The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Big Suey: The Question Of Questions

Episode Date: July 25, 2024

It looks like the end of an era at ESPN. Dan leads a conversation on how newspaper writers built the company's credibility as the company itself killed newspapers and how singular entertainers are now taking up the mantle from collaborative environments. If a personality or a show leaves the network, do you care? Then, Jessica explains why she loves the Olympic opening ceremonies, Tony longs for the Olympics of 1,000 years ago, and Chris tries out a French accent. Plus, The Nation's Dave Zirin is here to explain how the citizens of Paris are being disrupted for the Olympics including details on the security officials, barricades, unhoused people being shipped out of the country, and strikes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Welcome to the Big Sui! Pres presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show? The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan LeBattard 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 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. I'm gonna get Amin Ohassen here in a little bit to discuss what I think is a fascinating change in sports media culture. Paul Pierce and Gilbert Arenas giving voice to something that offends an always classy and should offend an always classy Luau Deng and what gets rewarded in

the modern age because no one's going to listen to the always classy Luau Deng show. Paul Pierce and Gilbert Arenas are being rewarded for being the trolls that they are. But the thing that I wanted to talk to you guys about here, does anyone in the room remember why it is that Jerry Krause's widow was booed here recently? We've gotten a refresher course of the last 30 years of sports. Ultimate winner guy who's not Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, ultimate winner guy, won so much that the last 30 years have been dominated by him and the guy trying to succeed him in sports coverage.

Do you guys remember why Jerry Krause's widow was booed, the specifics of it? Yeah, they showed Jerry Krause on the video board at a Bulls game and then cut to his wife right after He was up on the jumbotron and so fans were booing and it was a terrible look for everyone Because he broke up the Bulls team, right? Well, not just no it's it's not just because he broke up the Bulls team Because that's part of it, of course But the thing that sticks to Jerry Krause so much that his widow is booed after his death is that in breaking up the team he spat organizations win championships. And Michael Jordan's like, nah, I win championships. LeBron and Pat Riley, nah, I win championships. Belichick and Brady, nah, I win championships. Belichick and Brady, not I win championships. And the reason I want to bring up organizations winning championships is because ESPN,

the worldwide leader in sports, setting the table for all media coverage for the masses, is the organization. and they are telling you now loudly that all of the parts are disposable around the horn and era is ending at e s p n twenty years of the whatever it is you thought journalism was around the horn we gave so many voices

where pablo started where meaner started where bomb on the started the era is ending tony reality over twenty years where Pablo started, where Mina started, where Bomani started. The era is ending. Tony Reale, over 20 years, Eric Rydeholm and the producers of Pardon the Interruption, they made Around the Horn, they made Highly Questionable. This group of people outside of ESPN took, in 20 years, the credibility of newspapers and ended newspaper sports sections because they wanted behind them in newsrooms sports writers that said Chicago Tribune Denver Post we're a global organization we're coast-to-coast organization we do journalism they killed the newspaper sports section the New York Times was

the only organization that sat out hey the columnist can't go give their opinions over there. We're not sharing our credibility with a news gathering outfit that doesn't have to be a news gathering outfit. What is getting rewarded in the modern age is Gilbert Arenas, is Paul Pierce? Is Pat McAfee? Is Shannon Sharp? Is a new era of how some of this stuff is going to end up happening in the future. And I wanted to ask the group,

when you hear reports from the New York Post that Around the Horn is ending, when I know what those shows were for some of you, I know that for some of you, highly questionable was your after-school viewing it sort of Indoctrinated you in the earliest stages of whatever it is your sports fandom was into that's what sports television should or shouldn't be This the 90 minutes segment from 430 to 6 p.m Before Sports Center Sports Center used to be the biggest thing and then PTI became the biggest thing

Pardon the interruptions gonna be the last thing standing there because those two old journalists will hang it up However, they want to at the end because they've got relationships at the top of the food chain But I want what I heard Shannon Sharpe say the other day that I thought was so interesting He's got a couple of popular shows. He works his ass off, he's super single and just married to the work. He wants to compete in his 50s the way that he did as a Hall of Fame player. He goes in on Monday and Tuesdays to do First Take and this is what he said, I don't talk to any producers, I talked to four people at ESPN, he named the four, one of them was Eiger. E her put our own is like

you can't that because they're all sorts of reports coming out now that there's tension on first take and he's like none of that's coming from because i don't talk to anybody i go sit in a box i put on my suit i talk into a camera on their two days a week and i talked to four people but sorrow uh... i'd go and two other like top-level executives he does not get on any calls around the horn was a bunch of journalists getting on calls all day so

that they could be maximum informed on whatever the subject matter of the day is but if you've got a personality like shannon sharp you don't have to do it that way he's prepared he knows what he's doing he doesn't need to talk to any of the producers at e s pPN but that's a seismic shift for somebody to be coming in on their big show Monday and Tuesdays and being able to do whatever he wants and I'm just curious as I present all of this to you from the innards of the business do you care if anyone leaves ESPN any single person

leaves ESPN does it matter to you? I think Stephen A Smith is the last star like to me He's the face of the network and the the one guy that if he left you would go. Whoa This is the end of an era I think too like that block of programming you talked about Dan that five o'clock to six o'clock 90 minute window or whatever you look at reality Reali who's been there, God, 20 years. Like I was 12, 11 years old watching Tony Reali as the stat boy intern for Tony and for Mike

and then all of a sudden getting his own show. Like that hurts when you tell me around the horns ending and I know Tony Reali personally, right? Like we all do. He's part of like our family at ESPN. Oh, don't do that. It hurts because it's like he's so good at that job. He is so excellent at that.

And the fact that they're like, eh, you're kinda done, it's over. And it's like, he could do this for another 40 years. The thing about these shows ending in the capacity in which they are is that, like you mentioned before, Dan, they're eliminating sort of the team element of any of this. They're eliminating these jobs for producers who are the people who build up talent to be informed.

When you're talking about Around the Horn, like I interned there at one point. It was doing some of the behind the scenes work that helped to prepare all of these journalists for the job. Yep, I was waiting for that. But I was part of creating the research packets and going together and pulling real information

for people to not look like Stu Gotz who's not paying attention to the games, but to look informed as if they can actually pay attention to all of these different things. But the reason it worked is because you had people who studied these games, you had journalists with real credibility who knew how to story tell, who were then there on TV.

And when you're eliminating this sort of collaborative environment, and you're just propping up individuals who know it's only about entertainment, that's it. It's no longer about actually fleshing out stories, it's just about entertaining the masses. It changes all of what this has all been about for the last couple decades. Yeah, I mean, around the horn,

I used to watch it every day after school. I'm friends with Mina Kimes. I'm friends with Kevin Clark. I'm friends with Harry Lyles. I'm friends with Izzy Gutierrez. I would be devastated to see these people not on my TV every day at 5 p.m. I don't believe that when you and Greg Cody

Talk about heartbreak here or what would be the reaction to anybody leaving you say the reaction Stephen a leaves Your reaction would be wow and then you'd go right back to watching ESPN You'd watch first take as much as you already do or don't like it's not actually, the bet that they're making on giant stars but will pay you this much, Stephen A., will pay you not as much as McAfee. You will not have a production staff. You will have better numbers than McAfee, but you will not have the $10 million in resources that allows you to have Belichick and,

who else is on the show, Aaron Rodgers weekly and Nick Saban, what he's fighting for, production. Let's partner on stuff. I wanna partner with you the way McAfee has partnered with you, the way Shannon Sharp has partnered with you. When Tim Legler can be as excellent as he is and can quietly leave and you sort of have a little bit of a death of expertise as Kendrick Perkins gets rewarded because it's a different thing

than what it is that Legler does. You have a dilution by degrees of your expertise and your commentary, but it doesn't matter enough. It's a dilution of degrees that I care about, but the viewer and the audience doesn't care so much. Like it's obvious that it's very clear that ESPN can lose anybody

and all it'll be is noisy for a little while, but the noise won't matter because organizations win championships.'s accurate and and we see that in sports all the time you know there's no Michael Jordan anymore the Chicago Bulls are still selling out games and and I think the change in evolution in in a way yes pain is just catching up to that wave I mean think about it MTV starts off showing nothing but music videos. MTV's a whole different thing now. You can't even find a music video. Food Network started off

doing cooking shows. Emeril Lagasse is teaching me how to make chicken piccata. Now Food Network is game shows and competition shows. And they're great. Yeah. And they're great. So ESPN, if you're an ESPN fan, and I think Stephen A. Smith is maybe an exception, but you're gonna watch ESPN. You're not gonna switch channels

because Tim Legler is no longer there, or a certain show, Pardon the Interruption, I think is a tent pole for ESPN obviously I'm gonna, that's the one show I will miss when it ends for sure. This is part of the corroding of information all across television, right? Like CNN ultimately decided we wanna be first take

about a decade ago and that was like right leading into the first Trump election because they realized as a corporate entity, we're going to get more eyeballs and advertisers if we just have people watching this polarizing thing rather than actually doing the journalism and breaking it down and giving you correct information. And that goes for Fox and that goes for MSNBC,

that goes for any of these major cable networks. So when you turn around and you look at ESPN, it shouldn't necessarily be a shock that in something in sports that's even less news-based, what of it really matters in news a lot of the time, outside of the types of stories that we're on, like outside the lines and things like that, you're gonna have, of course, a decrease in people

like Tim Legler breaking down the game when, you know, you can go to a podcast like The Dunker Spot with Nikias Duncan and Steve Jones. Or you can go to Oddball. Or you can go to guys on Twitter who are breaking down the game in threads. You can get it there rather than on TV. And they'll just go, all right, we're going to overwork these individual talents who are

polarizing, who are going to give us stuff on social media and call it a day. It's an interesting fracturing because if you want to be informed and get expertise, you can do so. But it stands out when Orlovsky and NFL Live are giving it to you on a mainstream outlet. It stands out when on the MLB network, all you're getting everywhere is legitimate expertise that if someone's not an expert, they will be unmasked very quickly if they do not know what they're talking

about because the fandom is so intelligent and desires that the content be smarter, better, different than other places than they get it. I would say that the content has to respect its fan base that way, but I would also say ESPN is respecting its fan base that way. It wants entertainment. It doesn't want the like the expert team of Orlovsky and NFL live is good over there and stands out. It's not what they want from the rest of the shows.

They want the show, the rest of the shows to be more general. The elimination of baseball tonight was really what kind of ended modern baseball coverage at ESPN and we've always talked about how baseball fans are dorks, they follow the stats, everything like that. Well when they then moved over to MLB Network, it became immediately, the moment baseball tonight was gone and we all had to go to MLB Network for more baseball coverage, it was leaning in to we will cover the analytics. And that's the reason why baseball fans

are so much more focused on Saber Metrics and analytics than any other fandom, because the only place that they're able to go for content told them this is how front offices are breaking it down, how they're analyzing it, and so you so you the fan should be informed this way. We're over where ESPN is talking about it. They're not really caring about the information. They're just talking to you about hey, Shohei Otani, is he Babe Ruth?

I don't know. Well, compare it to cooking and music shows then. Compare it to the evolution that Greg Cody is talking about of MTV becoming ridiculousness at all times because when it comes to when I think about things that people care about super passionately cooking music and sports are all among them but only one of them can actually put out multiple networks a day talking about a single thing like you don't have multiple music networks that are 24 hours, seven days a week.

Cooking does some of that, but ESPN and Fox and all of these other entities are occupying a space where they are giving maximum stuff to the people most passionate about sports. Compare it to the cooking and the music entities in terms of how it is that these things are digested and delivered do Cooking shows give you expertise. They do about cooking music is not giving you very much Expertise about music, correct? Right. They're not analyzing songs They're not breaking that it's not Jack White talking about guitar chords in a way that will make people fired up Right like sports about guitar chords in a way that will make people fired up, right? Like sports occupies

a unique space in inundating market passions, flogging market passions with excess, correct? There are more podcasts in this sphere. How Boston alone can support about five major sports podcasts. Just the people who show up at the parade for the Celtics and Stu still can't watch the subway series Jesus Christ. Hey it's Mike Ryan how do you like to grill your barbecue? Tell me I'll be quiet I'll stand back I'll listen for approximately two and a half seconds Wow a lot of great suggestions in there let me give you a suggestion I need everybody in the audience to pair their barbecue with Miller Lite I've been doing a lot of travel suggestions in there. Let me give you a suggestion. I need everybody in the audience to pair their barbecue with Miller Lite. I've been doing a lot of travel lately and I really reveled in the fact that I got to stay home with my

family. It was hot out, it was a perfect day for the pool, and what goes good with that? Miller time, of course. You know that's what I was getting at. I don't like debates, and that's why I go with Miller Lite, because it's got undebatable quality. It tastes as great as your barbecue. It's a beer that strips everything away that you don't need and holds on to what matters most. It's the light beer with the most taste, less filling, at only 96 calories that is perfect for when you're eating some barbecue outside with your family. With a Miller Light in your hand, grilling doesn't just taste great. It tastes like Miller time. To get Miller Light delivered right to your door,

visit MillerLight.com slash Dan, or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company Milwaukee, Wisconsin 96 calories per 12 ounces. Don Lebatard. Greg Cody of the Miami Herald. He's actively playing defense against my ability to do the show because what are you laughing at? You're just laughing at him. Honey Boo Boo is embroiled in controversy. It's funny to me. Sorry. Stugats.

He couldn't stop laughing just looking at the picture of Honey Boo Boo. That doesn't sound healthy. It's a his laugh. We can't make him laugh like that. It's how he's going to die. Right here just laughing and coughing. I want to die like that. This is the Don LeBathardt Show with the Stugatz.

Somebody writes in Stugatz's WFAN residency 2024 is just making all of New York hate him. It's the most deserving result possible. If you have been watching and listening for a long time, you know that the joke was supposed to be, this is how Stugats does it at the top of ESPN. That was supposed to be the final joke that we made there where Stugatz is reading quarterback rankings into Michelle Beatle's chest and then he parlay's all of that into I'm gonna be on pardon the interruption arguing with Mike Wilbon and we we failed we didn't get quite to

where we wanted to and I've been making the joke for a while and it's not a joke that he's gonna plant the flag of ignorance at the top of Failure Mountain in my head. It's gonna have no flag and it's gonna be in the head of this company. Should we explain the Michelle Beatle thing for people that don't know? No, not really. That's how it happened on television. It was supposed to be the start. It was her show. She's doing Sports Nation. He goes and finds her microphone, which is tied to her, I don't know whether she was wearing a dress or a shirt or a blouse or what it was,

but he just shouted into her chest some quarterback rankings because he was doing 24 hours of fantasy football with Mike Golick on a green screen. What a time. The beach ball and them on beach beach chairs I was on the old baseball tenet set tonight set the set the site the two of them goal like and Stu got doing that show thinking as I imagine I imagine right now if I told Jeremy Jessica and Anthony if I said the three of you,

go up to Bristol and you got 24 hours to do a show, and we're just gonna turn the microphones on and the cameras on and you're gonna have ESPN to yourselves. The first couple of hours of that would be very exciting, and then you'd get very sad that you were in an antiseptic cold room with a beach ball and a green screen, and there were 22 hours remaining on whatever it is that you had to make.

Daniel, I do the Tony show, 24 hours. We start getting cooking around like two or three in the morning. Come on, Danny. That is what they called me in college. I miss that, I miss those days of being called Danny. And Wilbon. And only Wilbon, that's correct.

Only Wilbon. And only Wilbon. The Olympics here, we talked about this some yesterday will bond uh... the and and only will bond and only will bond and only will bond uh... the olympics here uh... we talked about this some yesterday because i'm uh... a little confounded that the world the now move so fast opening ceremonies

of the olympics which used to be something in America, as close as you can get to people gather around and watch something together just for the communal of it, that it's too slow for the modern age. That whatever the costume pageantry is of this is the world, the fate coming together at a time that the world is not at all together in pursuit of sports we're going to put some of the packaging on it and we're going to sell it to you and you're going to gather around your television or now your streaming service to watch do you guys care at all about

the opening ceremonies does anyone do young people love the opening ceremony I'm not a young person but I love the opening ceremony it's going to be I think it's four and a half hours long, live tomorrow on NBC at 1.30. And then there's gonna be a condensed version, I believe at 7.30 in prime time, with Mike Torey co-hosting it. And I'm very excited.

I saw yesterday that Coco Goff was named the women's flag bearer. So she's the youngest to ever be a flag bearer for Team USA. She's only 20, which every time I hear how young Coco Goff is, my mind is blown, because I have been watching her play tennis for so long, it feels like, but that's just how good she is. She's been in the national spotlight since she was like 15. So she's going to be doing

that with LeBron James. I'm very excited. I can't wait for the Olympics. It started yesterday. There was some rugby. The US Men's National Team played against France. They lost, I think, three to nothing. Yeah, awful. Which was not great. But the US Women's National Team plays today at three o'clock Eastern, I believe.

So I'm very much looking forward to that. I wore my Team USA US Women's National Team shirt. I'm dressed up, I'm ready to go. I'm very excited. Who doesn't wanna watch 600 athletes saunter into a stadium? It's great, what are you talking about? It is great. I love it.

I love seeing all the different outfits. I love seeing the fashion. I love seeing, like every country has their LeBron James. And I love finding out who all these people are that I don't really get to watch every you know every year I just it's just a great could walk a little faster though, so remind me they're just walking in a circle They like enter it no they're doing it on the send this year, so it's like a river It's like a river boat tour. I guess

parade What do you what else would it be? You don't have to watch it. I's fine. No, I won't. Trust me, I won't. It's great. I love the opening ceremony. I love the parade of nations. I love mocking the country that's got like two representatives and how they picked the

one to carry the flag. You know, what about the other guy? But it's a throwback. It's quaint. You know, it reminds me of decades ago when sports was so integral with what everyone was thinking. The Olympics though are love it or leave it, I find. When I talk to people, you either love the Olympics

or you're yawning about them. I don't find many people who are casual Olympics fans. I'm pretty casual. I'm a big Olympics fan. I'm gonna watch it. You say that though. Well, you always mock me for fake enthusiasm. I'm pretty casual. I'm a big Olympics fan. I'm gonna watch it. You say that though. Well you always mock me for fake enthusiasm. I love the Olympics.

Dad, I watch the way you watch sports. You never, silly, you're always like walking in and out of the kitchen. What's the score? All right, what's the Heat score? How many's Jimmy got? All right, you don't even, you're not watching. It's because the Heat play 82 games every year.

The Olympics is once every four years. I don't watch all the events, but there's plenty of events that I am gonna watch. I'm gonna watch water polo because of Flavor Flav. I'm keenly interested in soccer. I'll be watching the US Women plate today. So there's a lot, you know, I love the fact that Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky

are back for another Olympic gold rush at age 27, which to me is you're a child, but in in gymnastics and in swimming, 27 is ancient and yet here they are again. I think that's a great story. Cocoa golf you mentioned, 20 years old, local young woman from Delray Beach I believe. These are interesting things. Once every four years, I'm a bit of a patriot, a bit of a jingoist. I unabashedly cheer for the US teams.

I take pride in the US Olympic. It is a good and easy time to root for the United States because we win most of the medals at these things. I'm rooting for them too. I just don't know. I don't think you're in the category of like I'm like you're a casual. Yes, you're rooting for USA. When you see a sport on, you'll root for them.

But like you're not into this more than the casual person. You know, Paris is six hours different. Am I going to be up at 3 a.m. watching something live? Probably not. I think it's fair. Look, you are Olympic shaming your father and I will not allow you to olympic shame your father is patriotic time i will however confirm your report that he's a casual when he says i'll watch water polo because of flavor flame am right

the same well here one of the best people who's been able to get mister shot You're one of the best people who's been able to get in with us. You serious? I actually get the shot. Yeah, you were so quick for it. That was nice. I did good? Yes.

No, my crew said that I did good. I love it. We're gonna get that fourth star on these caps. Yes. Right? Yes. Right? Yes.

USA! You're a raging fraud, Greg. You will not watch any water polo. Yes I will. Yeah, boy! Alright, go sit in the penalty box. No, that was good, Dan. That was good. Go sit in the penalty box for two minutes. No, Tony's right. That was good. Go sit in the penalty box.

I agree with Tony. Why was Buffalo Springfield in the background? For two minutes. I was about to give you the Olympic sport that we should bring back But if you don't want that I can do it Minor penalty two minutes asshole I didn't do it the referee the referee made the call on whatever it was I sent him out but the referee decides what it is that the call is I can only imagine the sport my dad is longing for from the Olympics. Yeah. We'll

get to that in a second. I do like to imagine the Olympics a thousand years ago, though, before the way better. The Olympics a thousand years ago are way better than what they're doing now. Go on. A hundred percent. Okay. What do you Okay. Okay. Let's start with this. Let's start with this. The torch, right? They have the torch where they bring and the people carry it into the stadium and it's supposed to be forever lit or whatever. Imagine a thousand years ago, Dan, where you're in ancient Greece and you're like, Hey, we got to run to Paris. Where's Paris? I don't know. We got to go though.

And there's a guy just running with a torch for six months until he gets to another guy and another six months. He runs for another thing. That's incredible. We're still just put it on a plane, go to another guy and another six months he runs for another thing that's incredible we're just put it on a plane go to another guy goes there yeah who cares wait a minute is that no I think that is the torch still not running is that not part of the opening ceremonies that the torch will arrive at the opening ceremonies when we start the torch is still out there running I think they still do the torch I'm what why are they going to Paris I'm saying like you were in Greece you're like hey the Olympics are this year. Hey, I gotta go run to wherever we're going Sudan. Okay I gotta run to Sudan now from Greece. I don't know don't I don't think we do the Olympics in Sudan. I

Thousand years ago Dan there was Logic didn't they also have Wi-Fi? Yeah, they'd know where to go different. You guys don't get it Where is the torch right now the torch it they still do that thing where they very slowly take the torch relay right the torch yes it's a lot of people involved or it has been I don't know if this is still something that we're doing in the modern age or not because I would think that the Olympics has to slightly update itself I don't believe that Jessica's in the majority where she gets this kind of enthusiastic still for the pageantry of opening ceremonies that are

four and a half hours of athletes sauntering into a stadium so that we can see an oiled-up guy from Tonga holding the flag. I find that a lot of the non sports lovers in my life we we all have something in common during the Olympics. It's a very approachable sporting event that I think a lot of people understand the stakes. You wanna get a gold medal, and then you kinda learn the storylines along with everyone else that's watching it,

watching a sport for the first time in four years. And I find it to be a very, it brings people together, Dan. It's very approachable, the Olympics. And I read that Snoop Dogg will be among one of the torchbearers carrying the Olympic flame in the final stretch before the opening ceremony of the Paris games on Friday. Is he going to be running? What is he going to be doing? In a car? Like, give me a break. He's going to light up a joint with it.

I can see where the torch is, but a lot of these words are a little scary for me. Jess, can you handle this? Where is it right now? It's at the... Nulli sur... I can't read it. It's at Nulli Grand. Nulli. The Tremb Where is it right now? It's at the... Nulli, Sir, I can't read it. It's at Nulli Grand. Nulli. The Trembley and France. And then it's going to Trembley and France.

And then Montreux and Banglaise. Montreux. And then Canal de la Croix. That's where it will be the next two days, Dan. This is you, your character as either Cacqui Semollet or French maitre d of some sort? Guy trying to order sparkling water. Oui, oui.

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narcissism. This is what he says. This is either the last Back in My Day as a regular series or the first of a new phase in which Back in My Days are occasional, not every week. So he has just announced officially his laziness. Stugarts. I wanna make him an occasional series. I am, once a week.

But no, I think more occasional. I think every time you don't have a Back in My Day, you can't do the show. I think we should. Okay, okay,'s fine because I have a contract so if you want to pay me for not doing the show. That's fine we can pay him for doing nothing we already do. That's a good that's a good one I got no retort for that. This is the Don LeBathard Show with the Stugats. Greg Cody continues to have a lot of trouble with the microphone and now he's officially

bleeding. He is holding a bandage or no, a napkin on his arm. What happened to you? There's a health hazard in the studio here. Nobody's taking care of it. It's the second time. There's a key the key is left in the lock and

It's at a level where when I'm exiting the studio My it it rips my arm Causes me to bleed These are the keys very sharp Okay, it's like a brand new key. It has the feel of a key that's just been cut. That's he's right about that What are you laughing about Chris? He's like disheveled. Yes. It's a tour de force The praise is pouring in for the chair. Can we get Greg Cody as permanent second host, please? Someone writes in it's been 16 minutes and Greg Cody has talked about shoe boxes, dead animals, service dogs, crying babies, and autographs. And also someone writes in, Greg is putting on a Tour de Force, five throat clears in the span of 10 seconds and it's only the first

10 minutes. He's giving you two more throat clears here. Can I get a band-aid? Can we get him a band-aid please? He's playing hard. I got you Greg. Man was almost killed here, Dan. You got to watch out for these keys. Thank you, Tony. Dave Ziron is going to join us, Greg. Man was almost killed here, Dan. You gotta watch out for these keys. Thank you, Tony. Dave Ziron is gonna join us here from Paris to get us excited about the Olympics. If the Morocco-Argentina game should get you excited

about the Olympics, it's before the opening ceremonies, and we've already got a sporting event result that none of us have ever seen before, which is, hey, game's over, hour and 15 minutes later, never mind, game's not over, we gotta redo all of this. Terrible bad beat for Chris Cody, who was all excited. That- Ridiculous. That- That-

An hour later? An hour later, you thought you would cash that bet, you would spend that money- I bet the tie. Who bets the tie? I bet the tie. And I was celebrating in 15 minutes of stoppage time, which is a ridiculous amount of stoppage time, and we get the goal, and I'm like celebrating, the money's in my account, an hour later the money's gone.

What the are we doing? Jessica, what are you putting your head and your hands about? Oh God, I love, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Who bets a tie? Chris. I do. Chris making it about himself. I have told you before about Dave Zirin, he does a great job looking at the serious issues

off of the field. He's the sports editor for the nation. He joins us live from Paris. He will be our international curmudgeon correspondent here to ruin all the fun at the Olympics. As Jessica says, it's a time of unity. And Zirin's here to say, no it's not, no it's not. Do you see what's happening in the world?

It is not a time of unity, no matter how many. I don't think I said that. You said that you love that the sports world comes together and everybody is united around the flag. I said that it's very approachable for non-sports fans to be interested in sports for once every four years. Okay, so I've misrepresented you by saying. I didn't say it brings everyone together.

Okay, I've misrepresented Jessica here in bringing people together and loving the opening ceremonies because it brings people together your regret i'm getting there uh... what about your heart what do you uh... what do you uh... you've you've got a lot of blood on your arms in general man arms for sure what is happening with your arms are your your arms have a lot of uh... wounds on the creepy skin

that's for sure siren thank you uh... that night that kind of creepy although maybe uh... and crap yes crappy holy crap siren thank you for joining us for uh... from paris for tolerating uh... our general incompetence

uh... the first off the morocco argentina game yesterday what the hell was that? Victory! I gotta tell you, Dan, the entire situation here in Paris is filling me with a great deal of ennui. And more than a little bit of Sacre Bleu here in Paris. I don't know what was going on yesterday in that Morocco-Argentina game, but the anger of the Moroccan fans is being reflected in the streets of Paris. I can tell you that right now. Just some quick highlights of what I've seen outside the field. First and foremost, guns guns everywhere. There are 70,000 security officials in the streets of Paris and 20,000 undercover security officials in the streets of Paris

with military hardware that would make Michael Bay blush. That's the first thing I would want to share with you. The second thing is that this crazy thing has happened in Paris that is getting very little publicity, where they loaded thousands upon thousands of homeless families on buses and just drove them out of Paris and dropped them off in other cities. So the city looks pretty for a foreign audience. And there's going to be a massive demonstration this evening about this very

issue, which promises to be quite volcanic and just a couple other things. Oh, just a little things that there's a strike at the hotel where the IOC is staying. So nobody is getting their room service and the opening ceremony dancers. And I'm with Jessica. I love the opening ceremony, but the dancers might be going on strike. So that's what's happening here in Paley at the Olympics. All right. I've got a lot of follow-up questions. Have you been detained by police yet?

Briefly yesterday, I was doing a recording, a little video right outside this barricaded area where they're barricading French citizens from walking to the edge of the Seine, the river that of course defines the city, the Seine which is going to be the site of the opening ceremony. So security around it is tighter than a drum. And I just wanted to do a little recording by the barricade where there was a big sign

in both French and English telling people, stay away, you know, arrête, arrête. You know, I don't even know if that's the word. I'm learning a lot. Thank you, thank you. That's what it means. And a police officer, you gun bigger than my upper body came up to me and demanded to see my passport

and held my passport and wouldn't let me go until some check was made. And it didn't matter that I had a pretty little media pass. It didn't matter that I was an American, nothing. And they are on point in making sure that people know that if you're gonna disrupt these Olympics in any way, there could be violence as a result.

Is that kind of security around the river because of that threatened mass defecation event that people were talking about shitting in the river, or is it just because the Olympics are there? It's just because of the Olympics, because the mass defecation, it never quite came off the way they wanted it to. That could be because constipation is a big issue in Paris.

It might be all the coffee and cheese, but there just hasn't been a lot of defecation in the river. Instead, there's been a $1.5 billion cleanup of the Seine, which is making people very upset because if there's rain tomorrow, it's gonna bring a load of sewage and bacteria into the Seine. So LeBron might be holding the flag and waving it for the US team,

but he also might have a clothes pin on his nose. We should look out for that. This interview is presented by LinkedIn jobs. I heard that there was some, thanks Chris, some also controversy about the barricades around the center just being like an impingement on people trying to get to work and locals being very annoyed with the amount of like barricades set up around the city.

Is that something that you noticed while you were walking around as well? Absolutely, I'm not quite sure what that means. But when you go around the city, tons of streets are blocked off by, once again, people should not be imagining police officers. You got to imagine somebody who looks like they're about to invade Algeria.

It's a scary scene in that regard. So you've got streets blocked off everywhere. And worst of all, behind the barricades are tons of businesses, tons of restaurants. The Olympics are supposed to be good for tourism, good for the service industry. Yet a ton of restaurants are blocked off. I tried interviewing a guy over the barricade, but that just felt a little bit, a little too Romeo and Juliet for me.

So we didn't quite get that going. But it's a scene where the level of disruption of the city of Paris is far worse than I thought. And the degree of just mopeyness of Parisians. Now, you could argue that maybe they're just thinking about existentialism walking down the streets. But there does seem to be a little bit of, shall we say, resentment of the presence of the Olympic Games. Explain to me where this ranks as someone who's astute about the politics around these games all the time. How does the armed personnel compared to other times?

The Olympics are always heavily secured because people are worried about all sorts of political things that can happen. How does it compare to previous times you've been to the Olympics? That's a great question. You see, one of the things, one of the big tensions in the Olympic movement is do we hold the games in authoritarian countries like say China, Saudi Arabia, or do we hold them in democracies like Los Angeles or Paris or, you know, or Rio.

And what we're seeing is that the amount of military hardware that goes into these Western democracies actually makes them more like the autocracies in China and Saudi Arabia. And that's an important point, because one of the arguments that the International Olympic Committee always makes for why cities should host the games

is that we are going to take these autocratic countries and actually make them more democratic just because of the presence of the Olympics. That's like bringing the gift of democracy and brother and sisterhood to a country. But the reality, and I'm seeing this in Paris, is the opposite. Paris looks a lot more like Beijing than Beijing was looking like Paris. I don't know if this is a question that you can even answer in five minutes, but like, is there an ethical way to host the Olympics? Ah, the question of questions.

There it is. There are people who write whole books about how to do this. There are a lot of different theories about how to do this without debt, displacement, and the hyper militarization of public space. There are ideas about maybe it should be like the Super Bowl and there are only four locations for the Olympics and you rotate through them. That's one idea. And but then there's another idea that just says it's not economically or environmentally sustainable. So maybe we need to think about, you know, actually throwing this in the trash heap and saying, let's try to think about international sports competitions in an entirely different way. Instead

of trying to reform what we have, let's try to do it differently so it doesn't feel like you're turning a city into an armed encampment. What a question. I can't believe that we've got our first ever the question of questions. I think that is better. I think that's better than last week when Mike Ryan got two that's a good questions from Tommy Vitorio. No, but the question of questions. Jessica, you just asked the question of all the questions. And I got to be honest, the question Dave Zirin is always waiting for, four years he waits for that question to make an emergence so that he can answer that question. Because of course these games are political and you just dropped on us, it feels more

like Beijing than Paris. Like what the bleep Dave? What are we doing? What are we doing? It's a great question, but you know, I have time to tell you there's also very interesting Politics happening inside which is what makes the Olympics so exciting you ask about the Olympics being political I saw a seven-on-seven rugby yesterday France versus Argentina versus Kenya and France hates Argentina because Argentina's soccer players are super racist

Against French soccer players so all the French fans as Argentina face Kenya were chanting Kenya. It was the loudest chant I've ever heard. Kenya! Kenya! Against the Argentinians. That was pretty cool to see. But it just goes to show you that the Olympics are merely just politics by other means. Zyron, good seeing you. Always good talking to you. If you want dispatches from Dave and his colleague Jules Boykoff. TheNation.com is where you go. We'll catch up with you again and get more correspondence. Thank you sir. Thank you. Hey it's Mike Ryan. How do you like to grill your barbecue? Tell me. I'll be

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