Transcript of THE MARLINS PULLED THEIR PITCHER WITH A PERFECT GAME? | Local Hour

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What a joy today to step into the time machine and be greeted by Zaz. Being sports radio mad at a baseball manager.

Yeah, that's right.

Felt like I was going back into the '80s and '90s when people got pissed off at a manager when I'm pretty sure he just has to come out and be the face. Clayton McCullough has to be the face of an organizational decision, like he's a total middle manager who gets all of the heat and hatred for pulling a starter with a perfect game after 7 innings because he's thrown a few over 90 pitches.

Grow a pair. I mean, the Marlins won a World Series because he had a guy who went with his gut, and Josh Beckett went out there in Game 6 on short rest and won your World Series with a shutout because the manager went with his gut.

Yeah, but playing the A's in July isn't quite a World Series, and this is a young arm coming off of 92 pitches injury.

It's not 192, but it's a young arm coming off of injury.

It doesn't matter to you that he's making like his third start off of injury?

You say that as if you believe if it was his 10th start coming off injury, they wouldn't have done the same thing.

Well, baseball's different now, and you either accept it or you howl at the moon because it's not going to change. This is how they do things now in July. They're protecting precious arms. I'm— I don't know why they're protecting them. I'm watching the Rays got Drew Rasmussen. He had 2 Tommy John surgeries while he was in college. Like, I don't know why they're protecting any of the arms, but they are protecting the arms. And it seems like Odie Perez has learned how to pitch because he's no longer walking people. Like, the guy's got filthy stuff, but he just walked everybody. Now he's, he's throwing in the zone. But you find yourself, uh, what level of mad? Uh, because the— for you to summon outrage when the Marlins are the best team in baseball since the beginning of June, and for this to be what gets on your radar— because it's hard to get on the sports radar this month. It's been a little— it's been a little bit crazy with everything happening, hockey and baseball deciding championships, the World Cup. We have not talked about the fact that the Marlins since the beginning of June have the best team in baseball.

They just ransacked the A's.

You're right about that part, but in a 162-game season, give me a few things throughout the course of the summer that I can get excited about. And when I see through 5 innings that Yuri Perez— because I don't have the Marlins on every day— but when I see through 5 innings that Yuri Perez is perfect, and then I put it on one of the TVs, not the big one, Dan. Let's get serious here. I put it on the small TV.

What was on the big one?

Uh, I was watching, uh, House of the Dragon. And I mean, this new season, it's off to a really good start, Dan. Like, do you know— I don't want to give up any spoilers, but holy shit, the queen is back.

No, Zazz just touched on the real tension in all of this. This has nothing to do with the actual McCullough taking out the pitcher. You know what happened yesterday? It's the people that have been paying attention to the Marlins getting mad at all the people who aren't paying attention to the Marlins swooping in and being outraged at Clayton McCullough. So that's what it was in the group chat.

It was like, you haven't been—

this is be crazy, he should fire him.

Well, you haven't watched 2 games this year. I've been watching all year.

That was the tension yesterday.

One of those people was Billy Gill, who immediately fired—

that guy—

fired Clayton McCullough.

That is his lane, in his defense. He's been on that beat for a while.

Just fired Clayton McCullough yesterday for, like, which— for taking him out in after the 7 perfect innings. Do you know how many perfect games there have been in the history of baseball? Yes. Because I— in the '90s it was 15. What's the number now?

24.

Every Marlins fan knows this morning.

That's just brutal. Oakland is almost totally dead as a baseball town. A's Miami fans haven't been heard from in decades, but yesterday they were disgusted with the Marlins.

Well, they're saying shame right now.

Yes. So what they used to do to the Salem witches, like, just— they're just dispensing shame, not on Uri Perez, but on Clayton McCullough. I've got this right, right, Jeremy? You're around the team all the time. That's not a Clayton McCullough decision. He's got to take it on the chin, but he's just the middleman. Manager executing what the front office wants there, correct?

Yeah, these are discussions that happen between the front office and the manager and the rest of their coaching staff going into the game. It's however many ups, it's however many pitches.

And we have sound of McCullough where he says, I had a plan today, it was, it was 90 pitches plus a batter. And it just seems like, all right, you made that exact decision. You can't adjust slightly.

I feel like you could adjust slightly, but I have said before and you've heard me say before, I don't understand the point of having judges if all they're going to do is follow the letter of the law. I want my judges to show judgment. I want them to be arbiters who decide difficult things outside of the letter of the rule. But let's hear from McCullough here explaining why he pulled Yuri Perez, who was on his way to possibly the 25th perfect game of all time. Keep in mind, the perfect game is rarer than the World Cup in the history of baseball. Like, it doesn't— it on average, it happens less than once every 4 years. Here's McCullough explaining why he took Perez out after 90-plus pitches.

Clayton, obviously a wild win. We'll start with, with Yuri today after 7 perfect. Just what went into the decision to take him out?

I mean, it was going into this game like 90+ a batter was a pitch count that I felt comfortable with him coming back off, uh, the time on the IL. And, you know, us looking to, to play beyond the regular season, you know, Yuri's gonna be an important part of that. So yeah, I mean, he had, you know, he had it really going today, and I totally get it. And there was a part of my heartstrings pulling at you know, his opportunity to keep on going. But I think I have to think about Yuri, one, and our organization, our team, and what's best moving forward to give us a chance to continue to win games. So, you know, made it more of a calculated decision with where he was with the pitch count to, you know, to take him out.

All right.

If you're actually going to think about Yuri Perez, you would have left him in. All right. Because Yuri Perez definitely— what Yuri Perez definitely wants to have a perfect game. And definitely feels like, "I can throw a few more pitches than 92." At the very least, Dan, throw him out there in the 8th inning. How do you know you don't have an immaculate inning? Maybe it's 3 pitches. 3 pitches, he gets out, and now he's just 3 outs away. Let him go out there! See what can happen at the start of the 8th inning, and instead, "No, no, no, my heartstrings, my heartstrings really want me to do it, but instead I'm not." I've got a couple of things here.

First, an immaculate inning, I believe, is 9 pitches you strike out people with 9— Never!

Whatever!

What?

You called it the immaculate inning.

It's not 3 pitches.

Well, put it on the poll at Levitard Show. Should the immaculate inning be 3 pitches instead of 9 pitches? The other thing I wanted to mention, heartstrings. What are those, arteries? Like, what are heartstrings? Can someone tell me what heartstrings are? And then this, this is the most amazing part. We're just skipping past it. That dude just mentioned playoffs. Like, that dude just talked about his number 2 starter in the playoffs, and it's not asinine. Like, it's not— what he is saying is not asinine because the lowest payroll in baseball is— that team is playing out of its minds as they've lost 6 times since the beginning of June.

No, but it is asinine because we're going to look back if the Marlins make the playoffs, and again, huge if. I know they're tied for the final spot right now. They're like 23-9 since the beginning of June. But you're telling me we're going to look back at the Marlins qualifying for the postseason like, thank God Yuri Perez didn't go in in the 8th inning, you know, that game that he could have had perfect, you know, thank goodness.

The Marlins must have had some live arms. Like, they're allowing Ryan Weathers to figure out whether or not he's going to grow into a power arm, top of the rotation guy somewhere else, because he never figured out here how not to walk people. But, uh, it seems like Perez has figured this part out. It's a small sample, but he's, he's just— he throws such a heavy baseball in the zone. Like, it, it reminds me of Kevin Brown, like 6 or 7 miles an hour faster, like, because he's just throwing such— he's throwing a shot put up there that, that is really hard to hit hard when, uh, when it's in the zone. And all he's got to do is keep it in the zone. He's, he's a really strong-armed, live-armed pitcher.

And by the way, you know what's frustrating too? Like, I don't want to hear— I don't want to hear people say, oh, but it was the right move, it was the right move, because the Marlins not only trying to save Yuri Perez, but They're trying, they're trying to win the game. Well, if you're trying to win the game, it was not the right move because through 7 innings the Marlins didn't allow a base runner, and then the next 2 innings they gave up 8 runs. So it was, it was actually not the right—

I, I need to point that part out too, okay? As absurd as the manager of the Marlins sitting here in July saying, yeah, I got to save him for the postseason, as absurd as this, the conversation today about the Marlins is how could you take out a pitcher who had a perfect game in a 9-8 game. Like, like, that game ended 9-8 because as soon as they took him out, every reliever that got brought in and got his nipples on fire and ran to the dugout scared while A's fans chanted shame at them like if it was Salem in the 1700s.

So stop telling me it was the right move, because if the Marlins only scored 7 runs, you lose a game that you were perfect through 7 innings. So it was not the right move.

Meanwhile, I've got Mike Ryan has gone totally off of the deep end here. He's going to Atlanta. He's immersed in World Cup in a way that I don't believe is totally healthy for him because it's, uh, not to skew his perspective, he's about to go to Atlanta upset that he's getting Messi in the game. He, he wanted Cabo Verde. Instead of Messi. He's, he's bothered that he's going to Atlanta tomorrow to see Lionel Messi play soccer. It's not the person he wanted in that game.

I'm glad we're finally getting around to what was one of the biggest spectacles in the history of sport, and I'm not even talking about what happened last night. It would have been the biggest upset ever. Cabo Verde played so friggin' well against the world champions. For my money, when you apply the context of where they are in FIFA world rankings, their nation's footballing history, the best player in the world against guys who are literally unemployed right now. Presently, this was— I'm still swept away in what I saw Friday at Hard Rock Stadium between Cabo Verde and Argentina. That was such a great story. Everybody, even if you openly had disdain for soccer, stopped by the television and understood what was on the line, what the story was, and everybody was rooting for Cabo Verde.

It's hard to explain to people. You've got, uh, not just the defending World Cup champions, you've got Messi, who's still playing best soccer in the world in a tournament that still has most of its stars outside of the folks who play for Brazil. And it's really struggling against a team that was a 2.5-goal underdog, which you rarely see this late in the tournament. A 2.5-goal underdog with a 40-year-old goalie, Rosinha, who is being given by his country, which is smaller than the population of Wyoming, a home, a Rolls-Royce worth half a million dollars, a statue, and also— and I don't know what this means exactly, because once you've given him the home— lifetime free accommodations. Does that mean that he can go in any house in the country and just sleep on a bed in there? If, like, not— it's not just hotels.

He's going to be sleeping in plenty of strangers' beds.

How does this work, though? Your 40-year-old goalie who has just become a sensation started the tournament with how many followers? 40-something thousand and now has nearly 20 million followers because this game is amazing and the world is interested.

As of this morning, by the way, it's up to 27.

So the 40-year-old goalie gets fallen in love with in a way that makes Mike regret that Messi's playing in the game that he's flying to Atlanta to see tomorrow.

I would have traded all 4 matches that I've either attended or am going to attend in this World Cup to have said I was in that building for that second goal that Cabo Verde scored. An absolute worldie. And Cabo Verde played so well down the stretch too. They made so many pushes, they came so close. Everyone, like I said, understood the storylines going into that. Argentina looking so relieved at the end because they barely got across the line against a bunch of people that no one knows. It was just Dude, this is why we do it. This is why we do it. Anybody can understand that storyline was incredible outside of the final between France and Argentina. When you apply all the context and the drama, that's the second best World Cup match I think I've ever seen.

Well, let's talk for a second about the way that you have thrown perspective aside by saying it might have been the biggest sporting event of any kind played in South Florida. World Cup tickets all over the place are going for an average cost of $4,400. The experience in what is being called Miami Stadium— I had a funny, uh, incident, I'm going to call it an incident, the other day where some people who were in town for the World Cup game went up to some people I know with their tickets and they're like, where's Miami Stadium? And the answer to that was, you've got fake tickets. There is no Miami Stadium.

Wow.

Miami Stadium is something we had as a minor league part in the 1970s because FIFA won't allow it to be called Hard Rock Stadium, so they've just named it Miami Stadium, but there's no such thing. Miami Stadium except for this tournament. Uh, it has to be an unpleasant experience there just because, um, those players were all cramping at the end. This is unreasonable weather to be playing this intensity of games late. Uh, it's, it's a crazy thickness, a soup of humidity that is— you had players cramping all over the place late in that game.

And it was cooler than it was in Philadelphia. I was in Philadelphia for France-Paraguay, second hottest I've ever been at a sporting event in my entire life behind at Gainesville to open up the season a couple of seasons ago. That was insane. It was 140 degrees on the field. I was there with a 6-year-old. It was sweltering.

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So my schedule gets a little chaotic this time of year. Most days I'm here at the Metal Ark Studios and then I'm heading straight to another broadcasting or hosting gig. And especially in this Miami heat, it's insane. And not the Miami heat, but the Miami summer heat. I've been trying to keep at least one healthy habit consistent. And that's why I've been bringing Kachava's new travel packs with me. It's one less thing I have to worry about, which is great because I'm already spending enough mental energy figuring out what shirt is acceptable to wear on camera or hosting or on the show that I'm not going to get made fun of for. So I just throw one in my backpack and I've got an all-in-one nutrition shake ready whenever I need it. It's packed with plant-based protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals, greens, probiotics, electrolytes, and more. So even when my schedule is all over the place, I know I'm getting something good in. It tastes great. It's easy to take anywhere. And there are no fillers.

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Tony, you know that moment at a party or a tailgate where everything just sort of clicks?

I know it well.

It's usually when I show up, everybody goes crazy.

Yeah, you usually take all the credit for it, but it's because Tony usually walks in with Cuervo. I walk in like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cuervo is a thing that turns hanging out into this is the night. It has that effect on people. It does. You usually take the credit for it, but again, it's the Cuervo effect. It's like that moment in a big game where everyone in the crowd just starts standing up, hooting and hollering, "Keep it Cuervo!" Keep it Cuervo, baby!

Down, LeBatar!

For 5 minutes, I was watching everyone just like, "Nope, not letting you in, not letting you in." So when I got up there, I had to say something, and I said it. Cheaters never prosper.

Chris Cody!

My buddy was saying, "Not today." Yeah, but you're trying—

Not today.

I think that was what he was adding. Yeah, that would have been better.

That would have been so much better!

I'm telling you, the response I got from this guy, what I said was amazing. Cheaters never prosper. This guy yelled as angry as he could.

I ain't cheating. This is the Dan Levatar Show.

Where are you on Mike saying, because I don't believe that this will stand the test of time because Cabo Verde didn't win the game, I don't believe it will go down historically as one of the best things to ever happen in South Florida sports history, but Mike is making the argument on behalf of this being one of the biggest things to ever happen in South Florida when I thought Columbia Portugal was supposed to be that a week earlier. And here you are with just a really unknown soccer team challenging the defending champions right until the end of that game.

It's funny that you mentioned that. I have a top 5 games ever having taken place at Miami Stadium.

Wow. So it's just that stadium. It's not all of South Florida. It's just in that stadium.

Just there.

Okay. So what do we have to choose from? We have some Marlins baseball to choose from. We have some University of Miami football to choose from, and we have some Dolphins to choose from.

We got a lot of great stuff here to choose from. But this— a top 5 list only has 5. Okay. So yes, it's a lot of things. Some things I had to not include. All right, you ready?

Yes.

I got O-I.

All right, let's go. What is— it sounded like there was no L in there.

O-I.

O-I.

It sounded like that you just sort of swallowed the L.

All right, keep up, Dan. O-I first. Marlins-Yankees Game 5, 2003 World Series. A 6-4 Marlins extra inning win Alex Gonzalez with the walk-off home run.

Braden Looper getting out of a bases loaded, no out jam against the Yankees.

What a night.

The Cabrera home run against Clemens.

Make your own list.

It's a part of your list.

Another OLI.

That's in your list.

He's literally—

that game, he's giving you details from that game. Why can't he give— why does he have to make his own list? Why can't he give you details from that game?

Oh wait, wrong.

That was game 4.

I forgot about that. All right, all eye, 2023 Miami Open. That's right, 2023 Miami Open women's final. You know about that Petra Kvitova versus Elena Rybakina? That's right, 7-6, 6-2. Kvitova won. Very long. The tiebreak was 16-14, longest in Miami Open history. That's right. And Rybakina came in on a 13-match win streak. Huge upset. Huge upset, Dan. All right.

More.

I got a couple more.

OLI.

2024 Copa America final. Argentina 1, Colombia 0. You know about those fans sneaking in and climbing in through the air vents like John McClane in Die Hard?

That can't be in your list.

OLI!

I got an email to join a class action lawsuit about that match.

Considering it?

Well, my experience was fine. I'm not joining it.

I got one more OLI. Super Bowl XXIII. That was in 1989, for those of you keeping track. 49ers beat the Bengals 20-16. You may remember infamously, Dan, that's where Joe Montana got in the huddle on the 8-yard line under 2 minutes and said, "Hey, there's John Candy," before calling the play in the huddle.

Uh, that is a true story. He looked into the stands. They were on the 8-yard line. They needed a game-winning drive, and he was so relaxed. Uh, Cool Joe was so relaxed. Uh, that he pointed out that John Candy was in the stands.

Number 5, top 5 games at Miami Stadium.

It's— I should have said Joe Cool, not Cool Joe. I was dyslexic about his nickname.

In 2000, the last time the Miami Dolphins won a playoff game, the Lamar Smith game, 23-17 win in overtime.

It wasn't until you had to be there over the Colts. Literally, you had to be there. It was the only way that you could watch It was blacked out locally because it wasn't a sellout.

It's the last time that the Miami Dolphins won a playoff game.

Well, what a game it was.

That's crazy to say. That was 2001.

What? 2000. Oh my God, what a game it was. Number 4, Marlins-Giants, Game 4, 2003 NLDS. Pudge Rodriguez, he holds on to the ball for a 7-6 win. First time ever in baseball history that a series ended with a play at the plate. And Pudge Rodriguez, he's holding up the ball to the crowd, says, "I got the effin' ball right here!" That's right. Jeremy, I don't know what you're doing. You weren't even alive. All right?

I was there.

2003.

That's number 4. Number 3: WrestleMania 28. Once in a lifetime. Rock versus Cena. The Rock, he won, and the crowd went wild.

I heard Eric Andre talking the other day about the new show on Netflix that he's doing with Cena. This can't be true. Is he, is he joking when he says that John Cena learned Mandarin just for fun and is a classically trained pianist? Is he, is he just doing comedy there, or is that true?

I don't know about the penis part, but the Mandarin part is definitely true because he's told the story before how WWE and like their benefits package for their wrestlers, they will sponsor you to go learn a language, and he did it.

So you think John Cena has a classically trained penis? That's what you think that I just said? How would that work? Would it wear a tuxedo? Like, what would be a penis that—

Definitely uncircumcised.

Classically trained.

With a bow tie.

Um, put it on the poll: is a classically trained penis, uh, definitely uncircumcised, uh, yes or no? And Jeremy, get to me on, uh, heartstrings, please. I want to know why they're called heartstrings that are being pulled on.

No, I'm looking for it. Hold on, on heartstrings, there's no— the origin is in the, the 1500s, but there doesn't seem to be a real reason outside of tying it to like the hamstring, or they used to call the heel string the Achilles, but but it's not a real thing.

It's possible that they didn't know how to name arteries back then, so they just called them strings.

Number 2!

I thought that was number 2.

No, that— keep up, man. Number 2! Argentina survives Cape Ve— What do you mean, no?

Did you watch the game? What do you mean, no? You sound like a fool.

Did you watch the game? It was one of the greatest sporting events I've ever seen.

Better than Pudge holding on to the baseball?

Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah, goofs easily.

The second goal.

What are we doing?

Cape Verde had an entire nation scared. They were scared.

Messi had to score a goal and get an assist. The game winner. He's the best player in the world. Had to be the best player to beat a bunch of electricians.

It's unbelievable. Like, while you're watching the game, I was on ESPN at the time, like, watching it live on the air, giving updates, and I'm like, I was like, there's something, something's happening here. Even when the game was just 1-1, it's like we're watching something, something's going on.

Well, that is accurate. Something was happening and it's just something that ended up not happening.

Dan, your take on this is garbage. I can't wait to see where Stephen A has it on his A-list.

And finally, number 1, the greatest match that ever took place at Miami Stadium. The end of an era. Dan, you know about that end of an era? WrestleMania 28, Hell in a Cell, Triple H versus Undertaker. You know about that false finish?

You know who the referee was for that one?

Heartbreak Kid.

Did you forget about Game 7 of the World Series in extra innings?

No, it wasn't good enough. Just like the national championship game that just recently happened. Just not good enough to crack OLI. Told you.

It's a great list. Make your own list.

So two things from WrestleMania 28. Yeah. Separately make the list.

Yeah.

Yeah, it was an incredible card. Did you watch the End of an Era?

No.

We got a whole bunch of people weighing in on this that didn't watch End of an Era.

Jeff Konig had to reach home plate from left field.

I was there! It's a miracle! Triple H had the sledgehammer in his hand as the triangle choke is going.

I think Jeremy's point here is WrestleMania 28 should have just been one thing.

No, no, it had two great all-time matches.

No, yeah, it's not top 5 greatest cards. At Miami. It's top 5 matches.

Daniel Bryan losing inside of 4 seconds didn't even make the cut.

Nope, not even close.

Game 7 of the World Series decided in extra innings can't go behind 2 WrestleMania matches.

Did you watch the matches? No, no, no. Did you watch the matches? Because for many, Triple H versus Undertaker, end of an era, inside Hell in a Cell, refereed by Shawn Michaels, is the greatest WrestleMania match ever.

Dan, what should I have knocked off the top 5? Don't do the thing where it's like Oh, so-and-so got snubbed. He should have been an all-star. Tell me who should not have been an all-star.

You could have just said WrestleMania, put it in there as one event, and then made room for Game 7 of the World Series.

Well, WrestleMania was at Madison Square Garden in 1985. I'm talking about WrestleMania 28. That was in Miami Stadium.

Thank you for the clarifications.

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Dan Levitar.

I've never stepped foot on that campus. If you told me right now your life depends on it, go to Santa Fe University and just, just take a picture. Jonathan Sassolo.

I would die.

I don't know where it is. This is the Dan Levitar Show.

Before we go any further, this is something I wanted to mention last week and we never got to it because just sports are going crazy right now. But for those of you who are not paying attention to college football in the offseason, everyone is noticing what Miami is doing in recruiting. On average, according to Rivals, they've got the best recruiting class. It's technically, uh, number 3 overall, but on average they are getting better recruits than everyone else. They're taking Georgia's recruits and LSU's recruits and Oregon's recruits. Their top— their receiving room was considered top 10 just because Malachi Tony is in it. And they're only— they're the only top 10 receiving group that has improved from what it is that they were. The way people are talking about who Miami's getting, Zazz, is top of the class, top of the class. It's the Alabama recruits back when Nick Sabin was dominating college football. Everyone is noticing that the thing has not merely been turned around. What you're getting now is the best of the best. Nobody's out-recruiting Miami.

So two things. Number one, shouldn't this be how— shouldn't this be how it always is moving forward? Like, we should always be in this conversation? And number two, what— why should But like, this is what it should be forever with Cristobal as the coach.

It sounds like number 2 was exactly like number 1.

Pretty similar.

It seems like you forgot what number 2 was after you said number 1.

If I could be perfectly honest here, I'm a little bit shook because I regret not having game 7. Number 7.

Top 5.

Just add it to the OLI. Or do it like Greg and put it at number 2.

I'm a little bit— I don't normally get like this. I'm a little bit embarrassed. Normally I'm very confident.

What was your second point gonna be? Because you said number one and then you said number two, and number two would be like this.

Well, you know, number one is with Cristobal, he should do this more.

No, he said exactly the same thing. He just threw in Cristobal. It was the same thing because he forgot what number two was. Have you now remembered what number two was, or you still don't remember what number two was?

No, I think, I think they were, I think they were the same, but because I said them differently in my head, it made me think they were different.

Everyone forgot we said Cool Joe. Hey, that's me.

Hey, I just—

I'm embarrassed.

So you forgot? You're admitting now publicly that you simply forgot an extra— yeah, an extra inning, Game 7 of the World Series? There's only been one of those played in Miami ever.

It's the first championship I ever saw in my life.

Oh, first—

well, not, you know, professional level.

Either way, Zazz, I agree with both your points.

Yeah.

So, Mike, you have noticed, right, the, the people who are talking about college football will not shut up about the recruits that Miami is getting.

Now you have proof of concept. You were literally in the national championship game, a drive away from winning. Mario Cristobal has done a lot of good recruiting, especially in the portal, and always doesn't get enough credit for his evaluations because he's— and his development because because our best player right now was a 3-star. Reuben Bain was a 4-star, famously didn't, because of the measurables, didn't make it to 5-star. So they've developed guys, guys that have come in. Markel Bell makes an NFL career out of himself. Coincidentally, with the new NCAA rules that give you all 5 years no matter what, you get it in, no, no more medical redshirts. Markel Bell would have come back to Miami had this ruling happened beforehand. Now we're rolling, or as Greg Cody would say, we're rolling now, huh? Yeah, you have a good team, which was the only thing that was really keeping Mario Cristobal out of the game for the Elite talents. Now they want to matter. You want to be featured on, on the Game of the Week? Hell, if Miami and Notre Dame handle their business, that's going to be dubbed Game of the Century type of hype.

Now you come to Miami to play the big games. A huge advantage for Mario Cristobal. Now he doesn't have to sell people on a vision, he sells people on the present.

Malachi Tony was not a 5-star recruit. Malaki, he was considered somebody who was undersized. Uh, I saw that ESPN came out with its, uh, list list of most famous college football uniform numbers of all time, and there were 5 Hurricanes on the list. You guys want to take, uh, yep, some guesses on, uh, the 5 all-time uniform numbers that have been worn by Miami? That's one. Michael Irvin was one of the 5. Uh, go ahead. How many more do you think you can get?

Uh, they can get them all.

You think you can get them all?

47.

Yeah, yeah, you can't count that one twice. Uh, try twice. Uh, that is, that is also correct the same way it was the first time that you said it. Uh, do you want to guess another? Are you just going to keep guessing 47 5 times?

I'll try some others.

All right, what else you got?

11?

No.

15?

No.

18?

No.

26?

No.

Wait, 26? No.

26?

No. Sean Taylor's a no. No.

22.

No.

Number 1's supposed to be special in Miami. Is number 1 on there?

No.

8.

No.

5.

52.

Yes, 52 is on there for Ray Lewis. You've got— you're doing very poorly here, Zazz, as someone who thought he was going to get all 5. You've now got— well, you've gotten more than 5 wrong already.

No, but I'll get all 5. 87.

No.

86.

No.

85.

No. 84.

No.

83.

No.

82.

No.

81.

No.

80.

No.

89.

No.

90.

No.

91.

No.

92.

No.

93.

No.

94.

No.

Not 94, that was Dwayne Johnson. No.

96.

No.

97.

No.

98.

No. 99.

No.

100.

No.

47.

Yeah, yes, 47. We've established you've gotten 3 so far. You've gotten 2 right and 170 wrong. Do you want to keep trying or do you want to give up?

No, 26 is nuts. Am I too close to that? Because I think Sean, Sean Taylor is one of those stories that transcends even Miami.

I believe that Sean Taylor obviously had the reputation where Miami people knew who he was while he was in college, but he wasn't even the best safety the University of Miami has had while in college. That was Ed Reed, who was the best safety while in college, and then That number is not retired. That is not one of the all-time numbers. You are still missing 3. I will give you the clue of they are all interior linemen on the offensive and defensive line. Odd or even? All— 2 of them are even. One of them is odd. All interior linemen. So who do you have?

60.

No.

61.

No.

62.

No. 63.

No.

64.

No.

65. No.

66.

No.

67.

Yes.

Nice.

Do you know who that is?

The guy.

It is the guy. It is indeed the guy. It is somebody who is the guy. Number 67.

Shirkul Rasha Azouli.

Russell Maryland. That's the tough one to get on the list. Do you want to keep going?

Yes.

Go ahead.

68.

No.

69.

No.

70.

70.

No.

71.

No.

72.

No.

73.

No.

74.

No.

75.

No.

76.

Yes.

Nice.

Do you know who 76 is? Yes. You gonna tell us?

Joaquin Gonzalez.

It's Warren Sapp. You got one more on the list.

78.

Correct. You skipped over 77 bravely.

Told you I knew.

So who is 78? Do you remember who 78 is?

Martin Bibla.

It's Bryant McKinney, who still one of the most amazing stats ever given in the history of sport. Never allowed a sack in college, in a game or in practice. Like that, that part. Never allowed a sack in practice. I simply don't believe it's true. They keep saying it's true. McKinney swears it's true. I don't believe it's true. I don't believe that he didn't have one bad day at practice where he allowed a sack by mistake.

I'm picturing like his senior year, one gets by and he's just like, nobody saw that.

It's just, it can't be true, can it? Do you, do you think it's possible like that Jonathan Ogden or one of these guys who was just so much bigger than everybody else, that do you, do you actually think it's within feasible logic that somebody never allowed a sack ever in practice. Uh, how high? Brian McKinney was taken middle of the first round, correct? He was, uh, was Brian— Brian McKinney was higher than that. Uh, he was— was he?

I, I think top 10 pick.

Yeah, I think so. I think it was top 10.

Um, regardless, that is, uh, that is— yeah, you can— sure, you can, you can guess.

47.

Yeah, that's the middle of the second round. Uh, where was Brian McKinney 7. Okay. So nothing yet on heartstrings, though. It's strange that—

No, I've been looking and looking and looking and I cannot find anything else.

There are no butterflies in the stomach either. Just really getting out in front of that one.

When you talk about— there are some stuff in the World Cup and around the World Cup that I do want to get to, especially considering the rare instance of everything that is surrounding the United States team and the game that they play tonight.

Biggest game in 20 years.

The president of the United States getting involved to overturn a reportedly a red card suspension that now makes it so that, uh, Bolligan is in a situation where he has had his ban suspended for a period, a probationary period of 1 year. Okay. Which is funny, right? Because there's just a month left of games. And so the, uh, his ban He was banned and suspended, and then they lifted the ban. But Belgium is mad. Belgium is mad and they are appealing it. But it is the rarest of things that has happened here. Two wrongs make it right. It has happened. I haven't seen it happen before where two wrongs— he shouldn't have been suspended. You cannot suspend somebody for games that are once every 4 years unless it's super egregious, unless someone's got a hatchet and has dismembered somebody. Like, you cannot— the games are too important. It's got to be really egregious and sort of above argument. So he never should have been suspended. And obviously the president of a country shouldn't get involved— host country shouldn't get involved to overturn something like this, because now everyone's rooting against the United States. Not that they weren't rooting before against the United States, but now they're really rooting against the United States because this, uh, this is indecent in terms of fair play.

But two wrongs end up making it right because he should play in the game. Like, he should not be out of the game.

But for it to come down about 24 hours away from the match is really unfair to sportsmanship. And it's— I understand why Belgium and UEFA are fighting this tooth and nail. They can still appeal something, and they have a deadline that I think it expires at 8 AM. Well, just—

I thought it was 5 AM today.

Yeah, Pacific time.

Um, so you know, time zones work.

I think Baligan's got to play, which is, I mean, great for the United States. And yeah, when you get down to the heart of it, he shouldn't have been out in the first place, especially to miss the following match. The probationary thing means that if he gets another straight red at any point during that probationary period, he'll get suspended double the amount, so 2-game suspension there. Which again, FIFA is making the rules up as they go because I was talking to a lot of plugged-in people. The impression was at first that the United States could appeal it and then they couldn't appeal it because it wasn't given an initial 2-game suspension. And then they point to Article 27, which, if interpreted a certain way, gives them the power to do this. Meanwhile, New York Times has confirmed the White House did reach out to FIFA. FIFA UEFA pushed back on that, said it was all done through an independent council. No one believes them. All in Europe agrees that this isn't the way that you go about it. I do think optics matter, but the funniest optic we can all agree out of all of this is Donald Trump was acting on behalf of a birthright citizen.

Biggest game in 20 years.

Let me just make sure I'm following. So he was suspended, the suspension was suspended, and now Belgium has the opportunity to suspend the suspended suspension.

Correct.

Biggest game in 20 years.

For the United States, it's incredibly huge. And I think the odds have reflected this. The market price on the DK Sports app has certainly reflected Balogun, who's been really huge for the United States of America, gets into threatening positions, been really good with the ball at his feet, puts the ball on frame. It is a huge upgrade just based on form from what we've seen from Ricardo Pepi. This is immense for the United States.

Hopefully we win 7-0 today. Tonight everyone talk about, oh, the United States, they shouldn't be allowed this. Everybody's rooting for Belgium now. I hope Belgium crushes you. I hope the US wins 7-nothing and then the entire Belgian team, they have to come into the locker room afterward, they have to make everybody a waffle. Biggest game in 20 years.

I thought you were going to go 47-nothing, Dan.

That's not even reasonable.

The United States, uh, having its best goal scorer, because I think we can call him that, its best goal scorer reinstated because the most corrupt government administration teams with the most corrupt organization in the history of sports to do something that is flagrantly corrupt and also correct.

Gotcha.