The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 1: I've Been Breathing My Whole Life

Episode Date: October 30, 2024

Greg Cote continues the rare form he's in today as he brings out some masks to celebrate Halloween. We discuss why Tony is wearing a tank top today, and Stugotz and Billy tell us about the upcoming watch party at the DraftKings Sportsbook in Arizona for the Arizona Cardinals game against the New York Jets on November 10. We continue our ongoing discussion about whether Joe Mazzulla is a an odd cat or a strange bird. Why does he want to bring back fighting? What would David Stern have to say about that? Should the Celtics only have five Championships? Then, we go Behind The Bit with one of the legendary guests in show history: Alan Thicke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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No purchase necessary. 21 plus ends November 15th, 2024. See rules at website for participating area and other important details. Sponsored by Diageo Americas, Inc., New York, New York. This is the Don LeBattor Show with the Stugats Podcast. Dan, what's in your hand? Greg Cody is intent on wearing a costume. Good work there, Chris.

What, Tony? He's doing a lot of things, putting a lot of plates, he's checking out managers over on his right there. Plus things like replay, like one out of every 70. So like 69 times nice, you can leave something up and it doesn't replay, and every once in a while something just replays around here. You beat you, man.

Yes, it just didn't happen to Roy, that's all. Roy. So Greg Cody is here and he has got three different masks that he wants to wear in celebration of Halloween. It is among the many props that he brought today. I will remind people that he's got his podcast, it's very popular, The Greg Cody Show featuring Greg Cody. He also has his book out. It came out yesterday. What have you heard in terms of numbers? Greg, it's very difficult

with the mask. You've got to get your face, your screen facing near the microphone. I can hear you. You're right next to me, but to make the joke work, you're very far away from the mic, So make sure you're close as a professional broadcaster to the microphone Okay, how many other masks just two more you've got two more we brought three. Yeah, I don't like this He sounds out of breath. I don't know if he's breathing properly through that mask. I don't want an incident here Greg, can you breathe properly? I can breathe man. I'm breathing. I've been breathing my whole life. The book sales have been great. I'm not going to get any figures until later in the week, but we're already top 10 in two of the major categories on Amazon. So I think the pre-sales were really good. And I think

the initial reaction, despite the fact that I wasn't on the Levitard show yesterday because I was bumped by Tim Walz, even though there's been like almost 50 vice presidents in American history, nobody can name five of them, but there's only one Greg Cody. But still, people are really happy about the book. That was a bar. But he's right.

Thank you. People are happy about the book. Thank you for allowing me to plug it. Put it on the poll poll please, Juju. Can you name five American vice presidents, yes or no? Of course, come on, guys. I can name one or two. No, really.

But there's only one Greg Cody. I got three. Sitting around the kitchen table in Scranton, my dad said, Joey, someday you could be vice president. That's Greg Cody's limited fake Joe Biden, someday you could be vice president. That's Greg Cody's limited fake Joe Biden, worse than his son's limited- Not bad.

That is good. Try it without the mask. Come on. Give it a whirl. Get the table and scrantin'. All he's got is scrantin'. That's all he's got. Scrantin'.

Scrantin'. It is all he's got. You're so right there. We got it. Do I go anywhere else? He's called Scranton. He went west Scranton, east Scranton, North Scranton, but that's it. You don't have to. We're always sitting around a table. That's weird. He's sitting around a table in Scranton. Says to me, Joey. It's the only two things he's got. Joey and Scranton. Stugats is moved because Tony's again

wearing the Hispanic undershirt. Tony, I think we need to explain to the audience and to Greg Cody Why you're wearing that because I was confused on An MMA hangout that is increasingly getting more and more numbers that you went straight beefcake where I'm just gonna give off I'm gonna oil up and I'm gonna wear one of these shirts to give off Mac masculine Sensuality that's right, Dan oh and it works to the tune of a very high number on that MMA hangout and MMA hangouts after that but the reason I wore this today because Greg at one point a couple of weeks ago said that it was unprofessional to wear something like this in the studio and then he

was told that I was at home and then he said it was still unprofessional so I made my vow to Let Greg know that this is still professional. I can still do my job and wear a tank top meanwhile. He sure can. How about that? That's it? Dad, now it's your time to talk about Tony wearing that shirt. Well, he can't see him, he's wearing a mask.

You know, Tony can do whatever he wants. Thank you. We all have our, you know, we all have our things. Like, it's not my thing to wear a tank top in public or in private But it's his and more power to him, you know personally it in this setting I don't mind it as much the only time I really mind it is in a restaurant

Okay, when I'm eating a burrito, I don't want to see your armpit hair. It's great. They're tank top You know sitting on a kitchen table and scranton my dad didn't say, Joey, you don't wanna be seen in a tank top. The part about this that's best is where he goes left hand to get the impersonation right, like a Las Vegas impersonator, where he's going professionally with the Joe Biden fingers on the left hand. You gotta find it with the impression.

Mine is my two hands like pointed at each other. It brings it home. I do it better when my hands are like this. It's true. I'm gonna go back to being a Roomba. Okay. Billy, you and Stugats, it was so successful going out to Chicago that you and Stugats

are now going all the way to Arizona because God bless football is going all over the country. Spoiler alert. I wasn't supposed to say that? No you were. I thought we were promoting that. You pretend it's a little secret and the audience is like ooh I know something I'm not supposed to know what if I show up there. Now there's a graphic. Okay. So the DraftKings sports book, oh you guys were at the one in Chicago, right? These things are amazing. Yeah, we didn't do the sports book in Chicago at Wrigley.

We're doing the DK sports book in Arizona. We were at a bar the first time on Weed Street. Joe's on Weed. Yeah, Joe's on Weed. Stu's on Weed too. No, but I thought, Stu Gotz, have you not done a show from the Draft King Sportsbook in Chicago? Have you not done that?

Because we had talked about you doing that, so I thought you had done that. No, we talked about me doing it. We haven't done one yet. Billy sent me to Detroit-ish, and I did one from a Draft King Sportsbook there. Yes, for the draft. Draft King Social, yeah.

And so what's this one? When is this one, and what are you guys doing? Is this next week, two weeks from now? It's a great social, yeah. And so what's this one? When is this one and what are you guys doing? Is this next week, two weeks from now? It's a great question, Dan. It is Sunday, November 10th. Okay, Sunday, November 10th. Thank you, Chris. Sunday, November 10th it is the Jets versus the Cardinals.

We're gonna be there. DraftKings Sportsbooks, Dugats and Mike Yeh, myself, will be there, come out and join us. You can enjoy the game with us. You can follow along on YouTube if you're not in the area It's gonna be lots of fun being had by all except to got to Mike yay Because again the Jets are playing so they're probably be miserable. Yeah, Dan We selected this game when we thought the Jets were gonna be good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah hasn't worked out

So let me know if you guys need any restaurant Suggestions are you gonna be around you want to by? It was explicitly told that they did not want me to be around. What? Really? How do they? Specifically? Yeah, specifically they're worried about inventory.

Brought to you by Smirnoff by the way. Okay, all right. Well, more for us then. Gotta put it down. Yeah, more for everybody else. By the way, also just a friendly reminder because here's the thing. Guys, this weekend we have a very important situation.

Time is changing again. So, yes, time's changing this coming Sunday. So a week after that, we're now gonna have a situation where on YouTube, where in Arizona, there's parts where they don't change the time and I believe that that's gonna be the case here. So I'm being told 2.25 local time is the time that this game is kicking off.

However, yes. Let me tell you something. Let me explain something from the Arizona guy here. Okay. You never have to explain to Arizona people what time the game is kicking off. They know when the time changes, that the clock changes for us.

To be perfectly honest with you, I'm more concerned about our crew getting there on time. He was telling me, I mean. Yes, and I'm more concerned about us and the YouTube audience. YouTube audience, if you're on the East Coast, 425 Eastern, we're gonna be starting. But if you're in Arizona, come sooner, hang out with us, it's gonna be a fun day. The point is that Tony and Stu Gotz and Billy will pop up places with little personal shows for the people who

have the most intimate relationships with the audience. And when they go to Arizona, I mean, people would like to see you in Arizona. It's your hometown. It's a bit weird that you're saying here, do you have scheduling conflicts? Are you lying about what is happening here because you can't be there? Because they'd like to have you there.

That's right, Deno. That's exactly what's happening. Okay, well to be clear, Amin will not be there and Tony will also not be there because he's gonna have a baby soon. So we don't wanna have him in Arizona when the baby comes out. Yeah, she's like, hey look You're gonna be eight months pregnant and you're gonna be six hours away on a plane

So if something happens all the sudden it's gonna take you all that time to come over here, right Greg I'm doing a watch party in Scranton Extra big kitchen table my dad said Joey invite everybody we'll have a watch party. Scranton. That's big. Give the rest of the show like this please. Scranton. We got it. Scranton.

President Biden what do you think about the Yankee game last night about those guys in the crowd? You know what if that happened and Scranton, which kicked their ass out of there. They showed up at the kitchen table one day. My dad said, Joey, get these clowns out of here in Scranton. What did you say? I'm pretty sure that is the Yankee single A affiliate. I think I really do believe that Scranton is their minor league, one of their minor league affiliates.

It's a truly terrible impersonation, Greg. I don't know why you insist on doing it. Your sons is much better. You're anti-Scranton. You are, Dan. Confirm the Rail Riders, AAA affiliate of the Yankees. It's their big club. Wow, how about that?

Would those fans have made it in Scranton? Never. What? Joey. Greg showed up all the time. They wouldn't have made it in the scrim. And we're back. They'd kick their ass out of there. I am a little worried, as Amin is, that Greg Cody is,

it sounds like he's hyperventilating in the mask. All of this feels unhealthy and unsafe. You ever seen Interstellar? He sounds like McConaughey when he was like in the mask. Hhh, sweating and everything. It is a little, uh, stuffy in here. You've had breathing problems for four years. I think we should probably get your mask off.

You can take it off. And try on another one. Try on a different one. Yeah, breathe for about a minute, and then just get right back on the horse. It's like, uh, it's like, uh, an egg. It's got breathable parts on like a baseball Just slam everything down. Don't worry about was Greg all along

What? That would have gotten away from was you meddling kids? That's a Scooby-Doo reference I would have been good if you delivered it correct going Right now for the audio audience. My dad just went below the desk to hide so we have a big reveal. Oh boy I can't wait to see. He's got a second mask. How do we know it's Greg? Video guys look. This mask he's been wearing since I was six.

Is that right? This mask he's had forever. You have seen this mask since you were a young boy? I can see him from the side. We all can see it. The video has revealed to us, at least in the preview. Oh, that's good. Put on the headset.

He does look awkward. It is funny. Hey! Whoa! There is the reveal, ladies the preview. Oh, that's good. Put on the headset. Yeah, that's like awkward. It is funny Boy who's that? I? Don't want to be this is a nice guy don't want to speak ill of him But it kind of looks like a demon version of Tom Thibodeau Greg we will this is a second reveal here for Halloween. Sorry to the audio audience. It is quite the costume that is old.

Probably doesn't smell good. He's not looking out the eyes. I regret to inform the audience that we have not been able to put together our Tim Legler Halloween because of all the hurricane stuff. We planned to do that in a couple of days. We were trying to send people. We had it all organized, and again,

for like the third straight year, he's not doing Halloween. Global warming. Yeah, it's pretty terrible. Thank you, Billy. And go ahead and speak, Greg. It looks good, the costume looks good. And go ahead and say whatever it is that you have to say

so that we can understand you through that mask. I'm the werewolf of Scranton. Yes. Werewolf? It does look like a werewolf. It's green. It's not a werewolf. It's not a werewolf.

It doesn't. A werewolf has hair. It's a dog. It's a horse. It's a wolf. It's his costume. No, but it's not a wolf. That is in no way a wolf.

No, it's a werewolf. They're different. It's not a werewolf. It's not a wolf. It's not any kind of wolf. It's not a werewolf. It's no way a wolf. No, it's a werewolf, they're different. It's not a werewolf, it's not a wolf, it's not any kind of wolf. It's not a werewolf, it's a werewolf. Of Scranton. The werewolf of Scranton.

All right, that's enough. Got it, yeah, thanks. We've gotten enough, we've done enough with that impersonation. Ladies and gentlemen, the NBA is finally back, thank goodness. And a new season means new ways to get into the action. A DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA.

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or text HOPENY467369. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org. Please play responsibly. On behalf of Boothill Casino and Resorting Kansas, 21 and over, age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Voight in Ontario. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng.co.slashball don lebatard no one else here is willing to do a Trump or a Biden that's not true Dan okay Tony you can count a thousand impersonations that's not bad man pretty good still got yours is terrible. You just gotta get a little redder. A little pinker.

You're right there, man. Yours is not. You're biting me. What do you mean? Oh, his is good, Dan. That's actually not bad. Not terrible. That's not terrible. We gotta come together. Little southern twang there. Little George Bush in that one. This is the Dan Lebatar Show

with the Stugats! I mean, can you tell me, because we've been talking about this for a couple of days now, where we don't know whether Joe Mazzula is an odd bird or a strange cat, but Joe Mazzula is now a champion and he can say whatever he wants about anything. His team hasn't lost yet this season and was as dominant as a champion as we've seen through last postseason. And now he's suggesting some stuff here because he's just crazy talk for a 30 year old coach

but he can say whatever he wants now because he's a champion. Let's listen to this. We've been kicking around some proposed rule changes in the league. What have you? Oh, I love this. What do you have? Oh, I love this. What do you got?

You have some proposals? Come on. Yeah, like basketball is one of the only sports that doesn't have a power play. And I think soccer just put in the blue card where a guy has to go off and it's 10 on nine. And so like we should have a power play where, like, you know, because let's say you get a technical

or let's say you get a take file, you get the one shot, but you're not really rewarded for that because if you miss it, you don't get the reward for the take foul. You know what I mean? So there should be like a power play where on a take foul, on a technical, you have to play five on four for five seconds or three passes. Or charge. Or what about for an entire possession?

What if for the entire possession it's five on four? I mean, that might be a little extreme, but I think we should institute I think we should institute power plays where instead of taking the ball out on the side You commit a foul the guy goes to the other side of half court and you've got a he can't leave the half court circle Until like three seconds. Oh, I love this The biggest thing that we robbed people are from an entertainment standpoint is you can't fight anymore I would you just bring back like fighting What a dismount.

Bring back fighting. All I could think of is David Stern just rolling over in his grave. Cause can you imagine the call he would have gotten from David Stern saying that? That was the blue card, PowerPoint, whatever. That's whatever. But it said bring back fighting?

Dog. David Stern would have called that dude up and said, look here, and by the end of it, he would have come out and had a very different tone in his next press conference. But the power play thing, I think is different at basketball because there's only five guys on the court for each team.

So the removal of one person, that's 20% of the team versus in hockey or any other sport, talk about in soccer, they're doing a trial of this at lower divisions, but going down from 11 to 10, that represents less than 10% of your, the people on the field, 20%, that's a massive amount. And we see it all the time, and in a fast break, that's why teams score so much in transition,

is because they oftentimes have one more guy than the other team has. Wouldn't an NBA team, that's not the part of this I find interesting, because I would assume that if you go NBA power play, every team in the league would surgically cut that up to get a corner three every time, because five on four for seven seconds isn't something.

How about you dunk it? Or that, or that, but the other part of it is the part that I found interesting where he's longing for a time that, the NBA worked so very hard to eradicate our guys are fighting on the court, for him to just say, yeah, bring back fighting is strange to hear from an NBA coach.

That's the hubris of winning a championship. I can say anything, I'm a genius now. That's really what I'm taking away from this. He's kind of had funny quotes, but he's just emboldened by the championship. I think it's gonna get, we're gonna, in a couple months he's gonna say something that's even more shocking.

And quite emboldened. It also feels like he's just got the best team right now too so He can kind of say anything and it's like well We've got the best team on paper and on the court and it's like I can do whatever I want really did you guys? See the story involving Jameson Williams the Lions and everything the details in the arrest of what's happening in Detroit right now Because this is the best detroit lions team that there has ever been this and franchise has been a laughing stock dan campbell had to move his house because those fans are crazy about the one time they lost a long time since detroit

had expectations around its football jamison williams is found with a gun in his car and is about to be arrested because uh... he shouldn't have a gun in his car and there's an investigation underway as to how it is he was released without any arrest warrant without any paperwork of any kind and now the details are coming in because Jameson Williams was telling them throughout the arrest I'm Jameson Williams of the lions I'm of the lions I'm of the lions it again and again the rules don't apply to me and then a sergeant arrived with cell phone wallpaper that was the Lions and started whispering in the officer's ears.

And he is heard saying, I'm so mad at you too right now. And he let Jameson Williams go. Wow. Where was that guy when Tyreek kill was arrested a couple of months ago Probably in Detroit or detained. I should not arrested What a Monster can have an opinion Do you want to take the third one out let's's go ahead and do your third mask. But drop down to the floor or just take it off, okay?

Yeah, yeah. No, no, he's gotta drop below the desk. Yes. We need pageantry, pompous circumstance. On the Williams arrest, it's funny, I've been watching the Aaron Hernandez show on Hulu, and the last episode is the one where he has the domestic disturbance and the cops come to the door and in the show,

as the cop is leaving, he said, I had you on my fantasy team last year. And I wonder how often that happens to athletes, especially football players, where the law enforcement people being brought in have that interaction where it's like, hey, we're here for law enforcement purposes also by the way yeah I need you on Sunday you know I'm number two in my fantasy league. Regional identity with sports

fandom is always interesting to me Detroit has been starred forever it is actually a football town like it's tried to become a baseball and basketball town but it's always been a football really and they're embarrassed by how they get laughed at but they care deeply about their football. And I would say, Stugats, I don't have this wrong, right? That Man Campbell is now the most popular coach in Lions history and that this is the most celebrated Lions team there's ever been.

It's him or Wayne Fonz. It's hockey town, by the way. I mean, it's... Oh, fair enough. Fair enough. Yes, my bad. Also, Steve Mariucci would like a word. Oh, mooch.

No, you've got it like a word. Oh, mooch. No, you've got it right, Stugatz, because they won championships in hockey. I guess what I should have amended that to say is, rare is the loser that has this kind of celebrated regional pride, because that team has been a national embarrassment. Unlike most sports franchises,

where you're supposed to legislate equality, they've been terrible for 50 years. And all of a sudden their team matters, why wouldn't their players suddenly act entitled? You're breathing very hard. Do you not hear how hard you're breathing? I am an alien from Scranton. Listen.

Legal or illegal? The Lions won the championship in 1957 I would hesitate saying that this is the best Lions team ever at midseason That's what I'm just saying. I barely remember that that's a long time ago But they have won an NFL pre-superbowl championship Those aren't real. Okay. real okay i mean that's right it's it's gonna be after the super bowl pre-sober super bowl championship is not a fact that it's not an nfl jimmy and ask bobby lane

night train i can't he's dead well but if you were alive ask them this is my my point about the nba pre-merger championship should be put in a bucket and that bucket should be put in the attic somewhere the Celtics they only have Championships Wow They only have five championships three with bird one with KG and Paul Pierce and this one that they just won

That's a shocking take poor Bill Russell. I mean, yeah It's just like Jim Brown and the Cleveland Browns they won a bunch of NFL championships and we respect them We salute them, but you know what it's over there in the bucket in the attic Wow Did they give championship rings back then? When did the championship ring begin? Why are you so winded is it from putting on the mask? It's warm in here Getting down on the ground and getting back up twice in a second voice change alien what happened?

CoPD I don't know you know something's going on here, but you don't like as an alien you have the voice You don't even need God. We don't know the aliens backstory You don't need to tell us about Scranton or Joey or the table you just speak in the voice We don't need all the back there's a large alien population in Scranton or Joey or the table you just speak in the voice. We don't need all the back Population and scranton I Simply want everyone to absorb That the single worst impersonation in the history of our show

Involves Greg Cody explaining to you the sentence. I'm an alien involves Greg Cody explaining to you the sentence, I'm an alien. When you have to explain what your impersonation is, that efficiently, it's a shit impersonation. But Billy's saying he doesn't. No, I like the exposition. Greg, give it to me. He's singing the podcast audience,

I can't see he's an alien. It's helpful, really. There are aliens all over the United States. I wanted to make clear that I'm an alien from Scranton. There you go, now it makes sense. Let's do behind the bit please, because I'm gonna need to gather myself, not this bit, a bit that actively alienates

the audio audience, because this is all visual humor. This is only working on video. They get it. What is behind the bit? We ran the wrong one yesterday on the DraftKings network. I heard executives yelling at each other. What is this behind the bit that we're playing? This is Alan Thicke.

Okay, so we're gonna, yes, it's sad, right? It's nostalgic. Alan Thicke, friend of the show, but we remember him fondly, and now it's taking a dark turn because we're talking about death. All right, good. Don Lebatard.

I want to address Tony and all men who would wear that shirt in public. Stugats. Don't do it. This is the Don Lebatard Show with the Stugats. This is behind the bit. This is behind the bit. This is the Dan LeBattard Show with the Stugats. This is behind the bit. This is behind the bit. This is behind the bit.

A very serious retrospective on some of your favorite Dan LeBattard Show with Stugats bits. ["Stugats Bits"] Well, the world don't move to the beat. I just wonder what might be right for you. May not be right for some. Thank you, thank you. I hear the, I can hear the walking ovation.

How should I introduce you, Alan? Is that okay, father from growing pains? Is that all right? Or like how should I be introduced? It's fine, you know, I think things like iconic, legendary, and maybe your highness, all kind of, I'm fine with any of that How much money do you actually make just from the fact that you wrote two of the most famous television songs ever written?

I made enough to have three prenups. We were at the satay for a lovely Luncheon ball and we're celebrating actually the fact this year that my wife and I turned 100 this year. Has Alan Thicke ever, while making love, played one of his son's songs? I count on it. Are you kidding?

It's the most perverse thing that I do. The only three words that Igor knew in English were vodka, dance, and girls. And I took it upon myself to make sure that all of that came true. And that was the last we saw him on the ice against Canadian teams for some time. Really? Only the only three words that you need to know, right? I think, yeah. I mean, you might not even need to know dance. Ha ha ha ha ha.

It could have been remarkably thick, or painfully thick, or thankfully thick. We have our celebrity prognosticator. I've been told all show that it's a surprise. This suggests to me that we haven't been broadcasting this, that this is not a guest. They couldn't get a real celebrity, I don't even know. Hello, hello. I'm going to try to overlook the not very famous introduction. When Snoop Dogg on radio one day was asked who the weirdest, most unusual guy he ever smoked weed with was, and when he responded, Alan's thick,

my son's lines lit up like, was he mistaken? Was he talking about you? Could that have been your dad? To which my response, of course, was, well, I was at the same party, maybe in another part of the room. Is turtle wax still doing well? Is the business of turtle wax?

I wasn't asking you, I was asking. I've never waxed my turtle. Okay. I got my hands full with beavers. We very much appreciate it. Hopefully we'll get you around here more often. It was a pleasure. Thanks Dan, my pleasure with talking again sometime.

I hope so. Alan Thicke, be careful, he'll steal your women. Alan Thicke was a massive star when I was growing up, like a massive star. And so I was so excited just to have him on the show one time. The fact that he turned in to a friend of the show and really a friend of ours, and him and Mike got very close, I know he and Dan got very close. I think we all had different interactions with him,

not on air, but off air. And I just, he was such a kind man, such a warm man, a funny man, always made time for me, Dan, Mike, the entire show. And I always marveled at how much time he made for us, because again, this was a massive celebrity for me growing up. and Mike, the entire show. And I always marveled at how much time he made for us because again, this was a massive celebrity for me growing up, it still was when he was doing the stuff

with us, he was just, he was a father figure to the show kinda in a weird sort of way. And a hockey correspondent. And a hockey correspondent. For a little bit of both. I remember being smitten with him as soon as he came on, just general charisma that was off the charts. And he seemed delighted to be with us

and made us feel delighted by his delight from the very beginning. And so he's obviously naturally funny. He's obviously a born entertainer. And him having comfort with where and how it is, he's Hollywood cheesy, made him, to me, instantly authentic in a way that made us very compatible right off the bat. My favorite memories with Alan Thicke,

I mean, he would knock every one of his segments out the park, but would be trying to book Alan Thicke and having those conversations and calling Alan. Alan became a friend. Alan Thicke is a good guy. We all love him. My favorite memory of him on the show was at the time, Tomas Hurtle, who was a rookie for the San Jose Sharks,

scored four goals, I believe, in his first game. And it was a big thing. So Dan asked him about it. And Alan said, who the hell is that? So he didn't know who he was. So he even got a good laugh out of that one. I wanna talk to Domash Hurdle with him.

Is he the best player in hockey? Hockey correspondent. Who the hell is that? Yeah, man. He played hockey. He was a huge hockey fan. He's Canadian, so I guess that's where that comes from. Big Kings fan, but yeah.

He was big into hockey. Was Mike Emotional talking about Alan? Yes, yes. He said he became a friend. He really became a friend, too. Still not over that loss. I cried and I cried. That was really sad.

He was so good. Such a great guest. I cried and I cried. That was really sad. He was so good. Such a great guest. Every time the segment was just a total heater. And a first class dude. Just as charming as he was on the air, as he would be on the phone. Equal parts cheesy and like full of heart.

He's a great dude. The Alan Thicke off air was even better than the Alan Thicke on air, because the Alan Thicke off air was a caring, kind individual. I was surprised by the breadth of his talent. I was not aware that he had written so many hit television theme songs. I was not aware that his son Robin would become a very accomplished musician. Like obviously this was a person who had a great many interests and a great many talents a really radiant creative spirit.

He was a great dude at the way that he was on the air was how he would be in real life really charming equal parts Charming and cheesy that was Alan Thicke and it had such a wonderful appeal to it. He had this magnetic personality and it had such a wonderful appeal to it. He had this magnetic personality. He knew that people would get a kick out of it. He would turn on the cheese and the charm if there was a voice on the other end that he was excited, genuinely excited to talk to. And maybe I just fell for some like old Hollywood showmanship,

but I kind of felt like we were friends, and he was just a really good dude. I used to practice with Or and Espo. It was kind of embarrassing. I would, you know, they do the slap shot drill from the blue line. And I remember on one occasion, Jerry Cheever is actually taking off his goalie gloves and catching my slap shot with his bare hands. I mean, I want to take advantage of you being here.

I don't want to make any big deal out of anything that has happened the first 10 days of the season But I do want to ask you if anything has stood out to you This first few you know, I don't know it hasn't been very much But already people are worried about the Knicks for example because they don't look the same the Denver Nuggets I don't know what four games into a season, when we know that's a good team, I don't know what it means that Russell Westbrook looks totally spent and somebody who shouldn't be playing

anymore for an NBA basketball team. Well, he had a great game the other night, on Monday night, he had 22 points and a win for them. I think, let me start with the Knicks. So this is what happens when you have a massive cataclysmic change in personnel, like a day before training camp. Your coaching staff has spent all of the summer

prepping for a certain set of players. And then two days before we head to camp, oh guess what, it's changing. And it's not like little cosmetic things. Carl Anthony Towns is a massive change. And so the way he plays from Julius Randall is different, the things that he does on the court are different and so they're in essence trying to figure it out. It's gonna take time for that team just chemistry wise assuming everything is great, everyone is bought in, it just takes time to come

together. The question becomes for Townsend, and to a lesser extent also for Bridges, they're the new guys. Everyone there is kind of understanding of the Tibbs way. Are these guys gonna buy into that? That's a question, but I think right now, even if they were 100% bought in, it's still new. They've gotta figure all that out.

We talked about the Nuggets at Westbrook specifically. I talked to Law Murray Murray who covers the Clippers for the Athletic and he obviously covered Westbrook last year and he wrote about this. He said, everywhere Russell goes, there's an adjustment period. When he went to Houston, there was an adjustment period and then they figured it out and they got a lot better.

They went to Washington, there was an adjustment period. They figured it out and they got a lot better and he actually led them to the playoffs after they were way, way out of the picture that year. And then the Lakers is the Lakers because dysfunction. And then the same thing with the Clippers. There was an adjustment period and then they figured it out and they got a lot better.

You're not out on Westbrook. You're one of the few who's not totally out on Westbrook. People are writing they should wave him already. Yeah, I saw some scout told some reporter, hey, you know, this guy, if I were them, I'd wave him. I don't think that's the case. I think he brings an energy and a spark, and more important, a veteran off the bench for them,

because they have a very young team. But the reality is, if you're worried about the Nuggets, it's like, dude, they got the best player in the game. I was just telling Tony this in the back. Think about it like this. They were up 3-2 in the conference finals with game seven at home. They had a game six, they got waxed in game six

because they didn't show up, and then game seven, they blew it. I'm not making excuses, I'm just saying, before we start fretting about Bruce Brown and Jeff Green last year, and now again this year is gonna be KCP, just remember, they have the best player in the game, and with with him on the floor they'll always have the best chance to win it. So like we were saying back here, I mean like is the Christian Brown moving from the bench to the starting lineup and like a lot of that bench being, I'm looking at it, Dario Sarich, Watson, Westbrook, Swather who I like but still like a younger guy,

like when you look at that, can that be something that can live in the playoffs or they're just gonna have a seven man rotation go out the entire year? Seven man rotation in the playoffs can live, the question is, can you do 82 games of this, right? And especially with a very young bench, and that's kind of like, this is where the tensions between a front office and a coaching staff happen, because the coach wants guys who can play right now.

Get me guys who can play right now. We saw Golden State try to do this, like we're gonna have young guys. Oh, it's all right, these vets can go away. We're gonna develop our young guys and then they'll be our rotation guys. And what they figured out was like, I kinda need guys who know how to play.

I'm trying to win a championship, I don't have time to be waiting for people to learn how to play. So what does Golden State do? It starts with a couple years ago, bringing Gary Payton back after they let him go. And now you see they added Buddy Hield, and they added Kyle Anderson.

These are all like, it's on purpose. These are vet players. Same thing in Denver. They're saying, oh, Watson and Brown and these guys and all the other young guys there, they'll figure it out. But the reality is you need vets, and that's why Westbrook, right now, it looks like it might not work,

but I think you give it time because he's the kind of player they need. You say they need vets. That last year, the biggest argument that you and I had is it seemed obvious to me that young players were gonna take over the league, that it wasn't going to be anymore what the old stars were doing

and you were very reluctant because you believe so much in old championship veteran medal and wisdom. Golden State and the Lakers the first four games of this season look a lot stronger than I expected them to just because I would think that those two outfits are tired and the first four games of the season aren't going to matter. So I know it's a very small sample but I've actually been impressed watching them play basketball the first four games. I think there's two different things happening. In Golden State it's a case of okay let's go back to having a deep team, a deep roster of guys who know how to play. Like I said, Hield, Melton, Anderson,

these guys are proven NBA vets, right? And they're not like 35 years old. They're young guys, but they just know how to play, as opposed to relying on guys who are going to have to make mistakes and learn, right? For the Lakers, I think it's a lot about, A, there seems to be a pep in their step because of a coaching change.

Brawny. Yes, and Brawny being around, he's such a great locker room guy. But the other part is Anthony Davis is playing at a level that we all know he's capable of, but can he be consistent at it? Can he do it every night and bring it in that way? So far he has, that helps tremendously

because now we're arriving at the place that we're supposed to be four years ago where LeBron was like it's not my team anymore it's Anthony Davis team I'm just here to help but why this happened LeBron's been the best player in those four years now Anthony Davis is playing like he's the best player which allows LeBron in a sort of smaller capacity to be still great. Greg Cody we all thought you killed it during that segment. That segment just now? The one that's ongoing? This is a new and improved down-leve-tar show with the Stugats.

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