The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Big Suey: The Business Model Is Wordle

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

Let's not forget that Stugotz said just yesterday that the New York Yankees would come back from a 3-0 deficit to win the World Series. Pablo Torre joins the show in his world famous orca costume to discuss that incredible appearance back in the day when Jesse Ventura was spreading 9/11 conspiracy theories while Pablo was dressed as an orca. Plus, he was at Game 5 last night with Taylor and tells us about his experience before diving into the controversy surrounding The Washington Post. Tony has some opinions on Chet Holmgren against Victor Wembanyama and the development of quarterbacks in the NFL after Anthony Richardson was benched by the Indianapolis Colts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to Giraffe King's Network. But with Zyn nicotine pouches, you can find many. Zyn is America's number one nicotine pouch. It's made with only six simple ingredients. There are lots of options when it comes to nicotine satisfaction, but there's only one Zyn. Learn more about Zyn and find your reason to make a change by registering online at zyn.com. Smirnoff knows there's no I in football. Football is a we thing, an experience that is best

enjoyed together with good drinks and good people. Smirnoff is the world's number one vodka and is an official vodka partner of the NFL. And this year Smirnoff is giving fans and selectors of the country a chance to win the ultimate game day experience from tickets to sideline passes and much more. Just head to wedogamedays.com until November 15, 2024 to enter for your chance to win. That's wedogamedays.com. Smirnoff. We do game days.

Please drink responsibly. Smirnoff number 21 vodka distilled from grain. 40% alcohol by volume. The Smirnoff company, New York, New York. Please do not share with anyone under legal drinking age. No purchase necessary. 21 plus ends November 15, 2024. See rules at website for participating area

and other important details. Sponsored by Diageo Americas, Inc., New York, New York. Welcome to the Big Sui, presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show? A podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan LeBattard podcast. I'm sorry, I'm not gonna 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 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. Stu got predicted yesterday that the Yankees would rally to win that series. His words mean nothing. I don't know why anyone listens to the things that he says about sports. The other stuff is funny and great. I just don't know why you would take his sports opinion

seriously. I gotta say, this has been a magical day for me, but if there's one thing I'm disappointed about, is I wish Stugats were here. I wish I could have witnessed the banter between Dan and Stugats and Stugats lying and all those things. It's nice though, it's nice to kind of refer to it and watch it in video, but it would have been nice

to have it live in front of me. Won't lie. I think I'm ready for that character to be done. I'm not sure. I go between, I think I'm ready for that character to be done. I'm not sure. I go between, I vacillate between liking the character as a fan, feeling supported by him, and then wanting him to just go away.

No, I'm having fun. I'm having a ball, guys. Okay, at LeBittard Show, put it on the poll, have you ever said I'm having a ball while having fun at LeBittard Show? We're gonna get to Pablo Torre in just a second. But Mike Ryan pointed out something and I've mentioned before, the numbers of baseball are kind of my first introduction to math, liking sports math. And so you can

imagine my delight when, you know, 20 years ago, moneyball makes an appearance and I become super fascinated by how baseball figures out how to win in the margins with coupons because you can be smarter than other teams by finding value all over the place and billy bean sort of changes the paradigm but now all the teams up that do the money ball stuff now also have money and uh... whatever was that era of enlightenment and innovation 20

years ago now gets buried under the best regional TV contracts win. So this is a tweet that comes from Annie Iyengar. Moneyball age so poorly man. The A's aren't in Oakland anymore. The two richest teams are back in the World Series and Jonah Hill's real- life character is responsible for the single worst trade in NFL history. That part's crazy, right? A guy, Paul DiPatesta, went from being Billy Bean Light in baseball to just running a football franchise,

and he's the guy who made the Deshaun Watson trade? I didn't even realize that that- He's part of the team. He works in collaboration with their GM, Andrew Berry, but make no mistake about it, this was a Jimmy Haslam goal. That's crazy though to think that somebody from baseball's like secret front offices,

does that happen much in basketball? I mean, does anyone make a jump over from one sport to the other? Paul DiBattista went from being a baseball expert to going and running the Cleveland Browns because they thought he had numbers and math advantages. No, it doesn't happen often.

You get a couple of low level analysts that may have worked for a baseball franchise to come over work in basketball from an analytics standpoint, but in terms of someone of power and note that typically doesn't happen coming from another sport, you do see people going to other sports though. Actually, I think that Sashi Brown went from Cleveland to the Washington Wizards,

but not in a power role. It was kind of like a consultant kind of thing, and I don't even think he's with the Wizards anymore. There's a lot of analytics guys from the United States and the four major sports here making their way over to Europe. Europe, yep. and joining American ownership groups that have taken over European soccer clubs. A lot of baseball guys have made that move. So smart.

Pablo Torre, speaking of smart, does a podcast that is universally getting applauded. A lot of mental arc things are getting universally applauded. Pablo Torre finds out, some of you may have been introduced to Pablo. This is one of the first times he was ever on our show. Pablo Torre wandered over after writing like four or five articles and decided, I'm gonna go for all the cotton candy in television. And he was on with us.

Was this the day that Jesse Ventura was on? This was all on ESPN radio? Okay, give them the context here. I got in all sorts of trouble when I questioned 9-11. Well, I've been vindicated because in the chapter, the new chapter in the book, the 9-11 report has 28 redacted pages that we're not allowed to see,

that George Bush redacted them. Well, Congressman Cook and Senator Graham were on the intelligence. I'm not lobbing it out there. It's what's in the 9-11 report that they won't let us see. There's 28 redacted pages. For the audio audience, I will let you know that that is visually obrorious if you want to see it on YouTube. You will see while Jesse Ventura is talking that Pablo Torre in an orca mask showing only his face

a face that is truly horrified because he can't believe i think what's on uh... the radio the jesse ventura is saying was this one of your first this was one of your first appearances with us was it dot absolutely was uh... i guess uh... yeah it absolutely was it was one of those moments where uh... now i think everybody in your audience knows that this is a thing that happens. Someone like Chris Cody will say a thing or Billy Gill dressed as... I forget what Billy was dressed as when you guys went viral on Fox News. It was a sad baseball, like the old timey baseball guy. now we know, now we know to expect charged political rhetoric to be part and parcel of

being dressed in a highly flammable foam orca suit. But that was my first exposure to it. It was kind of my virginity being taken in that regard, and it was traumatic. Bob Woodward is going to join us later in the show. This is- That tracks. This is Old Bob Thursday. We got bob costas and bob woodward uh... it can you just walk us through the problem i know a lot of people get to

the silly stuff and the serious stuff and your podcast in a second but i know that eight a lot of people out there uh... watching all of this get tired of me uh... shoving journalism down their throat. But Bob Woodward, an old-timey reporter who does the truth with facts the right way at a time that still should matter headed into an important election, can you sort of walk me through what you see happening with the Washington Post, the LA Times, with their billionaires? Now USA Today is also not endorsing anyone at a time where like this part part frustrating me okay pablo because only one side has to fight fair uh... the other side you're trying to win a fight

fair with journalism standards against unfair fighting so these billionaires being scared to take a side at a time when newspapers have always taken a side with community judgment in hand trying to bring facts to a discussion you make what of what's presently happening in journalism a week before this the most important election of our lifetime journalism has always been looking for a savior

it's always been looking for a business model that could support the news and i just say this now when i talk to like you know uh... journalism classes I have to remind people, like the news was not the reason newspapers were a business. Like the classifieds were, right? Like the reason you would buy a paper back in the day where they would sell enough to support journalism was because of other stuff.

The news journalism was always riding on the back of another business that supported it. It was the classifieds in newspapers that Eden by Craigslist and the internet. Yet ESPN of course it was the cable television model which was its own thing. Now of course everything is basically fending for itself and at a certain point it became very logical for newspapers to hope to be saved by a benevolent billionaire. And so Jeff Bezos seemed to be that. Right? Democracy dies in darkness. All of that stuff.

And of course, it is revealed that the benevolent billionaire is, in fact, something of an oxymoron. It is a contradiction in terms because, of course, the billionaire is in fact something of an oxymoron it is a contradiction in terms because of course the billionaires a billionaire not because they want to support the thing that doesn't make them money they want to support the thing that makes them money and so jeff bezos wants to support blue origin his private space company more than he wants to have an editorial board way in on controversial political issues

that could deter the business that he actually cares about. And so for me, Dan, like all of this is, in retrospect, the most predictable and logical outcome. And I think, you know, I think about Wordle in times like this. And I think about Wordle because the New York Times figured out something that these other newspapers didn't, which is that our new business model, the thing that our journalism should ride on the back of like some sort of whale, is Wirtle. We need games.

We got to sell stuff that people will buy. We can't hope for the benevolence of a billionaire because that isn't working out so great. That was so smart and educational and informative. It took me all the way back to that first time I saw Pablo in that whale costume, all the mirrors back. The one thing I'm missing though, can we get the music, the highfalutin music? Oh! Oh!

Oh! Oh! This made me think of Wurdle, says Pablo Torre, while making quote marks with his, what are those, the fins? The fins, yeah. Those are fins. You were making, you made so many quote marks while not having fingers there. What do you make of the eight?

This is a middle finger, by the way, to the benevolent billionaire, just for those. Middle fin. Goring at home, yeah. It is a middle fin, yes, thank you Tony. What do you make of this cruel, I'm not sure it's irony, but it's certainly painful, the idea that 200,000 plus subscribers would cancel the Washington Post

ostensibly to hurt Bezos, who doesn't care if that loses $77 million a year because he's just got a bunch of toys and amazon doesn't have to pay taxes and he's not actually interested that much in whether the washington post makes money just wants to own the washington post yes got a hurt in the it's gonna hurt the journalists guys like i i know it's confusing when uh... this benevolent billionaire is also the newspaper guy but he really... The take that is the most accurate, which is of course the take that is going to go

nowhere, is that if you really don't like Bezos, you want to protest, you should cancel your Amazon stuff. And no one's going to do that because we all want to buy flammable Orca costumes on Amazon Prime so you can ship it so that you can have journalism monologues the next day because you forgot to buy this at a store. It's just not going to happen. But that is the catch-22. There is a bit of a, how do they call it,

totally f***ed economic dynamic here. Hi, I'm Ben Stiller from the Academy Award snub movie, Dodgeball. You know, this election is a lot like dodgeball. Kamala Harris is the average Joe underdog. And... No. This isn't the time for jokes.

You know what? It's way too important. Donald Trump wants to terminate the Constitution. Project 2025 will give him nearly unlimited power. We can't let him get anywhere near the White House. So vote for Kamala Harris. Yeah, see, that was better. The serious version was much better, right? Paid for by Harris for president. Don LeBataard.

Chris Cody does an impression. Just be careful. Dangerous game. This is a dangerous game. I don't want to play this game. No, he was saying, man, I could do such a great Kendrick Oh, I don't want to play this game. He's like, man, I can talk to you. This is who we're going to trust. I mean, you do it. Let's let Am like, man, I can talk to you, it's like him. This is who we're gonna trust with this.

Amin, you do it, let's let Amin do it, I think. Stugats. I think you could do it, Chris, cause you did a great Charles Barkley, you're one for one there. Did no one just hear the segment we just did with Amin? We cannot be taking counsel from the local drunk on whether or not you should do the impersonation

of a black man stumbling over his words. Like you don't see the bad judgment was mose and moody moody Moses that it sounds worse careful man we got it like we cannot do this it's too close to the line this is where the line is something legitimately funny can't be funny because we're scared our ginger's gonna do something racist by accident carry the hell on Dan Rachel Dan the line is where we feel alive though This is the down lebat are show with the stooge ads Can I ask a serious question and say that

Are we mad at Jeff Bezos just because the Washington Post didn't endorse a candidate? Meanwhile, him owning the Washington Post making sure it's still in business has given us a lot of great journalism. I am mad at Jeff Bezos because I thought he was sitting stuff out on this particular issue where newspapers have always been separation between the money and the editorial judgment it's what kept it pure it get i understand that it's a business and has to be a business but

the thing that was always separate bob i'm not being naive about this like the reason this is the story it is to me is because the billionaires never do this not in a free press like that's not that's not how it works the money is because the billionaires never do this, not in a free press. Like that's not how it works. The money is separated from editorial. Well, and also it's the timing of this, right? If you're gonna have a new, and look, I guess it would be fair to say,

we believe that editorial boards as a concept are antiquated and that all they do is get in the way of even the reputation of the journalists. Right? Again, there is a, I mean, it's sort of like hinting at something that is meaningful, which is newspapers are objective reporting, but also an editorial board where people opine by definition. They weigh in on the matters of the day, the most important matters of the day. And if you're going to say, well, maybe we should lean towards the objectivity on some level, that is a fair argument. It is an argument against the concept of editorials in general.

I disagree with the argument, but leave that to the side. It's the timing though of saying, you know what, we're not going to do this 11 days or whatever it was ahead of the election. While these private contracts with a deliberately and transparently vindictive and in fact corrupt presidential candidate being someone who is going to go to you and say how did you do my bidding and will you deserve the government contracts that I would give if I am again the president so it's not hard to see the real logic even if there is a plausible fig leaf of another larger argument against Editorials which is a journalism nerd argument more than it is the actual issue at hand

I think but Pablo you're applying a logic that why doesn't that apply to Elon and Rupert Murdoch because they've pick sides They have media companies and they're using those media companies to advance an agenda. Elon Musk has government contracts, maybe he stands to gain possibly more, maybe he can flip X for a profit because of what he's doing to advance this cause right now, but he has plenty of government contracts right now

with an administration that is not conservative. So I think that you can parse what you're saying a little bit and hold up examples of these guys probably think that what they're doing is brave and Jeff Bezos isn't reacting with the same kind of bravery. Look, the Elon thing, there's just so much there right now, Mike. I don't know if you guys have seen the reporting from Wired that just came out about Look the Elon thing There's just so much there right now Mike I don't know if you guys have seen the reporting from wired that just came out about what he's doing with like You know getting out the vote and we're gonna put people Allegedly in the back of you halls who have no idea that we're getting out the vote for Donald Trump and Elon Musk

specifically and by the way, they won't pay for your motels allegedly if you don't door knock and do it look the point being I Don't know. I, Elon specifically, right? Um, I don't know if this is an argument now about like, should there be government contracts handed out to billionaires? I believe that of course, if you want to go to space, you got to now. We did an episode about going to space actually, about those astronauts who are stuck in space.

Um, NASA sucks now. This is, this is, uh, We did an episode about going to space actually, about those astronauts who are stuck in space. NASA sucks now. This is unfortunately true. Yes, Pablo, American systems are failing. Yes, that is correct. Continue. And so the benevolent billionaires saving not merely newspapers, but the space program,

we're all in this together, right? And so is it bravery in any way to see that your market inefficiency is in fact that the government is crumbling and also you're going to campaign against that government while extracting billions from that government and then pull up the ladder behind you as Elon Musk is doing and saying we got to get rid of government contracts guys because you've already gotten the billions it all feel I mean look it's not stupid as a strategy it is just allegedly kind of evil so you know do with that what you will no me and Chris have been laughing throughout because you're delivering it all in an orca couch so important what you're saying you're pointing to punctuate your very important points during a very difficult time

Yes, everyone's bought Elon Musk is also willing to drive that monster truck of racism And he wants to build a future community in Mars so that he and a million people could live up there And he could be King Elon when we've used up the earth Quick thing as the orca reporting from New York, right? I like how a lot of these talking points in general, like New York is a shithole. Like look at this, look at this crime. They can't live here anymore. And they're like, you know where we gotta go?

A place with literally no habitable environment. Let's send those same people who are worrying about New York being uninhabitable to a place that can't support life. Cool. Before we let you go, I have failed here and I need to apologize to the community of listeners around this show because it has taken me way too long today to get to the fact that Pablo and Amin finally doing the important investigative work

that Metal Arc Media was built to fund and to support, they went to the haunted basketball hotels. Pablo and Amin stayed amid the ghosts, and yes, Chris Cody, look at Chris Cody, how delighted he is. Yes, they did some reporting, both of them. Charlotte Wilder, oddball was there so pablo tell us what's on pablo tori finds out

it is a ghost story the spookiest story of all spookier than even government contracts and privatized space programs and newspaper editorial boards being destroyed it is a story of two intrepid journalists amina has an issue of the wilder who collected, I believe, items that comprise the most ridiculous expense report in Metal Arch media history. Oooh! And they stayed at the haunted hotel known as The Skerven.

And we found out some stuff. They found out some stuff. It's actually really... Dare I toot my own blowhole? It's a really good and ridiculously stupid episode. It's journalism, it's ghost journalism. What, what, what? Did Sugat's expense a trip to Colorado to watch The Dead? I'm pretty sure he's, yeah, he's expensed like three different vacations, I'm pretty sure.

Haven't you done weirder expense stuff? Like what's your top three dumb expenses as you, and what did you guys find out? Well I'm not gonna give it away, not gonna give it away, but yes we spent some Ghostbusters type equipment because we were going to look for ghosts at this haunted hotel in Oklahoma City and we tried to determine whether Oklahoma City has a home court advantage as a result of these ghosts. The most ridiculous thing I expensed is, well two things, number one, this, number two, I went to the Yankee game last night, guys.

Oh, this is your fault. Oh, you saw Taylor. You were preening, wait a Oh, this is your fault. Oh, you saw Taylor. You were preening. Wait a minute. Actually. Oh, yeah. Yeah, well, we'll get to that in a second. I still don't understand how the Cody's expense Taylor

going out there. But can you guys get for me the sound of a typically smug, and I understand that that's redundant, a typically smug Pablo Torres? We don't need to do that. At the World Series last night, there's some incriminating video of you doing the bad pun lane that Jeremy's trying to occupy

that you were gloating, you were feeling yourself, you were feeling New York a little bit when they were up five nothing and you put up a video. They're up five nothing, I can explain it. They're up five nothing and- Oh, I'm sorry for not foreseeing the worst Defensive inning in the history of Major League Baseball all of which occurred with two Goddamn outs Taylor puts a camera in Pablo's face and Pablo looks at it and goes looks like some people were too quick to

Judge and then they blew the five-run lead Bravo Pablo really good job on that. Yeah way to go Pablo So Pablo Tory finds out anything else we need to know. I would assume that ghost stories would be interesting to people. I would also assume that Amin, who is I believe a lord of the dark energies, that he doesn't believe in any of this nonsense, that Amin's not scared of ghosts.

We tested everyone's priors, and I just wanna tell you, in case you weren't familiar with the specific legend of the Skerven, this ghost seems pretty horny. Yes. Hell yeah. Alright, va-va-va-vroom. I think that Patrick Ewing was terrified. There are athletes all over that simply will not stay in the hotel. Stan VanGundy would tell the story of teammates of Patrick Ewing would go knock on the door and then run away howling.

Classic, classic. That's when you and your boys are in the hotel room or like A, U ball, you at? I'll give you guys a DLS exclusive that I did not do on Pablo's show and I did not do on Oddball. There was an elaborate plot to plant a Bluetooth speaker in Charlotte's room and then walk away and then play ghost sounds off my phone through

the speaker. That would have been great. The good news is that Charlotte, spoiler alert, got freaked out regardless. So it was not necessary, if yet. Alright, thank you Pablo. Pablo Torre finds out. Happy Halloween. It is good seeing you.

And thank you for the work that you're doing. That podcast continues to be a great deal of fun. And what are you laughing about back there, Mike? Are you laughing at just... I'm mean agreeing. Yes, yes, it's a great podcast. It's awesome. I love it.

I love the extended universe that you have created, Dan. Of all these offshoot shows, they go on to have a life of their own, and they're different, but they still have little similarities and connections to this show. It just makes the overall experience so much richer. Thank you, fan. I wanted to add-

They're like menu items. Ladies and gentlemen, the NBA is finally back. Thank goodness. And a new season means new ways to get into the action of DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. Who's draining threes from beyond the arc? Who's crashing the boards and getting rebounds? Get behind your favorite players and the prop bets you can make on DraftKings, the home of

NBA player prop. New DraftKings customers bet just five bucks to get $200 in bonus bets instantly. Every point counts with the DraftKings Sportsbook. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code DAN for new customers to get $200 in bonus bets when you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings. The crown is yours. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. In New York, call 877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY467369. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org. Please play responsibly. On behalf of Boothill Casino and Resorting Kansas,

21 and over, age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Voighton, Ontario. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng.co. slash bball. Don Lebatard. But it's just his titties are sitting on the shelf that is his belly.

Stugats. He said titties and it like shocked me a little bit. I wasn't quite prepared for titties. This is the Don Lebatard Show with the StuGuts. I wanted to add, yes, Oddball is different on the menu than it was last year, different spot on the menu. It's still four or five days a week and Poblatory finds out it's three days a week. And there are things that we're proud of around here as right now we're taking victory laps for the moment at at Metal Art but

it's a contract year and the pressure is on and we've got to cover sports correctly so I wanted to go back for a second here and talk to you about a couple of sports things that we've skipped right past over and one of them is Tony blaspheming I think against the legend of Wemby already by anointing Chet Holmgren and and and he wants these stick figure scarecrows dominating the league and and all of these just crazy extraterrestrial type physical people Tony's willing to elevate Chet Holmgren to a place I am not willing to elevate him

Look Chet and Wemby did battle last night It was a aesthetically interesting game because they're just so much bigger than everybody else and so much thinner than everybody else You're watching the games you're like wait a second This is so weird What I will say is Chet is having an incredible first couple of games and it seems like he's starting to come into his own Blocks defensively's in good spots he's trail threes are hitting like his offensive game I think right now and I mean you can see if I'm wrong about this I feel like his offensive game right now is better than

Wembe's I would say it's more efficient but you could see what Wembe does on the floor and say to yourself that's special and and it has a ceiling that's incredible I think Chet by virtue of a couple of things one of them being This it's typically his third year. Not a second. He had a whole year of not playing but being an NBA environment, but also Chet has to be efficient because of where he plays right now. He plays for one of the best teams in the league. This is a team that has championship aspirations. He doesn't have kind of the luxury of,

let me just try this shit and see if it works. Whereas Victor has the, it's encouraged because everyone understands if we're gonna get to that level, it's because he has fully realized his full potential. They're different, they're different players and they're in different situations but I agree with you in the sense that this is a rivalry because if you look around the league who's the guy who could be the the anti Wemby it's got to be someone who's tall and long and agile and and Chet seems to fit the fit the bill and

Wemby might be the only person where Chet's like, oh thank God I'm not gonna get beaten up tonight as someone who weighs as much as I do It is pretty cool that they both ended up in such close proximity to one another with franchises that already had an established rivalry So and the fact that they both look very different than everyone else in the league, but they also look the same I mean one other question when you when you think about guarding Wembe, right? You you see him and it's like do you want to put somebody try to get his size the promise? He's quick enough to go around them to make things happen

But what they were doing last night Alex Caruso is kind of like getting under him I'm forcing smaller guys that are stronger to be able to put him in uncomfortable situations where he's like Oh, this guy's a little shorter, but I can't get around him. So the Rockets tried the same thing the other night with Brooks, Dylan Brooks, where it's like, I don't want to put Jabari on him. I want someone, like you said, smaller stouter to push him out and then let the long guy come be kind of the help and the bother right there. Some nights it works, some nights it doesn't,

and when it does work, it's a lot about, Victor right now, his core strength isn't where it could be. Because he's still young, and he's still kind of learning all this stuff. So as he gets stronger, that's not gonna work as much. By the way, this is something that's been employed for years, they used to do it to Dirk, right? Like the Warriors, when they beat the Mavericks in the first round they didn't

put the Biedrin's on them they put Matt Barnes and Steven Jackson and Al Harrington all guys that were smaller but they were physical and they try to hit them up from underneath. Well I wanted to talk with you guys about something here that I think gets lost in that story and And it's going to be worth watching because it's a great star league, personality league, rivals. Make it something that's optically fun. Make it a black French guy and make it white guy

and both of them are stick figures. But one of the things that hasn't happened, I don't think, I mean, nationally, it still feels like OKC is a regional team because people don't really know outside of basketball, obviously everyone knows in basketball, that Shea Gilgis Alexander's better than both of these two human beings. He's more valuable than both of these human beings

and here comes his star turn. He did not get it in the playoffs last year. Kyrie and Luca got what was that shine going against the Celtics. But his story and Luca got what was that shine going against the Celtics. But his story and this team's story is now a part of the next starting five series on Netflix. I'd like to disagree with you there because what a pro wants. Inescapable star power. And the Skims commercial, right? He was the first NBA athlete to be an ambassador

for the Skims brand, which has made literally billions of dollars for the Kardashians. So where you guys are disagreeing with me, you think that OKC is already a star vehicle that doesn't need to do any more winning right now so that Shay Gildjus Alexander belongs in the documentary that Netflix is doing, where now they're following Jalen Brown and Kevin Durant

and Halliburton and James Harden. No, I just wanted to remind you and our great nation of the time when it was held hostage by a single commercial that aired inexplicably more during the NHL playoffs. You know what's crazy is you just rattled off the names. Yes, you're right, She Goes as Alexander has another stratosphere of stardom in front of him. But as Tony whispered in my ear,

and by the way, how cool is it to show within the show to experience that and have things fed to you and it gives you ideas. Guys, I cannot recommend it enough. We're following James Harden? Is that what you're saying? Yes, James Harden, Kevin Durant, yes, James Harden. I'm surprised to see you. I don't wanna hear other names. I wanna hear following James Harden? Yes, James Harden, Kevin Durant, yes, James Harden. I don't wanna hear other names.

I wanna hear following James Harden. Everywhere? Everywhere. I would assume, I don't know, you guys are gonna have to tell me, because I haven't seen the first five, the starting five before this starting five. Really good. But how much access are they trading

because they're done in partnership with these players and nothing too bad is going to be exposed. You guys think we're really gonna get into the strip club scene on Netflix? Whoa, you said it Dan. You said it. I mean if we're following James Harden for his career in this year, I mean we're gonna end up at some interesting places. And James Harden, one of the beautiful things about him is he's not someone who shies about it's not like, oh I have an image, I can't have that out there. He very much leans into it. So if he's gonna do some things that maybe tread

on the TV 14, maybe towards TVMA type material, I think he's the great ambassador for it. I'd love to see it. You know what? I wanna be a fan of that too. It feels like in the starting five, we had a lot of like family men this series. Yes we did.

We had LeBron, we had Jason Tatum. Anthony Edwards became a father during the season. Sabonis is a family man. Sabonis, family man. And then we're looking at our other group of guys were like are we got some young guys? We got some guys that are single. We got some guys that get out there ratings are down And this league has to be handed over we've had a lot of years of Hardin and Durant and Lebron We've been really spoiled It's been a 15 year run of the same guys and now Anthony Edwards wants in the game like we've got a with the league meet and Jalen Brown's in this series that Jalen

Brown because the Celtics are now they lose for the first time last night but the Celtics are now in the interest they are in the legacy business of during this era are we the ones who are gonna knock off Shay Gilgis Alexander and Chet Holmgren before they start fighting Wemby for the titles. I love Shane Gillis Alexander. I think he's totally set for stardom. You have said that so many times that I'm scared around that name.

I see the speed bump for you. It is, I am. You've seen it a couple of times now, Tony. You're like Shay Gillis Alexander. Shay stadium. I wanted to ask you guys though, You've seen it a couple of times. You're like Shane Gillis. Shane Stadium. I wanted to ask you guys though. I have nothing wrong here on what OKC is as a team. The difference between whatever OKC was last year and this year

wouldn't be a monster jump by Gilderys Alexander. It would be by Chet Holmgren. You need it to be by Chet Holmgren, correct? He's gotta become a number two player that can challenge someone like Wembe. Or Jalen Williams has to have a jump and then Chet has a gradual rise. Challenging Wembe, not necessary to win a championship at this point.

At this point, you're challenging Jokic. That's their big, that's the guy they've gotta take out, so to speak, in their conference. Even though everyone's like, the Denver Nuggets are not as good as they used to be. Like, rumors of their demise are greatly exaggerated. They're still great. They're still going to be an obstacle

for any team in the West. But for them to be successful over time, to turn this into more than, oh yeah, we had one final strip or whatever, it's gotta be something more than that. It's gotta be Chet becoming the superstar that we expect him to be in order for this to turn from a one or two year thing to a 10 year thing. To me, their best case scenario with Chet, at least at the very moment, is the fact that he could be their Chris Stapps. So if Jalen Williams can kind of develop into that really consistent

and legitimate number two, where he and Gildas Alexander can essentially be their version of Tatum and Brown, and then you get Caruso filling in that Derek White type of role, where you have defenders and role players around these guys, that's where, seemingly this season, they could take the leap where Chet Holmgren becomes more of an X factor than someone who needs to be relied on every single night. You using those hands, they're so much more effective than Pablo using those fins.

There's something here with the ability to punctuate points. Pablo was annoying me with how often he was doing quote marks with fins that didn't work as quote marks. Let's do Thursday Thunder, please. Bolt me. Bolt me? No, the sound effect. There we go.

All right, so it's another complicated Thursday night because there's injuries to Houston. I'm not exactly sure who's going to be available, but we want to honor Thursday Thunder by bringing everybody's attention to the National Football League. So here's what we've cooked up. Three-teamer. We feel pretty confident that Aaron Rogers is gonna target Devontae Adams. So let's just play over four and a half receptions. Hopefully it's more efficient this week. Now the Jets defense, it's funny, they had a really good

defensive coach and the defense was playing well when that defensive coach was there but then they fired the defensive coach and the defense is struggled but on a short week with a lot of injuries, you got to believe in the talent of this defense. We're going to go with CJ Stroud over half an interception throw. And let me remind the people that Thursday Thunder brought to you by your friends at DraftKings. Stay tuned because you'll hear about all that DraftKings has to offer.

Or what? Throughout the show. What a little piratey there. What happened? Are your friends friends are your Yare. You know, sometimes the verbal gaffes can be distracting. I don't think so. Bolt me. I think they add. And finally, we are closing our three legged with Breeze Hall

anytime touchdown score. This three leg parlay comes out to plus 445. Wow. If I had told you before the season headed into the halfway point of the season I've got Aaron Rodgers and Devontae Adams playing together on the Jets. Where is the season right now? You think over under four and a half catches is where we'd be. Like that is, that is- And praying for it by the way. Not that it's so good given. It's like, please get to five.

I'm almost certain we're gonna get double digit targets. So it's basically, can you hit it at like a 500-hour-o-champ? What you're saying is, am I gonna see five slants in this game that he's been throwing to Devonte Adams for 10 years? I wanted to ask you guys about another football thing that skipped past us.

So, more football? Yes, Anthony Richardson. What are you complaining, fan? Well, no, no, I mean, it's just, you know, feel like we've been on it, but no, go ahead, please. We just talked Chet Holm, great fan. You don't get to be ombudsman, fan.

I'm not being ombudsman, you know, just. Anthony Richardson, we had a quarterback change and we've ignored it for like 36 hours. Anthony Richardson, oh, that's what it looks like when you've started 20 games since high school of all kinds. Like, oh, you're not quite ready to do all of that. That's a hard job.

Here comes Joe Flacco. And that wasn't the surprising part. The surprising part to me was the announcement, oh, we're going the rest of the way with Flacco. Like Richardson, you don't get this job back. This isn't for you to watch from the sidelines. We're going veteran. I don't understand why Anthony Richardson took him out of that game. You put yourself in such bad standing with your franchise, with your locker room. Doing that basically made

this a reality. He was probably headed there anyways because Anthony Richardson, you watch him in isolated instances and you fall in love with his skill set but he's never shown you throughout any level of football that he can consistently it's one be a threat It's one play to every receiver running back taps the top of the head and says they give me one play He has the quarterbacks never do he had just thrown over a 300 pound guy over his back to try and get a first down I got tackled. What does me? Out of a basketball game on your Never but that your never, but that's a different story. Quarterbacks can't be doing that.

Built different. Can you can, you can audible into a run. You cannot do that, especially with a comeback player of the year over your shoulder, Joe Flacco. He's been performing better and more consistent than him. Can I get, can I get a bolt? Oh, my God. Howdy loyal audience, it's Mike Ryan and we're getting down to the nitty gritty of football season.

Which means you've probably enjoyed more than a few tailgates and right by your side at that tailgate is that beautiful white can of Miller Lite. From defending your favorite team after a bad loss, to obsessively checking your fantasy lineups, football fandom is bigger than just Sundays. Miller Lite knows the passion that comes with rooting for your team, like the debate that sparked in 1975, great taste vs less filling. So what's the best thing about the Original Lite beer? Let it be both.

It is for me, Miller Lite keeps it simple, undebatable quality, with great taste and only 96 calories. It's a beer that strips away everything that you don't need and holds on to what matters most. A light beer that actually tastes like beer, and the original light beer since 1975. Make your game time taste like Miller time. Tastes great and less filling. Let it be both. To get Miller Light delivered right to your door, visit MillerLight.com slash stand,

or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer. Celebrate responsibly, Miller Brewing Company Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories per 12 ounces, fewer calz and carbs, and premium regular beer.