Transcript of DUSTY MAY TO THE DALLAS MAVERICKS?!?! | Hour 2

The Dan Le Batard Show
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00:00:00

Meditieren, Yoga, Joggen— nichts entspannt mich. Echt?

00:00:03

Mich entspannt meine Steuer total.

00:00:06

Steuer? Wie Finanzamt? Die Steuererklärung?

00:00:09

Ja, ich hab ganz locker über €1000 zurückbekommen.

00:00:12

Hast du geheime Connections?

00:00:14

Nö, nur die WISO Steuer App.

00:00:15

Wow! Und das ist einfach?

00:00:17

Klar, die macht fast alles automatisch.

00:00:20

Plötzlich fühle ich mich so entspannt. Hol dir dein Geld zurück, tiefenentspannt mit WISO Steuer.

00:00:27

Mehr Feuer, mehr Intrigen. Die Drachen kehren zurück.

00:00:31

Die absolute Macht ist dir zum Greifen nah.

00:00:34

Dein Reich wird unbezwingbar sein, Rhaenyra.

00:00:36

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00:01:24

You are listening to the Dan Levitan Show in partnership with the DraftKings Sports App, now live in all 50 states.

00:01:36

I don't know how you guys feel about this. If I were Dusty May, I think that some of the stuff happening in college sports has become so professionalized that these jobs aren't what they used to be to the Bobby Bowdens of the world, where you could stay at one school forever if you win one time and you can have the longevity that you want. Amateur sports has gotten so professionalized that I understand now more than ever why somebody would do this. But at various points during my career, I would have argued on behalf of some of these guys staying in college and having the job security that comes with college. Is my voice distracting you, Dominick?

00:02:19

You're, you're distracted.

00:02:22

Disgusted by how sick I sound. I don't think I'm going to make it to the end of the show. If this is my flu game, I think I'm going to ask out in the third quarter.

00:02:28

Jordan didn't.

00:02:29

Yeah, I think— I don't think I'm going to make it to the end of the show today.

00:02:33

I'm worried about me and Greg also.

00:02:35

You guys are breathing. Like I said, scientifically, if you would hold your breath, you'd be fine.

00:02:38

I think Greg might die.

00:02:39

I'm surprised because like this show has the like reputation of being like this liberal island in South Florida. I didn't know that Dan was an anti-vaxxer.

00:02:54

I took a COVID test, so I don't have COVID. COVID.

00:02:57

You didn't take a COVID test.

00:02:58

That's a lie. That's what you have to say. That's a joke, right? Since 2020, everyone says anytime they cough, don't worry, I took a COVID test. They didn't.

00:03:07

Such a lie. You know, Dan, you're supposed to take the thing and like you swirl it around your nose for like a good 10 seconds. No one does the 10 seconds, right?

00:03:15

No one does.

00:03:15

It's so uncomfortable.

00:03:17

I did do the 10 seconds. Now, Valerie did wonder whether the COVID test I was using had expired. Because there hasn't been—

00:03:24

COVID expired, Dan, let me tell you.

00:03:26

But I did, I did indeed take a COVID test, even though my employees are very comfortable calling me a liar in front of our people who believe me to be credible, and I'm telling you that no one here is going to get COVID. They might get a cold or they might get something else, but COVID's not what they're going to get if indeed this test wasn't expired. It might have been an expired test. I couldn't tell based on looking at it.

00:03:47

I mean, but to be fair, Dan, I know you would never lie. You're telling the truth. But ever since 2020, anytime anyone coughs and then you're around, you cough in front of people, you have to say, don't worry, I took a COVID test. Right, right. So like, not that you're lying, but someone could be lying.

00:04:04

Like Plexiglas.

00:04:05

We do need— we got to bring it back. Some social distancing. This man tried to hug me today and he's like, don't worry, I'll turn my head away. Like, I don't need us to go body to body that bad.

00:04:15

The Plexiglas thing was so insane because it just like the top was open, so it would just go over the top and then back under the other side.

00:04:21

It's like, what are we doing?

00:04:22

I mean, it's a hurdle.

00:04:24

I'm a believer in plexiglass. I tell you what, it's a hurdle.

00:04:26

People who made plexiglass for a living, they were becoming billionaires during the pandemic.

00:04:32

Is that right?

00:04:33

Yeah, they really— it's quantifiable. Just like if it is quantifiable thanks to Amazon, if you're making cardboard boxes now, go on, you're a billionaire, you know. So things ebb and flow.

00:04:44

Okay, put it on the poll at @LebatardShow. Is the person making plexiglass a billionaire, and is the person making cardboard boxes a billionaire?

00:04:52

Dan, to be fair, the guy that invented plexiglass is for Sure, a billionaire, right?

00:04:57

Yes.

00:04:58

He's saying that plexiglass has taken off the last few years to make several people billionaires. I don't believe that that's so. I believe that's empirically not so.

00:05:07

Headline via Forbes, Greg.

00:05:09

Yes.

00:05:09

May 2020, rare coronavirus success story. Plexiglass dealers are booming.

00:05:17

Thank you very much. Yes.

00:05:19

And that's another Greg Cody first down.

00:05:23

And that's a brand name, by the way, capital P. Al Plexiglas is the guy making most of the money. Can't help it.

00:05:34

Second and 13.

00:05:35

He earned it.

00:05:36

He did. He did. He just took a small sack. He just scrambled to his right and lost 3 yards. He throws second and 13 right after that first down when he said that the maker of Plexiglas was named Al Plexiglas.

00:05:50

The ball went over his head.

00:05:51

I know.

00:05:51

Credit the tackler, not the runner in that case.

00:05:54

We're going to get to Greg Cody's catchphrases in just a second because we We have a very important update, but I don't know if Zazz winces when he hears the name Dusty May. Dusty May, we can now empty our Dusty May file here, which just has this question. I don't know if you ever heard it, Dominique, this question that, uh, that Zazzlo asked Dusty May when he was on with us. Listen to this from Zazzlo.

00:06:19

Coach, did the winning feel better than losing in the Final Four with FAU?

00:06:33

I think that's why Dusty May left college.

00:06:40

That question chased him out.

00:06:41

It was so long ago.

00:06:43

Get over it already.

00:06:45

Time now for Greg Cody's top 65 catchphrases. Are we starting with number 65? Have we gone to number 70? Uh, you can, uh, you can wear the mask.

00:06:53

You can wear the mask while doing this.

00:06:56

He can't.

00:06:57

The mask is so tight that you can't.

00:06:59

Oh no, no, I can. I feel like, I mean, the lung capacity I think might be a little— I think the mask is adding an extra hurdle.

00:07:07

Good.

00:07:08

Respiration.

00:07:08

Number 65.

00:07:10

No, we're still at 60. We haven't officially raised it yet, so we're still—

00:07:14

You did last week. You officially raised it last week. You told us you were going to 65 last week.

00:07:19

It's like a law not taking effect yet. You know, we have announced it, but we have not Actually begun. It's right now.

00:07:25

It's elect. President-elect.

00:07:28

Exactly.

00:07:28

It's change-elect.

00:07:29

Well said.

00:07:30

Wait, wait till the inauguration.

00:07:32

That's right.

00:07:33

Number 60.

00:07:34

Number 60, I'm fuller than Vern Fuller. 59, where's my click-click? 58, hey Butterfinger! 57, punt. 56, Scranton! 55, I'm busier than a one-armed paper hanger. 54, Georgia, Georgia! 53, I'm the kind of guy that— 52, ballin' the jack. 51, hey hey, we're the Monkees, baby. 50, thank you, Billy. 49, I love 'em like a pet. 48, who made it a salad? 47, we're rollin' now, huh? 46, you're brain beatin' me. 45, let's go states! 44, driver comfort is paramount. 43, dummy up, say bop. 42, catch as catch can. 41, doesn't make it right. 40, So on and so forth. 39. Very good! 38. The Little League Theory. 37. Nice hat, asshole. 36. The others, they all learned from me. 35. Don't go showerin' to try to please me. 34. Look at that jerk. 33. It's like a packing house in here. 32. What'd you learn? 31. Hee haw, 3, bada bop. 30. I'm not gonna take a quiz. 29. Sassafras. 28. What'd we break a window? 27, hello. 26, who won? 25, trailers for sale or rent. 24, you gotta eat a peck of dirt before you die. 23, 3 words, we are the Lobos.

00:09:03

22, you're gonna go to Buffalo with Bernie Pauly. 21, rappy cac. 20, another crisis solved. 19, nice chatting with ya. 18, he ain't heavy, he's my blank. 17, hey, that's what I'm talking about, man. 16, who let a pet? 15, good on ya. 14, dancing swords. 13, QK, quick crap. And these are the two. These are the two numbers.

00:09:32

Give me a second, give me a second.

00:09:33

Take the mask off, breathe.

00:09:34

Take a deep breath.

00:09:36

Tony whispered to me while you were talking, we're gonna get aggregated and somebody's gonna say, look at this liberal show still wearing masks in 2020. Sick and we're wearing them wrong because I'm the sick one.

00:09:47

Yeah, that's the one thing we learned.

00:09:48

I know, I'm not—

00:09:49

you're the one that's supposed to wear that.

00:09:50

What'd you learn?

00:09:52

So he's taking off his mask now so he can breathe. Was it indeed what Dominique claimed, that it was— was it harder to do with the mask on? Do you feel even more winded than you would have been otherwise?

00:10:05

Yeah, my glasses kept fogging up because my breath is like coming up out of the mask. It was a nice—

00:10:10

all of these can be found first on The Greg Cody Show featuring Greg Cody.

00:10:14

Yeah, with—

00:10:14

yeah.

00:10:16

Yeah, thank you. A new episode dropped this morning, and we appreciate you all for listening. Thank you very much. These, these are 12 and 11, which may not remain 12 or 11 because we are going to increase the Countdown Through Demand, but it's either going to increase to 65 or 70. We haven't decided yet. So for now, these are number 12 and 11.

00:10:38

So for now, President-elect Cody is very close to his top 10, but it's unlikely that we're going to get his top 10 anytime soon. We're gonna have to wait more than a month because this is about to go to 65, or you just said 70. I thought it was 65, but now you just said it might be 70.

00:10:55

It's out of my hands.

00:10:56

Change it. It's not in his hands. It is. No, not in his hands.

00:10:59

No, it's bigger than me.

00:11:01

Who's— it's the public.

00:11:02

Yeah, it's in his hands.

00:11:03

No, it's not. Not in his hands. He can't control this. Give them what they want, right?

00:11:06

I'm a small private individual. That's it.

00:11:09

Okay, that might be on there. I haven't heard—

00:11:13

he's been saying that.

00:11:13

He's been saying that for a long time. I'm a small private individual.

00:11:17

I have been saying that for a long time, since I've known him.

00:11:20

He's been saying that and I haven't heard—

00:11:22

75 now.

00:11:23

Okay. Okay. No, it won't go to 75.

00:11:25

I don't think.

00:11:26

I don't think.

00:11:26

I don't think it will.

00:11:28

It's possible.

00:11:29

Put it on the poll at @LebatardShow. Will Greg Cody's catchphrases go from a top 50 to the top 75?

00:11:36

Yes or no? Does Greg Cody hold the record for the most catchphrases for one individual? Because normally it's like you get one thing, you get one catchphrase, maybe two. Yeah. Coming up on 75 is pretty impressive.

00:11:47

Thank you very much, Dominique. I appreciate that. And there is a rumor that in honor of the United States, it might become a top 250 catchphrase. I'm just—

00:11:57

but it's not in your hands.

00:11:58

It's not in my hands. And I doubt it because that would be absurd. Whereas 65 or 70, not absurd.

00:12:04

USA could win the World Cup. Anything can happen.

00:12:06

Damn right they could. Literally. Literally anything could happen. That's right. You ready for number 12?

00:12:11

One of the things that literally can't happen is the United States winning the World Cup.

00:12:15

More likely. United States win the World Cup, Greg Cody's list goes to 250.

00:12:20

Greg Cody's list goes to 250.

00:12:22

Is more Greg Cody 250 instead of America 250?

00:12:25

Wow.

00:12:25

Yeah, there you go.

00:12:26

All right, Greg, number, number 12.

00:12:29

Number 12, bae.

00:12:32

Wow, that's what he says to control Jumping Charlie, even though Jumping Charlie is uncontrollable. It doesn't work. He just gets confused by— he gets confused by what his owner is doing, doesn't trust him, finds him unstable, and then stops doing the bad thing for moment because he's like, what is that? Why is he doing that?

00:12:52

He has to look back like, what?

00:12:53

It works though. It doesn't work.

00:12:56

It's amazing how it works.

00:12:56

It stops him temporarily, but he goes right back to it.

00:12:59

It works.

00:13:00

That's working.

00:13:00

It works because it's such an unusual sound. It's like no other sound I make. You know, it's not like, hey, good boy, good boy. And then when my voice goes real high, he likes that.

00:13:09

Who's good?

00:13:10

Who's good?

00:13:11

He loves that sound. Oh, write that down, write that down.

00:13:13

But when I go bass.

00:13:15

Who's good? Got it, got to write it down. It might be on there.

00:13:18

It could be. Okay, number 11. Blanken it. Now you just sneezed and it took all of my self-control not to go sneezing it. That would be an example of what blanken it is. Okay, so there, number 12 and 11 for now.

00:13:38

For 22 years on this show, we've debated the greatest athletes of all time. Who's the GOAT in football? Who's the GOAT in soccer? Who's the GOAT in hoops? One thing that we all know is Dan's the GOAT of finding the worst possible take. But there's another kind of MVP/GOAT that doesn't get enough credit. The friend who knows to show up with enough Miller Lights. Plus extra ice. Because they just know. The one who already has seats at the bar when you walk up. That is a Miller Time MVP. I've been on this show long enough to know that Dan is going to make everything about his feelings and Jeremy is going to push back check on whatever I just said. But here's something nobody on this show will argue with: Miller Lite is the summer beer. The original light beer since 1975. This summer, recognize your MVPs. We all have that one friend who makes every game better. Now it's time to give them their moment. Head over to Miller Lite's social media pages to learn more about being a Miller Time MVP. You can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer, It's Miller time.

00:14:42

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00:14:50

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00:14:51

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00:15:58

Ein perfekter Frühlingstag. Sonne. Park. Picknick.

00:16:04

Und so viele Pollen.

00:16:06

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00:16:27

Dann lebe tar.

00:16:28

Can't wait for 39.

00:16:29

Yeah, I can't either. 40 comes first.

00:16:32

Do you know what 40 is yet?

00:16:34

Not yet.

00:16:35

What are we doing?

00:16:36

Greg, did you just laugh?

00:16:38

Did you just laugh out loud at something Lewis said in your ear?

00:16:41

Great, Cody! Yes. I couldn't help it, it was funny.

00:16:46

Yeah, but—

00:16:46

Thanks, Lewis.

00:16:48

Yeah, but—

00:16:48

Gagging the goose.

00:16:51

Of course.

00:16:53

Choking the frog. I mean, there's a million of them.

00:16:55

Of course.

00:16:56

Half of them would sound dirty if we keep doing it.

00:16:58

This is the Dan Levitan Show.

00:17:06

I thought blanketing was a for sure top 10.

00:17:07

Absolutely, yeah.

00:17:10

And you know, that's why we have to increase the number, is that we're down to 10 and my, my prime list still has 16 or 18 on it.

00:17:18

Now let me ask you something. So next week, potentially, we should be getting into the top 10. Are we going to know next week? Meaning like, for sure, like, will next week either be the top 10 or it'll be the top 20?

00:17:29

Yes. Next week you'll know for sure because I can't— you know, it's ridiculous. This, this bit.

00:17:34

Yes, it is ridiculous. Yes.

00:17:37

But it's popular. Also popular is the Cody Cup World Cup website, CodyCup.TheGregCodyShow.com. Everybody made fun of me last week when I said, hey, we're only in day one, we've already got 500 visitors. Well, now we're well over 15,000 visitors, so we got a lot of people coming to the website. Join it. Here's our new QR code if you want to take a pic of that and run with it.

00:17:58

Cupping it.

00:17:59

Exactly.

00:18:01

Yes.

00:18:02

Well said. Cup in it.

00:18:07

CodyCup.TheGregCodyShow.com is where you go if you want all of Greg Cody's exclusive World Cup and soccer information. Also very popular, I see making a return there in front of Tony, not very subtly, the Things to Ponder file has made a reappearance. Tony, you want to take people through the long and distinguished history of your Things to Ponder file? I think you recovered it somewhere under some ashes recently. Because it had been lost, and I'm sure Dominique would like to play the Things to Ponder game. What is the history here that's relevant to the listener?

00:18:41

So the beautiful thing about the Things to Ponder folder is that it has taken a beating. We did find it. We thought it was lost to the earth and to humanity, and it wasn't. We found it. So it's things that I've pondered throughout time for the last couple of years, and, you know, we've got some stuff that pretty prescient— you know, prescient.

00:18:57

Oh, get them big words!

00:18:59

AI question mark was something that I was pondering a couple of years ago. Let's see what else Russell Wilson for $2 million or Tua for $55 million before he signed his deal. Things that make you think. China buying U.S. farmland. I don't want to start with that one. I'm going to keep scrolling here. All right, I've got one that I've been, that I've been pondering. First all-lefty QB camp battle ever. Tua versus Michael Penix Jr. Battle of the lefties. Have we ever had a double lefty QB battle ever?

00:19:27

I don't know the answer to that question. I do know that Mississippi State last year was the only team in the history of college football to have a left-footed kicker and a left-footed punter. They had both of those things, and it is not something that had ever been so before. Do you think— the lefty quarterback still confuses me a little bit. I am still not used to seeing someone quarterback and throw with his left arm.

00:19:55

So it's just like a right-handed quarterback, except they do the same things, but they do it literally with their left hand. So there you go.

00:20:03

I'm glad I could break that down for you. Dominique, obviously you've been a part of many different teams and in the football industry. If you're a right tackle—

00:20:10

trying to say he wasn't good?

00:20:11

No, I said he was a great player.

00:20:12

I heard it too, his ass.

00:20:14

I said he was a great player earlier.

00:20:15

That was—

00:20:15

were you with a great many teams? You weren't with a great many teams. Name them. I don't know. You were with, uh, none of my friends.

00:20:21

Broncos, Falcons.

00:20:23

Broncos, Falcons.

00:20:23

My only friend.

00:20:25

There you go.

00:20:25

Okay, of many great teams.

00:20:27

None of them great, really, except the Baltimore team was a good team.

00:20:31

Really good too.

00:20:31

We were 13-3, lost We lost in the conference championship because Ben Roethlisberger kept picking on me. That comeback, we were running cover zero. I couldn't quite cover the comeback in cover zero because you either get the three-step or you go. All season long, three-step, you cut it off, or you go. I was balling in that position. Then we get there, they do this slot motion so that they take the zero blitz away by motion to slot, picking off the end man at the line of scrimmage, get a two-for-one. They get 6 seconds. I'm running comebacks. Can I get some help? Champ Bailey's on the other side. Send the damn safety over here. Let me get a And we lost.

00:21:04

Again, great player, as you can hear. If you're a right tackle and you know that there's a lefty quarterback, are you telling your agent like, hey, get over there, what's going on here? Let's like, let's make some big money, some left tackle money over here.

00:21:15

Your left-handed competition is interesting because my assumption is teams who have starting left-handed quarterbacks go ahead and look for a backup who's left-handed also. But normally there would not be a competition. So I wonder would you have— is there like a challenge in having a left-handed quarterback and a right-handed quarterback in competition? Because you're like, hey, what are we practicing? My right tackle, my left tackle, who's more important? I don't know. Challenging.

00:21:43

I wanted to ask you guys something from this weekend. I saw something about David Blaine and whether or not he deserves all of the acclaim he gets as a magician and David Blaine is on the record saying he wishes to be regarded as the greatest showman of all time. Now, by itself, I think most of us would react by saying that's asinine, but who is the greatest showman of all time?

00:22:11

Like, showman?

00:22:12

Showman? James Brown?

00:22:14

That was—

00:22:15

that is what Dominique just said under his breath, but showman is a weird word. Like entertainer? Are those interchangeable? Like what?

00:22:25

I would say that somebody who is a performer who the world would regard as something close to consensus as not ridiculous, the way David Blaine when he says, I want to be the greatest showman ever. You can't even be it in the magicians category because Harry Houdini would, I assume, would get that among the magicians. But I don't know if a magician can be. Put it on the poll at Levitard Show. Can a magician ever be the greatest showman ever? Because it can be an athlete. I— you guys immediately went to the musical performer.

00:22:56

I think magician is fair because obviously magic is, uh, about the show that you provide and getting people engrossed in it. I think it's easy, it's James Brown. He was at Fox and then he takes over at CBS. The man works and a bunch of different places. Can't beat him. He's as good as—

00:23:14

and that hairline, the hairline, the sick hairline.

00:23:17

Hair perfect, immaculate. The man's done everything. Incredible analyst. David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear.

00:23:25

I feel like David Copperfield's like—

00:23:27

I love David Blaine, but I'm with Greg though. We need to identify exactly what it means to be a showman because right now you're talking about the biggest magic performed, like the coolest magic. Is that a show? Is that being a showman?

00:23:39

It's anything in performance, right? Anything performed in front of people. So it can be an athlete, it can be a musician, it could be—

00:23:46

I think it's slightly different though because I think that I think that The Greatest Showman is about the non— it's about the non-talent part of what you do, if that makes any sense. So, like, if you're a singer, because you're a tremendous singer, the stuff around it is the show that you're creating. It's the— that stuff. So I think if— I don't know if I'm making a ton of sense, but it's not how—

00:24:06

Yeah, you're saying you're not famous for the thing that's necessarily just your expertise. It's all the packaging that you put on it.

00:24:12

Right. I think that's what showman is. It's the packaging.

00:24:14

Well, James Brown, the singer, concert, not the, uh, broadcaster, used to literally portray himself as a showman, right? You remember when toward the end of a concert he would— they would put a cape on, he would kneel down, they would put a cape on him. He was literally a showman. Literally a showman.

00:24:31

Put it on the poll at Le Batard Show: can a woman be the greatest showman of all time?

00:24:36

You said remember? I do not remember, but I heard about it.

00:24:39

There you go.

00:24:40

He would— he would have a cape put on him, and yes, he was very good at the theatrics. I'd also put this on the poll, uh, as well: is James Brown's Funky Christmas, the greatest Christmas album of all time.

00:24:52

Can you—

00:24:53

how—

00:24:54

who gets the credit? And I'm not talking about James Brown here, just generally when we're talking about showmen. Sometimes there's some PEDs involved in their ability to create a great show. Does that make cocaine the greatest showman?

00:25:06

Put it on the poll: is cocaine the greatest showman of all time?

00:25:10

Hell of a drug.

00:25:11

Serena Williams is returning to Wimbledon. We had the news a couple of weeks ago that she was returning to doubles, but now she's gonna try and win Wimbledon. This is, this is curious for a number of different reasons, but chief among them to me is that once you get to 40 and have your identity stripped away as an athlete, you're basically mourning the person you've worked all your life to be. You're grieving that person's expiring. I believe it to be for athletes in the competitive fields, but especially in the sports that are as lonely as that one, like swimming, running, tennis. It's just a really lonely sport, the routine of it, the thing you've been doing since a child. Serena Williams and Venus, for that matter, are remarkably well-adjusted for people who have had fame since their teenage years. But I still maintain that one of the hardest transitions that there are to be found anywhere in occupations is the athlete who's still young, who has to stop before they're 40 years old, and then has has, you know, the rest of their life out in front of them. What did you think of Serena Williams coming back here to Wimbledon at 44?

00:26:23

Is it 44?

00:26:23

44.

00:26:24

Well, I think a lot of times our mind goes to the selfish place, which mine did, where it's like, I don't want to see Serena get dominated. That's not fun. But I think your point is a super accurate one, and I can relate to it to some degree. Is you— it's unusual for your identity to be so tied up in what you do, especially when you're a kid. If you remember when you were in elementary school or younger, you became a thing. If you were the fastest kid in your school, you were the fastest kid in your school. That was the coolest thing. You're a great athlete. Eventually you get into other settings and that sheds and you find other ways to identify yourself. If you do, you never find the point where other kids are better or you never find the other thing. It's very weird to be in your 30s or your late 20s or your 40s and be like, all right, You're not that anymore. And I think the point that you made about it feeling like the death and mourning is, it's partially true, but I think it's more about searching.

00:27:21

And whether you know it or not, I did not anticipate being in that position. I had always like, I retired, I wasn't forced out. I retired. I went on to do other things. Like I'm gonna go to business school and be someone else. And then it's weird because you're like, eh, who am I? What drives me today? What, when I walk into a room, what do other people see? And being one of the worst things about being— at least it was for me about being an athlete is being a former athlete, because no one wants to be identified as what you once were. Being identified as an athlete is fine. But now when the first thing on your, your like your CV or your resume is like, at least when people see you is what you used to be.

00:28:00

You used to be.

00:28:01

Yeah.

00:28:01

Can you use to be?

00:28:02

Yeah.

00:28:03

It's demoralizing. And I know no one loses sleep for these guys, but It sucks.

00:28:08

But this is the other part of it that makes it difficult, right? It's not just losing your identity. It's that every single thing that you try after that doesn't feel as good as what you were already doing. And so you get lost. You're searching because nothing comes close. There is nothing that Serena Williams will be able to find. And I think I might even include motherhood in that. Like, as dangerous as that is to say, there is nothing that the athlete will find post-40 that feels quite as good as walking into the arena, dominating in front of people. It feeds the ego in a way that nothing else in work can.

00:28:43

It's interesting that you bring up motherhood. I wrote a while ago, I wrote like a pilot treatment for a show idea because I thought that it was interesting that I didn't think that very many people had the similar experience as athletes other than mothers. Like, mothers are the only kind of— and celebrities who have that same situation where you can potentially be like a stay-at-home mom and your life becomes all of their lives. Like, your life becomes— revolves around getting to where they are. You become, become known as like the mother to this person, and then at a certain point they don't need you anymore. And a lot like athletes, where you've had this great, impressive, incredible experience doing something amazing, but you can't put it on your resume in a way that buys you any credibility anywhere else. So like being a 40-year-old mother whose kids are now in high school or older and or getting ready for college and don't need you as much. And then you're like, what do I do now? Who am I now? I've made this my life and now I go into a place of work. It was like, hey, I want a job.

00:29:49

What you been doing for 20 years? I've been doing the hardest job there is to do. What's that worth here? Why don't you get— holla at that mailroom and see what it's about. It's a tough place to be.

00:29:58

The distinction I'm making though, because I can see— No, I get you're saying something different. Well, the reason I'm saying it though is because motherhood feeds many wonderful things, but the ego's not really one of them. Like, there's a selflessness involved in motherhood done correctly that doesn't exactly fill the ego the way Serena playing at Wimbledon does.

00:30:20

It does, it does. I mean, maybe not the same way, but there's an ego into the things that you're able to accomplish and the ability. So like, at times my ego my wife has gotten more involved in some professional things. So I've taken more over the kids. Knocking out a day where you get all the kids to all their places feels incredible. And then when your kids do well at something, even though it's not you doing it, there is a pride and an ego in that. And walking into a room where you're the guy, or you're the mom or dad, whose kid is the most awesome one of all the kids, it feels great.

00:30:54

Yeah.

00:30:55

You remember what it was like.

00:30:56

Greg wouldn't know.

00:30:57

I do remember what it was like, actually.

00:30:59

I'm—

00:30:59

you never stop being a father. And now my granddaughter says my name. She calls me Pop. And every time she says it, I melt. I love—

00:31:07

literally?

00:31:08

I know, not literally, figuratively. I love Serena Williams's attitude here. From everything I've read and heard, she's like, I've got— I've got nothing to lose. She knows she— she doesn't say this, I say it for her. She's the GOAT, okay? She's always gonna be the GOAT in her sport. You know, Michael Jordan, always the GOAT, even when he was the world's worst NBA owner. Serena Williams has nothing to prove. So in doubles, Serena and Venus— Venus is 2 years older, 44 years old and 46 years old, playing doubles at Wimbledon in a week or so. They have nothing to prove. They won 13 Wimbledon titles as a double team, doubles team. And so Serena is going to play singles knowing knowing that she's going to lose. She doesn't expect to win this tournament. She expects maybe to win the first match or even the second match.

00:31:59

You think Serena Williams goes into anything thinking she's going to lose?

00:32:02

I think, I think Serena is realistic, and I think that's part of her healthy attitude. I don't think she expects to win.

00:32:08

I don't know. My guess is we're not going to get a new Serena Williams who is comfortable with losing. And I think that Greg brings up an interesting point that I had considered. If we combine all the things that we've been talking about and like how difficult it is to change your identity, I imagine, imagine how difficult it is to be like, fine, I'm reclaiming who I was, and then find out that you aren't that person. And I think it would be great for what Greg is saying, it'd be great for Serena to have the perspective of, I'm always going to be the GOAT, what happens here doesn't matter. That'd be great, and it's justifiable. And it goes back to the first conversation, how the rational thinking in this for us who aren't emotionally invested. We can rationalize how easy this is going to be and how, um, how well she should take it. But my guess is the person who became the GOAT never quite turns that off. And going there and inevitably getting their ass beat at some point is going to be more difficult to deal with than you would think.

00:33:10

You, you may be right, and, and I may be proven totally wrong, but I predict that when she loses loses in the, in the second or third round to a woman who's, uh, literally, literally young enough to be her daughter, uh, I think her attitude is going to be, I'm so glad I did this, and she's gonna have a smile on her face. That's what I predict.

00:33:28

I think she'll say that. I think inside she's gonna be like, this woman can't— I hope my jock doesn't work here, huh?

00:33:37

It really doesn't. Uh, poorly done by you.

00:33:40

Down, Levitar!

00:33:41

I hate that Carolina is going to get this moment just because they waited us Get out, Jonathan Sasselo!

00:33:47

But I love that Buffalo is going to replace the Panthers in this situation because those fans absolutely deserve it. Not going to the playoffs for 14 straight years.

00:33:54

They deserve it. We deserve it. I don't care.

00:33:55

We won twice already.

00:33:57

I deserve a third one before they deserve anything.

00:33:59

I just started paying attention to hockey. I live in a swamp. Give me 3 in a row.

00:34:03

Sabers.

00:34:04

Buffalo deserves. Eat shit, Buffalo. Like, care about Buffalo? This is the Dan Levatar Show.

00:34:20

She's going to be the biggest star in the sport upon return. She's going to be the biggest story in the sport upon return. And the fact that Cody is sitting here thinking that Serena Williams is doing this in— with the mindset that she's going to lose, I do not believe that. Like, I think she will lose, and I think she will be proven to be mortal, but I don't think people at that level of greatness go into much of anything thinking they're going to fail.

00:34:49

And I think she'll say the things that you expect her to say, but which is unfair for me because this is a way that I can never be wrong, because I don't think she's going to do a press conference afterwards and say, ah, it's eating me up that I couldn't win, I'm so down, I'm so angry. But I think truly my guess is that that's something in her that she can't turn off. You don't become this person by thinking that way. And I think back to one of the things you were saying is it's not that nothing else feels like what you did before. It's that— and maybe these things are connected— it's that you're not as good at anything else as you were at this because no one is. Even for the people who aren't great Like, even for the people who aren't all-time great players or even, like, all-stars, it's like, I— and you're really talented and you're really good at the next thing that you do and you're good at a bunch of things. You're still never as exceptional at that thing, which is a weird place to be when from the time you first were around kids, you were the one who was special.

00:35:53

All the way up until, for Serena, into her late 30s, 30s, she was the one who was special. And now people see her like, hey, remember when you used to be special? And she's going back out there to show them that she's still special. And when she finds out, nah, you just like the rest of them, that's gonna hurt.

00:36:11

Well, it's been 4 years. It's been 4 years since a competitive match for her. And I think she's a smart woman. I think she knows herself better than anybody. I, I don't think she expects herself to be the same at 44 as she was when she was winning her majors. And I just think she's going to be realistic. I, I honestly—

00:36:30

now, why do it then though? Like, why would she choose to do it if, if realistic?

00:36:35

Like, what, to prove she can't? I think it's a one-off.

00:36:37

But of course she can step on it. Like, what, prove what, that she can step on the court and lose?

00:36:42

Like, that she's in condition to compete and that she thinks she can win a match or two? I just don't I think she's setting her bar with, I'm going to win my first major game in 8 years. But why do that?

00:36:54

Why, Greg? Why? Just explain to me the thought process.

00:36:57

Why?

00:36:58

Why choose to come out of retirement to lose in the second round?

00:37:03

For the challenge of it. For the challenge of it. She's blazing a trail here. Few people have done what she's done. To be her age after 4 years off and do what she's doing. I think she's going to get a lot of proper credit credit for what she's doing. Even if she loses her first match, uh, which I don't think she will, even if she does, I think she's going to get a lot of credit and admiration for what she's doing.

00:37:27

A few years ago, I feel like I was on TV and people were asking me about the mentality of, I think it was Tom Brady, and I was like the football guy, and they were like, what does it feel like to be an athlete in this moment? And I was explaining to them that I can tell you what it's like to be me or someone like me. I imagine that the mind of someone like that is just as different as the mentality from, um, from, let's say, Greg to me. The difference from me, a football player, to what it requires to be Michael Jordan of football— the mentality is different from that also. And I had experience being around Ray Lewis and Ed Reed and was like, I want to be like that, but that ain't like— I don't think that way. And I think the same thing is probably true of Venus. It's hard for me to imagine Serena. Oh yeah, Venus and Serena, but especially Serena in this case. It's hard for me to imagine what it is like for her in this. And my assumption is those things don't go away. You don't turn those things off.

00:38:30

That's kind of how you're wired. And I think that while Serena is a tremendously physically gifted athlete, athlete, my assumption is there were a lot of other women who were gifted physical athletes, but the difference— and you see this in the Rafa documentary that's on, um, Netflix— the difference at that level, and I tell this to like kids that I've coached in the past, is like, I can't make you into the physical ability to be in the NFL. I can help you with the 1 or 2% that's going make one person better than the next person, but there's some physical ability. And I think that what separates Serena from other physically gifted, um, kids is that mentality. And I don't know that you can turn that off. I don't know that you can therapize it away. I think you can try to deal with it, but I don't know that you can. And if her serve is right, she might win the whole thing.

00:39:26

Let's see.

00:39:26

Yeah, Dan, we have breaking news over here. Convicted felon Craig Carton doesn't like you.

00:39:37

What he saying?

00:39:39

Eh, eh.

00:39:39

I'll allow it. So Craig Carton on his radio show the other day had a few things to say about you, Dan, when a caller called up and mentioned the things— Carton apparently is close with Jim Dolan, all right? And a caller called into his show on WFAN and brought up your name and things that you said, the things you said last week about Jim Dolan, and here was was, uh, convicted felon Craig Carton.

00:40:03

Did you happen to catch the things that Dan Levitard said on his show the other day about James Dolan?

00:40:09

First off, I didn't know he had a show. B, well, I don't care for him because he's an untalented hack who is, um, he's scumbag. I agree with that too. He's a self-appointed moral compass of America when he's had zero success in any platform he's ever been on. And if not for gambling money with his, uh, company down in Florida, he would be a name nobody. Nobody cares what he's ever had to say about anything. He's never had a number one rated radio show. He's never had a number one rated television show. He's never been the number one columnist when he was a columnist down in South Florida. He just likes to tell other people how they should live their lives. And when he's not talking about successful people in media, he has nothing to say worth listening to. So I don't know what he said about Dolan, and I know you're not the bad guy here, Joe. I also don't care. —what do you have to say about Dolan? Because I've never cared about anything he has ever had to say about anybody. He's taken shots at me routinely. Has he had the balls ever to challenge me and bring me on a show?

00:41:13

No, because he knows he's a loser and can't stay in the same room with me when it comes to going back and forth in an adult argument or conversation.

00:41:22

Is that it, or is there more?

00:41:24

No, no, there's a little bit more. He went on about how you speak about other people.

00:41:28

I can't stand people that make a living off of just putting other people, our chosen profession, down.

00:41:33

That certainly has been what's been going on the last few months. That's all he does. All he does is take what Boomer says or what this one says, what that one says, then comment.

00:41:41

He's a woke scumbag is all he is, with no talent. He's had no success at any level that he's ever done. Yes, he got a big check from DraftKings. Good for you. Nobody watches you. Nobody listens to you. So go out there and give your speeches and get out your high horse about how society would be better without people like me in it. And, you know, have at it. I feel bad for these children. I would hate if he was my father. Yeah, be embarrassed. Hopefully he can't have kids, populate the world with more of his, uh, bad takes on everything. He should just be happy DraftKings wrote him a check and shut up.

00:42:19

So woke, I'll take. Uh, no talent, subjective, willing to accept that as well. Scumbag though, from the guy who spent more than a year in prison and lied to his family, employers, and listeners. Scumbag's a little far. I mean, but if you get up every morning, look in the mirror, and see one of those, you've got a special kind of expertise in this area that I do not have. Prison for a year. All I've said about Craig Carton is that he's still working, and that's an indictment of our industry because there are plenty of people who are not bright and loud, who haven't been to prison, who we can employ in our industry without giving that guy second chances. And he doesn't like that I keep saying that, but I haven't been to prison.

00:43:03

He's a woke scumbag.

Episode description

"Did the winning feel better than the losing?"

Did Dan actually take a COVID test before today's show? Is Greg going to expand his Top 65 list to 250? Did Domonique play for "a many great teams?" Is Serena Williams expecting to lose at Wimbledon?
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