The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Cleat Stomp Heard Around the World | Hour 2

Episode Date: September 21, 2026

"Top of the cleat could be crushing the scrotum." Football is a game of inches. You'll get that joke when you listen to the big moment of this hour. Speaking of inches, we're inching closer toward Dan's Top 10 Football Observations by discussing Roy's alias, Tyler Shough and them boys in New Orleans, and the return of 2022 Patrick Mahomes. Also, we're not sure who had the better fight this weekend: UFC or NASCAR. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My favorite part of the football season is the confidence everybody has before it kickoff. Zaslow already knows how the game is going to end. Tony has studied every possible matchup and Chris Cody is convinced his fantasy team is unbeatable. Then the game starts, everything immediately goes off the rails, and suddenly nobody remembers making any of those predictions. That's why a legendary game day starts with an ice cold Miller light, whether I'm at a tailgate, watching with friends, or settling in for a full Saturday of college football.

Miller Light is the beer I can depend on. It's crisp, refreshing, and has a clean finish that hits perfectly during a hot South Florida game day. Miller Light is the original light beer with great taste, and beer lovers have trusted it for more than 50 years. Make game day legendary. Go to Miller Lite.com slash Dan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Game time is Miller Time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 caps.

salaries and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Trade ice skating at Nathan Phillips Square for ice cubes in your umbrella drink. Let Porter Airlines fly you from Toronto Pearson nonstop to 10 top sun destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Costa Rica. Enjoy award-winning porter service Toronto has love for 20 years and start your vacation as soon as you're on the plane. Book your sunny getaway today at FlyPorter. and actually enjoy economy. You gotta try breakfast at A&W.

And what better way than with a delicious pre-organic coffee? Starting with just $1 all day, every day now until December 31st. You gotta try breakfast. At participating A&W locations in Ontario. You are listening to the Dan Levatar show, in partnership with the Drafkin's sports app. in all 50 estates. This episode of the Dan Lebitart show

is presented by Draft King Sports. Draft Kings, the crown is yours. The NFL is here. The NFL has arrived. It wants Wednesday nights as well. It will have all the nights soon, and it will have all the nights in all the countries soon. I expect all of these teams

to be playing international games within five or ten years. Everybody's going to have an international game on the schedule. So if football has arrived, that means Nick Wright has arrived with his chiefs persecution. complex. I'm sure that he is feeling like people.

Speaking of a persecution complex, very nice of you and Samson to take some time away from waxing poetic about how no one paid attention to your guys 14-part Pulitzer Prize winning series that resulted in the biggest penalty in the history of basketball to acknowledge the NFL. I mean, Greg, did you bring any tiny violins for him? Why won't more people pay attention to the story everyone's paying attention to. Where are the flowers being laid at the feet of the only real journalist left in America? Good to talk to you guys.

To be fair, Nick, the latest lament is, okay, you're paying attention now, but you didn't pay attention while it was happening. You didn't pay attention before. You moved into the house, but where were you when we were laying the foundation? Do you even know what Rebar is, but you're going to sleep nice and cozy,

aren't you? Nick, you remember you remember when you told Pablo to his face that you could do what he does? You remember that? That's very funny. You think I don't still believe that? I believe that you believe that.

That's a separate discussion for another day, Dan. We don't have to revisit that. I have nothing but flowers and accolades for Pablo and his team because that was great work. It was comprehensive work, and it resulted in the closest thing to an NBA death penalty

that we'll ever see. It nukes the clippers for a decade. And it's because they got the ball rolling. But you and Samson talking about why, well, you know, where was everyone on this when it's been one of the biggest stories for a year which is rang a little hollow to me. But I am excited to discuss football with you.

But if Samson, who I think just said people were sending him nudes yesterday, But they were ab shots. That was not ideal. If he wants to rebut me, that's fine. It's not, hello, Nick. So what happened with the aspiration story is after September 3rd, people... Is that a hard K?

It's very hard. It's like a six-pack hard. Whoa, boy. Nick, show me your pack. Come on, let's go. Nick, I just will tell you that where you and I differ is that the paying attention that Dan was talking about was not NBA media. It was overall institutional media. It was at higher levels.

And what Pablo and I noticed with the mean doing the show is that everyone assumed that we had it wrong because we were not platformed the way that others are. And that is what we took offense to. Just very quickly before we get to the NFL, where I would disagree with you is, listen, I understand like Puck or some, you know, some political media took some shots

that they should now be embarrassed about. I don't think people thought you had it wrong. I think there was a gap in how much the people doing the reporting cared and how much the general public cared until we got to the result that I think was maybe justifiably or understandably frustrating for the people doing the work. But aside, listen, Mark Cuban cast his lot obviously with Balmer. know, I thought near the end, a lot of people ridiculously read that ESPN story as if it were an indictment on Pablo and his team's reporting, which I didn't feel like it should have been read that way. But I think it was more a lack of care than it was questioning the veracity of the reporting because the reporting was seemed very, very buttoned up from the very beginning. Now, I will be honest, I didn't, you know, I haven't listened to the full anthology. So maybe there were some episodes.

That was my point. That was my point. I know that was your point, Dan. But being a sports fan is not a homework assignment. It's not. No, but being a journalist is. No, but being a journalist is and being an informed opinion maker who leads American sports opinion, it kind of is. Like, you take great pride in being informed, Nick.

Right. Correct. Which is why I didn't talk about the story much. But you could have been more. performed if you just listened to the episodes. You would have known the size of the scandal and you would have been unsurprised by the punishment because it would have been that obvious to you. To be clear, hold on.

I did know the size of the scandal. I felt the punishment was going to be very binary. I did not. I thought there, I did believe there was a chance. The NBA was going to sweep this under the rug. But I didn't think it was going to be a misdemeanor. I thought it was either going to be close to nothing. or what it ended up being

because it never felt like that they were going to be able to split the baby on Pablo and the reporting's right and we're going to give him a stern talking to. They were either going to have to say we don't have the evidence or do what they did

but I, it is only my job, Dan, with respect to be fully buttoned up on all 14 episodes if I'm talking about it a lot. But you would have But you would have been if you'd listen. No, I wouldn't have been. It's terrible TV.

I mean, listen, it's good journalism. The biggest punishment, the biggest punishment in sports history and one of the biggest scandals in sports history is terrible TV. No, it was, it was until, listen, once the cake is made, we can discuss how delicious it is. But talking about the process while it's in the oven is not good. It's not entertaining to the audience except for the audience that is super into it that specifically opts in, which is the folks that opted into listening to all 14 episodes.

But if you wanted that shows like mine in May to be like, and here's the latest on aspiration, if we were covering politics, the White House, the real world, then I, I think you could say we have a responsibility for it. But for us to be like, listen, I believe Pablo, I believe the reporting. You know, let's see what the NBA ends up deciding. And then we will have the discussion of did the NBA let them off? Did the NBA go too harsh? Is Balmer going to sell the team?

Those different things. But there was there seems to be like there was a almost resentment that we were not covering this on a day-to-day basis. when our North Star in the toy department are the toys people want to play with. We didn't ask actually for day-to-day coverage. What I hoped, and when we put the episodes together in an entertaining way, which is what PTFO is, what I was hoping is that journalists with intellect and journalists with credibility of which you have both, that you would listen to the episodes as they're being unveiled.

Because of the new information, it would then help inform you to give an opinion about what should be happening. It's not just about being reactive in our job. Hopefully our job, if we are opinion makers, is to help people understand why things are going to happen before they happen and not just play the result. I, I, Nick, let me just say real quick. I think the reporting got plenty of attention when it won a Pulitzer Prize. The reason that mainstream media didn't follow this is because Pablo Tori finds out, so owned this story. Amen, Greg.

They had sources that nobody else had. There was no way to follow this story and move it forward without just aggregating what Pablo had reported. Greg, you and I, I think, are aligned with Nick here. They didn't have it buttoned up internally. You had Fox and ESPN. They have their own journalism divisions. What you typically do when you see a story this thoroughly reported is you send your own

journalists after it. Had that work out for ESPN. Famously not well. So I think you take a wait and see approach until the cake is baked, which is what they did. Now, Pablo is won a Pulitzer. Pablo has proven to be right here. The punishment has been handed down. Maybe they treat Pablo's reporting differently. But the first question every one of those big sports companies ask themselves when a report like this happens from somewhere else is, what do our journalists have to offer? Let me ask Nick this though philosophically when you talk about the cake being big, because I made some fun of you, Nick, because when the heat got Janus, you eventually said immediately, and the heat won't get out of the first round or won't get out of the second round or won't get out of the

third round. You played the entire next playoffs before the cake is baked. You think that, just to be clear, I'm not making fun of you here, you think that's better as television to not wait for the cake to be baked in that instance. You think it's good television to protect next year's basketball playoffs of course I think the things that I think the there is I think the the conversations that people argue about with their friends as sports fans of which I promise we're about to do with the NFL here in a second and what's what we'll get that in a moment are the things that people come to my TV show for the podcast is a little a little more nuanced because

It's a little more intimate. It's a little more long form. And that's more about the things that I Nick Wright individually am most passionate about. But pretending we can see the future via predictions of who's going to win a championship, who's going to underachieve, who's going to overachieve is a tale as old as time in the sports talk game. Going through the minutiae on what predicting what a punishment is going to be is

not to me a, a. it doesn't cast the whitest tent. And I understand the concern of if everyone takes my approach, then there is essentially no one doing actual reporting and there is no actual news. Like we are feeding at the trough of the reporting other people are doing

so we can form our opinions and at some point that can become a snake eating its tail on well if everybody's like we just want to, you know, react to stuff who's going to actually be the boots on the ground, which is why I have said at every turn, including in Pablo Studio, in New York, when we had that, you know, let's call it somewhat awkward interaction when I was simply saying, I think I could do it. I never understated how important and valuable I think it is and how good I think the work is. I just, it is one of the benefits to me, in my opinion of choosing sports rather than politics is I am allowed to be like I'm not interested

or and I'm not even saying that's how I felt about the Kauai story or I'm allowed to say that's a bummer to talk about a lot like you know what was to me a story that has been wildly undercovered in my five years on the TV show the Brown starting quarterback situation even when Shador got drafted because I find the whole thing so gross and so I just don't enjoy discussing it. I feel I feel like I have the ability to be like I'm not into that story. Let's go to the next one. If it were what I consider real life stuff and the Browns thing obviously, you know, in what Deshaun's accused of was real life stuff years ago that was in the, you had to discuss. If it were real, real life stuff, you have to talk about every story.

as it comes along. That's not how I view sports media. It's just not. My favorite part of the football season is the confidence everybody has before a kickoff. Zazlo already knows how the game is going to end. Tony has studied every possible matchup and Chris Cody is convinced his fantasy team is unbeatable.

Then the game starts. Everything immediately goes off the rails and suddenly nobody remembers making any of those predictions. That's why a legendary game day starts with an ice cold Miller light. Whether I'm at a tailgate, watching with friends or settling in for a full Saturday of college football. Miller Light is the beer I can depend on.

It's crisp, refreshing, and has a clean finish that hits perfectly during a hot South Florida game day. Miller Light is the original light beer with great taste and beer lovers have trusted it for more than 50 years. Make game day legendary. Go to MillerLight.com slash Dan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Game time is Miller Time. Celebrate responsibly, Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and 96 calories in 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Hey, it's Roy, and I want to talk to you about blinds.

I had one set of blinds that drove me crazy. Every single morning, one little gap would let in a laser beam of sunlight that hit me right in the face. And when I tried to roll them up, one side would always go higher than the other. I lived with it that way longer than I should have because replacing blinds felt like a whole project. Blinds.com makes it easy. You can customize window coverings for any room, order free samples delivered right to your door, and even add professional installation at checkout.

Whether you want to handle everything yourself or have licensed and vetted professionals measure and install them, you decide how much help you need. And if you're not sure what style works for you, you can book a free consultation with one of the award-winning design experts without pushy salespeople or awkward in-home visits. Everything is backed by blinds.com's 100% satisfaction guarantee. Right now, blinds.com is given Dan Lubitaw's show listeners

an exclusive $50 off when you spend $500 or more. Just use code data checkout. Limitime offer. Rules and restrictions apply. See blinds.com for details. Down Labatar. Is there back in my day? There is actually.

Hey! What? You not going to tell anyone? What? Wait a minute. You guys. It's a Tuesday. It's a Tuesday.

Greg Cody. Here's your guide. Greg Cody with Back in my day. Okay, here it is. Sorry. Adultery. No. Yeah.

We are back. We're rated for this one. This is the Dan Levitation. I want to give you flowers because your wheelhouse is starting conversations, and you had an incredible take. I caught it on social media. Close your eyes. Think of Josh Allen's best win. You thought of a loss.

And so you were absolutely right. I thought of a loss. But then I was like, all right, let me do this thought exercise. Let me think of his actual biggest wins. And what was funny, Nick, was when I thought of his wins, I didn't think Josh Allen at first. I thought of another player's name. I thought of Mark Andrews, and I thought of Cadarius Tony, because those are his second and third biggest moments, I think, as a pro. So that underscores what was last season already a huge season for Josh Allen.

Everything was there in front of him. All he had to do was beat Bo Nix and not turn the ball over. what is the pressure on Josh Allen right now? And if he fails, if he fails, is there some sort of reckoning? There is no, no, there is no pressure ever on Josh Allen. He's the only, listen, he is not the reigning MVP. He's never in a first team all pro. He's never been to a Super Bowl. He is coming off a four turnover playoff game and his standing,

and his coach got fired and his standing raised this off season. He went from one of the guys who is in the argument for best quarterback in the league to the universally accepted. In every poll, there is best quarterback in the league. And listen, I think he is a great player who is a likely future All the Famer. And I think one day he is going to win a Super Bowl. But that 13 seconds game was five years ago. And since then, in all four playoff losses that he has had,

he has been thoroughly outplayed by the opposing team starting quarterback. In the last three of those playoff losses, he has had the ball in his hand in the final three minutes with a chance to go win the game, and his team has come up with a total of zero yards. They have turned the ball over once. They got 17 yards on one. They missed a field goal to tie it on another

when they needed a touchdown to win it. And there is a brief moment of time every year in January where we're like, ooh, Josh came up short, and then by June, it's the bills don't do enough for Josh Allen, even though he had four straight years of a top five defense. He had the rushing champ last year. He had a number one receiver till he and that player had a falling out. So it's just a very unique narrative thing. But can I do a different narrative thing? The thing I text you, Dan? Because I think you like this. We're going to get there in a second, but these guys have a bunch of questions here. Go ahead, Zaz.

Yeah, Nick, it's such a big story this morning about the tennis going to 3.30 in the morning, but that wasn't so hard for you, right, being out in L.A. That's a huge benefit, right? It's a great callback, Zaz. It is a good callback. That is a great callback. Also, Zaz, Samson takes your seat. How does that work? Like, is there a hierarchy? I mean, it's actually Cody took my seat and Samson to Cody's if we want to play musical chairs, but he's a guest. Yeah, but Cody's got seniority. I assume there's like lumbar in that chair and different things.

You know, maybe the thing the cab drivers used to have, the little like beads. You know what I'm talking about, Cody. We're both grandfathers. Those are. We should actually get those. That's a great idea. We should get those for the chair. Seriously.

You're a grandfather. Wow, that's hard to believe. I am, but I look like a grandfather. Cody, what did you want to ask? Oh, yeah. Okay. I got side drag. Nick, I'm.

I'm honestly surprised to hear you say Josh Allen has no pressure on him. Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson are the same guy. They're the great quarterback, the future Hall of Famer, most known for not winning the game they needed to win. And now their windows are closing, et cetera, and so forth. Don't they both have the most pressure in the league? In a just world, yes. But yeah, that's what I'm talking about. That is exactly what I'm talking about.

That's pretty. Except in my mind, it's on a bench seat that everybody moves up or down together with. Yes, absolutely, Cody. That is how it should be. But that is simply not the world in which Josh Allen lives. All offseason, I've heard about how Josh Allen has no help. James Cook was the rushing champ last season. Right.

I have heard about the Bill's playoff defenses being, you know, the problem. When he turned it over four times in the playoff game, he had the ball with a chance to night of the chiefs a third straight trip to the Super Bowl and got 17 yards and they turned it over on downs. He was, his team scored 10 points in the playoff game after the 13 second game at home in the snow against Joe Burrow and the Bengals. Like I just, Lamar, yes, the pressure, the media treats Lamar the way we have always treated the statistically great regular season.

quarterback who comes up short in the postseason. Now Josh, to his credit, as a much better postseason resume than Lamar. Josh is the greatest, hands down, wild card round quarterback in the history of the NFL. There's no denying that. But, and so he doesn't have, you know, as many holes on the playoff resume as Lamar, and he's beaten Lamar in the playoffs head-to-head twice, even though one time one of those games that Bill's offense only scored 10 points. But it just, that's, that That's not, he plays by a different set of rules because everybody likes him and everyone's over Patrick. So that's fine. I mean, this is what it is.

That's not the only reason that Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen have differences in the way it is that one is coddled and the other. Oh, oh, you mean the racial element of it? Of course. But I actually think that has, this is a longer discussion probably. I think some of the Lamar, oh, wait, this is, so these are the pictures I was going to talk about, but you'd have to go back to the first. through it but I think some of the Lamar racial dynamics at play have whipped around in another direction where and this is a point that I have made on this show you know years ago which is I felt like the biggest Lamar critics early

on were just some of the worst people in the media and some of the worst people in the world and because of that folks in an effort not wanting to be lumped in with them with those folks disregarded what was a pretty obviously growing tendency of Lamar playing his single worst game of the entire season in the postseason. And that that wasn't some huge indictment. We saw it with Peyton Manning for years and years and years. Even the year Peyton won the Super Bowl, that's playoff run. He had three touchdown seven picks.

He didn't play well in that playoff run, his first Super Bowl championship. They want it anyway nobody cares But yes, of course, listen, there's racial dynamics in almost everything involving sports But can we go back to those pictures Because I would like to point something out so wait just wait a second So this is the NFL image now all the idiots are pointing out oh last year it was May and Darnold up front So and they went the Super Bowl so this means it's Trevor Lawrence and Dacquescott That's not my takeaway. My takeaway on

Anything graphic related whether it's a bug on on TV, a promo for a game, or a picture like this. If your quarterback is not the player that the graphical artist put out there, it's a bit of an indictment. So you look around, it's like, all right, Raiders, Ashton, Gentie, Dolphins, Devon A Chan, Jets, Garrett Wilson, all makes sense. And then you're like, okay, Fred Warner, that's kind of a sneak dis to Brock Purdy, Miles Garrett, you get it. Jamir gives a little sneak disc. No, wait a minute. Garrett's there instead of the MVP, though. Like, come on. Yeah, but he was the big acquisition. But then,

and Jeremiah Love, you understand, Cam Jordan, you understand. Okay. And then up in the front is Sequin Barclay. And it's like, oh, okay, little, you know, Jalen Hertz, Sequin. Now go to the next image, which is NFL Australia, okay? NFL Australia. Well, there's, all right, so Matt Stafford's there for that. Trey McBride is still, you know, in place of Jacoby Brissette. And then you see in the back, wait, okay, that's Jordan Milata. He is Australian, so you understand that. So maybe, again, it's not a sneak dis on Jalen Hertz.

It just happens. You see Will Anderson up front, no C.J. Stroud. Now go to your guys' friends at Draft Kings. What did Draft Kings do? Do you have that one? If not, I can pull it up for you guys, or I should. I'm going to talk to it. I thought you only sent me two photos.

You sent me three? I sent you a third, but it's fine. The Draft Kings won. It's also Sequin Barcliffe. Which is to say, I think we've gone, I think the rubber band's bent too far anti-Jalen Hertz. Now, I understand what the accusations are going to be. The accusations, Dan, are going to be Nick.

You have been the biggest Eagle skeptic. You were such a vocal critic of Jalen Hertz that the night before he kicked your chief's ass in the Super Bowl, his mother approached you and had a stern talking to you for 15 minutes about. what she felt was disrespect to your son and you still you know continued to doubt him and the accusations are you're now only coming around because now that you're a proud Philadelphia 76 or season ticket holder you want the people of

Philadelphia to be nicer to you and what I would say to those accusations are they are not entirely false however I do think that there is a level of we have we have over corrected on wins aren't a quarterback stat in the media. I blame Mina. I blame Barnwell. I blame Solac. I blame all the smartest folks. We've over-corrected. We've over-corrected to where it's as if they shouldn't factor into it at all. And I think Jalen Hertz is poised for a huge year. And I hope to tell him that court-sided a few Philadelphia 76ers games this year as we root on LeBron James. Nick, always good seeing you. He's the host of FS1 First Things First.

He's also the podcast, What's Right with Nick Wright. I urge you to check that out because there are two very different things that he's doing, and the podcast he does with his son. Dan finds them both somewhat irresponsibly, journalistically. I promise, I promise, next off-season of football, football, I'm just going to be watching the games. But I promise next off-season of football, I will do more homework. No, no, no. No, you should continue to find uninteresting big giant sports scandals.

You should keep doing that. It's been working for you well. Love you guys. Oh, he's back, by the way. Fastest recovery ever. Nobody cares. Yeah, the old chiefs miss one Super Bowl in four years. All of a sudden, they're not as good as the charges.

Left tackles a problem, Nick. That left tackles a problem. Left tackle's not ideal. But you know what? We don't make excuses. We make adjustments. Love you guys. See you later.

Show me your pack. Always good to see you. Yeah, none of us did. It was just, it was weird. It was creepy and weird. Nick, Hard K. Tony, you know that moment at a party or a tailgate where everything just sort of clicks? I know it well.

It's usually when I show up. Everybody goes crazy. Yeah, you usually take all the credit for it. But it's because Tony usually walks in with Quervo. Walking like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Quervo is a thing that turns hanging out into this is the night. It has that effect.

people. It does. You usually take the credit for it, but again, it's the quervo effect. It's like that moment in a big game where everyone in the crowd just starts standing up, hooting and hollering. Keep it quervo. Keep it quervo, baby. Ah, folks, listen up. You wouldn't want an offense alignment to play wide receiver, would you? No, you wouldn't. You need the right person. You need the right equipment for the job. That applies to football, and it definitely applies below the waist. That's where the lawnmower lineup from Manscape comes in. Trusted by over 14 million men worldwide,

the lawnmower go is slim, sporty, and straightforward. Or if you like your grooming tools fully loaded, there's the all-new lawnmower ultra-gen-6 engineered with a premium alloy body. Both are waterproof for easy cleanup and feature skin-safe technology to reduce the nix and cuts. Because that is one injury, folks. Nobody wants to explain. Find Manscape and the lawnmower lineup today at Target and CVS.

From morning hockey with a cup of coffee to Timbits and road trips. Tim's and Canadian tire have always gone together. Now it's official. You can now earn Canadian tire money at Tim's. Link your Triangle Rewards and Tim's Rewards accounts to earn twice with every Tim's run. Terms and conditions apply. Visit timhordens.orgia slash triangle for details. Dan Levitar.

16. Great Cody. Take the rest of the day off. This is the Dan Levitar show. Hello. In keeping, though, with David Sampson and his opinions, and I've got to assume that a lot of people are finding it to be a bit homeworky, having to think about lawsuits and the SEC and LSU football when they just like to enjoy their SEC football. Only one time in modern history is a conference kicked out a team, and it's the Big East doing it to Temple because Temple stunk and had terrible crowds. So go ahead and make sure to do that with LSU.

See how that goes for you. The emptiest of empty threats. Not according to David. David believes that they're going to vote to kick LSU and Lane Kiffin out of the conference. He doesn't believe they're going to actually do it, but David believes that it's not an empty threat, which I find confusing. I legitimately find confusing. Was that that clear? What do you mean confusing?

Well, no, that you think that this is a real thing, that it's not just bluster, that LSU isn't valuable enough to overcome the absurdity. of that threat? So I read the summary of the complaint and that lawsuit that they're filing is not bluster. There is a higher purpose for it. And very often you file lawsuits for that reason, not because you expect to go all the way. You sometimes file them because you want to settle. You sometimes file them because you're trying to make a point. SEC did this intelligently and the cause of action, which is a First Amendment allegation, a breach of First Amendment rights for the SEC to operate. That is not you don't have enough attendance. That is not you, are the most popular guy and we love you. We want you to listen to us more. That is trying to

establish their power in a way that, that Mike, I really believe that the SEC is actually not established in a legal way prior to this lawsuit. I don't think they want to go the legal route here. I think they want to go bullyball because if you try to go through the courts, we all know how that goes for the NCAA and its governing bodies. Before we get to Greg Cody's catchphrases, which I want to do here before the end of the hour, where on number three, I came back from vacation early thinking I was going to get number one, but there have been some delays again. And he is at number three on the catchphrase countdown. And I'm assuming all top 10 have been bangers.

He has not revealed number four on this show yet because he was out last week. Okay. So I'm looking forward to where it is we are in the catchphrase countdown. But I wanted to get David's expertise on something because I thought that Pablo dropped another episode that wasn't Kauai related, that to me was just. as interesting as the Kauai one involving the Lakers and Magic Johnson, and it too has flown under the radar in a way that's weird to me because the subject matter is kind of dense, and I don't believe that people are paying proper attention to what the billionaires are doing

with your money and your parents' money and your grandparents' money. So give me as much as you can, David, and he's been great on this on nothing personal, and I believe, as I've told you for a while, that he's the best doing it right now at sports business. I don't believe there's anybody who's been covering the Laker, the intricacies of the Lakers story the way that David has. So explain to the group here, David, if you would, in a condensed form or as condensed as you can make it, given that it's complicated subject matter,

the intricacies of Magic Johnson, which I thought the ensnaring of Magic Johnson, would make that the story that popped because it's such a famous figure, but it did not make that story pop. Explain to people what it is that Pablo did in that episode last week of Pablo Tori finds out. Can you imagine if someone like Dan gave you an asset

that was worth a billion dollars? Let's say he just woke up one day and said, I'm going to give you something that will make you a billionaire. I'm in on this. You're in. Cody's in. The result is that you would say to Dan, okay, what do I need to do?

Do I need to do anything for you? Is it a fair market? transaction. And what Dan says is here's what I need you to do. The first thing you're going to do with your billionaire status is you are going to lend money to Greg Cody. You'd say, wait, all I'll have to do is lend money to Greg Cody. Is he a good guy to lend money to? Does it matter? Wait a minute. I'm going to be a billionaire. I'm going to own a company. I don't give a crap who I'm lending money to. No problem. If you make me a billionaire, I'll do whatever you want. Do you agree that if Dan made you that offer, you would likely say, no problem.

I'm in. You're in. You wouldn't do due diligence, would you? Nah. You wouldn't worry about disclosing anything, would you? Nah, you'd be a billionaire, and you'd be super damn excited about it. That's what happened between Mark Walter and Magic Johnson. Allegedly.

Thank you. Except here's what the episode was. It is not allegedly that Magic Johnson was sold an insurance company by Margotty. Mark Walter. It is not allegedly that Magic Johnson, in one of his first actions as owner of this new insurance company, lent money to a company owned by Mark Walter that happened to be the regional sports network for the Dodgers. It's not allegedly that the regional sports network for the Dodgers could not afford to pay the rights fee to the Dodgers. It's also not allegedly that Mark Walter owned the Dodgers. He owned the network that had the deal with the Dodgers. He owned the

network that had the deal with the Dodgers, and oh, he owned the insurance company that was lending money to the network to pay the Dodgers, and he gave Magic Johnson an insurance company that was engaged in transactions with that same network. I don't know about you. It's not alleged. You're asking me whether or not people are interested in the story, and my answer is, there's more. And there have been plenty of people interested, but not Nick. Well, one of the things that's super weird, okay, and fraudulent, I'm going to say, if a commissioner's job is just to increase the value of franchises, and in 10 months, that franchise went from being bought for $10 million, $10 billion by somebody who's got fissioniness around his funds, and then within a year later, it increases in value $2 billion,

Sports franchise values are being inflated by some fraudulent money possibly, some fraudulent practices possibly. And again, I'm going to say it. If you're not interested in the ownership of this, I thought the fame of Magic Johnson and the suggestion or possibility that he may be involved in illegalities that will be problematic for Magic Johnson here, what is going to possibly happen, worst case scenario here, to Magic Johnson? in what it is that Pablo Tori is unwrapping, because everything around the Lakers, one of the most storied franchises in the history of sports, not just basketball.

Everything around this is fishy, but the value of the franchise went up $2 billion in 10 months after something that is super, super fishy. So keep in mind that what the defense is of Mark Walter, because they released a statement, which remember, when Balmer released his first statement, that was the beginning of the end for Balmer

because it was so wrong and such a lie. Mark Walter had a statement released after the episode basically saying, listen, nobody got hurt. The value of the asset went up by 20 to 25%. There's no injury. Remember, in aspiration, people lost their savings. People lost money when aspiration went under. Our insurance company, we may not have disclosed what we did. We may not have categorized it right.

But, man, people are doing great with the investments we made. So if I'm to follow this, my mind goes to they artificially inflated. a team's value through not so up and up means, but where I sit as I open up like a web browser and I see a campaign contribution go to a no-bid contract, I see stuff like this happening left and right. Why should I care just because it happened to somebody in sports? Listen, I can't tell you what to care about, but what I can tell you is if we see a pattern within sports of artificial inflation and $12.5 billion, will Josh Kushner close or will he not? What's the actual number the team is worth? Were anybody who paid premiums to the

insurance companies actually injured? These are questions that remain to be answered. And Mike, you ask why you should care because if you don't care what happens to other people, then no one's going to care when it happens to you and you're going to be next. So that's why we want people just to understand the story and realize that you don't have to be the victim today to understand what it is to be the victim tomorrow. I care, but I only got so much to care about. I care more about it like a reflecting pool that resulted in a no-bid contract. That's a disaster than, you know, whether or not the Lakers get $12 billion for the franchise or not. And I have no argument against that, nor will I, because all we can do is provide evidence to make you have an informed opinion about what to care about.

That's what a campaign is. That's what journalism is. You put it out there and then you see what people care about. Why do you think that people aren't seizing more on this story? Is it because the subject matter is, again, too dense? and again, it feels like homework. So homework is such a bad word for it. May I posit a theory?

Is it homework to you? I think they flooded the zone on this type of stuff, like a lot for a little, a favor for a favor, a contribution for something grander. That's, like I said, in the news stream every day that we've grown tired of it and just resign to none of this stuff

is going to sort itself out until there's a change in leadership from the very top. That's exactly what we're trying to fight against is that sort of feeling that you've given up, that there is no reason to ever care about anything, if anything we've done reporting this and journalistically is to give you the power to care about one extra thing. Plenty of people do care. I won't say nobody does because the numbers

indicate otherwise. The people who care, the discerning people who do care about this, they flock to where Pablo is because it's the only place that you're getting it. I think it's fair to say that good journalism, intense reporting like this is very important, but that doesn't mean it's entertaining. It's the background machinations that make the eyes play over to a lot of people. Nick just told you, like, I don't, I'm going to paraphrase here in a way that's probably unfair, but Nick is telling you, no, man, on television, I'm going to dumb it down. Like, that plays more broadly. My job is to get people in the tent. It's not to bore them with assignments. I think he's right in saying it's way more interesting and compelling to an audience to talk about Josh Allen's legacy than

talk about an incomplete puzzle. And even now, when we're trying to chew on this story, knowing how Pablo gets down, I know that I don't have all the puzzle pieces yet. So what am I really going to say about this? I've already learned this is two of 23 episodes. Yes, but there were 500,000 people watching it. If you think that doesn't matter, that's why first take is paid the way, that's why Stephen A has paid the way that he is, because that's a giant number. That's five stadiums filled with people who are seeking it out because they know it's the only place. that they can get it because it's being underreported everywhere else, and they're leaving that lane wide open for Pablo.

He's the only one on that freeway. So what I wanted to find out was the demographic of the audience, and that's something that I think Medallark needs to think about. And what Nick Wright was saying is the people who watch him, we have to talk about LeBron James and the Cowboys, but the people may be watching us and nothing personal, and Pablo Tori finds out may be different. Well, when first take started, as it got popular,

it got popular at a time when people, who were unemployed between 10 and noon were watching television because they didn't have to be at work. Now, things have changed in terms of where it is that people work and when and how they watch television. But at the time, first take was getting popular. What it was doing was trafficking in an audience that didn't have to work from 10 to noon. So ostensibly, you are realizing that that's different from a finance audience. But let's get to Greg Cody's catchphrases here before we get to a guest I'm very excited about that I believe is a better journalist with better news, bigger news, than Pablo Torre. That's coming up in a second.

We've got a journalist that I believe is the journalistic get to have right now and has information that I believe is bigger and better than anything that Pablo is reporting. But let's start with Greg Cody's countdown and his 70th catchphrase. Okay. All right. Number 70. I'm Fullerton, Vern Fuller. 69. Where's my click, click? 68. Hey, butterfinger. 67. Punt. 66. Scrantin. 65. I'm busying to one-arm paper hanger. 64. Georgia. 64. 63. I'm the kind of guy that's 62. Ball in the Jack. 61. Hey, hey, we're the monkeys, baby. 60. Thank you, Billy. 59. I love him like a pet. 58. Who made it a salad? 57. We're rolling now, huh? 56. Your brain beating me. 55, let's go stage. 54, driver comfort is Paramount. 53, dummy up. Save up. 52, catches, catch, can.

51, doesn't make it right. 50, so on and so forth. 49. Very good. 48, the Little League theory. 47, nice hat, asshole. 46. The others, they all learn from me. 45, don't go showering to try to please me. 44, look at that jerk.

43, it's like a packing house in here. There should be hams hanging from hooks. 42, would you learn? 41. all three, but they up, 40. I'm not going to take a quiz. 39, sassafras, 38, will we break a window? 37. Hello.

36, who won? 35. Trailers for sale or rent. 34, you got to eat a peck of dirt before you die. 33, three words, we are the Lobos. 32, you're going to go to Buffalo with Bernie. Palmily. 31, Rappy cack, 30, another crisis solved. 29, nice chatting with you. 28, he ain't heavy.

blank. 27. Hey, that's what I'm talking. About. 26. Who let a pet? 25. Good on you. 24. Dancing swords. 23. QK. Quick crap. 22. Bay. 21. Blanking it. 20. That's a fact. Jack. 19. Got I want to learn. Got to want to earn. 18. Put a lobo's mint under your pillow and dream. 17. Quite of it. 16. Take the rest of the day off. 15. Do what now? 14. Right on. 13. Who shot John? 12. A 5. 5. I had a hammer. 11. Rap, rap, rap.

They call him the rapper. 10. Do it to you satisfied. Nine. Me maximum. Eight. We're barren out over here. Eight.

The burp sweet. Brad. Aswipe. Sack. Yike. Seven. Whap. Whap.

Whap. Whap. Whip. Wap. Wack. Zagaki. Five. Baby.

Four. Which is new to this audience. Who needs me? Oh, wow. Wow. is winded. I didn't realize that do what now? Do what now? I didn't realize that that was

in your top 20. That's crazy. Number three here. Number three, he's winded, he's tough. Our guest is so confused. He's just sat there throughout all of these catchphrases and he's just wildly confused. Better than Pablo Torre. Let's get to number three here, Greg.

Number three. And you know it. Oh. What are one and two going to be? Yeah, you never know. And you know it. I thought that was going to be number one. No. Oh, my God.

I need a protein bar. Should we stick with 70? There's only going to be two left. Oh, man. Why are you shaking your head, Zaslo? It's not logical. Should we stick with 70? So if he adds five more, they're going to go into the top five now?

Where have they been this whole time? You know, I got to bring them next board meeting. Nice hat out. That's all. Exactly. Where some see heroes and others see egos. Bloomberg sees the era of billionaire athletes. A fad to some, the future of money to others.

We see crypto's trillion dollar swings. The end of jobs or the end of human struggle. We see the endless funds fueling the AI hype. While others follow the noise, we follow the money. Learn more at Bloomberg.com.