The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Local Hour: The Sink Be Shippin'

Release Date: December 18, 2025
Location: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami
Hosts: Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, Mike Ryan, Chris Long, Jonathan Zaslow, Kayla Jones, Aleli Mae, Matthew, Jeremy

Episode Overview

This “Local Hour” episode delves into the raw and fraying emotions of South Florida sports fans—especially around the Miami Dolphins’ quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and the surging Florida Panthers. Against a backdrop of classic Le Batard Show banter, the crew discusses the shifting cultural tides of fandom, athlete accountability, the toll of professional sports, and the complicated, often conditional, nature of fan-athlete relationships. Also, expect their irreverent takes on press integrity, Miami sports culture, and some memorable detours into nostalgia and identity.

Key Topics & Highlights

1. Journalism, Fan Identity & Sports Talk Performances

[02:16–07:13]

• Sports Host “Tor-rage”:

  • Zaslow’s intense emotions about the Dolphins and Tua’s performance draw criticism and mockery, sparking a conversation about whether sports talkers are journalists or fans with degrees.
  • Aleli Mae: “Just because you have a journalism degree does not make you a journalist.” (06:40)
  • The group jokes about Zaslow looking like an undercover cop and debate “what makes a journalist?”

• Integrity vs. Entertainment:

  • Kayla Jones prefers being “interesting than right.”
  • Matthew skewers sports hosts deflecting blame: “When I’m wrong, it’s not my analysis. The athlete messed up.” (03:00)

2. South Florida Hockey Renaissance: The Florida Panthers’ Grit

[08:09–14:21]

• Hockey vs. Football Toughness:

  • Mike Ryan: Proposes hockey players are the toughest athletes, given their travel, pain tolerance, and culture.
  • Chris Long: “Football players go a week... hockey players have four multiple car accidents a week.” (10:39)
  • Jonathan Zaslow: “Let me know the next time you hear a hockey player complain about anything.” (10:49)

• Consequences of Toughness:

  • Aleli Mae: Points out the darker side—lifelong mental/physical consequences and the hockey culture of subordinating self to team.

• Panthers & Generational Fandom:

  • Dan and others mark the emergence of new, generational Panther fandom, partly due to their relentless, hard-nosed play.
  • Dan Le Batard: “Generational fandom is being born now … because not just the winning, but the things that we’re talking about.” (13:11)

3. The Fickle, Conditional Love for Tua & The Dolphins

[21:12–47:00]

• Tua on the Outs?

  • Adam Schefter reports Tua will be third-string, likely gone soon.
  • Zaslow voices fan anger at Tua’s sideline laughter after a loss:
    • “Fans … love about the hockey team, they care so much … Tua, boy, he’s having a great time as he’s about to lose his job.” (21:50)

• Is It Fair? The Humanity of Quarterbacks

  • Dan Le Batard & Mike Ryan: Push back—reminding listeners of Tua’s humanity, pressure, concussions, media scrutiny, and personal struggles.
  • Mike Ryan: “He was kind of alone... as the ship started to sink.” (26:42)
  • Aleli Mae: “How do you have confidence... when your offensive line… is ranked the golden sieve…” (26:54)
  • Mike Ryan: “He looked like he had a ton of confidence when he was leading the league... but what if you wake up next to your new baby and you’re like, I don’t know how my brain is doing?” (27:21)

• Media’s Role & Fan Projection

  • Matthew: “Why aren’t you breaking your TV like a dumbass like I did last night? … Most people are able to compartmentalize.” (24:27)
  • Quinn Ewers: “The sink is shipping and Greer’s the first one out.” (35:07)

• Conditional Love & The Illusion of Loyalty

  • Aleli Mae: “You’re like the Russian mail order bride… only with him because he’s a multimillionaire. Now he’s gone broke… it never was real." (40:03)
  • Mike Ryan: “The fan base dared to care, and they’re mad at him for it, and I don’t blame them…" (43:37)

• Historical Perspective: Decades of Dolphin Disappointment

  • Mike Ryan: “Before 2000, this was the winningest franchise… then for 25 years, this fan base doesn’t win a playoff game. Not a single one…” (33:42)

4. Nostalgia & The Miami QB Graveyard

[44:18–47:00]

• Reminiscing best Dolphins QB moments of the last 25 years: Jay Fiedler, Gus Frerotte, Ronnie Brown’s Wildcat, Matt Moore, Cleo Lemon.
• Jeremy: “My first quarterback memory for the Dolphins is Jay Fiedler. He’s still my favorite.” (44:07)
• Kayla Jones: “Ron was the last line of defense.” (47:37)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Aleli Mae: "Journalism is something you live every day, Zas. In your heart, in your spirit, in your words. You are as biased as they come." (06:51)
• Chris Long: "He looks like an undercover cop. Witty might behave as an undercover cop..." (07:50)
• Mike Ryan: "I think what it takes to be a hockey champion physically is actually harder than all of the other sports." (09:33)
• Jonathan Zaslow: "Can you imagine a player on the Panthers... just yucking it up with the other player? That’s part of what has me so angry about this [Tua]." (21:50)
• Matthew: "This is the part where fans project their loser lives onto athletes. Why aren’t you breaking your TV like a dumbass like I did last night?” (24:27)
• Aleli Mae: "If I’m Tua… the only reason I’m putting my life on the line past all of these concussions is because I feel the love is real. And now you’re telling me, oh no, it never was real?" (40:03)
• Chris Long: "Very few athletes bring this out of me." (45:34)
• Mike Ryan: “We planned a trip to Las Vegas … because we thought the Dolphins were going to the Super Bowl that year.” (46:23)

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |------------|----------------------------------------------------------| | 02:16 | Zaslow’s “tour rage” and debate about sports journalism | | 08:09 | Panthers' toughness and generational fandom conversation | | 13:24 | Miami vs. Broward fandom and Winter Classic worries | | 21:12 | Tua benched; Zaslow’s rant about laughing on the sideline| | 26:54 | The toll of poor O-lines and brain trauma on Tua | | 33:23 | The pain of 25 years of Dolphins disappointment | | 40:03 | Aleli Mae’s analogy: Conditional love for Tua | | 44:18 | Recapping decades of Dolphins’ quarterback mediocrity | | 47:00 | Show closes with Dolphins’ lowest moments |

Conclusion

The episode weaves the high-strung anxiety and resignation of Miami sports fans into an articulate, often funny, and at times poignant look into what it means to care about a team and the people who play for them. Through the lenses of Tua’s unraveling Dolphins career and the Panthers’ blue-collar surge, the crew deconstructs fandom, the myth of loyalty, and the human cost of professional sports—all while keeping the banter real, raw, and unmistakably “Le Batard.”

For listeners and non-listeners alike, this episode is a masterclass in sports talk that’s at once deeply local and universally relatable, bouncing between nostalgia, skepticism, anger, hilarity, and pathos—matching the rollercoaster that is South Florida sports fandom.