The Big Suey: Vocal Masturbation (feat. David Samson)

Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz: "The Big Suey: Vocal Masturbation" (feat. David Samson)

Date: February 12, 2026

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Main Theme & Purpose

Broadcast from the Elser Hotel in Downtown Miami, this episode of "The Big Suey" showcases Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, and the crew—alongside recurring guest David Samson—offering wide-ranging commentary on sports, media, culture, and the idiosyncratic rhythms of their own lives. The episode deftly pivots between passionate debates on American patriotism in sports, critical evaluations of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, commentary on the evolving WNBA labor landscape, and raw discussions about grief, growth, and love. It’s an energetic blend of the silly and the profoundly personal, filtered through the show's trademark irreverence and authenticity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. On Awards, Podcasting, and Jenga Pieces

[01:13 - 03:10]

• David Samson discusses his and Coca’s podcast “Nothing Personal” being up for a "Ducky Award" in LA.
  • The comparison between essential team members is made:
    “Without Matthew Coca, Nothing Personal falls apart. Jenga.” – David Samson (01:23)
• Quips about the budget and legitimacy of podcast awards, poking fun at the show's internal hierarchies.

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2. “Pipe Down”—Old-Fashioned Phrases & Modern Outrage

[03:10 - 08:27]

• Dan plays a clip of Boomer Esiason expressing anger at Olympians with mixed feelings about representing America, sparking a diatribe from Mike Ryan.

  • “Pipe down and just do their sport and play for our country and respect the flag... Shut up and ski.” – Dan Le Batard paraphrasing Boomer ([03:49])
  • Mike Ryan delivers an explosive, unfiltered rant on the double standards in sports patriotism:

    “Say it with your chest, you chicken shit... your MAGA coated bullshit that’s been going on for ten years... But you can’t tune in to the Winter Olympics... and you don’t want to be faced with the reality that maybe some people... aren’t exactly thrilled with how things are going in this country. And they are using their one moment, in most cases, to highlight that, because that is universally American. And you want them to shut up.” ([04:19-05:56])

• Phrase Origins Game:

  • The team debates old phrases (pipe down, shut your trap, put a sock in it, etc.) and learns that “pipe down” comes from a naval command meaning, essentially, “go below deck and quiet down.”
    • Mike Ryan: “So the boatswain’s pipe... was a signal to go below deck... piped down.” ([07:52])

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3. Adam Silver & Leadership in the NBA

[08:48 – 11:27]

• Dan frames Silver’s trajectory: once seen as progressive and strong, now appearing as a “money-counter” lacking control over owners, unlike David Stern.
  • “He’s just somebody there who’s there to make money. He’s not actually in control of the owners, unlike his predecessor.” – Dan Le Batard ([10:34])
• Samson counters: leadership styles are a product of their era. Silver is now “job protection mode,” reflecting the reality that commissioners serve (and are ultimately beholden to) team owners.
  • “What we’re seeing with Adam Silver is that his baseline is that he is in job protection mode the way every commissioner is... David Stern was a bull in a china shop, where there were a bunch of porcelain pieces allowing him to act that way. Adam Silver recognizes he can't be that way.” – David Samson ([09:23, 10:55])

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4. The Pablo Torre NBA Investigation Saga

[11:27 – 13:59, 17:44–19:42]

• Discussion of Pablo Torre’s in-depth reporting and podcast series on NBA corruption:
  • Le Batard notes the series, initially centered on one explosive “aspiration story,” continually uncovers new scandals, suggesting the problems are systemic.
    • “Anything else that he got after that would be just... the tip. But that aspiration was the iceberg. I’m beginning to think that Pablo’s gonna keep doing this... and that the $48 million of no show job... is just the start of it.” – Dan Le Batard ([11:27])
  • Samson: Once reporting is published, more tips come in, fueling continued investigative work; the NBA anxiously awaits each new release.
    • “When Pablo started with us on September 3, he did not know where there was. And that's the beautiful thing about investigative journalism...” – David Samson ([12:29])
  • They revisit content from the latest episode, focusing on the possibility of a "smoking gun" document proving salary cap circumvention, which could have drastic consequences for Steve Ballmer and the league.
    • “That would be the end of Adam Silver trying to avoid punishment.” – David Samson ([18:31])

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5. Ownership, Ego, and the Mark Cuban/Mavericks Saga

[19:42 – 21:12]

• Mark Cuban may attempt to buy back the Mavericks; Samson outlines why, given financial and ego-related factors, such return moves are rare and often unsuccessful.
  • “You try to put yourself into positions of relevancy where it may not work as well... Owners want to get back, but... the financial reasons they sold still exist.” – David Samson ([20:08])

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6. Words, Tongue-Twisters, and On-Air Fumbles

[21:12 – 22:52]

• The crew poke fun at themselves over mispronunciations and losing words while broadcasting, especially Samson’s producer Coca:
  • Clip: “Incense. Incense. Geez. In sense of... you got this.” – David Samson ([21:23])

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7. Crisis, Loss, and Growth—A Candid Conversation

[22:17 – 29:13]

• Deep, personal exchange between Le Batard and Samson about how major crises—especially personal/familial illness and death—change one's identity, emotions, and view of life.
  • “I like the old me way better than the new me... I can walk around and all of a sudden start crying... I just can walk around and all of a sudden start crying... I am in the middle of trying to fight a fight that can't be won. I don't. Who wants to do that?” – David Samson ([22:52])
  • Le Batard, reflecting on his brother’s death:
    “I have more appreciation for life than I did before. I have more appreciation for the people I love than I did before.” ([28:06])
  • Samson is blunt:
    “I don't want to be where you are. I'm not interested actually in that sort of epiphany that you've had... It actually doesn't interest me.” ([28:59])

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8. Pop Culture: James Van Der Beek’s Death & Cancer's Toll

[23:53 – 25:54]

• The passing of James Van Der Beek, its effect on Samson, and a candid look at the financial and emotional toll disease takes even on celebrities.
  • “People would assume, ‘Oh you’re a movie star, you must be rich’... that’s not the reality... [his family] just ran out of money because of how expensive it is to treat cancer.” – David Samson ([24:12])

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9. Labor Trouble: Predicting the Next Pro League Work Stoppage

[30:27 – 33:13]

• Baseball is reporting, sports business swirl: Dan asks which league will lock out first. Samson predicts WNBA will have a work stoppage before MLB.
  • “The WNBA is a young league and what they are asking for is to be treated as though they are a mature league... they're going for too much too soon.” – David Samson ([31:02])
  • Highlights the different leverage points of women’s versus men’s unions in pro sports.

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10. “Vocal Masturbation,” Solitude, and the Afterlife

[34:02 – 39:36]

• The crew jokes about how solitary broadcasting leads to talking to yourself—and stimulating your own interest (“vocal masturbation”).
  • “That’s an interesting question, David. I’m glad you asked me.” – Dan Le Batard, mocking Samson ([36:32])
• Discussion of the film “Eternity,” prompting the question: In the afterlife, would you choose to spend forever with your first love, your last love, or no one? Respondents are ambivalent; Samson admits he might just want to be alone.
  • “I can't do eternity with any love... If you have to do it forever, even first love then becomes forever boring last love.” – David Samson ([38:56])

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11. Rooster Races and Mascot Madness

[40:04 – 41:33]

• Dan laments the end of the Miami ballpark rooster races, musing about the uniquely Miami tradition and the changing roles of stadium mascots.
  • “What's your problem with mascots? Like, I thought everybody loved mascots. And now they canceled that rooster race that was, I'm going to say uniquely Miami...” – Dan Le Batard ([40:04])
  • Banter ensues about Billy the Marlin, stadium traditions, and Mike’s weight loss ("Cock of the walk, baby." – Mike Ryan [41:33])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Mike Ryan’s Rant About Boomer Esiason and Patriotism:
  “Say it with your chest, you chicken shit... your MAGA coated bullshit that’s been going on for ten years... That is universally American. And you want them to shut up.” ([04:19–05:56])

• David Samson on Adam Silver:
  “Adam Silver had the support to get as close as he got, but now that has gone away. And so you’re seeing Adam Silver become a normal commissioner now. And for me, that’s good enough.” ([09:23])

• Le Batard on Grief and Growth:
  “I have more appreciation for life than I did before. I have more appreciation for the people I love than I did before.” ([28:06])

• Samson on Change and Loss:
  “I like the old me way better than the new me... I just can walk around and all of a sudden start crying...” ([22:52])

• Samson, on Eternity and Love:
  “I can’t do eternity with any love. And so choosing a first love or last love, if you have to do it forever... I assume even first love then becomes forever boring last love.” ([38:56])

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Important Timestamps

• Opening Banter / Award Talk: 01:13 – 03:10
• Pipe Down, Patriotism Rant: 03:10 – 08:27
• Adam Silver Discussion: 08:48 – 11:27
• Pablo Torre Saga: 11:27 – 13:59, 17:44–19:42
• Mark Cuban/Mavericks Ownership: 19:42 – 21:12
• Crisis & Personal Change Discussion: 22:17 – 29:13
• James Van Der Beek / Cancer's Toll: 23:53 – 25:54
• WNBA / MLB Labor Tension: 30:27 – 33:13
• Vocal Masturbation, Love & Eternity: 34:02 – 39:36
• Mascot/Rooster Race Farewell: 40:04 – 41:33

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Tone

Consistent with the show’s trademark blend: intensely opinionated, irreverent, quick-witted, and unafraid of uncomfortable emotional terrain. They toggle between absurdity (“vocal masturbation,” debate over old-timey slang) and gut-level honesty about loss, change, and the meaning of love and life after crisis. Samson’s melancholy is counterbalanced by the crew’s zesty banter—a testament to the show’s range.

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Summary for the New Listener

This episode is a prime example of the Le Batard Show’s chemistry and ethos: unfiltered arguments about sports and society, deep dives with regular guests, and plenty of laughter at their own quirks. Whether it’s parsing the role of American patriotism in sport, dissecting the failings of NBA leadership, theorizing over eternal love, or grieving pop culture losses, the crew balances the grand and the granular, hilarious and heartfelt—often in the same breath.

Transcript

[David Sampson]

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[Mike Ryan]

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[David Sampson]

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[Dan LeBatard]

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[Mike Ryan]

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[David Sampson]

Make the most of it at Best Western, Best Book, direct and [e-mail].

[Dan LeBatard]

Welcome to the Big Suey, presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show, the podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan LeBatard podcast?

[Mike Ryan]

I'm sorry.

[Dan LeBatard]

I'm not gonna apologize for that. In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging. I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries if they're just there. That hasn't happened to you guys. I've done it. And now here's the marching man to Nowhere, Fat Face and the Habitual Liar.

[Mike Ryan]

This episode of the Dan Lebatard show.

[David Sampson]

Is presented by DraftKings.

[Mike Ryan]

DraftKings.

[David Sampson]

The Crown is yours.

[Mike Ryan]

All right, let's go, let's go. Let's get started.

[Dan LeBatard]

The commercial I was thinking of was Lacoste, and it's wordlessly. Djokovic and Serena. They're sort of covered wordlessly in fabric, and it just says playing with icons. That's the commercial that I was thinking of. David Sampson comes on with us now, as he does every week. The name of the podcast is Nothing Personal. He covers a lot of ground, as I keep saying. Every time that he's on that nevermind solo, I don't hear a group of people talking about very much. And he handles it, just him and Coca. Him, Coca and Danny B around here are up for some sort of award, some sort of podcast award. What are you smirking about? Is it because of the name of the award? And Kirsten that makes you smile? What are you smiling about?

[David Sampson]

No, I'm smiling wondering whether the budget for awards approaches PTFO's, because I don't know what we spent or what the submission fees were, but let me tell you, Coca and Danny B up for the same award in the same category as the Jenga piece for their shows. Meaning without Matthew, Coca, nothing Personal falls apart. Jenga. Without Danny B, the Dan Levitard show falls apart. And so I said to Coke on the show this morning Live, you got this, man, because without you, nothing Personal is toast. But like, of course, no one from PTFO is nominated for a Jenga award. There's too many Damn people.

[Dan LeBatard]

What are these awards now?

[David Sampson]

The Duckies the first. Now I don't think you can call him the first annual. I think it's just the first, the inaugural Ducky Awards in la. And I said, coca, you're going there. He's on a plane to la, leaving shortly. I said, hey, you're gonna be there for All Star Weekend with a bunch of other people. Dan paid to go there. You could go out and do stuff. And he thought he wasn't cool enough to hang out with Pablo or Amin.

[Dan LeBatard]

I wanna play some sound for you here that has enraged Mike Ryan, Boomera Sias and who looks like the future of America. O if some people get their way, Boomer Sassen is the avatar that will appear as one of the stars on the flag in just how, how people should look in the next version of homogenized America. Let's listen to Boomer seizing, getting mad that the Olympics would have a few Americans saying, yeah, I got some bittersweet sort of feelings about representing my country.

[Mike Ryan]

But I mean like I was sitting there watching, you know, the freestyle skating by, you know, our ice skating team, figure skating team that won the gold medal.

[Dan LeBatard]

Are they happy to represent America? Yeah, they seem to be happy to represent America. Not everybody is, but you know, everybody should pipe down and just do their sport and play for our country and respect the flag and respect everything that's going on. Shut up and ski.

[David Sampson]

That's it.

[Dan LeBatard]

Pipe down is such a great old person phrase. Can someone find me the origins of pipe down? Why are pipes coming down? What's happening when pipes are coming down? It's another way to say shut up. It's another way to say bleep you on mainstream television.

[Mike Ryan]

Then say that. Say that. Say what you mean. Say it with your chest, you chicken shit, because your MAGA coated bullshit that's been going on for 10 years. The guy is in office for a second time because his whole platform is how much this country stinks. Yet you sit on the sidelines when Nick Bosa wears a MAGA hat on the post game. Where's the same energy? I'm a sports fan. My, my, my soccer team won the Club World Cup. He was on the friggin stage. I had to eat it. I'm a NASCAR fan. Riley Gaines is giving incantations. The President is literally taking laps at the Daytona International Motor Speedway. It took me 45 minutes to get into the national championship game because the Secret Service is there checking everybody because he so effectively uses sports to sports wash his image. And yet I've had to eat it. You got your way. They're not kneeling during the anthem. They're doing everything they can so you can live in your little bubble and not be threatened by the reality of your decisions. The cost of what you actually voted for. The liberals, the left, they all had to eat it because you guys were so loud and so soft and so triggered. But you can't tune in to the Winter Olympics, a sport that you probably only worry about every four years, and you don't want to be faced with the reality that maybe some people, and according to polling, a hell of a lot of people, aren't exactly thrilled with how things are going in this country. And they are using their one moment, in most cases, to highlight that, because that is universally American. And you want them to shut up. Quit being a boomer, Assia. Put your name to it. Say what you mean.

[David Sampson]

He did.

[Mike Ryan]

No, he didn't. He just said, shut up. He just said shut up. He said, pipe down. I am so sick of these snowflakes that were telling me I was soft for 10 years, and I had to. I had to swallow it. I had to swallow it. You use your platform however you want, but if you're gonna. If you're gonna actually attack other people for sharing your feelings, then maybe don't just code your language. Actually say it, because they're actually being brave. They.

[David Sampson]

I don't know how you decide, Mike, when you have to eat it or when you have to swallow it, but I think that you're angry with Boomer when you're just angry with so many other things you're taking it out on.

[Mike Ryan]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I think it is so soft to not wanna actually sit down and face the consequences of your decision. You don't wanna even be triggered. To have someone say to your face, things aren't going great. You'd rather ignore that. Yet in every other walk of life, all you wanna do is complain about how bad things are. So much so that we've totally burned up the Constitution. We're in this goddamn mess. I hate when people do that. I have more respect for the people that take to their platform and actually say what they mean with their chest than this shit.

[Dan LeBatard]

Pipe down. Is that an older phrase than shut your trap? Pick one. I'm going to give. I'm going to put a handful of them in front of you, David. You pick one older phrase. Pipe down or shut your trap.

[David Sampson]

Shut your trap.

[Dan LeBatard]

Pipe down or kick rocks.

[David Sampson]

Kick rocks.

[Dan LeBatard]

Pipe down or put a sock in.

[David Sampson]

It put a sock.

[Mike Ryan]

Keep choosing the one, the new one.

[Dan LeBatard]

Pipe down. He's playing the game incorrectly. Pipe down or shut your pie hole.

[David Sampson]

Pipe down is older. Shut your pie hole is new. No one knew what that was.

[Dan LeBatard]

Pipe down or zip it, tide. Pipe down or cool it, pal.

[David Sampson]

Pipe down.

[Mike Ryan]

What about simmer down?

[Dan LeBatard]

Oh, simmer down. Simmer down. And find for me why it is pipes are coming down, please. I don't understand why pipes need to be put down.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, I have the origin here. So the boat Swain is where this comes from. So original sailing ships, they were given to the crew by sounding the boat Swain's pipe. So what you were doing was piping down the hammocks, which was a signal to go below deck. And when an officer wanted a sailor to be dismissed below, he would have him piped down.

[Dan LeBatard]

I'm sorry. I missed most of what you said just because of how Tony was laughing off Mike at the way that sailing ships just came out sounding like shits.

[Mike Ryan]

I think of him doing that stuff during the heat broadcast, and it makes me laugh.

[David Sampson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

I told you. I'm. I'm now in my head about the way that I speak when I've never been before. I've won three Emmys. You guys know that, right? Yes. Really cool. Not a Jenga piece.

[Dan LeBatard]

Award win a Ducky. You. You may have won three Emmys, but talk to me when you've won a Ducky.

[Mike Ryan]

I mean, when you're a Jenga piece.

[Dan LeBatard]

David, I have been, I'm going to say, just a little bit surprised by the idea that in Adam Silver's spectrum as leader, I've seen him go from a really strong figure, viewed as the most progressive and strongest commissioner in sport, to a precipitous dissent. Since that makes it clear to me that he works for the owners the same way Goodell does, although less polished than Goodell, does it? Because I believe he's gone from very strong to very weak. Where are you with Silver having lost control of his league?

[David Sampson]

I think that when you had him, as. I think it goes back to the bubble, it goes back to his view on all of the social injustices during that time when the NBA players walked out of the bubble. And it was almost like our belief in New York that Rudy Giuliani was this amazing guy during 9 11. It is staggering what can happen during crisis when some people step up, and then all of a sudden you expect that to be their default position through every situation that follows. And generally, crisis brings out something in someone. What we're seeing with Adam Silver is that his baseline is that he is in job protection mode the way every commissioner is. As they should be. They work for the owners. The owners are on the comp committee that sets their comp. They're trying to get their teams to be worth more because that's how they're judged, and they don't want to get too close to the fire. Adam Silver had the support to get as close as he got, but now that has gone away. And so you're seeing Adam Silver become a normal commissioner now. And for me, that's good enough. It's not a negative. It's not a positive. It's just a fact of life.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, it becomes an accountant, though. To me, he's just somebody there who's there to make money. He's not actually in control of the owners, unlike his predecessor. His predecessor was in control of the owners. Like, David Stern didn't seem like he was working for those guys. Those guys kind of feared David Stern. It's a pretty abrupt shift. I don't blame the billionaires for not wanting to be run by somebody, but it's a big shift.

[David Sampson]

Let me. Let me remind you that the David Stern era. If David Stern were commissioner today with this group of owners, he would not be the David Stern of yesteryear. It was a totally different time that called for a different skill set. David Stern was a bull in a china shop where there were a bunch of porcelain pieces allowing him to act that way. Adam Silver recognizes he can't be that way because he is surrounded by power in a way that David Stern never was.

[Dan LeBatard]

I wanted to ask you here about Pablo's story. It's now eight installments, and you and Amin have been great in providing a really strong executive, lawyerly strength and wisdom to a nuance to everything that's happening around a complicated story here, the latest installment. The reason. The reason that it was shocking to me is I did not see a way, David, under any circumstance, that the aspiration story would be the tip of the iceberg. I thought it had to be the entire iceberg, and anything else that he got after that would be just something that was also a tip. But that aspiration was the iceberg. I'm beginning to think that Pablo's gonna keep doing this and keep finding stuff, and that the $48 million of no show job alle is not going to be the end of it. It's just the start of it.

[David Sampson]

Well, you know Pablo like I know Pablo, and he is like a dog with a Bone. And the benefit of having an episode, one the way we had it on September 3rd, where this aspiration story was broken by Pablo. He had done reporting on it for months, but it hadn't seen the light of day. Once it sees the light of day, you end up getting more incoming calls than before the story is released, when it's all outgoing calls. Because once something comes out, then all of a sudden people like, oh, wait a minute, I know something about this. Let me get in touch with the person who's doing the story. So it's pretty common that there'd be more there. When Pablo started with us on September 3, he did not know where there was. And that's the beautiful thing about investigative journalism is you do your work that can stand on its own, but you have to be, I guess, flexible enough to have more episodes, not just because people are watching and interested. And the NBA trembles every time Pablo releases a show. Can you imagine if he ever did one live? You do live, then it's absolute insanity. But he has discovered so many more things, and he's not stopping. Dan, you've given him this money, you've given him this power, and he's using it to not just purposely take down institutions. He's doing it to expose what is actually happening within these institutions. And the audience loves it.

[Dan LeBatard]

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[Mike Ryan]

When I was in New York.

[Dan LeBatard]

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[Mike Ryan]

You don't even have to oh, I.

[Dan LeBatard]

Gotta get four boxes. No, it's one variety box. It's got them all in it. And all of these sliders are made with 100% beef. Perfect for game day, late nights, or anytime you just want something awesomely oniony, satisfying, steamy, and unapologetically cheesy. White Castle Crave thy castle.

[Mike Ryan]

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[David Sampson]

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[Mike Ryan]

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[Mike Ryan]

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[Dan LeBatard]

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[David Sampson]

Don lebatard we love you. We've got you. We've all got each other. Let's go right now.

[Mike Ryan]

Stugarts.

[David Sampson]

1, 2, 3. Brett. 1, 2, 3. BRETT. This is the Dan Levatar show with the.

[Dan LeBatard]

I need to correct you and Pablo. We Meadowlark Media, all the full time people here own a percentage of the company. We have invested in the journalism of what it is that Pablo is doing, not me. And when you say that this last episode that you did was interesting to you, I'll ask you the same question that I asked Pablo yesterday. If you chose one thing from the last episode that stayed with you for for me, it was that this pursuit of Ballmer and this obsession of Ballmer can be linked through Kawhi's trainer and a lawsuit back to 2017 when he wasn't even with the Clippers. Like that. That to me was more interesting than all other things. But what was it to you having gone through all of the paperwork?

[David Sampson]

Yeah, to me it was the end. The end of the episode just was gobsmacking to me because what Pablo presented was the possibility of a document existing. And a document is what Adam Silver and Wachtel Lipton have been looking for. A smoking gun, they call it, which is obviously a totally incorrect way of describing evidence in the investigation that is happening against Steve Ballmer and the Clippers. But a document that Pablo is wondering whether it exists, talking about salary cap circumvention tampering is what you're referring to. That wasn't interesting to me because everyone tampers with our guys and we tamper with everyone else's guys and we're planning years ahead with our tampering always. So that was standard. But a document where there is absolute salary cap circumvention for a second time, this major that requires punishment of Steve Ballmer, and that's something that Adam Silver, in my opinion, has been trying to avoid. And if that document exists, and we don't know whether it does, but incoming calls will be helpful here, if it does exist, that would be the end of Adam Silver trying to avoid punishment.

[Mike Ryan]

Dave Longtime NBA insider Mark Stein reports that an unidentified group has reportedly expressed interest in having Mark Cuban buy back the Mavericks. And obviously he sold his majority stake in 23 for 3.5 billion and retains a 27% share. A is this some a situation that you've seen where an owner sells a piece to then buy it back a couple years later? And what if the. The Adelson Dumont family does not want to sell it back to them, which they don't? How does that work?

[David Sampson]

Well, once you own something, you never have to sell it back. You can keep it until you're forced to sell by your partners. You know, Donald Sterling style. And Mark Cuban wanting to get back in the game is funny because he views the NBA as the only outlet where he can get the votes to become an owner. But frankly, now that he's gone, I think he stays gone. And the reasons he sold what for whatever the reasons are, he will not be able to buy it back at the same price. Whereas, let's say Jeffrey Laurie could have bought back the Marlins at the same price for a number of years. Just didn't want to. With the Maverick situation, the price has changed. It has grown. Adam Silver's done his job. So I think the reason Mark Cuban sold those reasons stay does he want to maintain relevancy? That's the hardest thing about selling a team if you're an owner that all of a sudden you don't feel like that you are important. Your ego is not being massaged. You try to put yourself into positions of relevancy where it may not work as well. So I do know of owners who want to get back, but they don't because the financial reasons they sold still.

[Dan LeBatard]

Exist, which is the worst of the mistakes here. I'm going to play for you, Coca here on nothing personal. Struggling with a word and you tried to help him. Let's play that sound Twitter and Instagram.

[David Sampson]

And Tik Tok it it. Incense. Incense. Geez. In sense of you got this.

[Dan LeBatard]

Is that worse or is this worse? Matriculate the ball down the field. The juju. Whoa, the juju. Juju being juju. Leaving the premises as if a mushroom cloud has exploded. Matriculate the ball down the field.

[David Sampson]

It sounds like you were a skipping record there.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah.

[David Sampson]

And I. I worry like I wanted you to do the stroke test after that with Coke. I just knew that it was a tongue twister because he had said incentivize three seconds before the clip. You just played. So I knew that he had it with him at some point. I was concerned that you were in a position where you needed someone to Hit you in the back. So I'm going to say that's worse.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah, I, I mean I, I have been short circuiting lately sometimes in ways that FR and are sort of stroke adjacent here. But you said, you said something here earlier. You said crisis brings out something in people and you left it open ended like I guess plenty of people fold in the face of crisis. What is, but what is crisis brought out in you that you've been surprised that you weren't sure existed in you where you're in the middle of crisis and then all of a sudden you're learning something about yourself.

[David Sampson]

Well, it certainly brought out far more emotion than I've ever had. Dewired me a lot what's happening with me. And it's, it's, it's changed me in a way that I didn't want to change. And now that I'm changed, I'm not the guy who's gonna say, oh my God, I'm so happy I changed. I like the old me way better than the new me. I don't like the fact that I just can walk around and all of a sudden start crying or that I am in the middle of trying to fight a fight that can't be won. I don't. Who wants to do that? So I like when people say, oh, I've changed, I've seen the light, I found God, or whatever it is. They say I'm a better person now. I'm better in a lot of ways since I left baseball. But I didn't need a crisis in order to do it. It was just the evolution of me. So I'm the one who would tell you that certain crisises are not the juice is not worth the squeeze, as I like to say. And any improvements that may be in my emotionality, I would give up. I'd give up ten, a thousand fold if I could.

[Mike Ryan]

David James Van Der Beek. Battled with sickness for a while, passed away yesterday. Most known for being Dawson from Dawson's Creek. It was a pop culture icon at the time. Film wasn't this a huge film star, but Varsity Blues is a cult classic. I'm wondering if you have any thoughts on the passing of James Van Der Beek.

[David Sampson]

I do, Mike. It's horrible. And what, what, what's surprising to me his GoFundMe page that his family has. He has six children and left a wife. Young children and young people are just getting cancer way more. And that's not that that's actual evidence. That's not just in my head. And the Problem is that everyone thinks that everyone else is rich, and it's just not the case. People would assume, oh, you're a movie star, you must be rich. It's like assuming people in music or people on TV who do podcasts, like, it's assuming that they're rich, and that's not the reality. And Vanderbilt, they just ran out of money because of how expensive it is to treat cancer, and he had a colorectal cancer where it's not going to work. But how do you not try when you have six kids or when you're 48 years old? You have to try. And now the family is left cleaning up financial ruin and dealing with the loss of a husband and a father. There's nothing positive about when young people get cancer. There's nothing to learn from it. It's not. There's. There's not one thing. Oh, it's great for research. We can study the tumor and figure out, no, that's not right. And it opens people's eyes to getting, you know, prostate tests when they're 40 or getting mammograms when they're 30 or getting whatever. No, I don't need someone to die to have that lesson. So I was. I was not a Dawson's Creek person, Mike. But I'm finding myself obviously way more impacted by young people and their. Their. Their plight and their disease, and I can't stand it. Actually.

[Dan LeBatard]

You said you don't need someone to die to learn that lesson, but being around any of that stuff has opened up a portal to emotion. You. Like, you're saying that you were locked up, repressed in the previous incarnation. Right? That it's not that you weren't feeling. Feeling pain, although perhaps the pain wasn't like this. Is that the pain didn't unlock you being able to express it. Right.

[David Sampson]

But I don't want to be unlocked. It's not. What do you. I don't even understand your question. I would trade my daughter being sick because I get to be unlocked. Like, all of a sudden. This is. This is a net positive because of some emotional growth I'm having.

[Dan LeBatard]

No, you're the one who presented the idea of crisis bringing out. We love to say that one, David. We love to say that adversity brings out the character in people. We love to say that crisis. Very often when you get two or three or four years away from it, people don't have regret about the crisis. Not in this case, obviously. I wouldn't use that as the example, but are grateful for the crisis because it changed them into somebody who had a different life perspective.

[David Sampson]

Yes. So I find that those crises tend to be when you lose a limb or when you have an accident that you recover from. I have not yet met and I spend a lot of my day when I'm not speaking to Mike Ryan off the air. I spend a lot of my time trying to meet people, to figure out if it's possible to grow or recover or just function on a daily basis. And I'm getting very mixed results, I must say. And I have no idea what my world will look like in six months and tomorrow or a year or 10 years. But I, I, I just, it's not a journey that I'm interested in. I, I don't want to see what life is going to be like in certain instances. But again, when you have no choice, you have no choice. So you do what's instinctual, but then you spend your entire life wondering are you doing it right or what, what regrets you will have. I never used to live that way. I was much happier when I had not one regret. Never thought of having a regret. I just pushed forward like a bull in a china shop. And now I'm questioning every time I decide to go for a run.

[Dan LeBatard]

I'm the distinction that I guess I'm making somewhere inside of the worst loss I felt the death of my brother. I wouldn't, I'd trade anything to have him back. But it doesn't mean that I don't have an altered life perspective that I could not have had if he had not died. I would have never had, I would have never. No, but in ways that are also positive, though, it's not just suffering and pain. It is also suffering in pain, but on the other side of suffering, not, not, not for you in the instance that you're presently in and not for me. If you had asked me two years ago or two and a half years ago. But I am altered by what happened there in a way that's forever changed. And while the pain is still inside me, so too is the love that is still alive because that pain is there to remind me. And I have more appreciation for life than I did before. I have more appreciation for the people I love than I did before.

[David Sampson]

Yeah, I don't want to be where you are. I'm not interested actually in that sort of epiphany that you've had, the emotional epiphany and growth that comes along with that level of pain. It actually doesn't interest me.

[Dan LeBatard]

There are very few places I would say that growth usually happens for people that doesn't have great pain involved. And I'm not trying to argue a different perspective for you. I'm just saying that if you had asked me this two and a half years ago, I would have spoken exactly the way that you're speaking now. Without being able to see anything off in the distance that looked like anything that resembled hope or anything better.

[David Sampson]

We are one renewal away from asking me whatever question you want.

[Mike Ryan]

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[David Sampson]

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[David Sampson]

Dan Levatar Tae Tas Stugats Taytas this.

[Mike Ryan]

Is the Dan Levatar show with the stug stats.

[Dan LeBatard]

Off to softer things here and the silliness of sports because baseball is reporting and you've got Boris hovering around the owners and there's always business around the owners and there's so many problems with the media deals and everything else. Which sport do you believe is most likely to lock out soonest because of its ailments around it? Is it the WNBA or is it something else?

[David Sampson]

Well, are you willing to say that a lockout and a strike are equivalent.

[Dan LeBatard]

Just work stoppage of whatever kind where we lose the games?

[David Sampson]

WNBA will have a work stoppage before Major League Baseball. WNBA does not have a collective bargain agreement. We could talk for the next the entire rest of the show about what's going on with the WNBA and the absolute mistake that the players union, the Women's Players association, has made in this negotiation. They are calling the wrong bluffs. They are not at the right time in the life of their union or of their league to take the positions they're taking. And I can get criticized all day long by by women in sports and in media and this is not about men or women. I would say that about any immature union and I don't mean like a three year old. I'm talking about young. The WNBA is a young league and what they are asking for is to be treated as though they are a mature league and they're just not that. They're going for too much too soon. There's going to be a work stoppage and they're saying they'll strike because they've given permission to their they voted that it's okay to strike, but the WNBA may, the owners may instead lock out. We'll wait to see. Baseball is going to have a lockout in December after this coming season. So I'd like to ask the follow up question, which do I think will last longer, MLB's work stoppage or the WNBA's work stoppage? And that is an interesting question because the wnba, if a season were missed, like a full season that's supposed to start here in a couple months, what would happen? You'd have players maybe more unrivaled, more Project B, more going overseas and they would make more money. They would live their lives in baseball. When there's a work stoppage, there's not enough leagues around the world for these players to play and make anything close, close to what they would make in baseball. Which is why we always felt we could break the union and it's why we've won. Every negotiation in our mind is because we knew that they're getting older each year with no alternative. The players and owners are going to be there long after. That's the true power dynamic. That's why I think MLB's work stoppage will not be as significant as what the WNBAs could be.

[Dan LeBatard]

I have told David and others that if you live your life as long as Colin Cowherd and Jim Rome have lived their life talking to themselves for several hours a day, you become a specific kind of crazy that you guys just saw a glimpse of where David Sampson asked a question and then said to himself, that's an interesting question. Sorry, David.

[Mike Ryan]

No, we all gotta chuckle.

[Dan LeBatard]

No, we understand how it is that happens is because you're in, you're talking to yourself. Your producer can't say incentivize even though he's up for a duck. Yeah. And so you just, you just stimulated yourself by asking a question and said to yourself, now that's an interesting question, David.

[David Sampson]

I really try to avoid that because this is the hour of the week that I love when I can interact with so many of you. And I just, you just got me going on a topic that is an interesting topic. To me.

[Mike Ryan]

It's vocal masturbation.

[Dan LeBatard]

It is. He is normally, he is in solitary confinement for 23 hours and then he gets to play in the yard for a little bit and he's like, that's an interesting question, David. I'm glad we get to spend this. What are you reviewing for us this week?

[David Sampson]

Can we talk about love quickly?

[Dan LeBatard]

We will tomorrow with Greg Cody.

[David Sampson]

Oh, so are you going to review the movie eternity with Greg.

[Dan LeBatard]

No. 305486. Gotts. If you have any love questions for Greg Cody, he's going to join us from a memory loss unit for alcohol impaired dementia. 305-486-4689.

[David Sampson]

By the way, the number. By the way, he hates that idea.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah, that's fine. 300, 548-64-689. He will join us from a memory loss unit for alcohol related dementia and give you love advice if you have any love questions. What? Let's talk about love. Love.

[David Sampson]

Will drinks be served?

[Dan LeBatard]

He'll love that idea.

[David Sampson]

He's gonna have Miller Light. Like a scotch?

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah.

[David Sampson]

They won't remember. There's a movie called Eternity. It stars Miles Teller and Elizabeth Olsen. It's not up for any Academy Awards. And people are mistakenly saying it's like defending your life. The movie with Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep. But it's not like that at all. It's about what happens when you have a love of your life when you're young and something breaks that love up. It could be death, it could be war. It could be just life happening. And then you marry someone else, your second love, and you're with them for 40 years. And now you go to the afterlife. Who do you want to be with your first love, where it was magic. We're talking countertops and everything. Or do you want to go with stable love where you built a family and you, you know, watched TV from two different chairs with trays of TV dinners? Who do you choose to live your eternity with? And I was fascinated with the question. And Miles Teller and Elizabeth Olsen are the longtime loves. Callum Teller is the first love of Elizabeth Olsen, the major love who then went to war and died. And they all meet up again in the afterlife, and choices have to be made. And it got me thinking, what would I choose? And so I'm not gonna ask myself.

[Dan LeBatard]

What an interesting question. David. Put it on the poll.

[Mike Ryan]

Vocally masturbate.

[Dan LeBatard]

Let's put it on the poll. At Lebatard show. Better love, first love or last love? I'd have to. I assume that people love the butterflies of first love, but last love, you've learned all the things you have to learn about what you want for yourself in life. Right?

[David Sampson]

That's the movie. That's why. I don't know, Dan. You sound like you have not seen it. But it'd be interesting for someone like you because you would always say last love because of the current love you're in expecting that to Be your last love, but you have to not give short shrift to first love and what that felt like.

[Mike Ryan]

Dan, which love are you picking? Your current love or a previous one? I don't like the way that was phrased.

[Dan LeBatard]

I would always assume that most people will choose their last love, but I might have that wrong. Because if someone dies, if you're widowed, if there's somebody that you felt. Felt like you're going to miss forever. But I choose what I've learned since then.

[Mike Ryan]

Man, Mike really lobbed it up for us.

[Dan LeBatard]

I feel like we're gonna be hearing about this one. It's not helpful producing. It's not what the job is. It's Valentine's weekend. He tried to give you an easy dub. We decided, for whatever reason, to bypass it. We are probably stepping in it right now. Again, though, I want the inner monol to be my voice talking to me, not you secretly talking to me. It was Val.

[Mike Ryan]

Just say Val.

[Dan LeBatard]

Move on. It's obviously Val, but my life experience doesn't have that kind of loss. Well, it was obvious until you ignored the question.

[David Sampson]

You're always trying to learn.

[Dan LeBatard]

I assume that many people. I'm actually interested in how people vote on this poll because I do think that a whole lot of people romanticize first love because they're now in a love that's less happy like that. Very often they lost that love because they were rejected by somebody they didn't want to be rejected by. They lost somebody to death. And so I do believe that there are many people out there who have a great deal of longing for a lost love and are in a relationship that now pales by comparison. Say that we didn't know love until.

[Mike Ryan]

We found our current love.

[David Sampson]

That's ridiculous. That is ridiculous. Inner monologue, man.

[Mike Ryan]

We shot all over the backboard.

[David Sampson]

The problem with first love that's cut short is if you have to do eternity, I would argue that I can't do eternity with any love. And so choosing a first love or last love, if you have to do it forever, I assume even first love then becomes forever boring last love. So I think it's sort of a Sophie's Choice of love. They didn't cover that in the movie, though.

[Dan LeBatard]

Man, I thought our answer was bad juju. Put it on the poll, please. When you get to eternity, do you just want to be left alone?

[Mike Ryan]

Literally picked himself. We're not just vocally masturbating anymore.

[Dan LeBatard]

He wants. David wants to get to eternity and be like, well, that's an interesting question, David. I'M glad you asked me.

[Mike Ryan]

I'll pick a 3am movie by myself in the dark on my couch. Thank you.

[Dan LeBatard]

I've got some interesting thoughts on that. You're such great. I'm down with it, David.

[Mike Ryan]

I like the honesty.

[David Sampson]

I love that you know me.

[Dan LeBatard]

Nothing Personal is the name of the podcast. Thank you, David. We appreciate the time.

[David Sampson]

Thank you.

[Dan LeBatard]

I was sad. I was surprised by what it is that saddened me the other day when I saw it happen because. And I've been having this argument with Wilbond since I met him. Him. Okay. I've been having. I cannot tell you any words that I have said to Wilbourne in my life more than these words. What's your problem with mascots? Like, I thought everybody loved mascots. And now they canceled that rooster race that was, I'm going to say uniquely Miami, because I don't think anybody else was doing rooster races at the ballpark. And the rooster. You saw the. Well, two or three times ago, Tony went out to a local bar here near Cayo in the middle of the day, and poor Rose was chasing around roosters who have been feeding this I, you know, there and been having bread.

[Mike Ryan]

There was like 20 of them.

[Dan LeBatard]

It was all family.

[Mike Ryan]

Poor Rose, she was the aggressor.

[Dan LeBatard]

She was the aggressor, but she was just trying to get them away from her. And they're like, no, this is our home. We're not going to leave here. Why did they cancel the rooster race? What happened?

[Mike Ryan]

It was bad. Yeah, but I like that about was pretty. It was. It was pretty corny. Wasn't that an upgrade over the sea creatures?

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, no.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, yeah, but they, they had gotten rid of that for a while, and then now they're getting rid of the rooster race and they're really trying to feature Billy the Marlin. More like in the same way that they're going back to the. The Teal for the throwbacks. They're featuring Billy the Marlin now.

[David Sampson]

You've lost weight, huh?

[Mike Ryan]

Yep. Feels good. Cock of the walk, baby.