Mike Ryan (3:12)

I also think that in the case of LeBron and Tom Brady and Messi, we've seen other people age at a normal rate and we keep wondering, like, what kind of science do they have? Well, part of the reason is they're the greatest of all times.

Greg Cody (3:24)

Right?

Mike Ryan (3:25)

Like, that might be their secret to aging. Is that Tom Brady, LeBron James, Messi, Serena, they're doing these unprecedented things because they were just that damn good. And are you already at the point where Messi is getting old? Is that what you think is.

Stugotz (3:38)

I just keep waiting for something to indicate to me that he's not the best player in the world.

Billy Gil (3:43)

He plays for the MLS, but after 35.

Stugotz (3:46)

Yeah, but he just.

Mike Ryan (3:46)

Yeah, but when he plays international, when he plays internationally though, he's still boss in the games for Argentina. I think we're not at that point yet. I think you look at an unproven head coach in Javier Marcerano that is Argentinian, that has a link to Messi, and you can start poking holes and say maybe that wasn't the right guy for the job.

Billy Gil (4:03)

I mean, is it the sign that he's aging, though, that he went to the mls?

Mike Ryan (4:06)

Historically, you'd be right. But that's usually what happens with that league is older players.

Stugotz (4:11)

Didn't he come to the MLS as the best player in the world?

Mike Ryan (4:13)

Yeah, he came a couple months removed from being the best player in the World cup and having an all time final with Mbappe matching him shot for shot. Yeah, he was, he was the best player in the world when he, when he showed up here.

Chris Cote (4:25)

Well, part of this may be playing the result on my part, but I've only thought the past couple of months that Messi looks slow compared to the game. Like I, I've seen Vancouver, I saw that might have been the Minnesota game, where you're watching the game and, and you're like these younger players, barely half his age are faster than him. Really?

Mike Ryan (4:47)

Yeah, he always kind of approaches the game with a stroll. He conserves his energy.

Greg Cody (4:53)

He essentially walks half the game.

Mike Ryan (4:54)

Which is why what was so shocking is we're about a month and a half removed from one of the craziest MLS games I've ever seen. It was in the CONCACAF Champions cup against lafc, where he is sprinting the entire time. Honestly, if you want to look at what happened to Miami, it kind of dropped off after that performance because of how much they put into it. They're an older roster and they went like crazy trying to get that result to advance in that tournament.

Greg Cody (5:15)

It is interesting, him speaking the way that he just did with, you know, fans got to stay with us. It's hard. Yada, yada. Has he ever spoken to the media before this?

Mike Ryan (5:25)

He does.

Stugotz (5:26)

He does. He does he speak. He doesn't speak very much in English. And so they never make him available.

Greg Cody (5:31)

No, never.

Chris Cote (5:32)

That's a fault of Inter.

Mike Ryan (5:33)

Miami usually handpicked. Yeah. They have, like some media availability depending on the competition, and they'll do like one off, like, profiles on him, but he's pretty guarded.

Stugotz (5:43)

Can you guys find for me, please? I don't know what the rights issues would be, but I remember seeing him on a Japanese television show doing amazing tricks one time. Because Messi's availability is limited, he tends to be not very interesting in interviews, even when he gives them. It's one of the reasons I'm skeptical of Michael Jordan being a broadcaster, the same way I was skeptical of Tom Brady being a broadcaster. He's never said interesting things. Why would he say interesting things on a broadcast?

Greg Cody (6:10)

I don't think it's about Messi saying something interesting. I think it's about, you're in MLS now and you're in a new country. Maybe, you know, get in front of the fan base every now and then and say a couple of things.

Stugotz (6:22)

Oh, but it's his play that speaks for him. And he doesn't have any trouble selling the sport. He's not going to do it with words. Like, it's not. There's nothing messy selling with words, I don't think.

Mike Ryan (6:32)

No. The biggest thing that's stopping the league from growing is the fact that most of its season exists behind a paywall when it's not mature enough to be making that kind of move.

Stugotz (6:42)

It is an interesting business decision, a daring one, and I believe a smart one internationally to make people in the streaming age pay for the right to watch Messi when everyone in the world who loves soccer wants to watch it.

Greg Cody (6:55)

I didn't order it this year I don't have it.

Mike Ryan (6:57)

Well, you probably get it for free if you have Xfinity or T Mobile. There's a bunch of corporate tie ins that you get it for free.

Greg Cody (7:03)

I was getting it for free with my season tickets, but I didn't renew this year.

Mike Ryan (7:06)

Yeah, I think it's proof positive that it's been a dumb strategy for MLS to do this before the World Cup. Internationally, they don't release these numbers. We don't know what their subscription model looks like. We know that Messi gets a cut reportedly of it. But I think it was really, really dumb to put your domestic league, the biggest domestic league that you have, behind a paywall before the World cup is here. You got to make the game as accessible as possible as the entire world is going to be traveling here next summer. And then you start shooting your shots. But it needs to be way more accessible than it is right now.

Stugotz (7:40)

You say it's dumb, and it may indeed have been dumb for mls, not dumb for Apple. That needs to recoup its investment by making sure they charge for the fact that they got the best player in the world to play behind a paywall and they make the fans pay for that. It's an easy, smart way for Apple to increase its subscriptions. Whether you care about the rest of what Apple is doing or not, it's a must.

Mike Ryan (8:04)

I can't argue for it or against it because I don't see the numbers. I would say that it. I don't know a lot of people that have MLS season pass.

Stugotz (8:12)

Oh, but I think this is an international play as much as it is an American play. And it's just to get Apple subscription. Like the reason Apple gets in the game. It's the reason that Apple's trying to get in the game with all the big brands. They do a documentary with Magic Johnson. They do a documentary with the Patriots. They're not. They're not doing the documentaries that Untold is doing. They're just doing giant brands that have mass appeal.

Billy Gil (8:33)

So people watch shrinking in Argentina.

Mike Ryan (8:36)

I mean, this is not my opinion. Apple's cutting back on their development budget because they spend so much money and they're not getting a lot of subscribers. Like their struggles in acquiring subscribers both domestically and internationally are well reported on. So I would venture to say there's probably some buyer's remorse on the MLS deal just because I don't know a lot of people that have it. I don't see a lot of people talking about it. I think the league has somehow dropped in its profile, despite having the most famous soccer player in the league, which is just unimaginable.

Stugotz (9:10)

Let me take another approach on this, though, in the analysis of how it is that people age and where it is the science makes this difficult. The untold series on Netflix is very hit or miss. Okay? They've got one on Gilbert Arenas called Shooting Guards, which is what you have to call that one. Thank you, Billy. They have one on Favre that doesn't have access to Favre. So it's going to be more interesting than the one that did or would have access to Favre because the. That you trade something with the access. But they had a terrible one on Liver King. And Liver King, if you're not familiar.

Greg Cody (9:47)

The dude that eats the.

Stugotz (9:49)

The testicles. And. And. And he says he lives a primal diet.

Dan LeBatard (9:54)

Primals.

Stugotz (9:54)

That's what he calls people.

Mike Ryan (9:55)

Well, he did.

Luis J. Gomez (9:56)

He did eat the primal diet. He just was also doing steroids.

Stugotz (9:59)

Well, this is the thing, though. Yes, he was doing a lot of steroids. It had. He was doing both his. Okay. But his body had nothing to do with the fact that he was eating testicles and livers. It had to do with. He was doing a copious amount of stero. No one looks like that. No human being. No matter their weightlifting, even if they're weightlifting as often as Graziano and Skip Bayless, no one can look like Liver King. But what I wanted to say to you in terms of what the average person knows, has knowledge of when it comes to science and sport is very limited because it was obvious simply from looking at Liver King. That ain't natural. That's obviously not natural. How is that selling natural supplements? There's no way that the human body looks like that.

Dan LeBatard (10:41)

A lot of bone marrow.

Stugotz (10:42)

It was a con. But when I talk to you about science, athletes, aging, and how competitive these people are, because it's really nice to believe, Mike, what you're saying. Well, they're the best ever. So of course they would age differently than all other humans because they're the best ever. Or competitive. People have learned that there's a fountain of youth. And Jose Alvarado gets suspended this last weekend for 80 games, and nobody gives a plea because there's no actual consequences to this. You'll get the 80 games and you'll lose the salary. Obviously, that is consequence. But Alvarado has already gotten all the money and is unhittable or has been unhittable the entire time I've been watching that guy. I don't understand how anyone hits him. The Reason is because he wasn't even very good last year is because he's often behind 3:1 or 2:0 and then has to throw one of those pitches in an area where he's behind in the cat.

Luis J. Gomez (11:29)

Dude, that guy is totally natural. Dan, I don't know what you're talking about. Look at him here. Look at his abs, dude. 10, 000 crunches a day, Dan. That's what you would look like if you did 10, 000 crunches a day right there.

Stugotz (11:39)

He does not.

Dan LeBatard (11:40)

He's not breathing right.

Luis J. Gomez (11:42)

Vascular, though, She's.

Greg Cody (11:45)

I don't like it.

Luis J. Gomez (11:46)

That's from eating bull testicles right there. Rocky Mountain oysters, Dan.

Stugotz (11:49)

I'll start using Jose Alvarado, suspended for 80 games. He is the closer for the Philadelphia Phillies. He was a setup man again, he's not. He's. He's a little inaccurate. He doesn't always throw the ball over the plate. But what I'm asking you guys is Jose Alvarado does not look like somebody that you would ever accuse of 80 game suspension without pay because he's using PEDs. And so I ask you, so like.

Greg Cody (12:14)

D. Gordon, he'd be the last person that you thought right?

Stugotz (12:16)

Or Peyton Manning when he's get, you know, his wife is getting, you know, Al Jazeera is allegedly reporting that his wife is getting human growth hormone. I don't believe that anyone talking about sports, covering sports, writing sports on any mainstream media outlet is versed enough in what cheating actually looks like at the most competitive levels, where you have the. The economics to be the best. And you could, you could do what LeBron James does, which has like a team of Navy seals to work on his body. Once upon a time, a million years ago, when Jamal Mashburn was the one inventing exercise instead of Jim Fix, Jamal Mashburn made a big. A big show of traveling with his body mechanics guy paying whatever it was, 100 or $150,000 a year every city. His guy is coming and stretching him no matter where he is when he needs it. And the economy around these guys has gotten so strong that Kobe at the end of his career is going to Germany for whatever it is. The blood spinning is still passed to Weatherspoon. He did pass to Weatherspoon. There are no put it on the poll at LeBatard show. Are there any steroids that keep you from passing the last shot to Clarence Weatherspoon? Passing the last shot in a. It was a Knick series, right.

Mike Ryan (13:32)

I get Dan's argument and I'm probably naive, but I've seen plenty of all time great players try to do what Tom Brady did. I've seen Aaron Rodgers fail repeatedly trying to do it. I saw Drew Brees fail. Peyton Manning fell apart as his wife is getting reportedly stuff in the mail reported by Al Jazeera. I've seen the all time goats fall short of those guys. So what you're saying, why isn't it a universal rule? Why is it just these four athletes in Serena, Tom, LeBron and and now Messi that have found the best stuff that no one else can find and.

Greg Cody (14:08)

All at the same time?

Mike Ryan (14:09)

Right. I just think we're at a place, yes, with science and nutrition that's different. And it's allowing all time greats to be all time great a little bit longer.

Stugotz (14:18)

You see physically what Jose Alvarado looks like. We cannot do this that way anymore. The way that I was doing it with Brady is every quarterback who's ever thrown a football starts his precipitous decline at 37. There's no such thing as something after that for a quarterback. LeBron James just did in that sport has no precedent. That's not what Kareem was doing at 40. It was.

Mike Ryan (14:41)

My argument is you could look at that and say, man, something's got to be going on over there. But the something can also be, that might just be the greatest athlete at their sport we've ever seen, which could apply to all these people that I just named.

Billy Gil (14:53)

Tom Brady also said he never ate strawberries. So I mean, I don't know, long term studies on strawberry health.

Mike Ryan (14:59)

And look, it's not a universal rule. Tiger woods, arguably all time goat body fell apart.

Chris Cote (15:05)

I think Mike has a point though because it's not always science. Right? It's freak. These guys are freaks of nature, these athletes we're talking about. And you see it in other walks of life. I mean there was only one Albert Einstein, you know, there was only one Sebastian.

Stugotz (15:21)

I mean understood. But Michael Jordan didn't play till he was 40. Like Michael Jordan's game became jump shots. Like, and he was the greatest there's ever been. It's easier to live in the space you guys are. It really is to not be skeptical and just think, oh, those people are aging differently than any other humans ever. And that provides you cover the idea that you can say, well, they were already the greatest. But when I think of you say, Messi looks slow. Suarez has looked slow the entire time.

Mike Ryan (15:47)

I've watched him like, Suarez doesn't have knees.

Stugotz (15:51)

But I'm saying that at 35 years old, we were talking about Giannis, is he still in his prime? I think of an athlete's prime as their twenties. I do not and have never thought of an athlete's prime in their 30s. Paul O' Neill is one of the few baseball players ever who got better after the age of 33. It's just super rare. I don't think of the 30s as the prime of an athlete's career, but maybe I have to rethink it because Giannis is coming off of the best year of his career at 30.

Luis J. Gomez (16:16)

I think the thing where you talk about prime is athletically and physically, yes, the prime is in the early twenties, but when your. When your mind catches up to actually being able to read the game with that. With that physicality, that's where you really turn into your prime. It's like Jokic, all of a sudden, he can do things that people can't with his mind. His body's still lagging in that area. But, like, that's a prime example.

Chris Cote (16:37)

I think that the prime. Now you have to say it's like 27 to 35. And similarly, lifespans are expanding. I mean, a generation ago, you lived to be 70. Now you expect to live to be 80. It's just, you know, it's physiology.

Billy Gil (16:52)

Town elders used to be in their 20s at one point in time.

Chris Cote (16:54)

That's exactly right.

Stugotz (16:56)

I don't believe that's true. That is on your poll. We'll see. Put it on the poll, Levittarch. So there was no. There were no racist grandfathers back then because everybody was elder at 20. Put it on the poll at Levittard Show. Did town elders used to be 20 years old? Since I mentioned Giannis, I wanted to ask you guys how the Bucks should be handling this, because again, Damian Lillard is out for next season, is making $58 million next season, and it makes it so that Giannis isn't going to be able to win there next year. They're not.

Greg Cody (17:26)

Can't win when you have $60 million dead money on your cap, can.

Stugotz (17:30)

They don't have the assets to do any of this also because of what they traded for him. So they're stuck. And I'm asking you what it is that the Bucks are supposed to do here, merely publicly? Because if I were the Bucks already, and I didn't know behind the scenes of the problem I had on my hands, I would just come out and say, giannis isn't going anywhere. I would just say it.

Mike Ryan (17:52)

We.

Stugotz (17:52)

We value this player. Too much. We have no intention of him, but that's not what they're doing.

Greg Cody (17:57)

That's a part that's really interesting to me so far because it kind of. It feels like this could be it, finally, for Giannis there. And you have all this chatter. And when there was chatter here in the middle of this season with a super secretive organization in the Miami Heat who don't address rumors in this kind of stuff, Pat Riley put out a statement and said, we are not trading Jimmy Butler yet. You have all this talk going around now about Giannis, and it feels like this could be it. And no one's really pushing back in Milwaukee from all this conversation. So it kind of feels like this is a real thing that's about.

Mike Ryan (18:34)

And it looks like ownership kind of picked the GM because he extended before. You have all this commotion around the franchise with the early exit, but the GM kind of gets rewarded for the direction that they're either in or going about to be in with a new ownership group. That's. That's usually a pretty good indicator if they extend the gm.

Chris Cote (18:53)

I totally get Milwaukee maybe thinking that this is the time to reboot. Between Lillard's injury, between the fact that Giannis right now is still considered in his late prime. You're going to get as much for him right now as you ever would, or certainly as you will in three years.

Greg Cody (19:11)

It'd probably be the biggest fall in NBA history.

Chris Cote (19:13)

Right.

Greg Cody (19:13)

What they could get for Giannis, I would assume.

Stugotz (19:16)

I think most every team in the league pulls its roster out, puts it in front of Milwaukee, and just says, take what you want. Like, almost ever. That max that matches up the salaries.

Greg Cody (19:27)

Doesn't it complicate things a little bit, though, watching what just happened in Dallas, like, meaning Milwaukee, like, they have to frame it. Milwaukee has to frame it in some type of fashion of Giannis wanting out. Because with what just took place in Dallas and, you know, Nico Harrison nuking the franchise, Nico Harrison not win the number one overall pick. That's blind luck. All right. But you saw the way the fan base reacted and all that. The immediate summer after that, Milwaukee's gonna do the exact same thing.

Stugotz (19:56)

It's why I asked the question, because I think it's a paradigm shift. What happened to Lillard? What happened to Lillard informs what happens after that. The reason I thought that Lillard was coming to Miami back when I was a Heat mouthpiece, before I became, you know, a journalist again.

Greg Cody (20:11)

Go on.

Stugotz (20:11)

Is because if Lillard, a player of that stature, ever wants out, they get their way. This is the first time it hasn't happened. So what does Dallas do? Preemptively says, we're going to avoid the whole mess. We're going to do it on the other end of the extreme. And now what does that put Milwaukee? What position does that put them in?

Billy Gil (20:30)

So if you're Milwaukee, you say the buck stops here.

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Mike Ryan (21:33)

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Dan LeBatard (23:11)

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Greg Cody (23:41)

Don LeBatard I saw a post on Twitter yesterday how the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Stugotz (23:47)

Yeah.

Greg Cody (23:47)

That they won the division. Guess what? It's been two years, and that's two years too long. Stugats could take that ass, too. Oh, we're taking two asses.

Billy Gil (23:56)

This is the Dan Levitar show with the stugats.

Luis J. Gomez (24:02)

The thing is, Luka wouldn't have asked for a trade, right? Luka was completely content of being like a Dirk Nowitzki. I'm going to be in Dallas my whole career kind of guy. This was Nico Harrison saying, oh, I'm going to play chess while everybody else is playing checkers. I'm going to trade him away. I don't like his body. We have a win now. Window of three years. Let me get Anthony Davis. I like his body more.

Stugotz (24:18)

I'm going to quote here. Sam Amick. We trust him, right? He's quoting the Bucks GM John Horst is saying he's going to do what's best for the Bucks, not Giannis Antetokounmpo quote. This is from Sam Amick. John is not going to just try to be on good terms with Giannis. He's trying to do what's right by the Bucks. And Giannis has said his favorite cities are in Florida, correct?

Greg Cody (24:42)

Yeah, he did. He did. Twitter, look at you.

Stugotz (24:47)

Look at the big smile. That's all you've got. Yeah, he did. With a giant smile on your face.

Greg Cody (24:50)

You know, I don't normally come out with the reports, you know, but I put on my journalistic hat, Greg Cody, last week and I came out with the report.

Chris Cote (25:00)

Is that the hat? The journalistic hat?

Greg Cody (25:02)

Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. You're taking me off of my point here. And the point is that Giannis is. People have already reached out to the Heat. I told you that. And now he's asked on Twitter, of all the cities you ever been to, which city would make you the happiest to be there? And he could have said any city. And he said Florida cities.

Chris Cote (25:25)

Wow. Is that your report?

Greg Cody (25:27)

No, no, no.

Luis J. Gomez (25:28)

Oh.

Greg Cody (25:28)

Giannis said that you don't report something that actually the person does. Struggle and keep up to journalism, Greg.

Billy Gil (25:34)

Yeah, I noticed.

Chris Cote (25:35)

Take credit for stuff like that in your.

Billy Gil (25:37)

Your journalism. The Heat gear has come out of the trash or whatever. Now that Janice says he' interested in the Heat again. Today's Panthers game day. You're not wearing a Panthers. It was just waking up going on.

Greg Cody (25:45)

It was just waking up early and grabbing what I wanted to grab.

Mike Ryan (25:47)

You don't say.

Stugotz (25:49)

We couldn't have been able to tell. We thought it was the wardrobe.

Greg Cody (25:52)

What's wrong with this? What's wrong with it?

Chris Cote (25:54)

Is that that shirt Journalist.

Billy Gil (25:56)

Is that shirt like the, you know, they sell the vintage worn looking clothes now. Like, there's no way that looked like that. Like you bought that. That's new. There's probably still a tag on that. You're trying to make it seem like you have your weathered Heat fan and you so all worn out from wearing it so much.

Dan LeBatard (26:11)

Made to look vintage.

Billy Gil (26:12)

Those 2017 shirts that you brought.

Greg Cody (26:15)

Vintage. Yeah, gotta have vintage.

Mike Ryan (26:17)

That being said, I do think that that shirt is 15 years old. It's just maybe.

Billy Gil (26:20)

Were you, were you here the day that he had his top five, like throwback shirts and they were all from 2019.

Greg Cody (26:26)

My wife makes me give the goodwill after so long. What am I supposed to do?

Stugotz (26:30)

You're wearing one that looks older than the.

Greg Cody (26:32)

No, I like this one.

Billy Gil (26:33)

That's a 2023 shirt.

Greg Cody (26:34)

No, that's a good one.

Billy Gil (26:35)

That's fake vintage.

Stugotz (26:37)

You bought Three. You brought three shirts in that were meant to show that your closet is aged, fossilized, dusty, and cobwebs, really comfortable. And all of them looked less old than the one that you're presently wearing.

Greg Cody (26:50)

Yeah, but I look good today.

Mike Ryan (26:51)

Do you?

Stugotz (26:52)

You look like Radio. I'm not sure that you look good today. You always look like Radio. I. I love that you look like Radio. We're in no position to make fun of how anyone dresses or looks.

Mike Ryan (27:04)

You think he was talking about Del Rey?

Dan LeBatard (27:05)

Oh, my God. I'm a Del Rey guy.

Mike Ryan (27:07)

Del Rey is having a moment.

Stugotz (27:08)

It is.

Mike Ryan (27:08)

You see the new disco that they have?

Dan LeBatard (27:10)

I could.

Luis J. Gomez (27:10)

We all got 70 theme bar.

Dan LeBatard (27:12)

I went up there with friends for dinner this weekend. Couldn't get in. Their line was too long.

Billy Gil (27:15)

What?

Mike Ryan (27:16)

I got to get up to Delray.

Greg Cody (27:18)

All right, well, maybe that's part of it. Can't access Delray in Milwaukee. All right.

Luis J. Gomez (27:23)

Where the hell's Del Rey?

Dan LeBatard (27:24)

I know. I thought the same thing. It's north of Boca.

Chris Cote (27:27)

Their annual Garlic Festival just slays.

Billy Gil (27:31)

He's right.

Chris Cote (27:33)

I'm just saying Del Rey, it's a hot spot. You guys got it right. I got nothing else to say about Del Rey, but I've done my bit.

Mike Ryan (27:40)

Is that closer than the distance between Milwaukee and Chicago? I don't think so. Like, I think Giannis can just be like. I'll just go to Chicago tonight.

Billy Gil (27:47)

Yeah.

Stugotz (27:48)

Put it on the poll, please. At Lebatard show, does Del Rey's annual Garlic Festival slay?

Billy Gil (27:56)

Yeah.

Stugotz (27:59)

I mean. Cuz, I don't think that's possible. I'm gonna go ahead and say that. What? I'm gonna go ahead and say that in the history of slay has never been a Garlic festival of any kind in any city.

Greg Cody (28:09)

You don't think someone came from the Garlic Festival One time they said, hey, how'd the Garlic Festival go? And they said, I should slayed.

Stugotz (28:16)

I don't.

Dan LeBatard (28:16)

Bad breath going on there.

Stugotz (28:17)

Oh, my God. I don't believe it's got to be per square foot more bad breath than you will find anywhere in any plot of land. I also don't think. Put this on the poll as well. At Lebatard show, do you improve your wardrobe by saying, I look good? Yo at LeBatard show said that. You did.

Chris Cote (28:37)

Oh, yeah, I caught that.

Stugotz (28:38)

Why did you throw a yo at the end of that?

Chris Cote (28:41)

Age inappropriate.

Greg Cody (28:42)

Just live my life.

Stugotz (28:43)

Well, slay. You just slay. Slay is age inappropriate. I mean, I think. I think we already covered this. Just like we covered the grandfathers on media are racist. We covered that. You're too old to be using slay as a phrase.

Chris Cote (28:58)

Slay is literally it as gas. I mean, you know, I'm not making stuff up straight. Fire. Keep him coming.

Stugotz (29:11)

He ran out of his feeding gear.

Mike Ryan (29:13)

Is that a new saying? Keep him coming.

Stugotz (29:15)

Is that you shouting into the other room? I've got no more. I've got sleigh and lit and fire.

Dan LeBatard (29:20)

Or did someone feed him to keep him coming and he thought that was a saying?

Mike Ryan (29:24)

Billy was feeding him. Yeah, Queen, like, for 20 minutes.

Chris Cote (29:27)

What does that even mean?

Billy Gil (29:28)

Just say, what does gas mean? What does any of what you said mean?

Chris Cote (29:32)

It's fuel. I mean, the wheels turn.

Billy Gil (29:35)

Petrol.

Stugotz (29:36)

Speaking of fuel, I want to ask you guys, as the. The broadcasts in the NBA continue to add analysts so that the ESPN halftime show can be one syllable for each person. Because I don't know why anyone at ESPN shows up to work for that halftime show because there's no time to say thing and there are too many people. But Draymond Green is being added in the Eastern Conference. Michael Malone is being added in the Western Conference. It makes me wonder whether Michael Malone would have been added in the Western Conference if Denver had advanced. I'd like to know who their second was to Draymond Green. Do you think Michael Malone would have been added to the.

Luis J. Gomez (30:16)

I think it would have been really interesting, right? Because all of a sudden it's like this team that you were the captain of that you won a title with now has Adelman, and he's the one taking him to a Western Conference final. I think that would have been really intriguing.

Stugotz (30:28)

And I wanted to ask the rest of you, when you hear that Michael Jordan is back and that he's going to be a contributor to Peacock and NBC and that NBC is serious about doing what Apple did with Messi, we gotta figure out how to get people behind our paywall at Peacock. It also is gonna be on NBC, but we have to have valuable things that we can hide somewhere and make people pay for it. I am not enthused in any to hear a single sentence that Michael Jordan has to say about anything.

Greg Cody (30:59)

It's so hard to believe he's going to say anything. And by the way, he's gonna be like on Zoom, right? He's not gonna be in studio, right?

Chris Cote (31:06)

Zoom. That would be funny.

Mike Ryan (31:07)

Our friend Bailey tweeted out that this is the biggest indicator of a recession, that Michael Jordan has finally taken a TV job after all these years. I used to think that there would be incredible value in having the greatest of all time just there. And you could just learn at their. Wayne Gretzky is not that great.

Greg Cody (31:23)

I think it's all right.

Mike Ryan (31:24)

It's all right. Like, it's gotten better, though.

Stugotz (31:27)

He was bad for years.

Dan LeBatard (31:28)

I think we all just think it's cool to hear Gretzky. He doesn't actually say much.

Mike Ryan (31:31)

It's cool to hear Gretzky if you surround him by the right team. Turner has learned this plays with biz well. But Tom Brady's the greatest of all time and it's not going great. He's being used differently. And maybe Tom Brady would have more to say if he were part of a studio show. But before Tom, I would always subscribe to the school of notion. If you get the greatest of all time to do anything to talk about that sport with expertise, you go ahead and do that because they can talk about this sport in ways that nobody else can. And I would love to hear what Michael Jordan has to say. I'm counting on Michael Jordan to be the curmudgeon that. That can't bury the hatchet with anybody that just will use this platform to get out his grudges. I hope he's the Michael Jordan that we've heard about in private and not the one that was guarded in front of the media and its cameras in the 1990s. It's been a very long time since Michael Jordan has ever had to speak to the media outside of NASCAR availability.

Luis J. Gomez (32:17)

Do we know if MJ's watching basketball? Basketball?

Stugotz (32:19)

He is. He is.

Greg Cody (32:21)

Oh, you say that.

Luis J. Gomez (32:22)

Is that a report? Is that a report?

Stugotz (32:24)

Just Wright Thompson spends a lot of time with him and especially when he was the owner of Charlotte. There's no indication in the results there. But he's watching basketball nightly. And my guess is like all the other old timers, he will have his complaints about how it's played today. My guess is that you might end up being disappointed when Michael Jordan sounds like a grandfather complaining about what yesterday's games were because he's going to sound like Shaq and Barclay.

Greg Cody (32:48)

Biggest complaint he'll have, Michael Jordan is.

Stugotz (32:50)

What three pointers like go to the basket. No physical play like the competitiveness.

Dan LeBatard (32:55)

I think everyone's friends. I think competitiveness.

Greg Cody (32:57)

I think that's gonna be the biggest.

Mike Ryan (32:59)

Can't wait to find out. And what you just highlighted, you were right to point out that everyone has that problem that's on TV right now analyzing the game. They're all the good ones. They're all older and they all have problem with the modern game.

Chris Cote (33:12)

But why do we think that a player who spent his entire career saying nothing is now going to be interesting and outspoken and honest? You know, time and time again the all time greats have gotten the microphone because they used to be all time greats and it fails time after time. A local example is Dan Marino. He had his shot with cbs. He wasn't very good and he's not anywhere near the mic.

Mike Ryan (33:36)

Greg, you would concede the reason for optimism is the last time we've heard him speak on things was in a really good documentary series where he was was his version of honest and he was really interesting in that documentary. I know other people were interested in talking about him but every time they cut to Jordan people were at the edge of their seat waiting to hear what he, what his side of things would be like.

Greg Cody (33:57)

Every, every question you just asked is completely fair. But I would say the executives at NBC, they've thought of that too and they've decided to go forward with yeah, you know, we think this is going to idea.

Dan LeBatard (34:11)

Think they made him audition.

Stugotz (34:12)

No, hold on a second.

Dan LeBatard (34:13)

I send in your tape. We got to hear what it sounds.

Stugotz (34:14)

I've got a few corrections I've got to make on all of the analysis here. One, television executives are among the least impressive people I've met in any kind of occupation. They think they're responsible for the success of things when they often aren't. That stuff is often subjective. Takes no genius to say we should get Michael Jordan. That just takes money. Secondarily, I have a theory. When it comes to being as great as the people that you're talking about, to be that great you end up being so lopsided that the detriment is you're not good at speaking at things on television. They're all terrible. Dan Marino, Wayne Gretzky, Tom Brady. Gretzky's gotten better cuz he's learned. But this is a skill that people don't understand that it requires a different skill set from the things that made them great. The example I will give is Pat Riley is an exceptional talker. He was terrible at television. They eventually had to get Bob Costas, the best ever to just sit next to him and just be like Pat. Just stand there and look good, smile and Bob will handle all the details. This is a different thing from the things that you're good at. So I asked the question to all of you. The greatest athlete that there's been who's also on television being great at that is Barkley, who set second. Like, who's second at being great at both things. You can make the argument that Barkley's television career is better than his basketball career and has no slight on his hall of Fame basketball career. But generally speaking. And you weren't asking Barkley to be anyone different. He was exactly the same person on television. And Draymond Green will not be this because he doesn't know how to be likable this way. He's got too much edge and undercurrent. He says interesting things, but he will not be as likable as Charles Barker, who's second on this person was great at the sport, but also when they're talking, I have to listen because the morsels falling out of their mouth are smarter than everyone else. I've told you guys this story before. It's one of the reasons.

Greg Cody (36:10)

Smarter or more entertaining than everyone else.

Stugotz (36:12)

Correct? Just. Yeah, just good at television. But I've told you the story before of Barry Bonds, the greatest.

Mike Ryan (36:18)

Wait, I'm just trying to learn the ground rules. You have to be considered all time great. How do you do that? Because Cormier is really good. Daniel Cormier is really good for the ufc. He was a champion for a long time. He's. He's a Hall of Famer. Is he all time great in the heavyweight division? So Daniel Cormier back then, I think he checked the boxes in terms of being like considered a great coach.

Greg Cody (36:40)

He's being coach count player coach.

Mike Ryan (36:42)

Even though the championship count doesn't necessarily add up for John Madden, but his legacy grew with the video game. But at the time, the sport was still young on television. I think John Madden would have been like, wow, this guy knows what he's talking about. I don't know, Greg, you were around that at that time.

Chris Cote (36:55)

If coaches count, I would absolutely include.

Billy Gil (36:58)

Madden, Gabby Sanchez, Gruden.

Stugotz (37:00)

John Gruden also would probably be a champion there. I wasn't doing coaches. I was doing people who are all time great at the athleticism because I think of them as all being historically bad at television. It's not even mediocre. Gretzky was bad. Dan Marino was. Dan Marino had a job for many, many years where he was terrible at television. His job was only to be Dan Marino.

Greg Cody (37:25)

Can we go local?

Stugotz (37:26)

Well, that's not going to resonate in terms of the best ever, is it?

Greg Cody (37:29)

I mean, I always thought Denny Podvin was excellent.

Billy Gil (37:32)

The Iceman.

Stugotz (37:33)

Scott Hamilton, you're offering excellent nominations. Billy, I appreciate Gabby Sanchez and the Iceman as your Nomination.

Billy Gil (37:41)

Scott Hamilton is an incredible example. He's the voice of figures.

Stugotz (37:45)

Agreed, Agreed.

Billy Gil (37:46)

The Iceman, I was thankful. You don't know him.

Stugotz (37:47)

I was thanking you. The story I was telling about Barry Bonds, I witnessed it and it's one of the reasons that he was a terrible coach. The greats generally can't explain it very well. Is Larry Bird the greatest coach that there's been as a great player? There aren't many, but I'm in the clubhouse and I see that Rich Aurelia, the shortstop for the Giants, is just. He's just studying as a bat over and over for an hour while I'm standing next to Barry Bonds. And Rich Aurelia is really suffering this. And right before he goes on the field, Barry Bonds comes over to Rich Aurelia and just sort of hits him in the back of the head and he's like, you still don't know what you're doing wrong there. You got to do this with your hips, you got to do this with your toes. Da da, da, da. And he walks out and Aurelia just whispers under his breath, asshole. Because he has a gift. And in this particular instance, he was able to explain it to Aurelia, but to do it in a sound bite. Tom Brady still hasn't figured out how to do that in the right space and not be talking when the play's going on. It's a different skill set set entirely. And these people don't have to learn different skill sets because they have to be the best at the one skill set they have. Refine that. And to do it requires an obsessive compulsiveness that, that knocks you out on like growing other parts of your personality.

Chris Cote (39:05)

I honestly think that's a big reason why Inter Miami is hiding. Lionel Messi doesn't want him speaking into a mic because his greatness on the field, he's got no chance of matching that in terms of. Of personality. In terms of what he says, he would come off as dull, the antithesis of what he is on the field. And why go through that? Why put him through that?

Mike Ryan (39:27)

Yeah, he doesn't like doing it.

Chris Cote (39:29)

Right.

Mike Ryan (39:30)

So he's not going to do it if he doesn't have to. Smoltz, is he all time great enough to be in this grouping as a player?

Stugotz (39:38)

Sure.

Mike Ryan (39:38)

Yeah.

Stugotz (39:39)

Yes. But people don't think of him as a good broadcaster. A lot of people complain. A lot of baseball people complain a great deal about John Smoltz's analysis.

Mike Ryan (39:49)

That's unfortunate. I don't watch it with the sound on. So I haven't for two decades at this point, but last I checked in about 20 years ago, I thought he was solid.

Luis J. Gomez (39:57)

Romo, not an all time great, but very good broadcaster.

Mike Ryan (40:00)

Yeah, well, different story, different list. What do we do? Aikman? Do we do combination? Aikman a Hall of Famer? Romo's not a Hall of Famer.

Luis J. Gomez (40:08)

No.

Mike Ryan (40:09)

And he's a champion.

Greg Cody (40:10)

What about Jimmy?

Stugotz (40:11)

I don't want to do coaches. I wanted to do athleticism. Jimmy was good at it. Aikman. Aikman's great. Cause he's a Hall of Famer. Aikman, though, had one 20 touchdowns, touchdown past season. Oh, look, they found Messi on a Japanese television show. Let's just. Let's just show this for people so that people can watch Lionel Messi and the absurdity of what it is that he can do. I thought this was a I the first time I saw it because I can't believe, even though this is the best soccer player there has ever been, that this person can do these kinds of. That these, these kinds of absurd tricks. This is what you have to do. Zaz, when you have Messi on, don't let him speak. Just allow him again and again to kick the ball during the broadcast.

Greg Cody (40:55)

What is he attempting to do?

Stugotz (40:57)

No idea.

Greg Cody (40:58)

It seems like he won.

Luis J. Gomez (40:59)

It says clear there, so I don't know. It seems pretty clear.

Mike Ryan (41:01)

Kicked the ball really high and brought it down with his feet and kept the thing going. Thank howdy listeners, it's Mike. This is one of the best times of the year. You're caught up in the emotion of the playoffs. Big time, crucial games, going to games, hanging with your boys, hanging with your ladies, hanging with your family and having a good old fashioned time. Well, I can speak from experience. I've been doing all those things, but I've been doing so with a Miller Light by my side. Because having good times is great. Making those good times a Miller time makes it an unbelievable time. A time of your life. With Miller Lite, a brand and a beverage that has been around for 50 glorious years. That's hard to do. Remain popular and delivering on great flavor for 50 years.

Stugotz (41:45)

Years.

Mike Ryan (41:45)

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