The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Best of DLS: The Joan Rivers Hang Up

Episode Date: December 24, 2025

"I think we have to head to the next interview, but thank you very much for your time." Do you miss the sound of somebody hanging up the phone on terrestrial radio? Then boy oh boy do we have the hour for you. We kick it off with a Cal Ripken interview in which he tells us where he does (or does not) stand on Hillary vs Obama in 2008, then play a game of True or False with Bomani Jones. That's just the warm-up because after that, we have three of the most epic hang-ups in show history from interviews gone horribly wrong. First up is Joan Rivers, followed by Michael Phelps, and capped off with Nick Lachey. There's gotta be one Grinch at every Christmas, but thankfully for you, we've got three of the best coming right up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All right, kicking things off with Smyranoff, the official vodka sponsor of the NFL and the number of vodka in the world. Chris Cody, you're here. Smyranoff! Wow, you're on the money with Smyranoff. Chris, you know what goes great with Smyranoff? Yes, but I'm really talking about game day fit. The style's got to match the vibe. Smearnoff!

All right, here's the deal. Game day is everything. And that's exactly why your fit has to match the occasion. Smearov. Starting this December, Smyranoff is giving fans 21 and over the chance to score limited edition Smyranoff commission. Merchandise from some of today's top. creators, including Kayla Jones, Gavin Matthew, and Alelele Mae. Here's the kicker. One lucky fan will take home the grand prize. A trip to the biggest game

of the off season. Plus, one fan will win Alele May's one-of-one game day jacket. The merch will be dropped on select dates from December to January, 21, and it's all courtesy of what brand? That's right, Chris. Fans, 21 and over can head to Smyranoff Socialists to learn how to sign up, and don't forget to grab a bottle of Smyrnav vodka. Number 21 at your local retail. Smyrath. Please drink responsibly. Smirnoff. Number 21 vodka distilled from grain, 40% alcohol by volume,

the Samaranoff Company, New York, New York. Please do not share with anybody under legal drinking aid. Spirnoff! No purchase necessary must be legal U.S. resident 21 or older. Sweep steak starts 1215, 2025 at 12 a.m. Eastern, and ends 1, 23, 2026 at 11.59 p.m. Eastern. See official rules at program website. Mike, you know I have one rule to live by, right?

Don't place parlays on multiple long shots. Don't say a game is one when it hasn't hit triple zero. Mm-hmm. Always drink your Yeager, myster. ice cold. That's the rule. Everything else is merely a suggestion. Everything else? Everything else. Wearing clean underwear every day? Well, that's just a personal decision. Brushing your teeth. Obviously smart, but not a rule. Never pee-pee on an electric fence. Okay, maybe there are two rules. But the one that is 100% that I insist on completely,

Yeagermeister must be drank ice cold. Or don't drink it at all. Damn, that's cold. Exactly. You're finally starting to get it. Drink responsibly. Yagermeister liqueur 35% alcohol by volume imported by Mass Yeager Meister U.S. White Plains, New York. This is the Dan Levator show with the Stucats podcast. For me, that's Word Association, Christmas Eve and Stan Van Gundy talking to baseball manager. Oh, yeah. From now on it will be. Every time I think of Christmas Eve, I'm going to think of baseball managers with Stan Van Gundy. And this hour has a little bit more baseball. I'm going to be honest with you, Chris. This right here,

is probably the most awkward hour that we have combined of some very strange content. First more baseball, Cowropkin Jr. Okay, an interview with Cowherpkin Jr. in 2008, this is March of 2008, of which Dan starts by asking him,

Obama or Hillary. Like a game show? Like... Yeah, because Dan. Because Dan. Oh, because was that like we were voting there? Yeah, who would you prefer? Oh, okay. Cowherpkin Jr., who famously does not talk about politics. Obama or Hillary. I mean, I don't hate that game of like going to the

movies. Obama or Hillary. See, that's a, I'd rather go. All right. So let's, at the turn of the new year, Chris, I want you and I to propose that when we start this year, 2026, first show back. I'm serious now. Like, we're not doing a bit. I want to play with Dan. I want to start the local hour. Play a sounder. Obama or Hillary. And then we just start. I'm about to have my, I'm about. I'm about. to have my year in review with with carl i'm going to pitch that can you pitch it i'm yeah chris i'm serious i'm going to pitch clock it so we start with with that including you know a rod patterning himself after uh cal there's some af he at dan said hey which athletes do you wish would shut up there's good stuff there then a game with bimani jones true or cuckua

uh based off mantaito yes some questionable music sounders you used in that one. And then we're going to play you three straight interviews in which the guest hung up on the show. Nice. Joan Rivers, Michael Phelps, and Nick Lachet. Oh, I remember all those. I don't even know it. I think Joan Rivers is probably my favorite there, but those were all great. They're really good. The Nick Lichet one. I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did. Yeah. I'm just going to be honest. His patience level. Anyway, weird hour you're about to listen to. Enjoy it. Wow. He's a Hall of Famer. He does a ton for kids, learned at his father's knee, and does a lot of good stuff for kids, pours himself into that.

We'll talk about real baseball what he's selling these days in a moment. But first, Cal Ripkin Jr. Obama or Hillary? Maybe I got the wrong show. So you're not going anywhere near it? You don't want any part of it? No. I've talked with you before about the sharing of opinions and athletes taking stances, and you've said that you have stances, but you don't feel the need to share them. That is because why.

Is there nothing in it for you, Cal? No, I think that there's a bigger responsibility to your platform. And just because you can catch it and throw, it doesn't mean that you know everything about everything. And you've got to be careful of how you express it and how you use it. And I guess if you really wanted to influence people or you wanted to get involved in something, then you use it. But just to use it for no real reason. Or if you're not comfortable using it in regard to politics, religion, whatever, I think that you should have the ability to keep it yourself. Fair to say that the only place that you've chosen to use it most passionately and most comfortably is with helping children?

Well, I mean, that's the platform that I'm most comfortable with because as a kid, I looked up to the baseball players, and I just thought that it was the greatest thing in the world. And then when you become a baseball player, you realize that you have that sort of influence. And, you know, there's no getting around that. I mean, you are a role model in many ways just for the fact that you're a baseball player. So I tend not to fight it on that argument, but say, let me try to do as many possible. positive things I can so I could be a good influence to the kids when it comes in the arena of sports or baseball.

Kyle Ripkin Jr. with us on 790, The Ticket. Are you opinionated in private? Really opinionated, like passionate, banging on tables, yelling at your friends about what you believe? I think that I like to debate things. I like to ask questions. And so I like to get to the bottom of things with a series of questions. and maybe I try to win a debate or two by what was it called the Socratic method as opposed to yelling and screaming across the table to be heard.

Arod learned at your knee, had a poster of you up in his room, and modeled himself after you. He has told me one time that he asked you the proper way to shake hands once. He's like you when asking questions of everybody. Did you notice the first time that he came up to you or every time thereafter, did you notice how much he patterned? himself after you or wanted to learn from you? Well, I mean, it was a high form of compliment when a kid, and I'll say kid, because I met him when he was 16 years old, had a chance to shake his hand in, and my first impression was that he was, he was still a boy in many ways, but he was a grown-up man

in a physical nature, and his talent was just off the charts. But, you know, he's his own guy, and I think modeling himself after, in the same way, I think I model myself after Brooks Robinson in many ways, but then you start to get comfortable with who you are and what you want to be. And I don't think he models himself or he copies me. I think he tries to take certain things that I've done that he thinks is good and add that to his game, so to speak.

Hall of Famer Cal Ripkin Jr. with us on 790 The Ticket. He's a part of a new website that's offering a video game an online community for baseball enthusiasts all over the globe. We'll talk to him about that in a moment. Go rapid fire with me here a little bit, go Cal. Who's a guy in your sport,

your time that you looked at and you said, that guy worked harder than I did? Mattingly. Who's a guy more willful than you? A guy you looked at and said, that guy has more will than I do? Kirk Gibson.

Who had better support at home than you did. Better support from a father that you looked at and said, that guy had a better teacher than I did. No one. Yeah, that one, that's the end of it, right? Yep. Have you, how much, how much from your father, and you learned a ton from your father, when raising your own children, Cal, do you look at and eliminate? Do you try and follow your father's model one, two, three, or is there stuff out there that you're softer and more gentle because there's stuff that you don't want for your kids no i think probably the second answer there's a lot of things out there my dad was old school in many ways um uh and in many ways my mom uh played the role as my dad and in many cases

because dad was away so i think i'm probably as a father i'm a combination of how my mom fathered me and also how my dad fathered me um if that makes any sense to you sure yeah i'm much more supportive i'm much uh you know more hands-on uh and uh i'd like spending as much time and like doing things with both my kids in ways that my dad didn't. Do you feel bad that your mom doesn't get more of the credit because in the caveman world of sports we go toward the father, the father, and that your mom doesn't get an equal amount of the credit? Well, I think anybody that really thinks about it, your mom plays a huge role in how you turn out.

In my particular case, my mom, because of baseball, did play a role of the disciplinarian, and the nurturer at the same time. And I guess when she couldn't handle it, she would always say, I'm going to tell you, Dad, when he gets home, and then we'd be terrified. That works. Terror works in the home. Who's an athlete you look at your sport, your time, more competitive than you? A guy you looked at and said that guy's probably a little more competitive than I am. That's a hard one.

I think, generally speaking, you know, people are very competitive at the highest level, and that's something that we all share and have in common. and I can't think of one. More consistent than you? Shoot, a lot of people. I change my stance all the time. I had hot streaks up and down and hitting-wise, so I'd say most offensive players.

Well, I didn't say better than you. I know you're going to defer to some offensive players who you think might be better than you, but consistent playing, I guess consistency gets associated with you, are you consistent in other things other than playing every day? Yeah, I think my demeanor and the approach And consistency, I think, would be defined as what kind of contributions, all the contributions can you make on a daily basis that allows you to be consistent in your effort and consistent

with being valuable to the team. Again, I think a lot of people, you know, when you play big league baseball and you go to the bat, shoot 550, 600 times, there's going to be times when you can't hit, but there's a lot of other things you can do so um i don't know i mean consistency a model of consistency i used to like to think to george brett um when i played against george all those years you know even when he looked bad and swinging he looked like he was still hot so yeah george brett probably be a model of consistently paul maulder will probably be one as well cal ripkin junior the hall of famer with us on 790 the ticket more impressive streak you were farb farv i didn't have people gunning at me i had a few

people coming at me at second base, but I could always see him coming. But Brett's got to hang in there, hang in the pocket for a long time knowing he's going to get hit. And there's a lot bigger, faster, stronger people coming after him. I was going to say, at second base, there weren't a whole lot of 290 pounds coming at you other than Mo Vaughn. Yeah, and he just wasn't fast enough to get there. Real quick. Last question before we let you go. We don't know if this is lore or we've got this story told to us. And I don't know, I want to know in the baseball community if there's any sort of authenticity to it.

Apparently, Julio Franco, there is legend around Julio Franco and his substantive gifts. I can't give you, you either know what I'm talking about or you don't. Do you know what I'm talking about? No, I don't know what you're talking about. All right. And I'm glad I don't. And I am too, frankly. We're going to let you go on that

note. Kyle, thank you for being on with us. Okay, you're quite welcome. Bomani, Barry Bonds would be forgiven just as readily today if he confessed and had raised $500 million for cancer. True or

Kakuwa? Kakuwa. Kakuwa. Okay. Why is that Kikua? Look, man, we don't care about everybody's philanthropic efforts. There are a lot

of people that we despise out here. raising a lot of money for a lot of good causes. We don't ask it about everybody. Sometimes we decide that people's charity matters. Sometimes we don't. And people knew that Lance Armstrong was a jerk, but it wasn't the

prevailing sentiment about him. That's always been the case for Barry Bonds. I want to play, Dan. I want to play badly. Like, I want to play. I want to play this game. You want to play or you want to host? I want to play. I want to play. You want to play? You want to play? Stugats. There's an

elephant in the room in this Tao story true or cuckooa cuckooa cuckooa i just like saying cuckooa okay so you don't really have anything here other than that would you like to host the show would you uh yeah i'd love an opportunity to host the show true or cuckooa dan you were desperately searching for the race angle on this Tau's story. True. True.

But there's not one. So instead we've just got Polynesian music. Hold on. I got one, though. Well, wait a minute. That's not the way the good. Well, I'm asking a question now. That's not the way we play. Mike, you know, get on the button.

I have a question. I mean, I asked Dan if I could do this. There will be a race. race angle in this story. True or cuckooa? Cacua. Cacua. What's the race angle?

That's the wrong answer. Well, wait a minute. How are you playing the game? Could you just grab my phallic, you know, match game microphone? Did you just say phallic? Yeah, my phallic, you know, family feud microphone. Oh, okay.

Anyway, let me explain. Let me, I'm telling you this, man. This is, hey, hey, I'll try. trying to help you out. I'm trying to help you for this race angle you keep looking for. I'm trying to give it to you. Hold on. Let's play the game correctly. Would you like your race angle? I'm trying to make your life better, Dan. True or Kakuwa, there is a race angle, Bomani, that will appear on this story soon. Potentially true. True.

Now go. Basically, when you're a guy like Teo that is the non-white guy and a place like Notre Dame. It's all fun in games unless they feel like you have embarrassed them, at which point the turn will be swift and the turn will be vicious. If he has proven that he is not told the truth here, get ready. That turn is going to outweigh what the actual quote-unquote crime was. Trust me. Bill Polion, true or Kakua, Jeff Ireland is going to botch all of these early round draft picks. Well, I don't, wait a minute. He's not playing the game correctly.

Big voice, big voice. You hate pronouncing Samoan names and Bomanie's name. True or Kakuwa? You bet your ass it's true. Bleep, you Bormany Jones. Can't get his name right. Not one time has he been able. None of the big voice guys ever get my name right.

I'd like to try to host again, Dan. I'd like to try to host it as possible. All right, go ahead. True or cuckooa, B'amani, this audio is the most uncomfortable you've ever heard Dan while asking a question. This is reckless and it feels wrong with a college athlete. But Timothy Burke with us on Deadspin, I'm just wondering if this is the awkward and clumsy way to cover up. something here to everyone involved family everyone like one of the questions that

gets birthed here and you'll forgive my clumsiness in the asking of it i know you're uncomfortable it's a place a lot of people are going well i mean it is it possible here timothy as i have having exhaustively researched this particular story is are you led to think that there's there's a covering of sexuality happening here oh True or Kakuwa? Gotta have to go. Is that the most awkward I've heard you? True.

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because challenge just sounds contentious. Let's call it a politely disagree. Ooh, how about this? An oopsie. There you go. All right. Put it on the poll at Levitard show.

Should a challenge be called an oopsie to placate the referee's ego? An oopsie flag. Stugats. Or the red flag. The challenge flag should not be called a challenge flag. Or the flag should say on it, love your butt. Red is also an aggressive color. Very, very aggressive.

Maybe pink. We should actually, we should have them throw daisies and call them whoopsy daisies. Oh, yeah. A good idea. Whoopsy daisy. This is the Don Levitar show. with the Stugats. This is a weird and wonderful coincidence.

I didn't know until a couple of minutes ago, Stugats, that two of our guests today have beef, that Doyle Brunson and Joan Rivers apparently don't like each other very much. Doyle Brunson going to join us later in the show. Among the things that Doyle Brunson writes of Joan Rivers, if you gave Joan Rivers a penny for intelligence, you would get a refund. That's not funny. Doyle Brunson, not a comedian, but I don't understand.

Doyle Brunson seems like a very nice man. Joan Rivers, a comedy legend, is going to be performing tomorrow night at the Adrian Arsh Center in Miami. You could get tickets. Joan Rivers.com is her website. Tickets are available at arshcenter.org. I'm pronouncing that so poorly that you're not going to be able to find it. A-R-S-H-T-Center.org. I guess I'll start there, though, Joan, why?

I mean, what's... Who is this person? I never heard him. He's a poker player. He's mad, I guess, because... Oh, go away and leave me alone and get off trying to get famous on my back. Oh, I'm really upset. What's his name?

Doyle Brunson. Oh, he doesn't think I'm fine. Oh, well, that ruined my day. Who the hell is he? Who gives a damn? Oh, I'm really well. Tell him, darling, when he's 76 years old, and he's had a career like I've had, and when he graduated five beta cap at 19, and when he's got an IQ at 135 and over,

come and talk to me, you moron. And get off my back and don't get famous with me, and don't make jokes about me, because I don't know who you are, nor do I care. Go back in and die under a deck of cards. I love when people who don't know you, that aren't in your league comment. I find this really distasteful.

If you said Steve Martin doesn't think she's funny, I'd say, oh my gosh. You understand what I'm saying? Well, he didn't say that you weren't funny. He said that you weren't intelligent. Oh, yeah, I'm really stupid. I don't want to go into this. I truly, you know, you're only, my husband was English, you

only argue and dislike your peers. Well, apparently... Then this man comes down. at me with a five beta cap a key, graduating from college at 19, having a career the way I've had, then we'll discuss it when he's world famous. Otherwise, I don't give. Get ready to bleep. Do you bleep? No, we don't bleep. Well, it starts with S, and it ends with T. All right. So don't start with me with this stupidity.

All right. She doesn't give a shot. I don't care. So let's get on to something that's fun. I mean, I find this outrageous that you call me up to tell me about this moron. No, I didn't. It was just an accident, and it's a mistake. I'm always making at the start of interviews. I should start softer. I should just say, Joan Rivers. No, as I said, start with someone that you have respect for, not with someone who's totally unknown. For what it's worth, Dan's sweating right now, Joseph. Yeah, and here's what was... Oh, he shouldn't sweat. Yeah, well, because you're a legend, and the problem, I guess, was because you were on, you know, that Trump show, and you went after poker players.

I won the Trump show from a woman who is a piece of garbage, and I won it whatever she was. She happened to be a poker player. Who cares? Who cares? You called her Hitler. Yeah. She was a despicable liar. I found her. That to me is what you say when you don't like somebody. Well, that's very strong, though, Joan. Oh, yeah. You know, guys, I'm going to hang up now because I thought we were going to have a nice talk, and I wanted to talk about my coming to Miami tomorrow, and if you think now, I'm going to defend that I called somebody Hitler, are you Jewish? I am not. And shut up.

Then you don't know what you're talking about. Do we get any clearer? No. And shut up. You don't know what you're talking about. It's very strong. It's all I'm saying. I want to...

Come right. That couldn't have gone better. I don't think. I don't think for our purposes. I didn't mean for it to go. go that way I wanted to talk to her she's a legend just leave it alone it was perfect

oh my god perfect I did make that mistake I always make though I know the the legends they want to be treated as legends at the beginning you probably could have softened her up of course she's a legend she's doing

us a favor coming on and you came out of the box with this guy thinks you're a moron defend yourself and she rightfully is Yeah. Yeah. You played that wrong. Can we call her back? I'd like to apologize to it. I don't think she's in the mood for us. First of all, in all honesty, I don't know why she does this stuff anyway. She just seems tired of it all, doesn't she? Well, she really doesn't need to do any of it.

Well, clearly, she still has a desire to do. She's doing it. So she's doing these shows. That, that, having her on, I mean, there are very few people in the history of this show who have the resume that that woman has. and that is absolutely where I should have started. This is a mistake. It's a pothole I've fallen into about a dozen times where I'm trying to inform the audience, but I thought it was a delightful coincidence. It's a total coincidence that we have these two people on

and they hate each other. But, Dan, you start the Doyle Brunson interview with questions about Joan Rivers, not the other way around. That's where we messed up. Well, I will tell you, though, as I'm thinking about it, I'm talking about it, and I'm thinking it through, that's a little quick on her part.

like come on i mean if you call someone hitler i'm jewish i'm a little offended by that that's i don't that's not something you just throw around i you know and now that i'm thinking about it that's a little quick on her part i agree you don't throw around the hitler part but she was upset what really triggered that hawk her whole mood was being asked about doyle brunson think about that she's joan rivers i'm an interesting combination of mortified and delighted right now it's a it's a it's a strange thing the same thing happened the same thing happened with Nitro where it's like, oh my God, this is horrible. Also, it's wonderful. Well, that was, I mean, I, I enjoy a cantankerous interview every now and then.

That's kind of rude of her to hang up. That's a little, I mean, you didn't say anything that was offensive. No, but she warned me. She warned me. She did warn me, and I should have backtracked at that point. That was male ego, prideful male ego that was like, you wanted the last word. Well, just when Hitler's the last word, I wanted to be like, come on, that's a little strong to call anybody Hitler's a little strong. But she said to you, you don't know what you're talking. about move on and you went back to it one more time i still think it was a little quick somebody writing in you guys are jackasses this act is getting old there was no act there

i wanted to talk to her i wanted very much to talk to her i respect her i think she's funny i thought go die under a deck of cards was an excellent phrase for her to use that was appropriately mean and legendary someone actually thinks that you intended and you wanted it to play out in front of everyone's ears that a 76 year old female got the best of you She beat you down. I am, I am somebody who does not mind at all being embarrassed in public. And in retrospect, now that it's over, now that it's over, I'm like, wow, that was funny and good.

But I didn't intend for her to get agitated with me. No, you had a whole list of questions. I had a lot of, I wanted to talk comedy with her. The woman's funny. We were looking forward to it. There's no way. There's no possible way to get it back on. I don't want to.

I think we've gotten the best that we can get out of that. That it can't go better than that. Why don't you promote her show, though, let's do her a solid. She's a legend. She plays at the Adrian Arshed Center in Miami. Tomorrow night, you can go to arshedcenter.org if you want to get tickets. People are writing in that I attacked her. Well, well, wait a second. You didn't attack her. I'm telling you that I'll tell you exactly how it happened there. I learned minutes before the interview, minutes before they handed me a sheet of paper that said her and Doyle Brunson do not get along. And I'm like, what are the odds? What are

the odds that we have these two people on the same day? So all I was doing is, sharing with the audience what I thought was a coincidence and then you know the whole thing got carried away now the only other guests we had on today is Greg Cody if you found out moments before that she was beefing with Cody would you have brought that up yes well it's interesting Stu got I mean I is does Joan Rivers have a lot of wars going she's got a war going on with poker players in general I didn't think she was legitimately upset no she was I was beneath her I did not think she was legitimately upset I thought it was part of her act you know how Don Rickles insults people

Fake Lou Holtz, you're on 790. Dan and St. Gets, I'm going to tell you, don't mess with a fastie broad like Joe Rivers. I remember back one day back in St. Louis, we had one, too, many eight grams of bombs, and one thing led to another, and I walked in and there was sat, just railing away. Taco. Those jingle bells remind me that holiday basketball is here, and when stars like Kobe White, Jalen Williams, and Tyler Hero start cooking, Draft King's Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA,

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Bet must win to receive bonus bets which expire in seven days. Minimum odds required. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng.com slash audio. Limited time offer. Mike, you know I have one rule to live by, right? Don't place parlays on multiple long shots. Don't say a game is one when it hasn't hit triple zero. Always drink your Yeagermeister ice cold. That's the rule. else is merely a suggestion. Everything else?

Everything else. Wearing clean underwear every day? Well, that's just a personal decision. Brushing your teeth. Obviously smart, but not a rule. Never pee-pee on an electric fence. Okay, maybe there are two rules. But the one that is 100% that I insist on completely, Yeagermeister must be drank ice cold.

Or don't drink it at all. Damn, that's cold. Exactly. You're finally starting to get it. Drink responsibly. Yeagermeister liqueur 35% alcohol by volume, imported by Masie. Giger Meister, U.S., White Plains, New York. Get to know yourself and your roots better with Ancestry DNA. Want to know where your family comes from in northern France?

Maybe you'd like to see how your genes influence certain traits like diet, fitness, and allergies. There's so much of you and your heritage to discover. Visit Ancestry.ca and get started with an AncestryDNA kit today. Don Lebertard. The boy is Captain Sloppy. Stugats. Is this Chum Bucket? This is the Dan LeBattar show with the Stugats.

In Beijing, Olympic God Michael Phelps became the only person to win eight gold medals in a single Olympics. Since then, he's appeared on Oprah, Saturday Night Live, and now the pinnacle of his career, the Dan Lebitard show with Stugats. He's focused on raising awareness for swimming, for swim safety, for getting kids into the pool. the Michael Phelps Foundation to further that cause. He's also interested in meeting as many hot girls as possible and showing them his medals. Michael Phelps with us on

790 the ticket. We start here, Michael. Give us a story that involves your agent calling you and you saying, holy bleep, I can't believe they're giving me that much money. Wait, why was that? A story that involves your agent calling you since your life has changed

so much and saying, you're saying, holy bleep, I can't believe they're offering me that much money to do that? I've never heard that and never said that, so I have no idea what that came from. So you, but you have no, you haven't, that's never happened where you can't be, you're amazed by the amount of money someone's offering you? I've never said that, no. 12,000 calories a day, Michael.

How does one eat that much? Do you hate eating? Well, it's, I actually eat 8,000 to 10,000. I'm not really sure where 12,000 ever came from. it's actually eight, 10,000 calories. But do you like eating, or is it a chore? I like eating, and then, you know, when I spend so many hours a day or work out so many hours out of the day,

you have to be able to replenish all the calories that you burn off. You know, for me, when I'm in the pool. You were at the MTV Music Awards a few nights ago, where you treated as the biggest star there, where people like Kanye and Brittany coming up to you and telling you what big fans they are? No, not at all. those guys are incredible what they do and it was just cool for me to be able to meet those guys

and just sort of be around those guys what is the single coolest thing to happen to you since the Olympic Games you know I was able to just recently start my foundation and and you know be able to you know start something that where I'm able to from about healthy lifestyles and active lifestyles for children and people all over the world. It's something that I'm really interested, and that's a passion of mine. And actually today, we just end up some of the boxes of Kellogg's products that I will do on the box of, and they actually donated a check, or gave me a check for $250,000 to go towards my foundation.

That was a nice move there, Michael, because you just segued right. into what it is that you were selling there when that can't be the coolest thing to have happened to you since the Olympics. I'm sure you're very happy about it, but the coolest thing, the thing that you tell your friends about when you're out getting a beer? Well, you know, my goal is

to raise the bar in the sport of swimming and, yeah, this is a passion of mine and this is something that I look forward to doing. So, you know, that is a very fun part for me. Do you go into the nightclub with these Kellogg's products and just drop them on the floor with your face on them?

Sorry, I think we have to head to the next interview, but sorry, thank you very much for your time. All right, Michael, good talking to you. I didn't even get to ask what the... I didn't say it. I was... I was... I was really... I was ridiculous.

I was ridiculous. What did he call you in the other? All right. Nick Lechay, we've been talking about some of the things that he's doing. He's done some stuff for ESPN. He's a former boy band member. Now he's partaking in something called The Sing Off. It started Monday night on NBC. It culminates with a live finale on December 21st. So it's sort of a, it is a week-long show. He's a big sports fan as well. You can check out what they're doing over there at end. NBC.com, but one of the reasons we're having them on is because we want to talk to them about the idea of media and flashbulbs and paparazzi being in your life. And I guess you've experienced, to some level of degree, what Tiger Woods is going through right now a little bit ever since your reality show with Jessica Simpson. You've been invaded by gossip magazines, TMZ.

Nick Lechay, welcome to the show. How are you viewing what it is that is going on with Tiger Woods right now? Well, I mean, I don't think anyone, you know, truly knows what's happening there. And frankly, I think that's probably, you know, none of our business that's between he and his family. But, you know, I do appreciate how hard it is to go through, you know, things at a personal level, you know, like he is and have to do it, you know, do it in the public eye, to speak. So, you know, there's no easy answer, no easy way. But, you know, at the end of the day, the things that truly matter are your family. and are your personal relationships.

I hope he's dealing with those in whatever capacity he needs to. But what's it like to be in the middle of a media firestorm? I mean, here you and Jessica were having marital problems, and it's all over TMZ. You know, people predicting your divorce before it happens. What does it feel like to be in the middle of that? Well, probably how you think it feels. It feels not great.

You know, I mean, it's not normal. It's not the way life should be, but it's the way life is. So you have to deal with it. unfortunately no one's going to feel sorry for you you're in the public guy you're a celebrity so and i think the same is true for for him um you know he just has to uh try to try not to let that stuff get to him and i think that's the only advice you can give to people this you know don't don't be affected or try not to be affected by what people write speculate say you know what truly matters is what uh is what you know your reality to be you know

in your own relationship and you have to deal with that you know as an isolated thing Should people feel bad for Tiger Woods? I feel bad. I mean, I think people should feel bad for him in the sense that he's going through a hard time in his life. I don't think there's any one of us that would say we won't ever go through a difficult time in our relationship. Maybe not to the degree he is, but, you know, I think it's unfairly he has to, you know, he has to do that and has to do it in the public eye. But, you know, at the same time, life isn't fair.

So it is what it is, and, you know, people are not going to feel sorry for him. And so he has to just deal with it the best he can. I think that's what we all have to do. When you and Jessica split and she went Romo, did you wear that as some sort of badge, or were you outraged by that? I couldn't have cared less, to be honest with you. You were just done?

Yeah, guys, I was just, I mean, yeah. We've all been through breakups, right? You move on. You can move on with life. I've been happy in a relationship for three years, so the last thing I'm worried about is who she's dating. Are we irritating you? I'm sorry?

Are we irritating you? Are we bothering you with the questions? No, they're great questions, guys. Really insightful. Good stuff. Nick Lachey with us on 790. I'm sorry, we're not trying. We really aren't trying.

We're not trying to bother you. Would you prefer to talk about the sing-off? I thought that's what I was calling it about, but apparently not. You can talk about the sing-off. It starts Monday night on NBC. It culminates with a finale on December 21st. You can talk about that if you like. Cool, yeah, it's a great show.

Hopefully you guys will check it out. Hopefully people down in Miami will check it out. The live finale on Monday at 21st. Actually, great group in Puerto Rico. It's part of the competition. Really great aquaella group. Really cool, Latin flavor they bring into their music. And, yeah, so America gets the vote between now and Monday.

The phone lines are open. You can go to NBC.com and vote for your favorite group, and we'll find out Monday night who wins the whole thing. anything else the sing-off again Monday night sing-off on NBC culminates like he said it's a week-long television show and Nick Lechay is involved in it

you can check it out at NBC.com anything else you want us to know about that no no I just hope everybody gets a chance to check it out it's been a great great show a lot of fun you're big sports fan right you like I've seen you on ESPN you want to pick some games for us

yeah for sure all right go ahead let's play this overproduced awfulness here for him because this is, you know, it's going really well, so this will fix it. And now it's time for Celebrity Prognosticator. Let's win some money. The money's out there. You pick it up. It's yours. You don't. I've got no superiors for you.

So the way this works, Stugats, is, you know, if he has a winning week, he's going to come back. And I'm sure, given the way this has gone so far, I'm sure he'd be thrilled to come back next week and pick games. I think what bothered him is went Romo That's what I think you did wrong That's not just not very nice Well, Dan, and I've said this I think he did he just hang up on us Because I've said this before

If my wife left me And she ended up, you know, with Shaq or Wade Or an NFL quarterback, I would wear that as some sort of badge Did somebody else hang up on our show? Is that what just happened? Oh, for the love of God You have to be bleeping kidding me Now we're beefing with a boy band member

Really? That's what we're doing. doing now. It's King Kong Bundy. It's the Memphis Grizzlies. I, God, we can't do anything right about here. Quick break to talk to you about the official ticketing partner of the Dan Lebitard show, Game Time. The NFL regular season is already winding down, and this is when the games get really good, and tickets are in high demand. Some of them really difficult to find, so why don't you take the guesswork out of buying NFL tickets with the game time app? I use it all the time because it gives me the advantage. That's right, sports fans, take the power back. It's the hack for grabbing amazing tickets in just a couple of taps. Super easy, super reliable. And with a

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