You're listening to DraftKings Network.

This is the Dan Leviton Show with the Stugartz Podcast.

Should give a salute to our good friend Ron McGill for a big dub, and Billy can take all the credit for it.

Okay.

Do you have the picture? Studio team. That's a good idea by Billy. Do you have the photo of the protest from a couple of weeks back? Yeah, when Billy was there.

By the way, I'd like to tell the group, everyone can hear me, yes? Mike, do you need to keep speaking? Nope. That you were very helpful during Delaney. That is a slalom course. However it is that it got to me that Mike said when he said in the middle of my tears, because that could have really gone sideways on me, what he said about, like if that happens, I want the show to feel comfortable playing with that. Carl, one of the things that I would say it's the first time Carl said to me, and this has been a hard thing to try and teach everybody the show that we do, the first time Carl, after a year here said, Oh, I get what you're longing for that you're missing, was the day I came in here and said my brother had just died and Mike hit me with a joke four minutes in or whatever, or whatever it was, that the show broke out around me, and slumped over the microphone, and lifted me back up. Because whenever that happens, I'm giving all of you the permission to follow. I got real sustenance from how I was hurting there, talking to him and feeling the show grabbing me and being like, No, we'll do show here.

It's what gave that the range that it had. Mike's awkward around some of this stuff. I need the help of the group there to be thinking, Don't stop doing show just because I'm falling apart, unless the falling apart has any worth as content.

Because we can- Yeah, not many shows can do what we did with Rob Delaney, and I'm very proud of that. I think that was a good example of all the teams working together. Is this content? I don't know. Is it?

-sure. We can keep it all content.

-we're going to make this content?

-sure. Let's make it all content at this point because this is one of the issues we have.

I should-Carl is our audio director over here at Metallark just for those catching up.

Yes. Good gent. I like him. Yes, he's a good gent, but he is not the executive producer of the show because he's got a lot of learning to do and there's a lot of stuff in this room that's complicated.

There's a lot of feelings in this room today, and I miss the awkward cutaway to the old time you baseball player.

Did we?

How can you miss that? No, I miss it in that it's a great device to diffuse these situations.

I thought the best thing that happened, I thought Billy was the star of the Rob Delaney segment. Billy, did you even say anything? Because how.

Many mustache? I mean, his mic was on accidentally for a little bit, so we're trying to clean that up. Maybe he might have said something. But it's the one time. We were juggling a lot there.

I'm also, if you must know, currently recording Godless.

Football on Zoom on my computer. Yeah, I noticed that too. We had a wayward mic go on and we were trying to figure out what it was. I saw sausage fingers in a Zoom talking to Mike Olegsyn here. I'm like, What the hell.

Is happening right now? I feel.

This often. It's like doing that dance, the psychag of an old-timey baseball player whose mustache, I got to tell you, remains consistent the entire time while you're also producing actively, God bless football, is quite the task there.

Well, Mike, this is a lot, I believe, that people don't know. I really do feel like I've lied to the audience in some ways after promising them the God Almighty. It makes me mad that it's happened like this. But I've been hiding for two years for reasons that are complicated. But I've been next to my brother's deathbed, and I'm not fit to work right now.

Yeah, I genuinely think you should take a break. Maybe the holidays is that break, but it's a lot. It's a lot for you, I imagine. It's a lot for the listener to process.

Okay.

But- I can only play Rambling Man so many times before that gets annoying as a device.

I promise. Look, man, this is what I would say to you in the most honest way that I could, okay? One of the things that Bill Simmons warned me about, and I just didn't understand. I think his people unionized on him, and I don't know whether he wanted to sell to Spotify or not, but he ended up doing it. He did warn me from a place that I simply did not understand at the time. If you're going to do this as an undertaking, you're going to get tired and it's going to impair your judgment. My judgment is impaired. Then on top of that now, throw in the death of my brother. My whole world has been turned upside down in a way.

We had two teams in the finals at the exact same time. It's been a lot.

Okay, but I don't want to talk about how and why it is I became a rambling man. I did want to talk about those some of the complications that there are around here when some of this stuff spills on air because what happened with Samson and JuJu, you have to understand. You have to understand. You want me to say, Yeah, take a break, Dan. Okay, how am I going to take a break from the merch company needs to run? There's a business over there that's been neglected for two years, and I need some help.

I don't think our priorities are straight when it comes to that. I don't know who needs to hear, Stan, that needs to hear this. I think a lot of the on-air banter about the merch store. While I see the benefit in driving people to the merch store and it being integrated content, I think a lot of the discourse that is often authentic is so goddamn trivial. I don't give a shit about the merch store. It was gone for several months, and it was fine. I actually like not having the problems associated with the merch store. This is week two now of the merch store fucking with the show. I'm not the biggest fan of it. So please, let's just let it live and separate feelings because I can guarantee you I'm speaking for not everybody. I know I'm not speaking for everybody because I know people have been talking about it, and some people care very deeply about this. I respect that. But I think I'm speaking for the majority of folks.

Let's say.

We're good. We're good. But please buy the touché.

Touché shirt.

With the promo code New Greed25.

And the fist to me shirt. What? I'm not sure if it's live yet, but I saw a picture for it. It looks good.

Well, you've ruined something, but good job. -had a boy. -go ahead and sit in the press. -go ahead and.

Sit in the press. -you haven't ruined anything.

-this promotion is bad. Yeah, yeah.

Okay. Go ahead and sit in the penalty box.

Chris, I thought it was fine.

This is where we should rise up against the merch store and not accept any punishment- Unionize against it. -associated with merch store conversation.

Okay, and this is where I'm going to stop you, and I'm going to have to hit you with my chest, and I'm going to tell you-.

I can see you perking up. I feel that you feel strongly about it, and I get it. I know that you've poured a lot of yourself into it, and I don't want you to bear down and think that I'm just dismissing. I'm just saying we're good.

I know that you feel like we're good, but I have evidence to the contrary, given that JuJu was actually pissed off because here's what my idea for the merch store is, and I'd like to explain it to you in the audience because it matters to me, and it matters to me from an important place, it's not going to make me back down. The brother that I just lost, my little brother, who was braver than me, who knows that there is real joy in creating art when you are self-employed, he did it harder than I did. I had employers. I had it easy. I had protection. I had safety. My brother did it out of the back of his car. The only place that I can artistically keep his artistic spirit alive is in that merch store with the only person he has trusted, Angel Resto, to recreate his art so that we can look better than most people printing T-shirts because that's where his spirit will live. I want desperately for JuJu to be involved with that because I trust JuJu like that. I want JuJu to represent us the way he always does. Because while Billy was editing Godless Football and Juju was in the middle of mental health crisis anger because he thought he had fucked something up when he hadn't, Juju's looking through his sunglasses that he doesn't want anyone to ever see his eyes because he's always cutting clips here because everyone is calling him the N-word on Twitter because he has been brave enough to protect our brand because he loves us and he shows it with daily positivity.

And that's what I'd like the merch store to be. And so I will protect it. And if I make bad content around it, that's the reason that I'm trying to do it. It's the most honest appraisal I can give you. And I've had to put Samson in charge of it. And do you think it's going to have a soul then? Because it needs to make money as well. It can't just be. My brother fought all his life, man. He was on cruise ships and other artists called him a sellout. Why do you do it commercially? You got to be starving artists. And he's like, I was. I was afraid the entire time that my brother was succeeding.

I was- Lord, Dan was born a rambling man, talking to guests and doing the best he can. But when it's time for 3-feet and no one understands, while I.

Dan, the.

Rambling man? Well, he's talking about discomfort in California.

Don't live a tard. Why are you so bad at this?

Stugats.

I can't answer that question. It's a good one, though.

I've been thinking about it a lot. This is the Dan Levitard Show with the Stugats.

Let's try this again. Let's give a big salute to Ron McGill for a big victory, stealing a water park from children. As the world gets hotter, this feels like a communal space where you can cool your body down, where a lot of people might have access to a pool that don't regularly have access to a pool, can fight global warming in doing this, but great for the owls or whatever. Yeah. Congratulations, Ron McGill. You have won and stood in the way of... I mean, I care more about water slides and owls personally, but you got that dub.

No, no. Owls are related to dinosaurs.

No, it wasn't owls. It wasn't actually owls. I believe it was bats that we did something for. And I say we because we did it, Dan. You did it. Well, I don't want to be the one that says I did it because you allegedly were there, even though I didn't see you there. Ron allegedly was there. But from what I hear, he was at Chile's. But look at this. Billy and his army. Look at what we did when we went to demonstrate a protest at this water park. We did it.

Look, this shows you the power of a movement right here.

I could see 13 people in that photo. And it worked.

Those people mobilized. They had shirts, and they stopped the water slides from happening. God bless each and every one of them.

The thing is, I was with those protesters. They were on the street. The zoo is a giant landscape. It is so large.

There's so much room. A water park easily fits there. Looks like Billy's smelling a fart in this photo, by the way, also. I'm not a selfie guy. What do you want me to do? Billy, is like someone fart right next to you?

I know that today is a big day for Ron. And me. Yeah, allow me to turn the attention, rightfully so, to you for getting this done because I didn't see any evidence of Dan being there.

I didn't see, Mary, a picture of Ron McGill there.

This was all you.

You did get there late, though. You got.

There- No, I got there within the window that was provided. When you tell me it's 10:00 to 2:00. If I get there at 1:15, that's in the 10:00 to 2:00 window.

Cable guy rules.

Yeah.

Billy, did you have any regret about anything yesterday? I have lots of regrets. I know, I know. But the way that the show went, when Greg Cody... The Greg Cody Tuesday, I believe, is Billy Gill Tuesday. Greg Cody gets to be second to all of your.

Support- Thank you, Billy.

-of Greg Cody. But I got a tweet here, and I wondered how you thought about this. What the hell is Billy Gill doing? He is supposed to be an ally. Greg Cody is actually right. Honey can last indefinitely if stored correctly. You never go against Greg Cody, and you did so in this instance. And people are saying you're wrong that Honey can last forever, that it's only the plastics that we keep them in that make them expire. And you didn't support Greg Cody when your best move is supporting.

Greg Cody. What do you expect? I'm supposed to know everything about everything. How am I supposed to.

Know about honey? You know that what works for you is.

Support Greg Cody. I'm not going to eat honey that's 800 years old. I'm sorry. But you followed him down so many paths before, and.

That's your line. Not every path. Not so many. Every. People were confused when you do. What are you, taking your mustache off to be taken more seriously? What do you.

Want me to do? I like reinventing myself from time to time, Dan. Sometimes I support Greg, sometimes I don't support Greg. Sometimes I have a full man shoe, sometimes I don't.

Sometimes you're peepo, everyone loves him, and then you just cancel him.

Billy looks like Pablo when he dressed up as Mike Wilbon.

I got scared of that for a second. A little.

Bit, yeah. I'm not sure which race we're offending.

I'm just.

Going.

To.

Remove.

All my time.

I think if you offend all the races, you're good. You're good?

Yeah. It all cancels out.

That is the one place where comedy can still survive without being too offensive, just offend everybody the same exact amount. Because when you said he looks like Pablo, I got scared. But Pablo is Mike Wilbon, which was not as a black person. It was just Pablo as Mike Wilbon. That was the safe space for comedy.

What a time that was.

Oh, my God. You know what? When we talk about the doing of business, I'm glad you're back here, game because I'm excited about All the smoke joining us. Yeah. And All the smoke is going to be a playground for a great deal of many things. I don't know how. How is it that you guys are going to interact as the oddball iteration with oddball?

I don't we haven't had that conversation yet, but I just know that working.

With them is- Are you okay? No, I want.

To ask you now. It's a rough minute.

How is oddball going to interact with oddball? Answer the man's question.

How is oddball going to interact with all the smoke?

I don't think I'd say oddball with oddball. I still haven't talked to them, though.

Okay, I'll tell you what it is that just happened to me there. I got scared because of things that have happened around here, when we released things, when we don't release things. I stumbled all over myself because I was throwing it to a meme here, and I wanted to talk within the context of what it is that we were talking about, about what had happened to Rachel Nichols during a complicated time. Don't hit me with rambling. I was about to.

Don't hit me with rambling. He hasn't rambling. I'm really-I'm going to mess off that I didn't get to it sooner.

Hold on a second.

He.

Hasn't rambling. Hold on. Just trust me for a.

Second on this. It's also the low key and magic rate of content. Yeah, where's that?

Don't tell people that.

What?

Rachel Nichols. Yeah. When she left ESPN, there were bad circumstances, where people who were friends who thought she had been wronged couldn't come forward bravely and simply say that because of everything that was happening with George Floyd, and because the way it had been framed by The New York Times and by ESPN made it look like Rachel Nichols had done some awful thing, when what had happened was there was a smoking gun, possibly illegally videotaped, in which she said, I'm not going to give up my seat.

That's.

In my contract because ESPN has a crappy record on diversity. Because it was so radioactive after George Floyd, no one sighted, no one could say out loud.

Well, some people said stuff out loud. You were one of them. I was one of them. Stephen Jackson was one of them. Tracy McGrady was one of them.

Everyone- Quick, throw up Pablo as Michael Wilbon. Now, distract him like Jeff Goldblum with.

A T-Rex.

Please, do anything. I hate where this is headed. Thank you, Video Team. God bless you. God bless you.

Is it, Paulo, is Mike Wilbon as a member of as an old time baseball.

Player, too? No, it's a Cubs jersey, I believe, head on. Because Mike Wilbon is from Chicago. I don't know if you know that was out there.

Yes. He tucks his jersey into his jeans and throws out the first pitch because journalism is the most important thing. I'm glad you brought all of this up because Rachel Nichols….

Get your eyes in there.

It's bad. This is unbelievable. Where's it been? Oh, my God. I knocked.

Over so many things.

Where is this? Where's this been? Mike, you've been bailed out. Has the NBA started for you?

For me, it's after the All-Star Game.

I don't know, but the I-S-T really changed things with all that intensity. It's an important question. Thankfully, we have the cast of oddball here to discuss.

I've never seen the back of the.

Box before. I mean, answer the goddamn question. Has the NBA started for you?

Yeah, it started for me in October. Sorry, I'm not one of these people like, What's happening? I don't pay attention until Christmas. By the way, this year, Christmas falls on a Sunday, so the NBA is cooked because the NFL loaded their Sunday with the greatest lineup of teams ever.

But do any of them have a quarterback? Currently. Now we're.

Getting into the Saturday windows where your Sunday witching hour experience is going to be more and more diluted. Basically, the four o'clock window, as it's been for the last few weeks, is basically just one game.

Yeah, I hate it. I want a million games.

All the time. It's nap time. The four o'clock window is nap time.

It's the devil with a headset and a football and a suit jacket that says AB on it. I'm assuming that means Art Briles.

Yeah, that's definitely Art Briles as the devil with a pitchfork and how that's what that is.

Yeah. Art Basel.

Right here. You got Rick Patino as a vampire. You've got, Oh, Patino Palace. That makes sense.

What's the sign say on the back of the box?

No.

There's a street sign.

Oh, the street signs. Okay. I assume, transylvania, this way. You got Uncle Fatti's River ride, and they've got this lazy river painted across right here. Then you've got pointing down, Pit of Fire, Briles, which is weird. Why is our Briles over here? Why is any...

Meloda's. He lives down there. He's just visiting. What a fun walk. It's probably a nice day.

All right, I think we navigated the danger.

I don't think Dan can hear us right now.

I hope not.

What do we do to get him on track? He's been off track today.

Don't speak too loudly because we have speakers everywhere.

I think he's looking directly at a feed, and I'm pretty sure he could hear us, and I'm not.

Sure- If he was looking at a feed-.

I don't think he.

Could hear us because I was recently in the penalty box, and I.

Couldn't hear anything. You couldn't hear? We should all do ventiligoism.

-yeah. -aw. Also, if you were looking at a feed, he would have ate it already. So that's also not the goal.

-two dollars. Because he's fat. Join me in the penalty box. Don't say the fat thing because he's trying with a wardrobe. It's a whole new wardrobe over the last week, and I really like it.

I think he's meditating.

In there. I get to. -juju pointed it out. He said he's been dressing a lot better recently.

The shoes have gotten better, dude. -the shoe have? -everybody once.

I think Valerie has finally broken him down.

Yeah.

I also liked the flannel. Sorry, I thought you liked it. I liked it, too. I was being serious. -does it look good? -does it look nice? -i really regret making jokes at his expense because I haven't seen the flannel since then. It was a good look for him.

-perfect. We got to tell him he can bring.

It back. What do we do? Do we come back and let him know, Hey, man, you're dressing great?

No, no. That's not on this dynamic. Call him fat. Yeah. Show the oddly racist photo that's not racist to Pablo Tori again as Michael Wilbot.

Don Levitard.

And.

Finally, abstanding.

From food for 16 to 18 hours a day could be key to treating a variety of health conditions like stabilizing blood sugar levels and increasing resistance to stress. Stugats. Mike, are you doing something like this right now?

I lost a lot of weight doing intermittent fasting and low carb, so now I'm getting back to it. But how much in.

That 6-8 hour window? How much can you eat?

Unlimited? I could just eat unlimited. I'd do that. That'd be fun.

For 6-8 hours. You can't eat unlimited. Try me. No, I mean...

This is The Dunlebator Show with the Stugats.

I thought you were trying to get me to laugh, like pressing on fat and fat and fat again.

You knew you could hear, though. You send us there.

A lot. I did not know you could hear.

Couldn't you hear the show when you were in there? No. What? Were you in there today? Yes. Oh, wow.

I could. I thought Charlotte was in on the bit. I thought.

Charlotte is.

Always in on the bit. I mean, I'm always half in, half out on the... I always think the bits real.

I could indeed hear you guys in the penalty box, but I was trying not to laugh because, yes, I have altered my wardrobe. But I told JuJu, It's just cold. It's 60 degrees.

You got to keep dressing like this.

It's good. She bought me shoes for our anniversary, and so I do have some new shoes.

God bless her.

What are they?

Well, God bless her. Oh, it's just an assortment of nice things that she's bought.

I don't have any of this. Yeah, you've upped your game.

No, but she's upped my game on our anniversary. Good Lord, the last couple of years have been hard on her, too. But one of the many things that I love about her is that only in costume that she lets me be who I am. That's how I show up at the Grand Prix dressed like I was, because she just lets me be who I am. But she lives with a guerrilla.

You're basically like the kid from Big Daddy. Like Adam Sandler's like, Just let him.

Wear what he wants to wear. What's her name now?

Frankenstein. Yes, she lives with someone who hasn't learned anything other than this thing. I don't know how to do anything, so I don't know how to dress myself. But she lets me be.

Well, keep going. Tell her that she's receiving very positive feedback from your coworkers.

No, but that's the thing. No, she said she didn't understand how you guys were making fun of the flannel when everybody was telling you the flannel look good. I'm like, I don't get that either. They ran me into the ground on how funny and awful I look that I look like Bob Via. It's a home improvement. Dude, it.

Was just like a shocking thing. If you see a guy that dresses in a suit all the time and then you see them out and they're all of a sudden wearing a polo like, Whoa, what's going on with the polo guy? It's just what you do.

Have you seen Dressed Down Stephen A. Smith? Like when he's got a hoodie on? Yes. It is so jarring.

Seeing Stephen A. Smith without sleeves on was one of the most jarring moments of my life.

Sleeveless A. Smith is not a look that I ever want to see again.

Well, he's lost some weight and he's here for a fight. He wants to beat everybody in the new media age. He wants to take out everybody. Look what he's doing. Man, he has conquered everything in this business, and now is doing an infomercial and first take that builds his next business where he's just selling the next thing he's going to do. I wish I had been as wise to not be as emotional in that circumstance where you realize everything is falling around you. I wish I had been more calculated that I could have decided, Okay, you're going to do that to Chris Cody. Okay. All right. I'll wait 18 months and build it on your dime. But it took us that happening to us. Oh, don't put that picture up of me. Don't put the picture up of me at the Grand Prix. Oh, my God. It was.

More embarrassing for the guy picking his wedgy, let's be honest.

Is that what he's doing? Valerie, why did you let me leave the house that way? I thought he was holding the door open. Look, I didn't come in dressing differently after that, and that's the biggest shame I've ever had at how I've dressed.

It was really hot.

Out there. Valerie had to be thinking it that day, though.

Do you know it takes a lot to be the guy that isn't wearing a T-shirt of himself and be the embarrassing dress guy?

That guy's on.

Saturday Night Live behind you all, right?

I want to talk a little bit about Steven Nang. We've done that segment a bit, but yeah, the dude is using ESPN as he grows his brand, as he becomes synonymous with that brand, but also trying to distance himself a little bit in building out the video aspect of his next step. That's how you do it. We did that some with audio, and I have my regrets on not using the video power and trying to be as... I'm not trying to have as much foresight as we did on digital video as we did on digital audio. He is presently being able to use the power of ESBN's platform to promote his own unique YouTube page and side podcast in which he can give you opinions on things that he can't necessarily give you on cable television.

Like BBL or natural. Now you all know I'm a bottom feeder. Remember that line? I'm a bottom feeder.

Wow. Yeah, it allows us to see a different side of him while he is still the tent pole of their daytime programming. It is being so expertly done by him and his team that I'm so certain that he's not going to be exclusive to ESPN in the ways that he is for much longer because he is definitely plotting another avenue.

Well, let me explain what's happening to you for those who don't understand, because it's pretty simple. It's not that complicated. The biggest star at ESPN has realized he's underpaid because he is. Because Chris Cody got us to a million a year. That contract was extended and nobody knows about it. It went to a million dollars, not a million.

Who's?

Our thing. Really? Our thing, yes.

We got... I did not.

Some rules.

It's been a week. Yeah, there's a reason why no one knows about it. Let's open up a crate.

Can you just bleep it out, the number? Can you just bleep out.

The number? Yeah, let's do that. Let's bleep everything out. What's the topic?

People are going to think it's so much bigger now.

The whole segment. Yeah.

You got to bleep that out, too. Favorite weird flavor combos, like mint chocolate, for example. That is the worst. That is not weird.

That is the worst.

That is the worst. Mint chocolate? Do you think that's weird?

It just says on here. That's the question. I'm not offering that. It just says, I've got to respect the Magic Crane of Content. It says mint chocolate.

On here. Okay, I thought you just came up with that off the top of your head. And I was like, I don't think.

That's weird.

This is a great question.

Go ahead, Mike.

Leave us off. Well, I mean, this mint chocolate pineapple pizza type of thing, right? This is the avenue. I do like going sweet with sour often. I mean, who thought of salt and vinegar together? It's just incredible. What a.

Winning combo.

It's an incredible combo. I don't like the way that it makes my finger smell.

I like that smell. Blue cheese and pears? You would. Is that weird?

Blue cheese and pears? Yeah.

Is that weird? Is that what.

You said? That is weird.

Okay, you've all had a salad with blue cheese and pear in it, right? Or apple, like a Waldorf salad. It's not that weird.

It's never had a salad.

Oh, sorry. Well, there's this thing. You're okay with fat cheese? It's a bowl and.

They're not.

Hold on. I'm not. Hold on. I think you look amazing, Dan, and I love the.

Flannel shirt.

Dan absolutely has had a salad. It's just you put French fries all.

Over it. Croutons.

Per and blue cheese, I'm telling you, you got to give it a try. It's a very festive holiday-type thing.

I feel like what both of you are doing, though, I like salt on a bunch of different things, and I like blue cheese on a bunch of different things. They're going to be- It's.

Not weird enough for you, a.

Bit of a combo? No, but the salad she's talking about, it's like apples in a salad or pears in a salad.

Yeah, I'm talking to straight blue cheese on a slice of a pear.

You have it like that?

Yeah, the other day I did that.

How often do you have something weirder than that? Do you have a combination that you might put together where-.

It's Charlotte Wilde. I guarantee she's got something weirder than that. There's definitely something weirder. There's always.

Another level.

I eat a lot of cheese.

French fries and frosty?

No, that's delicious. Oh, man.

I had pineapple on a hot dog.

I love pineapple. That's a real hot dog. I love pineapple.

Yeah, delicious. They're great.

Louisiana Hot sauce on potato.

Chips, any flavor. Oh, yeah.

That's not weird, is it? Cream cheese on a hot dog with everything bagel, seasoning on the bun, and a little breakfast weiner. Who doesn't love breakfast weiner? Abby.