They don't care about me. I don't care about them.
Dan LeBatard
Okay, so. So we are buying perfume and happy holidays.
Lucy
We have, by the way, two. Two, you know, established authors here. Maybe we could donate some books to the cause. What do we think? It's worse than gift of literature.
Chris Cote
It's worse than perfume.
Stugatz
You know what? Let's do that. I'll get my publisher right on that. I have a box of books. But I ain't giving any away, I'll tell you that.
Dan LeBatard
Yeah. So Billy, for the holidays, he's not going to lift a finger for you or anybody else. He's going to keep his book sales. I have found. Chris, this is a good question to ask your mom. I'm going to guess that your father is. That we could document that. Your father is one of the least charitable people in the history of finances.
Chris Cote
Oh, wow.
Dan LeBatard
I know. Because he's. He's all about taking for the holidays. It's not about giving. Like, it's not. Have you bought any Christmas gifts?
Stugatz
I. Yes, I have not. You know, five years ago.
Greg Cody
Yes or no?
Dan LeBatard
Five years ago. Let's hear no.
Stugatz
No, no.
Lucy
Long story.
Dan LeBatard
Greg. Greg, how late are you on your Christmas shopping? And what kind of spree is this going to be? That's just going to grab some perfume at the end?
Stugatz
I'm always late on my Christmas shopping. Let's put it this way. I'm haunting Amazon right now, and the first thing I look at is not the product or the price. I'm like, is it going to be delivered before Christmas? If it says you'll deliver it, prime delivery, whatever it's called, if I can get it tomorrow, I'll buy anything. You know, I'll buy anything. It just depends on the delivery date. I'm a little behind on my shopping, but I'm feeling good. I'm buying gifts. They're showing up.
Dan LeBatard
You came in here saying it's a Christmas sprint. I'm behind. You came in here saying that and now behind. No, but because you've been boxed in on being a taker for the holidays, you're not a giver. You're a taker. If you could do it, you just get gifts and not give a single one.
Stugatz
No, that's not true. I enjoy gift giving. I really do. And I'm a champion rapper. The gift. I make a gift look better than it is by my rapping acumen.
Chris Cote
That part is true. He's a great rapper.
Dan LeBatard
That is a stunner.
Greg Cody
So you enhance a bad gift by wrapping it well.
Stugatz
Example, in the White Elephant sale. We're about our sale. In the White Elephant party we're about to have later today, my gift will stand out because of the wrapping. That's all I'm gonna say.
Billy Corben
Hey, folks, it's Mike Ryan. The holiday season is upon us. Christmas is coming next week. So what are you doing for it? I imagine you're gonna have some family over. How do you entertain the family? How do you keep everybody happy? Well, I know one easy way. Make your holiday time Miller time. Bring out a nice silver platter of that beautiful white can or bottle. Whatever your preference. Heck, do it on draft. As long as it's got that beautiful amber color and was triple hops brewed, you know it's going to be a hit. Why? Because Miller Lite has tastes you know you can depend on. No games, no gimmicks, just great beer. For people who like beer, you'll take a sip, look around, see your family and know you immediately made the best decision possible. Because Miller Lite is brewed for taste, it hits different than other light beers. Simple ingredients like malted barley for rich balanced toffee note flavors and the iconic golden color. The original light beer since 1975 and still the best one. Making memories at year end gatherings. Tastes like Miller time. 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. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Fewer calories in carbs than premium regular beer.
Stugatz
Don LeBatard 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.
Amin Elhassan
You can spot a woman faking it Stugats.
Stugatz
Yes I can. Jess Expert I've been married 40 years.
Roy Bellamy
This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats.
Dan LeBatard
I find it rare to be friends with somebody for 40 years and delightful, delightfully discover something about him I did not know. I am just learning what a gift I am getting right now. To learn that it has been confirmed by his son, Greg Cody is an expert rapper. I would have never had you being that I would have never guessed that.
Stugatz
The key is the cut and the crease. The scissor work has to be pristine and perfectly aligned. The creases have to be sharp. Use as little tape Scotch tape as possible. Put an appropriate bow on just about every gift except a stocking stuffer.
Dan LeBatard
You bow?
Chris Cote
I don't bow.
Stugatz
I bow.
Chris Cote
Nah, bows are a waste.
Stugatz
I'm a big bower and it has to fit. It has to fit. You know, the colors have to coordinate the bow and the wrapping and there's an art to it. I love wrapping more than I love giving or getting gifts. I love the wrapping process.
Lucy
Greg, when it comes to the cut, are you one that does multiple cuts? Are you the Type that cuts once and then the slide across the paper.
Stugatz
That's a tough art to master.
Lucy
Right.
Stugatz
Okay.
Lucy
Because if it snags.
Stugatz
If it snags and it rips, it just ruins everything. The scissor has to be. And. And why is it always plural? I'm. I'm only holding one pair of scissors.
Lucy
Question.
Greg Cody
It's weird. Yeah. I ask myself that all the time.
Stugatz
But if it's not a particularly sharp scissor, you're screwed.
Chris Cote
I disagree. I think it's more on the paper. The quality of paper is the easier slide.
Stugatz
Yeah.
Chris Cote
If that's good wrapping paper, that good thick wrapping paper, that'll slide much better than that crap.
Stugatz
Yeah, that's true. That's fair. That's fair. Comment. I could give a seminar on gift wrapping. I really go for it.
Lucy
How do you feel about gift bags?
Stugatz
I'm against them.
Lucy
Really?
Stugatz
Yeah. It's the easy way out. You know, you're cutting corners.
Lucy
Honestly, you're cutting corners.
Billy Corben
I admit it. My. My gift for the white elephant today is in a gift bag.
Lucy
I kind of want to go out there and see if I can identify. So do I. Greg. Gift just based on the wrapping.
Dan LeBatard
Well, if. If I may with you guys, I think I've got an idea here that you guys can maybe help me with because I like Greg's idea of giving a seminar on gift wrapping. I would love to put him in another room with Jeremy and have him give that seminar while actually watching him wrap a gift I have in my car. My wife sent a toy in today. A lovely unicorn that we can have him wrap so that we can see what it is that looks like. Even though we're looking for unwrapped toys.
Greg Cody
You gotta match that one, right?
Dan LeBatard
Yes, I've to match that one as well.
Lucy
Exact same unicorn.
Dan LeBatard
That's. I'm not doing it that way. That I'm going to just make a joke. This is what I'm telling you. This is what I'm telling you so that I'm not false advertising. I will generally estimate what the toys are worth and then. And then buy. Buy that amount of toys in a shopping spree with Billy and we will give all of those toys over to branches. Fl.org if you want to give for yourself. The thing that I want to do with Cody is have him wrap a gift here and show us. Get him. Get him the scissors he needs. Get him the gift wrapping he needs.
Greg Cody
Like a master class. Yes.
Dan LeBatard
I'm surprised and delighted by this. So we will get to it over the Course of the show, there are a number of other things that I want to get to, and Roy is one of those things at Dolphin Mall because while I will not continue to bombard you with. With information on the toy drive for the next three days, I do want to get your attention here by dressing up our employees as Santa Clau, whether they like it or not. Roy, are you okay with this being called a Roy Drive? Today is not a toy drive. It's a Roy drive.
Jeremy
It makes a lot of sense, Dan. I appreciate you using my name.
Dan LeBatard
Okay. All right, so thank you. Are you okay?
Billy Corben
So, well, let her off.
Dan LeBatard
Thank you. Are you okay? Also, are you okay, Roy? Also, with me calling you Stoic Santa. Is Stoic Santa okay by you?
Greg Cody
Sure.
Dan LeBatard
Okay.
Billy Corben
Excellent.
Greg Cody
All right.
Dan LeBatard
No, that's good. So you can see Roy at Dolphin Mall and all of that holiday enthusiasm can pour over you and the malls right there, you can go buy a gift. And then it. You're. You're gonna hurt me If. If South Florida does what I think it's capable of, which is somebody with great wealth just shows up and buys a bunch of toys, and now you're gonna hurt me. Because if several people do that, then I'm going to be in tens of thousands of dollars and I'm in over my head and I'm drowning. What do you think this is, McAfee? You think I could throw $100,000 at people for kicking field goals? I don't pay the guests a million dollars here to ask me about my vac status.
Stugatz
You should make the kids kick a 30 yard field goal to get a toy. Oh, save money, right?
Greg Cody
Get all the toys.
Stugatz
Yeah.
Greg Cody
Yeah.
Lucy
Dan, if you were to guess, where would you think you would acquire that giant bluey that's next to Roy? Where would you go to match that?
Dan LeBatard
You know, Billy, I do appreciate how meticulous you are on this one. I'm telling you right now, I'm not matching it toy for toy.
Lucy
You have to imagine you play a game of memory, right? And you're just like, well, that's a card that matches another card. Like, no, you need to match the things on the card.
Dan LeBatard
Okay, then what? I will match the fourth. Okay, so. But this is what I'm telling you as you and Stugach try to box me into more money and more work.
Lucy
This is what, more charity?
Dan LeBatard
What I'm going to tell you, right? So you know what? You're right, though. You're right. You're absolutely right. I've been swayed. And so now your assignment as our employee is to list in detail all of those toys, what they are, and then help me find someone to go out and buy those toys with my money.
Lucy
Well, we have a bluey and a football so far.
Greg Cody
So that's it.
Lucy
I'm on it. Yeah, I'm all caught up.
Dan LeBatard
All right.
Greg Cody
And a unicorn.
Dan LeBatard
You keep, you keep a running. You keep a running tab in the back room. You keep a running tab of all.
Lucy
The football looks suspiciously familiar to what Tony had yesterday, too.
Dan LeBatard
Roy, we'll come back to you in a second. I appreciate your Panther matched it, your Panther jersey. I appreciate that you're wearing it. We're going to talk about Panthers and some local stuff here because some of the sports stuff going on is interesting one you've got. And, and let me go through this for a second because Greg Cody's all excited because if the Dolphins beat the Niners, their playoff chances skyrocket to 12%. So, so Cody's excited about that. Mike Ryan has come in here and said, dan, I'm not going to let you off the hook on the Heat. Dan, you cannot let the Heat off the hook for what is presently happening with the Miami Heat. And in the middle of that, the Panthers continue to be just awesome, just, just awesome fun and did something that I don't believe, I don't believe has happened in South Florida's sports lifetime. You've got us caring deeply about regular season hockey games like you got us caring when they go play it in Winnipeg or when they're playing in Edmonton. Because now you're developing some allegiances to the storylines. You've, you've watched a previous playoff run and now you know the players from the other team. Like there's, there's something. South Florida's getting caught up in something. The exact way that a sports fan base has to be built around winning.
Greg Cody
Well, it's the perfect time for the Panthers to be good in this market because the rest of the professional teams are dreadful. Like it's, they're getting all of our attention and they deserve it. They won the Stanley Cup. They're the best team in hockey. They've been good for four years now. But the fact that the Dolphins are mediocre, the Marlins are lousy, like this is a great time for that organization and the right time for that organization.
Billy Corben
You said care deeply and I certainly in pockets people care deeply, but I'm not one of those Panther fans that gets super defensive. We're building. There are plenty of reasons why this was a struggling hockey market, mostly on Ownership after they moved into the new building. This is the first sustained run of excellence from this franchise ever. They've had outliers, a little flash in the pans. One cup appearance in 1996 didn't do much with that momentum moved to a new place. They had one year where they win the Catlantic and then they kind of disappear and fall off. So this team with its young core.
Dan LeBatard
25 years with no playoff success, like not even winning, like 25. You got that 96 run and then you got a quarter century of not. You'll get to the playoffs with Pavel Burry, whatever, but you're never winning a game, you're never winning a series.
Billy Corben
I think, look, this franchise had it built on the momentum of 96. We'd probably see something a little bit closer to Tampa, which is just one of the best hockey towns in the country. But that's not our story. And people want to make fun of the parade while it's raining. I look at that and it warms my heart because of, of where this franchise was. We are so far beyond where we were and we're still building. And I think another cup run will just keep building on that success. And Roy, I'm curious your opinion. Not just because you're wearing a Panthers jersey and you love hockey and you have the hockey show, but you've been there through the lean years. And this team with its stars, because it's been a pretty transient franchise, it's not often that you have guys stick through several years, guys like Barkov who've been here, who've grown into men. He's still a young man, but he's been here over a decade. A guy that wants the stardom, that wants a platform, wants to grow the game, like Matthew Tkachuk. These guys are building a connection with this town in ways that hockey teams only did in 1996. For a fleeting moment, yeah, you're absolutely right.
Jeremy
And the one thing that you pointed out is they never really signed players to long term extensions. And that's what they're doing now. They have built a core. And I said maybe three or four years ago that this team will actually win a cup in the next five years. I got laughed out of the studio and they managed to make two cup runs. So to see this team be this successful right now, yeah, I think that this community can actually build around this team and become bigger fans. And obviously the Mullins and right now, maybe even the Dolphins.
Billy Corben
It's a weird way to judge this.
Dan LeBatard
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Maybe even the Dolphins.
Billy Corben
No, well, that's not.
Greg Cody
He got carried away.
Billy Corben
Look, it's. It's still difficult to walk into a sports bar and at least Miami Dade county and find the TV on a Panther game. It's becoming more commonplace. You don't have to ask for it as much. I occasionally go into sports bars and they have the sound on for, for huge games. I think it's building and a little bit of self awareness. There's no way hockey ever matches the NFL in this town, but it did in Tampa and they built on success over there. So it's not impossible in this state, but just as a market, demographically, Tampa is much different than the Tri county area down here. That's a, that's a bit of a pipe dream. But certainly challenge the Miami Heat in terms of local interest.
Dan LeBatard
Mike, you got here, you got here before I did by a year. I would say, I would say that in your reduced fan with that the Panthers last year, in just your consumption was the first time in your lifetime, maybe, maybe 96, where the Panthers had run the Heat out of your purview.
Billy Corben
Yeah. Other than the two years before that.
Dan LeBatard
Because I'd argue that right now. Okay, so three years, you've got.
Billy Corben
Yeah, like three years. Like the Barkov Huberdeau that really started. Oh, these guys have been around for a while.
Dan LeBatard
You're going to tell me now that those Panther teams to you were something you were watching with more interest, passion. And so the Derrick White shot at the buzzer with the Celtics and the Heat. You're going to tell me that Panthers feelings overrode those Heat feelings.
Billy Corben
Well, when that was happening, the Panthers had been eliminated from their bubble. But I would say that, yeah, like dating back to three years ago, the Panthers, if they were on at the same time, the Panthers would get the sound. We're going on an Olympiad now where the Panthers have usurped the Miami Heat in. In my opinion. And the Miami Heat have had two. Two. Well, two real deep runs. Two finals appearances in that time. But the Panthers have also had two finals appearances. I, I just love the team. I love the connection with it. I love the sport. I think if you compare them in direct comparison with one another, they're going in opposite directions. The Miami Heat and the Florida Panthers.
Dan LeBatard
Okay, but can I. When. When I talk about. Look, look. Greg Cody is the most historic sports columnist now that we have going in town.
Greg Cody
Yeah.
Dan LeBatard
Living. Yes. Only in terms of stature locally as a journalism legend. Greg Cody finishes, I think, second to only Edwin Pope in this town. Maybe he's running neck and neck with Dave Hyde on columnist greatness. I don't know where he put himself on this list, but when it comes to what's happening in this town right now, two columnists are calling for the firing of Chris Greer with the Dolphins. I don't know. You can correct me. That still means something to me when newspapers do that. And I don't recall a time in South Florida history when two columnists were willing to do that at the same time since going back to Jimmy Johnson and Don Shula at the very end when Dave Hyde and I were doing it. But I think I have it right when I say it's unusual for our market to call for the firing of a leader. So that's happening with the Dolphins, apparently.
Billy Corben
I've only been around for a year, dude. I'm really confused. I started running this bid in 2017.
Dan LeBatard
I'm not saying that you don't. I'm not. You know what? You know what? All right, listen to me. I'm not gonna have you sit here with a straight face and tell me that you cared about the Panthers more when Bam Adebayo was blocking Jayson Tatum out at the rim. You have had some of your Heat Allegian beaten out of you by the Celtics. The last.
Billy Corben
No doubt. When. When he blocked Jason Tatum at the rim. That was Miami versus Boston. And Florida was out of the NHL playoffs in their bubble. No doubt. I was more of a Heat guy then. I guess the reason years that followed. Keep in mind, that was a while ago.
Dan LeBatard
No, but the reason. The only. The only reason I'm bringing. The only reason I'm bringing all this up, Mike, is because this is exactly the only thing a team can do in this market, like a hockey team, to wrestle the city away from the incumbent. In sports. We don't support four and five things at the same time down here. Like, so if you want to wrestle the town away, do it with regular season games that matter. I'm watching basketball games. I don't care. When the Heat are losing to the Pistons by a point.
Billy Corben
Yeah, I don't think they've wrestled the town away. I still think hockey down here in Miami, Dade county especially, it still has a way to go to even catch this fledgling Miami Heat incarnation across the street. It's still got a way to go, but I'm super fine with that. I'm super cool with this really exciting time down here locally where you get to build on something and you bring more and more people to the tent. More and more people get introduced to the sport. There is nothing like playoff hockey and I think optically too. You see the ratings for the NBA, they're down. The NBA has a problem. My chief problem with the NBA I'll wear it is that I don't like this Miami Heat team. I don't. They're not interesting to me. I'm sick of it. I don't want to watch them anymore.
Greg Cody
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Dan LeBatard
Don LeBatard, you don't remember the idea.
Chris Cote
I was probably, like, that kind of thing.
Amin Elhassan
Something.
Stugatz
Okay. No, the home run call was that kind of swing. That kind of thing.
Roy Bellamy
Stugats.
Lucy
Oh, it's a good call.
Stugatz
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 gotta do that. Oh, that would be a great call up and swing. That kind of thing.
Roy Bellamy
This is the Dan Levatar show with the stugats.
Billy Corben
I don't watch the other games either. I'm not at all interested. There was a cup yesterday. Didn't give a single. With hockey, I'm watching everything. I'm staying up late. I want to see Jets, Avalanche. I love the sport. The product is flatly better. The NBA really needs to address the product because everyone can acknowledge it's not going in the right direction.
Greg Cody
In Mike's defense, he has been telling me this for years. Like, years. So, Dan, if you look at the Panther run, you can go back to 21, 22. That's the year they had the most points in the league, to the playoffs. That's really when it started. So this is now. We're on the fourth season of a great hockey run. And I would say if the Panthers win another Stanley cup, let's say, oh.
Dan LeBatard
No, just make another run. Just make another run.
Greg Cody
You gotta win some cups.
Lucy
Exactly. I'm good with winning it again, though. At the Biden cup, that amount didn't matter.
Dan LeBatard
If they win another Cup. Finish your thought. I'm sorry I interrupted you. You were cooking.
Greg Cody
I do think there's an opportunity for the Panthers to kind of take over this out. They're never going to be as popular as the Dolphins, but I can envision a day if they stack cups where they're more popular. People care more about them than the Heat.
Dan LeBatard
All right. And so you saying that to me, my purview, lifelong South Floridian, is crazy. It's crazy.
Greg Cody
I understand.
Dan LeBatard
So they. They. Before we get to the excellence of all of this, because they're the thing.
Billy Corben
So that's a fine.
Greg Cody
He has a checklist he forgot to check.
Dan LeBatard
Yeah.
Chris Cote
I love how he's holding it below the table as if we didn't all hear it and it didn't stop the show.
Dan LeBatard
Sorry.
Stugatz
I apologize. Damn. I can't be perfect.
Dan LeBatard
Who was it?
Greg Cody
You're right.
Stugatz
It was my doctor. I got an appointment tomorrow. They always get. I get a robocall reminding me about an appointment, like it's not on my calendar. Like I'm going to forget. Continue.
Greg Cody
Because you've never canceled a doctor's appointment before, huh?
Stugatz
I canceled this one. It was Tuesday, and they snuck me in. Friday, huh?
Lucy
Today's Wednesday, everybody.
Stugatz
We keep seeming to forget that you were cooking, Dan. I'm sorry. Go ahead, continue. Go back to the stove. Flip those jacks.
Dan LeBatard
Flip those jacks. I like that as the new take. The new. The new. The new way that I enter the room to have a take. I. I flip those jacks. Can you guys put on the screen for me in the corner, please? Mike mentioned a parade, and it just made me think. The single best parade that I believe Metal Arc Media has ever had. It was Greg Cody's Miami Dade Panthers win the championship. Connor McDavid is overrated parade that he did here with us. And, yeah, it just makes me happy to look at. Look. Look at Greg, how happy he is.
Stugatz
You don't see the crowd because they're just off camera, right? People were lined up for months.
Dan LeBatard
That was right after the Panthers won the cup. That was our parade in the streets of downtown Miami. So when I say to you guys that it's unusual because this has been Broward's team, okay, like, it's hard to get the. All the ethnicities. I mean, I don't know. Tony and Billy still don't care about the Panthers, right? I shouldn't speak about Billy as if he's not here.
Billy Corben
I mean, there is a cultural disconnect between, you know, Hispanic Miami Dade and hockey. It's just not, you know, that they're more geared to baseball and football and even basketball down here. Hockey, they've never had a reason to care. And thankfully, this franchise is giving them a reason to care. It's just, you know, they are most certainly Broward's team, and they lean into that footprint. Hopefully one day they can revitalize an area because their. Their stadium's kind of out there near the Everglades a little bit, but it's not impossible. Look, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been a really successful franchise. They have two Super Bowls in the last 25 years. They're often in the playoffs. If you go to Tampa, the flags hanging outside people's homes are blue and white.
Dan LeBatard
Well, this is. This is. That is a hockey town, Mike. This is what I'm telling you. What I can't believe I've witnessed over the last five years is a management leadership that turns from the best offensive team in the sport during the regular season to realizing immediately, oh, that don't work in the playoffs. Got to do that. Rip it up. I would have gone with that for a couple more years and I would have died at the feet of the lightning and given them the state because I would not have been bold enough to make the move that brings Tkachuk and stability to town. I would not have had the foresight to know that Paul Maurice would become the winningest coach in Panther history. Already. Already that.
Greg Cody
Which is great.
Dan LeBatard
Think. Think about that for a second.
Greg Cody
Low bar. I mean, I know.
Dan LeBatard
But still. But still he. To see this team be this kind of excellent and to have it be in the middle where the other things that need to happen in your town around sports have to happen so that you can grab a town the way Tampa does, because the opportunity is right here. And I just didn't think in my sports lifetime I would ever see a time where hockey could be that thing in both of these markets. Even as Dade county yawns largely about the Panthers, but they're making us, I think, care about regular season games in a way I haven't felt before. Because I've got. I live around bars and stuff. I hear what's happening around me. Hockey is doing something in Dade County I've not seen before.
Billy Corben
Well, one of the things that I think will be huge for their growth because I'm sure they have all sorts of meetings and they bust open the books and they realize we have so much room for growth in Miami Dade County. How do we get there? The reports are accurate. There is a winter classic coming to South Florida, coming to Lone Depot park next season that potentially might pit a lot of the fans out there. Might suggest it's going to be Florida against one of its main rivals. It'd be great if it were the Tampa Bay Lightning because you get to draw from that market, too. That is a huge moment in time. If this Panther organization can keep that momentum going and it crescendos with this huge event down the street over there at Marlins Park. That'd be really cool because that's the first time hockey has come to. To Miami Dade county since they left.
Lucy
It's. I feel like we're overcomplicating this. People like the Panthers and watch the Panthers because they've been good the past years and they just won the championship like no one else.
Greg Cody
Good. People care.
Lucy
Yeah, exactly right. You're good and you don't blow up your team. People care and they're gonna watch because they want you to keep. Keep winning. Like non other teams have actually really.
Greg Cody
Been super Close work.
Lucy
So the Heat went to the finals, but, like, no one actually thought they were going to win the finals.
Dan LeBatard
Thank you for being a voice of reason because you're absolutely right. But you understand how to my tinny sports ear, I would totally be surprised by local sports excellence. I've covered, like, fairly local.
Lucy
Honestly, that's so far away.
Dan LeBatard
I'll go anywhere to find it. It's been so long since it's barely local. Like, the Dolphins have been bad for a really long time. You guys.
Billy Corben
They're not checking out on the Dolphins. People like you listen to local sports talk radio. People are irate because they care. Why? Because the product is really good. So I do think that there is a small faction of hockey fans down here that will support the team through thick and thin. Like I have. Like Chris has, like Roy has, but like you have. But people need to be clued into the fact that this sport is just terrific to watch. They need to be brought into the tent. They need to go into a bar where the sound is on and people are locked in. In. And you're living and dying as a puck crosses a blue line every half second, it feels like. And your season is hanging on the the edge of a blade. It's incredible. There's nothing like it. It's infectious.
Chris Cote
You guys are proving the point for football, though. Like, you guys just said it every other team around here. If they were bad the previous season, the ratings might not be great the next year. The Dolphins rating. Like, people are watching the Dolphins even if they were 1 in 15 the year before.
Stugatz
It's always going to be a football town. And I said that 10 years ago when the big three heat were a thing. It's always going to be a football town. I do think the Panthers have the chance to be the second biggest pro team in the market. For five years now, kids have grown up with the Panthers just being stunning.
Chris Cote
My daughter loves the Panthers. My daughter's the only team she talks about down here.
Lucy
But also, you have season tickets. You control what your children.
Billy Corben
That's how you build fandom, though.
Dan LeBatard
This is a stunning commentary from longtime veteran columnist Greg Cody. In a town where columnists are calling for firings, Greg Cody has proclaimed the Panthers have a chance right now out to be the second best team in the market.
Stugatz
Second biggest, best already.
Billy Corben
Hey, folks, it's Mike Ryan. The holiday season is upon us. Christmas is coming next week. So what are you doing for it? I imagine you're gonna have some family over. How do you entertain the family? How do you keep everybody happy. Well, I know one easy way make your holiday time Miller Time. Bring out a nice silver platter of that beautiful white can or bottle, whatever your preference. Heck, do it on draft. As long as it's got that beautiful amber color and was triple hops brewed, you know it's going to be a hit. Why? Cause Miller Lite has tastes you know you can depend on. No games, no gimmicks. Just great beer. For people who like beer, you'll take a sip, look around, see your family and know you immediately made the best decision possible. Because Miller Lite is brewed for taste, it hits different than other light beers. Simple ingredients like malted barley for rich balanced toffee note flavors and the iconic golden color. The original light beer since 1975 and still still the best one. Making memories at year end gatherings. Tastes like Miller Time. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you or you can pick up some Miller Light pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Fewer calories and carbs than premium regular beer.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz: Local Hour Summary
Episode: "Are The Florida Panthers The Biggest Thing In Town?"
Release Date: December 18, 2024
In this episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, hosted by Dan LeBatard and Stugotz from the iconic Elser Hotel in Downtown Miami, the crew delves into the vibrant South Florida sports scene, focusing primarily on the rising popularity of the Florida Panthers. Alongside this, they explore the dynamics of office holiday parties and initiate a community-driven toy drive to spread holiday cheer.
Dan LeBatard opens the discussion by questioning the true value of office holiday parties. He seeks honest opinions from his team about whether these events are enjoyed or merely seen as obligations.
Billy Corben expresses a positive outlook, emphasizing the importance of celebrating achievements and fostering camaraderie.
The conversation reveals mixed feelings, with some appreciating the opportunity to bond outside the workplace, while others view it as a cumbersome duty.
Shifting gears, Dan announces a heartfelt initiative to support local children during the holiday season. The team collaborates on a toy drive, aiming to match the donations from their audience.
The crew engages in a playful debate over the logistics, including gift wrapping techniques and the challenges of matching donated items. This segment underscores the show's commitment to community involvement and generosity.
The core of the episode revolves around the Florida Panthers' remarkable performance and their growing dominance in South Florida's sports landscape. The hosts and guests analyze how the Panthers have captured the local audience's attention, surpassing traditionally favored teams like the Miami Heat and Dolphins.
Billy Corben highlights the Panthers' sustained excellence and their strategic growth, contrasting it with the inconsistent performances of other local teams.
The discussion touches upon the Panthers' strategic management, player development, and their ability to engage a diverse fan base. Stugatz and Chris Cote contribute insights on the cultural impact and the potential for the Panthers to become the second biggest pro team in the market.
The episode concludes with an affirmation of the Florida Panthers' significant influence in South Florida's sports scene. Dan LeBatard emphasizes the unprecedented nature of their success and its implications for the local community.
The team reiterates their support for the Panthers while balancing discussions about other sports franchises, underlining the dynamic and competitive nature of South Florida's athletic landscape.
Notable Quotes:
This episode encapsulates the vibrant discussions and passionate insights of Dan LeBatard and his crew, celebrating both community spirit and the thrilling ascent of the Florida Panthers in the heart of South Florida.