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- [00:01]
Dan LeBatard
This episode is brought to you by Indeed.
- [00:04]
Stugatz
When your computer breaks, you don't wait for it to magically start working again. You fix the problem.
- [00:10]
Dan LeBatard
So why wait to hire the people.
- [00:11]
Stugatz
Your company desperately needs? Use Indeed sponsored jobs to hire top talent fast. And even better, you only pay for results. There's no need to wait. Speed up your hiring with a $75 sponsored job credit@ Indeed.com podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Welcome to the Big Sui presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show, the podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan LeBatard podcast? I'm sorry, I'm not going to apologize for that. In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging. I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries that if they're just there, that hasn't happened to you guys.
- [00:55]
Dan LeBatard
I've done it.
- [00:56]
Stugatz
And now here's the marching man to Nowhere Fat Face and the Habitual Liar.
- [01:01]
Mike Ryan
This episode is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings. The Crown is yours.
- [01:05]
Stugatz
Pablo Torre will be on with us in an hour. That story of his about the NFL colluding even though an arbiter didn't rule technically that the NFL had colluded, that story is not going away. That story is going to continue to have stuff in it that is going to get found out that is going to make it more and more problematic. Especially since Don Van Natta is now sniffing around the proceedings, the Pulitzer Prize winner and he's reporting, according to sources, that the NFLPA and the NFL agreed to keep collusion findings secret. And this is obviously problematic for a couple of reasons and I wanted to ask Hawkins some questions about this before Pablo Torre comes on, but we talked yesterday about Damor Smith having a book coming out and one of the complaints that many people had about Damora Smith inside of NFL players circles was that Damor Smith would be the type of person who would write a book when that's not the position that he is in. But very often when you get a showy lawyer, when you get a lawyer who is interested in whatever attention bringing publicity to himself, not just his cause, you get a lot of people complaining about what his interests are. Right now Lloyd Howell runs the players union and there are reports about him having conflicts with NFL related businesses because this is a pollutant throughout unions in the big sports where the membership doesn't necessarily trust that the person in charge of the membership is doing the bidding of just the membership to Morris Smith was always accused of being very self interested or Distrusted by his own people, which is sort of. It's a bit inherent to the position.
- [03:02]
Mike Ryan
Right.
- [03:02]
Stugatz
It happens a great deal. Not just to Demora.
- [03:04]
Mike Ryan
I'm happy you said that, because out of all the sports, it seems like that is the most difficult one to be head of the players association for, because of the very nature of that sport being so violent. There are only a few guys that survive in that league long enough to make money. So if you have something like a work stoppage on your clock, the vast majority of your player base is not there for very long. This is their opportunity to make money. If they lose half a season, they're losing potentially 30% of their pro career. So it is very difficult. It's like people forming opinions about the leadership in California when California is an impossible state to govern compared to some smaller states. So I actually have a great deal of empathy for that position. It seems like it's one of the more difficult ones in sports.
- [03:49]
Dan LeBatard
It is, because also there's so many people from so many different interests. Right. Like, to your point, even about California, like, these are people from all over the map that have completely different views on a lot of these things. The Morris. My experience or my opinion, even while I was a player, was. I felt like he always wanted everyone to like him. And again, as someone who's been, you, like, him, a part of the nflpa, like, through my family for years, literally almost my whole life. And it was like, this is a position where the person at the. At the helm has to have a large amount of. I don't give a shit. Like, you can't care if anybody likes you. And when I would get into it sometimes, because I was a player rep with the union, when they'd come in, it was like, every time we would visit or they would visit, it would always be all the great things that, you know, we had or happened or, you know, hey, we had this last CBA deal. This is what we got. This is what we got. But I never felt like they ever talked about all the things and the noise that was happening of, like, hey, this is what we lost. This is what the issues would be. This is what the risks are. And I'm like, we can't actually be making the dent in what we're trying to make a dent if we can't call it exactly like it is. And so I would say, hey, don't come in here and tell us about all these great things. Let's talk about the hard things so we can actually make change. Like, that was One of my criticism, I also think we need to do a better job as football players or like as a union, I would say of merging former players and current players. That was my position even as a player because I feel like experience is one of the most valuable assets in any profession. And by separating, keeping those things separate, the current guys never have that brain trust of information that will help them in their voting and their decision making. And number two is basically using the vehicle that we have to educate the next crop of players because even if it does stay how it is, the guys that are in high school now will be voting and making decisions for the guys that are currently in the league. And I know it's like, well, how do you know who's going to get to the NFL? Yeah, it's a crapshoot. You don't really know. But I would tell you of the top 300 players every year, 45% of them go to the NFL.
- [05:55]
Stugatz
So it's somewhat of an indictment to say of Demorris Smith, he was a little too interested in being liked. A greater indictment to me of him and others in that position is not necessarily that his constituency liked him or didn't like him. But do you or do you not trust him? And this reporting today by Don Van Nada is something that I'm telling you will have more consequences that will result in more discovery because NFL players are now being informed by reporting that the NFL players union active actively partnered with the NFL in keeping information away from the NFL players unions constituency. And once you get there now players are asking really uncomfortable questions about what do you mean you agreed to a confidentiality agreement with the NFL that doesn't give us the information about what you agreed to. What I'm telling you about demora Smith writing a book and I understand why people would want it and I understand why he would do it, especially after leaving. But the person, personality type who's in that position, who feels a great need to write a book is exactly the criticism Damor Smith was getting when he had the distrust of some of his clients and constituency that he was a little too interested in how things looked for him as opposed to the group.
- [07:22]
Mike Ryan
I will say I had to Google it. I did not know the current NFLPA president at the moment because he's avoided news and Damora Smith did like the headlines. I don't think he's gonna be able to avoid it anymore. I do get. I know that that's a crit wanting to be liked, but you're literally representing your players you, you almost have to be liked by a, a huge segment of who you're representing. I will say though, it was curious when demora Smith became the head of the NFL. PA it was a departure from what the NFL did. They, that league in particular, the players really put a premium on guys that actually played the game representing their interests. And demora Smith did not have that pro player background. I guess that was a moment in time, Hawk, where they wanted someone with presidential acumen and executive level acumen because of the nature of the money that was coming into the business.
- [08:12]
Dan LeBatard
Look, and when I say wanted to be like, I'm not talking about by players, I'm talking about by everybody. And you can't be liked by everybody when you are tasked with the interests of one specific group of people. Right. To your point about Gene Upshaw again, also had his shortcomings at times, but he did not give a shit. He would go to toe to toe with anyone and he was a former player. So you never questioned the motives or the things that he cared about deep down because you kind of identified with his life and his process to get to that point. You have to have a vested interest in what you're protecting. Like, I don't think this is a for hire job and you don't have to be a former player to have this job. But I feel like if you're making the, you know, putting your hat in the ring for this very high paid, very visible role, I need to be convinced of why you truly give a damn. Because that's what's going to matter. Because this is hard. You're going to battle against billionaires in a business where you don't have leverage.
- [09:07]
Stugatz
But take me inside your home as I give you this information. You're an NFL player and I inform you, hey, there was a confidentiality agreement between the NFL and the NFLPA about how it is that collusion sort of happened and that information was kept confidential, at least in part, so that the players wouldn't know what their union representatives had done on their behalf. Now take me, you're an active player and I send you that information. Am I already, just by virtue of what it is I've told you about the entire history of all this, do you not have confirmation bias? Are you not already in a circumstance where you distrust your union leadership and therefore this information arrives and it is confirming your bias? I do not trust the people who represent me.
- [09:55]
Dan LeBatard
I think you over. I won't even say that. I would say the current players that you have to realize and this is what I'm talking about of the way the system is set up. Right. As a football player in the NFL, I don't give a damn like, if you're the last guy on the roster or you're making $50 million a year. It is hard to make the most of that and make as much money as you can without solely being focused there. Now there are people who can have a foot in both lanes. So if you're asking me about current players and every time I hear this conversation, whether it's on podcasts or whether it's, you know, in the news or these things arise, you'd be surprised at how many current players aren't clocking this conversation because they drafted a guy at my position and I'm on the bubble, or they're starting to give this guy more targets than me because they want me to take a pay cut and, or they're going to cut me if he has a bigger season than me. And I got to wake up at 5am tomorrow and I got to do recovery and I'm going to train till 1 o' clock and I got to go eat. And it's just, I have kids. It's not as, you know, big picture when you're in it, as you think it is. That's typically because on the outside you guys are seeing the big picture because we don't report on the day to day of what it takes to be an NFL player or the things they're considering and whatnot. And former players, they care more about it because they're on the other side. They no longer have the health insurance, they're no longer getting the $100,000 a game or $500,000 a game checks that they got for eight years, five years, or what have you. And now they're like, well, I wish we would have done this. But even in that moment, if I could go back right now as a 39 year old back in the NFL and I would say, man, would I focus more on that? I wouldn't because I'm our. I think about the ways I could have made ten more million dollars. I don't think about, man, I wish I would have dug more into the cba. And that's where I'm saying the system and how it's set up is not conducive to take those strides. So every time everyone else is surprised by it, I'm more surprised that you're surprised by it.
- [11:59]
Stugatz
Well, the thing about your perspective, though, as an unrelenting survivor and that Makes sense. You're saying, look, I had to concentrate on the daily micro. I couldn't do the historic macro of perspective. And the grand majority of players in the league are more like you than the ones who are making the big money. But if I were making the big money and I had my safety and I was not worried about the day to day survival and this arrived on my, on, on my information highway and I'm a person who is expecting my union leadership to represent me, I would immediately start asking an assortment of questions about what do you mean my own people were withholding from me about possible collusion in my league?
- [12:48]
Mike Ryan
Hawk this one does seem a little bit easy from the player's perspective. This is collusion to keep everybody down at the highest level. I think people even at the lowest levels. It's not the disconnect that you'll have from a guy that's on the practice squad to Russell Wilson money. This is ownership groups and front offices getting together to keep wages down. And it doesn't time up with a work stoppage. This seems like an easy win for the players to rise up.
- [13:12]
Stugatz
Mike it's not just to keep wages down, which is bothersome enough. Not just that this happened two days after Deshaun Watson's guaranteed money, which is problematic enough. I'm more bothered if I'm a representative, if I'm somebody who's being represented by, I'm trusting because of the daily fight that Hawkins is talking about. I got to concentrate on beating my one guy in front of me because we're fighting over the same money. I'm mad that in any way my union is collectively bargaining a limit on my guaranteed money. But I'm angrier still that they entered into an agreement with the NFL where they didn't want me to have information, never mind money, right? Just total information on what my situation is.
- [14:00]
Mike Ryan
Right. Normally when the NFLPA and the NFL come to an agreement, you see the benefit for the players. I'm struggling to wrap my head around like, what is the benefit of this secret agreement in which we have evidence that there was collusion to keep wages down to, to collude against fully guaranteed contracts. Because everyone outside of the sport and within the sport says, well, the desean Watson contract kind of breaks the system a little bit. Are they going the way of, of NBA with guaranteed contracts? I really don't understand what the players gain from the NFLPA not making a huge mess of this situation because great investigative reporting has kind of caught them red handed and it seemed as though they Put it on a wayward arbiter. But more and more evidence is stacking up. Do you think Ro Goodell is in his offices seeing Daily News, whether it be about Bill Belichick, the game's greatest coach, or now this, and just crumples up a paper and says, get me the Batman. And it's palpatory. Hey, everybody, it's Mike down here in South Florida. As the audience well knows, we've been celebrating a proper championship and we've been enjoying every minute of it. And by my side throughout that entire championship celebration has been Miller Light. Yeah, I wanted to make my championship time a Miller time, because much like most of the fun memories I've had as an adult, Miller Lite has been right there by my side, supplementing every experience. And now that I'm about to travel during the summer, you can rest assured I'm going to be having plenty of Miller Lite along the way, because that's what summer is all about. And since 1975, Miller Lite has been right there in all those memories. For you listening right now, it's the 50th anniversary of Miller Lite. That's 50 years of great taste, great friends, great moments, Miller Lite great taste. 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Cheers to 50 years of Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. All right, everybody, this is a wild one. For the first time ever, we've got a full blown all women's boxing mega event going down in New York City. Two title fights same night. And if you're like me and live for the action, DraftKings sportsbook is where it's at. Never bet with DraftKings before. It's super simple. Just pick who you think is gonna win and that's it. Here's the kicker. New customers can bet just five bucks and instantly get 150 bucks in bonus bets. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app right now and use promo code DAN. That's promo code DAN for new customers to get 150 bucks in bonus bets. And instantly, when you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings, the crown is yours.
- [16:38]
Stugatz
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- [16:56]
Dan LeBatard
Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction.
- [16:58]
Stugatz
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- [17:23]
Mike Ryan
Stugats. I care more about Matthew Tkachuk than I do my daughter.
- [17:26]
Dan LeBatard
This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats.
- [17:33]
Stugatz
The thing that I bothered by if I'm an NFL player on this is the idea that in any way my union representative isn't treating the NFL as an adversary, that they're entering into partnership with somebody to keep information from me. They're entering into partnership with my adversary to keep information away from me. I'd be asking a lot more questions if I was a player with guaranteed money in that league who had been evidently, reportedly betrayed by their manager.
- [18:10]
Mike Ryan
That's tricky for me. I get what you're saying, because the owners. In that. Any potential work stoppage, the owners are always gonna be viewed as the enemy. But it is a partnership. We're an independent media company that has several partnerships. I can't think of one that works, being adversarial. We had one of those when we were employees at Disney, between management and us, and it wasn't for long. So I don't know how you make it work by viewing things through that prism. Like, this is my enemy. One of their partners?
- [18:37]
Stugatz
You tell me, Hawk, because I think that Damaris Smith, when he writes a. Calling Roger Goodell a cold, dark void. Like he's telling you afterward, yeah, we were adversaries. He's. He was telling you during that they're adversaries. Like, he works for the players. He does not work for the league. He's not making money that the NFL is giving him. The players are giving him a percentage of their money to protect their interests.
- [19:06]
Mike Ryan
Like, it was also very. That was a huge inflection point for the league when Demora Smith had it, too. Not only is it a hard job, but I think on his watch, when you have the concussion issues, the business absolutely booming to the point that it becomes one of the more profitable business ventures in the world. It was a unique time in history. It's like being in charge now, on the forefront of AI blowing up. How do you lead? There's no playbook exactly for this. When that concussion study came out, that was unprecedented. It was something that was talked about, but they didn't have the data behind it.
- [19:39]
Stugatz
When Hawkins talks about the way the system works against the player, I want you to understand that what you're trying to do with a lawyer is ask for impeccable morality and ethics in a situation that is ripe for contamination. Cuz the player is so busy focused on his or her day to day and very often, very often has spent so much time trying to get to the top 1% of that 1% that they're not spending generally a whole lot of time thinking about business union issues. They have people that they're giving substantive percentages. DeMora Smith retires as a very wealthy man off the bodies of others because his job is to make sure that his employees have the maximum amount of information to know that they're being well represented by him. But I'm telling you, it's a group of people, not just football, football players, but athletes in general who have to beat other athletes for money. They're particularly susceptible to not having the correct information before they're betrayed by the people who they're paying to make sure they have the correct information.
- [20:53]
Mike Ryan
I couldn't believe yesterday that Zaz said he wasn't interested in this book. I find this, this topic in particular and I think I can code it with understanding what D. Smith's agenda is. I'm really interested to read this book with my ears.
- [21:06]
Stugatz
I don't think it's a book that a union head should be writing. I don't think that a union, and I say this like Marvin Miller wrote books and changed the way that finances work. But Marvin Miller didn't agree to a salary cap like Marvin Miller didn't agree to fixed costs that make it so these owners can collude over guaranteed money cuz they can't actually control themselves. The system controls them. And in this particular case you have to have an honest broker representing the NFL players. They need the representation because so few of them, for example, have law degrees.
- [21:42]
Mike Ryan
I'm also just fascinated by the narrative around demora Smith that paints him as a bad guy. I'm like, well, when we were trying to pick sides during those work stoppages or talks of work stoppages, the enemy was Roger Goodell. And Roger Goodell has gotten more popular, navigated a moment in time around Ray Rice, where people were calling for his job and it seemed to have real positive momentum, that his job was genuinely in jeopardy and the game was more boring, offenses were stagnant. You had Peyton Manning winning Super Bowl 50 and what was one of the worst seasons in NFL history in terms of how to view the game and the viewing experience for the fan, he navigated that. And Roger Goodell I think has actually done a pretty good job. If you look at the landscape of sports and this may have more to do with Adam Silver's recent shortcomings, he's gone somehow from categorically consensus worst commissioner in sports around the time of Ray Rice. And now you look at it, it's like, damn, is Rod the best?
- [22:39]
Dan LeBatard
He was kicking Demorris smith ass for 10 years, man, you gotta appreciate greatness. He's like Tom Brady. Like they were in a head to head battle. And if that's what this book is about, then that makes more sense.
- [22:50]
Mike Ryan
How I got my ass kicked.
- [22:52]
Dan LeBatard
I'm not surprised by, I'm not interested in the book. Not because I don't, you know, I have an issue with the Morris Smith, but I'm, I don't care about the words. I can see what the actions were when these issues arose or what we fought for, what we didn't fight for, what was a big deal, what was painted to us as like, oh, don't worry about this. And then it ended up being something we absolutely should have worried about. And to your point, even about this, again, it is more information that I'm sure will come. Union representatives better have a bunch of questions. They better get as much information as possible. And to your point, there better be a damn good reason why you sign a non disclosure agreement that maybe you can talk about in those rooms and they should make the decision to say, okay, is this valid or is it not? But the interesting part about this and the reason why the system is always hurtful is because in the NBA, to your point about partnership, the NBA PA and the NBA have a true partnership because it is a face player driven league. If Steph Curry doesn't play a certain amount of games, if LeBron doesn't play a certain amount of games, I didn't come to the warriors game to not see Steph Curry. I'm not coming to the Heat arena and I not to see Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, I'm coming for them in the NFL, it's the Shield. These are recyclable names. The moment I get traded, my jersey Number goes to the next person. And Hawkins is forgotten in the Browns, right? Like yeah, we have some affinity for him, but we are following Never forgotten, Never Forgotten. We're following the Browns, we're following the Dolphins. This is my team for 30 years. It was my grandfather's team, so on and so forth. The faces of the league are the quarterbacks, right? And the 32 quarterbacks are paid the most handsomely. They're the ones in the locker room who have a relationship with the owners. They don't come and talk to a lot of players. Most owners, not all owners, but most of them will have a relationship with the quarterback, the face of their franchise. And if we keep them happy by making sure they get their money and they are handsomely played, they're going to be less likely to jump into these union fights or fight for rights of whatever. And I understand it because I'm paid. I don't want to mess up the gravy chain that I have for me and my family now on this, this guarantee. Yeah, it trickles down, but the first direct impact is exactly those guys that you guys, it's you guys that they're trying to limit the guarantees of in this, in this report or whatever they're. They're asking about. So that's going to be the interesting for me. Interesting thing for me because now you have an issue that affects them being the highest paid faces of the league more than it affects the other 1768.
- [25:19]
Stugatz
You mentioned Tom Brady. You also use the word handsome in the middle of handsomely paid. Tom Brady is having a winning summer. Tom Brady doesn't often have off seasons. Tom Brady suffered about as much criticism as he's ever gotten last year during the football season. Pretty close to it.
- [25:43]
Mike Ryan
That's the only thing close to an L I think he's got.
- [25:45]
Stugatz
His broadcasting career has had some criticism in it that is louder than almost all of the other criticism that he would have had. But now people are following his dating habits. And what is the latest that has been reported on Tom Brady after he won the Fanatics games, the Michael Rubin games of celebrity winning?
- [26:08]
Mike Ryan
Yeah, he's having a great off season now. I don't know how many offseasons Tom Brady's ever had, but even in retirement, the dude cannot stop winning. He's been spotted in Ibiza with Sofia Vergara. Happy birthday to her, by the way. He was seen palling around reportedly with Sydney Sweeney at Jeff Bezos with wedding photographed on a yacht with Kate Hudson. Tom Brady is having a Tom Brady like Off season.
- [26:35]
Stugatz
A Happy birthday to Sofia Vergada.
- [26:39]
Dan LeBatard
Happy birthday to her.
- [26:42]
Mike Ryan
I don't care.
- [26:44]
Stugatz
Good luck.
- [26:45]
Mike Ryan
53. I believe that's nuts.
- [26:48]
Stugatz
Don LeBatard suggests I should go say hello.
- [26:52]
Dan LeBatard
This is the Dan Levatar show with the st.
- [27:11]
Stugatz
Speaking of birthdays, let's get John C. Reilly, please, singing Happy Birthday, of course, to Jack White from the pitching mound in Detroit, please. Let's see what we have here. John C. Reilly, universally funny. Let's see what he did here. To my friend Jack White on three.
- [27:36]
Mike Ryan
One, two, three.
- [27:41]
Stugatz
Happy birthday to you. Come on, Detroit. Happy birthday to you.
- [27:57]
Dan LeBatard
Speed it up.
- [28:00]
Mike Ryan
Happy birthday.
- [28:05]
Stugatz
Dear John.
- [28:10]
Mike Ryan
Happy birthday.
- [28:15]
Stugatz
To you. Is that like a first pitch that.
- [28:24]
Mike Ryan
He just was like.
- [28:25]
Stugatz
Give me the mic. Like he seems to be out there to throw out our first pitch.
- [28:28]
Mike Ryan
It is crawling with how slow that took. I was embarrassed for Jack White.
- [28:32]
Stugatz
Jack White was embarrassed. Why was John C. Reilly wearing a full Detroit Tigers uniform with a scarf? It appeared like. It appeared there was a scarf.
- [28:41]
Mike Ryan
Hiked up hands. He had the stirrups almost.
- [28:44]
Stugatz
Was it for the Love of the Game? Is that the name of the movie where John C. Reilly produced what I believe to be the single least athletic thing ever produced by an actor in a sports movie. John C. Reilly is the catcher of the title. Tried to catch a foul ball, ran straight toward the back wall. Did so very clumsily, very poorly. Caught the foul ball. But they had to have done a thousand takes of that because he clearly did not have anything in the way of athleticism. Is that indeed a scarf underneath his Tigers jersey?
- [29:11]
Mike Ryan
Kertrith Ascot.
- [29:12]
Dan LeBatard
Might be an ascot.
- [29:13]
Mike Ryan
It might be an ascot.
- [29:14]
Dan LeBatard
Maybe he's dressed like the 1933 Detroit Tigers. Was that a team then?
- [29:19]
Stugatz
It does look like a bit of Black Sox era uniform. And. And the Tigers have the best team in baseball right now. Right? Because the Dodgers have lost six straight games. So I'm assuming the Tigers have won more games than anyone in baseball. It's a popular time in Detroit for Detroit baseball. But for the Love of the Game is the name. I always want to do the show least athletic things that you've ever seen in the movies because Basketball diaries with Leonardo DiCaprio, the way that he dribbled a basketball. The way that Michael Fox or in any sitcom really. Anything from Will Smith, anything that was being done by. What was his name? Alfonso Ribera in Barrow Ribeiro and Michael J.
- [30:04]
Mike Ryan
Fox.
- [30:06]
Stugatz
Yeah, Michael J. Fox. But the dribbling of basketball. You would agree that sitcom basketball, anytime you've ever seen a basketball game Played on sitcom television. It is never something that feels authentic.
- [30:19]
Mike Ryan
It's terrible. It's the one sport that, you know.
- [30:22]
Dan LeBatard
This guy is not athletic.
- [30:24]
Mike Ryan
He does not know what he's doing is you put somebody on a football field, they can kind of run around. You can kind of get away with it.
- [30:29]
Dan LeBatard
That's Cap, go ahead.
- [30:30]
Mike Ryan
Well, but Hawk, you're talking about dribbling a basketball.
- [30:33]
Dan LeBatard
No, it's hard. No, it's immediate that you're not going to.
- [30:36]
Mike Ryan
When you're running a route, okay? Like, you can kind of pan away and whatever. The moment you start dribbling a basketball like this, we got issues.
- [30:43]
Stugatz
You guys would agree, though, that sitcom, sitcom television does a particularly poor job of making its basketball players look like they've ever played basketball before, 100%.
- [30:55]
Mike Ryan
Famously, in football, it's really bad. Like, if someone is cast as a quarterback, none of them can throw.
- [31:00]
Dan LeBatard
Keanu Reeves did not give off quarterback in the Replacement.
- [31:03]
Mike Ryan
Famously, Diddy was originally cast to play Willie Beeman. And, like, he got it without even an audition. And then they put him on the football field and the story is he couldn't throw it on. That's how Jamie Foxx got the job.
- [31:16]
Dan LeBatard
Any given Sunday football, top notch. That's top notch. Film and television sport right there.
- [31:22]
Stugatz
There was an eyeball on the field. It was. It was unrealistic.
- [31:27]
Dan LeBatard
Orlando Brown, you've never seen an eyeball getting knocked out in a game.
- [31:31]
Stugatz
Were we buying Bernie Mac as a.
- [31:32]
Mike Ryan
Great hitter in Mr. 3000?
- [31:37]
Stugatz
It's a fine choice by you, but Mike is bringing up. Mike is bringing up something I'd actually like to talk about. What is less realistic in television sitcoms or television in general? The recreation of the football or the recreation of basket? Because Mike's saying football is harder. And he might be right. Because when I think about it, I would imagine that football would be harder to make realistic because you're making giant hits realistic. But honestly, when I think of it first, I think basketball is the thing I've seen represented most poorly in things like the Fresh Prince.
- [32:13]
Mike Ryan
I think it's a throwing motion is just so easy to spot. I mean, although ask Tony, he tried.
- [32:19]
Dan LeBatard
Out for fiu, they knew right away he couldn't do it off of the throw in motion. It was almost immediate, I gotta tell you.
- [32:27]
Mike Ryan
Danny McBride and Eastbound and down, that was bad. That's really, really bad.
- [32:31]
Stugatz
Well, I told you guys that Adam McKay mentioned that Danny McBride, it took him a year just to get him to throw that well. Kenny Powers, it took him one year One year to teach him how to look like he was throwing a baseball from a pitching motion. Because he's got no athleticism. None. Zero. Didn't know how to throw a baseball. Didn't know how to hold a glove.
- [32:53]
Mike Ryan
Imagine if Kenny Powers played basketball and how long it would have taken him to look somewhat competent dribbling a basketball from here to there.
- [32:58]
Stugatz
All right, put it on the poll, please. At Lebatard show. Hardest thing to recreate authentically on a television show. Basketball, baseball, or football. Go ahead and make your choice. Stugatz is in Tahoe. He has arrived. We are telling you here consistently that Stugatz is building his empire, his own business with God bless football and stupidity. He has arrived in Tahoe. He is interviewing all of the people, all of the athletes in Tahoe. He goes every year. He is at the center of his own chumminess. He loves going there. He got together with Matthew Tkachuk, Gary Sheffield and others. Let's play some sound with him. Just going way overly chummy with Matthew Tkachuk, which I'm not totally sure he would have recognized if Taylor didn't ID him for Stugato. Penalty shot for your life. I want you to think about this, okay?
- [33:54]
Dan LeBatard
TJ Oshi, who is here? Or Wayne Gretzky.
- [33:58]
Mike Ryan
Oh.
- [33:58]
Stugatz
Penalty shot for your life. Okay.
- [34:01]
Mike Ryan
I'm probably going. That's so tough. I feel like I saw somewhere once that Gretzky said he didn't like breakaways, which I find that he was. I find that that's not true. One of my favorite moments in sports history was watching Oshi in the four shootout goal game.
- [34:18]
Dan LeBatard
So I'm gonna take Ocean. Okay.
- [34:20]
Mike Ryan
Big Swiss, you're living.
- [34:21]
Dan LeBatard
Yeah. See, you're alive.
- [34:23]
Stugatz
You're on the Mount Rushmore of South Florida sports. How does that feel to you?
- [34:25]
Mike Ryan
Oh, I don't.
- [34:26]
Stugatz
I put you there.
- [34:27]
Mike Ryan
Well, I. I appreciate it. It takes a village, and I'm just lucky to be surrounded by tons of great people. I can't tell who was more insincere there. Chucky at the. At the very end, Stu or Chucky. I mean, Stu put him in quite the spot. There's no way Stu Guts believes that.
- [34:43]
Stugatz
How did he not kill him for choosing over Gretzky?
- [34:48]
Mike Ryan
I gotta say, Oshie is the right call there.
- [34:50]
Stugatz
It's not the right call.
- [34:52]
Mike Ryan
He won a gold medal. Oshi's the right call. His game, Dan, not yours. That was one of the greatest American moments. It's like Washington crossing the Potomac.
- [34:59]
Stugatz
He lived, so he got it right.
- [35:00]
Mike Ryan
Captain America they went to TJ Oshi multiple times in a shootout. We didn't even know that that was an allowable rule. And he put a country on his back. TJ Oshi is the best.
- [35:12]
Stugatz
I understand your passion here. I didn't think I would have to scream this with my headset off.
- [35:19]
Dan LeBatard
Should I take my headset off, too?
- [35:20]
Stugatz
Yes.
- [35:21]
Dan LeBatard
Okay.
- [35:21]
Stugatz
It's Gretzky. What are you doing?
- [35:26]
Mike Ryan
I would take Pavel Bure over Gretzky on a breakaway, too. Yeah. Easy, easy. I mean, Gretzky, as Tkachuk alluded to. Gretzky himself said he didn't like breakaways. I mean, that's not. TJ Oshi in a penalty shootout situation, I think, is famously better than Gretzky. And Gretzky, I mean, to his credit, didn't have many penalty shot moments.
- [35:45]
Stugatz
Steph Curry is famously better than Larry Bird at shooting three pointers. I think the most Larry Bird ever made in a season was 81 of them, I think.
- [35:54]
Dan LeBatard
Do I have that.
- [35:55]
Stugatz
Do I have it wrong, that if someone selects Steph Curry over Larry Bird, Stugatz immediately kills them? Because Larry Bird, reputationally, that's where Stugatz always goes, consistently.
- [36:08]
Mike Ryan
Yeah, but then this isn't exactly Max Kellerman saying he would take Iguodala over Steph Curry. This one makes sense because TJ Oshi is, quite frankly, the most famous for penalty shots.
- [36:17]
Stugatz
Steph Curry also makes sense because he is the most famous at making three pointers ever.
- [36:22]
Dan LeBatard
Steph Curry is the right answer. Over for your life. Over Larry Bird.
- [36:25]
Stugatz
Larry Bird had 98 three pointers in 87.
- [36:28]
Dan LeBatard
88.
- [36:29]
Mike Ryan
But he's a specialist. It's like Jorginho. Not fast, not gifted, not one of the goats of his generation. Penalty shot specialist. People who take Jorginho, in some cases over even Ronaldo. As you. Ridiculous as that sounds, Mike, you're factually right.
- [36:45]
Stugatz
What does that have to do with anything?
- [36:47]
Dan LeBatard
Okay.
- [36:48]
Stugatz
That we're talking about? Because he will kill anyone who selects Steph Curry over Larry Bird. And it has nothing to do with facts.
- [36:56]
Mike Ryan
Right.
- [36:56]
Dan LeBatard
Okay.
- [36:56]
Mike Ryan
No, I understand. You got situation you don't understand, though. Like, this is a Tahoe thing. TJ Oshi is probably within earshot, and he's just trying to butter him up.
- [37:05]
Stugatz
Well, I saw all of you wince at Stugatz and also smile at him, saying to Tkachuk, you're on the South Florida Mount Rushmore in excessive chumminess that you guys all believe to be an insincere lie.
- [37:19]
Mike Ryan
I also don't think if we asked Stugatz how many people are allowed on Mount Rushmore? He would actually know the number so that I am defending him there. If you ask him, he'd say, I don't know, like 13.
- [37:29]
Dan LeBatard
Yeah. He's confusing Mount Rushmore with the Appalachian Mountains. There's a bunch of them. You just continue to add.
- [37:35]
Mike Ryan
Quick comparison. Steph Curry made 402 three pointers in the 1516 season.
- [37:41]
Stugatz
Before we get to our popular new game, let's just get some more Stugats. He sat down with Gary Sheffield. I tell all of you, please, on YouTube Stutube, find God bless football. Find Stu Tube. Find stupodity.
- [37:55]
Mike Ryan
Let's play YouTube.com 90 it's very easy, Mike.
- [38:00]
Stugatz
It comes up immediately. All you have to do is just. You could do Stugat 790, but it's not hard to find at all.
- [38:05]
Mike Ryan
On. Apparently it's hard to remember for you.
- [38:06]
Stugatz
You. It's ST Tube. It's very easy to remember. Let's. Let's hear St and Taylor with Gary Sheffield in Tahoe.
- [38:14]
Mike Ryan
Stugots has his personal record book where he kind of keeps score.
- [38:18]
Stugatz
Okay.
- [38:18]
Mike Ryan
We have a batting stance hall of Fame, right? Your first ballot. So first off, congratulations.
- [38:23]
Stugatz
Well, thank you.
- [38:24]
Mike Ryan
Thank you.
- [38:24]
Stugatz
I appreciate that. Yes. Second, who.
- [38:26]
Mike Ryan
Who else would you kind of put in the category of, like, batting stances that you've seen that have been like. Like, that's a great batting stance. As a batting stance hall of Famer.
- [38:35]
Stugatz
I always talk about this guy, and he's on my top five list of one of the best baseball players of all time. And I. And I defined it by not just based on stats alone. It's based on do they pitch to this guy?
- [38:50]
Dan LeBatard
Right.
- [38:50]
Stugatz
And this guy, Jeff Bagwell, they didn't pitch to him.
- [38:54]
Dan LeBatard
But you love the batting stance of Bagwell.
- [38:56]
Stugatz
Bagwell had one of the best batting stance circumstances. And I was spread out like that. That's why it dawned on me, Gary. It was terrifying being at the stadium when you were up. I mean, if you were sitting on.
- [39:06]
Mike Ryan
The third base side, it was terrifying.
- [39:07]
Dan LeBatard
Yeah, yeah.
- [39:08]
Stugatz
When I saw Bagwell for the first time, I say, that's my guy. Right? See, we're not no big guys. We're kind of undersized compared to these big guys. And he was almost hitting going backwards, right. But he was. He stayed in his leg so well. And I was the same type of hitter. I had to hit with my legs, right. To generate power. And I just thought he was one of the.
- [39:27]
Mike Ryan
This man. I want to listen to that podcast was that Archie Manning walking behind them. The gate did kind of resemble that of Archie Manning. We can run it back the way that we could. Look at the lawn darted golf player, but, man, I could listen to Gary Sheffield critique other batting stances from the 90s and early 2000s for the rest of my life. And he had a great answer. Ooh, slow it. That might be.
- [39:48]
Stugatz
That is Archie Manning.
- [39:49]
Mike Ryan
You think so?
- [39:49]
Stugatz
That is Archie Manning.
- [39:50]
Mike Ryan
He is a tall man.
- [39:51]
Stugatz
Yes. Look at me.
- [39:52]
Dan LeBatard
Wow, dude.
- [39:53]
Stugatz
I believe he's pretty good. It might be too young to be Archie, though. Might be too young. Let's get in there. Close.
- [39:59]
Dan LeBatard
No, damn it.
- [40:00]
Stugatz
You know what? I was right.
- [40:01]
Mike Ryan
It's just a white guy.
- [40:04]
Stugatz
I'm sorry. That is Jay Bis, clearly. No, I'm sorry. You came so close, but unfortunately, it's just Matthew Modine. I'm sorry.
- [40:11]
Mike Ryan
It does look like Modine. Hey, everybody, it's Mike down here in South Florida. As the audience well knows, we've been celebrating a proper championship, and we've been enjoying every minute of it. And by my side throughout that entire championship celebration has been Miller Lite. Yeah, I wanted to make my championship time a Miller time, because much like most of the fun memories I've had as an adult, Miller Lite has been right there by my side, supplementing every experience. And now that I'm about to travel during the summer, you can rest assured I'm gonna be having plenty of Miller Lite along the way, because that's what summer is all about. And since 1975, Miller Lite has been right there. And all those memories for you listening right now. Now it's the 50th anniversary of Miller Lite. That's 50 years of great taste, great friends, great moments, Miller Lite, great tastes. 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Cheers to 50 years of Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.