Hour 1: Domonique's Don Nelson Observations
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This is the Dan Levitar Show with the Stugatz Podcast. Join us in the cheap seats this Wednesday night. Dan and the Kid Mero are watching Game 3 of the NBA Finals presented by Remy Martin. Catch the live stream starting at 8 o'clock Eastern on the Levitar Show YouTube channel.

When is game four of the Stanley Cup final? They're flip-flopping. Thursday. So it's Thursday. How many more hockey live streams are you doing off of these games, Roy, where we can get this broadcasting excellence amid the chaos? And we didn't talk enough about how great the Spanish sentence, silence is everywhere, is as a haunting description. Like, just great.

Talking of Edmonton, silence is everywhere. And everyone knowing what it means makes it just a wonderful description. I actually have an update. Angel Resto, who is our excellent graphics and everything do-it-all guy,

In the midst of the chaos of what we're trying to translate, Angel picked it up. He said, silencio sepulcral, which is like a tomb-like quiet. So it's not even the silence is everywhere. It's like a graveyard tomb-like silence. Good catch by Angel. Look, you just made Dominique whistle that out the way you'd imagine in a graveyard where Marshawn had just scored to scare Edmonton. Because that's how quickly it flips, right? Yeah.

We know the thing that we haven't talked about because basketball is a bit of a foregone conclusion. Every team that's ever looked like OKC wins the championship throughout history. 68 wins, that kind of turnover differential, that kind of defense and being able to have a guy, Halliburton shooting 20%. He's got four assists when he's guarded by Dort. He's got eight turnovers. That hasn't happened in a two game stretch since March of last year. Like,

This team is going to do that to you. And it would be only if the randomness of threes in today's basketball does Indiana somehow get saved from what seems inevitable. But hockey's not the same thing. I don't know who should be favored in this series. I know the money's come in on both kind of favored. But but the two the first two games, this is the insanity of what I'm witnessing.

Better than advertised. Wildly beyond expectations. And we're two games in on what we know to be the two best teams. Slugging it out at the very top in a way that makes everyone in hockey be like, oh shit, these are heavyweights throwing haymakers. I don't think it's a hyperbolic take either because if you watch the TNT coverage, they're all kind of astonished at what they're watching. And Anson Carter the other day is like, this is...

Like, this might be – we're heading down a path here where this might be the greatest Stanley Cup final ever. I'm trying to think of other sports where you've heard that in a championship, where it's just – they're all just like, how about this? Hell yeah. This is awesome. Hell yeah. I mean, it reminds me a little bit of Cavs Warriors, where that was – it felt like it was building towards something. Also, like, Heat Spurs. But in this, it's – I think the storylines are perfect, too, because McDavid falls into this perfect category of, like,

he's by far clearly the best player who has to overcome this. Where LeBron was with the Heat. Right, it's the same sort of thing, and that's easy for him. That's what is great for casuals, people who call pucks balls. They still enjoy watching hockey in this moment because that situation is so easily, such an easily told story. It's a good correction you just made. There is one other time in basketball history where this isn't a foregone conclusion. It was when Draymond started kicking everyone in the junk, and that Golden State team that won 72 games

lost while up 3-1 to LeBron James. But it's pretty predictable what's going to happen in basketball. Perhaps in the last seven years have not been predictable in basketball. Last seven years, different champion all the time. You guys talking about SGA here and how it is that he, as the MVP of the league, seizes the league. He's got more points through two games

Any player, first two games ever, Michael Jordan included. But it, and what? And yawn. And yawn! And efficient. And kind of boring. But, he's...

He's here arguing on behalf of, I like mid-range game and the rest of us, no, I want Anthony Edwards. How is that boring? But you know what's boring? Somebody draining threes for the entire game. If you can make Jokic boring, I can make SGA boring. Okay, that's fair. What was that noise Dominique just made? It's because I want to support Greg. But he knows it was a bad tape. I'm just like...

I like something different, okay? Yeah, no, I agree with you. Like, if everybody serving in a tennis match is serving 100 miles an hour, I want a drop shot every once in a while. I want a slice shot every once in a while. I want something different. Well, they delivered on that in the men's final, no doubt. Right. I think that this is why today is Shirt Tuesday.

because I think Greg's shirt is evidence to why he likes STA because that shirt is boring, but it's different from what Greg normally wears. There you go. And so he looks great in it. And I think the same is true. If we got STA year after year, final after final –

week after week, night after night, I think Greg would recognize it. All right, let me get a little something different. - Dominique has brought me around on this. I am now also for today being Shirt Tuesday on the grounds that it can only be a Shirt Tuesday when Greg Cody says correctly that he longs for the drop shot.

In tennis, he does not want... You should be thrilled because Alcada has a sicko with how he drops... A sicko. No, it's insane what he does. It's unfair. It's wrong. Thank you, Roy. Excellent timing. The faces that his opponents make and what he just tries to do, the fact that he even thinks about these things. What he is doing with a tennis ball is asinine. And let's have more of it. Let's have more drop shots, more spin shots.

Levitard and I used to play tennis all the time. Usually I'd beat him because I'd frustrate him with my little spin shot. It was bullshit. It was great. Look, he's been a coward this way for a long time. He loves the drop shot. Make him go in and out. Make him go side to side. Wear him out. Thank you very much. Thank you. Cowardice. No, it's brilliant on my part. It's the part of tennis. That's what you're supposed to do. I know, but then you see 130 mile an hour serves, one after another. Bore.

That's what I was giving him too. 130 miles an hour, one after another. Yeah, three of your serves together weren't 130 miles an hour. But it's the same thing in baseball, right? Everybody pitches the ball 105 miles an hour now. You know what? Where's the knuckleball? Bring back the knuckleball. Bring back a little variety instead of everything. The Necros? Yes, bring back Phil and the other guy. What's the other guy's name? Phil Necro and...

Charlie Huff? Was it Joe? Joe. Joe Necro, yeah. The Necros. The lesser Necro.

Be careful. Who's a lesser Necro? Yeah, Charlie Huff. Who's a lesser Necro? Joe. Joe is less than Phil. You know, somebody's got to be. They're not even. Phil Necro, by the way, is he in the Hall of Fame? I don't think so. Should be. No, he should not be. Put him in the Hall of Fame. I don't want to have this knuckleballers conversation again. I don't want to have this conversation about the Necros again. That's art, a knuckleball, in a way that a fastball is not. It is cowardice. It is cowardice. Okay, bring back the mid-range jumper. Bring back the spin shot. Bring back the knuckleball.

You know, let's enjoy what's different. A hook shot I like. What about the chest pass? Yeah, the chest pass. How about the underhanded free throw like Rick Barry? All that back. The underhanded free throw. What else? The bank shot? What else? The expense? Yes. Pooch punt? I like that. What else? Sam Jones, Boston Celtics, 1968. Give me that banker. Give me that bank.

Miles Turner gave you one. Anything else? And another thing. Oh, no. The bunt. Okay? Bring back the bunt. Give me a six-foot...

hit. Do you not watch college baseball? They got bunts for days on that. Well, they're still using metal bats, aren't they? Yeah. What does that have to do with your bunt to take that out? Were you just flexing your college baseball knowledge there? That's all he was doing. The game's in nine innings. And they're not metal, incidentally. They're aluminum. Okay, whatever. An aluminum bat disqualifies the sport, in my opinion. And I know, you know, the Canes baseball, they just came within one win of returning to the College World Series for the first time since 2016. Heartbreaking. Good for them.

Good for them. Heartbreaker. Yeah, 3-2 loss. But I will say that I don't like a metal bat. Never have. And if you bunt with a metal bat, you know, it dings. It makes that terrible sound, the metal bat. What is happening around here? It should be a wood sound. What is happening? I welcome this. It's my fault. It's because he was longing. No, it's fine. He was longing for the lob.

The drop shot. The drop shot, excuse me, not the lob. He liked the lob, too, when he'd make me run up there with his bullshit drop shots. Damn right, I'd run you all over the court. Run you ragged. That kind of thing. Raggedy Andy. Raggedy Danny. Raggedy Danny. Raggedy Dan would have been better, because it sounds like Raggedy Ann. I'm workshopping here.

I like that music. Ragtime. Raggedy Dan would have been the way to go. Yeah, I know. You know, I'm not perfect. Dominique has some Don Nelson observations. If you have not been following the career of Don Nelson, Don Nelson coached one of my favorite teams of all time, an eight that took out a one because just Steven Jackson and Baron Davis were decided to shoot threes and buried poor Nowitzki and Steve Nash.

buried them both. Don Nelson at the time had a giant gin belly. Giant. Enormous. Looked like a wrecking ball in his stomach from all the gin he was drinking. I assume. I don't know if it was gin. He got some sort of lifetime achievement award and he was at the game last night and they showed him

and he's 85 years old and he looks cool as hell. I just was jealous and impressed. - 85, Don Nelson is 85, is that correct? Is that accurate what Dominique is saying? Don Nelson, so I remember him with a giant belly, then he goes to Hawaii, smokes a ton of weed,

finds spirituality and enlightenment and gets a lot healthier. Where are the photos of Don Nelson from last night? You're saying he is now healthy because he went through a period from he was very swollen and then he went to raggedy. He became Raggedy Don because he had a lot of... Oh, wow! Look at him! Whoa! He looks good. I love it. Whoa! Outstanding. That's 85 years old. Look at that necklace.

That's aloha living right there. I love it. Don Nelson looked like he's trying to sneak into Wakanda. Put it on the poll at Levitard Show. Does Don Nelson look like he's trying to sneak into Wakanda? You let him in?

I wouldn't let him in. Okay. It sounds like you were impressed. You thought about it for a second. I mean, it's not an immediate turn away. They're going through the line and you're like, wait a second. Let's ask him his history. What you been up to? I just need to know what you been up to. I do believe he looks like he could be related to me. Really? Looks like John Skipper. Is he a colonizer? Tiene pinta. Mentioned this on the show before, but he built a house made of hemp. I have...

What is going on with that sound Dominique made? I want to understand better. Take me back, Chris, how you saw this through your viewpoint because you saw we rarely get to see Dominique quite this vulnerable, okay? I want you guys – he was trying to get in there and he was trying to talk, but he didn't want to interrupt Greg Cody because Greg Cody might have been on a roll. I have –

That's what I, he was, he was like, my dad was doing him and Dom, I like wanted to support and then ejected on it. Is that what it was? Yeah, it was. I tried to give him some support. Thank you. And then I just pulled back. I appreciated the sound though. I couldn't figure it out. It derailed me for a split second, but then I got back on track. How do you spell that? You're trying to create new onomatopoeias? What is that? Yeah.

Greg Cody is willing to concede now that the Panthers need home ice advantage. He is now duly and officially scared of McDavid, even though he pretends not to be. He fluffs off. Oh, look at what McDavid did. That's the most beautiful thing I did right around Barkoff, our best defender. And now you're finally willing to give it.

Now that Dreisaitl's doing something in this series, which he didn't in the last one. He was very clearly hurt in the last series. You two games in are willing to acknowledge, oh, they're better. They're better than they were last year. This is a more formidable challenge for our greatest champion down here in South Florida hockey history. One of the things that makes it an intriguing series is that both teams are better. The champions are better and Edmonton is better. They both have depth, like,

crazy and it's such an offensive series. I thought Paul Maurice, who's a great quote, very intelligent, thoughtful man, he said after game two that the goaltending in this series is so great, but the offense is so great that you can... We just saw it with a 5-4 game. He's praising everything. He said you could have an 8-7 game in this series and you could still say the goaltending was good on both ends. And I know what he's talking about.

The offense is beating good goaltending, and Skinner's been better than expected. But you say that they need home ice here. I feel like in this series, with how good the Panthers are on the road, I think...

I don't think home ice means a lot in hockey regardless, but in this series, it feels like it means absolutely nothing. Well, they've been great on the road. I got two questions for you, Greg. One is going to be a little scarier. I'll leave that for a few minutes from now so you can prepare emotionally for that. The first question is a little easier. What are you going to do

And I hate to say this in front of a lot of Panthers fans, but if Connor McDavid does win the Stanley Cup, like, what is the column going to be? Or how are you going to respond? Because I feel like you owe him and his family and all of Canada something if he does actually respond.

reached the mark that you said that is holding back from being properly rated. He can't even fathom it. He can't even think of it. He's not even considered the column he has to write if he's wrong. I have considered it. And, and, uh, I, I will be very, uh,

thoughtful. I will give him all the credit in the world for finally catching up to his reputation. So you're going to go accumulate all the credit in the world. All the world's credit. All of it. All of the credit in the world will be given to him.

That's right. I'm going to all the banks. I'm taking out loans. I'm getting all the credit I can. All the credit you're going to give it to him. Yes. And what's the second question? The second question is a little more uncomfortable. Okay, first of all, let me just say there's going to be an asterisk to me giving him all the credit because if— That's not all the credit if there's an asterisk. Okay, there is most of the credit. It's not—wait. Listen. You said all the credit. You said all the credit in the world. If Edmonton wins the Stanley Cup, but we look back on the final and we say, you know what?

McDavid wasn't even their best player in this series. He's going to do the pro dry sidle column. Dry sidle carried him. Seven goals in this series. If it's true, I'm going to say it. I do nothing but spit the truth. Instead of this particular silliness, can I just put in front of you, and Dominic, I'm sure you will appreciate this, is someone just a connoisseur of high-end excellence.

For other hockey players and teams and executives to be watching this series and being like, oh, this is as well as all of this can be done by anybody. This is going to be random. Somebody's going to win. Somebody's going to allow five goals while being the great goaltender that night because we know what we're watching. It's better than everything else that was in the playoffs. It's super rare to have that kind of appreciation from the combatants when somebody

when the way Florida buzzed through everything, I'm going to keep going through these particulars, takes out Tampa as a blueprint, New York as a blueprint, Boston as a blueprint, makes Toronto say our DNA is wrong, comes from their GM, Carolina is saying, Brindamore, oh, Paul Maurice got me out of the handshake line because he didn't want me to do it. I'm going to go back to that, but I'm still a loser. Yeah.

A loser technically. A loser the way Canada and Carolina are losers. No individual is a loser, just franchises. Florida going through that and everyone acknowledging this thing's just as good as Florida, we all know it. Somebody's got to win.

We'd be really disappointed if all the games don't look something like that. Like, we're not looking for 6-1s here. And if you do find a 6-1, my guess is you think that McGregor, I'm sorry, that McDavid and Dreisaitl are the ones going to be doing it. You're not expecting Florida to win 6-1. You're not expecting Florida. You're not expecting...

Bob, to be able to shut out Edmonton. We lost one game last year in the final 8-1. I'm expecting all the games in the series to feel like the first two. Maybe not overtime, but 50-50 toss-ups. Today, if you're going to see one game maybe have a bigger spread, it might be tonight because I know Nugent Hopkins...

Might be out for Edmonton. They're mixing up their pairings, and I don't necessarily agree with them. They're maybe taking a defensive pairing, one alongside Bouchard. I think Bouchard has proven to be a little shaky defensively, as you saw in the Marchand winner. So if there's ever a chance for Florida to get into some kind of groove, it might be tonight. But I think this is generally what the oddsmakers tell you. Pick them series.

But not just pick them. Excellence at the height of excellence. The part that I'm saying, I don't know how people feel about... Right, but the linesmakers don't say that when they put out the lines. I'm sure they would, though, if they had the opportunity. Excellence on top of excellence. But yeah, it's a total toss-up. It's going to feel... Even if it doesn't go seven, it'll kind of feel the way that Pacers' Knicks felt in that...

These are all up-for-grabs type of games. I think there are different types of champions from different leagues at different times that reach different levels. And I believe that even my rudimentary hockey knowledge is both of these teams...

are like champion level teams. And it's not so clear. And you can have a team that wins a championship in an off year. They're still champions. It's fine. You don't take any from them. But you don't appreciate them. You don't respect them. And you don't remember them the way that you would some of these other all-time greats. We're in a situation in this particular Stanley Cup final that feels like both of these teams are so deserving of championship that it feels like whoever wins this

It's going to be a championship that matters more than normal Stanley Cups matter. At least for me. It feels like I'm locked into this series in a way. What I'm saying is that this is not always the case. It's not just, I know they play for a championship every year, but it's not every year. Are you okay? Is everything okay there? Yeah, we're good. That was weird. We got some feedback on the microphone when you were adjusting your headphone jack. We'll take a look at that after this show. Keep it moving. Oh, no. I had pressed the cough button. Let's keep it moving.

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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,

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Feels a lot like Sinner Alcaraz in that way. Who the hell's going to win here? These are both really good. If either of these two won, you'd be able to claim this is probably the most impressive show

Except that I'm going a next step on this because you're saying Sinner Alcaraz for now, and I'm saying that this is Federer Nadal, this is Jokovic, this is...

The very top of how this sport can be played as conceded by the odd hockey announcers who are saying through two games, can you believe this? Can you believe that it's exceeding my expectations when I already knew how closely matched they were? I'm saying that when you're watching something historic through two games, this is what it looks like. When you know that you're in the middle of something that people are going to remember where...

You guys know how they talk about the series last year because it was like, how do they top the fact that one team was up 3-0 and then it was 3-3 and then everyone got scared and when Edmonton was coming back, the assumption was that Edmonton was now going to win the series. Now you're talking historically about...

The country and countries that celebrate hockey not rooting for Florida here. They're rooting for the immortal to be crowned. Florida's in the way. The champion is very much in the way of what everyone who loves hockey is presently watching. It's not just that Florida is, you know, chippy and assholes and Marchand and wherever it is that you don't like them. This team is not being celebrated or rooted for by anyone

anyone outside of this market. I disagree with that. I think that the Panthers, even as the reigning champion, has an underdog quality that Edmonton can't claim. Edmonton can't play that card. They were the betting favorite going in. They have the one guy in the league that everybody insists is the best player ever, McJesus, the next Gretzky.

They're not the underdog. Florida's the underdog, even going for a second championship. Third straight cup final. Third straight. Second straight championship. I think there's validity to what Greg is saying. Despite the odds having this being pick-em, if you look at analysts, people with presence on big platforms, it kind of felt like Florida could pull the card like,

do they really think that we can't do this? We can't win back-to-back cups? They were being doubted in ways that they hadn't been since probably Vegas, and that team is just better than you. Because of how banged up they were at the end, I think, is the reason for that. Their regular season was nothing to ride home about. So I get why people were doubting them, but I just think at this point,

People are not frustrated that the Florida Panthers are in this anymore. People are like, that's a great team. I don't think teams... People are looking at us as an all-time great team. I think the narrative of this Florida Panthers... Florida, no one cares. I think a couple years ago, it was like, what is this Florida market? I feel like now it's like, this team just deserves to be here. I think both could use...

help from the other opponent in framing what their legacy is. Because while back-to-back doesn't necessarily get you in dynastic conversation, the fact that they went to a Stanley Cup final previously as an eighth seed and they do it against this guy in the Cup final, that frames the discussion. And it also frames the discussion for Connor McDavid in that you could look at this Florida team and say, that's one of the best teams ever.

ever. And you shook off 3-0, you battled back, you fell just short. Can you use that as fuel to take you over the top? I think both of these teams are helped by the other in terms of narrative. A couple of questions for Dominique. One, do you feel like Mike is going for the Don Nelson look with the chain outside of the shirt?

And two, Chris Cody, when are you going to stop using the phrase something to write home about, given that it's been a long time, maybe the 1800s, since people wrote home in order to give good information? We're beyond the writing of home. What do you write home? Why are you writing a home? You're writing your dad a note?

You're writing your dad a note and mailing it to him? Why are you writing? I wouldn't even know how to mail something. What? He has not written a letter in his entire life. I would have to go to my dad and be like, give me a stamp. Do they still do these things? You don't know how to use a stamp? No, I know that my parents have stamps that if I ever need anything, I can go over there in their junk drawer, slap that thing on there. I don't care how much it weighs. I'm putting that sticker on it.

How do you feel about Mike Ryan going for the Don Nelson look here, Dominique? Do you believe that he is also, he's not looking for Wakanda membership as well, is he? No, no, no, no, no. I think that Don Nelson is trying to pull off the Mike Ryan. Mike pulls it off more naturally. And I haven't seen Don in a while. It looks perfect for him. But I think it's different looks.

Are those puka shells? What kind of shells are those? Those are Hawaiian shells. It might be made of hemp. His guest house is also made of hemp. But, Dan, you'd be right. I saw this picture of Don Nelson. I said, I've got to be like that. I've never worn this look before. Prior to, I saw a picture of Don Nelson. I'm like, that's going to be my fit now. A good choice by you, Mike. Thank you. Mild, Mike. That's what it is. It's no longer a Cody Holy Shirt Tuesday outfit.

It is now a mild Mike Monday, and on a mild Mike Monday, one of the things that I wanted to bring up... It's not a thing. It's not a thing. Stop making it. The only reason it's a thing is I'm getting boxed out at every turn right now. Cockburn's got to get the shots up. That kind of thing. Thought that was his name. I had... I'd never met the guy. I had... You thought his name was Cockburn? I did. Pete Cockburn. It sounds like a name. That was very Bill Simmons. Do I get to speak now? Is it my turn? Mild Mike. I had...

The house was made of hemp or is made of hemp? Yeah, we have a photo. It's something called, please clear the graphic. It's something called hempcrete. They make hemp into this paste and he built a 6,000 square feet guest home made of hemp. What a waste of hemp. 6,000 square foot guest home. How many things can you throw creed at the end of it and just make a house with it?

I can play. You want me to play the game? I can name some things. Workshop that next time. Yeah, before you do that, in fact, here, let's just... Major penalty, five minutes, Scrooning Comedy. I think you'd be shocked at how many.

Greg Cody, I want to get your thoughts on the Pittsburgh Steelers signing Aaron Rodgers. One year, $13 million, an interesting marriage. Adam Schefter is reporting that this was Pittsburgh's third choice that they were trying to get Matthew Stafford.

that they thought that it might be an experience in the future that involved the quarterbacking of Justin Fields. And now you are seeing Aaron Rodgers. Sort of the quarterback discount bin is empty. The game of musical chairs makes it so that they couldn't go into next season with Mason Rudolph as their quarterback. You simply cannot do that. So they just end up on Aaron Rodgers, and how do we think that's going to go?

Well, I don't think it'll go particularly well. I think Aaron Rodgers has shown that he's pretty much spent. In terms of the Aaron Rodgers...

five years ago, the Aaron Rodgers from his prime. You know, the Jets let him go for a reason. And Aaron Rodgers only looks good if you compare him to Mason Rudolph. You know, he kept the Steelers on hold for months. And this is what the Steelers get for not moving on from the possibility of Aaron Rodgers.

I mean, I think the Steelers are in a situation now where they have to go with Aaron Rodgers. It puts them in a situation where Aaron Rodgers could hopefully turn back the clock for enough for them to make a run, but he also can put them in a position to draft the quarterback next year when the quarterback draft class is a little bit more attractive.

I don't have a ton of faith in Aaron Rodgers, but a year removed from the Achilles injury, people do have a little bit more success once they have a little bit more time to recover. But it's not an injury that has a long history outside of Kevin Durant. Well, you've seen the numbers on him turning the ball over more. So I ask this question sincerely, even though I know how the audience feels about what I'm about to say. If I tell anyone in the audience, you're someone who cares about the Steelers, what would you prefer?

Mason Rudolph is your quarterback next year or Aaron Rodgers is your quarterback? Everybody would say, I've seen what Mason Rudolph is and I've seen what Aaron Rodgers has been. I'd rather hope than go with Mason Rudolph. So I ask you, Dominique, in real terms, having looked at the analytics of what the decline has been and historically how bad quarterbacks get after the age of 37.

Is Aaron Rodgers actually a better option than Mason Rudolph? Yes or no? Yes, he's absolutely a better option than Mason Rudolph because, I mean, you can find moments. I think what you want from a quarterback at this point is can they make the throws that not other quarterbacks can make.

You can find moments in Aaron Rodgers' season last year that are really ugly, but you can also put together a pretty impressive highlight tape. I think that the players on that team, the fans of that team, and the coaches on that team, in their mind, their best version of this is, we play great defense. We don't ask much of Aaron Rodgers.

But every now and then, we ask him to do one of those special things. Can he do it? Mason Rudolph cannot. So you don't even have that as an option or opportunity. So I think that's what players and fans and coaches would like about Aaron Rodgers. Well, I have a question, though. Would you prefer Aaron Rodgers to either Russell Wilson or Justin Fields? I think...

I think so, given how last year ended, because it's the unknown of it. I'm not saying that it's smart or rational or right. I'm saying if I were on that team, I would say, yeah, go ahead and let those guys run, and we'll see what Aaron Rodgers can give us.

I think the other more complicated and difficult thing to talk about when it comes to Aaron Rodgers is what his presence means beyond his ability on the field. And we want to focus so much on the things that we fully understand, like we can see how well or poorly he throws. We don't know, despite the fact that we pretend like we know. We don't know exactly what Aaron Rodgers' presence in the locker room means leading up to his stint with the Jets.

We were spinning it as positive. Like, he's there. He knows how to win. He's going to expect things from other people. They're reinvigorated because they see how high their ceiling is offensively. And then the following year, we're like, man, everybody hates Aaron Rodgers. He gets all the coaches fired. No one really likes to be like, I don't know what that particular ingredient is going to do to the chemistry of the Steelers locker room.

What held Pittsburgh back last year? Clearly quarterback play, but the inability to trust the quarterback. I actually like using Aaron Rodgers the way that they use Russell Wilson, and hopefully you can talk yourself into, well, we can trust him to throw more if we need it. That was kind of in the way of Pittsburgh when they played Baltimore was you kind of need Russell to throw, and when he was slinging it, it wasn't bad, but I can understand why you stopped short of fully trusting him. Aaron Rodgers historically has been very good at taking care of the football,

And if he's going to buy into Mike Tomlin's way of just keep us in this football game, we'll find a way to steal it and sneak into the playoffs. Even as a third team in that division, which is what most people likely have them, that's probably what the odds makers have them at, they can still get in the playoffs. And I would trust him to steal one against a better team in the playoffs more than Russell Wilson because I would trust him to throw it more.

It feels like Aaron Rodgers has a really good first year with his locker room, and then that second year is when things kind of start tailing off, right? So you have him for a one-year deal, and then maybe he's the good Aaron Rodgers in the locker room for that one-year deal, bridge quarterback, and then you get somebody else. Well, let me figure this part out, though, because I don't know if

If Aaron Rodgers is capable of being humbled, I think anyone trying to predict how he'll behave in that locker room, that's a fool's errand to try and figure out what that looks like. But I'm more interested in this. So you got Mike Tomlin, nothing but winning seasons, but also in this particular quagmire, which is...

That fan base, spoiled by Ben Roethlisberger, one of the best. Seven starters since he's retired. But spoiled by Ben Roethlisberger and also spoiled by this part. They got to watch the decline of Ben Roethlisberger when he was younger and his body was failing than Aaron Rodgers. And what that looked like was Mike Tomlin winning all the games. Nothing but slants, Ben. Nothing but slants. And every once in a while, please hit a 30.

and nine down the field where you throw it for 30 yards because you can still make one of those old Ben throws. They've gone through all the quarterbacks since then. They're like, bring us back the old Ben. Just slant, slant, slant. Third and six, slant. Be super accurate. Be Drew Brees super accurate. And every once in a while, please, Aaron Rodgers, on third and 11, can you hit somebody down the field for 30 yards? Make two of those plays. Make two of those plays half a season.

Yeah, but they had better talent around Ben in those days. I understand they acquired DK, but it's Robert Woods after that who's been in the league forever. They have a new RB1 in Jalen Warren who's been around the franchise for a long time, but the supporting cast of characters isn't what it used to be. What I'm asking Dominique is about the frustration that the Pittsburgh fan base would have about that offense in a phone booth constipation of we're just trying to get seven yards on third and six. Right.

It's a style of play that fans do not like unless the results are there. And while we marvel at Mike Tomlin's non-losing record, Steelers fans are done with it. And it's been a short, like it's all about expectations and what you're accustomed to. They've been accustomed to a level of success where they are sick of

of this mediocrity. Like they, you said seven quarterbacks, but it's only been like three years since Ben Roethlisberger was their quarterback. He wasn't a good quarterback then, but like you had to stay with them. It's funny to listen to, or not funny, but it's interesting to listen to a fan base who's been so stable and had so much success get frustrated with that stability and success. When you look around at the rest of the league, it's like,

You had three years of not having a quarterback. Most everyone else, looking at 10, 15. But do you guys hear what he's saying there? Because I believe that these two things are actually so, and it's a crazy thing to say. Mike Tomlin has not had a losing season since he's been coach for a franchise that has had three coaches ever.

And also, Pittsburgh fans think the last 10 years of it are mediocre. The word is mediocre. They keep making the playoffs. They always win more than they lose. But they're extinguished so quickly that Pittsburgh fans would absolutely have the assessment that Mike Tomlin the last decade has been mediocre. How can those two things be true? Well, I think it doesn't help that if you're a Steelers fan, you see other...

downtrodden franchises like Detroit, like Washington, get pretty damn good pretty fast, and your team is still stuck in something just above mediocrity. See, I gotta cut you off there. They didn't get good fast. Like, I guess they got good out of nowhere, but those two organizations...

were bad for long stretches. Yeah, that's what I mean though. Two years ago, they're both among the dregs of the league. Now all of a sudden, especially Detroit, I mean you're looking at Detroit as a Super Bowl contender. It's hard to look at the whole big picture, but if you asked a fan base, would you rather have had the run of the Steelers or that of what

let's go with the commanders, have, like, obviously they all choose the Steelers because the Steelers, even during their down period, they've been mediocre. Like, Washington was terrible. I live in D.C. The team was an embarrassment for a long stretch. 30 years. Yeah, the same thing for the Lions, which is why I guess

get why the Steelers fans are upset but I also get why people would look at them and say shut up you don't know suffering I'm really interested in this pairing though because I know it's a fairly recent thing that Aaron Rodgers is reputed to be a coach killer but for most of his career no he actually worked against his best interest and he kept mediocre people around in his life for too long it certainly cost him at least one Super Bowl with the decision making that happened in the NFC Championship game against Seattle he's always surrounding himself with Nathaniel Hackett's

of the world. I'm happy that he gets to go to a franchise where there is an established leader in that locker room, and it's not going to be Aaron Rodgers' cast of merry men that you just drag in here. We have a Pittsburgh Steelers way of doing it, and I'm the first coach with an actual personality and spine that you're going to listen to. What's interesting to me about Aaron Rodgers signing with Pittsburgh is that Dominique is right when he says Steelers fans are growing really impatient about

And it's also true to say that Aaron Rodgers, not a real likable character at this point, not real likable. And I think there's the potential for a real combustible relationship. If Aaron Rodgers starts poorly or the Steelers are 0-2, I think you're going to hear booing. I think the mindset's going to be, why did we sign this old guy? So I think it's a very volatile situation that's going to be really neat. Can we explore, though, the question that I'm asking you guys? How do both of these things exist?

The most stable franchise in the sport, three coaches in their history, has a coach who has not had a losing season in his entire time coaching. His fans are tired of the mediocrity. What are we talking about? Are you guys telling me that if you're the 10th best team in the league, that's mediocre? That's what you're telling me? Because Tomlin's been that for a decade and a half!

It's not Lions get here for a minute and people are already closing their window and Ben Johnson's over here saying, I don't need a tush push. I don't need short yardage plays. We're all about 40-yard plays. Pittsburgh is going into a season trying to beat you with seven-yard slants and defense. And we'll try and go on the road and see if we can beat Burrow.

I mean, Pittsburgh fans are used to winning Super Bowls, and it's been a minute since they have. You know, Dolphin fans down here still look to 1972 and 1973, ancient history. If you've won Super Bowls, if you're used to winning a Super Bowl, it's not good enough to be 10-6. But that's not mediocre. 10-7 can't be mediocre. It's not good enough. But for the first time in his career, I feel like he's going to a place where the expectations are...

perfectly calibrated for him and with what the team actually does compared to the perception of him people still think aaron rogers is this chuck it down the field guy even when he was in his prime winning mvps he was very careful with the football so i think it actually plays well to his skill set this is all game management he will no longer be a game breaker he's just going to be again it's don't make mistakes it's not even make plays it's don't make mistakes i

And I think that, to Mike's point, that should be encouraging to Steelers fans because it is a good fit. But to the question that I think you feel like we're not answering, it seems pretty simple. It's about...

expectations and it's about what you become accustomed to. Like I could give a ton of different examples or analogies but like if you go back a hundred years the idea of having air conditioning would be like odd to you. Now if I took your AC for one day Dan you would be infuriated. The Steelers fan base have been living in AC and

And now they just turned this not they haven't even taken it away. They just turned it up to 70, 72. And they're like, it's hot as shit. They haven't changed the filter. There you go. And they're like, somebody do something about this. While other organizations are looking at them like, I've been in this swell. It's 94 degrees in here. I can't sleep. This is unbearable. And they're looking at the Steelers like, it's only 70 over there. Wait till you feel this. Like, I get how that feels.