Transcript of The Big Suey: Anyway... MVP! MVP! MVP! (feat. David Samson)

Welcome to the Big Suey, presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show?

The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan Lebitard podcast. I'm sorry. I'm not going to apologize for that. In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging.

I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries if they're just there. That hasn't happened to you guys? I've done it. And now, here's the marching band to nowhere, Fatface and the Pitchou a Liar.

This episode of the Dan Lebitard Show is presented by DraftKings. Draftkings. The Crown is yours.

The people in video have found that Mendality Mamba Mandality is indeed a word, and I have Mamba Mandality from misspeaking. I require trauma therapy from a company called Mandality. The Mamba Mandality, it's totally different. It sounds so much weaker than Mamba Mentality to just change the T to a D. I feel like you're doing more damage to me there than we did to the Wizards when we changed their Wizard W to an L and made them the Lizards. David Samson is with us. Hopefully, he will be with us on Sunday as we plan an Oscar and Selection Sunday party. I want to ask the group here with kids before we get to David Samson. So Tony, Mike, and Chris, Roy had to depart. He has an emergency to attend to. But when you have kids, what notice do I have to give you to get you out of town? Because Adnan Virk is complaining that we only gave him 11 days notice, and 11 days for us is a miracle. That is unbelievable. It's like a year. We had a year to know when the Oscars were and when Selection Sunday was. But for us to give people 11 days notice on anything here is a miracle.

What's the proper amount of notice to give somebody who has four kids so that you can get them down here to Miami?

I feel like the older they are, the quicker turnaround you can go. My daughter's 14 months, but Mike's daughter is probably five or six. It's a little bit of an easier thing where you can be like, All right, Juliet, you're going to go do X, Y, and Z. For me, for my daughter, it's like, You're 14 months. You can't even walk. What do we do here? I need a little extra buffer of a time. But 11 days, Dan, I could come back three times in 11 days.

So that is enough time? Because Adnan is complaining about it. Adnan is saying he can't be down here because we didn't give him enough notice.

I mean, yeah, we all agree. But culturally, we have a problem with this. Eleven seems like a lot of time for us, as you mentioned.

David, what are your thoughts here?

I think that you have to plan things more than 10 days in advance because it's not just about... Remember, he's got a lot of other stuff on the schedule, a lot of places to be. It's not about kid coverage necessarily, but getting flights nights, and I don't know why he'd be bringing his kids. It's not a vacation, it's for work. But maybe it's the weather, I guess, but it doesn't matter. I think 11 days should have been enough for Oscars, but for a general coverage down there, you need more than 11 days.

He has two jobs as well. Adnan Virk is perpetually working, so that is part of the equation as well. But he filed it under the four kids umbrella because it sounds better. It doesn't sound like he's making us his third priority. But we will have him as a part of the coverage. He will just not be down here. I wanted to ask the group here before we get to some finances with David, why are we so obsessed with the money in football where every contract that Daniel Jones signs, we know it to the dollar in a way that we don't even know Movies and entertainment. You might hear an actor made 19 million for a movie, but it's never to the dollar in a way that it is in sports. Don't tell me salary cap, because it's not like the average fan cares about the apron or really knows or understands understands what a salary cap is in basketball or football. Why do we care so much? And do we do it much of anywhere else where we're obsessed with the amounts on these contracts?

I just think it's when an actor gets a role, it's not like we know the contract beforehand. When Trey Hendrix sign his deal four for 112, they report that as part of the deal. And Leo's making, I don't know how much for one battle after another, it didn't get reported when they started. Yeah, they started disclosing it in a similar fashion on the front end, you would care more about it. It's part of the appeal of the sport. And no, it's not just about the cap. As you mentioned, in baseball, those contracts are reported on probably more than any of the other major sports in this country.

David, though, you're old enough to remember. We didn't use to do this. I don't remember when this started, but I never knew what athletes made early in my career. That wasn't something that was known.

Yeah, there were always lists. It was always leaked by the players union, what the salaries were of all the players. It's really not disclosed by teams. We We would say terms not disclosed, but then it gets leaked, and we would not deny it off the record to members of the media. But the contracts get approved by the union and by the commissioners office, and there's always leaks within one of those two bodies. And there's also leaks in your organization. The reason why we're obsessed, we're all obsessed with money always. We get the Forbes 500, the Forbes Fortune 100, 500 companies. Who are the richest people? You get the list of movie stars. You do get who made the most money this last 12 months. When George Clooney sells his tequila company or whatever it was, you find out how much money he made. There's an obsession with money there always has been.

David, I'm telling you that at the beginning of my career, I know baseball has fiddled with this because the agents do want everyone to know what their client has making. And I think baseball started this. I do remember the John Konkax of the world, but there was a time very early in my career where I simply did not I've seen numbers and athletes getting this coverage for the numbers. This was not always the case.

Well, the numbers are so different now. They're out of this world. When you can have schleppers at the end of the bench making 5, $10 million And you mentioned CONCAC, the young people may not understand that, but that has become the example that's used for what it is when you have to get to a salary floor where you just have to overpay people who stink. And that's what the NBA is right now. So many overpaid guys because they've got to get to a number. And in the NFL, it's the opposite in a lot of ways, where you're finding that the cap can really be a constraint on the team building in a lot of ways, and how you have to try to avoid the cap. So baseball, I don't know where you were, Dan. You just weren't focused on it. But the numbers have been around for 50 years.

To David's point, I remember when Dylan Brooks got cut by Memphis, everybody's like, Man, he's never going to get another job. Houston's like, Hey, we need to raise the salary floor. Give him $84 million over four years. He ended up being a decent player with Phoenix. But it's like numbers like that stick with you. I don't know if it's the numerology of.

For me, it's Austin Croceer. They paid him $53 million, and I was confused by it. But the reason I bring all of this up is at least in part because what I've just seen happen in football. Do you guys know what Kenneth Walker got off the top of your head? This is a Super Bowl MVP. Off the top of your head, do you all know what Kenneth Walker got from the Chiefs?

I do, so I'm going to refrain. I do not. I don't. I know he got three years, but I have no idea what the number was.

He got three years, $45 million. To me, it was a little bit strange. That's Bradley Chubb money. This is the Super Bowl MVP, and it's not just the Super Bowl MVP. Kansas City was very bad at 10-yard runs last season, and Kenneth Walker was very good at 10-plus-yard runs. I would think that would have more value than Bradley Chubb. I would think, are you guys aware? Jalen Phillips just got four years, 120 million. Kenneth Walker is younger than Jalen Phillips, and his body is in better condition than Jalen Phillips, and Jalen Phillips just got four years, 100 something million.

But this is all positional value in the NFL, and it makes perfect sense. But when you mentioned Kenneth Walker, there was a clip that we missed from the Championship celebration. I'd love to get your take and David's take. David, do you think John Schneider, the Seahawks GM, might have tipped his hand here on how the negotiations with Kenneth Walker were going? This is video from the Championship parade.

To Ken Walker being the MVP. Let's go.

He tried negotiating It was really weird.

Anyway.

Hey, MVP.

Mvp.

Mvp. That's Kenneth Walker right next to him, staring off into the distance, haunted and hollow.

Yeah, and it's good to see what Stugatz is up to. He wants me to give him money. Anyway.

Stugatz would have done all of this, including the awkward left hand of, You know what I've got in my holster? An MVP chant to knock off this awkwardness.

One more time because Kenneth Walker shaking his head the entire time. Just lock into Kenneth Walker.

Looks so much like Stugats.

To Ken Walker being the MVP. Let's go.

He tried negotiating with me five minutes ago.

It was really weird.

Anyway, hey, MVP, MVP, MVP.

Mvp. Mvp. All right, hold on. I want to analyze all of this. But Samson, first, your thoughts. And please, Chris, I want you to just isolate for me the unbelievable silence at a celebration parade because the awkwardness neutered all of the noise in a way that made you be able to hear two or three awkward, isolated laughs at a parade because the general manager had just done something So stupid. David, your thoughts on that?

Are you suggesting the stupidity? Because he knew already that he wasn't retaining Walker. Walker knew already he wasn't being retained. So there was nothing to surprise. Walker may have thought that he was being embarrassed by that, by the disclosure of a negotiation, but it wasn't a negotiation. What happens in those parades or what would happen when you see each other in the lunchroom like, Hey, man, you got 60 for me? I got 60. Come on, I need 60. And the GM is like, Dude, Come on, man. No, I don't got 60. I'm sure they had a very honest conversation about it. So I don't think there's bad blood. Not resigning an MVP. This is a real big whoop. It's fine. Yeah, I don't think Kenneth Walker right next to him, staring Off into the distance, haunted and hollow.

Yeah, and it's good to see what Stugatz is up to. He clearly wanted to stay in Seattle, and maybe he was trying to give him money. Anyway. Stugatz would have one last gasp of trying to get the GM to keep him. And John Schneider is, This Why over here thinks I'm going to pay him?

I don't think he liked it very much.

All right. No, he clearly did not like any of it. But I need to play all of this again, the entirety of it, because, first of all, this is just great video. One, I can't believe how much the best general manager in football looks like Stugat, but also how he barrels through the awkwardness. Watch the specifics of the left hand. First of all, you've got a red solo in one hand. Of course you do. After the awkwardness, the fact that the left hand goes out, tell me you guys don't recognize Stugats just in my holster? An MVP chit to knock off this awkwardness. One more time, because Kenneth Walker shaking his head the entire time. Just lock into Kenneth Walker. Looks so much like Stugatz. To Ken Walker being the MVP. Let's go. He tried negotiating with me five minutes ago. It was really weird. Anyway, hey. Mvp, MVP, MVP. All right, hold on. I want to analyze all of this. But Samson, first, your thoughts. And please, Chris, I want you to just isolate for me the unbelievable silence at a celebration parade because the awkwardness neutered all of the noise in a way that made you be able to hear two or three awkward, isolated laughs at a parade because the general manager had just done something so stupid.

David, your thoughts on that? Are you suggesting the stupidity? Because he knew already that he wasn't retaining Walker. Walker knew already he wasn't being retained. So there was nothing to surprise. Walker may have thought that he was being embarrassed by that, by the disclosure of a negotiation, but it wasn't a negotiation. What happens in those parades or what would happen when you see each other in the lunchroom like, Hey, man, you got 60 for me? I got 60. Come on, I need 60. And the GM is like, Dude, come on, man. No, I don't got 60. I'm sure they had a very honest conversation about it. So I don't think there's bad blood. Not resigning an MVP. This is a real big whip. It's fine. Yeah, I don't think Kenneth Walker appreciated that very much. He clearly wanted to stay in Seattle, and maybe he was trying to have one last gasp at trying to get the GM to keep him. And John Schneider is, This guy over here thinks I'm going to pay him. I don't think he liked it very much. All right. No, he clearly did not like any of it. But I need to play all of this again, the entirety of it, because, first of all, this is just great video.

One, I can't believe how much the best general manager in football looks like Stugats, but also how he barrels through the awkwardness. Watch the specifics of the left hand. First of all, you've got a red solo cup in one hand. Of course you do. After the awkwardness, the fact that the left hand goes out, tell me you guys don't recognize Stugats just in this sausage finger left hand situation.

To Ken Walker being the MVP, let's go. He tried negotiating with me five minutes ago.

It was really weird. Anyway, hey. Mvp, MVP, MVP. That, anyway, was doing so much lifting there. Can we just focus in, focus We're going to get in here real quick on just Kenneth Walker's face. I'm sorry to do this to you, David, but I don't want to watch anything else except that left hand come in awkwardly because we're zoning in on the entirety of Kenneth Walker's face throughout that so that you guys can just see him looking at the back of his general manager's head, Stugatz's head, and thinking to himself, I'm going to be in Kansas City in a couple of days.

He tried negotiating with me five minutes ago.

It was really weird. Anyway. That is such great silence. The laughter afterward is so very good.

Quick break to tell you about a special Miller time I had with my good buddy, Mochetta. Mochetta texted me the other day. He said, Hey, what are you doing for the game? I said, I'm just on my couch right now doing nothing, enjoying it. He's like, Hey, do you want some company? I said, From you, Mochetta? Absolutely. Mochetta comes over to the house and I pull out the Miller light. Miller made that casual hang. A memorable good Miller time with my good friend Mochetta because Miller light brought us together. We took that first sip after we toasted our beers and we knew we made the right call. We watched the game. All of a sudden, we're standing up on our feet. Big threes are being drained, and white cans are being clanged. See, times like these, that's exactly why Miller Light is my go-to. Clean, refreshing, easy to drink, brewed for taste with simple ingredients. The original light beer since 1975, and it still hits different for yours truly and his good friend Mochetta. Cheers to legendary moments made with Miller Light. Great taste, 96 calories. Go to millerlight. Com/dan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Light pretty much anywhere they sell beer.

It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories and 3. 2 carbs per 12 ounces. This episode is sponsored by Better Help. March is one of those months where we talk about celebrating women, and it's very, very deserved because when you actually look around, a lot of women in our lives are carrying a ton. Work, family, relationships, expectations, nobody notices or sees. I started thinking about the women around me, my wife, my mom, my sister, my friends, my coworkers, people who somehow take care of everybody else while still trying to hold it together themselves. And it's a ton to carry. Therapy can be a place to put some of that weight down. It can help you figure out what's yours, what isn't, and how to set better boundaries so you're not running on empty all the time. Betterhelp works with fully licensed therapists in the US, and they handle the matching process for you. You fill out a short questionnaire, and if your therapist isn't the right fit, you can switch at any time with more than 30,000 therapists and over 6 million people served. It's the world's largest online therapy platform with an average of 4.

9 out of 5 session ratings. Your emotional well-being matters. Find support and feel lighter in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp. Com/dlb. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-B. Lp. Com/dlb. Draftkings Sportsbook, the number one sportsbook for live betting, is built for March. The tournament is unpredictable, but the rewards are guaranteed, baby. Draftkings is delivering some of the most generous rewards in the market. New to DraftKings, bet just five bucks and get 200 bucks in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code Dan. That's code Dan to turn five bucks into 200 bucks in bonus bets instantly. In partnership with DraftKings, the crown is yours. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 Gambler or 1-800 My Reset. New York, call 877-8 Hope & Why or text Hope and Why. Connecticut, call 888-789-77777 or visit ccpg. Org. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino in Kansas, wager tax pass-through may apply in Illinois. 21 and over in most states, void in Ontario. Restrictions apply. Bonus bets expire seven days after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see sportsbook. Draftkings. Com/promo. Limited time offer.

Dan Levatard. Tata's. Stugatz. Tata's.

This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stugats.

Can you take us through, David, the Max Crosby situation and what it is that you found most interesting about what happened there? Are the Raiders now? Can the Raiders even sign all those guys they signed, or do they have a problem there with being able to sign the guys they signed because now they'd be over the salary cap again if they have Max Crosby?

Well, there were certainly announcements made, but it's unclear whether or not there were actual agreements signed and whether the players that the Raiders purportedly signed are part of their roster. You're not officially on a team until you're entered into the computer where you are added to the roster of that team, and that's when you start with all the cap calculations, et cetera. What surprised me was Dacosta coming out and saying he was gutded. Well, guess what? It was your decision. You failed him. I've had plenty of guys who come in and their shoulders are torn up and their elbows look like crap, and they've got arthritis in their hips, and you just do the trade anyway. What's the difference? He was in charge of that. And so you can't both be gutded and deny the trade. You could say that they were embarrassed. Maybe they realized they gave up too much. And once they lost their center and they lost two first-round pics, they were like, Well, maybe we can pivot to Hendriksen. They chose to do that. But then don't say you're gutded. And if he failed as physical, then don't say you're gutded.

Just say, Hey, we've moved on and we couldn't be happier with Trey Hendriksen. Life happens for a reason. So I thought that his take on it was supposed to make us feel badly for him, and I certainly don't.

Well, let's play that Eric Dacosta sound, the Ravens general manager for the audience.

We don't have that sound. I'm getting it right Okay.

I was told that we had that sound.

I do want to ask, though, David. I know, look, it's Bush League, what Eric Dacosta and the Ravens did. I understand that perspective of it, and It looks bad.

But isn't this literally what the two day legal tampering period from Monday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon when the league here officially begins? Isn't this what that 48 48-hour period as four words, Hey, we just came up with an agreement, and as long as everything checks out, we'll make it official on Wednesday.

Did the Ravens really do anything wrong? Yeah, no, you get that 48 hour period. You can get that whenever you want. Whenever you make a deal, you sign what's called an LOI, a letter of intent. And in that LOI, it's not binding because there are outs for physical. Sometimes you can do an LOI with an out for an owner approval. Those are not as popular. But if you sneak that into a trade agreement like, Hey, we agree to this trade, but we got to get final sign off by the owner. That's always funny. But you have sign off by the commissioners office is required, and then you have a physical, and either you pass or you fail. Either you accept the LOI and make it into a binding agreement or the trade just goes away. And in this case, the trade just went away. I don't blame either side of it. But if you're the Raiders, it stinks because clearly, they've got to come out and they've got to tell the other 30 teams that they're dealing with, not counting themselves and the Ravens, and they've got to build Crosby's value back because we love to call on players who we know had an LOI, but then a trade didn't go down.

We would call and say, Hey, we'll take them. But by the way, we're offering 10 cents on the dollar, but you obviously need to move them for a roster spot or for money or for whatever. We'll take them. So I assume they're a bunch of snipers trying to get Crosby right now, and that's a bad thing.

I wouldn't assume that. I think they've told everybody in the league he's damaged. I would I did not assume that. That's an awful lot of stuff to give up for a guy who has declined the last two years, at least in part because his body doesn't work right.

That's what a sniper is. That means you get let, you offer less. There's no two first-round pics out there right now for Crosby. The sniper comes in and says, I'll give you a fourth rounder and a conditional second rounder, because if you got to move them, you got to move them. And then that could be the makings of a deal, at which point the raters are like, This is ridiculous. I'm not going to trade him at his low like this. That's the risk you take when you enter into a trade agreement pending a physical is that the quality and the value of your asset will decrease. So the raters apparently have told all of their free agents who they've come to agree to terms with. They've told all of them, We're still honoring these deals.

We do have the money.

So apparently, they are going to be able to afford them. But like David, Max Crosby, late last night, put out a tweet saying, Everything happens for a reason. Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see. I'm a rater. I'm back.

Run that shit.

And it's a gif of the undertaker being born again, coming out of a casket.

Did the Rater then tell him, Okay, we're definitely not trading you?

Why would he put that out? I would hope they wouldn't say that to him because that's probably not true. So you would never tell a player that you're not going to trade him because everybody's likely to get traded or certainly possible. There could be if someone else, let me say this, if another team pulls up with two first rounders, you can bet that Crosby is gone immediately. So I would assume the Raiders wouldn't be that stupid. But again, you just never know. But for Crosby, it's a tough position. You don't want to feel as though you're not valued by a team, which is he went to Baltimore, folks. He was introduced by them. He did a whole thing publicly about how much he enjoyed the Raiders, but now he's all about Baltimore, bringing a Championship to Baltimore. And now he's got to sit on it and get back to Vegas. It's just a sucky situation for players, but it's part of the business.

Dave, in that situation where he obviously had a knee surgery in January, so it's pretty recent, the doctors know what the deal is. It wasn't a major structural damage. It was repairing a meniscus. That's an everyday situation. But when they fail the physical like that, don't you figure there's got to be something else in that they saw? I know the Raiders at the end of last year wanted him to be out of games, and he would show him shooting a basketball being like, I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me. And they got in trouble with circumventing what the rules are a little bit. But the doctors know what's going on, right?

Yeah, there's a possibility that there was a trial balloon of this trade, and all of a sudden the press was so negative that they lost their center in two first-round pics that the Ravens decided, Forget it. I'm going to back off this trade because I overpaid. That's possible. The other possibility is that they looked at Crosby's films and saw something worse than his knee that maybe the Raiders had not focused on. That's possible. But what's more likely is that he was exactly as advertised. There was one set of medicals that got exchanged. They look at the films. I think they knew. Let me say this. There's not a player we ever acquired. Even Henderson Alvarez, who when we got him from Toronto, we looked in and we were like, Oh, that's worse than we thought. Damn it. What are we going to do with him? So you see that once in a while. But I wouldn't say that there's an MRI that you get and you look and you say, oh, my God, is elbow ligament is totally off the freaking bone, and it was never talked about between the trainers. That really doesn't happen.

Can you guys put up on the poll for me, please, Juju? Do you circumvent anything other than rules? When you use the verb circumvent, is it used for anything other than rules? When you use the verb circumvent, is it used for anything other than rules? I also want you guys to put on the screen before we play the entirety of the video, the look of very scared Eric Dacosta. You guys tell me whether the Ravens general manager here looks frightened to you. As you see, he's got to answer questions about doing business poorly with the Raiders. Go ahead and cue that sound.

I understand it.

I understand it. We live in that age of skepticism and people question, especially people that don't really know me or know the Ravens culture and the Ravens organization. So I understand it.

As I said at the beginning, we've got a responsibility. I've got a responsibility to the Ravens, to this community, to our fans, and to Steve Bishadi to do what we think is best for the club. And that's what we always try to do. Every decision we make is based on this idea.

Is this the best thing for the Ravens.

It's very, very challenging. Again, I understand how people might maybe from afar feel that way, but nobody's more upset about this than me, gutded by it, actually.

And so I regret, a big regret for me. But we will move on as a football team. I think there's many, many opportunities for us to grow as a team, to become a better team, to build a roster. I don't know. I think the Raiders are more upset. Me, too.

Is he upset, though, because he looks like a dirty businessman in public? Because what the Raiders sent out might as well have said, Hey, Ravens, go bleep yourself. We'll have no further comment. Like, Hey, the Ravens did us dirty. That was unbelievably dirty. That guy's an asshole. We have no further comment. That's what the comment read like, even though it was sanitized.

It's why I believe, Dan, that there could be something else going on, that it could have been from a PR standpoint, that the owner may have called up to Kosta and said, Dude, two first rounders, and now we lost our center? It looks like that's the worst trade in the history of trades. So there is a possibility that that is the reason. And then you can always blame it on medical concerns Because that's like saying your back hurts. No one can prove that it doesn't, and you can just get away with having a bad back even when your back is fine. So you can get away with saying no trade because of medical concerns. And the truth is, it was no trade because you were getting your ass kicked in PR.

David, weren't you part Have you heard of one of these trades where someone was sent back, Colin Ray with the Padres? What was the deal when that happened? There was an injury when he was pitching. Couple of times, right? Wasn't Mike Hampton something similar?

Well, no, Mike Hampton just wouldn't be a Marlin. He Why not? He didn't want to come to the Marlins.

School systems in Colorado.

That's why he signed with Colorado. But when we wanted to trade for him, he wouldn't come here because he wanted to win a championship. And to do that, he had to go to Atlanta. And the irony is we won the championship. Atlanta didn't. He and I had a funny talk about that recently. But yeah, Colin Ray, that's a crazy one. That would be the equivalent of Max Crosby coming to the Ravens, playing a game with the Ravens in week one, and then all of a sudden getting hurt. And then the league Heke steps in and says, Hold on a second. Something weird happened, and Max Crosby gets sent back to the Raiders after playing a game with the Ravens. Only a few of you may remember, Colin Ray pitched a game for the Marlins after we traded for it.

Do you guys think you can get a Crosby a Crosby-Ravens jersey? Because I imagine that would have some worth if we were able to get a... If I were a Ravens, if I was Stavi, I would go to the games in a Crosby Ravens jersey because of how close that was to happening. Do you think you can actually get I bet Juju will have one on today. You can get one made, but do you think the Ravens had any made? I guess, is what I... Do you think you could get it through the Ravens?

No, you don't need to make up during an offseason unless they were doing a press conference Jersey avail, where they unveil the jersey like when you shake hands and hold up the jersey. Unless that had been planned, there'd be no reason for the clubby to make up the official jersey because they're offseason.

Something that I cannot help but notice, David, The World Base Classic is so wonderfully, colorfully Hispanic that Juan Soto is doing home run trots that I've never seen him do in Washington and New York because he's surrounded by such a Dominican... He's surrounded by such a frenzy in the stands. Yesterday here locally, and it's as good as the stadium that you built, David, has ever felt in terms of press box shaking and just overrun by Latin people. Listen to just some of the ambient sound and watch Soto run the bases here where he's pointing at the sky and just really enjoying the flourish of all this. Tony was there, and he'll have some stuff for you tomorrow on that because he says the whole place was shaking. Listen to the ambient sound on Fernando Tatis hitting a home run.

Not the first base yet. Not the first base yet. And now he's at first base.

He never got there, actually. He's still walking around. It was some of the most incredible baseball. The vibes were so high. And every time that somebody would come up to bat and you'd hear the crack of the bat, the place would explode. You couldn't even hear after a certain point. And you would watch the guy's bat flip, 45 feet in the air. Soto threw his bat basically to the dugout. Tatis was incredible. Soto was incredible. Vlad, he was incredible. Everybody was so, so high. Tony and I were at the bar out in left field watching from there during the inning where Ketel Marte and then later on, Vlad Guerrero Jr. Ends up hitting a home run. And when Guerrero Jr. Hit the homer, not only is the entire area exploding, people throwing their hats, dancing with each other, but also As Vladdy crossed his home plate, and I couldn't see exactly which two players it was from where we were, one player hops on another player's back, and he sprints down the first baseline with the piggyback going on. It was in Insane. The energy level and the noise was amazing, David.

I'm so happy that you guys enjoyed that. But a couple of things, guys. Number one, we've had World Baseball Classics with Dominican and Venezuela before that were all so loud. It's amazing. Number two, Dan, it's not a Latino thing. If you went to the Tokyo Dome, that place was so loud when Ohtani hit the grand slam that you could not believe the noise that goes on. So there are other fan bases, in addition to the Latin fan bases, that are loud and excited. Number three, Mike, is that I don't ever want to hear from you again, ever. Not one time that you're upset about Marlins Park, because just that one game by itself makes Marlins Park a deal worth doing and what it does for Miami. So for me, I'm very happy. That one game does not- I don't have to worry about that because I just lost all respect for you.

You won't be hearing from me.

How does that one game- She did not watch Devon Hester's kickoff return, pal? How does that one game make that stadium worth it? Jeremy couldn't get home because he couldn't get an Uber in the-Oh, it was a nightmare. In what that neighborhood is after games because you promised us an economy would build around that stadium. And all there is is that one stupid Wendy's.

Wait, I'm very sorry. It's totally easy. The ingress and egress out of Dolphins Stadium. That is a piece of cake. And oh, the Triple A after a game? Don't worry, Biscayne moves like Jello through the river. Give me a break. Now do Ammer and Baccarine on Sunrise. I know. I love that one. There's so many exits for that one. There's 360 degrees worth of exits, but you're in the Everglades, so there's that.

Just as someone that's taken ride shares from all of these sporting venues locally, I went to the Winter Classic at that ballpark. Easily the worst experience of them all, by triple.

I'm sorry.

. We Okay, Nikola.

Quizfrage: Homeoffice bei Stado oder Fahrtkosten. Was bringt uns mehr?

Moment, ich check das kurz. Oha, Homeoffice gewinnt. Bringt uns 150 Euro mehr im Jahr.

Ja, richtig.

Aber wieso weißt du so was? Weil, wieso Steuer die Erstattung live anzeigt? Das ist einfach die Steuer-App für alle Fälle. Ja, und fragen beantwortet sie auch. 247 und ohne beamtendeutsch. Das ist einfach die App, die uns versteht.

Steuern erledigt? Safe.

Mit wiso Steuer.

Jetzt kostenlos ausprobieren.

Dan Lebetard. Go Peepi. Stugatz. Go Peepi.

This is the Dan Levatard Show with the Stugats. There were more people there last night than the World Baseball Classic final in 2023 and the Winter Classic. It was electric.

Why did David just say to us, I'm glad you guys enjoyed all of that? It sounded like there was an undercurrent of sarcasm in there as if you didn't enjoy it.

No, not Danny Good.

It's because he built the stadium.

He's saying, You're welcome for our joy.

Okay, that was the arrogance.

Okay, I couldn't tell- You were right to read the arrogance. You just misread what the arrogance was. Yes, thank you for that.

You need the inner voice there, Mike.

I thought that David would have some commentary on Mark DeRosa. The Italians bailed out the United States. I wanted to get with you guys on what you regard, we did a little bit of this yesterday, as the worst mistake you've ever seen someone in the position of Mark DeRosa make. Because I believe that if Mexico had beaten Italy to knock the United States out of that, that this would have been an all-time mistake that people would have remembered and associated with Mark D'Rosa's name for the rest of time, even above his Major League baseball career. But because Italy beat Mexico, it's going to be a footnote and an afterthought, and it's not going to go down as an all-time mental error from a manager thinking the United States had already advanced before they had actually advanced.

I mean, these are the rules of the tournament. Maybe Dave has some good examples. Previously, I would say Nathaniel Hackett managing the clock to the point to settle for a 64-yard field goal. He got fired before he finished his- Iberfluce at the end of that Thanksgiving game? Yeah. There was another Wasn't another Thanksgiving game? Stealers, Lions in the old Silver Dome, overtime coin flip, a controversy as to what was said, but we're going to kick. This is when the first score would win in overtime, and it cost them the game.

Wasn't that Seahawks, Green Bay?

No, that's Matt Hasselbach saying, We want the ball and we're going to win.

That's different. That is right. And they didn't win.

Was that Mornanweg? Marty Mornanweg. Yeah, I think so.

David, your thoughts on that as a blunder? Because I was saying yesterday Yesterday, that's a fireable offense. If they simply fired him, they wouldn't because you wouldn't do that turmoil in the middle of a tournament. But if they fired him, I would have understood.

Yeah, in a regular season, in an organization that wasn't the WBC, that would be a fireable offense. Not just that, but saying that the players may have been dragging. We wanted to get the players off their feet. Just everything he did with the media was wrong. But you're not going to do a firing right before the quarterfinals. It's just not going to happen. Mark D'Rosa will not be back to manage the WBC in 2030. I can promise you that. And this is not because of that only. What he did, mistakes happen. You can misspeak, but the way he did it and then double down with how he managed, even though he managed the game exactly as he was supposed to manage the game. He didn't do the lineup. That's one of the funniest things here. Oh, he sat, Bryce Harper. He sat Cal Raleigh. No, that's That's not really how it worked. It was a decision that was made for him about who was going to play, because when players are in the classic, their teams are told, your guy is going to get a certain number of at-bats, a certain number of starts, a certain number of innings pitched.

It is all pre-planned. Kershaw up in the bullpen. Yes, because that's exactly what was told when Kershaw would be pitching in a blowout situation, and he needs the extra five minutes to prepare. So all the talk him mismanaging the game is not accurate, but mismanaging the media around the game was a big, big problem. All right, David, so you're telling me they can get to the final of the WBC and the game is going to be managed based on what the players' clubs told them they're allowed to do? It's all pre-ordained, 100 %. And they'll tell you otherwise, but if you speak to the people doing it or you speak to someone who's running a team who's giving players to the WBC, you know exactly how many app bats your guys are going to get in exactly which games. Let me tell you, the pitching for the final game, it is Nolan McLean who's starting. It doesn't matter whether it's against Japan, whether it's against anybody else. Nolan McLean is starting, and he's going four innings, 65 pitches at most. I don't think he'll go that many, but whatever it is, the Mets have been in agreement with the commissioners office and Michael Hill about what his usage will be.

What year in music classifies as making a song an oldie?

The '40s.

Well, Jay-Z was made oldies earlier this week, and you're doing big band stuff. That's not how you play the game. The 1940s makes it oldies, but they're telling me around here that the '90s and even 2005's Gold Digger is an oldie. What are you shaking your head to know about? That there are oldies and there are moldies now. That Sinatra and all of that are moldies that we have a new category of oldies?

If you do the math, that's like when we're listening to the '80s, that's songs from the '60s, will we consider them oldies? The answer is yes. If you're in the 2020s listening to the 2000s, that's 20 years ago, I guess that's an oldie. God, that makes me ancient, but I'm going to change my answer. 2000s are now considered oldies.

That's the line of demarcation I came up with, the Marlins World Series '03.

That's a long time ago already. Listen, it's 23 years. There's a whole generation. My son was born, went to college, and is in the working world, and he didn't see a Dolphin playoff win or a Marlins playoff win while he was before high school graduation. But he got the heat, so he certainly got to live better than a lot of people. But it's not easy to do it the way you guys think.

I'm going to speed David up here to get through everything that he might want to have opinions about here because we're running out of time. So all your thoughts on the Bam out of bio 83 point situation go as quickly as you can.

In 16 months, no one will remember anything about what he did other than he scored 83. And to not do it because Kobe has 81. Give me a break. If you could do it, do it. If he could have gotten 101, I would have loved it. I'm so happy that he did it. It was ugly for sure, but loved it.

Oscars Week is upon us. We're hoping to have a watch party with you and Adnan on Sunday that combines that and Selection Sunday. Your thoughts, quick as you can be on the Oscars. I know you have a lot of them.

People are going to make it a race issue if Sinners doesn't win best picture or cooler doesn't win best director, and that's not really what it is. Michael B. Jordan has a really good chance, if not a definite chance to win best actor. There's going to be some locks, but also some surprises come the show Sunday night.

What's the movie that you're reviewing for us this week?

I needed more time for this one. I did it, Dan. I watched Melania. Did you?

I saw-Five times. I I could not believe when I saw the trailer for it, how stupid it was, and I can't believe how empty her relationship is with Donald Trump. Empty. Even knowing as people mock it- You can't believe it? No, I can't. That they showed video proof. David, I haven't seen the movie, but you tell me whether it reflected or not how totally empty their relationship is. Where he's been elected President of Landside, she hasn't watched it. She hasn't watched his speech. She has... It's It's unbelievable to think that you would be this distant from your husband.

Well, does Valerie watch every show you do?

She would if I was named President of the United States. She'd be watching- Good point, Dave. She'd be watching that night.

I don't think so.

It's got an 11 on Rotten Tomat, but a 98. 11 from the critics. Audience love it. A 98 from the audience.

It is the worst documentary I've ever seen. Where'd you come from? We're a legion. But A, it doesn't teach anything, but B, it's embarrassing. All I kept thinking about is, I cannot believe that anyone put their name to this, only to be that close to power and to be a part of it the way Amazon was. I was just shocked by it. There's no way that a film executive watched this and said, Oh, that's a really good edit. This is a good 104 minutes. I'm just not buying it because no one could watch that and say it's interesting. You don't learn one thing, you don't get any insight into anything. All the things that have to happen for a documentary not one of them happened in this one, but I was staggered by it. It was sad, but I had to watch it.

Watch it. That's my gimmick.

That's the point.

I got caught up in the excitement.

I would love a bunch of Zagakis to argue against each other at some point because you guys were just stunned by-Yeah, get them to fight. You got something that works, get them to fight. You guys were that stunned by Zazlo breaking out a Zagaki none of us had ever heard before. David, I don't know if you have seen in this story, but it's a bit magical, okay? Obviously, turn that music down. Thank you. Obviously, you find that at present moment, even MAGA is turning against Trump, and what it takes is war and pedophilia to finally make that happen, the most extreme of the things. It's not a war. But also- Even though it is, and we keep saying it is, it's not.

Critical Strike Mission. Epic Fury.

It's Epic Furie, but it's not so- He told the story of how it was named Epic Fury, and this is a direct quote.

I was falling asleep that had a bunch of names, and then I saw Epic Furie. Great name. Yeah, that's about how we thought it went, Mr. President.

There is some stuff here that is hugely serious, but something funny that has happened here, and I have seen the late night shows have fun with this, and I couldn't stop watching the absurdity of what I'm about to show you. The backstory on this is that Donald Trump has taken to giving dress shoes to some of the people in his totally incompetent and corrupt cabinet. He gives them dress shoes, but he guesses their shoe size. He does not ask them their shoe size. Really? Yes. Well, watch this because this was stunning to see this, even though it shouldn't be. And so his lackeys and the incompetence are afraid to not wear the shoes that he has given them. So this is what happens to Marco Rubio. He looks like you did when you were six and you put on your dad's shoes. When you tried to go into your dad's closet and it looks like these are uncomfortable to walk in because there's so much space behind the heel. It's remarkably stupid and totally on brand.

So everyone in his cabinet, Donald Trump, apparently, loves this brand of shoe, and it's an affordable shoe.

It's $145 from floor shine.

Yeah. And I think it... I actually think something else is at play here. I don't think he just guesses their sizes. I think it's very difficult for Donald Trump to fit his gout foot into a dress shoe, and that shoe is very ride at the ankle. And he's like, This shoe is amazing. And normal ankles look like that in the shoe. He hasn't pieced together that he loves his shoes so much because it's the only dress shoe that doesn't cut off circulation to his gout foot. Zaz, you know about that gout foot?

I had gout.

You're surprised by what we're showing you here, David?

I'm just laughing because don't all NBA coaches on the bench wear the same shoes? I'd have to go back and look at a bench. Sometimes. I know they dress the same, but I think they may wear the same shoes. It's possible that you buy shoes that have a little more space when you wear thicker socks versus thin socks. Out of all the things that we should be criticizing about the administration, and there's so many that I can't list them all.

David, I wanted a light, funny one. I did I want to do war and pedophilia again.

I guess core inflation, although five years low. Core inflation, when you take out the things that everybody uses. But he's like a Batman villain, not just because he's evil, but because he makes people dress like him. Mar-a-lago face is basically Joker Cosmetics from Batman 1989.

I love the thought of someone's narcissism requiring other people to look like them because my narcissism is the other way. I'm happy if people do not look like me or dress like me. I don't want that comparator.

I don't think you got to worry about that one, pal. It's business on the top, party on the bottom.

See you later, David. Oh, a pal off. We had a pal off there.

Let me get this sequenced Blazer. Try to ignore- And the shirt that Cam wore on modern family.

Try to ignore that when Inter Miami was at the White House, they were saying that Donald Trump smelled bad.

Mike, you know I have one rule to live by, right? Don't place parlays on multiple long shots. Don't say a game is one when it hasn't hit triple zero. Always drink your Jägermeister ice cold. That's the rule. Everything else is merely a suggestion. Everything else? Everything else. Wearing clean underwear every day?

Well, that's just a personal decision.

Brushing your teeth? Obviously smart, but not a rule. Never PP on an electric fence. Okay, maybe there are two rules, but the one that is 100% that I insist on completely, Jägermeister must be drank ice cold. Or don't drink it at all. Damn, that's cold.

Exactly.

You're finally starting to get it. Drink responsibly. Jägermeister L'Core, 35% alcohol by volume, imported by Mass Jägermeister US, White Plains, New York.