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Welcome to The Big Suie, presented by DraftKings.

Why are you listening to this show?

The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan Levitard 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 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 man to Nowhere, Fatface, and the habitual liar.

Today's episode of The Dan Levitard show with Stugots is brought to you by Peloton, party on a bike or rower or treadmill, or app, or walk or weightroom or anywhere.

Peloton. We are presently trying to climb into the infrastructure of Max. We're living here. Greg Cody is the future of sports media. Look at him. Max wants to be cutting edge. They want to be the future of sports. There he is.

This guy, Greg Cody- You're looking at the wrong camera, Greg.

-is with us. He doesn't care. There you go. I mean, he just doesn't care anymore.

This guy, Greg Cody, is with us to take us into the future as we take Max and we ascend to new heights and they ascend to new heights. And Stugatz is here saying, Hey, God bless football. When's that going to be on Max? And Pablo Torre is here from Pablo Torre finds out. And he's like, When do I get to be on Max? It's baby steps. We're taking one hour into Max, but we want to get everybody over here.

What, Greg? What about the Greg Cody show on Max? Zigaki. Exactly.

Taylor Maid. Does it have a video component?

It can, as soon as we buy a video machine.

Or as soon as Traffking's networks learns to play Reels.

You'll have the mascot money, so you'll be good. Exactly. Right. Exactly.

I got to buy a moving camera.

A video machine? Yeah, whatever works. I'll get one of those.

Your computer.

Yeah, we'll.

Get it done. Well, I can't make too much fun here, because the other day I was talking about Ron Washington, making fun of Ron Washington, saying that they were going to chase down the West and you could take that to the bank and deposit it. And I was making fun of how old he was and that people don't do that at banks anymore. And I said I was going to go to a bank and videotape myself asking a teller to take that deposit of Ron Washington's guarantee. I'm in no position to mock what's happening here to Greg Cody. However, Pablo, something I did want to put before you here, Pablo Torreys finds out has rocketed up the charts. It is a very successful podcast. He's tackling all sorts of strange things that are super curious and weird and interesting. But I wanted to ask you about Greg Cody's idea, which is that Metallark Media should have a Greg Cody mascot, an actual mascot that represents just Greg Cody.

Yeah, I was listening to that. It's rare when you find a human being who wants to be mascotded in the era in which we are declaring many mascots problematic. And here is Greg saying, I want nothing more than to be your circus animal. Please reduce me to a caricature. Thank you. And I think that's...

So.

When I go to the office in New York and hello, love you guys. Thanks for building a real media company for me.

Appreciate it.

I mean that I go on Max now and it's like, Oh, look, it's White Lotus, Jennifer Coolidge. Great. And then it's Greg Cody live at a local hour. It was remarkable. It was remarkable how we got in there. I didn't sign up for that. I gladly embrace it. But what I'm saying is when I walk into the New York office of MetalArk Media, I walk into a fancy conference room. We are in West Soho, okay? Incredible real estate. John Skipper, he loves real estate. Sweeping views, floor-to-ceiling windows. Everyone's impressed when they walk in. And you walk in and there's this like... Metalark had a couple of logo changes. I don't know if people on the outside realized this. It started off with a bit of an illustrated bird. Now, and I apologize to John Skipper, I assume this is his call. The bird is like a Judge Dread logo. It's almost like an XFL team. It's like a golden eagle against a black backdrop. It's very dystopian. So all of it is to say that Greg Cody might be an upgrade over the current vibe, which is a post-apocalyptic media landscape, although that is appropriate for various reasons.

This thing's really taken off. This mascot thing, and thank you, Pablo, for endorsing the mascot. You're welcome. Iwhich I think you did, it's really taken off.

Well, what is the mascot? It hasn't taken off. We're talking about it. It's Greg Cody. We're entertaining your absurd idea, but it hasn't gone anywhere. And if you're familiar with what Metallarke Media does other than change logos, all it does is dream up big ideas and then not do them.

Well, the thing is-.

They're like me.

I've been thinking about this as we do the show. I keep saying life size, like I'm 5'9. It should be some an elastic mascot that enables smaller people and taller people to wear it. It has to be one size fits all. I don't know if that's possible in the mascot game, but that's something Meadowlark could look into.

What are.

You talking about? What is.

Anybody.

Talking about right now? Is it Judge Dredd-Bird?

Yes, it was just on the screen, and I just saw it for- We're.

Not in a little hunger games, admittedly, now that I see it again. But, you know, like... There it is. Oh, I'm.

Looking at it now. Kind of ominous. I'm seeing that for the first time. I did not know we were doing a logo change. Of course.

Dan is. It looks like the Seth Curry shoe logo.

The mocking Jay.

I like that.

Sharp. The thing we were talking about, Mike Ryan, is trying to figure out how to execute the idea. You have to understand early in the show, I need to engage this old man. I will lose him for the show. He's been petering out in hour or two again and again because we're not talking about him.

And.

His things enough.

No, we're still.

Talking about that. Mike, if I've got...

Mike. We brought in Pablo.

I've missed this. Honestly, Mike, I've missed this. Just walking into a show in which nothing is really happening. I really appreciate joining you guys. I miss.

Having control of the show.

Pablo, look, this is what we're dealing with. In his glass office is there with fancy logos. Pablo has got a hit show. It's a legitimately successful show. Pablo Torreys finds out, and he is coming in here right now to show off, look at him, making a bunch of faces. And he's also here to bring us the Smart, because we don't have very much of that here.

Well, thank you.

Thank you.

So Pablo, when you see, immediately last night, the Wright picks up Sue Dedspin. Let's bankrupt them like gawker, because a five-year-old kid at a game has been dressed in face paint, and he is wearing Native American gear. He's at a Chief's game. Half of his face is red, half of his face is black. He should be punished because he's wearing black face, and you're only seeing half of his face. Then you see, note, there's also red face. The right has picked this up and said, Sue, deadspin, bankrupt, deadspin. I can't help but laugh at the center of this. I can't help but laugh somehow at the idea of they want him sued for racism while the kid is still in full racist garb. The only part of him that's not intentionally racist is the black part. The rest is team colors, and he's going for just being a fan. But the racism is already in there, just not the kind that the right is picking up and flogging dead spin with over a five-year-old kid. The stupidity of this is remarkable.

Yeah, it honestly makes me wonder if their hearts are really in it anymore. The culture war was real gangbusters for a while. People got real mad. I was on Twitter trying to compete in the dunk on Donald Trump Derby. I was trying to agitate. I got blocked by, or whatever it was, Clay Travis and I got into war at some point. Now it just feels like everyone's just trying to trot out the hits. It feels like we're in the Vegas residency phase of racism, policing, or whatever the opposite of that is. And so for me, I'm just like, Oh, great, Deadspin. You're back. Yeah. And whatever is attacking you now, they clearly have some energy. That's cool, because largely it just feels, Dan, like, I don't know, we're all just exhausted by this. And the only people who might actually care about this truly, truly, truly are the people who are like, yeah, as you alluded to the Native Americans who are like, So the red-faced, headdressed thing, we're just okay. Yeah, we're still over here in the corner.

But Pablo, help me with this part, though. When Elon Musk and Ted Cruz are signaling, Yes, go get Deadspin. And the greatest platform you can have even in 2023 is, Yeah, bleep the media. Everything's untrue. Like, all of that. You can't get tired of fighting that. You can't-.

Well, it's like... There's a bit of basketball analytics strategy here where it's just like they're just hammering corner threes. Like, Oh, finally, Deadspin. Deadspin may have ignored the fact that half of this kid's face was painted red. And so Ted Cruz is going to do this. Dan, my true like, again, if you want a hopefully smart political take on this, is that the larger country is not online in the way that Ted Cruz is. And so the idea that Ted Cruz, he's campaigning against deadspin. Com in 2023, it's like, I don't know if that would have mattered at any point, but certainly now it just feels like it's... When I watched the mid-term elections, and I'm fearful of Donald Trump, of course, becoming President again, but I watched the midterm elections in which the GOP was repudiated largely after running on a platform of internet brain. We're going to run on trans kids. We're going to run on the fact that the people you hate on Twitter are really annoying. We get all these politicians doubling down on that. It didn't really work because I think a lot of just older people didn't get the reference.

Now I laugh at the idea of Ted Cruz trying to explain like, look, deadspin was a thing. Before Gaumer was destroyed by Hallcok and it was really a thing, people cared about it. Dan Levitard sold their Hall of Faith. They bought their Hall of Faith from Dan Levitard. I was just like, What are you talking about? That's how I feel like most people in America are responding at this point to the Internet brain grandmas at your Thanksgiving dinner.

Watching the victory lap from Elon Musk over community notes on Twitter signifying, Hey, actually, the other half of his face is red, so not blackface, not racist, when the kid's literally in a headdress. It's just perfect comedy. It is unbelievable.

It's perfect comedy. I'm not sure an Adam McKay would write that. It is so stupid and amazing. They would write that and nobody would believe it because it's assinine that that would work as a political trick when it's just pure comedy. But at the end of it, it's, Oh, and democracy's dead. Well, it's-.

Because- Dead spin.

Yeah, that's the spin. Because that's going to be the spin on guns.

I just think it's intellectually lazy, don't you, Pablo? Because, like you said, when the culture wars felt more real and authentic, when they were on the cutting edge, it actually felt like there was genuine outrage. The right would get mad at the left for being so sensitive. They would call them snowflakes. Now the right has taken that playbook and just tried to out-outrage in a weird way to prove the left's hypocrisy, I guess, but genuinely trying to damage companies such as Target and Bud Light. It actually has a real punitive effect. But this was the same kindthe type of behavior that they would openly lament a couple of years ago.

Well, everybody, the name of the game now, and this is the layup, this is the corner or three. This is the easiest way to do politics now online is to play Hypocracy Detective. So everyone is looking for that. Meanwhile, it's like playing Hypocracy Detective while a guy is taking a shit in your front lawn, right? And that guy is Jim Jordan. So, for instance, the idea, just to be clear for all the people who are not up on the politics of all of this, the write really cares about protecting kids. We care about kids so much. How dare you attack this young, half-blackfaced young kid because he was only half-blackfaced? How dare you? How dare you take the scholarships away from the girls playing girl sports against these trans monsters. Meanwhile, Jim Jordan, allegedly, although reportedly now exhaustively, according to various teammates, on his wrestling team in college, denied and rejected the premise that there was a child slash, rather, young adult molestation scandal afoot, because that was happening, of course, where Jim Jordan was as the assistant wrestling coach. So that guy's trying to play Hippoxy detective, going all in on this stuff the way that Ted Cruz is.

And meanwhile, that's the dude with an actual minor abuse scandal. That's where we are, and that's why deadspin. Com is a very popular target rate.

You just flippantly threw out their half blackfaced. That's what we're talking about.

It's a good jump-off point.

Let me talk about sports.

Pablo, thank you for joining us. Pablo Torreys finds out. And Stugats, as always.

Cannonball!

On Libertard. I think I'd like to know when I'm going to die because I romanticize the idea of living like you were dying. When you're on a countdown clock, imagine all the life experiences. I could go skydiving, or Rocky Mountain climbing. Still got.

Roy does bring up a point, like you might be risking paralysis. I'm just totally trampled.

In my bit. You're just totally.

Trampled in my bit. But Mike, what if, God forbid, it says you're going to die in a week. What if it says a week, though, or two days, or a month? I don't want to.

Know that. Then you just love deeper and speak sweeter and give forgiveness to those that you've been denying. Someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying.

Do you have more or is that it?

No, thank you guys for letting me go through that smoothly. This is.

The Dan.

Lebertar Show with the Stugats.

Can you believe they're giving us seven points in Lexington? That's fair. Reasonable. Which of the two teams won the Baha Mar hoops challenge? You explain it.

To me.

You're a Blue Blood. Nobody wants to hear you on the University of Miami basketball team.

This is amazing what's happening tonight. This is so bad. This is a couple of prestige programs getting together, Blue Bloods. Jeremy. This late in the season? Are you kidding me?

I cannot take it anymore.

This is usually pre-season stuff. This is scheduled, a true road game with no pre-season hoopla around it? Here we go. Chris Cody. Wait, why is it called pre-season tournaments when it's very clearly regular season?

They count against your record.

You're right. I never understood that.

Right. When they look back at the resumes, they will look at this win or loss for Miami, of course. Well, it's going to be a win.

It's going to be a win. It's weird. I don't know what the odds makers are thinking. Draft Kings, what are we doing?

Six and a half, four. We're not in the local hour anymore, but we.

Might as well do it. But this is a national story. It's Kentucky. Miami, it's Kentucky. Where I come from, that means something.

Well, we have not... Look, man, it's been unfortunate. We have spent many years down here not having the big stories, the big national stories in sports. But I can't believe I'm saying this on Tuesday night in December. Winter just got here. It's 60 degrees out. I can't believe what I'm about to say. Huge basketball night in town because you've got Kentucky and Miami. Miami is a dog on the road. This Miami team thinks it wants to be Kentucky. This Miami team has made a couple of final fours recently.

They made one last year, did Kentucky?

I mean- A lead eight, rather. A couple of elite eights, one final four.

And don't forget the Bahamar Hoops challenge.

And what Mike Ryan is calling, and I was stunned to hear him say this. I didn't even understand it. It was as if he was speaking another language. He has not cared about the heat enough for a couple of seasons now, even though he's irrational. But he called a regular-season game tonight a do-or-die-heat game. Yes. That's absurd. Do-or-die-heat Game. Excuse me?

It's absurd, Mike. Because if they die, they still play like 75 more games. No, but.

No more in the in-season tournament. Oh, what a big title. They have to do. They cannot die. They have to play the Bucks. And if they lose the Bucks, they die. Unless the Knicks also die, but by a certain number of points. Do or die.

Greg and I were discussing this before the show, and I know Chris Cody is going to fight back on us, but no one cares about the in-season tournament. Nobody cares about the in-season tournament.

It's not true. You tell that to Jimmy Butler. You tell that to Jimmy Butler right now who's taken the last couple of games off, but he's coming back for this one.

Mike is being sarcastic about this. What? I love how you're mocking the... Oh, point different. This is how the World Cup works.

You're okay when we- I'm not mocking. What about my tone? Suggest, mocking. It's do or die. I'm literally all in on this game. It's a two TV night.

He has not cared about... He didn't care. I think he missed playoff games. Didn't he miss Bucks games again?

There is a playoff.

Game.

Tonight. Do or die a prestigious yet to be corporate sponsored cup is potentially on the line.

Mike, do you think if the Heat win the in-season tournament, Greg and I were discussing this because no one loves to hang things from the rafters like the Miami Heat.

That's a banner?

Yes.

Will they hang a banner? Are you suggesting.

It's not a banner? How about a parade?

Yes, I would have an in-season parade. Okay, get out of here.

In-season game, boulevard?

Yes. Really? That's what a cup is.

You are so myopic.

I get. We are in the business where you got to have a take. Greg and are doing the, I'm going to rip it. Mike's doing the sarcastic. I'm super excited about it. Why can't we just take it for what it is? I'm not sarcastic. It's a little...

It's not necessary. That's what it is.

It's made up.

Then don't pay attention to it. Hey, guess what? If you don't care about it, it's just a regular.

Season tonight. And it's got a.

Bad name. It's just a regular season for you guys. You don't have to care.

About it. You're right, you're the I-S-T.

What is your tone? Chris Cody, I care.

About it more than you. My tone is why can't we just take it for.

What it is? Fans tonight at the arena are going to be chanting I-S-T. I-s-t.

It's not the championship, but it's more important than a regular-season game. There can be something.

In the middle. It's not. It counts the same, Chris.

Let me tell you something. Those words painted on the Kaseya Center key, they mean nothing if they.

Don't win tonight.

See, I'd rather have.

What they're doing it. Mike, what you're doing is the worst of all. What? You're doing this. I'm super sarcastic. I'm so into this. I'm not being sarcastic. Dan, you got to put the kids to.

Bed tonight. I'm the soccer fan.

I love midseason Cups. My dad doesn't even know what it is, and he was ripping it on The Great County Show.

I do know what it is.

Right, it's stupid.

It's.

Stupid. Explain the format. How does it work?

Tonight is.

Important only.

Because it's Milwaukee, not because it's some made-up tournament with a bad name.

Explain the format of the in-season tournament.

To me. It's like group play and then you finish first in your group or you make a wild card. First two. Then you advance. That's a wild card.

You're doing well.

Yeah, they're trying to make it. Two nights a week, right? They're patterning it after World Cup and various other competitions. They're trying to make something out of nothing good for them, I guess, but it's totally unnecessary. There's no reason for it.

Don't do this to your dad because he knows everything about it. He just thinks it's a bad idea, and.

It is. And that's why I yelled at Christopher on my own podcast because he's trying to tell me that I'm making up stuff that I don't really believe that.

I don't think you give two shits about the tournament either way. You're on your podcast like it's a disgrace. It's like you.

Don't give a shit. Okay, I didn't call it a disgrace. I called it totally unnecessary. It's a made-up something for no reason whatsoever.

How dare the league give you something else that you can care about? We're not saying it's as good, as important as the championship, but it's more meaning than a regular- Love your passion. It doesn't.

Know, it isn't. Love your passion. Oh, shut up.

It's just great passion.

It's more meaningful because you buy into it.

It's because of the cup.

That's great passion. The NBA is trying to sell you something and you're there gobbling it up just like they want you to. I'm there going, Why are we having an in-season tournament? If we're having one, couldn't you come up with a better name for it than in-season tournament?

They're a criticism.

Good. Greg, outside of the Milwaukee Bucks, can you name one other team in East Group B with the Miami Heat?

I would knock it off.

Who cares? I don't follow the standing.

Because I don't care. But this should be in East group B. But Jeremy just did a.

Surgical thing. The New York Knicks.

Out of the way. How about that?

You're welcome. Who said that in his ear?

Nobody said that in my ear.

He saw a huge tournament game on Friday. That was wildly exciting.

I don't understand. No one knows the IST.

Like Greg Cody. It was exciting because they blew a 45-point lead. Go Heat. They're really the meaningful title for the.

Heat, they really want that title. That was a big loss for them. That probably cost if they lose tonight, that loss against Knicks cost them this in-season tournament.

And nobody cares. I care. I care deeply.

The games.

They've happened. I've seen some.

I just hate everything. I want to leave. This conversation makes me want to go home. Really? You've got a big.

Team to go to. We had a big.

Team to go to. You go to.

The therapy couch then like your old man. Look, man, you got to analyze some of these Cody families-I know. -and they're really issued. Because your old man is a lunatic. He did answer a couple of questions correctly. Thank you. But Jeremy did a surgical strike on Greg Cody. This is the move that Greg Cody and Stugats have been doing for 10 years. They could just always rip everything and not care and everything is stupid. Then when you start asking questions, give me some of the details about this thing, their story will start to unravel.

I didn't ask for these details. I didn't ask for the IST. I don't care about the IST.

I know you have chosen in your late career, profound indifferent to not care about anything. I think you're rummaging through your pocket right now for what sounded like a pack of cigarettes.

No, man, you're in the car.

It sounded like you were… But Greg, you are someone who is not necessarily faking your way through caring or not caring about this stupid thing. Right. But you have a strong opinion about something that you're not actually paying attention to. Okay, that's absolutely not true. You're not pouring any caring into it.

Okay, I was asked about the format of the tournament. I recited it. I was asked to name another team in the group. I said the Knicks. East Bay Three. Do I care about the tournament? No. In advance of the tournament, I wrote a column saying all of the reasons that I didn't like it and why I thought it was unnecessary and not to mention it has a dumb name.

Oh, legacy media.

They have 10 years to come up with this idea. And this idea, by the way, dated all the way back to the previous commissioner. So it's not all on Adam Silver. They have 10 years to come up with a better name than in-season tournament, and they can't do it.

May I make one final attempt to sway you? Yeah. Only two teams have punched their ticket to the next round of the in-season tournament. You have final day of group play happening today. Sixteen teams are still alive. You have something potentially today. If you care about these results with point differentials and whatnot, you essentially have a witching hour for the NBA if you assign any value to this cup. If you assign any value to it, tonight could be really exciting, especially as you get to the fourth quarter and you see all the permutations like, Oh, Miami has to make up a seven-point differential. This is exciting stuff.

Why can't Heat and Bucks just be exciting on its own? Why do we need gimmicks in the NBA?

It is exciting on its own. You're complaining about something that's not taking away from your enjoyment of it unless you find the courts garish. Hats off to you. And they are. I understand that. But this is Bucks Heat, regular-season game. That'll always matter, considering the recent history between these two teams. Now you have an added layer of window dressing. If you don't care, fine. God bless you. People like me who care deeply about this and hold this in very high regard are going to be locked into that and a clash of Bluebloods in Lexington, Kentucky.

I've got two sets of players that can potentially intrigue you into what's been going on here. Steph Curry, when they played against the Kings in their game, said it felt like the playoffs. That's somebody who's been to as many championships as anybody who's in the league right now outside of LeBron James. Pretty good player.

Company man.

Then outside of that, I'll give you somebody who you'll likely agree with, Jason Tatum, who doesn't like the in-season tournament, specifically because of the point differential factor, because he feels like players trying to score at the end of the game in what should have been blowouts is disrespecting the game. Can either one of you old men jump on this take, disrespecting the game?

Anybody. No, but I'll jump on Steph Curry. No one's going to convince me that game seven of the NBA Finals feels like an in-season tournament game. No, but and you're buying it. You're falling for it. I mean, that guy is a phony.

My dad, they are just so full of shit. They do not give a crap. And Stugatz is probably doing the thing where all his fingers are the same size. He's waving them everywhere. And hes just... And my dad, he's just mailing it in at this point. I had to tell him about the tournament right before we had to take on.

The Grand Trophy. I don't mail anything in. Although, quite frankly, I did buy a book of stamps yesterday for the first time in a year. That had to feel good. Yeah, my wife asked me to buy stamps, and then all of a sudden, do I want a flag? Do I want a Christmas scarel or a Christmas tree on my stamp? I don't care. Just give me a book of stamp. But this in-season tournament, I'm not violently against it. I just personally think it's dumb. I do not respect the title. If my team wins that title, I'm not going to go to a parade. I don't want to see the banner up there.

You just don't.

Like parades. It's a made-up title.

I understand.

It's actually real meaningful money for two-way contract ads.

Mike, you would be embarrassed if they threw a parade.

This is what Lillard said. The players have been talking about the money. Lillard said this. This is what's great about what is today, and they can be sour about it, but this is the explanation. What is today? It's Tuesday. Yeah, okay, but.

Stugat, this is- I don't think Cole Swider wants half a million dollars.

Stugat, how do you think sports is going to involve? The NBA wants in on the action, Red Zone, NFL is way out in front, give people just hit them with a bunch of action, money running up and down the court, drama, excitement. This is the evolution. Hockey is already way ahead. They just did it this season. All the games at once. Here, what are you going to do to Addictate America on its phones? Overstimulate them. Throw 100 games at them. Thousands of dollars running up and down the court. Yes, today's fun, Stugats.

Don't let a tard. Let's go islanders. Stugats. Let's go islanders. This is the Don't let a tard show with the Stugats.

North Carolina has emerged as a school to keep an eye on as a possibility for Max Johnson.

He's terrible. Mike Ryan hates Max Johnson. I think he's terrible. Mike Ryan- I.

Think he's terrible. Now I hold resentment against.

His dad. I watched so much-.

I hate.

Brad now. Texas A&M football this year. No, it's Mike Ryan's fault. Lucy, you make that face, but it's Mike Ryan's fault. It's because Texas A&M gave Miami the belief hold that blessed week too, the best week of Mario Cristobal's life in Miami.

Signature.

Dub. -that he tried to spend the rest of the season convincing himself how good the Aggies actually were on defense. And if not for their quarterback play, Texas A&M would have been a quality win for the University of Miami. Mike Ryan tried to convince himself all season with his money, and I was betting Texas A&M, too. With your money, too. I was betting Texas A&M, too, and I was losing because that defense wasn't as good as he.

Thought it was. I think we ended up in the flag.

Dan, you got to start running this stuff by me ahead of time. I would have.

Told you no way. Lucey's money.

In the bank. I text Chris, fix every Saturday.

Max Johnson was he's the type of quarterback that'll make you sweat a bet. I don't like those types of quarterbacks. He has a talented Texas A&M Aggy team, which I'm really excited about the new hire. I went to College Station last year. I was forever changed. I am low key an Aggy fan now. I have a Texas A&M group chat. And initially, it's been a rough week.

You have a Texas A&M group chat?

Give me the number.

Mike, this is the problem. I'm in eight with him.

This is the problem. You want in on in on Aggy land?

Your life sounds like a prison.

I left the XFL chat like six.

Months ago.

You did?

Right before the merger?

I was the most annoying group chat of them all. What?

I'm adding you back. That's not cool.

He.

Left, Mike.

Taylor asked me yesterday. He's like, Are you out of that thing? I was like.

Dude, a long time ago. I just got a DC defender signed to a practice squad, I think, in Atlanta.

Is there an in-season tournament group chat?

No, that's just like the regular.

Central hub one. How much of a fan are you, really? You can have a.

Group chat. But let me get back to my aggy group chat, my.

Beloved aggy. How many people are in this chat?

Six.

Okay. How many people.

Want to be in this chat? Hang on, one thing at a time. I've got to re-add Chris Cody.

To that. Are you sure at six? Because it sounds like Chris Cody is no longer in the chat. No, that's the XFL chat. I've never been in the chat.

Right before the merger.

I have 15 people on the.

Xfl chat. Mike, this is what I need. I need for you before.

You- You know they're changing the name?

I don't want to descend on your- It's brand equity. I've had enough to say that. Why would they do that? Mike, listen.

I hate Hubsities.

He's as crazy as those aggy people are. Let's play that video because he's as nuts as that cult because they have a cult there. Stugat, they're paying Jimbo Fisher so many millions to go away. Mike Elko just learned what it is that place is.

He was a decoordinator there for a little bit. Yeah, he's.

Already been there before. He knows what he's getting himself into.

You're impressed I knew that.

Yes.

Amy college. He's all the buyout.

He knows what's coming. My college station fighting Texas A&M, Aggies, group chat, there are seven of us fighting Texas A&M, Aggys. None of which actually went to Texas A&M.

How many besides you have sent an actual text, though?

Oh, no, no, no, no. This one's pretty active. You got my buddy, Che, Cowboy, Carl's in there.

D-money, El Cisco. Cody, I think you should get back there, Cody. I think Greg, you should be with your son. Have you not seen the video? Do you not know? What is going on is perfect. We're going to put it on your tombstone. Okay. You don't know what-.

My tombstone.

Is crowded. Do you know any of what we're talking about? Do you understand what we're talking? Okay, you don't know.

Any of it. Wait, you actually did do this on the podcast. This week's.

Greg Cody show we build out his tombstone.

What? Tony, it's me.

What?

That's a great idea. It had a salt shaker.

-it had a great idea.

-it just said me. -okay, hold on. Let's do this. -it just said me. -hold on. Let's do it. Live remote. Let's plan it.

Right now. It's crowded.

-it is. Let's plan the funeral right now. Who needs me is going on the tombstone.

Yeah, and that thing.

It also says owner of AM, FFT.

What was the.? America's most famous fantasy football player.

How about Zagaki?

Zagaki's got a spot on there.

You have a mascot there.

It's not just catchphrases.

Too, guys. The foot with the toenail.

-it's not a NASCAR. It's not a NASCAR. You got to put a couple of meaningful things on there.

It's forever. Front and center is BB WAA, Baseball Hall of Fame voter. I don't even need my name on the tombstone. I just want that and calmly, race horse owner, eight-time BIPI champion.

You want race horse owner? This is your obituary, not your tombstone.

I'm telling you, his tombstone, he wants all his just whatever he wants. It's a resume.

He said it was crowded.

It's a resume. Once traded Dan Marino.

I get to concoct my own tombstone.

What about that? Can we throw that on and it's an asterisk at the bottom of it? Can we make a bet that negotiates the ability to put on that tombstone an asterisk that says once traded Dan Marino for Scott Mitchell?

No, that didn't happen.

Well, didn't favor up.

That didn't happen. He did write Finns at 50. I mean...

Right. Again, though- Pride of a Lion. -and the new book, The Pride of a Lion.

That book I wrote.

He forgot the title. The Pride of a Lion. He forgot the title. No, I didn't. Our listeners have come so strong buying that book.

Yeah, they have. I know, yeah. And thank every one of you. I always forget whether it's got a the on the top or not. It seems like it should just be Pride of the Lion. But it's The.

Pride of the Lion. You're criticizing your book title?

In my dad's defense, they did put the the very small.

Yeah, Pride of a Lion. Good book.

Only second to The Pride of a Fight in Texas A. N. And Maggie.

Well, let's look at this because Greg Cody doesn't know what we're talking about. Greg, they need you in the back row to reenact the Elko presser. They have weird pressers there. It's a cult. It's clearly a cult. It's a cult. It's like Arkansas. It's in plain sight. My wife can't stop watching these things. Mother God's over here. These cults are fascinating to people.

I love the Midnight Yell. I love the culture.

Over there. This is the one. This is the one. The stolen valor of it. Lucy, you're getting out there. I don't know where you're going this week.

Not there. Yeah, that's not going station.

But you know what I'm talking about here. The cultish nature of college football. Is it represented better anywhere than it is at Texas A&M?

No, Texas A&M is absolutely perfect. You take the cult aspect and then throw in a bunch of oil money and you have.

Texas A&M. We'll put it in the middle of nowhere in Texas. Nowhere.

You get PTSD.

Nowhere. Tumbleweed. It's like Waco, but with more money. Guys, this.

Is fun.

To do though.

Oh.

Yeah, good sway.

I think everyone can agree that if you're going to sway as a Texas A&M fight Maggie, this is a week because everything has gone great. This whole search, expertly done, amazing stuff from our Aggies. I know Mike Elko isn't the sexiest name. Hell, I just had to Google to remind myself of it. But after tuning on it a little bit, I actually think it could be our square.

Money well spent. Lucy, this was a good hire. Everybody was excited. Not another stoop. Not another stoop.

This is a good hire. We had a brief moment on Saturday.

I'm sorry, forgive me. You're going to need to sway, if you don't mind. The analysis has to be good, but yes.

This is making me nauseous. We had a brief moment on Saturday where we thought they were going to hire Dabbo Sweeney. That would have been awesome, but this is a close second.

This is fun. Yeah, we're having a good time.

I want to do it. I love a good swag.

I wanted to rip it, but this is fun.

All right, we're going to do the first exercise.

I've got in 10 years. We did. All right.

No, it is fun. Oh, it is. It is.

The celebration kept going for a while there. There was a lot of videos from that. It's a cool little place.

Arkansas can do the same stuff, though. No?

They do hog calls. They are a little different, but still special.

Special? Who? Pig, Suie, Razorbacks.

We were all introduced to that with a Bobby Petrino, I think, presser, where he left in the middle of the night, and I think he left post-it notes on players' lockers.

Left the Falcons, yes.

He just taped a letter up.

I irk and saw that.

But there is a... Oh, jeez, awful. They went on to sing and chant some more. Great traditions over at College Station.

Chris, I like you supporting his bad dad jokes or his bad jokes like that.

We'll try that toss again. Great traditions over at Texas A&M.

Nigga.

That's so good.

That.

Song is so good. I was singing it for a week. That character is so good. That show is so good. Who was it that said the other day that no one watched Righteous Gemstones? That can't be true. That cannot be true.

Well, you got four of them.

Right here. I like that show.

I mean, how can you not like.

That show? It's five. Army's growing.

That show did two and a half minutes to open with Baby Billy, a song that was well done, cheesy, awful, wonderful, as he was a poolside preacher in one of the smartest religion shows ever done. And you're going to tell me nobody watched it? That can't be true.

There will come a payday. Hallelujah, what a payday. There will come a payday.

Someday, someday.

There will come.

A payday.

Such a good song.

I would sing it every night. We got to get my man coached Elko at Taylor in College Station. The fit did not inspire confidence. What are you talking about? You should see the pictures from the field. But you don't mean to look presidential. My man had to get put together real quick, and we'll excuse him on that one.

Honey, where's my suit?

Time to play that game. Does it still fit?

The football season to ravage one of some of these coaches on the.

Eating habits. Yeah, I.

Mean-the sweatsuit get bigger and bigger.

Is this fan? As a perennial loser of, Does that suit still fit? I can really empathize with all the work this top button is doing right now in Coach El Go.

That is such a funny game. What did the pandemic do to this body?

It's all that. I told you, my first thought when someone that I love dies is not, Oh, it's like, Crap, I got to.

Fit in a suit. But, Mike, you just had a presser a year ago at Duke, didn't you? Like two years ago. You did a good job.

At that. Oh, Mike and I were actually talking about this off air yesterday because I know these things seem great fun. Look at this. Power broker, Middle of Texas. He's going to rule the world. Look at this. Buyout money. They're Kings. College football is King. These jobs seem awful, awful with NIL money. These jobs were awful before. But now you're bringing all the problems that come with money, and now you got players who deserve to be paid and you don't have the power you used to have. I would not want to be a college football coach right now if you paid me all of the money in the world. That's a dumb decision making.

You wouldn't want to be Tom Allen.

I've got to chase around kids, and I've got to win.

At some point around like $300 million. You're like, fine.

I mean, Dan, you lose and they buy you out and you're dumb working. I mean, that's the hits. You're almost incentivized to.

Lose and be bad. But if you're competitive and want to win and money isn't the winning, if money is not the winning, if you want to be smarter than the next guy, more competitive, more noble. Like, if money is not the game, you actually care about football from there. I want to win. I want to be the best, not about money. If it's there that you care, you will make yourself a.

Crazy person. Think about the vacation Frank Wright is.

Planning, though, right now. Fighting all of these people.

For money. You have a lot of them doing it for the love.

Of the game? You have Mario Cristobal taking vacations?

No. There is no such thing as work-life balance if you are an effective college football coach. There's barely even life-work integration. There's a reason why, and it goes unreported, if you're a top program or fancy yourself to be a top program, you're paying coordinators more than they pay them in the NFL. Your analysts and your assistant coaching staff, they're going to the NFL for lesser paying jobs because of the nightmare that is college football now in this NIL landscape. The COVID years also screwed it up. You'll actually get a little bit of relief once that leverage goes away. But it's not an easy job at all.

Why did you add me back to this XFL chat?