Local Hour: BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (feat. Chris Wittyngham)

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz Episode: Local Hour: BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (feat. Chris Wittyngham)
Release Date: March 13, 2025

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1. Introduction and Early Banter (00:01 - 03:15)

The episode kicks off with light-hearted conversations among hosts Dan LeBatard, Stugotz, and guests Chris Cody and Jessica. Dan shares his seamless experience purchasing a car through Carvana, sparking humorous remarks from Chris about Dan's meticulous nature regarding trivial decisions, such as wall paint colors.

Notable Quote:

• Chris Cody [00:16]: "You, the person who agonized four weeks over whether to paint your walls eggshell or off white, bought and financed a car in minutes."

2. NBA Focus: New York Knicks and Mike Breen's Commentary (03:15 - 29:12)

A significant portion of the discussion centers around the New York Knicks' performance and coaching strategies under Tom Thibodeau. The hosts delve into the implications of player minutes, particularly focusing on Mikal Bridges' comments about load management despite his reputation for endurance.

Key Points:

• Mikal Bridges' Commentary: Bridges expresses concerns about playing excessive minutes, which contrasts with his on-court reliability and Thibodeau's coaching style.
• Team Dynamics: The Knicks' heavy reliance on key players and the potential impact on their playoff performance.
• Mike Breen's "Double Bang": The hosts humorously critique commentator Mike Breen's enthusiastic home run calls, highlighting the disruptive nature of his exuberance.

Notable Quotes:

• Jessica [04:46]: "I'm ready to admit I don't know ball anymore."
• Dan LeBatard [07:52]: "Breen woke me up with a bang. I watched all of the Thunder Celtics game, which was a great Game..."
• Chris Cody [10:03]: "That is the kind of expertise that you can get nowhere else."

3. College Sports and Conference Realignment (29:12 - 38:00)

The conversation shifts to college sports, emphasizing the complexities introduced by Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals and conference realignments. Jessica highlights the surreal matchups and the challenges athletes face in adapting to the evolving collegiate landscape.

Key Points:

• Unusual Matchups: The juxtaposition of teams like Cal and Stanford in the ACC tournament and the implications of such realignments.
• Player Pressures: The emotional and professional strains on college athletes navigating increased commercialization and shifting team dynamics.

Notable Quotes:

• Jessica [22:26]: "It's born out of NIL and conference realignment and the open awareness of what the business of college sports is..."
• Mike Ryan [30:02]: "The IP just..."

4. College Baseball in a Football Stadium (38:00 - 54:58)

Jessica brings attention to an unconventional college baseball game between Kansas and Minnesota played in Minnesota's new football stadium, highlighting the logistical oddities and lack of audience engagement.

Key Points:

• Empty Stadiums: The peculiarity of hosting a baseball game in a cavernous football venue with minimal attendance.
• Game Dynamics: Multiple home runs and the ensuing silence in an empty arena create a surreal sporting experience.

Notable Quotes:

• Jessica [23:38]: "In the Minnesota Vikings cavernous football stadium, the brand new stadium that Minnesota has built for itself."
• Chris Cody [24:58]: "No one is there in Kansas. Back to back to back."

5. NFL Updates: Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson (54:58 - 57:03)

The hosts discuss the ongoing saga of Aaron Rodgers' free agency, his potential choices between the Giants and Steelers, and the ripple effects on other quarterbacks like Russell Wilson. The conversation touches on the uncertainties and strategic implications for NFL teams.

Key Points:

• Rodgers' Dilemma: Speculation on Rodgers' career decisions and the impact on his current team.
• Team Strategies: The Steelers' offense dynamics and Russell Wilson's fit within the team's strategy.

Notable Quotes:

• Dan LeBatard [32:34]: "At least it's something in the NBA for me to cheer on."
• Mike Ryan [33:29]: "But if he's just going to throw slants to DK Metcalf 5 yards at a time..."

6. Heat Basketball Struggles and Prospects (36:14 - 40:35)

The discussion moves to the Miami Heat's challenging season, examining their performance issues, key player struggles, and potential for division titles despite current setbacks.

Key Points:

• Team Morale: The Heat's despondent look and inconsistent performance despite being in contention for the division.
• Player Contributions: Highlights of players like Jim Larenega and the team's defensive challenges.

Notable Quotes:

• Mike Ryan [35:32]: "It's one of the most remarkable. I thought that the chase for the 10 seed in the Eastern Conference was the most interesting chase."
• Jeremy Tashay [37:17]: "I think he's got a chance to hang around."

7. Broadcasting Highlights: Jeremy's Fist Pump and Slurp Incident (38:00 - 55:36)

A humorous segment unfolds as Jeremy Tashay shares his experience with a memorable broadcasting moment involving a fist pump and an accidental slurp during a live interview. The hosts rib Jeremy about the incident, adding levity to the discussion.

Key Points:

• Live Broadcast Challenges: The unpredictability of live sports broadcasting and handling unexpected moments.
• Host Dynamics: The camaraderie and playful teasing among the hosts regarding on-air mishaps.

Notable Quotes:

• Jeremy Tashay [38:47]: "I'm fist pumping to myself."
• Chris Cody [55:27]: "It's a slurp. It's a slurp."

8. Conclusion and Final Banter (55:36 - End)

As the episode wraps up, the hosts engage in light-hearted banter, reflecting on the day's discussions and shared experiences. They also introduce brief advertisements, seamlessly transitioning out of the main content.

Notable Moments:

• Ad Reads: Minimal interruption with mentions of brands like NYX Cosmetics and American Express, which the hosts teasingly incorporate into their conversation.

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Overall Insights:

This episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz offers a multifaceted exploration of current sports topics, blending in-depth analysis with humor and personal anecdotes. From the intricate dynamics of NBA coaching strategies and player management to the evolving landscape of college sports amid NIL deals, the hosts provide a comprehensive overview for listeners. Additionally, lighter segments like broadcasting mishaps and team-specific struggles add a relatable and entertaining layer to the conversation.

Key Themes:

• Player and Coach Dynamics: The impact of coaching decisions on player performance and team outcomes.
• Sports Business Evolution: The effects of commercialization and conference realignment on collegiate athletics.
• Broadcasting Realities: The challenges and unpredictability inherent in live sports broadcasting.
• Team Performance and Morale: Insight into struggling teams like the Miami Heat and the factors influencing their seasons.

Useful For: Listeners seeking a thorough yet engaging recap of contemporary sports issues, delivered with the signature humor and candid discussions that characterize Dan Le Batard and Stugotz's hosting style.

Transcript

[Dan LeBatard]

You're listening to Giraffe Kings Network.

[Stugotz]

Wow.

[Chris Cody]

What's up?

[Dan LeBatard]

I just bought and financed a car through Carvana in minutes.

[Chris Cody]

You, the person who agonized four weeks over whether to paint your walls eggshell or off white, bought and financed a car in minutes.

[Dan LeBatard]

They made it easy. Transparent terms, customizable. Down and monthly. Didn't even have to do any paperwork.

[Chris Cody]

Wow.

[Amin Elhassan]

Mm.

[Dan LeBatard]

Hey, have you checked out that spreadsheet I sent you for our dinner? Options Finance your car with Carvana and experience total control financing subject to credit approval.

[Jessica]

Now's a good time to remember where tequila's story truly began. In 1795, Cuervo invented tequila. Cuervo, what are you doing here? Cuervo.

[Chris Cody]

Anytime someone says Cuervo, I show up.

[Jessica]

Well, I do know that to be true. But even during ad reads like Cuervo, I think he could lay out, especially for one of our great partners.

[Chris Cody]

Sweet, delicious Cuervo.

[Jessica]

Since then, Cuervo has stayed true to its roots. The same family, the same land, the same passion.

[Chris Cody]

Cuervo.

[Jessica]

So enjoy the tequila that started it all.

[Chris Cody]

Cuervo.

[Jessica]

Cuervo, the tequila that invented tequila. Proximo. Cuervo.com, please drink responsibly.

[Chris Cody]

Cuervo. Shadow Show.

[Jeremy Tashay]

Shadow Show.

[Chris Cody]

Shadow Show.

[Mike Ryan]

Shadow Show.

[Chris Cody]

Shadow Show.

[Mike Ryan]

Shadow Show.

[Chris Cody]

Shadow Show. Shadowing it.

[Jeremy Tashay]

Shadow in it.

[Chris Cody]

I mean, the Shadow show is going on right now while you're getting makeup. And that's the spirit of the Shadow Show. I just want you to know that we're on the air because you were yammering as if you didn't know that things had started around here. I didn't. And we've got a chaotic situation this morning because in an overcrowded Miami, there's been a number of accidents, and so a few people have not been able to get in. The pirate ship is in battered waters right now, and Jeremy, the entire time, is running in and out of the room in a panic, singing a song at the top of his lungs that no one else is singing with him.

[Whittingham]

That's right.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah.

[Whittingham]

It's great. I'm really excited to get this one to you guys at some point, but that's kind of the environment here. Most mornings I'm showing up after taking about an hour and 45 minutes to drive in. Like this morning, I left my house at 6:35. I got here at 8:25, and then I'm running back and forth between studios trying to sing songs. God bless. Football's happening in the other studio. I had to come into studio A. I had to tell our director to stop testing audio because I needed to sing from several different distances. From a microphone.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah. So, I mean, that's the kind of professionalism he's bringing to work in the morning. While you don't know that we're on air because you're yammering with the Jess the makeup artist.

[Mike Ryan]

I wouldn't call it a lack of professionalism. No one said, all right, we're on air in three.

[Chris Cody]

Well, they were saying that in my headset. You were wearing headsets as well.

[Jessica]

No, he didn't. I don't think your headphones were on. He did do something very considerate this morning, though. He did laundry for everybody. Like, there's these blankets and jackets that people use because the studio fluctuates a little bit, but sometimes it's very cold. And Amin made the observation like, no one's washed these things in several years ever.

[Mike Ryan]

Just not all the human secretions that have been on all those things. But also Willow just going around rubbing her ass on everything and you guys rapping yourself up.

[Chris Cody]

I think that's a bit incriminating to Willow. She's not here to defend herself.

[Mike Ryan]

She's got a surrogate.

[Chris Cody]

Jess made Jess had me jealous last night. And I have not said this of the Knicks in 15 years, but Jess got to experience one of the most joyous things, which is to be awoken by the double bang.

[Dan LeBatard]

This west coast trip is killing me.

[Chris Cody]

At what age did you guys check out on west coast games because you couldn't make it through regular season? You know, a Tuesday night, 10:30 to 1:30, even if it means Bridges is going to hit a ridiculous game winner to beat Portland.

[Jessica]

I think after I had a child. This is just west coast trips where we're out. It's Willow on me. I also, like, picked a terrible time to leave a bar two nights ago because the Panthers lost to the Bruins. I was at the hockey bar and the very next game was the Pacers Bucks. And I saw the Pacers were managing the end of the game. I'm like, all right, I'm gonna leave. And I left right before the Halliburton four point play. It's just a miscalculation on that part. I don't know. Ball, it's turned. Look, it's accurate. I'm not an NBA fan. I'm a Miami Heat fan. It just is what it is. And if the Miami Heat aren't good, I'll say bad things about the sport that I won't watch. And it probably infuriates people that actually know ball. That being seven for my last seven betting in the association without having watched a second of it.

[Chris Cody]

Well, he still doesn't know what to do with Rudy Gobert.

[Jessica]

Amin, help me out, because, look, I'm ready to admit I don't know ball anymore. I used to. I used to know a lot of ball. Now don't know ball. Is Rudy Gobert good or bad?

[Mike Ryan]

He's good situationally. Or I should say that's about. He's bad situationally.

[Jessica]

Thanks for clearing all that up.

[Chris Cody]

That is the kind of expertise that you can get nowhere else. How did you not clear that up for him? Because what Mike says is strange. At the crux of, like Ken Denver beat Minnesota, Rudy Gobert stands in the way. Except when the playoffs start and then the matchups make it so he can't.

[Jessica]

Play anymore unless they match up against the greatest player maybe in the history of the game, and then he doesn't come off the court. He helps Minnesota a lot, as he helped Minnesota last night. So situationally bad. But situationally, if that is against a defending NBA champion with the best player maybe we've ever seen, situationally good. Very confused by Rudy Gobert.

[Mike Ryan]

Denver's not defending.

[Jessica]

No, I mean last year when they eliminated them. I know ball. You don't.

[Jeremy Tashay]

This is the Dan Levator show with the Stugats podcast.

[Chris Cody]

Fun basketball night last night. And I came in today and I say to Jessica, what is the age that someone starts checking out on west coast games during the regular season? Because whatever, you gotta work in the morning. And it's hard sometimes on Tuesday night to stay up till one in the morning so that you could watch Bridges beat Portland at the buzzer with. With a bad shot. Good shot, bad shot. Like, I don't love that shot, but it went in. And. And so in the middle of the night, the Knicks win. And this is the most interesting Knicks team There's been in 20 years, right?

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah.

[Jessica]

I mean, like, we're the third consecutive year of saying that.

[Chris Cody]

Well, but it's gotten better.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah.

[Chris Cody]

Each year.

[Jessica]

Every year.

[Chris Cody]

Each year it's gotten better.

[Jessica]

So it's the most interesting Knicks team since last season.

[Chris Cody]

Okay, but. No but in the middle, so. But in the midd tonight, Mike Breen produces his ninth double bang. A record ninth double bang for Bridges. And the. The Knicks woke you up last night, Jessica, you can't make it through even a regular.

[Dan LeBatard]

Breen woke me up with a bang. I watched all of the Thunder Celtics game, which was a great Game, which hopefully we will talk about after this. But then, you know, Knicks are on a West coast road trip. Jalen Brunson still out. They're going to reevaluate his ankle in a week. So Deuce McBride's been starting at the Point, and they're playing Portland, who's not great, but they're not terrible either. And, you know, West coast game, 10 o'clock start. I fell asleep probably at 10:15, and woke up to the overtime. Double bang on that three point shot, man. Was it exactly like that? So jarring.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah, I mean, that's so. I mean, where are you on this? Because that was the less interesting game of the night. Because watching OKC go into Boston, it. For some reason, it's one of the rare regular ones that feels like it matters when you're watching it and you're like, no, Boston kind. It matters to Boston to win this. And it's interesting that all they're doing is shooting all threes, and if they make more of them, they'll beat okc. And if they take that many in every game, you're going to get the game totally distorted.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah. 9 of 46 from 3, but they also got to the free throw line almost twice as much as Oklahoma City did. So I think from Boston's perspective, they're saying, we took the shots we want, we got to the places we want, we just couldn't execute. And then also they couldn't stop Shai. And that's, you know, the idea going into the game. There was no Jalen Williams for Oklahoma City. There was no Porzingis for Boston. So both of these teams were missing key pieces. But the game plan with the Thunder is get the ball out of Shai's hands and make one of these other guys prove it in terms of bringing it up and creating offense. And usually the other guy they're saying that of is Jason. Excuse me, Jalen Williams, who's an all star this year for a good reason, but he's not out there last night. So now you're trying to play through Chet and Hartenstein and other guys are bringing the ball up and it didn't really matter. And this is a very possible finals preview. Dan, we could be watching Thunder, Celtics in. What is that, three months from now.

[Chris Cody]

The existence of the Celtics is the only thing that makes people believe that Cleveland will not be in the Finals, that Cleveland. Are you still practicing your bang back there?

[Jessica]

He's got a good bang.

[Mike Ryan]

Bang.

[Dan LeBatard]

You got to do a double, though. It was a double bang last Night.

[Chris Cody]

Yes. Well, you're. You're red faced. It's a. It's a nuclear shade of red that you are. And I would say, though, that you're. You're going from your feet and I feel you grabbing it from under the chair, like, and it's coming out of the right side of your mouth. Bang.

[Mike Ryan]

You know what? What? There's a pain in Mike Breen's bangs, and he's nailed it. There's a pain, look back.

[Dan LeBatard]

It's like strained a little, almost crying.

[Jessica]

Like your toes are digging into the ground.

[Chris Cody]

That's going to get annoying. You got it. You got to be careful with that. All right? Use some, Use some judgment there. It's good, but it's also. You pace.

[Dan LeBatard]

My heart's fluttering a little bit because, like, it's a little bit like, you know, I'm in. I'm in shock still from waking up last night. So this is making me kind of go back into, like the flutter zone.

[Mike Ryan]

This is the doctor with the hammer hitting your knee exactly like, ah.

[Jessica]

Or perhaps choppers for a Vietnam vet.

[Mike Ryan]

She got ptsd. Dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum.

[Chris Cody]

I mean, Mike checked back in with the NBA last night. But I ask you, which is the bigger story just in terms of in the weeds in basketball and the places that you find more interesting? That the Knicks would win at the buzzer on that shot by Bridges or that Bridges a key piece, a key third piece. You know, a lot of capital was invested in this guy. Has to be good for us to be championship good. He says before the game that his minutes are too high and that Thibodeau feeding into the narrative of Thibodeau. He'll run your knees in the ground. He'll run Derrick Rose's career into the ground. He'll play everybody too many minutes. Bridges feeds that. And it's an interesting messenger for a number of reasons. But one of the reasons is he leads the league in minutes and he never misses a game. So if he's telling you, hey, off my body, I need some load management, even though I'm a guy who's out there every single time. Which is the bigger story, the dramatic one or the one that's going to create narrative around Thibodeau again?

[Mike Ryan]

Dan, do you know who Mikel Bridges hit that shot against?

[Chris Cody]

I do not.

[Mike Ryan]

Okay, that's why you're asking that question. They play the Blazers. The Blazers, who have been playing a lot better. I give them great credit. Also, shout out to Chauncey Billups, who coaches this team and not Detroit, who's done a great job after a lot of people wrote him off. Having said all that, that pales. Pales in comparison to the Bridges comment because Tibbs responded yesterday via James Edwards of the Athletic quote. We never had a conversation about it. The facts are the facts. Jalen is 20th or 21st in average minutes. Cat is below that. Your wings play more. They're matched up against primary players. This right here is the first fracture I have seen in about two and a half years in terms of all along, guys have been whatever Tib says. They back him up, they back him up, they back him up. And now it's the first time we got a guy saying, I don't know. Right? The original quote. This is according to Stefan Bondi of the New York Post. Sometimes it's not fun on the body. Our bench guys can come in and we don't need to play 48 minutes. It helps just keeping fresh bodies out there.

[Chris Cody]

All right, all right. Can I have, can I have though a macro conversation? Thibodeau is known like, there are very few coaches that are known for this. He's going to run your dudes into the ground. Like it's, it's.

[Mike Ryan]

He plays, he plays his guys. And what he'll say and what this is echoed by everybody from this coaching tree, right. Stan Van Gundy, Jeff Van Gundy, all these guys. Right. Michael Malone is another one where what they'll say is, yeah, I play my best players because you play to win.

[Chris Cody]

The game in my lifetime in basketball, no one is more associated. I mean, it was Dusty Baker with arms in baseball, but my father refers to him as the Butcher because he looks like a butcher. But a lot of people accuse him more than any other coach of he's going to wreck your knees because you're just going to play a ton of minutes. Like that's a reputational thing. And now this part was the interesting part to me. New York fell in love with that team the last couple of years. And it's heart and it's grit and it's. Now it's Cat. And it's what we've got to reduce the minutes. And Bridges, Bridges goes for a bunch of picks. And now he's talking about minutes.

[Dan LeBatard]

I'm still there, by the way. Thank God.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah. And. But they fell off.

[Dan LeBatard]

Grit's gone. He's in Minnesota now.

[Chris Cody]

Dante, they fell in love with Hartenstein and then he's gone. And all the things Hartenste and now this team is something Different. It's got more talent, more expectations, but it's harder to love if it's going to become between about what Thibodeau used to coach up and now what's objectionable to the new guy.

[Mike Ryan]

So this is the fun part of this, right is Tibbs rightly states, hey, my main guys are playing less average minutes than a lot of the other stars in the league. But when you start looking at combinations, Dan, that's where it gets interesting. For example, the most played lineup in the NBA this season, number one are the Knicks, Karl Anthony, Towns, Brunson, Bridges, hart on Andobi, 885 minutes played. The next highest one are the Timberwolves. Conley, Gobert, Randall Edwards, McDaniels, 551. That's more than 300 more minutes. And then number three is Sacramento at 431 with their lineup and then Houston 422. So you see, it's like there's a gap, a massive gap. The gap between 2 and 1 in and of itself would be in the top 10. Like those 300 plus minutes would be top 10 in lineups played if it were a lineup itself.

[Chris Cody]

Bridges is such an interesting messenger, don't you think? I mean when, when the voice on that is, no, I play more minutes than anybody and I play every single game. And, and nobody in the league does that. And I mean when, when Embiid's body breaks down in Philadelphia, when all of these guys know that their economies and in New York you've now got the economy built around three stars and the team, they fell in love with Brunson and grit and all those things. Brunson took a discount, all the things you love, but the bodies, like they're playing a lot of minutes. And I want to know what you do with the messenger.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, I think it's interesting because another guy who said the opposite, not now, I believe it was last season, was Josh Hart. Josh Hart actually leads not only the team in minutes, the league in minutes played. Josh Hart not only leads the league in minutes played, but plays a lot of out of position basketball. He's playing against power forwards and sometimes centers, right? So the guy playing the hardest minutes in the league is also playing the most minutes in the league. And last year he was, he was supportive of all of this. There is something to me, it's like, oh, the new guy came in and said, wait, what are we doing here? Versus the guys who had been there who are kind of entrenched in that mentality. It's interesting to Me, I don't know if it means anything that Mikal Bridges is the messenger. Or maybe we're all taking a quote out of context. Cuz that could happen too, where he's being asked specifically about something and part of his answer does say those words. But then if you extrapolate just those words, it sounds like he's complaining when he's really not.

[Jessica]

I appreciate, especially with the mean and all the love that the association is getting, but are you guys not aware that this is March? This is March and you guys were watching the pros when Callan Stanford played an ACC tournament men's basketball game in Charlotte.

[Mike Ryan]

Let me tell you something.

[Jessica]

How could you watch anything else?

[Mike Ryan]

Mike, we did this yesterday where we talked about Sissoka for Cal fasting and Boeheim had some kind of insensitive remarks or whatever. And it took me legit like a strong 40 minutes to figure out why is Boeheim calling a Cal game. Why is it. What is this ACC network logo? I could not put two and two together.

[Jessica]

It is the most ridiculous in basketball because in college football you get used to cross country trips like Miami. Cal being a conference game is weird, but the notion of Miami playing Cal isn't all that weird. ACC Conference tournament in ACC country with Cal and Stanford. I was locked in.

[Dan LeBatard]

I mean we. We literally just had USC and UCLA play for the Big Ten championship on Sunday in Indiana.

[Jessica]

It's incredible.

[Dan LeBatard]

It's absurd, but like let's.

[Jessica]

I was locked in on Indiana last night as well as two sub 500 basketball teams. Went to double OT on Peacock. Locked in on the cock. Was watching USC, Rutgers, woof.

[Mike Ryan]

Shout out to the cock.

[Chris Cody]

I liked his better. Locked in on the cock or that's better.

[Jessica]

Keep it locked on the cock.

[Chris Cody]

Okay, you're doing something here. I've got a tongue.

[Dan LeBatard]

That one was just loud.

[Chris Cody]

Well, it's not just loud.

[Jessica]

Your microphones pick that up. I didn't get the signal that the bang was coming, so all the audience probably heard was bah.

[Chris Cody]

The way that he does it though, you don't understand. It's like he's stomping on the ground and there's a little Popeye in it. A lot of lumberjack thick. And the bang. Breen is a bit of a statue. Breen is a statuesque broadcaster. His bang is all pipes. It's all pipes. Yours. It feels like it's got rage instead of broadcasting range.

[Jessica]

Bang.

[Mike Ryan]

There you go. Got it back now. See, the pain has to be a part of it.

[Jessica]

Bang. There you go. That's your do re mi right there.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, you can't disassociate from the pain. You gotta be there. But, Mike, I have a suggestion. And Jess, I want you to weigh in on this as well. We have 40 teams in the Big Ten. We have Hawaii in the ACC. Like, let's change these names. Why are we married to these names?

[Dan LeBatard]

The IP just.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, I mean, the PAC 10, it.

[Jessica]

Was a PAC 12 with two teams in it.

[Mike Ryan]

And then it was before that was a PAC 10 for that was a PAC 8. Like.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, I have good news for you. I mean, in five years when it only costs $75 million to leave the ACC, there probably will be two differently named conferences that all the teams are.

[Jessica]

In, provided we make it five years.

[Mike Ryan]

That's a good point.

[Chris Cody]

So. So what is happening throughout the sport? I ask you this, this was curious. Last night, Coleman Hawkins, this was the most expensive player in the portal. After Kansas loses here, he appears broken. And a lot of people are talking about the pressures of money with this clip. As you hear. This seems a little. It seems a little early for this kind of. The pressure hasn't yet ratcheted up to where it might be. But when you throw money into the equation and when you make them professionals, some of this stuff lands hard on kids. You know, kids maturing into expectations.

[Unknown]

These guys haven't experienced some of the things I've experienced. I really wanted to come in and impact the program. Man, I'm sorry for crying, but it hurts. But I really wanted to come in, impact the program and, you know, some of the stuff, the outcome obviously wasn't what we wanted. But, you know, if someone asked me if I regret coming here, I tell them, you know, I don't regret meeting my team, the coaching staff, the people I met, my heart just rings for them because like I said, they just haven't experienced some of the things I experienced of my career. Same thing for the fans because I feel like I let a lot of people down. I feel like I did a poor job of letting people talk about me, it affect my play and it was evident all year. And I wish I could just go back and block out everything, not for myself, but for the team. So we could have had a more successful year. But, I mean, this is a learning lesson for me and I wish to wish the best for the future of this program.

[Chris Cody]

Brutally honest, too honest.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, you don't have to, kid. Where's the PR person? Where's like, yo, you don't have to.

[Dan LeBatard]

Spill your guts about no we're not gonna do this.

[Mike Ryan]

No, I'm not blaming the kid. I'm blaming the PR person.

[Jessica]

You gotta step in to protect him from himself. Yeah, man, I kinda get where he's coming from. From. But how could you watch that clip? I mean, I guess you could watch that clip and think, where's pr? But empathy is all I felt. Really?

[Chris Cody]

Yeah. I did not immediately go to where is pr? When I said brutally honest, too. Honest is. He's sharing his vulnerability with the same people who are making him vulnerable. And so the exchange is an unpleasant one when it comes with expectations. And he's just giving you. He's spilling his guts on. I care so much about this, and I feel like I've let everyone down.

[Jessica]

It's an interesting last five minutes that we've had on this show because all this stuff is born out of NIL and conference realignment and the open awareness of what the business of college sports is, what it was. And now that we've pulled the curtain back, you have crazy conference realignment matchups of Cal, Sanford and Charlotte. You have highly paid college athletes saying that the criticism got to him because he's young. You go to college to prepare for your professional life. And that's understandable that he's having a difficult time with that. For me, it brings a lot of interesting scenarios to the table that we've never talked about. But the college athletic story that I want to talk about most was in college baseball. Did you guys see. I'm sure you guys were all locked into Kansas, Minnesota.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, man. Couldn't keep my eyes off it.

[Jessica]

You know where that game was played?

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah.

[Jessica]

In the Minnesota Vikings cavernous football stadium, the brand new stadium that Minnesota has built for itself. There was a college baseball game between Kansas and Minnesota. No one was there. No one was there in Kansas. Back to back to back.

[Chris Cody]

Oh, I did see that. To back to back.

[Jessica]

Home runs, I did see.

[Chris Cody]

Bang, bang.

[Jessica]

Yes.

[Chris Cody]

Yes. Five of them. Five. Five bangs.

[Jeremy Tashay]

Five bang.

[Jessica]

Five pings off the bat. Rattling through an empty football stadium. I don't know who's paying for this. How does this make sense? Why are we doing this? Who asked for this?

[Chris Cody]

You. You gotta throw one high and in after the fourth home run.

[Jessica]

Oh, yeah.

[Chris Cody]

At that point, you cannot allow a fifth home run in that spot. We all agree. We all agree on this. Look after the fourth one.

[Dan LeBatard]

No, don't say after the second.

[Chris Cody]

Right. So I'm just. I'm making it a very liberal. After the fourth one, you cannot throw a fastball. You cannot Throw anything in the strike zone. That's ridiculous. It's a totally empty stadium. So the only sound you're hearing in the stadium is ping, ping, ping, ping, ping. There's legitimately no one there.

[Jessica]

No one is there there. There isn't like there's a smattering of applause for like the fifth consecutive home run that's going on.

[Dan LeBatard]

You know who hit the third one, right? Craig Counsel's son.

[Mike Ryan]

I knew it was gonna be someone's son. I had a feeling.

[Chris Cody]

But you didn't express it well.

[Mike Ryan]

Because I let her. She did the right amount of pregnant pause before she delivered the line. Dan, I have in front of me a top five. Top five. Three man lineups by minutes played in the NBA this season.

[Chris Cody]

That's what you've been working on. While this other one is just going bang, bang, bang all over the place.

[Jessica]

Bang.

[Mike Ryan]

Professionalism. So there are no olis. Number five, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Mikel Bridges. Number four OG Anunoby, Josh Hart & Jalen Brunson. Number three, Carl Towns, Josh Hart, Mikhail Bridges. Number two OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges & Jalen Brunson. And the number one most played three man rotation in the entire NBA. Bam. Out of Bonds. No psych. It's Josh Hart, Mikel Bridges and Jalen Brunson. Had to go in there for a second.

[Chris Cody]

Okay, so what is the point, the larger point that you made so artfully there is they play a lot, right? And when they get to the playoffs and lose to Cleveland, people will say it's because the tires fell off the thing.

[Dan LeBatard]

I don't think that's why they'll lose to Cleveland. They're just not. What?

[Mike Ryan]

They won't lose to Cleveland.

[Dan LeBatard]

They'll be Cleveland.

[Mike Ryan]

They won't see Cleveland.

[Dan LeBatard]

Oh, okay, you guys have them play Cleveland. What are you doing? I don't think they'll lose in the playoffs because they play a lot of minutes in the regular season. I think they're just not a fully their team yet.

[Mike Ryan]

You know who they play in the first round? Projected no. Detroit basketball. Oh, that would be so funny. If Cade Cunningham walks into Madison Square Garden and says I've not seen this.

[Chris Cody]

I mean laugh at the Knicks. I mean is.

[Mike Ryan]

Has Wyatt has been around for a long time?

[Chris Cody]

No, no, no, I have not. Wait a minute. You're predicting now that this Knicks team that it's going to fall apart and it's not going to feel the way the last, the last two seasons were. Feel good at the end. You're predicting that this team is going to disappoint.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, I don't think they're going to disappoint because I think they're achieving exactly what they're supposed to achieve. But, but the reality is they're almost certainly going to be the three seed. Boston is certainly going to be the two seed. So New York sees probably Detroit, maybe Indiana, maybe Milwaukee in the first round. All three of those teams have given them problems. And then if you beat them, then you get to see the Boston Celtics who have ransacked them. Ransacked them, ransacked them. Right. They have not even looked close to competitive with Boston. It, it's going to feel for Nick fans, way more disappointing. Last year, gritty seven game series lost to the Pacers. Right. The year before that, gritty loss to the, to the Heat. Right. Like all the clawing and, and all that, this one is going to feel like, oh, we got smacked around. It wasn't even close.

[Dan LeBatard]

After they made some major moves in the off season, which is why enjoy the regular season and the double bangs while you can have them.

[Mike Ryan]

And Jessica brings up a great point, right. The major moves of which the guy who's complaining about playing too much is the guy they gave up five first round picks for. Right. And that's why when everyone's like the power of friendship and these guys all went to Villanova, it's the boys back together. You don't overpay for a Corolla. It's a great car. It's reliable, it's got great gas efficiency. It is going to last forever. The parts, if it breaks down, are relatively cheap, but you don't pay $100,000 for it. Even if you know it has gold.

[Jessica]

Bricks in the back, how much aluminum's in it. Just saying. We're headed. Is that a tariff joke?

[Chris Cody]

Oh, it's a tariff joke.

[Dan LeBatard]

Thanks, Mike.

[Jessica]

Bang. I can't do it the same way.

[Dan LeBatard]

That was like a ghost.

[Mike Ryan]

That was like a bang. No Sferatu.

[Jessica]

That was just a good. It was a good spot for a bang.

[Chris Cody]

Of the two games.

[Dan LeBatard]

I just hit a three pointer.

[Jessica]

I was hoping Chris would meet me there. Guys, he's saying one thing.

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[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah, sure thing. Hey, you saw that car yet?

[Jeremy Tashay]

Yeah, sold it to Carvana.

[Dan LeBatard]

Oh, I thought you were selling to that guy.

[Jeremy Tashay]

The guy who wanted to pay me in foreign currency, no interest over 36 months.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah, no.

[Jeremy Tashay]

Carvana gave me an offer in minutes, picked it up and paid me on the spot. It was so convenient.

[Dan LeBatard]

Just like that.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah.

[Dan LeBatard]

No hassle?

[Chris Cody]

None.

[Dan LeBatard]

That is super convenient. Sell your car to Carvana and swap. Hassle for convenience.

[Amin Elhassan]

Pickup fees may apply.

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[Chris Cody]

Don LeBatard.

[Jeremy Tashay]

Always good to see everybody, despite the fact that everyone appears to hate me.

[Chris Cody]

Stugats. Yeah, I love you, bud, but that's on you.

[Dan LeBatard]

I don't know you that well.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah, they said that you Both suck ass and were bitten in the ass. So those are both things that you. You were accused of during this you're.

[Stugotz]

Rough in my ass situation.

[Jeremy Tashay]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the stugats.

[Chris Cody]

Of the two games. Jessica, the first one was more interesting to you, but your boyfriend is very enthused. Lehman is very enthused about the Knicks. And so you're getting roped into more Knick Knicks games that you care to be roped into, correct?

[Dan LeBatard]

I would, yes. One more Knicks game is one too many. No, I've been. I've been on the Knicks bandwagon for the last couple of years just because the Bulls are disappointing. So at least it's something.

[Mike Ryan]

What else?

[Dan LeBatard]

At least it's something in the NBA for me to cheer on. But otherwise, it's been a very toxic, very toxic week in our house. You have Aaron Rodgers choosing supposedly between the Giants and the Steelers. Neither of us want him. It's very, very toxic. Every time there's an update, we read it to each other like it's an obituary.

[Jessica]

Adam Schefter is so pissy right now at Aaron Rodgers. He's so mad at him, Adam.

[Dan LeBatard]

I mean, it's. What. It's. What day is it? Thursday. It's Thursday and all. It's like. We get a weird picture of him on the beach.

[Whittingham]

Apparently, he's just the Aflac picture.

[Dan LeBatard]

The Aflac picture with the blanket.

[Jessica]

And also still not trusting Bluetooth.

[Mike Ryan]

But by the way, the blanket that, had he given to me, I would have laundered, like, the other blankets in here.

[Dan LeBatard]

Oh, that's sweet of you. We get a weird picture of him on the beach. Apparently. Apparently he's, like, considering retirement again, or the Giants or the Steelers. And now Russell Wilson's visiting with the Browns, which tells me that he's not happy and the Steelers aren't happy with that, which we kind of already knew. Kenny Pickett got traded to the Browns, which is also very funny because maybe the second year in a row that Kenny Pickett's starting job in the NFL gets usurped by Russell Wilson. So that's a storyline to look out for. But everyone. It's like musical chairs right now, and no one really wants Aaron Rodgers to sit on their chair, at least not for the amount of money that I think he wants. But you may end up at some point without a quarterback to sit in your chair because there's very few starting quarterbacks left out there.

[Chris Cody]

I don't know where Russell Wilson goes if Aaron Rodgers ends up in Pittsburgh, and I do like to think of the best Steeler offense I have seen most recently does have Ben Roethlisberger doing nothing but throwing five yard slants, running the football, playing defense, just holding the football. Those are the best Steeler teams. And if he's just going to throw slants to DK Metcalf 5 yards at a time with limited offense, ball like, you can feel it fitting. But I didn't realize we had reached the blanket on the beach. Contemplating photos stage of the Aaron Rodgers. Attention, free agents. I'm here. I'm available.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah, we've been. We've been arguing like all week in our house. Like, I've been saying, like, well, I mean, if. If he goes to the Giants, he doesn't have to move. He can stay in the same house he's been living in and he doesn't have to change his commute. And then Lee's like, yeah, but if he goes to Pittsburgh, he can pass the DK Metcalf. I'm like, but Malik neighbors. And we've just been arguing back and forth like, you take him. No, you take him.

[Mike Ryan]

You guys are advocating, like, it's like fantasy football. He's much better for your team anyway. Like, look at your squad. You need that guy. Dan, you talk about contemplating on the beach with a blanket wrapped around you. That was Jeremy Tashay last night. We're at Heat Clippers and just despondent. The sadness shrouding that place right now. The Heat look directionless. And then midway through, like, the third quarter, I looked at Jeremy and I said, you know what the crazy thing is? As bad as everything has been, this feels like one of the darkest times in Heat history. There is a strong chance they end up winning the division.

[Jeremy Tashay]

It's really amazing. It's.

[Whittingham]

It's one of the most remarkable. I thought that the chase for the 10 seed in the Eastern Conference was the most interesting chase. No, it's the chase for that division because you have the Heat with a real possibility. A team that's lost several games in a row, that looks despondent, that can't beat anybody good and can't beat anybody bad, and yet they might very well win that division and hang a banner for a Southeast Division championship.

[Jessica]

I think they kind of need to win a game here.

[Chris Cody]

I mean, the last three. So they lose at home against Chicago, they lose against. At home against Charlotte, and then they lose. Last night, a Bogdanovich tore him up. A Bogdanovich Zubot.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, my God.

[Whittingham]

Oh, my. He was one. If you only Watched basketball for the first time last night. You would think Zubots is one of the greatest centers that's ever played the game of basketball.

[Mike Ryan]

Dan Kell el Ware didn't start the second half, like, smo, like midway through the game.

[Jessica]

You don't have an answer for this guy?

[Mike Ryan]

No, because it was so clear. I told Jeremy, I said, said, years from now, Kell el Ware might be like a two time defensive player of the year. And it's seven time also. Whatever. And he's going to think back at, man, there was this dude who played in the league named Ivita Zubots. He gave me work, every possible way you could think of. Spin moves and jump hooks and dunks and lobs and everything. And Keller looked terrified, like he was playing a Shaq. He's like, I don't know what to do.

[Jessica]

If I may, just like, pick your brain real quick. I'm happy. Like, I think Jordan Miller is the most underrated basketball player in the history of Miami men's basketball. He was so important to their run, and it's not surprising at all that he's found himself in the NBA after working hard at his game. It was a nice little homecoming with Laranega. He's going to be in the league for a while.

[Mike Ryan]

I mean, I think he's got a chance to hang around, but. By the way, Mike, last night was the first time I ever seen Jim Laranega in person. He's a big guy.

[Jessica]

Yeah, he's tall.

[Mike Ryan]

He's a big guy. His son's not that big. I was staggered. How large a man.

[Chris Cody]

Yes, he's a crane of a man.

[Dan LeBatard]

It's like every other person down here. You walk into the studio and you're like, jesus Christ. Dan LeBatard is 6 5.

[Jessica]

We have all the tall hispanics, including La Rega.

[Dan LeBatard]

Boo.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, no. That. That was a bridge too far.

[Chris Cody]

Yes. Yes. That's. That's where the bridge blows.

[Jessica]

I know the association is exciting, but it actually is like kind of a sports equinox for niche sports. You got Indian Wells going on. You've got the players, Chris.

[Jeremy Tashay]

The players.

[Jessica]

Bang the players. And you have champions league going on at the same time.

[Chris Cody]

And you've got F1 returning.

[Jessica]

And Christopher Pell's won three straight races.

[Mike Ryan]

Can I. Because you're in here, I want to ask you a soccer question. We had a PK between PSG and Liverpool the other day, and one of the guys who missed for Liverpool was a guy who had.

[Dan LeBatard]

Hang on, Jeremy. What is this?

[Mike Ryan]

This was not last night. I don't know why we're doing that.

[Whittingham]

That's me feeling good about a good walk off interview. That's a fist pump for myself.

[Jessica]

That's incredible.

[Dan LeBatard]

It's a fist pump for the Heat winning the other night.

[Jessica]

No, that's a. That's a Jeremy, like, man, I killed it there.

[Whittingham]

Yeah.

[Jessica]

Type of fist pump.

[Whittingham]

I'm allowed to feel good about myself. I did this.

[Mike Ryan]

How great.

[Dan LeBatard]

Who took this video?

[Whittingham]

Why does this exist?

[Mike Ryan]

It's grainy.

[Whittingham]

I am sweating right now. Why did we do this?

[Jessica]

Way to go, Jeremy.

[Mike Ryan]

480P.

[Chris Cody]

Who did this to Jeremy?

[Mike Ryan]

Who did this to you?

[Chris Cody]

This seems invasive. This seems like this shouldn't be.

[Whittingham]

I'm fist pumping to myself.

[Chris Cody]

Wait, wait.

[Dan LeBatard]

I'm excited.

[Jeremy Tashay]

You know what?

[Whittingham]

It's a difficult job.

[Jessica]

I just.

[Whittingham]

They're now broadcasting these interviews throughout the arena.

[Jessica]

Man, this is journalism. Sorkin thinks. This is convoluted.

[Whittingham]

You guys thought that I would be most embarrassed by that time I was caught licking salt and vinegar chips off of my finger. It's not. It's this. And I can't believe everyone in the.

[Chris Cody]

Studio betrayed me this year.

[Jessica]

Okay. Just delivered the news.

[Chris Cody]

I'm so sorry. I hate.

[Mike Ryan]

Do you routinely do this?

[Whittingham]

No.

[Chris Cody]

It felt good.

[Whittingham]

Guys.

[Chris Cody]

I don't.

[Whittingham]

I don't even know.

[Chris Cody]

Don't shame him about this.

[Mike Ryan]

No, I'm not shaming him. I'm just curious.

[Whittingham]

So here's the reality.

[Chris Cody]

Himself after he's done something.

[Whittingham]

Well, yeah, I did a good job in an interview.

[Dan LeBatard]

He's cheering on the Heat because he's a Jeremy. The homer and a fan actually sent this video. Jerbear. This was on League pass.

[Whittingham]

Yeah, it's always watching league.

[Mike Ryan]

But. But Jeremy, this is my thing. I, I haven't. I. I don't believe I've fist pump ever in my life. Earnestly.

[Whittingham]

I played baseball. I was a pitcher.

[Mike Ryan]

That is. That was. That's what that was.

[Jessica]

You just retired the side or you just nailed the putt on the island green.

[Chris Cody]

He did. He retired the side but on a strikeout. And I think it was a two.

[Jessica]

Seam on the outside corner. Jason Danger salvaged par.

[Chris Cody]

It was a called strike three.

[Whittingham]

That's right.

[Chris Cody]

It's a check swing.

[Mike Ryan]

He's walking back to the guys.

[Jeremy Tashay]

I'm a competitor.

[Whittingham]

I might not play it here. All right. I'm. You guys might not see it because I'm the song and dance man over here. But at the end of the day, I'm more competitive than probably anybody in this studio.

[Jessica]

Surprised you didn't Hop over the line.

[Dan LeBatard]

That's not true. I'm more competitive than you.

[Chris Cody]

I do think Jessica might be your ass right now.

[Whittingham]

I. I will not lose a competitive competition. The only person I could picture doing that, other than Jeremy is Witty after, like, a soccer broadcast just a little.

[Chris Cody]

Well, no, I don't. Wait, no. Witty's too cardboard professional, my friend. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Witty. Witty would do that at home when no one is looking.

[Mike Ryan]

No, he wouldn't.

[Whittingham]

Witty would, like, tell himself, well done.

[Mike Ryan]

Y.

[Whittingham]

That's.

[Chris Cody]

That's well done.

[Jessica]

Well done, lad.

[Chris Cody]

Well done, fancy lad.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well done, old chap.

[Mike Ryan]

Or he might clap a head above his head.

[Chris Cody]

All right.

[Jessica]

He was talking to me at a bar. It's one thing if he's on a soccer broadcast, but he's like, oh, yeah, I had a good time at the weekend.

[Whittingham]

I hate when he says at the.

[Jessica]

Weekend, who you talking to?

[Whittingham]

I heard him on the radio saying that the other day. I texted him, I said, I hate you. Who are you talking to?

[Mike Ryan]

I like to think of Witty as never going to bars, only pubs.

[Chris Cody]

It had to be surreal for him yesterday to be at the center of a place where. Bro, he's here.

[Jessica]

Matter of fact, he did ask for ale.

[Mike Ryan]

A pint.

[Chris Cody]

Witty is sitting next to Ray Hudson and there is confusion and weirdness at the. At the top of the sport. And he handled it with grace. That is. That can be a nightmare for people. The confusion of how are we stopping penalty kicks for a moment and seeing if somebody did or didn't double touch a ball? And then we get into rule parsing. So Whittingham was in the middle of that. Do we have the audio of some of the confusion around this play? Because Whittingham just popped up here on the screen, and I believe that he would look down on Jeremy fist pumping himself after a good interview. Do I have it wrong, Witty?

[Jeremy Tashay]

Yes, you do have it wrong, because that was me yesterday for about three hours from the end of the broadcast to about, I would say, midway through my flight home back to Connecticut, I was either actually fist pumping or watching the video over and over again going, nailed it.

[Mike Ryan]

Good job.

[Jeremy Tashay]

Good job.

[Chris Cody]

All right, well, take us through it then, because it was. It's weird. It's weird to have everyone just milling about waiting for a result. And I know people in the sport are frustrated with all of the instant replay stuff.

[Jeremy Tashay]

Yeah. And it's also one of those where I think there's a real difference between how American sports are administered and how European football is administered because there is no announcement. There's no announcement. There's no. After further review, our call is whatever. There is no even the referee didn't do the little TV screen var thing yesterday. It was just. We came back from a replay and he points at both of his legs and then does the wave away thing. And I'm supposed to know what that means having not been on site, having not seen any of the. The incident. We're actually in replay while we kind of are hearing some booze. And so I was trying to remember almost what are the moments that that's happened before. I remember covering a Europa League game last year where there was a free kick and the ball hit the crossbar and hit the crossbar so hard that it came back to the original taker and he played it from there. The team scored a goal and it got ruled out because that is a double kick. You're not allowed to do that, that even from a free kick. And so I actually went and read the law on double kicking and that is how I remembered that for that moment. And it's one of those where you don't really have a ton of information, you don't have a rules expert in your ear and you got to figure out in real time the information that the viewer will need to know to process the information. Because if I don't explain that rule or if I don't say this is what they're looking at and all of a sudden the referee is doing this, that's really confusing for the audience. And I actually talked to a few friends yesterday that were watching the game on mute and didn't know what was going on and still don't really know what happened. And so it was. It was really gratifying to sort of know in the moment and be able to deliver that to the audience.

[Jessica]

You did very well. It was so mad confusing because var over the last few years, a lot of people have claimed it's ruined the game because it slowed it down, it's taken away the emotion of it. If there were ever an instance where you slow the game down to make sure you got the call right, it's in PKS in a knockout fixture in the Champions League. But that's not what happened. There was zero communication. It was very odd. The only reason that I knew that this was even possible because I in live, when it happened live, I was just impressed that Alvarez got it in because he slipped. And this is not the spirit of the rule when it comes to the double touch. He slipped, he Barely grazed it if he did. The replays were not conclusive. You guys did so well. I mean, Hudson's been around the block, and even he was kind of stunned at what happened. We have audio of you guys reacting to it real time. I think when you consider the scenario, guys handled this about as well as you possibly could.

[Jeremy Tashay]

That would be a double touch.

[Chris Cody]

Thought he just slipped.

[Jeremy Tashay]

Let's see.

[Jessica]

Doesn't really look like it there, right from that angle.

[Jeremy Tashay]

And I think the referee is saying that it is a double kick, it won't count.

[Jessica]

Are your producers screaming in your headphones? I'm sure you're looking for all the information. And also, witty, if you could tell us what happened there, but also what happened afterwards, because there were four different reports that I saw as to how they came to this ruling, and ultimately the final result is just trust us, bro, which is kind of odd. So walk us through, like, the aftermath and what's going on in your headphones.

[Jeremy Tashay]

Well, to be fair, my producer didn't say much to me. It was only after the game where we signed off, he counts me back to the studio. I tossed back to the studio. And the first thing he said was, man, I thought you were wrong about that. And I was really scared in real time that you got that wrong. But it was. It was definitely almost like a gamble. It's one of those where. Where you say it and you're trying to. You're wondering why everyone's standing around. I think that's the biggest thing. And to be fair, having watched the video like a hundred times now, the Real Madrid players, Jude Bellingham most prominently is standard going Dostokas, Dosto cas, which is Spanish for for two touches. And so he was standing there kind of saying they had seen that. And I was trying to piece it all together. And realistically, I was just waiting to see because again, we don't have the announcements. I was just waiting to see what the announcement, what. What the signal was going to be. And the referee kind of point points to both of his legs and go, double touch, wave away. And you're kind of context, clue, guessing. And for me, the sort of moments of vindication was so immediately. Real Madrid take their third penalty, which was converted by Federico Valverde, and the next. So they show the replay, they come out of it, and they do that little scorebug thing where it has the green squares and the red squares that show converted or not converted. And when the red square came up for the second athletic Takeo say, okay, I got it right. And. And we're moving on now to answer your second question about what happens after the game. It was kind of theorized that maybe they have semi automated off site technology and it determines tick points, meaning there's some kind of way that they figure out when and where the ball was touched. And so they could use that technology maybe to figure it out. But according to the people that were on the ground, according to UEFA, they only determined that it was a double touch from the video. And like you said, Mike, it was incredibly quick to determine something that has been and has been analyzed so granularly since it was Brazilian TV actually that found this one angle. And they kept back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. And you finally see that first initial touch where he gets it and then he kicks it onto the, onto that first leg that went slipping. So, yeah, it's remarkable that they determined it so quickly and then they moved on so quickly. It wasn't like, oh, the atletic crowd or the atletic players or the managers started arguing, arguing. There was no. It was just straight onto the third take and you're kind of going, I hope I got this right.

[Mike Ryan]

Witty. When you think about these kind of situations where there isn't, as you said, the guy's not mic'd up. There isn't a big announcement. Is there a particular reason for that or is this just the relative European lack of sophistication towards the customer experience? The way our sports here are so geared to being customer engaging in their. Over there. Like, like, hey, if you didn't figure it out, then you don't watch this sport enough.

[Jeremy Tashay]

Yeah, I really think that it is just sort of pigheadedness in my mind. So in Major League Soccer, they brought in referee announcements. Starting last year, MLS would be kind of the league that's most progressive in this respect, given that it is kind of an American cultural tradition for the referees to be. Mike. So that started last year and I think it works really well. It certainly helps me from a broadcasting point of view because I can just. And now the referee will give his decision and he actually comes on and gives it, as opposed to you do this thing, the var screen. And then sometimes when they say it's not a foul, the referee will do this, which is raise his right hand from bottom to top and you're kind of like, what does that mean? And that means play on. That is kind of the referee single for play on. But you have to be really in the weeds to know what that means. If you're A TV viewer. You don't know what that means.

[Mike Ryan]

I thought play on was too long.

[Chris Cody]

Enough of this glorification of all of this. Ray Hudson carried you with a sound we're talking about. Oh, what a majestic Whittingham able to handle the confusion when Ray Hudson's the star of this clip.

[Jeremy Tashay]

He always is the star.

[Chris Cody]

Yes, he's always the star. And you have to.

[Dan LeBatard]

The ghost is back.

[Chris Cody]

You sound and look like a pilot. You sound and look like a helicopter. I would trust you. I would trust you, and I would trust that flight because you handled that in times of crisis. And you look over and you're with Ray Hudson and that's as good as your career gets. Correct? Correct.

[Jeremy Tashay]

Totally. Totally. I mean, this game, which even independent of all the controversy, if I may bring back an old God.

[Chris Cody]

Oh, for the love of God. Yeah.

[Jeremy Tashay]

I mean, in the midst of all that controversy, to be able to. To figure that. I mean, but even independent of all that, it's a brilliant game. It's one of those. That sort of rich in story. It's the two Madrid teams. They played in the Champions League league four times over, I want to say, six years, and Atleti lost all of them. They've never beaten Real Madrid in the European Cup. They've never won the European cup, and Real Madrid have won it 15 times. So it's one of those where it's a big sort of narrative game. Where can Atleti finally do it? They. They score in the first 30 seconds of the game, they're grinding it out, they're defending the entire time. They go to penalties and think, oh, maybe we can finally win this lottery. And instead of actually finally winning it, they have a double kick, which is the most absurd, crazy way for that to have happen.

[Chris Cody]

Was that a slurp?

[Jessica]

That was a slurp.

[Jeremy Tashay]

Intake of breath.

[Chris Cody]

Wow.

[Jessica]

After, like, one of your finest professional moments.

[Chris Cody]

That was a slurp. Really? A slurp. An actual intake of breath.

[Mike Ryan]

Boy, let me tell you something witty. I know what a slurp sounds like. And that was a slurp.

[Chris Cody]

We all. We all.

[Jeremy Tashay]

Am I eating something? I'm not eating anything.

[Jessica]

We'll isolate the slurp and embarrassment, embarrass you, do our best to make sure you never call a World cup game. And ultimately, like, Atletico Madrid did get another opportunity to stay in that game. Real Madrid did miss a pk, so it's going to be remembered for that. But one thing that I wanted to ask you about was the PK that Vinnie took After Mbappe made a move that only Mbappe can make, just makes something out of nothing. Takes on two defenders that both have an angle on him, cuts it inside, forces the pk. How does Mbappe not take that? Instead, they go to Vinnie Jr. Who's been subjected to so much racial abuse, particularly in that stadium. The moment seems huge. The crowd is going nuts. He's getting yelled at, all sorts of obscenities. I can only imagine, given the history, and he sails it. What was the decision there to go with Vinnie?

[Jeremy Tashay]

Well, all three of those guys, Vinnie Jr, Mbappe and Jude Bellingham can all take penalties. And so Vinnie actually has a good record over penalties in his career and in this season. I think he's 2 for 2 this season and something like 17 for 20. Don't quote me on that. Over the course of his career. So he's a good penalty taker. And earlier in the season when Mbappe was really struggling to integrate into this Real Madrid team, when he was the big signing and. And everyone was talking about Mbappe and the fact that he wasn't really fitting in, he was kind of fitting out. He missed a couple of big penalties earlier in the season and he has had these sort of up and down moments. I agree with you. Generally, the. The player who wins the penalty in that spot, spot should generally take it. But Vinnie has a good record and, and I'm not surprised that he took it. For me, the interesting thing that happened later in the game was basically Ancelotti, the manager, took him off because they didn't want to put him in a spot to have to take a penalty late in the game. They took him off in the 115th minute of the game with only five minutes to go. You're only really making subs at that point for the penalty shootout. And he basically said, I'm not putting you under that spotlight. If someone else misses and we go out, that's fine. I'm not having you be the guy that misses two penalties in one game. We go out of the Champions League and it actually is really good management. And in some ways, I think that would have been a bigger story if not for the fact that Atleti had this crazy situation happen to them.

[Mike Ryan]

Witty. So a couple of days ago, PSG versus Liverpool, Liverpool had a guy, Curtis Jones, miss his pk. A really weird, feeble attempt. And the broadcast, if I'm not mistaken, said, this guy's never taken a PK in his life. Life. What is the scenario where a manager says, you know what? I've never seen you do this, but I trust in you in the biggest stage.

[Chris Cody]

And also, Chris Cody, did you locate the slurp? I need you to know that you are on the hunt right now for the slurp. Did you find. You found the slurp? It's a slurp. It's a.

[Jeremy Tashay]

It's a slurp.

[Chris Cody]

Yo, it's.

[Mike Ryan]

I mean, it sounds like Scooby Doo.

[Dan LeBatard]

Witty now is like, oh, I remember why I hate going on the show.

[Mike Ryan]

There's the.

[Dan LeBatard]

I see it in his eyes.

[Mike Ryan]

He is.

[Dan LeBatard]

They are dead.

[Jessica]

Frozen in shame. And we've probably hurt his career.

[Whittingham]

I'm really glad. This is the most embarrassing thing that's happened to anyone regarding a broadcast in this hour.

[Jessica]

Give a fist bump. Give it a fist bump.

[Mike Ryan]

But on the pole. Juju. Is this a slurp?

[Chris Cody]

It's an obvious slurp.

[Mike Ryan]

Like I said, this is Scooby Doo when he's really happy. Aw, Scoob.

[Jessica]

I feel worse for Woody than the Kansas State basketball player. Oh, boy.

[Chris Cody]

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Whittingham. From the height of broadcasting, I do.

[Mike Ryan]

Want an answer to my Curtis Jones question.

[Jeremy Tashay]

He probably takes him in training.

[Whittingham]

How many slurps did that gang get yesterday?

[Jeremy Tashay]

Four and a half out of five slurps.

[Chris Cody]

No, it's not all the slurps. You said for three hours. You said you watched it a hundred times. You said you like winning him. This was you. His you.

[Jeremy Tashay]

I felt great, man. I felt great until I came on this show.

[Jessica]

I had to humble you. You all right?

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[Dan LeBatard]

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[Jessica]

Yep.

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[Chris Cody]

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[Amin Elhassan]

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