Transcript of Hour 1: The Great Cioppino

This is the Dan Levatore Show with the Stugats podcast.

Hi and hello, my fellow football Americans. It's your old pal Dave Damosheck. It's Super Bowl 60 Media Night. Some people here are going to answer questions. Other people are going to ask questions. Which one am I? Let's find out. Do you think that Tom braided wants to see you win a Super Bowl becoming the second Patriots QB to win That's a good question.

I think it's something you have to ask him.

Do you think it's weird that the New England Patriots are named after the Revolutionary soldiers who beat back the Brits? But now when the Patriots honor the best players they've ever had, what do they give them? A red coat. That's weird, isn't it? Does that make Seattle now America's team?

I don't know the whole history behind the Patriots, the red coats.

But that's weird, right? We beat the Brits, and they're wearing red coats.

I think they're announcing something about So you're saying they represent the Brits?

Yeah, okay.

That's what it says, like they're telling us.

And you're saying since we wear Navy, we use America's team.

And the last team you were on proved fraudulent. They're not America's team. Is it the Seahawks now?

Well, that's time for America to answer.

Let's start a poll.

We're getting the ball down the field. The clock's ticking down. I'm going to run out under the field in a second here to try and win the Super Bowl. You haven't given time to think of that one through?

If the moment happens, it happens. But I'm just trying to keep it all the same.

If it does happen, now that we've had this conversation, will you think of me? First off, let's talk about the mustache. What went into it?

I've never grown a mustache in my life. I really can't, as you can tell.

Yeah, I can tell. I was going to say as much.

Got into the season, we lost. I shaved it. We won. I'm like, You know what? I'm just going to keep this a winning-losing thing. And Sam Darnold and the boys just decided to win a lot of football games in a row. And so that's why I still have it.

You would like to play in the Super Bowl, right?

Yeah. Maybe let me hand it off a couple of times.

Drew Lock says that he would like to take a few snaps in the Super Bowl. Can you make that happen despite the fact that the guy can't He can grow a decent mustache?

Oh, man, that's your opinion. I think his mustache looks great.

Coach, given the hair suit quality of your starting quarterback, and never mind your backup cute-The what quality of him? The hair suit, the beard, that red beard that he wears. It's hairy. All right. You Can you throw a countdown in the Super Bowl, will you do this? Like twist your mustache like, Ha ha ha ha ha.

Probably not. I don't know if I can really reach through the helmet too easy.

Stefan, have you seen a picture of yourself getting off the plane the other day? Yeah. Man, you look crazy. You think so? Yeah, I mean, I don't think I could pull that look off.

Yeah, it was like some ArtCop Chanel, some old Jacques Mousse boots, like some stuff that you're probably not even interested in.

No, I'm interested. I just couldn't pull it off.

It's all good.

I'll let you hold the next outfit.

It's Is this a must-win game?

A must-win?

Every time we go out, it's a must-win game.

Is this a must-win game?

Is every game a must-win game?

Every game is a must-win game.

It's a must-win game? I think you just ask that yourself and see what you want me to say to that.

Dave, is this a must-win game? I think it is.

It's the super. There we go. What is the right thing?

There we go. Exact same thing you just said.

We did it.

Ask questions. You just saw me do that. I hope you enjoyed it. I certainly did. Damn a check out.

Hey, that's my bit.

He's wonderful. Football America. Yammering now, but wonderful. It was great. The look Stefan Diggs gave him. If we went back, see at some point, if you can freeze- You looked at say. Stefan Diggs looked away, wouldn't make eye contact, didn't want to talk to Damosheck anymore, was being polite. Damosheck insulted some people to their face, to their mustachioed face, and he made Mike McDonald interesting, which is hard to do. I've got a couple of things that I want to get to with you guys, but the first thing I want to do, give me the stat of the day music because I've got from John Smoltz, I've got an excellent stat of the day.

Start of the day, start of the day, this year's start of the day. Start of the day, start of the day, this year's start of the day. Start of the day, start of the day. It is your start of the day. Start of the day, start of the day. It is your start of the day.

Does everyone here know Tony Gwyn. None of you are young enough to not know Tony Gwyn and what a great hitter he was. I don't know if the modern analytics would make him a less great hitter because he didn't hit for power and he didn't walk a ton, but he had a ton of plate discipline. This stat of the day comes from John Smoltz. You'd agree John Smoltz is pretty great, right?

Pretty great, as is Gwyn.

We'll have that in one second, Dan. All right.

So John Smoltz has a stat of the day where I'm not totally positive, but I think that among the pitchers that he's talking about facing Tony Quinn, I think John Smoltz might be the least impressive of the pitchers and the stat that he's going to give you of opposing Tony Quinn. Do you have it ready, Chris, or you don't have it ready yet?

Tony Quinn was such a spectacular hitter. It's funny because Luis Aria Ariias has some of those types of stats now in modern baseball- And apparently, he's not a good player. Where he doesn't strike out, but all he does is hit singles, and they don't value him. But the difference between what Ariias can do and what Tony Gwyn could do, it It's a massive gulf. It's just that Ariias is considered that in today's game because Tony Quinn was that special.

Isn't there some crazy stat where he never would strike out swinging, strike three?

Yeah, well, that's the stat I'm waiting for Chris to get. For some reason, he doesn't have it, even though I asked him for it a while ago.

I'll let you know when we have it.

I'm looking it up right now. Tony Gwin's 338 career batting average. It's only tied for 22nd all time, but all of the 22 players, equal or ahead of him, are old timers.

Mike, are you smirking because of how much Chris is cursing right now and feeling it and you're happy? I don't like how much you enjoy being out of that executive director chair. I don't like the smile that climbs across your face. As you see, Chris is sinking into sewage. You saw what Damoshek just did with the bit where he stood up and then sank? That's my bit. I feel like Chris Coty... You know what I'm going to do to make this even harder for you, Chris? I'm going to do something else. Minor penalty, two minutes for leaking confidence.

Just between me and you, Chris, I wasn't smiling at your dismay, though I usually do revel in that. I was still laughing at the DeMarcus Lawrence Dave Damosheck interaction and the look on his face that I've had several times every time that Dave starts cooking on something. I'd like to relive that at some point, but I don't have a lot of faith in the video right now.

We can get back to that because there were some really funny things in there. But Chris, you're going to have to leave for leaking confidence. You can just hit the button, play the John Smoltz video, 90 seconds late and leave. And I want you guys to listen to how amazing this stat is from John Smoltz.

How did you do against Tony Gwinner? In your career?

Not good. I still think the greatest stat in the history of sports, Maddox, Glavin, Pedro Martina and me. I want to say paced them over 330 times. We struck out over 12,000 batters combined. We struck them out three times. Pedro and Greg Maddox, zero. Glaven got them twice. I don't even remember getting them once. He struck out less than one year than guys strike out in a week.

That's amazing.

The last part.

So awesome. The stat he gave, I don't know. Glavin probably wasn't the pitcher, Small Smoltz was, but maybe I have that wrong. He just gave you Maddox, Smolts, Glavin, and Pedro Martínez, who struck out combined more than 12,000 batters, faced him 330 times. Two of those pitchers never got him to strike out. Glaven got him twice just because he's left-handed and Quinn is left-handed, and Smoltz can't remember the time that he got him. Yes, that's the correct response to that stat. You said it well. That is perfectly said. Don't say anything else. Good player. Zaz is going to bet the castle here in a second. We've also got an ugly dog winning the Westminster Dog Show, and I want to get to something happening at the Washington Post. But before I do that, I have been told that Chris Cody is accusing Greg Cody at his Super Bowl party of trying to do too much with something that he is cooking. What are you doing for your Super Bowl party? What plans does Greg Cody have around the Super Bowl? We did a good job on that burp. Good stuff, pal. Keep it moving.

I didn't even know he knew about this. We haven't even discussed it. How is this possible? I am in honor of the Super Bowl being in the Greater San Francisco area, even though it's 45 miles from the stadium. Ridiculous in and of itself. I am making chapino, the San Francisco favorite, the seafood stew, and it's a specialty of mine. Love making it, and I'm going to grace my guests with such a dish.

Did you think about going Rice-A-Roni? No. That's a San Francisco treat.

Yeah, no, I'm not big on Rice-A-Roni.

He's doing too much. You're doing too much. Why? Super Bowl party, chicken wings, nachos, chips and salsa. That's all you need. What is this dish you're making?

It's chapino.

Bring it. Doing too much.

Okay, don't eat it then. I'll eat it all.

Put it on the poll, please. At Levitar Show, do you know what chapino is? Because it's legitimately something I've never heard of. This is the first time I'm hearing of chapino.

It's a seafood soup. It's spelled C-I-O-P-P-I-N-O. It's very, very hot. We've been vacationing. It's a great culinary city. We've vacationed in San Fran and eaten Shapino, and it's wonderful.

It looks gross. Doing too much.

It looks incredible. Greg, I was invited over to a friend's house for chicken wings in the Bad Bunny concert. But when Bad Bunny is not performing, we're going to be in the same area. Can I drive over to your place to be able to come over and have some Shapino?

It sounds like Christopher is saying there'll be plenty left over.

I'm not kidding. I'm coming Come over to have chapina.

There you go. Let's do it.

Greg Cody is an exceptional chef, even though he is 0 and 3 or 0 and 4 in cooking competitions around here and is still reeling from losing to Mike Ryan, who I did- Reeling in the years. I legitimately had not any knowledge that Mike Ryan could or did cook or liked cooking until he defeated you with an amazing coconut Thai soup. You are winless in the cooking competitions around here. Chris, have you not heard of Chippino, though? Has your father not made it before? Because I trust your father when it comes to cooking. He knows what good food tastes like, and he knows how to make it.

Oh, I'm not doubting that it'll be delicious, and I'll eat it. It just doesn't give off. I don't hear that when he's like, Hey, you coming over Sunday? No. Tell me you got chicken wings. Tell me what dips you got. All I need is seven dips.

Okay, we're going to have all that.

Seven dips, four chicken wings. That's all I need.

Somebody's going to buy wings. We're going to have dip. We're going to have tuna dip, and this, and that, and the other. But the king of the culinary presentation will be Ciapino in honor of the host city.

That's the issue. Super Bowl Sunday is not about, Look at me, Louis dishes. It's about, Let the game, let the commercials do the work.

I disagree.

I don't need some groundbreaking dish on Super Bowl Sunday. That's for the next Sunday. Look at me look. No, thank you. It's very look at me look.

There's four things that are important about a Super Bowl: the game, the commercials, Bad Bunny, and Greg's Ciapino. Not necessarily in that order. No one says that.

Ciapino is about as obscure a dish as you can go with. If I were to say, Hey, make me laugh with a word that describes food throughout the history of time that someone is having at their Super Bowl party. If someone said Chapino, I'd say that's a nominee for about the funiest thing that you could say comedically as a word to describe something that doesn't belong in a Super Bowl party. When he says you're doing too much, it seems wildly extravagant for something that's easier than that. You stifle burps the way I do after a meal because you've just eaten too many burgers and chips and garbage. It's not because... That's why my lower body looked the way that it did when I was doing that video in the other room, is because a Super Bowl party will get you in terms of making the gastrointestinal experience something that is rumbling. You would not even try chapino, correct, Zaz? I'm not about that.

It's a pricey meal. It's a pricey dish, but I guarantee you all of your listeners in and around San Francisco are nodding like bobble heads because, yeah, they're making chapino, too. It's going to be wonderful. I write a rice of roe. No, come on.

Zaz, get out of here to go bet the castle because that's a good... What Zaz is about to do, easy, perfect Super Bowl dish. So good. Perfect. What Zaz is about to do, you can't do a lot better as a Super Bowl dish than I can have three bites of burger whenever I want.

You show up with a tray of white Castle burgers to my Super Bowl party, now we're talking. Mike, You know I have one rule to live by, right?

Don't place parlays on multiple long shots. Don't say a game is one when it hasn't hit triple zero.

Always drink your Jägermeister ice cold. That's the rule. Everything else is merely a suggestion.

Everything else?

Everything else.

Wearing clean underwear every day?

Well, that's just a personal decision.

Brushing your teeth?

Obviously smart, but not a rule.

Never PP on an electric fence.

Okay, maybe there are two rules, but the one that is 100% that I insist on completely, Jägermeister Jägermeister must be drink ice cold. Or don't drink it at all. Damn, that's cold. Exactly. You're finally starting to get it.

Drink responsibly. Jägermeister L'Core, 35% alcohol by volume, imported by Mass Jägermeister US, White Plains, New York. Howdy, folks. Mike Ryan here. Quick break to talk to you about one of our show's longest, most tenured, and greatest partners, Miller Lite. I love this product because so many moments were made legendary by having Miller Lite there. And it's not just a good time. Sometimes you and your pals are sad because a game didn't go your way, and you take a sip of Miller Lite, and you still recognize, Darn, this tastes good. And I made the right call. And that sound of cracking open that beautiful white can, it does make me feel better. Thank you, Miller Lite. So many legendary moments start with a Miller Light. Miller Lite just fits pretty much any occasion. Clean finish, refreshing, brewed for taste with simple ingredients like malted barley, and at 96 calories and 3. 2 carbs per 12 ounces, it never weighs you down. It's the taste that beer lovers have trusted for over 50 years. The original light beer since 1975 and still iconic today. Legendary moments start with Miller Lite. Great taste, 96 calories. Go to millerlite.

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Dan Levatard.

I heard that as a woman faking pain. I didn't think that sounded real. I really didn't.

It was not fake. It was in no way fake.

You can spot a woman faking it.

Stugatz. Yes, I can, Jess. Expert. I've been married 40 years.

This is the Dan Levatard Show with the Stugatz.

We're going to bet the castle here in a second, but I wanted to get Greg's expertise on something. I know that most people in America, I'm going to say the majority, do not care about journalism, do not like journalists, don't see the importance of journalism as a checks and balances on power. I know many of you listening to this are tired of about how much I care about journalism and holding truth to power on things that you see happening in America where the billionaires cannot be trusted to do the right thing. And billionaires are taking over newspapers, and billionaires are doing things with newspapers that are just simply wrong, flagrantly moral and against all of the principles of journalism I grew up loving. All my life, until recently, there has been a clean and noble separation of the money and the people making editorial decisions. But what is presently happening at the Washington Post, owned by Jeff Bezos, who can just fart a few millions to give Melania a documentary she doesn't deserve that's just terrible because every one of these billionaires is protecting their money and running scared of this goof that we have running our country.

The Washington Post just eliminated its sports section. The layoffs have begun at the Washington Post run by Jeff Bezos. The business of journalism is so bad that Jeff Bezos, who can waste millions of dollars doing a favor for Donald Trump and making a shit documentary about the first lady, has just begun its layoffs, and it is legitimately brutal to watch.

The executive editor, Matt Murray, says that they're going to treat sports like a cultural phenomenon.

So that means maybe a guy climbing a skyscraper?

Greg? Yeah, they were going to send a whole team of journalists to the Winter Olympics in Italy. Now, I think they're sending two or three people.

They're also not sending anyone to spring training for a team that was a champion a few years ago in baseball, the Washington National.

Yeah. Well, this is also the death of the newspaper is the substory there. But you're right. I mean, when the billionaires start buying the media, then the media is no longer independent. It's depressing. The whole state of freedom of the press is depressing. I think when Trump first came into office, one of the first things he successfully did was say, That's a lie. The media is lying. What is truth anymore? And it trickles down. And Bezos Yeah, I'm depressed by the whole thing, to be honest with you.

For those of you who do not care about any of what it is that we are presently talking about, this has been something, obviously, that I've cared about unreasonably most of my life, and it has It worked for me to care about it. But I'm watching an assortment of things that are wildly sad. I wanted just to ask the group, because this has been confusing to me over my lifetime. The regard for journalists and media is so poisoned that I wonder why it is when I'm saying this that more Americans don't care about the importance of or understand the importance of freedom of the press. Do you guys understand why it is that more Americans don't care more passionately about why it is it's important to make sure that you can tell the truth? Just tell the truth. I understand that people think the media is biased. I understand how you come about those opinions. But the way that those things get broadcast when vetted through lawyers is much more responsible than the way that most things now get into your information system. So therefore, more credible because it's more responsible. I understand that social media has changed the game, that most people get their news through Instagram.

I also understand, though it breaks my heart, that most people don't actually care that legitimate journalists have to get things vetted responsibly so that what they're giving you is closer to fact and not disinformation and not defamatory. Most people listening this also don't make a distinction between what the Washington Post has been the entirety of our lives and Instagram and Facebook. But this newspaper is one of the five best there's ever been. And this sports section is one of the five best there's ever And Jeff Bezos can't afford to keep it alive. The media is already dead. We just haven't gotten around to announcing it.

He can't afford to keep it alive.

Of course he can. He's choosing not to. He's choosing not to. And that's a major distinction.

Also, the sad reality of all these things going by the wayside is that there isn't a marketplace for them.

Well, it's also the benefit to the multibillionaires, right? If they're unchecked on the decisions that they make, that's the benefit of journalism and journalists. It's the reason that Donald Trump, from the day he showed up, started saying, Everything is fake news. Because if you can blur the lines on what's real, what's not, what's a fact, what's fiction, everything is opinion, nothing matters. And now these things go by the wayside as you rely on TikTokers.

And what's sad is that Jeff Bezos can afford not only to keep the Washington Post staff intact, but to increase it and make the Washington Post stronger than it's ever been and be the beacon of freedom of the press in this country. Without even touching his wallet, he could do that, but he chooses not.

Okay, so I am just curious before we get to Zaslow here and he bets the castle. I am just curious when I ask this question because I don't know the answer to it, the question I'm about to ask. I really don't. When you see institutions that have been journalistically credible the entirety of your lifetime, like for example, 60 Minutes and CBS, run scared from a president who can file lawsuits and then just win nuisance lawsuits because the media doesn't want those problems. Why don't more people care that an institution as reputable as CBS has clearly gotten contaminated by this in a way that's irrefutable and also, morally wrong according to what have always been America's principles on freedom, why wouldn't that one land? If the Washington Post, which discovered Watergate, doesn't land, why wouldn't CBS, as one of the institutions that has best represented the idea of, We're going to do this credibly and does it with old people, why wouldn't that one land when it gets contaminated from the inside on biases and corruption and everything that's happening in America as it regards to money.

But I think it does land with about 50% of the country, and the other 50% either doesn't care or is not informed as to the changes that are happening. Then there's a portion of that, 50 % that actually like the changes that are being made. I understand what Jeremy said about billionaires wanting unchecked power. Yes, absolutely. The news division, especially. They also like money. And if there was money to be made in covering sports, trust me that a capitalist like Jeff Bezos would find the way to do so. I think the sad reality when it comes to sports journalism is the appetite is not there. Social media did a number on it. The Internet did a number on it. It has to evolve. Milkman, that were put out of work, didn't have podcasts to go to and lament the loss of the milkman industry. Thankfully, sports writers have a skill set where they can go and adapt to the times.

Right. I mean, the Miami Hero Sports staff at its height was probably 36 full-time writers, and now we're down to seven or eight, maybe six or seven. And that's just the way it is nationwide. But I think we're such a polarized country that the way we feel about the media and about freedom of the press is the way we feel about the force that ICE takes on immigration reform and the fact that they've allegedly murdered two people without cause. We're polarized. We can't agree on anything. I I mean, you and I feel strongly about freedom of the press, and half of the country is going, What is the benefit?

I don't think it's even half. You guys are saying half. I don't think it's even half. But when Mike Ryan says, Adapt to the Times, that is what Pablo Tori is doing with adapting to the New York Times and trying to do something in the modern age that is a little bit different. I will urge you to check out what he's doing tomorrow because he got another one tomorrow that no one else will touch, and we will talk to him about tomorrow.

Nicola, Hast du auch immer dieses Gefühl, bei der Steuererklärung mit einem Bein schon im Knast zu stehen?

Boah, nee, gar nicht.

Wieso Steuer ist so die Steuer-App, mit der ich wirklich nichts falsch machen kann.

Wow.

Das heißt, damit ist alles sicher?

Ja, genau. Wieso Steuer ist die Steuer-App, die dich versteht. Weil Steuer betrifft ja dein ganzes Leben. Arbeit, Kinder, Partner. Du kannst nichts falsch machen.

Stimmt. Nice. Fühlt sich gar nicht wie Steuern an.

Steuern erledigt? Safe.

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Hard. You have some hot takes today. Joe Chesnut's a fraud. Oh, he's on fire. He called Connor McDavid overrated before the show.

What the hell was that, Greg? Yeah, no. I love it.

Stugatz.

Roy, let me explain it to you. You know more about hockey.

This is coming from a guy that's watched Connor play six times, if that.

This is the Dan Leventhal Show with the Stugats.

Let's segue to Zazlo now. Look at Tony rummaging around. He's just gotten back from Keybiscayne, and he's rummaging around in the background. What did you just find there? Did you find some of the pork? What did he find? Did he find some empanadas? I have heard before we got to Zazlo, I've heard some people complaining about, but our lunch and our breakfast. I've heard some people complaining, but every time I look over there, I see somebody trying to steal food and put it into their pockets and absconding with some of the free food. Let's do Zazlo's Betting the Castle now. Get us started, Zazlo. What is the bet that you're offering here on behalf of the delicious and scrumptuous and amazing White Castle.

I'm very good. Tony, get out of the way. I'm very glad to be doing this again. White Castle, classic cheese sliders. I'm very, very excited for this. It tastes so good. You may remember the last time I did this, my bet the Castle didn't go so hot, so I'm going to make up for it today, and I'm going to give you guys a winner.

You ready for this? Well, no, I'm not. I'm going to remind people that the first and only time Zaz has done this, he said to take the net plus 11. 5, they then lost by 50 against the Knicks. You always want to buy the hook, Dan. And they scored all of 66 points in an NBA basketball game. It's impossible.

If you're going to lose, lose big.

It was staggering how bad your bet was. Let's do this now. Give us a better bet than you did last time, please.

All right. Well, we've been talking about James Harden, the James Harden trade yesterday. This is one of my favorite things. James Harden was traded to the Cavaliers, but the Cavs, they're at the Clippers tonight. Do you think Harden went to Cleveland? No, he probably stayed there, and he's waiting for his new team. And guess what? We're going to take his new team tonight. Even though he's not playing yet, we're going to take the Cavaliers. They are giving two and a half points tonight. This is a Clipper team that's all out of sorts. I think the Cavs are going to have some extra juice to them tonight. So I like the Cavaliers giving two and a half. I know Evan Mobley's out. I don't care, all right? You can't trust that Kawhi Leonard. So we're going to go with the Cavaliers giving two and a half in LA tonight.

Okay, but I believe you're supposed to give that take while the burger is cooking and then eat the burger as the punctuation on the take. At least it's the way that you did it last time. Now you've given us the take and you're ready to do this. You're ready to do all of this. Okay. Here we go. Yes, it's great.

It's just- It's so good. I love it. I'm in that second one. Bet the Castle is presented to you by White Castle. Hunger says eat, cravings say eat this. With White Castle's 100% beef, grilled onions, melty cheese, and steamy buns that hold it all together, how can you not crave thy Castle?

I don't believe, Chris, that that burger will last until you get over there. I believe that you're going to have a great deal of that.

Tony's over there, and it's already gone. And it's gone.

He just skied. It just disappeared.

He said, Burgle.

He burgled the burger. He's been burgled. Who wouldn't want to burgle the burger. Those are just amazing. You can't make enough of those. It's why my lower half of my body looked the way that it did in that video that I did earlier.

I'm going to add those to my Super Bowl menu. They go good with Chupino.

I can't believe you're doing chapino. That makes no sense. Look at me. It makes all the sense in the world. How often do you respect the host city with your culinary? Is this normal? Oh, yeah. You do this every year? Is this part of what you do?

Do you take a culinary tour of the host Did he?

If the game was in Foxborough, I'd probably serve lobster rolls. Oh, that's great. Maybe clam chata.

Giardelli chocolates laid out for the attendee.

See, it's look at me. It should be about the game and the commercials. He's like, Look what I can do.

I like it. Does he make a Jumbalaya when it's in Does he do this every year?

Yes.

You have a good party. Yeah, I think so. What makes a good party is the host caring.

You know what? This doesn't replace the usual. The usual is chicken wings and dip and all that. We have all that, but I have something else that is at the top of the heap of what we're offering. That's all.

You go the extra mile. Thank you.

Extra mile and a half, couple of miles.

Then he's spending the whole first quarter assessing everyone eating his dish.

Yeah, he wants to make sure you enjoy it and then give him proper things because he's a bit of an ego maniac. What can't you get about this?

If you don't say, Greg, this is really good, he starts huffing and puffing around the whole joint.

Why else do you do anything? Why else do you do anything good for anybody else? Thank you, Mike. You need to be able to hear people say, Hey, man, you did that good thing. Thank you. Preach.

That's right. No, he's right. Mike's nailed that. What a bullseye he just hit, that guy. No, he's right. You got a compliment.

We don't do good things out of the kindness of our heart around these parts.

If you like it, tell me. That's all.

Yes, I do it for fanfare.

Thank you.

Put it on the poll, please, @LebitardShow. Do you only do good things to have people tell you you've done something good?

I need the credit.

That's not the way I think of- Oh, yeah, you got to have credit. Kindness and charitable acts.

Thank me. Seriously, I'm the only one that's honest enough to say it. If I make a Sunday meal and we're two-thirds through the meal and nobody has said anything yet- Then you say out loud.

I'm seething. You literally will say like, Oh, jeez, no compliments.

You should be appreciative. I try not to say it.

Does he actually say, Wow, no compliments?

If he doesn't hear multiple, this is really good. He wants to go around. Everyone has to say what the Rockstar of the Dish is. That's the It's not a Cody game.

I like to pick something.

He always picks the most obscure thing. Like these sauteed onions on the side are really the rock star of the dish. It's never the main dish.

Well, you can compliment whatever you want. Just Give me a little compliment.

Greg, he's going to miss it when you're gone. Thank you. When all he has is a tray of lukewarm popcorn chicken from Publix. You're so right. He is going to miss the time, effort, and care you put into the Super Bowl.

The inheritance he gets will offset that a little bit.

The inheritance joke. Here we go.

Can you please tell us, put us next to your family. I don't know how often you do the family meal where you cook something elaborate, but please put us at that dinner table and tell me how this goes, some of the conflict that has arisen from you wanting a compliment and realizing you're not going to get one. And is it indeed? If they know that you need it and they're denying it, it must be because the food's not as good as they'd like it to be, right?

Here's the thing. A couple of Sundays ago, I had the whole crowd over and I served chicken franceses. It was fabulous. It was. It was. Now, I served with it spaghetti with a garlic butter sauce. Didn't love my garlic butter sauce. It was okay, didn't love it. But the chicken francese itself, I thought was top-notch. We're halfway through the meal, nobody's saying anything. Maybe people are just too busy eating.

I don't even think that's true. I feel like we complimented that meal.

Well, let's let him get through what he's saying here.

I mean, maybe the compliment was a little bit tardy, but eventually it came.

What would be tardy? At what point in the meal do you want the compliments to start raining?

Within the first five minutes. Oh, wow.

The meal starts where younger son, Michael, has to read the menu. My dad writes the menu, and younger son, Michael, reads it for the whole table. It's a tradition. Then we eat.

Always the younger son.

Yeah, midway. My daughter has started doing it as she's learned to read.

Wow, it's like their version of Passover. Passing the torch.

I was just saying the same thing. Good Sure.

Then as the meal goes on, 10 minutes in, if he doesn't hear compliments, he starts huffing and puffing.

Dianu.

I huff and puff privately. Is it disappointing? Yes. What you got to do is show appreciation in all walks of Show appreciation. That's all I'm asking for because I'm on my hind legs for hours at a time putting together an elaborate Sunday meal.

Yeah. All for you to thank me. Profusely, preferably for 10 minutes, and then we go around the room.

Like a kangoo in the kitchen.

Put it on the poll at Lebitard show, Do Human Beings Have Hind Legs? Because this suggests that the rest of the time you're walking around on all fours and then you get up to cook your chicken frances.

Hind legs. But It's like a kangoo now.

Keeping someone in your pouch?

Yeah, that's right. An interesting fact I learned on the Greg Cody show last week. This was a three facts Jack thing. And McGill, if he were here, would acknowledge this as truth. Animals over time have evolved. And here's an example. Not prehistoric, but in long ago time, the Penguin, the little cute little Penguin, was 6'8 and weighed almost 300 pounds. It was the size of a power forward The NBA, the Penguin.

That can't be true.

Yes, it's absolutely true.

Put it on the poll. Did you know that the Penguin was once the size of a power forward in the NBA?

6'8.

That's horrifying. That's scary.

It is.

James Cooke was the last 100-yard rusher against the Seahawks. It was week eight of last season.

See how hard was that?

Let him cook. This stat from the Washington Post and this quote from what we were talking about on the Washington Post, Marty Baron, the former boss of me and Greg Cody, says, This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organizations. The Washington Post says it's basically cutting a third of its staff. So one out of every three Washington Post staffers are being laid off. Mike, you were right to correct me when you said, No, Bezos can afford it. I was wrong, obviously, in saying that he can't afford it, but he's getting out of the running of the Washington Post because it costs him about $100 million a year losses. Peter Baker of the New York Times says, Jeff Bezos' wealth in 2024 was $194 billion. In 2025, it's $215 billion. His wealth today is $249 billion. So it's increased $55. 4 billion. He obviously can afford $100 million loss. I assume that the Prime Documentary division and all the stuff that Prime is doing in streaming is losing a ton of money because I don't imagine that many people outside of their Amazon subscription for other things are actually going to Prime for much of the movie and creative content.

I mean, the corruption is so transparent, what's going on, be it Bezos acquiring a reputable journalistic entity or you said Trump was winning lawsuits. No, he's not. He's settling in what are clear backroom deals to make sure his friends control these media companies that give them favorable coverage. That is what's happening. And they install other lackeys to carry water. Now, Luckily for us, a good amount of the population sees this for what it is, and the midterms are coming up. Unfortunately, there's some other Lost souls that won't learn their lesson until history teaches them one. Prime Video has a bunch of great stuff on it. Fallout is incredible. Have you seen Fallout?

No. New Jack Ryan's coming out, too.

Really fun. Really good. I have trouble finding anything I like on Prime. Among all of them, it's, to me, weaker than the others.

Batista Mamoa didn't get you hooked in on whatever that is. Dude, I started watching that. It's called something wreckage or The Wrecking team. Yeah, it was bad. It was bad.

You didn't watch Linus?

It was like-Linus, good show. It was like ChatGPT had a bunch of prompts entered in by Jason Momoa to make him look cool.

The Wrecking crew.

That's what it was. Something around there.

I'm halfway through it. I'm halfway through it. Mamoa and Batista.

That got me in. I'll watch it. Fin Batista, though. Yeah, he's not the ass kicker. I'm sure he'll get there, but I don't know if I care enough. I watched Nuremberg yesterday. How's that? I want to watch that. Dude, Rami Malik and Michael Shannon sharing a scene. It's as creepy as it sounds. He can't be put in anything anymore. Stop putting Rami Malik in stuff. In this movie, the only time that it's bad is when he's trying to be a cool guy or Riz up some chic. It's just like this person is way too strange.

You know about that Riz?

He's just an odd person. He should only play like villains. That's my two cents.

Would you do me the favor of looking up for me what it is that Amazon is reportedly losing in the content business? Because it's my last stop among the streaming services when I- I like all the streamers. You should, too. You own a content company. We try to sell dogs to everybody. Shape up. Did you see my lower half of my body in that video that we made before shaping up? I didn't see it.

I want to see it. I was excited for that.

Yeah, let's stream that.

No. I heard the panacea thing that he said. Very good. I was sitting there like, Yeah, Dan. Hell, yeah. Fastball, dude. Paint the black.

Melania. Sounds like a John Mulaney Netflix special. It's Melania. I'm still hurting. Let's get it together. Yeah, I'm still hurting on that one. Can you believe the first lady? Get me the numbers on Amazon. And before we. Before we get to Katie Nolan and Mad Dog Ruso, I need you guys to find me the picture of the ugly dog that won the Westminster Dog Show so that I could do that with Katie Nolan. But Mad Dog Ruso is next.