Transcript of Local Hour: Playoffs For Dummies

Zazlo's come in here pissed off about ticket prices. What are you waving your hands at me about?

I'm just trying to go have a good time, and I can't.

For Russellmania, you're trying to go to Russellmania. Mike Ryan, did you say last year was your last Russellmania trip with the boys, or are you still doing that? I feel like you retired a few years ago, didn't you?

No, I never retired from that. I won't be making it out to Saudi Arabia in two years. Out to. I don't think I'll make it to Vegas this go-around, too, because I'm disappointed that they're running it back. But also, I know what Zaz is upset about, and the price points this year are particularly egregious. They're obscene. But you got to play the game with them. They do this crap since TKO took over the company. They get the suckers for a really high price. You wait till the day before Russellmania, then they all of a sudden release new tickets.

That's what I did for Summer Slam. It worked out very well.

The worst tickets, 400 level, are $900. The best tickets are $9,000. Section A on the floor. That seems steep.

What? I got to tell you, straight up, they treat me very well. If you pay those prices, you're a sucker. You're a sucker. You're a sucker.

Who's fighting in this?

They haven't even announced the card. You're a sucker if you pay those prices. They give away a ton of tickets. The secondary market, check out game time promo code, Dan, is going to be so much kinder to you. They're going to be trying to get rid of all these tickets moments before Especially now when Las Vegas itself is in a recession, don't fall for this.

Can you imagine your family, you just want to get in the door, so you're willing to sit in the 400 level.

Egregious. But they told you on a conference call, Vince McMahon priced tickets so that families could come out. They don't care about your family to come out. They just want to get the influencers out there and whoever and just help us make our money.

I hope Vince buys them back.

Do you? $900 for the cheapest When you think of what Russellmania is, you can't see anything. You are much better off watching on television than you would be being in the 400 level in another galaxy trying to watch little tiny stick figures.

When you're in the 400 level, you are watching it on television.

You're literally watching the screen, the entire shit. Now, I've never sat up there, but that's definitely what you're doing.

That's not just wrestling, though. That's every concert you go to. That's why nowadays, I'm either spending to have a good seat or- No, but at least concert's about hearing the music.

At least you can hear the music.

Standup comedians. If I'm in the upper deck, I'm looking at the screen. I'm just watching them on TV. It's just all these things.

You can't be doing standup comedians that way. That's silly. One person on a stage with a microphone, you can't be hugely far away from that person.

I get that, though. What do you think people do in the upper deck? People are laughing together. They're experiencing something together. I guess that's the appeal, but when you're in the 400 level for $900 dollars, you better be experiencing an orgasm. I saw Jerry Seinfeld at a Broward place that is an old-school place that didn't have...

It's like a theater hall, so there are seats far away, but they don't have a screen.

So I watched it, and it might not have been Jerry Seinfeld. I'm not convinced it was Jerry Seinfeld.

The experience that you guys are talking about when you say you want to experience something together, all you'd be experiencing together is complaining to the person next to you that you can't see or hear anything.

Where Where does Samarro get you tickets for the Real Comedy Festival? Where did he get you tickets for that? Is it Upper Deck or no?

This is the Dan Levatore show with the Stukatz podcast.

Jeremy was supposed to be off today, but the Marlins have won seven straight, so he rushed into the office to just compute playoff permutations because the Marlins do have a mathematical chance if they Yes, I know. Really? It's stunning, Tony. Now, it's not a very good mathematical chance. In fact, I say that this is really challenging to math. I think it's going to be challenging Jeremy. They need a whole bunch of teams to keep losing, and some of them are all playing each other. So that's going to be problematic. When you need the rest of the teams that are ahead of you to lose all their games and they're playing against each other, I haven't figured out how it is that they can get past those teams. But last night, they win. They dragged the Rangers, ruined the Rangers season. Then they go up last night to Philadelphia. They're losing three-nothing in the eighth ending, and they win an extra innings against the team that can win the World Series, a team that's good enough to win the World Series, although Bryce Harper didn't play last night because the Phillies are waiting before the postseason to start.

But Mike was supposed to be off today, and he rushed in because he was mad about yesterday's first 20 minutes of the show. He didn't like the way that we talked about the Miami Hurricanes after Jeremy didn't like the way we talked about the Miami Hurricanes. So let's begin with Mike Ryan's objections to what was said yesterday about the fact that in retrospect now, the first three games of the hurricane season have been against opponents who have now lost a combined six times in three games.

Right. Miami represents over 60% of those losses. Would you like Miami to lose these games so you can feel better about the teams they're playing? You said Miami's offense isn't as good. I would suggest that you need more offensive drives to look good. Last year, Miami averaged about 15 offensive drives a game. This season, they're averaging 11. I reckon that if Miami has four more drives per game, you get more points. And I guess it also helps with style points, too. I don't know. I mean, Jeremy tied himself into a pretzel yesterday by saying that Miami scored late to make that game look worse. You know what made that game look bad? The stats. I agree, the score wasn't reflective of what that game was. It should have looked uglier. But instead, you got Miami taking nine minutes to salt the game away on a drive. That's not stuff that happened last year. You got tricked by Miami getting more plays into thinking that's what an offense is supposed to look like. This team is playing complementary football. They are forcing out their opponents three and out top five in the nation type numbers. Their defense is better in part because they're fresher, because the offense is staying out there longer.

So I do think that yesterday required a little bit more context. However, you guys They'd find it at the end, which is we're a month into the season. And by your metrics, only Ohio State is good?

The thing that I have noticed, because the metrics don't help me in what it is that I'm about to say. I saw a team that I thought overwhelmed both Notre Dame and Florida, but I was scared for Miami at the end of both of those games. We can say all we want about Miami dragged Florida, but Florida was literally inches from being inside your 30-yard line in the middle of the fourth quarter with the ability to take the lead with a shutdown when I didn't see them move the ball at all in the first half. And the results, those games being close was legitimately confusing to me because it's not like they were spitting up the ball the entire time, although Carson Beck did have a bad turnover in the last game.

I mean, bad turnovers, all turnovers are bad, right? But I think Cormany McLean made an exceptional play there. I mean, that's a youth thing. If you're nervous with six minutes left in the third quarter because it's a one-score game against a rival with a really good defense, Florida is probably going to be... I know they were missing some guys, but that's still going to be the hardest defense that we probably play all season. That's a youth thing. Miami controlled all those games. Has Miami trailed at any point this season?

What do you mean? You're saying that's a me thing, not a you thing, the letter you, right? You're saying that's a me thing. That's a you thing. Because I think the you thing is Mario Cristobal is going to be in close games all the time with the better team. What just happened there to your microphone, Sazel?

I have a flaccid mic.

It's screwed up. I didn't want to call in engineering and bother them, but it's screwed up.

I guess you should be encouraged because Miami has been tested there. I actually think that Notre Dame is a good team. They played two teams with the top four strength of record. That's another thing that you guys were talking about. Miami hasn't played anybody, and they have the number four strength of record in the country. I don't know. You guys didn't make any sense. Nobody's played anyone by that. It didn't make any sense. Do you think Notre Dame has a good offense?

I don't think Notre Dame has a good defense.

Okay, but that's not the question that I asked. Do you think they have a good offense? I think they're fine at offense. No, they're scoring a lot of points. Do you think they're good at offense? Because you're not going to answer because you know I'm tricking you because Miami averages more yards per game than them.

I don't think that I know if Notre Dame is good or not, and I'm not going to know all season because of what their schedule is. Their first two games of the season, they played the two opponents that are the toughest, and they lost to both of them because they couldn't stop either one of them. And they stopped Miami more than I expected them to stop Miami, given what I saw of the physical play in that game, where I thought they were the lesser team physically, and I Miami should have beaten them by more. I don't think that the Miami or Florida game should have been close late. I don't think so.

The Florida game wasn't close. It wasn't. Florida was within six points in a rivalry game with six minutes left. It wasn't close. That game should have been 20 to zero. We all acknowledge that. Even the referees acknowledge that to Mario Cristobal. If that game goes that way and it's 20 to zero, then what are you talking about?

You can't say the game wasn't- You can't tell me that the game was close when I'm looking at the stats and I see that Miami absolutely destroyed this team. Mike, the scoreboard said 13 seven, and Florida had a third and short that ended up being a fourth and short that they missed by inches.

Because they didn't actually convert any third downs because that game wasn't actually close.

There was also cheating by the referees. Caine's had a countdown. They just decided, No, this doesn't count.

Was last year's game between Miami and Florida close? No. No. Well, you know what the spread difference between those two games were? Five points. Miami was five points less dominant than they were last year.

But there was not a single moment in that game where there was any doubt.

Mike, you cannot- I think there was in that final.

Actually, no, I remember Florida scoring a countdown on an interception return, by the way, which is crazy. It's like nobody remembers that came word through pics anymore.

You can't say that the Florida-Miami game Wasn't close.

It wasn't. Look at the stats in the totality of the game.

Look at the scoreboard when Florida had the ball third and short with a countdown to take the lead.

No, no. Yeah, they had to score that countdown. They scored one done all game. That's fine. If you want to get all scared in the third quarter and doubt that Miami can respond with an answer, that's on you.

Why would I doubt Cristobal in those spots? Why would I ever?

You know what? Mario Cristobal isn't going to shut you the hell up until he wins the National Championship. That is correct.

That is correct.

That's cool. But I would say that yesterday's college football talk, as it pertains to Miami Hur hurricanes, was just an embarrassment. But I don't go to you or Jeremy for ball. That's not what I did. I don't. You embarrassed yourself. It That's terrible.

Yes, but your- I got reached out to by a dozen people.

I listened back to it because- Speak their names. All right, there's Mike and West Palm. There was Filete. There was... Hang on, let me get all the Minchies on X. All right, it was closer to a half dozen, but I thought it was going to be really bad. You said we got there at the end. Yeah, because you realized, Oh, this is dumb. Ohio State is good. They should have got 54 points. I mean, okay. I don't know. They had a chance to convert a fourth down, and then DJ Lagway was going to look three yards behind the line of scrimmage for his next target. They controlled that game. They controlled the Notre Dame game, too. I wasn't burying- That's right.

You know which one they controlled last year, too? The Georgia Tech game. They control a lot of games and then lose them late. They weren't.

They were trailed. No, they didn't actually. Forgive me.

Two years ago when they were kneeling at the end or not kneeling at the end as well.

Terrible memory. Again, another reason why Mario Cristobal isn't going to shut you up. There is a narrative, and people have decided that what will get in Miami's way is Mario Cristobal's game management, and that may very well be true. But over the last two seasons now, well, one and a half, last season, he was in a bunch of one-score games, a bunch of one-score games. Every NFL time analytics person that I talked to said he made the right calls there.

You have time analytics friends?

Yeah. I have friends that have friends. Yeah. He made the right calls in all those situations. People have made up their mind. College football is a hard sport to follow all the games. He's earned that, Mike. Yes, he has.

He's earned it. It's not like we're just saying that as if it's not something we've seen throughout his career. He's got to erase it.

He's got to erase it just the same way that a lot of people have had to erase the narratives around them, like Ed Orgeron, like Les Miles, like Dabo had to, like Clemson had to. Then when they do it, like Kirby had to. I remember the narrative around Kirby. Then they shut you up and you don't remember all the crap that you said, and you just move on accepting it. And that's the only way that Mario Cristobal is going to shut people up. And I can see that. He's got to win a 6-90 for this program, and that's what he's working to do.

Shouldn't it make you feel better, though, Dan? Because, yeah, Georgia Tech, whoever in the last couple of years, the games would be close and the Canes would blow it. These games have been close so far, and the Canes either held on or they would then extend the lead like this week. Shouldn't that make you feel better then?

Here's the reason it doesn't, okay? Those teams, when I was watching them, I wasn't saying they're appreciably better than the other team that I'm watching. They have played two games that should be close by rivalry, but when I watch what I'm watching, I'm finding it inexplicable that the games are close. That Notre Dame game, I don't understand how it was close late. That Florida game, I don't understand how it was close late because I'm watching a better Miami team than the one that I have seen for four years.

Well, thank you for admitting that Miami is dominant in these games and controlling these games and putting them away. I also think, contextually, there's been a monsoon at Hard Rock Stadium for a month straight, and that also plays into these rivalry games that are also naturally tighter. Miami has played Notre Dame and Florida in these conditions. Very slick. That first half against Florida was extremely wet. They've had one turnover combined in both of those games.

Look, I was fighting through the weather conditions throughout that entire game. If I'm fighting through those conditions, you can imagine what the hurricanes offense had to do to get through it. That's where you That's where I sit for games now.

I think that the way that the hurricanes are built should help them be better in bad weather because they're physically... They Look, do you know how rare it is for a team in college football, for me to watch a college football team play against an SEC team and say that team is physically overwhelming an SEC team. That team is physically overwhelming a Notre Dame team that I'm assuming is going to have good offensive line play and had a good pass rush last year.

I think you're just espousing the virtues of what this team is. Notre Dame is not appreciably less talented than Miami. And by the way, last year, you were probably saying in September, Notre Dame is no good because they lost in Northern Illinois, and then they did what they did.

I'm not going to know whether Notre Dame is any good until the playoffs come and they throw them in there because they've only lost the first two games of the season, and then the rest of the schedule was easy.

Okay, so you've already established the narrative. I just think that we should probably have some pause, apply the appropriate context to this game, and actually complement Miami for salting games the way that they struggled to salt away previously. They don't have this huge talent disparity against the teams. Florida recruits at the same level that Miami does. Notre Dame is a national runner up last year. They're playing their style of football. They're keeping their defense fresh, and this is how you win late in the season.

Look, I didn't like Notre Dame being ranked 0-2. I don't give a shit about these quality losses when you have zero wins. But Notre Dame now being 1-2 and ranked 22nd, they're telling us that Notre Dame is good. They're clearly saying Notre Dame is good. If they could be one and two, and they're ranked.

You know who else is telling us Notre Dame is good every week, despite on Saturday, they were actually O and two entering that game against Purdue? Nick Saban, who is still pounding the table saying that that's going to be a playoff team. And nick Saban knows ball. Howdy, folks. It's Mike Ryan. And I know it's early in the NFL season, but it has shown you exactly why the NFL is indeed king sport in the United States of America. Great games, incredible matchups, in-demand tickets for these high-profile games. Sometimes, oftentimes, these games are sold out and you're left with the secondary market. Well, let me tell you about my go-to on the secondary market, the official ticketing partner of the Dan Levatard show. I'm talking, of course, about game time. Game time is amazing for a lot of different reasons. Zone deals, panoramic seat views, the low price guarantee, and Game Time's unparalleled ticket coverage. I'm an NFL free agent, so I'm always looking for the biggest games, and Game Time makes it so easy to peruse the app. One of my favorite features is: fees are always included. What you see is what you pay.

And that is hugely important when you're traveling abroad to catch the game de jour. Take the guesswork out of buying NFL tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code Dan, and get $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code D-A-N for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Download the GameTime app today.

On Fox One, you can stream your favorite live sports so you're there for the biggest moments as they happen. For me, I cannot deal with spoilers, so I need to see it live, especially on college football Saturdays and NFL Sundays. With Fox One, you get it all. Nascar, the MLB postseason, edge of your seat plays, jaw-dropping moments, and that rush like you're right there in the action. Sports are meant to be watched live, and you can do that with Fox One. Fox One, we live for live, streaming now.

Don Levatard. Mike Bryant's in there, and he's the one with a baby. He's the one who's got to worry about what the future is. Mike Ryan bet on DraftKings because Mike Ryan bet on us. This is the bet you're afraid of doubling down on? Putting up a billboard in Edmonton?

Still I care more about Matthew Kachuk than I do my daughter. This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stugatz.

According to ESPN Analytics, which might not know all, the gators have roughly the same chance to lose out and finish one in eleven as they do to become bowl eligible.

Oh, yeah. The one thing that Jeremy said was right was that that Florida record is not going to look good. Oh, my God. They have every reason to quit. I think that that was their last stand, and they got a really impossible schedule. But if Florida was playing a different schedule, they could be three and oh with the talent that they have on defense.

It's that South Florida lost. That was the kill. If Gramatica missed... I can't believe we're still doing Gramatica. If Gramatica This is that kick. You feel so different.

That was really bad. If you watch that, the gators choked that away. But here's one thing that I will tell you, knowing how Dan has spoused the virtues of these two programs down here that aren't part of the big three, UCF and USF. If USF beat Miami, Dan and many other people would be rightfully claiming that USF is the best team in the nation for what they have put together. And then everyone just forgets that Miami beat that team so bad, they knocked them from 18 to others receiving votes.

What's your deal with Gramatica?

Oh, it's just how many generations are we going to do this for?

Every generation needs a kicker.

How many are we going to do this?

We got one more after this. If this guy has a kid and that kicker starts growing up, you're going to be 65 years old, seven years old. He's going to kicking.

Every single one of them has to play for USF?

That's right.

Hey, go to another school.

No, Legacy. What do you know about Legacy?

I know plenty about Legacy.

Where are your kids going to school?

We'll see.

I don't know. Do you want them to go to a certain school you went to?

We're going to go to Santa Fe.

I would like them to go to University of Florida. Okay. What?

Why would you do that? I'm done with the Zazlo Legacy of Florida.

I'm done. Do what I couldn't.

I think that he liked them to go to the University of Florida, at least in part, because radio doesn't allow you to afford the University of Miami. Bingo. That's true. University of Miami is expensive.

You could get better grades, too, and get actually paid for it.

Nico Gramatica, put it on the poll at Lebitard's show. Is there going to be Gramatica kicking footballs until the world ends in fire? It's enough already. You mentioned Ed Orgeron earlier. I want to ask the group here before we go to Jeremy and play off baseball permutations. I just want to ask the groups if since we're speaking of gators, if alligators could actually speak, would they sound like at Orzron? Do you imagine that if you heard an alligator yelling at you angrily or exhorting you, for example, at the golf course, trying to sermon patriotism for you, would it sound like this?

All right, on three.

Now they're clear now.

Now they're proud, baby.

Here we go.

Usa, USA.

Lead us, Ed.

Usa, USA. What is this? What is he doing?

This is at the Ryder Cup, and this is getting the juice is flowing.

That's what it's doing.

The best job in sports, the fired college football coach, just doing sidequests. Where's Ed Orzran today? Oh, he's at the Ryder Cup.

That's a practice round, firing people up. That's a practice round that he's like, All right, now, here we go. That's pretty good.

Thank you. Why did there need to be coordination for USA chants? Only three letters.

There was quite the foreplay there. All right, 3, 2, 1.

All right, here we go now.

Does everybody have the right letters?

Chris is good, Ben.

It is First the U, then the S, then the A. Don't threat on me.

When I recruited Joe Burrow.

Ed Orgeron. Anybody who watched Ed Orgeron's career ascent from graduate assistant at the University of Miami who once got into a bar fight on Bourbon Street before a Sugar Bowl game? Everybody did. Because of course he did. That's right. Everybody did. To see Ed Orgeron's ascent and then watch at the end at LSU when he had the greatest college football team there has ever been. I recruited Joe Burrow. And he won with it. And then there are reports of boosters getting angry because a wild man, Ed Orgeron, is hitting on wives at the gas station. And there are reports about a whole lot of malfeasance, including sexual misconduct throughout the program. And he just gets quietly bought out and says, Yeah, thank you. I'll take my money and go. I'm I'm out of here. I'll just roam the Earth partying and sounding like an allocator.

Exactly the plan. Famously, he tells the story often, Which door would you like me to walk out of?

What was the buyout on Orjuran? Because as punctuation, he's not going to do better than, wait a minute, I get to coach the greatest college football team there's ever been, and then I could just leave. I'm always seeing Ed Orjuran jogging shirtless through South Beach. He's just running out there, red, solid, thick.

So solid.

It's solid, very solid. He told us he drinks how many energy drinks a day? Was it 11? 11 monster energy drinks a day?

So $17 million was his buyout, but he's had some issues with his marriage, and now he owes his wife half of the buyout. So a little bit more.

It's still nice.

You know what they love.

And in a divorce?

Then they really love Okay.

Everybody loves money. Everyone does. Specifically. Yeah, humans. But in a divorce. Specifically, humans love money. That's right.

When they're scorned, though, they really love it.

Humans? I don't know about that. Jeremy is in the other room, and let's check in on some playoff permutations here. Oh, my God. Dear God. We've got a situation where the Marlins have indeed won seven in a row. Jeremy, how many games under 500 are they?

The Marlins currently They're currently set three games under 500. The Marlins are looking to go 5 and 0 the rest of the way to get to 82 and 80 overall, which is how you can end up with some of these different permutations in a two-team tie. I'm still working out the math over here for three-team ties, but if you're interested, Dan, I can walk you through what it would take for the Marlins to ultimately clinch in a two-team tie scenario. Let's do this.

Who do they have the tie breakers against? What am I rooting for here? I am thrilled that the Marlins- You're rooting for everybody to lose, Dan. The Marlins are playing. Well, they play each other, though. Some of these teams play each other. Everyone can't lose.

The only teams that play each other at this point are the Cardinals and the Giants, and we're already in good shape there, where now, if the Marlins go 5-0, they control their own destiny against the Giants. They have a half-game lead against the Giants, so you don't have to worry about them. What you need from the Cardinals the rest of the way, if you're looking for a Marlins head-to-head victory, is at least one loss, either at the Giants tonight or in their three-game series against the Cubs, because that would get them to 81 losses. They're currently 78 and 80. And ultimately, the Marlins and the Cardinals split their head-to-head 3-3, as we all know, the next tiebreaker is an intradivision record.

Hold on. Stop for a second. No, no. Yes, I'm going to interrupt you because this is going to go fast and there's going to be a lot of information here. Do the Marlins have any chance if they don't go 5 and 0? Any chance?

Ultimately, yes. They can go 4 and 1 here, but it will take a lot more help and losses all across the board. So you'll need a couple of losses from the Cardinals. The Reds presently would have to go 2 and 3 for the Marlins to win the head-to-head. Obviously, that would turn into 1 and 4. Diamond Jack, same deal. They need to go two and three. That would have to turn into one and four. And the Mets, most importantly, would need to lose the next two nights against the Cubs who have completely and utterly fallen apart in terms of winning as of late. They hold the wild card spot. There's not a ton of motivation for them. But if the Cubs can beat the Mets just once, and then the Marlins go in and sweep the Mets, the Marlins will end up with a better head-to-head record against the Mets. And ultimately, if they finish at 82 and 82, as the Marlins do, the Marlins would clinch a postseason birth. But what could end up happening in a three-team tie are several different scenarios. Over here, you could see all of the different head-to-head records.

And ultimately, I'm doing the math here. If the Marlins end up in a three-team with the New York Mets and one of these other ball clubs at an '82 and '82 record, the Marlins will make the postseason, period. If it's the Mets and another team, the Marlins will make the postseason so long as they go 5-0. If they lose tonight against the Philadelphia Philies, I can come back in tomorrow, and we can go through the record if they go 4-0 the rest of the way.

Don Levatard.

It sounds to me like everybody could use a hug because a hug is always the right size.

All I have put in my body today is three cups of coffee and an entire cup of honey.

Don't let him fool you.

He said in the break that he's jittery. This is the Don Levatard show with the Stugatz.

Chris Cody just said in my ear, he's actually doing a good job of which is condescending, dismissive, and insult to you. And then he said the thing, though, that is actual compliment, I understand this. And if you've reached Chris Cody with Playoff for Dummies, you have done something, Jeremy, in your communication skills. He does not enjoy his mathematics. And you have games. You got the last week of the season. You've got games that matter. None of us had that. Nobody thought that the Marlins would be three games under 500.

Got to be done by July.

With the team that they put together, clipping- So many games back to be done in July.

Marlins are 80 back.

In terms of just feeling like there's just no shot.

I know technically they would be alive then. Come on, Saz.

The last week of the season, if I told anybody that we would have games of any kind that would matter, you would think all the teams in the league somehow, even though this is a mathematical impossibility, all of them were 80 games under 500.

Have the Marlins had a top 10 season?

No, not for like, of all the teams in baseball.

You don't mean in the history of the majors? No.

It could be the Marlins top 10.

As a surprise? Yes. They're one of the biggest surprises in the sport. Look at that. Look, man, in the middle of the season, they gave me hope before it collapsed because they were beating good teams. That Texas team had expectations. That Texas team was very good offensively and started the season poorly for a lot of different reasons. But they just ruined Texas's season. I can't get any of you interested in this except for Jimmy.

I am curious if this is-I'm curious. On MLB Network, are they talking about this, or is this just in South Florida?

No, they did. No. When the Marlins were winning games in the middle of the season against the teams that they were playing, yes, they were getting attention from national people who haven't paid attention to the Marlins since they were in the playoffs. What are you shaking your head about, Tony? What are you shaking your head to know about?

I just don't find it believable that national... We're a national show. We are talking about the Marlins nationally all the time. There is no way that any other national show has spent any time on the Marlins saying, You know what? Marlins? Top 10 season is here.

Pardon my take? Was talking about the Marlins. They talked about the fish? Yes, they were talking about the Marlins.

They're friends with some of their players. They had a few of them on.

And they were just talking about that stretch that I'm talking about where they gave us brief hope. But honestly, it's been They're sleepy for the last month, and the reason they're back in it is because they've won seven in a row. But I wanted to talk collapses with you guys because what is happening right now to the Detroit Tigres is one of these memorable for all time collapses. They were ten and a half games up at the start of September, and it can't be memorable for all time anymore because you have the wild card and people can't actually get knocked out of the playoffs when they've been as good for two seasons as the Detroit Tigres.

I mean, they're only one up in the wild card right now, the Tigres. They may miss the whole thing.

They may miss the whole thing, but they were ten and a half games up on the guardians at the start of September. And they've now lost. Is it seven in a row or is it eight in a row that they've lost? And that means they've lost two scoubles cards. And in losing the scouble start yesterday, because your ace has to go out there and shut them down. When you see the details on last night where the guardians are bunting three times, and the result is scubaul box, scubaul wild pitch, scubaul hits on one of the bunts, hits a fry in the face, base. And the best of all of them, scuba flips the ball over first base with his back to first base on a bunt through his legs. As they collapse, Detroit Tiger fans who finally have expectations are now worried that they're not going to be good enough to beat the Yankees. And as of 10 days ago or as of seven games ago, the tigers looked like they were good enough to beat the Yankees this year, and now they no longer look that way.

I remember people talking about the Padres choking it up a few years ago, and I went back and looked at that. There were 17 games over 500 at one point. And just my mind goes, all the times that the Marlins, both Miami and Florida, have ruined the Seasons. And they had back-to-back years in the early 2000s where they blew late-season playoff spots.

Well, that's the one I think of in 2007, where the Marlins closed Shea Stadium. They closed Shea Stadium by and glavening Cavenagh gave up eight runs in the first ending, and the Marlins knocked the Mets out of the playoff when in mid-September, the Mets had the best record in baseball.

Do you guys think of all-time collapses outside of baseball? Because when I think of all-time collapses, and the Red Sox have been in a couple of them. Do you think of collapses outside of baseball? I know we have the December collapses in football around here with the Dolphins.

Yes, the 93 Dolphins, I think they were nine and three.

They were nine and two.

Oh, no, nine and two. What was it? Scott Mitchell was the quarterback?

Yeah, and they lost their last five games.

They missed the playoffs entirely.

But that's regionally. When you think all-time historic collapses where you associate with a franchise, something that is just end of season choking, and you've got a representative sample, obviously. You got 162 games in baseball, so it allows the room for... It's ridiculous in a month for a team as good as the tigers to blow a 10 and a half game lead.

No, I think it's only a baseball thing because since it's every day, it's a slow death for the final two weeks of the season. It's only a baseball thing.

But when you say slow death- It's a soccer thing, too. When you say slow death, you're looking last night That it's not merely losing. It's the way you lose. You got your Cy Youngwin or someone who's been unhittable for two seasons. As soon as I saw Scooble at the beginning of last season, when I discovered him, I said to you and everybody else here, I said, That's as unhittable a left-handed person has ever thrown a baseball. I don't understand how anybody hits him, and very few people do. For your ace twice to lose, when that's the ace's job, the ace's job is you always stop that. Lose that way. It's not just losing with your ace, but they're bunting on you and you're sitting there doing shit, like flipping it between your legs with your back to first base and flipping it over the first base bag in a way. Like Mark Burley? Yeah, I mean, no. Mark Burley did it successfully, famously successfully. Scooble did it, and everyone's slapping their head in the Tiger's dugout and saying, Oh, my God, our best player, the player who was meant to stop this, just made, go ahead and give me a more ridiculous mistake that can be made than flipping the ball through your legs in a panic over first base.

Go ahead. I'll give you the rest of time to give me a more ridiculous decision that someone can make on a baseball field, then I'm going to have my back to first base, and I'm going to show you I'm going to long snap the ball in the right field.

I just like the visual of everyone in the Tiger's dugout given one of these all at the same time.

Well, both David Kohn, when he was a Met, and Chuck Nobleck, when he was a Yankee, both argued calls with the first base umpire and allowed base runners to just Swipe bases and then go home.

That's pretty good. That's a pretty good example. Jeremy is still there working very hard on this ridiculous board. Jeremy, do you have an update for us? Has anything changed since we checked in with you 4 minutes and 12 seconds ago? Yes.

The biggest update is that ultimately, if there is a three-team tie at 82 and 80 for the Miami Marlins, they win five of those six scenarios. So every single time that they tie with the New York Mets, whether that's the Diamondbacks, the Reds, or the Cardinals at 82 and 80, the Marlins would ultimately come out the victor. Thanks to their head-to-head record against Cincinnati, ultimately going four and three against Cincinnati, they would also come out the victor in the Diamondbacks and Cincinnati Reds scenario because Even though they would have the same head-to-head record against all three opponents at seven and six, it ultimately flips back to the head-to-head record against one another amongst those two best teams. The Marlins taking four out of seven against Cincinnati would get the victory there. They also would have the best win percentage in a scenario where it's the Cardinals and the Reds in a three-team tie. The only scenario in a three-team tie where they do not come out on top would be if it's a three-team tie at 82 and 80 with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the St. Louis Cardinals. Despite the fact that all three went six and six against each other, Arizona would have the best record against their own division and would ultimately advance.

So when you're looking, finally, at two-team ties or three-team ties, the only scenarios if the Marlins went out in which they do not clinch the final wild card spot would be if the only other 82 and 80 team is the Diamondbacks, the only other 82 and 80 team is the Cardinals, or if both the Cardinals and the Diamondbacks are 82 and 80 with them. In every other scenario, the Marlins would actually clinch the final wild card spot.

You lost me. In the other sports, Stan, it's hard to remember regular season collapses. The The Dolphins and the Vikings had one, but in the NFL, a collapse is determined by what you do in the postseason. For example, the Titans have had home field in the AFC three times. Every time they have the home field as number one seed, they lose in the divisional round.

Yeah, and there's no collapse in the NBA regular season because division just means nothing.

No, but the playoff there is. Warriors went 73 and nine and lost 3-1. We're up 3-1 lost.

Mavericks lost to the Aaron Davis, Warriors.

We believe the last five years in South Florida during the playoffs, we have come dangerously close to what would have been legacy eternal pain through generations.

The heat almost blowing, or actually, they blew the 3-0 lead and then won the series against the Celtic, and the Panthers blowing a 3-0 lead against Edmonton. That is what I'm talking about beyond the regular season when I say you only remember a team's collapse. That Golden State team, I was saying all season because of how they revolutionize the sport, that's the best basketball team I've ever seen. Hell, I could claim the undefeated Patriots collapsed at the end in a way that's memorable because I remember the failure more than I remember the success, even though their offense. Go look at Tom Brady's numbers as soon as he got Randy Moss and how everything changed statistically for him in terms of quarterback rating. He had 50 touch downs that year, right? Was it indeed 50? I thought it was 48. It was something absurd Look at that. But he had a quarterback rating. Tom Brady's quarterback rating for his career was high '80s or low '90s. And that season, it was about 130. Tony, look that up for me.

It was 117. But he had 50 touch downs, 8 picks, and threw for 4,800 yards, the highest of his career until 2011, where he threw for 5,200.

Well, I wanted to ask you guys something that I was thinking about football-related as I saw the stat that Jordan Love, I don't know if you guys saw this, you want to take a guess, Jordan Love, average Average depth of target against Cleveland. Do you want to take a guess, anybody? Average depth of target.

They usually stretch the field pretty well there in Green Bay.

I saw it, and it's pathetic.

Really? 1. 9 yards on average depth of target.

Told you that Jaden Reid injury is a big one. He was their go-to guy every time they needed a play. And Christian Watson is another guy that stretches the field. They have a lot of those guys that stretch the field over there. Golden in terms of separation. A lot of guys that aren't great.

That's the issue. They have a lot of B plus players. They have no A Well, that's why everybody thought that they were deep.

But then you take Reid and Watson out of the equation, a lot less deep. B plus is putting it nicely.

B plus is nice. I was B.

The thing that I wanted to ask you guys, though, is with the changes in football that are obvious and overt. Have we basically eliminated the 400-yard passer? I know Russell Wilson had that game against Dallas, but unless you're trailing and just hurling the ball all over the place, have we become so restricted about the turnover that basically you're not going to get a 300-yard game, never mind a 400-yard game. You're not going to get a 300-yard game from your passer because everyone's being so conservative about turning the ball over unless you're just slinging it at the end of the game because you're down multiple touch downs. Has this quietly gone away? Cam Newton's career opened with a 400-yard game. Is that going to be something that we even see anymore in that sport, given how they're playing football? And that that stat I just gave you on Jordan Love, I could do it to a lot of quarterbacks. They're not throwing the ball down the field the way that they used to, and they're not completing it when they do.

Yeah, I don't think it has as much. I understand that there is more of a premium on not turning the ball over. I think NFL defenses have gotten better and have adjusted to the new rules. Oh, I feel hydrated from all this football talk.

Did somebody say hydration? Oh, dude, talk to me. The show is sponsored by Liquid IV. Don't let the grind drain you. Ditch the glitch with zero sugar and zero crash from Liquidiv. Tear, pour, live more. Go to liquidiv. Com and get 20% off your first order with code dan@checkout. Com. That's 20% off your first order with code dan@checkout at liquidiv. Com. It's the energy that hits different, guys. It's the flavors. It's the energy. It's the convenience. You rip it, you pour it into the bottle, the cup, whatever. You mix it up, you drink it. You get great flavors. Blackberry lemonade, strawberry kiwi, and the energy packs, Elfine, and what else?

Caffeine.

Caffeine. Get all that stuff at liquidiv. Com with code dan@checkout.

Howdy, folks. It's Mike Ryan, and I know it's early in the NFL season, but it has shown you exactly why the NFL is indeed king sport in the United States of America. Great games, incredible matchups, in-demand tickets for these high-profile games. Sometimes, oftentimes, these games are sold out and you're left with the secondary market. Well, let me tell you about my go-to on the secondary market, the official ticketing partner of the Dan Levitard Show. I'm talking, of course, about game time. Game time's amazing for a lot of different reasons: zone deals, panoramic CPUs, the low price guarantee, and game time's unparalleled ticket coverage. I'm an NFL free agent, so I'm always looking for the biggest games, and game time makes it so easy to peruse the app. One of my favorite features is, fees are always included. What you see is what you pay. And that is hugely important when you're traveling abroad to catch the game de jour. Take the guesswork out of buying NFL tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code Dan, and get $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code D-A-N for $20 off.

Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Download the GameTime app today.