The Big Suey: Hold The Umbrella
41:57 Share

Now's a good time to remember where tequila's story truly began. In 1795, Cuervo invented tequila. Cuervo. What are you doing here? Cuervo. Anytime someone says Cuervo, I show up. Well, I do know that to be true, but even during an ad reads like... Cuervo. I think he could lay out, especially for one of our great partners. Sweet, delicious Cuervo. Since then, Cuervo has stayed true to its roots. The same family, the same land, the same passion. Cuervo. So, enjoy the tequila that started it all. Cuervo. Cuervo.

Cuervo. Tequila. That invented tequila. Proximo. Cuervo.com. Please drink responsibly. What does Zinn really give you? Not just smoke-free nicotine satisfaction, but also real freedom to do more of what you love when and where you want to do it. Why bring Zinn along for the ride? Because America's number one nicotine pouch opens up all the possibilities of right now.

With Zinn, you don't just find freedom. You keep finding it. Find your Zinn. Learn more at Zinn.com. Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

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 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 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 man to nowhere, fat face, and the habitual liar.

This episode of the Dan Lobitar Show with Stu Gatz is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours. Chris Cody, why are you laughing? We're just obsessed with this music video back here. The guy from Rascal Flatts and Akon have the song of the summer, and we just can't get enough of it. Yeah, so like what you heard as soon as Roy turned on his microphone is Billy saying he looks like Jeff Daniels because he's watching the video just on mute. He wanted to experience first...

with no music attached, which you're not getting the full experience, pal. But I've also run 10,000 simulations, and I think this is the only way that the Florida Panthers can outdo Chaperone's Pink Pony Club. We're going up against an irresistible force, so we need to start playing this in the locker room after games.

You guys have been watching this video for the last 90 minutes obsessively. What is happening in this video? So much. So much. Feeling so many emotions. A lot of water retention is happening in the faces primarily of guys you maybe last thought about 20 years ago. But this is outstanding. Akon, good to see you, pal. Great. Great to see you. Thank you for the contribution. A Columbia shirt.

Over that fit is a wild choice. Can we without the music? Just play the video in the corner of the screen without any music without any audio Do we have the ability? We can just get us a still of this fit. Oh

Just show the face. A lot of, uh, a lot of Pablo's producers are presently betraying him. And one of them, uh, cause he does have a lot of producers says that the amount of times that Pablo mentioned the word Peabody on the Bill Simmons podcast was totally crazy. And that Pablo's friends assume that he had won the Peabody, uh,

didn't have a clue that's what I thought that it was just a nomination from the amount I mean he might as well have won the Peabody given how he celebrated the nomination of the Peabody it feels like

I have something I want to read to you here where Marty Smith was moved enough by something to write a little bit of poetry. But before I do that, Billy has been demanding that the Seattle Mariners in these divisive times pick a side. Pick a side. They need to pick a side. So you know what's going on with the Mariners? I have no idea. They are their retiring number 51, an iconic number for the Mariners.

Randy Johnson. Do you know who they're retiring? Big unit. Yeah. Also worn by Ichiro. So what they're doing is they're retiring the number for both of them at the same time. A double retirement. All right.

All right. Not how that works. Different days, though. You have to spread those out. No, you have to. No, you choose one. You're retiring one number 51. And by the way, it's Ichiro. Because if you're going to retire Randy Johnson, you retire that number before Ichiro got the number 51. Like, you've made the decision to not honor Randy Johnson and give the number to Ichiro, who was equally, if not more iconic than Randy Johnson in the history of the game. And now it's Ichiro's number. I'm sorry. You took it away from Randy Johnson. You gave it to Ichiro.

If I had to decide one, I'd go Randy Johnson. Really? I think he meant more to that organization than Ichiro. I do. Better nickname. Better nickname for sure. Big unit. Yeah. There's only one person that meant more to that organization than Ichiro. The kid? That's right. I thought you were going to say Big Thumper. Jay Buhner? No, they should absolutely retire Ichiro if it were a choice. But thankfully, they... No, it has to be a choice. They could retire 26 and 25.

Get out, man. Oh, my God. That was really bad. What is that? That's a math friend. Minor penalty, two minutes, high sticking.

Billy had a good line yesterday. He snuck in while David Sampson was talking, calling Kevin Durant too old. Billy just said, you signed Ichiro. Different circumstances, granted. They signed Ichiro for like nothing. But he was in his late 80s when they signed him. Oh man, but he could get you one hit every four days, I'll tell you what.

The only other players in Mariners history to have their numbers retired are Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez, of which they retired number 24 for both of them. Oh, Mariners. Like, enough of this. They're making a habit of this. This is ridiculous. They played on the same team. They didn't have the same number. Like, for most of their careers, they were teammates.

That's against the rules. Now they're just waiting around because they don't want to run out of numbers. They're like, we need two people good at every number, and then we'll retire said number, not honor just one. Marlins are the opposite. They have Jeff Conan. They're like, you want to wear number 18? You want to wear number 19? Let's just retire all the numbers. They don't retire them. I think in part that's why they're not retiring numbers because they're like, Niner, pick a number, buddy. I thought Edgar wore number 11, then Griffey came and gave it. Well, he was wearing 24, then gave it to Griffey and took 11, right?

That's what I think happened, but I'm going to confirm that. Wait, but are you reporting that the Mariners are going to have two numbers retired by four players?

Yes, that's my exclusive report. So the Mariners are going to have only two numbers retired in the history of their franchise. That's a riddle, but four players can say they've had their numbers retired after each row and Randy Johnson gets their numbers retired. That is some incredible baseball trivia. The University of Miami also does something pretty confusing. They hang jerseys up in the rafters, but they're different colors.

And if you're one color, you're retired. If you're another color, you're merely honored and other people can wear that number. It is an incredible stat that they are honoring four people and retiring two numbers. It's also wrong. They retired number 11 for Edgar Martinez. They have a giant thing on their Google. Yeah. Also, 42 for Jackie Robinson retired by the Mariners. Well, we'll see. It was Tino Martinez who wore number 24.

Well, I don't think they retired Tino Martinez. I'm just saying he wore the number 24. I mean, they could do the same thing that the Lakers did with Kobe Bryant. I mean, they retired 8-24. Yeah.

That's excessive. That's a lot. But I get it. They could do the 26 and 25, though. When he decided, when he was living with us, and he's like, I'm just going to switch my numbers. I'm like, I'm on to you, pal. I know what you're going for here. That's very selfish. You're taking two numbers. Was this a scenario where Ichiro came to Seattle and he asked Randy Johnson, hey, can I wear your number? And Randy said, okay. I think Randy Johnson was...

gone yeah he had been traded and so he didn't have a say in the matter the number was available and they're like yeah we're not planning on retiring this jersey either who are you there's no way you can live up to that number that's a whole nother thing by the way you want to honor randy johnson don't trade him you decided he's not good enough for you we're going to trade him but that's not how that happened when he got traded to houston don't trade him somebody help me with what i think is call one of my math friends because i think you guys know a lot of things wrong here uh

23 was the number that was retired. No, or just let's let's go through this again, because I don't think we've given accurate information if we've retired the number of Tino Martinez. And we've got some confusion where Jeremy's sitting here saying he's got the right source. It's MLB dot com. And the rest of you are accusing AI or, you know, whatever's happened.

to Google that all of a sudden gives you bad information. Unless MLB.com and their editors missed a typo in which number 24 was typed twice within this article or Daniel Kramer is a liar.

In this article, it says number 24 for both of them. But Billy's right. I just looked it up. It says number 11. We're going to have to get to the bottom of what went wrong in this MLB.com article. And I asked ChatGPT, a different type of AI, and they disagree with the Google AI. Wow. So whose number has been retired?

I mean, that's what Dan's trying to do. Jackie Robinson, for sure. Yeah, definitely. I think it's 11. Wait a minute. I thought that recently there was some controversy that the government was trying to expunge something with Jackie Robinson. Never mind. It's not important.

So I'm going to read this from Marty Smith. He has decided to give his opinion on the Amazon Earnhardt documentary. Which rocks, by the way. He writes the following. The race footage in the Amazon Earnhardt doc is so badass. Visually incredible. A symphony of speed. It felt different back then. Grittier. Maybe because it wasn't so readily available as it is now. Maybe because there was a sense to us that NASCAR gave shine to rural America off

authentically southern something we kind of knew about all along that the rest of the world was just discovering like we were on the leading rough edge of a new frontier the personalities and the conflict and the refusal to back down rivalries that didn't end with a text message apology they lasted years books with chapters there was mystique about speed back then too we've lost that a bit we forget drivers are gladiators it takes a special cat to sail it off into one

At 200 miles per hour with no guarantee you'll come out of turn two. NASCAR is experiencing a rebirth right now. I watch every race and I feel the resurgence. Awesome racers wrestling a challenging machine. But that footage from the 90s put me in a nostalgic blender.

Those motors at full song, the suspension travel and the body shapes and good wrench and DuPont and quality care and Kellogg's and MGD and Coors Light stopped me in my tracks. It all felt so important. Motorsports Mozart. That was one tweet. Singular tweet. It was very long.

I just like to gummy up and watch them left turns, pal. Tino, Dan, just quick correction. We're 23 for the Mariners. So if they retired 24 for Martinez and Ken Griffey Jr. and the other Martinez, it seems as though no Martinez has worn 24. Yeah, I retract my official report and my exclusive report that they've retired only two numbers for four players. It seems as though MLB.com has let me down, Dan. Journalism's dead. Now, Tino did wear number 24 when he played for the Yankees, I believe. Did he have a

big series against the mariners as a yankee because then maybe they retire the 24 for that also 42 was retired by by the yankees i think for not just jackie but also mariano yeah has a team done this before because i think billy's right that you can't retire them both on the same day i do want to put on the poll at levitard show most meaningful mariner ichiro

Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner. I think Big Unit only won one Cy Young with Seattle, and he ended up winning four. So you make an argument. His best year is going to be after he left. He's going to be more remembered for being a Diamondback because that's the team that he killed a bird with primarily. Wasn't a Mariner there?

I think he was a diamond back when he killed that bird. I'm going to look it up. Look it up. Check Google AI. This is my only window to get in on this Earnhardt conversation. It's a four-part docuseries on Prime, and it is special, and I understand how it elicits that emotion. If you watch this documentary, one thing that stands out

Did you guys know that no Cup Series driver has died since Dale Earnhardt died? It changed the sport in terms of safety measures. You had the Hans device. You see spectacular crashes still. You see them fly into the stands sometimes. You see cars get airborne. And it is a wonder every time when a driver simply gets out of the car. And you think back to what killed Dale Earnhardt.

It's fairly innocuous. It doesn't look like it's a bad wreck. You see the wrecks that these guys had in the 70s, in the 80s. They definitely risked life and limb.

every time they got into that car. It's a miracle how safe these cars are now. And I would implore the audience to check this out because Dale Earnhardt was an uncommon badass, but he was also like super cold. And it's a story about a son looking for his father's approval. And I'm talking about Dale Earnhardt Sr. there.

And that kind of just masked the entire experience that he has with Dale Jr. It is a story about a father and son relationship. It is a story about gladiator spectacle in the most dangerous possible ways. It's one of the best things I've seen in terms of sports docuseries. It was awesome. Moreover, Prime's NASCAR coverage is spectacular for doing this for the first time. He was a D-back when he demolished a bird. Yeah.

Is it weird that him and Ken Griffey Jr. both became photographers in retirement? Like they're both just traveling the country becoming photographers, concerts, sporting events. You just see them pop up. I don't think that the big unit does that many sporting events. I think Ken Griffey's really doing the sporting event lane. I think that

big unit does more concerts and live events. Randy Johnson is a great photographer. He takes it very seriously. Can you guys explain to me, though, how this is working? Is Ichiro getting his number retired this season? Yes. And then they're going to retire a number that's already retired for Randy Johnson next season? That's exactly right. Is Ichiro getting his number retired first this August? Oh, wow, that's a good question.

And then during the 2026 season is when they will retire number 51 for Randy Johnson. So they're re-retiring. That's a heady play, though. You're mad if you're Randy. Well, no, you have to separate these days. It's business. That's all. Right. But you want to go first. Like the person who gets it first is the person who really gets it retired. I always think that like this is a morbid thought, but I always think when they do stuff like that, like when they're picking the order of when they're going to retire and honor people like part of it, especially the elderly, you have to think like who's going to live the longest here?

Right? Like, that has to go into the thinking, which, again, morbid thought. But I did think. Shaq McKeon's being honored by the Marlins this year, but he's being honored, like, third. Why don't we move that up to be first earlier in the season? Because you never know. I would have gone Randy Johnson first. You know, I've actually thought about this a lot, of one number being retired for two players. And the answer might shock you as to the team that I always think this about. What? It's the Florida Panthers. Yeah. The number 10. Oh.

Pavel Bure and Jonathan Huberdeau. I think both on merit. Certainly Huberdeau deserves to have his jersey retired down here by the Florida Panthers. Everyone's talking about it. But Pavel Bure also, I'm very puzzled as to why he didn't get his jersey retired. Maybe what's going on over there? Pavel deserves it. And you could have the number 10 retired for both Pavel and Huberdeau. Why at NASCAR they don't retire numbers? Obviously because they need to constantly doing things. But you would have thought the intimidator number three would be retired, huh?

But no. You would have thought, and when he first died, Richard Childress said, no one's ever driving the number three ever again. Harvick came in the 29, and now Austin Dillon drives the number three because of merchandise sales. It's huge business. I have a list of MLB teams that have retired multiple numbers for players. Is it accurate? This is going to be the eighth time. This is according to Alex Mayer. Yeah.

This is there are two that are technically sort of an asterisk, because when you look at the Yankees and the Cardinals, they have Mariano Rivera and Bruce Suter retired respectively for number 42. Yeah. And that's what Jackie Robinson. But otherwise, the athletics have Raleigh Fingers and Dave Stewart for number 34. The Yankees have Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra for number eight.

Washington slash Montreal has Rusty Staub and Andre Dawson for number 10. Cincinnati has Willard Hirshberger and Johnny Bench for number 5. Fergie Jenkins and Greg Maddox in Chicago with number 31. And now the Mariners, number 51, Ichiro and Randy Johnson. Huberto also wore number 11, so I'm going to lay off of that strain. Great hockey name. Can I propose a rule change for retiring the numbers? Wait a minute, that mistake. Hold on a second. Let me get him out of here. Let me just get him out of here. Like, what is he doing? Just get him out of here.

I think of this all the time. I've given this a lot of thought. Never mind. Huberto, I've got the wrong number. Well, you were number 11 like Edgar Martinez. Now they can retire 10 and 11. Yeah, problem solved. And 21. Dave Stewart's from another time, man.

All those names you just rattled off, the one name I thought of was Stu. That guy, he would give you nine innings whether he had his A stuff or his C stuff. That's right. But I mean, Dave Stewart is the one that you thought was old when he said Yogi Berra? That's an intimidator right there. Just brought me back to another time, that's all. Can I propose a rule change for retired numbers? Yes, you can. So...

We now have a phenomenon where people are having their numbers un-retired or they're granting the ability for their retired number for other players to use said number, right? So recently we had it with Warren Moon. We had the conversation with Phil Simms. It didn't end up happening. I think that if you grant the player the ability to use your number and their career is not retirement number worthy, your number is no longer retired. Wow.

It's active unless it's re-

Deactivated. Puts the pressure on you to only give it up for the good people. Exactly right. Then you're not wasting that honor. Were you afraid to say re-retired? Were you afraid to say re-retired instead of re-deactivated? No, I don't know. So if Phil Simms gives his number to a player that has a terrible career, Simms loses his retired number? Correct. It's no longer retired. In fact, as soon as someone else is wearing it, you have to take it down off of the wall or whatever it's on. But what if the guy has...

Folks, the Dan Levittard Show with Stu Gatz is sponsored by BetterHelp.

Look, I once tried to power through stress by yelling at my toaster. True story. And it didn't help. Toast was still burnt. Men, we're out here pretending we've got it all figured out. Duct taping our emotions together like we're fixing a leaky boat with a burrito wrapper. And surprise, it's not working. Six million men in the U.S. suffer from depression every year and most don't talk about it.

Because, you know, we're too busy being tough and fine and watching highlight reels of ourselves missing feelings like layups. Here's the truth, guys. Real strength isn't about pretending you're okay. It's about doing something when you're not. And that's where BetterHelp comes in. With over 35,000 therapists, they've helped over 5 million people. And yes, it's online. So you can talk it out without even putting on pants. Not that I'm recommending that. I'm just saying it's an option.

BetterHelp is convenient, easy to switch therapists if you need to, and it's rated 4.9 out of 5 in the App Store, which is basically unheard of unless you're a dog video. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Talk it out with BetterHelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at BetterHelp.com slash DLB. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash DLB.

Howdy folks, it's Mike Ryan. Now, if you've been listening to the show a lot lately, you've heard so much playoff talk. Playoff hoops down here in South Florida were especially enamored with playoff hockey. It's not just limited to the playoffs. Motorsports, tennis, golf. It's truly one of the best times in the sporting calendar. And with the weather outside warming up,

It's just perfect to hop in a pool, maybe grill up some food, but most certainly crack open some Miller Lights. I just described a pretty perfect day, didn't I? And it culminates with Miller time. There's something about a perfect grilling day. The sun's out, friends show up, and that first sip of Miller Light just hits different. I've been stocking up the cooler with it for years. This year, Miller Light turns 50 years old.

That is five decades of cookouts, laughs, and ice-cold moments that never miss. And if you've listened to the show for its 20-year existence, you know this to be true. Miller Lite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to MillerLite.com slash Dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Cheers to 50 years of Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

What does Zinn really give you? Not just smoke-free nicotine satisfaction, but also real freedom to do more of what you love, when and where you want to do it. Why bring Zinn along for the ride? Because America's number one nicotine pouch opens up all the possibilities of right now. With Zinn, you don't just find freedom, you keep finding it. Find your Zinn. Learn more at Zinn.com.

Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Don Levitard. I think I would have been on his side. I would have looked at you like, what did you say? I'm telling you, me and my friend, the rest of the way home, all we kept saying was, I ain't cheating. Stugatz. I think he got your ass. I think he got your ass. I got his ass. Chris won this one for sure. Not pathetic. It was great. This is the Don Levitard Show with the Stugatz.

There were a couple of things I wanted to either correct or clarify that has been said here over the last 10 minutes of unbearable sloppiness. Pavel Bure, one of the reasons that his number is not retired here, I don't believe he won a single playoff game while he was in Florida. Not one. That's right. They got there a couple times and got swept both times. By the Islanders, right? Like every time? You mentioned...

Andre Dawson. We skipped right past yesterday the fact that David Sampson said he went to a black church and dressed like Andre Dawson and tried to look like Andre Dawson, which demanded follow-up questions that we did not ask.

But I saw something yesterday, and I don't think it can be accurate. It was Rick Sutcliffe telling a story about Greg Maddox and Andre Dawson. Greg Maddox and Andre Dawson were on the same team. Andre Dawson was hit by Eric Hsiao in the face with a pitch. Wow.

These names. Eric Chow hit Andre Dawson in the face with a pitch. Andre Dawson, classy, just unbelievably distinguished as a player. One of the coolest things ever done by an athlete of any kind was before he went to Chicago, he was being colluded against. He told the Chicago Cubs, just pay me whatever you want. It's a black...

blank check, not a black check, a blank check. And then for $500,000, he went out and won the MVP of the league. An MVP he didn't deserve. It's in Stugatz's book. It is. Stugatzbook.com. Is that still active? Yeah. Andre wrote in the book. He did. He said I was an ass.

Stugatzbook.com is allegedly still active. It is. I can confirm that. Also confirmed Pavel Bure 0 for 4 in the playoffs as a Panther. Wow. So Rick Sutcliffe told the story of, and you tell me whether this can possibly be true because he said he was getting goosebumps while telling the story. Okay.

that Greg Maddux was told before the game that if he won the game, he wouldn't have to go to the minor leagues. It was the very beginning of his career. All he had to do was win the game and he wouldn't go back to the minor leagues. And he had three more outs to get in order for them to have the lead after five innings so that he could get the win. And Sutcliffe says, he said to Greg Maddux, do not go out there and retaliate by hitting any of their players. Go out there, get the three outs,

stay in the major leagues, and then hit someone the next inning. And Maddox is like, tears in his eyes. No, absolutely not. I have to hit the next batter.

And then he hit Benito Santiago, the guy with the most impeccable control, hits Benito Santiago. And then Rick Sutcliffe says he was sent back to the minor leagues. And the reason I don't believe the story is because I don't think they would just tell Greg Maddox, put the pressure on a pitcher in a game to say, you either win this game or you're going back to the minor leagues. It's so outdated, too. Talk about everything on the line. Like win being a pitcher stat. Like that's wild. Yeah.

Right. I just don't believe that the story's true, but Rick Sutcliffe is telling it as it's true. And what if they gave up the lead and he gets a no decision? What happens then? That's the way that they told the story, and it was honorable and wonderful and also, I believe, an outright lie. I'm with you. I just don't imagine that's how things go in the big leagues. Hey, win this game and you stay. Lose it and we're sending you back down. Greg Maddux's first appearance in Major League came as a pinch runner. Right.

A extraneous fact that doesn't help me at all, but thank you. I miss pitchers pinch running. That was a thing. Put it on the poll at Levitard Show. Do you miss pitchers pinch running? I'm going to text Tim about that. Bartolo Colon. Do you remember what they used to do when they pinch ran? Because they'd come out and give them a jacket.

Jackets. You needed a jacket. No, no, no. You got to get the arm warm. Yeah, that was when they were pitching. They would put it on one arm? Not pinch running. Sports was sports. All the pinch runners, they just get in the way.

Except Dave Stewart. Never wanted the jacket. It wasn't just a jacket on one arm. They weren't running with it. No, no, they've done that. I've seen that move. Not while pinch running. Not while pinch running. Okay, maybe not. Do you remember what Randy Johnson would look like after he pitched?

With that huge ace bandage wrap thing and that ice pack. It was like me after a Trish Stratus photo shoot. It'd be a whole ice machine. He'd have one of those hotel ice machines on his left arm. His last three seasons with the Mariners, he was 43-6. He was pretty good. Guess how many innings Greg Maddox pitched in his first start of his career. Five. Complete game. Duh. Maddox. Maddoc. Maddoc.

Mentioning the Earnhardt documentary, I've been pounding that Untold series quite a bit because they're making some bad stuff. But the Shooting Guards series or the Shooting Guards movie about Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton.

was really well done. There was a lot of stuff in there that I did not know, even though Gilbert Arenas has spent a lot of time talking about this story. And what was also really interesting to watch that I did not know is how it is that a power dynamic can become hugely problematic when

When you have a guy who's a jokester sharing a locker room with a guy who identifies as a gangster. And now that disrespect is in play and you get guys in the locker room carrying guns all of a sudden because the jokester is the one in power and he's pushing Crittenton to, you say you're going to shoot me? Prove it.

And Gilbert's got all the power. He's the jokester. And he brings guns into the locker room and puts them in front of his locker. And Crittenton's like, what do I need your guns for? I have my own. And now you've just got a situation where someone who's a prankster and always fooling around has landed on the wrong side of somebody who doesn't abide disrespect that way.

And it was just interesting to see the parallel stories because they got Crittenton when he's come out of jail or come out of prison after serving time. And you've got Gilbert saying, among other things, yeah, I ruined that dude's life because of the decisions that I made. Gilbert has always been a really interesting personality. And what he's doing with his podcast and his media career is not merely ambitious. It has a ton of

of really hard work in it. Not everyone in the podcast game is working as hard as Gilbert Arenas is working to make sure that he can stay competitive in that game. He had a clip recently about Karl-Anthony Taubes that I did not enjoy listening to. Horrendous. He sounded pretty terrible. It was a really, really, really bad and critical take in a way that...

should not be a criticism hurled at an NBA player. Well, this is the lane that Gilbert's willing to take that not a lot of former players are willing to take. And there is value in being able, look, he's been, if the guy's willing to come into a locker room with a golden gun, the other part of that story that I did not know is that Gilbert was saying he was not suspended for either the guns in the locker room

Or what I thought he was suspended for, which is after the league cracked down on him that David Stern was mad because during an on-court celebration he's doing finger guns in the huddle when he's swirling in controversy. But he wasn't suspended for that either. He's like, no, I was suspended because they knew I was trafficking guns all over the place. I had...

on team planes. I had 400 some odd guns in my house and I'm an NBA player who was trafficking guns on team flights. That's why I was suspended for 50 games. That's not something that I knew. So I would recommend that series because that started so strong. Untold started with like six or eight fantastic stories that were told better than I had seen them told. And then I don't know what happened.

but they became more and more diluted. This one is worth your time, though. If you want to cover subject matter on a Wizards team nobody cared about except for this story. The last three years of Panthers postseason runs have really cut into my television watching. I have to be very judicious, although I'm an episode away from finishing the studio and an episode away from finishing the rehearsal, and those are

two great things. They're excellent, both of those shows. Nathan Fielder, I would argue, is doing not only stuff in television that hasn't been done before, but he is pushing really the envelope on awkward in comedy in a way that most comedians are not brave enough to do, where he will make a CNN appearance with Wolf Blitzer, and he's just actively trying to make things

uncomfortable for people. And I will say when I describe the rehearsal as some of the most ambitious television that I've ever seen in my life, I cannot believe the degree of difficulty on what it is that he's trying to accomplish with that show, what the budget for it is, and what his motivation for it is, which is to make meaningful change in the airline industry that is important. And he went to such lengths

to do this, including becoming a professional flyer, that there's literally never been a comedian like this. Crew members to complete interpersonal communication training, and it says it isn't seeing the data that supports the show's central claim that pilot communications is to blame for airline disasters. So I want to get you to respond to that, obviously. That's dumb. They're dumb.

And here's the issue, is that they do, like I trained to be a pilot and I'm a 737 pilot. I went through the training. The training is someone shows you a PowerPoint slide saying, if you are a co-pilot and the captain does something wrong, you need to speak up about it. That's all. That's the training. And they talk about some crashes that happened. But they don't do anything that makes it stick emotionally.

One of the things that was not a clip that had the awkward in it, but he was pushing on Wolf Blitzer and he was talking about the specifics of co-pilots are afraid sometimes to speak up in a power structure to pilots who have all the power and might be in some trouble during a flight. And it leads like he's proving empirically doing research that most aren't doing and traveling around the country with a guy who's kind of boring.

but is an expert as a former aviation person who's telling people that Nathan Fielder has to be listened to. But he kept saying to Wolf Blitzer's co-host, and I'm not familiar with this show, so I don't know her name. Forgive me for that. He keeps saying some form of, wouldn't you be afraid to speak up to Wolf Blitzer, given the power dynamic that there is in your relationship and the imbalances in your relationship?

The issue that we talk about in the show is people not wanting to share their feelings with each other co-pilots because one might be of higher, more experience than the other. So they might know the thing that will...

save a plane from crashing but they might not want to communicate it. So I assume between you two... We like each other and we talk to each other. But there's things you probably don't share too. So that's a good way of the audience understanding the dynamic probably, right? Really, he should be the captain is what you're saying. That's really what you're saying. Did you watch the show? But I mean, it's like a human thing. You know what I mean? Like...

There's definitely stuff, I'm sure you guys, like you brought up the analogy, but like, I'm sure Pamela, you don't say some things to Wolf or, 'cause you're between you two, who would be like the boss or the more, like you're Wolf Blitzer, right? So you're like, your name is first on the thing. So I'm sure Pamela at times you might not wanna say,

you know, oh, Wolf wants to do something you don't think it's a good idea, you might not want to express that always. We actually have a pretty, I understand your point. But you have to say that now. No.

I know, but you don't want to say to Wolf, you can't, you know, as a journalist, you don't want to say, oh, I don't want to. She says that. She says it to you. So maybe you're afraid to say something to her. Here's the great thing about Wolf is he doesn't have an ego. He has no ego, but I take your point. I mean, Wolf's in movies and stuff. He's a big deal. He's a mission impossible. There is no question. So that's intimidating. That can be intimidating. That can be intimidating. That's sort of the thing we're trying to explore.

Wolf hated that. No, I think he loved it. I mean, the comparisons to Andy Kaufman are obvious. It was easier in Andy Kaufman's day to get away with stuff like this because social media just plays such active defense. There have been two people since Andy Kaufman that pushed the boundaries of comedy, pushed the boundaries of awkward, pushed the boundaries of ambition, and honestly, danger when it comes to comedy. Sasha Baron Cohen and Nathan Fielder. And Sam Morrell. Norm MacDonald would like a word. Norm MacDonald...

He loved the awkward. He wasn't putting himself in danger the way that Sacha Baron Cohen does routinely. And I do know, like, I had read an article that shortly after Nathan For You, Sacha Baron Cohen and Nathan For You and Nathan Fielder collaborated on stuff. And they talked this out because they're one in the same. I love what Nathan Fielder does. It's a part of his act that he figured out eight years ago on Nathan For You. It's like, let me juxtapose my act with an old, normal person. Yeah.

and just have them be stoic and play off of my eccentricities. And it's comedy gold every time. It is visually funny, and it makes his comedy work better, and the other person doesn't have to say a single thing. His mind works differently. Stugatz, I don't think you understand, not having seen it, or most people understand how difficult it would be

to get this as an idea, a script in front of people in the present Hollywood right now that is rejecting everything 'cause it's like four entities are making and investing in movies

To put this in front of people and get it made at the budget, I can't even imagine what that paperwork looked like. You have to trust Nathan Fielder to be exceptional at things in order to execute what we're talking about here, because on paper, this idea simply can't work.

I think that he's been in interviews and he's said that he was greenlit for a second season without even an idea. So they trusted him so much that he didn't even give this to them. They were just like, OK, here's your next season and here's your budget to go figure it out. What if we're underthinking this a little bit?

What if Nathan just wanted to be a pilot? And he said, you know what? How do I get someone to pay for my 737 lessons? And then he wrote a show around the premise where he was going to be a pilot. And then he started figuring things out. But really the starting point was, how do I get someone to send me to pilot school? I like it. You know what I think the most dangerous thing he did in this entire season was? Fly a plane full of people. No. Actually not. Ah.

It was bite the hand that feeds him with Paramount. He has a show, a scripted show with an Academy Award winner in Emma Stone. He has his entire Nathan For You. Which is also great, by the way. The Curse is a great television show. He has his entire Nathan For You catalog on Paramount+. And he is identifying where Paramount+,

He kowtows to sensitivities and anti-Semitism, and he does it by recreating an old Nazi HQ that he turned into the Paramount Plus headquarters. It was insane, and a lot of people would probably advise him, if you want to work in this town, if you want to keep getting stuff made, you can't be cutting off Viacom Paramount. Nazis are having a moment, though. They are, in your defense.

Not my defense. Jon Stewart tells this great story of I don't know, would it have been Peacock? Who was it at the beginning? They tried on one of the early evolutions of one of Jon Stewart's early shows to have David Tell come on as Hitler as a guest on a talk show eating a bagel.

And they did a like a first episode and Jon Stewart gets back to his office and it's just an executive screaming that will never air. Nothing you're doing here will ever air. And Jon Stewart just realized, OK, this show is going to fail immediately.

Only for him to ultimately be called by his non-stage name by the future president to sort of shout to people, Hey, he's a Jew! He could do the skit. Why do people like Nazi jokes? I don't really get it. They seem not worth it. They seem not worth it. It just seems, man, not super funny. I cannot see why people would make those jokes. It seems not worth it. Thank you. Ten minutes. Minor penalty, two minutes. High sticking.

I saw another good documentary I would recommend on Max. That was fun. Implosion, the story of the submersible. They finally got to, like, the details that people were wondering about, that this is well-reported, well-researched. They talked to the widow of Max.

The man and the son who died in the submersible, they take you into the submersible in a way that would make you think, why would anyone ever get in this thing for any reason? Right. For any reason. Because...

the claustrophobia of that thing to be sent to the bottom of the ocean to go check out the Titanic. If you want those details that we were obsessed about at the time, they're all here. They're all here in one place and they've done a good job sort of taking you through what all of that was and the lack of

ethics in sort of having a business around invention, experimentation and discovery. Just back to the pilot thing for a second. I don't like this rank that's going on inside of an airplane, inside of a cockpit. Right. If the copilot, if my plane is going down and the copilot has the answers to fix the problem, then please fix the problem. OK, don't be intimidated by the captain. I cannot believe there is ego inside of an airplane.

Problem solved. I can't believe it. Thanks for getting around to that. We appreciate your hard work. I mean, I'm serious. What is going on? Our co-pilot's not going to say anything because he's afraid to upstage the captain. Who cares? Had to be said. Thank you. What are we doing? Right? That's right. Thank you. That's good coverage of the rehearsal for someone who hasn't seen it. Talk rage. Talk.

If you could save me, save me, please. The funny thing is, though, is that the pushback that he's run into is they're like, nah. That's correct. Which is, I think, like the official government statement is like, nah. Yeah, the government statement is we don't need to look into this. Now all over social media is just pictures from airports of pilots not talking to each other. It's like standing 10 feet apart. Say hello.

How's your day? A little small talk. I'd prefer they get along. I literally, though, had never considered how awkward it must be for just two dudes who aren't in the mood at 5 a.m. to have coffee breath and not want to talk to each other.