The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 1: What Happened To Aaron Rodgers?

Episode Date: August 12, 2024

Ian O'Connor sticks around to continue our conversation around Aaron Rodgers with details from his new book, "Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers." He shares why Rodgers is well loved around the NFL, how he got Rodgers to chat with him for his book, and his thoughts on Rodgers' fascination with conspiracy theories. Then, farting, Raygun the breaker, and Deion Sanders' contentious relationship with the media. Plus, Mike is a gear head and tells us about the unreal finish in NASCAR this weekend! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Meeting with friends before the show? We can book your reservation. And when you get to the main event, skip to the good bit using the card member entrance let's go seize the night that's the powerful backing of American Express visit amex.ca slash ymx benefits vary by card other conditions apply this is the Don The LeBatard Show with the StuGuts Podcast. The LeBatard Show with the StuGuts Podcast. Ian, after your exhaustive research and you quit your job and you spoke to all these people. Why are you saying it that way? I'm just, I'm asking him a question.

No, but there's some tone in your voice. Well, I'm just wondering, did you get the sense after all of that research that Aaron is going to play 17 games this season? That's all he cares about. Stu gots and listen, I want the Jets in the Super Bowl because I was four years old the last time they were in the Super Bowl. I'm about to turn 60 in two weeks. So I really want to see it. I want it to happen. I know you do as well. I think that the Jets are going to go 11 and 6 this year. I see them in the playoffs as a factor. I see them unfortunately losing the AFC Championship game in Kansas City. But one of these years the Jets are going to win it. It's just like in 2004, I was there when the

Red Sox won it. Okay, their fan base assumed something was going to go wrong and it went wrong for everybody else that year, particularly the New York Yankees. And the Cubs, same thing with their fan base, even going back to the New York Rangers in 1994, those fatalistic fan bases were ultimately rewarded. And I do believe that will happen to the Jets. I think it's possible that will happen this year, but that's asking for a lot.

I think Aaron Rodgers, I would sign up now, Stu Gotts for 14 starts, because I think Tyrod Taylor can win two out of three. Just as long as the injury is in the middle of the year, I just want him to be healthy for the playoffs. I just didn't know Tyrod Taylor was there. That was the huh. Ian, so can you tell me in, when you write a book like this,

how does this come together? How did he agree to it? Were you already down the path of writing it and then you got him to agree? I always want to make sure the subject hears it from me first. I don't want the subject ever hear I'm doing an unauthorized biography from somebody else. So when he was traded first press conference at the Jets in Florham Park, New Jersey, I had obviously alerted their PR chief, Eric Gelfand, that I was about to start this project.

And he arranged for me to talk to Aaron for a few minutes after the press conference. And I explained to him my process and I said, do you have any questions about that process? And he said, yeah, I have a question. Do you plan on interviewing me for this book? And I said, well, of course I'd love to, but that's up to you. And we went months and months and I was making requests.

I contacted him directly, his agent, obviously I was going through the Jets a lot. And I handed in the manuscript in January without him and I assumed he was not going to cooperate. And then I got a message in February from the Jets that Aaron's now willing to talk to you, to see you. So I flew out to Malibu. Obviously, we had to reopen the book. I had a bomb scare on my plane, by the way.

I got diverted to Chicago for seven or eight tense hours. That wasn't fun. But got to Malibu. His backyard is the Pacific Ocean. We sat on a bluff overlooking the ocean, and talked. And so that interview helped the book, definitely. And I appreciate it.

Listen, I could have used 15 hours with him, but he wasn't there to tell me his life story. He agreed to, at the end of my process, to basically let me check facts against his memory, his beliefs, and that's what we did for two hours. And where did he most object to something you were presenting as a fact? I would say the family estrangement, and I thought that as much as I, and I interviewed his parents, and they had never really spoken about it to any length or any degree, his brothers didn't talk to me, but I talked to some of his relatives, his grandmother, his aunts and others. And for instance, he didn't go

to a wedding of his college roommate and teammate and good friend. He was in the wedding party. And at the last second, although he refutes this, he contacted the, his name is Francis Blay Miesa and told him, I'm not going Miesa and told him I'm not going to be at the wedding. I'm not going to be in your wedding party because you invited my family and I asked you not to. And I said Aaron that's how do you do that to the guy? It's his wedding. He gets to decide who who's invited and who isn't. I'm sure he could seat you at a different table but I'm going to criticize you in the book for making that decision because that day was about him. That was not about you.

And you got to rise above whatever issues you have in your family. I'm going to criticize your brothers for other things they did and perhaps your parents as well. But I just want you to know upfront if you want to counter that. And he did. He said, listen, I understand your opinion, but it's wrong. And you're uneducated on the complexity of the situation. And so it got tense a couple of times,

but frankly, I've always found him to be, and I didn't know him, but just being in his presence at some big games that he played, I think he's the best interview in the NFL. He's thoughtful. Even if you don't agree with a lot of what he's saying, he is a reporter's dream to cover, at least in season. He's available, he's thoughtful, he's saying, he is a reporter's dream to cover, at least in the season. He's

available. He's thoughtful. He's engaging. And so, yeah, I would say that the family estrangement issues were where it got a little tense outside of that. The COVID admission, really, that he made a mistake by saying, I've been immunized. I found that to be pretty revealing. But it was an interesting and fascinating couple hours and really all my months in researching his life were really among the more challenging of any book that I've done, including Belichick. I actually found this project to be more of a challenge in Belichick. Because? Belichick, there's, even though he's a mysterious figure, there was a sameness about him as

a character throughout his coaching career. And I thought Aaron was more of a moving target. And he was one of the good guys. And then he became the ultimate villain in the NFL. And I handed in the book without him. And then suddenly he wants to talk to me. I reopen the book. And then he went on after I talked to him and didn't have access to him anymore

on some podcast talking about more conspiracy theories. And I had to keep reopening the book and adding that. You had the JFK Jr story. You had the CNN Sandy Hook story. And it was just a lot of moving parts with him and and i found him to be a little more elusive than belichick take me through those controversies you just mentioned how does he really feel about nine eleven sandy hook all of those things

well he his uh... obviously said what he said about sandy hook and that he he didn't have that belief in that's the one conspiracy theory that if he had, that is unforgivable. You don't have to be a parent to understand that one's different. And his friends that I talked to said they had never heard him share that conspiracy theory. And listen, that was odd. I think Dan, we go back his old newspaper guys. I can't remember an outlet ever holding a story

for 11 years and then running it. And I'm a fan of Jake Tappers, but I don't know how CNN has that story with a public figure in 2013 and publishes in 2024. I just don't understand that. But yeah, that one would be unforgivable. And I think that some of, listen listen, with conspiracy theories, it started with him in high school when he was a sophomore and he did a project on the assassination of JFK.

And he got fascinated with conspiracies back then. And he read up on this vile project called Operation Northwoods, which really was hatched by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the 1960s. And it was a plan for the American military to attack American military and civilian targets, blame it on Castro, as justification to start a war with Cuba. Thankfully, President Kennedy nixed it. So what the hell is this? We're not doing this. But I think Aaron reading up on that and other things, he sort of came to believe that with every government crisis, there's an Operation Northwoods behind it,

which obviously isn't true. I will say that if he embraces seven conspiracy theories now, it's probable that one or two of those will be proven true. Some conspiracy theories are true. It's just that a number of his definitely are not. You mentioned a couple of the places where you're going to be critical. That wedding story, COVID. Where else are you most critical in the book?

Well, listen, as a football player, you look at his postseason record, he's 11 and 10. player, you look at his postseason record, he's 11 and 10. And I think Mahomes and Rogers are separated from everyone else in history by their talent. So I think there were some moments where he did not come through, particularly the NFC championship game against Brady and the Buccaneers where he had an opportunity to get that game into overtime

and couldn't even gain a yard on first and goal. And you figure Brady played terribly in that game, but he would have found a way to get that ball in the end zone and get the two-point conversion. So I do think there was an intangible maybe lacking with Rodgers that Brady had. So it's stunning really that the Packers could not find a way to win multiple rings with him. And though I do believe most of the blame goes with the fact that he had Mike McCarthy and not Bill Belichick. He didn't have the greatest offensive coordinator of his generation like Brady did. And his special teams units let him down. Defenses let him down. If they recover

an on-site kick in 2014, he gets to the second Super Bowl in a year where he beat Brady and Belichick in the regular season. So there are obviously mitigating factors here, but there were times when he could have made big plays in the postseason and he did not. And so that's an area where I am critical of him as well. His name is Ian O'Connor. He's a New York Times bestselling author. The name of the book is Out of the darkness the mystery of Aaron Rogers

We all had the same reaction about a minute into that answer, which is we heard a fart Yeah, that can also be described as out of the darkness and we think it's your chair We don't think it was actually you but since you're not afraid of asking If since you are someone what do you mean coward? I mean just ask him if he farted All right I'm gonna tell you that. If since you are someone, what do you mean coward? I mean just ask him if he farted. I'm gonna ask, all right. From one journalist to another. I was gonna set it up with hard hitting questions. I do have a squeaky chair here,

but I can assure you that did not happen. Okay, that's fine. I'm not a taster for that. The denial is unconvincing you. Whoever denied it supplied it. We will conduct our own investigation shortly to play the sound for the audience and let them decide. I'm promising the audience though

that if this man is writing the book, the book is good, it is thorough, it is exhaustive, and it is worth your time. This is not something that is just being to, you know, forgive the phrase, farted out. Like he's working hard on making sure that this is properly vetted and reported. That's my book.

That is correct uh... can you tell me uh... who was the most interesting person you talk to in who did you find most interesting a revelatory irons yeah he was a good answer perfect i don't buy two copies

you're not going to best interview in the. And I found that to be the case. It was a very intriguing two hours that I spent with him. Again, I wish it were five hours, but no, I've always thought and found him to be from a distance, the most fascinating figure in the league. A lot of people hate him, but there are a lot of people who love him too. And so, yeah, talking to him about a very sensitive issue. Listen, I come from a big Irish Catholic family. So I'm a veteran of family strife to some degree, not to his degree, but his willingness to address some very sensitive topics,

I appreciate it. I appreciate the fact he didn't owe me anything and he sat down with me for for those two hours It's an unauthorized biography. He had no control over content or anything else And so not only me anything but granting me At that time was very much appreciated It did make it a a better book and one thing too is he understood that I had to write about his family issues and I know that's something that not a lot of athletes would have accepted. I said, I

just can't do the story of your life and leave this out. Do you understand that? Do you want to debate that? Do you want me to explain it to you why that's the case? He said, no. He goes, I understand that you have really no choice but to do this he wasn't happy about it he wished that I wouldn't write about it but I did appreciate the fact that he understood it because I know athletes who would not have understood that point. Who finished second then to Aaron Rodgers in most interesting person you talked to? Rick Rigsby his junior college coach at Butte College. He's like a Charles Barkley figure. He's not afraid to, there are a lot of people out there afraid to talk about Aaron Rogers.

That also made this a difficult project and maybe more difficult than my Belichick book. But he wasn't. He'll tell stories on Aaron all day and not back away from it. And he saved his career really because as you probably know, he didn't have a single division one scholarship out of high school. And as the local Juco coach, he was sitting, he was living a few houses away from Rogers, walked over to his house, that was his recruiting visit,

and basically sold Rogers on a vision of, I can give you the platform to get you to a Division I school, believe in me, and he did. So Craig Rigsby is a guy that if you ever had him on the air, he would light it up for you. He's just, again, he's like a Charles Barkley figure and Aaron can't control him. So I actually, when I had that conversation with Rogers

at his Jets press conference he actually brought Rigsby up and he said listen this guy never lets the facts get in the way of a good story so when you talk to him you might want to keep that in mind so of course immediately I said I got to talk to this guy and he was a coup he really was. Ian through the process of doing this book did you get any sort of sense of what Aaron's relationship with Brett Favre is like? It's gotten better, Stu Gotts, over the years. And listen, Favre treated him in a way early on, even his parents told me and others close to Aaron. It really affected Aaron. And so

Rogers learned from that and he treated Jordan Love in a way that he was not treated by Brett Favre. And I don't know if Aaron's got enough credit for that. And so I think that right now, Favre and Rogers are in a much better place certainly than they were in in 2005 and 2006. And I think Favre saw what happened to Rogers and Rogers got a better appreciation of what happened to Farve when he was a young player that they came together on that front as well. Ian, good seeing you again and I will tell the audience he has my heartiest endorsement

because he tackles the good stuff and he does it in a way that's old fashioned and thorough. Good seeing you, Ian. Thank you for being on with us. Hey, my pleasure's always, Dan. Thanks, guys. A lot has changed over the years, listening audience. Hey, it's Mike Ryan. One thing that hasn't, the great taste of Miller Lite.

Now, you know, over the course of our history doing this show, Miller Lite's kind of been there for the vast majority of it, and I have been a very public-facing fan of the beverage. Why? Well, that's been up for debate for a long time, pretty much since 1975. But one thing that is not up for debate? The undebatable quality and great taste of Miller Lite. The fact that it is only 96 calories. This is a beer that strips everything away that you don't need and holds on to what matters most. Less filling, great taste, a light beer that tastes like beer.

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Don Lebatard. I don't like Smutty either. Stugats. Women stay home in the kitchen where they belong. This is the Don Lebatard Show with the Stugats. Chris Cody, as the video team concluded its thorough library investigation that would allow us to discern whether or not award-winning New York Times bestselling author Ian O'Connor indeed farted during the Aaron Rodgers interview. We have the sound. Are you ready for it? The sound, which way are you leaning? Do you not wanna contaminate the jury pool?

You don't wanna? I wanna let the people decide. All right, let's see. Physically he was, I think. I mean, come on, what are we doing there? Physically he was, I think. I mean, that's a fart. Ian O'Connor, salute to you, brother.

You are my good brother and personal friend, but you, sir, are a farter. Physically he was, I think. Blamed it on the chair. I blamed it on the chair. I gave him the out because he denied it pretty vigorously. Let's hear it again because Tony was the only one that reacted to it.

I saw both Tony's eyebrows go up. Physically he was, I think. Classic. I heard it, I was just trying to rise above, but you did have to acknowledge it. But his eyebrows went up, Tony. I mean, our audience wouldn't have gotten, wouldn't have let us get away with not acknowledging

that that appeared in the middle of the interview. Life. We should get him back and play it for him. I mean, seriously, he can't deny it after hearing it. Let's get him back on and just play it for him and just help him understand that if he is buried in circumstantial evidence there's no one who's gonna hear that and say it's not a fart that is not a chair it might be might be somebody came in and was playing the trombone in the back of the

room sounds like a wind instrument it is a wind instrument physically he was out of the darkness name of the book out of the darkness is where that sound came from. I think. Get him back on. I want to accuse the investigative journalist. I want to conduct our own investigation. It was a very smooth release though. Like he's talking and then it comes out and he's just onto the next word.

Like there's no hiccup. Well it's because he didn't actually fart. There's some other explanation, but we are now accusing him as a show of farting. Cause it's a fart. Speaking of farting, I have to pay homage to the most brilliant Olympic athlete I have ever seen in my entire life.

My sister, Ray Gun, from Australia. Thank you. The break dancing machine. Oh my god you ma'am get the salute of the day. Yes she lost 54 to nothing. She lost all three of her matches. Wait that lady didn't win? The internet fooled me. No she was terrible. I saw the best tweet I saw on the subject is she just did a breaking routine That is what my five-year-old does when she says watch this and then does it on the Routine

Gotta tell ya I just flatly got it wrong when it came to breaking Everyone was excited that breaking was in the Olympics. I thought it was gonna be awesome It wasn't. It wasn't at all. Now, unfortunately for her, she's a face of it and seems like she's being a pretty good sport about it. But no, it was pretty whack. I didn't like it at all.

Bad. I mean, at some point she just did what was called the T-Rex because it's not breaking. It's just, yeah, it wasn't breaking. To hit the kangaroo on him. How did we get from a fart to break dancing? I mean, that was an amazing transition. A breaking wind.

Yeah, I like that. Need to say that, though. How that works. Thank you, Chris Cody. You have found your executive producer, Wheelhouse. This is exactly how it is that you're supposed to be using sound around here. I don't know if all of you saw

Dion's contentious controversial press conference with the local media. Let's not get carried away there, Chris. I know you're gonna enjoy that. You just got the compliment, take the compliment, man. Just take the compliment. Put it away for a minute. Chris, see if you, and I know,

I understand what you descend from, okay? See if you can show restraint. I don't think you can, yeah. I think you're gonna fail at it. But see if, unlike your father, at some point you can just show a modicum of restraint. I wanted you to hit it again there. I mean, that was the setup, dude.

You threw them off, I mean. You were supposed to. I did it in the middle of the setup. Yeah, but I didn't. I mean, that was the setup, dude. You threw them off. You were supposed to. I did it in the middle of the setup. Yeah, but I didn't want it in the middle of the setup. I wanted you to work with me, not against me. I wanted to play music with you, when you're the trombone player. Every time I pause, you make the sound.

We make music together. It's in order. It's in sync. That's the way you do it. sync that's the way you do it that's not the way you do it Dion Sanders is boycotting local media's to gots or at least CBS yeah but just no but not just CBS he was contentious with a few different people the season hasn't started obviously when you raise the bonfire to this kind of burn there are a lot of things that can swallow decades gets swallowed in it and i'm not even putting this on dn i'm saying everything d on his represented

for thirty years invites this and everything d on his represented for thirty years fights this way against it. He does not care that he is going to have to go face first into the buzzsaw. He's been doing that for 30 years in America. So he does not, I will, having watched the entirety of his career, I do worry about his stamina for this, because the America he's been fighting for 30 years hasn't been allowed to be as brazenly racist as the America we are presently in.

I think the next Republican candidate should run on a platform of make racism subtle again because Dion is certainly used to this and he welcomes these fights and he does well in these fights but he does well in these fights when he is singularly banking on his confidence in his skill which is otherworldly at playing, I don't know if it's that, at coaching. He thinks it is though. He thinks given the time that he will be a great coach. And why would you expect him to think any different it's not that i expect him to think any differently is that i know where his confidence came from stacking successes on top of the course as a skilled athlete who has better than

everybody he is now not in a world where however good he is at coaching he's going to be better than everybody the way he was is a hall of fame football player where no one could do anything against him he was the best cornerback close the position you may argue for Daryl Green or someone else my answer is there Dion Sanders most electric player in the game Dion Sanders special teams Dion Sanders the skill level rewarded the arrogance the arrogance was born because of the skill level he takes that into coaching that skill level. He takes that into coaching. That skill level against the people that he's coaching against, there's not that big a gap,

whatever it is that you make of his coaching. And so it's harder to cash the checks. And he's older, he's he's had, you know, his his feet have been amputated, correct? That's why he- Part of it. Toes, yes. That's why he walks the way he does. I hope he has the stamina for the fight the way that it will reveal itself now.

But here is some of the contentious back and forth that he is having before the games have started, before the winnings started, and before the losing has started. That's the end of that question, I guess. Next guy. Eric Christensen with CBS Sports Colorado. Tyler.

I'm not doing nothing with CBS. Next question. Joe Regal, My Island Sports. Ain't got nothing to do with you. It's above that. Ain't got nothing to do with you. I got love for you. I appreciate and respect you.

Ain't got nothing to do with you. They know what they did. I'm here at Denver, not national. You are who you are. CBS is CBS. All right. I respect you. I just told you that I'm looking you in the eye as a man. I respect you. I got love for you. But what they did was foul. I'm not sure what they did. I've read some about it being about where he was ranked, but I'd like where he was ranked by CBS and some rankings on Second worst coach in the conference as a five dollar fine for you. What did I do? Computer it's no it's not was not so good. Don't do that. Yes. That's a windows sound. Thank you. Whose sound was that? No, was that you Chris Cody was that executive producer Chris Cody?

No, was that you Chris Cody was that executive producer Chris Cody Who was it what it what what got Dion upset do we know the facts of this as opposed to me speculating on partially read Information no one really knows he says they know what they did and that would be news to everybody else I think awful announcing tried to piece together some to piece together some theories. What could it be? Could it be the ranking? Could it be a story that they ran on one of his sons? It was pointed out that a local affiliate has a Deon Sanders show, so no one really knows what this problem is. It would have helped contextually for that other than just be a bad look. Yeah, I don't think though, Stugats, that Deon Sanders' mind, I think he's got a higher pain threshold than most for, yeah, there's gonna be bumpy headlines.

I've been dealing with it for 30 years. I don't care. I'm gonna set all my own boundaries and I do not care how it is that you react to me setting all my own boundaries. You mentioned that he doesn't mind putting his face in the buzzsaw. Who put this buzzsaw here?

Like, this is just a normal, he was asked a question about Aflac earlier on. It's a normal light press conference and it was made awkward by Dion himself. No one saw this coming. No one even understands where the beef came from. But Dion's gonna do it his way though, right? He's a gack. If the man don't want to answer the question, he ain't gonna answer the damn question. If they don't offend him in a certain way. Well, there wasn't a question though. I'm saying, but whatever it was

with CBS he has it still in his mind so whatever it is we don't know so he's sticking to his guns the only thing I would say is that's a national story don't let it trickle down to the local beat writer that you like you know that you're sitting here acknowledging hey I like you but you're with CBS you are what you are you can make whatever your rules are for this. I will simply tell you that Deion Sanders has earned, in his mind, which is the one that's controlling his behavior, the right to behave how he behaves

authentically at all times. Sure. Without caring what the optics of it are. I know. Without caring how uncomfortable it makes anybody, and without caring where it is that it tramples journalists whose feelings might get hurt because they behave or think of how things are presented differently than he does.

Of course he has that right, but we have the right to respond, to react to what it is we see. That has a bit bad for Dion's's business though at any point in his career And it's not going my point is he's going to continue to invite Whatever it is that is because he doesn't care how high the bonfire Flies because he's always ended up winning at the end of whatever it is that all the burning of that is well I was gonna say he has to win, right? You need to start winning.

He, you know, when he coached at Jackson State, first season was OK. Second two seasons, I think he was like 24 and three. Right. Like he was really good. That team was really good. No, it's going to wear thin at Colorado, Dan, unless he starts winning. Unless Colorado only cares about having Dion as their coach. Still got losing., wears thin everywhere. He's got three years either way. He's gonna do it his. When you're hiring for your small business, you want to find quality professionals

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That's linkedin.com slash prep. Post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Don LeBretard. You know how these late season games are? We don't know. It's a big game for the Knicks. We have absolutely no idea how Boston will play.

I don't know who they'll play, who they won't play. Stugats. Okay. All right, that's fine. That's an excellent promotion. You know, I love that. That's great. That's it. I don't know who they'll play who they won't play Stu guts. Okay That's an excellent promotion. You know, I love that. That's great. Oh, that's it. That's perfect advertising That was a shitty sales job this is the done libertar show with a Stu guts There's two gods. Mike, where's your gear head? Where's your gear head? Why are you not wearing your gear head if you, uh,

Am I supposed to wear it at all times? I mean, I'm a gear head perpetually, but I didn't know. No, no, but I had just talked to you. As soon as the microphone started to come on, I said I wanted to talk to you about the NASCAR Cookout 400 finish, and if we're doing that, you need to be wearing your gear head. And you can't just leave the gear head in the back. The gear head has to be something that's worn, because we have not been a show historically that talks about auto racing unless it's Jessica doing it as quickly as possible.

Our fans- Motorsport. unless it's Jessica doing it as quickly as possible. Our fans- Motor sport. Our fans probably aren't fans of motor sport the way that you've become a fan of motor sport over the last four months. Yeah, I'm about this life, as you can see. I also been there, done that, bought the hat. Okay, yeah, huge race. NASCAR is back from the Olympic break

and it wasn't without fireworks, a Cookout 400 in Richmond. This is what is considered Denny Hamlin's home track. Now in NASCAR, they've introduced not too long ago the the playoff system. And basically you can get an automatic spot in the playoffs if you win a race. Outside of that, it's all determined by points. Austin Dillon driving the very familiar number three car that Dale Earnhardt made famous is very low in the rankings. Basically the only shot that he had at getting into the playoffs was by

winning this race. He had a bit of bad luck in front of him. There was a crash that he navigated around but caused a caution with under three laps to go in the race. What does that mean? Well, NASCAR said we don't want races ending under caution So they've introduced overtime which is three laps No matter what happens out there three laps so we can race to a finish, but it also forces a restart Austin Dillon is really bad at restarts. I think the analytics suggest he's the worst at restarts So he's there in the restart Den Denny Hamlin behind him, Joey Logano, who's pretty good at resorts right next to him. Joey Logano has a real good restart. So that leads us to the end of the race. This is courtesy of USA Network. NBC's coverage has been

stellar. Great commentating here as someone calls the shot of what's going to happen. Remember, Austin Dillon needs to win this race to have a shot at the playoffs. If he wins, automatically enters. So what does he do? What's the strategy after a bad restart? We take it away. One more time around for Lugano, the white flag in the air. If Dillon gets to him, there will be contact. He can't do it in one and two. Lugano looks

He can't do it in one and two. Logano looks back. He has a car length now. Joey Logano through three and four for the final time. There's the contact. He does get to him. The 11th minute. Hamlin's pulling ahead. He pushes Hamlin out of the way.

Whoa, holy shit. None of that should be allowed. Rubin is racing. Dan, there is no rule against this in NASCAR. So, we're going to have to see what happens. We're going to have to see what happens. We're going to have to see what happens. We're going to have to see what happens.

We're going to have to see what happens. We're going to have to see what happens. We're going to have to see what happens. We're going to have to see what happens. We're going to have to see what happens. We're going to have to see what happens. We're going to have to see what happens. We're going to have to see what happens. Oh, holy shit! None of that should be allowed! Robin is ricin'! Dan, there is no rule against this in NASCAR. So, the dude did what he had, and credit to the commentary team, they're like, well, he's just gonna push him out of the way. Now, I've heard audio of the spotter that just goes like this, I swear to God.

This is me quoting directly from the audio that I heard from the spotter. Wreck him, wreck him, wreck him wreck him wreck him. Yeah So if you see like in that highlight He gets legano out of the way and legano was properly pissed We'll get to that audio in a second because he had a fair enough lead there Austin Dylan had a bad restart The only way Austin Dylan could win this race was by wrecking legano But then on top of that Hamlin Hamlin, who gets by free and clear, Dillon runs into him and runs him off. Now, he wasn't able to finish in the top three. NASCAR has

since changed that. It has been reported that NASCAR is reviewing everything that happened here because it's a little unfair. A guy that has no shot at the playoffs can just wreck you on purpose. So here's Joey L Logano, and you'll hear some boos because Joey Logano isn't the most popular driver either. But Austin Dillon was interviewed first, and he's like, yeah, I don't feel great about it, but woo hoo! And he's there with his family, it's a great deal for him.

Here's Joey Logano after the race. I was shaking, there's no doubt about it. He's four car lengths back, not even close. Then he wrecks the 11 to go along with it, and then he can go up there and thank God race. Unbelievable. I get bumping runs. I do that. I would expect it. But from four car lengths back, he was never going to make the corner. And then he wrecks the other car. He wrecks the 11 to go with it. So what a piece of crap. So what's, what's fair game moving forward? How do you race him next week or in the playoffs?

Wait and see. So like the wait and see answer is like he has to do the math, like David Samson, he has to do the math real time. So normally everybody on the circuit is pissed at him. Primarily Ligano and the guys that were in the wreck with him, Denny Hamlin. Denny Hamlin's got a weird situation. I actually don't really know how it's allowed because he's got a very clear conflict. He doesn't race for the team that he co-owns with Michael Jordan.

Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, famous drivers for his team there. Denny Hamlin's not racing for that team. But Reddick and Bubba Wallace were backing him up too. This was a record for chicken shits over the course of a broadcast that was carried out over there. But yeah, what exactly do you do?

This guy's in the playoffs now, and you're gonna hurt, he doesn't really have a shot to win even though he's technically in the playoffs. You're gonna prove him a point and take yourself out of the race, potentially. Austin Dillon worked within the rules of the sport. This is what sets NASCAR apart from

the more refined motorsport across the pond, which is, yeah, this is legal. The rules say I can just run you off the road to win. And look, I'm a fan of the Intimidator, and I gotta tell you, watching the three-car do that did bring back some old feels, Dan, but the Intimidator was never last in the standings, desperately needing to do this as a move to remain relevant. This is kind of a bad look, and NASCAR is looking into it.

There is a slight chance, I doubt it, but there is a slight chance they overturned the official results of this, and Denny Hamlin would probably get the win if they retroactively made him second. This is exactly how it is that five-year-olds would do this with toy cars, except they're going 200 miles an hour. If you believe that most social settings that you're in are still high school, no matter your age, 50 year olds, you're in social settings, in are still high school, no matter your age, 50 year olds, you're in social settings, it's all high school, everything is high school. If you believe that,

combined with if you believe that men of all sorts evolve more slowly than women, so largely your 50 year old friends are still kind of 18 year olds in some ways. That sport at the end of a race is the best of all that testosterone nonsense, which is I'm in fourth place and I can't get there. I know what I'll do. And then just wreck them, wreck them, wreck them. F you. Yeah. Three in the playoffs. It is the same thing that heads out to sunrise on Sunday and watches the monster trucks that were here this weekend. It's just sort of like, yeah, I can go fast.

Dwayne Johnson making a Monster Jam movie. That was just announced at D23. A lot of great announcements, especially for adults at like Disney World. You gotta get a Villains Land at Magic Kingdom. I wanted to ask you guys what was happening with monster trucks because they were in town this weekend It's better on baseball and football seasons on football fields. Yeah, I hate it inside the arena

They don't really do much and it's just like extra loud. That's not true monster jam Everyone knows the true monster jams at a football stadium But what is Pluto doing as a channel where they have a monster truck channel, they have a Tosh channel, they have, like the monster truck thing seemed, it felt to me like something that might be getting smaller now. Yeah, I love fast channel networks like Pluto. We're on a fast channel on DKN, on Samsung TV Plus.

I have it set as my default, so whenever I'm not playing CFB 25, it automatically switches over. Great interview you had with Chris Fowler. Really enjoyed that, Dan. Got an opportunity to see it. It also lets me keep an eye on Mystery Crate, which is normally used to just talk shit about me,

as if I don't listen. Well, now I listen. But I love- And he was a part of Mystery Crate this week. If you haven't listened to Mystery Crate, the one and only came through. Not only was- We reviewed Sugar. Now, lest you no, not only one. We review sugar.

Now lest you think that I'm- We violent, we spoiled it. Lest you think that I'm not listening to Mystery Crate to find out what you guys are saying about me as well, all of you, you ruined sugar for me. We gave you warning. I have been three episodes in and I keep falling asleep during the fourth episode,

trying to get to the sixth episode that you now have ruined for me because you've told me what it is that I don't have to watch for. I ruined it for you. Imagine how I felt after watching episode six. It was ruined for me as a whole. But now I kinda dig it, honestly, because it's what I remember about the show.

Otherwise, if it would've just told its story and just been cool and noir, I would have been like, all right, cool, maybe I don't need to see a second season. Now I kinda do. You ruined sugar for me. I was trying, I was fighting through trying. I think your nutritionist did.

You can't ruin sugar. Salute to our friends at Max, too, but dragons, get it together. Put it on the poll, please, uh, dragons get it together. Put it on the poll please at LeBotardShow. Can you ruin sugar at LeBotardShow? Summer's the best time to run the way you want. Dial it up with new challenges and programs and bring your workouts with you to make the most of outside sunny days.

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