Local Hour: Are The Titans Soft? Feat. John Amaechi

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz Episode: Local Hour: Are The Titans Soft?
Release Date: December 19, 2024
Featuring: John Amaechi

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1. Holiday Party Etiquette and Plus Ones (00:36 - 13:55)

The episode kicks off with a lively discussion centered around the recent company holiday party at the Elser Hotel in Downtown Miami. Host Dan Le Batard shares an amusing anecdote about inadvertently bringing his wife to the party, unaware of the strict "no plus ones" policy.

• Dan Le Batard (01:03): "Shadow Show. Shadowing it. Shadowing it. Is Amin here or did the holiday party get him?"

• Mike Ryan (01:22): "I saw an IG from him where there was a turkey vulture on his balcony here at the elser and I don't think he made it. I think it was huge."

Dan humorously laments breaking the party rule and expresses self-consciousness about being the only one with a plus one.

• Dan Le Batard (02:08): "I have a number of holiday party related questions because when I got there yesterday, Izzy immediately apologized to me and said, I'm so sorry. I did not know that this was no plus ones."

Greg Cody and Mike Ryan chime in, emphasizing that Dan, as a co-founder, is grandfathered into the exception.

The conversation evolves into a broader debate about company policies, with Amin Alhassan advocating for clear, consistent rules to avoid confusion.

• Amin Alhassan (09:55): "It's hugely bad choice."

Dan proposes turning the debate into a listener poll to gather opinions on whether holiday parties should allow plus ones.

• Dan Le Batard (13:25): "Should holiday. Should the company make holiday parties always? Plus one? Yes or no is the question that I want to put before you."

2. Memorable Moments from the Holiday Party (05:47 - 10:57)

Dan recounts a particularly memorable moment from the party involving Greg Cody and David Dwork attempting to take shots from a hockey stick, showcasing unexpected solidarity.

• Dan Le Batard (05:55): "I am here with what looks like a truly horrified John Amici. You don't understand what just happened there with my father and 50 Shades of Poppy."

Greg and Mike humorously critique Dan's unfamiliarity with taking mezcal shots straight, leading to playful banter and minor penalties being thrown in jest.

• Greg Cody (14:26): "I do."

• Dan Le Batard (14:37): "Double minor."

3. John Amici's Unexpected Visit and Vulture Encounter (16:15 - 20:30)

John Amici shares a bizarre and humorous incident from the day of the party, where he encountered a large turkey vulture on his balcony. Amid the laughter, John narrates how he ended up with a split lip after rushing across the street, blending the absurdity of the bird encounter with his own clumsiness.

• John Amici (17:27): "I was clumsy and also alcohol, man."

Dan and the team humorously exaggerate the threat of the vulture, adding to the lighthearted atmosphere.

• Dan Le Batard (18:47): "Your cat would be a meatloaf in the claws in the talons of that bird."

4. Stephen A. Smith's Critique of Joel Embiid's Toughness (21:57 - 37:55)

A substantial portion of the episode delves into Stephen A. Smith's recent criticism of Joel Embiid regarding his perceived lack of toughness and recurring injuries. The discussion is led by John Amici, who defends Embiid's dedication and the complexities behind his injury management.

• John Amici (23:12): "He's always hurt. This brother will get hurt going to the bathroom."

Amin Alhassan provides a critical analysis of Smith's arguments, highlighting the gaps in his understanding and the importance of respecting athletes' physical limitations.

• Amin Alhassan (24:17): "Anytime he thinks his argument is lacking, he just gets louder. And to me, that is the sign of the belligerent drunk at the end of the bar."

Dan questions the validity of media critiques without firsthand medical insights, while Mike Ryan emphasizes the repetitive nature of Embiid's injuries and their impact on his performance.

• Mike Ryan (29:08): "I wouldn't say people were complaining. I would say people noticed that some people brought."

John Amici counters by detailing Embiid's injury history and the strategic decisions by the Philadelphia 76ers' management, suggesting that Embiid's commitment to the Olympics may have jeopardized his season.

• John Amici (27:42): "He should have been resting this whole time. He's not ready for the start of the season."

5. The Tennessee Titans’ Toughness Debate (37:55 - 44:54)

Shifting focus to the NFL, the episode features Diana Rossini discussing allegations that the Tennessee Titans are "soft." Rossini vehemently disagrees, asserting that the Titans are a tough and hardworking team despite their poor performance record.

• Diana Rossini (39:53): "These guys are tough bleepers, man. They go after it every day."

Greg Cody and Amin Alhassan join the conversation, with Amin critiquing the use of the term "soft" as vague and demoralizing.

• Amin Alhassan (44:25): "But to me the idea that soft is the language we use for when we mean something different. Say what we mean and then you could actually get to the heart of the problem."

Don Le Batard contributes by reflecting on the Titans' historical identity of toughness, contrasting it with current gameplay and management.

• Don Le Batard (40:07): "The guys that were on the team over the last few seasons, the ones that played in the AFC Championship game, those guys were tough and they didn't have a lot of stars."

The panel debates the subjective nature of labeling a team as "soft," considering factors like pain thresholds, injury management, and team spirit.

• Mike Ryan (42:46): "You're just looking in their eyes and you can tell me they're not tough."

6. Concluding Thoughts and Listener Engagement (44:54 - 38:24)

As the episode winds down, the hosts encourage listener interaction through polls and social media, seeking opinions on the discussed topics. They balance serious analysis with humor, ensuring an engaging and relatable experience for both regular listeners and newcomers.

• Dan Le Batard (36:34): "I mean, like, you can make the argument that one team is tougher than the next, but you will not be able to convince me."

The episode concludes with reflections on team toughness, athlete health, and the responsibilities of sports media in shaping public perception.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Dan Le Batard (02:08): "I felt so bad. I felt so bad for Izzy because he immediately became self-conscious."

• Amin Alhassan (09:55): "It's hugely bad choice."

• John Amici (23:12): "He's always hurt. This brother will get hurt going to the bathroom."

• Amin Alhassan (24:17): "Anytime he thinks his argument is lacking, he just gets louder."

• Diana Rossini (39:53): "These guys are tough bleepers, man. They go after it every day."

• Don Le Batard (40:07): "Those guys were tough and they didn't have a lot of stars."

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Key Takeaways

• Company Policies: Clear and consistent rules regarding event attendance are crucial to avoid misunderstandings and ensure inclusivity.

• Athlete Health and Media Critique: Media figures like Stephen A. Smith may oversimplify athletes' health issues, missing the nuanced challenges they face.

• Team Toughness: Labeling teams as "soft" is subjective and often overlooks the underlying factors affecting their performance and resilience.

• Listener Engagement: Encouraging audience participation through polls and social media enhances the interactive experience and broadens the discussion spectrum.

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Note: This summary focuses solely on the content-rich segments of the episode, omitting advertisements, intros, and outros to provide a coherent and comprehensive overview of the key discussions and insights shared by the hosts and guests.

Transcript

[Don LeBatard]

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[Dan LeBatard]

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[Mike Ryan]

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[Don LeBatard]

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 [e-mail] learn more shadow show.

[John Amici]

Shadow Show.

[Dan LeBatard]

Shadow Show.

[Amin Alhassan]

Shadow Show.

[Dan LeBatard]

Shadow Show.

[Mike Ryan]

Shadow.

[Dan LeBatard]

Shadow Show. Shadowing it. Shadowing it. Is Amin here or did the holiday party get him?

[Mike Ryan]

What do you mean by here? I saw an IG from him where there was a turkey vulture on his balcony here at the elser and I don't think he made it. I think it was huge.

[Dan LeBatard]

We have replaced him with John Amici and we will see if we find Amin at some point. But I have a number of holiday party related questions because when I got there yesterday, Izzy immediately apologized to me and said, I'm so sorry. I did not know that this was no plus ones. Now I'm standing next to my wife and it's the first time I'm learning that there are no plus ones at our party. So I've broken the rule upon upon coming in, I didn't even know the rule. And then Izzy's apologizing to me about the rule and I'm forced to consider for first time the rule because I'm like, is it okay to do that? Was anyone complaining about that at the party?

[Greg Cody]

The rules kind of don't apply to you though.

[Mike Ryan]

Dan, come on.

[Dan LeBatard]

No, no, no, no. I wasn't asking whether I'm allowed to bring my wife.

[Mike Ryan]

You're always allowed to bring your wife.

[Dan LeBatard]

Thank you.

[Mike Ryan]

Just in case you didn't know, I'm letting you.

[Dan LeBatard]

Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. I wasn't asking for that part, but I did immediately feel self conscious of, wait a minute. No one else is allowed to bring their. Their plus one and I'm here with my plus one. It made me immediately feel self conscious. It's like Got all mad that we were in Austin for South by Southwest and I was staying at the Four Seasons and everybody else was at a day's in.

[Amin Alhassan]

What?

[Mike Ryan]

We were at the Two Seasons.

[Amin Alhassan]

That is really.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, this is before I got control or more control over my company. I tried to rectify that upon noticing it, but this. What do I do about this? Were there people complaining that they weren't allowed to bring their wives or husbands?

[Mike Ryan]

I wouldn't say people were complaining. I would say people noticed that some people brought.

[Dan LeBatard]

Not.

[Mike Ryan]

I wouldn't say it was you, but yeah, like, it was just kind of like, oh, I didn't know that was allowed. No, you're like, grandfathered in, Dan. Everyone knows the deal.

[Greg Cody]

You are the grandfather.

[Mike Ryan]

You co founded the company.

[Dan LeBatard]

No, no, wait a minute. Again, again, this is not the part I'm asking about. And I will self penalize here. It's not okay for everyone else to not bring their spouse and me to bring my spouse.

[Mike Ryan]

But it's been that way since we've ever started having company parties. That's just always been the policy. Like, I walked into it, and I just assumed that there were no plus ones. And then I saw Izzy broke that rule, and I was like, oh, damn, this is gonna be a fight.

[Dan LeBatard]

I haven't told people yet that John Amici is here in studio with us. We are thrilled to have.

[Mike Ryan]

He's my plus one.

[Dan LeBatard]

John Amici. I will ask him as somebody who knows about these things in a second. I'm gonna ask him for an official ruling declaration on this. But before we get started, I just want to tell everybody, like, this is a historic day in the history of sports media, like, in the history of maybe American media. Never before has there been a greater disparity in the history of the spoken word and media between the words coming out of a single seat from one day to the other. Than Stu Gotz being replaced today in this seat by John Amici.

[Mike Ryan]

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.

[Greg Cody]

I groan and run my fingernails across.

[John Amici]

His neck, and he gasps a strangled moan.

[Greg Cody]

I stick down onto him, reveling in the fullness of my possession, reveling in.

[Mike Ryan]

His reaction, watching his unravel beneath me.

[John Amici]

I feel like a goddess.

[Amin Alhassan]

Ah.

[Mike Ryan]

Nah.

[Amin Alhassan]

Touch me, please.

[Greg Cody]

I lean forward and steady myself with.

[John Amici]

My hands on his chest.

[Greg Cody]

Come on, baby.

[Amin Alhassan]

I need this.

[Mike Ryan]

Give it to me.

[Greg Cody]

And I explode, my body a slave to his.

[John Amici]

And Wrap myself around him, clinging to.

[Greg Cody]

Him like a vine as he crowds out my name and climaxes with me.

[Mike Ryan]

Thank you, Poppy. See, Greg? That's how it's done.

[Greg Cody]

Then Coll one way, pressing me into the mattress.

[Mike Ryan]

Okay, time to start the show.

[Greg Cody]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the stug.

[Dan LeBatard]

I am here with what looks like a truly horrified John Amici. You don't understand what just happened there with my father and 50 Shades of Poppy. Right?

[Amin Alhassan]

No. That was madness. That was madness. Who thinks of this? That's the part that's amazing to me. Who thinks of this and says, that's what we'll do. That combination of things and the visuals. The exploding watermelon.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah, okay. That is on the video product, the YouTube product. We will go out to our toy drive here in a little bit because after Tony and Roy competed against each other to be a better Santa Claus, we are now going to an even skinnier Santa Claus because Rose is going to be out there for us today at Dolphin Mall, and we will check in with her in a second. But I want to continue the conversation about the holiday party yesterday, which escalated quickly. Okay? And when I say it escalated quickly, I don't know about the rest of you, but at one point, I looked up and a Greg Cody, who had had too many beers and was now chasing it with shots of tequila, was drinking a shot from a hockey stick with David Dwork. And both of them, at the end of that, thrust their arms up in the air together. In the moment of greatest solidarity I have seen at Meadowlark Media, David Dwork and Greg Cody did shots of Tequil, threw their arms up in the air, and it was a soulful connection I was not expecting. The strangest buddy tandem since Roy and Dwark on the hockey show and anyone I would associate dork with in general, because he's dork.

[Greg Cody]

Oh, man, that's great. That's great, Dan. Thank you very much.

[Dan LeBatard]

What? Dwark is an unusual creature. Are we disagreeing on that?

[Greg Cody]

Not necessarily. No, we're not disagreeing on that. I wish I could have joined in on that shot. Where were you? I'm dry right now.

[Dan LeBatard]

Nobody's more annoying. Nobody's more annoying than the guy who can't stop telling you he's dry.

[Greg Cody]

Yes.

[Dan LeBatard]

Stop. Nobody wants to hear it. Nobody wants to hear you. That's your choice.

[Greg Cody]

And Roy, do you think that was my choice?

[Mike Ryan]

And Roy was one of the last ones there. I remember looking at him. It was, like, close to midnight, and I'm just like, I would not still be here right now if I was sober. Roy had more shots than the Minnesota Wild had in the third period.

[Dan LeBatard]

I do want to talk about what happened in that game last night because to go again to go on the road and beat 6 1, a team that had lost seven times all season with scoring two goals. Hey, there's a mean.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, Dan. We were all talking before the show and we all agreed last night was a quintessential Matthew Tkachuk performance.

[Greg Cody]

Absolutely.

[Mike Ryan]

Just two goals, you know, getting. Mixing it up, getting shoved and cross checked immediately after scoring. What a special team this is. Because as you mentioned, Minnesota quite good. And that's not usually a spot where the Florida Panthers have a lot of success.

[Greg Cody]

Roy, you remember that. That play where Ron Artest had where he was celebrating the basket and then he immediately elbowed James Harden. That's what Matthew Tkachuk did to Mark Andre Fleury after he scored.

[Dan LeBatard]

I mean, beating Minnesota 61 going on the road, scoring like that in that game.

[Mike Ryan]

Holden Kirill, the thrill to under 1 1/2 points. An achievement in itself.

[Greg Cody]

He had a goal taken away from him.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, yeah, that one hurt.

[Dan LeBatard]

Also hurting is Amin Alhassan. But I don't want to exclude Amici in the most aggressive way possible by not just talking about hockey, but talking about Florida pants. I've got a. I've got a champions.

[Mike Ryan]

We can talk cfp. He's. He's a little worried about the sayings.

[Dan LeBatard]

I. I want to talk about all the sports things now that Amin has joined us. But I did want to ask Amin if you have any thoughts on the corporate. On the holiday party. I would like all of them. You seem to have had a good time. I want from Amici some analysis of whether we're doing the party correctly or not. As a company. I would like constructive. I would like constructive advice. Wednesday's not poor. Chris Cody had to sleep at the elser. He just got. He just.

[Mike Ryan]

He was. All right. Hump day.

[Dan LeBatard]

It's a bad day. Bad choice for the party to do it on a Wednesday should.

[Amin Alhassan]

It's hugely bad choice.

[Dan LeBatard]

Thank you.

[Amin Alhassan]

What's wrong with Fridays?

[John Amici]

That's a great question.

[Amin Alhassan]

What's wrong with the Friday?

[John Amici]

I was wondering the same thing.

[Mike Ryan]

I thought today was Friday. Do this.

[Amin Alhassan]

Knowing that the pain on. I mean, I've seen some colleagues in here. It is not a fun day for some people right now.

[Mike Ryan]

Low energy.

[Amin Alhassan]

Low energy. And also just that. That face that says I'm like a millimeter from vomiting in a bucket. That type of thing.

[Greg Cody]

That's fine for me. I was dry.

[Mike Ryan]

See right through me. Oh, I'm a vegan.

[Amin Alhassan]

Sorry. You were dry again?

[Dan LeBatard]

Yes.

[Amin Alhassan]

Okay, good. Good to know. This is one of those vegan things. Have to tell you.

[Dan LeBatard]

God damn it. Minor penalty.

[Mike Ryan]

Two minutes for boring. I'm also very dry because I'm extremely dehydrated.

[Dan LeBatard]

Just nobody likes that person who's telling you all the time that he or she is dry. Amine is clearly not dry. Where do you stand?

[John Amici]

What?

[Dan LeBatard]

As an advisor for an assortment of corporations, as a psychologist, where do you stand as what it is that should be allowed at the company party? Because I felt a bit self conscious not allowing everybody to have a plus one. And I don't know what the right thing just.

[Amin Alhassan]

People take it for granted that you can't bring a plus one.

[Dan LeBatard]

No. When I got there with my wife, Izzy's immediately apologizing to me because he did not know it was no plus ones, which is the moment that I realized it was no plus ones. And so it was not my decision. As many things around here, my responsibility, but not my decision. And so I really don't know what's right here, though.

[Amin Alhassan]

Well, what's right is having a decision that you make that everybody knows. Right. So either everybody knows it's plus ones or everybody knows it's not plus ones. I think no plus ones. We just had our holiday party on a Friday, by the way.

[John Amici]

On a Friday.

[Mike Ryan]

Novel concept.

[Amin Alhassan]

So that people can be pained on their own time. Right. Which I think is better.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah. I don't know. Like, this was, like I said, grandfathered in. I walked in with the expectation that there were no plus ones because ever since we've been accompanied, there have been no plus ones. So it wasn't even a topic of conversation.

[Amin Alhassan]

Make the rule.

[Mike Ryan]

Make the rule.

[Dan LeBatard]

Is he doing it?

[Mike Ryan]

We're fine with you doing it, Dan. But it's Izzy's first holiday party, so he had no idea that this was, like the rule.

[Dan LeBatard]

But it's my first holiday party and I didn't know it was the rule because at the previous holiday parties, I had not noticed that that was something that was happening. It's just I wasn't paying att it and I had noticed it. No previous, I had not noticed it. And I probably wouldn't have even noticed it last night if that just doesn't.

[Mike Ryan]

Sound right, like we co founded this company. How is it your first holiday party?

[Amin Alhassan]

That is weird, by the way.

[Dan LeBatard]

I don't think it was. My word. I don't think it was my first holiday party. I think it was my first holiday party where this was pointed out to me. I haven't noticed it at previous holiday parties. It wasn't something that I was conscious too. And the last one I went to, I didn't go with my wife.

[Mike Ryan]

Nobody could make it. And they all couldn't make it. Wow, what a coincidence. Like nobody's partner could make it.

[Amin Alhassan]

That does seem a bit convenient. Yeah. Why don't just make a rule about this?

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, there is a rule. It's no plus one.

[Mike Ryan]

Except Dan. Totally fine with that. Like that. Yeah. The co founder of the company, he gets to bring his wife. We're good. Thank you for the bar. I believe I deserve to bring someone as well.

[Dan LeBatard]

So what is your ruling on this? Because I haven't actually even talked to any of our executives about how it is.

[Amin Alhassan]

No plus ones. No plus ones. It's. It's. It's. It's the work. Family together. Chance to let your hair down. That's it.

[Mike Ryan]

Hear that, Izzy?

[Dan LeBatard]

Put it on the poll, please, at Lebatard show. I felt so bad. I felt so bad for Izzy because he immediately became self conscious. Put it on the poll at Lebatard show. Should. Should holiday. Should the company make holiday parties always? Plus one? Yes or no is the question that I want to put before you. I mean, how much are you hurting? How much fun did you have? Were you one of the people taking shots off of a hockey stick?

[John Amici]

I missed the hockey stick shot. I saw you imbibe in that and indulge in that.

[Mike Ryan]

And yeah, I saw your face after too, Dan.

[Greg Cody]

I didn't like that.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, I'll tell you why. Because I've never. I've. I've never done it off a hockey stick before. So I did not know what we were doing. So when they said, do you want a shot? I said yes. And I asked for a mezcal because I thought I would be sipping it once. A mezcal becomes a shot shot, and it's super smoky. You've made a mistake. You shouldn't drink that as a shot. You need to sip mezcal. Like drinking it. I don't. Nobody does shots of mezcal. That's not something you do.

[Greg Cody]

I. I do.

[Dan LeBatard]

You're dry.

[Mike Ryan]

You're dry.

[Greg Cody]

Yeah, well, come on now. Don't do this to me.

[Mike Ryan]

Why would you walk into that?

[Dan LeBatard]

Minor penalty. Two minutes for boring.

[Mike Ryan]

Double minor.

[Greg Cody]

No, I.

[Mike Ryan]

No, no double minor.

[Greg Cody]

I said if I wasn't dry, I would. Roy, by now, we're missing the word dry. And I said, I'll count it.

[Dan LeBatard]

Appeal it.

[Mike Ryan]

You said dry seven times in the last 10 seconds.

[Dan LeBatard]

You can appeal it to the commissioner if you want. You can argue on your way off the ice. You need to get out of here again, because you're dry.

[Mike Ryan]

You know, a great moment from last night because, yeah, some of you guys were doing the Schottzkis with tequila, which is insane. The pickleback is the greatest shot known to man because you take your shot of whiskey and then you immediately hydrate yourself with pickle juice. Now, Greg Cody, I happen to know, loves pickles and pickle juice. He had never had a pickleback in his entire Life. In his 215 years on this planet, he had never indulged in a pickleback. And I ordered him one. And as soon as he knocked back the pickle juice instantaneously.

[John Amici]

Wow.

[Mike Ryan]

Where has this been my entire life? It was just an incredible moment.

[John Amici]

What an honor to introduce Greg Cody to something alcoholic.

[Don LeBatard]

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[Dan LeBatard]

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[Mike Ryan]

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[Mike Ryan]

Don LeBatard our Panther group chat. We're confident against the lighting. This is a different team. You're a Panther Group chat. No, no, I think no.

[Dan LeBatard]

But dude, you're. You're so wrong on that.

[Mike Ryan]

We've been terrified of this team forever and I think there's a different energy where the Panthers, they want the lightning stugats.

[Dan LeBatard]

I want T shirts made for this Panther run. What could be this Panther run? Our Panther group chat. We're not afraid of the lightning.

[Mike Ryan]

That's a Tagline for World RAR3.

[Greg Cody]

This is the Don Lebatar show with the Stugach.

[Dan LeBatard]

Did you have a turkey buzzard on your balcony. And why is your lip swollen? And is one of your teeth. Do you have a bloody mouth?

[John Amici]

No, it's. Yes, I have a split lip right here. I was running across the street last night and I face planted and it was a bloody mess. And I don't mean it in the John Amici way.

[Dan LeBatard]

What happened?

[John Amici]

I just described what happened.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, you did.

[Dan LeBatard]

What were you drinking?

[Mike Ryan]

High sticking.

[Dan LeBatard]

Were you. Were you drunk? Like, what happened? Like, what? You're just clumsy.

[John Amici]

I was clumsy and also alcohol, man.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, why, why were you running across the street? Like, what?

[Mike Ryan]

Because it did not get hit by a car. Thing was going down. Nine, eight, seven.

[John Amici]

Yeah, little jaywalk. Little jaywalk action going. But yes, there was earlier in the day. And this terrified me. And I learned a lot of things by the way. I'm talking to my sister on the phone and out of the corner of my eye, I see some movement on the balcony. And I'm like, oh. You know, usually birds are up there. And I take a look. That's a big bird. And I looked at it and it was like, that's a vulture. Like, I know that look. Dark feathers, naked neck and head. That's a vulture. And it just sat there, it was just kind of contemplating. And then it turned around and looked at me.

[Dan LeBatard]

It's like, why is your face bleeding?

[John Amici]

Well, this is before. It's early in the day.

[Dan LeBatard]

The turkey buzzard is telling its friends. You're not gonna believe this strange bloody thing with a big lip I just saw.

[John Amici]

Except he did it with an accent, so his friends didn't realize, like, oh, so it's like really terrible. Like, no, it's a bloody mess. There it is on the screen right there. Dude, it's huge. And it just sat there. And by the way, that's like a 20 second recording. It was there for a strong 15 minutes.

[Dan LeBatard]

I will tell you that you would be stunned by the size of the birds we have around here that you think are small because you're looking at them from a distance on the beach, and if they landed on your balcony, they'd take your cat. Like, they would fly off with your cat. Your cat would be a meatloaf in the claws in the talons of that bird.

[Mike Ryan]

It's funny when you go to the zoo and Romigil's like, wow, this bird has a six foot wingspan.

[Greg Cody]

You're like, yeah, okay, buddy.

[Mike Ryan]

All right, sure. And then they go like this and go and open it up and it's literally the size of my wingspan.

[Dan LeBatard]

I'm like, all of a sudden, they're the size of Shaq. And you're like, I did not know that.

[Mike Ryan]

Where'd all that come from?

[John Amici]

So this is the crazy part. So I tagged the show and I tagged Ron McGill. Cause I like, oh, get Ron on this. I found out that Ron is out of town. Right. Do you know how I found out? Cuz Ron's son responded to me. And, yes, Sean McGill, which I thought he was lying to me. He's like, I'm Sean McGill.

[Mike Ryan]

No, no.

[Dan LeBatard]

That's it.

[Mike Ryan]

My boy, Sean. Don McGill.

[John Amici]

Yeah, exactly.

[Dan LeBatard]

And don't forget Juan.

[Mike Ryan]

Juan McGill. Lon McGill.

[John Amici]

So Sean McGill runs only in Dade. Yeah. I was like, wow. So, like, all these worlds are colliding.

[Dan LeBatard]

While this buzzard works for Only in Date. He doesn't run Only.

[Mike Ryan]

He runs some of the page stuff.

[Dan LeBatard]

Okay. To run Only in Date is to be a mafia king.

[Mike Ryan]

Okay, hold on.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah. So are you saying.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, no. Yes.

[Dan LeBatard]

Because that must be Juan McGill. That's not going to be Sean McGill.

[Mike Ryan]

That's not going to Be Don McGill. That's the Don McGill. Dan. All I'm going to say is yes.

[Greg Cody]

I'm not going to say anything else.

[Dan LeBatard]

Thank you. Amin, are you okay? Because your face looks swollen. And I'm now imagining as you were rushing, you know, five, four, three. You want to get out in front of the car now? The car's waiting for someone who's in the street on his face, bleeding in a puddle.

[John Amici]

Yeah. I gathered myself quickly and did the wave. Thank you guys for not hitting me. And then after I got on the sidewalk, that's when I really started to realize, oh, my God, I'm a tomato can.

[Mike Ryan]

How long were you out of commission? Like, that looked like it hurt.

[John Amici]

Oh, it hurts now.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, so sounds like it. On the heels of yesterday's discussion, just know that that happens routinely in a hockey game. And they come right back and they often score goals.

[John Amici]

Well, I'm here working so well.

[Mike Ryan]

Thank you for your service.

[John Amici]

And I feel like I'm adding to the show. I did the whole bloody joke with Don and it was great.

[Mike Ryan]

But if Joel Embiid had suffered your injury, he'd be out for three months.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, I want to ask. I want to. This allows me to play a couple of Stephen A. Smith sounds, and I want to get to what it is that Tyreek Hill did on Twitt. I'm not going to call it X. I'm going to refuse for the rest of time to call it X. But Stephen A. Smith had some commentary on both Miami and Joel Embiid. And I want Amici's thoughts on this and I want Amin's thoughts on this, because I so rarely question whether or not an athlete cares enough. I don't do that very much. But let's listen to Stephen A. Smith here hammer Joel Embiid, who has had an assortment of injuries in the last couple of days. In fact, for the last few years, I've been a little bit bothered by the way that Mike Ryan goes with some form of this team's banged up or you have to play through that when all of us have different pain thresholds. And I don't expect everyone to have the pain threshold of a hockey player. That's not my expectation.

[John Amici]

Or a podcaster.

[Dan LeBatard]

But let's. Let's listen to Stephen A. Smith here. Just go after Joel Embiid as somebody. He cares very much about Philadelphia, and Philadelphia is just hammering Joel Embiid.

[John Amici]

You're about a tad bit away from being compared to Ben Simmons. It's starting to look that bad. Now, let me tell you something right now. You bring up the injuries and all of that stuff. I look at the disinterest on his face, and that was before it got cracked, okay? I look at the disinterest, the lack of enthusiasm, whatever. Now, we could talk about his injuries and. Fair enough. Perk, right? But here's the problem. You injured last year. You only played 39 games in the playoffs. Obviously, you got bounced in the first round by the New York Knicks. You didn't look that way in the Olympics. Looked pretty damn happy.

[Greg Cody]

Happy.

[John Amici]

Look pretty damn happy playing in the Olympics, okay? And then inexplicably, you ain't ready to go come this season, all right? And I'm looking at that, and I got this list of injuries here, just so y'all know. Sinus fracture, foot, knee, health protocols, back, hand, face, ankle, shoulder, calf, hip, elbow, ribs, injury management. That is why I was against your. Your assertion to sit him down. Because I'm going like this. He's always hurt. This brother will get hurt going to the bathroom. I got to use them when I got to use them, because I never know. Just because you don't play him don't.

[Dan LeBatard]

Mean he ain't gonna show up hurt.

[John Amici]

Evidenced by him playing in the Olympics. Looking just fine to the two months later when the season start. There's nothing. He's injured, and it's like, what the hell?

[Dan LeBatard]

I've got a disparity here. Mike Ryan is laughing. John Amici, a former professional basketball Player has just dropped his head into his hands. So who's right here?

[Amin Alhassan]

I mean, it's not about who's right. Almost everything this man is talking about is the gaps in his knowledge. He's reading papers. He's not there in medical rooms with him. And I don't know whether Joel is kind of phoning it in or not. I can't tell. But when anybody utters a sentence, well, you know, we can talk about his injuries, but. And then they want to talk about the way he holds his face, as if that ameliorates whether he's actually injured or not. It's just ridiculous to me. Plus, the thing I just find distasteful about this man is the fact that he replaces reason with volume. Anytime he thinks his argument is lacking, he just gets louder. And to me, that is the sign of the belligerent drunk at the end of the bar. Not a kind of seasoned reporter on this type of stuff.

[Greg Cody]

So you're saying he had a dry take?

[Amin Alhassan]

Okay, that's got to be one of those buzzers. It's got to be. What are you talking about?

[Greg Cody]

I wasn't even talking about alcohol.

[Amin Alhassan]

Instantly, instantly. It's gotta be. Can we find it?

[Dan LeBatard]

I'm looking for it. It seems to have moved somewhere.

[Amin Alhassan]

The penalty stops.

[Dan LeBatard]

Can we find it for a second? Yeah, I'm sorry. Please keep. Oh, yeah. Here. There we go. Oh, come on.

[Amin Alhassan]

Good Lord.

[Dan LeBatard]

Minor penalty, two minutes for.

[Mike Ryan]

Boring.

[Amin Alhassan]

How many of these miners do you.

[Mike Ryan]

Racking up these minors? Even A's tone was very good there.

[Greg Cody]

Excellent tone.

[Mike Ryan]

Also, Joel Embiid is very soft, but I was laughing a lot because. No, Joel Embiid's super soft. It's a fact. But every time I watch Stephen A. Smith, I just marvel at how good he is at this. He's incredible. He's incredible. He's incredible.

[Amin Alhassan]

Yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

Papers in front of him, but he's reading it better than anybody in the biz. He read through, like, 18 injuries in a matter of three seconds. Why's the man incredible?

[Amin Alhassan]

He's a good broadcaster, I'll grant you that.

[Mike Ryan]

The greatest. The goat. The goat.

[Amin Alhassan]

Okay. I wouldn't know what to compare him with.

[Mike Ryan]

He's uncomparable. Yeah.

[Amin Alhassan]

Okay, good.

[Mike Ryan]

No comparison, no comp.

[Dan LeBatard]

Again.

[Amin Alhassan]

He can be really good at something. My most of my Twitter feed at the moment is me arguing that people who are very good at what they do are also terrible people. So you can be both things at the same time. And. And to me, I'm always amused by tiny people who like to say that seven foot is a sock, but only when the seven footer is a continent away.

[Mike Ryan]

It's like Philly, though.

[Greg Cody]

He's in Philly.

[Mike Ryan]

I'll tell you to his face.

[Amin Alhassan]

See, that's. Everybody says that until they're in the room. So it's interesting to me, the closest we've got here, who wanted to challenge me to a basketball game and insist that I wouldn't be able to back him down. So, I mean, it's. We've got support upstairs, by the way. He still wants it. Still wants it.

[Dan LeBatard]

I'd like to just. I'd like for people to see the size difference, if nothing else. If you're not gonna give us. We do have a basketball court here in the hot.

[John Amici]

Do we.

[Dan LeBatard]

We also have a rock climb. Yeah, we got.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, damn, your lip looks really bad, dude.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah, it looks bad.

[Amin Alhassan]

Oh, shit.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah, we can. We can do rock climbing, too. We should make. Let's. Let's see. Because we've got. We've got rock climbing, we've got basketball, we've got an assortment of things here. Let's see what we can do with John Amici. But Amin, can you tell me what you think of this Joel Embiid thing? Where do you land on all of this?

[John Amici]

I am forever in the side of, if someone's hurt, they're hurt, right? If someone's injured, they're injured. Like, I'm not going to get mad at Grant Hill for not having the career I thought he should have had because he got hurt. Or Penny Hardaway or Brandon Roy or now Joel Embiid. Now, there are times where it's like you are making decisions in your life that are linked to why you're hurt. For example, Zion Williamson and his weight. We'll take people like that to task more. But Joe Lumbee, this is his third facial injury. He's had orbital bone surgery twice. And now this is a sinus fracture. Like, that's not his fault. He's getting hit in the face. It's just bad luck. Now, to what Stephen A. Was saying about the Olympics, this is the interesting thing. So Embiid gets hurt last year, and by all accounts, he should have just stayed hurt, but he was rushing to come back and everyone was saying, why is he rushing to come back for a playoff run? That's not going to go anywhere. Because the real goal was to come back for the Olympics. He wanted to play in Olympics, win a gold medal, because, you know, that's a great resume builder for someone who wants to Be a Hall of Famer one day. Right. But he understood, if I come back for the Olympics, but not for the playoffs, Philadelphia will turn on me. So I need to come back to show, hey, guys, I tried. I gave it my all, which he did. But obviously that did not help the situation because he probably came back too early. And we saw with the Bell's palsy and all the other stuff, Right? So then he goes through the Olympics. He did not look like himself. He had a couple of good games. He had a lot of stinkers, because, again, not 100%. So now he's come back from the Olympics. He should have been resting this whole time. He's not ready for the start of the season. And this is the part where I think the Sixers failed, because rather than be up front and say, all right, came out of the Olympics, this dude is not right. We're going to shut him down and try and get him ready by Christmas or whatever. They said everything's fine until day one of camp. And it's like, oh, yeah, he's out. And that's what kind of turned the ire of everybody. Okay? This guy's picking and choosing when. And he wants to play, and when he doesn't.

[Mike Ryan]

That was as insightful a take on Joel Embiid that I've heard, and I'm not speaking for Sixers fans. I'm just speaking for myself here. I truly don't resent Joel Embiid for being hurt. He's dealt with a lot of legitimate injuries. I think where the resentment comes from, the casual sports fan, the. The. The casual NBA follower, is I resent you for sitting out to avoid getting hurt, because he does that a lot. There's a huge chunk of this percentage where Joel Embiid is not on the court because it's a part of a maintenance plan. And I think Stephen A kind of spoke to that in that. Okay, but you sit out to avoid getting hurt, but you're just gonna get hurt anyway, so just go out there.

[John Amici]

So it's a. Oh, I'm sorry, John.

[Amin Alhassan]

No, no, you go.

[John Amici]

Look, it's just. Because. Why was Joel Embiid hurt last year? Do we know why? Do you remember why? What happened?

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, at the end, he's got the Bell's policy.

[John Amici]

I'm not talking about the Bell's policy. I'm talking about the injury that he recovered quickly to get back to give us Bell's policy.

[Mike Ryan]

Was it the meniscus?

[John Amici]

It was the meniscus. Do you remember what happened? So his meniscus he dunks.

[Dan LeBatard]

You're talking about dunk. You're not talking about dunking against the Knicks in the playoffs where he's got that giant dunk, lands and his knee collapses.

[John Amici]

I'm talking about the injury he recovered from in order to play against the Knicks in the playoffs. He got hurt because he was on a maintenance plan, because his knee was not good, his meniscus was not good. And they're trying to say, hey, how can we get him out there but not jeopardize him? And then he missed the Nuggets game. And even though he plays historically, every time he plays, Jokic, he plays really well. Everyone said you're ducking Jokic. Everyone said that. So he comes back against Golden State when he shouldn't have played. And everyone's watching that game. And I know multiple people who are at that game. They're like, this guy doesn't look right, this guy doesn't look right. And boom, that's where he ruptures his meniscus.

[Mike Ryan]

I also watch him play and I know his proclivity to get injured. And I wonder aloud, then why are you flopping around, throwing your huge frame on the floor? Why is this a part of your game? Because it is. It's an annoying part of Joel Embiid's game. If you're so susceptible to injury, why haven't you eliminated that part from your game game where you embellish to get calls because you're a gigantic guy falling on the hardwood.

[Greg Cody]

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[Mike Ryan]

Don LeBatard, you're getting started on the breakfast flan.

[Dan LeBatard]

Oh, man.

[John Amici]

I've been singing a song to myself all morning long. Breakfast flats. Have you never heard the breakfast fl?

[Mike Ryan]

No. Hit me with it.

[John Amici]

Okay. I wish I had some breakfast flan. Where can I find a breakfast like that?

[Greg Cody]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the stugats.

[Dan LeBatard]

I mean, I want to go to Ameche here so that. And you know how the protocol works here. So we've got to respect the seat here. So we can't be interrupting amici anymore. Amici, when he wishes to speak, he gets the floor from all of us. But I noticed that with your swollen lip, when you send maintenance plan. You seem to have a lot of difficulty with elves with your lips.

[John Amici]

No, no, it's easy. Maintenance plan.

[Dan LeBatard]

Say it again.

[John Amici]

Maintenance plan.

[Amin Alhassan]

There's A slight.

[Dan LeBatard]

There's a W. It seems like you're.

[Amin Alhassan]

Spelling it with speech impediment. It's temporary. It'll go away. Leave the poor man.

[Dan LeBatard]

All right. What were you saying? That he, the poor man with the bloody face, immediately interrupted you.

[Amin Alhassan]

He didn't interrupt. It's just we're so cavalier about, you know, if you sit out to protect yourself from getting injured, why don't you just get in and get injured? That's an incredibly cavalier approach to somebody whose entire career and life and livelihood depends on his ability to prolong this. I just. No. No job should have a body count. No job should leave you unable to. To function in your old age. And we've no idea what the impact of these repeated injuries will be on him. I pulled my back playing paddle the other day. It's six weeks ago. And even now I'm on 2,000 milligrams of some ungodly anti inflammatory just so I can walk and sit.

[Mike Ryan]

And you think you can back me down?

[John Amici]

Yes.

[Mike Ryan]

You're not Tony.

[Amin Alhassan]

Now, there are difficult jobs and then there are lightweights and you are in that latter category. So that's. I mean. Good lord. Yeah. I don't have to be able to move. I could. Yeah. Anyway, I won't go into that.

[Mike Ryan]

You gotta be able to move. Is it fair to say that Stephen A. Who often represents the voice of sports fans, it's why he's popular. There's just such a jolt, Embiid fatigue. This. It's the story with him. And that's cool. Like he. I do consider him a Brandon Roy. Sometimes the body just ends up. This is a tireless exercise. And also just. I don't like how he plays. I don't like his attitude. I don't like the Sixers. It's just annoying.

[Amin Alhassan]

I agree with you.

[Mike Ryan]

Say all of you on the front end.

[Amin Alhassan]

I've never watched him. I watched him play, frankly.

[Mike Ryan]

But. Oh, you'd be so annoyed with a dude.

[Amin Alhassan]

That thing about if he is flopping on the floor, then there's a legitimate target for the irritation that people have in that action. And saying, why haven't you changed that? But the targeting of the fragility or not of his body, as if we can all understand what it is to carry the amount of weight. Have you noticed the number of big guys who just don't make it that long? The number of league players, people I played with who popped their clogs far earlier than you can imagine. And so I'm not that cavalier about the health of people who I know already have shortened lives.

[Dan LeBatard]

Put it on the poll, please. Juju at lebatard show. Have you ever before heard the phrase popped their clogs?

[John Amici]

I don't even know what it means.

[Amin Alhassan]

It means you died. Oh, really?

[Greg Cody]

I thought that was like a shoot.

[Mike Ryan]

I thought it was like twerking worse than I thought.

[Dan LeBatard]

I don't know what popped their clogs is. Perhaps you'll explain it to us. We will get to Diana Rossini here in a second.

[John Amici]

So the thing when it comes to what John is talking about is the human body is not meant to be that big. And also doing all these incredible things like moving that fast, jumping that high.

[Dan LeBatard]

A 300 pounder during a football game named Ledbetter did a backflip to celebrate something. And I'm like, how is that possible that that can do that?

[John Amici]

It's possible with a massive cost. There's a price to that. And it happens. Not when we're watching. It happens years later. And, you know, there are so many people who, quite frankly, like, they pop their quags, as John said. Right. Like, I mean, like Jason Collier, you could talk about Sean Rooks, like, these are guys that were. Sean Rooks is the one I always think about. Sean Rooks was he was. He played in the NBA and then he was an assistant coach, I believe, with the Sixers. This is a guy who ate good, didn't smoke, didn't drink, worked out all the time. And then every year as a member of the training staff, the coaching staff, you get a full physical. That's part of what we do on. On camp, opening day at camp, this guy dropped dead. Why? Because the human heart was not meant to pump that much blood to that far of an extremity all the time. And his heart just gave out, even though he did everything right. So, yes, when guys are hurt, particularly big guys allow them that grace.

[Mike Ryan]

And in closing, I think another thing that Joel Embiid falls victim to is, okay, you have this frame that's susceptible to injury. A lot of the Philly frustration is, then why don't you take care of your body more? Because his conditioning is constantly under scrutiny because you're always unhealthy. Why don't we change up the conditioning plan? Why don't we do something different? And he seemingly hasn't. To at least the casual sports observer, they have no evidence that he's doing anything about it.

[Dan LeBatard]

I'm always hesitant to question some of the things that we're questioning. Somebody's mental frailties, somebody's physical conditioning. When he looks like Joel Embiid and you're gonna tell that that's out of shape. And maybe it is. But I don't know how he takes care of his body. I'm assuming a body doesn't look like that with that body fat index. Unless he's taking care of it at least some. I don't know whether he's taken care of it perfectly. But Diana Rossini joins us now and I want to tie this to these Brian Callahan quotes where he's objecting. As the Titans coach, he was asked he the, the question was put to him because again, his season is awful. It's in Mason Plumlee. It's in Mason Rudolph. Yeah, it's just in. And so when he's asked whether his team, whether many believe that his team is soft physically and mentally playing that sport like that makes it just enrages me, he says, I mean, you really want to get me going today? Yeah, I think, to be honest with you, I think that's complete and total bullshit. If you want my honest opinion. These guys are tough bleepers, man. They go after it every day. They play hard as hell. And at no point have we ever put on tape at any point this season that this is a soft football team. I can't even wrap my mind around how that would even be a conversation. Just because we don't win games doesn't mean we're soft. These guys play their ass off. They play hard, they play physical. You can ask any team that plays against us that when they come off the field, they know they played us. Well, that's not saying much. I mean, that just won by 40 better is to beat the football team that knocked them so unconscious that they don't know who they just played.

[Mike Ryan]

I like it. Feels like a straw man. That's not one of those finesse teams everybody knows, like, straw man. That's been Tennessee's identity for a long time. Like they made not be good, but they're going to be tough to play because they are a tough team.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, Diana, thank you. The host of Scoop City and the senior NFL Insider for the Athletic. What do you make of this? And would you describe any team in the NFL as soft? The Dolphins get it more than anybody.

[Don LeBatard]

I don't know. I guess when I heard that anytime a leader is trying to rally a losing locker room and, and really speak for, for, for his team, you, you have to give him credit for standing up there with such a bad record. But to me, my thought was, who's got to answer that long about something you aren't like. That was a long answer about the toughness of a team that stinks. And Mike, that's a great point you make about the Tennessee Titans. Identity of toughness. Not this team. That's the Mike Rabel Titans. This is a whole new roster of guys. The guys that were on the team over the last few seasons, the ones that played in the AFC Championship game, those guys were tough and they didn't have a lot of stars, right? They just had Derrick Henry at one point. They had AJ Brown. We all know where AJ Brown is now. In fact, actually saw AJ Brown on Sunday night at the Link after the Eagles took care of business against the Pittsburgh Steelers. And we were talking so much about that Tennessee team that he was on when he was a rookie, you know, where he really took off. He obviously spent a few years there. And he said that he's like. Because I was asking him to compare, you know, the difference between the Tennessee Titans and the Philadelphia Eagles. He's like, well, we just have a lot more talent here. But the toughness is what that team was made of. So look, I. I know what Brian Callahan is doing, which is protecting his guys who are going out there every single day, sacrificing their bodies, doing all the things that we know football players do. I just think he doesn't really have a pulse on really what is happening with that team, which is they don't look like they have a lot of direction and they don't look like they know what they're doing most of the time. And that's why I think this offseason could be a really big one for this Tennessee Titans team. I think they're sticking with Callahan. He has a lot of respect in that building. Players around the league respect Brian Callahan. He's a smart guy. I just think this was a tough first year for him and he's gonna have to learn a lot.

[Dan LeBatard]

But Diana, soft, like, what are we doing? Look at what these human beings are doing. Like, yes, you can make the argument that one team is toug than the next, but you will not be able to convince me. Like, you can make the argument. You won't be able to prove it to me. You will not be able to prove it to me.

[Mike Ryan]

Dan, if I may, isn't the implied gambit that we understand they're tough, they're playing football, a game of real estate acquisition, but by comparison to other teams, they are soft. And if that is indeed the gambit, then it's A fair accusation.

[Don LeBatard]

Yeah. Mike, I've talked to players all around the league that are on teams right now and they don't play hard. They'll admit that. That there's different levels of playing tough. Do they want to go out there and lose and get embarrassed? No, but there are certain teams where there isn't an accountability and expectation that you're going to put everything on the line, and there's different versions of it. So to just blanket it, Dan, as every person that plays in the NFL is playing tough at all times. No, I don't. I don't think that's accurate.

[Dan LeBatard]

The part that I'm objecting to is this. Like, if you want to make your assessments on this, you can make them, but you don't have the proper information to make the accusation. Like, it's not wins and losses. I don't know how you're measuring these things when you don't know the pain that someone is playing through. Like, you're just looking in their eyes and you can tell me they're not tough.

[Mike Ryan]

I guess I've watched football long enough that I think I can tell, like, which teams are tough and their identity is we are more physical. It's something that you know when you.

[John Amici]

See and then you're making a good point is like, how can you tell without being inside and having that information? But I think what Mike is trying to impress upon you is that we're not comparing them to us. We're comparing them to their peer group. In the same way, when I say such and such is a bad basketball player, I'm not saying compared to people on the street. I'm saying compared to the best basketball players in the world.

[Dan LeBatard]

All right, so let me ask you this question. John Amici is here with us. Okay. His feet were a little bit heavy in defensive postures. He was not much of a rebounder. Was your toughness question yes or no? Because I happen to think I know what this man's toughness is. I happen to know what his professionalism is and what it is that he would play through. But did you get a reputation for somebody who wasn't tough enough? And how offensive would that be?

[Mike Ryan]

European, big, from the turn of the century in the NBA. If he was considered soft, I was.

[Amin Alhassan]

Definitely considered soft, but it was for all the wrong reasons. Right. It was because of the way I talked. This is the only reason I have a goatee, is because my team said, if I'm going to talk this way, I need to have something that at least shows some but that's.

[Don LeBatard]

I agree.

[Amin Alhassan]

This is, this is part of the, this is part of the problem with. I'm listening to this and I don't, I don't understand the context.

[Dan LeBatard]

Right.

[Amin Alhassan]

I didn't. I don't watch very much of a football of your football or my football actually. But it's just the language. It seems like it's being chosen because it's purposefully denigrating of the masculinity of the people on the teams when you could just. If what you mean is you think their effort level is lower than it should be for someone who is not injured and paid that much, then let's target that because I think that's really legitimate. The idea that you would have people who are paying disproportionately amount their salary to either pay to watch ridiculously cost priced cable or to be in a stand and watch you and you're not giving everything. No unacceptable. But to me the idea that soft is the language we use for when we mean something different. Say what we mean and then you could actually get to the heart of the problem.

[Mike Ryan]

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