Mehr Feuer, mehr Intrigen. Die Drachen kehren zurück.
Die absolute Macht ist dir zum Greifen nah.
Dein Reich wird unbezwingbar sein, Rhaenyra.
Stream die neue Staffel House of the Dragon ab 22. Juni mit WOW. Freu dich außerdem auf Staffel 1 und 2 der Erfolgsserie und weitere Highlights. Es wird keinen Zweifel geben, wen die Götter zum Herrschen auserwählt haben. Drachen heiß zum besten Preis. Jetzt ab 2,98 € im Monat. Geh auf wowTV.de. Streaming war noch nie so wow!
Ein perfekter Frühlingstag. Öufff! Sonne. Öufff! Park. Öufff! Picknick.
Und so viele Pollen.
Shop-Apotheke sagt: Tschüss Allergie und hallo Frühling! Hier findest du alles, um unbeschwert durch die Allergiezeit zu kommen. Als Neukunde sparst du sogar 10% ab 35 € Bestellwert. Mit dem Code: NEU10. Du hast ein E-Rezept? Einfach Shop-Apotheke-App runterladen und direkt einlösen. Gutscheinbedingungen auf shop-apotheke.com/gutscheine.
Against the Spread. Against the Spread. Against the Spread is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours. Chris, go ahead.
Man, do I love the World Cup. It's been so much fun. Tonight, 10 PM, Colombia against Uzbekistan. -1.5 goals. I think they could win this game by 3. You're getting it at -110, minus a goal and a half. Colombia, big favorites against Uzbekistan.
Tony?
Ah, guys, you know that I love the World Cup. I'm more of a vibes guy, okay? And what I love is getting a big team against a team that I want to go to their country, okay? So Croatia versus England, the Three Lions playing against Croatia today.
That's not good betting advice to just not like to go to a country.
No, but see, this is where I— people put a lot of analytics, people do a lot of stuff, and then you get You get to the gut like Chris said, and then all of a sudden it's like, oh yeah, I want to go to Croatia. I love what they got going on there. Great fans.
Oh yeah.
Good fans on the Croatian side.
All right.
I'm going to take the Croatian team with Luka Modrić, who's 40 years old. Number 10, Luka Modrić. Against the spread. Against the spread. They have a goal. It's going to be half a goal. Half a goal plus.
You guys, the way that you have described the goal, the half a goal, you don't seem to have a lot of fluency in whatever the language is of making—
It's like half a point, but it's like half a goal.
I know, but you guys don't seem to have any fluency in the gambling advice that you're offering to people in just saying— It's half a goal.
I disagree. I think we sound fantastic.
Hits the crossbar, it's half a goal. Like boom, hits off the crossbar.
That's not real.
I want to ask you guys where we started the show about Lionel Messi and the idea of mastery. When I talk about everything that's happening at this time, what has to be, Zaslo, a golden age for sports. It really does, because all the All the time you hear people talking about who's the GOAT of this, who's the GOAT of that, GOAT, GOAT, GOAT, GOAT. In baseball, Shohei Ohtani right now has mastered that sport in a way that has never been seen before. In basketball, LeBron James for 20 years has only one ghost that he's not better than, but the idea of what he's done is an insanity. Tennis is filled with this from Serena Williams on. You could do this with Diana Taurasi or Asia Wilson. Like there are just so many people running around that are better at sports than anyone's ever been. Like, in men's tennis, you had 3 people for 15 years, each better than the other one, the previous one being an immortal, where you're just like, this is lunacy. When I talk about Lionel Messi, has he now been put in the conversation in America? I know he's this globally.
In America, where you can take what he does and say, no, that goes over— that goes over Brady, that goes over Michael Jordan. I know that in America there's no topping Michael Jordan, but Tom Brady, because of the amount of winning that he did, when I talk who's the master of the masters during the total golden age of these people have perfected these things, and once upon a time, 100 years ago, when sports wasn't this big, there was allowed to be one Babe Ruth. Now there are a dozen. Like, there really are. We're living in a time where you can go grab in just about any sport and be like, That's the best there's ever been there. There's nothing close to what that is.
It's a good question. I think the answer— I think it's either Brady or Jordan, and I lean toward it being Jordan, but I think that's only because Brady seems to be more accessible. He seems to be more out there, where I feel like when we see Jordan in public, it's like, holy shit, Michael Jordan.
But what does that have anything to do though with what I'm talking about, which is just excellence and not perception? Where I'm talking the greatest there's ever been. I'm now used to these people at 38, 39, 40 years old doing these absurd things because science and medicine and healing and teaching—
But it's only the best do it. It's only like the very, very, very best. We're talking about Brady and LeBron and Messi. Like, that's it.
Yeah, but Brady is a special kind of lunacy because he's still doing it, or was still doing it at 45. Messi doing it at 38 to me is also a lunacy. I've been really, um, I'm gonna say dismayed by around this excellence, the changes in our society that make television a lot louder than it used to be and social media a lot more critical than anything around this has been. Things in sports with mastery are better than they ever have been, and I think less appreciated than they should be because you have these two things conflicting where people with short attention spans and a need to criticize and feed the content machine aren't actually appreciating, hey, there are 10 Babe Ruths running around the earth right now where they're doing something in sports that can't be mastered this way.
Dan, the problem is with that, it's great. We gotta find out who the best one is of the Babe Ruths that are 10 out there. We need to find which one is the best and then criticize all the other ones. So, Tony.
I think Ohtani, what he does because of its versatility, if you could be the best pitcher and the best hitter, that's a lunacy. But the reason I'm tying it to Messi now is because it wasn't that long ago, and this part is just stunning to me. It wasn't that long ago, it was the last time he won the World Cup, that people were wondering if he could ever win big. And now he's starting another World Cup with 3 goals that if he didn't have the previous title, what we'd be doing to him right now is, yeah, Messi, whatever, but can you do it at the end? But because he's done it at the end, now he gets into this conversation. He's been in it, obviously, in every other country. But does doing it in this country at this age end up doing something for Messi's legacy that couldn't be done if he didn't come to America to put him in the conversation with these people where you're like, look, soccer's never been played that way. There's just never been anybody who can walk around out there, keep the ball on a string on his foot like that.
And see something that no one else on the field sees at all times. And also with the precision, yeah, the goalie might get his hand on that ball, but he ain't gonna stop it because Messi is out there. He's out there with a, with a pea shooter. Like, he just has an expertise that no one else out there has.
Oh my God, like this, the, the second goal that he scored yesterday, that just that snipe to the top shelf. Uh, I, I assume you're saying when he comes to the States, you're talking about MLS as opposed to us hosting this World Cup, right?
Well, I'm just talking about all of it because when you start the World Cup, okay, as the defending champion in MLS, doing scoring no one's ever seen in the MLS at 38 years old.
Defending World Cup champion.
Yeah, and you're the defending World Cup champion. What he's changed in the last 4 years, uh, 4 years that when soccer players at any point in my lifetime have been 34 to 38 years old before now, they get bad. Like, that's how that one works. You don't get better. You don't improve your reputation from guy who's a joker to guy who's the best we've ever seen across all of sports unless you do the kind of winning that he's done the last 4 years. Brady has had all that mastery. We wouldn't make him a master if he didn't have the 7 titles. I actually think that Aaron Rodgers had the same kind of mastery, but because he didn't have the winning to go with it, he will not be in this conversation.
And in soccer, all you need is 1 World Cup. You don't need to ask, you know, chase ghosts of 6 World Cups because nobody has that. So it's not like I'm chasing this thing. Once I have the one, I'm golden for life.
And appearing in 6, which is what Messi has done now, 6 World Cups, That's crazy. I mean, that's a 20-year span.
I think what you're doing with the Rodgers to Brady thing, Dan, is about the sort of robotic nature of Brady while Rodgers had that beautiful creativity that you get to see from Messi, that you even get to see from LeBron. Iman Shumpert was talking about it, I believe yesterday, where he was saying the thing that's so special about LeBron is that even at this age, he plays with creativity in a way that, like, we talk about Jason Tatum or all of these other guys, who are these AAU products. Here's what Shumpert had to say about LeBron.
He is a 41-year-old kid.
Yeah.
They say you act exactly how you act when they handed you money. You could tell LeBron got paid at 17.
Yeah.
Man saw the shit.
Young as fuck, man.
But it's raw, it's raw though.
17, 16.
No, you put that in a nice perspective.
It's the reason that he that cold, 'cause he think like a child. Like when you was 17, I'm sure you probably was like, It's like before you get to college and they break you, where it's like that creative mindset where you like, "But why, Coach? We could just do this." And it's like the coach explain it to you, and then you stop, like, even questioning the coach. You like, "Let me just go out here and do what I'm supposed to do, handle my business, make sure we win, and then boom. I want to climb up the ranks. I don't want them looking at me like that." Bron went at 17 while he was still curious.
Yeah.
And got to navigate through that shit. Now, he ain't get to keep one coach. But he got to navigate, you know what I'm saying? It's like, now it make it make sense for me. Like, damn, bro. He at that level now. But that's how he got there. It's like us with our kids now. We ain't had none of this Instagram. We don't know what— We ain't know what workout— You got to the league with not knowing what the fuck workout you was doing. You just hooping.
Zaslo, I have thought over the last 20 years of LeBron that there would be any number of spaces and places for him to lose the joy because of what changed in, like, nah, I can't just go out there It's not creative. It's got to be better. It's got to be better. It's got to be better than Jordan. What is Craig doing out there? Why are people gathering, people who work for us, people who I need paying attention to this show and producing the show? How is it that they have—
A shopping cart costs about $175, and here it costs a little bit more if it's got the apparatus on the wheel that prevents it from being removed from the parking lot, it costs more like $325. But the point is, when you move a shopping cart, no matter where you move it in the lot, it does not devalue in price. So it is not saving the store any amount of money if you walk the convenient 14 steps and park it next to the tree next to the parking lot where my car is parked, or if you walk 111 steps to the cart corral, which is totally inconvenient, especially because even though the sun is out, it's starting to rain a little bit. Okay, so I'm here on the cart. What I'm going to do is I'm going to take the 14 steps and, and put it right here, which is right next to where my car is parked. Okay, I have a beautiful 1994 Toyota Corolla. It's parked right here, 14 steps away. Why on earth Am I gonna walk 111 steps and move it here in the parka— the corral? Because here's the thing, the cart boy just came out of the store.
Can I go out there?
It's a good seminar. I wouldn't blame you if you were out there. It's more entertaining than what we're doing in here. Do any of you call it the corral? Is that what it's called?
Yeah.
The shopping cart—
What?
Yeah, that's what it's called. The Silver Corral.
That is what it's called?
Yep.
I don't know what the other name for it would be. Put it on the poll at Levitard Show. Do you call the place where they gather the shopping carts the corral? Because that's not something that I've heard before.
The other thing is that it's not against the law to leave the cart here. In fact, truth be known, I used to be best friends with a Publix manager. He says he preferred it when people don't use the cart corral because the cart corral gets filled up very quickly, and so the cart boy has to be dispatched more often to empty the cart corral than he does when carts are left randomly all across the parking lot. So the cart boy, whose main job is to be the bagger at the checkout aisle, he now has to be, there's only one cart boy per store. So if the cart corral is filled, he has to be deployed a lot more.
He's breathy, 'cause he's been out there for a long time talking.
Great seminar, we're at 30 minutes of the seminar already.
It's a great seminar. I understand why everyone is gathered around. That should be done in a stadium full of people. I think that we should charge and see if we could fill the arena with Greg Cody's shopping cart seminar. Now, I am offended that he has raised a child that puts the can of creamed corn near the Mother's Day or on the Mother's Day cards. I'm just— I'm shocked by that. Do you realize, Chris, do you realize that if someone is looking for Mother's Day cards filled with a sentiment of love and appreciation and they see a can of creamed corn corn, you have diluted that experience. If that is over there, you have ruined someone's relationship temporarily with their mother and with other humans because of the disgrace it is to have a can of creamed corn in that section of the store because you're lazy and selfish and didn't want to go put it back.
Or I just created a two-bird situation. Someone who needed corn now gets their corn while getting their card.
You're welcome. Zaslo, do you do any of these appalling things? Because you do learn—
I—
I have to restrain myself from—
Restrain you is that the cart boy only has a certain amount of time they give him. The manager says to the cart boy, "When you go out to collect carts, I want you back here in 5 minutes because your job is more important bagging groceries than it is taking carts back." Because a lot of people do bring the cart back. And another thing, about 40% of people pick up a cart that is left anywhere, not just in the cart corral, but here. Like, pretend like you're parking, you've just parked here, okay? You're not going to take a chance that there's carts left in the store. So here's what you're going to do. You're going to take the cart I just left. You're going to take it from here and wheel it into the—
It's a great point by him. I've done that move where you see a cart by your car. It's like, I need a cart when I get in there. I'll just roll this one in. I'll help, I'll help them out today.
You see that crowd surrounding Greg? Like they're on fire.
Hey, it's Greg Cody's inner monolog. You know, every friend group has that one person who's somehow better at summer than everybody else. Weekends, you'll never see me without a beer in my hand. Straight up, that time is Miller time. As soon as I finish the column, I'll say a little something, head over to the garage, crack open a nice cold Miller Lite. And I'll stay there for a good 90 minutes, listen to my own voice, watch back some videos, see some feedback of people loving me. Then I'll, uh, I'll send a voice note to Yeti or something, and then—
Eee!
More, you know, about myself. More talking about myself, that kind of thing. Legendary moments start with Miller Time, and they're made even better by a Miller Time MVP, like me. We all have that one friend who makes every game better. Now it's time to give them their moment. Head over to any of Miller Lite's social media pages and learn more about being a Miller Time MVP. You can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller Time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.
Hey, that's what I'm talking about.
You know what drives me crazy? Every company in America is being told they need AI right now. And if you ask 10 different people what that means, you'll receive 12 different answers and 14 different comments and questions about it. The reality is standing still isn't an option. They say every day your business is late to AI, you fall 2 days behind, and that's why there's NetSuite Next. You probably already know NetSuite. It's the AI-powered business management suite trusted by more than 43,000 customers. It connects your financials, inventory, commerce, HR, and CRM into one source of truth. But NetSuite Next is the next big leap because AI's built into everything that you do. It automatically surfaces insights throughout your day. AI agents help solve problems and handle routine work. And when you need answers, you can simply ask questions just like you would a colleague sitting right next to you. Whether your company earns millions or hundreds of millions, it's time for NetSuite Next, where your business meets AI. For the first time ever, you could try NetSuite Next for free. If your revenues are at least in the 7 figures, go to netsuite.ai/dlb. Built for every industry, ready for every boardroom.
netsuite.ai/dlb.
The Cup is taking over the US and only DraftKings Sports has you fully covered. The DraftKings Sports app is now available in all 50 states, giving you access to every market and keeping you in on the excitement at the speed of sports. Sweat all the matches you love all in one place with one app. New DraftKings customers sign up with code DAN, spend $5, and get $200 in rewards within 21 days. That's code DAN. In partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours.
Bet with DK Sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER, 1-800-MY-RESET. New York, call 877-8-HOPEN-Y or text HOPEN-Y. Connecticut, call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino in Kansas, bet text pass-through mail play in Illinois. 21 and over. Void in Ontario. Event contract trading with DraftKings predictions involves risk of loss. Sportsbook bonus bets expire in 7 days. $50 in predictions dollars issued weekly for 3 weeks expire in 1 year. Redeem 1 non-withdrawable reward. Availability varies. Predictions offer void in New York. Ends June 28th.
Dkng.co/audio.
Don Lebatard.
He called me on my own podcast, he called me full of shit, claiming that I'm faking interest in the solar eclipse.
Well, you do do this. You love to just get excited about everything.
Okay, Junior.
Stugatz.
I had to school you and explain to you.
He was gonna take you to Augusta.
When I was 17 years old, Alan Cherry and I used to haunt the Buehler Planetarium.
This is the Don Lebatard Show with the Stugatz.
Zazzlo, have you taught accidentally through watching you, your sons, any bad habits that when you see, Tamara sees them, she's like, "That's, that's Zazz's fault." Because Chris learned this from his father, the leaving of the shopping cart wherever he is. And I have to consciously, when I am at a grocery store, not walk around just opening things and eating them because when I was a child, my father, would always go to where the candy was, the individual candies that weren't there meant to be taken by you. They were meant to be put in a bag and then bought together. My father would unwrap them, eat them, and then just throw the wrappers in the aisle.
Hetti play.
No, it's not. It's stealing.
It's not a hetti play.
How you gonna do that?
Stealing?
Come on.
It's not a hetti play.
That ain't right.
Man, a young Zazz though, just the visual of him being like Zazz.
Yeah. Like your wife asks what everybody wants for dinner, says pizza, and the kids go, "Yeah!" What'd he say?
Anytime my boys, especially my younger one, anytime my boys do something that my wife does not approve of, she always comes back and says, "He learned that from you. He got that from you." Only the bad stuff? It just so happens that all of the good traits that my boys will give out, she taught them all of that. And anytime they do something stupid, which is often, Anytime they do something stupid, they're my son.
The people in the parking lot, they see the spectacular hat the cart boy is wearing, and they know to stay away. It's a safety thing, okay? Notice that in a supermarket, the cart boy is always wearing a spectacular large hat when he goes to get the carts, whether from a corral or left more conveniently here. So notice that and beware of the cart boy in the crazy hat.
Uh, Greg, can I talk to Greg for a second? I don't mean to interrupt your seminar, Greg. I'm sorry. It is a seminar. Riveting. I understand why you've drawn a giant crowd out there. I appreciate what you've just done because for 20 minutes you have just put on a hell of a seminar where you never once stopped talking. I was impressed by everything that you were doing out there.
Thanks.
The lesson that you are teaching there that is most important is what?
It doesn't matter where you return the carts, okay? The fallacy is that it's polite and it makes all the sense in the world to do this No, you return the cart safely to wherever you can. Now, I'm not saying you don't put the cart here, you don't take up a parking spot with a cart. No, that's not what I mean. You park the cart anywhere that's convenient to you as long as it's out of harm's way, because the cart boy in the crazy hat is paid, literally paid—
Oh, wow.
To go retrieve the carts no matter where they're left.
All right, Craig, come on.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
Not a standing ovation. Oh no, no, it's not a sitting. No, it's become a standing ovation. Thank you.
Yes.
Okay, please take this.
A little robotic here from the crowd, right?
Thank you.
That's very, very thoughtful of the crowd. They appreciate the cart boy.
Get back in here. Get back in here and help us out. Help us do the show. We appreciate all of your hard work out there. I learned this from my father. What are the things Tamara is saying, what are the most offensive things that you're thinking of, Zez, when you're saying to yourself, this is the disgraceful behavior that they've learned from me?
Yeah, I mean, it's mostly stuff around the house, you know, that either my boys are doing or they don't do. But sometimes, you know, if we're out in public, behave a certain type of way, he learned that from you, he got that from you. I'm like, why is it never, why is it never, "He got that from you," when they do something stupid?
It's always me, and it should be like, "Because you're stupid." I want to ask the group a question here as the United States plays on Friday and a burst of weird and unexpected enthusiasm for the American side, not just because they won 4-1, but the way they won. We're used to over many, many years of they promised us good American soccer. Maybe they get up 1-0, they park the bus, and the goalie is going to get pelted the rest of the game as they try to protect a 1-0 lead. They usually don't take the 1-0 lead and keep attacking all game and all of a sudden win 4-1. It's one game. And this sport is confusing to me because the goal is worth so much. The goal itself is worth so much that I believe the margin of error is smaller in soccer than it is in all of the other sports. Because if you get some fluke goal, any team in the sport can score a goal. There are ways to protect that lead. The goal is worth just way too much. It should or could skew results, even though it generally— is that Greg's breathing?
Yes, it is.
Are you that winded from what it is that you were just doing out there?
I'm breathing!
Thank God for it, by the way.
Thank you.
God bless his heart. That is good. And his lungs. God bless his heart. God bless his oxygen.
Don't bless my heart.
I want to breathe. I want you breathing. It excites me that you're still breathing.
I am still breathing.
It is a fuel source for the entirety of this show.
Yes, thank you very much.
But the thing that I wanted to ask you about American soccer, because I'm really looking forward to Friday, and is the hope real? Can they actually do that again? Because if they do something like that again, the teams that win 4-1, 7-1 in this tournament, those are the teams that tend to make the deep runs, right? Argentina winning 3-0 yesterday, that is a spectacular blowout in that sport. That is not a close game in any way. Never mind what the Germans did, but— Can you guys explain to me why it is that the literally colorful centerpiece of the American team that seems to be among the most we've ever respected in this country, uh, that was led by Alexi Lalas as a personality more than a player, because he was just big red scarecrow running around out there, and he became a star. People really don't seem to like him.
That's what I'm seeing.
Pulisic, you mean?
No, Alexi Lalas.
Oh, I thought you meant the current star of the team.
How did you not know who I was talking about when I said literally the big colorful star at the center of the last World Cup team that was popular?
I didn't hear the last World Cup team.
But I was making the point that he's a redheaded person and that he's literally colorful. Pulisic is the very opposite of that. Like, his red, white, and blue are colorful, but there's nothing else about that human being that is colorful.
Yeah, many people don't like him though, so that's what I thought you meant. That ain't right.
Is it because you were just so winded and fulfilled from your last 20 nonstop minutes of seminar, standing ovation, you just stopped listening to anything we were doing here?
Listen, he made a good joke. He had a good cutdown of me. Me in the shadow show today, and then he just put on an award-winning seminar. He's checked out for the rest of the show.
Thank you, thank you very much. Plus, in fairness, Dan was taking an awful long time to get to whatever point he was making, so I just got, you know, I got a little antsy.
It's true what he says. I often take a meandering route to get where it is that I'm going, but the Alexi Lalas, the feeling— just put on the poll @LebatardShow. Alexi Lalas, thumbs up or thumbs down? Is what I'm feeling and what Zazz is saying correct? That this person who is basically an American star who word association soccer and used to be, we like that guy. That's somebody that we like 'cause he wasn't just, it's not just that he was colorful. Again, he wasn't a great player.
He was recognizable.
He was recognizable, but he was also colorful personality-wise. Like he had big opinions. He still has big opinions. There are plenty of people who don't like his politics. That's part of it now. You can't—
Is that what it is? 'Cause I feel like everything I see of him online It's people saying like either A, how terrible he is, or B, that Thierry Henry and Zlatan want to fight him.
Zlatan.
Zlatan.
You need me to tell you who Zlatan is?
Yeah, I don't know who that fool is.
Well, you just made him Latin. You just, instead of making him Zlatan, you made him Zlatan.
That ain't right.
Greg, do you have any opinion here as somebody who's covered Alexi Lalas for a long time? We're talking about somebody who's been in the mainstream around soccer for 30 years, teaching us to love soccer, making Americans care about soccer. Alexi Lalas I would say, is one of the biggest names in the history of American sport, in American soccer, even though he's not one of the best players in the history of American soccer.
I think he was a pretty good player, but he wasn't a goal scorer per se, so that's why he's not thought of as being a bigger star like Clint Dempsey or Landon Donovan or some of the others. I think Alexi Lalas had a, a really nice career, uh, and, and he's a very successful broadcaster. I don't know, I don't listen to him as a broadcaster, enough to have a strong opinion on whether he's any good as a broadcaster.
But you do get the sense, like, like what we're talking about, you are hearing these criticisms, right?
Yeah, mm-hmm, I am. But I don't have a strong opinion whether they're valid or not. Like, I have heard criticism about his politics and why'd he say that, why'd he say this, but in terms of his soccer analysis into a microphone, I don't know whether he's good or bad.
Give me names that you associate with American soccer immediately, because I don't know if Lalas is second, but it's Landon Donovan for sure. It's Landon Donovan.
It's pretty— Taylor Twelmann.
It's pretty high on the list.
Dennis Searle.
It doesn't have to do with greatness. It has to do with, uh, are you a personality? I'm not disparaging the career of Alexi Lalas. The career of Alexi Lalas, though, is not stardom because of the merit of the play. He is not a star because his play was so excellent that it required stardom. It's because it came in a couple of years tough, colorful package. It's basically out there with big red hair, scarecrows running around out there, and then he gives the good interview at the— after the game. He's almost— I'm gonna say in American soccer, I think I have this right, you tell me, Greg, as our expert, if I don't have this right— he might be just about the only guy in American soccer who actually increased his stardom with personality instead of play. Like, it was all, uh, you know, pack— not all packaging, he was good enough. I'm really not meaning to disparage him, but his stardom does not reach to His stardom is bigger than his play was excellent.
I would agree that his stature as a soccer broadcaster may be greater than his stature as a player that gave him that opportunity.
I think we just haven't had enough great players. You know, like, it's a really small sample size.
Like, Tim Howard was a good broadcaster, but he was a great goalie. So to your point, he was better on the field than Lawless.
You said you hear American soccer, what do you think of— I think of —like several women before I think of any of the men.
Yeah, true.
As a voice for American male soccer, though, as a voice for— that, correct, American women's soccer has been better than men's soccer. But right now we're talking about the game they have Friday and we're talking the specifics about did America turn on Alexi Lalas? Like, is that what has indeed happened? When, when I think of— it's not just American soccer and a name associated with it. That he's been a voice for this team for literally 30 years.
I feel like the people, and obviously Mike would probably have a better ear because he's in those circles and group chats and stuff, I feel like my boys that watch soccer, that follow soccer, have always been down on Alexi Lalas. It's not a thing of like, oh, now they're down on him. They've always been down on him from some of his takes, from some of the things that he says about the play on the field, stuff like that. So it's always been like a baseline of, eh, he's not that good.
I'm under the impression that we have this conversation every 4 years. Every 4 years when we see Lexi Lawless on our TV, we are having this same conversation.
It doesn't help that he has Zlatan next to him.
Yeah.
Because Zlatan has just got the charisma.
He's got aura.
He's got it all.
Zlatan. I just don't want to keep calling him Latin. It sounds like you're saying he's got a Latin guy next to him. He doesn't have a Latin guy. Do they have a Latin guy there?
Zlatan.
It'd be crazy if they did that for America.
A Swedish guy and a French guy.
Dan Lebatard.
I feel like we need to normalize saying the scientific terms for organs on the air. Penis. Like, if someone— yes. You know what? If someone takes a foul ball to the penis, we should just say, "He took a foul ball to the penis." Say it.
Stugatz.
That free kick hit him right in the cock-a-doodle-doo.
This is the Dan Lebatard Show with the Stugatz. Greg, what are you expecting on Friday from our team? Because I don't believe that after one game you could ignore 30 years, more than that probably, of, yeah, this is the year the American soccer team will make some sort of leap. And it's never actually some sort of leap.
Yeah, I, you know, the popular thing is let's not get carried away, right? It's one game.— nobody would be shocked if they settled for a 1-1 draw with Australia. I'd be surprised, but not shocked. But I think you can get carried away. This team is different. It's not that they won 4-1, it's the way they won. I have rarely, if ever, seen a U.S. men's soccer team in a World Cup that aggressive and that impressive offensively. Pulisic is their best player, and he was the 4th or 5th best player in that game because they had so much talent around him. They have a coach who's an accomplished coach. So I think this is the real deal. I think they're going to handle Australia pretty easily.
If we kick the shit out of Australia, like, it might be on.
Look, they're obviously going to get to the next round, which at this point I think goes without saying. But then they have to beat— it's like Chris Whitting— we had Whittingham on my podcast and he said, and I totally agree with this, them. The US begins to get respect if in the knockout stage they beat a team that makes everybody go, wow, really? And there are only like 6 or 7 of those teams in the world, okay? It's Spain, France, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, if they, uh, Portugal. If they beat one of those teams in the knockout round, then people are convinced that US soccer has arrived.
Put this on the poll. Big poll day at Le Batard Show. If we kick the kick the shit out of Australia, it might be on? Yes or no?
Who's that?
Yes or no?
That was your kid.
I want you to spell, I want you to spell if we kick the shit out of Australia.
How would you spell that, Zazz? That's one of your catchphrases.
Is that like an E-E-H-H thing?
Is there a W in there?
I dare you to steal that. How dare you?
That might be your top catchphrase. Congrats.
Oh, don't worry. I'm compiling a list.
I bet you are.
I'm gonna display it. Don't worry about that. 4 steps ahead of you.
What was that word again he said? I can't remember. I'd like to hear it again though.
If we kick the shit out of Australia, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it might be on.
Oh, there's a G in there.
You're expecting them to beat Australia and you'd be surprised if they lost to Australia?
Yes, very.
The only reason I, I make this point. We talk about sample sizes all the time. One goal is worth so much in this sport. We don't have any other sports that end in 0-0 ties. And if you get in a one-game sample size, a one-goal advantage because you got lucky, you got a penalty kick, something, there are just these huge distortions that can happen to who's actually better. Because even when Messi and Argentina are that much better, better than somebody, the victory is only 3-0. Like, that— you're talking about something that seems like it could be, uh, subject to randomness a little more than the average sports thing, where if I keep giving you 100 chances, over 100 chances the better thing is going to reveal itself. Over 1,000 chances, the better thing is going to reveal itself. But when you get 6 corner kicks a game as, as the greatest advantage, you're just not getting that many opportunities because of how skilled everyone is. When When we talk about the precision of all this stuff, okay, the expertise and the mastery of it, the loneliness and the boredom that Drew Brees talks about when he says, "Excellence is lonely." These countries are sculpting this very specific thing every day, every week for 4 years to beat you by a goal.
By one goal. They're sitting there, sprints, sprints, every day sprints, precision, precision, get it to Messi's foot on this spot.— for one goal that wins one of these 0-0 games. And it's with the biggest stakes. It's not Wembley can come take 7 shots the last 2 minutes of the game. You get one shot. It's the Olympics and you get one shot at this. You get the first— you get the group stage that allows everyone to screw around for 3 games. Like, okay, you can have a bad one in here, but once we get out of here, you can't have any bad ones. You have a bad one, you're done. And it's why I never expect anything from the American team. Like, that— the reason I never expect anything from the American team in terms of a long run is because, no, they're never gonna be the better team for a sustained period of time. Right. They're going— the way they play isn't going to be the one that's lucky about the one goal because they're not attacking all the time. They're— or they haven't been historically. They're not— they're not good enough to be the team that is leading the entire game in terms of just the way the Brazilians play, where they have the ball all game most of the time.
Yeah, well, that's, that's why I say it was so refreshing to see the way they beat Paraguay. Not just that they won 4-1, but the attacking they did. It did not look like a U.S. soccer team that I'm used to. It looked like something, a totally refreshing brand of aggressive soccer with 4 or 5 really, really talented offensive players on that side. I think it was so impressive.
You hope then, after one game they've convinced you, you are now expecting, if you expect them to beat Australia and they've already got a 3-goal differential, you're expecting them to advance beyond this round.
Yes, I'm expecting them to beat Australia for sure, and they will absolutely advance past this round. But then the tougher games against the bigger opponents start and it's winner take all, and whether they can keep winning at that stage. I think they will. I think they're gonna win at least one knockout round.
Well, they better. I mean, it's a round of 32 now this year.
Yeah, right.
You know, like, if you win this group, like, if they beat Australia this week, you got a great— like, you're gonna win the group if you beat Australia this week, and that's highly advantageous because then you're gonna play one of those wildcard teams in the round of 32.
For me, after that first game, I'm gonna I'm going to say that I think they have the potential to reach the round of 8, to reach the quarterfinals. I think that's the upside for this team, and that would be tremendous.
If you guys are interested in this U.S. matchup coming up Friday, Mike Ryan will be on our live YouTube stream tonight, 6 p.m., previewing Australia-USA, all the, all the recent World Cup stuff.
If you'd also like to follow all of the scores live, CodyCup.TheGregCodyShow.com.
Thank you very much. Big day yesterday for me.
—It was a big day.
I know a lot of people care about that, but— Yeah.
How was it a big day for you? And for those who don't know what that ridiculous website is, would you like to explain it to them?
I read it right off the paper he has in front of him.
Yeah, thank you. The writing on that paper that he has in front of him is comically small.
It's called CodyCup.TheGregCodyShow.com.
Greg, you've been promoting something for 2 days here that is in such small type that no one can read what you're promoting. They can now because— no, they've just put it up now.
2 minutes of zooming in to get to that.
It's like a footnote.
It's a football sport.
They just use a camera that people use to see the Earth from the moon in order to see the size of that type.
If we kick the shit out of Australia, like, it might be on.
Sehr gut, sehr gut, sehr gut.
Sehr gut?
Wieso, Steuer ist sehr gut. Das sagen ganz viele.
Cool, wer sagt das?
Stiftung Warentest, Computerbild, Focus 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 WISO Steuer.
"If we still kick the shit out of Australia, weehhegebbehhhehhh."
If you have 10 Babe Ruths, do you have 1? Also, as we approach another huge game for U.S. Men's Soccer, why does most of America seem to have a problem with Alexi Lalas?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices