The Big Suey: The Worst Contract of All-Time

Summary

Podcast Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

The Big Suey: The Worst Contract of All-Time

Date: September 24, 2025
Location: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami
Hosts: Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, Jeremy, Mike Ryan, Chris Cody

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Episode Overview

In this lively episode, Dan, Stugotz, and the crew dig into the harsh realities of sports contracts gone bad, aging superstars, and the psychological toll on high-performing athletes. They blend serious sports analysis with signature humor, diving into specific athletes (Russell Wilson, Ben Simmons, Zion Williamson, Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon), organizational dysfunction, and broader themes about the fleeting nature of sports success and human fallibility. The overarching question: What does it mean when excellence and massive contracts end in disappointment?

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Sports Overload in the Post-Pandemic Era

• Dan’s Perspective on Sports Fatigue
  • Dan discusses how the sports calendar feels overwhelming post-pandemic, attributing it partly to age and life's increasing complexity:
    • “Something happened after the pandemic where I don’t think it’s my age. I think everything sped up and now there’s just more everywhere…There is too much that we have to pay attention to.” (03:14)
  • They joke about marriage and time perception, with Stugotz ribbing Dan for not remembering his wedding anniversary.

2. The Sad End of Russell Wilson

• Russell Wilson’s Career Decline

  • Dan expresses genuine sadness over Russell Wilson’s benching by the Giants, reflecting on the broader sadness of seeing great careers fall apart prematurely.
    • “Russell Wilson’s career ending that way makes me sad… he just came off a career high for passing yardage… but he looked so bad in the last game. And now they’re like, okay, let’s wrap this up.” (06:00)
  • The crew debates whether he’s a Hall of Fame lock given his recent poor performances and statistical drop-off.
    • “If you’re bad for your last five years as a starter, I don’t know if you’re a Hall of Famer.” – Jeremy (08:24)

• The Elusive Mobile Quarterback Dilemma

  • Discussion of how mobile QBs like Wilson, Cam Newton, and potentially Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, may face earlier career drop-offs due to play style.
    • “It makes me very curious to see how Josh Allen will age because he’s so reliant on his physical gifts.” – Stugotz (13:05)

• People’s Shifting Relationship with Sports Stars

  • Shifts from admiration for Wilson’s style and likability to him being seen as “corny” or “a try hard.”
    • “He went from swaggering champion…to, oh, this is how it ends. You lose your job to Jackson Dart…” – Dan (12:12)

3. Aging Superstars’ Confidence and the ‘Mirror’

• Denial and Confidence in Decline
  • Dan offers a philosophical take on the psychology of aging athletes:
    • “Self-confidence is the last thing to go, and the mirror is the last thing to know.” (09:21)
  • The group agrees Wilson would never admit he’s finished, referencing the 400-yard game stat as a rhetorical crutch.

4. Browns, Ravens, and the Magic of Winning Ugly

• The Browns' Rare Triumph and Self-Delusion
  • Dan and Stugotz mock how fan bases and teams celebrate minor “turning point” wins, even when organizational reality is bleak.
    • “It may be Chris Cody that the Browns management is deluding themselves into some sort of confidence…” – Dan (19:29)
  • Discussion of defensive stars like Myles Garrett and contrasts to “most talented losers” (leads into Trout segment).

5. "Most Talented Loser" Debate: Mike Trout and the Angels' Failure

• Trout’s Place in History
  • Stugotz asks if Mike Trout is “the most talented loser ever” in MLB, given only one playoff appearance despite modern expanded formats.
    • “Is Mike Trout going to be remembered as the most talented loser ever?” – Stugotz (28:16)
  • Jeremy contextualizes Trout’s lack of postseason success as a function of team failure, but notes Trout’s injuries could define his “what if” legacy.
    • “It’ll be more of a Mickey Mantle scenario of the ‘what if he was healthy for his entire career?’” – Jeremy (29:39)
  • They compare this absent post-season legacy to the circumstances of Ernie Banks.

6. The Worst Contracts of All Time: Rendon, Simmons, Zion & Others

• Anthony Rendon and the “Bad Money” Label

  • Dan fixates on how some athletes (e.g., Rendon) become synonymous with wasted money despite prior excellence, asking for crew nominations.
    • “When I hear that name, the place I go immediately is bad money.” (34:53)
  • Giancarlo Stanton, Jason Werth, and especially Ben Simmons come up.

• Ben Simmons: Beyond Physical Injury

  • Stugotz lists Simmons’ huge contract as emblematic of bad money, despite Simmons’ “intangible” mental/psychological hurdles as opposed to just on-court injuries.
    • “Ben Simmons is the first person that had something go wrong with him that was intangible. It was between the ears…” – Stugotz (37:37)
  • Dan: Simmons is in his own category because of how mental blockages short-circuited his career.
    • “He…occupies the space that I cannot assign to many athletes ever, which is just short circuited mentally.” (37:04)

• Zion Williamson: Cautionary Tale of Physical Freakishness

  • Dan asks for recent images or videos of Zion, noting his change in physique and whether losing weight affects his play.
    • “Those arms used to be thighs, and those arms are no longer thighs.” – Dan (39:15)
  • Discussion on how rare and difficult it is for players like Zion (or Barkley) to have outsized impact given unique body types.
  • Stugotz: NBA teams worry about both Zion’s health and his off-court maturity. Dan stresses how hard it is for young, suddenly rich athletes to adjust to professional standards.
    • “Not every person who’s coming into those millions and millions of dollars is equipped to be an adult, never mind a professional.” – Dan (42:42)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On sports overload:
  • “It’s too much. There is too much sports going on.” – Dan (03:14)
• On marriage and sports priorities:
  • “Something happened to me six, six years ago where all of a sudden sports weren’t on my main TV anymore and instead there was Bluey. I’m going to get to the bottom of it, though.” – Stugotz (05:44)
• On Russell Wilson’s career ending:
  • “You lose your job to Jackson Dart on a failure of a season… That’s how it ends.” – Dan (12:13)
• On Ben Simmons:
  • “He’s not even pretending anymore to give us these workouts on video that suggest he is making a comeback… Now all his media activity is just him fishing.” – Dan (36:26)
• On Zion’s body type and perception:
  • “Those arms used to be thighs, and those arms are no longer thighs.” – Dan (39:15)
  • “He isn’t an imposing stature…what was the novelty about him was like, how is this guy so powerful?” – Stugotz (38:47)
• On professionalism in sports:
  • “Not every person who’s coming into those millions and millions of dollars is equipped to be an adult, never mind a professional.” – Dan (42:42)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:14] Sports overload and marriage jokes
• [06:00] Russell Wilson’s Giants benching and decline
• [08:24] Wilson’s Hall of Fame eligibility debate
• [09:21] The psychology of aging athletes’ confidence
• [12:12] The downfall of Russell Wilson’s public persona
• [19:29] Browns management and the false hope of a single win
• [28:16] Mike Trout as “most talented loser ever”
• [34:53] Athletes synonymous with “bad money”—Anthony Rendon and others
• [36:26] The enigma of Ben Simmons’ mental blockages
• [39:15] Zion Williamson’s physique and rarity
• [42:42] The challenge of sudden professionalism in young athletes

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Conclusion

True to form, this episode delivers a blend of insightful (and sometimes biting) sports analysis with sharp wit and playful debate. The crew tackles the emotional fallout of star careers gone wrong, the culture of big money contracts, and the often unrealistic expectation that superstar athletes—often still kids—will always, and effortlessly, meet professional standards. If you’re a fan of colorful sports talk and hard truths about fandom, money, and mortality, this episode is a classic Le Batard Show experience.

Transcript

[Dan Le Batard]

When did making plans get this complicated?

[Stugotz]

It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together.

[Dan Le Batard]

Use polls to settle dinner plans, send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom 60th and never miss a meme or milestone.

[Stugotz]

All protected with end to end encryption.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone.

[Stugotz]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Stugotz]

I've done it.

[Dan Le Batard]

And now here's the Marching man to Nowhere, Fat Face and the Habitual Liar.

[Stugotz]

This episode of the Dan Lebatard show is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the Crown is yours.

[Dan Le Batard]

Brian Stelter is gonna join us in a little bit to talk about Kimmel. Last night he made his return, and while Kimmel does about a million a night on linear television, I don't know what he's done this morning as his monologue has made the rounds. But the last time I saw it was in the millions. It was approaching 4 million and I'm sure a lot of people wanted to hear from him and they did. The unusual thing. It's something I haven't seen him do. And he's done more than 4,000 shows. He's been doing it for 23 years. They did the monologue and then they just stayed with him standing up doing more monologue after they went to commercial break. Commercial break. Such a quaint thing. That's not really what people are doing anymore when they watched this stuff that they're not pausing for a commercial anymore. You usually get everything you want. But he went twice as long as he would normally go. And we'll talk with Brian Stelter about that. He's written several books and he's been on top of this story since it started. We'll do that in about an hour. And I'm going to get to Ben Simmons and Zion Williamson in a second.

[Stugotz]

NBA camps are opening up. Dan.

[Dan Le Batard]

They are. And hockey is here as well. And it is again too much. It's. It's too. There is too much sports going on. Something happened after the pandemic where I don't think it's my age. I think it's everything sped up and now there's just more everywhere. The seasons are just as long. I don't understand my confusion with. It seems like there's more and I'm finding myself saying no. There's too much that we have to pay attention to.

[Stugotz]

Yeah. You're married now.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, but I got. Okay. I got married eight. What is this like. I don't know. Was it five years ago?

[Stugotz]

It's a thing you need to remember. Yeah. You gotta remember that feels like eight. Let's work on that.

[Dan Le Batard]

Years while I met. We started dating.

[Stugotz]

You said five years ago. 20. 20.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah.

[Stugotz]

It's starting to check out. You know.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. We got married right before the pandemic. But I. So I have it.

[Stugotz]

That's what people say about wives. That and something else. But is it says you weren't listening. Cool. Don't. Don't do it. There's a trap. What do they love? Thai food. Weird space out.

[Dan Le Batard]

Ball and chain. I didn't feel like. I didn't feel like ball and chain was something we were still using.

[Stugotz]

I'm not gonna lie. I got scared when I said it. I was like is this still a thing? Yeah. He did look at you like.

[Dan Le Batard]

I know.

[Stugotz]

I mean Dan is. This is an insult. Was like. That's what you say. Just. Just went to husbands. Josh and each other guy. We can all relax.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm more objecting to the idea of when a punishment. Let's think about this. For a second. Okay. When a punishment was to put a chain around someone's ankle, that was a weighted ball and to refer to the person you love that way.

[Stugotz]

Yeah. No, I mean, I guess it's a little mean, I guess, if you really get at the heart of it. But it's just. It's just jokes. I do. It was really cute that it just dawned on you that it feels like there's more sports you can follow. And it just. It ties directly to the time period.

[Dan Le Batard]

It was the pandemic. I was blaming the pandemic. It turns out it was the ball and shame. Can you get me, by the way? I'd like the origins of when it is we started using that as a. As a punishment and why it is we started using. Using it as a punishment and it is like beyond the. Was it the put it on the pole at Lebaton show? Was the ball and chain the ankle monitor before we had the technology for the ankle monitor?

[Stugotz]

Something happened to me six, six years ago where all of a sudden sports weren't on my main TV anymore and instead there was Bluey. I'm going to get to the bottom of it, though. The ball and chain was a device used to prevent escape. So that I don't. I don't feel good about this.

[Dan Le Batard]

How weighty. How weighty was the ball in the ball and chain? I remember here as I see that the New York Giants, that Brian Dayball is in full job save mode. He's going to Jackson Dart. And that's going to be rough for Jackson Dart because look at their schedule. They got the Saints in two weeks, but it's two Eagles games, a Denver game and a Chargers game. Those are four or five defenses. That's deep water right off the bat. But I remember saying to you guys when Russell Wilson signed with the Giants that it made me sad. And you guys, what's so sad about it? What's sad? He's getting a bunch of money and he's getting an opportunity to turn the Giants around. And it's like, no, I mean, I couldn't have guessed this for Daniel Jones, but Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley were limited with the Giants because the Giants are so bad. Russell Wilson's career ending that way makes me sad ending. And he just came off a career high for passing passes, for pass, passing yardage against, against Dallas. But he looked so bad in the last game. And now they're like, okay, let's wrap this up. You guys weren't made sad by that. He's A little young to, to be. I mean, Aaron Rodgers is 41 years old. Russell Wilson's not. And that looks spent because it can't survive with the Giants. Maybe if you put it in a good organization, you get something better than that.

[Stugotz]

He wasn't great last year, though. That's a good organization.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, wait a minute. What'? Well, last year, yes, that was a good organization, but with the Giants, he's been, he's, he's.

[Stugotz]

It happened to him earlier, usually at 36. Where the. And Russell Wilson's a Hall of Famer. That's. I was just going to ask. I think he's played himself out of the hall of Fame. That's a, That's a hell of a take. In fact, I'm willing to listen to that.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'll.

[Stugotz]

I'll dig through the numbers.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's stug, though. You're stealing. Stug. He already took him out of the hall of Fame and said, oh, really?

[Stugotz]

When he was with Denver, he was saying that. Yeah, he's 36 years old now. That's usually when it falls off. But I think Russell, you could argue, fell off at 33. That is. That is young now. He's not your prototypical quarterback. There is things that he do it at his side that, that he does at his size that I guess it would wear and tear on the body. I mean, Mike, he's. He's been a bad quarterback for four or five years now. It's tough.

[Dan Le Batard]

I think that.

[Stugotz]

And the only reason we'd be talking about him as a Hall of Famer.

[Jeremy]

Is because he won the Super Bowl. All right?

[Stugotz]

It's not like he was this monster every single year, made it to a second. Right, right, right. But you're bad for five. Your last five years as a starter. I don't know if you're a Hall of Famer. According to Pro Football Pro football reference, average QBs in the hall of Fame classes ends up being 103.58. He's at 94. So it's like, right there. If he has a couple more good games, obviously now that's over, maybe would have put him at the top.

[Dan Le Batard]

Didn't make you guys sad, though, seeing him benched like your, Your dad.

[Stugotz]

He had the worst red zone thing I've ever seen, the four plays in the red zone to score a touchdown. He threw one into the tunnel, threw the ball away on fourth down, threw the ball into the goal post on fourth down. At that point, I was like, it's over. It's. There's there's no coming back from throwing the ball out of bounds on fourth down. I think we all knew this. They would be coming in relatively soon. So I don't know how sad. I think he's at a stage in his career when we knew that he had to play lights out to keep that job, to keep Jackson Dart out of that spot.

[Dan Le Batard]

You guys have heard me say before, okay, that self confidence is with athletes and how they don't know how to retire. And you've heard the Van Gundy say that superstar athletes are the hardest to coach. Aging superstar is the hardest to coach. But as it relates to Russell Wilson, you've heard me say self confidence is the last thing to go, and the mirror is the last thing to know. If I were to sit down right now with Russell Wilson and say, can you still play? Wouldn't he just say, hey, I threw for a career high in yardage on the road against Dallas. It was two weeks ago. Like, wouldn't he say, I don't deserve to be benched. I deserve to have some benefit of the doubt here because I threw. I just said the Death of the 400 yard game. And I'm pointing to the one guy who had the 400 yard game and didn't actually have to do it because he was trailing the entire game, was slinging it the entire. If I, if I talk to Russell Wilson about it now, do you think he'd say, yeah, I'm done, I'm spent?

[Stugotz]

No, no. And I think he's good enough to be a backup in the league. I think people kind of underrated the season that he had with Pittsburgh. When he aired it out, when they trusted him to, it wasn't in line with their identity, but he could still throw the ball downfield. I think he showed that against Dallas. What's so weird is that the line of demarcation is when he decided to leave Seattle. Like, that's when he stopped being good. His final season in Seattle was good. There were a lot of people in contention for his services. And by the way, those last few years in Seattle, Pete Carroll seemed to not want to have anything to do with him anymore.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, that's not entirely true. It seemed like Pete Carroll was the only one in that organization who did want to have anything to do with him because everyone else in the organization thought he was the teacher's pet who ended up getting all of the money and wrecking their defense because he got all of the money. And we did that, you know, Mr. Unlimited stuff where he did a lot to tarnish what was his public reputation over the course. I shouldn't even say his public that's too strong. He became less and less likable after winning that Super Bowl. Just the way that people were absorbing him and the reports coming out about him where it seemed like the defense that helped win him a championship didn't really appreciate him as a leader anymore.

[Stugotz]

I don't think it was unlikable he ever. I think it was more just like corny of a try hard like people.

[Jeremy]

Made fun of him.

[Dan Le Batard]

Okay, but that's. That's all I meant. Okay. Forgive me. Unlikable might also be too strong. But yes he was. He went from swaggering champion who was value at the position who we. Who. Who should be rooted for because he's undersized. Who should be rooted for because his style of play was electric. It was unusual who created a new model for winning in the sport. Make sure you get value at quarterback so you can pay everyone else in a salary cap sport to oh this is how it ends.

[Stugotz]

Ooh.

[Dan Le Batard]

You lose your job to Jackson Dart on a failure of a season when the Giants aren't going anywhere this season. And I'm telling you those five games. I'm going to say it again just so that whatever assessments are made about Jackson Dart over the next five games you ignore unless they're good assessments because he did it against good teams. Philadelphia, twice, Denver, the Chargers. Like if, if I don't throw the browns in there like those. Those are the defenses. You do not want a quarterback who does not yet know how to play professional football to play against those defenses.

[Stugotz]

I also want to crunch the numbers a little bit more to see this is a newer era of mobile quarterback and guys that even though he was a better passer than runner, he was a timely runner and elusive. When he did decide to run those guys careers, they are getting a little cut short. I know Cam had off the field injuries that affected that too. But it makes me very curious to see how Josh Allen will age because he's so reliant on his physical gifts. When he gets to a certain age like around 33, what is that going to look like? I'm also curious to see how Patrick Mahomes body ages. He doesn't seem to really take care of himself. He's leaning more now on his rushing ability which is interesting.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well one of the things that I really genuinely discovered with Russell Wilson because I will remind everyone here, hugely undersized for the position. Usually that guy before Russell Wilson not a success in the pros, it isn't just that his playing style was electric. And by calling him a timely runner, you're being unfair to him. He was wildly elusive, and this is the part that I hadn't seen before. Didn't get hit hard. Was not one of these guys who was like, he'd get hit and he'd get tackled, but he had a way of knowing not to do what RG3 was doing, which is getting pulverized there. Hell, Michael Penix is going to learn this very quickly. Like, you cannot run through secondaries the way those quarterbacks, even with all the new rules protecting them, Russell Wilson never seemed to get hit hard.

[Stugotz]

Hard to put a clean hit on him. Hard to put a clean hit on Lamar Jackson. In fact, he's the one that's dishing out the punishment. Hard to put a clean hit on bigger. There are guys that are just smart about how they do it was honestly the biggest thing that went sideways in RG3's career was his inability to not be able to, like, get rocked every time he got hit. I've never seen a quarterback fly on contact the way that I saw RG3 do it.

[Dan Le Batard]

You say that he's thin, but Lamar Jackson, I mean, we've seen him thicken up, but he's been thin and he runs so much and he's got the similar skill set where nobody seems to be able to square him up. And it's an unusual thing to say. I wanted to point something out from yesterday as I talked about the Ravens defense that I had left out, because the Ravens have allowed as many points as the Dolphins have this year, and the Dolphins, I believe to be a historically bad defense? Do you know how hard it is to allow as many points the Ravens have allowed in three games when one of your opponents was the Browns? That's. That's really bad.

[Stugotz]

And they didn't score that much there. I know they've given a lot of points up to qualify.

[Dan Le Batard]

I think the Browns scored more there. I think they scored 17, which is more than they've scored in any other game.

[Jeremy]

It was so funny watching the under.

[Stugotz]

The tunnel, the head coach and the GM of the Browns celebrating. And I just, like, looked back and laughed of like. Like, they think they have a chance. Like, watching them celebrate was like. They're like, this is it. This is where we turn. It's just like a huge win. You're the Browns, though. It's just funny how excited they get. It's a massive win.

[Jeremy]

They genuinely think that they have a chance this season.

[Stugotz]

That's cute. I mean what was the survivor pool count on that game like 75% of the people out of packers in that one. I mean that that is a huge win for their program. I am super locked in on this Chiefs Ravens game. I thought you meant the Browns. No, no, no, not at all. They lost me. Unless they draft a quarterback that goes to the U, then I'm back. But I'm super into this Ravens Chiefs game and we'll get a little bit more into it in a second. But if you want tickets to that Chiefs Ravens games, well, why don't you take the guesswork out of buying tickets and download the Game Time app today. It's awesome for the NFL. Panoramic seat views all in pricing. What you see is what you Pay. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use code DAN for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Swipe, tap, ticket, go Thursday Night Football is on and it's only on Prime Video. This week, the Seattle Seahawks face the Arizona Cardinals in an NFC west showdown. Birds vs. Birds coverage begins at 7pm Eastern with football's best party TNF tonight. Not a Prime member? Not a problem. Simply sign up for a 30 day free trial. It's the Seahawks and the Cardinals Thursday at 7pm Eastern only on Prime Video. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details.

[Dan Le Batard]

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[Stugotz]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Stugotz]

That fit your [e-mail] rewards warning this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Hey everyone, it's Mike Ryan. One thing about me that everybody knows I absolutely love Miller Lite. You know what else I love? You. That's right. You listening on your way to work right now, wondering whether or not today is the day to tell your boss what you really think of the new reports he needs filled out every week. I absolutely love you. That's why I'm thrilled to tell you that we are again partnering with Miller Lite to give you a chance to play along with weekend observations starting September 22nd. You'll be able to go to DraftKings.com and guess what will happen during Weekend Observations on the show. Monday, September 29 how many beefs will there be? Who's the first person to interrupt? How many people will talk about the used chances to win a National title. Spoiler alert. Definitely me. The winner will get a trip for you and a guest to come to Miami and hang with us at Flanagan's for Thursday night football on October 30th and a visit to the studio to see a taping of the show. Make sure you go to DraftKings and play free to win, and then tune in to the show and check out how you did. Must be 21 + to enter. Eligibility restrictions apply. Void where prohibited. See DraftKings.com for details.

[Dan Le Batard]

Don LeBatard. No one else here is willing to do a Trump or a Biden.

[Stugotz]

That's not true, Dan.

[Dan Le Batard]

Okay, Tony, you can catch a thousand impersonations.

[Stugotz]

That's not bad, man. Finally. Pretty good stugats. Yours is terrible. You just gotta get a little redder, a little pinker. You're right there, man.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yours is not that you're biting.

[Stugotz]

What do you mean? Oh, his is good. That's actually not bad.

[Jeremy]

That's not terrible.

[Stugotz]

We gotta come together. A little Southern, little push, a little.

[Dan Le Batard]

George Bush in that one.

[Stugotz]

This is the Dan Levitar show with the stugats.

[Dan Le Batard]

It may be Chris Cody that the Browns management is deluding themselves into some sort of confidence that their season will have success. But I do believe that very often in that sport because of how much it physically hurts when you avoid 03 as the start of a season. Like, it's just really hard to go into work after the first month of the season if you know right away that your season is over before it's gotten started.

[Stugotz]

I can sleep better now is essentially what they're celebrating. And they know their defense is great. Like, they feel like, okay, we just did this against a really good Packer team. Maybe there'll be a bunch of other games where we're within a score late as well. How is Miles Garrett having the best season of his career? There was a clip of him beating.

[Jeremy]

A tackle and the T. We can't.

[Stugotz]

Play it because it's a game footage where the tackle is as he gets by him like, Jordan, run. It's hilarious. He's a D run. That has to happen sometimes, right? We can't hear it because, you know, we're watching on television. But if the tackle gets beat, you have to yell to your quarterback blindside.

[Dan Le Batard]

Like, what the hell?

[Stugotz]

I screwed up. He's so fast and big.

[Dan Le Batard]

The. The funny thing about what you guys are saying is that yelling can't be heard by Jordan because Jordan hears the crowd telling him because it's a game on the road.

[Stugotz]

But you still got to try him. You're the tackle. You got to try to yell.

[Dan Le Batard]

The crowd. The crowd is watching. The crowd hoping that Miles Garrett. They are giving you an alert on what Miles is doing.

[Stugotz]

Miles had a great quote he was asked about, like Micah Parsons, man, I thought, man, he did it. Found a way to get away and get his money.

[Dan Le Batard]

The telephone number if you want to be part of the boldest take shenanigans sponsored by Boost Mobile is 305486 Gotts 300 54486. Got 4689 is how you spell Gotz. And Roy, how are you feeling about this batch of boldest takes? Because I've been wanted the game. Wanting the game elevated around here. You guys are easier to please about this stuff than I am. Somebody calls us Steve from Sex and the City and you guys talk about it for two years. Let's see what we have here.

[Stugotz]

The Boost Mobile bonus tickets presented by Boost Mobile, the newest 5G network in the country.

[Dan Le Batard]

Just want to remind the show that the last time the University of Miami scored a touchdown in a conference championship.

[Stugotz]

Game, I saw the movie made in.

[Dan Le Batard]

Manhattan at my local theater.

[Stugotz]

The ticket cost $7.50. Somebody check on Mike Ryan. The Browns won against the best team in the NFL. And the way they usually lose those games. Make sure he's okay. I think that all kickers need to be drug tested. Just last year, announcers would tell us the kicker was maxing out at 55 yards before the game. But now kickers are booming 65 yarders in their sleep.

[Dan Le Batard]

Can Chris Cody please stop mouthing every word that's on the video screen when he's on there? Thanks. I'll still listen and watch.

[Stugotz]

So this might be reckless speculation, but for the past couple of weeks, I keep hearing Mina and Foxworth talk about the fact that the Chargers defense is playing so aware, almost running the world were out to the wide receivers. And are we to believe that that is a coincidence given who their coach is and why he's no longer coaching Michigan? Why are you giving me carrots and celery with my buffalo wings? I just ordered deep fried chicken smothered in sauce. Don't patronize me with your rabbit food. My boldest take is that Mike actually won the soup competition. 5 0. But because it was Greg's birthday, he.

[Jeremy]

Got two sympathy votes.

[Stugotz]

A buddy of mine caught a football.

[Dan Le Batard]

At an NFL game through a field.

[Stugotz]

Goal and the NFL made him give it back. So my hot take is why are.

[Dan Le Batard]

The two biggest leagues so Stingy about their balls.

[Stugotz]

When the Colts play the Jaguars, we have to call it Indiana Jones and.

[Dan Le Batard]

The Temple of Duvall. Put it on the poll, please. At Lebatard show. Why are you giving me carrots and celery with my chicken wings?

[Stugotz]

Because it's a delightful, cool relief textural. Get the hot with the cold. I don't eat carrots. I eat all of it. I give me extra. That stuff. What about the ranch and the blue celery? That's cool, too, right? But that you. I need it all. Give me a cold little, like celery with the ranch. You guys are. This is coming from a guy who orders a drink and sometimes. Let me see today. Okay. Today's drink sometimes doesn't get drank the entire day. Wow. So there's a lot. A lot of times where you'll probably order some wings and you'll eat like one bite of the celery and that's it. What was that coming from the guy who sometimes orders a drink and doesn't drink it. Like, what did you just like. I thought Gruden was coming. You talk about a guy. Here's a guy.

[Dan Le Batard]

You felt attacked.

[Stugotz]

He doesn't finish his drink, man.

[Dan Le Batard]

Sometimes he orders it.

[Stugotz]

He only drinks three quarters of it, man. He was doing Collinswood. I was. I was doing Collinswood. Here's a guy who orders a drink. Here's a guy. Put it on the poll as well.

[Dan Le Batard]

At Lebatard show. Should football. Should the NFL allow you to keep the football if it goes into the stands? Because I'm with. I am with that caller. Let's go out to Jeremy, who is now. I saw him writing all over the board again. He erased everything.

[Stugotz]

We have more.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, it. Yes. What more do we have on the mar. Again? The Marlins are playing meaningful baseball the last week of the season. It's a stunner. It deserves to be appreciated. They have. With discounts and efficiencies, they have built a team where. And with farm system issues that they've had under Jeter. They have fixed some things with cheap players and have exploited some market inefficiencies the way that the Rays have done that. So let's. What are we going out to here now?

[Jeremy]

You've got some small writing.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's what we're going. Four and five team permutations. What do we have here, Jeremy?

[Jeremy]

That's exactly right, Dan. So we talked about the three team tiebreakers and the two team tiebreakers where. Head to head. The Marlins would not get to the postseason if they're going up against the Cardinals or up against Arizona solo, or of course both of those teams together. But now things get interesting. If The Marlins are at 82 and 80 and tied with the Mets, Diamondbacks and Reds in a four team tiebreaker by mere percentage points at a.579 win percentage ahead of the Marlins.577 win percentage against all of those teams, the Reds would advance. But if it's a four team tiebreaker between the Marlins, Mets, Diamondbacks and Cardinals, the Marlins, Mets, Reds and Cardinals or the Marlins, Reds, Diamondbacks and Cardinals, the Marlins would be the team to advance. So in three of the four scenarios in which there's a four team tiebreaker, they advance and say all five teams end up at 82 and 80 with an overall head to head record of 18 and 14, the Miami Marlins would be the team to advance. So what we've laid out here is amongst all the different scenarios, the four head to head scenarios, the six different three team tiebreakers, the four four team tiebreakers, and the one five team tiebreaker, all those different scenarios, there are only four in which the Marlins would not advance as the wild card selection in the National League.

[Stugotz]

I stopped listening. I totally didn't listen. Yeah. Do you want to make a correction on the Ed Orgeron front? That stuff, the sexual assault stuff was there when, when Les Miles was there. That's what it dates back to at. Orgeron was not named in that stuff. So I was trying to be responsible. I don't know what Jeremy was talking about. Seems like we want the Cardinals involved, huh?

[Jeremy]

Jeremy, what you really want is the Mets involved. You really want the Mets. Every single scenario in which the Mets are involved in a three team, a head to head or four team tiebreaker, there was only one in which the Marlins would not. Yeah, and the Cardinals are not. Diamondbacks in the Reds. Yeah, that's right. The Cardinals are not involved in that one. But I erased it here. But the head to head against the Cardinals, the Marlins would not advance. And the head to head in which it's the Diamondbacks and the Cardinals in the three team tie, the Marlins would not advance either. Now I get it. Ultimately, you know, you're looking for the Mets to be involved as much as possible, which means really in the next two nights you're actually rooting for one Mets win. You really want them to split with the Chicago Cubs over the next couple nights before the Marlins ultimately sweep them over the weekend.

[Stugotz]

I have a question for Jeremy. I wasn't really. He was doing a service and I'm glad he was doing that stuff. I lost me. Who does Central have this week? I've got a, I've got a baseball question for you. This is twice this week that I've wanted to talk baseball. And it, and it, I mean, it makes sense that it's both guys that played while I was watching baseball. Is Mike Trout going to be remembered as the most talented loser ever? I know historically we have that conversation about Ernie Banks because Ernie Banks famously never made the playoffs. However, I ran the numbers and if Ernie Banks played with the same kind of playoff expansion rules that Mike Trout did, Ernie Banks would have made the playoffs three times at least, whereas Mike Trout only made the playoffs once and lost out in the alds.

[Dan Le Batard]

Are you doing just baseball? Because Myles Garrett's going to nominate.

[Stugotz]

Myles Garrett has been to the playoffs. Myles Garrett beat a Pittsburgh Steeler team on the road that at one point was 110 that season. I know that because I was going through NFL teams that fell on their face and collapsed.

[Dan Le Batard]

Are you doing, are you doing just baseball?

[Stugotz]

Because Myles Garrett also made it to the playoffs with Joe Flacco and lost to CJ Stroud, who was having probably his last hurrah in terms of being an exciting player. It's really hard to be an all time great player player and just never make the, never do anything in the playoffs. But the question is for, for Jeremy, because I know he's dialed in on hardball. I. This Mike Trout thing, like it's going to become his legacy. Whereas before his legacy was this guy is the most complete baseball player we've probably ever seen. He, he has the perfect elements of new school and old school. Well, part of it, part of it being his legacy is that he doesn't seem to care. Now. He probably does, but he doesn't give off that. It's like, man, I want to go somewhere and win. I think that's part of it, right?

[Jeremy]

I think ultimately with Mike Trout it'll be more of a Mickey Mantle scenario of the what if he was healthy for his entire career? There's a little bit of that with Ken Griffey Jr. Despite having all of the counting stats that he has. The thing with Trout is really, it's tough for an individual position player to put that on them. If he, if he got to the postseason and he struggled, he could be an all time loser. If he was a, an individual pitcher who would not come up clutch in the final moments of a season, you, you could argue the same thing. But when you have a team, I mean, they had a team that was built around him and Albert Pujols who didn't perform to what they wanted that contract to be. Same deal with Anthony Rendone. That really handicapped their ability to put a good team around him. When you're one individual player, it's really difficult to overcome organizational shortcomings. And so, yes, you're right, ultimately he's, he's not going to have a postseason career that's, that's worth anything or memorable unless maybe at the end of his career he ends up in the right place. But it'll be more of a Mickey Mantle type of thing in my view.

[Stugotz]

One time he did make it to the playoffs in the series, he got eliminated and he went 1 for 12. And you're applying helpful context, but it's context that is relatively absent from the Ernie Banks discussion. Maybe that's because of all the time that passed, but I mean, I laid it out for you. Ernie Banks played it in a time where it's just pennant winners that met up in the world in the World Series and got into the playoffs. Like this is really embarrassing. And you laid out, played with Pujols, played with Shohei Ohtani. Maybe this is more of an organizational conversation that we need to have about the Angels because they're presently in last place in the als and that is a hugely disappointing franchise. Just when you especially consider the money and resources they provided that team. But man, is it disappointing for one of the guys that was labeled as perhaps the greatest baseball player we've ever seen. Howdy folks, it's Mike Ryan and I know it's early in the NFL season, but it has shown you exactly why the NFL is indeed king sport in the United States of America. Great games, incredible matchups, in demand tickets for these high profile games. Sometimes, often times these games are sold out and you're left with the secondary market. Well, let me tell you about my go to on the secondary market. The official ticketing partner of the Dan Levitard Show. I'm talking of course, about game time. Game time's amazing for a lot of different reasons. Zone deals, panoramic CPUs, the low price guarantee and, and GameTime's unparalleled ticket coverage. I'm an NFL free agent, so I'm always looking for the biggest games and gametime makes it so easy to peruse the app. One of my favorite features is fees are always included. What you see is what you pay and that is hugely important. When you're traveling abroad to catch the game du jour, take the guesswork out of buying NFL tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use Code dan and get $20 off your first purchase terms. Apply again, create an account and redeem code dan for $20 off swipe, tap ticket. Go download the Gametime app today. Eczema isn't always obvious, but it's real and so is the relief from Ebglis.

[Dan Le Batard]

After an initial dosing phase, about 4.

[Stugotz]

In 10 people taking EVGLIS achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks, and most of those.

[Dan Le Batard]

People make maintain skin that's still more.

[Stugotz]

Clear at one year with monthly dosing.

[Dan Le Batard]

EBGLIS Lebrikizumab LBKZ a 250mg 2 ML.

[Stugotz]

Injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least.

[Dan Le Batard]

88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate.

[Stugotz]

To severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis.

[Dan Le Batard]

That is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies.

[Stugotz]

Ebglis can be used with or without topical corticosteroids.

[Dan Le Batard]

Don't use if you're allergic to ebglis. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe.

[Stugotz]

Eye problems can occur.

[Dan Le Batard]

Tell your doctor if you have new.

[Stugotz]

Or worsening eye problems.

[Dan Le Batard]

You should not receive a lot vaccine when treated with Epglis.

[Stugotz]

Before starting Epglis, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection searching for real relief. Ask your doctor about epglis and visit epglis.lily.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979. Lowe's knows how to help make your home holiday ready for less. Get Select Style Selections vinyl flooring for just $1.99 per square foot and have it installed before the festivities begin. Our team can help you every step of the way. See a Lowe's Red Vest associate or visit lowe's.comholidayinstall to get started. Lowe's we help you save basic install only. Date restrictions apply. Subject to availability. Install by independent contractors. See Associate for details. Contiguous US only. Don LeBatard can I tell you something I don't know? Maybe like a month ago and I decided to watch Pitch Clock and I told Jeremy Stugats, this is a good show you're doing. This is the Dan Levatar show with the two guards.

[Dan Le Batard]

Give me some assistance here because Anthony Rendone is champion. Anthony Rendone when they Won the World Series, was great for that baseball team. Only thing I think about when I think of the name Anthony Rendone is bad money spent. Give me the people in sports that do that for you. Where you. I mean, obviously Deshaun Watson is going to be that, but a person.

[Stugotz]

You mean franchises?

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm talking about somebody who was great, got the money, deserved to get the money, deserved to get it. Because Rendon's contract, that was more than $200 million. Right. Giancarlo Stanton sort of shook the sport, and then everyone started getting that kind of money. All of a sudden, Jason Wirth was getting that kind of money. But. But Randon is somebody I now just associate with bad money spent. When you arrive at the position that Anthony Rendon is In, your top 1% of the top 1% of people competing for money in sports, you've arrived at the very top level, guaranteed hundreds of millions for how good you are at a sport. But when I hear that name, the place I go immediately is bad money. So top it for me when. When I say nominate some people that you just. And they've got to be someone whose excellence was earned, not somebody who just got, you know, a contract out of the draft or something. Somebody who, professionally in pro sports, earn the money.

[Stugotz]

Made it to multiple contracts. Ben Simmons. That's the one. I was going to say. It's Ben Simmons.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, but Ben Simmons wasn't really successful in the pros, was he?

[Stugotz]

In fact, his first few years.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, wait a minute. Ben Simmons. But I'm pretty sure Ben Simmons didn't even make the NIT as the number one pick in college basketball. Or if he made the nit. They didn't. No, I don't think he made the NIT when. When they were.

[Stugotz]

I think they opted out of postseason play. But Ben Simmons got a five year, $177 million. He was a good player. He got. He found a way to get that contract without shooting the ball.

[Dan Le Batard]

He's not even pretending anymore to give us these workouts on video that suggests that he is making a comeback and is working hard to come back. We now have all of his media activity. Is he trolling when he's just gone fishing? Like, is he trolling when he's just showing us these big fish that he is catching instead of giving us workout videos?

[Stugotz]

It's quite the direction. You know, this time of year we used to get the workout videos where they would carefully edit him. Making jump shots, making three pointers, all Ben Simmons, he's coming for your Ass this year. I mean, we made fun of those, too, so. Oh, yeah, for sure. If I'm him, I'm like, all right, I'm just gonna go.

[Dan Le Batard]

I don't. I. When it comes to Ben Simmons, that's a different category for me. Even though it is, of course, bad spent for me. He. He occupies the space that I cannot assign to many athletes ever, which is just short circuited mentally. Like, that's not. That is not something. Sixers somehow had two of those guys and Markel Fulton, him, like, where you're. You're just. You're dealing with a mental short circuiting. So I go somewhere else original. When I hear do word association with.

[Stugotz]

Ben Simmons, I feel like three weeks ago we would have put Daniel Jones.

[Dan Le Batard]

In this conversation on money.

[Stugotz]

I mean, that was a bad contract he got with the Giants. If you look at the bad contracts in the NBA, like you have. You have guys. Most of the bad contracts that get highlighted are guys that ended up having injuries, physical injuries. Ben Simmons is the first person that had something go wrong with him that was intangible. It was between the years with him. But it's not like even before he started citing those issues, he wasn't an extremely flawed player.

[Dan Le Batard]

Can I get some video or photograph of how Zion Williamson looks now, speaking of basketball returning and the off season? Because I believe that at this point, still. Zion Williamson, who represents. I'm going to say. Let me see if I have this right. Who am I missing when I say in terms of basketball, Physical freak. The biggest physical freaks in Shaq. Physical freak. Novelty since Shaq, coming out of college and just stronger than everyone else in the post in a way that can't be stopped without a double team.

[Stugotz]

I was gonna say wembanyama until you said strong.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, well, yes. Right. Wembanyama is good. And also a physical freak.

[Stugotz]

Giannis grew into his body a little bit, but he was thin when he got into the league. Yeah. What makes Zion Williamson so interesting? Because at his size, he's only 6 foot 6. It's his weight and his explosiveness that didn't make any sense. But he's not this imposing. He doesn't have this imposing stature. Now he is filled out for his size and he has a really strange body type. But it's not like, you see this guy. I think what the novelty about him was like, how is this guy so powerful?

[Dan Le Batard]

He looks. He looks fit here. And I wonder if he loses any strength because those arms. Those arms used to be thighs, and those arms are no longer Thoughts?

[Stugotz]

You're doing the thing I feel like.

[Dan Le Batard]

The Internet's going to do. Too skinny. Well, no, no, I'm too much weight loss. No, no, I'm not. I will not weight shame anyone except you. There is no one else that I am shaming and myself. That's correct. But let's see some video here of Zion and you tell me what you guys thoughts here. Because he. He looks. He looks different. A good deal different and good. He does look good. But. But he is undersized. And so I do wonder if he can be as strong, given that in the history of that sport, the only person that I can actually think of like him is Charles Barkley, where led the league in rebounding, at least in part because his ass is where normal shoulders are on someone. When I stand next to Charles Barkley, he's not a lot taller than I am. He isn't.

[Stugotz]

He's 64 Barkley. But.

[Dan Le Batard]

But his ass. His ass is where my shoulders are. It's. It's a. It's a. It's a really high ass.

[Stugotz]

Yeah, he's got high ass.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's. That's.

[Stugotz]

His ass is 6ft off the ground. He's got that high ass.

[Dan Le Batard]

Do you have low shoulders that. No, I do not. That is why he led the league in rebounding at six foot four and a half or six foot five. But let me see some video on Zion here because they could do some optical illusions with AI. I've seen Zion. People do some photoshopping with Zion. That fools me. Let me see some video here and see what we've got. We came up with a plan, and from boxing to working out on the.

[Stugotz]

Football field a lot to just different random workouts.

[Dan Le Batard]

And during that time frame last year, I really felt a shift in my.

[Stugotz]

Body to where I would look at him and go, dude, it feels good to feel good. I haven't dealt like this since college, high school. Just where I can walk in the gym, and I'm like, it just. I feel good. It's great. His seventh year in the league, he's finally a professional. Finally feels good. What do we think about that goatee? Yeah, that's. I dig in. Dig it. Where are we with it? Like, on the disgruntled superstar progression. Like, why. How is he still a pelican? Aren't we supposed to be moving along here, like, three years ago?

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, but I think his trade value is such that people are a little bit scared of trading for him. And when Zaz says, seventh year in the league, I do believe that we've gotten a little too accustomed of guys coming out of high school and freshmen in college where you say seven years in league. But once upon a time this player, if he were Tim Duncan, would have stayed three of those years in college and would now be in his third or fourth year in the league. Because you cannot give a 19 year old NBA intoxicants and expect all of the 19 year olds not to succumb to whatever the NBA intoxicated.

[Stugotz]

I do think though the general expectation is for them to adhere to a certain level of professionalism and the injuries are one thing his approach to the game. I mean obviously Stephen A. Smith is very vocal about it, but I mean he's called him fat multiple occasions. But also let's not forget there's off court stuff with Zion Williamson that scares a lot of teams away. This dude just around league circles is not considered a It is very easy.

[Dan Le Batard]

In our position to tell others how to be professional. And yes, that is the standard. If you are being paid millions and millions of dollars to play a game, you should aspire to professionalism. But I do think that it should at least register with some people that not every person who's coming into those millions and millions of dollars is equipped to be an adult, never mind a professional. I've talked to enough athletes who get to the pros and they' stuffing their clothes dirty clothes in the closet for months. Or Ron Artest has dog shit all over his house because whenever he has to go on the road and stuff he doesn't do the things that are necessary to just keep his home in order. I understand everyone listening to this is going to say be a pro, be an adult. But you're going to have some casualties there when you go from the transition of abject poverty and just trying to survive to try and get to a place where you're the professional that everyone else expects you to be.

[Stugotz]

Hey everyone, it's Mike Ryan. One thing about me that everybody knows. I absolutely love Miller Lite. You know what else I love you. That's right. You listening? On your way to work right now, wondering whether or not today is the day to tell your boss what you really think of the new reports he needs filled out every week. I absolutely love you. That's why I'm thrilled to tell you that we are again partnering with Miller Light to give you a chance to play along with weekend observations. Starting September 22, you'll be able to go to DraftKings.com and guess what will happen during Weekend observations on the show. Monday, September 29 how many beeps will there be? Who's the first person to interrupt? How many people will talk about the used chances to win a national title? Spoiler alert. Definitely me. The winner will get a trip for you and a guest to come to Miami and hang with us at Flanagan's for Thursday Night football on on October 30th and a visit to the studio to see a taping of the show. Make sure you go to DraftKings and play for you to win, and then tune into the show and check out how you did. Must be 21 + to enter. Eligibility restrictions apply. Void where prohibited. See DraftKings.com for details.