Transcript of Hour 2: The Pro-Cupcake Show

You're listening to DraftKings Network.

This is the Dan Laboratory Show with the Stuttgart's podcast.

Guys, I have a sports fan dilemma.

Really?

Yeah. So as you guys know, last couple of years, I've devoted a lot of time and energy to branding myself as Georgia Tech's most famous alum who didn't play a sport. Also, Jimmy Carter may have may not have gone to Georgia Tech. I still haven't gotten any clarity on that. And so it's been great.

Right? High profile wins. Even though the loss to Georgia, I had so many people hit me up. But I've effectively branded myself as Georgia Tech guy. Here's the problem.

I graduated from Arizona State. Oh. Arizona State's in the college football playoff. They're playing the Peach Bowl on January 1st.

Oh, that's okay. Mike allows it. Well, I what's up?

No. Let him finish. No.

Let him finish.

There's a there's a dilemma.

Thank you.

So here's a dilemma. Yeah.

So I wanna go to the game, but I don't wanna pay. Like, I don't I don't wanna I what I don't want is I wanna be able to go, like, as a celebrity. Like, Arizona State's 1 of the most famous alums. Right? Yeah.

But it's a pretty big ticket. I mean, it's a playoff game.

Oh, it's highly in demand.

And I there are no tickets as I understand it retail out there. They're all sold out. They're all gobbled up. So what do

I do?

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It's game time. I wanna get to the funniest thing from the sports weekend in a second. I do believe that Amin should be allowed to be Georgia Tech's loudest non athlete supporter as somebody who has enjoyed joining the college football conversation over the last 5 weeks of being spoiler to Miami and playing Georgia close. You felt so close to the buzz as a basketball guy.

Buzz. Yes. Absolutely. That's the name of the mascot. No.

But Dan, it it's it's great because I get to parachute in and tell Mike his team sucks, and then you don't you guys don't understand. Here's the worst part. I had so many texts and tweets ready in my drafts during that Georgia game. Elle Duncan doesn't know what kind of hell she avoided.

Doesn't know my name either.

Elle Duncan.

Oh, hey. What's up, Greg? Still scarred from that as you were.

It it was, and that feeling, Dan, of living on the edge of knowing, oh my god, all it takes is 1 press of a button, hit send.

Yeah.

And I'm going to be the most obnoxious person in this person's life. It's exhilarating, to be honest.

Well, Mike Mike spent his whole season right on the fringe of that. His entire Mike Ryan just

Was right there

with you

with the

a c c agenda against the s c c. That was

a huge game for me. That was a real bummer. I had all sorts of means ready to go

to. That was, by the way, the first pang of, like, oh, this isn't gonna go well was Mike sending me text during the day like, oh, 0, it's gonna happen. It's gonna happen. Like, oh.

Wait a minute. I if if I may, David Samson's in here now and I do wanna get to more of the So to stuff more because I believe that I believe that David has better information here than than anybody in the media on this particular story, bias though it may be. But I believe that we've glossed over Not at all. We've glossed over that this is 1 has to be 1 of the most crushing sports feelings that Mike Ryan has ever endured. He got a little us against the world, Miami against everybody.

He had more proprietary interest in what was happening as Miami had the best quarterback in the sport, and you get that close. And at the end, all you've got is the argument, and it's a compelling argument. It's a pretty good argument on behalf of would you please care to think that maybe Syracuse and Georgia Tech are a little better than you thought they were? Because if everyone is 3 loss bad, including Georgia and Alabama, if they're all field 3 loss bad, can we give some credit to the teams Miami lost to by a small combined margin that he would find himself at the center of the argument, but have only the argument and the heartbreak makes this, I think, 1 of the most hurtful sports experiences of Mike Ryan's life.

I'm not certain Georgia Tech and Syracuse being better than we thought they were gonna be is ever a good argument. I mean, I'm sorry. I just I'm not a football.

Well, it became an argument for when Bama lost to to Vanderbilt. Well, they're they're they're a lot better than you thought. I I what was devastating was the loss, not what happened afterwards because I knew the loss would breed what happened afterwards because we were gonna if it became down to if it came down to an SCC team versus Miami, they were gonna go with the SCC team, and it's just because of what I was warning against the entire time, this damn preconceived notion. But I I do I'm still hurting. I was I did not watch really.

I watched the end of the ACC championship game, but I avoided it because of the pain that that I felt a week before. It's a shame because this was a good season. If you would have told me before the year, it it 2 2 losses by 9 points, I'm saying, okay. Then I'm fully guaranteeing a trip to Charlotte. Didn't end up working out.

This was a really good season for Miami. It's a type of season that we've been begging for for 15 years. Miami has an opportunity to win 11 games for the first time since 2003. I'm ultimately through it now and, happy with the season that we've had.

Back to work. Square?

What do you mean?

Are we square?

How are we, personally?

Yeah. Are you now more miserable about Miami than you ever were about the Marlins? So are we good now?

No. No. That's not what made us square. What made us square is what I did to you on Thanksgiving.

You're coping though. Right? Because, like, Mario Cristobal was brought in to get you into a 4 team playoff, not miss a 12 team playoff.

Right. I I understand. Mario Cristobal was, no, Mario Cristobal was brought in to turn the program around, and the program has been turned around. Hopefully, this is sustainable, but I'm happy with the trajectory of the program from year 1 to year 2 to year 3. Year 4 for a recruiting base coach like Mario Cristobal is, that's when you start winning big.

So that's a challenge. Miami's gotta replace a lot of players.

But is it turning it around at Miami, making it to the playoff, winning national championships?

I think it's, yes. Yes. But you you gotta build. And I think

Okay.

It's irrefutable that Miami's headed in the right direction, and Well that's where I'm gonna hang my hand.

But Kurt Cignetti turned around Indiana in a year.

Well, Kurt Cignetti also played 3 teams with winning records. And if Miami had the very same thing, they'd be in the college football playoff.

The Cam Ward experience that makes me think that this isn't quite recreatable is if I'm gonna lose a couple of games because of my coach and I don't have the best quarterback in the sport, what does all this look like? Because the defense Mhmm.

They

were saying the same thing about Tennessee after Peyton Manning left, and then team Martin rolls around. There there's so many examples of great unprecedented unicorns at the position, and the guy that follows is not nearly as good.

It's better than the alternative. Like, it can't be seen as anything but progress when you get to more wins and better quarterback play and all the recruits that come from more wins and better quarterback play. It is the stepping stone that can't be disputed, but Billy's not wrong when he says Mario Cristobal and a giant investment of $90,000,000 was supposed to get you into the playoff by year 3, and they were as close as anybody could get without getting into the playoffs. Look.

If Miami played SMU, if Miami played Clemson, things were worked out a little different. It's a little unlucky. SMU has a slightly more favorable conference, but Miami was up 21 0. You gotta own that. That that,

like, they wouldn't have had it to be I had the question, and has Miami ever lost a football game when they were up 21 nothing? I'm asking if I I don't think they've they've blown 21 point leads before, but I don't I can't recall a game that Miami lost when they led 21 nothing before this 1.

The question that people are asking, I don't know if they have, but that's not the issue that athletic directors are dealing with and coaches now. You heard what the Alabama AD said. We gotta start thinking about strength of schedule now and about what to do with non conference games. And now that we've seen 1 selection by the CFP committee when it's 12 not 4, there's meetings going on. I promise you that.

No.

I I I would advise Miami just schedule cupcakes. You because you actually schedule ambitiously and you don't get credit for it. At the end of the day, they're just gonna hold up your conference and what you do in it against you. So just do what the SEC schools do because you get you don't get rewarded for skit What schools want to go to Florida? Miami never shies away from a challenge when it comes to scheduling.

They put they put Michigan State in, LSU, Florida, Alabama. They don't care, and they don't get the reward for it. Now they've never really been in position to be close enough to take that into account until this year. They beat Florida, and everyone just moves a goalpost on Florida. Well, September, they're not as good as they were before.

That wasn't a close game. This wasn't a game 1 inside of margins. That wasn't well, if they had DJ Lagway, they'd win that game. I saw DJ Lagway for about half of that game. It was a 40 point victory, essentially.

So 1 of the things you have to think about when you're scheduling is that maybe it doesn't matter who you're playing week 2, week 3 versus the end of season. Maybe it doesn't matter strength of schedule. And there are people arguing, don't do cupcakes. But my where I come out is, I am definitely doing cupcakes.

Pro cupcakes. This show.

Pro cupcake. Big time because there's way more money by making it into the final 12 for the school.

No doubt. Pay pay San Jose State $1,000,000, although that team might be too good. I don't want any part of it.

Well, Notre Dame Notre Dame did pay Northern Illinois to play there, did they not? I think, there's when did they become cupcakes? Can you give me the origins, please, of, this cupcake talk that we're having because

it was Dickie v. I gotta get

out of this. I don't think he invented the cupcake talk. I think I you think Dickie v invented referring to someone as cupcake?

Referring to sports teams as cupcakes.

Which which is the older phrase? Tomato can or cupcake? Like, which is the older phrase for referring to somebody that is an easy beat to the fixes in on the

Think tomato can is, like, the older 1.

Yeah. No. Tomato can.

You're a cupcake. Mhmm. It's also not just weak. It's also, hey, you're a cupcake.

I don't know why you're doing your eyebrows at me that way.

Because you're a cupcake.

Okay. Please stop doing that.

You have to do that. I don't know

what to do. I don't know what to do.

I'm talking to

Schwab. We could fix all of this, but we

don't need to I don't I don't what where did I finish in the listener league, Billy?

I don't know

what your username was. Username.

I mean,

it's gonna

be funny.

How do

you want? I mean, jeez. I can't have won. I had Kyler Murray and the Eagles defense. Wow.

You lost.

We'll never be even for

the Blue Jays. Maybe Jordan Mattis.

Who knows? Just so you know. Just so you're abundantly clear, we will never be even for you killing my passion for this word.

Wait. You

did this Thanksgiving to me. You What happened there?

What happened? Mike mentioned it before. How he ruined your Thanksgiving?

Literally ruined it, which is not easy to do because normally family just will do it, but Mike did it

this time. Oh. He took my advice to watch a movie, and he did so on Thanksgiving morning, and it

ruined his day. He he saw

the coffee table? I did so

on Thanksgiving. I was wrong. It wasn't Dicky v. It was

Kendrick Perkins.

What did you think of the, the coffee table, David?

It's really close. I see

the It's not it's gotta be before Dick Vittell. Kendrick Perkins did not Yeah. Did not Against the credit. Vent the cupcake as a phrase. What happened with the coffee table?

I still don't know what this is about. I don't wanna know what it's about.

Then how can you why don't you wanna know

what happened? Is so disgusted by it, and Mike has spoken about it in cryptic terms, and I haven't wanted to go on the Internet and know what the premise of this movie is. Anthony Jeselnik is 1 of the great dark comics that there have ever been. He thinks of this as a comedy. He recommended it on South Beach Sessions, and Mike decided to try it.

It is not a comedy, I'm assuming, from the way you guys are reacting. It is disgusting, but I still don't know. If you guys are so disgusted that you won't speak it out loud, it's only been whispered to Stu Gotts and Chris Cote, I don't wanna know what this movie's about.

But why is it that you refuse on the recommendation to see it?

Because it's a great film. Disgust. It's a great film. No. It's a shock it's not a disgusting film.

Maybe some people come away with that opinion. I think it's a shocking film. And the reason why we don't wanna give away the plot is I think the shock value has a lot to do with this film's power. But the the beauty lies within the performances, the the drama lies within the story as it goes because, yes, there is a central plot line that if I say it, it gives away a large chunk but that is honestly just the tip of the spear when it comes to this film. It's about the residual effects of 1 action.

Yeah. I don't think that it can be spoiled because the tension of the movie is not the act that we're discussing. It's actually what happens after, which is the majority of the movie. What ruined my Thanksgiving is not that the first thing that happens. That's a Tuesday that you can see it happened.

Right? Life happens. The performance that haunts me to this day, and I wanna speak to your guests, I I like the Netflix, but I really wanna understand the comedy part because Mike told me too that you thought, it was a dark comedy.

Yes. I I think that there's a there's a an aspect to this film. There's a a central action that has all sorts of ramifications and I think the comedy is in the situations that they put, the main actor in and also that the main horror of this film is not necessarily the bad action is how do I go about telling my wife that this thing happened?

But but to me, that's a Tuesday. So I spent 29 years saying to myself, well, how am I gonna tell my wife this? So that to me was just a learned sort of knee jerk thing.

But you genuinely think it's a good film. I think it's a masterpiece.

Good film. It's 1 of the best films. It's gonna be on my top 10 list of films I've watched this

year. Okay.

That's how significantly good it is. It's not a movie from this year, so it didn't it's not gonna get nominated. Couple years old. But I do a separate list of movies I've actually watched because I watch older movies.

But it is a movie that there's before the coffee table and after the coffee table, and I would recommend it it will impact your holiday if you choose to watch it on Thanksgiving morning.

You never told me that. That's your getting me back. Now we're even. We are even.

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Donlebertard. I ain't never met nobody in the world that's gonna hate on Blue's Clues. Great nomination. Like, who don't like Blue's Clues, bruh? If you don't like Blue's Clues, you're a loser.

Stuttgart's. Look, you get 1 paw print, that's the first clue. You put it in a notebook, now what do you do? Whoo. Blue's Clues.

Blues' Clues.

Sit on the chair and think about it.

This is The Don Levatar Show with the Stuttgart's.

I have a number of different things that I wish to get to because there was a lot of stuff in football over the weekend that was interesting. And, also, I want to talk more about the So to story because if you want more information, if you are interested in sports business, nothing personal is the podcast for you and David Devoted because it's such a seismic thing that just happened. It's super rare for the baseball story to I I can't even think in the hypothetical. What's the baseball story that's climbing into my Sunday and knocking out all of the football? Like, that's I it I can't think of 1 in the hypothetical.

It's not if the dodgers do this, it's not the same. If the red sox get him, it's not the same.

It's the Mets taking him from the Yankees.

That 2 on top of everything else. You're beyond the Boris and Stevie Cone, hatred that you have, and they are 1, 2, and people that you dislike in in your sport? Like, what who's 1, 2, and

people It's not personal. I mean, Scott Boris, I don't break bread with him, but I will never forgive him for the way he acts towards his clients, especially Jose. So he's 1 and 1 a and

1 a. Jose Fernandez, the Marlins pitcher who lost his life. It was very and personal to you, and Scott Boris came in, did some press conferences, did some smiling, and then stopped caring about the family.

And that's a good summary, but didn't didn't ensure it, didn't let us sign him long term where he could have set up his his child and his wife. But, anyway, I digress. What what is interesting about this So to situation is the first person I thought of was Steve Ballmer. It's a dream come true. Ballmer wanted to be Steve Cohen so badly.

If you think about it, he bought the Clippers. The Clippers are the Mets. The Lakers are the Yankees in the same area. It'd be like the White Sox taking a player away from the Cubs. And Steve Ballmer was saying to himself, I thought I had it with Paul George.

Oh, that didn't work. Alright. How about a new Intuit dome? I've got all the technology. Took everyone on the tour.

He said this is better than Staples Center. And, of course, it's not in any way, and the Clippers are the Clippers. And Steve Cohn is devoted to spending whatever it takes to make the Mets bigger than the Yankees.

Well, I think most people are arguing that it is absolutely better than Staples in terms of a venue because of all the cool things that they've done doing. I've I've heard from several media members, and they're like, I've never seen a place like this on the planet.

But that's but the Clippers are still the Clippers.

That that is true.

He did it to try to get the Clippers in a different conversation vis a vis the Lakers.

Babe, man, it didn't work is what you're saying.

I'm saying it didn't work. It's early it's not that early in Balmer's career as an owner. It's not that early.

Also not early in the careers of the guys that he's counting on to make it happen for them.

Chris, can you get us the famous Ballmer sound of him, when we were all introduced to Ballmer, him running on stage breathlessly and introduced himself to us? Because, the the larger point that David's bringing up here when your franchise has been historically inept in a way that makes you laughing stock, which is both the Clippers and the Mets. The Mets have been an afterthought in that city for a long time around all its other sports in baseball. They are the lovable loser locally that had the worst team in history in 1962 and has been laughed at since.

They're the Jets. They're the Islanders.

They don't beat the They are. They don't beat the Yankees in free agency. They don't nobody beats the Yankees in free agency until recently. The dodgers have the bay better cable contract. But get for me the sound of Ballmer because I wanna put it against what David is saying.

Do you realize that among these rich owners that it's all high school? Everything is still high school, and Stevie Cohen wants to show that he's got more money than everybody else, and he'll win getting Juan So to. You watch even though Juan So to is not any kind of superstar outside of the confines of baseball. Like, you're not putting So to in commercials. You're putting him in regional commercials.

You're not putting him in national commercials.

I don't think, though, there's anything that Steve Cohen can do that will help the Mets eclipse the Yankees in terms of popularity in that market.

But today, he has. Today. Today. It cost him $765,000,000 to win today. Yes.

I don't think he won, actually. Look at what we showed. I believe what we showed on this show were 2 videos of Yankee fans. I don't think we showed any Mets fans.

That's winning. That's the Mets winning. Yes. Making Yankee fans that mad is that that's winning. But it's

still the Yankees brand. It's still Yankees.

Yeah. But he pissed Yankee fans off, and that's winning for

a day.

That's winning. Just for a day. They won the day. Right. The Mets paid 760 a day.

They won the day. It was expensive. But for what look, Stevie Cohen has done this before. It's his greatest trick. He's already won free agency a couple of times.

Has he not? And then the team stunk.

Yeah. He was they were the lovable last year underdogs

Yes. With a rebuild.

$100,000,000 payroll. Billy, I heard you say this was a good 1. They were paying players not to play, and you were right, but still that's their payroll. They're still paying on

the team.

But this is why I'm saying they don't spend their money wisely when they pay for them to just go away.

A lot of teams pay for players to go away, but he does it in a level that's sort of look what the Dodgers do.

Do you

do you think Juan Sotto's gonna finish this contract with the Mets?

Who cares? Like Yeah.

It's not an A Rod situation.

No. I know. I'm just asking out of curiosity. You think he's gonna finish the 15 years there?

I think he will actually opt out 5 years from now, and then Mets will opt him in to give him an extra amount of money, which we haven't talked about yet. He can get up to 800,000,000.

But I

know where Billy's going those last 5 years, 6 years. They're gonna be bad. But the next 10 are

No. But no. But but but wait a minute. Hold on a second.

He's 26.

I thought the new math on all of this brought by David with, with through Cabrera and Stanton and what these deals are. I thought we all were of the understanding, even if 3 quarters of a $1,000,000,000 sounds like a ridiculous amount, that what the going cost in baseball is, if you want a player's next 8 years, you better spend for his next 15. You're paying him basically twice. You hope he's good in his thirties, but that's you're paying him double the going rate per season on the front end of that contract.

If I may, like everyone says, this is not going to age well. Well, what he does is not he he's not just universally built on power, and we we're also kinda forgetting that they did kinda change the rules in baseball. I think all those factors do help this contract age a little bit more with grace. He's got the best eye in the sport. I don't see that eye getting worse over time.

I don't see his plate discipline getting worse.

You're hoping that he's as good from 35 to 40, and he's not like, you can't

expect that.

You can't be you can't expect

But I'm saying the sport is in a better position for his contract age with Grace now than it was a couple of years

ago.

Question. I mean,

Mike is right about that, and I don't care about 35 to 40. I care about 26 to 35. I mean

35 to 40 comes quick. Yeah. Well, I know. It comes quick. So Can

I enjoy the 9 years though? I want you

to enjoy it, but you know very well that he's not gonna get you a world series on his own. I know. The first thing Mets fan said is, oh, we're not done. We can't be done. What a thing to spend 765 on the number 1 free agent.

Well, the dodgers did it. The dodgers did it with Ohtani and Glass now. The dot and now Snell, like, that that's the game you're in now. But don't

mention Ohtani. They're paid Ohtani 2,000,000. They're paying the they're paying So to 75 just in a signing bonus.

I want to ask about the, the good and the bad in the deal from your perspective. But first, let's play that sound of how we were introduced as a show to Steve Ballmer, where he's talking to his Microsoft employees on stage, and he runs out.

Ladies and gentlemen, Steve Ballmer.

I have 4 words for you. I love this company. Yes.

Steve Cohen spent $765,000,000 to do that today.

To win a day.

To do that today. To win

to knock football out of the way. I'm big Stevie Cohen, and I just bought my way into the game. Scott Boris didn't use me at all.

It's very Chris Farley like, is what you just did. It's And that video feels that way too.

I wish I wish I lived in a world where football owners could fight over labor the way that these fools do.

You could have that. You could absolutely have that if you wanted. Would you trade a salary cap? If you're baseball, do you want to take the salary cap away in football and add it to baseball? Do you think it would impact

I Jerry Jones? The greatest advantage that football has in all regards is that that Tennessee Jacksonville game is gonna be close. That the equality of what they've legislated, like, that there are so few teams that can win in the margins because the margins are smaller than they've ever been so that every damn game is close. And when I'm tuning in to even the Bills who I know to be good, they might lose at the Rams because all the games are gonna be close. Including all the Chiefs games.

Every single 1 of the Chiefs games is gonna be close.

Yep.

And that's the advantage that that league has. So I understand why that league would want it, but it's bad for the lay labor, good for the customer. Your sport has a problem on its hands because you cannot tell me in any world that this person, though he is a great baseball player, is worth 15 years of guaranteed money that Patrick Mahomes is not worth just as an economy. Never mind just what the the way the sport matters to Kansas City. Like, you have made Patrick Mahomes so underpaid because baseball cannot keep its salaries in order because the owners are always gonna do this for the best players.

You're really struggling with timing. It's hard to compare today's free agent to a deal that was done during COVID when there's a possibility that who knows what the world will be like. People take their guaranteed money when they can, and someone will beat So to. I remember when we signed Stanton, it was, hey, I don't wanna be the number 1 contract. I'm too uncomfortable being that.

And I said to him at the Beverly Hills Hotel, it won't be long. And I actually don't know how long it was, but it I I don't know if you may you may have that who beat his 325. It may have been Harper at 3:30 who came in 5,000,000 above that purposefully, but I said it won't be long. So this 765, it's not gonna be long.

Again, though, it shows the scam of all of this business in front of everybody, the fact that the players are worth a lot more than you guys, the ownership pretend. Because once you get 2 teams competing for it, they're going right now for a superstar. It's not even a sports superstar that transcends his sport is now in a galaxy where Tom Brady was not paid this much. Tom Brady's not paid the half this much now.

Yeah. But the the insanity isn't what baseball is doing. The insanity is what the other sports are allowed to do. It's not something that's allowed in global sports.

Baseball's doing it right. That's why,

like, all the European soccer owners wanna replicate the American model so they can actually cap the wages of the labor that's actually bringing in the revenue. What's crazy is that you actually look at Tom Brady, who's the greatest ever do it, and say, you can only make this much.

David loves that. He loves it.

It's just mad.

Controlled costs on idiots? Well,

it makes it more To

to control the odds on rich idiots.

Ben, it sounds like you love it too. You've been telling David for 20 years his sport is out of control. They're coming off a very popular world series. Their their sport is certainly healthy enough to be dishing out contracts like this. So I think maybe you're wrong.

What am I wrong about?

Because when you're criticizing the contracts that baseball are holding out, are are handing out, they've been saying

How how was I how are you taking

this for a time? You've been telling his sport, David that his sport is out of control. And and what does he have for to show for? It? The the contracts keep getting bigger because the sport has actually

been successful. Was only out of control because he was lying to us about what the costs were. That we were being lied to about what the value of these people were.

I think the unjust thing is the fact that they cap people in other sports.

I never lied directly to you.

Just know that. We were being we were being Just to everyone else. We were being lied to about what the what the value Perfect. What the value of the player was. Like, we now know in retrospect that LeBron as an economy has been underpaid every time he lands somewhere.

If this baseball player is worth this much, then all athletes at this level of excellence are underpaid.

Can I get a list, please, of the NBA players who are overpaid and making tons of money because there's a salary floor?

It's

a lot easier to get the ones you get.

Scrubs. Right. Get, like, $60,000,000.

But don't you want a more balanced league? Balance competition?

I'm I'm arguing out of the both sides of my mouth because I'm arguing on behalf of both the customer and what the customer wants, but also that these owners have been lying to us about how valuable these people are. For for many, many years, they've been lying to us when obviously, look how valuable they are.

Dan, I think the big issue is in the NBA, the reason why the best guys don't get the money that they deserve is not because of the salary cap. It's actually because the NBA, unlike any other sport in in the world really, has a cap an individual cap on how much a player can be get paid. The max. Right? If we kept the NBA salary cap as is, but allowed players to get paid whatever their market value is, LeBron could theoretically get paid 70, 80, $90,000,000 a year.

It's just now you've got $25,000,000 to spend on the remainder of your of your, roster.

But do you guys realize what I'm saying and how the entire thing, once you've once you've out negotiated in collective bargaining the players, and you've as David did so well for many years, laughing at the Tony Clarks of the world who were leading their unions, fighting for the wrong things as David took the things that actually had giant value. To watch the union in that sport negotiate something that gets these amounts of money now suggests to me that everything that you guys have been paying these players when they were undervalued was allowing you to get away with murder and creating the business of baseball.

You are taking an outlier, and you're trying to make a rule when it's actually the exception. So your your entire argument is not well served by having Juan So to as your stake in the ground. Juan So to is a generational free agent talented 26 years old. That's why he get 15 years. Ohtani wasn't gonna get 15 years, and Ohtani's way more valuable than So to to a team on the thought that he could pitch, but he was 30.

So the examples you're bringing up, they I never saw Cabrera was a young free agent. It happens once in a blue moon. So I would be I mean, it was

Bryce Harper? Was this? Like, what

are you He was young too. You're bringing up you're bringing up new

Guys that were so good enough to get into the league at the age that they did.

Then then by way of example, right, the max in the NBA for an NBA salary, it varies depending on how many years you play, but it's around, like, 40 some odd $1,000,000. There are 4 players in baseball with an average annual value of $40,000,000. If I drop that down to 30, which is max for, like, a guy in his 1st few years in the league, that's 16 players in Major League Baseball make 30 plus million.

That's not

a lot.

That's not a lot. Now what they do have is the 15 year deal, the 10 year deal, whereas in NBA, it only goes to 5 years.

Crazy deferred payments where you can pay somebody 40 years after the contract.

But Players agree to that.

But at the end of the day For

no cap.

What David is telling you is you're getting distracted by the peak when the reality is, and this is exactly what they collected the bargain for. I would much rather pay a shit ton of money to an elite player and then underpay everybody else than what we have in the NBA, which is our best players by value are underplayed, but then our rank and file are for the most part overpaid.

I think there's creative solution. I think they should have bought the salary caps in all the sports because go ahead and try paying a a quarterback $500,000,000. That's where there's so many injuries that that stuff will figure itself out. And the NBA is a little bit more difficult. You have 5 guys on the court.

You know that the the top 1% in that sport is just so much better. If that top 1% is only dispersed over 3 teams, those 3 teams are gonna be in there at the end. It's almost a virtual guarantee. So the NBA probably would have to have a more creative solution.

I've never been against everybody making as much money as they can make here. I'm not saying that their sport is out of control. I'm saying quite the opposite. If you can afford this, you must have control of your finances. Like, you must know that when you're going to give that deferred money to Ohtani, you can recoup it all as investment by keeping Blake's net getting Blake's now and continue getting every good player, Freddie Freeman, and continuing to do that and just making the deal with Ohtani that Brady made with the patriots, which is look.

I'll play undervalue, and you can just get me a bunch of other players.

Ohtani's not playing undervalue. Why

You you understand what I'm saying? They can get everybody now because they're deferring some of his payments versus they might not be able to get Glass now and Snell right now. They might not be able to pay for them if they didn't have the promise of Ohtani being return on investment before they even play.

What it was. Ohtani was the unicorn because he had the income from endorsements that So to doesn't have, nobody has as a baseball player. His income by being Japanese and being who he is, let's say it's 60,000,000. What his agent said to him is, you can make 60,000,000 for the next 10 years from endorsements, then you'll be a fly on the wall. Your endorsement income will drop off, and then you'll get 68,000,000 from the Dodgers for the next 10 years.

So we basically got him 20 years at 60 to 70,000,000 from the

Dodgers.

Pay for himself. And will pay for himself.

That that's a whole another story, which stop reading all of information you're getting. Ohtani did not generate a 121 incremental dollars. It doesn't happen that way. There's not the attendance, the Japanese sponsorships by half inning. It's totally insane.

You're telling me he's not what's he worth then to Japan?

Oh, he's listen. The Dodgers are fine because they're taking the money and they're investing it, and they're gonna make money on the deferral.

I'm asking you, Ohtani as an investment. They pay him deferred money. You're telling me that they're not recouping whatever it is that they're making right now because, you're said. What are you saying?

He's saying that they're investing the money that they were planning on play paying him, and that way, that money grows.

This is what it's what the Mets did with Bonya, except they got made off.

No. Are you talking actual investments?

I'm talking what Guggenheim Partners does for a living.

Oh, okay.

They're making actual investments on the money, having the money that they're saving work for them to actually pay Ohtani off.

I think

they said I think Pazen said yesterday his actual contract value is, like, $320,000,000 or something that, but they have to pay him 700, but it's over a span of, like, 20 years.

It's 460 as the present value. Yes. That's how it's counted by the union and by the league. So it's 460. That was the record the ports was trying

to break.

The dodgers have rigged the finances of the game with their regional contract, and therefore, the Mets have to keep up.

I don't understand why you keep saying they rigged it. They're playing within the rules. Mhmm. George Steinbrenner, the 1 of the first things he ever said to me, he looked at me and said, I give you money not to kick my ass, but by the way, I play by the rules.

Look at me, Julio.

By that argument by that argument, Dan. Like, Juan So to is rigging it because he got someone to pay him what he's worth. Yeah. That's not that's not rigging it. That's a marketplace.

They're protecting Ohtani from Ohtani, you know, the whole gambling

process. I don't wanna use the Look at Me, Louis, anymore. I want a new sound for that. Can you put something together real quick that is more overtly what he just did where he's just name dropping with Steinbrenner there? Yeah.

That's better than

what we normally

that's better. Well, we just got it.

It would it'll also break if you did.

I just asked him to make it.

Oh, just made it.

Yes. We just made it.

That's how good you guys are?

Yeah. That's how quick it was. We remember

Can you

play it again? Because you just did it. Yeah. You just paid for a salary for the year.

You agree with Stu Guts on the gambling thing?

He did. That was that was weird.

For sure. Really? Oh, please.

Was it eBay?

What are you claiming? What are you claiming?

I'm not gonna relitigate this issue.

What are you claiming? Hold on a second. I'm gonna

wait. Hold on a second. I'm just

making a

chili out

here something.

Oh, sorry. Wrong button.

Make it

a Joliet or something.

Oh, sorry. Wrong button. Sorry.

Game drop.

Got to throw

away all journalistic credibility and get reckless. Here is something we like to call reckless speculation.

You're good.

I will speculate the fact that it is highly unlikely that anyone had a story go away faster than Epay, the Uber driver. It's a damn miracle. What are you claiming? He never knew that Ip was gambling at all. Not.

I mean, what do you

mean not? That's not how

you would report that. What do you mean?

Not Joe. Reckless speculation like that.

Come on. Come on.

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