Transcript of Does Stan Van Gundy Wear Tighty Whities? | Hour 2 New

This is the Dan Levator Show with the Stugatz Podcast. It makes me happy every time I see this man's face. I believe I'm one of the few people in the world who would say such a thing about Stan Van Gundy. I don't know that he, uh, just brings happiness and joy with him wherever he goes, but every time I see him, I'm made happy. He's the lead game analyst for the NBA on Prime. There are a number of different things I want to ask him. I'll start in the obvious place though. Uh, Stan, do you Do you know how much a postage stamp costs?

I'm not sure. I think I'm gonna say 42 cents.

That's the last time I used one. Would you be shocked to learn that it's now 76 cents for a postage stamp? Do you find that—

I'm not shocked to remember it. No, I'm not shocked that I'm living in the past.

78 cents. I'm sorry, Jeremy just made a correction after his— Well, it's important. For a, yeah, 78 cents. My bad, my bad.

You didn't send me to that post office for no reason, Dave. That is, well, I did actually, but okay. That was a double negative.

Fair enough. So, Stan, I've got some basketball questions for you, but how, how are you doing in general and how was this season for you on Prime? You are now a bit of a vagabond when it comes to being a prostitute of sports media. You have worked for just about everybody. How was this season for you compared to the other seasons? It seemed like you were having a great deal of fun, especially when you were doing a game with Dwyane Wade.

Yeah, look, the whole thing was a great experience. I think that the people at Amazon NBA on Prime, they— there's really a commitment to trying to provide a quality product. I worked with great people, both in front of the camera and behind. We were treated well. I think it was just— it was a great experience for me. And I'm looking forward already to next season. I've actually got— I've got a WNBA game for them coming up on June 25th. I asked to get a WNBA game, and so I've got the Sparks at the Toronto Tempo, June 25th.

Nice. I like that you're expanding your horizons that way and that you're making requests of management or demands, perhaps demands. Before we get to the basketball stuff though, just to clean up some questions we've had around here that we've been talking about. At what age, Stan, did you give up the tighty-whities as underwear? Oh, wow.

That's a good question. Long time ago, but I don't remember. I don't know, probably 25 years ago.

I wore it into college, Stan. How about that?

Whatever.

They're comfortable. Hang with them.

I mean, Stan was, it sounds like Stan was wearing them until he was 40 years old.

Yes.

It sounds like Stan was wearing his tighty whities until he was about 40 years old. Good for him. Which is fairly, fairly shocking.

Do you think he was coaching the Magic, like coaching Dwight Howard and had tighty whities on?

Is that what you're alleging, Stan, that you were coaching Dwight Howard Howard and you were—

That wouldn't have been 25 years ago. Hold on. The timeline is off.

It's getting there. It's getting there, but it wasn't true. I was coaching the Heat 25 years ago. But look, I don't, I mean, I'm so old now. I'm so old now, guys, that like when I hear a song my kids will get on, I say, well, that's a recent song. They'll go, that was for— if it was in the 2000s, It's yesterday to me.

Well, we just had this conversation recently. I'm appalled by what they're presently calling oldies because, you know, OutKast becomes oldies all of a sudden just because it's the early 2000s. But everyone tells me I'm wrong. They're telling me if it's early 2000s, that makes it now oldies.

I mean, to me, oldies are the '70s.

Yes.

You know, I mean, it's— I think to me it's the era when I was in high school, that's the oldies to me. And so I would be the '70s. Everything after that is, you know, very contemporary.

No, those are moldies. Those are entirely different category than— you absolutely have this wrong. We've already covered all of this. Also, before we get to the basketball, does a streaker, in order to classify as a streaker, have to be nude?

Yes.

Okay, thank you. I appreciate how definitive you were. Now let's see if you'll be that definitive on some sports questions we have. First of all, give me a historical comp for Jalen Brunson.

I don't, I don't have one, to be honest, because I think, you know, you can go back and have other small guards like Isaiah Thomas. But the game was different. And I think for what he's done in today's game, I don't think there is, um, a historical comp for him.

Can you explain to me what you saw in that series and how different it was from what anything I've seen in a series is, where it seemed like the Spurs were 10 points ahead all the time, and they were either tied or leading with every game with 2 minutes left, and they end up getting dominated in the series. I just, I don't have a lot of reference points for that team is so young it simply doesn't know how to win late in games because it hasn't played many late in game situations as opposed to Jalen Brunson, who's been playing 3 years nonstop of late in game situations.

Yeah, look, what, what amazed me about this series, I don't know that I've ever seen a series where It seemed every game followed the exact same script. I mean, normally there's, you know, people will say, hey, every game is different, and it usually is. But in this series, it was San Antonio get out to a double-figure lead early. It gradually seeps away. And then in the third quarter, they gain the lead, you know, get back up again, and then can't hang on. It was every game, and so by the time we got to Game 5 and you're halfway through the third quarter, you just have this feeling, you know what, they're not gonna win this game.

Stan, for the first time in NBA history, it's 8 consecutive unique NBA champions, but also during that stretch, there have only been 2 teams, Miami and Boston, who have even returned to the Finals in any capacity during that stretch. Is San Antonio gonna be one of those teams who gets back to the Finals sometime soon?

Well, they certainly can be. I, I, I think I think they're good enough and they're young enough that we're going to see them sometime in the next 8 years. But look, Oklahoma City is much in the same situation. That's going to be a great rivalry going forward. But I like how San Antonio is situated. I mean, their 3 best players are 22 or younger. We haven't seen that. And so I think what Dan said, a lot of that had to do with the way the game's finished. But the experience they gain this year should help them a great deal. Look, I think the biggest thing going forward is for them to improve. It's not automatic. I think it will come down to the humility of guys like Wimby. Wimby and Castle. And by humility, I don't mean modesty. I mean, you know, a lot of times what star players want to do when they struggle or struggle to reach their goals, they'll— They'll blame the coach. They'll say, ah, it wasn't the other team. Had nothing to do with them. I just had a bad game. That's the wrong approach in my mind, especially would be now.

I think it's got to be the humility to say that this is what New York did to me. This is how they took away my effectiveness. Now what do I have to do to improve that? If they have that kind of humility, and my bet would be that they do, uh, then I think you'll see them make great strides, and they're going to be a team to be dealt with for the next decade.

Stan, the future of Giannis Antetokounmpo has become a bit of a soap opera this offseason. Where do you think he ends up and why?

You know, I, I think, Greg, it's really, really hard to tell because it's, as we've learned, it's not always in the player's hands. Now, you can want to be traded, but the team's going to get the deal that's best For me, I have questions on teams giving up way too much for him, and not because he's not a great player, but his health has become a major issue over the last few years. And you start to wonder, is this guy going to be a Kawhi Leonard type of guy that you can't count on to be out there and be available enough to really help you and how much of your future are you gonna mortgage on the gamble that he'll stay healthy? It hasn't been a good picture lately.

Stan, I don't wanna put you in an uncomfortable spot to be critical of another coach, but what do you, had you thought at all what you would've done if you were coaching as far as De'Aaron Fox went in this series? Would, would, would you have done something about maybe sitting him?

I, I don't know about sitting him. No, I, I, I think that, you know, He's one of their top guys. They played him. He didn't play well in the series. I think De'Aaron Fox would admit that. I think everybody in San Antonio, you know, would admit that. But he certainly wasn't the only problem. I think second half of Game 4, especially when Binyama was not nearly good enough. Castle, who I'm a huge fan of, was not nearly good enough in Game 5. In fact, He was bad. About the only guy that was good down the stretch in the last couple of games was Dylan Harper. Vassell was pretty good. Look, I think that what we do, right, when things come down to the end and teams lose at the championship level, you gain more scrutiny, certainly, because everybody's watching. And so we've got to pick out who to blame. I just think San Antonio is way ahead of schedule but wasn't quite ready. They have a lot to learn. Hopefully they will and they'll go back and continue on this path to greatness. I mean, listen, this was a team that won 34 games last year.

I mean, to be where they were is incredible. So they're so far ahead of where anybody thought they'd be. I know at the beginning of the year Most people were saying if they could get in the playoffs in one of those top 6 spots, that would be an incredible year. Play-in was probably more likely. And they're in the NBA Finals after winning 60-plus games. I mean, come on. This was a great, great year. And I don't think we need to find someone to blame. We need to find more people to give credit for, for that.

Stan, I do want to put you in a bad spot. Yes or no, if Pop is the coach, the Spurs win that series?

No.

If Pop is the coach, they win one of those late games?

No.

Okay. So you're, you're saying it has nothing to do with coaching, that there, there is no—

Not at all. I think, listen, I think that what Mitch Johnson did this year, first of all, was absolutely incredible. Just what I said about their team. Nobody thought they were ready to do this. And he got them to the point that they got to. I don't think that— I don't think that there's very many coaches, Pop included, that could have gotten them. I mean, take a look at Wimby's first year with Pop. I mean, you know, and I'm not saying this is a knock on Pop. He's quite possibly the greatest coach in NBA history. I'm just saying the game is different. The players are different. And Mitch Johnson did an incredible job. I, I thought, you know, how they played the end of games, their players did not get the job done. I don't mean there's nothing Mitch can improve on and that he won't go back and look at things, but, but no, I, I did not think, uh, I do not think coaching had anything to do with what happened at the end of those games or, um, throughout the series.

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Hey, that's what I'm talking about.

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Don Libertard.

You, you know how these late season games are. We don't know. It's a big game for the Knicks. We have absolutely no idea how Boston will play it. I, I don't know who they'll play, who they won't play. Stugatz. Okay.

Okay, alright, that's fine. That's an excellent promotion. You know, I love that. That's great.

Sold!

That's it. That's perfect advertising for the game, the national game on TV tonight. I'm not gonna watch now. I'm not gonna watch. Holy shit, that was a shitty sales job. This is the Dan Levatar Show with the Stugatz. What did you expect from Wembley, and did he disappoint you?

He didn't disappoint me. I think what he should learn from the series is, you know, everybody will look and say he should get— he needs to get stronger, and clearly that's the case. But I think the reasoning is, look, the Knicks were the first team that could, for 48 minutes every game, be big and physical with him. Nobody else had the capability of doing that. And I think what the Knicks were able to do Throughout games and throughout the series, they were able to wear on him. He needs to condition himself even better. And I think he's pretty well conditioned, 7-foot-4 guy, but he's going to get stronger and more conditioned to be able to deal with that physicality. Oklahoma City couldn't do that. I mean, Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren, not nearly as— Nearly as physical. Physical as Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson. A lot of teams only have one big guy. The Knicks were able to wear on him. They wore him down. And, and look, if we just look against the two different positions, but Brunson was able to play 40-plus minutes a game and be absolutely at his best. Yeah. At the end of games.

Wiminyama, in fewer minutes, was not able to be at his best or anything close to it down the stretch in games. Part of it is Brunson's older, stronger, better conditioned at this point, which he should be. Wiminyama's got to keep working to get himself to that level. But I think overall what he did in this post— Indicative of what's gonna be in years to come. Which is phenomenon in this league that we have not seen.

We are hanging on to dear life with his internet here, and they're taking guesses and bets on where you're joining us from. I've got Animal Kingdom in Orlando.

I've got Lake Eola Park.

Got the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.

Lake Little Mary.

Wet 'n Wild.

Where are you, Stan, that has such bad internet?

I am in Blue Ridge, Georgia, in the mountains.

Oh, I didn't know that. Nice area.

Very nice.

We were all very wrong.

Very nice. Stan, if you can hear me, uh, has Jalen Brunson earned a forever spot on the upper pantheon of New York sports all-time heroes?

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I, I, I think just for what he's accomplished, Greg, he's earned that. But on top of it, I think when you're a smaller guy, people relate to you a little bit more. Um, and it was 53 years in between championships. He was the lead guy. The game that clinches it, he had his best game of the playoffs. Like, no question, he's, he's right there at the top.

Yes or no, Stan Van Gundy owns a wallet?

No.

The wallet, if someone has one, should be in the front pocket or the back pocket?

Front.

Do you judge somebody who has coins in their wallet?

Wow. I mean, I think it's a little strange in this day and age, but I don't know that I would judge them.

Okay. But if you're saying it's strange, you're judging them.

Okay. I am.

You're right.

Strange. And what does Stan do with change? Because I imagine Stan tells everybody at this point he has no change. He just gives it to, he leaves it behind wherever it is that he is. Not, I'm not talking about dollar bill change. I'm talking about coins.

Yeah, I mean, I've got a bunch in my car, but I never use it. And I've got a jar of change at home, which I should probably cash in. I mean, I'm like most people. I don't use cash all that much. So I don't have— I don't get much more change anymore.

Prepare any more basketball questions you have because I am taking off of the back shelf something that you have not seen or heard around here in a long, long time. It's an old game, but for us it's a new game because we haven't played in a very long time. Very long time.

And now it's time to play Douche or No Douche. Here's your host, Douche Lebatard.

Reclining your seat on an airplane, douche or no douche?

No douche.

Ripped jeans, douche or no douche?

Douche.

Wearing cologne, douche or no douche?

Douche.

Reading texts over a stranger's shoulder on an airplane, douche or no douche?

Douche.

Sending your food back at a restaurant, douche or no douche?

No douche.

Person who doesn't wave thank you when you let them merge into traffic, Douche or no douche? Huge douche.

I never douche.

Standing up immediately when— Need a wave? When the seatbelt light goes off after landing. Douche or no douche?

That's me.

No douche. Grunting while working out at the gym. Douche or no douche? Douche. Signing your emails "Cheers." Douche or no douche? Douch. You were excellent this game. I love your conviction, Stan. I love that you weren't afraid of anything. You are a brave human being. Zazz never waves to somebody when they let you in on trap.

No, it's survival of the fittest out there.

No, no. I'll tell you what, when I let somebody in and they don't wave.

Well said, though.

Damn it.

Damn it. We've been hanging out with you your life.

He was about to say, what he does when they don't wave at him.

Okay, well, let's hear it. I'm gonna stay with this until the end. If you guys have any more basketball questions.

I just said it, it pisses me off when they don't wave at me.

That's a payoff.

Look at that jerk.

Right, look at that jerk.

I'm surprised you missed your chance at singing Georgia when he told us where he was joining us from.

I did, I snuck in a Georgia.

Did you?

Yeah.

Georgia.

I didn't even hear.

I don't wave when someone lets me in. You've been on I-95 from Virginia to Miami. That's part of—

you're a buster.

It's like Mad Max, all right? I don't have time to wave at anybody.

Hey, do you— when you used to play basketball back in the day, when somebody give you an assist, do you go over and give them a high five?

My point.

Okay, so you do the same thing to that guy. That guy just gave you an assist.

That's my teammate. Okay, so that guy's your teammate too. I have no teammates on the highway. Then what are you talking about? Then who is your teammate? Everybody is your teammate. Are you crazy?

Give him a point.

You guys just drowned out Stan.

I agree. Point at him. Acknowledge, acknowledge, acknowledge.

So you don't have any cologne? You don't own any cologne?

I do not.

I just imagine that there's an old bottle of old spice.

He has a genuinely great musk.

Put it on the poll @LebatardShow. Does Stan Van Gundy have a generally great musk? Yes or no? So you've never worn cologne? You've never owned a bottle of cologne? You've never had a bottle of cologne?

I have, but I haven't in a long, long time.

Any more basketball questions before we let him go? You guys are done. You guys are finished.

Okay. Stan, how good of a starting point would Giannis and Bam be for a team if the Heat were able to pull off a trade?

I mean, look, I mean, Bam's a solid player and Giannis is a star, so it's a good starting point. But your perimeter better really be able to play and shoot the ball. You know, so who you're going to surround them with would be a major question. And I have no idea who that might be. And so I'm not sure that takes you to the upper level of teams right away just because of those two guys.

Okay. But should Otto Lopez be a Major League Baseball starting shortstop in the All-Star Game?

That's a tough question. I'm going to say no.

He's hitting about .350.

Not good enough for Stan.

Oh, lo.

I, I also think that, uh, Stan has given up on the Marlins. Didn't you boycott the Marlins? You were a huge Marlins fan for a while, but then they did your friend Freddy Gonzalez dirty and you basically stopped paying attention to the Marlins, right?

I, I, I did, yes. Uh, until Freddy went back to 'em as a, uh, as a coach, you know, with Don Mattingly. And, uh, but I, I follow, I follow baseball, but, Yeah, there's just so many good players out there. But I mean, I guess he would— he wouldn't be the starting shortstop, but he's going to be on the All-Star team.

Thank you for the music again. A person who continues to put up his phone and film the entire concert, douche or no douche?

Douche.

Getting a haircut every 2 weeks, Douche or no douche?

No douche. I wish I had to get mine cut that often.

Ordering a whiskey neat, douche or no douche?

What? No douche.

Your friend asking you for a bite of your meal, douche or no douche?

Douche.

Stan, it's lovely to see you again. It's always nice. You were great this season. It's been wonderful to see. You were great from the very start. But it's been wonderful to see your market improvement with the reps. You seem super comfortable, super relaxed. You seem like you're having a good time being on the sidelines of basketball games, a much better time than you had when you were standing on the sidelines as a coach. That didn't seem like a lot of fun at all.

Yeah, no, this is a lot less stressful. My brother told me back when he was broadcasting, he said, yeah, the only thing I worry about after games is Where we eat.

Before we let you go, just— and we're really testing your internet here, but go ahead and give us all your political thoughts on the state of America.

Oh my God. Now you gotta be kidding. I mean, let's just sum it up with— we can sum it up with what we saw on Sunday night. Just absurd. I mean, we've taken it to the absurd.

Thank you, Stan. Good seeing you as always, sir. Oh, that was nice at the end there.

Alright, thanks guys.

Yes, a little bit.

How about his internet hanging tough there?

I know that it seemed like bad internet, but we heard most of what he said. That internet fought through. Like the Iceman said, you hang tough. Build a wall. Very dangerous to go live with bad internet. I was thinking about cutting that off about 7 different times because of how I was scared of it.

Sehr gut, sehr gut, sehr gut. Sehr gut? Wieso, Steyr ist sehr gut. Das sagen ganz viele. Cool, wer sagt das? Stiftung Warentest, Computerbild, Fokus Money, Chip, Finanztipp, such dir was aus. Mega, aber das ist doch bestimmt kompliziert. Nö, einfach Foto von der Lohnsteuerbescheinigung machen und fertig. Klingt sehr gut. Ist sehr gut. Hol dir dein Geld zurück mit Wieso Steuer.

Dann lieber Tord. Punctuate this segment with what is your strike 3 call.

Strike 1 would be: Strike! And then you stand up and you give a good point to the right.

Stugatz. That's same for strike 2, but strike 3 you get down low, you got your hands behind the catcher, All right, the right arm goes up into the air. Hyah! And then you finish it with a punch. The right arm flings way up into the air.

Hyah!

Hyah!

I wish I could see that. The pair of audios, great.

This is the Dan Levatar Show with the Stugatz. Greg Cody's got some thoughts on UFC 250. We have not talked to him about that. It got a little bit overshadowed by just a gigantic sports weekend. You rarely have two championships and the World Cup.

Right.

But it was interesting, at least in part, because it was the most politicized event, which is saying something given that at the World Cup, Iran is feeling repressed and being sent back out of the United States after their match, being sent to Mexico because we're doing an assortment of absurdities here while trying to play soccer with a country that we're sort of at war with in a war that nobody really wanted or understands.

Still a war.

Yeah, still a war.

Yeah, but they weren't even calling it a war, Tony, at the very beginning.

I agree.

They were very careful about not calling it a war.

Speaking of war, Otto Lopez. Top 5 in baseball in offensive WAR.

Ha! Olo. Yeah, I mean, I almost think it goes without saying that UFC on the South Lawn of the White House is a travesty. It's a disgrace to the historic prestige of the White House. I thought it was terrible, not to mention what Josh— it's Hocutt, right? Josh Hocutt?

Yeah.

What he said about Michelle Obama was just despicable, and it just put a sour note on everything. I just think it demeans the White House, and forget who's in the White House right now. To me, it demeans the history of the White House. Then again, nothing says patriotism like a bunch of guys in a cage kicking and punching each other.

You don't think the White House should be used as a pre-fight locker room?

Ah, not particularly, no. Yeah.

Well, but I'm with Luke Thomas on this, and I think you guys should check out what Pablo Torre did with him so that you understand just how much everyone in the media, Greg Cody is accenting what I believe to be the wrong story. And, you know, the optics of this are obviously easy to criticize. But more meaningfully and problematically, the idea that the UFC is now an arm, a propaganda arm for a very unpopular president doing wildly unpopular things against the polling wishes of most Americans, the way that Dana White is in business with with Donald Trump in a way that is contaminated and corrupt to me is more meaningful as the media continues to accent the correct thing that's obvious, which is the optics of this have no grace. There is no class in what it is that you're doing there. But why would there be class? You're talking about somebody in the Oval Office who doesn't have anything that resembles class, who has a shamelessness that believes that money buys you class, when money can't buy you class and is a swirling turd trying to take the country down the toilet with him.

The allegiance of these two liars, a carnival barker who's treated as a commissioner, and the president of the United States, the combination of these two things, the thing that I think is most interesting there is how deeply corrupt the whole thing is, where you've got Donald Trump's family owning stock in TKO. I've told you Forbes is reporting that all of the Trump kids have had their value go up by hundreds of millions of dollars because of how this presidency is being used. It's, it's weird to me that we continue to cover something that is just optics, that the main criticism is, oh, that shouldn't be on the sacred lawn of a piece of swampland where they've built an important house, versus the more meaningful criticism Urged you all to check out what Luke Thomas is saying there so that you can hear Pablo Torre dissect what is to me the more meaningful criticism there.

But you have to understand, the reason I think it's a travesty and a disgrace is largely because of everything you're saying. It's not that they put a sporting event on the South Lawn. This would not have been nearly as controversial if it was a tennis match or a softball game or something else in the athletic realm. But the fact that it was UFC, a violent organization that run by maybe a corrupt guy, and all of a sudden it's a pro-MAGA organization, it's all political. That was the ugliness of it. I'm not against the idea of a sporting event.

So you'd be fine with a softball, like it's the violence that bothered you?

It's the violence. It's the liaison between than Trump and this organization. It's a political, it was full of politics, this thing. It wasn't a sporting event to me.

No, I think it's the violence that would bother you. Like UFC, whether you like it or not, I think anyone can acknowledge it feels kind of dirty, you know? And yeah, I think it's the fighting on the white—

How about a football game? Like if there was somehow, that's violent? How about a football game? Like if it's the violence that's bothering you, 'cause all of these things can be true, right? You can be bothered by the optics and also say the UFC had a win because they threw a great event with great fights. You can have all assortment of issues with Dana White, they are plentiful, and say he throws a great big event that had to be terrifying to throw. Can you imagine the amount of embarrassment that could have fallen on top of Dana White's head if it had merely rained all night?

I mean, it started embarrassing, it was an hour rain delay to begin the broadcast.

But imagine if it had rained all night.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You've got fighters in swamp heat fighting with mosquitoes and everything else outdoors when fights shouldn't be outdoors. Because you have to do this, you have to throw this event. It could have been an unmitigated disaster and was not. Whatever criticisms you have, you could have had before the fight, but once the event was thrown, it can be a great event because it was, because Dana White during the pandemic was the only one willing to actually have an event that wasn't scared of all of the protocols. You can believe all of these things, have them all be true. You don't—

Yeah.

You don't have to choose sides between all of the things. It could be grotesque and be a grotesque success. It can't be argued that it wasn't a success for UFC. It can't be argued that it wasn't a success for Dana White.

It's a success for UFC in that they got the event off. I don't know that I would call it a great event when some of the things that were said on microphones become part of it, when you're seeing, um, fighters walking through the Oval Office with members of the military so that there's like mandated salutes from the soldiers who were standing in the hallway. It's sort of a mockery of the United States, and like, if I'm a fan—

I don't necessarily agree with that.

A mockery of the United States? Justin Gaethje reading the Declaration of Independence, walking out, and then kicking Ilia Topuria's ass is a mockery of the United States? Hell no, dude, that was the sickest video that I've seen all day.

And there were war heroes, there were veterans who were walking the fighters down. Right, that's the point. Not against their will, but you're— Yeah, but you're still acknowledging, you know, veterans. That, to me, that's always a good thing.

I think it's great that you're acknowledging veterans. I think pairing the fighters with them is the part where I maybe have an issue, because you're creating pomp and circumstance around the specifics of the event. And by the way, this isn't just a UFC thing. Like, Major League Baseball had the exact same experience. If at the end of the MLB All-Star Game that all of a sudden was thrown on the White House lawn, if the Home Run Derby was happening there and the things that came out of the mouths of Major League Baseball players were the same things that came out of the mouths of these UFC fighters, I, as a fan of the sport, would be sort of ashamed of the way the event went.

We all know we're talking about Josh Holgate there, and yeah, let's discuss it.

Yeah, whether it's Josh Holgate or anything else.

OK, but that doesn't diminish the fact that people that are, you know, served the armed forces are walking out with some of the best fighters on the planet standing next to them, talking to them, the people are shaking hands with them, like regardless of your politics, if you're next to somebody who is a great athlete, you're like holy crap, Oh my God, this is such an incredible moment, and I'm in the biggest moment for this sport's history. Like, it's a super cool moment.

You are not alone, Jeremy, in not being able to separate the things, because they're not things that can be separated. Uh, we saw 10 years ago, with what the political climate was in this country, that American football could not withstand the Colin Kaepernick quote-unquote politics of the moment, even though that was about race. Dana White, a carnival barker, a paid liar, somebody who exists as a person who is the dirtiest in the dirty game at the promotion of the dirtiest things, because throughout history all of the people in Dana White's position have been liars. He can have an event that was successful for him that has a series of objectionable things in it. He tweeted— or he texted Time magazine and said that he was bothered. He never says this.

I was surprised that he did this.

He seemed to be a free speech absolutist, and he did draw the line somehow at, yeah, that wasn't cool what was done there to Michelle Obama. It had no place in what it is that we're doing. That's more criticism of anything that he files under the umbrella of free speech than I've ever seen from him. But understand, this is a lying sewer rat who happens to have a credible sports a sport that was never credible until he helped make it credible while doing all of the dirty boxing promotion, combat sports promotion, uh, things. Uh, he gets to win here, uh, even if the thing has blemishes, and it's got blemishes. It indisputably has blemishes, but everything they sell is warts and all. It's almost part of the appeal. When Cody objects to the violence of the sport, the people who love that Sport would say he's being a prude. This is the original sport. This is the original thing that people tested each other in the arena. Who's tougher? One person against the other. But it did feel like Gladiator games.

It felt—

everything I was watching, everything that I have seen recently from what Trump is doing feels like what you would see in a communist country where you have a leader like Putin who's allowed to score 7 goals in a hockey exhibition.

That was a good showing.

Because everyone around the sport is just being a propaganda arm for one of the worst people to ever be in charge of anything in the history of our flawed American government. And so I get Jeremy's conflicted feelings. I also get where it is that he would feel sort of alone in people waving the flag around the celebration of, "But weren't the fights great? But weren't the fights great?" Because the fights being great seems kind of small compared to the size of the moment that we're in and the lack of leadership it has when you're demanding leadership from people who are good at leading, and instead what you just get is a couple of clowns.

At some point, put a double on Putin. [SPEAKING RUSSIAN]