The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Local Hour: Greg Kills His Horse

Episode Date: February 25, 2026

"5 Words: We are the New York Knicks." "That's 6 words." Zaslow is exhausted by this Heat season, Tony tells the story of a time he almost died at the hands of El Diablo, Greg takes a trip to see Eagles, and Dave asks a group of Dolphins fans to imagine they're Dolphins fans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the Dan Levitar show with the Stucats podcast. Just when I'm like about ready to really sink my teeth into this heat team and start to believe that they can do something and even fake excitement about it. You know, you've won three in a row. You're going into Milwaukee. And I get it. Milwaukee's had a good February. Whatever. You're going into Milwaukee.

you got a chance here to beef up the record a little bit. And then you have that stinker of a fourth quarter last night. And I'm just reminded how completely average this team is. Like that was frustrating last night. Go to Milwaukee. Beat the stupid bucks. Get me a little bit excited here, you know? And you had that kind of performance.

And like, I can't get wrapped up in it. Yeah, disappointing loss for sure. Definitely disappointing. They couldn't get any stops on the defensive end. kind of from the beginning of the game. Like they just really weren't as physical as they usually are defensively. I mean, were we up 12 at the beginning of the fourth? Early fourth?

They got up eight. They got up eight at the beginning of the fourth quarter. And then it was back-to-back threes in the span of about 15 seconds that forced to time out. And the frustrating part down the stretch was like not only could the heat not get a field goal. They were getting to the line. But they just could not stop Milwaukee. And that wasn't even a product of personnel. It was their starters on the floor.

Milwaukee just kept spamming the same play over and over again. They got hot and the heat couldn't make threes, didn't make their free throws. They were up two with, I think, like, two minutes left, and Andrew Wiggins missed two free throws. And they couldn't close it out. And it was a really disappointing loss because you want to continue that momentum. Like, if you have to pick a win this week between Milwaukee and Philly, it's obviously Philly because that's the team you're chasing. But you want to continue what was happening if you're going to try to get yourself excited. about a run. Didn't you say earlier this week, don't let them win two this week? I did? Because I said I would

be insufferable. I didn't say they were going to do anything. So like, are we, don't let them win one now? We're good. No, we're good. No, we're good. No, we're good. Congratulations. You should actually be celebrating. Jeremy, when you say that they couldn't stop anybody in Milwaukee, remember, Janus is not playing. They couldn't stop Kevin Porter Jr. They couldn't stop Ryan Rollins. They couldn't stop Bobby Porter. That Ryan Rollins, man. Good player. Good player. And they couldn't stop Kyle Kuzma. Those are the guys that we're talking about Kyle Kuzma. He couldn't stop.

He was hot to start the game. No, I mean, look, look, they, the, the two of them between Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr. were both really, really good last night. But it was more the defensive scheme. Like, they just didn't, the heat did not play well. They didn't hit threes. They turned the ball over a lot. They played poorly defensively.

And they lost the game to a team that's now won seven of their last nine and is, I don't want to hear about the bucks playing well. That's what I didn't even finish my sentence. Me and him walked in this morning. He's like, the bucks are playing. playing well. I was like, they suck. Okay, but they are playing well. I mean, is that team suck?

That team sucks. Yeah, but they're playing well. And it's a matter of where you meet teams at what time. You go on the road. You lose to a team. It's not a good loss. Dave, you know about that team sucking? I didn't try to say it was a good loss. Buck suck. Yeah. He knows.

No, I get it. All I was trying to finish the sentence was saying, they're playing well enough to maybe get that 10 seed and let Janus have an opportunity to get to the play in, which would be kind of fun. I think we learned something from yesterday to today. Greg Cody showed up still with the goatee basically accepting the praise of

Sid our guest yesterday Zaz goes against the man in the mirror by wearing a hat. I thought you just declared yesterday that when you're in the king's chair and you treat it with respect. Yes, what happened? And act like Kingpin. Show up bold. Maybe

maybe I didn't like everyone laughing at me. All right. Is that so bad? King Kong. A little self-conscious. And maybe I didn't realize that Sid was being facetious when he was complimenting my goatee. He wasn't.

I don't think he was. No, that's a good go-tee. 15 years younger, Greg. I know, but. See, that part's a little bit facetious, 15 years younger. Like, what's you trying to tell you there? Well, he said 18. No, when I listen to it back, which I do all the time.

You listen to it back. Jack. I listen to it back. Jack! Ask him how many times he listens to his own podcast throughout the week. Oh, the Greg Cody show? You listen to your podcast back as well? I listen to it twice every week.

Why? Through different ears, Dad, talk it. Why? I'm going to tell you why. I listen to it. First of all, I listen on 1.5. So I listen quickly. I listened to it back the first time.

I've never done that, by the way, with anything I listen to. People say they do that, and that it's a great little tip. Well, should. I do advocate for listening back to yourself periodically and with some distance. Don't do it immediately after you finish the show. I'm a big one. Point five guy. The reason is the first time I listen to it back, I try to listen as a listener. Like I don't listen to it critically. I'm like, okay, what is the listener hearing? Is he enjoying it? Is it funny? Is it good?

And do you do this right after you record? Right after it comes out? Yeah, generally. It comes out every Monday. I generally hear it Monday. And then the next day, I listen to it critically. Like what did we miss? What should we have done? Critical year. Yeah, and that's what I do. And then the third time, I listen to the YouTube version. The third time. I watch the YouTube. Now, Greg, I'm with you on this 100%. I will listen to Cinephobe every time it drops.

Now, the difference is our episodes drop like weeks after we recorded it. So everything is kind of on a delay. So I do have some distance. But I will listen. And I listen at one time speed because I want to know. Are you as a listener or are you as a producer? A little bit of both. I said you could kill two birds there.

I don't know why my dad does him. Two different listens. It's a mindset. So because I have some distance, though, it's easier to do that. Because when I'm listening, it's like, I don't even remember what we're talking about. So I'm laughing. And sometimes I'll be in a sense where, like, oh, man, this setup, man, I should have just come in with a slam dunk right here and said this. And then I'll say it on the pod.

I'm like, oh, my God. Save no, too, to myself from three weeks ago. It's a great feeling to know that I'm consistent like that. Yes. Now, the watching of the YouTube, that one might be a little much. DeLauvin. Lovane.

You think so? Will Vane. Lulvane. I guess the bottom line is, do you like what you're hearing, Greg Cody? When you do your critical, which is your favorite? Is it when you listen as a listener,

as you just described? And then you give it your critical ear. What does the critical ear detect that improves the show? I'll give you an example from the current episode where we're live at Gulfstream Park watching my horse run for the first time. And the critical ear was like,

wow, all I hear is the wind. It was windy, and the mic was picking up a lot of... The sound team didn't do a good job. So in hindsight, you would have said, hey, wind, cut it off. Yeah, exactly. How'd the horse do, Greg? Not good.

That well? No. You know, it could have. Well, middle of the pack? Would it finish? Less, dead last. So what happens now? You put it down?

What happens? Yeah. Glue factory. Yeah. Really? No. You're going to have a bad day? He put it in his own bed, the head of the horse.

Wow. The episode ends with him putting it down. Well, the problem was we learned after the fact that there was a physical excuse. It's a shocking ending. I like that we call it destroying the horse. I don't know if that helps, if it makes it feel more humane to us. To destroy it? We destroyed the horse.

Who says that? You know, that's what they say. That is the terminology. When a thoroughbred gets put down on the track, they say we destroyed the horse. They don't say put down? No, he had to be destroyed. Only dogs get put down? Or euthanized.

We say destroyed. None of that sounds good. Makes me think it's an object. It's not a... Well, I think that's what we're surprised. I think that's what it is. It's a lot of these people. Like the Death Star came up.

The Death Star guy who was like, we've destroyed the horse. What happened to the horse? The problem with race horses is they're very fragile. They're extremely fragile, more so than human athletes. Well, whose fault was it that it came in last? It had only run one race in her, it's a Philly, in her career, and not for 10 months. So she, although she had been training with Bill Mott,

a Kentucky derby winning trainer. So this Bill guy didn't do. Bill Mott thought she was ready, and apparently she wasn't, but she needed to run. She needed the practice, so to speak. So what's the outlook? She hit the gate Coming out of the gate

She immediately crashed into the gate And that's no good It was a disaster from the gel Like it wasn't like there was hope But if she faded It was like last place The entire time

2020 hindsight But you should not have had Chris as jockey I think that would be The first change I would make Do you know how to ride a horse? I've ridden a horse Does anyone here know how to ride a horse?

What's so hard? I'm swering off horses Tony almost died. I almost died in a horse in Dominican Republic. What? El Diablo. You guys are remember this story? This is a great story.

Is it your honeymoon? No, it was not my honeymoon. I was like 12 years old, 13 years old. And we go to Dominican Republic. We used to go every single year to Punta Cana. And one of the times my parents were like, hey, let's go horseback riding the mountains. And we're like, all right, cool. I'm 13.

I don't know, whatever. So we get to this ranch up in the mountains. And they've got a couple horses. And obviously, I'm a big kid. Like, I've always been a big kid in my whole life. Even at 13. Even at 13. So they kind of look at me and they're like,

I, we can't put them on a smaller horse. We've got to put them on kind of a bigger horse. And they look over and they're like, we're going to put you on that one over there. That one had its own pen. So it's by itself. The other horses are in the other. He's got like the Hannibal Lecter mask.

Yeah, kind of. It had like a leather thing on it with the blinders. And I was like, okay, whatever, pull it up. So we start going down this grove of maybe a mile long of grove until it goes to like this cliff and then you go down the cliff and you go down the cliff. So the cliff, imagine a row of a mile long of just palm trees on each side with just like mangroves. and then we're going down.

So we're all in a line together, maybe 15 horses. We're going down, Dominican guy in the front, leading the pack, and everybody also all the tourists in the back. So one of the guys, one of the families that we were with, the husband was like, hey, can I go and run my horse a little bit? I ride horses, like, can I go do it? I was like, yeah, for sure, go do it. So the horse gets out of line, and he starts going.

And my horse sees that, like, looks through the line and is like, oh, wait a second. It's on now. So he comes out of line. Remember, I'm 13 years old. I've ridden a horse maybe like three or four times in my life. this horse starts going like we're on the Kentucky Derby and I'm sitting there,

and we're getting to the cliff. So the cliff is like half mile away, now a quarter mile away, and this guy is not slowing down. He passes the horse now that originally started running. He's gone and it's just me and the cliff. Is anyone on the trail yelling for you to do something? They're so far behind that all I can hear is the commotion of yelling

and not like an actual task. Your mom's screaming. My mom's scream, everybody's screaming. Did you consider just big? So this is what I'm thinking. I'm like 13. I'm like, all right, I can see the cliff maybe 100 yards away. I don't know if this horse has a death wish and it's going to fling me a thousand feet to my death.

So I have to be like, all right, I might have to jump off this thing. But we're going like 30 miles an hour. We are flying. And at a certain point, I'm like, all right, I can't do that. That's crazy because all it is is like shards of glass and rock and whatever. And I'm like, I'm going to have. Shards of glass. I feel like you've added that to the story.

I feel like there was shards of glass. How you ever think of the Dominican? Can you lie a little bit there? No, because listen, listen why? I believe the rocks part. Listen, there was trash inside the mangroves because I guess locals and stuff. They drink and they throw the bottles. Exactly right, thank you.

I'm telling you there were shards of glass. I remember looking down there was a- Chris, you throw a bottle, a glass bottle. But I would be lying if I said snakes. I'm telling the truth of there's shards of glass. Go on. The reason why we finally slowed down and I didn't get flung to my death

is because of the trash. So the horse starts realizing, oh, wait a second, there's something I can eat here in this trash. So he starts slowing down. And I find, we're like maybe a good 65 yards from the cliff where I would have been flung off.

So we start getting into the mangroves and I'm getting hit by the mangroves. And the horse starts eating stuff in the thing. Come to find out his name was El Diablo. Which means the devil. Perfect. So did you have rains to pull? Oh, I had rains, Greg.

I was pulling him. Okay. I was pulling him. He was fighting through. Diablo and so. Listen to Greg. He's looking for a new purchase. I don't know if this horse is still around.

He was probably sent to the group factory long time ago. Yeah, he's probably a little agent. The greatest birthday party in the history of my life was Mo Damashek, my mother, as I was a big lone ranger guy growing up. And when I was five, she got a horse. I don't know how she did it. In Pittsburgh, PA got a horse to come over to the house with a trainer. The horse didn't just show up.

Oh, maybe she's just convinced the horse to go. Come on, man. And had a human handler. A human handler brought a horse to the house. And me and my pals, we got to do a horse ride around the house. It was the greatest. It was the greatest. It's all been downhill ever since.

No, horses are great. I don't trust them. Don't. You shouldn't trust them, but they're wonderful animals. It is time to talk to you kind folks about one of our best partners, one of our longest-tenured partners, Miller Light. You know, we've been with Miller Light for about half of their illustrious existence,

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Stugats. Don't do it. This is the Dan Leibatar show with the Stugats. About this, because... Open ahead. Oh, okay. You got in your jokes. You good?

All right. So I did a poor job. yesterday because Greg was in with us yesterday. He's in with us on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. And I did not ask, like everybody knows I went to Vegas two weekends ago. I think we asked me how my trip was. And no one asked Greg how his trip was to Vegas this past. You were in Vegas this past weekend. I was. We were there at the sphere. Stayed at the Venetian, walked over to the sphere, saw the Eagles. Because you weren't sure who you were going to see at the sphere originally. I was not positive, nor did I know where we were staying.

Love the Venetian, right up the street from Harris. We walked to Harris, and I saw Big Elvis. He said, do you guys know Big Elvis? No, what is that? He's like a 450-pound Elvis impersonator who has a residency at Harris. And he sits and performs because he's so large. That's where Dan is right now? I was slow catching up to that.

Well done, Jeremy. Like your horse. Thank you. No, we had Big Elvis on our podcast a couple of years ago, so I went up to him reintroduced myself. He did not remember you. Yeah, he did. He claimed he did. Oh, there he is. Hey, how you doing, Big?

What? How are you talking to a photo? I literally am. Sometimes you've got to do that. Vegas was great. I had heard Dan consistently saying lately that Vegas is going downhill. I thought it was well enough attended when I was there. I did too.

Yeah. I did too. I mean, there were lines at every restaurant. It was crazy, crazy popular, crazy crowded. Your first sphere experience, correct? It was. How was that? It changed my whole attitude about the sphere.

Because you poo-pooed it on the front end. You're like doing too much, don't need all the bells and whistles. I thought it would be very distracting. Like, I'm there to listen to the Eagles, one of my favorites. Now, where were you sitting? Because in the sphere, it's not, I think it's not like a given that you want to sit all the way up. front. I think there's something to wanting to sit higher up. Yes. We were, I don't know this fair well enough to know what everything's called, but we were like on a mezzanine level.

200 level is probably where you were. Okay, that's probably where, but we were overlooking the stage. They were really good seats. And, um, but the presentation that they do is almost ineffably astounding because it's, it's probably all AI. But you see the entire, 180 degrees. And they start off with, it's like a hotel California scene where you see all these sites from California, the Hollywood sign, and the oceans over here.

And it's just astoundingly real. You seem to be very moved by this experience. Yes, I was. Because it doesn't affect the music. It doesn't affect your ability. It enhances. Yeah, it doesn't affect your ability to appreciate the sound.

What drugs were you on? I was just going to ask, tripping, what were you doing there? I felt like I was. Like, that was the experience. But it was wonderful. Just 14 Miller Lights? It wasn't that many, no.

A couple of things. First of all, this is snobby, and it's unclear whether or not this is the case. Is it Eagles or the Eagles? Because talking heads, talking heads is properly talk, not the talking heads. And there are a lot of people who will advocate. It's a good question. It's just Eagles. Right.

Because, like, foo fighters is foo fighters, not the foo fighters. Okay, and it's Eagles. Oh, really? There's no, the? It's Eagles. I think that's correct. It's The Beatles, though. Dave, Dave, you drop the The.

It's a lot cleaner. I hear you, right, that you want to, yeah, you want to grease the skids a little bit. But the other thing is with the Eagles or Eagles, that it's funny that you, as a Floridian, dig them. Because I have said before, there are a lot of people who don't love Eagles or the Eagles. Right. Now, now it's in my head. Now, it's ruining the conversation. Wow, you think it's just Eagles.

But Eagles or the Eagles. I consider to be the ultimate, you know how we have system QBs? They only thrive in certain circumstances. Bands only work for my ears in certain circumstances, and the Eagles are for me the ultimate system band. I didn't love the Eagles growing up in Pittsburgh or going to college or anything, but when you're driving at sunset on the 405, when you're driving on PCH and you're driving down and the sun is setting over the Pacific and you put on, take it to the lake, take it to the

Limit, it's the optimal song you could be playing in that environment, and they are therefore the greatest system band. But you dug them here while looking out at the Atlantic, eh? I did. Yeah, I think they're a national band. For me, you know, two generations ago, three generations ago, it was the Beach Boys were I was considered the American band. That's a great conversation, too, because I think REM has now overtaken both, but I'm sorry,

didn't mean Eastland. Oh, really? Atlanta's own? No, they're not Atlanta. Athens. Athens. I think they're a niche band. I like R.A.M. So Eagles is your number one? Greatest American band of all times. I feel like you went to the Eagles mainly because mom wanted to go. I feel like

this is too America's. She's a bigger fan than, well... Go ahead, Roy. Who do you like, Roy? Earthwind and Fire? What do you got? Oh, yeah, Earth Wind and Fire is excellent. Excellent band. Dave, I think if the Eagles were Greg's favorite band, he would have known for sure that's who they were going to Vegas to see. Well, here's

thing we've seen the Eagles before. Because your wife, I think you're just latching on to Mom's fandom for the Eagles right now. Does she like the Eagles more than me? If we're going to have a weight? You didn't know you were going to see them in Vegas? I wasn't sure. It'd be like if when I'm going with my son up to Boston to go

see Pearl Jam, like who are you going to? I think we're going to see Pearl Jam. Okay, but you have blinder, equine blinders on when it comes to Pearl Jam. I know they're my favorite. I like a lot of different groups and types of music. Right. We need to get young. I want to bring something up that I saw yesterday that I hope we can start giving more attention to, and this is just a jumping off points when we're talking about local athletes who are beloved here.

Like Dave brought up yesterday when we talk like what position group is the best down here, you know, and soccer forward. We talk about Marino obviously and Dwayne Wade, but I'm going to tell you something. we better start having a conversation about Alexander Barkov. All right. You see Alexander Barkov yesterday? He's been very involved for years now. I mean, what's he been on the team, by the way? For 13 years?

No, like 9 or 10. 9 or 10, I think. Yeah, I thought he was drafted in like 13 maybe. Maybe you're right. He's been down here forever. It's the only team he's played for. And for a very long time, he is extremely generous and charitable

with his time with the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. Which, by the way, like, it takes a special kind of dude, I think, a special kind of person, period. But when you're an athlete and you're devoting your time to going and spending time with sick kids, okay? It's a, that is a special type of person. And when you say sick kids, are they nice with it, or are you talking about sick, like ill? I'm talking about ill. Oh, okay. I say ill.

Do you mean like ill like in the 80s, yo, that kid is ill? Or do you mean like? I mean, he is in a very unfortunate circumstance. Got it. It takes a really special type of dude, all right, to devote their free time to being around and trying to make a great day for sick children. And he spends a lot of time at that hospital. I mean, the place that he took the Stanley Cup was to the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. And yesterday they unveiled that he made a, they didn't give the exact number, but a seven plus figure, digit figure donation that he personally made to the, the,

the hospital yesterday and they named like an area or like a wing in the hospital they named after him. He's crying up there at the honor that he's received. And this is a guy who shows zero emotion. All right. Part of what makes him so great. I believe he says in, we don't have the video, but he says in it, I don't think I've ever cried. Yeah. It's the first time I've cried.

Yeah. And I just, I hope and granted the Panthers winning the Stanley Cup the last couple years plays a major part and that's great. but I hope that we overall start to really acknowledge this person for how great he is and what he does in this community. And yesterday was a really good time to bring that up. He's a kind guy and he spends genuine time with those kids. One of my campers at Camp Fiesta, which is that summer camp for Children with Cancer that I'm a part of. Caden, he's a patient at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital and he was one of the kids. who last year actually gave Barkov like an award that they had created for him.

And the way Kaden talks about Alexander Barkov is as if they are truly friends because that is the amount of time that Barcov spends at that hospital. And this is just one of dozens of kids who he has spent that type of time with. He's a really special human being for being around and present the way that he is. It's one thing to donate your time. It's one thing to donate your money. It's another thing to do both. Well, listen, I didn't know you were doing that, Tashay. So you also deserve credit for that because I say it all the time.

We talk about courage and bravery and all those sorts of things when it comes to sports and obviously military action and beyond. I mean, the balls to do that. I mean, people, you know, as I've made. Clear, a Steelers fan, and people were very down on Russell Wilson a couple of years ago. And I was, too, from a football perspective. But you will never hear me say a bad word about a, oh, what a strange guy he is. And his life arc is strange.

Man, he every faithfully goes to children's hospitals, even after the Malcolm Butler game, which, you know, professionally was a down moment for him. He made his regular appointed visit to the children's hospital in Seattle. J.J. Watt does that. Charlie Batch does. that guys who do that man that is courage to go and tachet you deserve a shout out too because if you can look if you can go and with those kids what they go through and to boost their spirits is is the greatest balls you can have no my family's uh that that's a bad turn of phrase greatest balls you can have my my family's been a part of that for a long time so i'm really just like a nepo

hero um i was born into it we take back some of the you work hard it's like the incredibles don Lebatard. Quiet man. Yes. You know, I'm a married man. I don't cheat on my wife, despite that gratuitous line in back in my day.

Stugats. I wish you were here, my wife. I really miss her. No, I don't. That's the thing about being married. You know, you're not allowed to say, I don't miss my wife. I've been gone two days. I haven't been gone long enough to miss my wife.

I'm sorry. I call her. You just said you do miss her for 30 seconds. You know, what am I? Hello, all right. All right. Well, see you. All right.

And then, you know, I'm going to. see her in two days. I was jumping Charlie. This is the Dan Levitar show with the Stugat. Barcov's the real deal, is the point that I'm trying to get to. And if hockey here meant to all of us all these years, what it does, let's say

to people in Pittsburgh, Alexander Barkov would be the tops of the tops. You know? 100%. I totally agree with that. Because right now, again, doing the Mount Rushmore thing, I think it's always going to be Wade Marino as a starting point. Well, and then we need to have a conversation

about Barco. Yeah, they're baked in, sort of. That's great. Yeah, he should be the face of the Panthers. By athletic deed, too. Especially now, it's not a niche sport anymore. When you went to Stanley Cubs in a row and you're selling out every arena, it's not a niche sport. It has arrived, hockey has, fully. I don't care what Sid said yesterday,

making fun of South Florida as not a hockey town. And so you're right. I agree with you. I think Barcove deserves to be elevated to that echelon, not just for the off-field stuff you mentioned, but partly because of that. And on the ice, we've seen this year the downfall of the Panthers, which I think is totally related to Barkoff not playing. And the goalie being terrible. That too. And the reality in the 21st century of the number of games you play, and it's take it to the limit, once again, the style of play and all the major sports.

Look, take it easy with the Eagles references. Well, but. Oh, well put. Honestly, I missed that one. Push it to the limit's better than taking it to winner. Right. Push it to the limit is a way better song. Much better.

Push it to the limit. Walking past the races. What movie you think about when you hear that? Scarfrey. Should we put that on the poll? What song better to go down PCH, those two songs? Absolutely. But Zas.

What movie? Forget about what movie. What scene? When they're making the money. They're making moves. The banks. They're making moves. The banks.

Yeah. You got the duffel bag. They're tearing the duffel bags inside the vans. Starts with the money counter. Making moves. What is it? I don't even know what this take it to the limit song you're speaking up. That's what I'm saying.

It's strange to me. It never has occurred to me until literally the last 90 seconds. Miami, which feels to me like a storied American city, and obviously it is, it's funny to me that the dolphins are by far in a way the most tenured team in this town. It's weird. Everything else is 15 minutes ago. Yeah. I mean, a good portion of my childhood, we only had one professional sports team.

That's really strange. Has there been a major city that went with, I mean, even just one team? I should know, there's 69. They come around. 66. Dave, here's the deal. This is the common misnomer that Miami is a major city. It's really not.

It's like the growth physically and population-wise is pretty recent. But I remember even when LeBron came down here and everyone, It's like these big markets are getting on. Technically in the NBA scheme of things, 30 teams, Miami was below the top 15. They were a small market. It's just, it's a really cool place. But market.

I always go with market over population and within the city limits. But the market of Miami has got to be top eight or two. We're not. 13. 13. It's, and again, that's a lot of that is recency. Yeah. A lot of that is recency.

Traditionally historically, It was not a big market. It was not looked at as a market that can support a lot of professional sports. We also don't talk nearly enough as a football-obsessed society about the dolphins. I know some people are touchy about that and say it's embarrassing what the state of the dolphins has been for many decades. Now, it's not a national conversation. They are very much now like the Kansas City Chiefs eight or so years ago, which, you know, they inhabit a weird. they inhabit that weird space.

Like, it's easy to make fun of the Browns who never do anything. But the Chiefs for a long time is like, imagine being in, well, I don't have to have you guys imagine that your Dolphins fans. I used to always say, tell us more about the Dolphins. Imagine you're one of the most storied franchises in pro football, our most popular sport. And people hold you up is like, wow, the Chiefs were great for a long time. The Dolphins, man, they're a 10-pole franchise. They haven't done nothing for this millennium.

No. We can imagine that. You guys hear that? We live it. If I think real hard, I can imagine it. I hear the foot. Is that Dan Levitard running in here? They're like, oh, I got to talk about this.

How they haven't been relevant in 25 years. Quarter of a century since the last playoff win. I mean, are they the best, but for real to, I guess I'm getting hyperbolic to try to make a point. But are the Dolphins the team that have, that we sort of in our brains considered like, oh, yeah, I mean, I can't. They're not a punchline team. like kind of are after in the last 34 years. They are.

They are. I'll give you five words. We are the New York Knicks. Okay. I feel fair. That's a team that hasn't had success. We are the New York Knicks. Six words?

They were in the Easter Covers finals last year. That's like the Dolphins going to the AFC championship game and then losing. Right? Like they haven't done that. I guess. Well, you know, the other one that I would volunteer is they're not a punchline team, but the Niners, they inhabit what I'm describing here, which is if you are 40 or younger, people talk about the Niners as one of the most stories.

You didn't experience that viscerally. You know about it from the elders in your community. But you don't know what it feels like to actually. I like the idea there's an area where there's just 49ers elders who are hanging out together. It's going to see the elders. It's Joe Montana, yeah, just sitting there in a throne much like Zaslo in his backwards hat. Yeah, the Niners are kind of that now, too. But there's a distinction to be made between them and the Dolphins

because the Niners go to Super Bowls, but then they cause you great pain. If you're a Niners guy. Sure, but you have playoff wins. Well, but that's a philosophical debate. Do you like getting to the big spot? I love that big crush. Zaz, would you rather get to Super Bowls and NFC Championship games or AFC championship games than do what the Dolphins are doing?

Because I'm at a point in my life, and I think I've been pretty clear about this, I'm going to point in my life where it isn't just about winning the championships anymore. I want the moments. Journey over destination, right? It's the moments that lead up to it's why like the Miami Heat when they lost the finals in 2023 to Denver, holy shit did I enjoy that playoff run. There were so many amazing moments, particularly spiritheaded by Jimmy Butler. I look back really fondly at that.

I want the moments. The moments to me are just as good as winning the championship and the dolphins. I haven't had a moment with the Dolphins since the Lamar Smith game. We're going back 26 years. Oh, my God. Dolphins are Nebraska football. Used to mean something. Now, joke.

I think that... No, that's a good one. I think if you're a dolphin fan, you had a moment a few years ago when they're the best offense in the league and they're scoring 70 points against Denver. That was really exciting. That's supposed to last longer. That's supposed to last longer. A regular season feeling.

That's not good enough. That's the best of Dolphins football of my lifetime. Yes. Like, I was born in 95. And it's not good enough. Right. The Wildcat, that era. is the second best

Dolphins football I've ever witnessed. It's been all mediocrity. The way you guys have complained about like two seasons of the heat being in mediocrity and oh, I'm not gonna want to watch. I'm not gonna do this.

A little more than two seasons, buddy. It's been two seasons of playing and out. We were in the finals the year before. If I could just say very quickly, you guys had some really nice moments this past season with the Cains. You came up a little.

Yeah. I mean, you should. Amazing. You shouldn't hang your heads. I mean, I know that the... This is an opportunity for you to do the Mendozo. I know, he's doing the bullshit right now.

And that was a great moment. But I want to take a moment to pour one out for the Keynes fans. First off. First off. Don't do that. Look at me. Keep your chin up. Look at me right now, Dave Dameshack.

Look at me. You're not looking at me. Look at me right now. I'm going to take what you did, which was the bullshit. And we're going to flip it into the right stuff. Because when you talk about what the Keynes were doing, the going to Texas A&M in the middle of a windstorm, ending it with an interception. Okay, Bryce Fitzgerald, ending the season 4 Texas A&M, that was a huge moment.

Ohio State key. You just did the Fernando Mendoza dive into the end zone against the Canes post. No, I didn't. I did the Fitzgerald. The pick six against Ohio State. That was a moment on New Year's Eve of all things. Carson Beck running into the end zone. With his legs. That was a moment like I got the moments from the Keynes. Yes, when the championship would have been amazing. But I got the moments. So to answer your question, would I take the heartbreak of the Dolphins losing in the AAC championship game or in the Super Bowl? yes, because I'm likely still gathering the moments leading up to that point. Yeah, well, also, in the moment, you don't know. It's not like you have divine foresight of what's going to happen.

Well, no, but I am acknowledging in that moment, holy shit, that was unbelievable. And then the entire next day, I'm thinking about how I felt, and I can't watch enough highlights of Carson Beck running into the end zone. The next day, you're like, oh, my God, I can't believe we lost that. But in the moment, you thought, you believed, oh, my God, it's actually going to happen. in a way that right now you don't even have that feeling.

You'd rather have that feeling and have the heartbreak associated with it than to be bereft of any feeling whatsoever. The Keante Scott Interception. Amazing. Greg, you tell me, is that a 25-year highlight? We're 25 years from where, like, you remember that New Year's Eve? I think so. Like Keontay Scott intercepting the ball, going the other way,

reading the entire situation, beating Ohio State, like doing all the things that the Keynes did in that run was something I'll never forget. The only problem with that is that that is going to, if it doesn't continue on for the next 25 years with any other moments, that's going to be looked at by future generations sitting here doing shows like this the way that I look at even the Marino years. You're absolutely, you guys are all right about celebrating these moments. If you set the expectation as a fan that my team wins the title or it's a bust of a season, you're going to be a pretty miserable human being going. through life, but then again, you touch on expectation and why

it hurts extra worse is if you have Dan Marino. If you have a generational guy, then you set expectations at a different level. And when you don't meet those, that's when it's crushing. The dolphins haven't even had a reason to be hopeful. No. You know what else? I'll never forget. Roy's saying that Carson Beckston

until the interception. On my deathbed, I'll remember that for the rest of my life. For the rest of my life, I'll remember that.