The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Local Hour: Shohei Ohtani Is a Choker
Episode Date: October 17, 2024Today's cast: Izzy, Stugotz, Chris, Jeremy, Jessica, Roy, and Tony. It's spooky szn as the Meadowlark Media offices with Halloween decorations abound. After Shohei Ohtani smacked a 3-run homer and con...tinued his historic tear with runners in scoring position, Stugotz and Izzy call him out for his lack of success when it really matters: when the bases are empty. Then, Sabrina Ionescu came up clutch for the Liberty, and while we want to celebrate her accomplishment, what Holly Rowe is doing may somehow be more impressive. Plus, Chris has two hygiene questions for the group that leave everyone a bit perplexed before Dianna Russini arrives to discuss the chaos surrounding her last hit with the show, how the Davante Adams trade came together, the smell of the media scrum, and the Eagles woes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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This is the Don Leventor Show with the StuGuts Podcast.
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DraftKings, the crown is yours. I don't know Jess, I'm not a huge fan of
Halloween decorations. What? It's so spooky in here. This was the best surprise to come into
work this morning and see spooky little cobwebs everywhere. I appreciate the work. I didn't mean
to surprise you, you're clearly eating so take a second. I know, I was in the middle of eating my banana bread.
But we walked in.
You got her mid-bite, Izzy.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
It's 9.02.
I should have known better.
There's this sort of hanging curtain of cobwebs
with little candles hanging down.
Clearly designed by short people.
Clearly designed by short people.
Roy almost burned his hair off this morning
walking through there.
What do I have left? what do you have left?
And this, these cobwebs sort of all over the microphones,
they kind of look cool, but to me,
they get tired after like 30 seconds.
Yeah, they get stuck on everything.
Yeah.
No, they don't.
It's gonna be fine.
You'll survive.
It's two weeks and then Halloween's over.
That's the other thing.
Yeah, but these decorations get in the way.
They do cobwebs just get in the way in general.
They get stuck in your clothes, watch this.
I know, I mean it's annoying.
Don't let Willow walk through one of those.
I mean that's gonna be a disaster.
Roy just tried to like prove that the cobweb sticks to him
and put his arm on it and it didn't work.
I really wish that was on camera
because it's not sticking to you, Roy.
It's just not.
It is sticking. No, it's not.
Well, I for one, Izzy love what our production staff does,
making everything themed throughout the year.
We've got Valentine's Day, then we got 4th of July,
and now we've got this, and then we got that.
I love the production staff.
Look at them pointing and cheering.
Thank you so much, guys.
We love you guys.
I would just say be taller.
And we can't be mad at them for that.
Be taller.
I haven't walked through that area, by the way.
You can be mad at God for that.
But no one is blasting the production staff.
We're just saying that Halloween decorations in general
are annoying.
Sure.
I'm just going out of my way to thank the production staff.
Not blast them.
You're blasting them.
That's a good job by you, Tony.
Thank you, Carmen.
Who's blasting him?
Kristen, thank you out there.
That's a great question, Chris.
It's a different show.
You and I should do that show
It's a question on those candles speaking of blasts show. Hey, Otani. Oh, please
Came in here and I'm not gonna lie. I did not watch the end
I did not watch the last three innings of the baseball game of the
NLCS last night and I didn't know show. Hey, Otani hit a home run with a couple men on that's
and I didn't know Shohei Otani hit a home run with a couple men on.
It's debatable whether or not it's a home run.
For me it was a foul ball.
My personal record book, stugotsbook.com by the way,
buy it right now, in my personal record book
that was not a home run, I have watched the replay
of that a thousand times.
I'm telling you it was a foul ball.
And as it relates to Otani, do me a favor.
Do it in a big spot.
Do it with nobody on.
All this guy does is produce when guys are on base.
Do it when no one's on.
And do it before the game is out of reach.
How about that? Not a home run.
When the score is 0-0 and you're the only one, there's nobody on base.
That's a lot of pressure.
That's when they need a home run.
Do it with nobody on base. Thank you, Izzy. Speaking That's when they need a home run. With nobody on base.
Thank you Izzy.
Speaking of foul balls,
he hit himself in the nuts with a swing.
Came back right out.
Really?
That's what that was.
So you weren't watching the game?
No, I was.
He started hitting himself in the hip.
In the hip.
And I was like, is that some sort of secret way?
I'm usually jump on my heels kind of guy.
Yeah.
That's usually what gets it for me.
Yeah, you just gotta get motion going.
But yeah, hitting himself in the hip was weird.
Jeremy is, he appears to be a little bit upset with me.
I'm not, I'm not certain what's going on.
I'm not even upset.
Just like, I don't even know what to say
in response to that.
I'm pretty sure this post-season,
if I have the stats correct,
he's seven for nine with runners in scoring position
with two homers and eight RBI.
But he is 0 for 22 with no one on base.
That's what I'm saying. for 22 with no one on base.
That's what I'm saying, do it with no one on base.
He's a one trick pony, this guy.
You know how it's easy to get an RBI
when dude's already standing on third?
Do it with nobody on base, my dude.
All right.
I don't even have a counter,
because this is just so counter to what Logic says,
but that's okay, I'm cool, let's run with it.
You're a numbers guy.
Yeah, he's a choker without anyone with it. You're a numbers guy.
Yeah, he's a choker without anyone on base.
You're a numbers guy.
When it doesn't matter.
What do the numbers say, Jeremy?
The numbers say that he's like possibly
one of the most important hitters in the history of baseball.
As Stu Gatz pointed out, with nobody on base,
he does nothing.
Nothing, 0 for 22.
I mean, listen, you get better pitches
when guys are on base too.
They groove them in.
There you go.
They put them right down the middle.
Yeah, of course they do.
I feel like in modern baseball,
and maybe this is not the case.
Just started watching baseball, or I mean.
Well, modern baseball, guys are going for strikeouts
a little more often than they used to.
Pitchers are hunting for strikeouts.
And so with runners on base,
yeah, they're trying not to bounce it,
but I think they're kind of locking in,
trying to strike you out.
And now Shohei Otani's showing he's 17 for his last 20,
dating back to the regular season
with runners in scoring position.
That's the highest batting average
over a 20 span at bat in 50 years.
But I mean, that's fine.
We don't have to acknowledge it.
The true test of a great hitter is what the hitter does when nobody's on base.
Ask Tony Gwynn, ask Wade Boggs.
Everybody will tell you that.
Everybody will tell you that. Think of Jeremy, picture this. Okay.
Where does Otani bat in the order?
Lead off.
Exactly. Who's on base when you bat lead off?
Nobody.
TK Hernandez batting nice.
Nobody.
Unless it's the 12th inning.
Who's got it better than us?
When you've got nobody on base and it is the first inning,
what's a better feeling for your team than getting a run?
It is funny.
Shohei, do it with nobody on base.
When your team is up one nothing in the NLCS,
you feel like you've got this go.
You're going to absolutely win this thing.
You'll win the series.
He hasn't done that yet.
He's choking.
Everyone has been talking about whether or not
the Dodgers should move him down in the order
so that that way Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman
are on base for him to be able to do this.
The flip side of the argument would be
because he's batting lead off
and because these teams are so terrified
of seeing him in that lead off spot,
guys like Tommy Edmond who's batting like 500
in this series against the Mets, and Kike
Hernandez, who's been one of the greatest postseason performers ever for his whole career.
Crazy.
Which is unbelievable.
And he gave Shohei an opportunity last night to get up with the bases empty.
And why is he seeing pitches?
Wait, what's Kike doing with nobody on?
Let me go find out.
It's the true measure of a great hitter.
It's a good question, Chris. Oh my God.
This conversation has Earl Reaver
going over in his grave.
People think Stu Gotts is out of takes.
This is top 10 of his career.
And it just came out, what, on a Thursday in October.
Like it's amazing that nobody really thought about that.
A lot less pressure, a lot harder to score runs
with nobody on base, so hey, not doing it.
Not the greatest ever.
I mean, when you're up four, five, nothing late in the game
and it's clear the Mets don't have any offense going,
because this series has been ridiculously bad.
I know it's two, one, Mets have a must win today,
but the games have been blowouts, you know?
All three of the games have been blowouts. So it's just
interesting because you know the Dodgers, Otani to do it
late in the game with no pressure and everyone praising
because it was a moonshot. It went to the upper deck. It was
foul by the way, but it went to the upper deck. No, no, that's
not what we want from the game's best player. We want
him to do it in big spots. He is yet to do it.
I'm not saying he's not gonna do it.
He has yet to do it.
That's all I'm saying.
To your point, Stu Gatz,
Kike Hernandez started the scoring in game five
with a solo home run for the Dodgers.
So clearly, the more important player for the Dodgers
is the guy who's only playing because Miguel Rojas is here.
Kike, this season with runners on, batting 206,
with none on, batting 248
Way better. Yeah, you know who's very much like Shohei, Sabrina UNESCO. Oh do it when you're trailing. That was so good
It was a tie game. Come on. That's an easy bucket. No pressure tie game
You miss you go to overtime. You make your hero. Wow. I mean, I like where you're going, but I don't agree. Everybody's super impressed with Sabrina.
It was a tie game, zero pressure, right?
Jess, wait.
Are you done eating?
No.
Okay, then let's go to Jeremy again.
Jeremy.
Me?
Sabrina Yanescu, tie game.
It was from the logo, Izzy.
It was so far from the rim.
It was a great shot.
Another reason, another excuse, right?
Oh, it was a deep shot.
If she missed it, no big deal.
It's the only shot she could get off Oh, it was a deep shot. If she missed it, no big deal.
It's the only shot she could get off
because it's such a tough spot.
Zero pressure, not a big deal.
Zero pressure.
Bullshit.
They're up two one now.
That was a road game.
That's another thing.
You're not down in the series.
You're tied in the series.
Yeah, but it's a high game series.
Everything about that shot screams tie.
He wants her to do it again in a bigger spot.
Yes.
I just looked up Shohei's full season stats,
and he's been better with nobody on this year.
Yeah, that's everyone's stats.
Yeah, but post season.
Because when no one's on and there's nothing happening,
there's not really a lot of pressure
on you to do all that much.
With runners in scoring position is
where you tend to see guys slugging percentages and OPS go down
But with Shohei every single moment he's come up
With the opportunity to drive in runs, which is the goal in the postseason every time you come up
There's an opportunity to drive yourself in there's an opportunity to drive in a run
No one's arguing. He's been great all post, by the way. I'm not saying that.
He's hitting just over 200.
He has not been great.
Do it in October.
You've been better than your judge.
Do it later in October.
Those are the two takes.
And the third one, do it with nobody on base.
Take October.
And it's only October.
Don't forget that take.
Here's a hitter, Tony Gwynn.
First career with the bases empty, batted 328.
That's, I mean.
I don't know what the-
How do you argue with that? We can't have two stugatsas hosting the show, I'm sorry.
Why not?
This is absurd.
I'm rattled.
What do you mean?
It's us versus you, okay?
At least when it comes to baseball, it's us versus you.
If you guys have a counter for why Shohei Otani sucks with the bases empty
and how he shouldn't be doing better with the bases empty, please offer it.
I'm just really doing a deep dive into Shohei's stats
this year, man he's bad with an O2 count.
Yeah.
Yeah, he's batting 106 with an O2 count this year.
Yeah, which is when you need him to be at his best.
Jeremy, what are your thoughts there?
What, with an O2 count?
He's bad, Jeremy, he's bad with an no two cow. I am more perplexed today
He's overrated this response to show hey Otani doing what he's doing than I was when we downplayed that Pete Alonso
Home run which by the way at the moment
Biggest homers in Mets history on the other side of it with the two. Oh count. He's batting 583
Hmm when it's easy, this is how stats work. Easier pitches. I'm going to lose my mind.
How many of those two accounts do they have guys on base?
Talk about easy.
Yeah.
That's pretty, they don't have that detailed.
All right.
So I'm really joking about the Sabrina Unescu part
because that was absolutely a baller shot right there.
I mean, look, it's a little bit more difficult
when you're down one.
But at that spot, and she hadn't even had a great game,
I think she like scored most of her points
in the second half, but hadn't had a great game,
and then she just pulls up from the logo
to win a WNBA finals game.
Like if that happened in an NBA finals game,
we wouldn't have gotten to Shohei.
Not probably, it happened in a Western Conference
final game I think with Damien Lillard, didn't it?
It wasn't the conference finals.
Western Conference semi-finals.
It's a semi, yeah.
Yeah, to get them to the Western Conference finals,
it's all we talked about the next day.
So.
Right, and now here we are with the Liberty,
and the Liberty is like, they're supposed to win this.
Like they, it was supposed to be them or Aces again,
and they get to the finals against Minnesota,
and then they're down 15 in the second half
in a series that's tied one-one.
It looks scary there for a second.
And yet this woman who, by the way,
she's the one who competed with Steph Curry
in that three-point contest in the NBA All-Star Weekend,
and it feels like, you know, if you watch the Liberty,
it's mostly Brandon Stewart just kind of navigating everything.
But man, when they need a bucket, they go to Sabrina.
And I don't think it gets any better than that.
And I think she was talking smack
because she was all WNBA second team.
Is that right?
Yeah, that's right.
I'm really happy that she had this moment
because she's a player that I think has improved
so much year over year, and especially this year is having such a great season. So I'm really glad that she had this moment because she's a player that I think has improved so much year over year and especially this year is having such a great season so I'm really glad that she had that
it was 28 feet that was the distance of the three-point shot in that game and like you said like
the Liberty started out the game a little slow they had some a lot of really rough turnovers
to start and looked like they were not really comfortable at all playing but came back and won
the game pretty much on that shot and I mean mean, we were very close to this going to another overtime, which would have been crazy.
But I'm kind of hoping now that the Lynx win the next game because A, I think their home fans
deserve to see a finals win at home. But B, I really want this to go to five games because I
think the Liberty winning it at Barclays Center in front of all their fans would be pretty awesome.
But I mean, I'm not rooting for the Liberty.
I'm kind of like agnostic when it comes to this series.
I'm not like a fan of either team really,
but I will claim victory at the Liberty win.
Just putting that out there.
How does that work?
Because I lived in New York, so I'm just going to be like,
oh yeah.
So then why don't you just root for them
instead of just being agnostic?
Because I also like Kayla McBride, so.
So choose a side though.
Seems like a win-win for you.
It is a win-win for me.
Funny how that was.
Classics, Metty.
Learn from the best.
I want this thing to go five games
because I want Holly Rowe to just put on a display
of sideline reporting as long as she possibly can.
Like this, I don't know if it's, let me rephrase,
it's definitely not just because of the access,
because Holly Rowe is phenomenal at what she does,
but when you add the access,
I am enamored by these halftime interviews.
Like, she gets like there's one of the-
Well, you've done them.
Well, not like this.
These halftime interviews,
and there's one on the screen right now
where she's talking to Sabrina UNESCO,
and it starts at the edge of the court,
and then they're just going all the way to the locker room.
It's a walk and talk,
you don't really care about what's in front of you.
I'm sure there's people like elbowing fans out of the way
and moving, and like, it's not just that you've gotta
watch where you're going,
you gotta think about the questions,
you gotta listen to what the player is telling you,
but yesterday, and I forget who she was interviewing,
yesterday, she walked all the way back
with this player, asked a final question,
immediately looks dead in the camera,
and does an injury report, like absolutely flawless.
Like jumping off of a horse and doing like
a break dancing routine, like just amazing stuff,
and I want her to have as many games
on the national spotlight as possible.
How about the camera person walking backwards? Amazing. Great job. And the person spotlight as possible. How about the camera person walking backwards?
Amazing.
Great job.
And the person holding the light.
How about the grip?
Yep.
The grip, he's back there, he's coiling.
Oh, that's the grip.
Backwards.
I actually started looking at the grip on the microphone.
That's what I was looking at.
Don't give enough credit to grips.
No, these grips, I really know what they're doing there.
But yeah, Holly Rowe is amazing.
And I've always, and I don't know if I've said this on this show, but I don't know how they don't have. But yeah, Holly Rowe is amazing. And I've always, and I don't know if I've said this
on this show, but I don't know how they don't have
a theme song for Holly Rowe.
Do you know the Florida Georgia line, this is how we roll?
This is how we roll. This is Holly Rowe.
And you just do a Holly Rowe.
Yeti, get on it.
Yeah, we're sweeter.
We failed to talk about something that happened
in game two, which was Pablo Torre was on the sideline of the game.
I was waiting for that to happen.
So we're gonna pull up that photo.
What do you mean sideline?
He was sitting courtside?
Yeah, it's a very Pablo thing.
Is Pablo paying for tickets here?
What's going on here?
He's not paying for anything.
You think he's friends with Sudeikis?
What is this stance?
He looks like a superhero who just came in
to tell you how to set the table.
What is he wearing?
Like he looks absolutely ridiculous in this stance.
He looks like a school principal.
Yes, a very proud school principal.
Like he's there at the pep rally celebrating the state champs.
His high school team just won the state championship
and he's there like, girls, I can't wait to see you
in third period tomorrow.
Do we know what play happened right before this?
Why is he standing like that?
He's Pablo.
He's kind of doing like a superhero pose right now
with his hands, his knuckles on his hips.
His closed fist on his hips, like chest,
as much as you can call that a chest.
Why is the shirt touching?
Protruding.
Oh damn.
Everybody else is celebrating as if a player had gotten an and one,
and he's just proudly sticking out his chest.
Like yeah, they're clearly cheering for a player,
and Pablo's acting as if the applause is for him.
Well, so I'm not gonna so much crush the stance here,
but the face, he's making like that ope face
that I make when I'm kinda like smirking at someone
that I'm trying to get past, I'm like, oh, excuse me, and then I kinda like do that flat smile thing. It's like that oak face that I make when I'm kind of like smirking at someone that I'm trying to get past.
I'm like, oh, excuse me.
And then I kind of like do that flat smile thing.
It's like that awkward smile that's not a real smile.
That's what I'm going to crush him for.
But is he going a little too far with the mustache now?
It's like off the edge.
Have we talked about this?
Yeah.
Cause it looks like he could like stick his tongue out
and like maybe tie the edge of his mustache into a braid
if he had those types of skills.
It's going too long, he's gotta trim that.
He's got a little tummy, I mean.
I think he's standing that way because he knew.
I'm no one to talk.
He's got a little tummy.
If that's a tummy, I mean, come on,
what do we know what I'm doing?
I take his tummy, you're right.
I apologize, Pablo.
It's a little tummy to match his little chest. Oh damn man.
What are you doing?
He's standing like that
because he knows somebody is going to
take a picture of him and he's just bragging
about his seats. That is him standing
there saying, look at me,
I'm at the front row of a WNBA finals
game. Yes. But doing it while he's
smiling for some reason.
That is exactly what is happening there.
Take it from someone who would do something like that.
That is what Pablo Torre is doing.
You think that's his cousin next to him
who invited him to the game?
I have no idea.
I do think that Pablo, had he not made it in sports media,
probably would have been a principal, right?
School principal.
He wouldn't have been a principal,
he would have been a headmaster.
Oh, a headmaster, you're right.
In a private school, yes.
He would talk down to the students, not to them.
Exactly.
Like he does to us.
Guys, I had an odd morning,
and I wanna know how odd it was.
I'm sorry, what happened?
Tell me.
So, what's the line on,
all right, so I woke up around 4.30,
my alarm doesn't go off till like,
I don't need to get out of bed till like 6.30,
alarm usually goes off around 6.00.
4.30 I wake up and I'm like, this is one,
like I needed to shower in the morning
because I had bowling last night.
Sometimes I shower at night.
So it just depends on the day
whether I need to shower in the morning.
And this was the morning where I needed to shower.
So I'm like, it's 4.30.
I think I wanna shower right now, brush my teeth,
and then hop back into bed for like an hour and a half.
You wake up your wife?
And so I did that.
What?
At like 4.30 this morning, I showered, I brushed my teeth,
and then I woke up at like six, and I'm like,
do I need to brush my teeth again?
I was like, morning breath,
and I still kinda tasted the toothpaste,
so I didn't brush my teeth again.
This is the oddity of your morning.
This is what you've been sitting driving.
This is an odd morning.
You were driving to work this morning
and being like, man, I went home last night.
I was a little sweaty from bowling, but not too sweaty.
No, no, this is not the odd part.
So I decided to just go to bed.
The 430, the 430 shower is the odd part.
And then, so how do you decide,
you said you still tasted a little bit of toothpaste.
I woke up to pee at 4.30 and I'm like peeing
and I'm like, should I shower now?
Or go back to sleep and shower at six?
Right.
And so I showered, which is honestly not that strange.
My wife didn't even notice it really.
Well she was sleeping.
Right, but the shower's in the.
So you actually fell back asleep after the shower?
Oh yeah.
After the shower.
That's impossible.
That's like impossible to me.
Impossible.
You are so skilled.
Fully nude.
Baby!
I mean, what do you want?
I believe you.
Once you get out of the shower,
what am I gonna put, like, I just,
Fully nude.
Just dry off first?
Yeah, dry it off, yes, I did dry off.
Use the sheets.
Well, the question is,
what's the amount of time to go back to sleep
where you have to brush your teeth again?
Here's the rule that I live by.
If you have to ask whether or not
you should brush your teeth again, you should brush your teeth again. I brushed them at 4 I live by. If you have to ask whether or not you should brush your teeth again, you
should brush your teeth again. I brushed them at 430. I did not
brush them again. You were asking yourself for a reason.
Roy, smell my breath. No. I think it's fine. Are you a coffee
drinker? No. Okay. Because what I was going to say is you can go
ahead and drink your coffee and then brush your teeth again
because that's kind of helpful for your teeth. But if you're
not a coffee drinker, that doesn't matter. To me, I feel
like you can feel it in the heat of your breath.
I felt the toothpaste still.
If I felt sleepy, that sleepy taste, I would have brushed again, but I woke up and I still
had a little mintiness, a little mintiness going on there.
So I'm like, you know what?
That would last a day.
We're good.
You woke up, did you go through the whole waking up process again where you sat there
for like half an hour and you're just like, whew, okay, now I'm awake.
Or did you wake up and be like, wow, I don't have to shower,
I don't have to brush my teeth, this is amazing, I'm awake.
It was a nice snooze of I don't have to get up
for the shower now, like I'm clean,
so I can just snooze a little, like one extra snooze.
For those who don't know, old Chris, young Chris Cody rather,
would go wake up and then lay down in this bathtub
to get a little bit extra rest.
Quite the callback.
So I would.
Yes, in high school.
So how do you play, Chris?
In high school, I had been known to just lay down
in the bathtub.
Which is the grossest thing in the world to me
because I hate drains.
I hate shower drains, the most disgusting thing
in the world.
Saltburn is one of the grossest movies of all time.
But you being able, more crazy skill
than just getting up and being able to lay down
in your shower is getting back to sleep after the shower.
I'm tired, guys.
It's five o'clock in the morning.
It's very easy for me to go back to sleep.
But the shower wakes you up, does it not?
You're in that shower and yours like eyes closed like no water
Gets in your eyes you just and then you just shut them right back when you get to the bed
I manage mm-hmm. I pulled it off guys, but it is supposed to be something that gets your day started
I put you back to sleep. I mean not for me. I just need to get clean. Okay. Sure shower
I feel like if you wanted to if you really wanted to just get rid of a lot of the morning
Procedures and get a little extra sleep,
just keep a little toothpaste by the bed, right?
Just put some, whenever you wake up,
just put some on the teeth and when you wake up,
you're just like, tsk tsk.
No bad ideas.
I still feel the toothpaste, don't have to brush my teeth.
Snooze for another 10 minutes.
Well, thanks for nothing,
because I haven't got an answer to my question
on whether this is okay.
I think you're good, you're welcome.
Everyone's just kind of staring at me and not saying whether.
We're just waiting for Jeremy to smell your breath.
Should I have brushed my teeth again?
Yes, I told you.
If you have to ask yourself, then you have to brush.
But I tasted the toothpaste.
It's not a bad thing to brush your teeth again,
but also this is essentially like,
does everyone brush their teeth after taking a nap?
No.
Cause that's essentially what you did.
A little bit of mouthwash.
So then you're good.
I think you're overthinking it.
I think it's fine.
But it also doesn't hurt to just do it. Yeah.
You got a hot mouth.
You got to brush your teeth.
Health.
Howdy, listener.
It's Mike Ryan.
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Don LeBretard.
And I feel like Rebecca, I can't pronounce her last name,
but she's a great kid.
Androgy.
Androgy.
That's why you're good, man, I gotta tell you.
I feel like her jumps, her vaults were better.
She stuck the landing on both.
She should have won the goal.
The only reason she didn't is because her name
is not Simone Biles.
Your thoughts.
Stugats.
No.
This is the Don Lebatard show with the Stugats.
We've got Diana Rusini. She's a senior NFL writer for the Athletics. She's got a podcast,
Scoop City, which I hear is very popular. She was with us earlier this week from the
owners meetings. A lot of good information coming out of there. She's loaded with good
information.
But Diana, I have to start you here
because Chris ended the last segment, Chris Cody did,
with a very difficult question
that nobody had a really solid answer to.
She's gonna love this.
So I'm gonna have him set it up for you
and see what you think here.
Diana, I usually wake up around 6 a.m.
to get out of bed, 6.30.
I had to shower this morning, had bowling last night. You know the routine, you gotta just shower in the morning. So I wake up around 6 a.m. to get out of bed 6.30. I had to shower this morning, had bowling last night.
You know the routine, you gotta just shower in the morning.
So I wake up at four.
No, no, no, pause.
Um, is that the routine, Diana?
You just, you get a little sweaty at bowling
so you wait till the next morning to shower?
I didn't, I wasn't sure if he said bowling,
but he said bowling, right?
He did, yes.
First of all, I don't know how sweaty
you're getting at bowling, Izzy.
I wouldn't say I was sweating at bowling.
Well, you're just one of those little fans
right over where you collect the ball.
What?
I do put my hand there.
I do put my hand there.
It feels nice.
It does, yeah.
You're wearing no shoes, though.
It's an underrated feeling.
What do the shoes have to do with me sweating?
Finish your story, though.
Let's eye in a rule on this.
You don't think I have my own shoes, Roy?
Come on.
The question is, do I think it's disgusting
that you went to bed after bowling at a public place
where people are touching a lot of bowling balls?
Oh, enough with all that.
That's the first question.
Oh yeah, Izzy, you shower every single time you go home.
Everyone slow down.
Yes, that is the first question, Diana.
Please answer that question, yes.
Yeah, I think it's pretty disgusting
that you didn't take a shower last night
before you got in your bed.
You guys are all just-
Here's part two then.
Now finish the story.
Okay, so I wake up at 4.30 and I'm like,
okay, I gotta get up at six.
So I get up to pee and I'm like, you know what?
I'm just gonna get this out of the way.
I'm gonna shower at 4.30.
I'm gonna brush my teeth.
And then I got done around 4.45, get back into bed.
I got like an hour 15 to go back to sleep.
So I wake up at like six.
The question is, do I have to brush my teeth again?
I can still taste the toothpaste
from an hour and 15 minutes ago.
And you would say that that rest that you got
after the shower, did you get into a good deep REM sleep?
Delightful sleep, I'd say.
Yeah.
Delightful, oh, then definitely.
But I tasted the toothpaste.
Just think about it, your mouth is closed probably.
Well, it depends on how you sleep.
My mouth either, now I'm like.
I told you about that.
I told you all you gotta do is tell your body,
not today, breathe through your nose and then you do it.
You did it for a while and then you stop.
But I'm like this.
I guess I think of, like I just flew back from Atlanta
and it was only a two hour flight.
That's a great call.
With that, and the guy next to me was pleasant and nice
and I was talking to him when we took off
and he fell asleep and he finished the conversation
with me when we landed and his breath stunk
and it was only a quick flight.
And it wasn't a stink like, like an Italian hero or like a tuna sandwich.
It was just, it was that sleep breath.
You know, everyone knows that sleep breath.
Of course. Yes, yes.
That is such a great call, Diana.
Now, most of the times it's on red eye,
but there have been other times,
man, I am sweating today.
There's been other times.
You should go shower right now.
It's disgusting. You're gross.
How do you even come here while you're sweating?
You get off a plane, Diana,
and you're walking toward the front
if you don't sit in the front like Dan,
and you just get just whiffs of bad breath smell.
And it's just like, yeah,
this answers the question I think officially, Chris.
You absolutely should have brushed your teeth.
Yeah, it's the sleep breath.
Just a little mouthwash, swish it around a little bit.
So you didn't, you just got up, started your day.
That's right.
Yeah.
And Roy smelled my breath, he said, it's fine.
I did not.
So what were you doing then?
I bet you that mic stinks.
Looking at the tiny stats.
The last time we left you, you were at the owner's meeting.
You okay?
No, I don't know owner's meeting. You okay?
No, I don't know what happened there.
I'm laughing at Chris.
It's amazing that you woke up.
Really the amazing part of all of this
is that you took a shower at 430 and went back to bed.
Yeah, that's amazing.
Because that is impossible, okay?
I did it.
But I wanna talk to Diana because the last time we left her,
she was at the NFL owner's meetings,
her real job got in the way way and she had to leave us.
And so I am wondering how this Devonte Adams trade
came to fruition here.
Yeah, I feel like the last few appearances
have been a bit of a train wreck here.
I was a little hesitant to hopping back on
because you guys have now become the show
that I am on when news is breaking.
So I just, I'm on, I don't wanna deal with news today.
Like I just need like a couple hours.
Yeah.
So please, no jokes guys, just like keep me alert.
I'm focused on the camera.
I'm not gonna look at my phone.
Okay.
But just if it's serious, break in
and don't mess with me,
because I'm just not in a good state.
I was gonna have Chris hit the sounder,
but your face really looks like you're in a bad state.
Like you would fall apart if you heard it again.
Well, Izzy, you know what it was?
I went back and watched when I was on with you guys,
because in the moment, I remember thinking,
oh, that felt really urgent.
I just told them that the Devonte Adams trade happened.
I was able to give them some intel
that Devonte was in the building.
And I was working in real time.
But if you go back and look at that video, I look like I'm freaked out.
Like someone has a gun to my head.
My eyes are bigger than a deer in headlights.
And it's just my self-awareness is so off
because I didn't think I sounded or looked like that,
but it was a horrible appearance.
I felt so bad.
I reached out to everyone on the show to apologize
because it was so insane,
but there was a lot going on.
I was in the lobby of the hotel
where all the owners were coming in.
Devante Adams story breaks.
Woody Johnson's in there.
It was very chaotic and I did not carry it well.
It was the face of a reporter, Diana.
If I were to ever imagine the face of a panicked reporter,
it was that you were just doing your job.
But I didn't know I worked like that.
That's why I'm upset about it.
I thought I was like a duck
and my legs were moving really quick, but I'm smooth.
Guess what I'm not, I am not smooth. I'm just a duck and my legs were moving really quick, but I'm smooth. Guess what I'm not. I am not smooth.
I'm just a tornado.
Like I'm literally a Tasmanian devil.
I got my batteries, my wires, my cell phone,
but then just my face in general looks freaked out.
So I'm gonna work on that
and just try to do a better job of faking it maybe.
Because look, it's an adrenaline rush.
And especially when you can't work
because you're doing another job,
which is this awesome show.
I kept getting stressed that I was gonna get beat
on little nuggets that were happening in that moment
with the Devante Adams trade.
So now to your questions too, he's in New York,
everyone seems happy.
Aaron Rodgers gets his guy.
And Woody was not going to mess this up.
He was not going to let this deal fall through, which is why
when I got the tip on Monday night that it was happening for real
and Devante was getting on a plane,
I thought it was just so wild how automatic this thing was.
Even though the Steelers and the Saints were in on it,
the bills were lurking,
the Jets wanted to make sure they were gonna give Aaron
everything he absolutely wanted.
And Woody confirmed it.
Which owner has the worst breath?
Great question.
Thank you.
God, it is such a good question
because I did go up to a lot of them.
And you worry about yourself first, right?
Because in that situation, I try not to remember that the person I'm talking to
is worth, I don't know, 20 billion dollars in most cases. And I try to treat them as
human as possible. So I've actually done that in my mind where how can I humanize
them and I just imagine them like going to the bathroom,
doing something that I do like parallel parking, like, like do something that I do.
Which we know that's not what they're doing.
They have drivers and private jets and.
But it's David Tepper.
So David Tepper did not, he was not there actually.
He was not there.
I was looking for him.
I liked talking to him.
He's actually, I've enjoyed my interactions
with David and Nicole Tepper there.
Nicole Tepper especially is awesome.
If the question was who would you wanna hang out with
of the owners, it would be Nicole Tepper.
No one even comes close.
So I don't know.
I mean, I talked to Jerry and he's just,
Jerry just kind of smells like old man.
Right.
You know, like not in a bad way.
Sure.
Just like-
There's no good way to smell like old man, Diana.
It's like, it's like what your grandpa smells like.
Like it's just-
Right, right.
We know the smell.
You know, like you're like, oh, I know that smell.
They had their vitamins.
Are you wearing a diaper?
They definitely had their medication.
Like, you know, like there's, there was definitely that scent,
but otherwise everything else about him is, is, is young, uh,
in terms of how he carries himself. So I didn't, I, I would look,
I was an inch from Woody. Um, I got stuck in Izzy, you know this,
you know, when you're in the scrum of reporters and the positioning of where you
are is important, not for the content, but just for your overall like,
like comfort, like I'm always the jerk that gets stuck
like on one knee, you know, like holding it up.
Just, it's so uncomfortable.
I'm a big sweater, Diana.
I don't know if you could,
I don't know if you can see me right now,
but if I put my hands up in the air,
it looks like I haven't played basketball all day. I was always in a position but if I put my hands up in the air, it looks like I've been playing basketball
all day.
I was always in a position where I was holding my arm up
and you could see my sweat stain,
or I'm just dripping sweat from my forehead
because I'm like nervous that I'm in the middle of this pack.
Yes, and then of course the camera from the other networks
is, you know, it's on you, right?
As if you're not doing TV work, it's like, of course,
I'm in the shot with my armpits up with a waterfall.
And look, I'm sure this isn't breaking news to you guys,
but I've never been in a scrum that doesn't stink.
So someone smells, which sports reporters working hard,
stress, drinking too much coffee, probably not exercising.
There's a lot of issues there.
But I worry about it a lot
because I've been around so many stinky reporters
that I just, I could not imagine if that was me.
And the thing is it probably has been me at one point.
So I just think this full,
we've come full circle on just body odor and hygiene here
because I can tell you those scrums,
someone smells bad.
Philadelphia.
Oh no, it did not happen.
Ah, the world of the NFL.
Actual not joking, breaking news.
Per Adam Schefter.
We can't do this to him.
The Tennessee Titans are granting the request
of former Pro Bowl safety Jamal Adams for his release,
according to Schefter.
He is healthy and looking forward to his next opportunity.
Back to you, Diana.
Oh, shit.
Wait, why did you say the Tennessee,
excuse me, why did you say the Philadelphia Eagles?
I said the Tennessee Titans, did I not?
Yeah.
Did someone say Eagles? I was headed towards a Philadelphia Eagles, okay
Right the Titans your ball that's not a story for you you're good, right?
Yeah, we're good. Okay, Diana. No, no, no, I have to apologize
I have to apologize because I was just looking at her face the whole time. She was absolutely
Devastated she's okay. And like was absolutely devastated. She's okay with it.
And like those, Diana, don't watch this show back
because those 30 seconds where you picked up your phone
and you're like listening,
cause you heard Eagles and you thought it was that serious.
I'm telling you, it was the same look that you had
on your face from a few days ago.
The Philly thing got me.
And it's not because I think Philly's doing anything
big right now.
It's not like, I don't know anything.
Right.
It was just more, oh, god, here we go.
Knowing that they've got a big game.
Take on Barkley, back up against the Giants, going home.
There's just so much drama.
I mean, this isn't happening from what I can gather.
But I thought maybe that was going
to be a Nick Sirianni firing.
I was wondering, your husband as an Eagles fan,
does he side with Sirianni because I do,
or does he side with the fans
who want to fire Nick Sirianni?
Yeah, he is so beyond Nick Sirianni at this point.
Really?
But Kev does this thing where,
like he tries to be rational with me,
cause I think he wants to show me that he is a smart fan
and he is just a normal human being.
So he like fights the demon of the lunacy.
So he'll be like, God, what a clown, man.
Like we got, we need better.
We need a guy in there.
But then I look at him watching the YouTube things
and he'll watch everything Sirianni's doing
and all the clips.
And I think he's the dude that's commenting like people he knows
what he's doing. I mean he Nick
Sirianni kind of represents a
lot of Philly in the best and
worst ways right so much
emotion so much passion but not
great. Yeah, but great because
he's the only coach in Eagles
history that has taken his team
to the playoffs three his first three seasons
And they were a play away from winning the Super Bowl
Roster I
Understand that but he did it. He was the coach. He was the guy in charge
I'm not I don't have anything against Nick Serrani and what you just laid out is why Howie Roseman did not fire him
Yes, right because of what his how do you fire a guy that's been to the playoffs that many times?
You can't.
You can't.
He's doing something, right?
But my problem with what he's doing is he is supposed to represent this organization.
He is the CEO.
They're the ones who use that.
I don't even call them that.
They call them the CEO because that was the job that they changed them to.
They took them off play calling to make him that you want your CEO barking at fans talking trash to the players
There's no way Jeffrey Laurie likes that. There is no way I don't care how um
Open-minded Eagles fans are because of their passion. There's just no way that's good, which is why Nick Sirianni apologized the next day
Diane, I think we can all agree the moment he cut his hair in a bit of a desperation,
I didn't like that.
I thought that was a sign of weakness.
He should have kept the hair because it feels like, hey,
I need to change things up.
I need to change the swag a little bit.
So let me go with the buzz cut and see if that changes things.
They won, obviously, against a terrible Cleveland Browns
team, but I thought that was a sign of weakness.
Yeah, I don't know if swag was the word I used when I saw it.
I definitely went more, oh, good.
I think things are so bad.
Tony, I think you're playing the results there.
Jess, how many times have you done that?
Not a lot.
Desperation haircut?
Not honestly, not a lot.
But I was gonna say that the opposite of that
with Eberfluss growing the beard and growing out the hair,
everyone thought it looked really good and then they played pretty bad
their first couple games and everyone's like,
that beard's stupid and now the beard looks hot again.
So you're playing the results.
Yeah, the glow up, even like Obrick,
like he's another one, like I'm like,
he's too put together to be an head coach.
Like he's too clean.
And Dayball, he looks great.
Diana, I think it's consensus.
There is nothing you can do to Nick Sirianni
to make him look like a CEO.
So they should probably lose the title or lose the coach.
Yeah, I don't know how this season's gonna shape up,
but I don't think anyone behind the scenes is going,
yes, this is what we wanna be about.
I can tell you though,
they're calmer there than we are about them, which.
Billy's pretty uptight about what people say about them.
My cohost of Scoop City Chase Daniel was, was in Philly for a year.
And he was telling me that that Philly locker room has rabbit ears like no other team he's ever been on.
And he's played on seven different teams.
He's like, they listen to everything everyone says about them.
That's just like the culture, because it's how could you ignore it in Philly?
Right. It's so loud there.
Everything they do is loud.
That's the only city that could win a game against the Browns.
And on Monday, you know, WIP is screaming about how bad they are.
And granted, I know it wasn't the best game for Philly,
but the demands are high there and the bar is high.
But they know what's up
and they seem to be kind of riding the ship.
So we'll see how they do against the Giants.
I have to think this part of Sirianni,
you actually respect it, you agree with it because I could see you
doing something similar. How'd you feel about him after the game using his kid
as a shield from the media? It's such a Stu Gott's move. It was so Stu Gott's. Like I am going to use my beautiful
children as shields. And I feel like you think I can relate to it
because you think I would use my children
to somehow further myself in my career?
I have no doubt, yes.
No, I probably should do a better job with that.
I put my children in danger to get the job as we know,
which by the way, for those that have followed the fire
issues that I've had in my house with my son, microwaving my wallet and Joey thinking it's
his birthday every day, I almost sent in a video. It was Joey's actual birthday on Friday and
the kid just like just the whole time during the song.
So all that practice that he's had
blowing out candles in our house,
you know, I guess it's panned out.
Happy birthday to Joey, Diana.
Tell him because every day is his birthday.
She's a senior NFL writer for the athletic.
The podcast is Scoop City.
I hope this ride down the lazy river
was a little more calming than the last time
we were on the show.
I know you had the one little scare,
but there's occasional falls on the lazy river, so.
I credit you.
I'm just glad you're here today.
For some reason, when it's Dan and,
it just, it doesn't work.
So we'll see what happens on Tuesday.
I'll see you guys next week.
All right, Dan, we'll be back.
I'll try to kick him out.
I need meds, that's what I need.
Decisions, decisions. Wait a minute, are you still looking for cars on Carvana? Alright, Dan will be back. I'll try to kick him out. I need meds, that's what I need.
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Howdy listener, it's Mike Ryan.
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