Transcript of The Big Suey: What's The Omni Ever Done? (feat. Dianna Russini)

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Well, I do know that to be true, but even during an ad reads like... Cuervo. I think it could lay out, especially for one of our great partners. Sweet, delicious Cuervo. Since then, Cuervo has stayed true to its roots. The same family, the same land, the same passion. Cuervo. So enjoy the tequila that started it all. Cuervo. Cuervo. Queervo. The tequila that invented tequila. Broximo, queervo. Com. Please drink responsibly. Cuervo. Welcome to the Big Sui, presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show? The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan Levitard 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. If that hasn't happened to you guys? I've done it. Now, here's the marching man to Nowhere, Fatface, and the Habitual Liar. This episode of the Dan Lebitard Show is presented by DraftKings. Draftkings, the Crown is yours. Diana Rusini is coming to us from a hotel lobby in Manhattan at the owner's meeting. She looks like an intrepid reporter right now.

Zaslow and Cody have spent the entire break arguing about whether or not the dolphins-I won that argument. Whether or not the dolphins quit or not on Sunday. I am really wondering, what what the score would have been if they had quit. Everyone looked at the scoreboard when they saw Cleveland 131-6. If they did not watch the game, they're like, Oh, that was a team that wasn't trying on the other side. If that's what happened at Cleveland. But we'll have Diana settled this for us. As, incidentally, RG3 says on the Dan Patrick show that the Miami Dolphins need to blow it all up. They need to fire McDaniel, and they need to get rid of Tua, too. And Bill Cauer and others are saying, Yeah, the Dolphins quit on Sunday. Your assessment here, Diana?

Yeah, I think we all saw it. I don't think anyone watched that game and thought that Mike McDaniel even wanted to be out there in the rain and in the cold. He looked miserable just being the head coach. We'll just start with him on the sideline and obviously the ridiculous sunglasses and He just looks like for a coach that I think had so much potential and is still a really bright guy, he just looks like it's spinning a little bit out of his control. Maybe not even a little bit. I think a lot of it. I think the pressure of all this is mounting, and the players are unfortunately left with a lot of questions and not getting a lot of answers. They will tell you over and over Miami, and the people I talk to there, they're trying to figure it out. They're trying to get the right people leading these meetings. The name Anthony Weaver, the defensive coordinator, his name has come up. He's come up in league circles for the last few seasons as somebody that is a leader of men. And to me, that's just what the Dauphins look like they need right now.

I understand what they're doing here, right? I I talked to some people on Monday after that game about, All right, making changes, right? What do we got? When are you guys going to fire Mike? Just give us a heads up. And they continue to say the same thing, which is we're not doing it because ownership believes that he can still continue to turn this around. That's obviously Steven Ross's opinion, and we all have varied ones.

Deshawn Watson is the worst contract in the league. Is Tua second worst? Who's second worst? What's the second worst contract in the league?

I mean, Tua is up there. I think Trevor where Lawrence gets thrown in there a lot when you talk about bad deals. Look, I understand what the Dolphins were doing with Tua. And when they did it, I don't think any of us, from a salary standpoint, were really criticizing him that much. I know I wasn't. I thought it was a fair deal for him. And if you remember at the time, the concern was less about his play and more about the injuries. It was more about whether or not he could stay healthy on the field. And was this really worth the risk, which is why I had always thought that Chris Greer and this organization needed to make sure no matter what happens, no matter how much they're paying their starter, they better have a really good backup plan in place. And guys, the theme of this season more than ever, more than ever. And nobody wants to hear it because it's boring. But the teams that are doing well have quarterbacks that are part of good programs with good coaching and good support. And at one point, I would have said the Dolphins were one them.

At one point, I believed in what Mike McDaniel and Tua were building. And this has really veered into a territory now where it seems like there is no hope left, that they really can't turn this around despite the fact that ownership- Everyone did believe, though, Diana.

Everyone believed like you did when they were at the top of the offensive power ratings. That's where the belief came from. We saw Tua be better than any of us thought that he was.

Exactly. But there is a major disconnect between Tua and his coach. That is quite obvious. They're literally doing it publicly. What did we really expect, though, on Sunday? And I'm calling myself on that out on that as well. I did not go into that game going, Oh, yeah, the Dolphins, they'll get through this. I mean, I criticized the Eagles left and right because of their drama. And you can do it and know that they're still going to perform because they're that good and they've got the right leaders. That is not Miami at all. And I don't Look, I will never be one to sit up here and go, yes, change is needed, fire coaches in season. But when it starts to look like this, when you're losing the locker room and you're losing effort, just basic effort, I don't know how they can just be okay with it. And I was listening to you guys talk about ownership before. And for those that are watching the show right now, you can see I'm sitting in a hallway. I'm literally at the owners meeting in Midtown Manhattan right now, where all the owners are upstairs, including Steven Ross.

Having just mandatory meetings that they do every fall.

That's a side entrance of a hotel if I've ever seen it.

For real. It really is a shady one.

Diana, are you sitting down, too? People are walking by and they're way taller than you. Are you sitting down? It looks like a courtroom.

Yeah, I'm on a chair. What do you think? You're going to stand up?

That's what I'm going to call it. That chair looks expensive. I was going to ask if you travel with that chair. Do the fake elevator bit. That's funny.

When I sat, most of the owners would be that height anyway.

They're not that tall. You can sit down. Don't worry about it.

I'll sit down. Which, by the way, is a small observation that I make because this is so bizarre what I'm doing. For those that don't know, what I do is I'm sitting in a lobby while the owners are meeting. And then when they break, they're going to come down, maybe get some water, have some food. Some of them are going to leave. And there's no set up interviews. Nobody's saying, Okay, Steven Ross, you're now going to sit with the athletics, Diana Racine. He's just walking, and I then have to go chase him and ask him for an interview, which I will be doing right after we talk here to see what is the direction of this organization. So it's a little bit of a weird scenario and a weird situation because they don't want to talk to you. I don't really want to talk to them, but I have a job. And this just happens all afternoon. So you guys are catching me at the perfect time because they're meeting, so I'm not really missing anything. But the The bigger crowd, you're right, I really look small.

People look gigantic behind them. Diana, you look so tiny.

These are league office people. They're very important.

Ask them if they think the Dolphins quit. Cody, what do you have for Diana? Diana, Everybody says the Dolphins quit. You just refer to them- You're the terniest look ever. You just refer to them having a lack of effort. When you say things like they quit or they didn't show effort, is the final score always enough or do you need evidence on the field? I'm wondering what you saw in that game on the field from Miami that told you they quit. Who did you see with a lack of effort in that game?

I don't even think it's about Miami as much as it's about the Browns. If you're going into Cleveland and you're not even able to put up a decent fight against an okay team outside of their defense, which is exceptional, I think we can all agree that they're the best part of the Browns, that's why they're able to even stay alive. But you're talking about Dylan Gabriel as the quarterback or rookie who I didn't know that much about him coming into the draft, right? Look, I want to believe in Mike. And every time he steps up to the podium, pointing the finger on himself. I mean, they're actually all pointing their finger at each other. But why did we expect effort? Did you think that performance was filled with a bunch of disciplined players that came in with a really good game plan that we're going to lean into the skill sets that they have, which we could probably do a whole segment of what are the Miami Dolphins good at right now?

I don't know. Greg, what would the score have have to have been for you to concede? Again, I'm not saying they quit. I'm just asking you what- Greg, I feel like you're trying to say that you think that my opinion that they weren't making effort is wrong, that that was just bad football, that they were trying, but they just are not very good.

Yeah, you just think they're bad.

Of course. I think there was effort in that game. I think it was a bad team losing to a bad team, a bad team beating an even worse team. I'm not accusing you of anything. Anybody who says, They quit, anybody who says, That was a lack of effort by that team. I always say, What on the field, beyond the final score, what on the field did you see? What player on the field did you see quitting? Now, when Jimmy Butler was almost leaving the heat, there were analytics that showed Jimmy Buffet, Jimmy Butler had quit.

You can find an example of a corner just giving up and not even attempting to make a tackle. No, I don't think we're at that part of the season where guys know it's done and they're just... You hear this all the time where guys in the locker room will tell you, No one was even trying because they don't want to get hurt. This one's in a contract direct to you. He's not willing to take a risk. Hello. No, it's okay.

Did they offer you something? What was that? Is that Mr. Ross? What did you have for Diana? Well, it just seems to me that the dolphins Dolphins time. Yeah, about five minutes passed on Dolphins time. That is time on the Dolphins.

Frank, I want to go back and watch a game. Time.

One more. Time. I just called it. Diana, trust me.

That I take. Because now I want to give better examples.

Time. Diana, trust me. I had a great question, but it's time. So we got to go on something different. Wait, what is the time thing?

We're only on time.

No more dolphins. Stop talking about it. We're done. Time said, we get-Stop it out. No more dolphins. They're a pathetic joke of a franchise.

This is echoing in the lobby of the Omnis. You don't have headphones on? No. I forgot to bring them.

Okay, I'll whisper the question. It's the omniprofit. Diana. Danny B. Of the Day. You mentioned that the owners will come downstairs for refreshments, and that's when you'll sidle up. Is that Louis Riddick? How do you sidle up? What's your opening line to gain the competencies of an owner?

Okay, actually, I need your opinion about something. Because I only see the owners three times a year, roughly, I I always think the most professional approach is always to reintroduce myself, no matter what, even the ones that I've known for years. To just, Hey, how are you? Just Diana Rossini. Yeah, they're old. Just familiarity and also to remind them that I'm not just a fan or a person that works for the league, so they're aware that they are talking to a journalist and that what we talk about is probably going to be written about or I'm going to talk about it. But I've noticed a little trend yesterday when I was doing this where I think they get offended that I introduce myself as if I I'm underestimating their recall. So then I got a lot of like, Yeah, I know. And I'm like, Wait, I was just doing that because I know you meet a lot of people. You're very important. My face is very boring and bland. I look I have six different people in the lobby right now.

Diana, the problem is it comes off as fake humility. No, it doesn't. She's trying to be courteous. What do you know? I know what she's trying to do.

I see what you're saying. I know what she's doing. I'm not Diana Rossini, but I know you know who I am like that.

Exactly. Yeah, like hey.

My brain does not go that way. I want to. I should probably be a little bit.

What a great self-assessment from you. Wow, I'd like to be arrogant, but I'm not. I can't even- That even self is arrogant, though. I can't even try fake humility. No, it's just humility. Aspiring to arrogance.

I don't know what I want to be, but I can tell you this version doesn't work. No, it's a good question. Look, I watch these TikTok videos about how to improve small talk because the- Get out of here. They say, they, the professionals at small talk, say the worst thing you could do in a conversation is to go, Hey, Dan, how are you? Worst, Consciously, your brain shuts down and you're not no longer interested. But if I make an observation about you physically or I'm aware of something you're working, Hey, Dan, how's that project going? Or let's just... I'm trying to think owner who I start. I saw Charlotte Jones, who is lovely to talk to, and I hadn't seen her in a while. I went right up to her and said, Hey, Charlotte Diane. She's like, Oh, how are you? She did it. I just went back, Has life since Micah. I just went right into it. Nice. You're also in the awkward position, though, of meeting all of these people, and it's so transactional.

You need something. They don't, right? And so that makes the whole thing awkward.

Yes, but I enjoy this event more than most because owners don't care, right? Coaches lie, players lie. I'm sure the owners lie, too. But they just say it. I talked to Woody Johnson yesterday. Did you see what he said?

Yeah.

You were there- Guys, I didn't even ask him about Justin Fields. He just said it. He's like, Can't complete a pass.

Who wants to hear what I have to say about Justin Fields?

The whole time I'm sitting there listening to him, I'm thinking, he's not wrong. Is it good for the locker room and for the Jets players to hear their owner basically say that their quarterback stinks? No. But he's thinking what every other Jet fan is thinking and saying it. So yeah, Dan, I'm with you. It definitely feels a little transactional, and they know I'm only talking to them because I want to hear about the state of their team. But there's owners like Carly Ursay, who is not someone I would have been chasing down a few years ago, whereas their team is doing well, so they want to stop. The Teppers, right? Usually, they're sprinting down the hallway. Today, they stopped, right? Because their teams are above 500 for the first time since 2019.

Their season's over. All your favorite NBA players are back. And DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA, is the place to bet on NBA stars this season. New customers download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now and use code Dan, that's code D-A-N, to bet five bucks and get three months of NBA League pass, plus get $300 in bonus bets if your bet wins. In partnership with DraftKings, the crown is yours. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 Gambler. In New York, call 877-8 Hope & Y or text Hope & Y 467-369. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg. Org. Please play responsibly. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas, pass through a per-wager tax may apply in Illinois. 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Restrictions apply. Bet must win to receive bonus bets which expire in seven days. Minimum odds required. Nba League Pass auto renews until canceled. Additional terms at dkng. Co/audio. Limited time offer. Howdy, listeners. It's Mike Ryan and Chris Cody. Hey, everyone. Hey, Chris. We love hanging out so much. You were at my birthday the other day.

You're old. You know what I saw in your hand? What? A can of Miller light. Whether it's a can, whether it's a bottle, a draft pour of Miller light. The draft pour, you see that beautiful, iconic color right away. The cold. The ice coldness to it. She's so good. Yes, Chris. The ice coldness to it. Whether you're hanging out with me on my birthday because I'm old or you're at a game, you know that Miller light just makes every special time a Miller Time. That's how you make the special times by making them Miller times. Game day just hits different with Miller Lite in your hand. Hitting different. From jaw-dropping touch downs to fantasy heartbreak, it's a beer that has been there for every moment. Fifty years of great taste, simple ingredients, and that iconic golden color. That coldness, Chris. That icy coldness. That icy coldness. The original light beer since 1975 and still hitting different five decades later. 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. I see coldness. Dan Levatard. I want to address Tony and all men who would wear that shirt in public. Stugatz. Don't do it. This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stugats. Diana, this is a compliment. I believe your teeth to be real, but the teeth whitening routine, what does it look like here? Is this a contrast with the tan? What are we doing? Wait, the teeth? Mine? Yeah, your teeth are very white. They look good.

It's so funny, too, because I drink so much coffee and I don't do the straw thing. All the girls do the straw thing so you don't get the stain.

Yeah, but what are we doing? Whitening strips?

No, Kev bought this charcoal. It's like a black toothpaste, and we've been using that. And Which is weird, right? Why are my teeth wider if I'm brushing them with a black- Did you get it on IG?

Because I got the purple one from IG. No, the purple is bad. The purple is bad? Purple is bad. Why? It removes yellow. I got the powder that I put on top of the toothpaste. You guys got that one? It's powder that you sprinkle on top of the toothpaste and then you brush your teeth. Let me see your girl. It's the grit. I think you need to get the.

The reason why the lighting looks this way is because I saw my former camera crew from ESPN. We call him Jimmy the Greek, and he's a legend at ESPN, and he He's his job, basically. He knows nothing about football. I could call Jimmy over here and be like, Jimmy, name one quarterback, and he'd be like, no idea. He thinks his job is to just make sure that you're lit. So he helped me out. An old colleague giving us some help. I told him I was coming on here. So he's like, oh, absolutely. He loves you guys.

Just put her on your finger and do this.

I've never heard of that.

It's cocaine. I'm just really excited about dental hygiene. I don't understand what you guys got. Let's speed her up, too, while we're at it. Let's speed her up with the music that will get through as much football information as we can. The Russell Wilson, Sean Payton beef, where Sean Payton was hoping that Russell Wilson would stay the Giants' quarterback, said so publicly, didn't to see Jackson dart, and Russell Wilson called him classless and not surprising, and then said, #Let's ride.

Let's ride. I love it. How mad did he have to be for him to come out of character and be a human being? What a break. I am not a big clapback person. Just ignore it. Good for Russ.

Well, hit him with a bounty, though, too. A bounty joke. How did you feel about that bounty joke in the middle of that?

Sean Payton is going to come back. There's no doubt. He'll find a way. I'm surprised Sean didn't hop on Twitter. He's a Twitter. He's got Twitter fingers.

This is the first public dub for Russell Wilson in a long time. I feel like everyone is just on his side here.

Truthfully, though, it is a known thing in the league that there are some coaches that have worked with Russell Wilson, and Sean Payton is certainly one of them who just did not like the experience at all. And a lot of it is for the reasons why we criticize him as a show and as a journalist. Sometimes I just think that the authentic version of him is the best. And I think it's really hard sometimes for him to be that all the time, which is why we're all like, All right, Russ. It's okay to show that you're not happy with a head coach disrespecting you.

Stand up for yourself a little. You mentioned the Irsay's, the Colts. That whole thing is real, right? I don't think anyone expects that to beat Kansas City, but you better stop underestimating that.

Yeah, I'm past doing that. I was like, Okay, this kid's turning back into a pumpkin soon. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. It's Daniel Jones. I've watched enough Giants football in my life. But even just talking to Carly Ursay about why they went with Daniel Jones and just even his demeanor, so funny to hear how she describes. She's like, He's not say a lot. He doesn't do a lot. He just goes out there and plays, and he's tough, and that's all that matters. But I think with their defense and perhaps maybe some additions they make in the trade deadline, if they do that, they're looking at corner, and they've got this offense humming. You could make an argument. They potentially have a coach of the year, Shane Saiken. They've got an offensive player of the They're in Jonathan Taylor. They've got a comeback player of the year in Daniel Jones. You've got a lot of good things happening in Indeed. You don't say that a lot.

Would you be surprised if the Patriots won the AFC?

No. If you told me this in August, I was like, No way. They stayed. They have been really impressive. I think Josh McDaniels has done an exceptional job with Drake May. I think Drake has always been talented. You talk to anyone in football that was looking for a quarterback in that draft, everyone was high on Drake, despite some of the things out I think there's some reports that some teams didn't like every team like Drake May. I just think the fact that the Patriots have been able... That Josh McDonis has been able to replicate some of the success that we saw early with Tom braided already. I'm not there yet, me like, Oh, this is the braided Patriots yet, but this is a team that's doing it right. They've got the right head coach, they've got the right OC, they've got the quarterback, all good things for them.

Here's what May is doing, though. It's not just the 21 of 23 that was better than any completion percentage braided had. It's not just throwing the ball downfield better than any second-year passer ever has. They had a spy on him in Tennessee, and he's still running all over the place. He ran for 90 yards last year against Tennessee. That guy, if people think that's a pocket passer, he's got great pocket presence, but he runs like crazy. He'll run bigger and better than Mahomes will.

Yeah. Chase Daniel, my colleague, excuse me, my co-host on Scoop City, he reminds me of Philip Rivers a little. He's got a little Philip Rivers in him. Personality, no. Personality is like little Eli. It reminds me of Eli Manning. By the way, next time, Drake May does an interview postgame, close your eyes and tell me you don't hear Eli. It's identical to me in my ear. But in terms of play, yeah. And the toughness, and when I think about the type of quarterback that I know Vrabel wants, one thing he loved about Tana Hill, I know you guys are going to debate me on this, was his toughness Texas. That was the one thing he loved.

No, he was tough. Nobody would debate that here. He was tough.

He was really proven that. I saw Robert Kraft yesterday, and he's glowing.

Diana, do you think the Patriots are going to be a buyer at the deadline? I feel like if they had one alpha wide receiver, they'd be a team that could be a winner in the AFC.

Who? Aj Brown? No. Philly's not.

Wadl? Not now.

We'll see. No, I think defense. I think if they're going to make a move, it's going to be there.

You got to speed it up. It's a tough question, Dan. She's trying to think, Dan. No thinking.

You know what I'm doing? I'm rolling through my text messages in my head What was the last thing I was told about what the Pats are doing? No, the Patriots are making calls on defense. I don't get the sense they're running back, going receiver, but I'm with you. That would be awesome. They're not doing it, but let's say the same move like Chris Alavi or something, but they're trying to work out to deal with them.

Diana, our very own Mike Ryan reported yesterday exclusively that Marcus Freeman, although he's a target for Penn State in Florida, he's rather, if he's going to leave Notre Dame, it'll be for the pros. Have you heard anything in the pros about interest for Marcus Freeman? That would be his preference. The Chicago job last year was of particular interest.

Yeah, I remember working on that story. And at the time, I can tell you everyone was saying the same thing to me, which is Marcus wants to be where he is. He loves where he is.

That's not my question. My question was, is there any interest in the pros for Marcus Freeman?

I don't know yet. At this point, I'm not sure if the Titans are a team that would want to go in that direction or if even the Miami Dolphins. The name I am keeping an eye on is Sarkisian. I'm curious to see if he wants to do that move. That's something that would interest him, perhaps. Just you made me think college. So no, I will get back to you on the Marcus frame of thing. That's not I know there was somebody in a very high-ranking position with the bears that really wanted Marcus last year. But Marcus didn't want them at the time.

Diana, if the Dolphins are all for blank for Jalen Waddle, they should consider it.

In terms of trade vibe? Yeah. Fourth round?

Diana, Super Bowl odds are really indecisive right now. The perception is there's no super team. What right now is your Super Bowl matchup?

Kansas City Chiefs.

And?

They've been the most chill organization all fall. I can't get a person there to tell me that things are not good. Everything Everything is... And this isn't like positive Poly stuff, too, that sometimes you get from teams. We're going to be fine. We're going to be fine.

And from the NFC?

And we see it every... The Detroit lines. Detroit lines, they're building on this. Why?

Why is your reporting so much different than everyone else's on Bill Belichick when you said on nick Wright's show, they tell me this is the happiest they've seen Bill in years. He feels like the students are actually buying into what he's doing.

Because I did a lot of digging on it, and I talked more directly to the people involved to find out what's going on. What do you guys want? Are you happy? Or is this where you want to be? And the people there tell me that that is what it is. You know, Belichick's camp will tell you that you have to be around it to understand it. And I had a colleague of mine around it on Friday night when they played Cal. And there was definitely a little bit of that. It's not as bad as it may seem. Do I think it's good? No, I don't think it's good. But I do think there's a lot of people in the NFL, in the college base on this planet who want to see Bill Belichick fail. And everyone has their own reasons. It's not my job to figure what those are out. I am just telling you that there's always two sides to things. And it's not just Bill is trying to get out or Bill is miserable, Bill is a bad coach. There are some good things that are happening there, and he wants to be there.

She's the senior NFL Insider for the Athletic, the host of the Scoop City podcast. She's joining us from a sad side adjacent hotel lobby, and she will do anything for our show. Thank you, Diana. We appreciate it. An echoing lobby where the strangers looked at how she was shouting because she forgot her headphones. We will get to the useless sound montage in a second. When she mentioned Chris O'Lavi, I meant to mention this, I think it was two weeks ago. He had some play where I did not understand how he caught it. I did not understand how he stayed upright after he caught it. And as soon as he did both of those things, someone came over and just punched the ball cleanly out of his hands, even though he had made a great athletic play. Just somebody wound up and just punched the football directly. You saw the league, they're sending memos. You better not punch. Punch the ball fine, but don't go punching players. Nobody said anything about punching players or going after the ball. When you miss, you punch players. You're with this terrible take. You can't just punch a player. What is this?

After the Lion's Chief's game in which there was actual punches thrown, I think you're misinterpreting that. Not misinterpreting anything. You can't just throw haymakers at the guy who's carrying the football. You can't hit the ball. Yeah, you can. What if I miss it? You're going to tackle him anyway. What's the matter? Kyron Williams got punched in the face a couple of weeks ago. Cost them the game. Stop punching people. Stop boxing. Don Levatard. He, for some reason, would do a Gary Stevens impersonation of the offensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins in the University of Miami. Go ahead. Do you want to do that for the people? Your Gary Stevens impersonation? You want to give people some of that 30 years in the making? Stugatz. What? Who needs me? Oh, that? I've got to do that my whole life. You're going to go to Buffalo and win with Bernie Pommily? Who needs me? This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stugatz. Get the useless sound montage here. Get it going so that we could laugh together at how uselessly people analyze the football games on Sunday. Everything we said we didn't want to do did occur.

I think he did everything to lose the game. We just have to do what we have to to go win these games. Thank you, Lord, for putting me in that position and choosing me to be the quarterback of this team. We're going to be so excited anytime we win a game. Guys want to do good every time they're out there, right? Tip your hats to New York. Those guys have found a new juice. We lost the game. That was upsetting. We came in to play win the game. He was cool as a cucumber and went out there and did his job. When you win, you can usually coach a little bit harder. Did you guys put up the gas at all when you had this 19 point lead? No. Take it one game at a time. We celebrate the win, celebrate the heck out of it just now. The resilience of this group, the focus, the toughness to finish when we needed it, guys making plays. I am who I am, and I don't change. We're going to find out who and what we're made of. It's important we don't let the euphoria of a win like that cloud, the things that need to get cleaned up tomorrow.

Great fight, great by our guys. There's some grit there. They didn't quit. Yeah, we won't be defined by this performance, but it certainly was disappointing tonight. They're figuring out how to win. They're figuring out how to practice. You win a game like that, it's the best thing ever. My first time you win in a game like that. I thought the guys did a great job of being able to sleep on the plane. Two formulas that generally will equal immediate loss. I mean, if you can beat it, they're happy. The only thing we can do is go back to work. Yeah, 60 minutes game. Just like everybody else in there, we got to look inward first. If you're saying it's not me, it's you. Me and the boys are over there. See one of them counting. I'm like, You know what? It's probably best we don't do that because a lot of numbers, you're going to have to count. But it was funny. We were talking this week about I was like, It's your revenge week this week because he was in Atlanta. Then sure enough, he's on whatever early in the game. He's like, All right, here we go.

I was like, Revenge week. Here's what gives me hope as I go through these weeks is, man, just exactly how they come out on Wednesday in and then how they come out on third day in practice. Same with on Friday. When tomorrow comes, and it's not tomorrow yet. Plans are plans, man. Our philosophy is always going to be, do whatever we got to do to win games every single time. We just got to stick together. Doing right longer, and that's our definition of finishing. We're always truth tellers on Monday. It was good.

He definitely owes me some money.

He fell down on those passes at the two-yard line, so he wanted to run them in. We talk about practice, performance, equal in game reality. I thought that came to life today. We say we want to win games, so we have to do the things necessary to win games.

Yeah, no, I definitely got your question, and you weren't wrong. So I hope we can still be friends.

We have an NFL opponent in game next week. Just trying to maneuver everything and trying to build a collection of guys to bring along with me. I got to be able to multitask, if that makes sense, be able to do that. And while doing that, continue to get whatever it was last year and the years prior myself to get going again. If I'm being totally honest, I have not been myself since confusing Ray Bork and Boston Globe columnist Ron Borges. But McVay brought me back by complimenting the way his guys were sleeping on the plane. Yes. Those guys slept on the plane on the way to the Jacksonville game. They did a great job of sleeping on the plane. It's not the The easiest thing to do. You remember when Chip Kelly was going to change the Philadelphia Eagles because he bought him smoothies and heart monitors and he was going to monitor their sleep? Sean McVay made sure that his RAM slept correctly. Nobody sleeps like the RAMs. I thought the guys did a great job of being able to sleep on the plane. Do you think he walked up and down the aisles?

It's like, nice. They look so good. Who's awake over here? That's good sleep right there. That's good sleep. Who's good? Last night, Amine was made nostalgic. I wonder how old he felt when all of the players playing in the games were interviewed about their memories about the NBA on NBC, and none of them knew anything and laughed in the face of the interviewers, except for Anthony Edwards, who simply said Michael Jordan. That's what I remember from NBA on NBC. They bring Michael Jordan out. I seem like I'm the only one that was disappointed by Insights into Excellence just being a one-hour interview with Michael Jordan. What were you I was expecting something a little more like Tom braided if you're going to give him that money. I'm not saying you got to go to production meetings, but you're not going to just do a taped one-hour interview that you're going to splice out over the remainder of the season? Zaz, Dan was expecting Michael Jordan to let us know that Tari Easton needs to step it up. Also, Kacen Wallace has been a great piece of energy for the Thunder. They had Carmelo and McGrady to do that.

Are you comparing Carmelo and McGrady to the greatest player in the history of the game? The man whose funeral I will attend? Are you, Dan? Did you guys see their tech issues at the start? I'm not going to lie, that made me feel good. Not so easy, is it? I like to see when big programs have tech issues. Carmelo, can you put on a shirt and tie? Oh, what are you doing? Carmelo. Enough with you. This is an Broadcast. Look at your outfit. It's NBA and MBC. You have a backwards flex fit. That's right. You know what? I'm glad. This is the second consecutive day you're wearing a runner-up heat Championship shirt. Okay, first of all, I have a lot of positive feelings about the Miami Heats 2020 runs the NBA Finals. I I know they didn't win. Back to back days with a second-play shirt and a backwards flexfit. Number two, I'm glad you brought this up because I was on the Miami Heat radio, not even television, radio broadcast for 12 years. He was wearing a suit. I wore a suit of it. That's not true. Look at me. Look at me. This is how I want to dress.

You think I wanted to wear a suit every day, but I wasn't even on TV. But I dress for the occasion. Carmelo, it's not a podcast. Put on a suit. Everyone in there has a colored shirt. Two-time champion broadcaster. Dan, a lot of people were praising Carmelo for dressing in a way that offended Jonathan Zazla, apparently. To all those people, I'd like to say, you're welcome. Let's give credit where credit's due. Pay tribute to the Trailblazers, the icons, the people who blaze the path to allow Carmelo Anthony to wear that on an NBA broadcast. Who are those people? You're looking at them. Okay. You're taking credit for T-shirt pioneering? Not T-shirt. Explain yourself a minute. Not T-shirt. When I got there, they were dressed like they were going to a funeral. Hard bottoms and suits and ties. We weren't talking about sports seriously. I came in with the bomber jackets and the Jordans on. And next thing you know, everyone started wearing sneakers with their suits. Then they became, Oh, we don't have to wear a suit. Now everyone's like, Oh, my God, look at Carmelo Anthony. He's so cool. I'm like, I did that 10 years ago, and you guys called me crazy.

You can't be taking credit for this. Dan, he's a Trailblazer. You're talking to a Trailblazer of television, Dan. Pioneer. You took the Blazer out of Trailblazer. You put the sports in sports coat. Pioneer. I mean, even Michael Jordan dressed up for the occasion. I didn't even leave his living room. I did like those shoes. Those shoes were like Vanta White. You think when he saw Tareco had white shoes, he's like, No. I've got wider shoes. He went back into his closet and got some shoes to one of them. By the way, how great was that story? Oh, dude. It's a good story. While he's wearing shoes wider than Ruecine these teeth. But yeah, Dan, did you hear the story? Now, you're familiar with the meme, the Michael Jordan meme, F Those Kids? Yes. Okay. Well, apparently, it's a lie because he cares about kids. He stays at a Ryder Cup owner's house, whatever that means. The guy who owns the Ryder Cup is what he said. You say the greatest basketball player ever, and you're right, but the greatest basketball player ever still gets trotted out like a show pony to shoot free throws when you own the Ryder Cup house.

He doesn't own the Ryder Cup. It was a guy who owned the house. The best part is that he asked him, Have you picked up a basketball? He goes, Not in years. And he asked one follow-up, Really? Actually, last month, I shot a free throw. You said not years. And then 10 seconds later, you're like, Actually, last week, I shot a free throw. Chris, you know what I just heard from you right there? Mike Tariko, journalist. Most podcast hosts would be like, Okay, let's just move right along. Not Mike Tariko. Stayed in it. Stayed in it. Hit him with the follow-up, right? Hold him accountable. Michael Jordan comes back, says, You got me, Mike. Tells the story. And then, if you didn't watch, Michael Jordan goes. Let's hear it. Let's do it right now. We have the sound. I haven't picked up a ball in years. Come on. Just walk past. There's got to be a hoop somewhere at your place. You don't see a hoop anywhere around here, right? I don't. Seriously, it's the last time you picked up a basketball and shot it. I was at the Ryder Cup. A month ago. And I rented a house from the owner.

Sure. He came over to do pictures. He had grandkids. And I was beating Greek. Thank him for allowing me to stay in the house. And he had a basketball court. He says, I want you to shoot one free throw. I said, Really? And I already paid for the house. He got to see me. So when I stepped up to shoot the free throw, that's the most nervous I've been in years. Stop it. In years. Stop it. Come on. And the reason being is, those kids heard the stories from the parents about what I did 30 years ago. So their expectation is 30 years prior, and I haven't touched the basketball. I hope you switched it. Absolutely. We're supposed to believe that he rented that house? Come on. Wasn't that funny, Theriko? What? Why wouldn't he have rented the house? If you have a chance to have Michael Jordan staying in your house- You don't charge him? Is he low on money? That's who I would charge the most. Of course, you don't charge him. He's staying there gratis. Doug's right, though. That's the thing. The richer you are, the more famous you are, the more free stuff you get, Dan, right?

I'll give it to you free if you give me a free throw, if you go out here and shoot a free throw for me. My kids are there. What do you think they're there for? Come on. Dan, I googled who owns the Ryder Cup. It is co-owned, 50/50 partnership between the PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe. Okay, thank you for that. So they don't own the house he was rent. The PGA asked him to make a free throw. You thought a guy, one guy, owned the Ryder Cup? I thought I thought Michael Jordan lived in such a stratosphere that one guy owned the Ryder Cup and led him his own. He was Ryder Cup, Cooper Cup, Ryder Cup. Now is a good time to remember where Tequila's story truly began. In 1995, Cuervo invented tequila. Cuervo. What are you doing here? Cuervo. Anytime someone says Cuervo, I show up. Well, I do know that to be true, but even during an ad reads like... Cuervo. I think it could lay out, especially for one of our great partners. Sweet, delicious Cuervo. Since then, Cuervo has stayed true to its roots. The same family, the same land, the same passion.

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