The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 1: Thank You, Tony Reali

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

Tony Reali is one of our favorite people in the sports media industry, and with Around the Horn coming to an end in May, he joins us to share stories and love from over the years.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Yeah. Holy shit. What a run. Holy shit. Holy shit. All right, well, yes. Oh my God. Oh, one of the great stories in the history of ESPN.

23 years on television. That's a good point, Dan. Thank you. You know, I don't do interviews often, though I love talking. But when family calls, you pick up the phone on a day like today. Dan, you've done, this has happened before, this has happened to all of you guys before, but there's a day when you open up Google

and your face is on there and you're the top of the news story. Then you like saying things that get you in trouble and that happens from time to time. I'm not somebody that's courting that per se, so there it was, my face, look at that man now. But I hope you're absorbing today, okay, because there's an outpouring.

Around the Horn is finished after 23 years, and Tony Reale did something damn near impossible from doing sports trivia in sports bars on campuses. He parlayed a community at ESPN that is heartbroken today because a generation grew up on this show. And so it might feel like a sad day in some ways. I hope it does not, but I wish to celebrate you because I can't believe the run, Tony. 23 years, 23 years climbing from basically intern to a legitimate sports television personality that could

have had his choice of jobs at God Bless America, or I'm sorry, Good Morning America. No, and have arrived at 23 years doing this. It's crazy. Yeah. I mean, I felt every minute of it the last 23 years. I'm a present person, Dan, you know this about me, and I'm an intentional person, you know that about me as well.

So I felt it throughout every show. Never felt like work, still doesn't feel like work. The next two months won't feel like work. I enjoy doing it. I enjoy performing. I felt connection to the audience every day for the 23 years. So to see what happened yesterday in the release or the comments I need to say,

and I am overwhelmed of course, my goal is to respond to everybody. That's a goal of mine. I'll take the next two months and respond to everybody, because that's how I feel. That's why I'm in the business, Dan. I know why you got into the business. You're brilliant and you're a drummer,

like much like myself. You know, you take these meetings. I march to the beat of my own drummer, and I am my own drummer, because I play the drums, and I thought of Dan doing that. But the whole point is, you know, I got into the business to be with people, to perform.

You got, because you're an amazing writer, and intellectual, and you're gonna get to the bottom of stories, I wanna feel, you know? And that's what I tried to do on Horn, especially after my first 100 episodes where I was just hanging on for dear life. Now, Tony, I know you are a very humble person in real life, right?

But none of this can be shocking to you, right? You have to know that people love this show, right? Yeah, I mean, I do. Like I said, I felt every bit of that. I'm not somebody who, you know, doing a daily TV show, I mean, and watching every game or covering every bit of the research every day, it's like storming Normandy Beach, you know?

I mean, every day! I've done 4,000, I mean, we're at 4905 right now, I think today, and I've done, whatever, 4,700 of them, and then I did PTI every day, and I was doing double duty every day, I didn't come up for air, and I don't need to come up for air. I mean, my energy is just the same as it was the day I took over the show, and my love for that sort of thing.

What I evolved in is how I see my role maybe as host. I was a sports-brainiac know-it-all that wanted to demonstrate that and also score the debate, like, judge, jury and all that, to somebody who wanted to actually pull at the strings of what's behind the story. I mean, you know, and have the most real moment on TV if I can say that, you know, in the,

it's got my name written right in it, right? Trying to be relatable and unpredictable on TV. That was the goal as I became aware and intentional of how I want to host. But no, of course I always knew that, I mean, I have shared the deepest moments with our viewers, both myself, but they've come right back at me with that. And I'm talking about, I've been in church in Accra, Ghana,

and I've had people come up with me. And we're not just talking about LeBron, we're talking about a moment, you know, where I talked about my family, or we're talking about loss of Kobe Bryant, or we're talking about a FaceTime Woody Page ad where he talked about suicide. I mean, that's what the show means to me.

The fulfilling part of the show isn't just who you got debates. It's also some of the other stuff we were able to do. How important was that part of the show to you? Showing reporters from around the country, giving a point of view that might not be found on the other ESPN shows. Well, yeah, I mean, I did take over the show a year in, Max.

It was, of course, terrific at the way he wanted to host the show, and I wanted to do it slightly different. You play up the regions first, right? I mean, that was something we weren't doing on TV in 2002 at the time, you know? We were having, so let's lean into the regions. But then at some point, and maybe it's not in vogue to say now,

I know we had a great stable of people. It was four old white guys for a little while. And that wasn't the type of show I wanted to host. Again, you want to be diverse in regions, you want to be diverse in all the different types of people you had in the show. That was important to me. That was. So that motivated me and fulfilled me through the... And then the types of stories we were going to talk about, it wasn't just going to be, you know, the Cowboys every day, even though that would be enjoyable for me in some parts of my personality. So pushing that, oh, there we go. I just reality did.

Reality, this is not very professional, everything that's happening here. Can you just leave the camera someplace and be good with it or? Wait, he's holding his phone. Honestly, Dan, are you serious? I mean, let me see if I can get a tripod. No, I'm just saying, we saw your, we saw your crotch.

And I'm like, I don't think that's what you wanted. Everybody's got that. You know, Dan, that's what you get with me. Everyone has a crotch, it's true. Thank you very, you have to say it. That's your pull quote there. Put it on the poll. Does everyone have a crotch at Leventard's show?

Also, this is a great, cause Tony is always very high energy ever since. Yeah. Since the first day I met him to now. So it's shaking like this. It's like, first day I met him to now. So it's shaking like this is like that's how he is. That's what it's like to be in Tony's presence. Yeah, I mean this is what you're getting right now. I wanted to make time for you guys because like I said, Dan, you've been there for me and throughout many different things we've been there.

We've been through a lot and your family and this is the first I mean the new york times article about the four years ago i said i don't need to talk again publicly it was so gutsy that i don't need to talk to you publicly for a long time but here i have today's all i thank you for that and i'd i really do want people to appreciate this is a story and as a human being because what reality is saying there i will tell you he's as fundamentally decent as anyone in this business everyone who comes on his show the people the reporters were scared and nervous the way that he welcomes them

is the way that a family member would welcome you it's not the way television is he built something purposely war more payable that's not the reputation it might have had because it's sports argument television and they were keeping score but he did build the community and it's really hard to do there like there there aren't many shows there that have a community the way that we have a community where you know your fans and it's because they've lived through some stuff with you it's not just because of the sports stuff the part I'm confused by though Tony and I don't know what happened here is a

business decision I looked at the ratings. So you were number one in, so 18 to 34 key demo, number one, all of television, all of television, 5 p.m. You're regularly outrating First Take, regularly outrating NFL Live, regularly outrating Get Up. Like, why was the, why is the show not continuing a lot that i'd be that way i mean i i think first takes ratings are are good the last couple years and they may have

they may bet beat us on the majority of days uh... i mean i don't i don't look at ratings on the guy who's like a if you build it they will come i feel very confident i i know that that this wasn't that decision i mean so so this is uh, we're all tired to say goodbye to a show at some point. And I recognize what that is.

This is not about that for me. This is about, you know, me knowing that, well, me feeling the audience in the last 24 hours. That's part of it for me. And I mean, I'll say this. We did a story last week. I love Diana Taurasi. I love everything about her.

When she's not dressed for games, she's wearing black leather like me. I love that about her too. And she had this incredible line. I thought it was so great then. When she retired, she said, I'm full and happy. Well, I can still eat, I'm hungry. And I'm happy.

And I know everybody who I work with, they can still eat, everybody can still eat. And there's a lot of food to go around. And that's, you know, but I feel hungry. And I know I'm happy, I'm gonna be happy. But I also wanted, you know, this is why we talked this morning, I'll be like, yeah, okay wanted you know, this is why we talked this morning I the al-qa'l come on and talk to you because it's important for me

to show people that That next day when you get the news that ever you get you still come up and you and you still approach the day However, you want to approach it beef. I was sad yesterday and And I can be full in that feeling of sadness and happiness and I'm still sad today and I can still be happy in other parts of me and I can still enjoy talking about the story we're doing today in the Dodgers when they said Sasaki was dirty and electric and nasty and loud

or whatever the quotes were. And I'm like, that's Black Sabbath, baby, in 1968 when they came out. I'm gonna, that's Black Sabbath, baby, in 1968 when they came out. I'm gonna enjoy, you know, giving a Black Sabbath reference today on the show. Can you explain to the people, though, how unlikely this story is, Tony? Yeah, absolutely. I don't know if my recollection will be a romantic one or not, but Max Kellerman was having a dispute over what was his show that would then become IMAX and there

wasn't a plan for replacing him and so they went and got you who was interning at pardon the interruption down the hallway tell me what I've got wrong here and yeah and the other boy again not just that boy again so I mean how I got PTI is absurd I was a, which is a fundamental part of the show. But I say for all researchers, and I love researchers because, you know, we're doing lifting. And I got hired to do Stap-Boy on PTI, or moved into that position that they just created a week before PTI launched because of the way I was operating with Tony and Mike and Eric and Matt and that type of energy.

But the horn hosting, to be a host of an international television show at age 25, I may have filled in at 24. I got a phone call on a Sunday night. It was the Super Bowl between the Patriots and the Panthers. It was the halftime of Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. And I got a call saying tomorrow we don't have a host, Max is in contract negotiation and might not go this way, it might go that way. You know, can you fill in tomorrow?

So that's really when I took over the show was the day after Patriots beating the Panthers in the Super Bowl and wardrobe malfunction, one of the biggest stories we did, you know, for weeks after that. That's my first show. You know, at that point, I'm young, I'm very green, I'm wearing the only suit I have, and I'm sweating through it, and I don't know how to host a TV show.

I had done sports calling in college, and I had done game calling. I love play-by-play, you know, for Fordham University. This was a dream of mine to host a show like this. This was a dream of mine to work in this capacity, but it came overnight, and I filled in one day, and I filled in the second day, and I had to put on my second tie. And by Wednesday, I was out of clothes,

and I hosted the show as best as I could on a day to day contract, I think, if I remember correctly, for months. I know ESPN, you know, maybe considered other hosts. I know they brought in a dream job contestant, Zachariah Selwyn for a while. I know maybe I never understood why they weren't bringing in Stu Scott, Rich Eisen, Linda Cohen or somebody, because I believed in the show, but, um, but that's how I got the job. I got a phone call the night before my first real day hosting the day of the Superbowl.

Was there any plan? There wasn't really a plan, right? You just had to keep your head down. As I recall, you weren't being paid. There wasn't negotiations. Well, I'm not sure I was being paid. I was definitely being paid a day rate. And I think I was sure as happy and I knew I wanted to stay on PTI. But Eric's ride home said the best advice

I heard at that moment was, was keep your head down and just focus on horn. So I think I took a couple of weeks off PTI and I just did horn for a while. And I learned how to kind of host the show in the way the show was written and constructed at that moment. But my next year or two, while I was working to try to get a long-term contract, and it took probably a year, I would say, respectfully for everybody, I was slowly trying to evolve what the role of the host was, because I didn't want to host a show that I was judged during execution or in maybe the way it was initially, you know,

I think the host was supposed to have the final opinion and I didn't want to really do that. So I wanted to kind of put the panelists in position to prove why their opinions are right and then have some fun with the play of the show. And then of course, we evolved in any number of ways over 22 years with both our crew of people. And I mean, I know you're talking to me right now,

but we have to talk about, you know, Woody Page and Bob Ryan and Bill Plasky and Kevin Blackstone and Tim Kalishev, who did so much of the heavy lifting, Jay Adande all those years, and do all the heavy lifting every day. And of course, what we become, which I'm most proud of, you know? I'm most proud of the heart this show had, but that we introduced to the entire community

in some ways, Mina Khans, who I met many times saying, there's a place for you on TV. And we got to a place where she was comfortable. And Monica- That was Mina's art. Yeah, I know. We did Mina.

And Monica McNutt and Pablo Torre. Sarah Spane was ours. Pablo Torre. What places are they? Mina got to claim her own success. I had real moments where I was tracking video of Balmany doing radio out of maybe it was Toronto the score while he was doing that at North Carolina. Or Sarah Spain. I mean, I knew.

She's ours too. The first time I saw Sarah, I mean, it was her third show and I was thinking, I need to get her on a big ticket debate show we were doing on live, because she was such a force of nature. And it goes on and on. You can keep Sarah by the way.

You can tell me, you can tell me anything you want. I know we had, and our panelists have been incredibly gracious. I'm talking about specifically Woody and Bob and Bill and Jackie and Tim and Bill, as we expanded. That meant one fewer show a week, two fewer shows a week for those incredible Hall of Famers. So not only is that 25, now 30, now 35 year old kid muting them on on international TV But also a new generation is coming in and taking a show away from them two shows away from them and the show

Evolved to a place where it became not the same people every day, you know Tony you named a bunch of amazing Journals amazing people amazing amazing, and it would be unfair for me to ask you who was the best panelist. So I'm going to do the opposite and ask you who was the worst panelist and why was it Stugats? You know, I would certainly not answer that question in any way. It's got to be Stugats.

Stugats for sure. Look at him. Yes, of course. I will give Stugatz credit that he walked into a show that wanted to score him minus 500, and I couldn't. He just made me laugh so much that he had to get some ding ding things. But I will also say only one person

has played a mononucleosis spleen on Halloween. And that was Dugats when he was Sam Darnold spleen, I believe. Or is that? Who had the injured spleen for the New York quarterback? It was Donald. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Howdy folks, it's Mike Ryan. I talk to you about Miller time all the time, but we're in the winter time right now.

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Don Lebatard. There's sunglasses in boxes today. But in my bed in the hospital, ending our lives all the same. Stugats. It's the final nightgown. This is the Dan LeVatar show with the Stugats. Can you tell people because I don't know how you're going to be comfortable discussing this part given that you like, you know, you're, you're a decent person and you're really

happy with the success you have. So I haven't seen vanity. I've seen from you ego, not, not would be ugly but you're responsible with a handful of people for not only changing ESPN but changing sports television discourse really you're in the center of that so how do you how do you regard your legacy there Oh Dan I mean we're gonna have to what what are we doing? I'll come down for a week and hang out with you guys and we'll do a full session. Well, but Tony, you should be proud of yourself. Today you should be proud of yourself. You at ESPN were somebody who changed

the way we were doing things. Yes, I feel that too. I absolutely feel that. And I know our viewers feel that too. And I could talk about that. I can tell you how I processed it yesterday. I think I was listening to, on the Wings of Love radio when I walked out of the meeting I went to

because I wanted to listen to some of that. Or maybe I heard the Sabrina Carpenter song, you know, heartache is one thing, my ego is another. I mean, I'm going through, like I told you, I'm gonna come on with you today because you're family and I'm gonna open up to you. However, I mean, when I come, let's do this. I'll come for a week. I want Jeremy to get out some, some, some keys or some drums. I

want, I want Cody's voice ready. We'll make some music. All right. I want to do that. You got me on that. All right. You know, of course, I mean, me and Pablo got, got it. We're going to chop it up too. Well, we have, we have somebody here who wants to talk to you and Jeremy does as well. We'll get to Jeremy in a second, but let's go to the set of Around the Horn right now, where Izzy Gutierrez joins us now

with whatever Izzy's thoughts are on Around the Horn officially being announced over after 23 years, good job, video. It's almost as if you didn't know you had somebody who was on the show over the course of, well, what just happened? Matrix! Over the course of 16 years. But no, I'm not talking to Tony.

I can talk to Tony whenever I want to. Tony asked me for permission to come on the show today. Okay, I'm talking to Amin here, because Amin asked who the worst panelists of all time were. I'm gonna go back and tell you who the best panelists of all time was. Only one panelist took a Halloween Obama impression and decided to use it throughout the show,

setting the tone for future Halloween episodes forever. Only one panelist spent, where am I, spent seven hours doing fake tattoos on my body becoming Conor McGregor and doing an Irish accent that I'd only practiced on the drive over there, okay? All of this was accomplished because I did it and I was on that show and outside of the old heads, outside of the, you know, the Kalashaws, the Plashkys, the Woody Pages, wins leader, this guy over here, more than Pablo Torre. Yeah.

It's all true, and I was waiting for Israel to pop in because I didn't mention his name specifically. Well, Monty Jones would like a word on who's the biggest panelist in the history of the show. Where was he on probably? You asked me who my favorite panelist is, and I do this bit where I say it's whoever I'm talking to at the moment, or what was my favorite mute,

the next mute, this was my favorite mute. Israel's very important to me. I believe you said that it's Jackie McMullen. I believe- Yeah, I said that last week because I was with her. Yeah. Uh, you know, me and Israel grew up, see now I'm getting emotional,

and I'm 100% happy with this. And again, I wanted to show people, you know, we're riding waves here. We're all every day in TV and the jobs you have at home that aren't in this industry and just in life. You're riding waves, you're surfing, you're going to get knocked over by waves and you get up of course and I'm going to be on TV today and I'll be smiling and you'll know I feel happy and I also feel sad. But I mean, I think of Israel as somebody,

we opened each other up in a lot of ways as the humans that we became and the adults and the men that we became, because we were on TV at very young ages, you know? And you know, Israel, you sent me an email once, 10 years ago, and it changed your life. But it changed my life too, and you need to know that. And it changed how I thought about how I wanted to be

publicly out in the world. Because that was yet another reminder how what we do. I don't need reminders, but I got one there. We have a chance to be public in showing people how to treat other people, how to feel, how to emote. Who watches ESPN around the horn? What's our slogan? To meet people anywhere. But who watch? Young people watch. What is a safe space for young people to emote? Sports. Maybe some young men or young women didn't feel like they're allowed to show emotion

in their younger lives. Oh, don't cry, don't scream. I cried about the Yankees until I was 20, probably, if I was being honest. To save space to show emotion. And then now you could apply that safe space that sports gives you. Well, let's extend it now.

You can show emotion and you show your full self in more real ways and that became something that I wanted to do. I'll just say this real quick, Tony. I was just in Colorado recently and somebody said, hey, you recognize me and said, hey, I grew up on that. I grew up on that show and thank you for doing that. It just made me realize that I grew up on the show.

I grew up because of you and because of everybody else. And we're gonna miss out on that. There's a lot of people that even at our age who still watch the show religiously and are gonna miss what you sort of created and sort of bonding everybody together there. So we're definitely gonna miss you. Yeah, but the word grow,

the word grow works another way too, Israel, right right? I mean things end because they have to end but they end because you have to grow elsewhere right? I mean you have you have to in order to grow you have to move from that space you know? I believe that I mean that that's you know I will tell you this I've told you this Israel Dan I've told everybody you know? I Dan, I've told everybody, you know? I love doing the show. It didn't feel like work. I could have said goodbye, but I want, you know, years ago, they could have said goodbye to the show whenever they wanted, you know?

I understood that. I kept on doing it because I value, you know, what I was doing. And I could have, I was discerning,, you know I could have added the podcast and or the game show that I dreamt about or the Anthony Bourdain style show for sports that I dream about or American Ninja Warrior or the red zone or all these amazing shows that I watch when I'm not watching PTI Or you guys, you know the shows that I watch with my kids. I want to do those things. But I also committed to doing this show and I was happy. I don't have any regrets that I didn't add the second or third or fourth show on. I liked hosting the show,

but I liked writing the show. I liked putting together the show with Aaron Solomon and Josh Bard and Caroline Willett and Jeff Weiner and Tierney Corrigan. That's it. I just named the entire editorial team of Around the Horn, a show that does an episode every day for 23 years. It's five people, you know? If we uncancel the show, can we get you a tripod

for that phone, please? Guys, you're going to get me for a full week in Miami. You guys can be Scorsese. Guys, you're gonna get me for a full week in Miami. You guys can be Scorsese, where you can cinematically shoot it any way you want. I just dropped off three kids at school. I only did two, sorry. My wife dropped off, you know.

But I also dropped off Antonella. I just walked through the streets here, it's 46 degrees, and you got me here. I got a ride around the horn. I got a go to, I mean, this is my busy season. Today's Ash Wednesday, right? So now you just got me on camera without an ad. Oh no.

On Ash Wednesday, I'm going to church. Oh no, that's a first. That's a first. That's a first. I've talked about that publicly too, but that's something I always wanted to be exactly, I'm trying to give a one-to-one ratio I don't advise that for everybody in the industry. There's certainly a place for for people to to to to Dress up any way they like or perform any way they want you know I like I'm a goofball

I'll dress up with anybody, but in the role of that show you know Woody page is being amazing at being the crazy uncle. I want it to be like authentic, you know, that's a bad word because everybody uses that. But I want it to be one to one me. And maybe, you know, I'll be a person who dresses up when I'm in Miami next month, in two months from now. This segment is presented by LinkedIn jobs.

Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash DLS. Yes it is. Perms and conditions apply. Can I do that? I mean, yeah, that sounds like a great opportunity right now. Ernestly, I want to say I grew up on the show and have been a huge fan. It's one of the reasons why I wanted to work in sports

was because I watched this in PTA. We met once in the street. We did. I remember this. And that was when I was like four or five years ago, I think it was maybe right after I started working here. And I remember thinking like, oh my God, that was the coolest thing ever. That Tony Reale knew who I was

just walking down the street in the Seaport. But earnestly, like, thank you. It's been incredible to watch. And I'm really grateful that the show existed when I was growing up, becoming a sports fan and then working in sports media. But on a less earnest note, Stu Gatz's spleen costume, one of the laziest costumes that I've ever seen.

We have a picture of it here. He's just wearing like a red sheet over his head. There it is. One side, one side. He's an emergency substitute. Look at this though. I mean, come on, Sarah Spane. Come on, look at that, though. I mean, come on, Sarah Spain. Come on.

Look at that. Look at Clinton and Tim. You take that screen grab, and that works. And then Logan Roy. Oh, yeah. That was a great one. Logan Roy is the number one. So who knows what a spleen looks like?

But that he would. And I think his first words that show were, let me spleen something to you, Tony. You know? I mean, that's, that's too. Uh, Tony. I wanna thank Tony too for this move at the end of every show when he throws the paper at the.

Yeah! Oh, yes! That's the best. Ah, the best. I do it every camera. Anytime I'm around a camera, I throw paper at it. Yeah, yeah. I'm proud of my 4% success rate, my hit rate, 4%.

I hit one behind the back. It's somewhere a GIF on Twitter. So I'm proud of my 4% success rate, my hit rate, 4%. I hit one behind the back. It's somewhere a gif on Twitter. So I'm proud of that too. Yo, ChickenThon. I've never seen you do that. I'm telling you. Anytime I'm out here. We're going to get you.

We're going to get you. We're going to get you. We're going to get you. We're going to get you. We're going to get you. We're going to get you. We're going to get you. We're going to get you.

We're going to get you. We're going to get you. We're going to get you. We're going to get you. We're going to get you. We're going to get you. What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing?

What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing?

What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing?

What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? We're going to do this. We're going to do this. We've been talking. He's going to come down for a week. We're going to enjoy the holy hell out of celebrating a majestic career. When we're talking about Ash Wednesday, how many consecutive Ash Wednesdays have you? I mean, that would be all of them. All of them. Since you started?

Since you started. Your first year? Yeah, I mean, I wore an ash on PTI when I was that boy. I'm sure of it. So, I mean, I've always, of course, been that person. I go to church on Sundays. I'm, you know. Where do you give up for Lent?

I mean, you gotta start now. I mean, I'm a spiritual person and I believe, and I believe, so that's part of it. He's giving up around the horn for Lent. He's giving up for Lent. Oh, that's a good line. I think someone else has given up, but yeah, I would say, yeah, yeah. That's a Patanos. Oh, no, I mean, I think, else has given up, but yeah, I would say yeah

No, I mean I think um, you know, we'll look we'll we'll get to that that week in Miami and and let's let's see Let's do something really fun. Sorry about that Tony. We muted Dan Tony. Let me ask you something so I was walking in today and And I'm a Catholic so Ash Wednesday is a thing for me. And there seem to be people doing drive by ashes like on the corner. And I was wondering like, can I do drive by ashes? Cause I'm trying to figure out like, this is like a mass at seven, but my daughters go to bed at that time. I support it.

Should I like indulge in drive by ashes or am I cheating? Cause I'm not really doing the whole thing. Like how does this work in your books? I don't know why I'm asking you like, you're like a bishop or something but cardinal reality, what should I do? I'm not Cardinal Pizzabola who is, we've learned about. Have you guys done this bit?

I'm sorry if I missed it, Pierre Battista Pizzabola. No, but we need to talk about, he's apparently in the running to be the next Pope. Unbelievable, all time greatest name, Pierre Battista Pizzabola. Um, you know, I get, I get in trouble. I get in trouble with a couple of my communities, you know, the Italian community wasn't happy with me

when I spoke some things about Columbus, uh, and, and, and my own church isn't happy sometimes when I've talked about how, how I, uh, so, so I, if you're getting an ass, you're doing it right. If it's a drive-by and you have what I will broadly call the primacy of conscience, if I can speak in a catechismistic way for a second... Yeah, I get to say it at the same time too.

I believe in the primacy of conscience. If you believe in your heart that this is the way that you and you will continue to pay it forward in the spiritual way, but yeah, it saves time too, yeah, timing. I don't think, I gotta be honest, I don't think any of that is on the up and up. I don't think you can get-

Oh, there's a church here. They were just standing on the corner doing ashes for anyone that wanted. All right, put it on the, there's art. But then I'm wondering, like, do I need to make a donation and then, like, do I Venmo a church like how does that work? All right Put it put it on the pole at Levitard show does God allow his sacraments on street corners at yeah

It's our show. I just think that you're doing it very hastily if you're not properly honoring God by by treating it as a drive-through Ash-Wednesday situation I believe in any prayer as hasty as it could be still counts as a drive-through Ash Wednesday situation? I believe in any prayer, as hasty as it could be, still counts as a prayer, you know? The boom, boom, boom, sign of the cross, pump it, I mean, you know, if you're doing it, and it takes a second, that's fine. That's a good second you spend. There are words raised for a second.

One more time with you, Tony. Can we just be honest? Just one last time here, just like Jessica, like I grew up watching this show, the first time I ever thought about, hey sports TV seems like it would be something fun, is when I was like 10 years old and my mom turned to me and said, who's that guy, you should try to do that.

And it was you, watching around the horn. And I watched religiously all the time. Our pal just went out and found the police. Oh lights out, Gorilla Radio, there we go. Oh my god, that was amazing so you're worried about my camera angle and now you guys can't keep the lights on we're being assaulted by light, it literally looks like

the heavens are projecting on us right now, but, well that was to show you that, you know one sign of the cross, one egg walk away was enough, or God was like don't do the drive by ash yeah, clearly. And we're still in the air.

I believe I've blasphemed, and that is my comeuppance for threatening God with my blasphemy. That was terrifying. But all that said, Tony, like, I- Even God was like, enough, Jeremy. All right. Fair enough. I was just gonna say, you know what?

I'm gonna power through. Nonetheless, Tony, you were an inspiration to so many different people, including myself, and I was lucky enough to intern with your show and learn so much from the way that you treated people on the staff. It created an environment that I wanted to continue to be a part of.

It's why I aspired to be a part of a show like this, because I knew that Dan had learned so much from the offices that you were a part of in DC and learning from all of the folks who you mentioned before and Josh and Jeff and interning with Caroline. These are amazing people who do amazing work. Thank you so much for being an inspiration for me and I know so many other young people.

Thank you for saying that. Of course, that's on you. You did it all. I remember when your intern application came in. I remember that moment. Did we make a video congratulating you? You did, you made a video. That's one of my favorite things we always did.

It was the best thing in the world, you guys. It was a buy and sell on every intern and they would do buy or sell. I'll tell you what I need to go to confession for, okay? Is that, the only time I get in trouble. Billy, how did this become about Jeremy? I tried to intervene, we couldn't even stop. I waited 32 minutes to do this.

Yeah, so what I get in trouble with at ESPN was giving tours to people on the street who would just recognize me and I'd say come up and see the show and this is where I get in trouble because we didn't go through security and I recognize what that is. And making videos, you know? I would say yes, I would make videos for bar mitzvahs and brises, which, you know, a bar mitzvah video is great because you get to sign off with saying, I hope this one goes better than bris, you know? I love that bit.

And hockey teams winning, and I wanna just give all that to people, you know? But when an intern joins us and we get to send them a video and an email telling them they got the job, that's my favorite thing. I love that one. It's one of the most special moments I'll ever experience.

You still have the video? I do, I still have it. I can find it somewhere. Yeah, if you can find it. I'm sure it's not going into the broadcasting hall of fame. I don't think Jeremy has the video. I don't think he can find it. I at the very least haven't had the video.

I don't remember what you're talking about. Should I be checking? I'm defending myself. What are you saying? You saw it on the screen. I have it, it I have the video. I have the very least of the video. I have the very least of the video. I don't even remember what you're talking about. Should I be a chicken? I'm defending myself. What'd you say? You're a chicken. I have it, it was 2016. It's not that long ago.

And we thought Adrian Brody was wrong with me. I'm really, really young. You're not allowed to talk as one of the chickens. What are you doing? I wasn't sure if I could do what you're not allowed to. You're not allowed to, what are you doing? Tony, good seeing ya. And really, honestly, one of the great stories

in the history of ESPN, one of the great stories in the history of ESPN, one of the longest runs in show history, and better as a human being than he was as a TV host, and he's been one of the best in the history of ESPN. Tony, thank you so much, buddy. We'll see you in a few weeks. See you in a little bit. Thank you guys, I love you all.

All right, bye now. Thank you, Tony. All right. Thank you, Tony. Really sort of petered out there. The Dan Levitard show with StuGots is sponsored by BetterHelp. Who's in your support system? And how have they changed your life? Think about that your favorite leaders, mentors, idols, they don't all have the answers, but they do know when to ask for help. In a world that glorifies hyperindependence, we sometimes forget that we thrive with support. We're stronger, healthier, and more resilient when we have people to lean on.

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