The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Big Suey: Dianna Laughs At Murder (feat. Dianna Russini)

Episode Date: October 7, 2025

"No, it was Mac Jones!" Texas is not special, and, seemingly, neither is Arch Manning. Dianna Russini is here to go through the biggest stories around the NFL, including her husband's Eagles struggling offensively, but there's none bigger than Mac Jones seeing a dead body before his start. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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visit camh.ca to help us forge a better path for mental health care welcome to the big suey presented by draft kings why are you listening to this show the podcast that seems very similar to the other dan lebitard podcast i'm sorry i'm not going to apologize for that in fact the only difference seems to be this imaging i have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries that if they're just there That hasn't happened to you guys? I've done it. And now, here's the marching man to nowhere, fat face, and the habitual liar.

This episode of the Dan Libetard show is presented by Draft Kings. Draft Kings, the crown is yours. Diana Rusini will be here momentarily. I see that Steve Sarkesian of Texas says, let's take the 135 other teams in college football and see how they would do if they had to go to Ohio State and the swamp. And I saw South Florida win at the swamp this year. What is he talking about?

You have the Heisman favorite with the quarterback chromosome as your quarterback, and you've got two losses, and you're not allowed to say that the swamp is a difficult place to play. It used to be, and I know that that defense is good, but South Florida won there this year. and Miami won there last year and won there last year in a game that wasn't particularly close

wasn't close. Yeah, the mystique of the swamp is pretty shaky right now. That's no excuse for losing if you're Texas. Texas is not special and I thought they were going to be special. It's stunning.

Same with Arch Manning. Stunning what's happened to that offensive line. I mean, it's the same, pretty much the same defensive line that went up against Miami that was thoroughly dominated. and there was pressure coming up the middle on the edges.

Arch Manning, I know that people are having to go at him because it hasn't been the type of season. I do think that it's probably a little hyperbolic. I think people are now it's gotten to the point where we were glazing him a little too much at the start of the season when he hasn't really done much. And now I think people are crushing the kid. That was not Arch Manning's fault on Saturday. Yeah, he missed a couple of throws. He was also under crazy duress the entire time. that is just flatly confusing.

What has happened to that Texas offensive line when you consider the resources they have usually committed to that. I will tell you what's more confusing than that to me, though, is to see a player by such consensus step on a field without much proof that he's good and everyone expects him to win the Heisman. Like I have seen that very infrequently in my life given how hard it is to play that position,

how hard it is to learn that position, and how rare the Josh Rosens and the James Winston's are, that come in and are immediately great at that position to have coach oh say he's the closest thing i've seen to joe burrow and an assortment of other people say that he was going to go into ohio state and simply be dominant the moment he took the field when he couldn't win the job from yours like if he was that special he would have won the job that sarkeesian wouldn't have been so stubborn to stay with his veteran starter if something was being shown to him i remember uh this goes so far back, but these people who are expert at this, they really can see it faster than

we can. So when Jimmy Johnson comes in and has Jack Del Rio as his middle linebacker, veteran Jack Del Rio, and Zach Thomas comes in as a fifth round pick, he sees it and immediately cuts Jack Del Rio. I know Quentin Ewers was something special at Texas and was a very good college quarterback, but if Archmanning was what everyone told me he was, he would have been that from day won, and I just never expect that from a college quarterback. I never expect a college quarterback in his first game when Ken Dorsey's the one who says to us, no, the first time I came out at Washington, I could feel the urine going down my leg. I was scared because of the size of what was in front of me. Ohio State, I'll give Sarkeesian. I won't give him Florida. No, but this is the

great con of the SEC. If they beat a number six-ranked Oklahoma, who's playing their backup quarterback in Red River, they'll be back into the teens in the ranking, and there's going to be multiple three-lost teams that either come from the Big Ten or the SEC. Everyone's riding off Penn State. Penn State finds a way to beat Ohio State. They're right back firmly entrenched in the playoffs. It's so friggin' frustrating if you're from the other conferences. And let's say Arch Manning is going to be good.

He needs to grow into that job. He needs to grow into the expectations. He's a victim right now of too much hype too soon, and he's a victim of the Manning name. he's going to catch up to all that. I don't think so. I do. I think he's going to be better. He's not going to be what it is we've been promised.

He's going to be, yes, he's going to be better because he can't be a great deal worse, and the expectations couldn't have been more unreasonable. But to expect him to simply be a manning, for example, just the odds are so stacked against him having even Eli's career in the pros because of how hard that is that the hyperventilation about the coverage of him seems in retrospect to be really foolhardy. Howdy, folks, it's Mike Ryan. I want to talk to you about Game Time,

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Conditions apply. See your local Nissan dealer today. Don Levatard. Daddy says you're doing a live show on the draft. Is it Channel 7? Stugats. Those girls on eyewitness news? They look good.

They're mothers. They look good, though. This is the Dan Lebatar show with the Stugats. Diane Rossini, as I said, the senior NFL's insider for the athletic. She's the host of the Scoop City podcast. Let's begin with Greg Cody's topic de jour here. Mike McDaniel, are there any. advantages, Diana, any whatsoever in firing a coach early so the next regime could get a head start in the next five, six, seven games to get a head start on next season. Any advantages whatsoever firing a coach in season?

Yeah, good morning. Hi, guys. No, I don't really think at this time of year, you're going to get a leg up on it. Guess what's probably happening. They're already having those conversations. They probably've had them before in terms of what direction they want to. to take this franchise in next if they decide to move on from Mike. They know it's not working. We've been talking about this for weeks now. So look, who are you going to be looking at right now even on staff to step in his interim? I know Anthony Weaver's name has been thrown around a lot. He's got he's had a lot of support and love even around the league in terms of head coaching opportunities over the last few seasons. So we'll see if they do make that switch if weaver will take over. But you take a look at some of the defense too, right? You can make an argument of, well, is there someone else maybe? Because it's not like their defense is crushing

at this point. But to answer your question, no, I don't think that you get any leg up right now firing Mike McDaniel. Like, how? What are you going to do? Just have more conversations. People back channel anyways. So what's more likely, Stephen Ross back channeling about what he plans to do with the direction of the franchise or Stephen Ross having these discussions about Mike McDaniel's future with the impaddled general manager Chris Greer? Yeah, I think that's going to be the thing I'm going to be paying close attention to. Is this going to be a move where they're both out, right? Chris Greer's been there a long time.

I think that there are definitely conversations going down right now about their futures, both of them. So, yeah, we'll see how this goes. But in terms of the direction of the Miami Dolphins, if there's, Any thought about moving on from these guys, most organizations begin that process pretty early. It's not like they're waking up today going, you know what we should do? We should fire these guys. And let's start putting together a list of people we want. They've been doing that.

I want to get to all of these stats of the day. So give me the stat of the day music again, please. Start of the day, start of the day. This year, start of the day. Start of the day. of the day, the city is start of the day, start of the day, start of the day, the city is start of the day, start of the day, start of the day, the city is start of the day. I think I'm going to shock you guys with this one. Okay, the third worst team in the sport right

now, having the most number of three and outs. The third worst is Cincinnati, obviously a bad team without Joe Burrow. The second worst is Tennessee. We all know that's a bad team. to guess who's first most three and outs in the league and i'm going to do one better most three and outs by any team since 2005 20 years your champion eagles what do you do with that diana that was coming yeah so i look i think this is layered um first just looking at it um this isn't even just conversations I've had. That's a separate conversation. They have an identity problem, right? It's like they have an identity crisis of what they want to be. Are they run first? Are they a passing team? Do they trust Jaylen to throw the ball? This is a team that has had so much success

because they know what they are. And last year we saw them do that, especially after the buy. They figured it out. And now we're seeing a team that just resembles a little bit more 2023 to me. right, right before Kellyn Moore was there, where you just weren't sure what they wanted to do. This roster is an all-star cast. There is no reason why they should be having all these problems. It was very obvious to all of us, right, that they've relied on Saquan-Barkley, they've relied on this fantastic offensive line and the ground game, and it's been the same thing every single time we've won games, which was 20 out of the last 21, right?

run, run, run, off-sch-push, push, right? It's like the same formula, but it works. Then you have two very high paid receivers in Devonte Smith and A.J. Brown who are obviously frustrated. They're not just frustrated because they're not getting touchdowns. They're frustrated in how they're being used in this offense collectively. And I think this is a point where, you know, Nick Siriani took a lot of heat over the last few seasons. from some of his own self-inflicted actions on the sideline to just a lot of questions about whether or not

he's a good coach. Well, he goes out and wins a Super Bowl last year. It's hard to criticize, right? He's at the top of the mountain. I think this is his biggest challenge now. This is the worst the offense has ever looked under Nick Seriani. And I know they have a new offensive coordinator this year and Kevin Petullo, but I think this is a good opportunity

for Seriani to step in and be like, this is what we're doing. This is how we're going to win games. We're going to play into our strengths. And I will manage the things I need to manage for this team to really find itself at this point. I'm not panicked about the Eagles. I'm just surprised they look this bad with the roster they built. I'm going to say it again, just so that you know, it's 47% of their drives are three and out.

So half of their drives are three and out, and no one's been that bad in 20 years in the sport. So I ask the question of the audience on the poll at Lebitard Show, is it possible for a team that has won 20 of 22 games to have an identity crisis? Because I didn't think that was possible. Right. We are talking about a four-in-one team. It is wild, though, negative this sounds. I mean, it's 47.2 percent of their drives go three in a hound.

And what's amazing is they have a great running back and ostensibly a great offensive line. And great everything on offense. They're 11 best players pushed around the chance. Chiefs defense last year in the Super Bowl. Like, they have all stars all over the place. It doesn't look right. It's winning, but I think it's fair. What she just said about Siriani, I still don't know if he's a good coach.

I know he won the championship. I still don't know. 45 rushing yards in this game against the Broncos. That was the fewest they had since 2018. Why change what you're doing? And I don't think it's that deep for us to have a conversation. about why they changed it because they have receivers who are frustrated. Their best player on offense is mad he's not getting the ball.

So I think they just auto-corrected a little too much. But to me, it's almost as if winning camouflages the problems. And yet we're seeing this team have success. But we can, we see the problems, right? There's obviously a trust issue they have with their quarterback. There's obviously a trust issue they have with their offensive. coordinator. Everything is disjointed. They're not in sync. And I just, I don't know how to fix it. I don't know how they get. This isn't going to be one of these team meeting things. I really think

this is on Nick Sariani to grab hold of it and make adjustments and figure out what they want to be. Dana. They got an opportunity against the Giants, right? They play in a few days here. And look, the Giants defense when they're playing well will be a problem. But I think this is a get right. game for the Eagles for sure. Dana, I feel like a lot of people forgot about this story just because of what happened with Mark Sanchez over the weekend. But can you walk us through your day where you're doing your job, you're doing reporting, you're kind of checking in with players and teams or whatever, and you're like,

hey, Mac Jones, how's it going, ready to go? And he's like, I found a dead body today. And then you're just like, okay. And then he goes out and he has a great game. Like, what happened there? I'm so glad you asked me this, because without a doubt, it has been, that was the most bizarre story I'd ever, like, covered, but also had a dig on. So I got a tip. Not, not physically dig, right?

No, the body was, I guess, in sight. It was in Marina del Rey. I also guess she wasn't on the Mark Sanchez beat. Yeah. I, which, you know, it's funny, you get so many, like, random messages in your DMs, and I don't always check them because they're always just, you know, show us your toes or whatever, you know, they're never really good. Like, someone in Indy tip me off on Saturday morning on the Mark Sanchez thing. I went back and saw it. And I was like, oh, my gosh.

So, like, they had everything. I'm like, who is this person? And now I can't find their account. So random. But no, I woke up on Friday morning and someone had messaged me that, like, all it's all it said was Mac Jones saw a dead body floating in a pool. And I'm like, what? What is, what? I don't even know what to do with this. So the story just evolved all day long. By the way, this is in the middle of like 15 other major stories happening

around football. Because Fridays, every, everyone's a little bit more relaxed. Everyone likes to talk more. Um, so, you know, I'm digging on all this other stuff yet. I'm trying to figure out what happened. So when I was finally able to nail it down and dealt with Marina Delft, Police, which is another story. So essentially what happened was Matt Jones started his Thursday morning in Marina D'Rae. He has the game against the Rams that night. He's out on his balcony doing some meditation, something that he does. It's part of his routine.

And he looks out at the water where all the boats are. And he sees a dead body. He did not know it was dead at the time, but figured it out pretty quickly. someone else had called the police at that point so then there was all this police activity and the San Francisco 49ers are getting ready to go to their game so they're getting on the bus

and the way it was told to me was the coroner's van is headed down to go get the body and the buses are in the way and everyone's just like this is weird this whole thing is bizarre and when I spoke to the Marines and said I were a police

and I apologize I'm not laughing. I don't know who this person is that that passed away. And the Marina del Rey didn't really know about it either. They were like, wait. So you're telling us there was a homicide and we don't know about it. I'm like, well, let's just go through the logs. Like, let's go through every single thing reported.

You are smiling while you tell the story. You tell us you don't mean to laugh at this. You need to keep talking about this while covering the smile on your face. Okay. I imagine that's how Matt's. Jack Jones called the police. So, like, he calls like, there's a dead body. I'm imagining him in like a zen with his eyes closed and he just slowly opens them.

And he's like, do! I'm laughing because the ridiculousness it was of how, like, you guys always mock my, like, resilience on the show and, like, my relentless is to get a story. And I get it. Like, I make fun of myself as well. I was obsessed with getting this story. And I was getting so many different versions of it that I couldn't write it. Because it was wrong.

Like, I needed somebody with, who knew what happened and saw it themselves to tell me the truth. And I needed the police to help me. Yet the police were like, yeah, there's a parking ticket we heard around that area. I'm like, no, no, no, a body. I need a body. Did anyone report a body? You know, your homicide unit was seen there. And it was just a lot of communication.

And the person that was helping me. You are still smiling maniacally. Like, you are still having a. enormous smile on your face. I don't mean to be laughing. I'm laughing because I wish you could have heard. Like, just imagine this maniac sports reporter calling you being like, give me all your paperwork.

Tell me everything that happened. And this guy's like, I don't understand why you care so much. You're a sports reporter. Like, why do you care about a box? At that point, you became a suspect. That sounds like a cover up if you asked me. Correct. He was asking me so many questions about this.

So he was like, but I thought Brock Purdy was hurt. I'm like, no, it was Matt Jones. Brock is hurt. Like, he was asking me all of these questions about the game. I'm like, and he's like, well, where are they playing? I'm like, they played already. He won last night. He saw the dead body.

He saw the dead body and he got on the bus and he went and he won the game. He's like, that's a good story. I'm like, I know. What's why I'm calling you? You should write that. So it's, Dan, you're obviously a journalist. You know how this works. You're like, I can't believe my calling.

is the lead story of my column right now is not the Eagles. It's that Matt Jones saw a dead body. Like to me, like that was just wild, but Bill, you're right. Like, nobody cared. And look, I get it. Like, the only details I had was that he saw a dead body and I'm sure we'll hear more. And we don't even know who this person is. We don't know if he was murdered. We don't know if he drowned. We don't know. Um, but yeah, that's a wild day for a guy that went out there and won the game after eating three bananas and cramping and all the other things that go with playing the position and getting a really big win. So you said that someone also DM'd you the Mark Sanchez stuff, but I guess you didn't

see it until after you weren't sure if it was real or not? Like, what's the furthest down a path of confirming a story that you've gone to just realize like, oh, this was total bull. Like I've just kind of done a wild goose chase for no reason. Yeah. So remember when the Packers, there were rumors that they were going to trade Aaron. Rogers. And there is this guy who was obsessed with messaging media. And he did a good job to his credit of almost carrying himself and talking like he was somebody close to Aaron Rogers. And he was engaging

with everybody. And the only reason why I knew is because I would call the Packers. I'm like, hey, I'm hearing this. Like, you're like the fifth reporter to call us about this. Please do not listen to Bobby Smith 1-2-1-2 dumpster fire or whatever his handle was. So I'd say just I don't like to engage with the people that give you tips

but sometimes they know. Sometimes people see people at airports or one of my best sources years ago was a janitor, which I know is always a joke. Like when people whenever I break a story, there's always someone that tweets like, who did you hear that from the janitor?

And it's one time I'm like, yeah. actually like that was one and when I say it's a story from them I don't mean the whole story I mean just hey heads up I'm I saw this or I heard this I don't know if it's anything then you dig um but in terms of like a person associated with the team or a story I'd say the janitor one years ago and I almost said the city this episode is brought to by tron aries for the first time the captivating world of tron breaks out of the grid Aries, a highly advanced program, journeys into our world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind's first encounter with AI beings.

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think it's so weird you're a writer now all those years on TV, all those years, and now you're right? Who reads that? Stugats. Why did you take a job at the Atlantic? Mom, I work at the athletic. What? You're on YouTube? This is the Dan Levitar show

with the Stugats. At Levitarcho, do the janitors always know, yes or no, and let's speed her up so we could get as much football information as we can. Which stat is more surprising to you that one that I gave you about the Eagles, 47% of their drives are three and out, worse since 2005, or more than 20% of their drives, zero or negative yards. More than 20% of their drives this season, the defending champions have zero or negative yards. Which one's more shocking to you, Greg Cody? The first one, the Eagles having that rate of three and out. I caught you off guard. You weren't ready for that question.

You thought I was asking Diana, right? Well, sort of, but I audibles. That's what I do. I'm quick on my feet. Diana, you were at the Philadelphia game. Were you not? Have you, sorry, I crossed my mind before. I just wanted to ask, Greg, outside of a funeral in any personal family situations,

Have you ever seen a dead body? I don't know that I have. No, I don't know that I have. How many of us have ever seen a dead body out in the wild? I interned at a news station before I was in sports and it was like the news desk and like one of the camera guys are like take me along and like some of the dumb things. And then like third or fourth day on the internship, we go and it's like side of the express or whatever. He's like, want to go see a dead body? And I was like, no, I do not want to go see a dead body.

He's like, come on, it'll be your first. Was he smiling like Diana? It was crazy. He's like, let's like, let's see a dead body. go. And I was like, they're not going to just let us go over to that body. He's like, yeah, we're the media. I want to go see what? I'm like, no, I don't. Put it on the poll. Have you ever seen a dead body in the wild? I did see one at NCAA tournament game. Lefty. I think most people would say no to that. The Patriots, are they for real?

Yeah. I don't think they're for real, for real where we're talking Super Bowl. I think that they have had a really big makeover. Devin Lloyd has more interceptions than 22. NFL teams. Is that recreatable? No. Are turnover's random? The Jaguars have caused 14 this year in five games. No other team has 10. No, not random. Do you believe in the Broncos? I do. I believe in their pettiness, too, with Sean Payton and the Broncos celebrating in the

locker room with a smoke machine and listening to the Rocky soundtrack and Meek Mill and getting the bus and considering maybe driving around the city of Philadelphia to just celebrate. But, yeah, I think, look, there's been a lot of excitement about them. And I think just the fact that they were able to come into a link and take down the defending Super Bowl champs tells you that they can, they believe they can beat anyone now. How hurt is J.J. McCarthy? And what has to happen if he's healthy for Carson Wentz to lose that job? Yeah, high ankle sprain. I'd say probably, so they're on a buy week.

they're going to try to get them out there, but I was told that they're going to be very patient with this and make sure he's 100%. Kevin O'Connell has been very open about it. He wants his quarterback to have a full week of practice. So this won't be one of those situations where Carson practices Wednesday, Thursday, JJ's back Friday, JJ starts Sunday.

It's got to be a full week. So look, for everything that I've been told is they still believe in J.J. McCarthy. It's his job. They just want him to get healthy. What makes the Ravens defense so epically bad? They lost their identity. By the way, you asked me that question, and I can tell you that the people in that building are asking themselves the same question, right?

Because is it scheme? I don't know. Do they need better players, probably? They're hurt, but they're hurt, Diana. It's $160 million of payroll that's not playing. I hear that, and I understand it. but we've seen it how many times teams playing with injuries. Remember that Titans team one year?

I think they had like the record number of injured players in the game. And they went out one, the great teams figure it out. The great teams with great quarterbacks when they're healthy, figure it out. I would be a lot less concerned about the injuries with the Baltimore Ravens. If Lamar Jackson wasn't on the injury list, he's the centerpiece of that team. And without him, you get what you saw. Can you tell us why or if Josh Allen is still mad at you? Probably.

You can tell us or probably he's still mad at you? I don't know. I haven't tried. I've avoided. I'm an avoider when I, when I lie to a MVP caliber quarterback in film. I voted for him. Oh, what happened there? So he asked if you voted for him and you voted for Lamar and you told him that you voted for him.

and he hasn't forgiven you? Okay, so I just told this story to Stu. I did not know that the vote last year were public. So we vote for MVP, coach the year, offensive player of the year, all that stuff. And while it's happening, there's some campaigning. There is, whether people want to know that or not, right? So you've got agents and teens and coaches

and everyone call and saying who you vote for, who you vote for. I don't like to make people uncomfortable, So I tell everybody I vote for them. Well, but why during the Eagles tailgate did you tell all of the Eagles fans that their teams got problems? Like, if you are somebody who lies to the face of Josh Allen, why do you tell Eagles tailgators of all people the truth?

I'm sitting there. So I experienced a Sunday tailgate. I never get to do it. I had to go swing by my in-laws, say hello to them. You know, all their buddies are there. And they're like, hey, so tell us what's really going on. We're, you know, we're going to be fine, right? And I guess I just wasn't thinking.

I just was like, well, I got, I have concerns. Like, and this was before the game. You know, they're like, what's your gut? I'm like, Broncos. They're like, what? Right. So it's just like, I learned my lesson. Do not tell fans that their teams are in trouble.

Everyone is winning. Like, if I could go, if I could redo my career, I would only report that teams are amazing because that's the only time fan vases support you and like you. Like my Twitter would be all like puppies and rainbows. She is the senior NFL insider for the Athletic. She's the host of the Scoop City podcast. She's an NFL expert.

What do you think Gronk is saying here? Emika a big boo. Oh, Mika, a big boo. Emika a big boo. Where did he get the? Emika a big boo. Did anyone stop him? Did he want to correct him?

Yeah, they did. You know, the producers in his ear are just like, trying to get it right it's hard what's the hardest thing you've ever had to say on the air auntie ticompo was hard for me at the beginning obviously see you later diane i know you have to get out of here uh thank you uh nice to see you guys uh antitacumpo is in the news these days transition that was that was a professional move there antitacompo and lebron both find themselves in the news today it was a weird story from shams in that the bucks called the nicks to gauge interest but then the conversation died

and that the Knicks are the only team that Anta Tocompo has shown any interest in but I would imagine it would require the entire Knicks roster to go back there and I'd do it I'd give anything that Milwaukee wants I'd give it to them and

start over that matches up on salary caps Yeah, Shams surprise everybody here the two teams apparently discuss this a little back and forth there and I think obviously the interesting part was there was just one team and we've seen recently the NBA has kind of gotten away from that but Ante Cumpo said I only want the Knicks and it seems

as though that the Bucks were willing to at least entertain this wish from their their superstar I thought we weren't doing that anymore that also you know breaks the heart of a lot of fan bases out there that thought that they could get in this game if you're the Knicks though you start the game at anyone you want except Brunson right? Nope. Anyone you want. But they start there. If you're the Knicks, you're not just saying, here's Brunson. I agree with you. You're trying to play that game of... You try to pair, and I think the assumption would be from even Milwaukee. Yeah, you make that ask for Brunson, but I would hope that the intention would be to pair the two.

I'd give away anything for a top five player in the league who changes my fortune, no matter how I put around him. And I understand that Milwaukee doesn't win the championship every year. But Brunson is... Well, you're a terrible negotiator. That's what you start. Brunson, I want the player. Take more. No, you start, you're like, you know what?

We're really unwilling to get rid of Mitchell Robinson. And then they're like, why? What do you know? I'm not just can't part with him. I'm like, well, hold on to someone. If you can't, we want him now. Don't ask for Josh Hart. That's no.

Weren't the heat involved with speculation? Stop with this. No, no. I mean, no, apparently not. Like, yes. like Zaslow had that report in our mind like what we do often and I think we got to wrap our brains around like this guy doing it ain't happening anymore. Wait a minute. So Zaslow, the journalist had an erroneous report? I don't believe that. No, the Miami heat did indeed hear from all of the interested parties in possible acquisition and what.

Everyone's got to do their planning there. The reason that this story is interesting is because it's twofold. I would say. One, it's the first indication we've gotten from a superstar who has chosen very carefully how it is that he's received by the American people. He is the only one who's been able to cross the language barrier and feel known by people in a way that's more than Luca, more than Yokic, like really, an international superstar who has transcended because we feel like in English he's trying to meet us where we are. So this is the first indication. Dirk? Okay, fair enough. Dirk as well. But Anta Tocompo among this batch of people that are presently playing, vying for the face of the league after LeBron. We'll get to him in a second. But onto Tocompo, the reason this is newsworthy is because, A, Milwaukee has made a call suggesting that, yes, he is available, and that call was so brief because the Knicks are not serious people. You are not going to get this person. You're not going to get this person. by being finicky about what you're offering.

You have to show them your entire roster. There's only two or three teams in the league who would say no to Janus because I'm not giving up Yokic for him. It's literally two or three. I'm not giving up Wembenyama for him. Go ahead and name all the others. But if there's only one team in contention, then why give them whatever they want?

You have some leverage there. They're not in contention, though, if they're not willing to give up something. But they can be. But not with Mitchell Robinson and Miles Turner as the trade piece. Seven future first round. They don't have that. They don't have anything. Damn, but isn't this also part of that chase?

Having it leak out to Shams and have the conjecture start? It's a dance. I mean, you say that they're not in the race. To me, from where I'm looking, they're the only team in the race. No, it's got to be players is what I'm saying. They've got 26, 28. They've got 30, 32, a protected Wizards pick at 26. They don't have good picks to give.

So you have to give players. And you're not going to get this person for your discards. That's not how that's going to happen. Of course, Jalen Brunson's their most valuable piece. And he's on a great contract. They got him at value, which has to be Pablo Torre's next finds out. Like they got Brunson's like the only guy in the league willing to take a super discount in order to stay some play. They can have cat.

In basketball, though, sometimes you do get these players for nothing. Everybody seems to. Cat, Josh Hart, Mitchell, Mitchell, who else we got out here? Come on. Not Mitchell. superstars tend to get their way, except for when, you know, Miami's in the mix. Billy, not this player. Like, not this player.

This player is a top five franchise changer the moment that he steps into your uniform. There are only five of these in the entire league. Within Shams' article, it is kind of important to note that the only call that it says here, it says the Bucks picked up the Knicks call on Ante Tzacompo. This was after a conversation they had with Janus, where he expressed his frustration that He didn't feel like the Bucks were quite as close to championship contention as they could be at the beginning of the summer. They made moves independent of the potential moving of him that were meant to solidify the roster. And the Bucks insisted to the Nix, they did not plan to move on to Tocompo.

And those in Milwaukee believe New York was never really serious about the conversations because they didn't think Milwaukee would ultimately move him. This is just really, if we want to look at where this is situated, This offseason, he'll have one year left on his deal. This is just sort of like planting the seed of, okay, New York should be one of those teams and putting pressure on Milwaukee to make the aggressive moves when it comes down to it, whether it be at the deadline or this offseason, to try to keep him happy. It sounds like Milwaukee's playing both sides here. If you're accepting calls about Antedacumpo, you're shopping them.

You have to take calls. You have to listen. Not if it's that player. You don't have to, no. They only took one call, which makes me think, like, that's not literal, right? Like, it's not like, okay, the heat call, and then the phone just rings. And at the end, like, they call the heat back. Like, just so you know, that was us not taking your call because you're not in contention.

I'm picturing it, like, Moneyball, where it's an assistant yelling into the GM. We have the, you know, we have the Bucks. We have the Lakers on the line. Nope. And you say we're not taking that call. Or do you set up a call like, hey, we'd like to call today at 2 o'clock and then the heat call. And then it rings and go, oh. The Hornets are calling.

We have the hornets on the line. I don't think. Anybody's taking any calls these days. All of us are using our phones as computers. Who the hell takes calls anymore? To me, the news is Shams reporting that the Bucks took a call. It didn't have to be from the Knicks. Someone at the Bucks picked up a phone and didn't treat it as simply a text machine.

You can't be putting this stuff on text. I see on the television here some people are being critical in the question asking of whether Chris Jones at the end of last night's game had to show more effort chasing Trevor Lawrence and what it made me think of to you guys he didn't move very much but the swampy regions of Florida can get defensive linemen at this time of year do you guys remember how the Rams Titans Super Bowl ended with the Titans being one yard from tying the game late on that last drive demarko far inside of his own 30 yard line just raised his hand and ran off to the sideline because he was tired.

Like, Chris Jones is exhausted last night. He doesn't want to be out there anymore. Could he be just spying? Yeah, it looked like that was the assignment, although it was a weird guy to spy down the line. He walked four inches. I don't think he gets there, but he could have shown him more effort. Had a bad game, Chris Jones. But I also understand how a defensive lineman might

be tired chasing that Clydesdale around. You got to leave it all out there, though, Dan. Well, he did. That's why he can only take a couple of steps that play. He was still out there. DeMarco Far, that's the last 30 yards of a season and he couldn't he asked out of the game he ran to the sideline barely could run i also would have been a little confused if the quarterback was already on the ground looking at him like all right well this plays surely over i'm i'm good we won right this game's

over instead he got up looking like a baby horse not a clydesdale if a baby horse was to score a touchdown it would look like what trevor lawrence did i expected him to keep falling back all the way into a safety. I expect that just to keep falling backwards again and again, I do not trust that quarterback and that team to not undo every single bit of talent that they have. That's it. That's correct. It is. Everyone listening to this believes the same thing I do. Folks, whenever I tell you about game time, I am telling you about game time from my heart because I use game time all the time to find tickets. I am so excited to talk about the official ticketing partner of the Dan Labatard show.

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