Big Suey: 50 Stars Bigger Than Aaron Judge
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Welcome to the Big Suey, 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, Fat Face and the Habitual Liars.

Sorry for this transition if we don't want to go here, but what you were saying made me remember that the big three league, they challenged the Netherlands, the big three champions of the world, the Olympic champions, gold medal, star, salute. And the Netherlands...

accepted the challenge and the FIBA stepped in and said, no, we can't do that. So I feel like, bro, if you allow the big three to construct a team, Michael Beasley, Jordan Crawford, Swaggy P and them, bro, I think they can beat whoever in the world. Coached by who? Coached by... Doesn't matter.

Nancy Lieberman. I have a question. Have you guys ever watched the Big 3 League? Yes. Do they have the same, is it the same rules as 3x3? No. That's what I thought. So are we playing with FIBA rules or are we doing Big 3 rules?

This is the eternal question. Anytime we have an international team wanting to play against one of our teams over here, it's like, what rules are we playing with? Because the Big 3 uses an NBA three-point line. International uses a closer international line. Big 3, 24-second shot clock. International, I think it's... 14. And as soon as the ball goes in the hoop, it's like... It's still live. It's live. It's the other team's ball, but it's live. So they got to... Got to check it out. Well, they got to get out to three-point line. But yeah, Big 3 does check up, right? Big 3 has a four-point spot.

Which is very far, by the way. It is very far, but it exists. It does not exist. Do they have, are there three-pointers, three-pointers, or two-pointers? No, they play twos and threes and a four-point spot. Okay. International 3x3, ones and twos, like we're playing pickup. I feel like put Michael Beasley out there, whatever the rules is, whatever rule y'all want Michael Beasley to play, he gonna win, man. He the GOAT for real.

The interesting thing, Juju, if you really want to go down this three-on-three thing, we talked to Fran Farshilla, who is the, he's basically the Grant Hill of the three-on-three program for Team USA. And he was saying, like, the big, we talked to him on Oddball, by the way. Check it out wherever you get videos and podcasts and all that stuff. But,

Coach Fraschilla explained to us the reason why. Why didn't we send Michael Beasley and all these guys? He says because FIBA made the rules so that in order to be eligible to play in the Olympics, you had to play in all of these qualifying tournaments throughout the year. They made it specifically so we couldn't just take our

three best players. All right, here we go. Let's go. So that's why they had to get guys who were ready to commit, guys who are ready to give up on opportunities to play in other leagues and stuff to make money in order to do this. That's why Jimmer Fredette came out of retirement to do it. Which is a...

enough said. Like, come on, what we doing, y'all? FIBA. It's FIBA. It's not us. It's FIBA. It's why the women's team was going to be Haley Van Lith and Cameron Brink were like the two of the big names in it because they've been on the 3x3 circuit, like winning all these like 3x3 events when they were in college. So they were going to like, they have a lot of chemistry together, which is why when Cameron Brink got hurt, obviously like changed their

But they still end up getting a bronze. So not terrible. But yeah, I'm curious about this new unrivaled league, which is a three-on-three league that Brianna Stewart and Nafisa Collier are starting in Miami, too. I doubt it's going to be the same rules as FIBA, but I wonder if that is going to spark interest in people playing more three-on-three basketball. People play three-on-three basketball, right? But being on the five-on-five team is still obviously the goal. Sure, that's the goal. People aren't going to take off time from their regular five-on-five league to play in the

3x3 tournaments, like you said. And the Unrivaled, they got a one versus one league coming out of the tournament. Bro, I'm so ready for the Unrivaled. Salute to Brianna Stewart and the Feezy. Y'all like watching one-on-one? Hell yeah. I feel like one-on-one just turns into the same thing. And maybe I'm just speaking for my youth, but it's like, oh, it's just a fight. One-on-one is like...

Do they call it old pals? Right. Hell no. The checkup. Would Durant be the most dominant one-on-one player? He's seven feet tall and he shoots from anywhere. It's like you can't beat that.

Nobody can beat that. The most dominant one-on-one player of any kind, you would say, is Kevin Durant. History of the sport. Give me a top five. Kyrie would like a word. I would say history, but Kevin Durant can guard Kyrie. Kyrie can't guard Kevin Durant. LeBron can guard them all. I don't know if he could guard Kevin Durant one-on-one. Juju, you got LeBron ahead of Durant if you were ranking? If I'm ranking them, I think I got LeBron and then KD second.

Wow. Wouldn't I just take Shaq? See, that's the one. If Shaq gets ball first, then it's game over. But if Shaq doesn't get ball first...

Durant just needs to miss one shot and then Shaq gets the ball back. And once Shaq gets the ball, he's just going to, you know, Durant's just going to get stuck in his ass crack again and again until Kevin Durant can't do anything at all. Like there will not be any stopping of Shaq. He's just dunking every time. You have Kevin Durant missing shots? Come on, man. A shot. No. A shot. I have him missing a shot with Shaq guarding him. No? No.

He'll miss a damn shot. Come on, I mean, he ain't Superman. He went perfect in that win game. Put it on the poll, please, Juju. Who wins a one-on-one game between Kevin Durant and Shaq? And also put on the poll, is Kevin Durant the greatest one-on-one player ever? Oh, Carmelo Anthony's the only other name I would have there. Well, but Durant's got four inches on him. Sure, but Carmelo's strong.

And Carmelo can make shots all over also. Okay, so you're making Carmelo Anthony somebody who's more imposing one-on-one on Kevin Durant than LeBron? Yes, I think one-on-one, yes.

How am I playing this game? Tracy McGrady would be good. Oh, Tracy McGrady would be awesome. You know what? Okay. Open it back up. Well, Kobe would be great, too. That's a good one. Good answer. Oh, my God. All right. Okay. Now we have to reopen this. Michael Jordan? I mean, you just took the... What? What? Don't be ridiculous, Tony. Stugatz isn't here. I had to say it.

In his memory, you summon Michael Jordan. He's so mad that he's not here. Stephen A. got very mad at Carmelo for saying that he would take his gold medal over an NBA championship. He wouldn't trade his gold medal. He said it's the most ridiculous thing Carmelo has ever said. And that's American exceptionalism for you. Any particular reason that you muttered that under your breath as if you're extremely tired? Well, it's the end of the segment. You're a broadcaster.

Summer's the best time to run the way you want. Dial it up with new challenges and programs and bring your workouts with you to make the most of outside sunny days. Stugatz, guess what? What? You know what you can do with Peloton? What? Get the app, go outside, ride a bike. Well, I thought you ride Peloton inside. Well, you do, you can ride Peloton inside if it's a rainy day or if it's cloudy or you just don't want to get outside, maybe it's too hot.

summertime go outside i record a lot for my office with you and you've noticed it's sitting there yet it hasn't been used well now's the time summer's the best time to start that push right can we do it together not on the same bike but we could join a class together i used to do that we just have guillermo tan i'd invite people we'd all take a class together okay time so i think you're starting to get concerned about my health and my age billy i i sense that with you we're beyond starting okay

Whatever road lies ahead, your training starts here with Peloton Tread and Tread Plus. It's not just a bike, a treadmill too. I'm going to go outside. I'm going to get in shape. I'm going to do it with Billy Gill. I want to be in your class. I want you to be my instructor. You know what? I won't be your instructor. You don't want to spend more time with me. No, I can schedule a class and we can ride together. I won't be the instructor of the class. We can have Camila could be our instructor. I like the Grateful Dead class. My daughter, she uses the Peloton. Mm-hmm.

She was on it once and an instructor who was playing Grateful Dead tunes. Let's do that. Okay. Why don't we go for a run outside? Guided run. Peloton. Me and you. That's something we can do together. Okay. Turn on the app. Me and you go outside. Enjoy the summer. Call yourself a runner with Peloton at onepeloton.com slash running. All right.

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Don Libetard. Sub 500 seasons, it's been lonely. Now the best players on our side.

Been losing and losing for much too long. But now we're back with New York Pride. Stugatz. Jalen. You've got us on our feet. Jalen. We're going to win the East. Jalen. Without Randall, we're still doing fine. This is the Dan Levatard Show with the Stugatz. Stugatz.

This episode of the Dan Levitar Show with Stu Gatz is presented by Smirnoff. We do game days. Please drink responsibly. The Smirnoff Company, New York, New York. As soon as old head Roy arrived, he sort of nuked everything I was talking about by putting in De Niro and Pacino, who obviously are bigger movie stars than Clooney and Pitt, but...

I don't think of them as the classically handsome movie star, which is where we were having the conversation about beauty in Hollywood. Do I have this wrong? Because do I have that raging bull you think of, De Niro, as being beautiful for the time period? Pacino, scent of a woman, or Serpico? Godfather 2 with the slicked back hair? Not pushback, slicked back. They're no Giamatti, but...

No. De Niro? De Niro had the quality of, as he got older, got more handsome. So you think of De Niro as the same kind of handsome as Pitt and Clooney? I almost make their movie stardom about them being handsome. Look, Pitt's in a different category. Pitt, DiCaprio, Denzel, Dwayne.

Wesley for a moment. Caprio is in the Pitt category. Ever since Shut Up. Wesley. Wesley made Dorskin back in, man. That's how it happened. Is Pitt viewed as more handsome than Clooney as a movie star? Yes. Brad Pitt is just like a phrase. That's Brad Pitt. Brad Pitt, yes. Clooney looks like Stugatz. Let's be honest.

Okay, just put it on the poll at Leviton. I don't think of Pitt as, I know Pitt has the pretty boy stuff, but I thought Clooney was the standard of handsome movie star handsome for his time. Dan, I'm going to tell you right now, this is how I know. This is how I know who's the pretty boys and who are guys who are merely just handsome, right?

The pretty boys are the one that I hate at first. I'm like, this guy can't act. And then as time goes by, I'm like, he's pretty good, man. You know who else is in that category? Not as good of an actor, but still won me over despite all of them. Man, next guy is whack. Zac Efron. I used to hate on Zac Efron. I'm like, what is Disney? Oh, he's just a pretty boy. And then I started really watching his movies and stuff. I'm like, yo, this dude's pretty good, man. Baywatch?

Neighbors? Before you started talking about Zac Efron, I was going to say, this is why the Ocean series is one of our greatest filmmaking achievements of all time. Because, wow, what a cast. Put it on the poll, Juju. More handsome movie star. And if I make it classically handsome, it's going to be Clooney. It's not going to be Brad Pitt. If you make it classically handsome, it's going to be somebody white for sure. Who's the more handsome movie star, George Clooney or Brad Pitt?

at lebitard show i'm not sure this is as uh concrete as you think it is but maybe uh maybe i've got this wrong uh getting back to the initial conversation i was trying to have in the labyrinth of all the things that we've discussed since then so aaron judge oh yeah gets to 300 home runs faster than anyone in the history of the sport he wears pinstripes

He is the historically great franchise in the giant market. He's a big star literally in New York. I'm not sure outside of baseball how big a star Aaron Judge is. I want some more expertise on this subject. But the reason I bring all of this up is and therein lies where it is 20 years later.

that steroids end up hurting baseball the most. You distort all of the numbers so much in a sport that treated its numbers as treasures that now when Aaron Judge gets to a number in that sport, it only matters to the people who care the most about that sport. Whereas when you get to the big milestones, usually, now that I'm watching the Pete Rose documentary, I'm watching how it is he got a nine-minute standing ovation against

Because the number that he got to mattered. And it seems like that's a different time. But all across America, Pete Rose was one of the biggest stars anywhere because he played baseball better than others. I don't feel like Aaron Judge. I feel like if we sat here and started talking stars in sports.

I'm not sure that we wouldn't get to 50 names. Whoa. 50 before anyone mentioned Aaron Judge. If we just went all across sports, because we're not just making it about baseball, we're making it about all of sports and how it leaks into the rest of society and the rest of pop culture. America or the world? Because we say the world, now we start throwing some other names in there.

that I don't know. Like, for instance, Lewis Hamilton, The World, bigger star than Aaron Judge. Lewis Hamilton can walk around New York City, no one would stop him, though. The World, I would say in America. I think you might be off with that one. Even if it's America, bro, I can name 50...

professional players that are more popular than Aaron Judge. Could I get to 100? How controversial is it if I say... Are we not seeing Shohei first? Right. Of course. Shohei's a better player, but is he more popular domestically in America? Yes.

In the United States? In the US of A. But Judge is so tall that I feel like, so is Shohei, but everyone is seeing Judge, though, and being like, that's somebody. My larger point is someone who looks like that, does that in that uniform at any time in my lifetime before now, that's someone who's in the top 10 sports star category the way Jeter was. That's how that one's going to happen. So Adnan Virk is with us now, and maybe we'll get some...

more expertise on this because he really knows his baseball and he's seen the entire generation of stuff I'm talking about. And he also knows his movie. So we can ask him about the Brad Pitt stuff also after we get to this. Yes, we can. We can find out who he thinks is more handsome, Brad Pitt or George Clooney as well. Uh,

So, Adnan, get in on what it is that we're talking about here. Cinephile is the name of his only movie podcast because he loves that. It's one of the things that he loves more than baseball. One of the few is the movies. Aaron Judge, the number getting to 300 within a thousand games faster than anyone else. At any point in your lifetime, would it have felt bigger than it feels right now because of baseball status in America?

Yes and no. I understand what you're saying, Dan, that baseball doesn't hold the same passion allure at a national level that it did in the 80s and 90s when I was growing up. But I also think the number isn't massive. Like 300 home runs to me, as a kid growing up, you knew 400 home runs was huge. Al Kaline was 399. You knew

500 home runs is automatic induction to Cooperstown. So to me, if I hear 300 home runs, I'm like, okay. Now what's notable, as you said, is he's the fastest to ever do it. 400 fewer at-bats than Babe Ruth. And you look at all the great sluggers of the past, no one's done it quicker than Judge. So it's certainly notable. And perhaps on a national level, he should get more pub because he's an incredible player. He should win his second MVP. Certainly living here in North Jersey, I'm surrounded by Yankees fans. Trust me, there's

There's no lack of notoriety on Aaron Judge. Everyone knows how special he is. But I can't speak for the entire country. Is it not the way it once was? Sure. But 300 is not 500. I think people still know he's great. If the Yankees make some noise in the playoffs, everyone will still be aware of who Aaron Judge is.

If I told you, though, that I can name 50 athletes in America who are bigger stars than Aaron Judge, you would say what? That's ridiculous. I think that's too many. 10, absolutely. 20, maybe. I'm on nine right now. I'm on nine. 50. Not Juju. You can't get to 50. That's crazy. I'm only on number nine. I just started it. Can we hear what you have so far, Juju?

LeBron, Steph, KD, Kaelin Clark, Jalen Brunson, The Joker, Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum. No, I'm not putting Jalen Brown. You out your mind. Jalen Brown, forget it. Okay, so all the other names don't get nothing. See how they do you? They listen to eight names that was acceptable. They harped on one. I got you, bro.

Okay, Caitlin Clark, I would also argue Juju. I know she's a big star, but I think she went to visit Aaron Judge. The story wasn't Caitlin Clark's at the Yankee Stadium. It's that Caitlin Clark went to visit Aaron Judge. It's because she's a young woman who grew up in the era of these stars. She's a bigger star than Aaron. Adnan, please, brother, I care about you. Don't do this. Ha ha ha!

No, but the reason I want to talk about this is because I think that this is where you're going to see the gulf of where it is that Adnan spends the entirety of his life in the bubble of baseball, where they think of, yes, Aaron Judge is a huge star, and they don't realize how much baseball has fallen in cultural points

with everyone in America. Despite my jersey, I'm not in the baseball buzzle. But I also think you are severely underrating Aaron Judge. No, I'm underrating baseball, if anything. It's not about Judge. It's about the fact that I don't think of Aaron Judge as the kind of star. Man, all the quarterbacks. No. No. All the star quarterbacks. Joe Burrow, absolutely not.

Joe Burrow has more than two times the amount of Insta followers. Right. Y'all don't understand what TikTok is. I guess, bro, did y'all see him through the playoffs last year when he threw the ball in Buffalo? In the snow? In the snow. Bro, these women went crazy, man. Okay.

Cheers you. If you pulled 100 sports fans and just showed pictures, goes, who's this and who's this? Aaron Judge versus Joe Burrow. More people are knowing Aaron Judge. I know you work for the MLB and the baseball league, but I'd like to introduce you to America, the real world, because you are sleek. The 2019 LSU Tigers were one of the greatest college football teams of our lives. People know Joe Burrow, my guy. I don't know why I said that. Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers.

I would say that this has to do with a generational gulf there, Adnan, and I am allowing for how much baseball has fallen, and I'm also allowing for an entire demo that runs 18 to 34 that doesn't care about the way that baseball makes its stars.

But I will argue this, Dan. And again, as you just said, I am a puppet for Major League Baseball here as one of the hosts of MLB Network, Emmy Award winner. The ratings, I just saw the ratings the other day. Yeah, but baseball doesn't matter. We still won the Emmy, by the way. We beat SportsCenter. We beat NFL Live. Tell them. All run.

Let them know. Baseball beat them. That's okay. But anyways, back to my point. Ratings are up right now, Dan. I checked nationally. You can tell me it's propaganda. The national ratings for Major League Baseball are up 10% across the board of Fox and ESPN. Ratings for our network are up 10%. So that's a national network. So we're still generating people. You're making it sound like no one's watching baseball on national level. People are still watching it. Numbers are up. And the other thing I would add on to that is Juju says you guys are old. Y'all acting like the old people went away.

Yeah, there's still a shit ton more people older than 35 than there are people younger than 35 in this country. Brother, I'm just saying Joe Burrow is more popular than you guys think. That's all. And beyond that, I would say, Adnan, I'm actually not disputing. I love baseball and I watch a lot of baseball and I'm not disputing that the ratings are up. I am disputing that baseball has a lot of national stars.

I am disputing. I am saying to you that all of those people watching, yes, absolutely. Aaron Judge, all those people watching absolutely know who Aaron Judge is, and they think of him as a star. But if I go outside of that, because stardom isn't just you're great at your sport. Mike Trout is great at the sport. He's not a star. He's just simply not a star. And so a name of the kind that I can name 50 people, you wouldn't dispute with me that 50 people go ahead of Trout, correct? Correct.

Correct. I think that's fair. I think definitely, listen, football rules the country. We all know that. As you said, quarterback specifically, if you look at star players and star power that runs the NBA, no question. If someone says, you know, team X is playing team Y, it's not the teams, it's more about the players, Durant versus whomever. I would agree with that. Certainly the star power isn't there in baseball. But I think if you're a fan, you still know the stars are there. I'd go a step further though, Adnan, and you correct me if I'm wrong on this. I'd say baseball has only two stars.

I mean, everyone definitely knows Judge and Ohtani. Those guys are transcendent. And Bobby Witt's having an incredible year, but you're right. Nobody would know Bobby Witt. Jose Ramirez is under pressure. That's the bias I'm talking about. The Bobby Witt. This is the world where he lives. How old is he? This is the world where

where he lives. I remember Bobby Witt's father. Nobody would know who Gunnar Henderson is. He's right about that. Okay. I don't like this argument. Mookie Betts. Everyone knows Mookie Betts. Oh, you're right. Fair enough. He's been hurt. Mookie Betts. Fair enough. Yes. Three. Bryce Harper. Bryce Harper's a star. People know Bryce Harper. Okay. I'll concede him to you, but the fact that the sport in its entirety, that's a star problem, Adnan. Yes. Like that's...

And the ratings can be up and it can still be a star problem. No, to your point, Dan, before, you know, again, you pick whatever NBA team you like. If you say Oklahoma City, you're looking at SGA. You're not saying, oh, I love the Thunder. Whereas if you're looking at the Twins, you lose support them because the Twins. You're not saying, oh, Byron Buxton's coming to town or Carlos Correa or Royce Lewis. All great players. I hear you. America says who's more handsome, George Clooney or Brad Pitt?

In their prime. I'm glad I mean out of the cabinet. Cause I have to say George, a little older now. I mean, I don't think they're the same age, but,

I think George in his prime. Because Clooney's got that, yeah. You know what? I know Brad Pitt, he definitely, and this is, again, an example of me skewing older. Because, you know, George, again, I think when he was in his prime, had that older, like a modern-day Cary Grant, had that refined look. Brad Pitt, though, in his prime, I mean, every single woman is jumping his bones. So, again, if I'm speaking on behalf of America, I think most women would say Brad Pitt. But I personally, in my taste as a heterosexual man, found George Clooney more attractive at his apex.

The heterosexual man wasn't necessary. He could just be handsome. Travis Kelsey, Jason Kelsey, Mama Kelsey, Donna Kelsey, Deion Sanders, who had a brother like... Juju, keep going, and at the end of this segment, you're going to have 50 of them. You're going to be able to find 50 people that you can name before Aaron Judge. Can we define stardom first? Because there's celebrities, and then there's stars. And stardom, to me, implies that you know them beyond just what they're good at. So, like, you know,

Caitlin Clark, she's a star because we know Caitlin Clark and we know things about her that catapult her past just like, oh, she's a celebrity. You know what I mean? Aaron Judge, I just don't know anything about. No, I think to me a star is someone who doesn't watch your sport.

know who you are. Put it on the poll then. Who's a bigger star? Kaitlyn Clark or Aaron Judge? Because I don't think it's Aaron Judge. Aaron Judge literally walked around New York City asking people, who is this? And people didn't even know who he was. He had a picture of himself. This is nonsense. This is nonsense. This is nonsense. This is all lies now. If I know

your dog's name you're a star for example just so you're the you get to be the gatekeeper your knowledge is the gatekeeper you're a star no i'm not saying that because my dog got recognized yesterday while i was walking her by a dog named churro i'm not that's not why but it implies like people have interest in you beyond just you know your thing that you're very good at they're interested in you the person you're a star what what's something about caitlin clark outside of basketball

that we're interested in. That actually, as I was saying it, I was like, she's actually a bad example because she has been like very, very like kept her like personal life sort of private. But people do know about like her boyfriend and her friends. Yeah, they know about her boyfriend for all the wrong reasons. I know. It's a bad, that was a bad example.

was a bad example angel reese would be a better example because she's been in like music videos and she's on stage with megan the stallion and she's got like this like huge pop culture crossover i think the definition is going to be different by generation adnan i think that what they're talking about when juju objects and bucks on us because he's telling he's telling you that joe burrow has a tiktok following that we don't understand there's a different

measure of celebrity presently happening right now than there was back when it was paparazzi chasing George Clooney and Brad Pitt around.

Yeah, I mean, now we just we have more options. We have more vehicles. There's different avenues that stardom takes. How about Juan Soto? Juan Soto's a star. Come on. Someone back me up on Juan Soto. No, I disagree. And I love him. I love him as a baseball player. No, those are not. I understand what you're saying, Adnan. You're so close to it that you're looking at the players in your sport that have huge flamboyance. And what I'm saying is that baseball rarely leaves its glory.

confines. It rarely gets out into the public to become a pop culture phenomenon anymore. You can't be as great as Mike Trout has been for a decade and nobody cares who you are, no matter the market you play in. Not when you just mention Shea Gilgis Alexander and OKC and it becomes instantaneous. Mike Trout, it took Shea Gilgis Alexander one year to do what Mike Trout hasn't done in 10 years.

J.J. White, Jake Paul, come on. Jake Paul, come on. No, what? That was all my athletes. That was all my sports people. Jake Paul, y'all on the ropes right now. Y'all know what to do. I got more. I don't agree with a lot of your lists, Juju, but I'm going to let you cook because I like your contributions. That's why. I don't agree with a lot of these things. I don't agree with a lot of your lists, but I like your contributions. Keep going, young buck. Don't talk to me like that, bro. My list is valid.

But this is my point. When you talk about TikTok and all that stuff, you're right. For a certain generation, it's true. But the thing that y'all seem to be ignoring is that the majority of this country are older people. They may not be in all the places where we're looking for them on Facebook, on TikTok, on Instagram, whatever. But they're there. And for those people, Aaron Jackson— They're exclusively on Facebook.

Who? Old people. Well, you know what I mean. I'll cancel my MySpace page if that's what you want. Juju, you're trying to tell me Aaron Judge and Katen Clark are walking down Times Square. You think Katen Clark has more buzz than Aaron Judge in New York City? Not Times Square. Let's put them both in Iowa. I got a video right here of Aaron Judge asking fans about Aaron Judge in Times Square with glasses on. That's because he had glasses on. Oh, he had glasses.

We got to put them in a neutral location. We have to put them in like Boise or something. Put them here. Put them here in Miami. Adnan, Caitlyn is a bad example. She's like as famous as anyone right now. No. She's in every commercial. What commercial? Every single commercial. I don't know what commercial. Nike, State Farm, Gatorade. That's three off the top of my head that I have seen a thousand times just in the last week.

Doesn't seem like we're watching the same things. I'm watching sports. I don't know what you guys are watching. Not baseball, though. I never see Caleb Clark. I'm going to say this right now. I think we've arrived at agree to disagree, which means we passed Armageddon. Oh, wow.

Armageddon cannot be 10 spots down on this. This list is not in any way accurate. Adnan, one of the things that we were talking about, because I was saying that I was transported to another time seeing GQ magazine put Clooney and Pitt on the cover.

And you, as a movie connoisseur of the highest order, again, I will tell people, Cinephile is some place that you can find his passions. They are resplendent. Like, he really knows a lot about what he's talking about when it comes to movies. Baseball and fame, not so much. When I say to you top five male movie stars of your time,

of your time that fit all of the categories of checkmark, checkmark, checkmark. I was saying those two on that cover go in every top five for my generation. And it just means something different. I'm not even sure we're even going to make movie stars exactly like that again. So your top five of people in the difficult abstract category of these are the five male stars that everyone knew and loved and

I didn't put Pacino and De Niro in there. I didn't. Yeah, I mean, I guess maybe that's generational. Like those guys, really, their tipping point was the 70s. They became breakthrough stars, obviously, with, you know, for Al, Godfather. I mean, that run he had from Godfather 1, Godfather 2, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, historic 4-for-4. And, of course, De Niro right there with him with Taxi Driver, Main Street's later Raging Bull. So if you're just saying my generation, I'm 46, I'd say DiCaprio, Clooney, Pitt,

Denzel, Tom Cruise. Like to me, those five guys, juggernauts. Those guys can open any movie. Will Smith is probably right there on the precipice. I know you guys had a very lengthy Will Smith conversation the other day, but to me, I mean, the fact that Will Smith had eight straight $100 million blockbusters is shocking. But those five, Leo, Clooney, Pitt, Denzel, Cruise. Hanks.

Hanks. Oh, Hanks, of course. Hanks. Yeah, Hanks, of course. Thanks. So did you forget? You forgot? So do you have to redo your list now? Yeah, we're going to. No, I still like it. Hanks is on the outside. Look at it. I'll take out Tom Cruise because I hate Tom Cruise. What? Hanks is in. Leo, Clooney, Pitt, Denzel. So hold on a minute. What just happened? Chaos just happened. The list seems faulty. Hanks does go in. And who'd you pull out? Tom Cruise is out.

What? Yeah, we're taking time. Who am I taking out? Leo, Clooney, Pitt, Denzel. Clooney. Who's for it? Clooney doesn't have the resume that all those other guys have.

As an actor. As an actor. As an actor, you're right. No, I mean's right. Clooney's out. Yeah! As a director, no, as a director, he's definitely, I adore Good Night and Good Luck. Yes. Again, TV person, it's about black and white 50s movies. I love that kind of stuff. But yeah, he's made a lot of misses as a director and as an actor. If you looked at his apex and star power and fandom, I mean, Cruise shows up, it's $100 million. Clooney hasn't been able to do that. I got a question for Adnan, if I might.

One of my producers, I guess the executive producer of Oddball is a man named Gabe Goodwin. And Gabe Goodwin had this thread a couple years ago. He says, Tom Cruise is the greatest actor for his flexibility because he's got one of the best rom-coms in Jerry Maguire, one of the best dramas in A Few Good Men, one of the best action franchises in Mission Impossible, one of the best road trip movies in Rain Man.

One of the best cameos in Tropic Thunder. Don't make me do this. Don't make me do this. One of the best villains. Tom Cruise is cocky in everything he's ever been in. That's the rule. I love Gabe Goodwin. I mean, I remember him well from our days. I've heard his pro cruise rants. Listen, he's made a ton of movies. If you make 100 movies by nature, you're going to have a few hits. But I've never found him to dance point to have an exceeding amount of range. He's generally the same guy. I know there's variations on that. Yeah, I don't think he has a ton of range.

And listen, I think Rain Man, he's underappreciated. Hoffman won the Oscar, but he's doing a really good job playing the straight man. So I get it. Tropic Thunder is a hysterical cameo. Magnolia is a brilliant movie. I adore P.T. Anderson. But generally, if you tell me Tom Cruise is like the best actor of his generation, that's where I press pause. He's made a lot of repetitive movies, a lot of action movies that are generally the same ilk. And I don't really see him challenging himself the way other actors would. He's not he's not immersive like a Daniel Day-Lewis. He's not doing what De Niro did in his prime.

Oh, now you made me think of Daniel Day-Lewis. Now I'm thinking, what do we do with Matthew McConaughey? I mean, Matt Damon we haven't even mentioned. McConaughey? No McConaughey? No. You want to talk about one-trick pony? To me, his point, he never really followed the promise of Dallas Buyers Club. He wins an Academy Award. He's great and willful. He won an Academy Award. Was that Kermit the Frog? After that, what else did he do? After Dallas Buyers Club, what did he do? He really hasn't done much. True Detective was a good one season. After that, hasn't done much. Yeah.

I want to stop everything that we're doing here and congratulate Amin for doing what is officially and historically the single worst Matthew McConaughey anyone has ever done.

You mentioned Paul Thomas Anderson. I couldn't believe the other day when I learned that he made Boogie Nights when he was 26 years old. That doesn't I don't even understand. Like, I don't understand how that's possible in the in the history of film prodigy. What compares to that?

Orson Welles was 25 when he made Citizen Kane. And Citizen Kane, wow, the greatest movie of all time. And much like P.T. Anderson, Welles is a real auteur in that he was writing it, directing it, producing it, starring in it. P.T. Anderson wasn't starring in it. Spike Lee, of course, was able to do all four of those. He did that with She's Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing. I don't think he was. He may have just turned 30. So there's not many examples of guys that can do what P.T.A. has done. And he's one of my favorite filmmakers. Again, talk about a guy who always has a real signature and a voice.

And Boogie Nights is an iconic movie. It's obviously a little filthy and not for all tastes, but memorable stories about how Burt Reynolds just hated him because he's like, who is this kid telling me what to do? But P.T. Anderson was very cocksure. You see, he learned so much about movies, not only from his dad, who was in entertainment, but also from watching DVDs and DVD commentaries like me. That's what he used to do. You'd watch a movie, you'd watch the DVD, then you'd listen to the director commentary and pick up tricks and ideas. So,

But Burt Reynolds famously hated Pete Anderson on that set, but he made so many great friends who he continued to work with. Obviously, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, and many more. You're talking about acting, directing, writing. That's what Bradley Cooper thinks he's doing, but it hasn't worked out for him, right?

That's well said. Yeah, he definitely wishes that he could be of that ilk, Jessica. And listen, he has talent. But the fact that Meister was thought to be this like, you know, generational film and it kind of for me came and flickered. It certainly had some moments, but I don't remember people. If you want to go back to Star Power, I don't remember people water cooler conversations. Like, hey, did you see Meister last night? I don't. That's what he'd love to do. But he's not that guy, unfortunately.

Adnan, before we get you out of here, last question, because I imagine you've taken some inventory of something that we talked about a little bit earlier in the movies. If I made you come up with the greatest examples that you have of actors, uh,

doing athletic things incredibly poorly in the movies where you're asking a baseball player. I was thinking of John C. Reilly as the catcher and for the love of the game, I will always remember him trying to catch a foul ball and looking like he had never worn a glove or catcher's equipment. When you think of the worst sports acting that's been done in the movies, the least believable sports acting, what are the examples you cite?

Well, it's funny. It's not least believable sports acting specifically, but our friend Tim Kirchhen always talks about the natural, how offended he is. Again, I have to look this up, but I believe the team that is winning, it's like, I think that the shot that Roy Hobbs hits is like in the top of the 10th or something. Like it's something so ridiculous that any baseball fan would go, well, you can't walk off a game in the top inning. Whatever it is specifically, I'll get Timmy on it.

But as far as guys who look like poor athletes, I mean, it's hard because generally I just think of the guys who are good athletes like Kevin Costner and those guys that can actually do it. But, I mean, I remember in Eight Men Out, which is a movie that I love and our buddy Boog Shambi loves as well. I remember watching it going, these guys are throwing like 35 miles per hour. Like Charlie Sheen is a legit athlete. He can throw the ball 80 miles an hour. The rest of these guys, I'm like, of course the Black Sox are throwing the game. They're throwing the ball like meatballs.

That's a tough comparison because you've got good young actors like John Cusack, etc. But even the movies that do baseball well, it's still tough to do it, to replicate it like the majors. So it doesn't appall you. It's not something that you have ready listed in the top of your head of like, this is absurd. This has ruined this movie for me, how absurd this is.

I got one. I mean, Mystery Alaska, maybe Russell Crowe playing hockey is a bit of a tough one. I think Roy can back me up on that. Yeah, yeah. It didn't look great in that movie. But I also have one since Amin's wearing that jersey. Danny McBride. He was not a very good pitcher. He wasn't here. That's where the whole conversation started. Yes, Roy. That is exactly where it is that we got all of it. Full circle. Yes, we've come full circle. Adnan, thank you for being on with us. We appreciate it, sir.

Dan, as I texted you, and I want everyone to know, that was a profound conversation to do with Ted Danson. People should listen to South Beach Sessions, and I still applaud Amin. The one time he rode with Ted Danson on a plane, he brought up the Curb Your Enthusiasm, which Ted appreciated. But you guys should all listen to it, man. It was a great interview. Great job.

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