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Welcome to the Big Sway. Presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show? The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan Lebitard podcast. I'm sorry, I'm not going to apologize for that. In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging. I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries if they're just there. That hasn't happened to you guys? I've done it. And now, here's the marching band to nowhere, Fatface and the Habitual Liar. I don't think I'm going to be able to get to everything today. I never say that. I don't think it's possible. We have not even done what happened with Ohtani yesterday. The gambling controversy that I'm guessing, and please correct me because I don't know how this is covered. Ohtani is hugely famous, and yes, $4 million, $4.5 million with a cover-up and the hugely famous player, that seems like a gambling scandal. Hell, last week I said, If the worst of that is true, that'll be the biggest gambling, one of the biggest sports scandals we've ever seen. And then John T. Porter happened. I'm like, No, that's a bigger one. He's not as famous.

Now, obviously, if a famous person did it that way. But in terms of an obvious link to, Oh, this person. If I were O'Tani's people, I would throw this guy. You guys think the economy would just bury a translator? If I was thinking about the most mafioso, allegedly, you could put together to protect the economy of O'Tani, I'd call and ask if Michael Porter has a brother to create this controversy that's so stupid but so obviously guilty. I do not need a trial. I don't need to live in an American system of government. I don't need an explanation. All of it, allegedly, allegedly, Denial, Allegedly. But holy shit, if I didn't know better, I could now, by association, say, So that's why Michael Porter played that way in the finals. The worst starter on the floor for Denver and Miami. Now we're talking.

Oh, whoa. That is a breached too far. Allegedly. Don't have a reckless speculation hat for that. Okay, I have it.

Hold on a second. Time to throw away all journalistic credibility and get reckless. Here is something we like to call reckless speculation?

You're good.

Thank you. I need that. I can't do it.

Nobody was going to do it. He was genuinely looking for Greg to play the role.

Somebody to tell me that I was good. I'm surprised you're bringing Michael into it. Yeah.

Well, he hasn't yet. We're about to get reckless. Too far.

All right. What's the point of being reckless unless you're going to be reckless? Go all the way, man. Do it.

Speculate, Dan. Just tell him he's good. Just say it.

Well, Juju said it, but I feel like...

Hold on. You need that chair to say you're good. Yeah, you're good. Go.

Thank you. No problem. In the finals last year, Denver crushed Miami. Michael Porter was the worst starter in that series by leaps and bounds. I know this because before that series, one of my expert opinions was, you all are going to learn how good a basketball player Michael Porter is. And then we watched the finals together, and none of us learned that. And he made embarrassed. So you got a grudge. I have got a vindictive grudge. My bias, that's right. I allege to be a journalist. I allege, I allege, I allege. Allegedly. But I, too, bought by draft kicks. How much money did you lose? Well, I bought. This is the thing. I went Michael Porter over on six and a half rebounds or something. Then I'm looking out there and he's just wandering around and missing shots, and then it's two rebounds. I'm like, You're not trying, but I can't prove it. Yeah, but you're not bitter, though. But you're not that bad, but I can't prove it. I can't This guy got me. This guy, allegedly, might have taught his brother how to do this poorly, but- Too far.

Wait, wait, wait. Fade the music back out.

No, it's all reckless and it's irresponsible.

Missed like 30 straight threes in the finals, by the way. So bad. This is if he was shooting with bigger balls.

On multiple Thursdays, thunders not crash the boards. I mean, neither here nor there, but on 16 and three. Got to follow your shot. Michael Porter Jr. Are two of them.

You can't miss 33s if you're only allowed to take 10.

Yes, thank you.

Allegedly. Limit the threes.

Okay, I will not fix basketball today with Billy Gill. You're not trying.

We're going to be perfectly honest. We're trying to fix it. There's only one person fitting out. I have a stamp that says bigger balls.

Limit the games.Limit the Threes.7.

Million dollars, please.

I have a stamp that says fixed.Okay.Which way?

Hold on. Wait a second. That's a good stamp. I like that both ways. That stamp where we could just, man, you don't think we can do a segment every day just called Fixed? Allegedly, allegedly, Allegedly. Every day, something in sports. But if we're going to let the walls come crumbling down, then let's let them come crumbling down. The gambling money is everywhere. This is just the start of it, Ohtani.

Some nobody over- Dan, keep your eye on the bigger ball. Don't put this on the companies. I say as someone that is totally unbiased, look at the perpetrators.

Okay, I will entertain. I want to get to these other things, but I will entertain your bigger ball just this way. Just in order to- Thank you.

You guys are minimizing my bigger ball thing, and I really don't appreciate it because I haven't heard that anywhere make the ball a little bit bigger.

Imagine that.

What I'm telling... Look, there are any number of times I get dragged into God knows what sewer on the internet because somebody on this show has had an opinion that then gets attached to me. Warren Sapp wants to kill me because he thinks that I think he has bad breath. Allegedly.

I've never said that.

Stugat has said that. I thought you said it. I am willing to endorse, though. I usually avoid. I'm like, They said it, and it doesn't matter. In this instance, I am willing to endorse Mike Ryan's take 100% as fixing basketball. The one fix stamp, not the other one we're talking about where the games are fixed.

The Jontay Porter stamp.

Allegedly. The big ball theory that he throws out there has only one problem in it. Because these guys are such scientists about shooting, the one time they did try to change the ball just a little, there was a revolt by the players because shooters could no longer shoot. So you want less scoring with a ball.

I am not making Swaggy P. A scientist, just for the record. And I understand it was calamitous. But we have a problem here. Guys are chucking up 15 three-point shots a game, and the audience has voted saying that that is unappealing to the eye, and they are voting with a remote control. So how do we legislate this without putting in absolute limits like Greg Cody is recommending?

But why are you against that? Because not only does it help with the problem is, it adds a whole new strategy to the game.

It's communist. It's un-American. Let me shoot threes as as much as I want for as long as I want with who I want to do it with. We're the US. We don't limit. We explore our inhibitions over here and do so. What does America like? Hedonism and big things. So be hedonistic with a bigger ball.

How's that working? The hedonistic bigger things. How's that working?

We're still on the metal stand when you look at the globe. All right? So I won't apologize for being on the metal stand. He's not going to apologize for bigger balls. He's not going to do it.

I'm going to apologize to the audience for not mentioning these six words in. What are we? 52 minutes in? Paige Buker, Juju Watson, and the kid herself, Kaitlyn Clarke. Phenomenal performance.

You know what, Juju? You're so right about this. Juju, I'm sorry. Because this show. Look at how male this show is right here. Bigger balls. Well, this is what I'm going to say. The advertising slogan, a big stamp on our show should be, for us and the NBA, it's hedonistic, bigger balls. But who's got bigger The women.

They do. Fixed.

Kaitlyn Clarke and her entire team. Gutsy performance. Her last performance in Iowa. Our sister Lucy was there. We might holler at her later in the show. But man, it was such a great team effort because the other team was West Virginia. They were playing their best game of the year, in my opinion. They had that look in their eyes. And then Kaitlyn Clarke and them girls said, No, thank you. We're moving on.

I saw that look. Can cosign it.

She looked at the crowd and said, Explicit word after explicit word.

Yeah, it's weird. Allegedly. So internet slews are alleging that she said, Shut the bleep up. Yeah, she did. I saw it. But she was at home.

I saw it. Wait a minute. Greg saw it. We've got a journal.

I've seen it. We've got a journal. No, your eyes can lie. Look at what's his name's brother.

Allegedly.

But she was at home. She was playing at home. Why is she telling the home crowd to shut the bleep up?

Because a West Virginia fan was on her a little bit. I'm not a lip reader. Very difficult to to mistake that phrase. Very difficult to mistake it. It was pretty obvious. What was the phrase?

And then I'll try to throw you off by saying something.

Shut the F up was the phrase.

Might have been get the F up for the crowd boom. Neither here nor there.

That's not the interesting parts of what happened last night. Chris Cody wished for America to sweat last night. America sweat because it was a close game. Kaitlyn Clarke was... Because look, man, she's the biggest star in the sport, and the microscope is going to be on in a way that now if you think politics aren't going to come to sports everywhere, watch what happens when everything escalates here and she gets accused of either sore loser or dirty because I don't think people understand how hard it is to be as dominant in that sport as she is. So the story from last night is, oh, she played a close game. It looks like somebody's going to beat her because no one's as great as her.

Right. And also the referees, salute to all the referees in the NCAA, Get it together, Men's League and the Women's League. There were some questionable no calls in that game and calls in that game for one team neither, but neither here nor there, because it was an epic performance by her and her squad. Also, across the pond, if you will, we're calling it Across the pond now. Juju Watkins in USA gutsy performance last night, late in the night. They don't get enough eyes from the East Coast because they have that window. It's so late, like LeBron and them girls. But it was a great performance by her. And then Gino tried to insert Page in the best player of the year conversation last night, which is, Oh, she's the best player in the league. You feel me? Yeah, bless for me. Salute to Gino, but you, brother, are tripping because there are girls out here who deserve that. But salute to Page. You're doing a wonderful job.

Okay. Lucy Lesso. Everyone loves Lucy, but she's grifting a bit. It's like, I've got to get to I1 to eat ice cream. I've got to be part of the media. Tony, you look like you appreciate the grift.

I always appreciate a good grift. You always have to have something in your back pocket, Dan. That's the thing.

We want to be a part of this story. Lucy's there. What content- She's doing great work. She was eating ice cream.

She was in a bar. I've denied the allegations.

Lucy was mentioning in that video several times how hard she was working on this video.

It's hard. Also, Lucy is from Iowa. She went to the school, so her heart is on the court. From North Carolina. You feel me? She couldn't get to snap in. She was worried. I love Well, I'll be happy to let you guys know that I reached out to Lucy to see if she'll be joining us today to recap great game.

Good executive producer work. Good. Rule with an iron fist.

Well done, Billy. Is she actually going to join us?

No, she said she's not going to.

She's flying today, but I reached out.

She's tired from that other video.

She got a fly, it's the case.

She's got the giant imaging.

Do we have something from her work over there?

Metalark Media paid all sorts of money for the Iowa Correspondent imaging so that where she landed. Look, man, didn't we already reveal that in Iowa one time, a drone was flying over? We were trying to get our exclusive- Allegedly.

Allegedly. Salute to John Lee. Allegedly. Salute to Allegedly.

Do you have the Iowa Correspondent? Lucy Rodine, Iowa Correspondent.

Maybe tomorrow. What?

Of her eating ice cream? Video We played the other video. It was so good.

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Bridgie, I forbid you for marrying that spendthrift-yield Miles car. What the devil is that?

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Don Levatard. A recreation of the iconic scene in a few good men, as told by Chris Cody. Stugatz. Colonel Jessup, did you order the code red?

You don't have to answer that question.

I'll answer the question. You want answers?

I think I'm entitled to them. You want answers?

I want the truth.

You can't handle the truth. This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stukats. I so love Jamel's diligence here. This is clearly an airport lounge. There is so much to talk about, though, that we had to reach out and get her wherever it is that she was in the world. She could be anywhere in the world because there is so much to talk about. Jamel, I'm going to offer you the floor and ask you which of yesterday's topics, sports or otherwise, were the most was the most interesting to you, but there's plenty of them, and I don't know which you're going to choose.

Okay. I'm thinking about, I'm imagining myself on Prices Right right now or some game show. I'm going to pick otherwise.

Because you've got on the list, Jamel, you've got two gambling stories in sports that are going to be the new normal, whether we realize it or not, as soon as this all comes under inspection. We have a in Baltimore that is heartbreaking to talk about, the video of which is crushing, and we can all put ourselves in the inside of a calamity in that moment. It brings humanity together when you can all imagine yourself in the same position of, Oh, life can go that quickly right from under my feet, literally. You've got Kim Mulky as well because the journalism around the Kim Mulky story, to me, remains fascinating. What Kim Mulky did on the offensive to make sure that whatever comes out next, we're going to shrug our shoulders and say, Is that all? When is that all? Is probably going to be a toxic work culture that, allegedly, that everyone can condemn unless you file an under, Well, she wins. So which is your choice, Jamel? Which of those would you like?

Well, damn, Dan, I feel like you wanted me to pick sports. Fine, Dan. I'll change my mind. I'll pick sports. No.

And then Caitlin Clarke. And then Caitlin Clarke. There you go.

Okay. Okay. Okay, there we go. Let's do it. Let's go sports. Well, listen, I mean, it was, as you mentioned, a lot going on in these last couple of days. And I guess I'll just start with the last thing you mentioned, Kim Moki, for example. And this is unfortunately a part of the culture that we're in right now. Every day, there's a fight to do good journalism. And I feel like that fight has been lost. I hate to sound very pessimistic, as I often find myself being these days. But Kim Mulky played from a playbook that has worked. It worked for the former President of the United States as well. Once you label the news media the enemy of the state, and once you are able to get people distracted from whatever is the information to come. Listen, Kim Bab, who is supposedly the journalist who is working on this story, he should be very happy. I don't know if the Washington Post was planning to put the story behind a paywall, but put one that by it now because now we're all interested. Kim Mulky basically drew attention to a fire we didn't even know was happening.

And a lot of people look at this as a strategy to get out front. I think it was a bad strategy because we're more interested in ever in this story, and not to mention, even though she said afterwards that her team wasn't distracted. I mean, LSU didn't, despite the final score, they didn't play particularly well. I'm not saying that these two things are related, but we get on players all the time and use the word distraction to include everything under the sun. And here you have the coach doing the same thing. Listen, journalism has lost the overall fight. Misinformation and disinformation is here. Now, if you just label everything to be fake or label everything to be true, whether you've seen the evidence or not, that is enough of a seed that is planted in people's mind to already have an opinion about something that they haven't seen. Investigative journalism is hard work. It's practically in our industry because it's costly, because there's only a limited number of people who can do it. Then on top of that, it creates a level of backlash that a lot of news organizations are no longer comfortable accepting.

But do know this, the Washington Post has been at this a very long time. And Kim Moki can threaten... Her threatening the paper that brought us Watergate that took down Richard Nixon is laughable and confusing in itself. I mean, a lot of how Kim Moki has behaved has been excused, I think. I think she's gotten a pretty golden pass when you look at the totality of the things that she said and done. And some of that has to do that we're still in this phase right now with women's sports, and especially with women's basketball, as it's exploding before our very eyes, that there is a protectiveness that is put over this sport because it has been unfairly treated by the NCAA. News media organizations have not put a lot of resources into covering women's sports. So what you do get sometimes is this need to not just protect it, but to cheerlead for it. And because of that, a lot of the things and toxic traits that we've seen in male sports for a long, long time, they exist on the women's side as well. And they go undercover because frankly, they haven't... A lot of what has been covered in women's sports has not been covered with the same level of scrutiny and to the degree that men's sports have.

And so Kim Moki has frankly gotten a pretty big pass given her level of success. This is not unique in the sense that we've seen very powerful coaches who are able to win and bring championships. They are allowed to behave as they want to behave as long as they're winning. So I'm very curious. I mean, this could be anything from Kim Moki cut somebody off in traffic to massive NCAA violations, to traffic, to toxic culture, as you mentioned. I have no idea, but I know that I'm interested now. But I hate it for our profession that this is once again shedding a light what is the state of journalism at this moment? I mean, you named off a lot of things gambling. All right, let's do gambling next. I'm currently working on a piece about that for the- No, hold on.

I want to get all of this with you, but I have some journalism questions as well. But you hijacked the show.

Okay, my bad.

She deserves to hijack the show.

Stop that gambling conversation. Stop it, stop it, stop it. It would be great if this whole thing was over a traffic violation or she cut someone off. She's just so upset that they've interviewed so many people about it. Remember, Dan, you're implicated in normalizing sports spending across the state.

Somebody writes in here, Is Dan going to be mad at everyone again for not being surprised? Kim Mulky is a POS. Everyone knows. Nobody cares because she wins. Literally the story of every POS sportsperson ever.

I know what POS means. I don't think Billy knows what POS means. Can you elaborate? Thank you.

Peace of shit. Oh. Peace of shit is Everyone knows this, but she wins.

I watch Bar-Rescue. It means something different. Have some Integri. Point of service system. Yeah, touch screen.

Jamel- You got seven free ones. I got it on a loop in my house. I can't stop watching him. He just keeps yelling at the people.

It's one of my five favorite shows on TV. In a bucket list of things that I want to do, that I want to accomplish, and however long I have left on this magical Earth, I want to be on the Recon team for Bar-Rescue. I want the shitty beer. I want the food that will probably make me sick and throw up all night. Jon Taffer, if you're listening, recruit me for the Recon team.

This is great. I got something to run by you. What's your opinion on Bigger Balls? Hell, yeah. In In the NBA, to restrict people from shooting outside, having balls that are just slightly bigger.

I didn't know where that was going because my back is early in the morning, I was like, What?

It'll legislate shots from downtown on its own if you naturally have a ball that's maybe just increased by a centimeter.

Can I explain to Jamal that we want a new advertising campaign for basketball that fixes everything? Not the games, but the images and the scoring and the problems. We're saying, be hedonistic, bigger balls.

Fix games.

Fix games.

Fix games. Fix games. Okay. All righty. Well, that took a turn. As they say, I was not prepared to have an opinion about bigger balls, but I I'll lean into you all's expertise because clearly you've thought about this much longer than I have.

Good. She wants only areas- These aren't ordinance.

These serve a purpose.

Areas of expertise because I want to get into the thicket, Jamal, so to speak, of the specifics of how this story comes to be. Because you say investigative work, but this is an enterprise reporter. This is not two years of reporting. This is somebody who's wanted to do this story for two years but hasn't We've been working exclusively on it. We've been trying to get the writer on because I want to understand a little more what Kim Mulky just did, what the strategy of it was in today's America, where the playbook for the strategy of what's going to be reported here by an enterprise reporter. Right now, Kim Mulky knows because the questions told her. She knows. We don't know. Everything she did the other day was preemptive. It was strategic. It had more thoughts in it as a defense than anything Ohtani did. What she does by neutering it before it gets started is the reporting has to be so vigorous on, are you going to accuse this person of toxic workplace culture, of being cruel and demeaning to human beings? Are you going to accuse her of that? She can ward it off by saying, Well, it's just embellishments.

I'm telling you on the front end, this is a hit piece when it's not that. That I can assure you of, that it's not gratuitously something meant to harm her. It was somebody who went to report that story, a feature on her life, and then came upon a bunch of things that are probably going to be really uncomfortable about what her workplace is. That's what I would guess.

Well, and people have to understand this, too, is that when you have fascinating figures in sports, and Dan, when you were at the Miami Hero, you did this many, many times, is that you seek as a journalist to understand why they're so successful, why have they been able to create the winning and the championships and all the things that she's been able to create. So the natural curiosity should be there in explaining who this woman is and how she's risen the power. Now, lately, and certainly beyond the championships, the reason that Kim Moki often is in the news is not usually the best reason. It's not usually the best publicity for her or for her program or for the school. When you look at the whole season that LSU has had, look at where it started. It started with Angel Reeve mysteriously being gone. There being some of some Discord or some problem happening within the team. We know about Kim Moki's very frosty attitude toward Brittany Griner, particularly when she was being detained in Russia. There have been all these elements and all these pieces that have been leading us up to who is this woman and how is it that she came to be this way?

So that is a very natural question for any journalist to ask. And this particular journalist is considered to be one of the best. Typically, what we shouldn't do when we walk into these situations is write the story in our head or in our mind before we actually do some reporting. It's possible it is just what you said, that he started reporting on this story to try to explain this towering figure in women's basketball and came upon something that she clearly finds distasteful based off the questions that she had been asked. Now, as you know, covering sports, as long as you have, Dan, and I see my man Greg sitting next to you, and I'm sure he could chime in on this as well, is that a lot of times these people in sports who are in these positions don't want to be questioned. They don't want anything beyond the narrative that they try to set. And when you come upon or you're able to report and explain a different narrative than what they presented, they get very, very mad about this. So the reaction is not new. It's something that we've seen virtually with anybody who has any prominence in sports.

Don Levatard. Chris Cody does an impression. Just be careful.

Dangerous game. This is a dangerous game.

I don't want to play this game. No, he was saying, Man, I could do such a great Kendra Perkin.

I don't want to play this game.

He's like, Man, I can talk to you.

I like him. This is who we're going to trust with this. I mean, you do it. Let's let Amine do it, I think. I think you could do it, Chris, because you did a great Charles Barkley. You're one for one there. Did no one just hear the segment we just did with Amine? We cannot be taking- Amine's judgment is not the best. Council from the local drunk on on whether or not you should do the impersonation of a black man stumbling over his words. You don't see the bad judgment in that.

There was.

Moody Moody? Moody Moody? Moody Moody?

It sounds worse.

Be careful, man.

We cannot do this. It's too close to the line. This is where the line is. Something legitimately funny can't be funny because we're scared our ginger is going to do something racist by accident. Carry the hell on, Dan. Rachel. Dan, the line is where we feel alive, though. This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stugats.

Comrade, real quick, how can we have an Integrious conversation about journalism when we're dodging questions about bigger balls.

Wow.

I'm going to press you on this bigger balls. You have not answered the question. Would bigger balls fix the NBA?

I'm sorry.

I'm too immature to even- Well, see, Jamal, this is why he insists on wasting your time when we have- This is not a waste of time.

You haven't heard that anywhere. Just make the ball just a little bit bigger. I'm fixing the game that clearly has an issue.

I'm trying to do a I have a serious thing with my journalist friend who knows about... I mean, we haven't even- Your journalist friend is dodging a very simple question.

How do you feel about bigger balls in the NBA?

So you want this to be like the carnivals that we go to, the street carnivals and stuff. That's how they rig it, right? No. Those are smaller rims.

Talking about bigger balls. It's a different thing.

Sorry.

Different issue. More cost-effective this way.

Okay. I don't want to talk I don't want to have with my cat.

I don't want to talk about bigger balls.

I do have- An epiphany?

I do have a question for you, Jamal. I think after two years of reporting in a very aggressive press conference by Kim Malkie, I'm concerned that if what comes out of is toxic workplace. That might not be enough for the American public. They're going to go, Much to do about nothing. She's the only one who has a toxic workplace. That's what's brilliant about the strategy, Jamal. The thing I was mentioning again and again yesterday, and it's a dumb strategy, but it's a brilliant one. If you can neuter all the hard work that you have to do to get all of these accusations vetted so that they're not something that can be proven false, and that the person is threatening you with a lawsuit before you ever get started can undermine all of your reporting just by shouting, Fake news, hit peace. You can defend yourself very easily against good fact-based journalism that way if it's that unfair of a fight. Jamel is here to tell you that all over the media, the journalism has... It's self-inflicted. This credibility wound is self-inflicted, Jamel.

Yeah, it is. I mean, despite the fact, again, that we had a former president who brought fake news to the lexicon and really put a target on all journalists back with his behavior towards journalists and everything that was ever written negative about him calling it fake news, I agree with it. The reality is that journalism as a news industry, as an industry period, has been complicit in its own demise. Let's look at what's happening at NBC right now, where they have hired Ronan McDaniel, who is the former Republican National Committee head, who actively tried to steal an election. This is not an opinion. This is not a texture. We know what she did. She made calls to Michigan election officials to try to get them to not certify the election. We know she did this. It is on record. To platform somebody like that and have the own journalist within your organization rebelling against this higher, it just shows you where you are. Everybody's boiled everything down to a disagreement, but we can't have disagreement about facts. That's what we can't do. Unfortunately, we are in the age where it's okay if the sky is blue and we all see it for somebody to call it red, and then everybody say we should tolerate that opinion just because it's different.

It's like, no, that's not how it works. You can't debate You can debate and disagree with the facts. You can debate and disagree with opinions, with things that are not fact-based, fact-based with feelings, with emotions. You could debate those all day. You can't debate what's in front of you. The unfortunate part of it, as we see this political cycle playing out heading into this election, the news media has learned absolutely nothing from how it covered the last two presidential elections. Hasn't learned a thing. They are platforming people who can drive ratings. Most of them, major corporations and news, as we know, are run by people who are more interested in what is financially possible or the financial interest of this company. They are not interested in the journalism. The journalism, the who, what, why, where, why of it all is boring now. You have to have this scintillating entertainment that has made political journalism and journalism, period, feel a lot more, no disrespect, like wrestling as opposed to feeling like something that should matter to people. The part of the The reason why this democracy works is because we have a functioning free press. Well, that functioning free press is on life support right now, not necessarily because it lacks the freedom, it's because they lack the guts and the honesty and the grit that it takes to do this reporting.

Journalists aren't supposed to be liked. We all knew that when we got into this job, but we are supposed to tell the truth. Once you eliminate that part of it, along with the accountability, this is why it's okay to platform election deniers. This is why you have coaches in press conferences calling something fake and saying that something shouldn't be listened to or regarded in any light because it somehow paints you in a bad light. This is why we have this entire conversation going on in our business. I would say I fear it's destroying the business. I feel like we've already lost. It has destroyed the business.

Jamal, you said in there, no disrespect wrestling. I know you were saying that to wrestling and wrestling fans, but I thought you were saying- Oh, a high horse.

I I saw her at a Russellmania once. It's having a moment.

It's cool. I was at Russellmania. It's true. He's not lying.

Wayne beat Cody's ass last night.

I threw shade at something... Polite shade. Polite shade. But it was polite. I threw polite shade at something I attended.

But when I took it. We were talking about journalism, and I took it as you were saying to us, No disrespect, but to us, the wrestling show that introduces you with its hedonistic bigger balls, that we were playing the part of wrestling. And this is the question I want to ask you. It's a yes or no question because I want to get to the ditty stuff. I think you've got valuable insight for us here. But this is a yes or no question. You can only say yes or no. In women's basketball, are we headed here with Kaitlyn Clarke and the competitiveness of whatever it is this is going to look like against white against black because sociology always comes to sports? Are we looking at a possibility that we get white versus black around Kaitlyn Clarke, like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson did to birth the League many years ago as a television spectacle? Are we going to get the race element of all of this to make an appearance in a way that's going to create real rivalry and storyline? Yes or no?

Before I answer, do we have to cue the friendly neighborhood race lady music or no? Or can I just answer?

Yes, we'll do that. But Billy has to do that anyway.

Just short it enjoying this story.

You want to ruin it? It's time for your friendly neighborhood race lady.

To answer your question, yes, Dan. Yes, we are getting that. The racial pornography started last year in the championship between Iowa and LSU.

It was just a yes or no question. She's elaborating. Yes. No, but it was just- It requires an elaboration, quite honestly. Thank you. I know, but I didn't- You believe you press her on that and not the bigger balls there. Okay.

She still hasn't answered it.

I didn't want to press the bigger balls.

She didn't want to. Most people hadn't considered it.

Let's stop pressing the bigger balls. Jamel, the ditty story that captured the internet. The Internet was meant for that story, and I thought I was watching this is going to be O. J. Simpson, right? Is he going to do what Russell Simmons did? So what did we see yesterday? All of it alleged.

All of it alleged. Let's throw that big A word out there. What we saw for a lot of people, as we've seen as these figures have continued to fall, we saw somebody who, for a lot of us who grew up in the age, the heyday of bad boy. We saw the crumbling of something that has been like an institution in many ways. This is my early 20s, just going up in smoke. I know there's been a lot of that lately. I don't feel sad for Diddy. I feel empathy for his children, for sure, because that had to be a startling image for a lot of people, and I'm sure certainly for him to see his children in handcuffs. But this is where we are right now. Diddy is facing a number of very serious allegations that were all played out. Most of these have been civil allegations, but you knew that at some point, the criminal element of this would surface, and it has. You mentioned Russell Simmons. There have been similar allegations about him. What you have found is that this art form, hip hop, that was created, there is an underbelly of disgust that has existed in this art form for a long time.

That doesn't mean the art form didn't serve its purpose. It doesn't mean that it wasn't revolutionary and the success that has been there and that has been connected, especially, obviously, to the Black community. That doesn't mean that those things that it has brought to our community go away. But somebody told me this a long time ago, and I remember when they said it, I was just like, I just I blew it off. But it is true. Your favorites are probably problematic, and they're probably awful. It's just one of those things that while there have been rumors about Diddy for years. I never thought that this moment would actually come where you would see this man who is responsible for bringing in or taking hip hop to a new height for bringing in the artist that we have loved our whole lives, that you would see him essentially in a situation where it almost looks like he's on the run. It was just very surreal to see. I know a lot of the chatter, at least among in my group chats with my friends after so many of the memes were shared, not to rely the seriousness of it, but for a lot of us that grew up in that '90s heyday listening to Badboy Music or listening to Puffy-inspired music, it was just like, wow.

I just never would have guessed when I was in college bopping in some of this that, fast forward 30 years later, that this man's reputation would be completely destroyed. To me, regardless of what happens criminally, there is no coming back for Diddy. Not at all. I think the last time we discussed this, I said as much. I think his reputation is permanently destroyed. But if he has done even a 10th of what he's accused of, I don't really have a problem with it.

Seeing him walk around that airport, disheveled, was my first time seeing a crack in his demeanor and his armor. It's like, wow. He had a lot of opportunities to show it earlier, but yesterday, I feel like with seeing his children in handcuffs, I feel like the reality of the situation is finally actually setting in for real.

Jamel, we have less than 30 seconds here. Please close it out for us.

Well, you know what else struck me about this situation, too? And it just, again, it's one of those snapshots where you're like, this is where we are in America. Here you have Diddy facing multiple... We don't know what he's facing criminally, but we do know, again, on the civil side, multiple allegations of sexual assault, a very degrading, dehumanizing behavior, all of that. Then at the same time, we have the leading presidential candidate for the Republican Party who is facing 91 felony counts, who has incredibly been convicted of rape in the case with Eugene Carroll, who is facing millions millions of dollars, hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees and payments that he owes for his behavior. And he's running for President. And Diddy's there in Miami circling a building, trying to figure out how his life fell apart. And just the juxtaposition of that really struck me when I was watching yesterday. I was like, so I guess Diddy should have just been running for President.

I know we're out of time. You know what I mean? Thank you, Neighborhood Race, lady. But I run the social media accounts, so I see all the hatred that comes your way.

That was your friendly neighborhood race, lady.

I see all the hatred that comes your way. I want to say from the community, we admire you and we love you, sis. So thank you so much for representing us in the right way all the time.

I appreciate that. Thank you all for having me. Now I'm going to get out of my hostage closet and go catch this flight. Okay, thank you.

We appreciate the time, Jamel.

Keep dodging the tough question, though.

Didn't answer the hard-hitting question, though. Never Coward journalist. For Bridget Christ, the road to love was not so straightforward. Bridgie, I forbid you for marrying that spendthrift, you Miles car. What the devil is that?

I'm setting up an N50 video account on my mobile cellular telephone, thus procuring a discount on the M50 highway toll path.

Very prudent, Mr. Carr. It seems I've misjudged you. Eflow presents accounts and accountability.

Pay your tolls automatically and get a discount with a free M50 video tolling account at eFlow.

Ie.