The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 1: Jessica's Grandma

Episode Date: February 14, 2024

Did Taylor Swift tell Travis Kelce she was "turned on" after a Chiefs win? Tony the lawyer and the rest of the crew take a deep dive to find out. Then, Mike reveals a secret about a 1-800-Flowers promotion that may get the entire crew in trouble with their significant others. Jessica's grandmother gives the greatest endorsement of all-time. Plus, Dan reads Awful Announcing's tribute to Mike Ryan in front of Mike Ryan in order to make everyone uncomfortable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to Giraffe Kings Network. I am told, Stu Gatz, that video has now scrambled and found some of the best video there is to be had on Drunken Jason Kelsey careening through the Super Bowl and Las Vegas. But I need to clean up what just happened in the last segment because we played the wrong Travis Kelsey Taylor Swift sound. Mike Ryan was all, he was all geeked out trying to lip read, trying to hear what, what was being said because I think he enjoyed the idea that at the height of Super Bowl fame, Taylor Swift was getting turned on. But we have no proof from the audio that we just played that it was anything close to that.

But we did find some video from the AFC Championship game, Mike. Do you want to lead us through this video to see what you're alleging? You've done it once already, but you, which, do you want to lead us through this video to see what you're alleging? You've done it once already, but which side are you believing? So it's been subtitled by NFL Films that she says, I've never been more proud of anyone. But, you know, they could have been taken liberties because it's muffled. It does kind of sound like if someone told you, she said, I've never been more turned on by anyone, and that was a subtitle, you'd believe it too. Jessica, why are you shaking your head no?

This is so weird, of course she didn't say that. No, you don't know. She put a hornball. You weren't there. You're right, I wasn't there. You got my ass. I wasn't there. Let's examine it right now.

It'll be like we put you right there. I love you, I love you, I love you. Oh, it's so fucking funny. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. Here you go, guys.

Give me a pat, thank you. I gotta be honest, I heard it totally different. I heard I've never been so horny. That's what I heard. I heard Duncan Robinson saying you're not about this. Ah, ever. Duncan Donuts? Oh wait, no, he's just Duncan now. I heard Duncan Robinson saying you're not about this Donuts oh wait no, they're just he's just done good She said I've never been more turned on and then he said we got to slow this down Darren Ravel

Mike's grandma Tony's grandma You gotta do. Killer bees. There you go. How about the killer bees? Bishio and Bagwell. Billy and I. Multiple. Who's Beltran for a playoff? Multiple, am I right?

It was Beltran for a playoff. And you're forgetting about Lance Berkman. How could we forget Berksman? You okay, Jessica? Then I started thinking about the run that the LA Dodgers had with an El Rookie of the Years That also gets me at least five pumps. Here is video Ross Hollinsworth Here's video of Jason Kelly Kelsey falling into some bushes

It's just B roll here Stu guys, but you can watch He's wearing a wrestling pants and Ronald McDonald overalls. And a chalice. A gold chalice. Is that a chalice? Is he holding a chalice? Do you realize nobody in professional sports is allowed to do Vegas this way except the hockey player The hockey players when they party with the cup are the only ones who are allowed to do it this way Not even on the team

If I'm an Eagles fan, I'm a little bothered baby But he wrecked an Adele concert listen to this here you say that if you are an eagle fan But he was representing the Eagles at Adele, Adele had to stop her concert and she was in the middle of talking and she correctly identified who was in the crowd yelling at her drunk. Was it because he was wearing a wrestling mask?

Do we have any chief fans here tonight? Hey! Do we have any, do we know any fans here tonight? Hey. Oh, sorry, Chief, you're at number tonight. I Sorry It sounded like she heard seagulls. Did she repeat seagulls to eagles? I don't know what she knows about football. I think she's more of a basketball gal myself.

Yeah, WrestleMania is in Philadelphia this year, and they always like to have a celebrity integration. I think Jason Kelsey needs a body slam somebody at WrestleMania this year. You see is on the pop culture topic to shore. Jason Kelsey better be at WrestleMania. I want again to point out to everybody in the universe how wonderful it is that Jason Kelsey is allowed to occupy this space where you interrupt Adele concerts

and careen into the bushes as someone's brother and everyone loves you anyway. Race plan a factor. Imagine how that goes with Kaderious Tony's screams. Yeah, Lamar Jackson's brother is behaving that way at the Super Bowl. What? Look at Patrick Mahome, senior. That's also not a white black thing maybe, but it's a celebrity thing.

Like, scream like that in a Dell show. You get walked out like, Robert. You have seagulls, huh? That's what I... There's no way she heard seagulls. scream like that in a Dell show. You get walked out like, Robert. You have seagulls, huh? That's why I- There's no way she heard seagulls. I mean, no. I heard Taylor Swift say,

I've never been hornier. That's not what you guys heard. I heard Mike say that. I said, Robert. About Tony. She gave it over to the pancy at a Beatles music festival. That's why I was confused yeah robert was like yeah I'm sorry bobert like a comic you want to listen again to it yes yeah let's try Here we go guys, give me a pat, thank you! Tony, can I get a ruling?

Dan? I think you're close. I heard a little something like a sound. Like an H, like a ha! Sounds. But that wouldn't hold up in court. No. Of course not.

Okay. But that's what the point is. You gotta just let the jury hear what they wanna hear. And Dan already planted in the jury's head. Just show them enough. They might have said horny. And all of a sudden, guess what, I hear horny now. That's what I heard.

What do you hear here in this video? What do you see in this video, Stugaz? Jackson Mahomes, there are a couple of bad videos. One, he's great. He's groping at Jason Kelsey who doesn't want him on him. Like, I don't know what Jason Kelsey was uncomfortable about there. It might have just been the general Jackson Holmes Jackson Mahomes clinginess but there's

also video of Jackson Mahomes being turned down at the Mahomes party is he being kept out by there's your wife so again this is a rough episode for the podcast audience but in the video we're about to play you can see Jackson Mahomes lean forward and I could read his lips saying and Patrick Mahomes his brother and he looks to Brittany Mahomes lean forward and I could read his lips saying, Patrick Mahomes is brother. And he looks to Brittany Mahomes for help and she doesn't provide it. Oh, come on. That's a shrug. Wait, Dan Port.

And then the dance moves continue. It wasn't really sweating. Poor Jackson. Oh, come on. That's a shrug port. And then the dance rooms continue. Wasn't really sweating. Poor Jackson. She's wearing a mink. What is that? I don't know. I wore better.

Macack. And she shrugged her shoulder at Jackson Mahomes. Tony, what are you cringing? She could have backed up his story that he could have done something there. She could have done something more. Left him hanging just standing there like, I'm Jackson Mahomes. And like he could have done something. He could have done something more. Left him hanging, just standing there like, I'm Jackson Mahomes' brother. And like he looks like his brother.

Like they both look identical almost. And it's like, hey, I'm Patrick Mahomes' brother. And she's like, eh, sorry. Jessica, do I see on your face some of what I'm feeling, which is the internet turning Jackson Mahomes into something who's celebrity adjacent, who exists so that we can judge him and laugh at him? Well, I think there was a lot of people didn't like Jackson Mahomes to begin with because

of a lot of the stuff he did on TikTok and all of that. We talked about that previously, but then he was accused of sexually assaulting someone and groping a woman at a restaurant and the charges were dropped. I think that was a solidifying factor in a lot of people not liking him. And I think probably a valid one, because it was on video, but she did not want to cooperate, I guess, with investigators, so the charges were dropped.

How about this one as we live it in real time, because I don't know if you guys saw this, but Brett Favre owes the poorest people in Mississippi $730,000 and it's the worst. Like it's the worst. But Brett Farve, when he was in the middle of this machine gunslinger and pain-pell addiction, his family was falling apart around him in a lot of ways and now he gets to the end of his career. We're all like, ooh, Brett Farve isn't what we thought he was at all. Mahomes is navigating, his father's got three DUIs, and his brother can't handle

this kind of fame because who the hell can? Like, who the hell can? And he's TikTok famous, and the brother is celebrity adjacent, and all the while Patrick Mahomes floats through existence, not just winning all the time, but totally charmed, where he was asked at the Super Bowl, how do you feel about the situation with your father? And his response is, that situation, whatever it is, just put it over there, which is my father might have a drinking problem. He's been arrested three times for drunk driving.

But that's how you do it if you're Patrick Mahomes. I'm just saying, God bless Patrick Mahomes and he gets to win in every single way because what he's navigating is difficult. It'll chew up family members. Like, you've gotta be unbelievably strong to navigate the economy of what it is to be my dad was a middle reliever for the twins but now i'm the biggest star in

sports and all i do is win everybody wants to be near me and it's gonna wreck some of the soft people around me because this is a monster fame machine and i gallop right near travis and taylor swift through the influencers like i got all the fame. I got Aaron Rodgers' commercial. I'm the biggest star. I want all of Tom Brady's things.

And he's navigated it masterfully. Like LeBron's done it as well as anyone's ever done it. You don't get child fame and then grow up in front of us and not fall in a few ditches. Never mind your brother and your dad. You, you fall in a ditch because you can stumble as a young person learning shit But him as an idol who's got I don't know what's going on in his family But you tell me someone who handles themselves better. Well, I think part of the problem is you do know what's going on in his family I don't know what else that's just what we're seeing. Yeah, that's just what we're seeing

No, I don't know he's a cake outside of having like MBS and Kaderi Estonia to throw due. Mike, I don't know what's going on in his personal life. What spills in front of us is just a very small piece of it, even as his brother is, his brother's an influencer, his brother's been chewed up by the fame machine and now with somebody who is unlike by social media, I can't even imagine what that does to young people. Their mental health, any of them.

Like, that, he used to be popular because he's Mahomes' brother and now the internet is chewing him up just as a piece of laughter. Yeah, I mean, a lot of this is, I'm not gonna turn him into a victim. Yeah, it's not real. It's just like, not a long line to victimize

Jackson Mahomes. I'm just talking about what's around, I'm talking about what is around you when you go to the Super Bowl and how it chews you up. What Taylor and Travis Kelsey are. Well, there's also seeing your brother, your brother be such a big superstar and you're not. Like that has to hurt, there has to be some deep in there.

No, but Mike's right about not making him a victim when he has allegedly victimized. I am simply telling you. He's not an unwilling influencer. I mean, he was TikTok dancing on Sean Taylor's number. Correct. There are very good reasons why he's unpopular. My original point stands though

on Mahomes navigating the labyrinth as it eats up his family. I mean, I don't know how hard it is. Interpersonally, I imagine it's pretty difficult, but the press, not that they give him a pass, I mean, I don't know how hard it is. I mean, interpersonally, I imagine it's pretty difficult. But the press, not that they give him a pass, but Patrick Mahomes just said, you know, that situation over there, and he's so great

that we just keep on with our lives. I mean, it's not a distraction if he's winning the goddamn Super Bowl, right? We're still talking about it on Wednesday. I just got done saying that Tom Brady's going to call all his games next year bitterly. You're not better than me if he doesn't play. You're not the goat. I'm the goat. Quality sleep can help boost your reaction time, recovery time, and performance.

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Scott Kemenicky. I've got some Dana White video and audio I want to get to. And I also want to rectify what I believe was my most egregious error from Vegas in a second. But before I do so, at worse than the Wu-Tang error, like the worst error I made in Vegas of any kind, I will get to that in a second. But before I do so, Jessica was beginning to play for me, something that I had only seen transcript of, which I believe we can turn Jessica's grandmother into the greatest commercial endorser that

anyone has ever seen in this audio sphere, because of how excited she was simply to get the 1-800-Flowers that she got. Grandmas Metana, I saw, I didn't, I have not heard the audio yet, but I just saw the way that the iPhone sort of transcribes what it is Grandma said, and I couldn't believe how excited she sounded, and I can't wait to hear what Grandma Smetana sounds like. But you're saying she has a better chance, Grandma has a better chance of being better at this than Joe Rose?

This, I'm, this is what I'm telling you. Big dog. Based on the transcript that I saw, I would make the argument that 1-800-FLOWERS could not get a better endorsement than this for the excitement and enthusiasm you can create if you do business with 1-800-FLOWERS and surprise grandma. It may be the best unintentional ad for a product that we've ever had on the show and we will have it soon Dan it's not ready yet

I told video videos moving a little slow today but you've told them that was Dan trying to set it up you know there is a little bit of I guess consternation about how much is revealed with this entire endeavor. Take it easy, take it easy. We may reveal things that some people's wives would be unhappy to hear. Okay, we don't need to betray anyone else in our group here. They're here now. You're revealing that everyone's significant other or grandmother, the package of flowers or roses that they received were gratis. No one revealed that except for you right now.

No one said that. We talked about before the show not doing this on the air today. No hopefully they don't understand one. I wrote with an iron fist. Okay so just to review. I know Tony doesn't. To review for the audience. Okay. Roy does 1-800-FLOWERS was kind enough to sponsor part of our very fun last week last week and I In previous years have threatened people for weeks to buy 1-800-FLOWERS. We didn't even do it that way this year But I would say this is a better advertisement I'll get into a second because I did tell my wife those were free and she appreciated that I told her you're rich They were free. Mm-hmm. Well, what does that have to do with anything? Most things are free for you. Yeah But that's not why I told I didn't tell her these are the free ones not being better than us

So I have a question for the class. I have a question for the class here So if your wife hypothetically were to find out that those were gratis, right? They came a little early too. I wouldn't have found out if we all stuck the plan. They wouldn't come early. I'm sorry I didn't know there was a plan. If they found out, if they found out that they were gratis, do they expect you to now buy some today that are not gratis to show that you really care? Oh no, we're not getting double of flowers. Don't mind it, guys. That's not it. Now that you've, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, That's what gratis means? Because I will be getting flowers that I purchased.

Well, you're rich too. And now all of you schmoes will appear cheap because you got a corporate partner to deliver flowers on your behalf and I shoot it. I said, no, no, no, I want these to come from the heart. Then you're a sucker. Exactly right. And they still came from the heart,

they just didn't come from my pocketbook. Mike, Mike, I wrote a note. I wrote a note these days, by the way. What did your note say? I don't know. Something about love and Valentine's Day, put the kid's name on it. It was a whole thing.

I don't know, they got there two days ago. It's the definition of, it's the thought that counts. I thought about it at the moment, but you know, they went to Las Vegas. A lot of stuff goes in my head. Had you explained getting them two days early? I'd be like, oh, I told her when they told me to do it. I don't know.

She's like, who's they? And I'm like, Cynthia. I said, everyone's getting roses on Wednesday. I wanted to get yours on Monday. How about that? Nice, see? That's the thing. That's the thing.

I love you every day, not just on Valentine's Day. This is the best day of the year to see people in line at the grocery store or at the flower store at like five o'clock every year like clockwork. I live by like a little flower stand. There's people lined up a block at around five o'clock trying to get whatever is left from the flower. Now we're all gonna see you at five

because you decided to do this. Now you gotta go to the gas station for that. Ah! Gas station! Nice little cheap route. They sell flowers at the gas station. They do. They sell gas stations.

Put it on the pole, please, Juju. Have you failed a true romance if you're buying your flowers at the gas station? No, you could dress up gas station flowers. For sure. You get a nice little vase. You get like two. You put a little long, long beef jerky stick in there.

Oh yeah, absolutely. It takes a little bit. Sass a bow on it. Surprise, a little tec en in you and your dozen. It's really hard to peel off. Oh my god I would go nuts for that. The price tag sometimes of the roses is really hard to peel off. Send someone to a gas station I could put together a flower arrangement with two bouquets of gas station flowers I'm telling you right now. I could pull it off. Yeah. Here's some

Play For Scratch Card. I'm gonna have to do card today now along the gorilla i love a good scratch card say your grandmother's happy great thanks now we'll get we were we're gonna get to that audio in a second but you just delighted me by making me think of all the said sex i'm gonna be driving past on the way home they're gonna be at the side of the road trying to get the remnants of a one-time stay you know you forgot because you forgot and we rummaged early. We all ransacked the gas station and I will be very pleased on behalf of the mercenary commerce thief who who is killing it on the side of the road today just because you were forgetful. I I'm seeing the

arrangement that Jessica's grandmother got in queue here that we're about to play and it is a really nice looking arrangement and I have my regrets. Okay but let's play for the audience Jessica does this need any other setup because I'm telling you in reading the transcript I was just made so happy how does this woman sound please tell me she's got a thick thick accent and she sounds extra old. She sounds like she's from Chicago and she grew up in Little Italy. Let me hear this. I got the Jessica, holy shit. I got the most gorgeous roses. I don't think I ever got that many roses in my whole life. Certainly not from your lovely grandfather, God, and may a soul rest in peace. Thank you. Oh my God,

and peace. Thank you. Oh my God. They are beautiful. I'm I'm flabbergasted. I mean, holy shit. I don't know what it's for, but I love you for. Thank you. You made my day. I mean, they are gorgeous. I mean, holy crap. Well, I will talk to you later. You're probably working, whatever. And I hope you got your oranges. I never, I didn't hear whether you got the damn oranges or not. So when you get a chance, you can give me a call back. I'm sitting here looking at those roses and I cannot believe what the hell you did.

Holy shit. They're gorgeous and I'm gonna sit and look at them all damn day today. Never had so many roses in my whole life. 85 years. Holy shit. Okay dear, thank you. Love you. Talk to you later. Bye. That's a coggle accent man. That's Jess. She's man. That's Jess. She's adorable She's just doing it. I think so too. Did you get the oranges or I did get the orange? Oh, very good orange Listen to me 800-800 flowers you need to sign up Jessica's grandma as a paid endorser

She needs to get flowers fairly regularly so that she could sing the praises of your company I do think we should pump the brakes here for a second because much like Billy's wife and Tony's wife and possibly Roy's wife would not be happy to find out this was like a work arrangement. My grandmother would probably murder me if she knew we played this on the show. And at 85, how many surprise? Oh, grandpa caught a stray. Yeah, he did.

Well, rest in power. But he also set the bar very low You really did I know but I do think your grandmother might be a little bit a little bit insulted that you betrayed her And she desecrated the memory of your grandfather Holy shit, holy you asked for consent to do that. No, oh, okay, three holy shits and a holy crap I like the crap lawyer is that okay at a lawsuit this is actually one party state so you're good why do you know that is it it was a lawyer it's my job to know that you know what you're just so not the shanty hand of lawyers he's the end of

lawyer it's a two-party state. Nah. Another right people. Can I just ask you guys who failed the worst on Valentine's Day with the flowers? I just wrote on the note corporate sponsored romance. And that's how I revealed to my wife that it was. And she appreciated that I didn't try. Like I was surprised that that bought me anything, honestly. I just did that because I didn't want her to think

that it was anything other than that. I mean, it's easy to be fine with a free pair of roses when you walk into, you know, you got a bunch of alpacas in there. You guys keep holding my wealth against me. You think I'm buying my wife beds of roses every day? Somebody else does that for me. Yeah. Mike?

This pony was actually in the movie, Babe 2, Pig in the City. The most egregious mistake I made in Vegas, two gods. Yeah, oh yeah. I did not send Mike off correctly, the rare executive producer who retires and then returns for two days later. Who does that? Keep finding myself in that situation. Brady did it, I think.

But we were supposed to give him the big goodbye. I mean, he got all the emotional moments, me and Greg Cote and you singing songs, Weepy Eye, and he's in the back corners hiding after having created a comedic masterpiece of Flaviflave and Wu Tang and Wayne Newton are listening to Greg Cody. Surprise Super Bowl in Vegas with a band no one knew he had. Mike, did you feel it? Did you feel like we didn't give you the proper send off? I don't care about that stuff.

It's weird. I'm quite literally over Billy's shoulder right now. Right. Yes. It just means I get to concentrate on other things. I'm still a part of the show, hopefully closer to two times a week than three times a week. Shout out to Carl for the schedule this week. I could have used the two days.

But so awful announcing. You and me both. Awful announcing has celebrated Mike, Ryan, and Brent. Have you read this? The picture of you shows one very large pepperoni nipple. It was a lot happening at that time. We had two deep March Madness runs, Stanley Cup finals appearance,

and NBA finals appearance. The picture of, Alexa Pro. The picture of your eulogy of your obituary here as goodbye, as awful announcing writes it, you're holding how many drinks in your hands? Well, there was an Eiffel Tower drink and a Flanagan's cup, so at least two.

Hell yeah. And it begins in the way the most loving of tributes should. Editorial note, this is a freelance article from a contributor. Yeah, that's flattering. I'll take that. If you're interested in writing for us, please email awfulannouncing at gmail.com with your pitch.

Look at the size of my tit. What are they paying? The author can be reached at Joe Friday, Jr. It was a very nice article, so I've heard. Joe worked for 10 years in sports media and now works with media companies to grow their business. Are you right or shaming me now? This is not a great tribute. TurboTax experts make all your moves count, filing with 100% accuracy and getting your max refund guaranteed.

So whether you work to side hustle to afford season tickets to your favorite sports team or move states and adopt a new team, switch to TurboTax and make your moves count. See guaranteed details at TurboTax.com slash guarantees. Experts only available with TurboTax Live. Don Lebatard! Tristin Scheldt. Stugatz! experts only available with TurboTax Live. Don Lebatard! Trist and Sheldt. Stugatz!

Trist and Sheldt. This is the Don Lebatard Show with the Stugatz. So Billy, he is literally right over your shoulder right now, but I want to read from this article that is celebrating. Have you seen the headline on this, two gods? Mike Ryan Ruiz is the secret to the success of the Dan Levitard show. No member of the show's 10 plus deep crew has had an impact quite like Mike Ryan Ruiz. Are you ready for a segment I like to call reading?

Yeah. How uncomfortable do you think I'm going to make Mike with all of this? Very. On last Thursday's episode of the day, I haven't read all of this. You haven't read any of it. Have you read any of it? No. Okay. Is anybody read all of this. Very. On last Thursday's episode of the day, I haven't read all of this. I haven't read any of it. Have you read any of it? No.

Okay, has anybody read any of it? Nope. Does anyone care to read any of it? I had an issue right. I opened it up on Twitter and it had a black background with black ink. So I couldn't really read it. It was dark.

I'm getting to it. But dad, I would have read it if Mike Ryan, if I didn't know, if I wasn't armed with the information and I'd seen Mike in 48 hours. That's right, but in a new role, promoted in the company to the seat that Billy was in, and now Billy gets promoted in the company to the seat. Did I get demoted then? Huh.

You're in charge today, right? But he's breathing over your shoulder. The rare promotion to motion. Just come here, man. I didn't pick a seating arrangement. My man. Who picked it? I didn't pick it. What do you mean you Just come here, man. I didn't pick a seating arrangement. My man. Who picked it? I didn't pick it.

What do you mean you just come here? On last Thursday's episode of the Dan LeBerts show with Stugats, it was announced, what was announced many times, wasn't it? It was announced like seven different times. That it was executive producer Mike Ryan Ruiz's, wait a minute, they call you Mike Ryan, Mike Ryan Ruiz would be stepping down

from his position at the end of the week The move could mark a seismic shift for the perennial it perennially top five rated sport for our podcast Depending on the level of Ruiz's involvement moving forward. Are we in trouble without you? Depending on your involvement. I'm still here right here And to the we're in trouble with me. In 2013, Ruiz, not yet 30 years old, ascended to the top producer role after the departure of longtime EP Mark

Hockman during his tenure. Hock. He oversaw the show's growth from a local Miami Sports Talk radio show to national ESPN radio property to the most valuable digital audio show at the worldwide leader to the profit center product of a fledgling startup, a resume that could dub him the most prolific producer in sports audio history

if such a ridiculous title existed. I'd agree with that notion. Who's the fledgling company? I think we're the fledgling. Who the fuck are you calling fledgling? I agree. Freelance writer. Top five producers, huh? Johnny Friday. who the f*** you calling fledgling? I agree. Freelance writer? Top five producers huh?

Johnny Friday? What the f*** are you doing? Fledgling my ass, fledgling. We got the best audio deal in the game, who are you kidding? I do belong in that conversation though. I say humbly. The Lebatard, you say nothing humbly. The Lebatard show has received no shortage

of fawning coverage, but if there's one aspect of its success that goes unheralded, it's the apparent ease with which the transition from local sports radio show to national sports comedy show occurred all under the steady hand of Ruiz, including, are you ready? Are you ready? From steady. The hand is not steady, the hand shakes. It's often hitting mic on.

Integrating traditional sports radio tactics tactics sound bite drop for current gags parody songs time segments into the podcast format and not have them seem out of place. I feel like I forced that on Mike. I want it to sound like a radio show. He's like, off, and it needs to be a podcast, putting out more content than any other competitor with more than 10 hours of the central DLS dropped weekly across nearly 20 episodes. Other top podcasters have called out the show for doing this to juice ratings, but by any metric, their total downloads and output are unmatched. Yeah, we do the work. Unmatched.

We do the work. Upon the show leaving ESPN, it was Ryan who pushed for the show to keep their RSS feed so its subscriber base and back archives could remain intact, an unheard of move for audio shows at the time. And now the template. You forced that on ESPN. Everybody left with their feeds because we did. Yeah. Mimicking the success of the ringer and bar stool to create a podcast network both at

ESPN and at Metal Arc Media, while the LeBertart and Friends Network has yet to spawn any top-rated shows like those competitors. You should not keep reading. Did you say that about God Bless Football? They didn't just say that about God Bless Football. It creates added value and inventory to help increase revenue across the company. Are you guys bored by this? I feel like I've lost more.

I'm a bit wordy. I'm mortified by that. I'm sweating a lot and I'm really uncomfortable. It's not hyperbole to say that outside of Levitard No member of the shows 10 plus deep crew is missed when they aren't on the daily show more than Ruiz You should not keep reading this. No, this is like cutting. I don't like this. Please stop Keep reading and you stop down. Do I have the authority saved with like nope? I don't think he has that authority anymore Billy that's your authority. What call are you making here? Keep reading. I heard there's a video too. What? Over the last five years, the two

hosts of the show have clearly seemed less interested in sports. I told you to stop reading. That is not bad. You hear my takes on the chiefs? I can see this one coming. You should really stop reading. Lebatard like a... Lebatard like a handful. You're not in charge anymore. Billy's in charge. He likes anarchy. I'm most definitely not. Lebatard like a handful in media from 2015 to 2021

fell into a trap of dismissing sports coverage in fandom. A shift he has started to walk back over the last year. I have. Have you? I was just by my brother's deathbed. I don't feel like has started to walk back over the last year. I have? Have you? I was just by my brother's deathbed. I don't feel like I was walking that back. I mean, the heat and banthers made the finals.

He loved the good conference room. He did. Yeah. However, in a sports podcast world where the other long-time top-rated shows, pardon my take, Bill Simmons' podcast, Ryan Rassillo's show, feature hosts that proudly watch hours and hours of games, Ruiz helped DLS bridge that gap he often ran circles around the hosts and other talent on sports conversation Occasionally having to pull back to not upstage others on topics. He was clearly more informed That's actually super fair right on the money a diminished role for Ruiz would likely mean the show leans more into the variety and comedy

antics by limited supported care, oh show leans more into the variety and comedy antics by limited supported care ooh by limited supporting characters fine for their diehards but not ideal for growing an audience in a competitive landscape oh the shipping containers being called out there I stop reading this please bullets in bore material buddy being made very I don't feel bad anymore about Tony making fun of this guy for being I please stop there is precedent for Ruiz's departure. He last stepped down as EP in 2022. So we've done this before.

Make up your mind. Stop me, man. Handing the reins to Chris Whittingham who held the title for a year before defa... Before defarting. You had it right. He did at Highlight, remember? That guy called him out?

Defarted, yeah. I don't like this one bit before defarting to do MLS play-by-play for Apple TV and Paramount plus he's the lead commentator. I think he's I don't want to reveal too much But yeah, he's the man over there. You'll never forgive him for leaving that position It took me a while to get over the resentment during winning hands time the lead Well, he put his hopes and dreams ahead of mine. That's right. I brought him a born mind to Mine too during winning him's time as EP Ryan still appeared on the show regularly

I'll be at in a more secondary role. That's likely to be the case again, especially since there's no natural replacement this time around What do you mean? Billy's in the seat right now. It takes a village. Why isn't Chris Cody the natural replacement? Jessica, Roy, Tony, Juju. Why? We're all gonna do it. I'm not excluding myself from that. We're all doing it together. What am I gonna do? I wasn't part of any of the... I don't want to... I'm not aspirated. Yeah, I wasn't asked. Well said. With years of experience, the team of producers, the show employees is surely capable of handling the tactical elements of production. But they lack Ryan's deep knowledge of sports, how to engage the host in both informative and entertaining debate, or when to steer the show back from nasal gazing giggles.

The place where Billy Gill wants to reside all of the time. That made it? I can't believe that this guy sees the show that way. Unbelievable. Have you read this Billy? Is this the first you're hearing? I mean, you're reading the entire thing. You're reading it.

I have nine weeks of paternity still. Did Mike write it? Next week sounds like a good starting point. The Lebatard show continues to be a billing beast. Thanks mainly to their unparalleled output. It has developed the most treasured commodity media, a loyal fan base of diehards for whom listening is routine and getting the show as a source of pride. Ruiz has developed the supporting producers that will receive more on-air time if he pulls back so he remains invested in the program's

success, but the show that Ruiz grew into a behemoth will be vastly different if he is not as involved. A testament to his success as EP. Awful announcing, ladies and gentlemen. Awful announcing. I do think the show is going to be different and that's not a bad thing. I don't think it's a bad thing to have less of me. I've seen your comments. This is gonna be good and and I Looked to be fulfilled. I'm working on a lot of exciting things things that I'm pouring my Creative bandwidth into that. I haven't had an opportunity to since a witty left and I I think it's time for me to As that article said take a secondary tertiary role here on the show.

It's, you know, phases. I'm deeply uncomfortable with all of this. Doesn't seem like anyone's comfortable with it either. Doesn't seem... But it is goodbye, yet you're here two days after saying goodbye, because we didn't say goodbye correctly. Well, I didn't say goodbye. I thought I'd be ridiculous. And we'll see you tomorrow, or...?

See me for the rest of the week. Okay. And you did just read an article that was mean to us that was it that is a guy's a dork, but it was mean to all of us It was mean to all of us except Mike though. I was good with it. So was I It's fine. I didn't love him calling the shipping container container limited Limited characters who said limited the fakes are limited Never have you never have us to guys. Do you know how much thank you Mike? and I didn't like her too. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha for the Super Bowl for doing the halftime show? I'll take a guess, $300,000? $671.

What? $671 is what he's gonna pay. However, because he got streaming sales, because he got album sales, because he got his tour, a third sold out coming up, they're saying he will make $100 million off of, that's how much money the NFL births. They give you $671 and it turns into $100 million.

I apologize, I know how to play the game, I thought I was playing the game correctly, I should have said $300 million, I didn't know who's that low, I mean. It used to be $0, It used to be $0. It used to be $0, but now for some reason, I don't know what this reason is. Now Usher was paid $671.

That's more annoying for him than anything, because now he has to probably fill out paperwork for that. This may mean nothing. How did they get 671? Is he a union? What's the invoice there? That might be a SAG thing. get 671 is a union what's the invoice that might be a sad thing but he sold a third of his tickets to his upcoming tour 38% of his tickets got sold yeah how

does this thing keep getting bigger it can't keep getting bigger God bless football