Transcript of Kyle Stowers And The Viral New York Knicks Reporter | Hour 3 New

This is the Dan Levatorse Show with the Stugatz Podcast.

Going to put a bow on a couple of things in this hour. We have found the New York reporter who does his sideline reporting job more enthusiastically than Jeremy, who aided, was aided by props, including thrown babies. But regardless, Alex Monaco did the sideline reporting off of Knicks slightly better. And also my unusual request of find me a Marlin in Canada who can talk about what it's like to face Jacob Mizerowski. We have found a Marlin and we will get to that as well. But it was a big race weekend and having, having a race decided by 0.002 seconds is especially frustrating if you finished in second place. Was a sad weekend. Mike was talking a lot about the possibility of a double. No double to be had. An early crash. But Mike, can you give us a gearhead update on all the meanderings, the fast meanderings of the weekend?

Yeah, absolutely. A reminder to our audience, Gearhead this week is presented by Cuervo. For every lap, keep it fun, keep it Cuervo. And yes, to Dan's point, it was a great weekend in motorsports in North America. You had Formula 1 in Canada. You had the Indianapolis 500, which was an incredible finish to that race. You had Katherine Legge competing for a double, trying to do the Indy 500 and then fly to Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600. Katherine Legge crashes out early, dashing all those hopes. But she still found her way to Charlotte. And Charlotte was rain-soaked on a somber day. Weekend already. All 3 races impacted by weather, but they all reached their conclusion, some of them abbreviated. All 3 drivers did Kyle Busch's trademark, uh, showman's bow celebration. Daniel Suarez ends up winning the race due to a pretty cool call by his pit team understanding that this race might end early due to rain, so just change the 2 tires. So he wins with 27 laps to go, and he's been on the record about how Kyle Busch has given a lot to his career in particular, and he dedicated that victory to Kyle Busch, a really cool moment from all the festivities, and NASCAR does this very well, was Kyle Busch's family was there.

We learned over the weekend that Kyle Busch— and this is crazy, it doesn't make any sense— that he passed away from sepsis that stemmed from pneumonia. He hadn't been feeling well for 11 days. A Z-Pack could have saved this man's life. There are doctors everywhere. This doesn't really add up, and it's really unfortunate that someone with such tremendous access to trainers found himself passing away from something that seemed to be avoidable. But Samantha Bush, his wife, his two kids were there. And there was this really beautiful moment where Kyle Larson's child goes up to console Brexton Bush, who's certainly on his way and climbing through the driving ranks and will be in NASCAR. And Richard Childress said the number 8 is waiting for Brexton when he does get to NASCAR. Just an incredible moment, one that tugged at everybody's heartstrings. And this is going to take a while. For the racing community to shake. Uh, Kyle Busch was a larger-than-life dude, and, um, NASCAR found a way. The, the weather kind of reflected the mood, and I'm not really sure how they're going to press on, but they are. The show always goes on in NASCAR.

It was cool to see all the tributes to Kyle Busch on the cars and on, and on the hats, and I'm sure we're going to see plenty of that this season.

The details that you just gave, uh, pneumonia to sepsis, uh, make me ask a ton of questions. When you're losing somebody who's part of, uh, royalty in that sport, family royalty and a family sport. Uh, I don't know, uh, that it's as avoidable as you're saying it is. Like, it doesn't seem possible that a—

just antibiotics— like, this leads to an infection. This is not something that happens to, like, a, a multi-millionaire driver. This, this is— makes it all the more tragic that if he got the right kind of treatment, this, this could have been avoided. Um, yeah, it— we're not getting the full scope of what went on here. He was obviously sick for close to 2 weeks. There was that chilling audio of him asking for a doctor. I'm not sure how this all adds up, but the fact remains is we've lost Kyle Busch at 41 years old, a family man, a father of 2. Incredibly heartwarming videos of him with his son. He just raced his son in open-wheel dirt track racing um, like 2 months ago.

Punches you in the face though, seeing young kids on the track without a father.

Oh my God, yeah. Um, just, I mean, Kyle Larson did a great job raising that young man because for, for his boy to show the maturity to go up to Brexton in that moment—

oh, I love that kid.

Uh, and you see like those two being super strong in that moment. Um, just, yeah, brutal. There's, there's no real way to, to deal with it. You just got to keep pressing on. That, that that sport in particular is used to just the races keep going. And this is— he's an active Cup driver. We haven't felt a loss like this since Dale passed away. And yeah, it's a bummer. Everybody has a Kyle Busch story.

An awkward segue here. We have kept Kyle Stowers waiting. He's joining us from Canada. The Marlins ripped the Blue Jays yesterday. Last year, he became the first player in Major League history to have 5 home runs in a 2-game span, including a walk-off home run. He also was an All-Star. So I want to talk to him about him. But the things that Jacob Mizerowski is doing just seem insane to me. It's 58 strikeouts, no extra, extra base hits allowed in his last 6 starts. He's the first pitcher since at least 1900 with 45+ strikeouts and no extra base hits allowed in a 6-game span. So, Kyle, congratulations on all your success. But the reason I wanted to talk to you is because specifically you came back from injury. You're facing this guy, you immediately get hit in the hand. That seems like horribly painful stuff. Tough. Have you ever had— and thank you for joining us— have you ever had a pain like that in baseball? Because it seems like your hand could have shattered.

Thanks. Thanks for having me. You know, unfortunately, I've been hit in the face before. So, you know, that was not as bad as getting hit in the face. But it was my first game back from the IL, and I missed about the first, I think, like 20 games and then missed the last like 30 or 40 last year. And so it was going to take a little bit more to pull me out of another game. So I was I was itching to just stay in there and get back to it, but not the ideal start first at-bat.

But you had 2 hits after that. I'm dead serious when I ask this question. Does your hand still hurt?

I still have like a little bit of a blister. Funny enough, like it— like how it hit me, it didn't like affect like the bone or anything. Like kind of like the pressure from gripping the bat and getting hit. I think it was like a 102-mile-an-hour pitch made a pretty nasty blister that's still kind of hanging around a little bit.

Do you sleep well the night before facing this particular human being?

That night, you know, most nights, I mean, everyone's so good. So, you know, you're, you're, you know, you kind of have to learn how to just, you know, turn it off for a bit and dim the lights until, until the next day. But that night before, a little bit extra antsy because it had been so long since I played. So, you know, and then, you know, going into a day game, I think it was a 1:40 start, seeing 102, you know, when we're usually playing at 6 PM was, uh, was, uh, yeah, it was something.

Well, can you explain this to me? Because a long time ago, uh, Mike, Mike Lowell explained to me sort of when he was facing 94, 95, he's like, I'm comfortable, I'm comfortable, I'm comfortable. But now you come in at 98 and I'm like, whoa, whoa, this guy threw 57 pitches yesterday, 100 miles an hour. Explain to me the difference between 97, 98 and this human being.

Yeah, I think, you know, sometimes velocity can be deceptive for some guys. Him, obviously not, because what makes Miz, you know, Mizraouki extra special is the extension. So where he's releasing, you know, the ball from. So I think he's, you know, over 7 feet of extension. So, you know, the mound's 60 feet, so he's releasing the ball even closer to you than other guys. And so, you know, you put that you know, extension of release with, you know, the 100+ miles per hour. It's, it's a real fastball. It's, you know, it's, it's different. It just feels like, feels like you have to swing before he releases the pitch. You know, I always joke around when we're facing a guy with good velocity that I want to get my foot down, you know, the day before the game.

So, well, Giancarlo Stanton, after he was hit in the face, said there were times that there were pitches thrown that he'd hear them hit the catcher's mitt. And he's like, I never saw that. I just, I never saw the pitch because I was hit in the face. What was coming back from that like?

Yeah, so it happened to me in 2023 when I was in AAA and it was extremely challenging. You know, it happened against a left-handed pitcher. And so, you know, I think that for the rest of the season, I came back with about 2 weeks left, the rest of the season against left-handed pitchers, I was kind of, you know, one foot out of the box. I was definitely stepping away from the pitcher and it was quite a humbling feeling actually to, you know, be scared in the batter's box for the first time in my life. You know, I think what was, you know, key for me was just getting back out there as soon as I could, you know, rather than, you know, waiting and letting the, you know, fear build. You know, I tried to get back on the horse as quick as I could and then just got, you know, comfortable. Each at-bat got a little bit better. Against righties, I felt fine, but it took me a little bit to get comfortable against lefties again at that time.

What's a little bit?

Well, so I guess we had 2 weeks left and I didn't— I would say, you know, that season I never hit that level of comfort. And then we had the offseason and then when we got back to spring training, I felt, felt pretty normal, you know, out of the gate.

In terms of the best feelings baseball has ever given you, where would you rank going 5 for 5 with 3 home runs in a game against your former team, the Baltimore Orioles?

You know, apart from— I've been fortunate enough to hit a couple walk-off home runs, but I would put that whole 36-hour, 24-hour stretch as number one. Just to go back to Baltimore, place I loved playing at that ballpark, loved the organization, loved those guys, to be able to have the game that I did and then to be on a private jet with my wife going to the All-Star Game right after with my family being at the hotel waiting for me was about as special as it gets.

I want to play for you— I don't know if you've seen this with Bryce Harper. Have you seen the way that Bryce Harper brushes his teeth? Would you like to see the way that Bryce Harper brushes his teeth? All right, let's, let's watch this together. Let's see what we have here. You see if, uh, uh, do some playback for the audio audience.

He's taking the tube of toothpaste, pinching it into his mouth, so he's just got toothpaste alone in his mouth. Then he wets the bristles a little bit here and just goes toothbrush. Vomit! His toothbrush meets He puts the toothpaste in his mouth.

Deeply unsettling.

Kyle, your thoughts?

It's— I've never seen that before. Maybe I'm not going to try it out myself, but I guess I could see a little bit of the logic behind it. But I don't really love the texture of toothpaste before it's wet. Nobody does. Yeah.

Yeah, I don't think anybody does, but he's going straight mint to mouth. Squeeze the tube.

What about you, Kyle? What's the weirdest thing you do in the bathroom?

Whoa, that was interesting.

Um, this came up the other day. I put on deodorant before I go to bed.

Okay, I do that.

Thank you for bailing him out by answering that question.

Attaboy.

Why, why did you— you always do that? Why do you do that? How does this happen?

You know, I just— it's something I've done, I've always done, and I just You know, I feel like I like, I guess, being fresh going.

How many swipes per pit?

Before bed, it's probably like 1 to 2. It's a, it's just, it's a formality.

I do think that that's recommended by doctors, but when it came up in the, in the clubhouse the other day, were you met with everybody looking at you weird? Give us the context and the details in this conversation.

It was just me and one of our pitchers, Calvin Foucher. I think we were talking about— I can't remember what the context was, but he's one of those guys, you know, the bullpen guys tend to be, you know, the more creative, you know, discussions and, you know, they're always a good time to be around. And, you know, he's a guy who, you know, loves, you know, yanking on people's chains and, you know, he loves ball busting. And then so he— I can't remember who we were talking about, what we were talking about, something before bed. And I was like, oh yeah, like, I was like, I do that.

But that's weird, right?

Yeah, I mean, sure.

Yeah. Fosche is the weirdest guy you've got in the clubhouse, correct? Or is it—

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's, you know, every, every bullpen. I mean, there's, like I said, the largest personalities for whatever reason tend to, tend to come out of that bullpen. I don't know what it is. You know, we got a few, you know, well, Tyler Phillips, who, you know, was a bullpen guy. I think he's kind of transitioning back into a starting role. But, you know, between him, you know, Fairbairn is a great personality.

Yeah.

Calvin, Calvin. He's the one— I mean, he was meant to be an everyday player. He is the most bored human I've ever met. Like, he is just looking in the clubhouse for something to— just something to do, something, you know, getting a reaction from someone, always, you know, causing a ruckus, you know. But we got— we got a lot of great, great personalities.

Just to put a bow on this, and thank you for tolerating us, can you explain in your own words what it feels like to be hit in the hand by a 102-mile-an-hour fastball?

Yeah, honestly, like painful for sure. And then like I was like shaking after, like I think adrenaline was just so high. And, you know, I think the immediate thought, you know, was kind of like, is my finger broken? Like, am I gonna miss, you know, more time? Like, you know, I think my head goes to there. And then, you know, like the adrenaline is so high at first that you're kind of just like, I said, I was shaking a little bit. And then You know, once I calm down, it kind of stiffens up and gets, you know, a little, a little swollen. And then, you know, you kind of assume— I always think when I see a guy, like, get hit in the hand, I always kind of assume they're gonna end up coming out because, like, again, the adrenaline at first, you think you're fine, and then it swells up. And I took a couple swings in the dugout or like in like up at the cage and gave it a rip. It didn't feel great, but it was what it was.

Like when you get hit in the hand like that and, you know, your first thought is, oh my God, did I break something? Do you then get mad at the pitcher? Yeah.

You know, in that case, like, I like kind of like check swung a little bit. And so, like, you know, like if I just would have maybe not check swung, it probably wouldn't have hit me. So, you know, can't be too, too mad at the pitcher at that time. But I don't particularly love getting hit by pitches. So I do get a little mad at pitchers when that happens.

When, when there's payback to be had, not to say in this particular case, whose decision is it to pay the team back?

Yeah, I actually don't know if I've been involved on the other side or like on the side where we go, hey, we're going to go get someone. I don't think I've experienced that, that quite yet. There's been times where I've seen someone get hit on purpose. But, you know, sometimes, you know, I've heard different things. Sometimes pitchers will take it upon themselves, you know, sometimes. Yeah. I think it just depends on the situation, but I haven't seen it myself, so I can't give a fully accurate response.

But if you wanted to, you could say, yo, let's go back, let's go, let's go get him.

I think there's something to be said, like when it happens to, you know, a key player on the team, you know, there tends to be a little bit more retaliation for, for whatever reason.

Did you give any consideration to crying on your way to first base?

No, the only time I ever give consideration to crying is if I strike out a lot. So I had no consideration there.

Kyle, how exciting is it when someone on your team gets hit, or maybe it's the other way around, and you get to jump over the barrier and run onto the field? The bench is clear. That's exciting, right?

It is. It is like one of those moments you can tell that the fans love it. You know, I think some players really love it. I think sometimes it gets like— I don't want to say in today's game because I like, you know, but like, you know, I've been a part of a couple where like, you know, the benches will clear. And then you start to see like guys like from the other team, you know, talking with guys from your team, like socializing, like dapping each other up, and you're just like, okay, what are we doing? Like, this is like clearly like a waste of time at this point. You know, but I thought you were gonna go with how about when someone gets hit by a pitch, they get up and sprint to first. That's like one of my favorite things to see. I always love when a guy does that.

Kyle, thank you for being on with us. We appreciate the time and congratulations on all the success. The Marlins are just 2 games out of second place in the NL East, better than a lot of people thought they were. Thank you, sir.

Yeah, thank you for having me. Appreciate it.

Sorry about Jeremy in general. Hey, whoa.

Yeah. Chris was the entire time saying, ask him about Jeremy. Ask him about Jeremy.

Kyle loves him.

Ask him about Jeremy.

Yeah, Jeremy and I, you know, we got, we got a great relationship. Always, always enjoy seeing him around. You know, he's been You know, yeah, he and I have had a lot of fun together. He's lying.

He doesn't like Jared.

That's why I didn't ask. It's why you shouldn't have bothered me throughout the interview to ask that question. Thank you, Kyle. I appreciate it.

All right, you guys.

Doesn't really work if that's the way that it goes.

You set it up great.

Yeah, well, I wasn't going to get the answer I wanted.

You wanted him to hate me?

That answer's no good.

I'm good at my job and I'm nice to people.

What do you want? We didn't need that. That's not what we needed.

Chris gave the best question.

Yeah, did he?

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Da lebatard!

It sounds to me like everybody could use a hug because a hug is always the right size. Stugatz! All I have put in my body today is 3 cups of coffee and an entire A couple hundred.

Don't let him fool you.

He said in the break that he's jittery.

This is the Dan Levatar Show with the Stugatz.

We're trying to hunt down that New York reporter who does sideline reporting better than Jeremy. He's going to be here in a little bit. It won't be very long. We're going to be there in minutes. Oh, he's, he's just just appeared, so it's not even going to take minutes. Let's play for the audience and for him. Let's play the video and the sound of what I believe to be the most excited that Knicks fans have been about their team in this man's lifetime and in the lifetime of many people. His name is Alex Monaco, and he was going nuts.

Oh, look behind me!

See behind me?

For the first time since 1999, it just happened! Go, go, go! It's pandemonium! It's euphoria! It's nothing but New York joy! Oh, what a time to be in New York City, Bill!

Thank you. Zazz, are you ready for that to get louder? Because all of it is about to get louder. This is a franchise that we've made fun of for a long time because down 3-0 with Carmelo Anthony. They won a playoff game in Madison Square Garden and confetti fell from the sky in the first round.

Huge embarrassment.

The first round of the playoffs. And it is an organization that we've been making fun of for the better part of 25 years. I gave the stat earlier in the show today that the Knicks in the last 25 years have won fewer playoff games than they've won this postseason because this is as good as basketball can be played over the last 11 years. 11 games by anybody.

Fewer games won over that time span than consecutive games they've won. Not just games they've won this postseason, consecutive games that they've won.

Trouncing everybody and, uh, creating a feeling in New York that is really rare. The, the New York sports teams have not had a great deal of success. The New York sports team that matters the most, I think, is this one. I think even though the Giants— that's what they say— even though the Giants have won championships, plural. I think that in that city, this is the team that matters the most. Alex, thank you for joining us on short notice here. Do I have that right or do I have that wrong? Uh, does Knicks basketball matter to New York more than all of the other sports?

What's up, Dan? Thanks for having me. That's a tough answer for a San Diego-born and raised kid that only has half his family from New York. I don't I don't know if I'm at liberty to answer that, Dan.

What do you mean? Why would you not answer that question? What is wrong with this?

Well, I mean, I'm not a New Yorker born and raised. I haven't experienced—

You were just surrounded by New York fans. You were speaking— Oh, I want the answer.

The answer is yes. The answer is yes.

So can you explain to us what's happening presently in New York? Because I was arguing before you came on here that I believe that what has been hope— what the hell was that sound? What happened?

That was his hair being lifted.

Yeah, he lifted his hair.

I'm just waking— Dan, I'm just waking up, my friend. I'm sorry, the fro is, uh, depoofing as we speak.

I think I love him already.

What the hell?

Yeah, he's Bizarro Jeremy.

I am now rooting for New York more than I was 11 games ago, uh, because this enthusiasm is not something that we can have, uh, get louder.

There's also— and I mean this as a, as a huge Deftones fan— you've got like a frontman of a nu metal band vibe that I kind of dig.

That's an honor. I'll take that. Well, I got a little bit of every Seinfeld character, by the way, in my makeup.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I see that too. Like if Kramer fronted Edema.

Exactly. But I got the George neuroses to worry about after. So yada yada, here we go.

Love your work in Chevelle.

I have been arguing, uh, a number of times over the last 4 years that, uh, moment X that we just experienced with Knicks basketball is the biggest and best feeling that New York basketball has had since Larry Johnson's 4-point but I do believe what they just did to the Cavs is the greatest feeling they've had this century. Am I wrong?

You're not wrong. I mean, this was, as I said, you know, I didn't really prepare what I was gonna say. I just kind of channeled the moment, took in Radio City Music Hall, and just spoke what I saw, which was euphoria, pandemonium, and nothing but New York joy, Dan. I mean, it is absolutely top-tier vibes in the city right now. And the best part is just yelling, "Let's go Knicks!" at everyone that has a Knicks shirt on.

It is an interesting thing, the way a community that can often be divided— all communities— gets united about that particular thing where everyone's speaking the same language. I want to play for you— Jeremy Tashay had a moment that sort of rivaled yours. I want you to break it down when we're done. Did he have the proper enthusiasm here for, as I mentioned earlier, uh, Game 6 against the Pelicans a couple of years ago?

You're catching us right Now, as the Miami Heat have just won Game 2 of the NBA Finals, you can see that this crowd here is hoisting babies into the air. This crowd is ready from the moment this game started, and it has continued here as the Miami Heat have just upset the Denver Nuggets. We got fans going crazy, we're high-fiving, everybody's ready for an unbelievable night right here in Miami.

Your assessment of that work, Alex, as the better sideline reporter?

What the hell, man?

Man, Jeremy did a great job. I mean, you throw babies in the air, that's pretty exciting. That's tough to top. But I, I— look, if we're going with a rating, I got to give that at least an 8.7, 8.8.

You guys have any babies hoisted last night at your party?

Uh, you know, that's— I got, I got a lot of astigmatism. I can't really see past the first 4 rows, believe it or not. But yeah, no, it was just about everything going on in the background. But the watch parties, Stan, have been so unbelievable. And MSG Networks and just the cohesion back and forth with the Garden, it's just been an unbelievable game-to-game energy. I'm not trying to be that guy, but it's starting to get a little bigger than basketball around here.

Uh, I want to play for you your, uh, video here, and I just want your assessment of it afterwards.

Look behind me, see behind me, for the first time since 1999, it's a go New York, go! It's pandemonium, it's euphoria, it's nothing but New York joy! Oh, what a time to be in New York City!

Great toss back to the studio, by the way.

And the shock of that—

your thoughts?

Oh man, uh, that was— I'm not gonna lie, that was pretty electric.

You love you some you.

Yeah, I'm a pretty self-deprecating guy.

My whole life is built off not being in the 6-foot club and picking on myself, but that was, that was pretty awesome.

So, so you're— as in terms of career highlights for you on television, you seem to really enjoy watching yourself there. You met the moment.

Look, as the gambling guy on MSG, Dan, we miss a lot of parlays. We're often sometimes going home not feeling that way. So yes, gotta shout out Bill Pedo and everyone— Alan Hahn, Wally, Novak, Monica, our producer Ben.

They just— I don't need an exception. I don't need an acceptance speech.

No, they just put me in—

they put me in these spots.

The energy guy, let Hubert Stankook And I appreciate, uh, no, I appreciate the—

obviously they're putting me in positions like Jalen Brunson puts a guy when they blitz him on offense.

Uh, Alex, thank you for being on with us. Congratulations. Enjoy, enjoy the run.

Don't go.

See you later.

Thank you so much. I'll come back anytime. I'll see you next week.

I ask you about Powerman 5000.

See you later, Alex. Thank you for being here, guys.

Thank you so much.

Dan Lebatard.

There's sunglasses in boxes today, but in my bed Más fatal, ending our lives all the same.

Stugatz!

It's the final nightgown.

This is the Dan Levatar Show with the Stugatz!

So I've told you, Zaz, that the Untold series has been something that I think should be renamed to Uneven. I think they should change Untold's name to Uneven because they started very, very strong with stories that had not been told, that had access and didn't need access to tell good stories. But the entire documentary climate has changed so in a way that's so pronounced that all of a sudden you're getting stories that are trading truth for access. And I saw, uh, I don't know how many of these soccer ones that you have watched, if you've watched any of them, but I saw the one with Jamie Vardy. I don't know how much of that story you're familiar with, but it is really unusual to get access to somebody who clearly has a drinking problem, who is at the center of what is the greatest upset story bar none in the history of sports. Leicester City, you could have gotten better odds betting on Elvis to be found alive than this person, clearly a drunk. Like, I feel like I can say that because he wouldn't have any objection to that. He's just perfectly comfortable with the idea of, I'm gonna drink, I'm gonna let it fly, I'm reckless, and you can tell my story.

The idea that Leicester City won the Premier League is asinine. It just doesn't make any sense. The idea that this guy would score more consecutive goals in the Premier League than had ever been scored before doesn't make any sense. And yet, if I ask our audience what is the biggest upset in the history of sports, they would not choose Leicester City.

5,000 to 1. 1. I don't give odds like that anymore. And while I was familiar with Lesser's story and certainly Jamie Vardy's, I was stunned to learn that he was 20 years— 20 years old is old in soccer for a player that's supposed to be any good. All right, you're, you're in the academy from like age 5 and up if, if people think you're going to be good. The guy was building walkers in a factory at age 20, signed up for like a semi-pro team, and then man went from the lowest division imaginable in England to setting the most consecutive matches with a goal against the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool and Arsenal, really excelling, being the number 9, the striker for a, a championship-winning side. It's, it's unimaginable. In fact, that entire story is nuts. And I think by comparison, N'Golo Kanté's story is even crazier. They had someone who had an even more improbable than Vardy, but they didn't want to include that really in the story because it would— look, Jamie Vardy comes out the gate saying, "I need a beer, give me the cock-shaped bottle opener." All right, he gets a human penis-shaped bottle opener.

He didn't say that, he said, "Get me the cock." "Get me the cock." And it's a penis carved into wood. And that's how we're out the gates here. And the Untold series is about as good as the subject allows it to be. And he doesn't really care about how he's projecting he's the first guy to have like, "No, I wasn't a racist. I was dumb." And for it to kind of track, like, for you to kind of understand, like, yeah, he didn't understand that that was a slur, that that was an Asian slur. He seems pretty stupid. This is actually believable.

But he didn't say dumb. He said uneducated. But it was a fine way to handle that particular scandal. He's just like, "I'm uneducated.

I'm sorry." I thought it was short for Japanese. Was his— and you know what, you're like, all right, you seem pretty stupid. Yeah, yeah, no, this— all right, this works. We can, we can move past it.

I'd be fine with that as the pivot for the untold part of the series if they're just like, we're going to go ahead and allow people to have control over the narrative, uh, if they're people who don't care what the narrative is.

Uh, Vinnie Jones is doing an untold one. I haven't gotten around to that. In, in America, our content around this World Cup isn't great. I saw Max has a documentary series on this U.S. men's national Team. I'm gonna give it a look. I heard the filmmaker tried to avoid the Gio Reyna subplot, and Reyna's apparently made this World Cup team, and that is an interesting one, especially with a Berhalter on the roster as well, reportedly. But he, the director, said he didn't want to touch it because it was, it was too big to fit into this. What? That, that's a story that I want to see. But internationally, you have to remember, this is the biggest sporting event in the and Netflix is a global brand. So in South America, they have a Ronaldinho documentary feature. They have a James one that I'm getting around to that I'm really enjoying. I didn't think that the 2014 World Cup would feel nostalgic, but James's run through that, and it made me really— I'm really fascinated by James Rodriguez as a player because he is flat out a different player when he puts on that iconic yellow jersey for his national team.

It started with such promise. Thomas. He had one of the most memorable World Cups ever.

How old was he?

Just burst on the scene in his early 20s from Monaco. No one was really watching the French league at the time. It was hard to watch them. And he burst on the scene as this majestic two-way player, and then he did all right for Real Madrid, and then he's just become a straight-up vagabond from places in Greece to a weird stint in Mexico to him presently being on Minnesota United randomly. He just goes in and out of clubs, never really finds his form, except for when they go on international break and people are asking, why is James on the roster? And he is still dynamite for that team. He is still the most important player for that team. He makes everything go. It's a truly bizarre thing. He becomes Superman for his country, yet he's had one of the weirdest careers ever, a career that at one point, he was the subject of a, of a Reddit theory that gained so much traction because he just disappeared from Everton. Because like, these—

he—

the rumor was he was transitioning. That's how weird his career was, that people were grasping for reasons as to why he is this guy on the national side but can never find his rhythm on the club side. And I was fascinated by it, especially down here in South Florida. You need to have a James jersey in your closet because a couple times a year, you know, that Colombia is going to have a bump in party.

Put it on the Paulette LeBretard Show. In South Florida, do you need to have a Hamas jersey in your closet? I don't feel like Zazz is nearly as interested in soccer as he is in wrestling. He was just screaming at the television screen because he was mad for some reason that ESPN has somebody on from the WWE.

Jade Cargill.

Every, every day there is somebody on— is it on Get Up?

Every day. Every day on Get Up and or First Take. Take. There's a WWE superstar in studio, and today they have Jade Cargill. And Dan, she looks like a million bazillion bucks.

She always does.

Always.

You know who she's married to?

Brandon Phillips. Yeah, Red's second baseman. That's right.

Yeah, well, former. It's been former.

Yeah, everybody knows that. Didn't need to say it.

It's really every— put it on the poll at Levitar Show. Does everyone know that Brandon Phillips is the former Red's second baseman? Didn't have to say