Transcript of The Atlanta Dream's Dream Come True | Hour 1 (feat. David Dennis Jr.)

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You're listening to the Dan Le Batard Show in partnership with the DraftKings Sports app, now live in over 50 Estates.

This episode of the Dan Le Batard Show is presented by DraftKings Sports.

DraftKings, the crown is yours. Wow, look at that.

I was hindered.

Hindered, huh?

Yeah, the desk is in the way or else he couldn't really do it. Yeah, you should do it behind, behind his ass.

Not a piano bar. We've been doing a lot of stanky legs during, during the break here over the last couple of minutes. That man, that leg stank. You had Ben Johnson last night breaking it out in the postgame as the Bears beat the Patriots. Let's bring aboard David Dennis Jr. David Dennis Jr., senior writer for ESPN's Andscaped. You see him all over ESPN television, all over ESPN radio. David, when is the last time you broke out the stanky leg?

Oh, stanky leg. So I don't know if we stanky legged at my wedding a year ago, but that would probably be the last time. There's, there's a lot of, a lot of stretching involved. I think you need to do that, a little cold plunge, stuff like that. You got to really loosen up to get put appropriate levels of stank on the, on the leg there. So it's been a minute. It's been a minute. But I was a— I was an adamant, fervent stanky legger in college.

That shit was stank.

It was stank. It had an appropriate level of stank to it in college. It was right, right there in the peak of stanky leg time. I was cranking the Soulja Boy. I was stanky legging, leaning with it, rocking with it. I had the whole— I had the full repertoire going on, the full receiver tree. of moves in college.

I've cranked that more than I've done the stanky leg.

Same. I used to do it at bar mitzvahs. I bet you have.

You bump, bump, bump.

Hey, David is based in Atlanta, and tomorrow is—

Respect the level of rhythm I'm seeing here. The appropriate levels of rhythm that I'm seeing from the guy.

You're at school? We're in a school classroom.

You got a map in the background. You talking about rhythm?

Looking forward to your class on Asia, Jack.

Yeah, for real. You got Jupiter back there.

What is that?

Tell me I can't—

I'm at an Airbnb. I'm at an Airbnb right now.

Oh, likely story.

I'm in, uh, Mexico City. A lovely wedding happening this weekend. Gonna see some friends, so we got an Airbnb. But yes, there is a map of Asia behind me.

Okay, hold on. Who, who shouted out Jupiter? Behind him, clearly a world map.

No, no, no, I'm talking about over his left shoulder. He's cutting off half of the lamp. It looks like the top of like a planet if it was hanging in a classroom.

We move on.

Alright, alright.

How stupid do you feel right now?

Yeah, are you embarrassed?

Not at all. Like, I know exactly what I see.

Just keep dancing, keep dancing back there.

Yeah, alright. David is based in Atlanta, and tomorrow is Game 4. Tomorrow afternoon is Game 4 of the WNBA Finals as the Atlanta Dream are gonna look to take a 3-1 series lead. David, you are based in Atlanta. How fired up is Atlanta? Now, Atlanta, look, I understand the Braves won a few years ago, and of course they've won 2 World Series over the years, but not a whole lot of winning. you know, that has been done at the professional level in Atlanta. How fired up is Atlanta over this potentially?

Look, this is the big story in Atlanta sports that I can— I've been in Atlanta 12 years now, and Braves win the World Series was a big deal. But like, in terms of energy, excitement, there's nothing like what's going on here. Like, I was in State Farm for Game 3. I was also in State Farm for Game 3 of Hawks-Knicks. And I could tell you without a doubt that Game 3 for the Dream was the loudest I'd ever heard State Farm. I mean, it was rocking in there. The fans were going crazy. And you have a bona fide superstar in Angel Reese that is carrying this whole thing. Like, this is the Atlanta story in sports that I can remember for a very long time.

Well, and, and by the way, for frame of reference, David mentions he was there for Game 3, Hawks and Knicks. The Hawks won that game and took a 2-1 series lead against the Knicks.

Yes, Hawks won the game, 2-1 series lead. There was a feeling that the Knicks were cooked, that the Hawks were going to take this series. The crowd was into it. But what I'm telling you is that that noise that I heard was piercing in State Farm. And, and for those who don't know, the Dream are going to be in State Farm going forward. They were, uh, they were not there. They were in a 3,500-seat arena. Now they're going to be in State Farm going forward. And I really do believe that they're going to have the best home court in the WNBA. Like, I know the Liberty have Uh, you know, L and all that stuff. I know there's Ballhalla, but the way that they have constructed a home court for State Farm, uh, for the Dream, the musicians that they have, everybody— Quavo did halftime, T.I. came out, uh, they had like the Young Joc would come out, they had D'Farrell, they're leaning and rocking with it. They have everything that you need to make this an Atlanta-based spectacle. The crowd is swag surfing in the 4th quarter. Like, this is going to be one of the best home courts in all of sports, but definitely in the WNBA.

The ratings are encouraging, and I find the, the number that 2.1 million, I think most watched Game 1 in WNBA Finals history, really encouraging considering that they had all sorts of competition. The NBA is going at the same time, and I don't really understand that, especially when you consider the business interest that the NBA has in the WNBA. How does this come to be? How do they not wrap up this season before the NBA gets going?

So yeah, so game 1 was Saturday afternoon, which you guys know was a wild college football day. And so to pull that number in game 1 against that competition, uh, is really crazy. But I will say this, that there is like— the crowd in the arenas are different than NBA crowds, I think. Like, there are people, especially when you talk about a place like Atlanta, like there's Hawks fans, but I mean, the, the Dream— people love the Dream. Like, the crowds are not necessarily the same. And so, like, I also think that people are going to watch this game. It's the finals.

Like, you—

there are 82 NBA games for your team. Like, you're going to, you know, watch the finals game as much as you're going to watch Game 3 of Cleveland Cavaliers or whatever, because there is a compelling story and a superstar here. So, yes, there are— there are quibbles about the WNBA at all times. Like, sometimes they have big games on Sunday going against the NFL, on Monday night going against Monday Night Football and all those things. But the ratings have been consistent enough to say that, yes, they may be better without it, but they're still going strong because I think the audiences are not necessarily always the same.

What was the— what was the Dream— the attention that Atlanta paid toward the Dream before Angel Reese got there?

So the city really did rally around the Dream. I mean, look, not all the way back in this— when the Dream made the finals. about a decade ago, I was talking to people who had been covering the Dream from the beginning. They said it was in State Farm. I could like hear myself doing the play-by-play in the arena. It was that empty. So obviously, like, the fan base has increased as it has across the WNBA. But there were people who loved Alicia Gray and Ryan Howard. Ryan Howard was sort of the next big star when she came to the Dream. But unquestionably, Angel Reese coming has brought a whole new set of eyes. to the team. Like, she is the— I think that she, as much as anybody in sports, is the perfect athlete for a city. Like, when Angel Reese came to Atlanta, it felt like the per— the city was ready for her, like she was going to be the biggest sports star in the city. And just the crossover with the hip-hop, with the, with the, uh, you know, different, uh, Hollywood stars and everything that's in attendance, I think that she's just perfect for the city.

And yeah, she has catapulted it to a whole nother level. And it's going to stay that way as long as she's here.

How did it happen with Angel Reese going to Atlanta? So Renee Montgomery trades for Angel Reese in the offseason, didn't have to give up a lot. Like, I think we've learned Chicago is a bad franchise in the WNBA, but was Renee Montgomery just sitting around in the offseason like, let me call Chicago and see if they'll trade me their most marketable player? Like, how did that— do we know how that went down?

Yeah, let's— it's important to remember, I think you're understating a little bit just how terrible of a franchise the Chicago Sky are. Like, the way that the Chicago Bulls have traded away, uh, guys like Kobe White, things like that, for nothing and made other teams better. The Chicago Sky are doing that times 10. Like, they are— there are people like Gabby Williams, Marina Mabry. Like, they have a bunch of people that they could have had on their team to make them good, and they just keep on getting rid of them. It is one of the most inexplicable franchises. So yes, it does not surprise me that, uh, somebody calls them up and for— and says, hey, there is a potential franchise superstar on your team. She's unhappy because your team stinks and you have not put the right moves around her. Let me send you a box of lemon pepper wet and just bring her to Atlanta. And that's basically what the Chicago Sky do, because that's how terrible of an organization they are.

What are you most impressed with that you've learned about Angel Reese in her time in Atlanta?

I'm just impressed by the work ethic, just like the desire to be better. I mean, Angel Reese has always sort of been on a trajectory for greatness. But the last like 2 months, she's averaging like 20 and 12 and has been her best version of herself and has leveled up sort of every stage of the way here. Like that— what she's doing in the Finals right now, these last 3 games, to put up 30 and 16 in Valhalla, in the— against one of the best defenses in the league on the road, she is— has elevated sort of in a way that, you know, a little bit ahead of schedule. Like, when the season started, you could probably look at her maybe fringe top 10, especially for the way she played defense. When the season starts next year, we're going to be talking about Angel Reese, especially if she pulls this off. Even if she doesn't, by the performance that she's having, we're going to be talking about her as a top 5 player in the league. So she is just elevating, um, you know, every single game, every single week. Like, she does this. She is like— when you talk about sort of winner blueprint, that is what she is.

And she— and sometimes that— there's no making up for somebody who just wins games, and that's kind of who she is as a player.

Yeah, I think, I think she's a winning player. Like, she may not be great offensively, but I, I think it's pretty apparent this is someone you like having on your team. I think this is a winning player. Uh, David, prior to Game 3, the Atlanta Dream announced that Enes Kanter Freedom contacted federal, state, and local authorities the WNBA, The Dream, and State Farm Arena to express concerns about his safety while attending Game 3 of the WNBA Finals. So on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most pathetic, how pathetic is Enes Kanter Freedom? Is it like, uh, is the number a million? Is it a trillion? Uh, how pathetic is he?

Yeah, it is, it is, uh, sort of an infinitesimal amount of loser-ness that Enes Kanter has. Like, the scale of bum-ness that one person can hold within their body. I think he's rewriting the rules of what a loser looks like. I mean, it is just unreal because he tried to act like going into State Farm was going into some sort of war zone. But he called the authorities and he wanted protection and he wanted security. And so to the Dream's credit and the WNBA's credit, it's kinda the first time they've handled anything like this correctly, which they said, fine. You're that scared of a bunch of Dream fans, you call security. We're gonna put you in a box far, far away from everybody. You can get all your catered snacks you want, your gummy bears or whatever, and sit there and leave everybody the hell alone. And it sort of pulled his card to the fact that he wanted the spectacle, he wanted the attention, and they refused to give it to him. So shout out to them, 'cause they've been— I will say that if there's a lot of criticism to be had with the WNBA over the past couple years with how they've handled all of this stuff, One of the worst is not being able to nip the Enos Kanter thing in the bud and just call this dude a loser.

And the press release basically said that. They said, look, you're going around calling for all of this help. Go sit your ass in a, in a, in a, in a suite and leave us alone. And that was a masterful thing they did.

Let's put it on the poll. Is Enos Kanter an infinitesimal amount of loser? All right, let's get that on the poll.

Infinitesimal.

Yeah, that's what I said, man. I don't know why you're wasting everybody's time with that correction. Out on the road, it's nice to have a partner who can help you make the most of your journey. A partner like the Love's Rewards app. With Love's Rewards along for the ride, you earn points on fuel, food, drinks, and more every time you scan. Then you can spend those points at Love's just like cash. So every stop is even more rewarding. Download the app today and watch the points roll in mile after mile. Love's Rewards, save and earn it What's up guys, it's Amin, and you know me, I love me some movies. And I'm really excited about this new movie coming out called The Mosquito Bowl. It's the incredible true story of 4 college football stars who walked away from NFL careers after Pearl Harbor to go enlist in the Marines. From Friday Night Lights Director Peter Berg and starring Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgård, Ray Nicholson, and Tom Francis comes a story of brotherhood and sacrifice. 4 men who traded the gridiron for the battlefield. The Mosquito Bowl in theaters October 30th.

Down, Le Batard!

I mean, trotting Madonna out there, I don't know what the hell she was doing. And then, uh, what's this, this, this boy band KPS? KBS? What's their name? I have no idea who that is.

There's BTS.

Jonathan Saslow! Isn't this the big— this is the biggest band in the world!

That's right.

Get out of here! Not bigger than Pearl Jam! This is the Dan Levitan Show! So yesterday, I don't know if you saw this, David.

You're—

David's in Atlanta, and the Atlanta Falcons on Twitter put out I guess they've made some adjustments, a new, you know, color scheme with their logo, the Atlanta Falcons logo. And if we could put it up on the screen here, this is the logo that the Atlanta Falcons put out. And I got to be honest with you, David, when I first saw the logo, like I saw that, you know, this is getting a ton of attention. Like, I didn't really get it. I was like, what?

I was like, oh, cool.

All right.

Yeah.

What? Like, what am I missing here?

You did not see it?

I didn't know.

I really didn't. And then I clicked. So I'm going to click on the comments. Like, let's see if, you know, that, you know, teaches me what's going on here. And it's like, oh, all right, people think it's like, you know, a Nazi Germany type deal. Like, Jeremy, you realized it right away?

Yeah, it was the first thing I saw.

Really?

Yeah. And I know this logo. They've had this for the last several years. Like, this is not a new thing. I think what got everyone was the stripe behind the falcon. 'Cause for whatever reason— Was it a Falcon arm? Well, no, that was—

Well, yeah, I saw in the comments— I'm not gonna do it here, alright, 'cause no one's gonna screengrab me doing that, but—

The arm was down in the actual—

The arm was like moved up, it was like, oh, that doesn't look good.

Nah, it made everybody get off some really good jokes. Like, I found some funny jokes about this. I thought, like, it's no big deal.

David, like, are people in Atlanta freaking out about that?

Um, I think it sort of just adds to the, um, history of Atlanta Falcons kind of doing loser things and making bad decisions. I think this is what it is, another avoidable error, uh, error for the, for the Falcons. I, I think this is the 28-3 of, uh, of logos that we have here. And the joke, the jokes have been fantastic. Not really inclined to repeat, uh, 99% of them here, but yes, the jokes have been fantastic.

But I can.

All right, well, that's gonna be Jeremy's job here. So Jeremy, you have a top 5 for us?

Yeah, I have a top 5. Couple OLIs. Uh, I wonder how the Falcons are gonna stop the blitzkrieg.

Infantesinal. Okay, what else?

OLI. The Saints are in Paris this week. Falcons appear to be in 1930s Berlin.

Infantesinal.

Okay, I give this logo a 9 out of 10.

Infantesinal.

Nick Bosa's requested a trade to the Falcons.

Infantesinal. Is this still OLI?

Number 3.

Oh, number 3.

Number 3.

I wonder how the Falcons will throw their Hail Mary.

Infantesinal.

Number 2. The other day I was walking around in my Nazi uniform and a stranger said, go Falcons. It was extremely embarrassing. You'd never want to be associated with an organization like that.

Infantesinal.

I'm uncomfortable.

And number 1, the Bird Reich.

Infantesinal. So are they going to change it?

No, the logo's good. And by the way, like, whoever put this out there, this is the proper design. Like, it evokes something accidentally. I hope that whoever's running the graphic design or the social media is totally fine. This is not— this should not be a real issue. There's 37 million views. It probably got promoted. Yeah, they should. Maybe not good for them, but it shouldn't be a real issue because it's not a real issue.

It shouldn't be a real issue.

Yeah, it's not a real issue.

And it's not the first time that they've done this. It's kind of become a meme a couple years ago, I guess, with the helmet stripe in the background.

Yeah, it's the helmet stripe.

It became more of a thing. I didn't see it at all. It was only until I saw the reaction to it. I'm like, this one's kind of lame. I thought, I thought like, you know, there's like a social media person that's probably being like, yeah, what lessons should you learn from this? At the very least, which I don't like, it looks cool.

Yeah, I like it.

There, I said it. It's a cool color scheme.

It reminds me of Deion. Like, I, I look at that, I think of Deion Sanders.

You know why they have the gold?

Because it looks too much like, uh, UGA, and the Georgia Tech fans in town were like, hey, this is like a bulldog thing. So that's what the gold stripe is.

The uniforms and the logo are awesome.

All right, there you go.

Yeah, I fully, fully support, guys. Good job.

Uh, David Dennis Jr., what are you excited about in pro wrestling these days? You're a huge WWE fan. What are you liking?

Uh, what am I liking in pro wrestling right now? Uh, Survivor Series is coming up, uh, wherever it may be. And like, I'm liking the 946 guys. Roman is, is being great. I'm not with all the hater stuff that they got, uh, people hating on Roman Reigns. He's still great. I'm also tonight, uh, I'm going to go to a lucha libre match, uh, here in Mexico City. First time.

So I'm very excited. How about that? You're gonna have a good time. That's gonna be a lot of fun.

I'm gonna have a good time.

Yeah.

Shout out to my wife who was coming with me to make it possible.

So have you ever brought her to pro wrestling with you?

We went to— we went to Monday Night Raw. We went to Monday Night Raw a couple of years ago, early in the dating. So she got to experience it. We met Cody Rhodes. He was cool. Cody Raheem was really cool.

He's invited to the barbecue. He's invited to cook.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, we don't— we don't do those all the way anymore, but he's cool. Raheem is still cool. But yeah, so we're going to Lucha Libre.

All right. I hid from my wife— I hid from my wife my love of pro wrestling the first few years we were together. I did not tell her, and I only let her know once we got married, because at that point she was trapped. How about that?

Yeah, yeah, because otherwise, you know, she thought you were 100% a winner.

That's right. What else are you hiding from her? Don't worry about that. Senior writer for ESPN's Andscaped, and he's the author of the award-winning book The Movement Made Us: A Father, a Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride. Excellent job, David Dennis Jr. Always good seeing you, man.

Thanks a lot. Good to hang out with you guys.

There you go. That's our pal David Dennis Jr. Uh, I saw the crowd there, you know, pictures, video, whatever, from State Farm Arena, and that building was slammed. It was, it, it was packed. And, and so yeah, they had to have the game tomorrow afternoon. As— why is the game not in primetime? Well, the Hawks are— the Hawks' home opener is tomorrow, and originally The WNBA was supposed to play these finals games in the Hawks' main building, which only holds 3,500 people, and they were able to arrange to get State Farm available in the afternoon for the finals game tomorrow. So good job by David. Appreciate him joining us. Joining us now, looking weird, Dave Damashek.

Weird. Yeah, that's what that room looks like. You got a couch in there, huh?

I mean, absolute Shameful bullshit from you guys down there trying— like, you think you can shut me up? You think you can turn me out? No, I found a different path to sneak in here. I'm using a pirated feed in there. You think you can tune me out? Because, uh, I, I listen, I get it. It's, it's a humiliation. You think you're a Stanley Cup contender and then you get shut out by the Pittsburgh Penguins, as shorthanded as that team is with all the injuries, and you got shut out 5-nothing. What a disgrace. But merely an hors d'oeuvre to what awaits you tomorrow down there in your fancy-pants stadium. Number 1 in the country, the Hurricanes. What a ridiculous state we're in now with— and I don't mean Florida— in college football, that the number 1 team in the nation, we all watched, our eyes were all working, we all watched the Hurricanes lose to the bum Florida State Seminole. You lost to them not once but twice on Hail Marys, and you're the number 1 team in the country? Feh. Double feh.

Hail to Pitt.

They're on their way to the game.

Dave, you weren't watching the game clearly.

Okay, like, let's say— let's say they caught that. All that earned them was the right to do a 2-point conversion to tie the game, to send it to a 3rd overtime. Stop changing history and stop making an interception a catch.

Well, listen, First of all, I don't think you guys— because believe me, I heard the conversation and Zazz is spiritually kind of sort of right that the headline for you guys should be, we're number 1 in the country for the first time in forever. On the other hand, let's, let's have some honor and let's have some self-respect and acknowledge at minimum how wild it is to hit not 1 but 2 Hail Marys and have them both called back. I mean, that is historically insane, right?

It is kind of crazy that they Hit one that was called back for a hold that was controversial. I will certainly concede that. And the second was an interception, not actually a Hail Mary. It couldn't have been a Hail Mary because it was caught by Bryce Fitzgerald first, where Deuce Robinson, who didn't even complain, by the way, should be noted.

That's the key detail, Mike, that he didn't. If he thought he had caught that, he would have gotten up outraged. He didn't catch it!

Bryce Fitzgerald caught it and he wrapped his hands around it after Bryce Fitzgerald caught it. Now, should Bryce Fitzgerald knock it down? 100%.

But he caught it.

We're moving on.

We're on the pick. This is ridiculous. This is ridiculous. Dave, when's the last time you stanky-legged?

Can I embarrass myself? When you mentioned this an hour ago, that the stanky leg is in the news, I really thought to myself, What is the stanky leg? And, and then I had some computer issues, so I didn't have the opportunity to look up to figure out between then and now, what is a stanky leg? Will you teach me? Will Chris Cody teach me what a stanky leg is?

I can teach you how to Dougie.

Yeah, it's a different thing.

Well, I mean, we can, we can show, we could show Dave Damashek Ben Johnson last night in the Chicago Bears locker room postgame. I would watch Caleb Williams though, because to Tony's point, Ben Johnson butchers it.

The real stanky leg, the closest thing we see, I think, is Caleb Williams.

Here we go.

The more I look at it, I don't even think Caleb Williams did it.

There you go. That shit was stanky.

There's no stanky legs there.

Stank. Stank. That shit was stank.

One of my least favorite things is when, when white guys perform in that way and then it's, it's, it's supposed to be hilarious like that. That's, you know.

Like when Andy Reid does a little shuffle and the whole team's like, yeah!

You ever watch Bringing Down the House with Steve Martin? It's a laugh riot.

Also, my favorite, my favorite was back in the 2006 Miami Heat championship parade celebration, and Pat Riley is, is, is like, whatever, this is the motorbike. Yeah. And, and the whole team is like, the whole team's dying laughing. It's just He's doing nothing.

You know, the worst one of those is, is when they have an old person, like an old lady, F-bomb or give a middle finger in the movie and it's supposed to be hilarious. You jive, you jive ass MFer, and we're all supposed to fall over laughing.

I don't know.

All right.

I'm in a bad mood after these computer issues. Let me tell you that.

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I used to say when I turn 80, all bets are off. That's when the heroin starts. But then I moved it up to 75 a few years ago. I'm thinking now 65 years of age.

I have a pact with friend that if we both live until 90, we're gonna do heroin. This is the Dan Levitan Show. The time has come. Everyone out there is wondering, Zaslav, it's Friday. There's a lot going on. I gotta know. Is it a big game? Was it not a big game? Howdy folks, welcome to Big Game or Not a Big Game with Jonathan Zaslow. Uh, you know how it works. That's right, Big Game or Not a Big Game. Let's start things out here with Jeremy. Jeremy, what do you got for me?

BYU The number 2, should be number 1 team in the country on the road this week, going into the hostile environment of the bounce house at UCF. BYU at UCF, conference game for the should be number 1 team in the country. What say you? Big game, not a big game?

It's a game. It's so big that huge UCF fan and UCF alum Jeremy Tasche and his wife Huge UCF fan, huge UCF alum.

Well, she's a UCF alum.

They have no interest in going to the game despite it being just a minuscule 3-hour drive.

I have interest, just more interest in my wife.

To support their school against the number 2 team in the country. If that doesn't tell you everything, not a big game. Tony, what do you got?

Going to 7:30 tomorrow night on ABC, Ole Miss traveling down to Austin, Texas. Basically a lose and you're out situation.

Is it traveling down?

Yeah.

I don't know where anything is.

Yeah, well, Mississippi's here and Texas is here and you travel down.

Okay, Mississippi's here?

Yeah, and then Texas to the, uh, a little lower.

Right here?

Yeah, that's where Austin is.

Okay.

So they travel—

I was in Austin last week! This is where I went? Yeah.

Well, Florida's to the right of that.

'Cause I just get on the plane, like, take me where I'm going.

Fly safe.

Like, the, the pilot is telling me, you know, we're gonna be this high, this high, just take me there.

Why do they tell you how high we're gonna be?

Just get me there. I don't care. I don't care.

I don't like— what's the difference?

Has anyone ever been on a plane? Holy shit, we're high. I'm 7,000 feet. Oh, I'm 13. Can we lower a little bit?

A little high.

I can tell the difference.

Oh, we're going really fast.

Can we—

pilot, can we slow down?

We're going how fast?

Who gives a shit? All right, go ahead, Tony. I'm sorry.

That's a great point. Now if the cruising altitude were 80 feet, I'd be like, that's cutting it close.

Can you just fly as fast as possible?

Tell me how many knots there are. Who gives a shit?

Blow the hard deck.

Ole Miss, Texas. Big game, not a big game.

Ole Miss, number 7 in the country. Texas, number 19 in the country. I was there last week in Texas, in Austin, Texas. They got a great stadium. All right, only 2 weeks ago, the Longhorns were the number 1 ranked team in the country, and now We're having conversations about them possibly benching Eli Manning, who I told you, not only is he not the number 1 overall pick—

Arch Manning.

Arch Manning. Why are you correcting me when I'm saying it right? Arch Manning was supposed to be the number 1 overall pick. I'm telling you, he's not an NFL quarterback if you ask me.

He's the number 1 overall bum.

This is not an NFL quarterback. Ole Miss, Texas. Tony, that's a big game.

Big game.

Uh, Chris, big game or not big game? Going to a carnival tonight with my wife and kid. Big game or not a big game? Which carnival?

St. David's.

Okay, so it's one of those church carnivals. It's one of the pop-up church carnivals.

Not that St. Bonaventure.

Bleep that. All right.

No, it's live.

Sorry. All right, it's a church carnival. All right, very good. Now, now, will you go on all the rides? Because you got some of the homeboys, they're missing teeth, you know. You know, did you check every screw? I don't know. Do you go on all the rides? I'll just be at the, the beer tent. Okay. All right.

Miller Lites.

You know what Jesus did in the church when they were selling stuff?

Are you going with another couple? We're going with like my daughter's like softball team. A bunch of kids will be there, so it'll be a whole big group of them. All right, all right. But Chris did mention that he's able to just chill at the beer tent, and so that right there—

So they got a beer tent at the church carnival?

Yeah, yeah, of course. So that right there makes it a big game. That is a big game. Uh, Dave Damashek, big game or not a big game?

Easy peasy. Pitt at the number 1 team in the land, Miami. Big game or not a big game?

Oh, come on, son. Now, you know, I, I was trying to go to this one, but I gotta work tomorrow. So instead, I'll be watching from home. Could, could be a sneaky, uh, it could be a sneaky tighter game than we think. Could be, could be. Miami, number 1 in the country, honoring The 25th anniversary of the 2001 national champions, Miami, Pitt. What are you laughing at?

I love that the Canes fans, including Mike Ryan, have been talking stuff all week about how pathetic the Pitt program has become because they used to play for national champions. Thank you for the reminder. The Canes haven't won one in a quarter century either. Who are you guys to talk either about it?

No, no. That's a quarter century. That's, that's not that, you know, that happened in the 21st century the last time they won a championship. And as you know, they played in one last year. Pitt, I was astonished when I went to Pitt Stadium, by the way, worst atmosphere in major college football.

Oh.

Went in there and they have multiple national championship banners. I'm like, there was color TV when they were winning titles. I had no idea. '76. Yeah, I was born like 9 years later. In the 1900s, they were winning national championships 9 years before I was born. I couldn't believe it.

Miami-Pitt. That's a big game.

Big game.

And that right there is another edition. I think it's gonna be a tough game.

I think it's gonna be a tough one.

Or not a big game.

Big game or not a big game. game is presented by the all-new Lawn Mower Go from Manscaped.

I love that Lawn Mower Go.

You know about that Lawn Mower Go?

I do. I use it for my groin area.

Oh yeah, I used it yesterday.

Yeah.

Wow.

Big occasion.

Yeah, just down, up and down.

And wear that—

you can use that thing with a blindfold on.

Uh-huh. That's your groin.

Yes, Mike.

I couldn't, I couldn't tell if that was Dave now or a clip that Roy played. I was really thrown.

Not me. Not me. So last night—

You good, Zazz?

I'm very good. Yes, I'm very good. Thank you, Carmen.

Bye, Carmen.

Later, Reg.

Was that the lawnmower? Uh, I don't know. So last night, the NBA— we got some news last night. We had, uh, we, we had some, we had some juice last night.

Too late to this story.

You think so? We should have got to it immediately.

The Jayson Tatum.

Yeah.

Jaylen Brown thing.

Yes.

Jeremy told me—

They're talking about fishing.

Jeremy told me in social media circles they're not calling him Jayson Tatum anymore. They're pronouncing it like Nick Batum. Jayson Tatum.

Oh, I like that.

I love Jayson Tatum. That's the, like, bam to Idris. Jayson Tatum is great.

Oh, I love that. Jayson Tatum. So The Sixers last night had their home opener, and it was, it was a pretty great atmosphere, except the Cavs— and it was the Cavs' opening game of the season, and you may remember the Cavs, the last time we saw them, they're blowing 20-point lead after 20-point lead to the Knicks in the Eastern— was it Eastern Conference Finals? I think it was, right?

Yeah, Finals.

Just blowing huge lead after huge lead after huge lead. So that's not gonna happen again the first game of the season when they're up by, I think, 29? at one point against the Sixers. Well, the Sixers came all the way back. The Sixers came all the way back and won the game. And, you know, Jaylen Brown hit some big shots in the 4th quarter and Embiid played well enough. LeBron had a similar stat line to the first night. He had 17 points and a bunch of rebounds, bunch of assists. And the Sixers, raucous atmosphere, on fire. They're now 2-0 to start the season. What you would think after the game Jaylen Brown would be super excited. Jaylen Brown would be pleased with the victory at home. First home game for— not just first home game for LeBron James, first home game for Jaylen Brown. But instead, what Jaylen Brown was doing was he was checking, uh, social media. He was checking Instagram. And I guess there's like— is it a show that's coming out, or like a, like a docuseries kind of deal where Jason Tatum is, is talking about His offseason—

it's from the Jason Tatum YouTube account.

Yeah.

So it's produced by himself. So I guess he's been sort of doing different things that have been following his own coverage. Giannis Antetokounmpo does the same thing.

And so there's, there's a clip where Jason Tatum is talking about just how shocking it was when the team traded Jaylen Brown. He's talking about, you know, being surprised. Oh, you traded him down the street. You know, I mean, wow. Not only did you trade him, but you trade him to our rival, to Philadelphia. And so that's the clip that's going around, just how surprised Tatum was. And in the Instagram comments, Jaylen Brown, he responds with one emoji, and the emoji, it's a cap. Because cap, like, that's how the kids talk. When a kid says you're capping, Tony, that means you're lying.

You're lying.

That means you're lying.

Are you sure it's not a tip of the cap?

Nope, I am sure.

Well, let's play the video of what Jayson Tatum claimed, which which, uh, I'm sure we'll poke plenty of holes at.

Jam walk over, he hand me the towel, he like, yo, put this over your face, don't react, they just traded him. I'm like, oh, I'm like, where? He said Philly. He traded him down the street. So I was just as much caught off guard as the rest of the world. I will always say I knew every time I stepped on that court that when it was time to go to war, I looked to my left and my right, and number 7 was over there. I knew that he was going to do whatever it took for us to try to win.

So Jaylen Brown is saying that's a lie. I don't think the part about him turning to his left, turning to his right, seeing number 7, knowing he's going to do whatever, you know, we need to do to win. I don't think he's saying that that part's a lie. So he's saying that Jayson Tatum is lying as far as being surprised. I'm not so sure it's not a tip of the cap.

I am.

I am.

I'm pretty sure.

Yeah, me too.

I'm pretty sure. Yeah.

So this is now—

you're foolish for thinking that.

Yeah.

This is now officially, if it wasn't before, like, oh, we're trying to make it into a thing. This is now officially ugly.

So Tatum, I guess he was saying nothing as this Jaylen Brown thing played out. And you could have taken that 2 ways. And I think people gave him some grace or like, all right, he's being a good soldier. He's He's trusting his organization. But if Jayson Tatum wanted to stop the Jaylen Brown nonsense at any point during that drama, and certainly if Jayson Tatum wanted to stop Jaylen Brown from being traded off of his team, Jayson Tatum could have said something privately or publicly. And he didn't at all. Zazz, you agree with me? If Tatum wanted that stopped, he could have stopped it, right?

If Jayson Tatum told the Celtics that he would be upset if they traded away the guy who he knew, if he looked to his left and looked to his right, that he was always going to be there and do whatever it took to help us win, that would make me really angry. It's a pretty good chance, I think, that the Celtics think twice about making that trade.

Could you have it, or could Tatum at least have it both ways and let Jaylen Brown get traded? But when he's making those comments, that's that passive-aggressive thing that Tatum just did there. Hey, when it was go time, at least I looked to my left or looked to my right, number 7 was there and ready to roll. Couldn't he go a little bit further with that? Like, Let me make it clear, the Celtics are better or were better when we had Jaylen Brown out there with me. That was a great duo. I have nothing but great thoughts about Jaylen Brown. Wouldn't that sort of throw a little water on what is now a hot rivalry?

I suppose. But I also think that— I also think it's important to point out, yes, Tatum looks bad here because Jaylen Brown is calling him a liar. All right. So Tatum obviously looks bad.

Still not sure.

I am sure. Mike, are you sure?

Positive.

Jeremy, you sure?

100%.

Tony, you sure?

I'm sure I've never been to a Dave Grohl concert.

Yeah, I'm sure. So Tatum looks bad because he looks like a liar. He's being called a liar.

It's not just that he looks like a liar, dude. He's looking like A-Rod.

He's looking like a phony.

He's looking like Dwight Howard. Yeah, he's looking like a narrative shaper. And since I was quiet, I can do this on the back end, and I'm not buying it. And I'm glad Jaylen Brown said something.

I think it's also—

Or Joe Buck.

I think it's also important to point out, Jaylen Brown likely wanted a trade. Likely wanted a trade. Now part of it may be because he started to feel that Tatum was a phony and he didn't want to play with him anymore. But it's semantics when Jaylen Brown does, you know, when people say Jaylen Brown didn't ask for a trade, Jaylen Brown didn't demand a trade. That shit is semantics. It's like when, you know, your agent is the one— I didn't ask for a trade. Your agent did. Oh, okay. But I didn't ask for a trade. Like, there's all kinds of semantics you could play. Like, Jaylen Brown can make it clear. I really enjoyed being the number one option. Oh wait, I'm not gonna be the number one option anymore because Jayson's coming back. I don't really like that. I don't know if this— I don't really love that. Like, Jaylen Brown wanted a trade. He just never came out and actually said those words. Jaylen Brown wanted to be the number one guy. It's why this was his favorite all-time season.

They were both on that BS this offseason, but at least like we knew what Jaylen Brown was trying to do, which was force his way out without having publicly said it. We didn't really know what Tatum's angle was on this because he was also letting a narrative shape around him and now he is trying to guide that story and JB didn't allow it to exist for a second. This is just a teaser that Tatum—

No, it's ugly now. It's ugly.

Yeah. And it— the entire time, the subtext to this was, where's Tatum? Where is he in all of this? How is he okay with this? And it seemed as though from Jaylen Brown's quotes, he really enjoyed not having Tatum around. And Tatum probably responded in kind by letting that thing play out. But this, this is phony.

Well, the Tatum narrative is, I want to win the power struggle between a guy who they said was better than I was in the most important games versus me. And I had an Achilles injury and like, now I'm out of the race of trying to win the power struggle. You ship him out of town. Now I'm the face of this storied franchise and I'm going to be here for another decade or more. Still not sure. What in hell?

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